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At least 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Consequences of using nonlinear particle trajectories to compute spatial diffusion coefficients

The propagation of charged particles through interstellar and interplanetary space has often been described as a random process in which the particles are scattered by ambient electromagnetic turbulence. In general, this changes both the magnitude and direction of the particles' momentum. Some situations for which scattering in direction (pitch angle) is of primary interest were studied. A perturbed orbit, resonant scattering theory for pitch-angle diffusion in magnetostatic turbulence was slightly generalized and then utilized to compute the diffusion coefficient for spatial propagation parallel to the mean magnetic field, Kappa. All divergences inherent in the quasilinear formalism when the power spectrum of the fluctuation field falls off as K to the minus Q power (Q less than 2) were removed. Various methods of computing Kappa were compared and limits on the validity of the theory discussed. For Q less than 1 or 2, the various methods give roughly comparable values of Kappa, but use of perturbed orbits systematically results in a somewhat smaller Kappa than can be obtained from quasilinear theory.

Goldstein, M. L.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Treatment of the control mechanisms of light airplanes in the flutter clearance process

It has become more and more evident that many difficulties encountered in the course of aircraft flutter analyses can be traced to strong localized nonlinearities in the control mechanisms. To cope with these problems, more reliable mathematical models paying special attention to control system nonlinearities were established by means of modified ground vibration test procedures in combination with suitably adapted modal synthesis approaches. Three different concepts are presented.

Breitbach, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Hybrid Kalman Filter: A New Approach for Aircraft Engine In-Flight Diagnostics

In this paper, a uniquely structured Kalman filter is developed for its application to in-flight diagnostics of aircraft gas turbine engines. The Kalman filter is a hybrid of a nonlinear on-board engine model (OBEM) and piecewise linear models. The utilization of the nonlinear OBEM allows the reference health baseline of the in-flight diagnostic system to be updated to the degraded health condition of the engines through a relatively simple process. Through this health baseline update, the effectiveness of the in-flight diagnostic algorithm can be maintained as the health of the engine degrades over time. Another significant aspect of the hybrid Kalman filter methodology is its capability to take advantage of conventional linear and nonlinear Kalman filter approaches. Based on the hybrid Kalman filter, an in-flight fault detection system is developed, and its diagnostic capability is evaluated in a simulation environment. Through the evaluation, the suitability of the hybrid Kalman filter technique for aircraft engine in-flight diagnostics is demonstrated.

Kobayashi, Takahisa↗
NASA NTRS2001

High-Fidelity Nonlinear Analysis of Compression-Loaded Composite Shells

The results of an experimental and analytical study of the effects of initial imperfections on the buckling and postbuckling response of unstiffened thin-walled compression-loaded graphite-epoxy cylindrical shells are presented. The shells considered in the study have four different shell-wall laminates and two different shell-radius-to-thickness ratios. The shell-wall laminates include two different orthotropic laminates and two different quasi-isotropic laminates. The shell-radius-to-thickness ratios include shell-radius-to-thickness ratios equal to 100 and 200. The results identify the effects of traditional and nontraditional initial imperfections on the nonlinear response characteristics and buckling loads of the shells. The traditional imperfections include the geometric shell-wall mid-surface imperfections that are commonly discussed in the literature on thin shell buckling. The nontraditional imperfections include shell-wall thickness variations, local shell-wall ply-gaps associated with the fabrication process, shell-end geometric imperfections, nonuniform applied end loads, and variations in the boundary conditions including the effects of elastic boundary conditions. A high-fidelity nonlinear shell analysis procedure that accurately accounts for the effects of these traditional and nontraditional imperfections on the nonlinear response characteristics and buckling loads of the shells is described. The analysis procedure includes a nonlinear static analysis that predicts the stable response characteristics of the shells, and a nonlinear transient analysis that predicts the unstable response characteristics. The results of a local shell-wall stress analysis used to estimate failure stresses are also described.

Hilburger, Mark W.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Vertical distribution of vibrational energy of molecular nitrogen in a stable auroral red arc and its effect on ionospheric electron densities

Previous solutions of the problem of the distribution of vibrationally excited molecular nitrogen in the thermosphere have either assumed a Boltzmann distribution and considered diffusion as one of the loss processes or solved for the energy level populations and neglected diffusion. Both of the previous approaches are combined by solving the time dependent continuity equations, including the diffusion process, for the first six energy levels of molecular nitrogen for conditions in the thermosphere corresponding to a stable auroral red arc. The primary source of molecular nitrogen excitation was subexcitation, and inelastic collisions between thermal electrons and molecular nitrogen. The reaction rates for this process were calculated from published cross section calculations. The loss processes for vibrational energy were electron and atomic oxygen quenching and vibrational energy exchange. The coupled sets of nonlinear, partial differential equations were solved numerically by employing finite difference equations.

