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At least 37 records · Page 2

Multi-camera imaging to characterize jet and liner uniformity on the Plasma Liner Experiment (PLX)

At Plasma Liner Experiment, a set of 36 coaxial plasma guns are deployed quasi-uniformly over a 9 ft diameter spherical chamber and are used to form a high-Z spherically compressive plasma liner. Simulations indicate that for the concept to ultimately achieve optimal target density and temperature, a high degree of timing uniformity is required between all guns. Therefore, to aid in quantifying and correcting gun-to-gun nonuniformities, a key diagnostic will consist of up to six fisheye-view CCD cameras positioned inside the main chamber such that each has all plasma guns within its view. The individual cameras can be triggered at different times to determine each plasma jet’s muzzle velocity and structure for different operating conditions. This camera array is currently under development, and the implementation needs and challenges for this camera array are discussed here. Additionally, we detail the analysis methodology for determining jet-to-jet uniformity deviations and how we can correct them, thereby improving overall liner uniformity.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Non-Intrusive, Laser-Based Imaging of Jet-A Fuel Injection and Combustion Species in High Pressure, Subsonic Flows

The emphasis of combustion research efforts at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is on collaborating with industry to design and test gas-turbine combustors and subcomponents for both sub- and supersonic applications. These next-generation aircraft combustors are required to meet strict international environmental restrictions limiting emissions. To meet these goals, innovative combustor concepts require operation at temperatures and pressures far exceeding those of current designs. New and innovative diagnostic tools are necessary to characterize these flow streams since existing methods are inadequate. The combustion diagnostics team at GRC has implemented a suite of highly sensitive, nonintrusive optical imaging methods to diagnose the flowfields of these new engine concepts. By using optically accessible combustors and flame-tubes, imaging of fuel and intermediate combustion species via planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) at realistic pressures are now possible. Direct imaging of the fuel injection process through both planar Mie scattering and PLIF methods is also performed. Additionally, a novel combination of planar fuel fluorescence imaging and computational analysis allows a 3-D examination of the flowfield, resulting in spatially and temporally resolved fuel/air volume distribution maps. These maps provide detailed insight into the fuel injection process at actual conditions, thereby greatly enhancing the evaluation of fuel injector performance and other combustion phenomena. Stable species such as CO2, O2, N2, H2O, and hydrocarbons are also investigated by a newly demonstrated 1-D, spontaneous Raman spectroscopic method. This visible wavelength Raman technique allows the acquisition of quantitative, stable species concentration measurements from the flow.

Locke, R. J.↗

Non-Intrusive, Laser-Based Imaging of Jet-A Fuel Injection and Combustion Species in High Pressure, Subsonic Flows

The emphasis of combustion research efforts at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) is on collaborating with industry to design and test gas-turbine combustors and subcomponents for both sub- and supersonic applications. These next-generation aircraft combustors are required to meet strict international environmental restrictions limiting emissions. To meet these goals, innovative combustor concepts require operation at temperatures and pressures far exceeding those of cur-rent designs. New and innovative diagnostic tools are necessary to characterize these flow streams since existing methods are inadequate. The combustion diagnostics team at GRC has implemented a suite of highly sensitive, nonintrusive optical imaging methods to diagnose the flowfields of these new engine concepts. By using optically accessible combustors and flametubes, imaging of fuel and intermediate combustion species via planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) at realistic pressures are now possible. Direct imaging of the fuel injection process through both planar Mie scattering and PLIF methods is also performed. Additionally, a novel combination of planar fuel fluorescence imaging and computational analysis allows a 3-D examination of the flowfield, resulting in spatially and temporally resolved fuel/air volume distribution maps. These maps provide detailed insight into the fuel injection process at actual conditions, thereby greatly enhancing the evaluation of fuel injector performance and other combustion phenomena. Stable species such as CO2, O2, N2O. and hydrocarbons are also investigated by a newly demonstrated 1-D, spontaneous Raman spectroscopic method. This visible wavelength Raman technique allows the acquisition of quantitative. stable species concentration measurements from the flow.

