Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Three dimensional motion”

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 487 records · Page 27

The physics of the neutral upper atmosphere.

Particular attention is given to models of the upper atmosphere that deal with the diurnal variation and the latitudinal density dependence. The upper atmosphere is considered as essentially an ideal gas, or rather a weakly ionized plasma, where physical and chemical processes of considerable complexity take place. The final goal for the theoretical models of the upper atmosphere is to derive the time and space dependence of the physical quantities density, composition, temperature, pressure, and state of motion by theoretical considerations from basic physical assumptions. Questions of the dynamics of the upper atmosphere are discussed together with one- and two-dimensional models of the upper atmosphere, three-dimensional models, the geomagnetic effect, and the semiannual density variation.

Blum, P.↗

Modern control techniques in active flutter suppression using a control moment gyro

Development of organized synthesis techniques, using concepts of modern control theory was studied for the design of active flutter suppression systems for two and three-dimensional lifting surfaces, utilizing a control moment gyro (CMG) to generate the required control torques. Incompressible flow theory is assumed, with the unsteady aerodynamic forces and moments for arbitrary airfoil motion obtained by using the convolution integral based on Wagner's indicial lift function. Linear optimal control theory is applied to find particular optimal sets of gain values which minimize a quadratic performance function. The closed loop system's response to impulsive gust disturbances and the resulting control power requirements are investigated, and the system eigenvalues necessary to minimize the maximum value of control power are determined.

Buchek, P. M.↗

Asymptotic methods for internal transonic flows

For many internal transonic flows of practical interest, some of the relevant nondimensional parameters typically are small enough that a perturbation scheme can be expected to give a useful level of numerical accuracy. A variety of steady and unsteady transonic channel and cascade flows is studied with the help of systematic perturbation methods which take advantage of this fact. Asymptotic representations are constructed for small changes in channel cross-section area, small flow deflection angles, small differences between the flow velocity and the sound speed, small amplitudes of imposed oscillations, and small reduced frequencies. Inside a channel the flow is nearly one-dimensional except in thin regions immediately downstream of a shock wave, at the channel entrance and exit, and near the channel throat. A study of two-dimensional cascade flow is extended to include a description of three-dimensional compressor-rotor flow which leads to analytical results except in thin edge regions which require numerical solution. For unsteady flow the qualitative nature of the shock-wave motion in a channel depends strongly on the orders of magnitude of the frequency and amplitude of impressed wall oscillations or fluctuations in back pressure. One example of supersonic flow is considered, for a channel with length large compared to its width, including the effect of separation bubbles and the possibility of self-sustained oscillations. The effect of viscosity on a weak shock wave in a channel is discussed.

Adamson, T. C., Jr.↗

Unsteady Navier-Stokes computations past oscillating delta wing at high incidence

The unsteady, thin-layer, compressible Navier-Stokes equations, written in the moving frame of reference for the flow relative motion, is solved for the steady and unsteady supersonic flow around a round-edged delta wing. For supersonic flow, local conical flow solution has been obtained from the three-dimensional equations. Pseudotime stepping is used for the steady flow, while time-accurate stepping is used for the unsteady flow. The computational scheme is an implicit approximately-factored finite volume scheme which uses explicit and implicit dissipation terms. The scheme is verified for the steady flow solution. The scheme is then applied to a delta wing undergoing rolling oscillation at a reduced frequency of 1.137 with 15- deg maximum amplitude about a mean angle of attack of 10 deg for a Mach number of 2 and a Reynolds number of 500,000.

Kandil, Osama A.↗

Finite element approach for transient analysis of multibody systems

A three-dimensional, finite element based formulation for the transient dynamics of constrained multibody systems with trusslike configurations is presented. A convected coordinate system is used to define the rigid-body motion of individual elements in the system. Deformation of each element is defined relative to its convected coordinate system. The formulation is oriented toward joint-dominated structures. Through a series of sequential transformations, the joint degree of freedom is built into the equations of motion of the element to reduce geometric constraints. Based on the derivation, a general-purpose code has been developed. Two examples are presented to illustrate the application of the code.

