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At least 379 records · Page 21

Two dimensional nonlinear analysis of sound transmission through a near-sonic throat flow

A two-dimensional nonlinear theory of sound transmission through a nonuniform duct carrying a near-sonic throat flow is described. The mean flow in the duct is treated according to a generalized quasi-one dimensional model, and the analysis of the unsteady perturbations is carried out using the Method of Matched Asymptotic Expansions. The linearized acoustic field in the subsonic regions of the duct is approximated by a Wave Envelope model which is matched asymptotically with a nonlinear inner solution valid in the near-sonic throat region. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the predictions of the theory. It is found that, in general, shock waves develop in the acoustic field during transmission through the near-sonic flow. Unlike previous one-dimensional theories, the current study shows that dispersion can play a major role in the propagation process.

Myers, M. K.↗

A simple, accurate and efficient algorithm for unsteady transonic flow

The derivation of an algorithm for computing an airfoil's response to small unsteady perturbations is described. The analysis of the far-field boundary conditions for the flow field, and the application of the time-linearization technique to develop an accurate description of the flow field are discussed. The treatment of moving shock waves is examined. The alternating direction implicit scheme of Ballhaus and Steger (1975) is utilized for the discretization of the governing equations and boundary conditions. Numerical examples demonstrating the applicability of the time-linearization method to determine the correlation between airfoil and pressure distribution are provided. The effect of wind tunnel walls on unsteady transonic testing is studied.

Fung, K.-Y.↗

Winds aloft statistical analysis in support of day of launch Shuttle systems evaluation

In connection with the development of the Meteorological Interactive Data Display System (MIDDS) for utilization by the Launch Systems Evaluation Advisory Team (LSEAT), requirements have been established to expand the pre-launch analysis of winds aloft for the Space Shuttle. Statistical analyses developed for the system include: comparison of pre-launch wind component profiles to wind component extremes at each altitude calculated from launch site historical data; conditional probability ellipses for wind vectors at a future time given the wind vector at an initial time; comparison of observed extreme wind shear and associated wind speed with launch site historical data utilizing the bivariate extreme value (Gumbel) distribution; estimation of extremes of wind speed or wind shear at a future time given the extremes of either variable at an initial time, utilizing the conditional extreme value distribution; power spectrum analysis for tracking wind perturbation energy in sequential pre-launch Jimsphere wind profiles.

Adelfang, S. I.↗

Computational Aspects of Sensitivity Calculations in Linear Transient Structural Analysis

A study has been performed focusing on the calculation of sensitivities of displacements, velocities, accelerations, and stresses in linear, structural, transient response problems. One significant goal was to develop and evaluate sensitivity calculation techniques suitable for large-order finite element analyses. Accordingly, approximation vectors such as vibration mode shapes are used to reduce the dimensionality of the finite element model. Much of the research focused on the accuracy of both response quantities and sensitivities as a function of number of vectors used. Two types of sensitivity calculation techniques were developed and evaluated. The first type of technique is an overall finite difference method where the analysis is repeated for perturbed designs. The second type of technique is termed semianalytical because it involves direct, analytical differentiation of the equations of motion with finite difference approximation of the coefficient matrices. To be computationally practical in large-order problems, the overall finite difference methods must use the approximation vectors from the original design in the analyses of the perturbed models.

Greene, William H.↗

Radiative instabilities and 1000 second fluctuations in astrophysical masers

A stability analysis for small (linear) perturbations is presented for the radiation in astrophysical masers treated in the usual, linear maser approximation. Instabilities that oscillate with a period of about L/c, where L is the length of the maser are found. They occur (1) when the maser is partly but not heavily saturated, (2) when the decay rate Gamma for the molecular states is near c/L, and (3) when the product of the brightness temperature T sub 0 of the incident radiation and the angle for the beaming is less than a critical value that depends upon the particular masing transition. A fourth parameter, the fractional inversion in the pumping multiplied by (T sub 0/frequency), determines the importance of spontaneous emission which can eliminate the instabilities. These instabilities are a likely cause for the fluctuations in the radiation from the 18 cm OH masers that have been reported to occur on time scales as short as 1000 s. The calculations are applicable to other types of astrophysical masers as well, and suggest that spontaneous emission will prevent similar instabilities in the H2O and SiO masers.

Scappaticci, Gerardo A.↗

Computations Of Breakup Of A Capillary Jet

Report describes computations of breakup of round jet of liquid in gas or vacuum. Breakup occurs both spontaneously and when stimulated by vibrations giving rise to surface waves, some of which grow until drops pinch off. Study focusses on formation of satellite drops, taking advantage of advanced computers and computational methods to carry theoretical analysis beyond small-perturbation, linear regime.

