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At least 37 records · Page 2

The Stability of Radiatively Cooling Jets. 2: Nonlinear Evolution

We use two-dimensional time-dependent hydrodynamical simulations to follow the growth of the Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability in cooling jets into the nonlinear regime. We focus primarily on asymmetric modes that give rise to transverse displacements of the jet beam. A variety of Mach numbers and two different cooling curves are studied. The growth rates of waves in the linear regime measured from the numerical simulations are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the linear stability analysis presented in the first paper in this series. In the nonlinear regime, the simulations show that asymmetric modes of the K-H instability can affect the structure and evolution of cooling jets in a number of ways. We find that jets in which the growth rate of the sinusoidal surface wave has a maximum at a so-called resonant frequency can be dominated by large-amplitude sinusoidal oscillations near this frequency. Eventually, growth of this wave can disrupt the jet. On the other hand, nonlinear body waves tend to produce low-amplitude wiggles in the shape of the jet but can result in strong shocks in the jet beam. In cooling jets, these shocks can produce dense knots and filaments of cooling gas within the jet. Ripples in the surface of the jet beam caused by both surface and body waves generate oblique shock "spurs" driven into the ambient gas. Our simulations show these shock "spurs" can accelerate ambient gas at large distances from the jet beam to low velocities, which represents a new mechanism by which low-velocity bipolar outflows may be driven by high-velocity jets. Rapid entrainment and acceleration of ambient gas may also occur if the jet is disrupted. For parameters typical of protostellar jets, the frequency at which K-H growth is a maximum (or highest frequency to which the entire jet can respond dynamically) will be associated with perturbations with a period of - 200 yr. Higher frequency (shorter period) perturbations excite waves associated with body modes that produce internal shocks and only small-amplitude wiggles within the jet. The fact that most observed systems show no evidence for large-amplitude sinusoidal oscillation leading to disruption is indicative that the perturbation frequencies are generally large, consistent with the suggestion that pro- tostellar jets arise from the inner regions (r less than 1 AU) of accretion disks.

Stone, James M.↗

Evaporative Cooling in a Holographic Atom Trap

We present progress on evaporative cooling of Rb-87 atoms in our Holographic Atom Trap (HAT). The HAT is formed by the interference of five intersecting YAG laser beams: atoms are loaded from a vapor-cell MOT into the bright fringes of the interference pattern through the dipole force. The interference pattern is composed of Talbot fringes along the direction of propagation of the YAG beams, prior to evaporative cooling each Talbot fringe contains 300,000 atoms at 50 micro-K and peak densities of 2 x 10(exp 14)/cu cm. Evaporative cooling is achieved through adiabatically decreasing the intensity of the YAG laser. We present data and calculations covering a range of HAT geometries and cooling procedures.

Newell, Raymond↗

Flares on the sun and other stars

Research on solar and stellar flares is reviewed. The characteristics of flares in various spectral regions are described, and the physics of flares is discussed, including the two-ribbon flare model, coronal mass ejections, flare dynamics, white light flare production, and electron beams and proton beams in hard X-ray flares. The analysis of the flare energy budget, magnetic field measurements, multispectral stellar observations, plasma emissivity, conditions in flare loops, cooling curves, and proton beam signatures is addressed. Microflaring and coronal heating are examined.

Haisch, Bernhard↗

Beam Heating of Samples: Modeling and Verification

Energy absorbed from the X-ray beam by the sample requires cooling by forced convection (i.e. cryostream) to minimize temperature increase and the damage caused to the sample by the X-ray heating. In this presentation we will first review the current theoretical models and recent studies in the literature, which predict the sample temperature rise for a given set of beam parameters. It should be noted that a common weakness of these previous studies is that none of them provide actual experimental confirmation. This situation is now remedied in our investigation where the problem of x-ray sample heating is taken up once more. We have theoretically investigated, and at the same time, in addition to the numerical computations, performed experiments to validate the predictions. We have modeled, analyzed and experimentally tested the temperature rise of a 1 mm diameter glass sphere (sample surrogate) exposed to an intense synchrotron X-ray beam, while it is being cooled in a uniform flow of nitrogen gas. The heat transfer, including external convection and internal heat conduction was theoretically modeled using CFD to predict the temperature variation in the sphere during cooling and while it was subjected to an undulator (ID sector 19) X-ray beam at the APS. The surface temperature of the sphere during the X-ray beam heating was measured using the infrared camera measurement technique described in a previous talk. The temperatures from the numerical predictions and experimental measurements are compared and discussed. Additional results are reported for the two different sphere sizes and for two different supporting pin orientations.

