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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2005

The Venus SAGE Atmospheric Structure Investigation

Experiment goals and objectives are: a) To accurately define the state properties as a function of altitude from below the 10(exp -4) mb level (approx.150 km) to 92 bars (surface); b) To measure the stability of the atmosphere, and identify convective layers and stable layers, where they exist; c) To detect cloud levels from changes in the lapse rate at their boundaries; d) To provide state properties within the cloud levels, and thus provide supplementary information on cloud composition; e) To search for and characterize wave structure within the atmosphere; f) To search for and measure the intensity and scale of turbulence; g) To measure descent and surface wind speed and direction; h) To provide Lander altitude and attitude during decent for descent imaging analysis; and i) To provide a back-up landing sensor.

Colaprete, Anthony↗
NASA NTRS1982

Molecular processes in comets

Potential energy curves for the two lowest 2 sigma- states of OH are computed at the configuration-interaction level using four different basis sets. Electronic transition dipole moments connecting the excited 1 2 sigma- and 2(D) 2 sigma- states with each other and with he ground X2pi state are presented as functions of internuclear distance. The theoretical absorption oscillator strengths for the D 2 sigma-(v prime=0) reverser to X 2pi (v prime prime=0) transition are in good agreement with the empirical value derived from astronomical measurements. The photodissociation cross sections for absorption rom the v prime prime=0,1, and levels of the ground state into the continuum of the 1 2 sigma- state are calculated, and the interstellar and cometary photodissociation rates are derived.

Dalgarno, A.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Method for suppressing noise in measurements

Methods for suppressing noise in measurements by correlating functions based on at least two different measurements of a system at two different times. In one embodiment, a measurement operation is performed on at least a portion of a system that has a memory. A property of the system is measured during a first measurement period to produce a first response indicative of a first state of the system. Then the property of the system is measured during a second measurement period to produce a second response indicative of a second state of the system. The second measurement is performed after an evolution duration subsequent to the first measurement period when the system still retains a degree of memory of an aspect of the first state. Next, a first function of the first response is combined with a second function of the second response to form a second-order correlation function. Information of the system is then extracted from the second-order correlation function.

Carson, Paul L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A new formulation for the epsilon method applied to the minimum-time-to-climb problem

Balakrishnan's epsilon technique is used to compute minimum-time profiles for the F-104 airplane. This technique differs from the classical gradient method in that a quadratic penalty on the error in satisfying the equation of motion is included in the cost function to be minimized as a means of eliminating the requirement of satisfying the equations of motion. Although the number of unknown independent functions is increased to include the state variables, the evaluation of the gradient of the cost function is simplified, resulting in considerable computational savings, thereby making it appear feasible to use the epsilon method for real-time application.

Taylor, L. W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The sensitivity of fracture location distribution in brittle materials

The Weibull weak-link theory allows for the computation of distribution functions for both the fracture location and the applied far-field stress. Several authors have suggested using the fracture location information from tests to infer Weibull parameters, and others have used the predictive capabilities of the theory to calculate average fracture locations for brittle bodies. By a simple set of example calculations, it is shown that the fracture location distribution function is distinctly more sensitive to perturbations in the stress state than the fracture stress distribution function is. In general, the average fracture location is more subject to stress perturbations than the average fracture stress. The results indicate that care must be exercised in applying fracture location theory.

Wetherhold, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Perturbations in Brain Functional Connectivity Patterns After Waking From Slow Wave Sleep Under Different Cognitive States

Sleep inertia refers to the state of transition between sleep and wake characterized by impaired alertness, confusion, and reduced cognitive and behavioral performance. While the behavioral symptoms of sleep inertia are well described, the neurological changes that lead to this state remain elusive. Here, to understand the state of sleep inertia and the reorganization that the brain undergoes, we took a graph theoretical approach and compared the EEG derived brain connectivity patterns before sleep and after waking up while participants (n = 10) performed multiple tasks that differed in cognitive complexities. We focused on how the degree and the clustering coefficient of brain regions (EEG sensors) change immediately after participants wake up from slow wave sleep. During a psychomotor vigilance task (PVT), designed to assess vigilant attention, we find that the brain regions with strong network connectivity (degree) before sleep show a reduction in connectivity after waking. In contrast, those with low connectivity before sleep have greater connectivity after waking. The regions that undergo these changes are specific to each participant and these findings are unique to the beta frequency range, which plays a key role in sensorimotor functioning and preserving the current state of the brain. Moreover, in tasks that required inhibitory control and arithmetic reasoning, we found that only regions with weak connectivity before sleep exhibited more connections after waking, but regions with high connectivity prior to sleeping remained unchanged, highlighting task specific effects. Furthermore, we find that during the PVT, the clustering coefficient within low frequency oscillations of the brain is reduced upon waking while it remains unchanged during other tasks. These results suggest that the connections between regions that are lost after abrupt awakening can be reallocated to other regions in order to renormalize the brain. However, this response may only be evident during specific cognitive states and may be more nuanced during complex task performance.

