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At least 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Instabilities in line-driven stellar winds. I - Dependence on perturbation wavelength

An analytical study is presented of the stability of absorption line-driven flows, such as found in stellar winds, in the presence of small-amplitude disturbances. A generalized calculation of the perturbed direct extinction force is performed and the evolution of the perturbation into the nonlinear regime and the dynamical results of perturbation in the scattered radiation field are examined. An expression is derived for the wavenumber variation of the perturbed line force from the milieu of nonoverlapping lines which have a power-law distribution in opacity. A linear dispersion analysis is carried out to model the growth and propagation of radiative-acoustic waves in absorption line-driven flows, which are found unstable to perturbations that may be smaller than the Sobolev length. No damping mechanism was found that would eliminate the absorption line-driven flows.

Owocki, S. P.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Determination of cloud microphysical properties by laser backscattering and extinction measurements

The extinction and backscattering of 514 nm laser radiation in polydisperse water droplet clouds was studied in the laboratory. Three cloud size distributions with modal diameters of 0.02, 5.0, and 12.0 microns were investigated. The relationships between the cloud optical parameters (attentuation coefficient, sigma and volume backscattering coefficient, Beta (sub pi)) and the cloud water content, C, were measured for each size distribution. It was found that a linear relationship exists between sigma and C and between beta (sub pi) and C for cloud water content values up to 3gm/cubic m. The linear relationships obtained, however, have slopes which depend on the droplet size distribution. For a given water content both sigma and beta (sub pi) increase as the modal diameter decreases. The measured data are compared with existing theoretical analyses and discussed in terms of thie application to lidar measurements of atmospheric clouds. It is concluded that the empirical information obtained can serve as a basis for quantitative lidar measurements.

Dubinsky, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Mass flow meter using the triboelectric effect for measurement in cryogenics

The use of triboelectric charge to measure the mass flow rate of cryogens for the Space Shuttle Main Engine was investigated. Cross correlation of the triboelectric charge signals was used to determine the transit time of the cryogen between two sensor locations in a .75-in tube. The ring electrode sensors were mounted in a removable spool piece. Three spool pieces were constructed for delivery, each with a different design. One set of electronics for implementation of the cross correlation and flow calculation was constructed for delivery. Tests were made using a laboratory flow loop using liquid freon and transformer oil. The measured flow precision was 1 percent and the response was linear. The natural frequency distribution of the triboelectric signal was approximately 1/f. The sensor electrodes should have an axial length less than approximately one/tenth pipe diameter. The electrode spacing should be less than approximately one pipe diameter. Tests using liquid nitrogen demonstrated poor tribo-signal to noise ratio. Most of the noise was microphonic and common to both electrode systems. The common noise rejection facility of the correlator was successful in compensating for this noise but the signal was too small to enable reliable demonstration of the technique in liquid nitrogen.

Bernatowicz, Henry↗
NASA NTRS1992

Towards a wave theory of charged beam transport: A collection of thoughts

We formulate in a rigorous way a wave theory of charged beam linear transport. The Wigner distribution function is introduced and provides the link with classical mechanics. Finally, the von Neumann equation is shown to coincide with the Liouville equation for the nonlinear transport.

Dattoli, G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A study of the generation of linear energy transfer spectra for space radiations

The conversion of particle-energy spectra into a linear energy transfer (LET) distribution is a guide in assessing biologically significant components. The mapping of LET to energy is triple valued and can be defined only on open subintervals. A well-defined numerical procedure is found to allow generation of LET spectra on the open subintervals that are integrable in spite of their singular nature.

Wilson, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Polarization correction for ionization loss in a galactic cosmic ray transport code (HZETRN)

An approximate polarization correction for ionization loss suggested by Sternheimer has been implemented in the galactic cosmic ray transport code (HZETRN) developed at the Langley Research Center. Sample calculations made for the aluminum shield and liquid hydrogen shield show no more than a plus or minus 2 percent change in the linear energy transfer (LET) distribution for flux compared with those without polarization correction. This very small change is expected because the effect of polarization correction on the reduction in stopping power of ions with energies above 2 GeV/amu is suppressed by the decrease in galactic cosmic ray ion flux at such high energies.

Shinn, Judy L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Nonperturbative methods in HZE ion transport

A nonperturbative analytic solution of the high charge and energy (HZE) Green's function is used to implement a computer code for laboratory ion beam transport. The code is established to operate on the Langley Research Center nuclear fragmentation model used in engineering applications. Computational procedures are established to generate linear energy transfer (LET) distributions for a specified ion beam and target for comparison with experimental measurements. The code is highly efficient and compares well with the perturbation approximations.

