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At least 73 records · Page 4

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NASA NTRS1994

Analysis of coseismic surface displacement gradients using radar interferometry: New insights into the Landers earthquake

The map of the coseismic displacement field generated by interferometric processing of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images taken before and after the June 28, 1992, Landers earthquake sequence brings new insights into the nature of deformation caused by these earthquakes. We use the interferometric map generated by Massonnet et al. (1993) to analyze the surface displacement field in the vicinity of the fault trace. Complexities in the fringe pattern near the fault reflect short-wavelength variations of the surface rupture and slip distribution, and attest to large displacement gradients. Along two sections of the fault, characteristic fringe patterns can be recognized, contrasting in density and direction with patterns observed away from the rupture. In order to understand the observed fringe patterns, we compute synthetic interferograms in three simple cases: (1) rigid-body rotations about a vertical axis, (2) about a horizontal axis (tilt), and (3) distributed, simple shear. The orientation and spatial separation of interferometric fringes predicted by these models help constrain near-field deformation and rupture parameters. Where the Kickapoo fault connects with the Homestead Valley fault, the interferogram shows a clear pattern of parallel N20 deg W fringes separated by about 160 m. This pattern and vertical offsets measured along the Kickapoo fault suggest that the block between this fault and the Johnson Valley fault may have been tilted, down to the west. A 5-km block lifted by 1 m on one side would be tilted by an angle of 0.01 deg (190 microrad), producing fringes separated by about 160 m, parallel to the tilt axis. Such a tilt, parallel to a N20 deg W direction, would account for the gradual, northward increase of the vertical slip component observed along the Kickapoo fault. This tilt may also explain the 1 m of reverse slip observed along the 'slip gap' section of the Homestead Valley break. Between the southern end of the Johnson Valley fault and the Eureka Peak fault, where no surface rupture has been mapped, the dense pattern of fringes implies distributed shear, probably resulting from fault slip at depth. The density and direction of the fringes in the gap are consistent with a right-lateral slip of 1.2-3.8 m on a blind fault locked above the depth of 1.5-2 km. Such observations of small wavelength features in the SAR interferogram bring new insights into the near-field displacement gradient and thus on response of the uppermost crust to seismic rupture.

Peltzer, Gilles↗

NASA NTRS1986

Deployable M-braced truss structure

A deployable M-braced truss structure, efficiently packaged into a compact stowed position and expandable to an operative position at the use site is described. The M-braced configuration effectively separates tension compression and shear in the structure and permits efficient structural design. Both diagonals and longerons telescope from an M-braced base unit and deploy either pneumatically, mechanically by springs or cables, or by powered reciprocating mechanisms. Upon full deployment, the diagonals and longerons lock into place with a simple latch mechanism.

Mikulas, M. M., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Metallic threaded composite fastener

A metallic threaded composite fastener, particularly suited for high temperature applications, has a body member made of high temperature resistant composite material with a ceramic coating. The body member has a head portion configured to be installed in a countersunk hole and a shank portion which is noncircular and tapered. One part of the shank may be noncircular and the other part tapered, or the two types of surface could be combined into a frustum of a noncircular cone. A split collar member made of high strength, high temperature tolerant metal alloy is split into two halves and the interior of the halves are configured to engage the shank. The exterior of the collar has a circumferential groove which receives a lock ring to secure the collar halves to the shank. In the assembled condition torque may be transmitted from the body to the split collar by the engaged noncircular portions to install and remove the fastener assembly into or from a threaded aperture and shear loads in the collar threads are transferred to the shank tapered portion as a combination of radial compression and axial tension loads. Thus, tension loads may be applied to the fastener shank without damaging the ceramic coating.

