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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.

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At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2019

Establishing Best Practices for X-57 Maxwell CFD Database Generation

The X-57 Maxwell is NASA’s latest electric airplane concept that has been simulated for aerodynamic performance using the structured overset and unstructured grid solvers within the Launch Ascent and Vehicle Aerodynamics (LAVA) solver framework as well as the unstructured polyhedral grid solver in Star-CCM+ for code-to-code comparison. In order to validate the predictions, comparisons were made between the CFD solutions and experimental data collected in the 12-foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. The simulations are in preparation for the development of a comprehensive aerodynamic database which will assess aircraft performance at a variety of conditions. The findings from these simulations will establish the best practices for mesh resolution, numerical discretization, and turbulence modeling to be used for this database. Preliminary database results have shown that best-practices learned from the initial validation simulations will potentially reduce error in X-57 aerodynamic loads and moments relative to experiment by up to 14%.

Duensing, Jared C.↗
NASA NTRS1962

Use of an Inertia Sphere to Damp the Angular Motions of Spinning Space Vehicles

A theoretical study was made of a device which might be used to damp the angular motions of spin-stabilized space vehicles with constant moments of inertia. the device was assumed to consist of a rate gyro, a servo control, and a rotor mounted in a single gimbal. The investigation was conducted by considering the general equations of motion of the vehicle-damper system and noting that simplification would result if the damper had a spherical inertia distribution. Such a distribution was assumed thereafter, and a control command was defined so that the gimbal angle would be proportional to the angular velocity of the vehicle about the gimbal axis. The resulting equations were linearized, and the Routh-Hurwitz criterion was applied to determine the conditions for stability. The study included two numerical examples showing possible application of inertia-sphere rate dampers. The general conditions for stability were found to be feasible for practical applications. A simplified stability criterion covers a large class of practical problems.

SPHERE↗
NASA NTRS1972

The effect of hypersonic nonlinear aerodynamic loading on panel flutter.

The system considered is a two-dimensional isotropic panel, or plate-column, on hinged supports, with one end spring restrained in the plane of the panel. Panel geometric nonlinearities and piston-theory aerodynamic nonlinearities are included. Results from an earlier preliminary study indicate that only two second-order nonlinear aerodynamic terms are important. The nonlinear aerodynamic terms introduce the possibility of an amplitude-sensitive instability, where the panel is unstable to disturbances of a certain magnitude but stable for smaller ones. This type of instability is examined for various panel in-plane loads and initial conditions, with other parameters having values representative of current practice. A single new interaction parameter, representing the importance of the nonlinear aerodynamic terms in comparison with the panel geometric nonlinear terms, is introduced. A parameter survey is presented, involving this parameter and the static pressure difference across the panel. Finally, the practical impact of this type of instability is discussed.

Mcintosh, S. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Numerical analysis of stiffened shells of revolution. Volume 3: Users' manual for STARS-2B, 2V, shell theory automated for rotational structures, 2 (buckling, vibrations), digital computer programs

The User's manual for the shell theory automated for rotational structures (STARS) 2B and 2V (buckling, vibrations) is presented. Several features of the program are: (1) arbitrary branching of the shell meridians, (2) arbitrary boundary conditions, (3) minimum input requirements to describe a complex, practical shell of revolution structure, and (4) accurate analysis capability using a minimum number of degrees of freedom.

Svalbonas, V.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Cryogenic wind tunnels: Unique capabilities for the aerodynamicist

The cryogenic wind-tunnel concept as a practical means for improving ground simulation of transonic flight conditions. The Langley 1/3-meter transonic cryogenic tunnel is operational, and the design of a cryogenic National Transonic Facility is undertaken. A review of some of the unique capabilities of cryogenic wind tunnels is presented. In particular, the advantages of having independent control of tunnel Mach number, total pressure, and total temperature are highlighted. This separate control over the three tunnel parameters will open new frontiers in Mach number, Reynolds number, aeroelastic, and model-tunnel interaction studies.

