Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “differential mode”

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 685 records · Page 38

Depth and latitude dependence of the solar internal angular velocity

One of the design goals for the dedicated helioseismology observing state located at Mount Wilson Observatory was the measurement of the internal solar rotation using solar p-mode oscillations. In this paper, the first p-mode splittings obtained from Mount Wilson are reported and compared with those from several previously published studies. It is demonstrated that the present splittings agree quite well with composite frequency splittings obtained from the comparisons. The splittings suggest that the angular velocity in the solar equatorial plane is a function of depth below the photosphere. The latitudinal differential rotation pattern visible at the surface appears to persist at least throughout the solar convection zone.

Rhodes, Edward J., Jr.↗

Transient Simulation of Pressure Oscillations in the Fuel Feedline of the Fastrac Engine Thrust Chamber

During mainstage testing of the 60,000 lbf thrust Fastrac thrust chamber at MSFC's Test Stand 116 (TS 116), sustained, large amplitude oscillations near 530 Hz were observed in the pressure data. These oscillations were detected both in the RP-1 feedline, downstream of the cavitating venturi, and in the combustion chamber. The driver of the instability is believed to be feedline excitation driven by either periodic cavity collapse at the exit of the cavitating venturi or combustion instability. In covitating venturi, static pressure drops as the flow passes through a constriction resembling a converging-diverging nozzle until the vapor pressure is reached. At the venturi throat, the flow is essentially choked, which is why these devices are typically used for mass flow rate control and disturbance isolation. Typically, a total pressure drop of 15% or more across the venturi is required for cavitation. For much larger pressure differentials, unstable cavities can form and subsequently collapse downstream of the throat. Although the disturbances generated by cavitating venturis is generally considered to be broad-band, this type of phenomena could generate periodic behavior capable of exciting the feedline. An excitation brought about by combustion instability would result from the coupling of a combustion chamber acoustic mode and a feedline resonance frequency. This type of coupling is referred to as "buzz" and is not uncommon for engines in this thrust range.

Bullard, Brad↗

Rotating quantum turbulence in the unitary Fermi gas

Quantized vortices carry the angular momentum in rotating superfluids, and are key to the phenomenon of quantum turbulence. Advances in ultracold-atom technology enable quantum turbulence to be studied in regimes with both experimental and theoretical control, unlike the original contexts of superfluid helium experiments. While much work has been performed with bosonic systems, detailed studies of fermionic quantum turbulence are nascent, despite wide applicability to other contexts such as rotating neutron stars. In this paper, we present a large-scale study of quantum turbulence in rotating fermionic superfluids using an accurate time-dependent density functional theory called the superfluid local density approximation. We identify two different modes of turbulent decay in the dynamical equilibration of a rotating fermionic superfluid, and contrast these results with a computationally simpler description provided by the Gross-Pitaevskii equation, which we find can qualitatively reproduce these decay mechanisms if dissipation is explicitly included. These results demonstrate that dissipation mechanisms intrinsic to fermionic superfluids play a key role in differentiating fermionic from bosonic turbulence, which manifests by enhanced damping of Kelvin waves.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

The Total In-Flight Simulator (TIFS) aerodynamics and systems: Description and analysis

The aerodynamics, control system, instrumentation complement and recording system of the USAF Total In/Flight Simulator (TIFS) airplane are described. A control system that would allow the ailerons to be operated collectively, as well as, differentially to entrance the ability of the vehicle to perform the dual function of maneuver load control and gust alleviation is emphasized. Mathematical prediction of the rigid body and the flexible equations of longitudinal motion using the level 2.01 FLEXSTAB program are included along with a definition of the vehicle geometry, the mass and stiffness distribution, the calculated mode frequencies and mode shapes, and the resulting aerodynamic equations of motion of the flexible vehicle. A complete description of the control and instrumentation system of the aircraft is presented, including analysis, ground test and flight data comparisons of the performance and bandwidth of the aerodynamic surface servos. Proposed modification for improved performance of the servos are also presented.

