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At least 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2007

Tandem Cylinder Noise Predictions

In an effort to better understand landing-gear noise sources, we have been examining a simplified configuration that still maintains some of the salient features of landing-gear flow fields. In particular, tandem cylinders have been studied because they model a variety of component level interactions. The present effort is directed at the case of two identical cylinders spatially separated in the streamwise direction by 3.7 diameters. Experimental measurements from the Basic Aerodynamic Research Tunnel (BART) and Quiet Flow Facility (QFF) at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) have provided steady surface pressures, detailed off-surface measurements of the flow field using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), hot-wire measurements in the wake of the rear cylinder, unsteady surface pressure data, and the radiated noise. The experiments were conducted at a Reynolds number of 166 105 based on the cylinder diameter. A trip was used on the upstream cylinder to insure a fully turbulent shedding process and simulate the effects of a high Reynolds number flow. The parallel computational effort uses the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver CFL3D with a hybrid, zonal turbulence model that turns off the turbulence production term everywhere except in a narrow ring surrounding solid surfaces. The current calculations further explore the influence of the grid resolution and spanwise extent on the flow and associated radiated noise. Extensive comparisons with the experimental data are used to assess the ability of the computations to simulate the details of the flow. The results show that the pressure fluctuations on the upstream cylinder, caused by vortex shedding, are smaller than those generated on the downstream cylinder by wake interaction. Consequently, the downstream cylinder dominates the noise radiation, producing an overall directivity pattern that is similar to that of an isolated cylinder. Only calculations based on the full length of the model span were able to capture the complete decay in the spanwise correlation, thereby producing reasonable noise radiation levels.

Lockard, David P.↗
NASA NTRS2020

HAWC plus Far-infrared Observations of the Magnetic Field Geometry in M51 and NGC 891

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus polarimetry at154μm is reported for the face-on galaxy M51 and the edge-on galaxy NGC 891. For M51, the polarization vectors generally follow the spiral pattern defined by the molecular gas distribution, the far-infrared(FIR) intensity contours, and other tracers of star formation. The fractional polarization is much lower in the FIR-bright central regions than in the outer regions, and we rule out loss of grain alignment and variations in magnetic field strength as causes. When compared with existing synchrotron observations, which sample different regions with different weighting, we find the net position angles are strongly correlated, the fractional polarizations are moderately correlated, but the polarized intensities are uncorrelated. We argue that the low fractional polarization in the central regions must be due to significant numbers of highly turbulent segments across the beam and along lines of sight in the beam in the central 3 kpc of M51. For NGC 891, the FIR polarization vectors within an intensity contour of1500-MJy sr1are oriented very close to the plane of the galaxy. The FIR polarimetry is probably sampling the magnetic field geometry in NGC 891 much deeper into the disk than is possible with NIR polarimetry and radio synchrotron measurements. In some locations in NGC 891, the FIR polarization is very low, suggesting we are preferentially viewing the magnetic field mostly along the line of sight, down the length of embedded spiral arms. There is tentative evidence for a vertical field in the polarized emission off the plane of the disk.

Disk galaxies↗
DOE OSTI2020

HAWC+ Far-infrared Observations of the Magnetic Field Geometry in M51 and NGC 891

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus polarimetry at 154 μm is reported for the face-on galaxy M51 and the edge-on galaxy NGC 891. For M51, the polarization vectors generally follow the spiral pattern defined by the molecular gas distribution, the far-infrared (FIR) intensity contours, and other tracers of star formation. The fractional polarization is much lower in the FIR-bright central regions than in the outer regions, and we rule out loss of grain alignment and variations in magnetic field strength as causes. When compared with existing synchrotron observations, which sample different regions with different weighting, we find the net position angles are strongly correlated, the fractional polarizations are moderately correlated, but the polarized intensities are uncorrelated. We argue that the low fractional polarization in the central regions must be due to significant numbers of highly turbulent segments across the beam and along lines of sight in the beam in the central 3 kpc of M51. For NGC 891, the FIR polarization vectors within an intensity contour of 1500 MJy sr{sup −1} are oriented very close to the plane of the galaxy. The FIR polarimetry is probably sampling the magnetic field geometry in NGC 891 much deeper into the disk than is possible with NIR polarimetry and radio synchrotron measurements. In some locations in NGC 891, the FIR polarization is very low, suggesting we are preferentially viewing the magnetic field mostly along the line of sight, down the length of embedded spiral arms. There is tentative evidence for a vertical field in the polarized emission off the plane of the disk.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1975

