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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 NTRS1993

Effective equations and the inverse cascade theory for Kolmogorov flows

We study the two-dimensional Kolmogorov flows in the limit as the forcing frequency goes to infinity. Direct numerical simulation indicates that the low frequency energy spectrum evolves to a universal kappa (exp -4) decay law. We derive effective equations governing the behavior of the large scale flow quantities. We then present numerical evidence that with smooth initial data, the solution to the effective equation develops a kappa (exp -4) type singularity at a finite time. This gives a convenient explanation for the kappa (exp -4) decay law exhibited by the original Kolmogorov flows.

Weinan, E.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Thermal Fault Tolerance Analysis of Carbon Fiber Rope Barrier Systems for Use in the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor ( RSRM) Nozzle Joints

Carbon Fiber Rope (CFR) thermal barrier systems are being considered for use in several RSRM (Reusable Solid Rocket Motor) nozzle joints as a replacement for the current assembly gap close-out process/design. This study provides for development and test verification of analysis methods used for flow-thermal modeling of a CFR thermal barrier subject to fault conditions such as rope combustion gas blow-by and CFR splice failure. Global model development is based on a 1-D (one dimensional) transient volume filling approach where the flow conditions are calculated as a function of internal 'pipe' and porous media 'Darcy' flow correlations. Combustion gas flow rates are calculated for the CFR on a per-linear inch basis and solved simultaneously with a detailed thermal-gas dynamic model of a local region of gas blow by (or splice fault). Effects of gas compressibility, friction and heat transfer are accounted for the model. Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) solutions of the fault regions are used to characterize the local flow field, quantify the amount of free jet spreading and assist in the determination of impingement film coefficients on the nozzle housings. Gas to wall heat transfer is simulated by a large thermal finite element grid of the local structure. The employed numerical technique loosely couples the FE (Finite Element) solution with the gas dynamics solution of the faulted region. All free constants that appear in the governing equations are calibrated by hot fire sub-scale test. The calibrated model is used to make flight predictions using motor aft end environments and timelines. Model results indicate that CFR barrier systems provide a near 'vented joint' style of pressurization. Hypothetical fault conditions considered in this study (blow by, splice defect) are relatively benign in terms of overall heating to nozzle metal housing structures.

Clayton, J. Louie↗
NASA NTRS1992

Fluid-flow of a row of jets in crossflow - A numerical study

A detailed computer-visualized flow field of a row of jets in a confined crossflow is presented. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a finite volume method that incorporates a partial differential equation for incremental pressure to obtain a divergence-free flow field. The turbulence is described by a multiple-time-scale turbulence model. The computational domain includes the upstream region of the circular jet so that the interaction between the jet and the crossflow is simulated accurately. It is shown that the row of jets in the crossflow is characterized by a highly complex flow field that includes a horse-shoe vortex and two helical vortices whose secondary velocity components are co-rotating in space. It is also shown that the horse-shoe vortex is a ring of reversed flows located along the circumference of the jet exit.

Kim, S.-W.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Scaling Methodology for Buckling of Composite Conical Shells in Axial Compression

Conical shells are commonly used as structural components for launch vehicles. The axial compression experienced during launch is one of the sizing load cases, because it can lead to loss of stability. As Because experimentally testing these large full-scale structures is cumbersome and expensive, it is studied how reduced-scale shells can be designed such that their buckling behavior is representative of the full-scale scale shell behavior. An analytical, sequential scaling procedure methodology is developed based on the nondimensional governing equations for composite conical shells with a symmetric, balanced layup and negligible flexural anisotropy. The buckling behavior of the shells of different size is compared using linear and nonlinear finite element analyses, and good comparisons . Accurate results are obtained for the considered shells in terms of buckling load, displacement, and mode. The inclusion of a geometric imperfections affects reduces the prediction accuracy, but it does not to the extent that the methodology is no longer valid cause the methodology to fail.

Buckling↗
NASA NTRS1990

Hypercube-Computer Analysis Of Electromagnetic Scattering

Capabilities of hypercube and parallel processing demonstrated. Report describes use of Mark III Hypercube computer to analyze scattering of electromagnetic waves. Purpose of study to assess utility of parallel computing in such computation-intensive problems as large-scale electromagnetic scattering. Two electromagnetic codes based on different algorithms converted to run on Mark III Hypercube. First code implements finite-difference, time-domain solution of Maxwell's curl equations. Second code is Numerical Electromagnetics Code (NEC-2) which embodies frequency-domain method and developed to analyze electromagnetic responses of antennas and other metallic structures. On Mark III Hypercube with 32 active nodes, largest lattice contains about 2,048,000 unit cells.