sleep inertia↗
NASA NTRS2005

Constraining Oceanic Sources and Sinks of CO2 by Inverse Modeling: A First Step Toward Assimilation of In Situ and Remote Data

The primary goal of this collaborative project, lead by Nicholas Gruber at UCLA, is to better quantify the air-sea fluxes of pre-industrial and anthropogenic carbon dioxide CO2 for the global ocean with a newly developed inverse method. The method involves using ocean general circulation models (OGCMs) to characterize the subsurface distribution of tracers injected for different regions of the ocean surface. By linearly combining a series of these basis (or Greens) functions, one should be able to recreate any arbitrary ocean tracer field. In our case, we are using the global database of ocean dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) from the WOCE/JGOFS global CO2 survey from the 1990s. The observed DIC field has been partitioned into pre-industrial and anthropogenic components using the empirical C* technique. We then solve for an optimal combination of the regional basis functions that best match the two sets observations in a least-squares sense with singular value decomposition. This in turn provides solutions for the regional air-sea CO2 fluxes (pre-industrial and anthropogenic) that are independent of more traditional estimates derived from surface water disequilibria in the partial pressure of CO2 and wind speed gas exchange parameterizations. We are apply the method to a suite of nine different OGCMs to test the robustness of the derived surface fluxes fields to differences in ocean circulation. Together with a collegue Keith Lindsay at NCAR, S. Doney's role in this project was to create the appropriate steady-state and temporally evolving basis functions from the NCAR CSM-1 ocean circulation model. Because of a slow start across the project in defining a common set of experimental protocols, we requested and were given a one year, no cost extension. Both the steady-state and temporally evolving basis functions were delivered to the UCLA group for further analysis. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Doney, Scott↗
NASA NTRS1981

Laboratory measurements of the cometary photochemical phenomena

Laboratory experiments are described that provide fundamental information about photochemical processes in comets. The yield of cometary radicals such as CN, OH, etc. can be determined as a function of photolyzing wavelength. Quantum state distributions of the internal energy of the cometary radicals can also be measured as a function of wavelength permitting one to define the recoil velocity of the fragments. This type of information supplies the data needed for more elaborate models to interpret the data being obtained on comets.

Jackson, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Chemical Constraints Governing the Origin of Metabolism: The Thermodynamic Landscape of Carbon Group Transformations

The thermodynamics of organic chemistry under mild aqueous conditions was examined in order to begin to understand its influence on the structure and operation of metabolism and its antecedents. Free energies were estimated for four types reactions of biochemical importance carbon-carbon bond cleavage and synthesis, hydrogen transfer between carbon groups, dehydration of alcohol groups, and aldo-keto isomerization. The energies were calculated for mainly aliphatic groups composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The energy values showed that (1) when carbon-carbon bond cleavage involves two different types of functional groups, transfer of the shared electron-pair to the more reduced carbon group is energetically favored over transfer to the more oxidized carbon group, and (2) the energy of carbon-carbon bond transformation is strongly dependent on the type of functional group that donates the shared electron-pair during cleavage, and the group that accepts the shared electron-pair during synthesis, and (3) the energetics of C-C bond transformation is determined primarily by the half-reaction energies of the couples: carbonyl/carboxylic acid, carboxylic acid/carbon dioxide, alcohol/carbonyl, and hydrocarbon/alcohol. The energy of hydrogen-transfer between carbon groups was found to depend on the functional group class of both the hydrogen-donor and hydrogen-acceptor. From these and other observations we concluded that the chemistry of the origin of metabolism (and to a lesser degree modem metabolism) is strongly constrained by the (1) limited disproportionation energy of organic substrates that can be dissipated in a few irreversible reactions, (2) the energy-dominance of few half-reaction couples in carbon-carbon bond transformation that establishes whether a chemical reaction is energetically irreversible, reversible or unfeasible, and (3) the dependence of the transformation-energy on the oxidation state of carbon groups (functional group type) which is contingent on prior reactions in the synthetic pathway.