Andrisani, D., II↗

Distributed parameter estimation for large beam-like structures for general inputs

In this paper, maximum likelihood estimation for distributed parameter models of large flexible structures has been formulated. Distributed parameter models involve far fewer unknown parameters than independent modal characteristics of finite element models. The closed-form solutions for the partial differential equations with general forced inputs have been derived. The closed-form expressions of the sensitivity functions lead to highly efficient algorithms for analyzing ground or on-orbit test results. Numerical simulations with impulse and step inputs to the NASA Mini-MAST trust have been demonstrated. The estimations of modal properties involve its longitudinal elongation modes, lateral bending modes and torsional modes. The results show that distributed parameter models are promising in the parameter estimation of large flexible structures.

Shen, Ji-Yao↗

The Photochemical Reflectance Index from Directional Cornfield Reflectances: Observations and Simulations

The two-layer Markov chain Analytical Canopy Reflectance Model (ACRM) was linked with in situ hyperspectral leaf optical properties to simulate the Photochemical Reflectance Index (PRI) for a corn crop canopy at three different growth stages. This is an extended study after a successful demonstration of PRI simulations for a cornfield previously conducted at an early vegetative growth stage. Consistent with previous in situ studies, sunlit leaves exhibited lower PRI values than shaded leaves. Since sunlit (shaded) foliage dominates the canopy in the reflectance hotspot (coldspot), the canopy PRI derived from field hyperspectral observations displayed sensitivity to both view zenith angle and relative azimuth angle at all growth stages. Consequently, sunlit and shaded canopy sectors were most differentiated when viewed along the azimuth matching the solar principal plane. These directional PRI responses associated with sunlit/shaded foliage were successfully reproduced by the ACRM. As before, the simulated PRI values from the current study were closer to in situ values when both sunlit and shaded leaves were utilized as model input data in a two-layer mode, instead of a one-layer mode with sunlit leaves only. Model performance as judged by correlation between in situ and simulated values was strongest for the mature corn crop (r = 0.87, RMSE = 0.0048), followed by the early vegetative stage (r = 0.78; RMSE = 0.0051) and the early senescent stage (r = 0.65; RMSE = 0.0104). Since the benefit of including shaded leaves in the scheme varied across different growth stages, a further analysis was conducted to investigate how variable fractions of sunlit/shaded leaves affect the canopy PRI values expected for a cornfield, with implications for 20 remote sensing monitoring options. Simulations of the sunlit to shaded canopy ratio near 50/50 +/- 10 (e.g., 60/40) matching field observations at all growth stages were examined. Our results suggest in the importance of the sunlit/shaded fraction and canopy structure in understanding and interpreting PRI.

Cheng, Yen-Ben↗

Instability Wave–Streak Interactions in a High Mach Number Boundary Layer at Flight Conditions

The interaction of stationary streaks undergoing nonmodal growth with modally unstable instability waves in a hypersonic boundary-layer flow is studied using numerical computations. The geometry and flow conditions are selected to match a relevant trajectory location from the ascent phase of the HIFiRE-1 flight experiment; namely, a 7 degree half-angle, circular cone with 2.5 mm nose radius, freestream Mach number equal to 5.30, unit Reynolds number equal to 13.42 m -1 , and wall-to-adiabatic temperature ratio of approximately 0.35 over most of the vehicle. This paper investigates the nonlinear evolution of initially linear optimal disturbances that evolve into finite-amplitude streaks, followed by an analysis of the modal instability characteristics of the perturbed, streaky boundary-layer flow. The investigation is performed with stationary direct numerical simulations (DNS) and plane-marching parabolized stability equations (PSE), in conjunction with partial-differential-equation-based planar eigenvalue analysis. The overall effect of streaks is to reduce the peak amplification factors of instability waves, indicating a possible downstream shift in the onset of laminar-turbulent transition. The present study confirms previous findings that the mean flow distortion of the nonlinear streak perturbation reduces the amplification rates of the Mack-mode instability. More importantly, however, the present results demonstrate that the spanwise varying component of the streak can produce a larger effect on the Mack-mode amplification. The study with selected azimuthal wavenumbers for the stationary streaks reveals that a wavenumber of approximately 1.4 times larger than the optimal wavenumber is more effective in stabilizing the planar Mack-mode instabilities. In the absence of unstable first-mode waves for the present cold-wall condition, transition onset is expected to be delayed until the peak streak amplitude increases to nearly 35 percent of the freestream velocity, when intrinsic instabilities of the boundary-layer streaks begin to dominate the transition process. For streak amplitudes below that limit a significant net stabilization is achieved, yielding a potential transition delay that can exceed 100 percent of the length of the laminar region in the uncontrolled case.

