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At least 703 records · Page 39

Isolators Including Main Spring Linear Guide Systems

Embodiments of isolators, such as three parameter isolators, including a main spring linear guide system are provided. In one embodiment, the isolator includes first and second opposing end portions, a main spring mechanically coupled between the first and second end portions, and a linear guide system extending from the first end portion, across the main spring, and toward the second end portion. The linear guide system expands and contracts in conjunction with deflection of the main spring along the working axis, while restricting displacement and rotation of the main spring along first and second axes orthogonal to the working axis.

Goold, Ryan↗

A Review of the Proposed K (sub Isi) Offset-Secant Method for Size-Independent Linear-Elastic Toughness Evaluation

The proposed size-independent linear-elastic fracture toughness, K (sub Isi), for potential inclusion in ASTM E399 targets a consistent 0.5 millimeters crack extension for all specimen sizes through an offset secant that is a function of the specimen ligament length. The K (sub Isi) method also includes an increase in allowable deformation, and the removal of the P (sub max)/P (sub Q) criterion. A finite element study of the K (sub Isi) test method confirms the viability of the increased deformation limit, but has also revealed a few areas of concern. Findings: 1. The deformation limit, b (sub o) greater than or equal to 1.1 times (K (sub I) divided by delta (sub ys) squared) maintains a K-dominant crack tip field with limited plastic contribution to the fracture energy; 2. The three dimensional effects on compliance and the shape of the force versus CMOD (Crack-Mouth Opening Displacement) trace are significant compared to a plane strain assumption; 3. The non-linearity in the force versus CMOD trace at deformations higher than the current limit of 2.5 times (K (sub I) divided by delta (sub ys) squared) is sufficient to introduce error or even "false calls" regarding crack extension when using a constant offset secant line. This issue is more significant for specimens with W (width) greater than or equal to 2 inches; 4. A non-linear plasticity correction factor in the offset secant may improve the viability of the method at deformations between 2.5 times (K (sub I) divided by delta (sub ys) squared) and 1.1 times (K (sub I) divided by delta (sub ys) squared).

James, Mark↗

A Review of the Proposed KIsi Offset-Secant Method for Size-Insensitive Linear-Elastic Fracture Toughness Evaluation

Recently proposed modifications to ASTM E399 would provide a new size-insensitive approach to analyzing the force-displacement test record. The proposed size-insensitive linear-elastic fracture toughness, KIsi, targets a consistent 0.5mm crack extension for all specimen sizes by using an offset secant that is a function of the specimen ligament length. The KIsi evaluation also removes the Pmax/PQ criterion and increases the allowable specimen deformation. These latter two changes allow more plasticity at the crack tip, prompting the review undertaken in this work to ensure the validity of this new interpretation of the force-displacement curve. This paper provides a brief review of the proposed KIsi methodology and summarizes a finite element study into the effects of increased crack tip plasticity on the method given the allowance for additional specimen deformation. The study has two primary points of investigation: the effect of crack tip plasticity on compliance change in the force-displacement record and the continued validity of linear-elastic fracture mechanics to describe the crack front conditions. The analytical study illustrates that linear-elastic fracture mechanics assumptions remain valid at the increased deformation limit; however, the influence of plasticity on the compliance change in the test record is problematic. A proposed revision to the validity criteria for the KIsi test method is briefly discussed.

James, Mark↗

System and Method for Generating a Frequency Modulated Linear Laser Waveform

A system for generating a frequency modulated linear laser waveform includes a single frequency laser generator to produce a laser output signal. An electro-optical modulator modulates the frequency of the laser output signal to define a linear triangular waveform. An optical circulator passes the linear triangular waveform to a band-pass optical filter to filter out harmonic frequencies created in the waveform during modulation of the laser output signal, to define a pure filtered modulated waveform having a very narrow bandwidth. The optical circulator receives the pure filtered modulated laser waveform and transmits the modulated laser waveform to a target.

Pierrottet, Diego F.↗

A Review of the Proposed KIsi Offset-Secant Method for Size-Insensitive Linear-Elastic Fracture Toughness Evaluation

Recently proposed modifications to ASTM E399 would provide a new size-insensitive approach to analyzing the force-displacement test record. The proposed size-insensitive linear-elastic fracture toughness, KIsi, targets a consistent 0.5mm crack extension for all specimen sizes by using an offset secant that is a function of the specimen ligament length. The KIsi evaluation also removes the Pmax/PQ criterion and increases the allowable specimen deformation. These latter two changes allow more plasticity at the crack tip, prompting the review undertaken in this work to ensure the validity of this new interpretation of the force-displacement curve. This paper provides a brief review of the proposed KIsi methodology and summarizes a finite element study into the effects of increased crack tip plasticity on the method given the allowance for additional specimen deformation. The study has two primary points of investigation: the effect of crack tip plasticity on compliance change in the force-displacement record and the continued validity of linear-elastic fracture mechanics to describe the crack front conditions. The analytical study illustrates that linear-elastic fracture mechanics assumptions remain valid at the increased deformation limit; however, the influence of plasticity on the compliance change in the test record is problematic. A proposed revision to the validity criteria for the KIsi test method is briefly discussed.

