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Distortion outputs from structural analysis of a 64-m paraboloidal reflector are analyzed by two computer programs for their radio-frequency performance characteristics. The computed and field measured values are compared.
Digital sampling and processing techniques are used to assess the effect of a uniform and constant strain rate on a slightly heated cylinder-generated wake which had undergone a prestrain development distance of 115 cylinder diameters. The wake is generated by a circular heating element (6.6-mm-diam cylinder) mounted horizontally in the center of a low-speed open return wind tunnel. The strain field is produced by a distortion duct oriented in such a way as to accentuate any periodic interface structure which might be present in the undistorted wake. Interface statistics are presented for both the undistorted (near) wake and the uniformly strained wake, and conditional (point) averages of the streamwise velocity and passive temperature fields of the strained wake. The results suggest that the interface thickness is fairly uniform along the back but decreases along the front with distance from the wake center.
A general analytical theorem developed by van de Hulst (1946) for inverting the convolution integral is reviewed and illustrated both with synthetic data and with experimental data from time-of-flight measurements. If the undesired influence of an instrument used in an experimental measurement can be represented by the convolution integral, the original undistorted or true distribution may sometimes be recovered in postprocessing the data by means of deconvolution. Analytical deconvolution is achieved by using the coefficients from a power series representation of the distorted output distribution and a set of 'solving polynomials' which may be readily derived from the response function of the instrument.
During an extensive program of direct imagery of emission nebulae, arcuate structures have been found around two stars. A well-defined shocklike structure is found about the T Orionis variable LL Ori, located to the side of the Orion Nebula. A less extensive shocklike structure is also found about the runaway star Zeta Oph. These structures can be best described in terms of distorted interstellar bubbles. A direct consequence of this interpretation is an independent estimate of the rates of mass loss for these stars.
The effects of dust in the early universe on the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background are considered, taking into account the effects of a pregalactic generation of stars. It is shown that observed distortions of the background spectrum from that of a black body at 3 K could be due to emission by silicate dust grains at a metal abundance of 0.00001 by mass and with a substantial energy input, which represent the remnants of population III stars. Attempts to fit the microwave background spectrum to the model of Rees (1978) in which the entire cosmic background is accounted for by grain emission are shown to require an implausible value for the metal abundance at early epochs, and not to agree with the millimeter and submillimeter spectrum observed by Woody and Richards (1979).
Spectroscopic data are presented for radio galaxies in the A2255 region. The results indicate that the galaxies associated with distorted radio sources 2.5-5 Mpc projected radius from the cluster center are indeed cluster members. This implies the presence of substantial intergalactic gas 10-20 core radii from the cluster center. Reasonable assumptions concerning the gas distribution result in an estimated minimum mass for the A2255 intracluster gas of 4 x 10 to the 14th solar masses.
The effects of random reflector distortions or irregularities on a reflector's radiation pattern are discussed. The importance of such surface deviations with respect to a radiometric reflector antenna is addressed.
A number of high-resolution images of Jupiter's northern hemisphere were received from the imaging photopolarimeter (IPP) aboard Pioneer 11 in 1974. Erratic scanning of the IPP caused severe distortions in three scientifically important images, which until now have never been satisfactorily restored. New rectification and enhancement techniques, implemented on up-to-date image processing hardware, yielding images of sufficient quality to enable full scientific exploitation of the photometric data are reported.
A solution to the rapid-distortion theory for small-scale turbulence in flow round an axisymmetric obstacle is derived. General formulae for velocity covariances and Eulerian time scales are obtained and are evaluated for the particular case of flow round a sphere. The large-scale limit for this flow is also discussed.
An analytical investigation is presented of the cumulative impact of numerous hardware-induced distortions on BPSK bit-error-rate performance. Attention is given to 16 user and eight transponder constraints, as well as to the effect of filter bandlimiting. Uncoded and coded performance is evaluated with respect to both NRZ and Manchester signaling formats, and tight upper bounds to coded and uncoded SNR degradation are determined. Computed results based on TDRSS (Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System) specifications are presented as an example.
A program for calculating the radiation patterns of analytic reflector antennas, using geometric optics and aperture plane integration techniques, was modified and extended to include nonanalytic surfaces. The original program, while capable of predicting patterns for a variety of reflectors, both smooth and multipanelled, was subject to the restriction that the surface had to be expressed analytically, i.e., described by a set of mathematical equations. This restriction was removed by adapting a technique which allows the reflector configuration to be interpolated from a finite set of points measured on the surface. Criteria for choosing both the number and distribution of these measured surface points were developed by comparing the predicted antenna radiation patterns with measured laboratory results. Test cases involved relatively smooth as well as grossly distorted arbitrary surfaces. Finally, surface point accuracies were established by applying random error analysis to the measurement process.