Boundary layer stability↗

Reference Command Optimization for the Transition Flight Mode of a Lift plus Cruise Vehicle

Advanced air mobility mainly utilizes vehicles that are capable of vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) for the simplicity of operation and large-scale deployment. However, VTOL vehicles need specialized trajectory and command design for the transition phase, where the vehicles transition between rotor-borne flight and wing-borne flight. Since VTOL vehicles are commonly designed as over-actuated systems for redundancy, one challenge that arises is actuator ambiguity, where it is unclear how to uniquely command actuators for the VTOL vehicle to track a given trajectory. We propose a method to design optimal reference commands for the transition mode. By formulating an 𝑙 1 -norm cost function on the rotor thrusts of the vehicle, we can achieve economical operation of the rotors such that they only operate when necessary and efficiently utilize the aerodynamics to save energy from reduced rotor actuation. We validate our approach in simulations and show its benefit compared to the commonly used differential flatness-based method.

John L Bullock↗

Retinally stabilized differential resolution television display

A remote television viewing system employing an eye tracker is disclosed, wherein a small region of the image appears in high resolution, and the remainder of the image appears in low resolution. The eye tracker monitors the position of the viewer's line of sight. The eye tracker position data is transmitted to the remote television camera and control. Both the remote camera and television display are adapted to have selectable high-resolution and low resolution raster scan modes. The position data from the eye tracker is used to determine the point at which the high-resolution scan is to commence. The video data defining the observed image is encoded in a novel format, wherein in each data field, the data representing the position of the high resolution region of predetermined size appears first, followed by the high resolution zone video data and then the low-resolution region data. As the viewer's line of sight relative to the displayed image changes, the position of the high resolution region changes to track the viewer's line of sight.

Ruoff, C. F., Jr.↗

Bosonic Pair Production and Squeezing for Optical Phase Measurements in Long-Lived Dipoles Coupled to a Cavity

Here, we propose to simulate bosonic pair creation using large arrays of long-lived dipoles with multilevel internal structure coupled to an undriven optical cavity. Entanglement between the atoms, generated by the exchange of virtual photons through a common cavity mode, grows exponentially fast and is described by two-mode squeezing of effective bosonic quadratures. The mapping between an effective bosonic model and the natural spin description of the dipoles allows us to realize the analog of optical homodyne measurements via straightforward global rotations and population measurements of the electronic states, and we propose to exploit this for quantum-enhanced sensing of an optical phase (common and differential between two ensembles). We discuss a specific implementation based on Sr atoms and show that our sensing protocol is robust to sources of decoherence intrinsic to cavity platforms. Our proposal can open unique opportunities for next-generation optical atomic clocks.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Dipole Strength Distribution of 8 He and Decay Characteristics

The weak binding and spatially extended neutron densities characteristic of drip-line nuclei give rise to a distinctive low-energy dipole response. The drip-line nucleus 8 He is the most neutron-rich bound nucleus with a mass-to-charge ratio of 𝐴/𝑍 = 4. We measure the dipole response of 8 He, including for the first time the four-neutron decay channel. A total dipole strength of ∑𝐵⁡(𝐸⁢1)(𝐸*< 15 MeV) = 0.95⁢(16)⁢𝑒 2 fm 2 and a dipole polarizability of 𝛼 𝐷 = 0.61⁢(1) fm 3 are extracted from the differential Coulomb-excitation cross section and compared to state-of-the-art theoretical calculations employing coupled cluster and three-body approaches. We find that the dipole continuum is dominated, even at high excitation energies well above the 4⁢𝑛 decay threshold, by two-neutron emission, pointing to a 6 He + 2⁢𝑛 structure of the excited dipole mode. No indication was found for a 4⁢𝑛 final-state correlation, while pronounced 𝑛⁢𝑛 and 6 He−𝑛 final-state correlations are apparent.