Patterson, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Numerical simulation of shock/turbulent boundary layer interaction

Most flows of aerodynamic interest are compressible and turbulent. However, our present knowledge on the structures and mechanisms of turbulence is mostly based on incompressible flows. In the present work, compressibility effects in turbulent, high-speed, boundary layer flows are systematically investigated using the Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) approach. Three-dimensional, time-dependent, fully nonlinear, compressible Navier-Stokes equations were numerically integrated by high-order finite-difference methods; no modeling for turbulence is used during the solution because the available resolution is sufficient to capture the relevant scales. The boundary layer problem deals with fully-turbulent compressible flows over flat geometries. Apart from its practical relevance to technological flows, turbulent compressible boundary layer flow is the simplest experimentally realizable turbulent compressible flow. Still, measuring difficulties prohibit a detailed experimental description of the flow, especially in the near-wall region. DNS studies provide a viable means to probe the physics of compressible turbulence in this region. The focus of this work is to explore the paths of energy transfer through which compressible turbulence is sustained. The structural similarities and differences between the incompressible and compressible turbulence are also investigated. The energy flow patterns or energy cascades are found to be directly related to the evolution of vortical structures which are generated in the near-wall region. Near-wall structures, and mechanisms which are not readily accessible through physical experiments are analyzed and their critical role on the evolution and the behavior of the flow is documented extensively.

Biringen, Sedat↗
NASA NTRS1976

A three-dimensional, time-dependent model of Mobile Bay

A three-dimensional, time-variant mathematical model for momentum and mass transport in estuaries was developed and its solution implemented on a digital computer. The mathematical model is based on state and conservation equations applied to turbulent flow of a two-component, incompressible fluid having a free surface. Thus, bouyancy effects caused by density differences between the fresh and salt water, inertia from thare river and tidal currents, and differences in hydrostatic head are taken into account. The conservation equations, which are partial differential equations, are solved numerically by an explicit, one-step finite difference scheme and the solutions displayed numerically and graphically. To test the validity of the model, a specific estuary for which scaled model and experimental field data are available, Mobile Bay, was simulated. Comparisons of velocity, salinity and water level data show that the model is valid and a viable means of simulating the hydrodynamics and mass transport in non-idealized estuaries.

Pitts, F. H.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Magnetohydrodynamic solitons and radio knots in jets

Weakly nonlinear surface waves are examined in the context of the beam model for jetlike radio sources. By introducing a finite scale length, viz. the beam radius, geometrical dispersion can act to balance nonlinear wave growth and thereby produce solitons, localized wave packets of stable waveform. A method for obtaining a soliton equation from the MHD equations is presented and then applied to radio knots in jets.

Fiedler, R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Computational and experimental study of turbulent flows in 180 degree bends

A theoretical and experimental investigation of turbulent flows inside a 180-deg strongly curved channel is included in the present study. A 10 by 100 centimeter water channel with a 10 centimeter radius turn was employed for the experimental study. Data measured are velocity profiles and distributions of longitudinal turbulence intensity. Numerical investigations are performed by solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and turbulence models using a finite difference flow solver in generalized curvilinear coordinate systems. A widely used two-equation turbulence model and its modified version, which includes the effect of strong curvature on the turbulence length scale through a relation of algebraic Reynolds stress model, are employed to predict the turbulence quantities inside the flow field. Improvements on the predictions are obtained using the present approach.

Chen, Y. S.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Computations of Complex Three-Dimensional Turbulent Free Jets

