SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Composite materials with matrices of tough, thermoplastic aromatic polyimides are obtained by blending semi-crystalline polyimide powders with polyamic acid solutions to form slurries, which are used in turn to prepare prepregs, the consolidation of which into finished composites is characterized by excellent melt flow during processing.
The minimal residual method is studied combined with polynomial preconditioning for solving large linear systems (Ax = b) with indefinite Hermitian coefficient matrices (A). The standard approach for choosing the polynomial preconditioners leads to preconditioned systems which are positive definite. Here, a different strategy is studied which leaves the preconditioned coefficient matrix indefinite. More precisely, the polynomial preconditioner is designed to cluster the positive, resp. negative eigenvalues of A around 1, resp. around some negative constant. In particular, it is shown that such indefinite polynomial preconditioners can be obtained as the optimal solutions of a certain two parameter family of Chebyshev approximation problems. Some basic results are established for these approximation problems and a Remez type algorithm is sketched for their numerical solution. The problem of selecting the parameters such that the resulting indefinite polynomial preconditioners speeds up the convergence of minimal residual method optimally is also addressed. An approach is proposed based on the concept of asymptotic convergence factors. Finally, some numerical examples of indefinite polynomial preconditioners are given.
The nonsymmetric Lanczos method can be used to compute eigenvalues of large sparse non-Hermitian matrices or to solve large sparse non-Hermitian linear systems. However, the original Lanczos algorithm is susceptible to possible breakdowns and potential instabilities. An implementation is presented of a look-ahead version of the Lanczos algorithm that, except for the very special situation of an incurable breakdown, overcomes these problems by skipping over those steps in which a breakdown or near-breakdown would occur in the standard process. The proposed algorithm can handle look-ahead steps of any length and requires the same number of matrix-vector products and inner products as the standard Lanczos process without look-ahead.
A new algorithm is proposed for parallel generation and assembly of the finite element stiffness and mass matrices. The proposed assembly algorithm is based on a node-by-node approach rather than the more conventional element-by-element approach. The new algorithm's generality and computation speed-up when using multiple processors are demonstrated for several practical applications on multi-processor Cray Y-MP and Cray 2 supercomputers.
Accurate estimates of the mass, stiffness, and damping characteristics of a structure is necessary for determining the control laws best suited for active control methodologies. There are several modal identification techniques available for determining the frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes of a structure. However, modal identification methods in both the frequency and time domains have difficulties for certain circumstances. Frequency domain techniques which utilize the steady-state response from various harmonic inputs often encounter difficulties when the frequencies are closely distributed, the structure exhibits a high degree of damping, or the steady-state condition is hard to establish. Time domain techniques have produced successful results, but lack robustness with respect to measurement noise. In this paper, two identification techniques and an estimation method are combined to form a time-domain technique to accurately identify the mass, stiffness, and damping matrices from noisy measurements.
The nonsymmetric Lanczos method can be used to compute eigenvalues of large sparse non-Hermitian matrices or to solve large sparse non-Hermitian linear systems. However, the original Lanczos algorithm is susceptible to possible breakdowns and potential instabilities. We present an implementation of a look-ahead version of the Lanczos algorithm which overcomes these problems by skipping over those steps in which a breakdown or near-breakdown would occur in the standard process. The proposed algorithm can handle look-ahead steps of any length and is not restricted to steps of length 2, as earlier implementations are. Also, our implementation has the feature that it requires roughly the same number of inner products as the standard Lanczos process without look-ahead.
A global algorithm for transforming rotation matrices to Euler parameters is presented. Although it has no apparent computational or numerical advantage over the known algorithms, it elucidates the relationship between the rotation matrix form and the Euler parameter form. It employs the singular-value decomposition, a numerically ideal algorithm involving orthogonal transformations. Attitude parameterization is reviewed and an analytical framework is provided.
A new technique of numerical quadrature especially suited for p-version finite element matrices is presented. This new technique separates the integrand into two parts, and numerically operates on each part separately. The objective of this scheme is to minimize the computational cost of integrating the entire element matrix as opposed to minimizing the cost of integrating a single function. The efficiency of the new technique is compared with Gaussian quadrature and found to take a small fraction of the computational effort.
This presentation describes how a vision model incorporating contrast sensitivity, contrast masking, and light adaptation is used to design visually optimal quantization matrices for Discrete Cosine Transform image compression. The Discrete Cosine Transform (DCT) underlies several image compression standards (JPEG, MPEG, H.261). The DCT is applied to 8x8 pixel blocks, and the resulting coefficients are quantized by division and rounding. The 8x8 'quantization matrix' of divisors determines the visual quality of the reconstructed image; the design of this matrix is left to the user. Since each DCT coefficient corresponds to a particular spatial frequency in a particular image region, each quantization error consists of a local increment or decrement in a particular frequency. After adjustments for contrast sensitivity, local light adaptation, and local contrast masking, this coefficient error can be converted to a just-noticeable-difference (jnd). The jnd's for different frequencies and image blocks can be pooled to yield a global perceptual error metric. With this metric, we can compute for each image the quantization matrix that minimizes the bit-rate for a given perceptual error, or perceptual error for a given bit-rate. Implementation of this system demonstrates its advantages over existing techniques. A unique feature of this scheme is that the quantization matrix is optimized for each individual image. This is compatible with the JPEG standard, which requires transmission of the quantization matrix.