Weber, Arthur L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Rare-gas liquids - Equation of state and reduced-pressure, reduced-bulk-modulus, and reduced-sound-velocity functions

This paper is concerned with verification of the applicability of the Vinet et al. (1987) universal equation of state to the liquid phase of the rare-gas elements under pressure. As previously observed in solids and liquids metals, to a good approximation, in the absence of phase transitions, plots of the logarithms of the reduced pressure function, of the reduced sound velocity, and of the reduced bulk modulus, are all linear functions of 1 - X over the entire experimental pressure range. The results obtained on the rare-gas liquids are comparable in accuracy to those obtained in previous work on solids and liquid metals.

Schlosser, Herbert↗
NASA NTRS2003

An Interpolation Method for Obtaining Thermodynamic Properties Near Saturated Liquid and Saturated Vapor Lines

The availability and proper utilization of fluid properties is of fundamental importance in the process of mathematical modeling of propulsion systems. Real fluid properties provide the bridge between the realm of pure analytiis and empirical reality. The two most common approaches used to formulate thermodynamic properties of pure substances are fundamental (or characteristic) equations of state (Helmholtz and Gibbs functions) and a piecemeal approach that is described, for example, in Adebiyi and Russell (1992). This paper neither presents a different method to formulate thermodynamic properties of pure substances nor validates the aforementioned approaches. Rather its purpose is to present a method to be used to facilitate the accurate interpretation of fluid thermodynamic property data generated by existing property packages. There are two parts to this paper. The first part of the paper shows how efficient and usable property tables were generated, with the minimum number of data points, using an aerospace industry standard property package (based on fundamental equations of state approach). The second part describes an innovative interpolation technique that has been developed to properly obtain thermodynamic properties near the saturated liquid and saturated vapor lines.

Nguyen, Huy H.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A weak Hamiltonian finite element method for optimal guidance of an advanced launch vehicle

A temporal finite-element method based on a mixed form of the Hamiltonian weak principle is presented for optimal control problems. The mixed form of this principle contains both states and costates as primary variables, which are expanded in terms of nodal values and simple shape functions. Time derivatives of the states and costates do not appear in the governing variational equation; the only quantities whose time derivatives appear therein are virtual states and virtual costates. Numerical results are presented for an elementary trajectory optimization problem; they show very good agreement with the exact solution along with excellent computational efficiency and self-starting capability. The feasibility of this approach for real-time guidance applications is evaluated. A simplified model for an advanced launch vehicle application that is suitable for finite-element solution is presented.

Hodges, Dewey H.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Planetary Probe Entry Atmosphere Estimation Using Synthetic Air Data System

This paper develops an atmospheric state estimator based on inertial acceleration and angular rate measurements combined with an assumed vehicle aerodynamic model. The approach utilizes the full navigation state of the vehicle (position, velocity, and attitude) to recast the vehicle aerodynamic model to be a function solely of the atmospheric state (density, pressure, and winds). Force and moment measurements are based on vehicle sensed accelerations and angular rates. These measurements are combined with an aerodynamic model and a Kalman-Schmidt filter to estimate the atmospheric conditions. The new method is applied to data from the Mars Science Laboratory mission, which landed the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars in August 2012. The results of the new estimation algorithm are compared with results from a Flush Air Data Sensing algorithm based on onboard pressure measurements on the vehicle forebody. The comparison indicates that the new proposed estimation method provides estimates consistent with the air data measurements, without the use of pressure measurements. Implications for future missions such as the Mars 2020 entry capsule are described.

Karlgaard, Chris↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Effects of Vegetative Type, Edges, Fire History, Rainfall and Management in Fire-Maintained Ecosystems

