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At least 433 records · Page 24

The quiet time structure of energetic /35-560 keV/ radiation belt electrons

Detailed Explorer 45 observations of quiet time pitch angle distributions and equatorial radial profiles of energetic radiation belt electrons are presented. The observed pitch angle distributions in the slot region and the outer regions of the plasmasphere are found to agree with the values expected from resonant interactions with the plasmaspheric whistler mode wave band, and Coulomb collisions are found to be the dominant electron loss mechanism in the inner zone. The overall structure of quiet time radial profiles is shown to agree with the equilibrium structure expected to result from a balance between pitch angle scattering losses and radial diffusion from an outer zone source, and this agreement suggests that the dominant quiet time source and loss mechanisms have been correctly identified. Electron fluxes in the inner plasmasphere are found to remain nearly constant during the quiet periods due to their decoupling from magnetic activity variations in the outer plasmasphere.

Lyons, L. R.↗

Numerical solution for the temperature distribution in a cooled guide vane blade of a radial gas turbine

A two dimensional finite difference numerical technique is presented to determine the temperature distribution of an internal cooled blade of radial turbine guide vanes. A simple convection cooling is assumed inside the guide vane blade. Such cooling has relatively small cooling effectiveness at the leading edge and at the trailing edge. Heat transfer augmentation in these critical areas may be achieved by using impingement jets and film cooling. A computer program is written in FORTRAN IV for IBM 370/165 computer.

Hosny, W. M.↗

Circumferentially-segmented collector usable with a TWT

A TWT collector has axially-positioned collector stages in which at least one of the stages includes a plurality of annularly-arranged stage segments. The collector enhances electron beam velocity sorting by facilitating a combination of (a) selecting axial electric field distributions with application of selected voltages to the axially-positioned collector stages and (b) selecting radial electric field distributions with application of selected voltages to the annularly-arranged stage segments.

Brown, II, Richard A.↗

Development of a thermal and structural analysis procedure for cooled radial turbines

A procedure for computing the rotor temperature and stress distributions in a cooled radial turbine are considered. Existing codes for modeling the external mainstream flow and the internal cooling flow are used to compute boundary conditions for the heat transfer and stress analysis. The inviscid, quasi three dimensional code computes the external free stream velocity. The external velocity is then used in a boundary layer analysis to compute the external heat transfer coefficients. Coolant temperatures are computed by a viscous three dimensional internal flow cade for the momentum and energy equation. These boundary conditions are input to a three dimensional heat conduction code for the calculation of rotor temperatures. The rotor stress distribution may be determined for the given thermal, pressure and centrifugal loading. The procedure is applied to a cooled radial turbine which will be tested at the NASA Lewis Research Center. Representative results are given.

Kumar, Ganesh N.↗

Development of a thermal and structural analysis procedure for cooled radial turbines

A procedure for computing the rotor temperature and stress distributions in a cooled radial turbine is considered. Existing codes for modeling the external mainstream flow and the internal cooling flow are used to compute boundary conditions for the heat transfer and stress analyses. An inviscid, quasi three-dimensional code computes the external free stream velocity. The external velocity is then used in a boundary layer analysis to compute the external heat transfer coefficients. Coolant temperatures are computed by a viscous one-dimensional internal flow code for the momentum and energy equation. These boundary conditions are input to a three-dimensional heat conduction code for calculation of rotor temperatures. The rotor stress distribution may be determined for the given thermal, pressure and centrifugal loading. The procedure is applied to a cooled radial turbine which will be tested at the NASA Lewis Research Center. Representative results from this case are included.

Kumar, Ganesh N.↗

N-body experiments and missing mass in clusters of galaxies

It is commonly assumed that the distributions of surface density and radial-velocity dispersion in clusters of galaxies are sensitive tracers of the underlying distribution of any unseen mass. N-body experiments have been used to test this assumption. Calculations with equal-mass systems indicate that the effects of the underlying mass distribution cannot be detected by observations of the surface-density or radial-velocity distributions, and the existence of an extended binding mass in all well-studied clusters would be consistent with available observations.

