Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “code comparisons”

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 379 records · Page 21

Numerical Predictions of Mode Reflections in an Open Circular Duct: Comparison with Theory

The NASA Broadband Aeroacoustic Stator Simulation code was used to compute the acoustic field for higher-order modes in a circular duct geometry. To test the accuracy of the results computed by the code, the duct was terminated by an open end with an infinite flange or no flange. Both open end conditions have a theoretical solution that was used to compare with the computed results. Excellent comparison for reflection matrix values was achieved after suitable refinement of the grid at the open end. The study also revealed issues with the level of the mode amplitude introduced into the acoustic held from the source boundary and the amount of reflection that occurred at the source boundary when a general nonreflecting boundary condition was applied.

Duct Modes↗

Understanding the Cray X1 System

This paper helps the reader understand the characteristics of the Cray X1 vector supercomputer system, and provides hints and information to enable the reader to port codes to the system. It provides a comparison between the basic performance of the X1 platform and other platforms that are available at NASA Ames Research Center. A set of codes, solving the Laplacian equation with different parallel paradigms, is used to understand some features of the X1 compiler. An example code from the NAS Parallel Benchmarks is used to demonstrate performance optimization on the X1 platform.

Cheung, Samson↗

Additional extensions to the NASCAP computer code, volume 2

Particular attention is given to comparison of the actural response of the SCATHA (Spacecraft Charging AT High Altitudes) P78-2 satellite with theoretical (NASCAP) predictions. Extensive comparisons for a variety of environmental conditions confirm the validity of the NASCAP model. A summary of the capabilities and range of validity of NASCAP is presented, with extensive reference to previously published applications. It is shown that NASCAP is capable of providing quantitatively accurate results when the object and environment are adequately represented and fall within the range of conditions for which NASCAP was intended. Three dimensional electric field affects play an important role in determining the potential of dielectric surfaces and electrically isolated conducting surfaces, particularly in the presence of artificially imposed high voltages. A theory for such phenomena is presented and applied to the active control experiments carried out in SCATHA, as well as other space and laboratory experiments. Finally, some preliminary work toward modeling large spacecraft in polar Earth orbit is presented. An initial physical model is presented including charge emission. A simple code based upon the model is described along with code test results.

Stannard, P. R.↗

Analysis of turbulent underexpanded jets. II - Shock noise features using SCIPVIS

SCIPVIS, the computational model discussed by Dash et al. (1985), is assessed in predicting the complicated flow structure associated with shock-containing plumes. In addition, the analysis in this study examines this code's applicability as a basic part of a program for estimating broadband shock noise radiation. The results of this study show that excellent agreement exists between predicted and measured static pressure distributions for both underexpanded and overexpanded flow cases considered. Of the three turbulence closure models incorporated in the SCIPVIS code, the kW model of Spalding produces the most uniform agreement with measurement. The k-epsilon-2 model of Launder consistently overestimates plume spreading for supersonic jets with exit Mach numbers in the 1-2 range. Dash's (1983) k-epsilon-2-cc, compressibility-corrected version of Launder's model underestimates plume spreading. Good qualitative agreement was also obtained between the measured longitudinal turbulence intensity and that predicted by the code for the same trial case. Comparison of measured and predicted broadband shock noise spectrum peak values were found to be in excellent agreement. This utilized a variant of the Harper-Bourne and Fisher (1973) phase-array model: the effective shock spacing was reinterpreted as the value of the end of the plume potential core, determined herein by the SCIPVIS code.

Seiner, J. M.↗

Frame error rate of the NASA concatenated coding system

For a concatenated coding system, the effect of interleaving depth on interleaved frame-error rate is compiled by simulation. Comparisons are made for three different inner convolutional codes; all three systems have a (255,223) 8-bit Reed-Solomon code as an outer code. For all the inner convolutional codes tested, an interleaving depth smaller that 4 causes substantial loss.