Three-dimensional, incompressible turbulent jets with rectangular and elliptical cross-sections are simulated with a finite-difference numerical method. The full Navier- Stokes equations are solved at low Reynolds numbers, whereas at high Reynolds numbers filtered forms of the equations are solved along with a sub-grid scale model to approximate the effects of the unresolved scales. A 2-N storage, third-order Runge-Kutta scheme is used for temporary discretization and a fourth-order compact scheme is used for spatial discretization. Although such methods are widely used in the simulation of compressible flows, the lack of an evolution equation for pressure or density presents particular difficulty in incompressible flows. The pressure-velocity coupling must be established indirectly. It is achieved, in this study, through a Poisson equation which is solved by a compact scheme of the same order of accuracy. The numerical formulation is validated and the dispersion and dissipation errors are documented by the solution of a wide range of benchmark problems. Three-dimensional computations are performed for different inlet conditions which model the naturally developing and forced jets. The experimentally observed phenomenon of axis-switching is captured in the numerical simulation, and it is confirmed through flow visualization that this is based on self-induction of the vorticity field. Statistical quantities such as mean velocity, mean pressure, two-point velocity spatial correlations and Reynolds stresses are presented. Detailed budgets of the mean momentum and Reynolds stresses are presented. Detailed budgets of the mean momentum and Reynolds stress equations are presented to aid in the turbulence modeling of complex jets. Simulations of circular jets are used to quantify the effect of the non-uniform curvature of the non-circular jets.

Wilson, Robert V.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A time-accurate finite volume method valid at all flow velocities

A finite volume method to solve the Navier-Stokes equations at all flow velocities (e.g., incompressible, subsonic, transonic, supersonic and hypersonic flows) is presented. The numerical method is based on a finite volume method that incorporates a pressure-staggered mesh and an incremental pressure equation for the conservation of mass. Comparison of three generally accepted time-advancing schemes, i.e., Simplified Marker-and-Cell (SMAC), Pressure-Implicit-Splitting of Operators (PISO), and Iterative-Time-Advancing (ITA) scheme, are made by solving a lid-driven polar cavity flow and self-sustained oscillatory flows over circular and square cylinders. Calculated results show that the ITA is the most stable numerically and yields the most accurate results. The SMAC is the most efficient computationally and is as stable as the ITA. It is shown that the PISO is the most weakly convergent and it exhibits an undesirable strong dependence on the time-step size. The degenerated numerical results obtained using the PISO are attributed to its second corrector step that cause the numerical results to deviate further from a divergence free velocity field. The accurate numerical results obtained using the ITA is attributed to its capability to resolve the nonlinearity of the Navier-Stokes equations. The present numerical method that incorporates the ITA is used to solve an unsteady transitional flow over an oscillating airfoil and a chemically reacting flow of hydrogen in a vitiated supersonic airstream. The turbulence fields in these flow cases are described using multiple-time-scale turbulence equations. For the unsteady transitional over an oscillating airfoil, the fluid flow is described using ensemble-averaged Navier-Stokes equations defined on the Lagrangian-Eulerian coordinates. It is shown that the numerical method successfully predicts the large dynamic stall vortex (DSV) and the trailing edge vortex (TEV) that are periodically generated by the oscillating airfoil. The calculated streaklines are in very good comparison with the experimentally obtained smoke picture. The calculated turbulent viscosity contours show that the transition from laminar to turbulent state and the relaminarization occur widely in space as well as in time. The ensemble-averaged velocity profiles are also in good agreement with the measured data and the good comparison indicates that the numerical method as well as the multipletime-scale turbulence equations successfully predict the unsteady transitional turbulence field. The chemical reactions for the hydrogen in the vitiated supersonic airstream are described using 9 chemical species and 48 reaction-steps. Consider that a fast chemistry can not be used to describe the fine details (such as the instability) of chemically reacting flows while a reduced chemical kinetics can not be used confidently due to the uncertainty contained in the reaction mechanisms. However, the use of a detailed finite rate chemistry may make it difficult to obtain a fully converged solution due to the coupling between the large number of flow, turbulence, and chemical equations. The numerical results obtained in the present study are in good agreement with the measured data. The good comparison is attributed to the numerical method that can yield strongly converged results for the reacting flow and to the use of the multiple-time-scale turbulence equations that can accurately describe the mixing of the fuel and the oxidant.

Kim, S.-W.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Viscous, resistive MHD stability computed by spectral techniques

Expansions in Chebyshev polynomials are used to study the linear stability of one dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) quasi-equilibria, in the presence of finite resistivity and viscosity. The method is modeled on the one used by Orszag in accurate computation of solutions of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. Two Reynolds like numbers involving Alfven speeds, length scales, kinematic viscosity, and magnetic diffusivity govern the stability boundaries, which are determined by the geometric mean of the two Reynolds like numbers. Marginal stability curves, growth rates versus Reynolds like numbers, and growth rates versus parallel wave numbers are exhibited. A numerical result which appears general is that instability was found to be associated with inflection points in the current profile, though no general analytical proof has emerged. It is possible that nonlinear subcritical three dimensional instabilities may exist, similar to those in Poiseuille and Couette flow.