Lehr, C. [Technical University of Darmstadt (Germa↗

An Evolutionary System of Mineralogy. Part III: Primary Chondrule Mineralogy (4566 to 4561 Ma)

Information-rich attributes of minerals reveal their physical, chemical, and biological modes of origin in the context of planetary evolution, and thus they provide the basis for an evolutionary system of mineralogy. Part III of this system considers the formation of 43 different primary crystalline and amorphous phases in chondrules, which are diverse igneous droplets that formed in environments with high dust/gas ratios during an interval of planetesimal accretion and differentiation between 4566 and 4561 Ma. Chondrule mineralogy is complex, with several generations of initial droplet formation via various proposed heating mechanisms, followed in many instances by multiple episodes of reheating and partial melting. Primary chondrule mineralogy thus reflects a dynamic stage of mineral evolution, when the diversity and distribution of natural condensed solids expanded significantly.

Classification↗

The Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment MECA Abrasion Tool

The Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) experiment, an instrument suite to be flown on Mars Surveyor 2001, will include a tool for doing simple mineralogical scratch and streak tests on particles from the Martian regolith. The Abrasion Tool will be applied to particles that adhere to highly polished substrates of various hardnesses. Granular soil components will be subjected to a compressive force of about 3 N using a leaf spring. The spring will be applied with a paraffin actuator capable of a 0.76 mm throw to achieve a maximum displacement of about 7.5 mm at the tip of the tool. The pressure per grain will be dependent on the grain size, the number of grains that adhere to the substrate and the number of grains in compression. The pressure per particle is expected to be on the order of 100 MPa - 1 GPa. The MECA sample wheel containing the substrates will be rotated after the particles are placed in compression to produce scratches or pits. A primary goal of the Abrasion Tool is to identify quartz (Mohs' hardness = 7) using substrates of varying hardnesses. Quartz is considered hazardous to future human explorers of Mars because it can cause silicosis of the lungs if it is of respirable size. It is also hazardous to machinery, structures, and space suits because of its ability to abrade and scratch surfaces. Since large quantities of minerals harder than quartz are not expected, any scratches produced on polished quartz substrates might be reasonably attributed to quartz particles, although there may be minerals such as impact metamorphic diamond in the soils. Careful calibration of the tool will be necessary to ensure that grains are not overloaded; for example, a steel ball pressed into glass will produce a Hertzian fracture, even though it is softer than glass. Other minerals, such as magnetite (Mohs'hardness = 6.5) have been shown to scratch glass ceramics such as Zerodur (Mohs' hardness = 6.5). Thus, minerals can be differentiated: note that regardless of the mineral species, if any particle is harder than 6.5 it will certainly be an interesting discovery for both planetary geology and human exploration concerns. The scratches will be identified using the 6X optical microscope and profiled with the atomic force microscope included in the MECA instrument suite. Analysis of the scratch morphology will yield evidence concerning the shape of the particle responsible for producing each scratch. For example, angular grains should leave vertical cracks with microconchoidal lateral chipping, while rounded grains might leave chattermarks, or nested partial Hertzian cracks. Particle shape can thus be inferred from these indentation modes, as well as material hardness. In addition, particle size information may also be available if pits caused by rolling particles can be identified. Converse to scratching, the minerals may be crushed at their contact points, and be smeared onto the target substrates to leave what geologists refer to as "streaks". These are coldwelded trails of mineral material that have structure and color indicative of mineral composition. The AFM will determine the morphology of these streaks, while the microscope will ascertain the color. On the harder substrates, we might expect streaking to dominate; on the softer substrates, scratching may dominate. Progressions of material interactions across the substrate selection will be a valuable source of data for mineral discrimination. It should also be noted that many minerals have coatings (such as iron oxides), and these will have to be differentiated from the host mineral grains; laboratory tests will establish the effects of such coatings on the scratch results. Finally, we note that the microscope will provide corroborative data regarding likely mineral species by grain shapes, fracture patterns, surface textures, colr, and UV fluorescence reactions.

