Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Stability boundary”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

Complex eigenvalues for the stability of Couette flow

The eigenvalue problem for the linear stability of Couette flow between rotating concentric cylinders to axisymmetric disturbances is considered. It is shown by numerical calculations and by formal perturbation methods that when the outer cylinder is at rest there exist complex eigenvalues corresponding to oscillatory damped disturbances. The structure of the first few eigenvalues in the spectrum is discussed. The results do not contradict the principle of exchange of stabilities, namely, for a fixed axial wavenumber the first mode to become unstable as the speed of the inner cylinder is increased is nonoscillatory as the stability boundary is crossed.

Diprima, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A theory for the core of a three-dimensional leading-edge vortex

A theory is presented for the flow in the core of a separation-induced leading-edge vortex. The theory is based on matching inner and outer representations of the vortex. The inner representation models continuously distributed vorticity and includes an asymptotic viscous subcore. The outer representation models concentrated spiral sheets of vorticity and is fully three dimensional. A parameter is identified which closely tracks the vortex breakdown stability boundary for delta, arrow, and diamond wings.

Luckring, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Magnetic buoyancy instabilities incorporating rotation

Plane layer stability analysis is extended to incorporate the effects of uniform rotation. Detailed studies are made of the interchange, or 'axisymmetric modes' and of the undular or wavelike motions, considering both high and low frequency modes. The force due to rotation on the fluid motions are determined. The types of instability relevant to astrophysical problems, are also discussed with attention given to the occurrence of two distinct modes of instability in a bottom heavy field gradient. Some peculiar stability boundaries, which are due to the absence of a dominating force, are described.

Hughes, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Aeroelastic tailoring of composite wings with external stores

The use of an integrating matrix solution procedure allows the aeroelastic stability of a large number of wing/store combinations to be studied with relative speed and accuracy. Results are presented which show the effects of tailoring the orientation of the plies of laminated composite wings when external stores are present. The stores utilized take the form of concentrated masses that are varied in terms of size and location, and combinations of stores are also studied. It is seen that there are cases for which small changes in the laminate can produce large changes in the aeroelastic stability boundary, and for such situations care should be used in tailoring a wing. For a given wing, the choice fiber angle to optimize the aeroelastic performance is quite sensitive to both the size and location of the store.

Green, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Lunar capture orbits, a method of constructing earth moon trajectories and the lunar GAS mission

A method is described to construct trajectories from the earth to the moon which utilizes the existence of lunar capture orbits and the concept of 'stability boundary'. These orbits are ballistic and represent a new family of trajectories. They go into orbit about the moon from a suitable position about the earth with no required thrusting. This method is applied to a mission being studied at JPL called Lunar GAS (Get Away Special). Other applications are discussed.

Belbruno, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A theory for the core flow of leading-edge vortices

Separation-induced leading-edge vortices can dominate the flow about slender wings at moderate to high angles of attack, often with favorable aerodynamic effects. However, at the high angles of attack which are desirable for takeoff and landing as well as subsonic-transonic maneuver the vortices can breakdown or burst in the vicinity of the aircraft causing many adverse effects; these include lift loss, pitchup, and buffet. The flow in the core of leading-edge vortices is generally affiliated with the vortex breakdown phenomenon. A theory is presented for the flow in the core of separation-induced, leading-edge vortices at practical Reynolds numbers. The theory is based on matching inner and outer representations of the vortex. The inner representation models continuously distributed vorticity and includes an asymptotic viscous subcore. The outer representation models concentrated spiral sheets of vorticity and is fully three dimensional. A parameter is identified which closely tracks the vortex breakdown stability boundary for delta, arrow, and diamond wings.

