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At least 505 records · Page 28

Submillimeter backward wave oscillators

A NASA program for the development of backward wave oscillators (BWOs) for the 500-2000 GHz frequency range is discussed. The BWO operation is based on a periodic etched slow wave structure which supports the induced traveling electromagnetic wave. The present submillimeter wave BWOs will employ a variation of the folded wave guide, the interdigital line. The use of a noncompressed electron beam results in less thermal loading of the circuit, smaller magnetic focusing fields, and higher current density of the circuit interaction region. The diamond etching procedure is described. Aluminum will be used for the metallization of the diamonds.

Dayton, J. A.↗

MOD Tool (Microwave Optics Design Tool)

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is currently designing and building a number of instruments that operate in the microwave and millimeter-wave bands. These include MIRO (Microwave Instrument for the Rosetta Orbiter), MLS (Microwave Limb Sounder), and IMAS (Integrated Multispectral Atmospheric Sounder). These instruments must be designed and built to meet key design criteria (e.g., beamwidth, gain, pointing) obtained from the scientific goals for the instrument. These criteria are frequently functions of the operating environment (both thermal and mechanical). To design and build instruments which meet these criteria, it is essential to be able to model the instrument in its environments. Currently, a number of modeling tools exist. Commonly used tools at JPL include: FEMAP (meshing), NASTRAN (structural modeling), TRASYS and SINDA (thermal modeling), MACOS/IMOS (optical modeling), and POPO (physical optics modeling). Each of these tools is used by an analyst, who models the instrument in one discipline. The analyst then provides the results of this modeling to another analyst, who continues the overall modeling in another discipline. There is a large reengineering task in place at JPL to automate and speed-up the structural and thermal modeling disciplines, which does not include MOD Tool. The focus of MOD Tool (and of this paper) is in the fields unique to microwave and millimeter-wave instrument design. These include initial design and analysis of the instrument without thermal or structural loads, the automation of the transfer of this design to a high-end CAD tool, and the analysis of the structurally deformed instrument (due to structural and/or thermal loads). MOD Tool is a distributed tool, with a database of design information residing on a server, physical optics analysis being performed on a variety of supercomputer platforms, and a graphical user interface (GUI) residing on the user's desktop computer. The MOD Tool client is being developed using Tcl/Tk, which allows the user to work on a choice of platforms (PC, Mac, or Unix) after downloading the Tcl/Tk binary, which is readily available on the web. The MOD Tool server is written using Expect, and it resides on a Sun workstation. Client/server communications are performed over a socket, where upon a connection from a client to the server, the server spawns a child which is be dedicated to communicating with that client. The server communicates with other machines, such as supercomputers using Expect with the username and password being provided by the user on the client.

Katz, Daniel S.↗

On the Contribution of Turbulent Boundary Layers to the Noise Inside a Fuselage

The following report deals in preliminary fashion with the transmission through a fuselage of random noise generated on the fuselage skin by a turbulent boundary layer. The concept of attenuation is abandoned and instead the problem is formulated as a sequence of two linear couplings: the turbulent boundary layer fluctuations excite the fuselage skin in lateral vibrations and the skin vibrations induce sound inside the fuselage. The techniques used are those required to determine the response of linear systems to random forcing functions of several variables. A certain degree of idealization has been resorted to. Thus the boundary layer is assumed locally homogeneous, the fuselage skin is assumed flat, unlined and free from axial loads and the 'cabin' air is bounded only by the vibrating plate so that only outgoing waves are considered. Some of the details of the statistical description have been simplified in order to reveal the basic features of the problem. The results, strictly applicable only to the limiting case of thin boundary layers, show that the sound pressure intensity is proportional to the square of the free stream density, the square of cabin air density and inversely proportional to the first power of the damping constant and to the second power of the plate density. The dependence on free stream velocity and boundary layer thickness cannot be given in general without a detailed knowledge of the characteristics of the pressure fluctuations in the boundary layer (in particular the frequency spectrum). For a flat spectrum the noise intensity depends on the fifth power of the velocity and the first power of the boundary layer thickness. This suggests that boundary layer removal is probably not an economical means for decreasing cabin noise. In general, the analysis presented here only reduces the determination of cabin noise intensity to the measurement of the effect of any one of our variables (free stream velocity, boundary layer thickness, plate thickness or the characteristic velocity of propagation in the plate). The plate generates noise by vibrating in resonance over a wide range of frequencies and increasing the damping constant is consequently an effective method of decreasing noise generation. One of the main features of the results is that the relevant quantities upon which noise intensity depends are non-dimensional numbers in which boundary layer and plate properties enter as ratios. This is taken as an indication that in testing models of structures for boundary layer noise it is not sufficient to duplicate in the model the structural characteristics of the fuselage. One must match properly the characteristics of the exicitng pressure fluctuations to that of the structure.

