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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.

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At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

Dynamic Nucleation of Supercooled Melts and Measurement of the Surface Tension and Viscosity

We investigate the phenomenon of acoustic pressure-induced nucleation by using a novel approach involving the large amplitude resonant radial oscillations and collapse of a single bubble intentionally injected into a supercooled liquid. Using a combination of previously developed and proven techniques, the bubble is suspended in a fluid host by an ultrasonic field which supplies both the levitation capability as well as the forcing of the radial oscillations. We observe the effects of an increase in pressure (due to bubble collapse) in a region no larger than 100 microns within the supercooled melt to rigorously probe the hypothesis of pressure-induced nucleation of the solid phase. The use of single bubbles operating in narrow temporal and spatial scales will allow the direct and unambiguous correlation between the origin and location of the generation of the disturbance and the location and timing of the nucleation event. In a companion research effort, we are developing novel techniques for the non-contact measurements of the surface tension and viscosity of highly viscous supercooled liquids. Currently used non-invasive methods of surface tension measurement for the case of undercooled liquids generally rely of the quantitative determination of the resonance frequencies of drop shape oscillations, of the dynamics of surface capillary waves, or of the velocity of streaming flows. These methods become quickly ineffective when the liquid viscosity rises to a significant value. An alternate and accurate method which would be applicable to liquids of significant viscosity is therefore needed. We plan to develop such a capability by measuring the equilibrium shape of levitated undercooled melt droplets as they undergo solid-body rotation. The experimental measurement of the characteristic point of transition (bifurcation point) between axisymmetric and two-lobed shapes will be used to calculate the surface tension of the liquid. Such an approach has already been validated through the experimental verification of numerical modeling results. The experimental approach involves levitation, melting, and solidification of undercooled droplets using a hybrid ultrasonic-electrostatic technique in both a gaseous as well as a vacuum environment. A shape relaxation method will be investigated in order to derive a reliable method to measure the viscosity of undercooled melts. The analysis of the monotonic relaxation to equilibrium shape of a drastically deformed and super-critically damped free drop has been used to derive interfacial tension of immiscible liquid combinations where one of the component has high viscosity. A standard approach uses the initial elongation of a droplet through shear flows, but an equivalent method could involve the initial deformation of a drop levitated in a gas by ultrasonic radiation pressure, electric stresses, or even solid body rotation. The dynamic behavior of the free drop relaxing back to equilibrium shape will be modeled, and its characteristic time dependence should provide a quantitative means to evaluate the liquid viscosity.

Trinh, E. H.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Modal analysis for Liapunov stability of rotating elastic bodies

This study consisted of four parallel efforts: (1) modal analyses of elastic continua for Liapunov stability analysis of flexible spacecraft; (2) development of general purpose simulation equations for arbitrary spacecraft; (3) evaluation of alternative mathematical models for elastic components of spacecraft; and (4) examination of the influence of vehicle flexibility on spacecraft attitude control system performance. A complete record is given of achievements under tasks (1) and (3), in the form of technical appendices, and a summary description of progress under tasks two and four.

Colin, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Aircraft body-axis rotation measurement system

A two gyro four gimbal attitude sensing system having gimbal lock avoidance is provided with continuous azimuth information, rather than roll information, relative to the magnetic cardinal headings while in near vertical attitudes to allow recovery from vertical on a desired heading. The system is comprised of a means for stabilizing an outer roll gimbal that is common to a vertical gyro and a directional gyro with respect to the aircraft platform which is being angularly displaced about an axis substantially parallel to the outer roll gyro axis. A means is also provided for producing a signal indicative of the magnitude of such displacement as an indication of aircraft heading. Additional means are provided to cause stabilization of the outer roll gimbal whenever the pitch angle of the aircraft passes through a threshold prior to entering vertical flight and destabilization of the outer roll gimbal upon passing through the threshold when departing vertical flight.

Cowdin, K. T.↗
NASA NTRS1976

A source mechanism for meteorites controlled by the Yarkovsky effect

Some previous difficulties associated with attributing an asteroid-belt origin to meteorites are briefly reviewed. To overcome these, a two-step mechanism is proposed by which small fragments produced by asteroid collisions are gradually sent into eccentric earth-crossing orbits, while the larger parent bodies themselves remain relatively unaffected. Central to this mechanism is the Yarkovsky effect, which arises from the asymmetric reradiation emitted by an illuminated rotating body. Not only can the Yarkovsky effect be three orders of magnitude greater than the Poynting-Robertson drag, but the Yarkovsky acceleration can also be either positive or negative, depending on the sense of the body's rotation. The second stage of the proposed mechanism becomes important only when either secular acceleration causes the orbital elements of the body to evolve into a secular resonance with Jupiter. The Yarkovsky acceleration is explicitly calculated for both cylindrical and spherical bodies. When the orbital consequences of this acceleration acting alone on small asteroid-belt fragments are determined, the results are found to be reasonably consistent with both the relative and absolute cosmic-ray exposure ages of stony and iron meteorites.

