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At least 595 records · Page 33

Finite element analysis of instability-related delamination growth

A parametric study of postbuckled through-width delaminations in laminated coupons was performed. A finite element analysis was developed to analyze the coupons as a combination of linear and geometrically nonlinear components. Because most of the coupon configuration studied behaves linearly, the mixed linear and nonlinear analysis greatly reduced computational costs. The analysis was verified by comparing numerical with exact solutions for simple hypothetical problems. In addition, measured lateral deflections of postbuckled through-width delaminations in laminated coupons were compared with predicted deflections. In the parametric study, stress distributions and strain-energy release rates were calculated for various delamination lengths, delamination depths, applied loads, and lateral deflections. Also, a small number of coupons with through-width delaminations were fatigue tested to obtain delamination growth data. Calculated strain-energy release rates were compared with the observed growth rates to determine the relative importance of the Mode 1 and Mode 2 components of energy release. Growth process was dominated by G sub I.

Whitcomb, J. D.↗

The heating of a thermally conducting stratified medium. II - A simple plane model of an atmosphere

Exact solutions of the following theoretical problem are presented: A plane atmosphere is in hydrostatic equilibrium with a uniform gravity. The ideal gas law is assumed. Heat is generated everywhere at a rate proportional to the local density. The atmosphere is maintained in a steady state through cooling by thermal conduction and radiation. This problem is reducible to quadratures for a thermal conductivity which is an arbitrary, but prescribed, function of the temperature, and for a radiative loss which is expressible as the product of the density and an arbitrary, but prescribed, function of the pressure. The analysis is carried out for the case of power law thermal conductivity, and a radiative loss proportional to the square of the density and to the first power of the temperature. The radiative cooling function adopted here has the basic mathematical form for an optically thin medium. The solutions reproduce the macroscopic ordering of a hot 'corona' separated from a 'photosphere' by a layer of temperature minimum. The analytic solutions allow direct illustration of the interplay between steady energy transport and the requirements of hydrostatic equilibrium.

Lerche, I.↗

Baroclinic instability with variable static stability - A design study for a spherical atmospheric model experiment

The effect of a radially-variable, dielectric body force, analogous to gravity on baroclinic instability for the design of a spherical, synoptic-scale, atmospheric model experiment in a Spacelab flight is investigated. Exact solutions are examined for quasi-geostrophic baroclinic instability in which the rotational Froude number is a linear function of the height. Flow in a rotating rectilinear channel with a vertically variable body force without horizontal shear of the basic state is also discussed.

Giere, A. C.↗

Apparent violation of the principle of equivalence and killing horizons

By means of the principle of equivalence the qualitative behavior of the Schwarzschild horizon about a uniformly accelerating particle was deduced. This result is confirmed for an exact solution of a uniformly accelerating object in the limit of small accelerations. For large accelerations the Schwarzschild horizon appears to violate the qualitative behavior established via the principle of equivalence. When similar arguments are extended to an observable such as the red shift between two observers, there is no departure from the results expected from the principle of equivalence. The resolution of the paradox is brought about by a compensating effect due to the Rindler horizon.

Zimmerman, R. L.↗

Effect of elastic end rings on the eigenfrequencies of thin cylinders

The effect of elastic end rings on the eigenfrequencies of thin cylindrical shells is studied by using an exact solution of the linear eigenvalue problem. The out-of-plane and torsional rigidities of the rings are responsible for the overall shell stiffness. Considerable mode interaction exists for modes with low circumferential wave numbers when the mass of the ring is comparable with that of the shell. The hypothetical simply supported and clamped boundary conditions are practically impossible to realize with a finite-mass ring for relatively short and thin shells.

El Raheb, M.↗

Prediction of sound radiation from different practical jet engine inlets

The computer codes necessary for this study were developed and checked against exact solutions generated by the point source method using the NASA Lewis QCSEE inlet geometry. These computer codes were used to predict the acoustic properties of the following five inlet configurations: the NASA Langley Bellmouth, the NASA Lewis JT15D-1 Ground Test Nacelle, and three finite hyperbolic inlets of 50, 70 and 90 degrees. Thirty-five computer runs were done for the NASA Langley Bellmouth. For each of these computer runs, the reflection coefficient at the duct exit plane was calculated as was the far field radiation pattern. These results are presented in both graphical and tabular form with many of the results cross plotted so that trends in the results verses cut-off ratio (wave number) and tangential mode number may be easily identified.