The morphology, classification, and chemistry of the matrices of carbonaceous chondrite (CC) meteorites is reviewed based on recent research results. The various kinds of CCs are examined in terms of their matrix mineralogy. Alteration processes in CCs are discussed.
The problem of computing a small vertex separator in a graph arises in the context of computing a good ordering for the parallel factorization of sparse, symmetric matrices. An algebraic approach for computing vertex separators is considered in this paper. It is shown that lower bounds on separator sizes can be obtained in terms of the eigenvalues of the Laplacian matrix associated with a graph. The Laplacian eigenvectors of grid graphs can be computed from Kronecker products involving the eigenvectors of path graphs, and these eigenvectors can be used to compute good separators in grid graphs. A heuristic algorithm is designed to compute a vertex separator in a general graph by first computing an edge separator in the graph from an eigenvector of the Laplacian matrix, and then using a maximum matching in a subgraph to compute the vertex separator. Results on the quality of the separators computed by the spectral algorithm are presented, and these are compared with separators obtained from other algorithms for computing separators. Finally, the time required to compute the Laplacian eigenvector is reported, and the accuracy with which the eigenvector must be computed to obtain good separators is considered. The spectral algorithm has the advantage that it can be implemented on a medium-size multiprocessor in a straightforward manner.
The complex of formaldehyde with carbon dioxide has been studied by infrared spectroscopy in argon and nitrogen matrices. The shifts relative to the free species show that the complex is weak and similar in argon and nitrogen. The results give evidence for T-shaped complexes, which are isolated in several configurations. Some evidence is also presented which indicates that, in addition to the two well-known sites in argon, carbon dioxide can be trapped in a third site.
The fluorescence and fluorescence excitation spectra of the perylene cation isolated in neon and argon matrices are reported. This is the first report of the fluorescence spectrum of a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon ion in any phase.
This report discusses some analytical procedures to enhance the real time solutions of PMARC matrices applicable to the Wall Interference Correction Scheme (WICS) currently being implemented at the 12 foot Pressure Tunell. WICS calculations involve solving large linear systems in a reasonably speedy manner necessitating exploring further improvement in solution time. This paper therefore presents some of the associated theory of the solution of linear systems. Then it discusses a geometrical interpretation of the residual correction schemes. Finally, some results of the current investigation are presented.
This report discusses some analytical procedures to enhance the real time solutions of PMARC matrices applicable to the Wall Interference Correction Scheme (WICS) currently being implemented at the 12 foot Pressure Tunnel. WICS calculations involve solving large linear systems in a reasonably speedy manner necessitating exploring further improvement in solution time. This paper therefore presents some of the associated theory of the solution of linear systems. Then it discusses a geometrical interpretation of the residual correction schemes. Finally some results of the current investigation are presented.
We present a systematic discussion of algorithms to multiply a vector by a matrix expressed as the Kronecker product of sparse matrices, extending previous work in a unified notational framework. Then, we use our results to define new algorithms for the solution of large structured Markov models. In addition to a comprehensive overview of existing approaches, we give new results with respect to: (1) managing certain types of state-dependent behavior without incurring extra cost; (2) supporting both Jacobi-style and Gauss-Seidel-style methods by appropriate multiplication algorithms; (3) speeding up algorithms that consider probability vectors of size equal to the "actual" state space instead of the "potential" state space.
Vibrating systems with singular mass-inertia matrices arise in recent continuum models of Smart Structures (beams with PZT strips) in assessing the damping attainable with rate feedback. While they do not quite yield 'distributed' controls, we show that they can provide a fixed nonzero lower bound for the damping coefficient at all mode frequencies. The mathematical machinery for modelling the motion involves the theory of Semigroups of Operators. We consider a Timoshenko model for torsion only, a 'smart string,' where the damping coefficient turns out to be a constant at all frequencies. We also observe that the damping increases initially with the feedback gain but decreases to zero eventually as the gain increases without limit.
The objective of this project was the experimentation to measure preparation of iron nanophases within polymeric matrices via supercritical fluid infusion of iron precursors followed by thermal reduction. Another objective was to determine if supercritical CO2 could infuse into the polymer. The experiment is described along with the materials, and the supercritical fluid infusion and cure procedures. X-ray photoelectron spectra and transmission electron micrographs were obtained. The results are summarized in charts, and tables.