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At least 595 records · Page 33

A numerical simulation of the NFAC (National Full-scale Aerodynamics Complex) open-return wind tunnel inlet flow

The flow into an open return wind tunnel inlet was simulated using Euler equations. An explicit predictor-corrector method was employed to solve the system. The calculation is time-accurate and was performed to achieve a steady-state solution. The predictions are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Wall pressures are accurately predicted except in a region of recirculating flow. Flow-field surveys agree qualitatively with laser velocimeter measurements. The method can be used in the design process for open return wind tunnels.

Kaul, U. K.↗

A numerical simulation of the NFAC (National Full-scale Aerodynamics Complex) open-return wind tunnel inlet flow

The flow into an open return wind tunnel inlet was simulated using Euler equations. An explicit predictor-corrector method was employed to solve the system. The calculation is time-accurate and was performed to achieve a steady-state solution. The predictions are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. Wall pressures are accurately predicted except in a region of recirculating flow. Flow-field surveys agree qualitatively with laser velocimeter measurements. The method can be used in the design process for open-return wind tunnels.

Kaul, U. K.↗

A model for the kinetics of a solar-pumped long path laser experiment

A kinetic model for a solar-simulator pumped iodine laser system is developed and compared to an experiment in which the solar simulator output is dispersed over a large active volume (150 cu cm) with low simulator light intensity (approx. 200 solar constants). A trace foreign gas which quenches the upper level is introduced into the model. Furthermore, a constant representing optical absorption of the stimulated emission is introduced, in addition to a constant representing the scattering at each of the mirrors, via the optical cavity time constant. The non-uniform heating of the gas is treated as well as the pressure change as a function of time within the cavity. With these new phenomena introduced into the kinetic model, a best reasonable fit to the experimental data is found by adjusting the reaction rate coefficients within the range of known uncertainty by numerical methods giving a new bound within this range of uncertainty. The experimental parameters modeled are the lasing time, laser pulse energy, and time to laser threshold.

Stock, L. V.↗

The northern Utah satellite (NUSAT) communications link

During the planning Stages of the NUSAT satellite, an obvious issue to be discussed was the method of communications to be used. The frequencies would have to be high enough to pass through the atmosphere relatively unattenuated but low enough that antennas and transmission lines would not be so critical in length and properties that unexperienced students would have difficulty with handling them. In conversations with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in Washington D.C., the frequencies of 450.000 MHz and 137.900 MHz were decided upon and applied for licensing. The 450.000 MHt up-link is used on a "non-interference" basis to control the satellite while the 137.900 MHz frequency down-links data from the satellite. A reasonable amount of time was spent discussing the mods of transmission to be used in communication with the satellite. Representatives of the amateur radio satellite organization, AMSAT, were contacted for ides. This organization seems to favor AM types of emissions such as CW to control their OSCAR series of satellites and also the current Phase 111 unit. NUSAT personnel felt, however, that there would be merit in the improved signal to noise ratio usually obtained in an FM mode. Doppler shift of the transmitted information on the NUSAT also had to be considered. The final decision WBS to use Audio Frequency Shift Keying (AFSK) modulated on an FM carrier. In this mode the audio tones used would not shift frequency with Doppler - only the carrier would shift in frequency. If necessary, the receivers could be fitted with a form of AFC control or simply have enough bandwidth to handle the Doppler shift with an acceptable increase in noise.

Lee Barrett↗

Total absorption and photoionization cross sections of water vapor between 100 and 1000 A

Absolute photoabsorption and photoionization cross sections of water vapor are reported at a large number of discrete wavelengths between 100 and 1000 A with an estimate error of + or - 3 percent in regions free from any discrete structure. The double ionization chamber technique utilized is described. Recent calculations are shown to be in reasonable agreement with the present data.

Haddad, G. N.↗

Viscous transonic flow computation over Space Shuttle configuration

A thin-layer Navier-Stokes code capable of predicting steady-state viscous flows is applied to the transonic flow over a Space Shuttle configuration. The code is written in the generalized coordinate system, and the grid-generation code of Fujii (1983) is used for the discretization of the flow field. The flow-field computation is done using the CRAY 1S computer at NASA Ames. The computed result is physically reasonable, even though no experimental data is available for the comparison purpose.

