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At least 523 records · Page 29

Realization of a gas puff imaging system on the Wendelstein 7-X stellarator

A system for studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of fluctuations in the boundary of the W7-X plasma using the “Gas-Puff Imaging” (GPI) technique has been designed, constructed, installed, and operated. This GPI system addresses a number of challenges specific to long-pulse superconducting devices, such as W7-X, including the long distance between the plasma and the vacuum vessel wall, the long distance between the plasma and diagnostic ports, the range of last closed flux surface (LCFS) locations for different magnetic configurations in W7-X, and management of heat loads on the system’s plasma-facing components. The system features a pair of “converging–diverging” nozzles for partially collimating the gas puffed locally ≈135 mm radially outboard of the plasma boundary, a pop-up turning mirror for viewing the gas puff emission from the side (which also acts as a shutter for the re-entrant vacuum window), and a high-throughput optical system that collects visible emission resulting from the interaction between the puffed gas and the plasma and directs it along a water-cooled re-entrant tube directly onto the 8 × 16 pixel detector array of the fast camera. The DEGAS 2 neutral code was used to simulate the Hα (656 nm) and HeI (587 nm) line emission expected from well-characterized gas-puffs of H2 and He and excited within typical edge plasma profiles in W7-X, thereby predicting line brightnesses used to reduce the risks associated with system sensitivity and placement of the field of view. Operation of GPI on W7-X shows excellent signal-to-noise ratios (>100 at 2 Mframes/s) over the field of view for minimally perturbing gas puffs. The GPI system provides detailed measurements of the two-dimensional (radial and poloidal) dynamics of plasma fluctuations in the W7-X edge and scrape-off layer and in and around the magnetic islands outside the LCFS that make up the island divertor configuration employed on W7-X.

Instruments & Instrumentation↗

Dynamics of a fractal set of first-order magnetic phase transitions in frustrated Lu 2 CoMnO 6

The axial next-nearest-neighbor Ising model predicts a fractal (infinite) set of phases with incommensurate wave vectors that are separated by first-order phase boundaries. This complexity results from a simple frustration condition between nearest- and next-nearest-neighbor interactions along a chain of Ising spins. Using x-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS), we investigate the surprising antiferromagnetic dynamics that emerge from such a complex phase diagram over a wide range of temperatures. In this work, we present XPCS measurements of the frustrated magnetic chain compound Lu 2 CoMnO 6 and Monte Carlo simulations. Incommensurate magnetic Bragg peaks slide towards commensurate “up-up-down-down” spin order with decreasing temperature and increasing time. Both simulation and experiment support a counterintuitive “upside-down” temperature dependence of the magnetic dynamics: at higher temperatures in the region of first-order phase boundaries, slower dynamics are observed where the speckle maintains its coherence. At the lowest temperatures, where part of the sample adopts commensurate order, the dynamics speed up and result in fast decoherence.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Validation of the RPLUS3D Code for Supersonic Inlet Applications Involving Three-Dimensional Shock Wave-Boundary Layer Interactions

A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics code, RPLUS3D, which was developed for the reactive propulsive flows of ramjets and scramjets, was validated for glancing shock wave-boundary layer interactions. Both laminar and turbulent flows were studied. A supersonic flow over a wedge mounted on a flat plate was numerically simulated. For the laminar case, the static pressure distribution, velocity vectors, and particle traces on the flat plate were obtained. For turbulent flow, both the Baldwin-Lomax and Chien two-equation turbulent models were used. The static pressure distributions, pitot pressure, and yaw angle profiles were computed. In addition, the velocity vectors and particle traces on the flat plate were also obtained from the computed solution. Overall, the computed results for both laminar and turbulent cases compared very well with the experimentally obtained data.

Kapoor, Kamlesh↗

A vorticity-based criterion to characterise leading edge dynamic stall onset

We propose a more conservative, physically-intuitive criterion, namely, the boundary enstrophy flux ( BEF), to characterise leading-edge-type dynamic stall onset in incompressible flows. Our results are based on wall-resolved large-eddy simulations of pitching aerofoils, with fine spatial and temporal resolution around stall onset. We observe that |BEF| reaches a maximum within the stall onset regime identified. By decomposing the contribution to BEF from the flow field, we find that the dominant contribution arises from the laminar leading edge region, due to the combined effect of large clockwise vorticity and favourable pressure gradient. A relatively small contribution originates from the transitional/turbulent laminar separation bubble (LSB) region, due to LSB-induced counter-clockwise vorticity and adverse pressure gradient. This results in BEF being nearly independent of the integration length as long as the region very close to the leading edge is included. This characteristic of BEF yields a major advantage in that the effect of partial or complete inclusion of the noisy LSB region can be filtered out, without changing the BEF peak location in time significantly. Next, we analytically relate BEF to the net wall shear and show that its critical value (=max(|BEF|) ) corresponds to the instant of maximum net shear prevailing at the wall. Finally, we have also compared BEF with the leading edge suction parameter ( LESP) and find that the former reaches its maximum value between 0.3° and 0.8° of rotation earlier.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Noise Considerations for Manned Reentry Vehicles