Swanson, L.↗

Validation of the NCC Code for Staged Transverse Injection and Computations for a RBCC Combustor

The NCC code was validated for a case involving staged transverse injection into Mach 2 flow behind a rearward facing step. Comparisons with experimental data and with solutions from the FPVortex code was then used to perform computations to study fuel-air mixing for the combustor of a candidate rocket based combined cycle engine geometry. Comparisons with a one-dimensional analysis and a three-dimensional code (VULCAN) were performed to assess the qualitative and quantitative performance of the NCC solver.

Ajmani, Kumud↗

Application of the LAURA code for slender-vehicle aerothermodynamics

Application of a three-dimensional thin-layer Navier-Stokes code (LAURA) to compute the laminar, perfect gas aerothermodynamics of slender vehicles is demonstrated. Comparison of solutions with experimental data enabled an assessment of the code's aerodynamic heating prediction capabilities. The results show radial grid refinement to a wall cell Reynolds number of 2 to be accurate for predicting aerodynamic heating to a slender cone. Additional comparisons for an 80 deg slab-delta wing and a generic Aero-Space Plane vehicle show the method to be generally accurate using this radial cell spacing. Discrepancies between the predicted and measured heating in a region of crossflow separation on the Aero-Space Plane geometry are noted which indicates the need for further study. While additional applications and comparisons are required to fully test the LAURA program, the results of this study demonstrate the current level of confidence and the engineering utility of this particular code.

Thompson, Richard A.↗

A comparison of VLSI architectures for time and transform domain decoding of Reed-Solomon codes

It is well known that the Euclidean algorithm or its equivalent, continued fractions, can be used to find the error locator polynomial needed to decode a Reed-Solomon (RS) code. It is shown that this algorithm can be used for both time and transform domain decoding by replacing its initial conditions with the Forney syndromes and the erasure locator polynomial. By this means both the errata locator polynomial and the errate evaluator polynomial can be obtained with the Euclidean algorithm. With these ideas, both time and transform domain Reed-Solomon decoders for correcting errors and erasures are simplified and compared. As a consequence, the architectures of Reed-Solomon decoders for correcting both errors and erasures can be made more modular, regular, simple, and naturally suitable for VLSI implementation.

Hsu, I. S.↗

Comparison of dose estimates using the buildup-factor method and a Baryon transport code (BRYNTRN) with Monte Carlo results

Continuing efforts toward validating the buildup factor method and the BRYNTRN code, which use the deterministic approach in solving radiation transport problems and are the candidate engineering tools in space radiation shielding analyses, are presented. A simplified theory of proton buildup factors assuming no neutron coupling is derived to verify a previously chosen form for parameterizing the dose conversion factor that includes the secondary particle buildup effect. Estimates of dose in tissue made by the two deterministic approaches and the Monte Carlo method are intercompared for cases with various thicknesses of shields and various types of proton spectra. The results are found to be in reasonable agreement but with some overestimation by the buildup factor method when the effect of neutron production in the shield is significant. Future improvement to include neutron coupling in the buildup factor theory is suggested to alleviate this shortcoming. Impressive agreement for individual components of doses, such as those from the secondaries and heavy particle recoils, are obtained between BRYNTRN and Monte Carlo results.

Shinn, Judy L.↗

Development of the US3D Code for Advanced Compressible and Reacting Flow Simulations

Aerothermodynamics and hypersonic flows involve complex multi-disciplinary physics, including finite-rate gas-phase kinetics, finite-rate internal energy relaxation, gas-surface interactions with finite-rate oxidation and sublimation, transition to turbulence, large-scale unsteadiness, shock-boundary layer interactions, fluid-structure interactions, and thermal protection system ablation and thermal response. Many of the flows have a large range of length and time scales, requiring large computational grids, implicit time integration, and large solution run times. The University of Minnesota NASA US3D code was designed for the simulation of these complex, highly-coupled flows. It has many of the features of the well-established DPLR code, but uses unstructured grids and has many advanced numerical capabilities and physical models for multi-physics problems. The main capabilities of the code are described, the physical modeling approaches are discussed, the different types of numerical flux functions and time integration approaches are outlined, and the parallelization strategy is overviewed. Comparisons between US3D and the NASA DPLR code are presented, and several advanced simulations are presented to illustrate some of novel features of the code.

