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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.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Gravitational instability in a primordial collapsing gas cloud

This paper presents an analysis of the linear evolution of short-wavelength perturbations in a background fluid flow which is undergoing gravitational collapse on large scales. Local evolution equations for perturbations to an arbitrary flow are derived in the linear regime and the short-wavelength limit. Local perturbation behavior in an inhomogeneous flow is found to be the same as that in a homogeneous anisotropic flow having the same local velocity field. Background flows in which the scale factors vary as power laws in time are considered to illustrate the relative effects of self-gravity, pressure and kinematics of the background flow on the density perturbation evolution. Perturbation analyses are then presented for more realistic background flows arising from the evolution into the nonlinear regime of initially small density perturbations in an isotropically expanding cosmological model. For low-pressure, inhomogeneous collapses, kinematic effects tend to dominate over self-gravity in driving perturbation growth as the collapse proceeds.

Lacey, Cedric G.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Shock development in sound transmitted through a nearly choked flow

A nonlinear quasi-one dimensional theory of sound transmitted through a converging-diverging duct section is extended to the case where the acoustical source is located well downstream of the throat, at a point where the flow Mach number is low. The development and subsequent effects of shocks in the acoustic quantities are of primary consideration. The analysis uses a method of matched asymptotic expansions, yielding a set of inner equations of motion and shock conditions valid in the near-sonic throat region. The analysis leads to a generalization of the 'equal area' relation of weak shock theory. The manner in which nonlinear effects increase with source strength, frequency, and throat Mach number is illustrated by the numerical results and corresponding graphs. The shock waves are shown to cause significant dissipation in acoustic power.

Myers, M. K.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Turbulent Fluid Motion 6: Turbulence, Nonlinear Dynamics, and Deterministic Chaos

Several turbulent and nonturbulent solutions of the Navier-Stokes equations are obtained. The unaveraged equations are used numerically in conjunction with tools and concepts from nonlinear dynamics, including time series, phase portraits, Poincare sections, Liapunov exponents, power spectra, and strange attractors. Initially neighboring solutions for a low-Reynolds-number fully developed turbulence are compared. The turbulence is sustained by a nonrandom time-independent external force. The solutions, on the average, separate exponentially with time, having a positive Liapunov exponent. Thus, the turbulence is characterized as chaotic. In a search for solutions which contrast with the turbulent ones, the Reynolds number (or strength of the forcing) is reduced. Several qualitatively different flows are noted. These are, respectively, fully chaotic, complex periodic, weakly chaotic, simple periodic, and fixed-point. Of these, we classify only the fully chaotic flows as turbulent. Those flows have both a positive Liapunov exponent and Poincare sections without pattern. By contrast, the weakly chaotic flows, although having positive Liapunov exponents, have some pattern in their Poincare sections. The fixed-point and periodic flows are nonturbulent, since turbulence, as generally understood, is both time-dependent and aperiodic.

Deissler, Robert G.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Unsteady flowfield of a propfan at takeoff conditions

The unsteady flowfield of a propfan operation at takeoff conditions with angular inflow is examined by solving the three-dimensional Euler equations. The operating conditions considered are: Mach no. = 0.31, advance ratio = 1.6, and inflow angle to the propfan = 8.3 deg. The predicted results clearly show the cyclic variations of the blade power and thrust coefficients due to angular inflow. The flow changes from blade passage to passage are illustrated in terms of static pressure contours. The predicted blade surface pressure waveforms were compared with flight measurements. The predictions at the inboard radial station, r/R = 0.68, show reasonable agreement with flight data. At the outboard radial station, r/R = 0.95, where the interactions of the tip vortex, the tip-region flow and the blade wake appear to result in a complex nonlinear measured response. The prediction shows poor agreement.

Nallasamy, M.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Dynamic characteristics of a two-stage variable-mass flexible missile with internal flow

A general formulation of the dynamical problems associated with powered flight of a two stage flexible, variable-mass missile with internal flow, discrete masses, and aerodynamic forces is presented. The formulation comprises six ordinary differential equations for the rigid body motion, 3n ordinary differential equations for the n discrete masses and three partial differential equations with the appropriate boundary conditions for the elastic motion. This set of equations is modified to represent a single stage flexible, variable-mass missile with internal flow and aerodynamic forces. The rigid-body motion consists then of three translations and three rotations, whereas the elastic motion is defined by one longitudinal and two flexural displacements, the latter about two orthogonal transverse axes. The differential equations are nonlinear and, in addition, they possess time-dependent coefficients due to the mass variation.

