Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Performance analysis”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 721 records · Page 40

High-performance parallel analysis of coupled problems for aircraft propulsion

This research program deals with the application of high-performance computing methods to the numerical simulation of complete jet engines. The program was initiated in 1993 by applying two-dimensional parallel aeroelastic codes to the interior gas flow problem of a by-pass jet engine. The fluid mesh generation, domain decomposition and solution capabilities were successfully tested. Attention was then focused on methodology for the partitioned analysis of the interaction of the gas flow with a flexible structure and with the fluid mesh motion driven by these structural displacements. The latter is treated by an ALE technique that models the fluid mesh motion as that of a fictitious mechanical network laid along the edges of near-field fluid elements. New partitioned analysis procedures to treat this coupled 3-component problem were developed in 1994. These procedures involved delayed corrections and subcycling, and have been successfully tested on several massively parallel computers. For the global steady-state axisymmetric analysis of a complete engine we have decided to use the NASA-sponsored ENG10 program, which uses a regular FV-multiblock-grid discretization in conjunction with circumferential averaging to include effects of blade forces, loss, combustor heat addition, blockage, bleeds and convective mixing. A load-balancing preprocessor for parallel versions of ENG10 has been developed. It is planned to use the steady-state global solution provided by ENG10 as input to a localized three-dimensional FSI analysis for engine regions where aeroelastic effects may be important.

Felippa, C. A.↗

Verification of a Modeling Toolkit for the Design of Building Electrical Distribution Systems

DC electrical distribution systems offer many potential advantages over their AC counterparts. They can facilitate easier integration with distributed energy resources, improve system energy efficiency by eliminating AC/DC converters at end-use devices (e.g., laptop chargers), and reduce installation material, time, and cost. However, DC electrical distribution systems present additional design considerations, largely resulting from potentially greater magnitude and variation in cable losses. Modeling and simulation are rarely used to design such systems. However, the greater dependency of DC system energy efficiency on design choices such as distribution voltages, architecture, and integration of PV and BESS suggests that modeling and simulation may be required. Such system performance analysis is currently not a standard practice, in part due to limited availability and validation of capable software tools. This paper characterizes the accuracy of a Modelica-based Building Electrical Efficiency Analysis Model (BEEAM) toolkit, as a precursor for validating its use to perform system performance analysis and inform design decisions. The study builds upon previous verification research by characterizing complete systems comprised of commercially available equipment, and providing a more detailed analysis of simulation results. Five lighting systems with varying electrical distribution architectures were designed using market-available equipment, installed in a laboratory environment, modeled using BEEAM, and simulated using three Modelica integrated development environments (IDEs). Simulated and measured results were compared to characterize toolkit accuracy. Initial results revealed that simulated performance was mostly within ±5% of measured system-level and device-level performance. While simulation results were not found to be dependent on the IDE, some Modelica compiler interoperability issues were identified. Although the BEEAM toolkit showed promise for the targeted use case, further work is needed to determine whether the demonstrated 5% accuracy is sufficient for making real-world design decisions, and for BEEAM to advance from an interesting research tool to one that can impact real-world building projects.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

ENERGY STAR for Tenants: An Online Energy Estimation Tool for Commercial Office Building Tenants

The commercial building sector consumes over 18% of the total energy in the United States. According to the 2012 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS), office buildings comprise nearly 16 billion square feet of floor space and consume 253 billion kWh of energy annually. Office buildings represent nearly one-fifth of the energy consumed by commercial buildings, more than any other building type. Therefore, monitoring and reducing energy consumption in office buildings has become an increasingly important focus across the United States. The goal of the ENERGY STAR for Tenants program is to recognize office building tenants who demonstrate commitment to energy efficiency and environmental stewardship. Tenants seeking recognition must complete five major steps: estimate energy use, meter energy use, use efficient lighting, use efficient equipment, and share data. NREL is responsible for the underlying analysis performed for step one, estimating energy use. An online survey was developed for tenants to input information about their office space and its internal loads. NREL performed a parametric analysis across a large parameter space of office buildings. The analysis results were processed to map the user inputs to output energy ranges. The mappings enable the web tool to provide users with instant energy usage estimates based on a limited number of inputs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Design of impact-resistant boron/aluminum large fan blade

The technical program was comprised of two technical tasks. Task 1 encompassed the preliminary boron/aluminum fan blade design effort. Two preliminary designs were evolved. An initial design consisted of 32 blades per stage and was based on material properties extracted from manufactured blades. A final design of 36 blades per stage was based on rule-of-mixture material properties. In Task 2, the selected preliminary blade design was refined via more sophisticated analytical tools. Detailed finite element stress analysis and aero performance analysis were carried out to determine blade material frequencies and directional stresses.