Noise measurements pertaining mainly to the static firing, launch, 0 and exit flight phases are presented for three rocket-powered vehicles 4 in the Project Mercury test program. Both internal and external data 4 from onboard recordings are presented for a range of Mach numbers and dynamic pressures and for different external vehicle shapes. The main sources of noise are noted to be the rocket engines during static firing and launch and the aerodynamic boundary layer during the high-dynamic-pressure portions of the flight. Rocket-engine noise measurements along the surface of the Mercury Big Joe vehicle were noted to correlate well with data from small models and available data for other large rockets. Measurements have indicated that the aerodynamic noise pressures increase approximately as the dynamic pressure increases and may vary according to the external shape of the vehicle, the highest noise levels being associated with conditions of flow separation. There is also a trend for the aerodynamic noise spectra to peak at higher frequencies as the flight Mach number increases.

Hilton, David A.↗

Analysis of Aircraft Clusters to Measure Sector-Independent Airspace Congestion

The Distributed Air/Ground Traffic Management (DAG-TM) concept of operations* permits appropriately equipped aircraft to conduct Free Maneuvering operations. These independent aircraft have the freedom to optimize their trajectories in real time according to user preferences; however, they also take on the responsibility to separate themselves from other aircraft while conforming to any local Traffic Flow Management (TFM) constraints imposed by the air traffic service provider (ATSP). Examples of local-TFM constraints include temporal constraints such as a required time of arrival (RTA), as well as spatial constraints such as regions of convective weather, special use airspace, and congested airspace. Under current operations, congested airspace typically refers to a sector(s) that cannot accept additional aircraft due to controller workload limitations; hence Dynamic Density (a metric that is indicative of controller workload) can be used to quantify airspace congestion. However, for Free Maneuvering operations under DAG-TM, an additional metric is needed to quantify the airspace congestion problem from the perspective of independent aircraft. Such a metric would enable the ATSP to prevent independent aircraft from entering any local areas of congestion in which the flight deck based systems and procedures may not be able to ensure separation. This new metric, called Gaggle Density, offers the ATSP a mode of control to regulate normal operations and to ensure safety and stability during rare-normal or off-normal situations (e.g., system failures). It may be difficult to certify Free Maneuvering systems for unrestricted operations, but it may be easier to certify systems and procedures for specified levels of Gaggle Density that could be monitored by the ATSP, and maintained through relatively minor flow-rate (RTA type) restrictions. Since flight deck based separation assurance is airspace independent, the challenge is to measure congestion independent of sector boundaries. Figure 1 , reproduced from Ref. 1, depicts an example traffic situation. When the situation is analyzed by sector boundaries (left side of figure), a Dynamic Density metric would identify excessive congestion in the central sector. When the same traffic situation is analyzed independent of sector boundaries (right side of figure), a Gaggle Density metric would identify congestion in two dynamically defined areas covering portions of several sectors. The first step towards measuring airspace-independent congestion is to identify aircraft clusters, i.e., groups of closely spaced aircraft. The objective of this work is to develop techniques to detect and classify clusters of aircraft.

Bilimoria, Karl D.↗

Plasma and magnetospheric research

Progress is reported in the development of programs for statistical analysis of boundary and structure type files based on surveys of Dynamics Explorere data. Programs being used for handling data on plasma boundaries in the inner magnetosphere, the structure of the plasmasphere, and the heavy ion torus may be useful for determining statistics on the warm plasma cloak and the auroral ion fountain. Data analysis and modeling; spacecraft sheath effects; and laboratory plasma flow studies are discussed.

Comfort, R. H.↗

Lower mantle heterogeneity, dynamic topography and the geoid

Density contrasts in the lower mantle, recently imaged using seismic tomography, drive convective flow which results in kilometers of dynamically maintained topography at the core-mantle boundary and at the Earth's surface. The total gravity field due to interior density contrasts and boundary topography predicts the largest wavelength components of the geoid remarkably well. Neglecting dynamic surface deformation leads to geoid anomalies of opposite sign than are observed.