Hall, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Reliable aerial thermography for energy conservation

A method for energy conservation, the aerial thermography survey, is discussed. It locates sources of energy losses and wasteful energy management practices. An operational map is presented for clear sky conditions. The map outlines the key environmental conditions conductive to obtaining reliable aerial thermography. The map is developed from defined visual and heat loss discrimination criteria which are quantized based on flat roof heat transfer calculations.

Jack, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Synthesis of frameworks under multilevel performance constraints

A method for the minimum weight design of practical planar frameworks under both service and ultimate loading conditions is presented. Acceptable elastic stresses and displacements are ensured at the service load level while, simultaneously, adequate safety against plastic collapse is ensured at the ultimate load level. The features of the design method for an industrial steel mill building are illustrated.

Grierson, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1984

The ball bearing as a rheological test device

An angular-contact ball bearing provides an easily obtainable, precise mechanical system for rheological tests on thin films under high pressure. The test conditions are by definition similar to those found in practice. Accessible independent variables include size, pressure, bulk temperature, roughness, adsorbed surfactant, fluid type, fluid quantity, fluid supply rate, film thickness, entrainment velocity, transit time, and combined strain. Easily measured or inferred variables include slip, changes in film thickness with time (transients), strain rate, lubricant elastic modulus (thin film, high pressure), tractive force, lubricant chemical degradation rate, and lubricant degradation product. Methods for setting and obtaining these quantities in a bearing are discussed, together with experimental limitations on them.

Kingsbury, E.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Optical fiber data transfer system

This Phase 2 effort applies the results of Phase 1 to design and fabricate an optical slip ring system for a helicopter rotor blade/wind tunnel application. In this application, there are two assemblies: one on the rotating portion of the mechanical system, one on the stationary portion. The assembly on the rotating portion digitizes and encodes 128 transducer signals from various parts of the blade, and optically transfers data across the noncontacting coupling. Two complete identical independent channels are provided. On the stationary side, the signals are decoded and one channel is transmitted in digital form to a computer for recording and analysis. The second channel reconstructs the analog transducer signals for real time observation. In the opposite direction, eight signal channels enable control signals to be passed from the stationary to the rotating part of the system. Power to the rotor mounted electronics is supplied via power slip rings. The advantages of the optical over the traditional electro-mechanical slip ring method of data transfer across a rotating joint are long life, low-maintenance, immunity to crosstalk, and wider bandwidth. Successful completion of this effort demonstrated that this method is practical and reliable, and can be implemented under difficult conditions of available space, power, environment, and stringent performance and equipment life requirements.

Mcmillan, S. H.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Numerical aspects of computing high Reynolds number flows on unstructured meshes

An edge-data structure describing a mesh edge-wise given the vertices of each edge and neighboring cell information is used developing algorithms for the Navier-Stokes equations on triangular meshes. Edge formulas for the Galerkin and finite-element discretization of gradient, divergence, Hessian, and Laplacian operators are derived. A simple edge formula is derived for the discretization of the Laplacian operator, where precise theoretical conditions for a discrete maximum principle can be ascertained. Practical issues associated with solving the Navier-Stokes equations on unstructured meshes are addressed, along with issues concerning the generation of highly stretched triangular meshes and the modeling of turbulence on unstructured meshes. A turbulence modeling strategy is proposed, and numerical results for a high-Reynolds-number flow about single- and multielement airfoils are discussed.