Theoretical study of refraction effects on noise produced by turbulent jets

The transmission of acoustic disturbances from the interior of a jet into the ambient air is studied. The jet is assumed infinitely long with mean velocity profile independent of streamwise location. The noise generator is a sequence of transient sources drifting with the local fluid and confined to a short length of the jet. In Part 1, supersonic jets are considered. Numerical results for mean-square pressure versus angle in the far-field show unexpected peaks which are very sharp. Analysis of simplified models indicates that these are complex quasi-resonant effects which appear to the stationary observer in a high frequency range. The peaks are real for the idealized model, but would be smoothed by mathematical integration over source position, velocity, and frequency. Subsonic jets were considered in part 2, and a preliminary study of the near-field was attempted. Mean-square radial displacements (or mean radial energy flow or space-time correlations of radial pressure gradient) are first found for very simple cases. The most difficult case studied is a sequence of transient sources at the center of a uniform-velocity circular cylindrical jet. Here a numerical triple integration is required and seems feasible although only preliminary results for mean square radial displacement are now available. These preliminary results show disturbances decreasing with increasing radial distance, and with increasing distance upstream and downstream from the source. A trend towards greater downstream disturbances appears even in the near field.

Graham, E. W.↗
NASA NTRS2020

HAWC+ Far-infrared Observations of the Magnetic Field Geometry in M51 and NGC 891

Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy High-resolution Airborne Wideband Camera Plus polarimetry at 154 μm is reported for the face-on galaxy M51 and the edge-on galaxy NGC 891. For M51, the polarization vectors generally follow the spiral pattern defined by the molecular gas distribution, the far-infrared (FIR) intensity contours, and other tracers of star formation. The fractional polarization is much lower in the FIR-bright central regions than in the outer regions, and we rule out loss of grain alignment and variations in magnetic field strength as causes. When compared with existing synchrotron observations, which sample different regions with different weighting, we find the net position angles are strongly correlated, the fractional polarizations are moderately correlated, but the polarized intensities are uncorrelated. We argue that the low fractional polarization in the central regions must be due to significant numbers of highly turbulent segments across the beam and along lines of sight in the beam in the central 3 kpc of M51. For NGC 891, the FIR polarization vectors within an intensity contour of 1500 MJy sr(exp -1) are oriented very close to the plane of the galaxy. The FIR polarimetry is probably sampling the magnetic field geometry in NGC 891 much deeper into the disk than is possible with NIR polarimetry and radio synchrotron measurements. In some locations in NGC 891, the FIR polarization is very low, suggesting we are preferentially viewing the magnetic field mostly along the line of sight, down the length of embedded spiral arms. There is tentative evidence for a vertical field in the polarized emission off the plane of the disk.

Terry Jay Jones↗
NASA NTRS1983

Rapid distortion of small-scale turbulence by an axisymmetric contraction

The rapid distortion of small-scale turbulence by an axisymmetric internal contracting flow has been investigated. The analysis is an example of the modern version of rapid distortion theory in that the effects of vortex bending and tilting are included. On the axis of symmetry, the classical results are recovered. The longitudinal and lateral velocity components are suppressed and amplified, respectively, with increasing contraction ratio. These effects are enhanced with increasing radial position. The numerical calculations also show that the correlation between the streamwise and radial velocity components increases monotonically with respect to both the radial location and the contraction ratio. The longitudinal and lateral one-dimensional spectra show a shift towards higher and lower wavenumbers, respectively, as the contraction ratio increases. Here, these effects become less pronounced for larger radii. These results also show that the downstream longitudinal integral length scale based on the streamwise velocity as well as the one based on the transverse velocity increase with the radial coordinate.

Hultgren, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Mixing and transient interface condensation of a liquid hydrogen tank

Experiments were conducted to investigate the effect of axial jet-induced mixing on the pressure reduction of a thermally stratified liquid hydrogen tank. The tank was nearly cylindrical, having a volume of about 0.144 cu m with 0.559 m in diameter and 0.711 m length. A mixer/pump unit, which had a jet nozzle outlet of 0.0221 m in diameter was located 0.178 m from the tank bottom and was installed inside the tank to generate the axial jet mixing and tank fluid circulation. Mixing tests began with the tank pressures at which the thermal stratification results in 4.9-6.2 K liquid subcooling. The mixing time and transient vapor condensation rate at the liquid-vapor interface are determined. Two mixing time correlations, based on the thermal equilibrium and pressure equilibrium, are developed and expressed as functions of system and buoyancy parameters. The limited liquid hydrogen data of the present study shows that the modified steady state condensation rate correlation may be used to predict the transient condensation rate in a mixing process if the instantaneous values of jet sub cooling and turbulence intensity at the interface are employed.

