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At least 487 records · Page 27

Geometry Modeling and Grid Generation for Design and Optimization

Geometry modeling and grid generation (GMGG) have played and will continue to play an important role in computational aerosciences. During the past two decades, tremendous progress has occurred in GMGG; however, GMGG is still the biggest bottleneck to routine applications for complicated Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and Computational Structures Mechanics (CSM) models for analysis, design, and optimization. We are still far from incorporating GMGG tools in a design and optimization environment for complicated configurations. It is still a challenging task to parameterize an existing model in today's Computer-Aided Design (CAD) systems, and the models created are not always good enough for automatic grid generation tools. Designers may believe their models are complete and accurate, but unseen imperfections (e.g., gaps, unwanted wiggles, free edges, slivers, and transition cracks) often cause problems in gridding for CSM and CFD. Despite many advances in grid generation, the process is still the most labor-intensive and time-consuming part of the computational aerosciences for analysis, design, and optimization. In an ideal design environment, a design engineer would use a parametric model to evaluate alternative designs effortlessly and optimize an existing design for a new set of design objectives and constraints. For this ideal environment to be realized, the GMGG tools must have the following characteristics: (1) be automated, (2) provide consistent geometry across all disciplines, (3) be parametric, and (4) provide sensitivity derivatives. This paper will review the status of GMGG for analysis, design, and optimization processes, and it will focus on some emerging ideas that will advance the GMGG toward the ideal design environment.

Samareh, Jamshid A.↗

NASA's online machine aided indexing system

This report describes the NASA Lexical Dictionary, a machine aided indexing system used online at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Center for Aerospace Information (CASI). This system is comprised of a text processor that is based on the computational, non-syntactic analysis of input text, and an extensive 'knowledge base' that serves to recognize and translate text-extracted concepts. The structure and function of the various NLD system components are described in detail. Methods used for the development of the knowledge base are discussed. Particular attention is given to a statistically-based text analysis program that provides the knowledge base developer with a list of concept-specific phrases extracted from large textual corpora. Production and quality benefits resulting from the integration of machine aided indexing at CASI are discussed along with a number of secondary applications of NLD-derived systems including on-line spell checking and machine aided lexicography.

Silvester, June P.↗

Flat-plate solar array project. Volume 8: Project analysis and integration

Project Analysis and Integration (PA&I) performed planning and integration activities to support management of the various Flat-Plate Solar Array (FSA) Project R&D activities. Technical and economic goals were established by PA&I for each R&D task within the project to coordinate the thrust toward the National Photovoltaic Program goals. A sophisticated computer modeling capability was developed to assess technical progress toward meeting the economic goals. These models included a manufacturing facility simulation, a photovoltaic power station simulation and a decision aid model incorporating uncertainty. This family of analysis tools was used to track the progress of the technology and to explore the effects of alternative technical paths. Numerous studies conducted by PA&I signaled the achievement of milestones or were the foundation of major FSA project and national program decisions. The most important PA&I activities during the project history are summarized. The PA&I planning function is discussed and how it relates to project direction and important analytical models developed by PA&I for its analytical and assessment activities are reviewed.

Mcguire, P.↗

Optical design and analysis program

Computer program provides efficient handling of optical analysis equations and is sufficiently general in approach to accept wide variety of systems. Diagnostic messages are generated to aid user in pinpointing any inconsistencies in system definition.

Meredith, C. F.↗

Computer-aided linear-circuit design.

Usually computer-aided design (CAD) refers to programs that analyze circuits conceived by the circuit designer. Among the services such programs should perform are direct network synthesis, analysis, optimization of network parameters, formatting, storage of miscellaneous data, and related calculations. The program should be embedded in a general-purpose conversational language such as BASIC, JOSS, or APL. Such a program is MARTHA, a general-purpose linear-circuit analyzer embedded in APL.

Penfield, P.↗

Biomedical technology transfer applications of NASA science and technology

The identification and solution of research and clinical problems in cardiovascular medicine which were investigated by means of biomedical data transfer are reported. The following are sample areas that were focused upon by the Stanford University Biomedical Technology Transfer Team: electrodes for hemiplegia research; vectorcardiogram computer analysis; respiration and phonation electrodes; radiotelemetry of intracranial pressure; and audiotransformation of the electrocardiographic signal. It is concluded that this biomedical technology transfer is significantly aiding present research in cardiovascular medicine.

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Banning design automation software implementation

The research is reported for developing a system of computer programs to aid engineering in the design, fabrication, and testing of large scale integrated circuits, hybrid circuits, and printed circuit boards. The automatic layout programs, analysis programs, and interface programs are discussed.

