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Tube fitting, consisting of movable tubular section containing two spring pressure Teflon actuated low friction seals, two standard connectors, and two hexagonal retaining nuts, provides flexible joint that allows axial and rotational motion.
Commercially available fittings are modified to produce leaktight connections at low cost.
Structural testing of the D-1A Centaur nose fairing was completed to determine the loads imposed during flight on the latch bolts of the fairing separation system. This testing was conducted to supplement and/or verify the analytic techniques used in calculating bolt loads for the D-1A, and to gain insight into the general structural behavior of separation latch systems. It was shown that the assumed bolt load magnification due to prying action of the latch fittings on the bolt does occur, but is strongly dependent on fairing shell stiffness.
A computer program developed to fit smooth surfaces to the component parts of three-dimensional aircraft configurations was described. The resulting equation definition of an aircraft numerical model is useful in obtaining continuous two-dimensional cross section plots in arbitrarily defined planes, local tangents, enriched surface plots and other pertinent geometric information; the geometry organization used as input to the program has become known as the Harris Wave Drag Geometry.
A method of automatic body-fitted curvilinear coordinate generation is described and used to construct a finite-difference solution of the full incompressible time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations for the unsteady laminar viscous flow arbitrary two-dimensional airfoils or any other two-dimensional body. A method of controlling the spacing of the coordinate lines encircling the body is developed in order to treat high Reynolds number flows, since the coordinate lines must concentrate near the surface to a greater degree as the Reynolds number increases. Multiple airfoils and submerged hydrofoils are treated as illustrative examples. The solution shows good agreement with the Blasius boundary layer solution for the flow past a semi-infinite flat plate.
The technique of body-fitted coordinate systems is applied in numerical solutions of the complete time-dependent compressible and incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for laminar flow and to the time-dependent mean turbulent equations closed by modified Kolmogorov hypotheses for turbulent flow. Coordinate lines are automatically concentrated near to the bodies at higher Reynolds number so that accurate resolution of the large gradients near the solid boundaries is achieved. Two-dimensional bodies of arbitrary shapes are treated, the body contour(s) being simply input to the program. The complication of the body shape is thus removed from the problem.
The extraction of frequency, damping, amplitude, and phase information from unforced transient response data is considered. These quantities are obtained from the parameters determined by fitting the digitized time-history data in a least-squares sense with complex exponential functions. The highlights of the method are described, and the results of several test cases are presented. The effects of noise are considered both by using analytical examples with random noise and by estimating the standard deviation of the parameters from maximum-likelihood theory.
A method for making a glass-to-metal seal is described. A domed metal enclosure having a machined seal ring is fitted to a glass post machined to a slight taper and to a desired surface finish. The metal part is then heated by induction in a vacuum. As the metal part heats and expands relative to the glass post, the metal seal ring, possessing a higher coefficient of expansion than the glass post, slides down the tapered post. Upon cooling, the seal ring crushes against the glass post forming the seal. The method results in a glass-to-metal seal possessing extremely good leak resistance, while the parts are kept clean and free of the contaminants.
A finite element computer program which enables the analysis of distortions and stresses occurring in compounds having a relative interference is presented. The program is limited to situations in which the loading is axisymmetric. Loads arising from the interference fit(s) and external, inertial, and thermal loadings are accommodated. The components comprise several different homogeneous isotropic materials whose properties may be a function of temperature. An example illustrating the data input and program output is given.
Equations are presented which attempt to fit least squares polynomials to tables of date. It is concluded that much data are needed to reduce the measurement error standard deviation by a significant amount, however at certain points great accuracy is attained.
Two computer programs generate two-dimensional body-fitted coordinate systems and coordinate transformation. Programs are useful in fields requiring accurate numerical representation of boundary conditions and accurate numerical solutions of partial differential equations.
Simple inexpensive process uses commercially available compressible film to verify fit between mating metal surfaces within 0.08 mm to 0. 13 mm.
The design, fabrication, and testing of a nose cone which included a radome for a NASA WB-57F high altitude natural resources mapping aircraft was reviewed. The plane was fitted with a APQ-102A side looking radar operating at 9.6 GHz. The radar is directed normally to the direction of the flight and downward by a changeable angle, and it is assumed that the axis of the plane will not deviate from this direction by more than + or - 6 deg. The radome is required to subtend an angle of 160 deg centered 30 deg below the left horizon.
The lower mantle and outer core are subjected to tests for homogeneity and adiabaticity. An earth model is used which is based on the inversion of body waves and Q-corrected normal-mode data. Homogeneous regions are found at radii between 5125 and 4825 km, 4600 and 3850 km, and 3200 and 2200 km. The lower mantle and outer core are inhomogeneous on the whole and are only homogeneous in the above local regions. Finite-strain and atomistic equations of state are fit to the homogeneous regions. The apparent convergence of the finite-strain relations is examined to judge their applicability to a given region. In some cases the observed pressure derivatives of the elastic moduli are used as additional constraints. The effect of minor deviations from adiabaticity on the extrapolations is also considered. An ensemble of zero-pressure values of the density and seismic velocities are found for these regions. The range of extrapolated values from these several approaches provides a measure of uncertainties involved.
The calculation procedure is based on the method of characteristics for steady three-dimensional flow. The bow shock wave and the internal shock wave system were computed using a discrete shock wave fitting procedure. The general structure of the computer program is discussed, and a brief description of each subroutine is given. All program input parameters are defined, and a brief discussion on interpretation of the output is provided. A number of sample cases, complete with data deck listings, are presented.
An analysis is presented for calculating the flow field in supersonic mixed-compression aircraft inlets operating at angle of attack. The flow field is computed by a steady three-dimensional bicharacteristic method. The bow shock wave and the reflected internal shock wave system are computed by a three-dimensional discrete shock wave fitting procedure. Viscous and thermal diffusion may be included as source terms in the bicharacteristic method. A production type computer program capable of determining the flow field in a variety of axisymmetric mixed-compression supersonic inlets is available. The results of the present analysis agree well with those produced by the two-dimensional method of characteristics when axisymmetric flow fields are computed. For three-dimensional flow fields, the results of the present analysis agree well with experimental data except in regions of high viscous interaction and boundary layer removal. The present analysis does not compute the boundary layer, nor does it account for boundary layer bleed.
Training manual used for preflight conditioning of NASA astronauts is written for audience with diverse backgrounds and interests. It suggests programs for various levels of fitness, including sample starter programs, safe progression schedules, and stretching exercises. Related information on equipment needs, environmental coonsiderations, and precautions can help readers design safe and effective running programs.
The aerodynamic design of a wind-tunnel model of a wing representative of that of a subsonic jet transport aircraft, fitted with winglets, was performed using two recently developed optimal wing-design computer programs. Both potential flow codes use a vortex lattice representation of the near-field of the aerodynamic surfaces for determination of the required mean camber surfaces for minimum induced drag, and both codes use far-field induced drag minimization procedures to obtain the required spanloads. One code uses a discrete vortex wake model for this far-field drag computation, while the second uses a 2-D advanced panel wake model. Wing camber shapes for the two codes are very similar, but the resulting winglet camber shapes differ widely. Design techniques and considerations for these two wind-tunnel models are detailed, including a description of the necessary modifications of the design geometry to format it for use by a numerically controlled machine for the actual model construction.