Lin, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The effects of scattering on solar oscillations

Acoustic modes are scattered by turbulent velocity fluctuations in the solar convection zone. The strongest scattering occurs near the top of the acoustic cavity where the mode changes character from propagating to evanescent. This layer is located at depth z(sub 1) approximately g/omega(exp 2) below the photosphere. The scattering optical depth tau(sub s) is of order M(sub 1)(exp 2), where M(sub 1) is the Mach number of the energy-bearing eddies at z(sub 1). The corresponding contribution to the line width is gamma(exp s) is approximately (omega) M(sub 1)(exp 2)/(pi)(n+1), where n is the mode's radial order. At the top of the acoustic cavity the correlation time of energy-bearing eddies is much longer than omega(exp -1). Also, the pressure scale height H and the eddy correlation length Lambda are comparable to omega/c, where c is the sound speed. Thus scattering couples modes of similar omega and all l and has little effect on the sum of their energies. Observations show that mode energies decline with decreasing n (increasing l) at fixed omega. Consequently, scattering damps p-modes and excites f-modes.

Goldreich, Peter↗
NASA NTRS1987

Properties of a large-scale interplanetary loop structure as deduced from low-energy proton anisotropy and magnetic field measurements

Correlated particle and magnetic field measurements by the ISEE 3 spacecraft are presented for the loop structure behind the interplanetary traveling shock event of Nov. 12, 1978. Following the passage of the turbulent shock region, strong bidirectional streaming of low-energy protons is observed for approximately 6 hours, corresponding to a loop thickness of about 0.07 AU. This region is also characterized by a low relative variance of the magnetic field, a depressed proton intensity, and a reduction in the magnetic power spectral density. Using quasi-linear theory applied to a slab model, a value of 3 AU is derived for the mean free path during the passage of the closed loop. It is inferred from this observation that the proton regime associated with the loop structure is experiencing scatter-free transport and that either the length of the loop is approximately 3 AU between the sun and the earth or else the protons are being reflected at both ends of a smaller loop.

Tranquille, C.↗
NASA NTRS1958

Comparison of Calculated and Experimental Temperatures and Coolant Pressure Losses for a Cascade of Small Air-Cooled Turbine Rotor Blades

Average spanwise blade temperatures and cooling-air pressure losses through a small (1.4-in, span, 0.7-in, chord) air-cooled turbine blade were calculated and are compared with experimental nonrotating cascade data. Two methods of calculating the blade spanwise metal temperature distributions are presented. The method which considered the effect of the length-to-diameter ratio of the coolant passage on the blade-to-coolant heat-transfer coefficient and assumed constant coolant properties based on the coolant bulk temperature gave the best agreement with experimental data. The agreement obtained was within 3 percent at the midspan and tip regions of the blade. At the root region of the blade, the agreement was within 3 percent for coolant flows within the turbulent flow regime and within 10 percent for coolant flows in the laminar regime. The calculated and measured cooling-air pressure losses through the blade agreed within 5 percent. Calculated spanwise blade temperatures for assumed turboprop engine operating conditions of 2000 F turbine-inlet gas temperature and flight conditions of 300 knots at a 30,000-foot altitude agreed well with those obtained by the extrapolation of correlated experimental data of a static cascade investigation of these blades.

Stepka, Francis S↗
NASA NTRS2006

Phased-Array Study of Dual-Flow Jet Noise: Effect of Nozzles and Mixers

A 16-microphone linear phased-array installed parallel to the jet axis and a 32-microphone azimuthal phased-array installed in the nozzle exit plane have been applied to identify the noise source distributions of nozzle exhaust systems with various internal mixers (lobed and axisymmetric) and nozzles (three different lengths). Measurements of velocity were also obtained using cross-stream stereo particle image velocimetry (PIV). Among the three nozzle lengths tested, the medium length nozzle was the quietest for all mixers at high frequency on the highest speed flow condition. Large differences in source strength distributions between nozzles and mixers occurred at or near the nozzle exit for this flow condition. The beamforming analyses from the azimuthal array for the 12-lobed mixer on the highest flow condition showed that the core flow and the lobe area were strong noise sources for the long and short nozzles. The 12 noisy spots associated with the lobe locations of the 12-lobed mixer with the long nozzle were very well detected for the frequencies 5 KHz and higher. Meanwhile, maps of the source strength of the axisymmetric splitter show that the outer shear layer was the most important noise source at most flow conditions. In general, there was a good correlation between the high turbulence regions from the PIV tests and the high noise source regions from the phased-array measurements.