Meirovitch, L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Renormalization group analysis of the Reynolds stress transport equation

The pressure velocity correlation and return to isotropy term in the Reynolds stress transport equation are analyzed using the Yakhot-Orszag renormalization group. The perturbation series for the relevant correlations, evaluated to lowest order in the epsilon-expansion of the Yakhot-Orszag theory, are infinite series in tensor product powers of the mean velocity gradient and its transpose. Formal lowest order Pade approximations to the sums of these series produce a fast pressure strain model of the form proposed by Launder, Reece, and Rodi, and a return to isotropy model of the form proposed by Rotta. In both cases, the model constant are computed theoretically. The predicted Reynolds stress ratios in simple shear flows are evaluated and compared with experimental data. The possibility is discussed of driving higher order nonlinear models by approximating the sums more accurately.

Rubinstein, R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis and design of an ultrahigh temperature hydrogen-fueled MHD generator

A coupled gas dynamics/radiative heat transfer analysis of partially ionized hydrogen, in local thermodynamic equilibrium, flowing through an ultrahigh temperature (10,000-20,000 K) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) generator is performed. Gas dynamics are modeled by a set of quasi-one-dimensional, nonlinear differential equations which account for friction, convective and radiative heat transfer, and the interaction between the ionized gas and applied magnetic field. Radiative heat transfer is modeled using nongray, absorbing-emitting 2D and 3D P-1 approximations which permit an arbitrary variation of the spectral absorption coefficient with frequency. Gas dynamics and radiative heat transfer are coupled through the energy equation and through the temperature- and density-dependent absorption coefficient. The resulting nonlinear elliptic problem is solved by iterative methods. Design of such MHD generators as onboard, open-cycle, electric power supplies for a particular advanced airbreathing propulsion concept produced an efficient and compact 128-MWe generator characterized by an extraction ratio of 35.5 percent, a power density of 10,500 MWe/cu m, and a specific (extracted) energy of 324 MJe/kg of hydrogen. The maximum wall heat flux and total wall heat load were 453 MW/sq m and 62 MW, respectively.

Moder, Jeffrey P.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Buoyancy Driven Convection During PDAMNA Thin Film Growth

This paper presents results from numerical simulations as well as laboratory experiments of buoyancy driven convection in an ampoule under varying heating and gravitational acceleration loadings. The modeling effort in this work resolves the large scale natural convective motion that occurs in the fluid during photodeposition of polydiacetelene films which is due to energy absorbed by the growth solution from a UV source. Consequently, the growth kinetics of the film are ignored in the model discussed here, and also a much simplified ampoule geometry is considered. The objective of this work is to validate the numerical prediction on the strength and structure of buoyancy driven convection that could occur under terrestrial conditions during nonlinear optical film growth. The validation is used to enable a reliable predictive capability on the nature and strength of the convective motion under low gravity conditions. The ampoule geometry is in the form of a parallelepiped with rectangular faces. The numerical results obtained from the solution to the Boussinesq equations show that natural convection will occur regardless of the orientation of the UV source with respect to the gravity vector. The least strong convective motion occurred with the UV beam directed at the top face of the parallelepiped. The strength of the convective motion was found to be almost linearly proportional to the total power of the UV source. Also, it was found that the strength of the convective motion decreased linearly with the gravity due to acceleration. The pattern of the convective flow on the other hand, depended on the source location.

Antar, Basil N.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Global convergence of inexact Newton methods for transonic flow

In computational fluid dynamics, nonlinear differential equations are essential to represent important effects such as shock waves in transonic flow. Discretized versions of these nonlinear equations are solved using iterative methods. In this paper an inexact Newton method using the GMRES algorithm of Saad and Schultz is examined in the context of the full potential equation of aerodynamics. In this setting, reliable and efficient convergence of Newton methods is difficult to achieve. A poor initial solution guess often leads to divergence or very slow convergence. This paper examines several possible solutions to these problems, including a standard local damping strategy for Newton's method and two continuation methods, one of which utilizes interpolation from a coarse grid solution to obtain the initial guess on a finer grid. It is shown that the continuation methods can be used to augment the local damping strategy to achieve convergence for difficult transonic flow problems. These include simple wings with shock waves as well as problems involving engine power effects. These latter cases are modeled using the assumption that each exhaust plume is isentropic but has a different total pressure and/or temperature than the freestream.

