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At least 55 records · Page 3

Experiments with elliptic problem solvers on the Cedar multicluster

The implementation and performance of algorithms for the solution of elliptic problems on the Cedar multiprocessor is examined. The algorithms considered are conjugate gradient schemes with or without preconditioning on a rectangular domain and domain decomposition techniques with overlapping (Schwarz Alternating Method) and nonoverlapping subdomains on a T-shaped domain. Some preliminary results from a current research effort are presented.

Frank, G.↗

Scalable FBP decomposition for cone-beam CT reconstruction

Filtered Back-Projection (FBP) is a fundamental compute intense algorithm used in tomographic image reconstruction. Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) devices use a cone-shaped X-ray beam, in comparison to the parallel beam used in older CT generations. Distributed image reconstruction of cone-beam datasets typically relies on dividing batches of images into different nodes. This simple input decomposition, however, introduces limits on input/output sizes and scalability.We propose a novel decomposition scheme and reconstruction algorithm for distributed FPB. This scheme enables arbitrarily large input/output sizes, eliminates the redundancy arising in the end-to-end pipeline and improves the scalability by replacing two communication collectives with only one segmented reduction. Finally, we implement the proposed decomposition scheme in a framework that is useful for all current-generation CT devices (7th gen). In our experiments using up to 1024 GPUs, our framework can construct 40963 volumes, for real-world datasets, in under 16 seconds (including I/O).

Chen, Peng↗

Silicate Mineralogy of the Dust in the Inner Coma of Comet C/1995 01 (Hale-Bopp) Pre- and Post-Perihelion

We present 7.6 - 13.3 microns infrared (IR) spectrophotometry (R approx. = 180 - 350) of the 10 microns silicate emission from dust in the inner coma (i.e., within a diameter of 3in.) of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) at four temporal epochs from 1996 October through 1997 June during Hale-Bopp s approach to, arrival at, and recession from perihelion. The HIFOGS spectra at large heliocentric distances exhibit strong emission peaks from 9.9 - 10.1 microns and at 11.2 microns. The HIFOGS spectra of Hale-Bopp taken 1996 October 07 - 14 UT are identical in shape to the ISO SWS spectrum at 2.8 AU obtained on 1996 October 06 UT. Magnesium-rich olivine was unambiguously identified due to presence of the expected 11.2 microns peak along with the matching far-IR 18 microns, 23 microns, and 33 microns peaks in the ISO SWS spectrum. In contrast, to large heliocentric distances, we find that the silicate feature at small heliocentric distances (tau(sub lambda) less than or = 1.7 AU) exhibits strong peaks at 9.3 microns, 9.9 - 10.1 microns, and 11.2 microns, and weak at 10.5 microns and 11.8 microns. We will show that the dramatic increase of the 9.3 microns and 10.0 microns peaks close to perihelion leads to the hypothesis that there are two crystalline grain components with significantly different temperatures. The hotter mineral species (including olivines) radiate over a large range of heliocentric distances at detectable leve!s. The cooler mineral species (pyroxenes) radiate on the Wien side of the blackbody, too faint to detect in the mid-infrared spectra, until close to the sun when this species radiates on the Reyleigh-Jeans tail and becomes apparent. Decomposition of the observed silicate emission features into mineral components through comparison of the height and shape of the silicate feature ("Flux/cont") derived from the cometary spectra, to optical extinctions (Qext) derived from laboratory measurements of terrestrial silicate minerals and interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) is successful for a combination of warm grains (consisting of olivines, amorphous olivines, amorphous pyroxenes, and layer-lattice silicates) and cool grains (crystalline pyroxenes).

Wooden, Diane H.↗

Structure-borne noise transmission in stiffened structures

The structure-borne noise transmission of stiffened and interconnected structures under random loads is presented. The method is based on the transfer matrix for the structural response and on the modal decomposition for the interior acoustic field. The acoustic enclosure is taken to be rectangular in shape of which portion of the boundaries are elastic while the remaining surface is acoustically rigid. Numerical results are presented for several acousto-structural problems.

