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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 559 records · Page 31

Low NO/x/ combustion systems for burning heavy residual fuels and high-fuel-bound nitrogen fuels

Design concepts are presented for lean-lean and staged rich-lean combustors. The combustors are designed for the dry reduction of thermal NO(x), control of NO(x) from fuels containing high levels of organic nitrogen, and control of smoke from low hydrogen content fuels. The combustor concepts are tested with a wide variety of fuels including a middle distillate, a petroleum based heavy residual, a coal derived synthetic, and ratios of blends of these fuels. The configurations of the lean-lean and rich-lean combustion systems are provided along with a description of the test rig and test procedure.

White, D. J.↗

An upper bound to the lightning flash rate in Jupiter's atmosphere

Lewis (1980) examined Voyager optical measurements and low-frequency radio-wave observations related to lightning discharges in Jupiter's atmosphere using whistler measurements from the plasma-wave system and a specific set of assumptions. Estimates of the average planetary lightning stroke rate were found to be from 0.04 to 0.0001 flashes per square kilometer per year. In the present paper, the planetary lightning rate is demonstrated to be as high as several tens of flashes per square kilometer per year. The same whistler data are used; however, different physical assumptions about the source area, including whistler paths and whistler amplitude distributions are incorporated.

Scarf, F. L.↗

A tutorial solution to scattering of radiation in a thin atmosphere bounded below by a diffusely reflecting, absorbing surface

A simple tutorial method, based on a photon tracking procedure, is described to determine the spherical albedo for a thin atmosphere overlying a reflecting surface. This procedure is used to provide a physical structure with which to interpret the more detailed but highly mathematical analyses presented. The final equations are shown to be in good numerical agreement with more exact solutions for thin atmospheres.

Buglia, J. J.↗

Bound oscillations on thin magnetic flux tubes - Convective instability and umbral oscillations

The possibility that 'tube waves' can be trapped on slender solar magnetic flux tubes is investigated. For rigid isothermal flux tubes, it is found that the flux tube geometry can by itself lead to waves which are trapped on the part of the tube that expands with height. Some geometries lead to trapped modes with eigenperiods near 180 s, if parameters appropriate to sunspot umbrae are chosen. It is possible that the umbral oscillations are a manifestation of such trapped waves, if sunspot umbrae consist of an assembly of slender flux tubes, as in the spaghetti model of Parker (1979). For flux tubes which have a constant ratio of Alfven speed to sound speed, it is found that it is primarily the variation of temperature with height which determines whether trapped waves can exist. Certain temperature profiles lead to disturbances for which omega squared is less than zero, corresponding to convective instability or Rayleigh-Taylor instability.

Hollweg, J. V.↗

Nonlinear Marangoni convection in bounded layers. I - Circular cylindrical containers. II - Rectangular cylindrical containers

Liquid undergoing nonlinear Marangoni instability in a circular cylinder is examined, with attention given to roll-cell development and interaction. Surface deflections are neglected and the side walls are considered as adiabatic and impenetrable, allowing the liquid to freely slip. The nonlinear convective states are calculated and their stability is defined. The behavior and amplitude of cells forming in the liquid, heated from below, are modeled in order to derive all the transport properties. A new small parameter is formulated which is related to the critical Marangoni number of the infinite matrix expressing the eigenvalue expansion of the problem. The observed roll cell amplitudes and transport properties are shown to be available from simple eigenvalues, with double eigenvalues, indicating the existence of two roll-states as predicted by linear theory, nonlinear theory indicates transitions from one steady convective state to another.

Rosenblat, S.↗

Interface cracks in adhesively bounded lap-shear joints

A study on the elastic behavior of interface cracks in adhesively bonded lap-shear joints is presented. The problem is investigated by using a recently developed method of analysis based on conservation laws in elasticity for nonhomogeneous solids and fundamental relationships in fracture mechanics of dissimilar materials. The formulation leads to a pair of linear algebraic equations in mixed-mode stress intensity factors. Singular crack-tip stress intensity solutions are determined directly by information extracted from the far field. Stress intensity factors and associated energy release rates are obtained for various cases of interest. Fundamental nature of the interfacial flaw behavior in lap-shear adhesive joints is examined in detail.

Wang, S. S.↗

On the structure of wall-bounded turbulent flows

The variable-interval time-averaging (VITA) technique developed by Blackwelder and Kaplan is applied to data obtained from large-eddy simulation of turbulent channel flow in an investigation of the organized structures associated with the bursting phenomenon in the near-wall region. Conditionally averaged velocities, shear stress, pressure, and vorticity are discussed in conjunction with the bursting phenomenon detected by the VITA technique. The conditionally averaged pressure reveals that the ejection process is associated with a localized adverse pressure gradient. In the plane perpendicular to the flow direction, the conditionally averaged vorticity field indicates that a pair of counterrotating streamwise vorticity is being lifted through the ejection process.

Kim, J.↗

Precipitable water: Its linear retrieval using leaps and bounds procedure and its global distribution from SEASAT SMMR data

Eight subsets using two to five frequencies of the SEASAT scanning multichannel microwave radiometer are examined to determine their potential in the retrieval of atmospheric water vapor content. Analysis indicates that the information concerning the 18 and 21 GHz channels are optimum for water vapor retrieval. A comparison with radiosonde observations gave an rms accuracy of approximately 0.40 g sq cm. The rms accuracy of precipitable water using different subsets was within 10 percent. Global maps of precipitable water over oceans using two and five channel retrieval (average of two and five channel retrieval) are given. Study of these maps reveals the possibility of global moisture distribution associated with oceanic currents and large scale general circulation in the atmosphere. A stable feature of the large scale circulation is noticed. The precipitable water is maximum over the Bay of Bengal and in the North Pacific over the Kuroshio current and shows a general latitudinal pattern.