James, Mark↗

Progress Towards Integrating the Finite-Volume Cubed-Sphere (FV3) Dynamical Core Tangent Linear and Adjoint Models into JEDI

The Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI) -- led by the Joint Center for Satellite Data Assimilation (JCSDA) -- is an inter-organizational endeavor to develop a common framework for performing data assimilation. This extensive framework will ultimately provide solvers, observation operators, interpolation and model interfaces using object oriented modeling. Two partners involved in JEDI use or plan to use the Finite Volume Cubed-Sphere (FV3) dynamical core to produce weather forecasts; these are NASA's Global Modeling and Assimilation Office and NOAA's National Center for Environment Prediction. In this work we present an update on ongoing efforts to integrate the FV3 tangent linear and adjoint models into the prototype JEDI framework. We setup and run a simple cycled data assimilation experiment using 4DVAR on the cubed sphere grid and with the FV3 tangent linear and adjoint models. Development of the observation operators for JEDI is separately underway. Instead of using real observations a simplified set of simulated observations will be used. We discuss the steps required to bring the FV3 linearized model into the object oriented framework and consider what would be the computational requirements of running this configuration for an operational system. FV3 uses a small time-step to ensure that small scales are well resolved, however this presents design challenges when running 4DVAR with the adjoint. An approach to storing the FV3 model trajectory has been developed that maintains the flexibility of using automatic differentiation. We discuss how this approach is incorporated into the framework. Other important uses of adjoint models include computing observation impacts and singular vectors, we consider how these tools can be included in JEDI.

Holdaway, Daniel↗

Active Flutter Suppression Controllers Derived from Linear and Nonlinear Aerodynamics: Application to a Transport Aircraft Model

Active flutter suppression has been demonstrated in simulation by many researchers, generally using methods based on linear aerodynamics and often with simplistic geometries. In this paper, active flutter suppression is demonstrated in a simulation using a Navier-Stokes aerodynamics code, FUN3D (Fully Unstructured Navier-Stokes Three-Dimensional), and a realistic transport aircraft configuration. This is accomplished using simple observer-feedback controllers derived from linear aeroelastic models, including reduced order models built via FUN3D data. The development of these reduced order models is described here. It is shown that controllers derived from reduced order models of the nonlinear aerodynamics outperform controllers based on linear aerodynamics.

Waite, Josiah M.↗

A Linear Analysis for the Flight Path Control of the Cassini Grand Finale Orbits

Cassini’s Grand Finale Mission begins after the last targeted Titan flyby on April 22, 2017 and ends with a series of 22 ballistic orbits each passing within a few thousand kilometers of the cloud tops of Saturn, ultimately impacting the planet on September 15, 2017. Despite the ballistic nature of the trajectory, the absence of targeted maneuvers throughout the final orbits causes position uncertainties to grow exponentially with time, posing a significant difficulty for the science sequence planning team. Thus, a strategy that incorporates trajectory correction maneuvers was developed to significantly reduce dispersions from the reference path and maintain dispersions below 250 km (1- ). In this paper, the linear method used to determine the optimal number and location of the maneuvers to control the trajectory, along with the corresponding targets, is detailed. A nonlinear Monte Carlo trajectory dispersion tool served as a testbed to validate the linear analysis results. Based on orbit determination covariance sampling with Monte Carlo simulations, the linear approach allowed the Cassini maneuver analysts to run thousands of maneuver combinations in little time, eventually finding an optimal strategy with three statistical maneuvers ( V99 < 1.5 m/s) to adequately control most of the trajectory.

Vaquero, Mar↗

Measuring Electron Temperature Using a Linear Polarizer Versus a Polarization Camera

Polarized K-coronal brightness (pB) of the solar corona can be measured by taking four successive coronal brightness images through a linear polarizer, by turning it through four successive angles in intervals of 45∘ and using a standard formula to measure pB from the total coronal brightness (TB) that contains both the polarized K- and the unpolarized F-coronal brightness. The question is: will the time-dependent, highly dynamic corona illuminate each pixel with the same brightness during the time it takes to take the four successive images? To mitigate this problem we now have the polarization camera, in which, each super-pixel is made up of four sub-pixels, and built in to these four sub-pixels is a polarization mask that contains four linear polarizers orientated at four angles 45∘ apart. This allows the measurement of pB to be made in a single exposure. Here, the question is: will the variations of the coronal brightness in the four adjacent sub-pixels in a super-pixel be sufficiently negligible to assume that they observe the same part of the corona? This article looks for answers to these two questions by conducting two synthetic experiments to measure the electron temperature in the plane of the sky on a spherically asymmetric model (SAM) corona by first using a linear polarizer, and then replacing it with a polarization camera and use statistical analyses to determine how well the measured temperature matched the true temperature for the two cases.

