Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “extreme wave”

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.

At least 307 records · Page 17

Department of Energy’s Atmospheric System Research (ASR) Program’s Workshop on the Future of Atmospheric Large Eddy Simulation (LES) (Workshop Report)

Large-eddy simulation (LES) is used as a tool to understand physical processes such as turbulence, aerosols, clouds, precipitation, radiation, the interactions among all these, and their interactions with the underlying surface. Over the next 10 years, LES will drive fundamental progress in open scientific questions in these areas as LES is increasingly used to gain understanding of complex interacting physical processes involving atmospheric turbulence. This growth will be driven both by scientific demand and the expansion of computational resources needed to conduct LES, and the form that the growth takes will largely be determined by how computational resources are leveraged for scientific gain. In particular, we suggest that computational resources are likely to be leveraged in two separate but not necessarily distinct ways. On one hand, growth in computational resources will allow LES to be made more routine, that is, performed more frequently, while on the other hand, the computational expense (measured in total floating point operations) afforded to individual LES will expand dramatically, allowing simulations to increase in both domain size and resolution as well as physical detail. Current U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) projects such as LES ARM Symbiotic Simulation and Observation Activity (LASSO) are leading the way in conducting routine LES, building large, public databases that are accessible for data science, sensitivity studies, and training for machine learning. LES will also become more routine as it becomes more accessible for individual researchers to address their scientific questions of interest. Scientific questions addressed by LES over the next 10 years are likely to include cloud organization and aggregation; aerosol cloud interactions and atmospheric chemistry (including geo-engineering); urban-scale LES; atmospheric extreme events, ranging from small-scale severe weather to wildfires; and ocean-wave-atmosphere interactions. Further LES-related research will likely grow significantly in areas related to societal impact studies of air quality and extreme weather events, applications to renewable energy forecasting and resource assessment, and aid in decision-making processes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

The Coupling of an EUV Coronal Wave and Ion Acceleration in a Fermi-LAT Behind-the-Limb Solar Flare

We present the Fermi-LAT observations of the behind-the-limb (BTL) flare of 2021 July 17 and the joint detection of this flare by STIX on board the Solar Orbiter. The separation between Earth and the Solar Orbiter was $99^{\circ}_{\centerdot}2$ at 05:00 UT, allowing STIX to have a front view of the flare. The location of the flare was S20E140 in Stonyhurst heliographic coordinates, making this the most distant behind-the-limb flare ever detected in >100 MeV gamma-rays. The LAT detection lasted for ~16 minutes, the peak flux was 3.6 ± 0.8 (10 –5 ) ph cm –2 s –1 with a significance >15σ. A coronal wave was observed from both STEREO-A and SDO in extreme ultraviolet (EUV), with an onset on the visible disk in coincidence with the LAT onset. A complex type II radio burst was observed by GLOSS also in coincidence with the onset of the LAT emission, indicating the presence of a shock wave. We discuss the relation between the time derivative of the EUV wave intensity profile at 193 Å as observed by STEREO-A and the LAT flux to show that the appearance of the coronal wave at the visible disk and the acceleration of protons as traced by the observed >100 MeV gamma-ray emission are coupled. We also report how this coupling is present in the data from three other BTL flares detected by Fermi-LAT, suggesting that the protons driving the gamma-ray emission of BTL solar flares and the coronal wave share a common origin.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Open-Loop Control of Adjustable Tuned Mass Dampers for Floating Wind Turbine Platforms: Preprint

Floating offshore wind turbines have several advantages over their land-based counterparts, including access to stronger, more consistent winds and proximity to population centers. However, increased costs from the platform have been a challenge inhibiting their widespread adoption. New damping technologies with tunable target frequencies and damping ratios promise a greater degree of control over platform motions, allowing hulls to be designed smaller and reducing the overall cost of the turbines. In this work, a control strategy is proposed for these adjustable tuned mass dampers (TMDs). A frequency-domain model of the system is developed, from which response amplitude operators (RAOs) for the platform's rigid-body modes can be obtained for different natural frequencies and damping ratios of the dampers. Using these RAOs, and JONSWAP spectrums of operational and extreme sea states, the performance of the various damper settings are compared by evaluating the standard deviation of a rigid-body motion of interest (platform pitch or heave). By finding the optimal damper setting for a range of representative design load cases (DLCs), a lookup function is made to return the damper target frequency given the peak period of the sea state. To determine the current sea state, we propose a simple estimator that uses wave measurements (e.g., from a measurement buoy) to determine the peak period and significant wave height. The significant wave height is determined using the statistics of the past 100 seconds of wave elevation information and the peak period is computed using a frequency locked loop. Initial results show that we can use these estimated values to control the TMD natural frequency with an open loop controller. The controlled system is tested in a range of environmental conditions determined by the International Electrotechnical Commission design load cases (DLCs), which include normal and extreme wind and wave models. In these tests, we compare the performance of 4 cases: (1) no TMD, (2) a constant TMD based on the worst case DLC, (3) a controlled TMD based on known wind and wave environments, and (4) a real-time controlled TMD using estimated wind and wave environments. The effect of hull-based TMD control is also compared to changes in traditional wind turbine control via blade pitch.

