Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “rotating fluid”

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 451 records · Page 25

The Global Geophysical Fluids Center of IERS (and its Special Bureau for Mantle)

The Global Geophysical Fluids Center (GGFC) was established by the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) on IERS's 10th anniversary day January 1, 1998, in an effort to expand IERS's services to the scientific community. Under the GGFC, eight Special Bureaus (SB) have been selected, each to be responsible for research and data service activities pertaining to mass transports and related geophysical processes in specific components of the Earth system, or "global geophysical fluids," including the atmosphere, oceans, solid Earth, core, and geophysical processes of gravity, loading, tides and hydrological cycles. GGFC and the SBs have the responsibility of supporting, facilitating, and providing services to the worldwide research community, in areas related to the variations in Earth rotation, gravity field and geocenter that are caused by mass transport in the global geophysical fluids. These minute variations have been observed by various space geodetic techniques, as effective remote sensing tools, with ever increasing precision/accuracy and temporal/spatial resolution. The GGFC and SBs have organized dedicated workshops and special sessions at international conferences, published articles, and held regular business meetings. The SBs also maintain individual website for data services and information exchanges. See URL . In particular, the SB for Mantle focuses on large-scale mass redistributions that occur in the mantle in association with various dynamic processes, including seismic activities, the post-glacial rebound, and mantle convections.

Chao, Benjamin F.↗

Actuation Using Piezoelectric Materials: Application in Augmenters, Energy Harvesters, and Motors

Piezoelectric actuators are used in many manipulation, movement, and mobility applications as well as transducers and sensors. When used at the resonance frequencies of the piezoelectric stack, the actuator performs at its maximum actuation capability. In this Space Grant internship, three applications of piezoelectric actuators were investigated including hammering augmenters of rotary drills, energy harvesters, and piezo-motors. The augmenter shows improved drill performance over rotation only. The energy harvesters rely on moving fluid to convert mechanical energy into electrical power. Specific designs allow the harvesters more freedom to move, which creates more power. The motor uses the linear movement of the actuator with a horn applied to the side of a rotor to create rotational motion. Friction inhibits this motion and is to be minimized for best performance. Tests and measurements were made during this internship to determine the requirements for optimal performance of the studied mechanisms and devices.

drills↗

Transport Coefficients in Rotating Weakly Compressible Turbulence

Analytical studies of compressible turbulence have found that compressible velocity fluctuations create both effective fluid transport properties and an effective equation of state. This paper investigates the effects of rotation on compressible turbulence. It is shown that rotation modifies the transport properties of compressible turbulence by replacing the turbulence time scale by a rotational time scale, much as rotation modifies the transport properties of incompressible turbulence. But thermal equilibrium properties are modified in a more complex manner. Two regimes are possible: one dominated by incompressible fluctuations, in which the sound speed is modified as it is in non-rotating turbulence, and a rotation dominated regime in which the sound speed enhancement is rotation dependent. The dimensionless parameter which discriminates between regimes is identified. In general, rotation is found to suppress the effects of compressibility. A novel feature of the present analysis is the use of a non-Kolmogorov steady state as the reference state of turbulence. introduction of such steady states expands the power and utility of analytical turbulence closures to a wider range of problems.

Rubinstein, Robert↗

Effect of rotation on a rotating hot-wire sensor

An investigation was conducted to discern the effects of centrifugal and Coriolis forces on a rotating hot-wire. The probe was calibrated in a wind tunnel as well as in a rotating mode. The effect of rotation was found to be negligibly small. A small change in cold resistance (1.5%) was observed in the rotating wire. The rotation seems to have a negligible effect on the fluid mechanics, heat transfer and material characteristics of the wire. This is a significant conclusion in view of the potential application of the hot-wire probe in a rotating passage (such as turbomachinery).

Hah, C.↗

Microgravity bubble migration in rotating flows

The NASA KC-135 microgravity-environment aircraft was used to gather experimental data on the migration of bubbles in rotating liquid fields under reduced gravity conditions. The data thus obtained were compared to those of an analysis for the prediction of fluid particle trajectories in the presence of both gravitational and rotational fields at the limit of quasi-steady creeping flow. Reasonable agreement with experimental results was achieved, despite the large size of the bubbles, their close proximity to a bounding surface over significant portions of their migration time, and their rather nonspherical geometry.

Ruggles, J. S.↗

Foil seal Patent

Fluid seal formed by flexible disk on rotating shaft to retain lubricating oils around shaft

Ludwig, L. P.↗

Some new results concerning the dynamic behavior of annular turbulent seals

The dynamic characteristics of annular turbulent seals applied in high pressure turbopumps can be described by stiffness, damping, and inertia coefficients. An improved procedure is presented for determining these parameters by using measurements made with newly developed test equipment. The dynamic system seal, consisting of the fluid between the cylindrical surfaces of the rotating shaft and the housing, is excited by test forces (input), and the relative motion between the surfaces (output) is measured. Transformation of the input and output time signals into the frequency domain leads to frequency response functions. An analytical model, depending on the seal parameters, is fitted to the measured data in order to identify the dynamic coefficients. Some new results are reported that show the dependencies of these coefficients with respect to the axial and radial Reynolds numbers and the geometrical data of the seal.

