Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Differential equations”

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 631 records · Page 35

Analysis of laminated, composite, circular cylindrical shells with general boundary conditions

This report develops: (1) a refined approximate theory for the static and dynamic analyses of finite, laminated, composite, circular cylindrical shells with general boundary conditions; (2) an exact three-dimensional analysis of simply supported, laminated, composite, circular cylindrical shells, and (3) a thin-shell theory for laminated, composite, circular cylindrical shells. In the refined approximate theory the displacements are assumed piecewise linear across the thickness and the effects of transverse shear deformations and transverse normal stress are included. A variational approach is followed to obtain the governing differential equations and boundary conditions. A general solution of the governing differential equations is also presented. The results obtained by using the refined approximate theory and the thin-shell theory are compared with the exact results for the case of free vibrations of simply supported, laminated, composite, circular cylindrical shells. The refined approximate theory is very accurate, even for thick shells with short nodal distances, whereas thin-shell theory is reasonably accurate only for thin shells at moderate nodal distances and wave number less than 2.

Srinivas, S.↗

Efficient stream distributions in radiative transfer theory

This paper discusses a new, computationally-efficient method for approximating the integro-differential equation of radiative transfer with a finite set of coupled differential equations for discrete streams. The method uses recommended spatial distributions of streams that are quite different from those typically used in that they are based on the symmetry of several regular Platonic solids. To facilitate the use of such distributions, an explicit, one-parameter relationship between the physical radiance and the abstract stream is formulated. The parameter is used to determine the minimum number of streams required in the radiative transfer model. Accuracy and computational efficiency are shown to be served best by choosing a stream distribution that is invariant to a large number of three space rotations. For various values of the above-mentioned parameter, the resulting recommended stream distribution is shown to be more computationally efficient than more conventional stream distributions. Finally, the incorporation of polarization in the stream definition is described.

Whitney, C.↗

The method of lines in three dimensional fracture mechanics

A review of recent developments in the calculation of design parameters for fracture mechanics by the method of lines (MOL) is presented. Three dimensional elastic and elasto-plastic formulations are examined and results from previous and current research activities are reported. The application of MOL to the appropriate partial differential equations of equilibrium leads to coupled sets of simultaneous ordinary differential equations. Solutions of these equations are obtained by the Peano-Baker and by the recurrance relations methods. The advantages and limitations of both solution methods from the computational standpoint are summarized.

Gyekenyesi, J.↗

Flap-lag-torsional dynamic modelling of rotor blades in hover and in forward flight, including the effect of cubic nonlinearities

The differential equations of motion, and boundary conditions, describing the flap-lead/lag-torsional motion of a flexible rotor blade with a precone angle and a variable pitch angle, which incorporates a pretwist, are derived via Hamilton's principle. The meaning of inextensionality is discussed. The equations are reduced to a set of three integro partial differential equations by elimination of the extension variable. The generalized aerodynamic forces are modelled using Greenberg's extension of Theodorsen's strip theory. The equations of motion are systematically expanded into polynomial nonlinearities with the objective of retaining all terms up to third degree. The blade is modeled as a long, slender, of isotropic Hookean materials. Offsets from the blade's elastic axis through its shear center and the axes for the mass, area and aerodynamic centers, radial nonuniformaties of the blade's stiffnesses and cross section properties are considered and the effect of warp of the cross section is included in the formulation.

Crespodasilva, M. R. M.↗

The method of lines in three-dimensional fracture mechanics

A review is presented of recent developments in the calculation of design parameters for fracture mechanics by the method of lines (MOL). Three-dimensional elastic and elasto-plastic formulations are examined and results are reported from previous and current research activities. The application of MOL to the appropriate partial differential equations of equilibrium leads to coupled sets of simultaneous ordinary differential equations. Solutions of these equations are obtained by the Peano-Baker and by the recurrence relations methods. The advantages and limitations of both solution methods from the computational standpoint are summarized.

Gyekenyesi, J.↗

Flag-lag-torsional dynamics or extensional and inextensional rotor blades in hover and in forward flight

The differential equations describing the flap-lag-torsional motion of a flexible rotor blade including third-order nonlinearities were derived for hover and forward flight. Making use of the two boundary conditions, those equations were reduced to a set of three integro partial differential equations written in terms of the flexural deflections and the torsional variable.

Crespodasilva, M. R. M.↗

Ground resonance analysis using a substructure modeling approach

A convenient and versatile procedure for modeling and analyzing ground resonance phenomena is described and illustrated. A computer program is used which dynamically couples differential equations with nonlinear and time dependent coefficients. Each set of differential equations may represent a component such as a rotor, fuselage, landing gear, or a failed damper. Arbitrary combinations of such components may be formulated into a model of a system. When the coupled equations are formed, a procedure is executed which uses a Floquet analysis to determine the stability of the system. Illustrations of the use of the procedures along with the numerical examples are presented.

Chen, S. Y.↗

Ground resonance analysis using a substructure modeling approach

A convenient and versatile procedure for modeling and analyzing ground resonance phenomena is described and illustrated. A computer program is used which dynamically couples differential equations with nonlinear and time dependent coefficients. Each set of differential equations may represent a component such as a rotor, fuselage, landing gear, or a failed damper. Arbitrary combinations of such components may be formulated into a model of a system. When the coupled equations are formed, a procedure is executed which uses a Floquet analysis to determine the stability of the system. Illustrations of the use of the procedures along with the numerical examples are presented.