The combined effects of repeated fires, climate, and landscape features (e.g., edges) need greater focus in fire ecology studies, which usually emphasize characteristics of the most recent fire and not fire history. Florida scrub-jays are an imperiled, territorial species that prefer medium (1.2-1.7 m) shrub heights. We measured short, medium, and tall habitat quality states annually within 10 ha grid cells that represented potential territories because frequent fires and vegetative recovery cause annual variation in habitat quality. We used multistate models and model selection to test competing hypotheses about how transition probabilities between states varied annually as functions of environmental covariates. Covariates included vegetative type, edges, precipitation, openings (gaps between shrubs), mechanical cutting, and fire characteristics. Fire characteristics not only included an annual presenceabsence of fire covariate, but also fire history covariates: time since the previous fire, the maximum fire-free interval, and the number of repeated fires. Statistical models with support included many covariates for each transition probability, often including fire history, interactions and nonlinear relationships. Tall territories resulted from 28 years of fire suppression and habitat fragmentation that reduced the spread of fires across landscapes. Despite 35 years of habitat restoration and prescribed fires, half the territories remained tall suggesting a regime shift to a less desirable habitat condition. Measuring territory quality states and environmental covariates each year combined with multistate modeling provided a useful empirical approach to quantify the effects of repeated fire in combinations with environmental variables on transition probabilities that drive management strategies and ecosystem change.

Breininger, David R.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Robust control with structured perturbations

Two important problems in the area of control systems design and analysis are discussed. The first is the robust stability using characteristic polynomial, which is treated first in characteristic polynomial coefficient space with respect to perturbations in the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial, and then for a control system containing perturbed parameters in the transfer function description of the plant. In coefficient space, a simple expression is first given for the l(sup 2) stability margin for both monic and non-monic cases. Following this, a method is extended to reveal much larger stability region. This result has been extended to the parameter space so that one can determine the stability margin, in terms of ranges of parameter variations, of the closed loop system when the nominal stabilizing controller is given. The stability margin can be enlarged by a choice of better stabilizing controller. The second problem describes the lower order stabilization problem, the motivation of the problem is as follows. Even though the wide range of stabilizing controller design methodologies is available in both the state space and transfer function domains, all of these methods produce unnecessarily high order controllers. In practice, the stabilization is only one of many requirements to be satisfied. Therefore, if the order of a stabilizing controller is excessively high, one can normally expect to have a even higher order controller on the completion of design such as inclusion of dynamic response requirements, etc. Therefore, it is reasonable to have a lowest possible order stabilizing controller first and then adjust the controller to meet additional requirements. The algorithm for designing a lower order stabilizing controller is given. The algorithm does not necessarily produce the minimum order controller; however, the algorithm is theoretically logical and some simulation results show that the algorithm works in general.

Keel, Leehyun↗
NASA NTRS1990

Theoretical study of the A 3Sigma(-)-X 3Pi transition in SiC

A theoretical study of the A 3Sigma(-)-X 3Pi infrared transition in SiC is presented using atomic natural orbital Gaussian basis sets in conjuction with multireference configuration interaction calculations. Dipole moment functions have been computed for both states as well as the A-X electronic transition moment function. The calculations predict that T(00) is 3700 + or - 200/cm, so that the transition recently observed in emission near 4500/cm and assigned to the 0-0 band of the A 3Sigma(-)-X 3Pi system of SiC is actually the 1-0 band.

Langhoff, Stephen R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Evaluation and selection of assembly plans

Two criteria are introduced for the evaluation and selection of assembly plans. The first criterion is to maximize the number of different sequences encompassed by the assembly plan. The second criterion is to maximize the amount of parallelism (i.e., simultaneity) that is possible in the execution of the assembly tasks. While the metrics corresponding to the criteria used in previous work can be expressed as a sum of terms, each being a function of a task or a state, the metrics corresponding to the criteria introduced are more complex functions of the whole assembly plan. An algorithm that performs a heuristic search for the best assembly plan over the AND/OR graph representation of assembly plans introduced in previous work is presented. Admissible heuristics for each of the two criteria are presented.

Homem De Mello, L. S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Derivation and application of hard deadlines for real-time control systems

The computation-time delay in the feedback controller of a real-time control system may cause failure to update the control input during one or more sampling periods. If this delay exceeds a certain limit called a hard deadline, either the necessary conditions for system stability are violated or the system leaves the allowed state-space. In such a case a dynamic failure is said to occur to the system. A method for calculating the hard deadlines in linear time-invariant control systems by considering system stability and the allowed state-space is presented. To derive necessary conditions for (asymptotic) system stability, the state difference equation is modified based on an assumed maximum delay and the probability distribution of delays whose magnitudes are less than, or equal to, the assumed maximum delay. Moreover, the allowed state-space - which is derived from given input and state constraints - is used to calculate the hard deadline as a function of time and the system state. A one-shot delay model in which a single event causes a dynamic failure is also considered. The knowledge of hard deadline is then applied to the design of error recovery in a triple modular redundant (TMR) controller computer.

Shin, Kang G.↗