Kuehlthau, R. L.↗

Flexible structure control experiments using a real-time workstation for computer-aided control engineering

A Real-Time Workstation for Computer-Aided Control Engineering has been developed jointly by the Communications Research Centre (CRC) and Ruhr-Universitaet Bochum (RUB), West Germany. The system is presently used for the development and experimental verification of control techniques for large space systems with significant structural flexibility. The Real-Time Workstation essentially is an implementation of RUB's extensive Computer-Aided Control Engineering package KEDDC on an INTEL micro-computer running under the RMS real-time operating system. The portable system supports system identification, analysis, control design and simulation, as well as the immediate implementation and test of control systems. The Real-Time Workstation is currently being used by CRC to study control/structure interaction on a ground-based structure called DAISY, whose design was inspired by a reflector antenna. DAISY emulates the dynamics of a large flexible spacecraft with the following characteristics: rigid body modes, many clustered vibration modes with low frequencies and extremely low damping. The Real-Time Workstation was found to be a very powerful tool for experimental studies, supporting control design and simulation, and conducting and evaluating tests withn one integrated environment.

Stieber, Michael E.↗

True Concurrent Thermal Engineering Integrating CAD Model Building with Finite Element and Finite Difference Methods

Thermal engineering has long been left out of the concurrent engineering environment dominated by CAD (computer aided design) and FEM (finite element method) software. Current tools attempt to force the thermal design process into an environment primarily created to support structural analysis, which results in inappropriate thermal models. As a result, many thermal engineers either build models "by hand" or use geometric user interfaces that are separate from and have little useful connection, if any, to CAD and FEM systems. This paper describes the development of a new thermal design environment called the Thermal Desktop. This system, while fully integrated into a neutral, low cost CAD system, and which utilizes both FEM and FD methods, does not compromise the needs of the thermal engineer. Rather, the features needed for concurrent thermal analysis are specifically addressed by combining traditional parametric surface based radiation and FD based conduction modeling with CAD and FEM methods. The use of flexible and familiar temperature solvers such as SINDA/FLUINT (Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer/Fluid Integrator) is retained.

Panczak, Tim↗

Reliability estimation procedures and CARE: The Computer-Aided Reliability Estimation Program

Ultrareliable fault-tolerant onboard digital systems for spacecraft intended for long mission life exploration of the outer planets are under development. The design of systems involving self-repair and fault-tolerance leads to the companion problem of quantifying and evaluating the survival probability of the system for the mission under consideration and the constraints imposed upon the system. Methods have been developed to (1) model self-repair and fault-tolerant organizations; (2) compute survival probability, mean life, and many other reliability predictive functions with respect to various systems and mission parameters; (3) perform sensitivity analysis of the system with respect to mission parameters; and (4) quantitatively compare competitive fault-tolerant systems. Various measures of comparison are offered. To automate the procedures of reliability mathematical modeling and evaluation, the CARE (computer-aided reliability estimation) program was developed. CARE is an interactive program residing on the UNIVAC 1108 system, which makes the above calculations and facilitates report preparation by providing output in tabular form, graphical 2-dimensional plots, and 3-dimensional projections. The reliability estimation of fault-tolerant organization by means of the CARE program is described.

Mathur, F. P.↗

Computer-aided selection of materials for cryogenic turbopump bearings

The life requirement for the angular contact ball bearings in the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) high-pressure-oxygen turbopump (HPOTP) is 7.5 hours. In actual operation, significantly shorter service life has been experienced. The objective of this current program is to identify bearing materials and/or materials processing techniques offering significant potential for extending HPOTP bearing performance life. A thermomechanical analysis of the HPOTP shaft/bearing system was performed with the SHABERTH (SHaft-BEaring-THermal) computer program. Bearing fatigue life, ball-race contact stress, heat generation rate, bulk ring temperatures, and circumferential stress in the inner rings were quantified as functions of radial load, thrust load, and ball-race contact friction. The analysis results were used to formulate criteria that are being used for the selection of special materials for future turbopump bearings.

Maurer, R. E.↗

Implementation of Large Scale Integrated (LSI) circuit design software

Portions of the Computer Aided Design and Test system, a collection of Large Scale Integrated (LSI) circuit design programs were modified and upgraded. Major modifications were made to the Mask Analysis Program in the form of additional operating commands and file processing options. Modifications were also made to the Artwork Interactive Design System to correct some deficiencies in the original program as well as to add several new command features related to improving the response of AIDS when dealing with large files. The remaining work was concerned with updating various programs within CADAT to incorporate the silicon on sapphire silicon gate technology.