Kazmierczak, Michael↗

Laser supported detonation wave source of atomic oxygen for aerospace material testing

A pulsed high-flux source of nearly monoenergetic atomic oxygen was developed to perform accelerated erosion testing of spacecraft materials in a simulated low-earth orbit (LEO) environment. Molecular oxygen is introduced into an evacuated conical expansion nozzle at several atmospheres pressure through a pulsed molecular beam valve. A laser-induced breakdown is generated in the nozzle throat by a pulsed CO2 TEA laser. The resulting plasma is heated by the ensuing laser-supported detonation wave, and then it rapidly expands and cools. An atomic oxygen beam is generated with fluxes above 10 to the 18th atoms per pulse at 8 + or - 1.6 km/s with an ion content below 1 percent for LEO testing. Materials testing yielded the same surface oxygen enrichment in polyethylene samples as observed on the STS mission, and scanning electron micrographs of the irradiated polymer surfaces showed an erosion morphology similar to that obtained on low earth orbit.

Krech, Robert H.↗

Thermomagnetic recording and magnetic-optic playback system

A magnetic recording and magneto-optic playback system is disclosed wherein thermomagnetic recording is employed. A transparent isotropic film is heated along a continuous path by a focused laser beam. As each successive area of the path is heated locally to the vicinity of its Curie point in the presence of an applied magnetic field, a magneto-optic density is established proportional to the magnetic field and fixed in place as the area cools once the laser beam moves on to an adjacent area. To play back the recorded data, the intensity of the laser beam is reduced to avoid reaching the vicinity of the Curie point of the film as it is scanned by the laser beam in the same manner as for recording. A Faraday effect analyzer and photo detector are employed as a transducer for producing an output signal.

Lewicki, G. W.↗

Investigation of light source and scattering medium related to vapor-screen flow visualization in a supersonic wind tunnel

Methods for increasing the radiant in light sheets used for vapor screen set-ups were investigated. Both high-pressure mercury arc lamps and lasers were considered. Pulsed operation of the air-cooled 1-kW lamps increased the light output but decreased reliability. An ellipsoidal mirror improved the output of the air-cooled lamps by concentrating the light but increased the complexity of the housing. Water-cooled-4-kW lamps coupled with high-aperture Fresnel lenses provided reasonable improvements over the air-cooled lamps. Fanned laser beams measurements of scattered light versus dew point made in conjunction with successful attempts to control the fluid injection. A number of smoke generators are described and test results comparing smoke and vapor screens are shown. Finally, one test included a periscope system to relay the image to a camera outside the flow.

Snow, W. L.↗

Cold plasma heating in the plasma sheet boundary layer - Theory and simulations

Satellite observations in recent years have confirmed that the plasma sheet boundary layer is a permanent feature of the earth's magnetotail located between the lobe and central plasma sheet during both quiet and active magnetic periods. Distinct features of the boundary layer include field aligned ion beams and intense electrostatic emissions known as broadband electrostatic noise. Since the plasma sheet boundary layer is a spatial feature of the magnetotail, within it will occur thermal mixing of the resident warm boundary layer plasma with inflowing (convecting) cold ionospheric plasma. A theoretical study involving linear theory and nonlinear numerical particle simulations is presented which examines ion beam instabilities in the presence of a thermally mixed hot and cold background plasma. It is found that the free energy in the ion beams can heat the cool ionospheric plasma to ambient plasma sheet boundary layer temperatures via broadband electrostatic noise. These results, along with recent observational reports that ionospheric outflow can account for measured plasma sheet densities, suggest that the ionospheric role in plasma sheet dynamics and content may be as large as the solar wind.

Schriver, David↗

Measurements of Polyatomic Molecule Formation on an Icy Grain Analog Using Fast Atoms

Carbon dioxide has been produced from the impact of a monoenergetic O(P-3) beam upon a surface cooled to 4.8 K and covered with a CO ice. Using temperature-programmed desorption and mass spectrometer detection, we have detected increasing amounts of CO2 formation with O(P-3) energies of 2, 5, 10, and 14 eV. This is the first measurement of polyatomic molecule formation on a surface with superthermal atoms. The goal of this work is to detect other polyatomic species, such as CH3OH, which can be formed under conditions that simulate the grain temperature, surface coverage, and superthermal atoms present in shock-heated circumstellar and interstellar regions.

Chutjian, A.↗

Performance of the PARCS Testbed Cesium Fountain Frequency Standard

A cesium fountain frequency standard has been developed as a ground testbed for the PARCS (Primary Atomic Reference Clock in Space) experiment, an experiment intended to fly on the International Space Station. We report on the performance of the fountain and describe some of the implementations motivated in large part by flight considerations, but of relevance for ground fountains. In particular, we report on a new technique for delivering cooling and trapping laser beams to the atom collection region, in which a given beam is recirculated three times effectively providing much more optical power than traditional configurations. Allan deviations down to 10 have been achieved with this method.