control↗

The chemical shock tube as a tool for studying high-temperature chemical kinetics

Although the combustion of hydrocarbons is our primary source of energy today, the chemical reactions, or pathway, by which even the simplest hydro-carbon reacts with atmospheric oxygen to form CO2 and water may not always be known. Furthermore, even when the reaction pathway is known, the reaction rates are always under discussion. The shock tube has been an important and unique tool for building a data base of reaction rates important in the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. The ability of a shock wave to bring the gas sample to reaction conditions rapidly and homogeneously makes shock-tube studies of reaction kinetics extremely attractive. In addition to the control and uniformity of reaction conditions achieved with shock-wave methods, shock compression can produce gas temperatures far in excess of those in conventional reactors. Argon can be heated to well over 10 000 K, and temperatures around 5000 K are easily obtained with conventional shock-tube techniques. Experiments have proven the validity of shock-wave theory; thus, reaction temperatures and pressures can be calculated from a measurement of the incident shock velocity. A description is given of the chemical shock tube and auxiliary equipment and of two examples of kinetic experiments conducted in a shock tube.

Brabbs, Theodore A.↗

Autonomous reinforcement learning agents for improving predictions and observations of extreme climate events

Primary Focus Area: This proposal addresses focus area 2, “Predictive modeling through the use of AI techniques.” Science Challenge: Extreme climate events associated with severe weather, coastal and inland flooding, droughts, heat waves and wildfires are expected to increase in frequency and severity in the future. Due to the complexity and chaotic behavior of the climate system, accurately predicting and observing extreme climate events requires a tremendous amount of human intervention to run predictive climate simulations and deploy measurement systems. Extreme events often unfold very quickly, leaving little time to iterate on simulations or re-position instruments. Through reinforcement learning, autonomous AI agents can be designed to make real-time decisions to characterize extreme climate events more efficiently through adaptive models and targeted observations.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

North American Extreme Temperature Events and Related Large Scale Meteorological Patterns: A Review of Statistical Methods, Dynamics, Modeling, and Trends

The objective of this paper is to review statistical methods, dynamics, modeling efforts, and trends related to temperature extremes, with a focus upon extreme events of short duration that affect parts of North America. These events are associated with large scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs). The statistics, dynamics, and modeling sections of this paper are written to be autonomous and so can be read separately. Methods to define extreme events statistics and to identify and connect LSMPs to extreme temperature events are presented. Recent advances in statistical techniques connect LSMPs to extreme temperatures through appropriately defined covariates that supplement more straightforward analyses. Various LSMPs, ranging from synoptic to planetary scale structures, are associated with extreme temperature events. Current knowledge about the synoptics and the dynamical mechanisms leading to the associated LSMPs is incomplete. Systematic studies of: the physics of LSMP life cycles, comprehensive model assessment of LSMP-extreme temperature event linkages, and LSMP properties are needed. Generally, climate models capture observed properties of heat waves and cold air outbreaks with some fidelity. However they overestimate warm wave frequency and underestimate cold air outbreak frequency, and underestimate the collective influence of low-frequency modes on temperature extremes. Modeling studies have identified the impact of large-scale circulation anomalies and landatmosphere interactions on changes in extreme temperatures. However, few studies have examined changes in LSMPs to more specifically understand the role of LSMPs on past and future extreme temperature changes. Even though LSMPs are resolvable by global and regional climate models, they are not necessarily well simulated. The paper concludes with unresolved issues and research questions.

