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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 595 records · Page 33

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1987

Turbulence control on airborne laser platform

An avctive flow control device to generate large-scale, periodic structures in a turbulent shear flow is developed. Together with adaptive optics, the device may be used on airborne laser platforms to reduce or eliminate optical distortion caused by the turbulence in the aircraft's boundary layer. A flat plate towed in a water channel is used as a test bed. A cyclic jet issuing from a spanwise slot is used to collect the turbulent boundary layer for a finite time during its 'on' period. When the jet is turned 'off', all of the turbulent fluid is released instantaneously in one large eddy that convects downstream. Flow visualization and hot-film probe measurements are used together with pattern recognition algorithms to demonstrate the viability of the flow control method. The instantaneous velocity signal is used to compute important statistical quantities of the random velocity field, such as the mean, the root-mean-square, the spectral distribution, and the probability density function. When optimized for a given boundary layer, the cyclic jet produces periodic structures that are qualitatively similar to the random, naturally occurring ones. These structures seem to trigger the onset of bursting events near the wall. Thus, the present device generates periodic structures in both the outer and inner regions of a turbulent boundary layer.

Gad-El-hak, Mohamed↗

NASA NTRS1971

Variable-area nozzle automatically controls fluid flow

Simple, passive nozzle requires no active control system to vary injection area. Injection area changes with changing pressure, thereby allowing greater flow as pressure increases. As pressure drop across nozzle is decreased, spring action of segments causes them to move inward, decreasing the flow area.

Conrad, E. W.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Experimental Feedback Control of Flow Induced Cavity Tones

Discrete-time, linear quadratic methods were used to design feedback controllers for reducing tones generated by flow over a cavity. The dynamics of a synthetic jet actuator mounted at the leading edge of the cavity as observed by two microphones in the cavity were modeled over a broad frequency range using state space models computed from experimental data. Variations in closed loop performance as a function of model order, control order, control bandwidth, and state estimator design were studied using a cavity in the Probe Calibration Tunnel at NASA Langley. The controller successfully reduced the levels of multiple cavity tones at the tested flow speeds of Mach 0.275, 0.35, and 0.45. In some cases, the closed loop results were limited by excitation of sidebands of the cavity tones, or the creation of new tones at frequencies away from the cavity tones. Nonetheless, the results validate the combination of optimal control and experimentally-generated state space models, and suggest this approach may be useful for other flow control problems. The models were not able to account for non-linear dynamics, such as interactions between tones at different frequencies.

Cabell, Randolph H.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Computation of viscous hypersonic flow over control surfaces

A parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) computer code has been used to compute hypersonic flow over control surfaces located on the aft end of generic re-entry configurations. The Beam-Warming implicit numerical algorithm as modified by Schiff and Steger is used to march in the spatial direction. The outer bow shock is treated as a sharp discontinuity; within the shock layer discontinuities are captured. Several different turbulent flow solutions were generated for flap angles varying from -7 deg to 15 deg and angles of attack varying from 0 deg to 20 deg. The present results are qualitatively correct when compared with previous compression corner studies.

Chaussee, D. S.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Surrogates for Valve-Controlled Pipe Flow: Accelerating Nuclear Reactor Design

Neural surrogate models are developed to replace expensive steady-state RANS CFD simulations for valve-controlled pipe flow in nuclear reactor design. Using parametric CFD data generated with MOOSE Pronghorn across a range of valve geometry and flow conditions, three approaches are compared: a POD-based reduced-order model, a structured UNet on a cylindrical grid, and unstructured models (DeepONet and BiStride MeshGraphNet) on nondimensionalized point clouds. POD achieves the highest accuracy (99%) with fast inference but requires storing all solution snapshots, while the DeepONet and BSMS-GNN both achieve ~89% accuracy at sub-second inference, with the BSMS-GNN offering superior geometric generalizability. These surrogates enable rapid ranking of candidate valve designs and can warm-start CFD solvers to accelerate convergence, supporting agentic design iteration on the Prometheus platform.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2021

Sinuous plastic flow: Mechanics, microstructural basis, and control

Not provided.