CFD↗

Implementation of wall boundary conditions for transpiration in F3D thin-layer Navier-Stokes code

Numerical boundary conditions for mass injection/suction at the wall are incorporated in the thin-layer Navier-Stokes code, F3D. The accuracy of the boundary conditions and the code is assessed by a detailed comparison of the predictions of velocity distributions and skin-friction coefficients with exact similarity solutions for laminar flow over a flat plate with variable blowing/suction, and measurements for turbulent flow past a flat plate with uniform blowing. In laminar flow, F3D predictions for friction coefficient compare well with exact similarity solution with and without suction, but produces large errors at moderate-to-large values of blowing. A slight Mach number dependence of skin-friction coefficient due to blowing in turbulent flow is computed by F3D code. Predicted surface pressures for turbulent flow past an airfoil with mass injection are in qualitative agreement with measurements for a flat plate.

Kandula, M.↗

Jet-A reaction mechanism study for combustion application

Simplified chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms for the combustion of Jet A fuel are studied. Initially 40 reacting species and 118 elementary chemical reactions were chosen based on the literature review of previous works. Through a sensitivity analysis with the use of LSENS General Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code, 16 species and 21 elementary chemical reactions were determined from this study. This mechanism is first justified by comparison of calculated ignition delay time with available shock tube data, then it is validated by comparison of calculated emissions from plug flow reactor code with in-house flame tube data.

Lee, Chi-Ming↗

Introduction of the ASP3D Computer Program for Unsteady Aerodynamic and Aeroelastic Analyses

A new computer program has been developed called ASP3D (Advanced Small Perturbation 3D), which solves the small perturbation potential flow equation in an advanced form including mass-consistent surface and trailing wake boundary conditions, and entropy, vorticity, and viscous effects. The purpose of the program is for unsteady aerodynamic and aeroelastic analyses, especially in the nonlinear transonic flight regime. The program exploits the simplicity of stationary Cartesian meshes with the movement or deformation of the configuration under consideration incorporated into the solution algorithm through a planar surface boundary condition. The new ASP3D code is the result of a decade of developmental work on improvements to the small perturbation formulation, performed while the author was employed as a Senior Research Scientist in the Configuration Aerodynamics Branch at the NASA Langley Research Center. The ASP3D code is a significant improvement to the state-of-the-art for transonic aeroelastic analyses over the CAP-TSD code (Computational Aeroelasticity Program Transonic Small Disturbance), which was developed principally by the author in the mid-1980s. The author is in a unique position as the developer of both computer programs to compare, contrast, and ultimately make conclusions regarding the underlying formulations and utility of each code. The paper describes the salient features of the ASP3D code including the rationale for improvements in comparison with CAP-TSD. Numerous results are presented to demonstrate the ASP3D capability. The general conclusion is that the new ASP3D capability is superior to the older CAP-TSD code because of the myriad improvements developed and incorporated.

Batina, John T.↗

The application of CFD for military aircraft design at transonic speeds

Numerous computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes are available that solve any of several variations of the transonic flow equations from small disturbance to full Navier-Stokes. The design philosophy at General Dynamics Fort Worth Division involves use of all these levels of codes, depending on the stage of configuration development. Throughout this process, drag calculation is a central issue. An overview is provided for several transonic codes and representative test-to-theory comparisons for fighter-type configurations are presented. Correlations are shown for lift, drag, pitching moment, and pressure distributions. The future of applied CFD is also discussed, including the important task of code validation. With the progress being made in code development and the continued evolution in computer hardware, the routine application of these codes for increasingly more complex geometries and flow conditions seems apparent.