Newton, G. P.↗
NASA NTRS1979

A statistical model for the initial stellar mass function

The nonlinear stages of the fragmentation of a collapsing molecular cloud are modeled by coagulation theory. Several distinct physical processes are discussed, including protostellar fragment coalescence, gas accretion, and binary formation. This work confirms and extends the earlier result of Nakano (1966) that an approximately self-similar limiting form of the mass spectrum develops after several mean initial collision times. An approximate solution to the velocity-averaged coagulation equation is given for an arbitrary power-law dependence of the coalescence rate on mass, with dimensional dependence proportional to m to the power lambda; i.e., the asymptotic mass spectrum varies as m to the -3 lambda/2 power at small masses and cuts off exponentially at large masses, the characteristic mass depending on the number of collision times elapsed. Simple physical arguments suggest that lambda may increase with increasing mass, but is restricted to the range from 2/3 to 4/3. A large fraction of collisions could result in binary formation.

Silk, J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Three-dimensional inelastic approximate analysis code (MOMM)

The Mechanics of Materials Model (MOMM) is one of a series of new stand-alone three dimensional nonlinear structural analysis codes. Incorporation of a general purpose finite element computer code into the hot section design process was severely limited by the high costs involved. MOMM is a stiffness method finite element code that uses an internally generated network of beams to characterize hot section component behavior. The method was proposed as a fast, easy to use, computationally efficient tool for approximate analyses. MOMM incorporates a wide variety of analysis capabilities, material models, and load type specifiers instrumental for the analysis of hot section components.

Meister, Jeffrey P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Calculations of transonic flows with shocks using Newton's method and direct solver. II - Solution of Euler equations

Transonic flows with shocks are simulated using steady Euler equations and by simultaneously solving the resulting nonlinear algebraic equations using Newton's method. At each iteration, a direct solver computes the corrections and the process is repeated until convergence is achieved. The corrections and errors are reduced quadratically with the present method, allowing solutions of machine accuracy to be obtained in a few steps. Nonunique inviscid solutions and nonunique solutions of the Navier Stokes equations for quasi-one-dimensional flows in nozzles are presented. Calculations are also presented for steady two-dimensional inviscid flows around a cylinder in the transonic regime.

Hafez, M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Supersonic aerodynamic characteristics of a Mach 3 high-speed civil transport configuration

The NASA-Langley AST31 high-speed civil transport (HSCT) configuration, a blended wing/fuselage concept scaled for 250-passenger carriage over 6500 nmi, has been subjected to both CFD and wind tunnel tests; the wind tunnel tests were conducted in the Mach 1.6-3.6 range. The inability of the linear theory method to accurately predict stability levels as well as nonlinear pitching moment characteristics demonstrates the need to undertake high-order analyses as early in the design process as possible. An HSCT laminar flow capability experimental study was conducted in order to simulate 50-percent laminar flow conditions, and thereby ascertain the difference in drag relative to fully turbulent conditions.

Covell, Peter F.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Model reduction in integrated controls-structures design

It is the objective of this paper to present a model reduction technique developed for the integrated controls-structures design of flexible structures. Integrated controls-structures design problems are typically posed as nonlinear mathematical programming problems, where the design variables consist of both structural and control parameters. In the solution process, both structural and control design variables are constantly changing; therefore, the dynamic characteristics of the structure are also changing. This presents a problem in obtaining a reduced-order model for active control design and analysis which will be valid for all design points within the design space. In other words, the frequency and number of the significant modes of the structure (modes that should be included) may vary considerably throughout the design process. This is also true as the locations and/or masses of the sensors and actuators change. Moreover, since the number of design evaluations in the integrated design process could easily run into thousands, any feasible order-reduction method should not require model reduction analysis at every design iteration. In this paper a novel and efficient technique for model reduction in the integrated controls-structures design process, which addresses these issues, is presented.

Maghami, Peiman G.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Modeling the High Speed Research Cycle 2B Longitudinal Aerodynamic Database Using Multivariate Orthogonal Functions

The data for longitudinal non-dimensional, aerodynamic coefficients in the High Speed Research Cycle 2B aerodynamic database were modeled using polynomial expressions identified with an orthogonal function modeling technique. The discrepancy between the tabular aerodynamic data and the polynomial models was tested and shown to be less than 15 percent for drag, lift, and pitching moment coefficients over the entire flight envelope. Most of this discrepancy was traced to smoothing local measurement noise and to the omission of mass case 5 data in the modeling process. A simulation check case showed that the polynomial models provided a compact and accurate representation of the nonlinear aerodynamic dependencies contained in the HSR Cycle 2B tabular aerodynamic database.

