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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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Numerical techniques for digital computer solution of algebraic simultaneous linear equations from finite difference approximation of partial differential equations of thin elastic shells
Digital computer utilization to estimate sonic boom characteristics of complex airplane configuration
Digital computer method for determining eddy current and hysteresis losses in cylindrical rod of No. 1010 steel
Digital computer approach to elasticity theory problems using program based on iterative algorithms
ATS-1 VHF channels for aircraft position fixing, and digital computer model for position error analysis of satellite navigation systems
Aspect system on Pioneer VI and VII INCORPORATES digital computer for accurate time sector division of spin stabilized vehicle
Digital computer program for minimizing weight of fuel cell power systems - prelaunch startup and instrumentation - mathematical model of static moisture removal process - fuel cell model
Airborne remote sensing systems, as well as those on board Earth orbiting satellites, sample electromagnetic energy in discrete wavelength regions and convert the total energy sampled into data suitable for processing by digital computers. In general, however, the total amount of energy reaching a sensor system located at some distance from the target is composed not only of target related energy, but, in addition, contains a contribution originating from the atmosphere itself. Thus, some method must be devised for removing or at least minimizing the effects of the atmosphere. The LOWTRAN-6 Program was designed to estimate atmospheric transmittance and radiance for a given atmospheric path at moderate spectral resolution over an operational wavelength region from 0.25 to 28.5 microns. In order to compute the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) digital values which were recorded in the absence of the atmosphere, the parameters derived from LOWTRAN-6 are used in a correction equation. The TIMS data were collected at 1:00 a.m. local time on November 21, 1983, over a recirculating cooling pond for a power plant in southeastern Mississippi. The TIMS data were analyzed before and after atmospheric corrections were applied using a band ratioing model to compute the absolute surface temperature of various points on the power plant cooling pond. The summarized results clearly demonstrate the desirability of applying atmospheric corrections.
Digital computer controlled X ray fluorescent spectroscopy of geological materials
A melt purification system was developed which produces a final melt far superior electrochemically than those previously reported. A residual current of less than 2 microamps/sq mn at a sweep rate of 0.5 V/sec was used as the criteria for a pure melt. The use of a second purified bulk melt and a heated pipette permitted the rapid exchange of working electrode compartments while retaining the same reference electrode system. The major portion of the work was carried out in the 1:1 AlCl3:NaCl melt at 175 and 200 C. Several measurements were made in the 2:1 melt and a few on the silver systems in intermediate compositions. Programs for PDP-8I and PDP-12 digital computers and the required electronic circuitry systems were developed to carry out various electrochemical measurements in the melt. A pair of 50 yard transmission lines were used to connect the computer to the experiment. Ensemble averaging and digital, least squares smoothing are used within the programs to improve the signal-to-noise ratio by at least an order of magnitude. Some of the computerized electrochemcial techniques used to examine the different systems were pulse polarography, double pulse polarography, staircase voltammetry, kinetic double potential step chronoamperometry and double potential step chronocoulometry.
The spectral analysis program (SAP) was developed to provide the Manned Spacecraft Center with the capability of computing the power spectrum of a phase or frequency modulated high frequency carrier wave. Previous power spectrum computational techniques were restricted to relatively simple modulating signals because of excessive computational time, even on a high speed digital computer. The present technique uses the recently developed extended fast Fourier transform and represents a generalized approach for simple and complex modulating signals. The present technique is especially convenient for implementation of a variety of low-pass filters for the modulating signal and bandpass filters for the modulated signal.
The results are reported of research into the effects on system operation of signal quantization in a digital control system. The investigation considered digital controllers (filters) operating in floating-point arithmetic in either open-loop or closed-loop systems. An error analysis technique is developed, and is implemented by a digital computer program that is based on a digital simulation of the system. As an output the program gives the programing form required for minimum system quantization errors (either maximum of rms errors), and the maximum and rms errors that appear in the system output for a given bit configuration. The program can be integrated into existing digital simulations of a system.
The results of a statistical analysis of the vibrations of the experimental RS-1 reducer stand, with a spiral-gear transmission, operating on a closed circuit, are presented. The analysis was carried out on the Minsk-2 and Minsk-32 digital computers, with two-channel analog-digital converter, built in the Institute of the Science of Mechanics. Two-dimensional distribution patterns, conditional dispersions and dispersion ratios were calculated. The octave-band-filtered first harmonics of the tooth frequency f sub z of the vibrations at two different measurement points were considered as the components of the vibration process to be analyzed. The regression lines, corresponding to different values of the loading torque, are presented. Since it was not the gear drive parameters which were determined by diagnostic methods, but the characteristics most sensitive to change in state of the object of the investigation, the loading torque, which is the simplest and most accessible for measurement, was chosen as the condition parameter.
In this paper a technique is developed for choosing programing forms and bit configurations for digital filters that minimize the quantization errors. The technique applies to digital filters operating in fixed-point arithmetic in either open-loop or closed-loop systems, and is implemented by a digital computer program that is based on a digital simulation of the system. As an output the program gives the programing form required for minimum quantization errors, the total bit configuration required in the filter, and the location of the binary decimal point at each quantizer within the filter.
A multivariable control design for the F100 turbofan engine was evaluated, as part of the F100 multivariable control synthesis (MVCS) program. The evaluation utilized a real-time, hybrid computer simulation of the engine and a digital computer implementation of the control. Significant results of the evaluation are presented and recommendations concerning future engine testing of the control are made.
A geometrical acoustics approach is proposed as a practical design tool for absorbent liners in such short flow ducts as may be found in turbofan engine nacelles. As an example, a detailed methodology is presented for three different types of sources in a parallel plate duct containing uniform ambient flow. A plane wave whose wavefronts are not normal to the duct walls, an arbitrarily located point source, and a spatially harmonic line source are each considered. Optimal wall admittance distributions are found, and it is shown how to estimate the insertion loss for any admittance distribution. The extension of the methodology to realistic source distributions in variable area cylindrical or annular ducts containing arbitrary flow is shown to be conceptually straightforward and computationally practical on a vector-hardware digital computer.
In order to predict the performance of a synthetic aperture radar for a wide variety of system and environmental parameters a computer simulation of the SAR system was developed. This model is a detailed description of the SAR imaging process on a pulse-by-pulse basis. The simulation is implemented as seven computer programs for a CDC Cyber 171 digital computer.
This paper considers digital controllers (filters) operating in floating-point arithmetic in either open-loop or closed-loop systems. A quantization error analysis technique is developed, and is implemented by a digital computer program that is based on a digital simulation of the system. The program can be integrated into existing digital simulations of a system.