Locke, Randy J.↗

Fluorescence Imaging of Underexpanded Jets and Comparison with CFD

An experimental study of underexpanded and highly underexpanded axisymmetric nitrogen free jets seeded with 0.5% nitric oxide (NO) and issuing from a sonic orifice was conducted at NASA Langley Research Center. Reynolds numbers based on nozzle exit conditions ranged from 770 to 35,700, and nozzle exit-to-ambient jet pressure ratios ranged from 2 to 35. These flows were non-intrusively visualized with a spatial resolution of approximately 0.14 mm x 0.14 mm x 1 mm thick and a temporal resolution of 1 s using planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of NO, with the laser tuned to the strongly-fluorescing UV absorption bands of the Q1 band head near 226.256 nm. Three laminar cases were selected for comparison with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The cases were run using GASP (General Aerodynamic Simulation Program) Version 4. Comparisons of the fundamental wavelength of the jet flow showed good agreement between CFD and experiment for all three test cases, while comparisons of Mach disk location and Mach disk diameter showed good agreement at lower jet pressure ratios, with a tendency to slightly underpredict these parameters with increasing jet pressure ratio.

Wilkes, Jennifer A.↗

Noninvasive Imaging of a Liquid Jet

Liquid jets are found in many applications, from printing to manufacturing to entertainment. Herein this study uses three different noninvasive imaging modalities to compare resulting images of a liquid jet operating at three Reynolds numbers that cover laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow. Selected measurement quantities from each image type are also compared. High-speed backlit (BL) imaging is a simple imaging technique found in many laboratories, and this is compared to two high-speed X-ray imaging techniques, white beam (WB) imaging and focused beam (FB) radiography. BL imaging can provide a wide field of view and is easy to implement, but it only shows the presence or absence of liquid. WB imaging can show detailed contours on the surface of the liquid jet, but the imaging region is much smaller. FB radiography produces a point-source measurement and can provide the quantitative, instantaneous local liquid path length, termed the equivalent path length (EPL). All three techniques provide similar measures of jet thickness, with the FB measurements having less variation. FB measurements can also provide detailed cross sections of the average liquid jet thickness at high spatial resolutions.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The Twin Decadal Survey Testbeds in the High Contrast Imaging Testbed facility at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Direct imaging of an Earth-like exoplanet will require future missions, such as the proposed HabEx or LUVOIR concepts, to achieve starlight suppression with planet/star contrast ratios on the order of 10−10 at angular separations <100 milliarcseconds in visible wavelengths. To facilitate the technology and algorithm development required to enable this ambitious scientific goal, NASA’s Exoplanet Exploration Program (ExEP) High Contrast Imaging Testbed (HCIT) facility at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) recently commissioned the Decadal Survey Testbed (DST), a state-of-the-art, flexible, and extremely stable coronagraph testbed. This testbed integrates years of experience and lessons learned at HCIT and has now demonstrated contrast ratios as low as few times 10−10 in 10% bandwidth. Following the success of DST, the HCIT team has developed a companion testbed, the Decadal Survey Testbed 2 (DST2) that further implements lessons learned from DST, and will provide the HCIT with additional coronagraph testbed capacity and efficiency. Commissioning for DST2 is currently targeted for Fall 2021. Here we provide an update on the status of DST, and report on the design, performance modeling simulations, and status of integration and testing for DST2, highlighting updates to the design from the original DST.

Siegler, Nick↗

Detection of Subsurface Material Separation in Shuttle Orbiter Slip-Side Joggle Region of the Wing Leading Edge using Infrared Imaging Data from Arc Jet Tests

The objective of the present study was to determine whether infrared imaging (IR) surface temperature data obtained during arc-jet tests of Space Shuttle Orbiter s reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) wing leading edge panel slip-side joggle region could be used to detect presence of subsurface material separation, and if so, to determine when separation occurs during the simulated entry profile. Recent thermostructural studies have indicated thermally induced interlaminar normal stress concentrations at the substrate/coating interface in the curved joggle region can result in local subsurface material separation, with the separation predicted to occur during approach to peak heating during reentry. The present study was an attempt to determine experimentally when subsurface material separations occur. A simplified thermal model of a flat RCC panel with subsurface material separation was developed and used to infer general surface temperature trends due to the presence of subsurface material separation. IR data from previously conducted arc-jet tests on three test specimens were analyzed: one without subsurface material separation either pre or post test, one with pre test separation, and one with separation developing during test. The simplified thermal model trend predictions along with comparison of experimental IR data of the three test specimens were used to successfully infer material separation from the arc-jet test data. Furthermore, for the test specimen that had developed subsurface material separation during the arc-jet tests, the initiation of separation appeared to occur during the ramp up to the peak heating condition, where test specimen temperature went from 2500 to 2800 F.