Vaicaitis, Rimas↗

Structure-borne noise generation and transmission

The structure-borne noise generation and transmission of stiffened and interconnected structures under random loads is presented. The method is based on the transfer matrix for the structural response and on the modal decomposition for the interior acoustic field. The acoustic enclosure is taken to be rectangular in shape of which portion of the boundaries are elastic while the remaining surface is acoustically rigid. Numerical results are presented for a variety of acousto-structural problems.

Lyrintzis, Constantinos S.↗

Scale dependence in functional equivalence and difference in the soil microbiome

Climatic history can shape the functioning of soil microbial communities and thus rates of ecosystem processes such as organic matter decomposition. For example, broad spatial scale differences in climatic history, such as contrasting precipitation regimes, have been shown to generate unique microbial functional responses to contemporary moisture conditions. Yet it is an open question as to whether local differences in soil microclimate similarly influence the functional potential of decomposer communities. Here, we use a multi-scale approach within and among two temperate forest field sites to investigate this question. Soils from fifty-four microsites, that vary in their soil moisture climate-regimes, were used as inocula for a common leaf litter (Quercus rubra L.) in a controlled, laboratory microcosm study. Microcosms were placed under dry, mesic and wet lab-moisture conditions and the rate of carbon (C) mineralization of the litter was measured over 202 days. Our results reveal differences in decomposition rates under controlled conditions that highlight broad-scale functional differences between the soil communities at each site. Specifically, we found that C mineralization differed by as much as two-fold for soil communities when compared between the sites. Our results also show that functional differences of soil communities are observable within one site but not the other. In the site where local-scale functional legacies were apparent, the historical soil moisture microclimate-regimes generated as much as an 89% change in C mineralization rates of the leaf litter under the same contemporary, lab-imposed moisture conditions. Here, a similar pattern was not observable in the other site; instead, laboratory moisture conditions explained almost all variation in C mineralization. Notably, for the site with pronounced local-scale functional legacies, there was much greater within-site variation in field-soil microsite moisture than at the site which did not exhibit functional legacies, suggesting that the extent of local-scale variation in microclimate may act as control on whether local-scale functional legacies are observed. Regardless of whether this mechanism does explain our findings, our observations do confirm those from prior studies where regional-scale moisture-regime differences shape microbial function, and extend this prior work by providing evidence that pronounced local-scale differences in soil moisture microclimate-regimes are associated with microbial functional legacies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Dynamic Analysis and Control of Lightweight Manipulators with Flexible Parallel Link Mechanisms

The objective is the theoretical analysis and the experimental verification of dynamics and control of a two link flexible manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism. Nonlinear equations of motion of the lightweight manipulator are derived by the Lagrangian method in symbolic form to better understand the structure of the dynamic model. The resulting equation of motion have a structure which is useful to reduce the number of terms calculated, to check correctness, or to extend the model to higher order. A manipulator with a flexible parallel link mechanism is a constrained dynamic system whose equations are sensitive to numerical integration error. This constrained system is solved using singular value decomposition of the constraint Jacobian matrix. Elastic motion is expressed by the assumed mode method. Mode shape functions of each link are chosen using the load interfaced component mode synthesis. The discrepancies between the analytical model and the experiment are explained using a simplified and a detailed finite element model.

