SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “accelerated computing”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 523 records · Page 29

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1941

Methods of analyzing wind-tunnel data for dynamic flight conditions

The effects of power on the stability and the control characteristics of an airplane are discussed and methods of analysis are given for evaluating certain dynamic characteristics of the airplane that are not directly discernible from wind-tunnel tests alone. Data are presented to show how the characteristics of a model tested in a wind tunnel are affected by power. The response of an airplane to a rolling and a yawing disturbance is discussed, particularly in regard to changes in wing dihedral and fin area. Solutions of the lateral equations of motion are given in a form suitable for direct computations. An approximate formula is developed that permits the rapid estimation of the accelerations produced during pull-up maneuvers involving abrupt elevator deflections.

Donlan, C J↗

NASA NTRS1993

CFD analysis of hypersonic, chemically reacting flow fields

Design studies are underway for a variety of hypersonic flight vehicles. The National Aero-Space Plane will provide a reusable, single-stage-to-orbit capability for routine access to low earth orbit. Flight-capable satellites will dip into the atmosphere to maneuver to new orbits, while planetary probes will decelerate at their destination by atmospheric aerobraking. To supplement limited experimental capabilities in the hypersonic regime, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is being used to analyze the flow about these configurations. The governing equations include fluid dynamic as well as chemical species equations, which are being solved with new, robust numerical algorithms. Examples of CFD applications to hypersonic vehicles suggest an important role this technology will play in the development of future aerospace systems. The computational resources needed to obtain solutions are large, but solution adaptive grids, convergence acceleration, and parallel processing may make run times manageable.

Edwards, T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Hypersonic flow computations around re-entry vehicles

The development of an algorithm for the solution of the compressible Euler equations at high Mach numbers on unstructured tetrahedral meshes is described. The basic algorithm is constructed in the form of a central difference scheme plus an explicit added artificial viscosity based upon fourth order differences of the solution. The stability of the solution in the vicinity of strong gradients is preserved by the incorporation of an additional artificial viscosity based upon a second order difference. Higher order accuracy is regained by using the ideas of flux corrected transport to limit the amount of added viscosity. The solution is advanced to steady state by means of an explicit multi-stage time-stepping method. The computational efficiency of the complete process is improved by incorporating an unstructured multigrid acceleration procedure. A number of flows of practical interest are analyzed to demonstrate the numerical performance of the proposed approach.

Peraire, J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Spacecraft-spacecraft radio-metric tracking: Signal acquisition requirements and application to Mars approach navigation

Doppler and ranging measurements between spacecraft can be obtained only when the ratio of the total received signal power to noise power density (P(sub t)/N(sub 0)) at the receiving spacecraft is sufficiently large that reliable signal detection can be achieved within a reasonable time period. In this article, the requirement on P(sub t)/N(sub 0) for reliable carrier signal detection is calculated as a function of various system parameters, including characteristics of the spacecraft computing hardware and a priori uncertainty in spacecraft-spacecraft relative velocity and acceleration. Also calculated is the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirements for reliable detection of a ranging signal, consisting of a carrier with pseudonoise (PN) phase modulation. Once the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirement is determined, then for a given set of assumed spacecraft telecommunication characteristics (transmitted signal power, antenna gains, and receiver noise temperatures) it is possible to calculate the maximum range at which a carrier signal or ranging signal may be acquired. For example, if a Mars lander and a spacecraft approaching Mars are each equipped with 1-m-diameter antennas, the transmitted power is 5 W, and the receiver noise temperatures are 350 K, then S-band carrier signal acquisition can be achieved at ranges exceeding 10 million km. An error covariance analysis illustrates the utility of in situ Doppler and ranging measurements for Mars approach navigation. Covariance analysis results indicate that navigation accuracies of a few km can be achieved with either data type. The analysis also illustrates dependency of the achievable accuracy on the approach trajectory velocity.

Kahn, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Experimental investigation of nozzle/plume aerodynamics at hypersonic speeds

Much of the work involved the Ames 16-Inch Shock Tunnel facility. The facility was reactivated and upgraded, a data acquisition system was configured and upgraded several times, several facility calibrations were performed and test entries with a wedge model with hydrogen injection and a full scramjet combustor model, with hydrogen injection, were performed. Extensive CFD modeling of the flow in the facility was done. This includes modeling of the unsteady flow in the driver and driven tubes and steady flow modeling of the nozzle flow. Other modeling efforts include simulations of non-equilibrium flows and turbulence, plasmas, light gas guns and the use of non-ideal gas equations of state. New experimental techniques to improve the performance of gas guns, shock tubes and tunnels and scramjet combustors were conceived and studied computationally. Ways to improve scramjet engine performance using steady and pulsed detonation waves were also studied computationally. A number of studies were performed on the operation of the ram accelerator, including investigations of in-tube gasdynamic heating and the use of high explosives to raise the velocity capability of the device.

