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At least 757 records · Page 42

Multiple boundary condition testing error analysis

Techniques for interpreting data from multiple-boundary-condition (MBC) ground tests of large space structures are developed analytically and demonstrated. The use of MBC testing to validate structures too large to stand alone on the ground is explained; the generalized least-squares mass and stiffness curve-fitting methods typically applied to MBC test data are reviewed; and a detailed error analysis is performed. Consideration is given to sensitivity coefficients, covariance-matrix theory, the correspondence between test and analysis modes, constraints and step sizes, convergence criteria, and factor-analysis theory. Numerical results for a simple beam problem are presented in tables and briefly characterized. The improved error-updating capabilities of MBC testing are confirmed, and it is concluded that reasonably accurate results can be obtained using a diagonal covariance matrix.

Glaser, R. J.↗

Inverse prediction of PuO2 processing conditions using Bayesian seemingly unrelated regression with functional data

Over the past decade, a variety of innovative methodologies have been developed to better characterize the relationships between processing conditions and the physical, morphological, and chemical features of special nuclear material (SNM). Different processing conditions generate SNM products with different features, which are known as “signatures” because they are indicative of the processing conditions used to produce the material. These signatures can potentially allow a forensic analyst to determine which processes were used to produce the SNM and make inferences about where the material originated. This article investigates a statistical technique for relating processing conditions to the morphological features of PuO 2 particles. We develop a Bayesian implementation of seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) to inverse-predict unknown PuO 2 processing conditions from known PuO 2 features. Model results from simulated data demonstrate the usefulness of the technique. Applied to empirical data from a bench-scale experiment specifically designed with inverse prediction in mind, our model successfully predicts nitric acid concentration, while results for Pu concentration and precipitation temperature were equivalent to a simple mean model. Our technique compliments other recent methodologies developed for forensic analysis of nuclear material and can be generalized across the field of chemometrics for application to other materials.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Rasterization with Data-Parallel Primitives

Parallel rasterization can suffer from race conditions during fragment generation, which is traditionally addressed by using specialized hardware accessible via vendor graphics APIs. Unfortunately, graphics APIs are increasingly problematic on high-performance computers, either because they are not provided or because of concerns about dependencies with in situ visualization. In response, we present a hardware-agnostic rasterization algorithm that handles race conditions using only data-parallel primitives (DPPs), enabling efficient rendering on HPC systems without graphics API dependencies and aligning with recent efforts to deliver visualization software with DPPs. Our evaluation consists of three phases: (1) evaluating portability across different CPU and GPU architectures, (2) evaluating competitiveness with a community standard, and (3) evaluating performance across varying workloads and available parallelism. The supporting experiments run on both AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, considering data sets as large as 460 million triangles and 160 million pixels. While performance generally falls short of graphics API baselines, it achieves interactive frame rates on most workloads. As a result, we conclude our approach is a viable solution for rasterization on high-performance computers since our approach is portably performant across different architectures without the need for specialized vendor support.

Buckley, Makani [University of Oregon] (ORCID:0009↗

The role of space borne imaging radars in environmental monitoring: Some shuttle imaging radar results in Asia

The synoptic view afforded by orbiting Earth sensors can be extremely valuable for resource evaluation, environmental monitoring and development planning. For many regions of the world, however, cloud cover has prevented the acquisition of remotely sensed data during the most environmentally stressful periods of the year. This paper discusses how synthetic aperture imaging radar can be used to provide valuable data about the condition of the Earth's surface during periods of bad weather. Examples are given of applications using data from the Shuttle Imaging Radars (SIR) A and B for agriculture land use and crop condition assessment, monsoon flood boundary and flood damage assessment, water resource monitoring and terrain modeling, coastal forest mapping and vegetation penetration, and coastal development monitoring. Recent SIR-B results in Bangladesh are emphasized, radar system basics are reviewed and future SAR systems discussed.

