Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “wave propagation”

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 523 records · Page 29
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2010

The Application of Ultrasonic Inspection to Crimped Electrical Connections

The development of a new ultrasonic measurement technique to quantitatively assess wire crimp terminations is discussed. The development of a prototype instrument, based on a modified, commercially available, crimp tool, is demonstrated for applying this technique when wire crimps are installed. The crimp tool has three separate crimping locations that accommodate the three different ferrule diameters. The crimp tool in this study is capable of crimping wire diameters ranging from 12 to 26 American Wire Gauge (AWG). A transducer design is presented that allows for interrogation of each of the three crimp locations on the crimp tool without reconfiguring the device. An analysis methodology, based on transmitted ultrasonic energy and timing of the first received pulse is shown to correlate to both crimp location in the tool and the AWG of the crimp/ferrule combination. The detectability of a number of the crimp failure pathologies, such as missing strands, partially inserted wires and incomplete crimp compression, is discussed. A wave propagation model, solved by finite element analysis, describes the compressional ultrasonic wave propagation through the junction during the crimping process.

Cramer, K. Elliott↗
NASA NTRS1976

Bow shock and magnetosheath waves at Mercury

Mariner 10 measurements at the Mercury bow shock provide examples where the magnetic field is approximately parallel or perpendicular to the bow shock normal. Upstream of a broad irregular parallel shock, left-hand circularly polarized waves are observed which cut off very sharply at about 4 Hz. Upstream of a perpendicular shock, righ-hand circularly polarized waves are observed which persist up to the Nyquist frequency of 12 Hz. Determination of the wave propagation vector as a function of frequency helps to identify conclusively the waves as whistler mode waves propagating from the shock. The magnetosheath downstream of the parallel shock is disturbed more than that downstream of the perpendicular shock, particularly below 1 Hz. In the latter case, regular left-hand-polarized waves observed slightly above the proton gyrofrequency are identified as ion cyclotron waves with wavelengths of about 300 km which have been Doppler shifted up to their observed frequency.

Fairfield, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

DE 1 observations of Siple transmitter signals and associated sidebands

Initial results from an active wave injection experiment aimed at studying coherent VLF wave propagation and wave-particle interactions in the magnetosphere are presented. The VLF signals were injected from a transmitting facility at Siple Station, Antarctica, and were received on the high-altitude, polar-orbiting Dynamics Explorer 1 satellite. Data received by the satellite are described and measurements of the propagation delay, signal amplitude, and in situ electron densities are discussed. Ray propagation paths to the satellite for two days are discussed, and sidebands associated with Siple signals observed on one of the days are presented.

Rastani, K.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Concepts for 18/30 GHz satellite communication system, volume 1A: Appendix

The following are appended: (1) Propagation phenomena and attenuation models; (2) Models and measurements of rainfall patterns in the U.S.; (3) Millimeter wave propagation experiments; (4) Comparison of the theory and Millimeter wave propagation experiments; (4) Comparison of theory and experiment; (5) A practical rain attenuation model for CONUS; (6) Space diversity; (7) Values of attenuation for selected U.S. cities; and (8) Additional considerations.

Jorasch, R.↗
NASA NTRS1969

Damping of thermoelastic structures

Report ascertains the effects of thermoelastic damping on the propagation of longitudinal waves in cylindrical rods. Review of results of wave propagation in unbounded elastic solids and in elastic cylinders precedes consideration of thermal modification of elastic properties.

Gillis, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS1972

A theory for energetic electron lifetimes within the plasmasphere.

The removal of radiation belt electrons through pitch-angle scattering by the observed obliquely propagating plasmaspheric whistler wave band is investigated. Electron lifetimes are calculated as a function of L and energy. The effects of high latitude interactions and of oblique wave propagation with the resulting diffusion at all cyclotron harmonics are quantitatively incorporated into the calculations. The inclusion of these effects appears to extend the role of whistler-driven electron pitch-angle diffusion to provide an explanation of the positioning of the quiet time radiation belt electron slot and the electron losses within the slot region.

Lyons, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1972

The problem of the boundary conditions in thermosphere dynamics.

A simple analytic solution for the generation and propagation of tidal waves at thermospheric heights is presented. It is used to show that a unique solution of tidal wave propagation within the thermosphere depends on the boundary conditions of the model, and that radiation conditions lead to such a unique solution.