Kuhlman, K. R.↗

Diverse PFAS produce unique transcriptomic changes linked to developmental toxicity in zebrafish

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a widespread and persistent class of contaminants posing significant environmental and human health concerns. Comprehensive understanding of the modes of action underlying toxicity among structurally diverse PFAS is mostly lacking. To address this need, we recently reported on our application of developing zebrafish to evaluate a large library of PFAS for developmental toxicity. In the present study, we prioritized 15 bioactive PFAS that induced significant morphological effects and performed RNA-sequencing to characterize early transcriptional responses at a single timepoint (48 h post fertilization) after early developmental exposures (8 h post fertilization). Internal concentrations of 5 of the 15 PFAS were measured from pooled whole fish samples across multiple timepoints between 24–120 h post fertilization, and additional temporal transcriptomics at several timepoints (48–96 h post fertilization) were conducted for Nafion byproduct 2. A broad range of differentially expressed gene counts were identified across the PFAS exposures. Most PFAS that elicited robust transcriptomic changes affected biological processes of the brain and nervous system development. While PFAS disrupted unique processes, we also found that similarities in some functional head groups of PFAS were associated with the disruption in expression of similar gene sets. Body burdens after early developmental exposures to select sulfonic acid PFAS, including Nafion byproduct 2, increased from the 24–96 h post fertilization sampling timepoints and were greater than those of sulfonamide PFAS of similar chain lengths. In parallel, the Nafion byproduct 2-induced transcriptional responses increased between 48 and 96 h post fertilization. PFAS characteristics based on toxicity, transcriptomic effects, and modes of action will contribute to further prioritization of PFAS structures for testing and informed hazard assessment.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Analog current mode analog/digital converter

An improved subranging or comparator circuit is provided for an analog-to-digital converter. As a subranging circuit, the circuit produces a residual signal representing the difference between an analog input signal and an analog of a digital representation. This is achieved by subdividing the digital representation into two or more parts and subtracting from the analog input signal analogs of each of the individual digital portions. In another aspect of the present invention, the subranging circuit comprises two sets of differential input pairs in which the transconductance of one differential input pair is scaled relative to the transconductance of the other differential input pair. As a consequence, the same resistor string may be used for two different digital-to-analog converters of the subranging circuit.

Hadidi, Khayrollah↗

Debris Disk Results from the Gemini Planet Imager Exoplanet Survey's Polarimetric Imaging Campaign

We report the results of a ∼4 yr direct imaging survey of 104 stars to resolve and characterize circumstellar debris disks in scattered light as part of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) Exoplanet Survey. We targeted nearby (≲150 pc), young (≲500 Myr) stars with high infrared (IR) excesses (L {sub IR}/L {sub ⋆} > 10{sup −5}), including 38 with previously resolved disks. Observations were made using the GPI high-contrast integral field spectrograph in H-band (1.6 μm) coronagraphic polarimetry mode to measure both polarized and total intensities. We resolved 26 debris disks and 3 protoplanetary/transitional disks. Seven debris disks were resolved in scattered light for the first time, including newly presented HD 117214 and HD 156623, and we quantified basic morphologies of five of them using radiative transfer models. All of our detected debris disks except HD 156623 have dust-poor inner holes, and their scattered-light radii are generally larger than corresponding radii measured from resolved thermal emission and those inferred from spectral energy distributions. To assess sensitivity, we report contrasts and consider causes of nondetections. Detections were strongly correlated with high IR excess and high inclination, although polarimetry outperformed total intensity angular differential imaging for detecting low-inclination disks (≲70°). Based on postsurvey statistics, we improved upon our presurvey target prioritization metric predicting polarimetric disk detectability. We also examined scattered-light disks in the contexts of gas, far-IR, and millimeter detections. Comparing H-band and ALMA fluxes for two disks revealed tentative evidence for differing grain properties. Finally, we found no preference for debris disks to be detected in scattered light if wide-separation substellar companions were present.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A theory of post-stall transients in multistage axial compression systems