Soo Lee, Sang↗
NASA NTRS1992

Detecting surface roughness effects on the atmospheric boundary layer via AIRSAR data: A field experiment in Death Valley, California

The part of the troposphere influenced by the surface of the earth is termed the atmospheric boundary layer. Flow within this layer is influenced by the roughness of the surface; rougher surfaces induce more turbulence than smoother surfaces and, hence, higher atmospheric transfer rates across the surface. Roughness elements also shield erodible particles, thus decreasing the transport of windblown particles. Therefore, the aerodynamic roughness length (z(sub 0)) is an important parameter in aeolian and atmospheric boundary layer processes as it describes the aerodynamic properties of the underlying surface. z(sub 0) is assumed to be independent of wind velocity or height, and dependent only on the surface topography. It is determined using in situ measurements of the wind speed distribution as a function of height. For dry, unvegetated soils the intensity of the radar backscatter (sigma(sup 0)) is affected primarily by surface roughness at a scale comparable with the radar wavelength. Thus, both wind and radar respond to surface roughness variations on a scale of a few meters or less. Greeley showed the existence of a correlation between z(sub 0) and sigma(sup 0). This correlation was based on measurements over lava flows, alluvial fans, and playas in the southwest deserts of the United States. It is shown that the two parameters behave similarly also when there are small changes over a relatively homogeneous surface.

Blumberg, Dan G.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The effect of the dynamic wet troposphere on VLBI measurements

Calculations using a statistical model of water vapor fluctuations yield the effect of the dynamic wet troposphere on Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) measurements. The statistical model arises from two primary assumptions: (1) the spatial structure of refractivity fluctuations can be closely approximated by elementary (Kolmogorov) turbulence theory, and (2) temporal fluctuations are caused by spatial patterns which are moved over a site by the wind. The consequences of these assumptions are outlined for the VLBI delay and delay rate observables. For example, wet troposphere induced rms delays for Deep Space Network (DSN) VLBI at 20-deg elevation are about 3 cm of delay per observation, which is smaller, on the average, than other known error sources in the current DSN VLBI data set. At 20-deg elevation for 200-s time intervals, water vapor induces approximately 1.5 x 10 to the minus 13th power s/s in the Allan standard deviation of interferometric delay, which is a measure of the delay rate observable error. In contrast to the delay error, the delay rate measurement error is dominated by water vapor fluctuations. Water vapor induced VLBI parameter errors and correlations are calculated. For the DSN, baseline length parameter errors due to water vapor fluctuations are in the range of 3 to 5 cm. The above physical assumptions also lead to a method for including the water vapor fluctuations in the parameter estimation procedure, which is used to extract baseline and source information from the VLBI observables.

Treuhaft, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Experimental Study of a Three-Dimensional Shear-Driven Turbulent Boundary Layer with Streamwise Adverse Pressure Gradient

The effects of a strong adverse pressure gradient on a three-dimensional turbulent boundary layer are studied in an axisymmetric spinning cylinder geometry. Velocity measurements made with a three-component laser Doppler velocimeter include all three mean flow components, all six Reynolds stress components, and all ten triple-product correlations. Reynolds stress diminishes as the flow becomes three-dimensional. Lower levels of shear stress were seen to persist under adverse pressure gradient conditions. This low level of stress was seen to roughly correlate with the magnitude of cross-flow (relative to free stream flow) for this experiment as well as most of the other experiments in the literature. Variations in pressure gradient do not appear to alter this correlation. For this reason, it is hypothesized that a three-dimensional boundary layer is more prone to separate than a two-dimensional boundary layer, although it could not be directly shown here. None of the computations performed with either a Prandtl mixing length, k-epsilon, or a Launder-Reece-Rodi full Reynolds-stress model were able to predict the reduction in Reynolds stress.

Driver, David M.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Experimental Studies of Low-Pressure Turbine Flows and Flow Control

This report summarizes research performed in support of the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) Low-Pressure Turbine (LPT) Flow Physics Program. The work was performed experimentally at the U.S. Naval Academy faculties. The geometry corresponded to "Pak B" LPT airfoil. The test section simulated LPT flow in a passage. Three experimental studies were performed: (a) Boundary layer measurements for ten baseline cases under high and low freestream turbulence conditions at five Reynolds numbers of 25,000, 50,000, 100,000, 200,000, and 300,000, based on passage exit velocity and suction surface wetted length; (b) Passive flow control studies with three thicknesses of two-dimensional bars, and two heights of three-dimensional circular cylinders with different spanwise separations, at same flow conditions as the 10 baseline cases; (c) Active flow control with oscillating synthetic (zero net mass flow) vortex generator jets, for one case with low freestream turbulence and a low Reynolds number of 25,000. The Passive flow control was successful at controlling the separation problem at low Reynolds numbers, with varying degrees of success from case to case and varying levels of impact at higher Reynolds numbers. The active flow control successfully eliminated the large separation problem for the low Reynolds number case. Very detailed data was acquired using hot-wire anemometry, including single and two velocity components, integral boundary layer quantities, turbulence statistics and spectra, turbulent shear stresses and their spectra, and intermittency, documenting transition, separation and reattachment. Models were constructed to correlate the results. The report includes a summary of the work performed and reprints of the publications describing the various studies.