Chen, S.-Y.↗

A note on the accuracy of spectral method applied to nonlinear conservation laws

Fourier spectral method can achieve exponential accuracy both on the approximation level and for solving partial differential equations if the solutions are analytic. For a linear partial differential equation with a discontinuous solution, Fourier spectral method produces poor point-wise accuracy without post-processing, but still maintains exponential accuracy for all moments against analytic functions. In this note we assess the accuracy of Fourier spectral method applied to nonlinear conservation laws through a numerical case study. We find that the moments with respect to analytic functions are no longer very accurate. However the numerical solution does contain accurate information which can be extracted by a post-processing based on Gegenbauer polynomials.

Shu, Chi-Wang↗

Two-Dimensional Potential Flows

Contents include the following: Characteristic differential equations - initial and boundary conditions. Integration of the second characteristic differential equations. Direct application of Meyer's characteristic hodograph table for construction of two-dimensional potential flows. Prandtl-Busemann method. Development of the pressure variation for small deflection angles. Numerical table: relation between deflection, pressure, velocity, mach number and mach angle for isentropic changes of state according to Prandtl-Meyer for air (k = 1.405). References.

Schaefer, Manfred↗

Refraction of high frequency noise in an arbitrary jet flow

Refraction of high frequency noise by mean flow gradients in a jet is studied using the ray-tracing methods of geometrical acoustics. Both the two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) formulations are considered. In the former case, the mean flow is assumed parallel and the governing propagation equations are described by a system of four first order ordinary differential equations. The 3D formulation, on the other hand, accounts for the jet spreading as well as the axial flow development. In this case, a system of six first order differential equations are solved to trace a ray from its source location to an observer in the far field. For subsonic jets with a small spreading angle both methods lead to similar results outside the zone of silence. However, with increasing jet speed the two prediction models diverge to the point where the parallel flow assumption is no longer justified. The Doppler factor of supersonic jets as influenced by the refraction effects is discussed and compared with the conventional modified Doppler factor.

Khavaran, Abbas↗

A method for solution of the Euler-Bernoulli beam equation in flexible-link robotic systems

An efficient numerical method for solving the partial differential equation (PDE) governing the flexible manipulator control dynamics is presented. A finite-dimensional model of the equation is obtained through discretization in both time and space coordinates by using finite-difference approximations to the PDE. An expert program written in the Macsyma symbolic language is utilized in order to embed the boundary conditions into the program, accounting for a mass carried at the tip of the manipulator. The advantages of the proposed algorithm are many, including the ability to (1) include any distributed actuation term in the partial differential equation, (2) provide distributed sensing of the beam displacement, (3) easily modify the boundary conditions through an expert program, and (4) modify the structure for running under a multiprocessor environment.

Tzes, Anthony P.↗

Chandrasekhar equations for infinite dimensional systems

The existence of Chandrasekhar equations for linear time-invariant systems defined on Hilbert spaces is investigated. An important consequence is that the solution to the evolutional Riccati equation is strongly differentiable in time, and that a strong solution of the Riccati differential equation can be defined. A discussion of the linear-quadratic optimal-control problem for hereditary differential systems is also included.

Ito, K.↗

New integration techniques for chemical kinetic rate equations. 2: Accuracy comparison

A comparison of the accuracy of several techniques recently developed for solving stiff differential equations is presented. The techniques examined include two general purpose codes EEPISODE and LSODE developed for an arbitrary system of ordinary differential equations, and three specialized codes CHEMEQ, CREKID, and GCKP84 developed specifically to solve chemical kinetic rate equations. The accuracy comparisons are made by applying these solution procedures to two practical combustion kinetics problems. Both problems describe adiabatic, homogeneous, gas phase chemical reactions at constant pressure, and include all three combustion regimes: induction, heat release, and equilibration. The comparisons show that LSODE is the most efficient code - in the sense that it requires the least computational work to attain a specified accuracy level. An important finding is that an iterative solution of the algebraic enthalpy conservation equation for the temperature can be more accurate and efficient than computing the temperature by integrating its time derivative.

Radhakrishnan, K.↗

New integration techniques for chemical kinetic rate equations. II - Accuracy comparison

A comparison of the accuracy of several techniques recently developed for solving stiff differential equations is presented. The techniques examined include two general purpose codes EEPISODE and LSODE developed for an arbitrary system of ordinary differential equations, and three specialized codes CHEMEQ, CREKID, and GCKP84 developed specifically to solve chemical kinetic rate equations. The accuracy comparisons are made by applying these solution procedures to two practical combustion kinetics problems. Both problems describe adiabatic, homogeneous, gas phase chemical reactions at constant pressure, and include all three combustion regimes: induction heat release, and equilibration. The comparisons show that LSODE is the most efficient code - in the sense that it requires the least computational work to attain a specified accuracy level. An important finding is that an iterative solution of the algebraic enthalpy conservation equation for the temperature can be more accurate and efficient than computing the temperature by integrating its time derivative.

Radhakrishnan, K.↗