Morelli, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Computation of Feedback Aeroacoustic System by the CE/SE Method

It is well known that due to vortex shedding in high speed flow over cutouts, cavities, and gaps, intense noise may be generated. Strong tonal oscillations occur in a feedback cycle in which the vortices shed from the upstream edge of the cavity convect downstream and impinge on the cavity lip, generating acoustic waves that propagate upstream to excite new vortices. Numerical simulation of such a complicated process requires a scheme that can: (1) resolve acoustic waves with low dispersion and numerical dissipation, (2) handle nonlinear and discontinuous waves (e.g. shocks), and (3) have an effective (near field) nonreflecting boundary condition (NRBC). The new space time conservation element and solution element method, or CE/SE for short, is a numerical method that meets the above requirements.

Loh, Ching Y.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Deployment Simulation of Ultra-Lightweight Inflatable Structures

Dynamic deployment analyses of folded inflatable tubes are conducted to investigate modeling issues related to the deployment of solar sail booms. The analyses are necessary because ground tests include gravity effects and may poorly represent deployment in space. A control volume approach, available in the LS-DYNA nonlinear dynamic finite element code, and the ideal gas law are used to simulate the dynamic inflation deployment process. Three deployment issues are investigated for a tube packaged in a Z-fold configuration. The issues are the effect of the rate of inflation, the effect of residual air, and the effect of gravity. The results of the deployment analyses reveal that the time and amount of inflation gas required to achieve a full deployment are related to these issues.

Wang, John T.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Data Reduction and Its Impact on Test-Analysis Correlation

A research project has been initiated to improve crash test and analysis correlation. The research has focused on two specimen types: simple metallic beams and plates; and a representative composite fuselage section. Impact tests were performed under carefully controlled conditions. In addition, the specimens were densely instrumented to enable not only correlation with finite element simulations, but to also assess the repeatability of the data. Simulations utilizing a detailed finite element model were executed in a nonlinear transient dynamic code. The results presented in this paper concentrate on the effect of several data reduction processes, to include filtering frequency and sampling rate, on the correlation accuracy.

Lyle, Karen H.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Controlling Second Harmonic Efficiency of Laser Beam Interactions

A method is provided for controlling second harmonic efficiency of laser beam interactions. A laser system generates two laser beams (e.g., a laser beam with two polarizations) for incidence on a nonlinear crystal having a preferred direction of propagation. Prior to incidence on the crystal, the beams are optically processed based on the crystal's beam separation characteristics to thereby control a position in the crystal along the preferred direction of propagation at which the beams interact.

Barnes, Norman P.↗
NASA NTRS2025

Integrating the Interconnections Between Groundwater and Land Surface Processes Through the Coupled NASA Land Information System and ParFlow Environment

Understanding the interactions between the atmosphere, the land, and the subsurface is fundamental to hydrology and is critical for a better assessment of the impacts of climate change and human management on hydrological systems. However, many land surface models simplify the subsurface hydrology and thereby these interactions. In this study, we couple the land surface model Noah-MP included in the NASA Land Information System (LIS) with the integrated hydrologic model ParFlow (ParFlow-LIS) using the Earth System Modeling Framework (ESMF) and the National United Operational Prediction Capability (NUOPC). This coupling improves the simulation of water and energy cycle processes by adding the three-dimensional variably saturated and heterogeneous flow in the subsurface using sophisticated and nonlinear physics-based equations as well as the advances in satellite remote sensing-based data assimilation of the land surface, thereby benefiting the integrated hydrologic modeling and data assimilation community. We use the High Plains aquifer, located in the central United States, as a testbed to evaluate the coupled ParFlow-LIS system. The new ParFlow-LIS system accounts for the effects of topographically driven flows on the land surface, producing more fine-scale patterns of land surface states and fluxes than standalone LIS. In addition, ParFlow-LIS enables the consideration of the effect of subsurface water storage on evapotranspiration. This is particularly important in areas and times with dry soils, such as during drought conditions or in the presence of a cone of depression due to pumping.

land surface modeling↗
NASA NTRS1976

A finite-element analysis of fatigue crack closure

The paper is concerned with the application of a two-dimensional, nonlinear, finite-element analysis using an incremental theory of plasticity to predict crack-closure and crack-opening stresses during the crack-growth process under cyclic loading. A two-dimensional finite-element computer program is developed, which accounts for both elastic-plastic material behavior and changing boundary conditions associated with crack extension and intermittent contact of the crack surfaces under cyclic loading. An efficient technique to account for changing boundary conditions under cyclic loading is also incorporated into the nonlinear analysis program. This program is used to study crack extension and crack closure behavior in a center-cracked panel under constant-amplitude and two-level block loading. The calculated crack-opening stresses are found to be quantitatively consistent with experimental measurements.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