Kuehlthau, R. L.↗

Robust detection, isolation, and accommodation for sensor failures

Recent advances in multivariable robust control system design are extended to sensor failure, detection, isolation, and accommodation (FDIA) and estimator design. A new concept called threshold selector is introduced. It represents a significant and innovative tool for the analysis and synthesis of FDIA algorithms. Analytical results are obtained for the SISO case to compute optimal thresholds and size of minimum detectable failures, and a computer-aided technique is developed for the multivariable case. The techniques have been applied to sensor FDIA for an aircraft turbine engine control system.

Emami-Naeini, A.↗

Sperry Univac speech communications technology

Technology and systems for effective verbal communication with computers were developed. A continuous speech recognition system for verbal input, a word spotting system to locate key words in conversational speech, prosodic tools to aid speech analysis, and a prerecorded voice response system for speech output are described.

Medress, Mark F.↗

Development and Analysis of the Automated Object Reentry Survival Analysis Tool Parametric Study Wrapper

The NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) studies all aspects of spacecraft end-of-life and orbital debris measurement, modeling, and mitigation. The reentry safety group within the ODPO uses the Object Reentry Survival Analysis Tool (ORSAT) to calculate the casualty risk due to reentry of spacecraft and other types of orbital debris. ORSAT models spacecraft as a collection of fragments that break apart from the parent object at a pre-defined “breakup altitude.” It then calculates the trajectory and aero-heating of these fragments to determine which fragments are completely destroyed and which survive to the ground and pose a risk to human population. Because of the historically high computational cost of these calculations, many simplifying assumptions have been made in the traditional calculation and analysis process used by the ODPO, some of which have been shown by recent research by the ODPO and others to be incorrect. Improvements to the ORSAT code and advancements in computer technology have vastly decreased the program’s processing time, and have allowed the ODPO to develop a capability for large-scale parametric studies and Monte Carlo reentry simulations that can aid in both the initial spacecraft design and provide more detailed and accurate risk analysis to spacecraft operators.

Smith, Andrew N.↗

Interactive display/graphics systems for remote sensor data analysis.

Using a color-television display system and interactive graphics equipment on-line to an IBM 360/44 computer, investigators at the Manned Spacecraft Center have developed a variety of interactive displays which aid in analyzing remote sensor data. This paper describes how such interactive displays are used to: (1) analyze data from a multispectral scanner, (2) develop automatic pattern recognition systems based on multispectral scanner measurements, and (3) analyze data from nonimaging sensors such as the infrared radiometer and microwave scatterometer.

Eppler, W. G.↗

NASA automatic subject analysis technique for extracting retrievable multi-terms (NASA TERM) system

Current methods for information processing and retrieval used at the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Facility are reviewed. A more cost effective computer aided indexing system is proposed which automatically generates print terms (phrases) from the natural text. Satisfactory print terms can be generated in a primarily automatic manner to produce a thesaurus (NASA TERMS) which extends all the mappings presently applied by indexers, specifies the worth of each posting term in the thesaurus, and indicates the areas of use of the thesaurus entry phrase. These print terms enable the computer to determine which of several terms in a hierarchy is desirable and to differentiate ambiguous terms. Steps in the NASA TERMS algorithm are discussed and the processing of surrogate entry phrases is demonstrated using four previously manually indexed STAR abstracts for comparison. The simulation shows phrase isolation, text phrase reduction, NASA terms selection, and RECON display.

Kirschbaum, J.↗

Exploration of Potential Superconducting Multi-Mode Cavity Architectures for Quantum Computing

This thesis describes the investigation of superconducting multi-mode cavity architecture for superconducting transmon-based quantum computing. The dissertation highlights useful features of radio-frequency cavities used for quantum computing, with a brief discussion on the advantages of superconducting cavities. In the subsequent section, the concept of transmon is introduced and the mechanism of coupling with a cavity is analyzed. Once the foundations of the topic are laid down, the thesis focuses on optimizing a multi-mode superconducting rf cavity design originally developed for high-energy physics applications. Such section articulates in two main parts, the first part concerning the "bare" cavity remake via finite-elements eigenmode simulations using a computer-aided design software called CST Studio Suite®. In the second part, a transmon qubit is physically inserted into the modified cavity to assess the qubit-cavity coupling of the new design. In evaluating said coupling, two distinct analysis methods are used, namely the black-box quantization method and the energy participation ratio method, both implemented using Ansys® High-Frequency Electromagnetic-Field Simulator, or HFSS™. Results from the two evaluations, compared together, show that the optimized design meets the requisites to be used for quantum computing purposes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