Smith, C. W.↗

An engineering code to analyze hypersonic thermal management systems

Thermal loads on current and future aircraft are increasing and as a result are stressing the energy collection, control, and dissipation capabilities of current thermal management systems and technology. The thermal loads for hypersonic vehicles will be no exception. In fact, with their projected high heat loads and fluxes, hypersonic vehicles are a prime example of systems that will require thermal management systems (TMS) that have been optimized and integrated with the entire vehicle to the maximum extent possible during the initial design stages. This will not only be to meet operational requirements, but also to fulfill weight and performance constraints in order for the vehicle to takeoff and complete its mission successfully. To meet this challenge, the TMS can no longer be two or more entirely independent systems, nor can thermal management be an after thought in the design process, the typical pervasive approach in the past. Instead, a TMS that was integrated throughout the entire vehicle and subsequently optimized will be required. To accomplish this, a method that iteratively optimizes the TMS throughout the vehicle will not only be highly desirable, but advantageous in order to reduce the manhours normally required to conduct the necessary tradeoff studies and comparisons. A thermal management engineering computer code that is under development and being managed at Wright Laboratory, Wright-Patterson AFB, is discussed. The primary goal of the code is to aid in the development of a hypersonic vehicle TMS that has been optimized and integrated on a total vehicle basis.

Vangriethuysen, Valerie J.↗

The effect of elastic boundary conditions on the dynamic response of rectangular plates

Natural frequencies and forced steady-state harmonic response for the vibration of uniform rectangular plates with edges elastically restrained against rotation and transverse translation are addressed. A single mode Rayleigh-Ritz solution is derived using functions that describe the normal modes of vibration of a beam whose ends are elastically restrained. The finite element solution is obtained for comparison. MACSYMA symbolic manipulation system is implemented as an aid to the mathematical rigor of the Ritz approach, and NASTRAN finite element code is used to model the mechanical system. Comparisons are made to published results and the solutions of this study are found to give lower frequencies for some values of boundary restraint. Steady-state harmonic amplitudes of displacement and acceleration are found to agree favorably for the two solutions. Low predictions of steady-state strain from NASTRAN result in some cases when compared to the Ritz values. Finally, a subjective assessment is made about the merit of using MACSYMA and NASTRAN.

Brewer, Terry K.↗

Testbed Results for Scalar and Vector Radiative Transfer Computations of Light in Atmosphere-Ocean Systems

We generate and tabulate reflectance values of the Stokes parameters I, Q, and U of upwelling radiance just above a rough ocean surface and at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) for 100 scattering geometries, four atmosphere-ocean systems, and four wavelengths. The atmosphere-ocean systems increase in complexity from (a) a molecular atmosphere above a rough ocean surface (AOS-I model); to (b) a pure water body below a rough ocean surface (AOS-II model); to (c) a fully-coupled simple atmosphere-ocean system (AOS-III model) containing a molecular atmosphere, rough ocean surface, and pure water; to (d) a fully-coupled complex atmosphere-ocean system (AOS-IV model) that includes scattering by molecules, rough ocean surface, pure water, and hydrosols. Our wavelengths (350, 450, 550, and 650 nm) capture the ultraviolet-visible range. Our tables provide radiative transfer (RT) testbed results for atmosphere-ocean systems with an accuracy that surpasses the measurement accuracy of state-of-the-art polarimeters. To validate the accuracy of these tables we performed computations using three independent RT codes that provide deterministic numerical solutions for the RT equation. The agreement is 10(exp –5) for AOS-IV model, and 10(exp –6) for the other models. The degree of linear polarization computed by these RT codes differs by ≤0.2% for 15 isolated cases of tabulated reflectance values, and by ≤0.1% for all remaining cases. We also provide comparisons with results obtained by a stochastic RT code for AOS-I model. The agreement between the deterministic and stochastic results for this model is 10(exp –5) at TOA, and 10(exp –6) above the ocean surface.

Polarimeters↗