cesium↗

Generation of a Cold Atom Beam from a Pyramidal Magneto-Optical Trap

Techniques to generate cold atom beams are of great interest in a variety of applications, from atomic frequency standards and atom optics to experimental studies of Bose-Einstein condensation. Cold atom beams have been produced by slowing thermal atomic beams using the Zeeman-slowing technique or chirped lasers, or using laser-cooling techniques to extract a slow atomic beam from the background gas in a low-pressure vapor cell. These laser-cooling techniques include "atomic funnels" or two-dimensional magneto-optical traps, as well as a variation of the conventional vapor cell magneto-optical trap called the "low-velocity intense source" (LVIS). Variations of the LVIS have been realized with unique trap geometries such as conical or pyramidal mirror traps. The present work implements a simple and robust design based on the pyramidal trap geometry and allows use of a single large diameter (<less than or = 20 cm) laser beam to obtain large capture rates of atoms from the background vapor. The four 45 deg mirrors are truncated just before the apex of the pyramid, and the 1 sq cm region at the center of the incident laser beam is retro-reflected by lambda /4 plate with a high-reflectance gold coating on the second surface. A small (1 mm diameter) hole in this retro-optic forms an extraction column for the atoms while maintaining a low conductance between the source region and an adjacent UHV chamber.

Kohel, J.↗

Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU): Electron Beam Welding of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS) Ti-6Al-4V Backplate with Integrated Cooling Channels

The Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU) is the first clean sheet redesign of the astronaut spacesuit in approximately 40 years. NASA Langley Research Center’s electron beam welding team, of which the author is a member, is leading the development of the weld technology required to manufacture the backplate component of the Portable Life Support System (PLSS). This backplate will provide both structural support and integral cooling for the life support systems, communications, and other electronics inside the spacesuit.

electron beam welding↗

Multi-pass light amplifier

A multiple-pass laser amplifier that uses optical focusing between subsequent passes through a single gain medium so that a reproducibly stable beam size is achieved within the gain region. A confocal resonator or White Cell resonator is provided, including two or three curvilinearly shaped mirrors facing each other along a resonator axis and an optical gain medium positioned on the resonator axis between the mirrors (confocal resonator) or adjacent to one of the mirrors (White Cell). In a first embodiment, two mirrors, which may include adjacent lenses, are configured so that a light beam passing through the gain medium and incident on the first mirror is reflected by that mirror toward the second mirror in a direction approximately parallel to the resonator axis. A light beam translator, such as an optical flat of transparent material, is positioned to translate this light beam by a controllable amount toward or away from the resonator axis for each pass of the light beam through the translator. The optical gain medium may be solid-state, liquid or gaseous medium and may be pumped longitudinally or transversely. In a second embodiment, first and second mirrors face a third mirror in a White Cell configuration, and the optical gain medium is positioned at or adjacent to one of the mirrors. Defocusing means and optical gain medium cooling means are optionally provided with either embodiment, to controllably defocus the light beam, to cool the optical gain medium and to suppress thermal lensing in the gain medium.

Plaessmann, Henry↗

Thermal-structural mission analyses of air-cooled gas turbine blades

Cyclic temperature and stress-strain states in cooled turbine blades were calculated for a simulated mission of an advanced technology aircraft engine. TACT1 (three dimensional heat transfer) and MARC (nonlinear structural analysis) computer programs were used to analyze impingement cooled airfoils, with and without leading-edge film cooling. Creep was the predominant damage mode, particularly around film cooling holes. Radially angled holes exhibited less creep than holes normal to surface. Beam-type analyses of all-impingement cooled airfoils gave fair agreement with MARC results for initial creep.

Kaufman, A.↗

Thermal-structural mission analyses of air-cooled gas turbine blades

Cyclic temperature and stress-strain states in cooled turbine blades were calculated for a simulated mission of an advanced technology aircraft engine. TACTl (three dimensional heat transfer) and MARC (nonlinear structural analysis) computer programs were used to analyze impingement cooled airfoils, with and without leading-edge film cooling. Creep was the predominant damage mode, particularly around film cooling holes. Radially angled holes exhibited less creep than holes normal to surface. Beam-type analyses of all-impingement cooled airfoils gave fair agreement with MARC results for initial creep.

Kaufman, A.↗

Compact electron-beam source for formation of neutral beams of very low vapor pressure materials

In order to form metal vapors for neutral beam studies, an electron-beam heater and a power supply have been designed. The source, which measures about 30 x 50 x 70 mm, consists of a filament, accelerating plate (defined by pole pieces), and a supported target. The electrons from the filament are focused by the field penetration through a 2 mm slit in the high-voltage cage. They are then accelerated to about 5 kV to a ground plate. The electrons then follow a path in the magnetic field and strike the sample to be heated on its front surface. The assembly is attached to a water-cooled base plate. The electron beam source has produced beams of Ta and C particles with densities of about 10 to the 8th power/cu cm.

Rutherford, J. A.↗