Salemme, C. T.↗

AGT-102 automotive gas turbine

Development of a gas turbine powertrain with a 30% fuel economy improvement over a comparable S1 reciprocating engine, operation within 0.41 HC, 3.4 CO, and 0.40 NOx grams per mile emissions levels, and ability to use a variety of alternate fuels is summarized. The powertrain concept consists of a single-shaft engine with a ceramic inner shell for containment of hot gasses and support of twin regenerators. It uses a fixed-geometry, lean, premixed, prevaporized combustor, and a ceramic radial turbine rotor supported by an air-lubricated journal bearing. The engine is coupled to the vehicle through a widerange continuously variable transmission, which utilizes gearing and a variable-ratio metal compression belt. A response assist flywheel is used to achieve acceptable levels of engine response. The package offers a 100 lb weight advantage in a Chrysler K Car front-wheel-drive installation. Initial layout studies, preliminary transient thermal analysis, ceramic inner housing structural analysis, and detailed performance analysis were carried out for the basic engine.

Source record↗

A functional language approach in high-speed digital simulation

A functional programming approach for a multi-microprocessor architecture is presented. The language, based on Backus FP, its intermediate form and the translation process are discussed and illustrated with an example. The approach allows performance analysis to be performed at a high level as an aid in program partitioning.

Ercegovac, M. D.↗

Overview of the systems special investigation

The Systems Special Investigation Group (SIG), formed by the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) Project Office to perform post flight analysis of systems hardware, was chartered to investigate the effects of the extended LDEF mission on both satellite and experiment systems and to coordinate and integrate all systems analysis performed in post flight investigations. Almost all of the top level functional testing of the active experiments has been completed, but many components are still under investigation by either the Systems SIG or individual experimenters. Results reported to date have been collected and integrated by the Systems SIG and an overview of the current results and the status of the Systems Investigation are presented in this paper.

Mason, James B.↗

Online Learning Flight Control for Intelligent Flight Control Systems (IFCS)

The research accomplishments for the cooperative agreement 'Online Learning Flight Control for Intelligent Flight Control Systems (IFCS)' include the following: (1) previous IFC program data collection and analysis; (2) IFC program support site (configured IFC systems support network, configured Tornado/VxWorks OS development system, made Configuration and Documentation Management Systems Internet accessible); (3) Airborne Research Test Systems (ARTS) II Hardware (developed hardware requirements specification, developing environmental testing requirements, hardware design, and hardware design development); (4) ARTS II software development laboratory unit (procurement of lab style hardware, configured lab style hardware, and designed interface module equivalent to ARTS II faceplate); (5) program support documentation (developed software development plan, configuration management plan, and software verification and validation plan); (6) LWR algorithm analysis (performed timing and profiling on algorithm); (7) pre-trained neural network analysis; (8) Dynamic Cell Structures (DCS) Neural Network Analysis (performing timing and profiling on algorithm); and (9) conducted technical interchange and quarterly meetings to define IFC research goals.

Niewoehner, Kevin R.↗

DUKSUP: A Computer Program for High Thrust Launch Vehicle Trajectory Design and Optimization

From the late 1960's through 1997, the leadership of NASA's Intermediate and Large class unmanned expendable launch vehicle projects resided at the NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center (LeRC). One of LeRC's primary responsibilities --- trajectory design and performance analysis --- was accomplished by an internally-developed analytic three dimensional computer program called DUKSUP. Because of its Calculus of Variations-based optimization routine, this code was generally more capable of finding optimal solutions than its contemporaries. A derivation of optimal control using the Calculus of Variations is summarized including transversality, intermediate, and final conditions. The two point boundary value problem is explained. A brief summary of the code's operation is provided, including iteration via the Newton-Raphson scheme and integration of variational and motion equations via a 4th order Runge-Kutta scheme. Main subroutines are discussed. The history of the LeRC trajectory design efforts in the early 1960's is explained within the context of supporting the Centaur upper stage program. How the code was constructed based on the operation of the Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle, the limits of the computers of that era, the limits of the computer programming languages, and the missions it supported are discussed. The vehicles DUKSUP supported (Atlas/Centaur, Titan/Centaur, and Shuttle/Centaur) are briefly described. The types of missions, including Earth orbital and interplanetary, are described. The roles of flight constraints and their impact on launch operations are detailed (such as jettisoning hardware on heating, Range Safety, ground station tracking, and elliptical parking orbits). The computer main frames on which the code was hosted are described. The applications of the code are detailed, including independent check of contractor analysis, benchmarking, leading edge analysis, and vehicle performance improvement assessments. Several of DUKSUP's many major impacts on launches are discussed including Intelsat, Voyager, Pioneer Venus, HEAO, Galileo, and Cassini.