Mansour, Nagi N.↗

Nonlinear growth of dynamical overstabilities in blast waves

The numerical gasdynamics code ZEUS-2D is used to directly model the dynamical overstabilities in blast waves. The linear analysis is confirmed by perturbing a blast wave with a low-amplitude eigenfunction of the overstability. The amplitude of the perturbations is increased in order to determine the nonlinear behavior of the overstabilities. The overstability is found to saturate due to weak transverse shocks in the shell. Transverse velocities in the dense shell reach the postshock sound speed, and high-density regions with sizes of the order of the shell thickness form. Transverse oscillations continue even after saturation. This confirms and explains the damping of the overstability experimentally discovered by Grun et al. (1991).

Mac Low, Mordecai-Mark↗

Time-Frequency Analysis of Boundary-Layer Instabilites Generated by Freestream Laser Perturbations

A controlled disturbance is generated in the freestream of the Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel (BAM6QT) by focusing a high-powered Nd:YAG laser to create a laser-induced breakdown plasma. The plasma then cools, creating a freestream thermal disturbance that can be used to study receptivity. The freestream disturbance convects down-stream in the Mach-6 wind tunnel to interact with a flared cone model. The adverse pressure gradient created by the flare of the model is capable of generating second-mode instability waves that grow large and become nonlinear before experiencing natural transition in quiet flow. The freestream laser perturbation generates a wave packet in the boundary layer at the same frequency as the natural second mode, complicating time-independent analyses of the effect of the laser perturbation. The data show that the laser perturbation creates an instability wave packet that is larger than the natural waves on the sharp flared cone. The wave packet is still difficult to distinguish from the natural instabilities on the blunt flared cone.

Chou, Amanda↗

Periodic Orbit-Attitude Solutions in the Planar Elliptic Restricted Three-Body Problem

The pitch motion of a spacecraft in the planar elliptic restricted three-body system is studied. Previous studies laid the foundation for spacecraft stability analysis with a small perturbation to the zero pitch motion. In this study, a cell mapping approach that combines analytical and numerical techniques is used to study the global behavior of the full nonlinear spacecraft attitude in which coupling between orbital dynamics and attitude occurs. The effect of gravity gradient torques, orbital eccentricity, and the spacecraft configuration at different Lagrangian points is analyzed. Multiple-period periodic solutions and invariant surfaces are presented for different cases. Reference trajectories around the Lagrangian points are also considered to study coupled dynamics.

Koh, Dayung↗

CSPlib - A Software Toolkit for the Analysis of Dynamical Systems and Chemical Kinetic Models

CSPlib is an open source software library for analyzing general ordinary differential equation (ODE) systems and detailed chemical kinetic ODE systems. It relies on the computational singular perturbation (CSP) method for the analysis of these systems. The software provides support for: General ODE models (gODE model class) for computing source terms and Jacobians for a generic ODE system; TChem model (ChemElemODETChem model class) for computing source term, Jacobian, other necessary chemical reaction data, as well as the rates of progress for a homogenous batch reactor using an elementary step detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism. This class relies on the TChem [2] library; A set of functions to compute essential elements of CSP analysis (Kernel class). This includes computations of the eigensolution of the Jacobian matrix, CSP basis vectors and co-vectors, time scales (reciprocals of the magnitudes of the Jacobian eigenvalues), mode amplitudes, CSP pointers, and the number of exhausted modes. This class relies on the Tines library; A set of functions to compute the eigensolution of the Jacobian matrix using Tines library GPU eigensolver; A set of functions to compute CSP indices (Index Class). This includes participation indices and both slow and fast importance indices.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Singularity perturbed zero dynamics of nonlinear systems

Stability properties of zero dynamics are among the crucial input-output properties of both linear and nonlinear systems. Unstable, or 'nonminimum phase', zero dynamics are a major obstacle to input-output linearization and high-gain designs. An analysis of the effects of regular perturbations in system equations on zero dynamics shows that whenever a perturbation decreases the system's relative degree, it manifests itself as a singular perturbation of zero dynamics. Conditions are given under which the zero dynamics evolve in two timescales characteristic of a standard singular perturbation form that allows a separate analysis of slow and fast parts of the zero dynamics.

Isidori, A.↗

Self-similar perturbations of a Friedmann universe

The present analysis of spherically symmetric self-similar solutions to the Einstein equations gives attention to those solutions that are asymptotically k = 0 Friedmann at large z values, and possess finite but perturbed density at the origin. Such solutions represent nonlinear density fluctuations which grow at the same rate as the universe's particle horizon. The overdense solutions span only a narrow range of parameters, and resemble static isothermal gas spheres just within the sonic point; the underdense solutions may have arbitrarily low density at the origin while exhibiting a unique relationship between amplitude and scale. Their relevance to large-scale void formation is considered.

Carr, Bernard J.↗