Barth, Timothy J.↗
NASA NTRS1951

The method of characteristics for the determination of supersonic flow over bodies of revolution at small angles of attack

The method of characteristics has been applied for the determination of the supersonic-flow properties around bodies of revolution at a small angle of attack. The system developed considers the effect of the variation of entropy due to the curved shock and determines a flow that exactly satisfies the boundary conditions in the limits of the simplifications assumed. Two practical methods for numerical calculations are given. (author)

Ferri, Antonio↗
NASA NTRS1930

Drag and Cooling with Various Forms of Cowling for a "Whirlwind" Radial Air-Cooled Engine I

This report presents the results of an investigation undertaken in the 20-foot Propeller Research Tunnel at Langley Field on the cowling of radial air-cooled engines. A portion of the investigation has been completed, in which several forms and degrees of cowling were tested on Wright "Whirlwind" J-5 engine mounted in the nose of a cabin fuselage. The cowlings varied from the one extreme of an entirely exposed engine to the other in which the engine was entirely inclosed. Cooling tests were made and each cowling modified, if necessary, until the engine cooled approximately as satisfactorily as when it was entirely exposed. Drag tests were then made with each form of cowling, and the effect of the cowling on the propulsive efficiency determined with a metal propeller. The propulsive efficiency was found to be practically the same with all forms of cowling. The drag of the cabin fuselage with uncowled engine was found to be more than three times as great as the drag of the fuselage with engine removed and nose rounded. The conventional forms of cowling, in which at least the tops of the cylinder heads and valve gear are exposed, reduce the drag somewhat, but the cowling entirely covering the engine reduces it 2.6 times as much as the best conventional one. The decrease in drag due to the use of spinners proved to be almost negligible. The use of the cowling completely covering the engine seems entirely practical as regards both cooling and maintenance under service conditions. It must be carefully designed, however, to cool properly. With cabin fuselages its use should result in a substantial increase in high speed over that obtained with present forms of cowling on engines similar in contour to the J-5. (author)

Weick, Fred E↗
NASA NTRS2000

Development of a Composite Tailoring Procedure for Airplane Wings

The quest for finding optimum solutions to engineering problems has existed for a long time. In modern times, the development of optimization as a branch of applied mathematics is regarded to have originated in the works of Newton, Bernoulli and Euler. Venkayya has presented a historical perspective on optimization in [1]. The term 'optimization' is defined by Ashley [2] as a procedure "...which attempts to choose the variables in a design process so as formally to achieve the best value of some performance index while not violating any of the associated conditions or constraints". Ashley presented an extensive review of practical applications of optimization in the aeronautical field till about 1980 [2]. It was noted that there existed an enormous amount of published literature in the field of optimization, but its practical applications in industry were very limited. Over the past 15 years, though, optimization has been widely applied to address practical problems in aerospace design [3-5]. The design of high performance aerospace systems is a complex task. It involves the integration of several disciplines such as aerodynamics, structural analysis, dynamics, and aeroelasticity. The problem involves multiple objectives and constraints pertaining to the design criteria associated with each of these disciplines. Many important trade-offs exist between the parameters involved which are used to define the different disciplines. Therefore, the development of multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) techniques, in which different disciplines and design parameters are coupled into a closed loop numerical procedure, seems appropriate to address such a complex problem. The importance of MDO in successful design of aerospace systems has been long recognized. Recent developments in this field have been surveyed by Sobieszczanski-Sobieski and Haftka [6].

Chattopadhyay, Aditi↗
NASA NTRS1998

Attachment-Line Transition Due to Roughness on a 76 Degree Swept Cylinder at Mach 1.6

Experiments were conducted on a 76 deg. swept cylinder to establish the conditions for the attachment-line transition process with, and without, surface roughness in a low-disturbance ("quiet"), Mach number 1.6 flow. Local flow parameters were estimated from pressure measurements. These were in good agreement with predictions from an Euler code (CFL3D) and a boundary layer code (BL3D). Hot-wires and Schlieren photography were used to determine the state of the boundary layer. It was found that, for a near-adiabatic wall condition and a smooth surface, the attachment-line, boundary-layer remained laminar up to the highest attainable Reynolds number (R-bar of 790). Transition under the influence of trip wires was found to depend on wind-tunnel disturbance levels and the onset conditions have been established. Results suggest that current design practice, which is based upon data from conventional ("noisy") tunnels, may be highly conservative.