Reginald, Nelson↗

Performance and Portability of a Linear Solver Across Emerging Architectures

A linear solver algorithm used by a large-scale unstructured-grid computational fluid dynamics application is examined for a broad range of familiar and emerging architectures. Efficient implementation of a linear solver is challenging on recent CPUs offering vector architectures. Vector loads and stores are essential to effectively utilize available memory bandwidth on CPUs, and maintaining performance across different CPUs can be difficult in the face of varying vector lengths offered by each. A similar challenge occurs on GPU architectures, where it is essential to have coalesced memory accesses to utilize memory bandwidth effectively. In this work, we demonstrate that restructuring a computation, and possibly data layout, with regard to architecture is essential to achieve optimal performance by establishing a performance benchmark for each target architecture in a low level language such as vector intrinsics or CUDA. In doing so, we demonstrate how a linear solver kernel can be mapped to Intel® Xeon™ and Xeon Phi™, Marvell® ThunderX2®, NEC® SX-Aurora™ TSUBASA Vector Engine, and NVIDIA® and AMD® GPUs. We further demonstrate that the required code restructuring can be achieved in higher level programming environments such as OpenACC, OCCA, and Intel® OneAPI™/SYCL, and that each generally results in optimal performance on the target architecture. Relative performance metrics for all implementations are shown, and subjective ratings for ease of implementation and optimization are suggested.

Programming models↗

Adjoint-based Sensitivities of Flutter Predictions based on the Linearized Frequency-domain Approach

Flutter is a critical factor in designing and certifying aircraft. The linearized frequency-domain method offers a lower cost alternative to time-marching computational fluid dynamics for high-fidelity flutter analysis. In this work, adjoint-based sensitivities are added to a flutter analysis based on the linearized frequency-domain method to efficiently compute derivatives of flutter cost functions with respect to design variables or uncertain parameters. The derivation of the adjoint equations, which involve complications such as derivatives of a nonlinear generalized eigenvalue problem with complex-valued inputs and derivatives of the linearized Navier-Stokes equations, is provided. The implemented adjoint terms and derivatives are verified before demonstrating the approach for derivatives of flutter dynamic pressure with respect to Mach number for the AGARD 445.6 wing.

Aeroelasticity↗

Fast Linearized Coronagraph Optimizer (FALCO) I: A Software Toolbox for Rapid Coronagraphic Design and Wavefront Correction

The Fast Linearized Coronagraph Optimizer (FALCO) is an open-source toolbox of routines for coronagraphic focal plane wavefront correction. The goal of FALCO is to provide a free, modular framework for the simulation or testbed operation of several common types of coronagraphs. FALCO includes routines for pair-wise probing estimation of the complex electric field and Electric Field Conjugation (EFC) control, and we ask the community to contribute other wavefront correction algorithms. FALCO utilizes and builds upon PROPER, an established optical propagation library. The key innovation in FALCO is the rapid computation of the linearized response matrix for each deformable mirror (DM), which facilitates re-linearization after each control step for faster DM-integrated coronagraph design and wavefront correction experiments. FALCO is freely available as source code in MATLAB at github.com/ajeldorado/falco-matlab and will be available later this year in Python 3 at github.com/ajeldorado/falco-python.

Shaklan, Stuart B.↗

PMSM Parameter Estimation using a Linear Unknown Input Interval Observer

In this paper, the problem of permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) speed and unknown load torque estimation is addressed. For this purpose, a interval unknown input observer (UIO) for linear time-invariant (LTI) systems is used. First, the PMSM model is linearized in order to make it in a suitable form for the linear interval UIO. Then, the interval UIO is applied to allow the joint estimation of the motor speed and the unknown load torque disturbance. The main advantages of this approach is that it not only allows the joint state and unknown input estimation, but also to take the different uncertainty sources into account. Indeed, taking model and measurement uncertainty into account is crucial. Assuming that the measurement noise and disturbances are bounded, lower and upper bounds are first computed for the unmeasured state (motor speed) and then for the unknown input (load torque). The proposed approach and its limitations are demonstrated with the nonlinear PMSM model derived from its equivalent electrical circuit.