Young, David P.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Nonlinear Response of Composite Panels Under Combined Acoustic Excitation and Aerodynamic Pressure

A finite element formulation is presented for the analysis of large deflection response of composite panels subjected to aerodynamic pressure- at supersonic flow and high acoustic excitation. The first-order shear deformation theory is considered for laminated composite plates, and the von Karman nonlinear strain-displacement relations are employed for the analysis of large deflection panel response. The first-order piston theory aerodynamics and the simulated Gaussian white noise are employed for the aerodynamic and acoustic loads, respectively. The nonlinear equations of motion for an arbitrarily laminated composite panel subjected to a combined aerodynamic and acoustic pressures are formulated first in structure node degrees-of-freedom. The system equations are then transformed and reduced to a set of coupled nonlinear equations in modal coordinates. Modal participation is defined and the in-vacuo modes to be retained in the analysis are based on the modal participation values. Numerical results include root mean square values of maximum deflections, deflection and strain response time histories, probability distributions, and power spectrum densities. Results showed that combined acoustic and aerodynamic loads have to be considered for panel analysis and design at high dynamic pressure values.

Abdel-Motagaly, K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Error analysis for reducing noisy wide-gap concentric cylinder rheometric data for nonlinear fluids - Theory and applications

This work discusses the propagation of errors for the recovery of the shear rate from wide-gap concentric cylinder viscometric measurements of non-Newtonian fluids. A least-square regression of stress on angular velocity data to a system of arbitrary functions is used to propagate the errors for the series solution to the viscometric flow developed by Krieger and Elrod (1953) and Pawlowski (1953) ('power-law' approximation) and for the first term of the series developed by Krieger (1968). A numerical experiment shows that, for measurements affected by significant errors, the first term of the Krieger-Elrod-Pawlowski series ('infinite radius' approximation) and the power-law approximation may recover the shear rate with equal accuracy as the full Krieger-Elrod-Pawlowski solution. An experiment on a clay slurry indicates that the clay has a larger yield stress at rest than during shearing, and that, for the range of shear rates investigated, a four-parameter constitutive equation approximates reasonably well its rheology. The error analysis presented is useful for studying the rheology of fluids such as particle suspensions, slurries, foams, and magma.

Borgia, Andrea↗
NASA NTRS1990

Analysis of unsteady compressible viscous layers

The development of an analysis to predict the unsteady compressible flows in blade boundary layers and wakes is presented. The equations that govern the flows in these regions are transformed using an unsteady turbulent generalization of the Levy-Lees transformation. The transformed equations are solved using a finite difference technique in which the solution proceeds by marching in time and in the streamwise direction. Both laminar and turbulent flows are studied, the latter using algebraic turbulence and transition models. Laminar solutions for a flat plate are shown to approach classical asymptotic results for both high and low frequency unsteady motions. Turbulent flat-plate results are in qualitative agreement with previous predictions and measurements. Finally, the numerical technique is also applied to the stator and rotor of a low-speed turbine stage to determine unsteady effects on surface heating. The results compare reasonably well with measured heat transfer data and indicate that nonlinear effects have minimal impact on the mean and unsteady components of the flow.

Power, G. D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Turbulence in the solar wind: Kinetic effects

Although a casual look at the fluctuating magnetic and velocity fields in the solar wind may be reminiscent of a chaotic and disordered flow, there is, nonetheless. considerable organization and structure in the temporal and spatial evolution of those fluctuations. Much of that evolution is controlled by processes operating on rather large scales for example, in the inner heliosphere, the fluctuations in magnetic and velocity are highly correlated in the sense of outward propagating Alfven waves. This correlation can be destroyed both in time and distance by the velocity gradients present between fast and slow streams and by other nonlinear processes which stir the medium, producing a turbulent cascade of energy from large to small scales. Many aspects of this turbulent evolution can be described using fluid models; however, at some scale the fluid approximation breaks down and a more detailed paradigm is necessary. The breakdown is evident in the power spectrum of magnetic fluctuations at scales approaching the wavelength of ion cyclotron waves. At those scales, as evident in Mariner 10 and other magnetometer data, the spectrum bends over and the fluctuations damp, possibly heating the ambient plasma. Some evidence for heating of the solar wind is present in the Voyager data. Fluid models can be modified to some extent to incorporate aspects of a kinetic treatment. This is done by modifying the dissipation terms in the fluid equations and by including extra terms, such as the Hall term. As the scale lengths of phenomena shrink further and approach the spatial and temporal scales characteristic of electron phenomena, the fluid description must be abandoned altogether and a fully kinetic treatment is required. One example is the generation of Langmuir solitons produced by the electron beams that generate type 3 solar radio bursts.