Wilson, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Approximate Green's function methods for HZE transport in multilayered materials

A nonperturbative analytic solution of the high charge and energy (HZE) Green's function is used to implement a computer code for laboratory ion beam transport in multilayered materials. The code is established to operate on the Langley nuclear fragmentation model used in engineering applications. Computational procedures are established to generate linear energy transfer (LET) distributions for a specified ion beam and target for comparison with experimental measurements. The code was found to be highly efficient and compared well with the perturbation approximation.

Wilson, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

LET spectra of fragmented 600-MeV/A iron beam on aluminum and polyethylene: A preliminary analysis

An iron beam experiment recently conducted at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Bevalac by Benton et al. provides an opportunity for verifying the new Green's function computer code (GRNTRN) and assessing the related nuclear database. The iron beam with 600 MeV/A at extraction traversed a series of beam transport elements, lead foil, and several triggering devices before impacting the target. Of these, only the 2.24 g/sq cm lead foil and target are considered in the transport analysis with an assumed (inferred from calibration) beam energy of 557 MeV/A. A thin layer of CR-39 plastic nuclear track detector (PNTD) was placed in front of the target to monitor the incident flux and a stack of four PNTD's placed behind to measure the linear energy transfer (LET) distribution of the transported beam. Test data are analyzed for three separate targets: 2 g/sq cm aluminum, 5-cm polyethylene, and 8-cm polyethylene. The two-layer GRNTRN results were mapped into the detector response function for comparison with the measured LET spectra. Reasonable agreement is obtained. Future research and analysis can be improved by using a more accurate isotope set or including other important media which significantly alter the beam. The assumption that the fragmentation cross sections are too small for aluminum is inconclusive because the production of fragments by 2 g/sq cm aluminum can be more significantly affected by the fragment contribution originating from the media in front of the target than that currently considered in the analysis.

Shinn, Judy L.↗
NASA NTRS1995

HZE beam transport in multilayered materials

A nonperturbative analytic solution of the high charge and energy (HZE) Green's function is used to implement a computer code for laboratory ion beam transport in multiple-layered materials. The code is established to operate on the Langley nuclear fragmentation model used in space engineering applications. Computational procedures are established to generate linear energy transfer (LET) distributions for a specified ion beam and target for comparison with experimental measurement. Comparison with Fe-56 ion with Pb-Al and Pb-(CH2)(x) targets shows reasonable agreement.

Shinn, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Active Sonic Boom Control

A theory and simulation code are developed to study nonsteady sources as means to control sonic booms of supersonic aircraft. A key result is that the source of sonic boom pressure is not confined to the length of the aircraft but occupies an extensive segment of flight path. An aircraft in nonsteady flight functions as a synthetic aperture antenna, generating complex acoustic waves with no simple relation to instantaneous volume or lift distributions. The theory applies linear acoustics to slender nonsteady sources but requires no far field approximation. The solution for pressure contains a term not seen in Whitham's theory for sonic booms of distant supersonic aircraft. The term describes a pressure field that decays algebraically behind the Mach cone and, in the case of steady flight, integrates to a ground load equal to the weight of the aircraft. The algebraic term is separate from those that describe the sonic boom. Two nonsteady source phenomena are evaluated: periodic velocity changes (surge), and periodic longitudinal lift redistribution (slosh). Surge can attenuate a sonic boom and convert it into prolonged weak reverberation, but accelerations needed to produce the phenomenon seem too large for practical use. Slosh may be practical and can alter sonic booms but does not, on the average, result in boom attenuation. The conclusion is that active sonic boom abatement is possible in theory but maybe not practical

Crow, Steven C.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Land Surface Temperature Measurements from EOS MODIS Data

We made modifications to the linear kernel bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) models from Roujean et al. and Wanner et al. that extend the spectral range into the thermal infrared (TIR). With these TIR BRDF models and the IGBP land-cover product, we developed a classification-based emissivity database for the EOS/MODIS land-surface temperature (LST) algorithm and used it in version V2.0 of the MODIS LST code. Two V2.0 LST codes have been delivered to the MODIS SDST, one for the daily L2 and L3 LST products, and another for the 8-day 1km L3 LST product. New TIR thermometers (broadband radiometer with a filter in the 10-13 micron window) and an IR camera have been purchased in order to reduce the uncertainty in LST field measurements due to the temporal and spatial variations in LST. New improvements have been made to the existing TIR spectrometer in order to increase its accuracy to 0.2 C that will be required in the vicarious calibration of the MODIS TIR bands.