Elinirina I Robinson↗

Flutter-Constrained Optimization with the Linearized Frequency-Domain Approach

Due to the high computational cost associated with unsteady aeroelastic analysis, state-of-the-art aeroelastic optimizations based on computational fluid dynamics typically ignore critical constraints like flutter and aeroelastic gust response. The linearized frequency-domain method offers an approach for adding high-fidelity flutter constraints to multidisciplinary optimizations at relatively low cost compared to other unsteady computational fluid dynamics methods. In recent work, sensitivities have been implemented for the linearized frequency-domain method in FUN3D. In this work, the linearized frequency-domain method and associated sensitivities are applied to gradient-based aeroelastic optimization with flutter constraints based on computational fluid dynamics. An overview of the flutter constraint formulation and implementation is provided, and then two optimization problems are presented. The first optimization increases the flutter speed of a pitch and plunge airfoil at transonic conditions using the minimal amount of geometric changes. The second optimization minimizes the mass of the AGARD 445.6 wing subject to a flutter constraint.

Aeroelasticity↗

Flutter-Constrained Optimization with the Linearized Frequency-Domain Approach

Due to the high computational cost associated with unsteady aeroelastic analysis, state-of-the-art aeroelastic optimizations based on computational fluid dynamics typically ignore critical constraints like flutter and aeroelastic gust response. The linearized frequency-domain method offers an approach for adding high-fidelity flutter constraints to multidisciplinary optimizations at relatively low cost compared to other unsteady computational fluid dynamics methods. In recent work, sensitivities have been implemented for the linearized frequency-domain method in FUN3D. In this work, the linearized frequency-domain method and associated sensitivities are applied to gradient-based aeroelastic optimization with flutter constraints based on computational fluid dynamics. An overview of the flutter constraint formulation and implementation is provided, and then two optimization problems are presented. The first optimization increases the flutter speed of a pitch and plunge airfoil at transonic conditions using the minimal amount of geometric changes. The second optimization minimizes the mass of the AGARD 445.6 wing subject to a flutter constraint.

Aeroelasticity↗

Estimation of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor Parameters using a Linear Unknown Input Interval Observer

This paper develops and evaluate a technique to estimate the speed and unknown load torque of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). An interval unknown input observer (UIO) for linear time-invariant (LTI) systems is designed and utilized to estimate the PMSM parameters. Interval UIOs are advantageous as they allow for the estimation of both states and unknown inputs, while accounting for varying uncertainty sources, such as model and measurement uncertainties inherent in dynamic systems and processes. First, the nonlinear PMSM model is linearized to transform it to a suitable form for application of the linear interval UIO. Then, the interval UIO is applied to jointly estimate the motor speed and the unknown load torque disturbance. Assuming that the measurement noise and disturbances are bounded, lower and upper bounds are first computed for the unmeasured state (motor speed) and then for the unknown input (load torque). The proposed approach and its limitations are demonstrated for the nonlinear PMSM model derived from its equivalent electrical circuit.

Elinirina I Robinson↗

Linear Array Photodiode and Data Acquisition System Development for Multi-Point Line FLDI Measurements

The continuous development and advancement of multi-point line focused laser differential interferometry (FLDI) instruments requires larger numbers of acquisition channels to make more finely spatially resolved measurements of high-frequency flow fluctuations. No current off-the-shelf system exists for these line FLDI measurements, and so a single unified system consisting of a linear array photodiode, required electronics, and a data acquisition system has been developed to enhance the measurement resolution, both spatially and temporally. A printed circuit board was developed on which the linear array photodiode is mounted for inclusion into an existing FLDI system, and amplifier breakout boards incorporate electronics to condition the signal for the data acquisition system while retaining the necessary high frequency response. The data acquisition system uses a National Instruments chassis and multiple oscilloscope modules, with a specially-designed LabVIEW user interface for laboratory and wind tunnel setup, calibration, and testing. Details regarding the development of the linear array photodiode system and the data acquisition system are provided, and systematic testing of all components is presented, culminating in a test of the system integrated into an existing line FLDI system for measurements of a turbulent jet.

Joshua M Weisberger↗

Linearized Frequency-Domain Gust Analysis and Adjoint-Based Sensitivities

Gust analysis is added to a linearized frequency-domain method in FUN3D, a NASA computational fluid dynamics solver. The method linearizes about a nonlinear static equilibrium condition and is therefore appropriate for problems with small perturbations such as transonic stochastic gust analysis. In addition to the gust analysis, adjoint-based sensitivities of stochastic gust constraints are implemented for multidisciplinary design optimization. The linearized frequency-domain gust model and adjoint-based sensitivities are described and verified. The method is applied to an optimization for mass minimization of the AGARD 445.6 wing subject to a stochastic gust constraint limiting the displacement of the wing tip.

Aeroelasticity↗