Daryabeigi, Kamran↗

Imaging the wakes of jets with energy-energy-energy correlators

As the partons in a high energy jet propagate through the droplet of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) produced in a heavy-ion collision they lose energy to, kick, and are kicked by the medium. The resulting modifications to the parton shower encode information about the microscopic nature of QGP. A direct consequence, however, is that the momentum and energy lost by the parton shower are gained by the medium and, since QGP is a strongly coupled liquid, this means that the jet excites a wake in the droplet of QGP. After freezeout, this wake becomes soft hadrons with net momentum in the jet direction meaning that what an experimentalist later reconstructs as a jet includes hadrons originating from both the modified parton shower and its wake. This has made it challenging to find experimental observables that provide an unambiguous view of the dynamical response of a droplet of QGP to a jet shooting through it. Recent years have seen significant substantial advances in the theoretical and experimental understanding of the substructure of jets, in particular, using correlation functions, $\langle$ ($\vec{n}$ 1 )•••$\mathcal{E}$($\vec{n}$ k ) $\rangle$, of the energy flux operator in proton-proton collisions and, recently, in heavy-ion collisions. So far, such studies have focused primarily on the two-point correlator, which allows for the identification of the angular scale of the underlying dynamics. Higher-point correlators hold the promise of mapping out the dynamics themselves. In this paper we perform the first study of the shape-dependent three-point energy-energy-energy correlator in heavy-ion collisions. Using the Hybrid Model to simulate the interactions of high energy jets with the QGP medium, we show that the three-point correlator presents us with a striking new opportunity. We find that hadrons originating from wakes are the dominant contribution to the three-point correlator in the kinematic regime in which the three points are well-separated in angle, forming a roughly equilateral triangle. This equilateral region of the correlator is far from the region populated by collinear vacuum emissions, making it a canvas on which jet wakes are laid out, where experimentalists can map their shapes. Our work provides a key step towards the systematic use of energy correlators to image and unravel the dynamical response of a droplet of QGP that has been probed by a passing jet, and motivates numerous experimental and theoretical studies.

Jets and Jet Substructure↗

Fluorescence Imaging Study of Impinging Underexpanded Jets

An experiment was designed to create a simplified simulation of the flow through a hole in the surface of a hypersonic aerospace vehicle and the subsequent impingement of the flow on internal structures. In addition to planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) flow visualization, pressure measurements were recorded on the surface of an impingement target. The PLIF images themselves provide quantitative spatial information about structure of the impinging jets. The images also help in the interpretation of impingement surface pressure profiles by highlighting the flow structures corresponding to distinctive features of these pressure profiles. The shape of the pressure distribution along the impingement surface was found to be double-peaked in cases with a sufficiently high jet-exit-to-ambient pressure ratio so as to have a Mach disk, as well as in cases where a flow feature called a recirculation bubble formed at the impingement surface. The formation of a recirculation bubble was in turn found to depend very sensitively upon the jet-exit-to-ambient pressure ratio. The pressure measured at the surface was typically less than half the nozzle plenum pressure at low jet pressure ratios and decreased with increasing jet pressure ratios. Angled impingement cases showed that impingement at a 60deg angle resulted in up to a factor of three increase in maximum pressure at the plate compared to normal incidence.

Inman, Jennifer A.↗

High-fidelity Experiments of Turbulent Buoyant Jets from Simultaneous Particle Image Velocimetry and Laser Induced Fluorescence

Accurate models of turbulent buoyant flows are essential for the design of nuclear reactors thermal hydraulics and passive safety systems. However, available models fail to fully capture the physics of turbulent mixing when buoyancy becomes predominant with respect to momentum. Therefore, high-fidelity experiments of well-controlled fundamental flows are needed to develop and validate more accurate models. We performed experiments of positive and negative turbulent buoyant jets, both in uniform and stratified environments, with the aim of understanding the thermal hydraulics of turbulent mixing with variable density and providing high-fidelity data for the development and validation of turbulence models. Non-intrusive, simultaneous Particle Image Velocimetry and Laser Induced Fluorescence measurements were carried out to acquire instantaneous velocity and concentration fields on a vertical section parallel to the axis of a jet in the self-similar region. The Refractive Index Matching method was applied to measure high-resolution buoyant jets with up to 8.6% density difference. These data are free of the typical errors that characterize optical measurements of buoyancy driven flows (e.g., natural and mixed convection) where the refractive index of the fluid is inhomogeneous throughout the measurement domain. Turbulent statistics and entrainment of buoyant jets in uniform and stratified environments are presented. These data are compared with non-buoyant jets in uniform environment, as a reference to investigate the effects of buoyancy and stratification on turbulent mixing. The results will be used for the assessment of current turbulence models and as basis for the development of a new one that captures turbulent mixing.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Very Large Array imaging rules out precessing radio jets in three DES–SDSS-selected candidate periodic quasars