Wu, Shih-Chin↗

A meteorological interpretation of the Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE) 3B flight series

The Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE) 3B was conducted to determine the summertime tropospheric distribution, sources, and sinks of important trace gas and aerosol species over the wetlands and boreal forests of central and eastern Canada. Isentropic trajectories and analyzed midtropospheric circulation patterns were used to group flights according to the transport histories of polar, midlatitude, or tropical air masses which were sampled. These data were then divided into bands of potential temperature levels representing the low, middle, and maximum aircraft altitudes to assess the effects of both local and long distance transport and natural and man-made pollutants to the measured chemical species. Detailed case studies are provided to depict the complex three-dimensional airflow regimes that transported air with differing chemical signatures to the study area. Mission 6 details the large-scale movement of smoke in the generally prevailing west to northwesterly airflow that was observed on the majority of flights. Mission 1 analyzes the horizontal and vertical motions of maritime Pacific air in the upper troposphere that was routinely mixed downward to the aircraft altitude. Finally, mission 14 tracks the far northward excursion of tropical air that had been associated with a Pacific typhoon. The following three factors all had important influences on the collected chemical data sets: (1) local and distant stratospheric in puts into the upper and middle troposphere; (2) biomass-burning plumes from active fires in Alaska and Canada; (3) a band of 'low ozone' upper tropospheric air that was observed by airborne differential absorption lidar (DIAL) above the aircraft maximum altitude. Other modification factors observed on some flights included urban pollution from U.S. and Canadian cities, tropical air that had been associated with a Pacific typhoon, and precipitation scavenging by clouds and rain. Many flights were affected by several of the above factors which led to complex chemical signatures that will be discussed in other companion papers.

Shipham, Mark C.↗

Pickup Ion Distributions from Three Dimensional Neutral Exospheres

Pickup ions formed from ionized neutral exospheres in flowing plasmas have phase space distributions that reflect their source's spatial distributions. Phase space distributions of the ions are derived from the Vlasov equation with a delta function source using three.dimensional neutral exospheres. The ExB drift produced by plasma motion picks up the ions while the effects of magnetic field draping, mass loading, wave particle scattering, and Coulomb collisions near a planetary body are ignored. Previously, one.dimensional exospheres were treated, resulting in closed form pickup ion distributions that explicitly depend on the ratio rg/H, where rg is the ion gyroradius and H is the neutral scale height at the exobase. In general, the pickup ion distributions, based on three.dimensional neutral exospheres, cannot be written in closed form, but can be computed numerically. They continue to reflect their source's spatial distributions in an implicit way. These ion distributions and their moments are applied to several bodies, including He(+) and Na(+) at the Moon, H(+2) and CH(+4) at Titan, and H+ at Venus. The best places to use these distributions are upstream of the Moon's surface, the ionopause of Titan, and the bow shock of Venus.

Hartle, R. E.↗

Squeezed states of electrons and transitions of the density of states

Electron systems which have low dimensional properties have been constructed by squeezing the motion in zero, one, or two-directions. An isolated quantum dot is modeled by a potential box with delta-profiled, penetrable potential walls embedded in a large outer box with infinitely high potential walls which represent the world function with respect to vacuum. We show the smooth crossover of the density of states from the three-dimensional to the quasi-zero dimensional electron gas.

Lee, Seung Joo↗

Wing tip vortex measurements with laser Doppler systems

The vortex velocity field produced by a rectangular wing in a subsonic wind tunnel was measured using two laser Doppler velocimeter systems. One system made three dimensional mean velocity measurements and the other made one dimensional turbulence measurements. The systems and test procedures are described and comparisons of the measurements are made. The data defined a strong spiral motion in the vortex formation process.

Fuller, C. E., III↗

Calculation of the three-dimension, supersonic, inviscid, steady flow past an arrow-winged airframe, part 1

A detailed description of the procedure used to compute three dimensional, supersonic, inviscid, steady flows past airframes is given. No limitations are imposed on the geometry of the airplane. Suitable computational grids are generated by automatic conformal mappings. The equations of motion, with pressure, entropy, and velocity direction as basic unknowns, are written and discretized in the computational space. Special rules to approximate derivatives are given. Boundary points are treated by a modified method of characteristics.

Moretti, G.↗

A factored implicit scheme for numerical weather prediction

An implicit method is proposed to factor the nonlinear partial differential equations governing fast and slow modes of dynamic motion in numerical weather prediction schemes. The method permits separate factorization of the slow and fast modes of the implicit operator. A simple two-dimensional version of the system of three-dimensional equations governing atmospheric dynamics over shallow water was analyzed to assess the accuracy of the proposed method. It is shown that the method has a small error which is comparable to other discretization errors in the overall scheme.