Lee, Jeh Won↗

NASA Tech Briefs, July 2011

Topics covered include: 1) Collaborative Clustering for Sensor Networks; 2) Teleoperated Marsupial Mobile Sensor Platform Pair for Telepresence Insertion Into Challenging Structures; 3) Automated Verification of Spatial Resolution in Remotely Sensed Imagery; 4) Electrical Connector Mechanical Seating Sensor; 5) In Situ Aerosol Detector; 6) Multi-Parameter Aerosol Scattering Sensor; 7) MOSFET Switching Circuit Protects Shape Memory Alloy Actuators; 8) Optimized FPGA Implementation of Multi-Rate FIR Filters Through Thread Decomposition; 9) Circuit for Communication Over Power Lines; 10) High-Efficiency Ka-Band Waveguide Two-Way Asymmetric Power Combiner; 11) 10-100 Gbps Offload NIC for WAN, NLR, and Grid Computing; 12) Pulsed Laser System to Simulate Effects of Cosmic Rays in Semiconductor Devices; 13) Flight Planning in the Cloud; 14) MPS Editor; 15) Object-Oriented Multi Disciplinary Design, Analysis, and Optimization Tool; 16) Cryogenic-Compatible Winchester Connector Mount and Retaining System for Composite Tubes; 17) Development of Position-Sensitive Magnetic Calorimeters for X-Ray Astronomy; 18) Planar Rotary Piezoelectric Motor Using Ultrasonic Horns; 19) Self-Rupturing Hermetic Valve; 20) Explosive Bolt Dual-Initiated from One Side; 21) Dampers for Stationary Labyrinth Seals; 22) Two-Arm Flexible Thermal Strap; 23) Carbon Dioxide Removal via Passive Thermal Approaches; 24) Polymer Electrolyte-Based Ambient Temperature Oxygen Microsensors for Environmental Monitoring; 25) Pressure Shell Approach to Integrated Environmental Protection; 26) Image Quality Indicator for Infrared Inspections; 27) Micro-Slit Collimators for X-Ray/Gamma-Ray Imaging; 28) Scatterometer-Calibrated Stability Verification Method; 29) Test Port for Fiber-Optic-Coupled Laser Altimeter; 30) Phase Retrieval System for Assessing Diamond Turning and Optical Surface Defects; 31) Laser Oscillator Incorporating a Wedged Polarization Rotator and a Porro Prism as Cavity Mirror; 32) Generic, Extensible, Configurable Push-Pull Framework for Large-Scale Science Missions; 33) Dynamic Loads Generation for Multi-Point Vibration Excitation Problems; 34) Optimal Control via Self-Generated Stochasticity; 35) Space-Time Localization of Plasma Turbulence Using Multiple Spacecraft Radio Links; 36) Surface Contact Model for Comets and Asteroids; 37) Dust Mitigation Vehicle; 38) Optical Coating Performance for Heat Reflectors of the JWST-ISIM Electronic Component; 39) SpaceCube Demonstration Platform; 40) Aperture Mask for Unambiguous Parity Determination in Long Wavelength Imagers; 41) Spaceflight Ka-Band High-Rate Radiation-Hard Modulator; 42) Enabling Disabled Persons to Gain Access to Digital Media; 43) Cytometer on a Chip; 44) Principles, Techniques, and Applications of Tissue Microfluidics; and 45) Two-Stage Winch for Kites and Tethered Balloons or Blimps.

Source record↗

The optimum shape for a rigid rotating shell enclosing an isotropic spherical planetary mass

Analysis of the Dyson Sphere, an extremely advanced civilization's hypothetical construct entirely surrounding a star, shows that new stress inward to the star increases to maxima at the poles if the sphere is rotating. This is because the centrifugal force in the rotating frame of reference vanishes at zero rotational radius, which occurs at the poles. There is less of the centrifugal force at high latitudes than low to offset the star's gravity. A form is derived for a thin, rigid, rotating shell, surrounding a large pointlike mass and/or charge, which will experience the least possible net stress at every point upon it - a shape on which every point not on the shell's equator is as near as possible to being in orbit. In orbit, whose plane passes through the primary body's center of mass or of charge, F(grav), or Fg, is exactly opposite in direction to F(centrif), or Fc, and is equal in amount. At all points not on the equator, Fc will not entirely offset Fg, because of Fg's vector decomposition. However, both forces are always constrained to be equal in absolute amount everywhere on the shell, equator included. The derived shape, given by the figure of revolution around the x-axis of x = square root (y-1-72), will prove useful in large-scale space construction. Also, various engineering problems are discussed.