Imhoff, M.↗

An Experimental Investigation of the Performance of the Nitrogen Tetroxide-Hydrazine System in the Oxidizer-Rich and Fuel-Rich Regions

The results of an experimental program directed toward determining some of the operational characteristics of the nitrogen tetroxide-hydrazine propellant system under oxidizer-rich and fuel-rich conditions are reported. Data are presented for the mixture-ratio ranges of 0 to 0.55 at a nominal chamber pressure of 300 psia and characteristic chamber length of 250 in., and at mixture ratios of 5.9 to 13.0 at nominal chamber pressures of 400 and 500 psia and characteristic chamber lengths of 100 and 3900 in. The relationship of the actual performance data obtained in each region with those predicted from thermochemical performance calculations is presented. From this comparison, it is concluded that in neither region are equilibrium conditions obtained and that utilization of performance data obtained from assumptions of equilibrium will lead to serious errors. In the oxidizer-rich region investigated, temperatures considerably below those predicted occur throughout the range of mixture ratios investigated because of the lack of exothermic dissociation of the nitrogen oxides. In the fuel-rich region, below a mixture ratio of 0.3, temperatures considerably higher than those predicted occur because of the lack of endothermic dissociation of ammonia.

Chilenski, J. J.↗

Hub and blade structural loads measurements of an SA349/2 helicopter

Data from 23 flight conditions, including level flights ranging from advance ratio mu = 0.14 to 0.37 and steady turning flights from advance ratio mu = 0.26 to 0.35, are presented for an Aerospatiale SA349/2 Gazelle helicopter. The data include hub loads data (for 6 of the 23 conditions), blade structural data at eleven different blade radial stations, and fuselage structural data. All dynamic data are presented as harmonic analysis coefficients (ten harmonics per rotor revolution). The data acquisition and reduction procedures are also documented. Blade structural and inertial properties are provided in addition to control system geometry and properties.

Yamauchi, Gloria K.↗

Prognosis of Wind Turbine Gearbox Bearing Failures Using SCADA and Modeled Data

Predictive maintenance and condition monitoring systems for wind turbines have seen increased adoption to minimize downtime, reducing operation and maintenance costs. On today’s wind power plants, the integrated supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system provides low- frequency operational data that can be leveraged to quantify a wind turbine’s health. The aim of this study is to utilize machine-learning techniques to predict axial cracking failures in wind turbine gearbox bearings up to 1 month ahead of time. The failures are assumed to have occurred when the investigated bearing was replaced. While current SCADA systems show the overall condition of a wind turbine, often they do not allow for the investigation of specific gearbox bearings’ health. To enrich bearing fault signatures, additional data are computed through physics-based models using gearbox design information. Based on SCADA data, modeled data, and bearing failure log data from an actual wind plant, the performances of different machine-learning models on unseen data are then evaluated using industry-standard metrics such as precision, recall, and F1 score. Results show the overall system performance enhancement in predicting bearing failure when modeled data are included with SCADA data. The reduction in terms of false alarms is about 50%, and improvement in terms of precision and F1 score is about 33% and 12% respectively, based on the best modeling case in this study.

49 EE - Wind and Water Power Program - Wind (EE-4W↗

Relative toxicity of pyrolysis gases from materials - Effects of chemical composition and test conditions

Relative toxicity test data on 270 materials are presented, based on test procedures developed at the University of San Francisco. The effects of chemical composition, using data on 13 types of synthetic polymers and eight types of fabrics, are discussed. Selected materials were evaluated using nine test conditions with the USF method, and using methods developed at the FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute, Douglas Aircraft Company and San Jose State University.

Hilado, C. J.↗

Rocketdyne Advanced Reusable Technologies Program Update

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Advanced Reusable Technologies/Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) program has enabled: (1) the creation of unique trajectory simulation facility; (2) development of basic operability and performance data; (3) results to date: (a) rocket thrusters performing as designed (P(sub c), MR, q, etc); (b) AAR performance data measured at M = 0 and 3; (c) rocket mode performance at simulated vacuum conditions; and (d) data reduction in progress; (4) completing testing; M = 0, 3 and trajectory M = 3 to 3.7; and (5) next logical steps: build flight type engine and flight demonstrate RBCC.