Cold Spells↗

A modified cosmic brane proposal for holographic Renyi entropy

We propose a new formula for computing holographic Renyi entropies in the presence of multiple extremal surfaces. Our proposal is based on computing the wave function in the basis of fixed-area states and assuming a diagonal approximation for the Renyi entropy. For Renyi index n ≥ 1, our proposal agrees with the existing cosmic brane proposal for holographic Renyi entropy. For n < 1, however, our proposal predicts a new phase with leading order (in Newton’s constant G) corrections to the cosmic brane proposal, even far from entanglement phase transitions and when bulk quantum corrections are unimportant. Recast in terms of optimization over fixed-area states, the difference between the two proposals can be understood to come from the order of optimization: for n < 1, the cosmic brane proposal is a minimax prescription whereas our proposal is a maximin prescription. We demonstrate the presence of such leading order corrections using illustrative examples. In particular, our proposal reproduces existing results in the literature for the PSSY model and high-energy eigenstates, providing a universal explanation for previously found leading order corrections to the n < 1 Renyi entropies.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Evaluation of Waveform Profiles for Traveling Wave Ion Mobility Separations in Structures for Lossless Ion Manipulations

Structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM) have recently enabled a powerful implementation of traveling wave ion mobility spectrometry (TWIMS) for ultra-high resolution separations. However, optimization of experimental parameters remains challenging. Most TWIMS separations have utilized square-shaped waveforms applied by time-dependent voltage stepping across a repeating sets of electrodes; however, alternative waveforms may provide further improvements to resolution. In this work, we characterize five waveforms (including square and sine) in terms of their transmission efficiency, IMS resolution, and resolving power, and explore the effects of TW amplitude and speed on the performance of each. We found, consistent with previous work, separations were generally improved with higher TW amplitudes, moderately improved by lower speeds (limited by ion ‘surfing’ with the waves), and found decreases in signal intensity at the extremes of operating conditions. The triangle and asymmetric ‘ramp forward’ shaped profiles were found to provide modestly greater resolution and resolving power, an observation we tentatively attribute to their relatively uniform fields and minimal low-field regions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Fast Seismic Anomalies Under Continents Explained by the Delaminated Lower Continental Crust—Implications From High Pressure‐Temperature Elasticity of Jadeite

Seismic tomography has shown that the shear wave velocities (Vs) under continents, especially under cratons, are extremely fast at 100–200 km depth, which is difficult to explain by low temperatures or high Mg#. Alternatively, delaminated eclogitic lower continental crust has been proposed to account for these fast seismic anomalies. However, the thermoelastic properties of jadeite which constitutes up to 60–80 mol% of clinopyroxene in the potentially delaminated lower continental crust are not well constrained. In this study, we measured the single-crystal elasticity of jadeite by Brillouin spectroscopy under simultaneous high pressure and temperature conditions for the first time. We found that the temperature dependence of Vs of jadeite is extremely small if not negligible. The seismic velocities of the potentially delaminated lower continental crusts were subsequently modeled and found to match the widely observed fast seismic anomalies under cratons between 100 and 200 km depth.

Geology↗

Some aspects of atmosphere waves in realistic atmospheres

Atmospheric tides travelling from the mesosphere into the upper thermosphere are discussed. As a preliminary, an elementary discussion of internal gravity waves is presented. Tides excited by the absorption of extreme ultraviolet radiation within the thermosphere are described also. Theory suggests a much larger semidiurnal oscillation in the thermosphere than is observed.

Lindzen, R. S.↗

Ultraluminous infrared galaxies

The IRAS survey of the local universe has revealed the existence of a class of ultraluminous infrared galaxies with L(8 to 1000 micrometer) greater than 10 to the 12th L sub 0 that are slightly more numerous, and as luminous as optically selected quasars at similar redshift. Optical CCD images of these infrared galaxies show that nearly all are advanced mergers. Millimeter wave CO observations indicate that these interacting systems are extremely rich in molecular gas with total H2 masses 1 to 3 x 10 to the 10th power M sub 0. Nearly all of the ultraluminous infrared galaxies show some evidence in their optical spectra for nonthermal nuclear activity. It is proposed that their infrared luminosity is powered by an embedded active nucleus and a nuclear starburst both of which are fueled by the tremendous reservoir of molecular gas. Once these merger nuclei shed their obscuring dust, allowing the AGN to visually dominate the decaying starburst, they become the optically selected quasars.