Augenbaum, J. M.↗

Real-time model-based vision system for object acquisition and tracking

A machine vision system is described which is designed to acquire and track polyhedral objects moving and rotating in space by means of two or more cameras, programmable image-processing hardware, and a general-purpose computer for high-level functions. The image-processing hardware is capable of performing a large variety of operations on images and on image-like arrays of data. Acquisition utilizes image locations and velocities of the features extracted by the image-processing hardware to determine the three-dimensional position, orientation, velocity, and angular velocity of the object. Tracking correlates edges detected in the current image with edge locations predicted from an internal model of the object and its motion, continually updating velocity information to predict where edges should appear in future frames. With some 10 frames processed per second, real-time tracking is possible.

Wilcox, Brian↗

Large-Amplitude, High-Rate Roll Oscillations of a 65 deg Delta Wing at High Incidence

The IAR/WL 65 deg delta wing experimental results provide both detail pressure measurements and a wide range of flow conditions covering from simple attached flow, through fully developed vortex and vortex burst flow, up to fully-stalled flow at very high incidence. Thus, the Computational Unsteady Aerodynamics researchers can use it at different level of validating the corresponding code. In this section a range of CFD results are provided for the 65 deg delta wing at selected flow conditions. The time-dependent, three-dimensional, Reynolds-averaged, Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations are used to numerically simulate the unsteady vertical flow. Two sting angles and two large- amplitude, high-rate, forced-roll motions and a damped free-to-roll motion are presented. The free-to-roll motion is computed by coupling the time-dependent RANS equations to the flight dynamic equation of motion. The computed results are compared with experimental pressures, forces, moments and roll angle time history. In addition, surface and off-surface flow particle streaks are also presented.

Chaderjian, Neal M.↗

Determining Exercise Strength Requirements for Astronaut Critical Mission Tasks: Reaching Under G-Load

The critical mission tasks assessments effort seeks to determine the physical performance requirements that astronauts must meet in order to safely and successfully accomplish lunar exploration missions. These assessments will determine astronaut preflight strength, fitness, and flexibility requirements, and the extent to which exercise and other countermeasures must prevent the physical deconditioning associated with prolonged weightlessness. The purpose is to determine the flexibility and strength that crewmembers must possess in order to reach Crew Exploration Vehicle controls during maneuvers that result in sustained acceleration levels ranging from 3.7G to 7.8G. An industry standard multibody dynamics application was used to create human models representing a 5th percentile female, a 50th percentile male, and a 95th percentile male. The additional mass of a space suit sleeve was added to the reaching arm to account for the influence of the suit mass on the reaching effort. The human model was merged with computer models of a pilot seat and control panel for the Crew Exploration Vehicle. Three dimensional paths were created that guided the human models hand from a starting position alongside its thigh to three control targets: a joystick, a keyboard, and an overhead switch panel. The reaching motion to each target was repeated under four vehicle acceleration conditions: nominal ascent (3.7G), two ascent aborts (5.5G and 7.8G) and lunar reentry (4.6G). Elbow and shoulder joint angular excursions were analyzed to assess range of motion requirements. Mean and peak elbow and shoulder joint torques were determined and converted to equivalent resistive exercise loads to assess strength requirements. Angular excursions for the 50th and 95th percentile male models remained within joint range of motion limits. For the 5th percentile female, both the elbow and the shoulder exceeded range of motion limits during the overhead reach. Elbow joint torques ranged from 10 N-m (nominal ascent) to 60 N-m (ascent abort). Shoulder joint torques ranged from 65 N-m (nominal ascent) to 280 N-m (ascent abort). Maximal equivalent exercise loads reached 30 lb in tricep extension, 9 lb in bicep curl, 110 lb in unilateral pullover and unilateral bench press for nominal conditions (lunar reentry), and 188 lb in unilateral pullover and unilateral bench press. The location of the pilot seat was found to be inadequately located to allow a 5th percentile female to reach the switches on the overhead panel. Elbow strength requirements were found to be well within population norms. Shoulder strength was found to be a limiting factor. Reaching under nominal ascent and lunar reentry conditions was found to require near maximal shoulder strength. Reaching under ascent abort conditions requires shoulder strength well beyond population norms. Pilot seats must adjust to accomodate a 5th percentile female. Exercise countermeasures must maintain maximal pullover and bench press strength to allow pilots to reach and operate controls during lunar reentry. Reaching will not be possible during ascent abort conditions. Flight controls should be built into armrests or flight control must be accomplished by autonomous systems during acceleration exceeding 4.6G.

