Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Long-range interactions”

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 55 records · Page 3

Interactive Planning System

NASA Interactive Planning System (NIPS) assists program-planning groups at NASA Headquarters in developing long-range plans for total space effort. Functions involve meeting goals and objectives within time, budget, and resource-management and allocation problem.

Nippert, D. A.↗

Electrostatic Hellmann-Feynman theorem applied to long-range interatomic forces - The hydrogen molecule.

The use of the electrostatic Hellmann-Feynman theorem for the calculation of the leading term in the 1/R expansion of the force of interaction between two well-separated hydrogen atoms is discussed. Previous work has suggested that whereas this term is determined wholly by the first-order wavefunction when calculated by perturbation theory, the use of the Hellmann-Feynman theorem apparently requires the wavefunction through second order. It is shown how the two results may be reconciled and that the Hellmann-Feynman theorem may be reformulated in such a way that only the first-order wavefunction is required.

Steiner, E.↗

Role of long-wavelength degrees of freedom in the rod-to-coil transition in polymers

An analytical model is fitted to experimental data to show that rod-to-coil (RTC) transformations in single strand polymers (SSPs) are close to true phase transitions. The RTC are known to occur when the temperature or pH of a solvent in which the SSP is immersed is varied abruptly. Long wavelength degrees of freedom in the SSPs induce long range interactions in the molecule which lead to a first order phase transition. The Landau formalism suggests that a long-range ordered state can appear at a low temperature. A microscopic model of the phonon degrees of freedom identifies the nonzero temperature threshold at which the phase transition will occur. The phenomenology described is similar to a previous model for transitions in double-strand polymers.

Goldenfeld, N.↗

Runway configuration improvement programming model.

The basic objectives of the study were to subject a set of runway configurations to cost analysis and to develop a dynamic programming model which would enable an airport to economically match the ground capacity to its air traffic demand. Quantitative differences in the capacity of runway configurations result from the various aircraft/aircraft and aircraft/air-system interactions. A problem formulation and solution procedure is presented which is intended to be a meaningful technique for the long-range planning of runway expansion programs.

Yu, J. C.↗

Energy transfer in NH3-He collisions

The paper presents a new electron gas intermolecular NH3-He potential determined by the Hartree-Fock results of Davis, Boggs, and Mehrotra (1979) with semiempirical long-range induction and dispersion terms. The resulting potential agrees with beam scattering and pressure broadening measurements; it was also found that the quadrupole induced dipole interaction is not as effective as the short range anisotropy. It was concluded that discrepancies remain in the quantitative description of energy transfer in the NH3-He system; discrepancies result from improper consideration of the dependence of cross-sections on degenerate magnetic quantum levels in the experimental investigation.

Green, S.↗

Environmental assessment overview

The assessment program has as its objectives: to identify the environmental issues associated with the SPS Reference System; to prepare a preliminary assessment based on existing data; to suggest mitigating strategies and provide environmental data and guidance to other components of the program as required; and to plan long-range research to reduce the uncertainty in the preliminary assessment. The key environmental issues associated with the satellite power system are discussed and include human health and safety, ecosystems, climate, and interaction with electromagnetic systems.

Valentino, A. R.↗

Spacecraft 2000

The Spacecraft 2000 program has been conceived by NASA with the objective to maintain the U.S. in a strong technical position in the space arena. The program is to involve a cooperative NASA/industry effort with long-range technology development aims. The technology areas addressed are related to spacecraft power, spacecraft energy storage, power management and distribution, autonomous operation-control, onboard systems integration, secondary propulsion, communications technologies, and systems/subsystems technology verification. Aspects of Spacecraft 2000 interactions with industry are discussed, taking into account visitations of NASA personnel to selected industrial concerns, most critical concerns (general), major technical concern, technology drivers for future spacecraft power systems, technology considerations for secondary propulsion, and questions of commercialization. Plans related to a Spacecraft 2000 program formulation are also considered.

