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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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At least 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Analysis of turbulence in shear flows using the stabilization principle

An analysis is made based upon the concept that the velocity fluctuations, and therefore, the Reynolds stresses, driven by the instability of the original flow grow until a new stable state is approached. The Reynolds stresses incorporated into the Orr-Sommerfeld equation are coupled with the main flow such that all the imaginary parts of the complex eigenvalues vanish, i.e., the original instability is eliminated. Using this stabilization principle, it is possible to find the Reynolds stresses as well as the mean velocity for plane Poiseuille flow with the Reynolds number slightly higher than the critical.

Zak, M.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Rotation in solar-type stars. I - Evolutionary models for the spin-down of the sun

Models of rotating, 1 solar mass stars through the pre-main sequence and main sequence stages have been calculated. The calculations begin on the Hayashi track with rapid, rigid-body rotation, with angular momentum removed from the convective envelope to simulate the effect of the solar wind as the models evolve. Interior angular momentum redistribution by circulation flows and rotational instabilities is computed by a diffusion technique. It is found that at the present age of solar evolution, the models employed have internal rotation rates significantly larger than those allowed by measured solar oblateness, suggesting that the effects of circulation currents near the outer boundary of the radiative interior have been underestimated. An important result of this study is the implication that circulation currents produce deep mixing of such minor constituents as He-3 and C-13, perhaps also explaining the observed steady depletion of lithium during the main-sequence stage.

Endal, A. S.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Theory of stellar coronae - An interpretation of X-ray emission from non-degenerate stellar sources

It is shown that the acoustic wave heating theory of stellar coronae explains neither Einstein Observatory coronae data nor previous UV and X-ray observations of the sun and other stars, on the evidence of data implying that magnetic fields, stellar rotation rates and convection zone parameters figure in the determination of coronal heating. Einstein Observatory results suggest that O-type star coronae are heated by the interaction of turbulent stellar winds with slowly-decaying primordial magnetic fields or by radiative instabilities in the flow. The apparent absence of coronae in Ap stars is due to the stability of atmospheres in which even weak convection is suppressed by the strong field. Dynamo action is implicated in some normal A-type stars and in F- and later-type dwarfs. Coronal characteristics of dMe and dM stars, close binaries, and K- and M-type giants are also considered.

Linsky, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Steady thermocapillary flows and their stability

Thermocapillarity can drive steady flows in float-zone configurations. These flows can become unstable and exhibit time-periodic oscillations. In order to obtain insight into such phenomena, studies are made of a simplified system consisting of liquid in a two-dimensional slot. Steady flows and their instabilities are examined.

Sen, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Narrow Absorption Components in Be Star Winds

The stars omega Ori (B2 IIIe), 66 Oph (B2 IVe), and 59 Cyg (B1.5 IVe) are discussed. The extent to which the narrow absorption components in these Be stars differs from narrow components in the O stars and gamma Cas is explored. Any models or mechanisms for the formation of narrow absorption features in the UV resonance lines of Be star spectra must account for the presence of multiple narrow absorption features which are variable in number, radial velocity, and strength. Models predicting a high and low density structure to the stellar wind caused by instabilities in a flow driven by radiation pressure or by variable mass loss may be more successful in describing the behavior of winds in early Be stars. These models appear to be capable of producing single absorption components in the velocity range observed for O stars and very early Be stars.

Grady, C. A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The structure, energetics and evolution of the dominant frequency-dependent three-dimensional atmospheric modes

The three-dimensional structure of the dominant modes of wintertime variability are examined, and the mode structures are determined by an EOF analysis of the coupled vertical mean and shear streamfunction fields for a wide range of time-scale classes. The time mean energy conversions are determined from a two-layer quasigeostrophic model. Lag-cross correlations between the dominant low-frequency modes tend to be small and/or symmetric about zero, the high frequency modes are found to show highly asymmetric sinusoidal cross correlation functions similar to traveling waves, and some intermediate and short-time scale modes exhibit correlations indicating an association with the decaying phases of blocking in the Pacific. It is suggested that the mean flow barotropic (baroclinic) instabilities are an important source of variance for some of the lowest (highest) fluctuations considered.