Smith, H.↗

Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Ion Engine Accelerator Grid Erosion

Structural failure of the accelerator grid in two-grid ion optics due to charge exchange ion erosion is considered one of the dominant failure modes for ion engines. A detailed examination of three accelerator grids used in long duration tests of inert gas ion thrusters was undertaken to characterize the radial mass loss distribution, the local distribution of mass loss in the erosion pattern and how it varies as the pattern evolves. The results show significant broadening of the radial profile compared to what is expected in space with significant variations from grid to grid. The local distribution of mass loss and how it varies with increasing total mass loss in the erosion pattern was also found to differ considerably among the three grids. The results indicate that the details of the erosion geometry cannot be ignored when generalizing test results or modeling grid failure to calculate useful engine service life.

Ion Engine↗

RF model of the distribution system as a communication channel, phase 2. Volume 1: Summary Report

The design, implementation, and verification of a computerized model for predicting the steady-state sinusoidal response of radial (tree) configured distribution feeders was undertaken. That work demonstrated the feasibility and validity based on verification measurements made on a limited size portion of an actual live feeder. On that basis a follow-on effort concerned with (1) extending the verification based on a greater variety of situations and network size, (2) extending the model capabilities for reverse direction propagation, (3) investigating parameter sensitivities, (4) improving transformer models, and (5) investigating procedures/fixes for ameliorating propagation trouble spots was conducted. Results are summarized.

Rustay, R. C.↗

Coupling between fluid dynamics and energy addition in arcjet and microwave thrusters

A new approach to numerically solving the problem of the constricted electric arcjet is presented. An Euler Implicit finite difference scheme is used to solve the full compressible Navier Stokes equations in two dimensions. The boundary and initial conditions represent the constrictor section of the arcjet, and hydrogen is used as a propellant. The arc is modeled as a Gaussian distribution across the centerline of the constrictor. Temperature, pressure and velocity profiles for steady state converged solutions show both axial and radial changes in distributions resulting from their interaction with the arc energy source for specific input conditions. The temperature rise is largest at the centerline where there is a the greatest concentration arc energy. The solution does not converge for all initial inputs and the limitations in the range of obtainable solutions are discussed.

Micci, M. M.↗

Radial evolution of solar wind thermal electron distributions due to expansion and collisions

ISEE 3 electron observations near 1 AU show that the solar wind thermal electron temperature anisotropy, T(parallel)/T(perpendicular), is typically 1.0 to 1.5, with densest distributions most nearly isotropic, but is sometimes much higher when density is low. For a small observational subset characterized by high density and low bulk speed, T(perpendicular) can exceed T(parallel). Based on these and other observations, a simple model is proposed for radial evolution of thermal electrons in a structureless solar wind under the influence of Coulomb collisions and geometric expansion in a spiral interplanetary magnetic field. The model, which satisfactorily explains the 1 AU observations, shows that the evolution of electron temperature and T(parallel)/T(perpendicular) is controlled by plasma density, flow speed, and initial temperature, with density the most important factor. The model makes predictions for radial distances other than 1 AU and for high solar latitudes.

Phillips, J. L.↗

Physical properties of a polar coronal hole from 2 to 5 solar radii

Observations with a white-light coronagraph aboard Skylab are used to determine the boundaries of a coronal hole in the northern polar region and the three-dimensional density structure within the hole between heights of 2 and 5 solar radii. The boundary of the hole is found to be essentially axisymmetric about the polar axis, nearly radial from 3 to 6 solar radii, and located near 25 deg latitude at these heights. The radiances arising from the hole are interpreted as resulting from an axisymmetric density distribution whose logarithmic radial gradient is independent of position within the hole and whose magnitude increases with angular distance away from the hole's axis. The velocity distribution within the hole is obtained from the continuity equation by assuming that the particle flux flowing outward in the hole is similar to that measured for high-speed solar-wind streams at 1 AU, and it is shown that the transition from subsonic to supersonic flow occurs between 2.2 and 3 solar radii.

Munro, R. H.↗

Evolution of dynamo-generated magnetic fields in accretion disks around compact and young stars

