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.
Low speed wind tunnel testing of high aspect ratio variable sweep wing supersonic transport model for determining methods of reducing pitch-up tendency
Monte Carlo solution of rarefied gas heat transfer problems
A hybrid method has been developed for the numerical prediction of turbulent mixing in a spatially-developing, free shear layer. Most significantly, the computation incorporates the effects of large-scale structures, Schmidt number and Reynolds number on mixing, which have been overlooked in the past. In flow field prediction, large-eddy simulation was conducted by a modified 2-D vortex method with subgrid-scale modeling. The predicted mean velocities, shear layer growth rates, Reynolds stresses, and the RMS of longitudinal velocity fluctuations were found to be in good agreement with experiments, although the lateral velocity fluctuations were overpredicted. In scalar transport, the Monte Carlo method was extended to the simulation of the time-dependent pdf transport equation. For the first time, the mixing frequency in Curl's coalescence/dispersion model was estimated by using Broadwell and Breidenthal's theory of micromixing, which involves Schmidt number, Reynolds number and the local vorticity. Numerical tests were performed for a gaseous case and an aqueous case. Evidence that pure freestream fluids are entrained into the layer by large-scale motions was found in the predicted pdf. Mean concentration profiles were found to be insensitive to Schmidt number, while the unmixedness was higher for higher Schmidt number. Applications were made to mixing layers with isothermal, fast reactions. The predicted difference in product thickness of the two cases was in reasonable quantitative agreement with experimental measurements.
Two- and three-dimensional computational methods were used to design a wing for a transonic corporate transport that had significant runs of laminar flow on both upper and lower wing surfaces at the cruise condition. The airfoil was derived from a low-speed laminar-flow section. The contour was systematically modified based on results from a two-dimensional transonic code to give favorable pressure gradients to 50-percent chord on the upper surface and 65-percent chord on the lower surface. Three-dimensional transonic codes were used to determine the wing twist and to evaluate the aerodynamic characteristics of the complete configuration at various flight conditions. A leading-edge modification for improved stall characteristics was also designed. The theoretical pressure distributions for the final airfoil correlated well with results from wind-tunnel tests.
Topics covered include: Model Checking - My 27-Year Quest to Overcome the State Explosion Problem; Applying Formal Methods to NASA Projects: Transition from Research to Practice; TLA+: Whence, Wherefore, and Whither; Formal Methods Applications in Air Transportation; Theorem Proving in Intel Hardware Design; Building a Formal Model of a Human-Interactive System: Insights into the Integration of Formal Methods and Human Factors Engineering; Model Checking for Autonomic Systems Specified with ASSL; A Game-Theoretic Approach to Branching Time Abstract-Check-Refine Process; Software Model Checking Without Source Code; Generalized Abstract Symbolic Summaries; A Comparative Study of Randomized Constraint Solvers for Random-Symbolic Testing; Component-Oriented Behavior Extraction for Autonomic System Design; Automated Verification of Design Patterns with LePUS3; A Module Language for Typing by Contracts; From Goal-Oriented Requirements to Event-B Specifications; Introduction of Virtualization Technology to Multi-Process Model Checking; Comparing Techniques for Certified Static Analysis; Towards a Framework for Generating Tests to Satisfy Complex Code Coverage in Java Pathfinder; jFuzz: A Concolic Whitebox Fuzzer for Java; Machine-Checkable Timed CSP; Stochastic Formal Correctness of Numerical Algorithms; Deductive Verification of Cryptographic Software; Coloured Petri Net Refinement Specification and Correctness Proof with Coq; Modeling Guidelines for Code Generation in the Railway Signaling Context; Tactical Synthesis Of Efficient Global Search Algorithms; Towards Co-Engineering Communicating Autonomous Cyber-Physical Systems; and Formal Methods for Automated Diagnosis of Autosub 6000.