Schaffner, Grant↗

Lower-Hybrid Drift Waves and Their Interaction With Plasmas in A 3D Symmetric Reconnection Simulation With Zero Guide Field

We investigate lower-hybrid drift waves (LHDW) in symmetric magnetic reconnection with zero guide field using three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The long-wavelength mode with develops in the bifurcated electron current layer around the X-line within the width of the electron meandering motion from the mid-plane, where is the ion (electron) gyroradius. The short-wavelength mode with develops in the separatrix region downstream of the electron outflow jet, producing electron vortices in the background flow frame. Electrons follow the E × B drift with corrections from the diamagnetic drift and are heated inside the vortices with diverging electric fields. In the vortices, ions have comparable E × B and inertia drifts, which together mostly cancel the diamagnetic drift. Toward the center of diverging field vortices, ions are decelerated, leading to a decrease in the perpendicular temperature, while the loss of low-energy ions results in an increase in the parallel temperature. Parallel electric fields exist as a combination of the LHDW wave field projected to the magnetic field direction and the penetration of whistler waves that are mainly outside of the LHDW layer. The magnetic flux tube is twisted in the vortices. The twist may potentially lead to slippage reconnection, as indicated by the non-uniform parallel potential variation across field lines, while the periodic variations of the twisting directions are a limiting factor.

Shan Wang↗

Receptivity of a laminar boundary layer to the interaction of a three-dimensional roughness element with time-harmonic free-stream disturbances

Receptivity of a laminar boundary layer to the interaction of time-harmonic free-stream disturbances with a 3D roughness element is studied. The 3D nonlinear triple-deck equations are solved numerically to provide the basic steady-state motion. At high Reynolds numbers, the governing equations for the unsteady motion are the unsteady linearized 3D triple-deck equations. These equations can only be solved numerically. In the absence of any roughness element, the free-stream disturbances, to the first order, produce the classical Stokes flow, in the thin Stokes layer near the wall (on the order of our lower deck). However, with the introduction of a small 3D roughness element, the interaction between the hump and the Stokes flow introduces a spectrum of all spatial disturbances inside the boundary layer.

Tadjfar, M.↗

Study of Magnetic Motions in the Solar Photosphere and their Implications for Heating the Solar Atmosphere

We continued our program of CO observations with the McMath-Pierce facility at Kitt Peak National Solar Observatory. Uitenbroek has developed a two-and three dimensional radiative transfer code that now includes chemical equilibrium calculations. This code allows us to compute a CO spectrum from for instance a snapshot of a solar granulation simulation (e.g. Stein & Nordlund 1989, Apj 342, L95) and compare these theoretical spectra with our spatially resolved CO spectroscopy. Van Ballegooijen and Uitenbroek have started calculations of two-dimensional fluxtube models that account consistently for hydrogen ionization in the calculation of the electron density. To this end we solve radiative transfer for hydrogen (bound-bound and bound-free transitions) in the two-dimensional models, including the effect of partial frequency redistribution (PRD) in the Lyman (alpha) and (beta) lines. From our internally consistent models we will calculate emergent spectra and the way these vary with location of some well-known spectral diagnostics and compare our results with observed line profiles. We can readily compare theoretical CO profiles from out models with our spatially resolved CO observations. Also we can compare with spatially resolved Ca II (ground based) and Mg II (we have observations done with the UVSP/SMM instrument), and Lyman (alpha) observations that should be available from SUMER/SOHO.

Noyes, Robert W.↗

Influence of cross-flow on nonlinear Tollmien-Schlichting/vortex interaction

The transition of an incompressible three-dimensional boundary layer with strong cross-flow is considered theoretically and computationally in the context of vortex/wave interactions. Specifically the work centers on two lower-branch Tollmien-Schlichting waves which mutually interact nonlinearly to induce a longitudinal vortex flow. The vortex motion in turn gives rise to significant wave modulation via wall-shear forcing. The characteristic Reynolds number is large and, as a consequence, the waves' and the vortex motion are governed primarily by triple deck theory. The nonlinear interaction is captured by a viscous partial-differential system for the vortex coupled with a pair of amplitude equations for each wave pressure. Following analysis and computation over a wide range of parameters, three distinct responses are found to emerge in the nonlinear behavior of the flow solution downstream: an algebraic finite-distance singularity, far-downstream saturation or far-downstream wave decay leaving pure vortex flow. These depend on the input conditions, the wave angles and the size of the cross flow.

Davis, D. A. R.↗