Luckring, James M.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Evaluation and Improvement of Liquid Propellant Rocket Chugging Analysis Techniques. Part 1: A One-Dimensional Analysis of Low Frequency Combustion Instability in the Fuel Preburner of the Space Shuttle Main Engine

Low frequency combustion instability, known as chugging, is consistently experienced during shutdown in the fuel and oxidizer preburners of the Space Shuttle Main Engines. Such problems always occur during the helium purge of the residual oxidizer from the preburner manifolds during the shutdown sequence. Possible causes and triggering mechanisms are analyzed and details in modeling the fuel preburner chug are presented. A linearized chugging model, based on the foundation of previous models, capable of predicting the chug occurrence is discussed and the predicted results are presented and compared to experimental work performed by NASA. Sensitivity parameters such as chamber pressure, fuel and oxidizer temperatures, and the effective bulk modulus of the liquid oxidizer are considered in analyzing the fuel preburner chug. The computer program CHUGTEST is utilized to generate the stability boundary for each sensitivity study and the region for stable operation is identified.

Lim, Kair Chuan↗
NASA NTRS1988

Rotordynamic analysis of a bearing tester

The properties of the solutions of a system of four coupled nonlinear differential equations that model the behavior of the rotating shaft of a bearing tester are studied. In particular, it is shown how the bounds for the rotations of these equations can be obtained from bounds for the solutions of the linearized equations. By studying the behavior of the Fourier transforms of the solution, the approach to the stability boundary can also be predicted. These conclusions are verified by means of numerical solutions of the equations, and of power spectrum density (PSD) plots.

Zalik, Richard A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The Surface Wave Dynamics Experiment (SWADE)

SWADE was developed to study the dynamics of the wave field development in the open ocean with the following specific objectives: (1) to understand the development of the wave directional spectrum under various conditions; (2) to determine the effect of waves on the air/sea transfers of momentum, heat, and mass; (3) to determine breaking distributions as a function of sea state, wind, and boundary stability; and (4) to provide data and analyses for ERS-1 validation. The experiment is designed for the winter of 1990 to 1991. Four buoys will be deployed for 6 months starting October 1990 and ending March 1991. During that time period, three intensive periods of 2 weeks duration each will be selected for frequent aircraft flights for wave data collection to satisfy scientific studies, as well as ERS-1 validation needs.

Long, S. R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Exact solutions and low-frequency instability of the adiabatic auroral arc model

The adiabatic auroral arc model couples a kinetic theory parallel current driven by mirror forces to horizontal ionospheric currents; the resulting equations are nonlinear. Some exact stationary solutions to these equations, some of them based on the Liouville equation, are developed, with both latitudinal and longitudinal spatial variations. These Liouville equation exact solutions are related to stability boundaries of low-frequency instabilities such as Kelvin-Helmholtz, as shown by a study of a simplified model.

Cornwall, John M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Current driven instabilities of an electromagnetically accelerated plasma

Quantitative measurements of the plasma instability that strongly affects the efficiency and lifetime of electromagnetic plasma accelerators were obtained. Experimental results are presented for the dispersion relations (wave phase velocities), spatial growth rates, and stability boundaries of accelerators. The measured critical wave parameters are found to agree well with theoretical predictions. A kinetic theoretical model was used to study current driven instabilities which are intrinsic to the high-current-carrying magnetized plasma of a magnetoplasmadynamic accelerator. Under certain conditions, marginally stable waves travelling almost perpendicular to the magnetic field are found which travel at a velocity equal to that of the electron current.

Kelly, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The stability of a compressible stratified shear layer

The stability of a shear layer under the effect of gravity is investigated using the compressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) equations, including an effective gravity term to represent the curvature effects of the flow and magnetic field line geometry. A general eigenmode equation is derived for a two-dimensional MHD fluid, and an energy-principle analysis to explain the effect of compressibility on the critical Richardson number is presented. For the case of a hyperbolic tangent shear flow and exponential density profile, it was found that, in the Boussinesq approximation, the compressibility raises the critical Richardson number from 1/4 to as much as 1/2, with the exact value depending on the value of the magnetic field at infinity. Under approximation of a strong asymptotic magnetic field, without invoking the Boussinesq approximation, it is shown both analytically and numerically that the density gradient terms cause the shear instability to be dispersive. The long-wavelength stability boundary for the Richardson number J = 0 is characterized by a normalized phase velocity c =