Wan, Zhengming↗
NASA NTRS2005

Numerical Study of the Generation of Linear Energy Transfer Spectra for Space Radiation Applications

In analyzing charged particle spectra in space due to galactic cosmic rays (GCR) and solar particle events (SPE), the conversion of particle energy spectra into linear energy transfer (LET) distributions is a convenient guide in assessing biologically significant components of these spectra. The mapping of LET to energy is triple valued and can be defined only on open energy subintervals where the derivative of LET with respect to energy is not zero. Presented here is a well-defined numerical procedure which allows for the generation of LET spectra on the open energy subintervals that are integrable in spite of their singular nature. The efficiency and accuracy of the numerical procedures is demonstrated by providing examples of computed differential and integral LET spectra and their equilibrium components for historically large SPEs and 1977 solar minimum GCR environments. Due to the biological significance of tissue, all simulations are done with tissue as the target material.

Badavi, Francis F.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Guidance and Control System for a Satellite Constellation

A distributed guidance and control algorithm was developed for a constellation of satellites. The system repositions satellites as required, regulates satellites to desired orbits, and prevents collisions. 1. Optimal methods are used to compute nominal transfers from orbit to orbit. 2. Satellites are regulated to maintain the desired orbits once the transfers are complete. 3. A simulator is used to predict potential collisions or near-misses. 4. Each satellite computes perturbations to its controls so as to increase any unacceptable distances of nearest approach to other objects. a. The avoidance problem is recast in a distributed and locally-linear form to arrive at a tractable solution. b. Plant matrix values are approximated via simulation at each time step. c. The Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) method is used to compute perturbations to the controls that will result in increased miss distances. 5. Once all danger is passed, the satellites return to their original orbits, all the while avoiding each other as above. 6. The delta-Vs are reasonable. The controller begins maneuvers as soon as practical to minimize delta-V. 7. Despite the inclusion of trajectory simulations within the control loop, the algorithm is sufficiently fast for available satellite computer hardware. 8. The required measurement accuracies are within the capabilities of modern inertial measurement devices and modern positioning devices.

Bryson, Jonathan Lamar↗
NASA NTRS2010

Multiple Velocity Profile Measurements in Hypersonic Flows Using Sequentially-Imaged Fluorescence Tagging

Nitric-oxide planar laser-induced fluorescence (NO PLIF) was used to perform velocity measurements in hypersonic flows by generating multiple tagged lines which fluoresce as they convect downstream. For each laser pulse, a single interline, progressive scan intensified CCD (charge-coupled device) camera was used to obtain two sequential images of the NO molecules that had been tagged by the laser. The CCD configuration allowed for sub-microsecond acquisition of both images, resulting in sub-microsecond temporal resolution as well as sub-mm spatial resolution (0.5-mm horizontal, 0.7-mm vertical). Determination of axial velocity was made by application of a cross-correlation analysis of the horizontal shift of individual tagged lines. A numerical study of measured velocity error due to a uniform and linearly-varying collisional rate distribution was performed. Quantification of systematic errors, the contribution of gating/exposure duration errors, and the influence of collision rate on temporal uncertainty were made. Quantification of the spatial uncertainty depended upon the signal-to-noise ratio of the acquired profiles. This velocity measurement technique has been demonstrated for two hypersonic flow experiments: (1) a reaction control system (RCS) jet on an Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) wind tunnel model and (2) a 10-degree half-angle wedge containing a 2-mm tall, 4-mm wide cylindrical boundary layer trip. The experiments were performed at the NASA Langley Research Center's 31-Inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel.

Bathel, Brett F.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Factorization and the synthesis of optimal feedback gains for distributed parameter systems

An approach based on Volterra factorization leads to a new methodology for the analysis and synthesis of the optimal feedback gain in the finite-time linear quadratic control problem for distributed parameter systems. The approach circumvents the need for solving and analyzing Riccati equations and provides a more transparent connection between the system dynamics and the optimal gain. The general results are further extended and specialized for the case where the underlying state is characterized by autonomous differential-delay dynamics. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the second-order convergence rate that is derived for an approximation scheme for the optimal feedback gain in the differential-delay problem.

Milman, Mark H.↗