Hager, B. H.↗

Lower mantle heterogeneity, dynamic topography and the geoid

Density contrasts in the lower mantle, recently imaged using seismic tomography, drive convective flow which results in kilometers of dynamically maintained topography at the core-mantle boundary and at the earth's surface. The total gravity field due to interior density constrasts and boundary topography predicts the largest wavelength components of the geoid remarkably well. Neglecting dynamic surface deformation leads to geoid anomalies of opposite sign than are observed.

Hager, B. H.↗

Measurement and memory in the periodically driven complex Ginzburg-Landau equation

In the present work we illustrate that classical but nonlinear systems may possess features reminiscent of quantum ones, such as memory, upon suitable external perturbation. As our prototypical example, we use the two-dimensional complex Ginzburg-Landau equation in its vortex glass regime. Here, we impose an external drive as a perturbation mimicking a quantum measurement protocol, with a given “measurement rate” (the rate of repetition of the drive) and “mixing rate” (characterized by the intensity of the drive). Using a variety of measures, we find that the system may or may not retain its coherence, statistically retrieving its original glass state, depending on the strength and periodicity of the perturbing field. The corresponding parametric regimes and the associated energy cascade mechanisms involving the dynamics of vortex waveforms and domain boundaries are discussed.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A two-dimensional unsteady Euler-equation solver for flow regions with arbitrary boundaries

A new technique is described for solving supersonic fluid dynamic problems containing multiple regions of continuous flow, each bounded by a permeable or impermeable surface. Region boundaries are, in general, arbitrarily shaped and time dependent. Discretization of such a region for solution by conventional finite difference procedures is accomplished using an elliptic solver which alleviates the dependence on a particular base coordinate system. Multiple regions are coupled together through the boundary conditions. The technique has been applied to a variety of problems including the shock diffraction and pointed wedge with detached bow shock.

Hindman, R. G.↗

Increased Mach Number Capability for the NASA Glenn 10x10 Supersonic Wind Tunnel

Computational simulations and wind tunnel testing were conducted to explore the operation of the Abe Silverstein Supersonic Wind Tunnel at the NASA Glenn Research Center at test section Mach numbers above the current limit of Mach 3.5. An increased Mach number would enhance the capability for testing of supersonic and hypersonic propulsion systems. The focus of the explorations was on understanding the flow within the second throat of the tunnel, which is downstream of the test section and is where the supersonic flow decelerates to subsonic flow. Methods of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were applied to provide details of the shock boundary layer structure and to estimate losses in total pressure. The CFD simulations indicated that the tunnel could be operated up to Mach 4.0 if the minimum width of the second throat was made smaller than that used for previous operation of the tunnel. Wind tunnel testing was able to confirm such operation of the tunnel at Mach 3.6 and 3.7 before a hydraulic failure caused a stop to the testing. CFD simulations performed after the wind tunnel testing showed good agreement with test data consisting of static pressures along the ceiling of the second throat. The CFD analyses showed increased shockwave boundary layer interactions, which was also observed as increased unsteadiness of dynamic pressures collected in the wind tunnel testing.

Wind tunnel↗

Inside the hologram: reconstructing the bulk observer’s experience

We develop a holographic framework for describing the experience of bulk observers in AdS/CFT, that allows us to compute the proper time and energy distribution measured along any bulk worldline. Our method is formulated directly in the CFT language and is universal: it does not require knowledge of the bulk geometry as an input. When used to propagate operators along the worldline of an observer falling into an eternal black hole, our proposal resolves a conceptual puzzle raised by Marolf and Wall. Notably, the prescription does not rely on an external dynamical Hamiltonian or the AdS boundary conditions and is, therefore, outlining a general framework for the emergence of time.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

A physics-based model for frost buildup under turbulent flow using direct numerical simulations

We present a new model for frost buildup under turbulent (and laminar) flow using direct numerical simulations. The physical model consists of two layers, the air and the frost. The air layer is fully resolved and consists of solving for the velocity, temperature, and vapor mass fraction fields. The frost layer thickness is resolved using conservation of mass and energy. Both phases are dynamically coupled using the immersed boundary method. Three-dimensional simulations are conducted in an open-channel configuration. A number of challenges need to be overcome to make these simulations feasible. First, to enforce far-field conditions of zero gradient and prescribed mean temperature and humidity, a source term is added to the energy and transport equations in the flow solver. Second, the mean frost thickness is subtracted after each time step to ensure a constant mean flow thickness and level of turbulence in the numerical domain. Third, a slow-time acceleration approach, which accelerates the frost buildup by a predetermined factor, is employed to bridge the gap between the fast turbulent and slow frost buildup time scales. Finally, a frost densification scheme is used to overcome the difficulties of vertically varying frost properties. The model is validated by comparing the frost thickness and frost thickness buildup rate over a period of one hour from a cooled flat plate experiment. As a result, both quantities compare favorably with experiments.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Simulating hindered grain boundary diffusion using the smoothed boundary method