Bogdanoff, David W.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Experimental investigation of the relationship between impact crater morphology and impacting particle velocity and direction

Interpretation of the wealth of impact data available from the Long Duration Exposure Facility, in terms of the absolute and relative populations of space debris and natural micrometeoroids, requires three dimensional models of the distribution of impact directions, velocities and masses of such particles, as well as understanding of the impact processes. Although the stabilized orbit of LDEF provides limited directional information, it is possible to determine more accurate impact directions from detailed crater morphology. The applicability of this technique has already been demonstrated but the relationship between crater shape and impactor direction and velocity has not been derived in detail. We present the results of impact experiments and simulations: (1) impacts at micron dimensions using the Unit's 2MV Van de Graaff accelerator; (2) impacts at mm dimensions using a Light Gas Gun; and (3) computer simulations using AUTODYN-3D from which an empirical relationship between crater shape and impactor velocity, direction and particle properties we aim to derive. Such a relationship can be applied to any surface exposed to space debris or micrometeoroid particles for which a detailed pointing history is available.

Mackay, N. G.↗

NASA NTRS1993

In-situ radio-metric tracking to support navigation for interplanetary missions with multiple spacecraft

Doppler and ranging measurements between spacecraft can be obtained only when the ratio of the total received signal power to noise power density (P(sub t/N(sub 0)) at the receiving spacecraft is sufficiently large that reliable signal detection can be achieved within a reasonable time period. In this paper, the requirements on P(sub t)/N(sub 0) for reliable carrier signal detection is calculated as a function of various system parameters, including characteristics of the spacecraft computing hardware and a priori uncertainty in spacecraft-spacecraft relative velocity and acceleration. Also calculated is the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirement for relaible detection of a ranging signal, consistting of a carrier with pseudo-noise phase modulation. Once the P(sub t)/N(sub 0) requirement is determined, then for a given set of assumed spacecraft telecommunication characteristics (transmitted signal power, antenna gains, receiver noise temperatures) it is possible to calculate the maximum range at which a carrier signal or ranging signal may be acquired. A brief error covariance analysis has been conducted to illustrate the utility of in situ Doppler and ranging measurements for Mars approach navigation. The results indicate that navigation accuracies of a few kilometers can be achieved with either data type. The analysis also illustrates dependency of the achievable accuracy on the approach trajectory velocity.

Kahn, Robert D.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Translational Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex and Motion Perception During Interaural Linear Acceleration: Comparison of Different Motion Paradigms

The neural mechanisms to resolve ambiguous tilt-translation motion have been hypothesized to be different for motion perception and eye movements. Previous studies have demonstrated differences in ocular and perceptual responses using a variety of motion paradigms, including Off-Vertical Axis Rotation (OVAR), Variable Radius Centrifugation (VRC), translation along a linear track, and tilt about an Earth-horizontal axis. While the linear acceleration across these motion paradigms is presumably equivalent, there are important differences in semicircular canal cues. The purpose of this study was to compare translation motion perception and horizontal slow phase velocity to quantify consistencies, or lack thereof, across four different motion paradigms. Twelve healthy subjects were exposed to sinusoidal interaural linear acceleration between 0.01 and 0.6 Hz at 1.7 m/s/s (equivalent to 10 tilt) using OVAR, VRC, roll tilt, and lateral translation. During each trial, subjects verbally reported the amount of perceived peak-to-peak lateral translation and indicated the direction of motion with a joystick. Binocular eye movements were recorded using video-oculography. In general, the gain of translation perception (ratio of reported linear displacement to equivalent linear stimulus displacement) increased with stimulus frequency, while the phase did not significantly vary. However, translation perception was more pronounced during both VRC and lateral translation involving actual translation, whereas perceptions were less consistent and more variable during OVAR and roll tilt which did not involve actual translation. For each motion paradigm, horizontal eye movements were negligible at low frequencies and showed phase lead relative to the linear stimulus. At higher frequencies, the gain of the eye movements increased and became more inphase with the acceleration stimulus. While these results are consistent with the hypothesis that the neural computational strategies for motion perception and eye movements differ, they also indicate that the specific motion platform employed can have a significant effect on both the amplitude and phase of each.