Peterson, C.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Influence of gravitation on the propagation of electromagnetic radiation

The existence of a general helicity-rotation coupling is demonstrated for electromagnetic waves propagating in the field of a slowly rotating body and in the Goedel universe. This coupling leads to differential focusing of circularly polarized radiation by a gravitational field which is detectable for a rapidly rotating collapsed body. The electromagnetic perturbations and their frequency spectrum are given for the Goedel universe. The spectrum of frequencies is bounded from below by the characteristic rotation frequency of the Goedel universe. If the universe were rotating, the differential focusing effect would be extremely small due to the present upper limit on the anisotropy of the microwave background radiation.

Mashhoon, B.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The equilibrium figures of Phobos and other small bodies

Computations of figures of hydrostatic equilibrium for isolated rotating bodies are discussed. It is shown that the theoretical figure of equilibrium for Phobos is a triaxial ellipsoid whose a and b axes differ by about 25% and that this difference is less than 2% for Deimos. A density of less than 3.9 g/cu cm is estimated for Phobos. Equilibrium figures are also examined for the inner satellites of Jupiter and Saturn as well as for small asteroids.

Soter, S.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Modeling and control of flexible space stations (slew maneuvers)

Large orbiting space structures are expected to experience mechanical vibrations arising from several disturbing forces such as those induced by shuttle takeoff or docking and crew movements. The problem is considered of modeling and control of large space structures subject to these and other disturbing forces. The system consists of a (rigid) massive body, which may play the role of experimental modules located at the center of the space station and flexible configurations, consisting of several beams, forming the space structure. A complete dynamic model of the system was developed using Hamilton's principle. This model consists of radial equations describing the translational motion of the central body, rotational equations describing the attitude motions of the body and several beam equations governing the vibration of the flexible members (platform) including appropriate boundary conditions. In summary, the dynamics of the space structure is governed by a complex system of interconnected partial and ordinary differential equations. Using Lyapunov's approach the asymptotic stability of the space structure is investigated. For asymptotic stability of the rest state (nominal trajectory), feedback controls are suggested. In the investigation, stability of the slewing maneuvers is also considered. Several numerical results are presented for illustration of the impact of coupling and the effectiveness of the stabilizing controls. Some insight is provided into the complexity of modeling, analysis and stabilization of actual space structures.

Ahmed, N. U.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Aspects of body self-calibration

The representation of body orientation and configuration is dependent on multiple sources of afferent and efferent information about ongoing and intended patterns of movement and posture. Under normal terrestrial conditions, we feel virtually weightless and we do not perceive the actual forces associated with movement and support of our body. It is during exposure to unusual forces and patterns of sensory feedback during locomotion that computations and mechanisms underlying the ongoing calibration of our body dimensions and movements are revealed. This review discusses the normal mechanisms of our position sense and calibration of our kinaesthetic, visual and auditory sensory systems, and then explores the adaptations that take place to transient Coriolis forces generated during passive body rotation. The latter are very rapid adaptations that allow body movements to become accurate again, even in the absence of visual feedback. Muscle spindle activity interpreted in relation to motor commands and internally modeled reafference is an important component in permitting this adaptation. During voluntary rotary movements of the body, the central nervous system automatically compensates for the Coriolis forces generated by limb movements. This allows accurate control to be maintained without our perceiving the forces generated.

NASA Discipline Neuroscience↗
NASA NTRS1973

Gyromagnetic ratio of a massive body.

It is well known that the gyromagnetic ratio (g factor) of a classical, slowly rotating body whose charge density is proportional to its mass density must be equal to unity. However, if the body is very massive, the spacetime curvature effects of general relativity become important and the result g = 1 is no longer valid. We calculate here the gyromagnetic ratio of a slowly rotating, massive shell with uniform charge density. When the shell is large compared with the Schwarzschild radius we have g = 1, but as the shell becomes more massive the g factor increases. In the limit as the shell approaches its Schwarzschild radius we obtain g approaching 2 (the same value as for an electron).