Engineering↗

DOE OSTI2021

Randomized Sketching Algorithms for Low-Memory Dynamic Optimization

This paper develops a novel limited-memory method to solve dynamic optimization problems. The memory requirements for such problems often present a major obstacle, particularly for problems with PDE constraints such as optimal flow control, full waveform inversion, and optical tomography. In these problems, PDE constraints uniquely determine the state of a physical system for a given control; the goal is to find the value of the control that minimizes an objective. While the control is often low dimensional, the state is typically more expensive to store. This paper suggests using randomized matrix approximation to compress the state as it is generated and shows how to use the compressed state to reliably solve the original dynamic optimization problem. Concretely, the compressed state is used to compute approximate gradients and to apply the Hessian to vectors. The approximation error in these quantities is controlled by the target rank of the sketch. This approximate first- and second-order information can readily be used in any optimization algorithm. As an example, we develop a sketched trust-region method that adaptively chooses the target rank using a posteriori error information and provably converges to a stationary point of the original problem. Numerical experiments with the sketched trust-region method show promising performance on challenging problems such as the optimal control of an advection-reaction-diffusion equation and the optimal control of fluid flow past a cylinder.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS1992

Code validation for the simulation of supersonic viscous flow about the F-16XL

The viewgraphs and discussion on code validation for the simulation of supersonic viscous flow about the F-16XL are provided. Because of the large potential gains related to laminar flow on the swept wings of supersonic aircraft, interest in the applications of laminar flow control (LFC) techniques in the supersonic regime has increased. A supersonic laminar flow control (SLFC) technology program is currently underway within NASA. The objective of this program is to develop the data base and design methods that are critical to the development of laminar flow control technology for application to supersonic transport aircraft design. Towards this end, the program integrates computational investigations underway at NASA Ames-Moffett and NASA Langley with flight-test investigations being conducted on the F-16XL at the NASA Ames-Dryden Research Facility in cooperation with Rockwell International. The computational goal at NASA Ames-Moffett is to integrate a thin-layer Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes flow solver with a stability analysis code. The flow solver would provide boundary layer profiles to the stability analysis code which in turn would predict transition on the F-16XL wing. To utilize the stability analysis codes, reliable boundary layer data is necessary at off-design cases. Previously, much of the prediction of boundary layer transition has been accomplished through the coupling of boundary layer codes with stability theory. However, boundary layer codes may have difficulties at high Reynolds numbers, of the order of 100 million, and with the current complex geometry in question. Therefore, a reliable code which solves the thin-layer Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations is needed. Two objectives are discussed, the first in greater depth. The first objective is method verification, via comparisons of computations with experiment, of the reliability and robustness of the code. To successfully implement LFC techniques to the F-16XL wing, the flow about the leading edge must be maintained as laminar flow. Therefore, the second objective is to focus on a series of numerical simulations with different values of angle of attack, alpha, and Reynolds numbers. The purpose of the simulations is to study their effects on the two main factors which precipitate transition to turbulence at leading edges of highly swept wings (e.g., 'spanwise contamination' and 'crossflow instability').

Flores, Jolen↗

NASA NTRS1990

Applied aspects of laminar-flow technology

An account is given of the development status and performance levels achieved with natural laminar flow (NLF), extended wing chord laminar flow control (LFC), and hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) concepts combining NLF and partial-chord LFC in the leading-edge region. Attention is given to NLF wing structure construction methods capable of achieving the requisite surface-irregularity tolerances, LFC through wing surface suction slots or perforated skins, and the deleterious effects of insects, ice crystals, and noise disturbance inputs on the ability of NLF, LFC, and HLFC wings to maintain effective laminar flow operation.

Braslow, A. L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Application of natural laminar flow to a supersonic transport concept

Results are presented of a preliminary investigation into an application of supersonic natural laminar flow (NLF) technology for a high speed civil transport (HSCT) configuration. This study focuses on natural laminar flow without regard to suction devices which are required for laminar flow control (LFC) or hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC). An HSCT design is presented with a 70 deg inboard leading-edge sweep and a 20 deg leading-edge outboard crank to obtain NLF over the outboard crank section. This configuration takes advantage of improved subsonic performance and NLF on the low-sweep portion of the wing while minimizing the wave drag and induced drag penalties associated with low-sweep supersonic cruise aircraft. In order to assess the benefits of increasing natural laminar flow wetted area, the outboard low-sweep wing area is parametrically increased. Using a range of supersonic natural laminar flow transition Reynolds numbers, these aircraft are then optimized and sized for minimum take-off gross weight (TOGW) subject to mission constraints. Results from this study indicate reductions in TOGW for the NLF concepts, due mainly to reductions in wing area and total wing weight. Furthermore, significant reductions in block fuel are calculated throughout the range of transition Reynolds numbers considered. Observations are made on the benefits of unsweeping the wingtips with all turbulent flow.