Dunn, Thomas J.↗

DOE OSTI2019

Recent progress towards a physics-based understanding of the H-mode transition

Results from recent experiment and numerical simulation point towards a picture of the L-H transition in which edge shear flows interacting with edge turbulence create the conditions needed to produce a non-zero turbulent Reynolds stress at and just inside the LCFS during L-mode discharges. This stress acts to reinforce the shear flow at this location and the flow drive gets stronger as heating is increased. The L-H transition ensues when the rate of work done by this stress is strong enough to drive the shear flow to large values, which then grows at the expense of the turbulence intensity. The drop in turbulence intensity momentarily reduces the heat flux across the magnetic flux surface, which then allows the edge plasma pressure gradient to build. A sufficiently strong ion pressure gradient then locks in the H-mode state. These results are in general agreement with previously published reduced 0D and 1D predator prey models. An extended predator–prey model including separate ion and electron heat channels yields a non-monotonic power threshold dependence on plasma density provided that the fraction of heat deposited on the ions increases with plasma density. Possible mechanisms to explain other macroscopic transition threshold criteria are identified. A number of open questions and unexplained observations are identified, and must be addressed and resolved in order to build a physics-based model that can yield predictions of the macroscopic conditions needed for accessing H-mode.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1992

An assumed-stress hybrid 4-node shell element with drilling degrees of freedom

An assumed-stress hybrid/mixed 4-node quadrilateral shell element is introduced that alleviates most of the deficiencies associated with such elements. The formulation of the element is based on the assumed-stress hybrid/mixed method using the Hellinger-Reissner variational principle. The membrane part of the element has 12 degrees of freedom including rotational or 'drilling' degrees of freedom at the nodes. The bending part of the element also has 12 degrees of freedom. The bending part of the element uses the Reissner-Mindlin plate theory which takes into account the transverse shear contributions. The element formulation is derived from an 8-node isoparametric element by expressing the midside displacement degrees of freedom in terms of displacement and rotational degrees of freedom at corner nodes. The element passes the patch test, is nearly insensitive to mesh distortion, does not 'lock', possesses the desirable invariance properties, has no hidden spurious modes, and for the majority of test cases used in this paper produces more accurate results than the other elements employed herein for comparison.

Aminpour, M. A.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Control of Vortex Breakdown in Critical Swirl Regime Using Azimuthal Forcing

We finally go back to the four swirl cases and see how the flow responds to either forcing m = -1 or m = -2. On the left we see the flow forced at m = -1 We see that the PVC locks onto the applied forcing also for lower swirl number causing this high TKE at the jet center. The amplification of this instability causes VB to occur at a lower swirl number. The opposite can be seen when forcing the flow at m=-2 which is basically growing in the outer shear layer causing VB to move downstream . There is no energy at the center of the vortex showing that the precessing has been damped. The mean flow is most altered at the swirl numbers were VB is unstable.

Oberleithner, Kilian↗

DOE OSTI2025

Generalizing multiple memories from a single drive: The hysteron latch

Far-from-equilibrium systems can form memories of previous deformations or driving. In systems from sheared glassy materials to buckling beams to crumpled sheets, this behavior is dominated by return-point memory, in which revisiting a past extremum of driving restores the system to a previous state. Cyclic driving with both positive and negative strains forms multiple nested memories, as in a single-dial combination lock, while asymmetric driving (only positive strain) cannot. We study this case in a general model of hysteresis that considers discrete elements called hysterons. We show how two hysterons with a frustrated interaction can violate return-point memory, realizing multiple memories of asymmetric driving. This reveals a general principle for designing systems that store sequences of cyclic driving, whether symmetric or asymmetric. In disordered systems, asymmetric driving is a sensitive tool for the direct measurement of frustration.

Science & Technology - Other Topics↗

NASA NTRS1994

Modeling of periodic great earthquakes on the San Andreas fault: Effects of nonlinear crustal rheology

