Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Computer Systems”

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 595 records · Page 33

Real time computer data system for the 40 x 80 ft wind tunnel facility at Ames Research Center

The wind tunnel realtime computer system is a distributed data gathering system that features a master computer subsystem, a high speed data gathering subsystem, a quick look dynamic analysis and vibration control subsystem, an analog recording back-up subsystem, a pulse code modulation (PCM) on-board subsystem, a communications subsystem, and a transducer excitation and calibration subsystem. The subsystems are married to the master computer through an executive software system and standard hardware and FORTRAN software interfaces. The executive software system has four basic software routines. These are the playback, setup, record, and monitor routines. The standard hardware interfaces along with the software interfaces provide the system with the capability of adapting to new environments.

Cambra, J. M.↗

Real-time computer data system for the 40- by 80-foot wind tunnel facility at Ames Research Center

The background material and operational concepts of a computer-based system for an operating wind tunnel are described. An on-line real-time computer system was installed in a wind tunnel facility to gather static and dynamic data. The computer system monitored aerodynamic forces and moments of periodic and quasi-periodic functions, and displayed and plotted computed results in real time. The total system is comprised of several off-the-shelf, interconnected subsystems that are linked to a large data processing center. The system includes a central processor unit with 32,000 24-bit words of core memory, a number of standard peripherals, and several special processors; namely, a dynamic analysis subsystem, a 256-channel PCM-data subsystem and ground station, a 60-channel high-speed data acquisition subsystem, a communication link, and static force and pressure subsystems. The role of the test engineer as a vital link in the system is also described.

Cambra, J. M.↗

On computing stress in polymer systems involving multi-body potentials from molecular dynamics simulation

Hardy stress definition has been restricted to pair potentials and embedded-atom method potentials due to the basic assumptions in the derivation of a symmetric microscopic stress tensor. Force decomposition required in the Hardy stress expression becomes obscure for multi-body potentials. In this work, we demonstrate the invariance of the Hardy stress expression for a polymer system modeled with multi-body interatomic potentials including up to four atoms interaction, by applying central force decomposition of the atomic force. The balance of momentum has been demonstrated to be valid theoretically and tested under various numerical simulation conditions. The validity of momentum conservation justifies the extension of Hardy stress expression to multi-body potential systems. Computed Hardy stress has been observed to converge to the virial stress of the system with increasing spatial averaging volume. This work provides a feasible and reliable linkage between the atomistic and continuum scales for multi-body potential systems.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Computational methods for analyzing the transmission characteristics of a beta particle magnetic analysis system

Computational methods were developed to study the trajectories of beta particles (positrons) through a magnetic analysis system as a function of the spatial distribution of the radionuclides in the beta source, size and shape of the source collimator, and the strength of the analyzer magnetic field. On the basis of these methods, the particle flux, their energy spectrum, and source-to-target transit times have been calculated for Na-22 positrons as a function of the analyzer magnetic field and the size and location of the target. These data are in studies requiring parallel beams of positrons of uniform energy such as measurement of the moisture distribution in composite materials. Computer programs for obtaining various trajectories are included.

Singh, J. J.↗

High Energy Physics Forum for Computational Excellence: Working Group Reports (I. Applications Software II. Software Libraries and Tools III. Systems)

Computing plays an essential role in all aspects of high energy physics. As computational technology evolves rapidly in new directions, and data throughput and volume continue to follow a steep trend-line, it is important for the HEP community to develop an effective response to a series of expected challenges. In order to help shape the desired response, the HEP Forum for Computational Excellence (HEP-FCE) initiated a roadmap planning activity with two key overlapping drivers -- 1) software effectiveness, and 2) infrastructure and expertise advancement. The HEP-FCE formed three working groups, 1) Applications Software, 2) Software Libraries and Tools, and 3) Systems (including systems software), to provide an overview of the current status of HEP computing and to present findings and opportunities for the desired HEP computational roadmap. The final versions of the reports are combined in this document, and are presented along with introductory material.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

High Energy Physics Forum for Computational Excellence: Working Group Reports (I. Applications Software II. Software Libraries and Tools III. Systems)

Computing plays an essential role in all aspects of high energy physics. As computational technology evolves rapidly in new directions, and data throughput and volume continue to follow a steep trend-line, it is important for the HEP community to develop an effective response to a series of expected challenges. In order to help shape the desired response, the HEP Forum for Computational Excellence (HEP-FCE) initiated a roadmap planning activity with two key overlapping drivers -- 1) software effectiveness, and 2) infrastructure and expertise advancement. The HEP-FCE formed three working groups, 1) Applications Software, 2) Software Libraries and Tools, and 3) Systems (including systems software), to provide an overview of the current status of HEP computing and to present findings and opportunities for the desired HEP computational roadmap. The final versions of the reports are combined in this document, and are presented along with introductory material.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Editorial: Quantum Information and Quantum Computing for Chemical Systems