Massmann, H.↗

Test results for sawtooth-pattern damper seals - Leakage and rotordynamic coefficients

Test results consisting of direct and transverse force coefficients are presented for eleven sawtooth-pattern damper-seal configurations. The designation 'damper' seal refers to a seal which uses a deliberately roughened stator and smooth rotor to increase the net seal damping force. The designation 'sawtooth-pattern' refers to a stator-roughness pattern whose cross section normal to the axis of the seal resembles saw teeth with the teeth direction opposing fluid motion in the direction of shaft rotation. The sawtooth pattern yields axial grooves in the stator which are interrupted by spacer elements which act as flow constrictions or 'dams'. Sawtooth-pattern seals had more damping than smooth seals but less than the round-hole-pattern seals tested previously. If damping is sacrificed, sawtooth-pattern seals can be designed to leak less than round-hole-pattern seals.

Childs, D.↗

Fatigue testing of corrugated and Teflon hoses

Single and two-phase heat transport systems for the thermal control of large space facilities require fluid lines that traverse joints and either rotate or move in some other manner. Flexible hoses are being considered as one means of traversing these joints. To test the resilience of flexible hoses to bending stress, a test assembly was constructed to determine the number of flexing cycles the hoses could withstand before losing their ability to maintain a constant pressure. Corrugated metal hoses and Teflon hoses were tested at different pressures with nitrogen gas. The metal hoses had lives ranging from 30,000 to 100,000 flexing cycles. But, even after 400,000 cycles, the Teflon hoses remained essentially intact, though some leakage in the convoluted Teflon is noted.

Benner, Steve M.↗

The problem of exact interior solutions for rotating rigid bodies in general relativity

The (3 + 1) dyadic formalism for timelike congruences is applied to derive interior solutions for stationary, axisymmetric, rigidly rotating bodies. In this approach the mathematics is formulated in terms of three-space-covariant, first-order, vector-dyadic, differential equations for a and Omega, the acceleration and angular velocity three-vectors of the rigid body; for T, the stress dyadic of the matter; and for A and B, the 'electric' and 'magnetic' Weyl curvature dyadics which describe the gravitational field. It is shown how an appropriate ansatz for the forms of these dyadics can be used to discover exact rotating interior solutions such as the perfect fluid solution first published in 1968. By incorporating anisotropic stresses, a generalization is found of that previous solution and, in addition, a very simple new solution that can only exist in toroidal configurations.

Wahlquist, H. D.↗

A study of the compressible flow through a diffusing S-duct

Benchmark aerodynamic data are presented for compressible flow through a representative S-duct configuration. A numerical prediction of the S-duct flow field, obtained from a subsonic parabolized Navier-Stokes algorithm, is also shown. The experimental and numerical results are compared. Measurements of the three-dimensional velocity field, total pressures, and static pressures were obtained at five cross-sectional planes. Aerodynamic data were gathered with calibrated pneumatic probes. Surface static pressure and surface flow visualization data were also acquired. All reported tests were conducted with an inlet centerline Mach number of 0.6. The Reynolds number, based on the inlet centerline velocity and duct inlet diameter, was 2.6 x 10(exp 6). Thin inlet turbulent boundary layers existed. The collected data should be beneficial to aircraft inlet designers and the measurements are suitable for the validation of computational codes. The results show that a region of streamwise flow separation occurred within the duct. Details about the separated flow region, including mechanisms which drive this complicated flow phenomenon, are discussed. Results also indicate that the duct curvature induces strong pressure driven secondary flows. The cross flows evolve into counter-rotating vortices. These vortices convect low momentum fluid of the boundary layer toward the center of the duct, degrading both the uniformity and magnitude of the total pressure profile.

Wellborn, Steven R.↗

Effects of stress ethylene inhibitors on sweet clover (Melilotus Alba L.) seedling growth in microgravity

Previous experiments from our lab have shown that seeds of sweet clover, when germinated and grown within the Fluid Processing Apparatus (FPA) on a slow rotating clinostat produce significantly greater levels of the volatile stress hormone, ethylene, when compared to seeds treated the same but without clinorotation. In both conditions, carbon dioxide levels reached high levels and seedling growth was inhibited. However, clinorotation inhibited growth to a greater extent. To help determine to what extent microgravity influences stress ethylene production and to what extent ethylene inhibits seedling growth, we have extended the above experiments by growing sweet clover in the presence of aminooxyacetic acid (AOA) and silver nitrate (AgNO3), inhibitors of stress ethylene biosynthesis and action, respectively. Seeds of sweet clover were germinated and grown for five days in the FPA under two gravity conditions: under stationary conditions on Earth and in microgravity onboard the space shuttle, Discovery (STS-63), which launched Feb. 3, 1995. Upon recovery, gas samples were aspirated from the growth chambers and carbon dioxide and ethylene concentrations were measured using a gas chromatograph. Then the tissue was weighed, photographed and fixed, and is current undergoing further morphological and microscopic characterization.

