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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.

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At least 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Thermomechanical Postbuckling of Shells

A number of issues involving the postbuckling of doubly-curved panels exposed to a non-uniform temperature field and subjected to a system of mechanical loads are considered in this paper. Effects played by transverse shear, initial geometric imperfections, membrane and thickness-wise temperature gradient, tangential edge constraints, linear/non-linear elastic foundation are incorporated and their implications on the non-linear response behavior of shells are discussed. Issues related with the delay of the occurrence of the snap-through buckling, alleviation of its intensity and even with its removal are addressed and remarks on conditions rendering a curved panel insensitive to initial geometric imperfections are included. Results on small vibration of shells about sub- and post-critical ranges are provided and structural modeling issues playing a non-negligible role towards a reliable prediction of the postbuckling behavior of shells under complex loading conditions are discussed. Results on non-linear response of flat reinforced panels subjected to thermomechanical loads are also presented. Finally, problems not covered by this article are briefly indicated.

Librescu, Liviu↗
NASA NTRS2003

Geoscience Laser Altimeter System: Characteristics and Performance of the Altimeter Receiver

The Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) on board ICESat spacecraft measures the surface height (altimetry) via the time of flight of its 1064 nm laser pulse. The GLAS laser transmitter produces 6 ns wide pulses with 70 mJ energy at 1064 nm at a 40 Hz rate. The altimeter receiver consists of a telescope, aft optics, a silicon avalanche photodiode, and electronic amplifiers. The transmitted and echo pulse waveforms are digitized at 1 GHz rate. The laser pulse time of flight is determined on the ground from the two digitized pulse waveforms and their positions in the full waveform record (about 5.4 ms ong) by computing the pulse centroids or by curve fitting. The GLAS receiver algorithms in on board software selects the two waveform segments containing the transmitted and the echo pulses and sends them to ground. The probability of echo pulse detection and the accuracy of time of flight measurement depend on the received signal level, the background light within the receiver field of view, the inherent detector and amplifier noise, the quantization of the digitizer, and some times by cloud obscurations. A receiver model has been developed to calculate the probability of detection and accuracy of the altimeter measurements with these noise sources. From prelaunch testing, the minimum detectable echo pulse energy for 90% detection probability was about 0.1 fj/pulse onto the detector. Such a receiver sensitivity allows GLAS to measure the surface height through clouds with optical density less than 2. The echo pulse energy required to achieve 10 cm ranging accuracy was found to be about 3 times higher than the minimum detectable signal level. The smallest single shot range measurement error, which was determined by ranging to a fixed target with strong echo pulses and no background light, was 2 to 3cm. The maximum linear response echo pulse energy was 10 fJ/pulse for the strongest echo signals, assuming a Lambertian scattering snow surface, clear sky atmosphere transmission, and no pulse width spreading due to surface slopes. Results from the initial 38 days of GLAS operation on-orbit with Laser 1, showed the echo pulse energies varied, as expected, over a wide dynamic range due to the variability of atmosphere transmission and Earth surface characteristics. The receiver was able to reliably detect the ground surface echoes and measure time of flight under such dynamic conditions, except when there were dense clouds. When over Antarctica, the echo pulse energies were several times stronger than predicted. This suggests that the 1064 nm backscattering from the snow pack and ice-sheet &ce are not completely Lambertian but is somewhat peaked at opposit.ion. With Laser 1, the peak amplitude of the echo pulses from flat ice sheets under clear sky conditions exceeded the linear response range of the receiver, causing some pulse waveform distortion due to saturation. We have characterized the effects of receiver saturation on the time of flight, pulse width, and pulse energy measurements for flat surface by testing a night spare detector in the lab with simulated echo pulses. A data processing algorithm that minimizes the errors due to saturation for these measurements are described.