Fujii, K.↗

Electrical resistivity (4K to 2100K) of annealed vapor growth carbon fibers

Carbon fibers have been grown from methane gas, on iron seeded substrates at 1370 K, and subsequently annealed to a series of temperatures between 2800 K and 3475 K. The subsequent measurement of the electrical resistivity are reported as a function of temperature from 4 K to 2100 K. The two band model for the resistivity of graphite is well fit to the data, and results in physically reasonable parameters of the fits. The resistivity vs temperature results for two boron doped fibers are reported as well. The product of the resistivity times density for these fibers is lower than that product for any refractory metal, for temperatures above about 1000 K, suggesting the usefulness of these fibers as high temperature materials in space applications.

Ahmed, Akhter U.↗

High dynamic range infrared radiometry and imaging

The use is described of cryogenically cooled, extrinsic silicon infrared detectors in an unconventional mode of operation which offers an unusually large dynamic range. The system performs intensity-to-frequency conversion at the focal plane via simple circuits with very low power consumption. The incident IR intensity controls the repetition rate of short duration output pulses over a pulse rate dynamic range of about 10(6). Theory indicates the possibility of monotonic and approx. linear response over the full dynamic range. A comparison between the theoretical and the experimental results shows that the model provides a reasonably good description of experimental data. Some measurements of survivability with a very intense IR source were made on these devices and found to be very encouraging. Evidence continues to indicate that some variations in interpulse time intervals are deterministic rather than probabilistic.

Coon, Darryl D.↗

Modeling of wave-coherent pressures in the turbulent boundary layer above water waves

The behavior of air pressure fluctuations induced by progressive water waves generated mechanically in a laboratory tank was simulated by solving a modified Orr-Sommerfeld equation in a transformed Eulerian wave-following frame of reference. Solution is obtained by modeling the mean and wave-coherent turbulent Reynolds stresses, the behavior of which in the turbulent boundary layer above the waves was simulated using a turbulent kinetic energy-dissipation model, properly modified to account for free-surface proximity and favorable pressure gradient effects. The distribution of both the wave-coherent turbulent Reynolds stress and pressure amplitudes and their corresponding phase lags was found to agree reasonably well with available laboratory data.

Papadimitrakis, Yiannis ALEX.↗

LOX/Hydrocarbon Combustion Instability Investigation

The LOX/Hydrocarbon Combustion Instability Investigation Program was structured to determine if the use of light hydrocarbon combustion fuels with liquid oxygen (LOX) produces combustion performance and stability behavior similar to the LOX/hydrogen propellant combination. In particular methane was investigated to determine if that fuel can be rated for combustion instability using the same techniques as previously used for LOX/hydrogen. These techniques included fuel temperature ramping and stability bomb tests. The hot fire program probed the combustion behavior of methane from ambient to subambient temperatures. Very interesting results were obtained from this program that have potential importance to future LOX/methane development programs. A very thorough and carefully reasoned documentation of the experimental data obtained is contained. The hot fire test logic and the associated tests are discussed. Subscale performance and stability rating testing was accomplished using 40,000 lb. thrust class hardware. Stability rating tests used both bombs and fuel temperature ramping techniques. The test program was successful in generating data for the evaluation of the methane stability characteristics relative to hydrogen and to anchor stability models. Data correlations, performance analysis, stability analyses, and key stability margin enhancement parameters are discussed.

Jensen, R. J.↗

Positron collisions with alkali-metal atoms

The total cross sections for positron and electron collisions with potassium, sodium, lithium and rubidium are calculated, employing the modified Glauber approximation. The Modified Glauber cross sections for positron collision with potassium and sodium at low intermediate energies are found to agree reasonably well with existing experimental data.

Gien, T. T.↗

The plasma wave signature of a 'magnetic hole' in the vicinity of the magnetopause

Wave spectral measurements in the region of the September 4, 1984 magnetic hole obtained with the plasma wave instrumentation aboard the AMPTE IRM spacecraft are presented. The instrument is briefly described. The full wave data is given and possible reasons for the typical form of the spectra inside the hole are discussed. Relevant observations are presented and different wave modes and their possible origins are discussed. A summary is given with a discussion of ideas about the origin and formation of holes.

Treumann, R. A.↗

Low thrust viscous nozzle flow fields prediction

A Navier-Stokes code was developed for low thrust viscous nozzle flow field prediction. An implicit finite volume in an arbitrary curvilinear coordinate system lower-upper (LU) scheme is used to solve the governing Navier-Stokes equations and species transportation equations. Sample calculations of carbon dioxide nozzle flow are presented to verify the validity and efficiency of this code. The computer results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data.