Gallegos, Gregory L.↗

Numerical Simulations on Origin of Galilean Moons' Magnetic Anomalies

Galileo mission detected the magnetic anomalies originated from Galilean moons. These anomalies are likely generated in the moons interiors, under the influence of a strong ambient Jovian field. Among various possible generation mechanisms of the anomalies, we focus on magneto-convection and dynamos in the interiors via numerical simulation. To mimic the electromagnetic environment of the moons, we introduce in our numerical model an external uniform magnetic field B(sub 0) with a fixed orientation but varying field strength. Our results show that a finite B(sub 0) can substantially alter the dynamo processes inside the core. When the ambient field strength B(sub 0) increases to approximately 40% of the field generated by the pure dynamo action, the convective state in the core changes significantly: the convective flow decreases by 80% in magnitude, but the differential rotation becomes stronger in much of the fluid layer, leading to a stronger field generated in the core. The field morphologies inside the core tend to align with the ambient field, while the flow patterns show the symmetry-breaking effect under the influence of B(sub 0). Furthermore, the generated field tends to be temporally more stable.

Jiao, LiQuo↗

On Tidal Inference in the Diurnal Band

Standard methods of tidal inference should be revised to account for a known resonance that occurs mostly within the K(sub 1) tidal group in the diurnal band. The resonance arises from a free rotational mode of Earth caused by the fluid core. In a set of 110 bottom-pressure tide stations, the amplitude of the P(sub 1) tidal constituent is shown to be suppressed relative to K(sub 1), which is in good agreement with the resonance theory. Standard formulas for the K(sub 1) nodal modulation remain essentially unaffected. Two examples are given of applications of the refined inference methodology: one with monthly tide gauge data and one with satellite altimetry. For some altimeter-constrained tide models, an inferred P(sub 1) constituent is found to be more accurate than a directly determined one.

Ray, R. D.↗

Effect of the fluid core on changes in the length of day due to long period tides

The long period luni-solar tidal potential is known to cause periodic changes in the earth's rotation rate. It is found that the effect of a dissipationless fluid outer core is to reduce the amplitudes of these tidal perturbations by about 11 percent. When the fluid core effect is added to Agnew and Farrell's (1978) estimate of the effect of an equilibrium ocean, the result is in accord with observation. The effects of dissipative processes within the fluid core are also examined. Out-of-phase perturbations are found which could be as large as about 10 ms at 18.6 yr. It is concluded, however, that the poorly understood decade fluctuations in the earth's rotation rate will prohibit observation of this effect.

Wahr, J. M.↗

Wave-driven torques to drive current and rotation

In the classic Landau damping initial value problem, where a planar electrostatic wave transfers energy and momentum to resonant electrons, a recoil reaction occurs in the nonresonant particles to ensure momentum conservation. To explain how net current can be driven in spite of this conservation, the literature often appeals to mechanisms that transfer this nonresonant recoil momentum to ions, which carry negligible current. However, this explanation does not allow the transport of net charge across magnetic field lines, precluding E X B rotation drive. In this study, we show that in steady state, this picture of current drive is incomplete. Using a simple Fresnel model of the plasma, we show that for lower hybrid waves, the electromagnetic energy flux (Poynting vector) and momentum flux (Maxwell stress tensor) associated with the evanescent vacuum wave become the Minkowski energy flux and momentum flux in the plasma and are ultimately transferred to resonant particles. Thus, the torque delivered to the resonant particles is ultimately supplied by the electromagnetic torque from the antenna, allowing the nonresonant recoil response to vanish and rotation to be driven. We present a warm fluid model that explains how this momentum conservation works out locally, via a Reynolds stress that does not appear in the one-dimensional initial value problem. This model is the simplest that can capture both the nonresonant recoil reaction in the initial-value problem, and the absence of a nonresonant recoil in the steady-state boundary value problem, thus forbidding rotation drive in the former while allowing it in the latter.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Bubble mass center and fluid feedback force fluctuations activated by constant lateral impulse with variable thrust

Sloshing dynamics within a partially filled rotating dewar of superfluid helium 2 are investigated in response to constant lateral impulse with variable thrust. The study, including how the rotating bubble of superfluid helium 2 reacts to the constant impulse with variable time period of thrust action in microgravity, how amplitudes of bubble mass center fluctuates with growth and decay of disturbances, and how fluid feedback forces fluctuates in activating on the rotating dewar through the dynamics of sloshing waves are investigated. The numerical computation of sloshing dynamics is based on the non-inertial frame spacecraft bound coordinate with lateral impulses actuating on the rotating dewar in both inertial and non-inertial frames of thrust. Results of the simulations are illustrated.

Hung, R. J.↗