Sun, Xiao-Li↗
NASA NTRS1975

Testing the linearity of response of gated photomultipliers in wide dynamic range laser radar systems

Laser radar data acquisition systems have been utilized in conjunction with a light emitting diode to evaluate photomultipliers for laser radar use. Light pulses with an exponential decay rate of approximately one decade per sixty microseconds, as well as other pulse shapes, were used to drive the tubes. Properties studied in the analog mode include nonlinearity at high output currents, transient behavior upon gating, gate holdoff, dynamic range limitations because of light-induced noise, and the effect of dynode gating on tubes without a focus grid. Some of these properties were also studied in the photon counting mode, along with single photoelectron pulse shape and afterpulsing. A brief description of the laser radar technique of atmospheric measurements is included.

Hunt, W. H.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Response of linear dynamic systems with random coefficients

Numerous models of physical systems contain parameters whose values are not known exactly. The physical and mathematical complexities arising in the prediction of the statistical behavior of such systems are discussed. Although the discussions are far from providing a satisfactory solution to such problems, they perhaps, by utilization of simple examples, will create a greater awareness of the statistical effect of random parameters.

Dickerson, J.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Numerical inverse Laplace transformation for determining the system response of linear systems in the time domain

An algorithm is described that is based on the method of breaking the Laplace transform down into partial fractions which are then inverse-transformed separately. The sum of the resulting partial functions is the wanted time function. Any problems caused by equation system forms are largely limited by appropriate normalization using an auxiliary parameter. The practical limits of program application are reached when the degree of the denominator of the Laplace transform is seven to eight.

Friedrich, R.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Study of the effect of static/dynamic Coulomb friction variation at the tape-head interface of a spacecraft tape recorder by non-linear time response simulation

A description is presented of six simulation cases investigating the effect of the variation of static-dynamic Coulomb friction on servo system stability/performance. The upper and lower levels of dynamic Coulomb friction which allowed operation within requirements were determined roughly to be three times and 50% respectively of nominal values considered in a table. A useful application for the nonlinear time response simulation is the sensitivity analysis of final hardware design with respect to such system parameters as cannot be varied realistically or easily in the actual hardware. Parameters of the static/dynamic Coulomb friction fall in this category.

Mukhopadhyay, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Non-linear dynamic response of a wind turbine blade

The paper outlines the nonlinear dynamic analysis of an isolated three-degree flap-lag-feather wind turbine blade under a gravity field and with shear flow. Lagrangian equations are used to derive the nonlinear equations of motion of blade for arbitrarily large angular deflections. The limit cycle analysis for forced oscillations and the determination of the principal parametric resonance of the blade due to periodic forces from the gravity field and wind shear are performed using the harmonic balance method. Results are obtained first for a two-degree flap-lag blade, then the effect of the third degree of freedom (feather) is studied. The self-excited flutter solutions are obtained for a uniform wind and with gravity forces neglected. The effects of several parameters on the blade stability are examined, including coning angle, structural damping, Lock number, and feather frequency. The limit cycle flutter solution of a typical configuration shows a substantial nonlinear softening spring behavior.

Chopra, I.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Structural robustness with suboptimal responses for linear state space model

A relationship between the closed-loop eigenvalues and the amount of perturbations in the open-loop matrix is addressed in the context of performance robustness. If the allowable perturbation ranges of elements of the open-loop matrix A and the desired tolerance of the closed-loop eigenvalues are given such that max(j) of the absolute value of Delta-lambda(j) (A+BF) should be less than some prescribed value, what is a state feedback controller F which satisfies the closed-loop eigenvalue perturbation-tolerance requirement for a class of given perturbation in A? The paper gives an algorithm to design such a controller. Numerical examples are included for illustration.

Keel, L. H.↗
NASA NTRS1971

The silicon vidicon: Integration, storage and slow scan capability - Experimental observation of a secondary mode of operation.