Liaw, G. S.↗

CRN5EXP: Expert system for statistical quality control

The purpose of the Expert System CRN5EXP is to assist in checking the quality of the coils at two very important mills: Hot Rolling and Cold Rolling in a steel plant. The system interprets the statistical quality control charts, diagnoses and predicts the quality of the steel. Measurements of process control variables are recorded in a database and sample statistics such as the mean and the range are computed and plotted on a control chart. The chart is analyzed through patterns using the C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) and a forward chaining technique to reach a conclusion about the causes of defects and to take management measures for the improvement of the quality control techniques. The Expert System combines the certainty factors associated with the process control variables to predict the quality of the steel. The paper presents the approach to extract data from the database, the reason to combine certainty factors, the architecture and the use of the Expert System. However, the interpretation of control charts patterns requires the human expert's knowledge and lends to Expert Systems rules.

Hentea, Mariana↗

Identification and control of NASA's ACES structures

Results are presented of identification and control experiments on NASA's ACES structure at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The models used for controller design were obtained from identification experiments employing the algorithm Q-Markov cover. The OVC algorithm used for control design produces a controller minimizing the control energy of the closed-loop system, subject to inequality constraints on each of the output variances. The identified model matches the experimental data for the ACES structure reasonably well. The line of sight pointing errors of the structure are substantially reduced by the controllers.

Liu, K.↗

Characterization and modeling for dilute and dense sprays

The present numerical modeling of dilute and dense spray combustion solves the governing gas-phase equations in Eulerian coordinates by means of a time-marching multiple pressure correction procedure that is based on the operator-splitting technique. A sequence of validating cases involving (1) nonevaporating, (2) evaporating, (3) burning, (4) dilute, and (5) dense spray cases is undertaken; it is found that in the combusting dilute spray case, the present procedure correctly predicts the general features of flows and yields qualitative agreement with experimental data. In the other cases, reasonably good agreement with experimental results is obtained.

Chen, C. P.↗

An analysis of supersonic flows with low-Reynolds number compressible two-equation turbulence models using LU finite volume implicit numerical techniques

A generalized flow solver using an implicit Lower-upper (LU) diagonal decomposition based numerical technique has been coupled with three low-Reynolds number kappa-epsilon models for analysis of problems with engineering applications. The feasibility of using the LU technique to obtain efficient solutions to supersonic problems using the kappa-epsilon model has been demonstrated. The flow solver is then used to explore limitations and convergence characteristics of several popular two equation turbulence models. Several changes to the LU solver have been made to improve the efficiency of turbulent flow predictions. In general, the low-Reynolds number kappa-epsilon models are easier to implement than the models with wall-functions, but require much finer near-wall grid to accurately resolve the physics. The three kappa-epsilon models use different approaches to characterize the near wall regions of the flow. Therefore, the limitations imposed by the near wall characteristics have been carefully resolved. The convergence characteristics of a particular model using a given numerical technique are also an important, but most often overlooked, aspect of turbulence model predictions. It is found that some convergence characteristics could be sacrificed for more accurate near-wall prediction. However, even this gain in accuracy is not sufficient to model the effects of an external pressure gradient imposed by a shock-wave/ boundary-layer interaction. Additional work on turbulence models, especially for compressibility, is required since the solutions obtained with base line turbulence are in only reasonable agreement with the experimental data for the viscous interaction problems.

Lee, J.↗

Transient responses of phosphoric acid fuel cell power plant system

An analytical and computerized study of the steady state and transient response of a phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) system was completed. Parametric studies and sensitivity analyses of the PAFC system's operation were accomplished. Four non-linear dynamic models of the fuel cell stack, reformer, shift converters, and heat exchangers were developed based on nonhomogeneous non-linear partial differential equations, which include the material, component, energy balance, and electrochemical kinetic features. Due to a lack of experimental data for the dynamic response of the components only the steady state results were compared with data from other sources, indicating reasonably good agreement. A steady state simulation of the entire system was developed using, nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The finite difference method and trial-and-error procedures were used to obtain a solution. Using the model, a PAFC system, that was developed under NASA Grant, NCC3-17, was improved through the optimization of the heat exchanger network. Three types of cooling configurations for cell plates were evaluated to obtain the best current density and temperature distributions. The steady state solutions were used as the initial conditions in the dynamic model. The transient response of a simplified PAFC system, which included all of the major components, subjected to a load change was obtained. Due to the length of the computation time for the transient response calculations, analysis on a real-time computer was not possible. A simulation of the real-time calculations was developed on a batch type computer. The transient response characteristics are needed for the optimization of the design and control of the whole PAFC system. All of the models, procedures and simulations were programmed in Fortran and run on IBM 370 computers at Cleveland State University and the NASA Lewis Research Center.

Lu, Cheng-Yi↗