Beaton, K. H.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Uncertainty Due to Unsteady Fluid/Structure Interaction for the Ares I Vehicle Traversing the Transonic Regime

Rapid reduced-order numerical models are being investigated as candidates to simulate the dynamics of a flexible launch vehicle during atmospheric ascent. There has also been the extension of these new approaches to include gust response. These methods are used to perform aeroelastic and gust response analyses at isolated Mach numbers. Such models require a method to time march through a succession of ascent Mach numbers. An approach is presented for interpolating reduced-order models of the unsteady aerodynamics at successive Mach numbers. The transonic Mach number range is considered here since launch vehicles can suffer the highest dynamic loads through this range. Realistic simulations of the flexible vehicle behavior as it traverses this Mach number range are presented. The response of the vehicle due to gusts is computed. Uncertainties in root mean square and maximum bending moment and crew module accelerations are presented due to assumed probability distributions in design parameters, ascent flight conditions, gusts. The primary focus is on the uncertainty introduced by modeling fidelity. It is found that an unsteady reduced order model produces larger excursions in the root mean square loading and accelerations than does a quasi-steady reduced order model.

Bartels, Robert E.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advancing Open Science through Public-Private Partnerships

Rapid technology developments are changing the way data-driven research is performed within the science community. With the emergence of cloud computing, this has quickly become a viable approach for enabling “science at scale”. Researchers are no longer hindered by obstacles of data management and data wrangling, allowing them to quickly discover, access and perform analysis on extremely large datasets. Infrastructures that move data out of institutional silos and into a computational platform, will ensure that data and tools are accessible to all users. NASA’s Interagency Implementation and Advanced Concepts Team (IMPACT) seeks to address these rapid technology developments by establishing Space Act Agreements with selected partners from the public-private sector working in the area of cloud computing. These agreements aim to explore new opportunities with commercial cloud providers to accelerate open science and enable discovery, access and use of data sets on the cloud. In addition, they will also help establish training workshops for the science community to help researchers utilize the cloud for science. In this talk, we will present an overview of current and new partnerships we are developing to support open science and open data initiatives.

Elizabeth Fancher↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Global-to-local air quality forecasts using the NASA GEOS Composition Forecast System

Since 2019, the NASA Global Earth Observing System (GEOS) model has been used to generate global, near-real-time estimates and daily five-day forecasts of atmospheric composition at a horizontal resolution of 0.25 degrees (~25 km) from the surface up to the lower mesosphere. This composition forecast system (“GEOS-CF”) combines the GEOS weather forecasting model with the state-of-the-science GEOS-Chem chemistry module to deliver detailed analysis of a wide range of air pollutants, including the policy-relevant species such as ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Because GEOS-CF includes atmospheric levels up through the stratosphere, this system has been leveraged to support the Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution (TEMPO) satellite mission and provide stratospheric intrusion alerts to ground-based monitoring stations. We will present recent advances to GEOS-CF which target increased computational efficiency and accuracy. These include the incorporation of simplified chemistry mechanisms to accelerate model forecasts, use of model-observation data fusion techniques to provide highly localized forecasts, and assimilation of satellite observations to produce more accurate model analyses. We further discuss our attempts to make these tools publicly available on platforms outside the NASA domain, such as Google Earth Engine and Amazon Web Services with the goal to facilitate the integration of state-of-the-science air quality information onto platforms used by stakeholders, air quality managers, and the public.

Emma Knowland↗

NASA NTRS1991

Comparison of advanced reduced-basis methods for transient structural analysis

Two advanced reduced-basis methods for linear, transient structural analysis, the force-derivative method and the Lanczos method, are compared to two widely-used modal methods, the mode-displacement method and the mode-acceleration method. Comparisons are made for two linear example problems: a proportionally-damped cantilevered beam subject to a discrete tip load which varies linearly with time, and a discretely-damped multispan beam subject to a uniformly distributed load which varies as a quintic function of time. Results from the methods are compared in terms of the number of basis vectors required to obtain a desired level of accuracy and the associated computational times. The results are problem dependent, and it is shown that for the cantilevered beam problem, the mode-acceleration and force-derivative methods are the most efficient in terms of the number of basis vectors and computational time. The force-derivative method is shown to be the most effective method for solving the multispan beam problem with closely-spaced frequencies. In general, the force-derivative method is shown to produce an accurate solution using very few basis vectors and to require less computational time as compared to the other methods studied.