Description of the performance of the silicon diode array vidicon - an imaging sensor which possesses wide spectral response, high quantum efficiency, and linear response. These characteristics, in addition to its inherent ruggedness, simplicity, and long-term stability and operating life make this device potentially of great usefulness for ground-base and spaceborne planetary and stellar imaging applications. However, integration and charged storage for periods greater than approximately five seconds are not possible at room temperature because of diode saturation from dark current buildup. Since dark current can be reduced by cooling, measurements were made in the range from -65 to 25 C. Results are presented on the extension of integration, storage, and slow scan capabilities achievable by cooling. Integration times in excess of 20 minutes were achieved at the lowest temperatures. The measured results are compared with results obtained with other types of sensors and the advantages of the silicon diode array vidicon for imaging applications are discussed.

Ando, K. J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

A Simple Approach for Calibrating Imaging Systems with a Solid-State Sensor

Solid-state array imaging has become an indispensable tool for various modem scientific instrumentation and industrial applications. Often in experiments, use of an imaging system with linear response is very desirable. The linearity of commercial products, however, has yet to be accurately determined in order to assess their nonlinearity effects. Linearity is affected both by sensors and electronics. It is also very desirables to employ low-cost products if we can provide the performance comparable of expensive ones through calibration. Here, we present a very simple approach for approximately checking linearity of imaging systems and also a simple calibration method for precisely measuring intensity ratio or relative intensity variation. These methods can be readily implemented with existing equipment. The calibration method works well with an intermediate-grade analog sensor interfaced by a frame grabber. In our initial attempt for calibration, the nonlinearity of the camera can be reduced from about five percent to much less than one percent in standard deviation.

Leslie, Fred W.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Evaluation of multi-spectral linear array detectors for spaceborne applications

A NASA laboratory for evaluating linear detector arrays for remote sensing applications from the visible to shortwave infrared is described. Nominal requirements are presented on the critical parameters of signal-to-noise ratio, modulation transfer function, response linearity, dynamic range, and detector-to-detector response uniformity. Results of tests on a custom developed multi-spectral linear array from RCA and two commercial arrays from Texas Instruments and Reticon for the visible and near-infrared are presented. The custom array was clearly superior in signal-to-noise ratio and dynamic range to its off-the-shelf counterparts. Allthe arrays were found to have somewhat less than desirable modulation transfer functions, but excellent response linearity.

Kalshoven, James E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Increasing Linear Dynamic Range of a CMOS Image Sensor

A generic design and a corresponding operating sequence have been developed for increasing the linear-response dynamic range of a complementary metal oxide/semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor. The design provides for linear calibrated dual-gain pixels that operate at high gain at a low signal level and at low gain at a signal level above a preset threshold. Unlike most prior designs for increasing dynamic range of an image sensor, this design does not entail any increase in noise (including fixed-pattern noise), decrease in responsivity or linearity, or degradation of photometric calibration. The figure is a simplified schematic diagram showing the circuit of one pixel and pertinent parts of its column readout circuitry. The conventional part of the pixel circuit includes a photodiode having a small capacitance, CD. The unconventional part includes an additional larger capacitance, CL, that can be connected to the photodiode via a transfer gate controlled in part by a latch. In the high-gain mode, the signal labeled TSR in the figure is held low through the latch, which also helps to adapt the gain on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Light must be coupled to the pixel through a microlens or by back illumination in order to obtain a high effective fill factor; this is necessary to ensure high quantum efficiency, a loss of which would minimize the efficacy of the dynamic- range-enhancement scheme. Once the level of illumination of the pixel exceeds the threshold, TSR is turned on, causing the transfer gate to conduct, thereby adding CL to the pixel capacitance. The added capacitance reduces the conversion gain, and increases the pixel electron-handling capacity, thereby providing an extension of the dynamic range. By use of an array of comparators also at the bottom of the column, photocharge voltages on sampling capacitors in each column are compared with a reference voltage to determine whether it is necessary to switch from the high-gain to the low-gain mode. Depending upon the built-in offset in each pixel and in each comparator, the point at which the gain change occurs will be different, adding gain-dependent fixed pattern noise in each pixel. The offset, and hence the fixed pattern noise, is eliminated by sampling the pixel readout charge four times by use of four capacitors (instead of two such capacitors as in conventional design) connected to the bottom of the column via electronic switches SHS1, SHR1, SHS2, and SHR2, respectively, corresponding to high and low values of the signals TSR and RST. The samples are combined in an appropriate fashion to cancel offset-induced errors, and provide spurious-free imaging with extended dynamic range.