high thrust trajectory design↗

DUKSUP: A Computer Program for High Thrust Launch Vehicle Trajectory Design and Optimization

From the late 1960s through 1997, the leadership of NASAs Intermediate and Large class unmanned expendable launch vehicle projects resided at the NASA Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center (LeRC). One of LeRCs primary responsibilities --- trajectory design and performance analysis --- was accomplished by an internally-developed analytic three dimensional computer program called DUKSUP. Because of its Calculus of Variations-based optimization routine, this code was generally more capable of finding optimal solutions than its contemporaries. A derivation of optimal control using the Calculus of Variations is summarized including transversality, intermediate, and final conditions. The two point boundary value problem is explained. A brief summary of the codes operation is provided, including iteration via the Newton-Raphson scheme and integration of variational and motion equations via a 4th order Runge-Kutta scheme. Main subroutines are discussed. The history of the LeRC trajectory design efforts in the early 1960s is explained within the context of supporting the Centaur upper stage program. How the code was constructed based on the operation of the AtlasCentaur launch vehicle, the limits of the computers of that era, the limits of the computer programming languages, and the missions it supported are discussed. The vehicles DUKSUP supported (AtlasCentaur, TitanCentaur, and ShuttleCentaur) are briefly described. The types of missions, including Earth orbital and interplanetary, are described. The roles of flight constraints and their impact on launch operations are detailed (such as jettisoning hardware on heating, Range Safety, ground station tracking, and elliptical parking orbits). The computer main frames on which the code was hosted are described. The applications of the code are detailed, including independent check of contractor analysis, benchmarking, leading edge analysis, and vehicle performance improvement assessments. Several of DUKSUPs many major impacts on launches are discussed including Intelsat, Voyager, Pioneer Venus, HEAO, Galileo, and Cassini.

Launch vehicle performance optimization↗

Aerothermal Performance Constraint Analysis of Sharp Nosecaps and Leading Edges

The main objective of this work is to predict the Aerothermal Performance Constraint (APC) for a class of Crew Transfer Vehicles (CTV) with shap noses and wing leading edges made out of UHTC which is a family of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics materials developed at NASA Ames. The APC is based on the theoretical temperature limit of the material which is usually encountered at the CTV nose or wing leading edge. The APC places a lower limit on the trajectory of the CTV in the altitude velocity space. The APC is used as one of the constraints in developing reentry and abort trajectories for the CTV. The trajectories are then used to generate transient thermal response of the nosecaps and wing leading edges which are represented as either a one piece of UHTC or two piece (UHTC + RCC) with perfect axial contact. The final paper will include more details about the analysis procedure and will also include results for reentry and abort design trajectories.

Rizk, Yehia↗

Kriging-Based Inverse Uncertainty Quantification of BISON Fission Gas Release Model

Nuclear reactor fuel performance analysis studies the thermo-mechanical behavior of fuel rods and verify their compliance with safety criteria under both normal operation and accidental conditions. One of the major concerns in fuel performance analysis is the behavior of the fission gases xenon and krypton in uranium dioxide fuel, which significantly affect the thermo-mechanical performance of the nuclear fuel rods employed in current LWRs. Previously, the modeling of fission gas release (FGR) in nuclear fuel performance codes have been relying on empirical models which are not applicable beyond their range of calibration. Recently a more efficient and flexible physics-based FGR and swelling model that can describe a wider range of reactor operation conditions have been implemented in fuel performance code BISON. In this work, we performed Bayesian calibration to inversely quantify the uncertainties associated with the 5 tuning parameters in BISON FGR model, based on the time-dependent FGR measurement data from Riso-AN3 benchmark. It takes around 1 hour and 40 minutes for BISON to simulate the Riso-AN3 benchmark with a moderate mesh size using 32 processors. As hundreds of thousands of BISON simulations are needed during Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling, running BISON directly is not a viable solution. Therefore we propose to use Kriging-based metamodels to replace BISON during MCMC sampling. Surrogate model is an approximation of the input/output relation of a computer code/model. It is also called metamodel, response surface, emulator. Surrogate models usually take much less computational time than the original model (like BISON) while maintaining the input/output relation of the original model to a desirable accuracy. Constructing the metamodels normally requires small number of executions of the original model. Once validated, metamodels can be used to perform uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, Bayesian calibration, optimization, etc.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Analysis and performance prediction of scramjet inlets utilizing a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code