ABSTRACT Periodic quasars have been suggested as candidates for hosting binary supermassive black holes (SMBHs), although alternative scenarios remain possible to explain the optical light-curve periodicity. To test the alternative hypothesis of precessing radio jet, we present deep 6 GHz radio imaging conducted with NSF’s Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in its C configuration for the three candidate periodic quasars, DES J024703.24−010032.0, DES J024944.66−000036.8, and DES J025214.67−002813.7. Our targets were selected based on their optical variability using 20 yr long multicolour light curves from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The new VLA observations show that all three periodic quasars are radio-quiet with the radio loudness parameters measured to be $R\equiv f_{6\, {\rm cm}}/f_{{\rm 2500}}$ of ≲1.0–1.5 and the k-corrected luminosities νLν[6 GHz] of ≲5–21 × 1039 erg s−1. They are in stark contrast to previously known periodic quasars proposed as binary SMBH candidates such as the blazar OJ 287 and PG1302−102. Our results rule out optical emission contributed from precessing radio jets as the origin of the optical periodicity in the three DES–SDSS-selected candidate periodic quasars. Future continued optical monitoring and complementary multiwavelength observations are still needed to further test the binary SMBH hypothesis as well as other competing scenarios to explain the optical periodicity.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

PLIF Imaging of Capsule RCS Jets, Shear Layers, and Simulated Forebody Ablation

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) has been used to investigate hypersonic flows associated with capsule reentry vehicles. These flows included reaction control system (RCS) jets, shear layer flow, and simulated forebody heatshield ablation. Pitch, roll, and yaw RCS jets were studied. PLIF obtained planar slices in these flowfields. These slices could be viewed individually or they could be combined using computer visualization techniques to reconstruct the three dimensional shape of the flow. The tests described herein were conducted in the 31-Inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. Improvements to many facets of the imaging system increased the efficiency and quality of both data acquisition, in addition to increasing the overall robustness of the system.

Inman, Jennifer A.↗

Analysis of multiple imagery at Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Image Processing Laboratory

During the past decade advanced techniques have been developed at JPL for processing large volumes of imagery returned by the more recent planetary spacecraft. In addition, the Image Processing Laboratory has become involved in the processing of earth resources imagery acquired by Landsat and a variety of other sensors flown on aircraft and spacecraft. The trend within the facility has been toward the development of technology capable of processing increasingly larger image data bases. A variety of applications in both the planetary and earth observations areas involve the merging and/or processing of more than one image and often require the correlation of data acquired by a variety of sensors.

Green, W. B.↗

Imaging the Disk and Jet of the Classical T Tauri Star AA Tau

Previous studies of the classical T Tauri star AA Tau have interpreted the UX-Orionis-like photo-polarimetric variability as being due to a warp in the inner disk caused by an inclined stellar magnetic dipole field. We test that these effects are macroscopically observable in the inclination and alignment of the disk. We use Hubble Space Telescope (HST)/STIS coronagraphic imagery to measure the V magnitude of the star for both STIS coronagraphic observations, compare these data with optical photometry in the literature, and find that, unlike other classical T Tauri stars observed in the same HST program, the disk is most robustly detected in scattered light at stellar optical minimum light.We measure the outer disk radius, 1 inch.15 plus-minus 0 inch.10, major-axis position angle, and disk inclination and find that the inner disk, as reported in the literature, is both misinclined and misaligned with respect to the outer disk. AA Tau drives a faint jet, detected in both STIS observations and in follow-on Goddard Fabry-Perot imagery, which is also misaligned with respect to the projection of the outer disk minor axis and is poorly collimated near the star, but which can be traced 21 inches from the star in data from 2005. The measured outer disk inclination, 71deg plus-minus 1deg, is out of the range of inclinations suggested for stars with UX-Orionis-like variability when no grain growth has occurred in the disk. The faintness of the disk, small disk size, and detection of the star despite the high inclination all indicate that the dust disk must have experienced grain growth and settling toward the disk midplane, which we verify by comparing the observed disk with model imagery from the literature.