Pain, Bedabrata↗
NASA NTRS2013

Lessons Learned from the AIRS Pre-Flight Radiometric Calibration

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument flies on the NASA Aqua satellite and measures the upwelling hyperspectral earth radiance in the spectral range of 3.7-15.4 micron with a nominal ground resolution at nadir of 13.5 km. The AIRS spectra are achieved using a temperature controlled grating spectrometer and HgCdTe infrared linear arrays providing 2378 channels with a nominal spectral resolution of approximately 1200. The AIRS pre-flight tests that impact the radiometric calibration include a full system radiometric response (linearity), polarization response, and response vs scan angle (RVS). We re-derive the AIRS instrument radiometric calibration coefficients from the pre-flight polarization measurements, the response vs scan (RVS) angle tests as well as the linearity tests, and a recent lunar roll test that allowed the AIRS to view the moon. The data and method for deriving the coefficients is discussed in detail and the resulting values compared amongst the different tests. Finally, we examine the residual errors in the reconstruction of the external calibrator blackbody radiances and the efficacy of a new radiometric uncertainty model. Results show the radiometric calibration of AIRS to be excellent and the radiometric uncertainty model does a reasonable job of characterizing the errors.

Sounder↗
NASA NTRS1960

Use of Subsonic Kernel Function in an Influence-Coefficient Method of Aeroelastic Analysis and some Comparisons with Experiment

This paper illustrates the development and application of an influence-coefficient method of analysis for calculating the response of a flexible wing in an airstream to an oscillating disturbing force and for treating such aeroelastic instabilities as flutter and divergence. Aerodynamic coefficients are derived on the basis of lifting - surface theory for subsonic compressible flow by use of the method presented in NASA Technical Report R-48. Application of the analysis is made to a uniform cantilever wing- tip tank configuration for which responses to a sinusoidal disturbing force and flutter speeds were measured over a range of subsonic Mach numbers and densities. Calculated responses and flutter speeds based on flexibility influence coefficients measured at nine stations are in good agreement with experiment, provided the aerodynamic load is distributed over the wing so that local centers of pressure very nearly coincide with these nine influence stations. The use of experimental values of bending and torsional structural damping coefficients in the analysis generally improved the agreement between calculated and experimental responses. Some calculations were made to study the effects on density on responses near the flutter conditions, and linear response trends were obtained over a wide range of densities.

Sewall, John L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Analysis for delamination initiation in postbuckled dropped-ply laminates

The compression strength of dropped-ply, graphite-epoxy laminated plates for the delamination mode of failure is studied by analysis and corroborated with experiments. The nonlinear response of the test specimens is modeled by a geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis. The methodology for predicting delamination is based on a quadratic interlaminar stress criterion evaluated at a characteristic distance from the ply drop-off. The compression strength of specimens exhibiting a linear response is greater than the compression strength of specimens with the same layup exhibiting a geometrically nonlinear response. The analyses for both linear and nonlinear response show that severe interlaminar stress gradients occur in the interfaces at the drop-off because of the thickness/stiffness discontinuity. However, these interlaminar stress distributions are altered in the geometrically nonlinear response such that, with increasing load, their growth at the center of the laminate is retarded while their growth near the unloaded supported edge is increased.

Davila, Carlos G.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Computer modeling of batteries from non-linear circuit elements

A simple non-linear circuit model for battery behavior is given. It is based on time-dependent features of the well-known PIN change storage diode, whose behavior is described by equations similar to those associated with electrochemical cells. The circuit simulation computer program ADVICE was used to predict non-linear response from a topological description of the battery analog built from advice components. By a reasonable choice of one set of parameters, the circuit accurately simulates a wide spectrum of measured non-linear battery responses to within a few millivolts.

Waaben, S.↗