Goldstein, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Physics-Based Methods of Failure Analysis and Diagnostics in Human Space Flight

The Integrated Health Management (IHM) for the future aerospace systems requires to interface models of multiple subsystems in an efficient and accurate information environment at the earlier stages of system design. The complexity of modern aeronautic and aircraft systems (including e.g. the power distribution, flight control, solid and liquid motors) dictates employment of hybrid models and high-level reasoners for analysing mixed continuous and discrete information flow involving multiple modes of operation in uncertain environments, unknown state variables, heterogeneous software and hardware components. To provide the information link between key design/performance parameters and high-level reasoners we rely on development of multi-physics performance models, distributed sensors networks, and fault diagnostic and prognostic (FD&P) technologies in close collaboration with system designers. The main challenges of our research are related to the in-flight assessment of the structural stability, engine performance, and trajectory control. The main goal is to develop an intelligent IHM that not only enhances components and system reliability, but also provides a post-flight feedback helping to optimize design of the next generation of aerospace systems. Our efforts are concentrated on several directions of the research. One of the key components of our strategy is an innovative approach to the diagnostics/prognostics based on the real time dynamical inference (DI) technologies extended to encompass hybrid systems with hidden state trajectories. The major investments are into the multiphysics performance modelling that provides an access of the FD&P technologies to the main performance parameters of e.g. solid and liquid rocket motors and composite materials of the nozzle and case. Some of the recent results of our research are discussed in this chapter. We begin by introducing the problem of dynamical inference of stochastic nonlinear models and reviewing earlier results. Next, we present our analytical approach to the solution of this problem based on the path integral formulation. The resulting algorithm does not require an extensive global search for the model parameters, provides optimal compensation for the effects of dynamical noise, and is robust for a broad range of dynamical models. In the following Section the strengths of the algorithm are illustrated illustrated by inferring the parameters of the stochastic Lorenz system and comparing the results with those of earlier research. Next, we discuss a number of recent results in application to the development of the IHM for aerospace system. Firstly, we apply dynamical inference approach to a solution of classical three tank problems with mixed unknown continuous and binary parameters. The problem is considered in the context of ground support system for filling fuel tanks of liquid rocket motors. It is shown that the DI algorithm is well suited for successful solution of a hybrid version of this benchmark problem even in the presence of additional periodic and stochastic perturbation of unknown strength. Secondly, we illustrate our approach by its application to an analysis of the nozzle fault in a solid rocket motor (SRM). The internal ballistics of the SRM is modelled as a set of one-dimensional partial differential equations coupled to the dynamics of the propellant regression. In this example we are specifically focussed on the inference of discrete and continuous parameters of the nozzle blocking fault and on the possibility of an application of the DI algorithm to reducing the probability of "misses" of an on-board FD&P for SRM. In the next section re-contact problem caused by first stage/upper stage separation failure is discussed. The reaction forces imposed on the nozzle of the upper stage during the re-contact and their connection to the nozzle damage and to the thrust vector control (TVC) signal are obtained. It is shown that transient impact induced torquean be modelled as a response of an effective damped oscillator. A possible application of the DI algorithm to the inference of damage parameters and predicting fault dynamics ahead of time using the actuator signal is discussed. Finally, we formulate Bayesian inferential framework for development of the IHM system for in-flight structural health monitoring (SHM) of composite materials. We consider the signal generated by piezoelectric actuator mounted on composite structure generating elastic waves in it. The signal received by the sensor is than compared with the baseline signal. The possibility of damage inference is discussed in the context of development of the SHM.

Smelyanskiy, Vadim N.↗