Quantum computing has emerged as an exciting inter-disciplinary research topic that cuts across the traditional fields of physics, computer science, and engineering. It is a revolutionary model of computation that has offered new insights into methods for modeling and simulation of chemical systems. Applications of quantum computing to chemistry have demonstrated rapid progress on both theoretical and experimental fronts. Past theoretical efforts have shown how to adapt quantum computation to a variety of problems including electronic structure and molecular dynamics. In addition, the development of quantum algorithms for quantum chemistry has been stimulated by the greater availability of more capable quantum computing devices. Advances in the number and quality of qubits continues to enable remarkable proof-of-concept demonstrations working towards a milestone of quantum computational advantage.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DACS II - A distributed thermal/mechanical loads data acquisition and control system

A distributed data acquisition and control system has been developed for the NASA Flight Loads Research Facility. The DACS II system is composed of seven computer systems and four array processors configured as a main computer system, three satellite computer systems, and 13 analog input/output systems interconnected through three independent data networks. Up to three independent heating and loading tests can be run concurrently on different test articles or the entire system can be used on a single large test such as a full scale hypersonic aircraft. Thermal tests can include up to 512 independent adaptive closed loop control channels. The control system can apply up to 20 MW of heating to a test specimen while simultaneously applying independent mechanical loads. Each thermal control loop is capable of heating a structure at rates of up to 150 F per second over a temperature range of -300 to +2500 F. Up to 64 independent mechanical load profiles can be commanded along with thermal control. Up to 1280 analog inputs monitor temperature, load, displacement and strain on the test specimens with real time data displayed on up to 15 terminals as color plots and tabular data displays. System setup and operation is accomplished with interactive menu-driver displays with extensive facilities to assist the users in all phases of system operation.

Zamanzadeh, Behzad↗

Mechanism of supporting sub-communicator collectives with o(64) counters as opposed to one counter for each sub-communicator

A system and method for enhancing barrier collective synchronization on a computer system comprises a computer system including a data storage device. The computer system includes a program stored in the data storage device and steps of the program being executed by a processor. The system includes providing a plurality of communicators for storing state information for a barrier algorithm. Each communicator designates a master core in a multi-processor environment of the computer system. The system allocates or designates one counter for each of a plurality of threads. The system configures a table with a number of entries equal to the maximum number of threads. The system sets a table entry with an ID associated with a communicator when a process thread initiates a collective. The system determines an allocated or designated counter by searching entries in the table.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Comparative study of machine learning techniques for post-combustion carbon capture systems

Computational analysis of countercurrent flows in packed absorption columns, often used in solvent-based post-combustion carbon capture systems (CCSs), is challenging. Typically, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approaches are used to simulate the interactions between a solvent, gas, and column's packing geometry while accounting for the thermodynamics, kinetics, heat, and mass transfer effects of the absorption process. These simulations can then be used explain a column's hydrodynamic characteristics and evaluate its CO 2 -capture efficiency. However, these approaches are computationally expensive, making it difficult to evaluate numerous designs and operating conditions to improve efficiency at industrial scales. In this work, we comprehensively explore the application of statistical ML methods, convolutional neural networks (CNNs), and graph neural networks (GNNs) to aid and accelerate the scale-up and design optimization of solvent-based post-combustion CCSs. We apply these methods to CFD datasets of countercurrent flows in absorption columns with structured packings characterized by several geometric parameters. We train models to use these parameters, inlet velocity conditions, and other model-specific representations of the column to estimate key determinants of CO 2 -capture efficiency without having to simulate additional CFD datasets. We also evaluate the impact of different input types on the accuracy and generalizability of each model. We discuss the strengths and limitations of each approach to further elucidate the role of CNNs, GNNs, and other machine learning approaches for CO 2 -capture property prediction and design optimization.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A computational design system for rapid CFD analysis

A computation design system (CDS) is described in which these tools are integrated in a modular fashion. This CDS ties together four key areas of computational analysis: description of geometry; grid generation; computational codes; and postprocessing. Integration of improved computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis tools through integration with the CDS has made a significant positive impact in the use of CFD for engineering design problems. Complex geometries are now analyzed on a frequent basis and with greater ease.

Ascoli, E. P.↗

Bayesian-based Hyperparameter Optimization for Spiking Neuromorphic Systems

Designing a neuromorphic computing system involves selection of several hyperparameters that not only affect the accuracy of the framework, but also the energy efficiency and speed of inference and training. These hyperparameters might be inherent to the training of the spiking neural network (SNN), the input/output encoding of the real-world data to spikes, or the underlying neuromorphic hardware. In this work, we present a Bayesian-based hyperparameter optimization approach for spiking neuromorphic systems, and we show how this optimization framework can lead to significant improvement in designing accurate neuromorphic computing systems. In particular, we show that this hyperparameter optimization approach can discover the same optimal hyperparameter set for input encoding as a grid search, but with far fewer evaluations and far less time. We also show the impact of hardware-specific hyperparameters on the performance of the system, and we demonstrate that by optimizing these hyperparameters, we can achieve significantly better application performance.

Parsa, Maryam↗