We analyze the cycle of great earthquakes along the San Andreas fault with a finite element numerical model of deformation in a crust with a nonlinear viscoelastic rheology. The viscous component of deformation has an effective viscosity that depends exponentially on the inverse absolute temperature and nonlinearity on the shear stress; the elastic deformation is linear. Crustal thickness and temperature are constrained by seismic and heat flow data for California. The models are for anti plane strain in a 25-km-thick crustal layer having a very long, vertical strike-slip fault; the crustal block extends 250 km to either side of the fault. During the earthquake cycle that lasts 160 years, a constant plate velocity v(sub p)/2 = 17.5 mm yr is applied to the base of the crust and to the vertical end of the crustal block 250 km away from the fault. The upper half of the fault is locked during the interseismic period, while its lower half slips at the constant plate velocity. The locked part of the fault is moved abruptly 2.8 m every 160 years to simulate great earthquakes. The results are sensitive to crustal rheology. Models with quartzite-like rheology display profound transient stages in the velocity, displacement, and stress fields. The predicted transient zone extends about 3-4 times the crustal thickness on each side of the fault, significantly wider than the zone of deformation in elastic models. Models with diabase-like rheology behave similarly to elastic models and exhibit no transient stages. The model predictions are compared with geodetic observations of fault-parallel velocities in northern and central California and local rates of shear strain along the San Andreas fault. The observations are best fit by models which are 10-100 times less viscous than a quartzite-like rheology. Since the lower crust in California is composed of intermediate to mafic rocks, the present result suggests that the in situ viscosity of the crustal rock is orders of magnitude less the rock viscosity determined in the laboratory.

Reches, Ze'ev↗

NASA NTRS1998

Inner Core Rotation from Geomagnetic Westward Drift and a Stationary Spherical Vortex in Earth's Core

The idea that geomagnetic westward drift indicates convective leveling of the planetary momentum gradient within Earth's core is pursued in search of a differentially rotating mean state, upon which various oscillations and secular effects might be superimposed. The desired state conforms to roughly spherical boundary conditions, minimizes dissipative interference with convective cooling in the bulk of the core, yet may aid core cooling by depositing heat in the uppermost core and lower mantle. The variational calculus of stationary dissipation applied to a spherical vortex within the core yields an interesting differential rotation profile, akin to spherical Couette flow bounded by thin Hartmann layers. Four boundary conditions are required. To concentrate shear induced dissipation near the core-mantle boundary, these are taken to be: (i) no-slip at the core-mantle interface; (ii) geomagnetically estimated bulk westward flow at the base of the core-mantle boundary layer; (iii) no-slip at the inner-outer core interface; and, to describe magnetic locking of the inner core to the deep outer core; (iv) hydrodynamically stress-free at the inner-outer core boundary. By boldly assuming the axial core angular momentum anomaly to be zero, the super-rotation of the inner core relative to the mantle is calculated to be at most 1.5 deg./yr.

Voorhies, Coerte V.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Inner Core Rotation from Geomagnetic Westward Drift and a Stationary Spherical Vortex in Earth's Core

The idea that geomagnetic westward drift indicates convective leveling of the planetary momentum gradient within Earth's core is pursued in search of a differentially rotating mean state, upon which various oscillations and secular effects might be superimposed. The desired state conforms to roughly spherical boundary conditions, minimizes dissipative interference with convective cooling in the bulk of the core, yet may aide core cooling by depositing heat in the uppermost core and lower mantle. The variational calculus of stationary dissipation applied to a spherical vortex within the core yields an interesting differential rotation profile akin to spherical Couette flow bounded by thin Hartmann layers. Four boundary conditions are required. To concentrate shear induced dissipation near the core-mantle boundary, these are taken to be: (i) no-slip at the core-mantle interface; (ii) geomagnetically estimated bulk westward flow at the base of the core-mantle boundary layer; (iii) no-slip at the inner-outer core interface; and, to describe magnetic locking of the inner core to the deep outer core, (iv) hydrodynamically stress-free at the inner-outer core boundary. By boldly assuming the axial core angular momentum anomaly to be zero, the super-rotation of the inner core is calculated to be at most 1.5 degrees per year.

Voorhies, C. V.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Forced free-shear layer measurements

Detailed three-dimensional three-component phase averaged measurements of the spanwise and streamwise vorticity formation and evolution in acoustically forced plane free-shear flows have been obtained. For the first time, phase-averaged measurements of all three velocity components have been obtained in both a mixing layer and a wake on three-dimensional grids, yielding the spanwise and streamwise vorticity distributions without invoking Taylor's hypothesis. Initially, two-frequency forcing was used to phase-lock the roll-up and first pairing of the spanwise vortical structures in a plane mixing layer. The objective of this study was to measure the near-field vortical structure morphology in a mixing layer with 'natural' laminar initial boundary layers. For the second experiment the second and third subharmonics of the fundamental roll-up frequency were added to the previous two-frequency forcing in order to phase-lock the roll-up and first three pairings of the spanwise rollers in the mixing layer. The objective of this study was to determine the details of spanwise scale changes observed in previous time-averaged measurements and flow visualization of unforced mixing layers. For the final experiment, single-frequency forcing was used to phase-lock the Karman vortex street in a plane wake developing from nominally two-dimensional laminar initial boundary layers. The objective of this study was to compare measurements of the three-dimensional structure in a wake developing from 'natural' initial boundary layers to existing models of wake vortical structure.