Sanders, D. B.↗

X-ray and optical observations of the ultrashort period dwarf nova SW Ursae Majoris - A likely new DQ Herculis star

Time-resolved X-ray and optical photometric and optical spectroscopic observations of the ultrashort period cataclysmic variable SW UMa are reported. The spectroscopic observations reveal the presence of an s-wave component which is almost in phase with the extreme line wings and presumably the white dwarf. This very unusual phasing in conjunction with the available optical and X-ray data seems to indicate that a region of enhanced emission exists on the opposite side of the disk from the expected location of the hot spot. The photometric observations reveal the presence of a hump in the light curve occurring at an orbital phase which is consistent with the phase at which the region of enhanced line emission is most favorably seen. Changes in the hump amplitude are seen from night to night, and a 15.9 min periodicity is evident in the light curve. The optical and X-ray periodicities suggest that SW UMa is a member of the DQ Her class of cataclysmic variables.

Shafter, A. W.↗

Nucleus of Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock (1983 VII)

Optical, radar, infrared, UV, and microwave-continuum observations of Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcok were obtained in May 1983, the week of the comet's close approach to earth. The comet has a nucleus dimension and a rotation period which are similar to those of Comet Halley, but a different morphological signature (a persisting sunward fan-shaped coma). Time variations are noted in the projected nucleus cross section. Results suggest significant limb-darkening effects in the relevant domains of radio waves, and that the comet's interior must be extremely cold. It is found that the thermal-infrared fluxes from the inner coma of the comet are dominated by the nucleus.

Sekanina, Z.↗

OVERFLOW Validation for Predicting Plume Impingement of Underexpanded Axisymmetric Jets onto Angled Flat Plates

This report documents how OVERFLOW, a computational fluid dynamics code, predicts plume impingement of underexpanded axisymmetric jets onto both perpendicular and inclined flat plates. The effects of the plume impinging on a range of plate inclinations varying from 90deg to 30deg are investigated and compared to the experimental results in Reference 1 and 2. The flow fields are extremely complex due to the interaction between the shock waves from the free jet and those deflected by the plate. Additionally, complex mixing effects create very intricate structures in the flow. The experimental data is very limited, so these validation studies will focus only on cold plume impingement on flat and inclined plates. This validation study will help quantify the error in the OVERFLOW simulation when applied to stage separation scenarios.

Lee, Henry C.↗

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2013

Topics include: Cloud Absorption Radiometer Autonomous Navigation System - CANS, Software Method for Computed Tomography Cylinder Data Unwrapping, Re-slicing, and Analysis, Discrete Data Qualification System and Method Comprising Noise Series Fault Detection, Simple Laser Communications Terminal for Downlink from Earth Orbit at Rates Exceeding 10 Gb/s, Application Program Interface for the Orion Aerodynamics Database, Hyperspectral Imager-Tracker, Web Application Software for Ground Operations Planning Database (GOPDb) Management, Software Defined Radio with Parallelized Software Architecture, Compact Radar Transceiver with Included Calibration, Software Defined Radio with Parallelized Software Architecture, Phase Change Material Thermal Power Generator, The Thermal Hogan - A Means of Surviving the Lunar Night, Micromachined Active Magnetic Regenerator for Low-Temperature Magnetic Coolers, Nano-Ceramic Coated Plastics, Preparation of a Bimetal Using Mechanical Alloying for Environmental or Industrial Use, Phase Change Material for Temperature Control of Imager or Sounder on GOES Type Satellites in GEO, Dual-Compartment Inflatable Suitlock, Modular Connector Keying Concept, Genesis Ultrapure Water Megasonic Wafer Spin Cleaner, Piezoelectrically Initiated Pyrotechnic Igniter, Folding Elastic Thermal Surface - FETS, Multi-Pass Quadrupole Mass Analyzer, Lunar Sulfur Capture System, Environmental Qualification of a Single-Crystal Silicon Mirror for Spaceflight Use, Planar Superconducting Millimeter-Wave/Terahertz Channelizing Filter, Qualification of UHF Antenna for Extreme Martian Thermal Environments, Ensemble Eclipse: A Process for Prefab Development Environment for the Ensemble Project, ISS Live!, Space Operations Learning Center (SOLC) iPhone/iPad Application, Software to Compare NPP HDF5 Data Files, Planetary Data Systems (PDS) Imaging Node Atlas II, Automatic Calibration of an Airborne Imaging System to an Inertial Navigation Unit, Translating MAPGEN to ASPEN for MER, Support Routines for In Situ Image Processing, and Semi-Supervised Eigenbasis Novelty Detection.