Wang, Z.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Computational analysis of a stability robustness margin for structured real-parameter perturbations

An efficient computational method is presented for stability robustness analysis with structured real-parameter perturbations. A generic model of a class of uncertain dynamical systems is used as an example. The parameter uncertainty is characterized by a real scalar, epsilon. Multilinearity of the closed-loop characteristic polynomial is exploited to permit application of the mapping theorem to calculate the stability robustness margin. It is found that sensitive geometry of the stability boundary in the epsilon, omega-plane renders problematic the calculation of the minimum epsilon as a function of omega. This difficulty is avoided by calculating the minimum distance to the image of the uncertainty domain over omega as a function of epsilon. It is also shown that a certain class of uncertain dynamical systems has the required multilinearity property and are thus amenable to the proposed technique.

Wedell, Evan↗
NASA NTRS1989

A method for the early detection of instabilities in rotordynamics

For a simple Jeffcott model with deadband, a method is developed to determine stability margins by an analysis of the Discrete Fourier transform of the system response. The viability of this method is demonstrated by means of numerical simulations. The circular behavior of the system response on the stability boundary is also explained.

Zalik, Richard A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Blade mistuning coupled with shaft flexibility effects in rotor aeroelasticity

The effect of bladed-disk polar dissymmetry, resulting from variations in mass from one blade to another, on aeroelastic stability boundaries for a fan stage is presented. In addition to both in-plane and out-of-plane deformations of the bladed-disk, bending of the supporting shaft in two planes is considered, and the resulting Coriolis forces and gyroscopic moments are included in the analysis. A quasi-steady aerodynamics approach is combined with the Lagrangian method to develop the governing equations of motion for the flexible bladed-disk-shaft assembly. Calculations are performed for an actual fan stage.

Khader, Naim↗
NASA NTRS1990

Finite element two-dimensional panel flutter at high supersonic speeds and elevated temperature

A consistent finite element formulation for flutter of two-dimensional panels including effects of temperature variation along panel length is presented. The von Karman nonlinear strain-displacement relation is used to account for the large-deflections, and the quasi-steady first-order piston theory is employed for aerodynamic loading in the finite-element formulation. The panel flutter under combined thermal/aerodynamic loading can be separated into solving two problems in sequence. They are: (1) postbuckling deflection, stresses and buckling stability boundary, and (2) critical dynamic pressure and linear flutter boundary. The solution procedures in solving these problems are presented in detail. Finite element results of two-dimensional panels with uniform temperature change are compared with classic analytical solutions. Influence of nonuniform temperature distributions on critical buckling temperature, flutter deflection and stresses, and flutter boundary is also given.

Xue, David Y.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Stability of dendritic arrays

An approximate method for studying steady-state properties and linear stability of the dendritic arrays that are formed in directional solidification of alloys is proposed. This analysis is valid at high growth rates where the primary spacing between dendrites is larger than the velocity-dependent solutal diffusion length. A neutral stability boundary is computed and it is found that, in the situations where the results should be valid, the experimental data of Somboonsuk, et al. (1984) lie in the stable region, well away from the boundary.

Warren, James A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Instability of fiber-reinforced viscoelastic composite plates to in-plane compressive loads

This study analyzes the stability behavior of unidirectional fiber-reinforced composite plates with viscoelastic material behavior subject to in-plane biaxial compressive edge loads. To predict the effective time-dependent material properties, elastic fibers embedded in a linearly viscoelastic matrix are examined. The micromechanical relations developed for a transversely isotropic medium are discussed along with the correspondence principle of linear viscoelasticity. It is concluded that the stability boundary obtained for a viscoelastic plate is lower (more critical) than its elastic counterpart, and the transverse shear deformation effects are more pronounced in viscoelastic plates than in their elastic counterparts.

Chandiramani, N. K.↗