Faymon, K. A.↗

Precipitation chemistry in central Amazonia

Rain samples from three sites in central Amazonia were collected over a period of 6 weeks during the 1987 wet season and analyzed for ionic species and dissolved organic carbon. A continuous record of precipitation chemistry and amount was obtained at two of these sites, which were free from local or regional pollution, for a time period of over 1 month. The volume-weighted mean concentrations of most species were found to be about a factor of 5 lower during the wet season compared with previous results from the dry season. Only sodium, potassium, and chloride showed similar concentrations in both seasons. When the seasonal difference in rainfall amount is taken into consideration, the deposition fluxes are only slightly lower for most species during the wet season than during the dry season, again with the exception of chloride, potassium, and sodium. Sodium and chloride are present in the same ratio as in sea salt; rapid advection of air masses of marine origin to the central Amazon Basin during the wet season may be responsible for the observed higher deposition flux of these species. Statistical analysis suggests that sulfate is, to a large extent, of marine (sea salt and biogenic) origin, but that long-range transport of combustion-derived aerosols also makes a significant contribution to sulfate and nitrate levels in Amazonian rain. Organic acid concentrations in rain were responsible for a large fraction of the observed precipitation acidity; their concentration was strongly influenced by gas/liquid interactions.

Andreae, M. O.↗

Mechanistic studies of polymeric samples exposed aboard STS 8

The early Shuttle flights and the attendant opportunity to deploy material samples to the near-Earth space environment, along well-defined trajectories and accompanied by detailed characterization of these samples prior to and following the flight exposure, have brought to light several novel phenomena associated with interaction of these materials with the space environment. JPL, in coordination with other NASA Centers, has carried out a research program to study the degradation and oxidation processes caused by interaction of these materials with atomic oxygen at an energy of 5 eV. In addition, energetic atomic oxygen is believed to be responsible for the shuttle glow first observed during the flight of STS-3. The shuttle glow phenomenon has been extensively studied and modeled because of its long-range potential impact on optical communication schemes and its more immediate impact on the Space Telescope. This report summarizes the results of certian material degradation and erosion experiments carried out aboard STS-8 between August 30, 1983 and September 5, 1983. Based on these data, a generic degradation model has been developed for common structural polymers.

Liang, Ranty H.↗

Theoretical Problems in Materials Science

Interactions between theoretical physics and material sciences to identify problems of common interest in which some of the powerful theoretical approaches developed for other branches of physics may be applied to problems in materials science are presented. A unique structure was identified in rapidly quenched Al-14% Mn. The material has long-range directed bonds with icosahedral symmetry which does not form a regular structure but instead forms an amorphous-like quasiperiodic structure. Finite volume fractions of second phase material is advanced and is coupled with nucleation theory to describe the formation and structure of precipitating phases in alloys. Application of the theory of pattern formation to the problem of dendrite formation is studied.

Langer, J. S.↗

Ground data systems resource allocation process

The Ground Data Systems Resource Allocation Process at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory provides medium- and long-range planning for the use of Deep Space Network and Mission Control and Computing Center resources in support of NASA's deep space missions and Earth-based science. Resources consist of radio antenna complexes and associated data processing and control computer networks. A semi-automated system was developed that allows operations personnel to interactively generate, edit, and revise allocation plans spanning periods of up to ten years (as opposed to only two or three weeks under the manual system) based on the relative merit of mission events. It also enhances scientific data return. A software system known as the Resource Allocation and Planning Helper (RALPH) merges the conventional methods of operations research, rule-based knowledge engineering, and advanced data base structures. RALPH employs a generic, highly modular architecture capable of solving a wide variety of scheduling and resource sequencing problems. The rule-based RALPH system has saved significant labor in resource allocation. Its successful use affirms the importance of establishing and applying event priorities based on scientific merit, and the benefit of continuity in planning provided by knowledge-based engineering. The RALPH system exhibits a strong potential for minimizing development cycles of resource and payload planning systems throughout NASA and the private sector.

Berner, Carol A.↗

NASA's Long-range Technology Goals

This document is part of the Final Report performed under contract NASW-3864, titled "NASA's Long-Range Technology Goals". The objectives of the effort were: To identify technologies whose development falls within NASA's capability and purview, and which have high potential for leapfrog advances in the national industrial posture in the 2005-2010 era. To define which of these technologies can also enable quantum jumps in the national space program. To assess mechanisms of interaction between NASA and industry constituencies for realizing the leapfrog technologies. This Volume details the findings pertaining to the advanced space-enabling technologies.