Schubert, S. D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A numerical study of a class of TVD schemes for compressible mixing layers

At high Mach numbers the two-dimensional time-developing mixing layer develops shock waves, positioned around large-scale vortical structures. A suitable numerical method has to be able to capture the inherent instability of the flow, leading to the roll-up of vortices, and also must be able to capture shock waves when they develop. Standard schemes for low speed turbulent flows, for example spectral methods, rely on resolution of all flow-features and cannot handle shock waves, which become too thin at any realistic Reynolds number. The performance of a class of second-order explicit total variation diminishing (TVD) schemes on a compressible mixing layer problem was studied. The basic idea is to capture the physics of the flow correctly, by resolving down to the smallest turbulent length scales, without resorting to turbulence or sub-grid scale modeling, and at the same time capture shock waves without spurious oscillations. The present study indicates that TVD schemes can capture the shocks accurately when they form, but (without resorting to a finer grid) have poor accuracy in computing the vortex growth. The solution accuracy depends on the choice of limiter. However a larger number of grid points are in general required to resolve the correct vortex growth. The low accuracy in computing time-dependent problems containing shock waves as well as vortical structures is partly due to the inherent shock-capturing property of all TVD schemes. In order to capture shock waves without spurious oscillations these schemes reduce to first-order near extrema and indirectly produce clipping phenomena, leading to inaccuracy in the computation of vortex growth. Accurate simulation of unsteady turbulent fluid flows with shock waves will require further development of efficient, uniformly higher than second-order accurate, shock-capturing methods.

Sandham, N. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Ultra-low-frequency magnetic pulsations in the earth's magnetosphere

Spacecraft observations have shown that geomagnetic pulsations originating in magnetospheric processes, in spite of their small amplitude on the ground, have amplitudes in space relative to the local magnetic field of 5-10 percent and occasionally up to about 50 percent. It is noted that by studying geomagnetic pulsations, a detailed comparison can be made between plasma physics theory and observations that are not possible in laboratory experiments. Also geomagnetic pulsations play a role in magnetospheric dynamics and energy transport, and their study forms an integral part of enhancing the knowledge of the magnetosphere. The importance of spacecraft observations are discussed and attention is given to such topics as waves in the magnetosphere, field-line resonances, the quantitative analysis of a dipole field, plasma instabilities, and energy flow.

Anderson, Brian J.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Numerical computation of transition to turbulence

Current applications of numerical simulations, including studies of mildly nonlinear and strongly nonlinear effects, and incipient turbulence are reviewed, and it is observed that one mildly nonlinear application for which direct simulations need to take a leading part is in establishing confidence in the dominant instability of a flow, while direct simulations are the primary tool when nonlinear effects are stronger than can be handled by existing asymptotic methods. The characteristics of existing algorithms for transition simulations are discussed, along with algorithmic improvements which would extend the range of problems amenable to numerical simulations. Current and future issues and problems are outlined.

Zang, Thomas A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The effects of suction on the nonlinear stability of the three-dimensional boundary layer above a rotating disc

There exist two types of stationary instability of the flow over a rotating disc corresponding to the upper branch, inviscid mode and the lower branch mode, which has a triple deck structure, of the neutral stability curve. A theoretical study of the linear problem and an account of the weakly nonlinear properties of the lower branch modes have been undertaken by Hall and MacKerrell respectively. Motivated by recent reports of experimental sightings of the lower branch mode and an examination of the role of suction on the linear stability properties of the flow here, the effects are studied of suction on the nonlinear disturbance described by MacKerrell. The additional analysis required in order to incorporate suction is relatively straightforward and enables the derivation of an amplitude equation which describes the evolution of the mode. For each value of the suction, a threshold value of the disturbance amplitude is obtained; modes of size greater than this threshold grow without limit as they develop away from the point of neutral stability.