Geometrically thin, optically thick, turbulent accretion disks are believed to surround many stars. Some of them are the compact components of close binaries, while the others are throught to be T Tauri stars. These accretion disks must be magnetized objects because the accreted matter, whether it comes from the companion star (binaries) or from a collapsing molecular cloud core (single young stars), carries an embedded magnetic field. In addition, most accretion disks are hot and turbulent, thus meeting the condition for the MHD turbulent dynamo to maintain and amplify any seed field magnetic field. In fact, for a disk's magnetic field to persist long enough in comparison with the disk viscous time it must be contemporaneously regenerated because the characteristic diffusion time of a magnetic field is typically much shorter than a disk's viscous time. This is true for most thin accretion disks. Consequently, studying magentic fields in thin disks is usually synonymous with studying magnetic dynamos, a fact that is not commonly recognized in the literature. Progress in studying the structure of many accretion disks was achieved mainly because most disks can be regarded as two-dimensional flows in which vertical and radial structures are largely decoupled. By analogy, in a thin disk, one may expect that vertical and radial structures of the magnetic field are decoupled because the magnetic field diffuses more rapidly to the vertical boundary of the disk than along the radius. Thus, an asymptotic method, called an adiabatic approximation, can be applied to accretion disk dynamo. We can represent the solution to the dynamo equation in the form B = Q(r)b(r,z), where Q(r) describes the field distribution along the radius, while the field distribution across the disk is included in the vector function b, which parametrically depends on r and is normalized by the condition max (b(z)) = 1. The field distribution across the disk is established rapidly, while the radial distribution Q(r) evolves on a considerably longer timescale. It is this evolution that is the subject of this paper.

Stepinski, Tomasz F.↗

Probe studies in a modified penning discharge

The axial and radial floating potential distribution in a modified Penning discharge were studied at different values of the background pressure, discharge voltage, and magnetic field. An array of small disc probes arranged radially with their planes perpendicular to the magnetic field and movable along the axial direction was inserted in the plasma through one open end of the magnetic mirror system. Results show that depending on the operating conditions, the discharge can undergo different mode transitions in which the plasma can sustain different floating potentials in the radial as well as in the axial directions. Preliminary results of measurement, using RF probes in the modified Penning discharge plasma are also discussed.

Sen, C.↗

Probe studies in a modified Penning discharge

The axial and radial floating potential distribution in a modified Penning discharge have been studied at different values of the background pressure, discharge voltage, and magnetic field. An array of small disc probes arranged radially with their planes perpendicular to the magnetic field and movable along the axial direction was inserted in the plasma through one open end of the magnetic mirror system. Results show that depending on the operating conditions, the discharge can undergo different mode transitions in which the plasma can sustain different floating potentials in the radial as well as in the axial directions. Preliminary results of measurement, using RF probes in the modified Penning discharge plasma are also discussed.

Sen, C.↗

Diffuse ionized gas in nearby Galaxies

We discuss the distribution and spectral characteristics of diffuse ionized gas in nearby galaxies. The diffuse gas has been mapped in both edge-on and more face-on galaxies providing information on the radial and vertical distributions. Emission from diffuse ionized gas is strongest around star forming regions. The vertical distribution appears related to the radio continuum thick-disk emission. We also briefly discuss ionization mechanisms and the connection between star formation characteristics and morphology of the interstellar medium.

Walterbos, R. A. M.↗

Internal loading of an inhomogeneous compressible Earth with phase boundaries

The geoid and the boundary topography caused by mass loads inside the earth were estimated. It is shown that the estimates are affected by compressibility, by a radially varying density distribution, and by the presence of phase boundaries with density discontinuities. The geoid predicted in the chemical boundary case is 30 to 40 percent smaller than that predicted in the phase case. The effects of compressibility and radially varying density are likely to be small. The inner core-outer core topography for loading inside the mantle and for loading inside the inner core were computed.

Defraigne, P.↗

HOTCFGM-1D: A Coupled Higher-Order Theory for Cylindrical Structural Components with Through-Thickness Functionally Graded Microstructures

The objective of this three-year project was to develop and deliver to NASA Lewis one-dimensional and two-dimensional higher-order theories, and related computer codes, for the analysis, optimization and design of cylindrical functionally graded materials/structural components for use in advanced aircraft engines (e.g., combustor linings, rotor disks, heat shields, blisk blades). To satisfy this objective, a quasi one-dimensional version of the higher-order theory, HOTCFGM-1D, and four computer codes based on this theory, for the analysis, design and optimization of cylindrical structural components functionally graded in the radial direction were developed. The theory is applicable to thin multi-phased composite shell/cylinders subjected to macroscopically axisymmetric thermomechanical and inertial loading applied uniformly along the axial direction such that the overall deformation is characterized by a constant average axial strain. The reinforcement phases are uniformly distributed in the axial and circumferential directions, and arbitrarily distributed in the radial direction, thereby allowing functional grading of the internal reinforcement in this direction.

Pindera, Marek-Jerzy↗