Ratekin, Gary↗

An Analysis of Closure Mechanisms in the Plasma Wake of the TSS-1R Satellite

Collisionless Plasma Expansion (CPE), also known as "plasma expansion into a vacuum," in its most fundamental form, is the process by which a plasma expands into a void, or region highly depleted of particles. In CPE, the expansion is driven by the highly mobile electron constituent of the plasma as it moves across the density gradient and into the void region. A bi-polar electric field is set up between this rapidly expanding electron front and the massive ions, which have a low thermal speed and lag behind in the region of the plasma-void interface. These ions are quickly accelerated by the expansion electric field and can, theoretically, approach the thermal speed of the electrons. CPE is a fundamental and a very robust process in that it only requires that a sharp density gradient exist in a plasma. It has already been observed to exist in various plasmas ranging over five orders of magnitude in density. The range of phenomena in which CPE has been observed includes the closure of plasma wakes created in simulated space plasmas in the laboratory; it was found to be the process controlling the refilling of the wake created by the Space Shuttle in the ionospheric plasma; and recent in situ data, obtained by the WIND spacecraft as it passed through the wake of the earth's moon last year, have shown CPE to be involved in the closure of the Lunar wake. CPE is also expected to influence the morphology and physics of the solar wind interactions with Mercury and Mars, and has been suggested as a potential factor in such wide ranging phenomena as the acceleration of plasma away from the coma of comets and the energization of ions that underlies the upward expansion of the polar wind into the earth's magnetosphere. The Tethered Satellite System (TSS)-1R data provides an opportunity to test this process in situ under semi-controlled conditions. The available data shows the intensity, drift energy and angle of inclination to the wake of the converging ion streams at a down stream distance of one satellite radius (80 CM).

Stone, N. H.↗

Optimization of thrust algorithm calibration for Computing System (TCS) for Thrust the NASA Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technology (HiMAT) vehicle's propulsion system

A simplified gross thrust computing technique for the HiMAT J85-GE-21 engine using altitude facility data was evaluated. The results over the full engine envelope for both the standard engine mode and the open nozzle engine mode are presented. Results using afterburner casing static pressure taps are compared to those using liner static pressure taps. It is found that the technique is very accurate for both the standard and open nozzle engine modes. The difference in the algorithm accuracy for a calibration based on data from one test condition was small compared to a calibration based on data from all of the test conditions.

Hamer, M. J.↗

The role of space borne imaging radars in environmental monitoring: Some shuttle imaging radar results in Asia

The synoptic view afforded by orbiting Earth sensors can be extremely valuable for resource evaluation, environmental monitoring and development planning. For many regions of the world, however, cloud cover has prevented the acquisition of remotely sensed data during the most environmentally stressful periods of the year. How synthetic aperture imaging radar can be used to provide valuable data about the condition of the Earth's surface during periods of bad weather is discussed. Examples are given of applications using data from the Shuttle Imaging Radars (SIR) A and B for agricultural land use and crop condition assessment, monsoon flood boundary and flood damage assessment, water resource monitoring and terrain modeling, coastal forest mapping and vegetation penetration, and coastal development monitoring. Recent SIR-B results in Bangladesh are emphasized, radar system basics are reviewed and future SAR systems are discussed.

Imhoff, Marc L.↗

Assessment of the CALIPSO Lidar 532 nm Attenuated Backscatter Calibration Using the NASA LaRC Airborne High Spectral Resolution Lidar

The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument on the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) spacecraft has provided global, high-resolution vertical profiles of aerosols and clouds since it became operational on 13 June 2006. On 14 June 2006, the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) was deployed aboard the NASA Langley B-200 aircraft for the first of a series of 86 underflights of the CALIPSO satellite to provide validation measurements for the CALIOP data products. To better assess the range of conditions under which CALIOP data products are produced, these validation flights were conducted under both daytime and nighttime lighting conditions, in multiple seasons, and over a large range of latitudes and aerosol and cloud conditions. This paper presents a quantitative assessment of the CALIOP 532 nm calibration (through the 532 nm total attenuated backscatter) using an internally calibrated airborne HSRL underflight data and is the most extensive study of CALIOP 532 nm calibration. Results show that average HSRL and CALIOP 532 nm total attenuated backscatter agree on average within 2.7% +/- 2.1% (CALIOP lower) at night and within 2.9 % +/- 3.9% (CALIOP lower) during the day., demonstrating the accuracy of the CALIOP 532 nm calibration algorithms. Additionally, comparisons with HSRL show consistency of the CALIOP calibration before and after the laser switch in 2009 as well as improvements in the daytime version 3 calibration scheme compared with the version 2 calibration scheme. Potential systematic uncertainties in the methodology relevant to validating satellite lidar measurements with an airborne lidar system are discussed and found to be less than 3.7% for this validation effort with HSRL. Results from this study are also compared to those from prior assessments of CALIOP calibration and attenuated backscatter.