Cohen, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Notes on rotating turbulence

This work investigates the turbulent constitutive relation when turbulence is subjected to solid body rotation. Laws regarding spectra and asymptotic decay of rotating homogeneous turbulence were confirmed through large-eddy simulation (LES) computations. Rotating turbulent flows exist in many industrial, geophysical, and astrophysical applications. From Lagrangian analysis a relation between turbulent stress and strain in rotating homogeneous turbulence was inferred. This relation was used to derive the spectral energy flux and, ultimately, the energy spectrum form. If the rotation wavenumber k(sub Omega) lies in the inertial subrange, then for wavenumbers less than k(sub Omega) the turbulence motions are affected by rotation and the energy spectrum slope is modified. Energy decay laws inferred in other reports and the present results suggest a modification of the epsilon model equation and eddy viscosity in k-epsilon models.

Zeman, Otto↗
NASA NTRS2000

Sensory processing in the vestibular nuclei during active head movements

Many secondary vestibular neurons are sensitive to head on trunk rotation during reflex-induced and voluntary head movements. During passive whole body rotation the interaction of head on trunk signals related to the vestibulo-collic reflex with vestibular signals increases the rotational gain of many secondary vestibular neurons, including many that project to the spinal cord. In some units, the sensitivity to head on trunk and vestibular input is matched and the resulting interaction produces an output that is related to the trunk velocity in space. In other units the head on trunk inputs are stronger and the resulting interaction produces an output that is larger during the reflex. During voluntary head movements, inputs related to head on trunk movement combine destructively with vestibular signals, and often cancel the sensory reafferent consequences of self-generated movements. Cancellation of sensory vestibular signals was observed in all of the antidromically identified secondary vestibulospinal units, even though many of these units were not significantly affected by reflexive head on trunk movements. The results imply that the inputs to vestibular neurons related to head on trunk rotation during reflexive and voluntary movements arise from different sources. We suggest that the relative strength of reflexive head on trunk input to different vestibular neurons might reflect the different functional roles they have in controlling the posture of the neck and body.

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1979

Large-scale motion in the Venus stratosphere

To examine a postulate that the horizontal momentum exchanges in the Venusian stratosphere are quasi-nondivergent, the properties of two-dimensional turbulence on a slowly rotating sphere in a high-resolution, one-level numerical model are investigated. It is concluded that the forcing which maintains the stratospheric flow is weak and influences the dynamics far less than the inertial effects. Consequently, the behavior resembles that of vorticity-conserving, two-dimensional flows. On a slowly rotating planet like Venus, such flows are dominated by solid-body rotation and by a planetary wave of unit zonal wavenumber - this wave corresponds to the observed Y-shaped UV feature. Although these largest scales of motion stand out, the dynamic balances of the flow are fundamentally nonlinear, in contrast to the quasi-linear Rossby wave regime on rapidly rotating planets.

Rossow, W. B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of unsteady wave processes in a rotating channel

The impact of passage rotation on the gas dynamic wave processes is analyzed through a numerical simulation of ideal shock-tube flow in a closed rotating-channel. Initial conditions are prescribed by assuming homentropic solid-body rotation. Relevant parameters of the problem such as wheel Mach number, hub-to-tip radius ratio, length-to-tip radius ratio, diaphragm temperature ratio, and diaphragm pressure ratio are varied. The results suggest possible criteria for assessing the consequences of passage rotation on the wave processes, and they may therefore be applicable to pressure-exchange wave rotors. It is shown that for a fixed geometry and initial conditions, the contact interface acquires a distorted three-dimensional time-dependent orientation at non-zero wheel Mach numbers. At a fixed wheel Mach number, the level of distortion depends primarily on the density ratio across the interface as well as the hub-to-tip radius ratio. Rarefaction fronts, shocks, and contact interfaces are observed to propagate faster with increasing wheel Mach number.

Larosiliere, L. M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Analysis of unsteady wave processes in a rotating channel

The impact of passage rotation on the gas dynamic wave processes is analyzed through a numerical simulation of ideal shock-tube flow in a closed rotating-channel. Initial conditions are prescribed by assuming homentropic solid-body rotation. Relevant parameters of the problem such as wheel Mach number, hub-to-tip radius ratio, length-to-tip radius ratio, diaphragm temperature ratio, and diaphragm pressure ratio are varied. The results suggest possible criteria for assessing the consequences of passage rotation on the wave processes, and they may therefore be applicable to pressure-exchange wave rotors. It is shown that for a fixed geometry and initial conditions, the contact interface acquires a distorted three-dimensional time-dependent orientation at non-zero wheel Mach numbers. At a fixed wheel Mach number, the level of distortion depends primarily on the density ratio across the interface as well as the hub-to-tip radius ratio. Rarefaction fronts, shocks, and contact interfaces are observed to propagate faster with increasing wheel Mach number.

Larosiliere, Louis M.↗