A set of programs for unstructured mesh construction, fluid flow calculation and flow field visualization in two and three dimensions is described. The grid generators are based on the advancing front concept. The flow solvers use the finite element methods with Flux Corrected Transport techniques to solve several sets of equations including the Euler and Burger's equations. Several examples show the flexibility and accuracy of the methods.
We present preliminary results from a model that diffusively accelerates particles at multiple shocks. Our basic approach is related to box models (Protheroe and Stanev, 1998; Moraal and Axford, 1983; Ball and Kirk, 1992; Drury et al., 1999) in which a distribution of particles is diffusively accelerated inside the box while simultaneously experiencing decompression through adiabatic expansion and losses from the convection and diffusion of particles outside the box (Melrose and Pope, 1993; Zank et al., 2000). We adiabatically decompress the accelerated particle distribution between each shock by either the method explored in Melrose and Pope (1993) and Pope and Melrose (1994) or by the approach set forth in Zank et al. (2000) where we solve the transport equation by a method analogous to operator splitting. The second method incorporates the additional loss terms of convection and diffusion and allows for the use of a variable time between shocks. We use a maximum injection energy (Emax) appropriate for quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular shocks (Zank et al., 2000, 2006; Dosch and Shalchi, 2010) and provide a preliminary application of the diffusive acceleration of particles by multiple shocks with frequencies appropriate for solar maximum (i.e., a non-Markovian process).
Successful forecasting of energetic particle events in space weather models require algorithms for correctly predicting the spectrum of ions accelerated from a background population of charged particles. We present preliminary results from a model that diffusively accelerates particles at multiple shocks. Our basic approach is related to box models in which a distribution of particles is diffusively accelerated inside the box while simultaneously experiencing decompression through adiabatic expansion and losses from the convection and diffusion of particles outside the box. We adiabatically decompress the accelerated particle distribution between each shock by either the method explored in Melrose and Pope (1993) and Pope and Melrose (1994) or by the approach set forth in Zank et al. (2000) where we solve the transport equation by a method analogous to operator splitting. The second method incorporates the additional loss terms of convection and diffusion and allows for the use of a variable time between shocks. We use a maximum injection energy (E(sub max)) appropriate for quasi-parallel and quasi-perpendicular shocks and provide a preliminary application of the diffusive acceleration of particles by multiple shocks with frequencies appropriate for solar maximum (i.e., a non-Markovian process).
Supersonic transport program - general purpose airborne simulator
The energies for the interaction of a hydrogen atom with a nitrogen molecule have been calculated for large separation distances using a complete-active-space self-consistent-field/externally contracted configuration interaction method. H-N2 transport cross sections and collision integrals have been calculated using sudden approximations and a semiclassical description of the scattering. The values of these quantities are found to be close to the corresponding values determined from the average (isotropic) potential energy. The collision integrals are applied to determine diffusion and viscosity coefficients; the theoretical diffusion agrees well with the measured data available from experiments at low temperatures.
The three-dimensional transonic Euler method with boundary layer interaction is used to study the flow about a transport aircraft equipped with NASA-developed compression pylons. The results show that the present pylons perform well under the installed conditions, reducing the wing/pylon junction velocities and thus reducing the installed loft loss and drag. The predicted theoretical results are found to agree moderately well with experimental wind tunnel results.
During the cruise segment of the flight mission, aircraft flying at supersonic speeds generate sonic booms that are usually maximum at the beginning of cruise. The pressure signature with the shocks causing these perceived booms can be predicted if the aircraft's geometry, Mach number, altitude, angle of attack, and cruise weight are known. Most methods for estimating aircraft weight, especially beginning-cruise weight, are empirical and based on least- square-fit equations that best represent a body of component weight data. The empirical method discussed in this report used simplified weight equations based on a study of performance and weight data from conceptual and real transport aircraft. Like other weight-estimation methods, weights were determined at several points in the mission. While these additional weights were found to be useful, it is the determination of beginning-cruise weight that is most important for the prediction of the aircraft's sonic-boom characteristics.
The unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are formulated in terms of vorticity and stream function in generalized curvilinear orthogonal coordinates to facilitiate analysis of flow configurations with general geometries. The numerical method developed solves the conservative form of the transport equation using the alternating-direction implicit method, whereas the stream-function equation is solved by direct block Gaussian elimination. The method is applied to a model problem of flow over a back-step in a doubly infinite channel, using clustered conformal coordinates. One-dimensional stretching functions, dependent on the Reynolds number and the asymptotic behavior of the flow, are used to provide suitable grid distribution in the separation and reattachment regions, as well as in the inflow and outflow regions. The optimum grid distribution selected attempts to honor the multiple length scales of the separated-flow model problem. The asymptotic behavior of the finite-differenced transport equation near infinity is examined and the numerical method is carefully developed so as to lead to spatially second-order accurate wiggle-free solutions, i.e., with minimum dispersive error. Results have been obtained in the entire laminar range for the backstep channel and are in good agreement with the available experimental data for this flow problem.
A multidisciplinary optimization (MDO) method has been developed to design a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based low-boom configuration that can be obtained from a Pareto solution of a low-fidelity multiobjective MDO problem with mission constraints. This paper refines the developed MDO method using multifidelity models for CFD-based multiobjective MDO. The refined MDO method can generate a low-boom configuration that satisfies the mission requirements, has the lowest takeoff gross weight and the longest range for the low-boom mission, trims the low-boom cruise flight with fuel redistributions, and has a reversed equivalent area distribution closely matching a low-boom target with ground noise level below 70 PLdB. The validity of the refined MDO method is demonstrated by a design study of a low-boom supersonic transport that carries 40 passengers, flies a low-boom mission with cruise Mach of 1.7 and range of 3500 nm, and cruises overwater at Mach 1.8 with range of 3882 nm. Moreover, the refined MDO method eliminates the difference between the assumed cruise weight for CFD-based low-boom inverse design optimization and the estimated cruise weight of the optimal inverse design solution with respect to the mission requirements.
The main objective of the research program is twofold: (1) to develop a computer code to solve the problem of scattering, absorption and emission of photons by dust grains in a dusty medium with 2 dimensional disk geometry, and (2) to study the various physical and geometrical effects of 2 dimensional radiation transport on the thermal structure and radiation field. These tasks were accomplished and are briefly summarized. The method for solving the radiation transport problem in disk geometry is a generalization of the quasi-diffusion method (QDM) previously developed by the author.
Evacuation areas for accidental spills of toxic propellants along rail and highway shipping routes are defined to help local authorities reduce risks to people from excessive vapor concentrations. These criteria along with other emergency information are shown in propellant spill cards. The evacuation areas are based on current best estimates of propellant evaporation rates from various areas of spill puddles. These rates are used together with a continuous point-source, bi-normal model of plume dispersion. The rate at which the toxic plume disperses is based on a neutral atmospheric condition. This condition, which results in slow plume dispersion, represents the widest range of weather parameters which could occur during the day and nighttime periods. Evacuation areas are defined by the ground level boundaries of the plume within which the concentrations exceed the toxic Threshold Limit Value (TLV) or in some cases the Emergency Exposure Limit (EEL).
The problems of transporting nuclear power plant components to landlocked sites where the usual mode of transport by barge cannot be used are considered. Existing methods of ground-based overland transport are discussed and their costs presented. Components are described and traffic density projections made to the year 2000. Plots of units transported versus distance transported are provided for units booked in 1973 and booked and proposed in 1974. It is shown that, for these cases, overland transport requirements for the industry will be over 5,000,000 ton-miles/year while a projection based on increasing energy demands shows that this figure will increase significantly by the year 2000. The payload size, distances, and costs of existing overland modes are significant enough to consider development of a lighter than air (LTA) mode for transporting NSSS components.
Explore the source record for details and available documents.