Dahlburg, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Use of shape-preserving interpolation methods in surface modeling

In many large-scale scientific computations, it is necessary to use surface models based on information provided at only a finite number of points (rather than determined everywhere via an analytic formula). As an example, an equation of state (EOS) table may provide values of pressure as a function of temperature and density for a particular material. These values, while known quite accurately, are typically known only on a rectangular (but generally quite nonuniform) mesh in (T,d)-space. Thus interpolation methods are necessary to completely determine the EOS surface. The most primitive EOS interpolation scheme is bilinear interpolation. This has the advantages of depending only on local information, so that changes in data remote from a mesh element have no effect on the surface over the element, and of preserving shape information, such as monotonicity. Most scientific calculations, however, require greater smoothness. Standard higher-order interpolation schemes, such as Coons patches or bicubic splines, while providing the requisite smoothness, tend to produce surfaces that are not physically reasonable. This means that the interpolant may have bumps or wiggles that are not supported by the data. The mathematical quantification of ideas such as physically reasonable and visually pleasing is examined.

Ftitsch, F. N.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Computational simulation of turbulent flow in Space Shuttle Main Engine turnaround ducts

Two axisymmetric 180-deg turnaround ducts are used in the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) to connnect the preburners with the main thrust chamber. The prediction of the flow field and heat transfer within the turnaround ducts is important to minimize the pressure drops, size of recirculation and stagnation zones, local overheating, etc. This paper presents the computational approach and selected results for the turbulent flow in the turnaround ducts of the fuel and oxidizer sides of the SSME. The time-averaged, Navier-Stokes equations for the viscous, compressible, turbulent flow are solved in body-fitted-coordinates by using a finite-volume approach. Two turbulence models, viz: the k-epsilon model and a multiple scale turbulence model, are used to examine the sensitivity of calculated flows. Both models produce almost identical solutions for the fuelside turnaround duct (which has no recirculation region). However, for the oxidizer-side duct which has a large recirculation region, the two models show quite different results.

Przekwas, Andrzej J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Element-by-element and implicit-explicit finite element formulations for computational fluid dynamics

Preconditioner algorithms to reduce the computational effort in FEM analyses of large-scale fluid-dynamics problems are presented. A general model problem is constructed on the basis of the convection-diffusion equation and the two-dimensional vorticity/stream-function formulation of the Navier-Stokes equations; this problem is then analyzed using element-by-element, implicit-explicit, and adaptive implicit-explicit approximation schemes. Numerical results for the two-dimensional advection and rigid-body rotation of a cosine hill, flow past a circular cylinder, and driven cavity flow are presented in extensive graphs and shown to be in good agreement with those obtained using implicit methods.

Tezduyar, T. E.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Middle atmosphere project. A semi-spectral numerical model for the large-scale stratospheric circulation

The complete model is a semispectral model in which the longitudinal dependence is represented by expansion in zonal harmonics while the latitude and height dependencies are represented by a finite difference grid. The model is based on the primitive equations in the log pressure coordinate system. The lower boundary of the model domain is set at the 100 mb level (i.e., near the tropopause) and the effects of tropospheric forcing are included in the lower boundary condition. The upper boundary is at approximately 96 km, and the latitudinal extent is either global or hemispheric. The basic differential equations and boundary conditions are outlined. The finite difference equations are described. The initial conditions are discussed and a sample calculation is presented. The FORTRAN code is given in the appendix.

Holton, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Viscous, resistive magnetohydrodynamic stability computed by spectral techniques

Expansions in Chebyshev polynomials are used to study the linear stability of one-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic quasi-equilibria, in the presence of finite resistivity and viscosity. The method is modeled on the one used by Orszag in accurate computation of solutions of the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. Two Reynolds-like numbers involving Alfven speeds, length scales, kinematic viscosity, and magnetic diffusivity govern the stability boundaries, which are determined by the geometric mean of the two Reynolds-like numbers. Marginal stability curves, growth rates versus Reynolds-like numbers, and growth rates versus parallel wave numbers are exhibited. A numerical result that appears general is that instability has been found to be associated with inflection points in the current profile, though no general analytical proof has emerged. It is possible that nonlinear subcritical three-dimensional instabilities may exist, similar to those in Poiseuille and Couette flow.

Dahlburg, R. B.↗