Source record↗

Adiabatic Gravitational Waveform Model for Compact Objects Undergoing Quasi-Circular Inspirals Into Rotating Massive Black Holes

We present bhpwave: a new python-based, open-source tool for generating the gravitational waveforms of stellar-mass compact objects undergoing quasicircular inspirals into rotating massive black holes. These binaries, known as extreme-mass-ratio inspirals (EMRIs), are exciting mHz gravitational wave sources for future space-based detectors such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). Relativistic models of EMRI gravitational wave signals are necessary to unlock the full scientific potential of mHz detectors, yet few open-source EMRI waveform models exist. Thus we built bhpwave, which uses the adiabatic approximation from black hole perturbation theory to rapidly construct gravitational waveforms based on the leading-order inspiral dynamics of the binary. In this work, we present the theoretical and numerical foundations underpinning bhpwave. We also demonstrate how bhpwave can be used to assess the impact of EMRI modeling errors on LISA gravitational wave data analysis. In particular, we find that for retrograde orbits and slowly spinning black holes we can mismodel the gravitational wave phasing by as much as ∼10 radians without significantly biasing EMRI parameter estimation.

Zachary Nasipak↗

Wave and ion evolution downstream of quasi-perpendicular bow shocks

Distribution functions of ions heated in quasi-perpendicular bow shocks have a large perpendicular temperature anisotropy that provides free energy for the growth of Alfven ion cyclotron (AIC) waves and mirror waves. Both types of waves have been observed in the Earth's magnetosheath downstream of quasi-perpendicular shocks. We use a two-dimensional hybrid simulations to give a self-consistent description of the evolution of the wave spectra downstream of quasi-perpendicular shocks. Both mirror and AIC waves are identified in the simulated magnetosheath. They are generated at or near the shock front and convected away from it by the sheath plasma. Near the shock, the waves have a broad spectrum, but downstream of the shock, shorter-wavelength modes are heavily damped and only longer-wavelength modes persist. The characteristics of these surviving modes can be predicted with reasonable accuracy by linear kinetic theory appropriate for downstream conditions. We also follow the evolution of the ion distribution function. The shocked ions that provide the free energy for wave growth have a two-component distribution function. The halo is initially gyrophase-bunched and extremely anisotropic. Within a relatively short distance downstream of the shock (of the order of 10 ion inertial lengths), wave-particle interactions remove these features from the halo and reduce the anisotropy of the distribution to near-threshold levels for the mirror and AIC instabilities. A similar evolution has been observed for ions at the Earth's bow shock.

Mckean, M. E.↗

Smart Adaptive Structures for an Ocean Wave Energy Converter

Ocean wave energy converters face significant challenges including cost-effectiveness, minimizing maintenance requirements, and withstanding extreme conditions. However, by utilizing smart materials, these converters could overcome these challenges. Such energy harvesters could use dielectric elastomer generators to convert ocean wave energy into electricity through their dynamic straining. Conversely, by applying electricity to these generators, they become actuators - dielectric elastomer actuators - thereby enabling them to alter their stiffness and adapt to the ever-changing ocean energy environments. Such active adaptation could enhance the converter's ability to: reach resonance with ocean waves and protect itself from dangerous waves. This study utilizes numerical analyses through the COMSOL software framework to evaluate the potential energy that could be harvested by a conceptual ocean wave energy converter based upon dielectric elastomer generators/actuators. The converter is composed of an external hull (that is a hollow cylinder), an inertial mass (that is a hollow cylinder and concentric with the hull), and 'spokes' - made of dielectric elastomer generators/actuators - that connect the hull to the inertial mass. Results of the numerical analyses include those outcomes arising from the conceptual converter being simulated via a sinusoidal motion analogous to ocean waves. That motion, therefore, causes relative motion between the converter's hull and inertial mass thereby dynamically stretching the corresponding connecting elastomers. The stretching of the elastomers enables them to 'gain elastic strain energy' and is, therefore, considered to be the theoretical limit of possible electrical energy conversion for the dielectric elastomer generator/actuator spokes. Additionally, the elastomer material properties of the spokes were altered to simulate the actuation of those same elastomers; with overall strain energy being subsequently investigated. Ultimately this is a preliminary study exploring the ability of such smart materials - electricity-generating and self-actuating elastomers - to actively adapt an ocean wave energy converter's structure to address and overcome the aforementioned challenges.

active materials↗