Zinn, B. T.↗

Kinetic theory in astrophysics and cosmology

Results associated with exact solution of the Einstein-Boltzmann and Einstein-Maxwell-Boltzmann equations are presented. The generalization of Ehler's killing vector approach for the distribution function to charged particles is considered.

Ray, J. R.↗

The transmission or scattering of elastic waves by an inhomogeneity of simple geometry: A comparison of theories

The extended method of equivalent inclusion developed is applied to study the specific wave problems of the transmission of elastic waves in an infinite medium containing a layer of inhomogeneity, and of the scattering of elastic waves in an infinite medium containing a perfect spherical inhomogeneity. The eigenstrains are expanded as a geometric series and the method of integration for the inhomogeneous Helmholtz operator given by Fu and Mura is adopted. The results obtained by using a limited number of terms in the eigenstrain expansion are compared with exact solutions for the layer problem and for a perfect sphere. Two parameters are singled out for this comparison: the ratio of elastic moduli, and the ratio of the mass densities. General trends for three different situations are shown.

Sheu, Y. C.↗

Analytical description of charged particle transport along arbitrary guiding field configurations

Aspects of charged particle transport theory have been studied by Earl (1973, 1974, 1976) in a number of investigations. The investigations were conducted under the assumption that particles propagate along a DC guiding field with negligible perpendicular transport and that pitch-angle scattering by random fields can be described by the Fokker-Planck formalism. The present study provides a generalized and simplified treatment of focused transport. The first step is taken with respect to a perturbation analysis by which the Boltzmann equation is solved in terms of successively improved approximations to its exact solution. The first approximation is the sum of isotropic pseudodiffusive and anisotropic supercoherent components whose coefficients must satisfy two coupled partial differential equations. The normalization constant K and the pseudodiffusive velocity, which appear in the first-order transport equations, are given by simple integrals over the pitch angle.

Earl, J. A.↗

Finite element analysis of instability related delamination growth

Instability-related growth of through-width delaminations in laminated coupons was investigated analytically and experimentally. In the analytical effort, a geometrically nonlinear finite-element stress analysis was used, and the numerical results were compared with exact solutions. In addition, measured lateral deflections of postbuckled through-width delaminations were compared with predicted deflections. Lateral deflections, stress distributions, and strain energy release rates were calculated for various delamination lengths, delamination depths, and applied loads. Delamination growth rates observed for unidirectional graphite/epoxy bonded to aluminum were qualitatively correlated with calculated strain-energy release rates and it was found that the Mode I component of energy release dominates the growth process.

Whitcomb, J. D.↗

On the formation of protostellar disks

An analysis is presented of the hydrodynamic aspects of the growth of protostellar disks from the accretion of a rotating gas cloud. Streamline equations for the flow onto the disk are derived, including the special case where the disk is very thin. For the radial structure of the disk, detailed equations of conservation of mass, momentum, angular momentum, and energy are given. Exact solutions are found for the case of no internal viscosity. For the more general case where there is viscous stress, hypotheses are formulated with the objective of discovering the main qualitative characteristics of a turbulent system and to estimate the magnitude of the turbulent stress. Solutions are also found for boundary conditions, and the large and small viscosity limits. The relation of energy balance to disk thermal structure is detailed. Finally, trends in the collapse of the dust cloud are discussed in the light of the solutions given.

Cassen, P.↗

Criteria for the use of regression analysis for remote sensing of sediment and pollutants

An examination of limitations, requirements, and precision of the linear multiple-regression technique for quantification of marine environmental parameters is conducted. Both environmental and optical physics conditions have been defined for which an exact solution to the signal response equations is of the same form as the multiple regression equation. Various statistical parameters are examined to define a criteria for selection of an unbiased fit when upwelled radiance values contain error and are correlated with each other. Field experimental data are examined to define data smoothing requirements in order to satisfy the criteria of Daniel and Wood (1971). Recommendations are made concerning improved selection of ground-truth locations to maximize variance and to minimize physical errors associated with the remote sensing experiment.