A 51-cm-diameter turbofan with a tilt-nacelle VTOL inlet was tested in the Lewis Research Center's 9- by 15-Ft Low Speed Wind Tunnel at velocities up to 72 m/s and angles of attack up to 120 deg. Fan-blade vibratory stress levels were investigated over a full aircraft operating range. These stresses were due to inlet air flow distortion resulting from (1) internal flow separation in the inlet, and (2) ingestion of the exterior nacelle wake. Stress levels are presented, along with an estimated safe operating envelope, based on infinite blade fatigue life.
A procedure is described for evaluating and subtracting the contribution of the rigid body motion from the general displacement of a Large Space Structure. The shape distortions are thus exhibited and their root mean square calculated. It is well known that a rigid body motion is composed of a rotation and a translation. To evaluate the rotation matrix M, use is made of the fact that unitary matrices can be expressed as M = (I-B)/(I+B) where B is computed using the coordinates, before and after the displacement, of three rigidly attached points. The translation vector is then deduced from the same coordinates.
Consideration is given to both velocity and temperature circumferential inlet distortions at upstream infinity (Seidel et al., 1980). The blade rows here are modeled as semiactuator disks, and losses and quasi-steady deviation angle correlations are included in the analysis. The governing equations are linearized, and the perturbations in stagnation pressure and stagnation temperature at upstream infinity are represented as Fourier series. The flow in the rotor is modeled as inviscid, one-dimensional, unsteady, and compressible. the flow is steady elsewhere. The deviation angles for the rotor and stator are taken to be functions of the relative inlet angle and Mach number, and use is made of the correlations contained in Johnson and Bullock (1965). It is assumed that the losses in relative stagnation pressure in the rotor and stator occur across the trailing edge. Boundary conditions applied at the various stations furnish the equations that make it possible to solve for the several quantities introduced in the linearization of the governing equations.
Some of the methods used for acquisition and digitization of high-frequency transients in the analysis of pyrotechnic events, such as explosive bolts for spacecraft separation, are discussed with respect to the reduction of errors in the computed shock response spectrum. Equations are given for maximum error as a function of the sampling rate, phase distortion, and slew rate, and the effects of the characteristics of the filter used are analyzed. A filter is noted to exhibit good passband amplitude, phase response, and response to a step function is a compromise between the flat passband of the elliptic filter and the phase response of the Bessel filter; it is suggested that it be used with a sampling rate of 10f (5 percent).
In the strong fluctuation theory for a bounded layer of random discrete scatterers, the second moments of the fields in the second-order distorted Born approximation are obtained for copolarized and cross-polarized fields. The backscattering cross sections per unit area are calculated by including the mutual coherence of the fields due to the coincidental ray paths, and that due to the opposite ray paths, corresponding to the ladder and cross terms in the Feynman diagramatic representation. It is proved that the contributions from ladder and cross terms for the copolarized backscattering cross sections are the same, while the contributions for the cross-polarized backscattering cross sections are of the same order. The bistatic scattering coefficients in the second-order approximation for both the ladder and cross terms are also obtained. The contributions from the cross terms explain the enhancement in the backscattering direction.
During major geomagnetic storms, the interplanetary magnetic field angle, phi, changes often abruptly, either from 135 to 315 or 315 to 135 deg, suggesting that the heliospheric current sheet is pushed upward or downward by disturbed solar wind. The distortion of the heliospheric current sheet by three successive solar flares is simulated to show that such a flapping motion can occur.
Statistical analysis of surface distortions of the 70 meter NASA/JPL antenna, located at Goldstone, was performed. The purpose of this analysis is to verify whether deviations due to gravity loading can be treated as quasi-random variables with normal distribution. Histograms of the RF pathlength error distribution for several antenna elevation positions were generated. The results indicate that the deviations from the ideal antenna surface are not normally distributed. The observed density distribution for all antenna elevation angles is taller and narrower than the normal density, which results in large positive values of kurtosis and a significant amount of skewness. The skewness of the distribution changes from positive to negative as the antenna elevation changes from zenith to horizon.