Covington, Tatiana↗

Multidisciplinary systems optimization by linear decomposition

In a typical design process major decisions are made sequentially. An illustrated example is given for an aircraft design in which the aerodynamic shape is usually decided first, then the airframe is sized for strength and so forth. An analogous sequence could be laid out for any other major industrial product, for instance, a ship. The loops in the discipline boxes symbolize iterative design improvements carried out within the confines of a single engineering discipline, or subsystem. The loops spanning several boxes depict multidisciplinary design improvement iterations. Omitted for graphical simplicity is parallelism of the disciplinary subtasks. The parallelism is important in order to develop a broad workfront necessary to shorten the design time. If all the intradisciplinary and interdisciplinary iterations were carried out to convergence, the process could yield a numerically optimal design. However, it usually stops short of that because of time and money limitations. This is especially true for the interdisciplinary iterations.

Sobieski, J.↗

The Writhe of Helical Structures in the Solar Corona

Context. Helicity is a fundamental property of magnetic fields, conserved in ideal MHD. In flux rope topology, it consists of twist and writhe helicity. Despite the common occurrence of helical structures in the solar atmosphere, little is known about how their shape relates to the writhe, which fraction of helicity is contained in writhe, and how much helicity is exchanged between twist and writhe when they erupt. Aims. Here we perform a quantitative investigation of these questions relevant for coronal flux ropes. Methods. The decomposition of the writhe of a curve into local and nonlocal components greatly facilitates its computation. We use it to study the relation between writhe and projected S shape of helical curves and to measure writhe and twist in numerical simulations of flux rope instabilities. The results are discussed with regard to filament eruptions and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Results. (1) We demonstrate that the relation between writhe and projected S shape is not unique in principle, but that the ambiguity does not affect low-lying structures, thus supporting the established empirical rule which associates stable forward (reverse) S shaped structures low in the corona with positive (negative) helicity. (2) Kink-unstable erupting flux ropes are found to transform a far smaller fraction of their twist helicity into writhe helicity than often assumed. (3) Confined flux rope eruptions tend to show stronger writhe at low heights than ejective eruptions (CMEs). This argues against suggestions that the writhing facilitates the rise of the rope through the overlying field. (4) Erupting filaments which are S shaped already before the eruption and keep the sign of their axis writhe (which is expected if field of one chirality dominates the source volume of the eruption), must reverse their S shape in the course of the rise. Implications for the occurrence of the helical kink instability in such events are discussed.

WRITHE↗

Gravitational Form Factors of the Proton from Lattice QCD

The gravitational form factors (GFFs) of a hadron encode fundamental aspects of its structure, including its shape and size as defined from, e.g., its energy density. This Letter presents a determination of the flavor decomposition of the GFFs of the proton from lattice QCD, in the kinematic region 0 ≤−𝑡 ≤2 GeV 2 . The decomposition into up-, down-, strange-quark, and gluon contributions provides first-principles constraints on the role of each constituent in generating key proton structure observables, such as its mechanical radius, mass radius, and 𝐷 term.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

A model for the simulation of atmospheric turbulence

A method that produces realistic simulations of atmospheric turbulence is developed and analyzed. The procedure makes use of a generalized spectral analysis, often called a proper orthogonal decomposition or the Karhunen-Loeve expansion. A set of criteria, emphasizing a realistic appearance, a correct spectral shape, and non-Gaussian statistics, is selected in order to evaluate the model turbulence. An actual turbulence record is analyzed in detail, providing both a standard for comparison and input statistics for the generalized spectral analysis. The simulation utilizes the eigenfunction-expansion procedure to produce preliminary time histories of the three velocity components simultaneously. It is found that important cross-statistical features are reasonably well-behaved.

Petersen, E. L.↗

Toward an Efficient Icing CFD Process Using an Interactive Software Toolkit: Smagglce 2D

Two-dimensional CID analysis for iced airfoils can be a labor-intensive task. The software toolkit SmaggIce 2D is being developed to help streamline the CID process and provide the unique features needed for icing. When complete, it will include a combination of partially automated and fully interactive tools for all aspects of the tasks leading up to the flow analysis: geometry preparation, domain decomposition. block boundary demoralization. gridding, and linking with a flow solver. It also includes tools to perform ice shape characterization, an important aid in determining the relationship between ice characteristics and their effects on aerodynamic performance. Completed tools, work-in-progress, and planned features of the software toolkit are presented here.