Volino, Ralph J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

ETG turbulent transport in the Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak (MAST) pedestal

The results of a gyrokinetic analysis of turbulent transport driven by the electron temperature gradient (ETG) in the MAST pedestal are presented. Local nonlinear simulations from the gyrokinetic code, GENE, show that heat flux produced by ETG turbulence is 10%–30% of the total applied heating power in the upper pedestal and pedestal top during both the pre-edge-localized mode (ELM) (80%–99% inter-ELM period) and post-ELM (0%–20%) periods. Increasing strongly with the ETG, the ETG transport appears to be stiff. Considering radiation losses, ion thermal transport, and the strong sensitivity of the transport to the ETG, we propose that ETG transport is a plausible mechanism mediating the inter-ELM temperature profile on MAST. Cognizant of the possibility that sharp variations in the pedestal profiles may violate the local approximation, we conducted global nonlinear simulations; the results are in good agreement with local simulations except near the pedestal top, where extended radial structures and high transport levels (far beyond experimental) develop in the local simulations. We quantify and parameterize the discrepancy between local and global simulations by calculating the ratio of the radial correlation length to a length scale representative of the profile curvature. When this ratio is sufficiently small, local and global simulations agree as expected.

ETG↗
DOE OSTI2024

Inter-ELM pedestal turbulence dynamics dependence on q 95 and temperature gradient

A series of dedicated experiments from DIII-D tokamak provide spatially and temporally resolved measurements of electron density and temperature, and multiscale and multichannel fluctuations over a wide range of conditions. Measurements of long wavelength density fluctuations in the type-I ELMing H-mode pedestal routinely revealed a coexistence of multiple instabilities that exhibit dramatic different dynamic behaviors as q 95 and temperature gradient are varied, apparently responsible for limiting pedestal temperature profiles. Two distinct frequency bands of density fluctuations are modulated with ELM cycle with frequency above 200kHz propagating in the electron diamagnetic direction in the lab frame (electron mode) and below 200kHz propagating in the ion diamagnetic direction (ion mode). The electron mode amplitude peaks near the electron temperature gradient region and increases with q 95 which seems to be correlated with the increased χ e at higher q 95 , similar to the characteristics expected for Micro-tearing Mode (MTM). At higher q 95 , during the inter-ELM period, the ion mode decays at later phase of the ELM cycle. Consistently, the poloidal correlation length of the ion mode is also found to reduce which suggests the possible E×B flow shear suppression of ion mode at later phase of the ELM cycle as the Er well recovers. In contrast, the electron mode grows during the ELM cycle and reaches saturation at around 50-60% of ELM period. Linear gyrokinetic simulations find the MTMs as the most unstable mode in the pedestal electron temperature gradient region. The higher q 95 and lower magnetic shear destabilize MTMs. These observations provide key insights of the underlying physics of multifield properties and rich dataset of experimental 'fingerprints' that enable new tests of the theoretical pedestal models and lead to developing a predictive model for pedestal formation on ITER and future burning plasma experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

The effect of curvature induced broken potential vorticity conservation on drift wave turbulences

Abstract The correlation theory of turbulence suppression (Zhang and Mahajan 1993 Phys. Fluids B5 2000) by velocity shear was constructed by invoking the ansatz of potential vorticity conservation (PVC) that holds for relatively simple (slab) models of drift wave turbulence. It is, therefore, surprising that a detailed modern simulation of the H mode pedestal, using the gyrokinetic code GENE (Hatch et al 2018 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 60 084003), found ‘striking agreement’ with the predictions of the analytic model. To understand the reasons for this remarkable agreement, an extended theory that contains finite (magnetic) curvature, and which does not conserve potential vorticity, is developed and ‘solved’ by calculating an inhomogeneous Green function reflecting the fact that the new system has a potential vorticity source. It is, then, demonstrated that the effect of the broken PVC is insignificant for the normal operation parameters in tokamaks; the correction due to curvature is at the order of 2 L 0 / R , where L 0 is the scale length of the local gradient and R is the major radius. The excellent agreement between simulation and slab model 1993 theory is therefore not accidental; the latter can be applied with confidence to the tokamak pedestal.

Physics↗