Corcos, G. M.↗

2003 NASA Seal/Secondary Air System Workshop

The following reports were included in the 2003 NASA Seal/Secondary Air System Workshop:Low Emissions Alternative Power (LEAP); Overview of NASA Glenn Seal Developments; NASA Ultra Efficient Engine Technology Project Overview; Development of Higher Temperature Abradable Seals for Industrial Gas Turbines; High Misalignment Carbon Seals for the Fan Drive Gear System Technologies; Compliant Foil Seal Investigations; Test Rig for Evaluating Active Turbine Blade Tip Clearance Control Concepts; Controls Considerations for Turbine Active Clearance Control; Non-Contacting Finger Seal Developments and Design Considerations; Effect of Flow-Induced Radial Load on Brush Seal/Rotor Contact Mechanics; Seal Developments at Flowserve Corporation; Investigations of High Pressure Acoustic Waves in Resonators With Seal-Like Features; Numerical Investigations of High Pressure Acoustic Waves in Resonators; Feltmetal Seal Material Through-Flow; "Bimodal" Nuclear Thermal Rocket (BNTR) Propulsion for Future Human Mars Exploration Missions; High Temperature Propulsion System Structural Seals for Future Space Launch Vehicles; Advanced Control Surface Seal Development for Future Space Vehicles; High Temperature Metallic Seal Development for Aero Propulsion and Gas Turbine Applications; and BrazeFoil Honeycomb.

Steinetz, Bruce M.↗

Concerning the Interaction of A Transmitted Interplanetary Impulse With A Plasmaspheric Drainage Plume: First Results From 3-D Hybrid Kinetic Modeling

We present a new hybrid kinetic model to simulate the response of plasmaspheric drainage plumes to impulsive interplanetary pressure pulses. Since particle distributions attending the interplanetary pulses and in the drainage plume are non-Maxwellian, wave-particle interactions play a crucial role in energy transport within and outside the plumes. Finite gyroradius effects become important in mass loading of the transmitted impulse with the drainage plume ions. A forward-reverse shock structure develops from the initial step-like transmitted shock. First results show that the impulse causes strong deformations in the global structure of the plume. The anisotropic ion velocity distribution functions at the impulse front and inside the plume help us determine energy transport via wave-particle interactions throughout the Earth’s inner magnetosphere.

A S Lipatov↗

Characterization of Aircraft Structural Damage Using Guided Wave Based Finite Element Analysis for In-Flight Structural Health Management

The development of multidisciplinary Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) tools will enable accurate detection, diagnosis and prognosis of damage under normal and adverse conditions during flight. The adverse conditions include loss of control caused by environmental factors, actuator and sensor faults or failures, and structural damage conditions. A major concern is the growth of undetected damage/cracks due to fatigue and low velocity foreign object impact that can reach a critical size during flight, resulting in loss of control of the aircraft. To avoid unstable catastrophic propagation of damage during a flight, load levels must be maintained that are below the load-carrying capacity for damaged aircraft structures. Hence, a capability is needed for accurate real-time predictions of safe load carrying capacity for aircraft structures with complex damage configurations. In the present work, a procedure is developed that uses guided wave responses to interrogate damage. As the guided wave interacts with damage, the signal attenuates in some directions and reflects in others. This results in a difference in signal magnitude as well as phase shifts between signal responses for damaged and undamaged structures. Accurate estimation of damage size and location is made by evaluating the cumulative signal responses at various pre-selected sensor locations using a genetic algorithm (GA) based optimization procedure. The damage size and location is obtained by minimizing the difference between the reference responses and the responses obtained by wave propagation finite element analysis of different representative cracks, geometries and sizes.

Seshadri, Banavara R.↗

Grid oscillators

Loading a two-dimensional grid with active devices offers a means of combining the power of solid-state oscillators in the microwave and millimeter-wave range. The grid structure allows a large number of negative resistance devices to be combined. This approach is attractive because the active devices do not require an external locking signal, and the combining is done in free space. In addition, the loaded grid is a planar structure amenable to monolithic integration. Measurements on a 25-MESFET grid at 9.7 GHz show power-combining and frequency-locking without an external locking signal, with an ERP of 37 W. Experimental far-field patterns agree with theoretical results obtained using reciprocity.