Fuhrmann, Henri D.↗

NASA NTRS2019

FUN3D and USM3D Analysis of the Propulsion Aerodynamic Workshop 2018 S-Duct Test Case

This work presents the results of Fun3D and USM3D analyses that were performed for the 4th AIAA Propulsion Aerodynamics Workshop (PAW). The PAW workshop is separated into three sections that focus on internal duct flows, nozzle flows and a special topic. This paper focuses on the internal duct flow section of PAW04 while an accompanying paper discusses the analyses performed for the nozzle portion. For the internal duct flow section, the PAW04 participants were provided with the two configurations consisting of an S-duct with and without aerodynamic interface plane (AIP) rake legs modeled. The participants were asked to perform a grid refinement study as well as a turbulence model study for the configuration with the rake legs. The analyses discussed here were performed on custom grids developed under the guidelines of the workshop. Additionally, the paper discusses the development and use of flow controllers for matching the desired flow characteristics. The results show that both solvers do well for predicting internal flow characteristics of the S-duct based on direct comparison with the experimental data. However, the CFD-to-CFD comparison proved to be more challenging due to the localized occurrence of supersonic flow near the rake legs when using the mass flow controller. A turbulence model study was performed to compare the two-equation SST model to the SA-QCR model. The results show that although the turbulence model does affect the solution, it makes a minimal impact on pressure recovery and inlet distortion intensity for this case. Suggestions for future workshops include gridding guidelines similar to those employed for the Drag Prediction Workshop series for the grid refinement study and a time accuracy study.

Carter, Melissa B.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Suit Portable Life Support System Thermal Control Valve Ball Design

A Thermal Control Valve (TCV) has been in development for the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit Portable Life Support System (xEMU PLSS). The xEMU PLSS TCV controls flow going to the liquid cooling and ventilation garment that the crew member wears during extra-vehicular activity to expel waste heat. A previous TCV version with a linear actuator and diverter valve has been tested to attempt to control the flow accurately. The previous valve has a non-linear flow response relative to valve position and has struggled to meet the setpoints desired for precise thermal control. While many diverter valve design variations have been attempted, all previous designs have had difficulty meeting set points. Additionally, high precision machining is required to create a metal-on-metal seal which has its own drawbacks and does not always meet requirements for internal leakage. This metal seal also requires stalling a linear actuator to load the seal in compression or tension which has caused sticking failures when stalled. A new approach and design for a TCV has been developed which uses a rotational ball to control flow and has demonstrated a much more precise and linear flow control. The design functions like a two-way ball valve with two Teflon seats that cradle and compress the ball for sealing. The ball outlet has a unique geometric design to create a set-able orifice like hole which is more predictable at controlling flow. Additionally, the Teflon seat performs much better for preventing internal leakage than the metal seal and prevents sticking by having a large range in which it is sealed without having to stall the actuator. This paper will review a new proposed xEMU PLSS TCV ball design and compare it with previous iterations of the design.

Ryan Ogilvie↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Suit Portable Life Support System Thermal Control Valve Ball Design

Ryan Ogilvie↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Suit Portable Life Support System Thermal Control Valve Ball Design

A Thermal Control Valve (TCV) has been in development for the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit Portable Life Support System (xEMU PLSS). The xEMU PLSS TCV controls flow going to the liquid cooling and ventilation garment that the crew member wears during extra-vehicular activity to expel waste heat. A pervious TCV version with a linear actuator and diverter valve has been tested extensively to attempt to control the flow accurately. The previous TCV diverter valve has a non-linear flow response relative to valve position and has struggled to accurately meet the setpoints desired for precision thermal control. While many diverter valve design variations have been attempted, previous designs have all had difficulty in meeting set points. Additionally, high precision machining is required for these diverter valves to create a metal-on-metal seal which has its own drawbacks and doesn’t always meet requirements for internal leakage. This metal compression seal also requires stalling the linear actuator to load the seal in compression or tension which has demonstrated valve sticking failures when stalled. The xEMU PLSS TCV implements a new approach and design for a TCV which uses a rotational ball to control flow and has demonstrated a much more precise and linear flow control. The design functions like a two-way ball valve with two Teflon seats that cradle and compress the ball for sealing. A new geometric design modification to the ball outlet can create a set-able orifice like hole which is more predictable at controlling flow than using an annulus with the previous diverter valve. Additionally, the Teflon seat performs much better for preventing internal leakage than the metal seal and prevents sticking by having a large range in which it is sealed without having to stall the actuator. This paper will review a new proposed xEMU PLSS TCV ball design and compare it with previous iterations of the design.