Pandey, P. C.↗

Top-off procedure for space-bound superfluid helium cryostats

Tests have been carried out on the transfer of pressurized liquid helium, slightly above the lambda temperature, in order to determine the optimum transfer parameters for a ground-based top-off just prior to launch. It is shown that the maximum mass fill of a spaceborne cryostat can be accomplished with the low-pressure top-off after initial fill with normal helium. The realistic maximum fill at temperatures below the lambda temperature can be expected to be at least 90 percent, which results in about 40 to 50 percent more mass at launch than without the top-off. In each case, specific ground support equipment is required to satisfy the individual cryostat requirements and extreme care is necessary during the transfer procedure.

Petrac, D.↗

On the structure of wall-bounded turbulent flows

The variable-interval time-averaging (VITA) technique developed by Blackwelder and Kaplan is applied to data obtained from large-eddy simulation of turbulent channel flow in an investigation of the organized structures associated with the bursting phenomenon in the near-wall region. Conditionally averaged velocities, shear stress, pressure, and vorticity are discussed in conjunction with the bursting phenomenon detected by the VITA technique. The conditionally averaged pressure reveals that the ejection process is associated with a localized adverse pressure gradient. In the plane perpendicular to the flow direction, the conditionally averaged vorticity field indicates that a pair of counterrotating streamwise vorticity is being lifted through the ejection process. Previously announced in STAR as N83-17832.

Kim, J.↗

Three holes bound to a double acceptor - Be(+) in germanium

A double acceptor binding three holes has been observed for the first time with photoconductive far-infrared spectroscopy in beryllium-doped germanium single crystals. This new center, Be(+), has a hole binding energy of about 5 meV and is only present when free holes are generated by ionization of either neutral shallow acceptors or neutral Be double acceptors. The Be(+) center thermally ionizes above 4 K. It disappears at a uniaxial stress higher than about a billion dyn/sq cm parallel to (111) as a result of the lifting of the valence-band degeneracy.

Haller, E. E.↗

Mean streamwise spacing of organized structures in transitional and developed bounded turbulent flows

The mean periods of passage of organized structures detected by a wide variety of criteria in all regions of turbulent boundary layers, pipes, and channel flows over a range of two Reynolds number decades are compared to that of the transition 'spike'. When scaled with the local mean velocities and the shear layer thicknesses to form a nondimensional streamwise spacing, they fall within a fairly narrow range of TU/delta = 1.5-3.5. The streamwise spacing shows little variation across most of the shear layer for any particular data set.

Wallace, J. M.↗

Time optimal control of manipulators with bounded accelerations

The linearity of the equations of motion of dynamical systems such as spacecraft or manipulators when controlled by acceleration commands is exploited in generating exact fast maneuvers. A simulated robot example thereof is examined, with advantages and limitations of the proposed design approach discussed in its context.

Dwyer, T. A. W., III↗

Statistical analysis of astronomical data containing upper bounds - General methods and examples drawn from X-ray astronomy

Statistical procedures taken from the field of survival analysis have been adapted to astronomical usage and have been applied to a sample of stars in the B-V color range between 0.1 and 0.5 with measured soft X-ray luminosities and projected equatorial velocities. The two-sample problem and linear regression problem with arbitrarily censored data were studied. A new method for determining the linear regression between two random variables in the presence of arbitrary censoring has been developed which can also be used for a likelihood-ratio test for the independence of two random variables and for principal-component analysis in the presence of arbitrary censoring. The required numerical computations can be carried out straightforwardly and rapidly.

Schmitt, J. H. M. M.↗

Bounding solutions of geometrically nonlinear viscoelastic problems

Integral transform techniques, such as the Laplace transform, provide simple and direct methods for solving viscoelastic problems formulated within a context of linear material response and using linear measures for deformation. Application of the transform operator reduces the governing linear integro-differential equations to a set of algebraic relations between the transforms of the unknown functions, the viscoelastic operators, and the initial and boundary conditions. Inversion either directly or through the use of the appropriate convolution theorem, provides the time domain response once the unknown functions have been expressed in terms of sums, products or ratios of known transforms. When exact inversion is not possible approximate techniques may provide accurate results. The overall problem becomes substantially more complex when nonlinear effects must be included. Situations where a linear material constitutive law can still be productively employed but where the magnitude of the resulting time dependent deformations warrants the use of a nonlinear kinematic analysis are considered. The governing equations will be nonlinear integro-differential equations for this class of problems. Thus traditional as well as approximate techniques, such as cited above, cannot be employed since the transform of a nonlinear function is not explicitly expressible.

Stubstad, J. M.↗

Bounding solutions of geometrically nonlinear viscoelastic problems

Integral transform techniques, such as the Laplace transform, provide simple and direct methods for solving viscoelastic problems formulated within a context of linear material response and using linear measures for deformation. Application of the transform operator reduces the governing linear integro-differential equations to a set of algebraic relations between the transforms of the unknown functions, the viscoelastic operators, and the initial and boundary conditions. Inversion either directly or through the use of the appropriate convolution theorem, provides the time domain response once the unknown functions have been expressed in terms of sums, products or ratios of known transforms. When exact inversion is not possible approximate techniques may provide accurate results. The overall problem becomes substantially more complex when nonlinear effects must be included. Situations where a linear material constitutive law can still be productively employed but where the magnitude of the resulting time dependent deformations warrants the use of a nonlinear kinematic analysis are considered. The governing equations will be nonlinear integro-differential equations for this class of problems. Thus traditional as well as approximate techniques, such as cited above, cannot be employed since the transform of a nonlinear function is not explicitly expressible.

Stubstad, J. M.↗