Whitlock, C. H.↗

The transmission or scattering of elastic waves by an inhomogeneity of simple geometry: A comparison of theories

The extended method of equivalent inclusions is applied to study the specific wave problems: (1) the transmission of elastic waves in an infinite medium containing a layer of inhomogeneity, and (2) the scattering of elastic waves in an infinite medium containing a perfect spherical inhomogeneity. Eigenstrains are expanded as a geometric series and a method of integration based on the inhomogeneous Helmholtz operator is adopted. This study compares results, obtained by using limited number of terms in the eigenstrain expansion, with exact solutions for the layer problem and that for a perfect sphere.

Sheu, Y. C.↗

Calculation of potential flow past non-lifting bodies at angle of attack using axial and surface singularity methods

Two different singularity methods have been utilized to calculate the potential flow past a three dimensional non-lifting body. Two separate FORTRAN computer programs have been developed to implement these theoretical models, which will in the future allow inclusion of the fuselage effect in a pair of existing subcritical wing design computer programs. The first method uses higher order axial singularity distributions to model axisymmetric bodies of revolution in an either axial or inclined uniform potential flow. Use of inset of the singularity line away from the body for blunt noses, and cosine-type element distributions have been applied to obtain the optimal results. Excellent agreement to five significant figures with the exact solution pressure coefficient value has been found for a series of ellipsoids at different angles of attack. Solutions obtained for other axisymmetric bodies compare well with available experimental data. The second method utilizes distributions of singularities on the body surface, in the form of a discrete vortex lattice. This program is capable of modeling arbitrary three dimensional non-lifting bodies. Much effort has been devoted to finding the optimal method of calculating the tangential velocity on the body surface, extending techniques previously developed by other workers.

Shu, J. Y.↗

Numerical evaluation of the Rayleigh integral for planar radiators using the FFT

Rayleigh's integral formula is evaluated numerically for planar radiators of any shape, with any specified velocity in the source plane using the fast Fourier transfrom algorithm. The major advantage of this technique is its speed of computation - over 400 times faster than a straightforward two-dimensional numerical integration. The technique is developed for computation of the radiated pressure in the nearfield of the source and can be easily extended to provide, with little computation time, the vector intensity in the nearfield. Computations with the FFT of the nearfield pressure of baffled rectangular plates with clamped and free boundaries are compared with the 'exact' solution to illuminate any errors. The bias errors, introduced by the FFT, are investigated and a technique is developed to significantly reduce them.

Williams, E. G.↗

Potentials on large spacecraft in LEO

A system-oriented computer code is used to predict surface charging due to voltages generated within a satellite operating in the typical dense plasma environment of LEO. The use of this code is demonstrated by predicting the expansion of electric fields onto a kapton surface from a pinhole over a biased conductor in a LEO environment. The results are compared to a more-exact solution and experimental data.

Mandell, M. J.↗

Reduction of rms-error in shallow faceted large space antennas

This paper examines the potential for reducing root-mean-square surface error in shallow faceted reflectors by replacing flat facets with membrane facets. Exact solutions are obtained for the small lateral deflections of equilateral triangular and rectangular membranes subject to isotropic tension and parabolic edge deflections. These solutions are used to minimize the rms-error between a facet of a shallow paraboloidal surface and its approximating membrane facet. The resulting optimum placements and edge curvatures yield membrane facets which have significantly lower rms-errors than the corresponding best-fit flat facets. The rms-error reductions are about 55 percent for equilateral triangles and 25 percent to 93 percent for rectangles, depending on aspect ratio. The results suggest that the use of membrane facets conforming to curved structural members could yield reflectors with lower rms-error, or comparable error with larger facets and, hence, fewer structural members.

Fichter, W. B.↗

Numerical evaluation of the radiation from unbaffled, finite plates using the FFT

An iteration technique is described which numerically evaluates the acoustic pressure and velocity on and near unbaffled, finite, thin plates vibrating in air. The technique is based on Rayleigh's integral formula and its inverse. These formulas are written in their angular spectrum form so that the fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm may be used to evaluate them. As an example of the technique the pressure on the surface of a vibrating, unbaffled disk is computed and shown to be in excellent agreement with the exact solution using oblate spheroidal functions. Furthermore, the computed velocity field outside the disk shows the well-known singularity at the rim of the disk. The radiated fields from unbaffled flat sources of any geometry with prescribed surface velocity may be evaluated using this technique. The use of the FFT to perform the integrations in Rayleigh's formulas provides a great savings in computation time compared with standard integration algorithms, especially when an array processor can be used to implement the FFT.

Williams, E. G.↗