Ryan Ogilvie↗

NASA NTRS1987

Turbulence control on an airborne laser platform

An active flow control device to generate large-scale, periodic structures in a turbulent shear flow is developed. Together with adaptive optics, the device may be used on airborne laser platforms to reduce or eliminate optical distortion caused by the turbulence in the aircraft's boundary layer. A cyclic jet issuing from a spanwise slot is used to collect the turbulent boundary layer for a finite time and then release all of the flow instantaneously in one large eddy that convects downstream. Flow visualization and hot-film probe measurements are used together with pattern recognition algorithms to demonstrate the viability of the flow control method. A flat plate towed in a water channel is used as a test bed. The instantaneous velocity signal is used to compute important statistical quantities of the random velocity field, such as the mean, the root-mean-square, the spectral distribution, and the probability density function. When optimized for a given boundary layer, it is shown that the cyclic jet will produce periodic structures that are similar to the random, naturally occurring ones. These structures seem to trigger the onset of bursting events near the wall of the plate. Thus, the present device generates periodic structures in both the outer and inner regions of a turbulent boundary layer.

Gad-El-hak, Mohamed↗

DOE OSTI2024

A Four-Layer Cyber-Physical Security Model for Electric Machine Drives Considering Control Information Flow

Despite the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) establishing Technical Committee 10 on Design Methodologies with a focus on the cyber-physical security of power electronics systems, a holistic design methodology for addressing security vulnerabilities remains underdeveloped. This gap largely stems from the limited integration of computer science and power/control engineering studies in this interdisciplinary field. Addressing the inadequacy of unilateral cyber or control perspectives, this article presents a novel four-layer cyber-physical security model specifically designed for electric machine drives. Central to this model is the innovative control information flow (CIF) model, residing within the control layer, which serves as a pivotal link between the cyber layer's vulnerable resources and the physical layer's state-space models. By mapping vulnerable resources to control variable space and tracing attack propagation, the CIF model facilitates accurate impact predictions based on tainted control laws. The effectiveness and validity of this proposed model are demonstrated through hardware experiments involving two typical cyber-attack scenarios, underscoring its potential as a comprehensive framework for multidisciplinary security strategies.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS1982

NASA research on viscous drag reduction

Current NASA research points toward exciting opportunities for large reductions in viscous drag. Research is underway on natural laminar flow, laminar flow control by suction, and turbulent drag reduction. Preliminary results suggest that a significant amount of natural laminar flow can be achieved on small, straight-wing airplanes. On larger, swept-wing aircraft, laminar flow control by distributed suction is expected to result in significant fuel savings. The area over which laminar flow control is applied depends on tradeoffs involving structural complexity, maintenance, and cost. Several methods of reducing turbulent skin friction by altering the turbulence structure itself have shown promise in exploratory testing. This paper reviews the status of these technologies and indicates the benefits of applying them to future aircraft.

Petersen, R. H.↗

DOE OSTI2022

A Variable Pressure Multi-Pressure Rail System Design for Agricultural Applications

This paper presents a solution for reducing energy loss in the hydraulic control system of agricultural tractors and their implements. The solution is referred to as a multi-pressure rail (MPR) and provides power to the hydraulic functions following a pressure control logic, as opposed to the traditional flow control logic typical of hydraulic systems used in off-road vehicles. The proposed hydraulic control system allows for elimination of redundant flow control valves in the state-of-the-art system, which cause excessive throttling losses leading to poor overall energy efficiency. Related work on MPR technology targets construction vehicles, where the MPR solution can allow energy recovery during overrunning loads and better engine management. This paper alternatively addresses the case of agricultural applications where functions mostly operate under resistive load conditions with slow dynamics, which offers an opportunity to target throttle losses. For this purpose, the paper introduces a variable pressure control strategy to handle the instantaneous pressure at each rail. To develop both the controller and the hydraulic system architecture, a stationary test rig is conceived and used to validate a numerical simulation model of the MPR system and its control strategy. Particular focus is given to the dynamic behavior of the system during the switches of a function between different pressure rails, which needs to ensure reduced oscillations of the flow provided to each hydraulic function. Once validated, the simulation model is used to predict the energy savings of the MPR solution in an actual application: a 435 hp hydraulic tractor powering a 16-row planter, for which operating features during typical drive cycles were available to the authors. The results show up to 59% total power reduction at the pump shaft, corresponding to 89.8% system efficiency gain.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