Abstract Grain boundaries can greatly affect the transport properties of polycrystalline materials, particularly when the grain size approaches the nanoscale. While grain boundaries often enhance diffusion by providing a fast pathway for chemical transport, some material systems, such as those of solid oxide fuel cells and battery cathode particles, exhibit the opposite behavior, where grain boundaries act to hinder diffusion. To facilitate the study of systems with hindered grain boundary diffusion, we propose a model that utilizes the smoothed boundary method to simulate the dynamic concentration evolution in polycrystalline systems. The model employs domain parameters with diffuse interfaces to describe the grains, thereby enabling solutions with explicit consideration of their complex geometries. The intrinsic error arising from the diffuse interface approach employed in our proposed model is explored by comparing the results against a sharp interface model for a variety of parameter sets. Finally, two case studies are considered to demonstrate potential applications of the model. First, a nanocrystalline yttria-stabilized zirconia solid oxide fuel cell system is investigated, and the effective diffusivities are extracted from the simulation results and are compared to the values obtained through mean-field approximations. Second, the concentration evolution during lithiation of a polycrystalline battery cathode particle is simulated to demonstrate the method’s capability.

Materials Science↗

Coordinate transformation methodology for simulating quasistatic elastoplastic solids

Molecular dynamics simulations frequently employ periodic boundary conditions where the positions of the periodic images are manipulated in order to apply deformation to the material sample. For example, Lees-Edwards conditions use moving periodic images to apply simple shear. Here, we examine the problem of precisely comparing this type of simulation to continuum solid mechanics. We employ a hypo-elastoplastic mechanical model, and develop a projection method to enforce quasi-static equilibrium. We introduce a simulation framework that uses a fixed Cartesian computational grid on a reference domain, and imposes deformation via a time-dependent coordinate transformation to the physical domain. As a test case for our method, we consider the evolution of shear bands in a bulk metallic glass using the shear transformation zone theory of amorphous plasticity. We examine the growth of shear bands in simple shear and pure shear conditions as a function of the initial preparation of the bulk metallic glass.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Design and execution of a verification, validation, and uncertainty quantification plan for a numerical model of left ventricular flow after LVAD implantation

Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are implantable pumps that act as a life support therapy for patients with severe heart failure. Despite improving the survival rate, LVAD therapy can carry major complications. Particularly, the flow distortion introduced by the LVAD in the left ventricle (LV) may induce thrombus formation. While previous works have used numerical models to study the impact of multiple variables in the intra-LV stagnation regions, a comprehensive validation analysis has never been executed. The main goal of this work is to present a model of the LV-LVAD system and to design and follow a verification, validation and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) plan based on the ASME V&V40 and V&V20 standards to ensure credible predictions. The experiment used to validate the simulation is the SDSU cardiac simulator, a bench mock-up of the cardiovascular system that allows mimicking multiple operation conditions for the heart-LVAD system. The numerical model is based on Alya, the BSC’s in-house platform for numerical modelling. Alya solves the Navier-Stokes equation with an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation in a deformable ventricle and includes pressure-driven valves, a 0D Windkessel model for the arterial output and a LVAD boundary condition modeled through a dynamic pressure-flow performance curve. The designed VVUQ plan involves: (a) a risk analysis and the associated credibility goals; (b) a verification stage to ensure correctness in the numerical solution procedure; (c) a sensitivity analysis to quantify the impact of the inputs on the four quantities of interest (QoIs) (average aortic root flow $Q^{avg}_{Ao}$, maximum aortic root flow $Q^{max}_{Ao}$, average LVAD flow $Q^{avg}_{VAD}$, and maximum LVAD flow $Q^{max}_{VAD}$; (d) an uncertainty quantification using six validation experiments that include extreme operating conditions. Numerical code verification tests ensured correctness of the solution procedure and numerical calculation verification showed a grid convergence index (GCI)95% <3.3%. The total Sobol indices obtained during the sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the ejection fraction, the heart rate, and the pump performance curve coefficients are the most impactful inputs for the analysed QoIs. The Minkowski norm is used as validation metric for the uncertainty quantification. It shows that the midpoint cases have more accurate results when compared to the extreme cases. The total computational cost of the simulations was above 100 [core-years] executed in around three weeks time span in Marenostrum IV supercomputer. This work details a novel numerical model for the LV-LVAD system, that is supported by the design and execution of a VVUQ plan created following recognised international standards. We present a methodology demonstrating that stringent VVUQ according to ASME standards is feasible but computationally expensive.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