A theory is presented for post stall transients in multistage axial compressors. The theory leads to a set of coupled first-order ordinary differential equations capable of describing the growth and possible decay of a rotating-stall cell during a compressor mass-flow transient. These changing flow features are shown to have a significant effect on the instantaneous compressor pumping characteristic during unsteady operation, and henace on the overall system behavior. It is also found from the theory that the ultimate mode of system response, stable rotating stall or surge, depends not only on the B parameter but also on other parameters, such as the compressor length-to-diameter ratio. Small values of this latter quantity tend to favor the occurrence of surge, as do large values of B. A limited parametric study is carried out to show the impact of the different system features on transient behavior. Based on analytical and numerical results, several specific topics are suggested for future research on post-stall transients.

Moore, F. K.↗

The Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) Abrasion Tool

The Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) experiment, an instrument suite to be flown on Mars Surveyor 2001, will include a tool for doing simple mineralogical scratch and streak tests on particles from the Martian regolith. The Abrasion Tool will be applied to particles that adhere themselves to highly polished substrates of various hardnesses. Granular soil components will be subjected to a compressive force of about 3 N using a leaf spring. The spring will be applied with a paraffin actuator capable of a 0.76 mm throw to achieve a maximum displacement of about 7.5 mm at the tip of the tool. The pressure per grain will be dependent on the grain size, the number of grains that adhere to the substrate and the number of grains in compression. The pressure per particle is expected to be on the order of 100 MPa - 1 GPa. The MECA sample wheel containing the substrates will be rotated after the particles are placed in compression to produce scratches or pits. A primary goal of the Abrasion Tool is to identify quartz (Mohs' hardness = 7) using substrates of varying hardnesses. Quartz is considered hazardous to future human explorers of Mars because it can cause silicosis of the lungs if it is of respirable size. It is also hazardous to machinery, structures, and space suits because of its ability to abrade and scratch surfaces. Since large quantities of minerals harder than quartz are not expected, any scratches produced on polished quartz substrates might be reasonably attributed to quartz particles, although there may be minerals such as impact metamorphic diamond in the soils. Careful calibration of the tool will be necessary to ensure that grains are not overloaded; for example, a steel ball pressed into glass will produce a Hertzian fracture, even though it is softer than glass. Other minerals, such as magnetite (Mohs' hardness = 6.5) have been shown to scratch glass ceramics such as Zerodur (Mohs' hardness = 6.5). Thus, minerals can be differentiated: note that regardless of the mineral species, if any particle is harder than 6.5 it will certainly be an interesting discovery for both planetary geology and human exploration concerns. The scratches will be identified using the 6X optical microscope and profiled with the atomic force microscope included in the MECA instrument suite. Analysis of the scratch morphology will yield evidence concerning the shape of the particle responsible for producing each scratch. For example, angular grains should leave vertical cracks with microconchoidal lateral chipping, while rounded grains might leave chatter marks, or nested partial Hertzian cracks. Particle shape can thus be inferred from these indentation modes, as well as material hardness. In addition, particle size information may also be available if pits caused by rolling particles can be identified. Converse to scratching, the minerals may be crushed at their contact points, and be smeared onto the target substrates to leave what geologists refer to as "streaks". These are cold-welded trails of mineral material that have structure and color indicative of mineral composition. The AFM will determine the morphology of these streaks, while the microscope will ascertain the color. On the harder substrates, we might expect streaking to dominate; on the softer substrates, scratching may dominate. Progressions of material interactions across the substrate selection will be a valuable source of data for mineral discrimination. It should also be noted that many minerals have coatings (such as iron oxides), and these will have to be differentiated from the host mineral grains; laboratory tests will establish the effects of such coatings on the scratch results. Finally, we note that the microscope will provide corroborative data regarding likely mineral species by grain shapes, fracture patterns, surface textures, color, and UV fluorescence reactions. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Kuhlman, K. R.↗