Popovic, Zorana B.↗

Design of High-Deflection Foils MHK Applications - FEA models

The Ocean Renewable Power Company's (ORPC's) goal is to design, develop, and test hydrofoils with large deflections. The effects of the deflections on cross-flow turbine performance would be evaluated in order to inform design considerations for full-scale water turbines and other marine hydrokinetic devices. Finite element models - NASTRAN files Model scale turbines tested in UNH tow tank Model loads from CFD models

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Effects of substrate deformation and sip thickness on tile/sip interface stresses for shuttle thermal protection

A nonlinear analysis was used to study the effects of substrate deformation characteristics and strain isolator pad (SIP) thickness on TILE/SIP interface stresses for the space shuttle thermal protection system. The configuration analyzed consisted of a 5.08 cm thick, 15.24 cm square tile with a 12.7 cm square SIP footprint bordered by a 1.27 cm wide filler bar and was subjected to forces and moments representative of a 20.7 kPa aerodynamic shock passing over the tile. The SIP stress deflection curves were obtained after a 69 kPa proof load and 100 cycles conditioning at 55 kPa. The TILE/SIP interface stresses increase over flat substrate values for zero to peak substrate deformation amplitudes up to 0.191 cm by up to a factor of nearly five depending on deformation amplitude, half wave length, and location. Stresses for a 0.23 cm thick SIP found to be up to 60 percent greater than for a 0.41 cm thick SIP for identical loads and substrate deformation characteristics. A simplified method was developed for approximating the substrate location which produces maximum TILE/SIP interface stresses.

Shore, C. P.↗

Novel Low-Cost, Low-Power Miniature Thermionic Cathode Developed for Microwave/Millimeter Wave Tube and Cathode Ray Tube Applications

A low cost, small size and mass, low heater power, durable high-performance barium dispenser thermionic cathode has been developed that offers significant advancements in the design, manufacture, and performance of the electron sources used in vacuum electronic devices--such as microwave (and millimeter wave) traveling-wave tubes (TWT's)--and in display devices such as high-brightness, high-resolution cathode ray tubes (CRT's). The lower cathode heater power and the reduced size and mass of the new cathode are expected to be especially beneficial in TWT's for deep space communications, where future missions are requiring smaller spacecraft, higher data transfer rates (higher frequencies and radiofrequency output power), and greater electrical efficiency. Also expected to benefit are TWT's for commercial and government communication satellites, for both low and geosynchronous Earth orbit, with additional benefits offered by lower cost and potentially higher cathode current loading. A particularly important TWT application is in the microwave power module (MPM), which is a hybrid microwave (or millimeter wave) amplifier consisting of a low-noise solid state driver, a vacuum power booster (small TWT), and an electronic power conditioner integrated into a single compact package. The attributes of compactness and potentially high electrical efficiency make the MPM very attractive for many commercial and government (civilian and defense) applications in communication and radar systems. The MPM is already finding application in defense electronic systems and is under development by NASA for deep space communications. However, for the MPM to become competitive and commercially successful, a major reduction in cost must be achieved.

Wintucky, Edwin G.↗

Shock recompaction of spall damage

Spall fracture is a high strain-rate damage phenomenon associated with shock or impulsive loading events. When a material that has been subjected to shock compression is allowed to release, rarefaction waves propagate into the sample and reduce the internal stress to zero. If multiple rarefaction waves intersect, they generate tension which, if sufficient, can nucleate voids in the material. It has been observed in several works investigating spall fracture that although the shock-wave profiles suggested spall occurred, imaging of the recovered sample revealed no voids or cracks. In this study, we aim to determine whether a second shock event could recompact existing spall damage, and if so, what form does the microstructure at the recompaction interface have? Through a series of gas-gun flyer-plate impact experiments, we demonstrate that modest shock stresses of 2 GPa–3 GPa are enough to both fully compact a damaged copper target back to a state of zero porosity and, furthermore, drive recrystallization of the interface such that there is a new bond formed where the free surfaces were brought together.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Stress field measurements using quantitative schlieren

Quantitative schlieren analysis is extended here to optically transparent solids in quasi-static and dynamic experiments to measure stress distributions. The quasi-static experiments in polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) compared refraction angles and stress gradients calculated from schlieren images to the analytical Flamant solution of a line load on a half-space. The quantitative schlieren measurements of the stress field in the thin sample with a load compared well to the analytical solution. The analysis method was then extended to explosive induced shock waves in PMMA. The explosive induced response of PMMA was experimentally studied using high-speed schlieren to visualize the shock propagation in conjunction with Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) to record surface velocity histories. The stress state estimated from the schlieren images was compared to the stress calculated from the PDV measurements. High-speed imaging limitations caused the shock wave to not be fully resolved in the images, but was resolved in the PDV measurement. The stress state behind the shock calculated from the high-speed images followed a similar trend to the stress calculated from the PDV measurements.