Volland, H.↗
NASA NTRS1970

Lagrangian description of warm plasmas

Efforts are described to extend the averaged Lagrangian method of describing small signal wave propagation and nonlinear wave interaction, developed by earlier workers for cold plasmas, to the more general conditions of warm collisionless plasmas, and to demonstrate particularly the effectiveness of the method in analyzing wave-wave interactions. The theory is developed for both the microscopic description and the hydrodynamic approximation to plasma behavior. First, a microscopic Lagrangian is formulated rigorously, and expanded in terms of perturbations about equilibrium. Two methods are then described for deriving a hydrodynamic Lagrangian. In the first of these, the Lagrangian is obtained by velocity integration of the exact microscopic Lagrangian. In the second, the expanded hydrodynamic Lagrangian is obtained directly from the expanded microscopic Lagrangian. As applications of the microscopic Lagrangian, the small-signal dispersion relations and the coupled mode equations are derived for all possible waves in a warm infinite, weakly inhomogeneous magnetoplasma, and their interactions are examined.

Kim, H.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Nonlinear longitudinal resonance interaction of energetic charged particles and VLF waves in the magnetosphere

The longitudinal resonance of waves and energetic electrons in the Earth's magnetosphere, and the possible role this resonance may play in generating various magnetospheric phenomena are studied. The derivation of time-averaged nonlinear equations of motion for energetic particles longitudinally resonant with a whistler mode wave propagating with nonzero wave normal is considered. It is shown that the wave magnetic forces can be neglected at lower particle pitch angles, while they become equal to or larger than the wave electric forces for alpha 20 deg. The time-averaged equations of motion were used in test particle simulation which were done for a wide range of wave amplitudes, wave normals, particle pitch angles, particle parallel velocities, and in an inhomogeneous medium such as the magnetosphere. It was found that there are two classes of particles, trapped and untrapped, and that the scattering and energy exchange for those two groups exhibit significantly different behavior.

Tkalcevic, S.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Inhomogeneous cosmology. II - Linearly polarized gravitational waves

A metric is presented which may be used to describe exact plane gravitational waves propagating over a homogeneous background spacetime, and solutions are found which represent waves of linear polarization over backgrounds of Bianchi types I, III, V, and VI, as well as over a background with a smooth global inhomogeneity. In all of these cases, it is determined that inhomogeneity in the structure of the initial cosmic singularity evolves into gravitational waves propagating over a homogeneous background spacetime.

Adams, P. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

A leaky magnetohydrodynamic waveguide model for the acceleration of high-speed solar wind streams in coronal holes

It is now reasonably well established that there is a correlation between high-speed solar wind streams and coronal holes. It has been concluded that a significant addition of momentum and/or energy in the region of supersonic flow is needed to explain the observed particle flux and flow speed observed in the high-speed streams. The most likely source of this additional momentum appears to be magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves propagating up from the solar surface. The present investigation is concerned with the propagation of MHD waves in a structure of finite transverse size, taking into account the consequences for the acceleration of high-speed solar wind streams. A waveguide solution for a model coronal hole is described, giving attention to a geometric or ray analysis of the slab waveguide, a wave mode analysis, an analytic solution of the dispersion relation for high-frequency waves, and the calculation of the time-averaged wave force.

Davila, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Comparison of several finite-difference methods

The present numerical study establishes that, with the MacCormack and 'two-four' methods, the solution accuracy obtainable in problems involving wave propagation, shock-wave and contact discontinuities, and viscous effects, will be strongly dependent on Courant number. The application of flux correction to the MacCormack and two-four methods is noted to significantly attenuate dispersion errors; the ensuing solutions capture the discontinuities in the shock-tube problem with improved accuracy and resolution, and are free of dispersion errors for the viscous Burgers' equation.

Biringen, S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Monitoring Loads In Fiber-Reinforced Composite Materials

In new method of determining load on specimen, direction of stress wave propagation measured by array of acoustic sensors attached to specimen. Responses of sensors analyzed by strain-energy-density calculations to calculate load. Change in anisotropy of elasticity caused by applied load and corresponding induced strain. Is means to monitor applied load corresponding to measurable shift in direction of propagation of stress wave. Monitoring device based on this method made integral part of airframe in which unidirectional section of structure, such as spar cap or longeron, carries primary load.