A series of inlet analysis codes (2-D, axisymmetric, 3-D) were developed which can analyze complicated flow through complex inlet geometries in a reasonably efficient manner. The codes were verified and are being used extensively to analyze practical inlet geometries both at Langley as well as industries. Newly installed VPS 32 computer will allow more complex configurations to be analyzed. Scalar FORTRAN versions are available to increase transportability of the codes for use on other Scalar computers and on the Cray vector processing computer.

Kumar, Ajay↗

Algorithms and programming tools for image processing on the MPP:3

This is the third and final report on the work done for NASA Grant 5-403 on Algorithms and Programming Tools for Image Processing on the MPP:3. All the work done for this grant is summarized in the introduction. Work done since August 1986 is reported in detail. Research for this grant falls under the following headings: (1) fundamental algorithms for the MPP; (2) programming utilities for the MPP; (3) the Parallel Pascal Development System; and (4) performance analysis. In this report, the results of two efforts are reported: region growing, and performance analysis of important characteristic algorithms. In each case, timing results from MPP implementations are included. A paper is included in which parallel algorithms for region growing on the MPP is discussed. These algorithms permit different sized regions to be merged in parallel. Details on the implementation and peformance of several important MPP algorithms are given. These include a number of standard permutations, the FFT, convolution, arbitrary data mappings, image warping, and pyramid operations, all of which have been implemented on the MPP. The permutation and image warping functions have been included in the standard development system library.

Reeves, Anthony P.↗

PetIGA: A framework for high-performance isogeometric analysis

We present PetIGA, a code framework to approximate the solution of partial differential equations using isogeometric analysis. PetIGA can be used to assemble matrices and vectors which come from a Galerkin weak form, discretized with Non-Uniform Rational B-spline basis functions. We base our framework on PETSc, a high-performance library for the scalable solution of partial differential equations, which simplifies the development of large-scale scientific codes, provides a rich environment for prototyping, and separates parallelism from algorithm choice. We describe the implementation of PetIGA, and exemplify its use by solving a model nonlinear problem. To illustrate the robustness and flexibility of PetIGA, we solve some challenging nonlinear partial differential equations that include problems in both solid and fluid mechanics. Lastly, we show strong scaling results on up to 4096 cores, which confirm the suitability of PetIGA for large scale simulations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Analysis and performance of paralleling circuits for modular inverter-converter systems

As part of a modular inverter-converter development program, control techniques were developed to provide load sharing among paralleled inverters or converters. An analysis of the requirements of paralleling circuits and a discussion of the circuits developed and their performance are included in this report. The current sharing was within 5.6 percent of rated-load current for the ac modules and 7.4 percent for the dc modules for an initial output voltage unbalance of 5 volts.

Birchenough, A. G.↗

Off-Road Vehicle Energy-Saving Potential

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Vehicle Technology Office (VTO) has played a critical role in enabling electrification and reducing fuel consumption in the automotive sector. However, the off-road vehicle sector accounts for 8% of transportation fuel, and that share is likely to increase over time as onroad vehicles move towards electrification. DOE can again play a key role in the off-road vehicle market by providing tools that can be used by academia and the industry to evaluate the impact of advanced technologies. The need for a pre-competitive simulation tool was also identified during a 2019 DOE-led workshop at Argonne National Laboratory that included OEMs and suppliers to this market. Autonomie, a powerful and robust system simulation tool for vehicle energy consumption and performance analysis, was developed by Argonne National Laboratory in collaboration with General Motors. Its application covers energy consumption and performance analysis throughout the entire vehicle development process by leveraging its plug-and-play powertrain and vehicle model architecture and development environment

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