Bassom, Andrew P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the Behavior of Three-dimensional Wave Packets in Viscously Spreading Mixing Layers

We consider analytically the evolution of a three-dimensional wave packet generated by an impulsive source in a mixing layer. The base flow is assumed to be spreading due to viscous diffusion. The analysis is restricted to small disturbances (linearized theory). A suitable high-frequency ansatz is used to describe the packet; the key elements of this description are a complex phase and a wave action density. It is found that the product of this density and an infinitesimal material volume convecting at the local group velocity is not conserved: there is a continuous interaction between the base flow and the wave action. This interaction is determined by suitable mode-weighted averages of the second and fourth derivatives of the base-flow velocity profile. Although there is some tendency for the dominant wave number in the packet to shift from the most unstable value toward the neutral value, this shift is quite moderate. In practice, wave packets do not become locally neutral in a diverging base flow (as do instability modes), therefore, they are expected to grow more suddenly than pure instability modes and do not develop critical layers. The group velocity is complex; the full significance of this is realized by analytically continuing the equations for the phase and wave action into a complex domain. The implications of this analytic continuation are discussed vis-a-vis the secondary instabilities of the packet: very small scale perturbations on the phase can grow very rapidly initially, but saturate later because most of the energy in these perturbations is convected away by the group velocity. This remark, as well as the one regarding critical layers, has consequences for the nonlinear theories.

Balsa, Thomas F.↗
NASA NTRS1995

On the consistency of Reynolds stress turbulence closures with hydrodynamic stability theory

The consistency of second-order closure models with results from hydrodynamic stability theory is analyzed for the simplified case of homogeneous turbulence. In a recent study, Speziale, Gatski, and MacGiolla Mhuiris showed that second-order closures are capable of yielding results that are consistent with hydrodynamic stability theory for the case of homogeneous shear flow in a rotating frame. It is demonstrated in this paper that this success is due to the fact that the stability boundaries for rotating homogeneous shear flow are not dependent on the details of the spatial structure of the disturbances. For those instances where they are -- such as in the case of elliptical flows where the instability mechanism is more subtle -- the results are not so favorable. The origins and extent of this modeling problem are examined in detail along with a possible resolution based on rapid distortion theory (RDT) and its implications for turbulence modeling.

Speziale, Charles G.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Effects of G-Jitter on Interfacial Dynamics of Two Miscible Liquids: Application of MIM

We designed an experiment to examine the effects of g-jitter on mixing of two miscible liquids using the Microgravity Vibration Isolation Mount (MIM). The global bifurcation of the interface was observed with the MIM operating alternatively to either transmit the g-jitter, isolate from the g-jitter or to provide controlled vibration levels with well defined amplitude and frequency content. With the MIM in isolation mode, the interface remains stationary indicating buoyancy induced convection is negligibly small such that mixing occurs via intrinsic mass diffusion without the masking effect of vibration driven convection. Analytical and computational results are in agreement with the experimental findings. Operation of the MIM in forced mode with conditions typical of g-jitter shows that vibration induced convective flows can excite instability mechanisms such as Kelvin-Helmholtz to generate large amplitude quasi-stationary waves oriented vertically for various cases with Stokes-Reynolds number in the range of 0.003 to 0.5. The two and four mode quasi-stationary waves are also predicted with a mathematical model. Though unplanned, the effect of a primary thruster filing was captured and shown to cause a catastrophic bifurcation, enhancing local mass transport. In light of the findings, experiments planned for the International Space Station should consider the potential effects of g-jitter.