Prosser, William H.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The ionosphere as a gamma ray burst detector

Unlike all man made detectors, which are only sensitive to relative narrow regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, the ionosphere is practically a perfect detector for high energy radiation because it absorbs all radiation from the far-ultraviolet to the higher energy gamma-rays. Therefore, it may be possible to employ the terrestrial atmosphere as a detector of high energy celestial photons. As early as the 1940's solar flares were detected by the disturbance they caused to the ionosphere. The VLF (3 - 30 kHz) approach for detecting ionospheric disturbances is based on the following physical circumstance: celestial high energy radiation ionizes the atoms of the earth's ionosphere leading to the production of free electrons. These free electrons influence the propagation of electromagnetic waves. By studying the phase and amplitude changes of VLF radio wave propagating in the earth-ionosphere waveguide, it was hoped to ascertain the electron density in these regions and draw conclusions about the celestial radiation which caused them. To detect gamma-ray bursts, two conditions for the optimal detection are: (1) large zenith angle; and (2) alignment of burst and propagation path.

Mcgruder, Charles H., III↗
NASA NTRS1997

Wave Driven Exothermic Heating in the Mesopause Region

A full-wave propagation model was developed that describes the propagation of gravity waves from the Earth's surface to the upper boundary, which can be placed anywhere between 150 and 500 km altitude. The model includes a realistic background atmosphere, and includes the effects of mean horizontal winds and their vertical shears, mean vertical temperature gradients, the eddy and molecular diffusion of heat and momentum, and the effects of ion-drag. This model solves five coupled second-order differential equations (continuity, momentum, and energy) in the vertical coordinate to derive the perturbation variables u', v', w' (horizontal and vertical velocity components), T' (temperature) and p' (pressure). The upper boundary can be automatically selected based on tests using the radiation condition at the upper boundary, wherein the height is increased until the wave is experiencing severe dissipation at the upper boundary, ensuring that substantial absorption occurs for any waves reflected from the upper boundary. The determination of wave amplitude is a key requirement of wave energetics. Therefore, the fullwave model has been applied to airglow observations in order to determine wave amplitudes as a function of altitude. This was accomplished by using the full-wave model output to drive a chemistry perturbation module that describes minor species perturbations and the resulting airglow perturbations. The full-wave output was multiplied by an altitude-independent factor such that the modeled and observed relative airglow intensity perturbations were equal. The effects of mean winds were included in these studies, and found to be the most important model input affecting the calculations (being more important than the choice of eddy diffusion profiles and chemical kinetic coefficients). In one study (Hickey et al., 1997a) these winds could not be well estimated from the measurements, whereas in the second study (Hickey et al.,1997b) the mean were well defined with a sodium wind-temperature lidar.

Hickey, Michael P.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Modeling Study of Mesospheric Planetary Waves: Genesis and Characteristics

In preparation for the measurements from the TIMED mission and coordinated ground based observations, we discuss results for the planetary waves (PWs) that appear in our Numerical Spectral Model (NSM). The present model accounts for a tropospheric heat source in the zonal mean (m = 0), which reproduces qualitatively the observed zonal jets near the tropopause and the accompanying reversal in the latitudinal temperature variations. We discuss the PWs that are solely generated internally, i.e., without the explicit excitation sources related to tropospheric convection or topography. Our analysis shows that PWs are not produced when the zonally averaged heat source into the atmosphere is artificially suppressed, and that the PWs generally are significantly weaker when the tropospheric source is not applied. Instabilities associated with the zonal mean temperature, pressure and wind fields, which still need to be explored, are exciting PWs that have amplitudes in the mesosphere comparable to those observed. Three classes of PWs are generated in the NSM. (1) Rossby waves, (2) Rossby gravity waves propagating westward at low latitudes, and (3) Eastward propagating equatorial Kelvin waves. A survey of the PWs reveals that the largest wind amplitudes tend to occur below 80 km in the winter hemisphere, but above that altitude they occur in the summer hemisphere where the amplitudes can approach 50 meters per second. It is shown that the non-migrating tides in the mesosphere, generated by non-linear coupling between migrating tides and PWs, are significantly larger for the model with the tropospheric heat source.

Mayr, H. G.↗