Mcgowan, David M.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Premixed shock-induced combustion studies in the hypulse facility

Engine performance calculations strongly suggest that the oblique detonation-wave engine can outperform the diffusive-burning scramjet engine in the high hypervelocity flight regime; i.e., at flight Mach numbers exceeding about 14. Research is described that examines and characterizes the behavior of oblique detonation waves (ODW). The effort is both computational and experimental, the latter utilizing the NASA Hypulse expansion tube. The experimental work is hampered by preignition of the hydrogen-oxygen-helium mixtures in either the intermediate or acceleration sections of the facility. The experiments are described and possible causes of this preignition are discussed. Initial results obtained from a parallel computation effort indicate that temporally steady ODW are achievable in the Hypulse facility.

Chinitz, W.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Sloshing dynamics modulated angular momentum fluctuations actuated by gravity gradient acceleration associated with spacecraft slew motion

The mathematical formulation of orbital spacecraft sloshing dynamics for a partially filled cryogenic superfluid liquid helium II in a dewar container actuated by the gravity gradient acceleration associated with slew motion is studied. The Advanced X-Ray Astrophysics Facility-Spectroscopy (AXAF-S) spacecraft is chosen as a practical example in this study. Explicit mathematical expressions which manage orbital galaxy gradient acceleration with slew motion which is acting on the spacecraft fluid systems are derived. The numerical computation of sloshing dynamics is based on the non-inertia frame spacecraft bound coordinates and the solution of time-dependent, three-dimensional formulations of partial differential equations subject to initial and boundary conditions. This study discloses the capillary effect of sloshing dynamics governed liquid-vapor interface fluctuations, angular momentum and moment fluctuations of fluid system, and also buble mass center fluctuations driven by the gravity gradient acceleration associated with slew motion which affects the stability of the orbital spacecraft fluid system in a microgravity environment.

Hung, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Visual analysis of fluid dynamics at NASA's numerical aerodynamic simulation facility

A study aimed at describing and illustrating visualization tools used in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and indicating how these tools are likely to change by showing a projected resolution of the human computer interface is presented. The following are outlined using a graphically based test format: the revolution of human computer environments for CFD research; comparison of current environments; current environments with the ideal; predictions for the future CFD environments; what can be done to accelerate the improvements. The following comments are given: when acquiring visualization tools, potential rapid changes must be considered; environmental changes over the next ten years due to human computer interface cannot be fathomed; data flow packages such as AVS, apE, Explorer and Data Explorer are easy to learn and use for small problems, excellent for prototyping, but not so efficient for large problems; the approximation techniques used in visualization software must be appropriate for the data; it has become more cost effective to move jobs that fit on workstations and run only memory intensive jobs on the supercomputer; use of three dimensional skills will be maximized when the three dimensional environment is built in from the start.

Watson, Velvin R.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Acceleration of FDNS flow simulations using initial flowfields generated with a parabolized Navier-Stokes method

The capability of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis to predict complex flowfields has been greatly advanced by the widespread use of flow simulation programs based on the Navier-Stokes (NS) equations. The flow physics are theoretically well represented, and with proper care the numerical solution should not introduce appreciable uncertainties. However, the computational cost of a typical simulation in terms of both memory and execution time are large by current standards. Therefore, the efficiency of the numerical algorithm in solving the set of model equations is one factor determining the usefulness of CFD tools. The objective of the present study is to reduce the execution time of the FDNS flow simulation code by using the parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) equations to provide a 'good' starting condition. The technique is not universal, however the PNS model can be applied to convection dominated flows with moderate deflection in geometries that are free of large obstructions.

Tenpas, Peter W.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Heavy ion beams in extended materials - Computational methods and experiment

The transport of heavy ion beams in extended materials is a problem of interest in accelerator and space shielding, radiation therapy, and astrophysical and radiobiological studies. The beam particles change their energy and direction of motion through atomic/molecular collisions and undergo occasional radical transformation in nuclear collision. In health physics applications, a heavy ion beam of initially well defined radiation quality is transformed into a complex mixture of diverse quality components after passing through a modest amount of material. This transformation of radiation quality must be understood to adequately explain the biological response of tissue to heavy ion radiation. A theoretical/experimental program to define an ion beam and its products in extended matter is described.

Wilson, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Software Tool for Computing Maximum Von Mises Stress

The maximum Van Mises stress and stress direction are of interest far analyzing launch accelerations such as with the Mass Acceleration Curves developed by JPL. Maximum launch stresses can be combined with appropriate load cases at consistent locations with resulting stress tensors. Maximum Van Mises stress is also of interest for understanding maximum operational loading such as traverse events. - For example, planetary traversing simulations may prescribe bounding acceleration values during traverse for a rover such as Mars Science Lab (MSL) in (X,Y,Z) of the rover. - Such accelerations can be really in any directions for many parts such as a mast or head mounted components which can be in numerous configurations and orientations when traversing a planet surface.

software↗