Vickerman, Mary B.↗

Toward an Efficient Icing CFD Process Using an Interactive Software Toolkit--SmaggIce 2D

Two-dimensional CFD analysis for iced airfoils can be a labor-intensive task. The software toolkit SmaggIce 2D is being developed to help streamline the CFD process and provide the unique features needed for icing. When complete, it will include a combination of partially automated and fully interactive tools for all aspects of the tasks leading up to the flow analysis: geometry preparation, domain decomposition, block boundary discretization. gridding, and linking with a flow solver. It also includes tools to perform ice shape characterization, an important aid in determining the relationship between ice characteristics and their effects on aerodynamic performance. Completed tools, work-in-progress, and planned features of the software toolkit are presented here.

Vickerman, Mary B.↗

A hybrid formulation of a component mode synthesis method

Component mode synthesis is a substructuring technique frequently employed in structural dynamics. In this method, a given structure is subdivided into components or substructures, each of which is analyzed independently for natural frequencies and for mode shapes. The substructure mode shapes are then assembled to give displacement shapes or load patterns of the original structure. An analytical justification of the basic concept is presented using spectral decompositions, and a variant substructuring approach where intersubstructure continuity is enforced in a weak form is derived. This leads to a hybrid formulation of the basic method which is particularly suitable for assembling heterogeneous substructures and analyzing nonconforming and incompatible finite element substructure models. For problems where both the basic and hybrid methods are applicable, the hybrid variant can be computationally more advantageous.

Farhat, Charbel↗

Design of 3-D Nacelle near Flat-Plate Wing Using Multiblock Sensitivity Analysis (ADOS)

One of the major design tasks involved in reducing aircraft drag is the integration of the engine nacelles and airframe. With this impetus, nacelle shapes with and without the presence of a flat-plate wing nearby were optimized. This also served as a demonstration of the 3-D version of the recently developed aerodynamic design optimization methodology using sensitivity analysis, ADOS. The required flow analyses were obtained by solving the three-dimensional, compressible, thin-layer Navier-Stokes equations using an implicit, upwind-biased, finite volume scheme. The sensitivity analyses were performed using the preconditioned version of the SADD scheme (sensitivity analysis on domain decomposition). In addition to demonstrating the present method's capability for automatic optimization, the results offered some insight into two important issues related to optimizing the shapes of multicomponent configurations in close proximity. First, inclusion of the mutual interference between the components resulted in a different shape as opposed to shaping an isolated component. Secondly, exclusion of the viscous effects compromised not only the flow physics but also the optimized shapes even for isolated components.

Eleshaky, Mohamed E.↗

Effect of Sample Mass, Confinement, and Preheating Time on the Thermal Response of LLM‐105: Experiments and Kinetic Analysis

Various small-scale experiments were performed to provide data for developing a model to predict the thermal response of LLM-105 over a wide range of conditions. The thermal decomposition of LLM-105 was studied as a function of sample mass, confinement of volatile products, and preheating time in both isothermal and ramped heating experiments. The thermal decomposition of LLM-105 is a two-step process, as shown by the two exothermic peaks in the heat flow profiles, which were fitted to two nth-order autocatalytic reaction models with a similar activation energy of ∼289 kJ/mol. The magnitude and shape of these peaks varied with sample mass and confinement. Increasing sample mass enhanced the second exotherm with respect to the first one, while increasing the level of confinement promoted a transition from a sublimation-dominated regime towards thermal decomposition. The effect of LLM-105 particle size on the rate of weight loss was evident for open-pan experiments, where bigger particles sublimed at lower temperatures than smaller particles. Thermal response and solid residue composition of LLM-105 samples were analyzed following preheating for different durations. Longer preheating times caused a shift of the second exotherm to lower temperatures and a decrease in the reaction enthalpy, confirming that LLM-105 decay is a consecutive reaction mechanism, probably autocatalytic. In conclusion, the kinetic model derived from ramped experiments was validated against the measured LLM-105 fraction remaining and the enthalpy remaining of the solid residue as a function of preheating times and showed good agreement.

Chemistry - Chemical explosives↗