Source record↗

Science and applications on the space station: A strategic vision

The central themes relating to science and applications on the Space Station for fiscal year 1989 are discussed. Materials science research is proposed in a wide variety of subfields including protein crystal growth, metallurgy, and properties of fluids. Also proposed are the U.S. Polar Platform, an Extended Duration Crew Operations Project, and a long-range Space Biology Research Project to investigate plant and animal physiology, gravitational biology, life support systems, and exobiology. The exterior of the Space Station will provide attachment points for payloads to study subjects such as the earth and its environment, the sun, other bodies in the solar system, and cosmic objects. Examples of such attached payloads are given. They include a plasma interaction monitoring system, observation of solar features and properties, studies of particle radiation from the sun, cosmic dust collection and analysis, surveys of various cosmic and solar rays, measurements of rainfall and wind and the study of global changes on earth.

Source record↗

Anomalous cosmic ray interaction events for investigations in the SSC and Space Station era - 'Long lived she-devil phenomena'

Observational data on anomalous cosmic-ray interaction events are compiled, classified, and briefly characterized. The events are divided into three groups: those confirmed by later observation or experiment, those shown to be the result of observational or analytical error, and those still unexplained. Among the phenomena in the latter group are magnetic-monopole candidates, fractionally charged particles, massive stable particles, anomalons, proton-decay and neutron-oscillation candidates, muon bundles, narrow showers, anomalous photons, fanlike phenomena, quark-gluon-plasma candidates, and anomalous long-range delta rays.

Takahashi, Y.↗

General contraction of Gaussian basis sets. II - Atomic natural orbitals and the calculation of atomic and molecular properties

A recently proposed scheme for using natural orbitals from atomic configuration interaction wave functions as a basis set for linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) calculations is extended for the calculation of molecular properties. For one-electron properties like multipole moments, which are determined largely by the outermost regions of the molecular wave function, it is necessary to increase the flexibility of the basis in these regions. This is most easily done by uncontracting the outermost Gaussian primitives, and/or by adding diffuse primitives. A similar approach can be employed for the calculation of polarizabilities. Properties which are not dominated by the long-range part of the wave function, such as spectroscopic constants or electric field gradients at the nucleus, can generally be treated satisfactorily with the original atomic natural orbital sets.

Almlof, Jan↗

General contraction of Gaussian basis sets. Part 2: Atomic natural orbitals and the calculation of atomic and molecular properties

A recently proposed scheme for using natural orbitals from atomic configuration interaction (CI) wave functions as a basis set for linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) calculations is extended for the calculation of molecular properties. For one-electron properties like multipole moments, which are determined largely by the outermost regions of the molecular wave function, it is necessary to increase the flexibility of the basis in these regions. This is most easily done by uncontracting the outmost Gaussian primitives, and/or by adding diffuse primitives. A similar approach can be employed for the calculation of polarizabilities. Properties which are not dominated by the long-range part of the wave function, such as spectroscopic constants or electric field gradients at the nucleus, can generally be treated satisfactorily with the original atomic natural orbital (ANO) sets.

Almloef, Jan↗

Efficient three-dimensional global models for climate studies - Models I and II

Climate modeling based on numerical solution of the fundamental equations for atmospheric structure and motion permits the explicit modeling of physical processes in the climate system and the natural treatment of interactions and feedbacks among parts of the system. The main difficulty concerning this approach is related to the computational requirements. The present investigation is concerned with the development of a grid-point model which is programmed so that both horizontal and vertical resolutions can easily be changed. Attention is given to a description of Model I, the performance of sensitivity experiments by varying parameters, the definition of an improved Model II, and a study of the dependence of climate simulation on resolution with Model II. It is shown that the major features of global climate can be simulated reasonably well with a horizontal resolution as coarse as 1000 km. Such a resolution allows the possibility of long-range climate studies with moderate computer resources.

Russel, G.↗