Physics↗

A REPORT ON THREE SERIES OF EXPERIMENTS AND THE DESCRIPTION OF A SIMPLIFIED MODEL OF THE THIN WALL CYLINDER AND CONE BUCKLING MECHANISM

Three series of experiments were performed to investigate the nature of the buckling phenomenon. They were: a) influence of an increasing dimple on the buckling load of a cylinder; b) investigation of the strain distribution on one cylinder, after one or more waves were imposed on it; c) measurements of lateral deflections at buckling. The results of such experiments give some support to the idea of a buckling model, which can be of eventual interest to the thin wall cylinder and cone buckling problem, where a non-linear system (the buckled band) is considered in series with a linear system (the unbuckled portion of the cylinder, plus the testing-machine )

CYLINDER↗

Weight optimization of ultra large space structures

The paper describes the optimization of a solar power satellite structure for minimum mass and system cost. The solar power satellite is an ultra large low frequency and lightly damped space structure; derivation of its structural design requirements required accommodation of gravity gradient torques which impose primary loads, life up to 100 years in the rigorous geosynchronous orbit radiation environment, and prevention of continuous wave motion in a solar array blanket suspended from a huge, lightly damped structure subject to periodic excitations. The satellite structural design required a parametric study of structural configurations and consideration of the fabrication and assembly techniques, which resulted in a final structure which met all requirements at a structural mass fraction of 10%.

Reinert, R. P.↗

Graphite/epoxy composite stiffened panel fabrication development

This report describes the manufacturing development procedures used to fabricate a series of carbon/epoxy panels with integrally molded stiffeners. Panel size was started at 6 inches by 18 inches and one stiffener and increased to 30 inches by 60 inches and six integral stiffeners. Stiffener concepts were optimized for minimum weight (or mass) to carry stress levels from 1500 lbs/inch to 25,000 lbs/inch compression load. Designs were created and manufactured with a stiffener configuration of integrally molded hat, J, I, sine wave I, solid blade, and honeycomb blade shapes. Successful and unsuccessful detail methods of tooling, lay-up methods, and bagging methods are documented. Recommendations are made for the best state-of-the-art manufacturing technique developed for type of stiffener construction.

Palmer, R. J.↗

Finite element analysis of steady and transiently moving/rolling nonlinear viscoelastic structure. II - Shell and three-dimensional simulations

In a three-part series of papers, a generalized finite element solution strategy is developed to handle traveling load problems in rolling, moving and rotating structure. The main thrust of this section consists of the development of three-dimensional and shell type moving elements. In conjunction with this work, a compatible three-dimensional contact strategy is also developed. Based on these modeling capabilities, extensive analytical and experimental benchmarking is presented. Such testing includes traveling loads in rotating structure as well as low- and high-speed rolling contact involving standing wave-type response behavior. These point to the excellent modeling capabilities of moving element strategies.

Kennedy, Ronald↗

On acoustic radiation from a vibrating panel

An experimental and numerical study of the response and radiation from an acoustically loaded aircraft panel is presented. In the experiment, the panel is excited by a normally incident, harmonic wave. Measurements of the panel response and the resulting transmitted pressure are made in both the near- and acoustic far-fields. The numerical computations model the experiment and in particular account for the full coupling between the panel and the surrounding three dimensional acoustic fluid. The results demonstrate that for a sufficiently high excitation level, the panel response becomes nonlinear. The nonlinearity is characterized by the appearance of harmonics and subharmonics in the power spectral densities of the panel motion and consequently in the resulting acoustic radiation. The primary characteristic of the far-field acoustic radiation is the increase in harmonic content relative to the fundamental and subharmonics with increasing distance from the panel. This is shown to be a result of linear and weakly nonlinear wave propagation effects. The numerical results show that the radiated far-field pressure is strongly dependent on the position of the measurement point with respect to the panel center. The experimental and numerical results are in good qualitative agreement.

Frendi, Abdelkader↗

Wave Activity in Europa's Wake: Implications for Ion Pickup

Intense wave power at frequencies near and below the cyclotron frequencies of heavy ions was detected in Europa's wake during the E11 and E15 flybys. The fluctuations are mainly transverse to the background magnetic field. Wave characteristics indicate that they are ion cyclotron waves driven by positively charged pickup ions. In both flybys there is evidence, derived from the wave polarization, for pickup of negatively charged chlorine ions. When the moon is near the center of the Jovian current sheet, the pickup rate inferred for the E15 flyby is larger than that for the E11 flyby, when the moon is outside the Jovian current sheet. The wave power does not provide exact pickup density values because the waves are observed in regions where their growth has not yet fully developed. At the edges of the wake region, low-frequency (< K+ gyrofrequency) magnetohydrodynamic waves are also present. We identify magnetic field signatures that are reminiscent of interchange/ballooning of mass-loaded flux tubes from the wake/pickup region expanding into ambient medium that is less dense.

Volwerk, M.↗