Coleman, Colin P.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Satellite Microwave Radar Observations of Antarctic Sea Ice

Historical data on Antarctic sea ice extent and concentration have traditionally been derived from visible and near-infrared images acquired by the polar-orbiting National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency's (NOAA) meteorological satellites, using the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR), and more recently by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program's Operational Linescan System (OLS). The limitation of these systems is that the majority of energy imparted to the Antarctic sea-ice system is transferred during b6y fast-moving low pressure systems. Since the Southern Ocean sea-ice cover is completely bounded at its lower latitude limit by open ocean, these "polar lows" transport large amounts of moisture (contained in warm air masses) over the outer ice cover. The result is that most, if not all, noteworthy periods of wind- and temperature-driven dynamic changes in the ice cover are accompanied by periods where the region is blanketed by cloud, and when the atmosphere is inherently more electromagnetically opaque. During storms, the probability with which the area is cloud covered is extremely high, thereby ruling out use of visible or near-infrared images as a practical method of monitoring the associated changes in ice conditions. Instead, Nimbus-7 Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR) and DMSP Special Sensor Microwave/imager (SSM/I) have been the primary workhorses to build up a microwave record of Antarctic sea-ice characteristics. Similar problems, however, occur in passive microwave retrievals of sea-ice concentration, and the algorithms are called into question during these periods of change. The influence of water vapor in the atmosphere alone can modify the ice concentration retrievals by fractions exceeding 105, and that retrievals of ice concentration must compensate for the atmospheric water vapor and liquid water contents.

Drinkwater, Mark R.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Stability Analysis of Flow Induced by the Traveling Magnetic Field

Re-circulating flow in molten metal columns can be conveniently induced by the axisymmetric traveling magnetic field. A number of applications can benefit from this technique, such as mixing under microgravity environment, or crysta1 growth from metallic melts. For small magnetic field excitations, the flow is laminar and stationary. As the imposed field increases, a more complex flow will set up in the cylindrical column. Conditions for stable laminar flow are of importance for practical applications. In this work, a linear stability analysis is performed in order to determine the onset of the bifurcation in the system. Here the analysis is restricted to the axisymmetric modes and the low-frequency regime.

Mazuruk, Konstantin↗
NASA NTRS2003

Stability Analysis of Flow Induced by the Traveling Magnetic Field

Re-circulating flow in molten metal columns can be conveniently induced by the axisymmetric traveling magnetic field. A number of applications can benefit from this technique, such as mixing under microgravity environment, or.crysta1 growth from metallic melts. For small magnetic field excitations, the flow is laminar and stationary. As the imposed field increases, a more complex flow will set up in the cylindrical column. Conditions for stable laminar flow are of importance for practical applications. In this work, a linear stability analysis is performed in order to determine the onset of the bifurcation in the system. Here the analysis is restricted to the axisymmetric modes and the low-frequency regime.

Mazuruk, Konstantin↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Impact of Model Uncertainty on Spatial Compensation in Active Structural Acoustic Control

Turbulent boundary layer (TBL) noise is considered a primary factor in the interior noise experienced by passengers aboard commercial airliners. There have been numerous investigations of interior noise control devoted to aircraft panels; however, practical realization is a challenge since the physical boundary conditions are uncertain at best. In most prior studies, pinned or clamped boundary conditions have been assumed; however, realistic panels likely display a range of varying boundary conditions between these two limits. Uncertainty in boundary conditions is a challenge for control system designers, both in terms of the compensator implemented and the location of actuators and sensors required to achieve the desired control. The impact of model uncertainties, uncertain boundary conditions in particular, on the selection of actuator and sensor locations for structural acoustic control are considered herein. Results from this research effort indicate that it is possible to optimize the design of actuator and sensor location and aperture, which minimizes the impact of boundary conditions on the desired structural acoustic control.

Cabell, Randolph H.↗