Leboeuf, Richard L.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Overview of the recent experimental research on the J-TEXT tokamak

The J-TEXT capability is enhanced compared to two years ago with several upgrades of its diagnostics and the increase of electron cyclotron resonance heating (ECRH) power to 1 MW. With the application of electron cyclotron wave (ECW), the ECW assisted plasma startup is achieved; the tearing mode is suppressed; the toroidal injection of 300 kW ECW drives around 24 kA current; fast electrons are generated with toroidal injected ECW and the runaway current conversion efficiency increases with ECRH power. The mode coupling between 2/1 and 3/1 modes are extensively studied. The coupled 2/1 and 3/1 modes usually lead to major disruption. Their coupling can be either suppressed or avoided by external resonant magnetic perturbation fields and hence avoids the major disruption. It is also found that the 2/1 threshold of external field is significantly reduced by a pre-excited 3/1 mode, which can be either a locked island or an external kink mode. The disruption control is studied by developing prediction methods capable of cross tokamak application and by new mitigation methods, such as the biased electrode or electromagnetic pellet injector. The high-density operation and related disruptions are studied from various aspects. Approaching the density limit, the collapse of the edge shear layer is observed and such collapse can be prevented by applying edge biasing, leading to an increased density limit. The density limit is also observed to increase, if the plasma is operated in the poloidal divertor configuration or the plasma purity is increased by increasing the pre-filled gas pressure or ECRH power during the start-up phase.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1986

Observations on the structure of an edge-tone flowfield

The unsteady flowfield in the region in which a rectangular jet interacts with the leading edge of a 20-deg wedge is investigated experimentally. Edge-tone flowfields at Mach 0.8 in the blowdown facility at Stanford University are recorded by phase-locked Schlieren photography using the apparatus and techniques described by Krothapalli and Horne (1984); detailed surface-pressure and velocity measurements are obtained at Mach 0.23 in the NASA Ames anechoic-chamber facility and presented graphically. It is shown that the jet-edge interaction produces a secondary vortex at the leading edge when an established shear layer or primary vortex is present, and that the primary and secondary vortices then evolve from a counterrotating vortex pair to a large single vortex which migrates along the wedge surface (in agreement with the observations of Rockwell et al., 1986). From a comparison with data on airfoil-trailing-edge flows (Satyanarayana, 1977) it is inferred that an instantaneous zero pressure differential is present at the leading edge of the wedge.

Krothapalli, A.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Gravity waves and convection in Colorado during July 1983

The dynamics of gravity-wave/convective-cell interaction is studied using NOAA data collected in NE Colorado during July and August 1983. The pressure fields measured with microbarographs, the tropospheric wind profiles obtained with a UHF wind profiler radar, and precipitation data collected with a 10-cm weather radar for four events (A, B, C, and D) are analyzed. The four disturbances are detected through a substantial depth of the troposphere. It is observed that in event A the wave and convective cells appear to be locked together; in event B, the wave and convective cells commence about the same time, but the wave velocities differ from the cell velocities; and in events C and D, the waves move faster than the maximum wind in the jet and faster than the convective cells. It is suggested that events A and B are generated by wind shear in the jet stream, and the excitation of events C and D depends on mechanisms such as vertical convective motion and acceleration in the jet flow.