Cox, Andrew W.↗

Ultraviolet Imaging of the Cen-A Jet

We present GALEX ultraviolet (125-300nm) images of Centaurus A over a 1.1 degree field. We detect UV emission from young stars and shocks at the interface between the outer jet and an HI cloud, at locations where the inner jet bends or is disrupted, and in the central disk. Although some of these star-forming regions were previously imaged with HST, not all have been. We also detect faint, diffuse UV emission from several regions where young stars are not obviously present. New radio images of the Northern Middle Lobe of Cen A may also be presented, depending on the progress of data reduction.

Neff, Susan↗

Cylinders and jets in crossflow: Wake formations as a result of varying geometric proximities

The combined flow physics of several canonical flow configurations is experimentally studied. Here, we analyze an array of jets issuing into a crossflow, then immediately navigating past an array of cylinders. This is achieved with a 2 × 3 triangular pattern of jets and symmetric cylinders at three jets to crossflow velocity ratios, enabling near-complete optical access of each jet, with velocities measured by time-resolved particle image velocimetry. Jet trajectories reveal that each configuration adheres to a power-law trend and that greater penetration is achieved by the downstream and confined jets compared to the more conventional upstream one. Recirculation regions of the upstream and downstream jets are nearly independent, with the confined jet encompassing regions of overlap with both. Turbulent statistics reveal the influence of geometric placement and velocity ratio on the time-averaged velocity, anisotropy, and Reynolds stresses incurred by each jet. Galilean decomposition utilizes a supplemental crossflow-only velocity field to delineate the influence of each jet's low- and high-pressure regions on the otherwise uniform stream. Proper orthogonal decomposition suggests that increased jet penetration decreases the number of modes required for truncation in the investigated spanwise plane. Vortex identification algorithms are applied to the reconstructed flow fields, reaffirming that with increasing velocity ratio, the jets generate vortices of their own in similar statistical formations as the cylinders. This investigation provides a foundation to aid future modeling efforts toward characterizing flow physics of importance in designing and passively controlling transverse jets with varying blockage proximities in a crossflow.

Kristo, Paul J. (ORCID:0000000225605175)↗

Particle-Image Velocimetry in Microgravity Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames

This paper discusses planned velocity measurements in microgravity laminar jet diffusion flames. These measurements will be conducted using Particle-Image Velocimetry (PIV) in the NASA Glenn 2.2-second drop tower. The observations are of fundamental interest and may ultimately lead to improved efficiency and decreased emissions from practical combustors. The velocity measurements will support the evaluation of analytical and numerical combustion models. There is strong motivation for the proposed microgravity flame configuration. Laminar jet flames are fundamental to combustion and their study has contributed to myriad advances in combustion science, including the development of theoretical, computational and diagnostic combustion tools. Nonbuoyant laminar jet flames are pertinent to the turbulent flames of more practical interest via the laminar flamelet concept. The influence of gravity on these flames is deleterious: it complicates theoretical and numerical modeling, introduces hydrodynamic instabilities, decreases length scales and spatial resolution, and limits the variability of residence time. Whereas many normal-gravity laminar jet diffusion flames have been thoroughly examined (including measurements of velocities, temperatures, compositions, sooting behavior and emissive and absorptive properties), measurements in microgravity gas-jet flames have been less complete and, notably, have included only cursory velocity measurements. It is envisioned that our velocity measurements will fill an important gap in the understanding of nonbuoyant laminar jet flames.

Sunderland, P. B.↗

Imaging the Wake of a Jet with Energy Correlators

In heavy ion collisions, jets are formed during the initial hard scattering event and move through the quark-gluon plasma (QGP) as it evolves. The evolution of the medium manifests itself on the jet via various jet-medium interactions, modifying its substructure as compared to vacuum QCD. Recently, the energy correlator observable has been shown to be a powerful method to decode correlations in pp collisions through measurements in ALICE, CMS and STAR. Additionally, recent studies have shown the sensitivity of this observable to medium modification due to the QGP. In this work [1], we perform the first study of the three-point energy correlator for medium modified jets, to show how it can be used to map out the shape of medium induced modifications. We illustrate this for the specific case of the Hybrid Model, where we show how higher-point correlation functions can image the wake of a jet.

Rai, Ananya [Yale University, New Haven, CT (Unite↗