Duval, Walter M. B.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Fluid Physics and Transport Phenomena in a Simulated Reduced Gravity Environment

We describe a ground-based apparatus that allows the cancellation of gravity on a fluid using magnetic forces. The present system was designed for liquid oxygen studies over the range 0.001 - 5 g s. This fluid is an essential component of any flight mission using substantial amounts of liquid propellant, especially manned missions. The apparatus has been used to reduce the hydrostatic compression near the oxygen critical point and to demonstrate inverted phase separation. It could also be used to study pool boiling and two-phase heat transfer in Martian, Lunar or near-zero gravity, as well as phenomena such as Marangoni flow and convective instabilities. These studies would contribute directly to the reliability and optimization of the Moon and Mars flight programs.

Lipa, J.↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Fluids and Combustion Facility

Microgravity is an environment with very weak gravitational effects. The Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF) on the International Space Station (ISS) will support the study of fluid physics and combustion science in a long-duration microgravity environment. The Fluid Combustion Facility's design will permit both independent and remote control operations from the Telescience Support Center. The crew of the International Space Station will continue to insert and remove the experiment module, store and reload removable data storage and media data tapes, and reconfigure diagnostics on either side of the optics benches. Upon completion of the Fluids Combustion Facility, about ten experiments will be conducted within a ten-year period. Several different areas of fluid physics will be studied in the Fluids Combustion Facility. These areas include complex fluids, interfacial phenomena, dynamics and instabilities, and multiphase flows and phase change. Recently, emphasis has been placed in areas that relate directly to NASA missions including life support, power, propulsion, and thermal control systems. By 2006 or 2007, a Fluids Integrated Rack (FIR) and a Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) will be installed inside the International Space Station. The Fluids Integrated Rack will contain all the hardware and software necessary to perform experiments in fluid physics. A wide range of experiments that meet the requirements of the international space station, including research from other specialties, will be considered. Experiments will be contained in subsystems such as the international standard payload rack, the active rack isolation system, the optics bench, environmental subsystem, electrical power control unit, the gas interface subsystem, and the command and data management subsystem. In conclusion, the Fluids and Combustion Facility will allow researchers to study fluid physics and combustion science in a long-duration microgravity environment. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Kundu, Sampa↗
NASA NTRS2008

Effect of Excess Lead and Bismuth Content on the Electrical Properties of High-Temperature Bismuth Scandium Lead Titanate Ceramics

Aeronautic and aerospace applications require piezoelectric materials that can operate at high temperatures. The air-breathing aeronautic engines can use piezoelectric actuators for active combustion control for fuel modulation to mitigate thermo-acoustic instabilities and/or gas flow control to improve efficiency. The principal challenge for the insertion of piezoelectric materials is their limitation for upper use temperature and this limitation is due low Curie temperature and increasing conductivity. We investigated processing, microstructure and property relationship of (1-x)BiScO3-(x)PbTiO3 (BS-PT) composition as a promising high temperature piezoelectric. The effect of excess Pb and Bi and their partitioning in grain boundaries were studied using impedance spectroscopy, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric measurement techniques. Excess Pb addition increased the grain boundary conduction and the grain boundary area (average grain size was 24.8 m, and 1.3 m for compositions with 0at.% and 5at.% excess Pb, respectively) resulting in ceramics with higher AC conductivity (tan d= 0.9 and 1.7 for 0at.% and 5at.% excess Pb at 350 C and at 10kHz) that were not resistive enough to pole. Excess Bi addition increased the resistivity (rho= 4.1x10(exp 10) Omega cm and 19.6 x10(exp 10) Omega.cm for compositions with 0at.% and 5at.% excess Bi, respectively), improved poling, and increased the piezoelectric coefficient from 137 to 197 pC/N for 5at.% excess Bi addition. In addition, loss tangent decreased more than one order of magnitude at elevated temperatures (greater than 300 C). For all compositions the activation energy of the conducting species was similar (approximately equal to 0.35-0.40 eV) and indicated electronic conduction.

Sehirlioglu, Alp↗