Einaudi, F.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Saturation of fishbone instability through zonal flows driven by energetic particle transport in tokamak plasmas

Gyrokinetic and kinetic-MHD simulations are performed for the fishbone instability in the DIII-D discharge #178631, chosen for validation of first-principles simulations to predict the energetic particle (EP) transport in an ITER prefusion baseline scenario. Fishbone modes are found to generate zonal flows, which dominate the fishbone saturation. The underlying mechanisms of the two-way fishbone-zonal flows nonlinear interplay are discussed in details. Numerical and analytical analyses identify the fishbone-induced EP redistribution as the dominant generation mechanism for zonal flows. The zonal flows modify the nonlinear dynamics of phase space zonal structures, which reduces the amount of EPs able to resonate with the mode, leading to an early fishbone saturation. Simulation results including zonal flows agree quantitatively with DIII-D experimental measurements of the fishbone saturation amplitude and EP transport, supporting this novel saturation mechanism by self- generated zonal flows. Moreover, the wave-particle mode-locking mechanism is shown to determine quantitatively the fishbone frequency down-chirping, as evident in GTC simulation results in agreement with predictions from analytical theory. Finally, thefishbone-induced zonal flows are possibly responsible for the formation of an ion-ITB in the DIII-D discharge. Based on the low EP transport and the large zonal flow shearing rates associated with the fishbone instability in gyrokinetic simulations of the ITER scenario, it is conjectured that high performance scenarios could be designed in ITER burning plasmas through fishbone-induced ITBs.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2020

Acoustic Energy Release During the Laboratory Seismic Cycle: Insights on Laboratory Earthquake Precursors and Prediction

Abstract Machine learning can predict the timing and magnitude of laboratory earthquakes using statistics of acoustic emissions. The evolution of acoustic energy is critical for lab earthquake prediction; however, the connections between acoustic energy and fault zone processes leading to failure are poorly understood. Here, we document in detail the temporal evolution of acoustic energy during the laboratory seismic cycle. We report on friction experiments for a range of shearing velocities, normal stresses, and granular particle sizes. Acoustic emission data are recorded continuously throughout shear using broadband piezo‐ceramic sensors. The coseismic acoustic energy release scales directly with stress drop and is consistent with concepts of frictional contact mechanics and time‐dependent fault healing. Experiments conducted with larger grains (10.5 μm) show that the temporal evolution of acoustic energy scales directly with fault slip rate. In particular, the acoustic energy is low when the fault is locked and increases to a maximum during coseismic failure. Data from traditional slide‐hold‐slide friction tests confirm that acoustic energy release is closely linked to fault slip rate. Furthermore, variations in the true contact area of fault zone particles play a key role in the generation of acoustic energy. Our data show that acoustic radiation is related primarily to breaking/sliding of frictional contact junctions, which suggests that machine learning‐based laboratory earthquake prediction derives from frictional weakening processes that begin very early in the seismic cycle and well before macroscopic failure.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

NASA NTRS1984

Nondestructive evaluation of residual stress in low-carbon steel, introduction

The degree of insensitivity of the temperature dependence method to variations in preferred orientations in A508 low carbon steel specimens was determined. A pulsed phase locked loop was used to measure ultrasonic velocity in these specimens in the temperature range of 50 C below and above room temperature. Results are given in tables and indicate that the temperature dependence of ultrasonic longitudinal velocity in four specimens cut at different angles remains unchanged as a function of orientation within + or -2%. The variation of temperature dependence of ultrasonic shear velocity in the A508 steel as a function of applied stresses was also measured. Results show that values at zero stress are equal regardless of whether the polarization direction is parallel or perpendicular to the direction in which the stress is applied.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1979

Non-linear dynamic response of a wind turbine blade

The paper outlines the nonlinear dynamic analysis of an isolated three-degree flap-lag-feather wind turbine blade under a gravity field and with shear flow. Lagrangian equations are used to derive the nonlinear equations of motion of blade for arbitrarily large angular deflections. The limit cycle analysis for forced oscillations and the determination of the principal parametric resonance of the blade due to periodic forces from the gravity field and wind shear are performed using the harmonic balance method. Results are obtained first for a two-degree flap-lag blade, then the effect of the third degree of freedom (feather) is studied. The self-excited flutter solutions are obtained for a uniform wind and with gravity forces neglected. The effects of several parameters on the blade stability are examined, including coning angle, structural damping, Lock number, and feather frequency. The limit cycle flutter solution of a typical configuration shows a substantial nonlinear softening spring behavior.

Chopra, I.↗