Rogers, Raymond R.↗

Seasonal Dependence of SMAP Radiometer-Based Soil Moisture Performance as Observed over Core Validation Sites

The NASA SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) mission provides a global coverage of soil moisture measurements based on its L-band microwave radiometer every 2-3 days at about 40 km resolution. The soil moisture retrieval algorithms model the brightness temperature as a function of soil moisture, surface conditions and vegetation. External data sources inform the algorithms about the surface conditions and vegetation, which enable the retrieval of soil moisture. The inversion process contains uncertainties related to radiometer measurements, forward model assumptions and ancillary data sources. This study focuses on the uncertainties that depend on the seasonal evolution of the surface conditions and vegetation. This study compares the SMAP and core validation site (CVS) soil moisture values over a period of three years to extract the evolution of performance metrics over time. The analysis showed that most CVS that include managed agriculture exhibit significant time-dependent seasonal bias. This bias was linked to seasonal temperature cycle, which is a proxy to several features that can cause seasonally dependent errors in the SMAP product.

core validation site↗

PIV Investigations of the Flow Field in the Volute of a Rotary Blood Pump

A full-size acrylic model of a rotary blood pump was developed in order to utilize Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to make measurements of the fluid velocities and turbulent stresses throughout the device. The development of an understanding of the hemodynamics within the blood pump is critical to the development and validation of computational models. A blood analog solution, consisting of sodium iodide solution and glycerin, was developed to match physiological kinematic viscosity. The refractive indecies of the fluid, the pump casing and the impeller were matched to facilitate the use of PIV to make velocity measurements. Velocity measurements made in the volute exit/diffuser region are presented for pumps speeds of 3000-3850 rpm. At each speed data were obtained at a physiological pressure of 90 mmHg and at a maximum flow condition. Four hundred data pairs were used for each resultant mean velocity vector value, representing greater than an order of magnitude more data pairs than reported previously in the literature on similar devices and resulting in velocity uncertainty levels of approximately 2.9%.

Sankovic, John M.↗

Supplementary Data on Airspeeds and Mach Numbers Attained by Lockheed Constellation Airplanes in Transcontinental Operations

A total of 197 hours of time histories of airspeed and altitude have been obtained on Lockheed Constellation airplanes flying between New York, N.Y. and San Francisco, Calif. during May 1946 and June 1946. Data for 130 hours were previously analyzed to determine the probability of attaining excessive airspeeds and Mach numbers and the results have been published. After the publication, data for additional 67 hours became available. All the data were obtained at altitudes less than 20,000 feet and under approximately the same conditions. The combined data have been analyzed to obtain the results given in the tables and figures contained herein. Based on the combined data, the probability of exceeding a given airspeed or Mach number is of the same order of magnitude as that given. The conclusions are, therefore, unchanged.

Steiner, Roy↗

PIV Investigations of the Flow Field in the Volute of a Rotary Blood Pump

A full-size acrylic model of a rotary blood pump was developed in order to utilize Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) to make measurements of the fluid velocities and turbulent stresses throughout the device. The development of an understanding of the hemodynamics within the blood pump is critical to the development and validation of computational models. A blood analog solution, consisting of sodium iodide solution and glycerin, was developed to match physiological kinematic viscosity. The refractive indices of the fluid, the pump casing, and the impeller were matched to facilitate the use of PIV to make velocity measurements. Velocity measurements made in the volute exit/diffuser region are presented for pumps speeds of 3000-3850 rpm. At each speed data were obtained at a physiological pressure of 12 kPa and at a maximum flow condition. Four hundred data pairs were used for each resultant mean velocity vector value, representing greater than an order of magnitude more data pairs than reported previously in the literature on similar devices and resulting in velocity uncertainty levels of approximately 22.9%.

Sankovic, John M.↗

Carbon Isotopes of Alkanes in Hydrothermal Abiotic Organic Synthesis Processes at High Temperatures and Pressures: An Experimental Study

Observation of methane in the Martian atmosphere has been reported by different detection techniques [1-4]. With more evidence showing extensive water-rock interaction in Martian history [5-7], abiotic formation by Fischer-Tropsch Type (FTT) synthesis during serpentization reactions may be one possible process responsible for methane generation on Mars [8, 9]. While the experimental studies performed to date leave little doubt that chemical reactions exist for the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds by mineral surface-catalyzed reactions [10-12], little is known about the reaction pathways by which CO2 and/or CO are reduced under hydrothermal conditions. Carbon and hydrogen isotope measurements of alkanes have been used as an effective tool to constrain the origin and reaction pathways of hydrocarbon formation. Alkanes generated by thermal breakdown of high molecular weight organic compounds have carbon and hydrogen isotopic signatures completely distinct from those formed abiotically [13-15]. Recent experimental studies, however, showed that different abiogenic hydrocarbon formation processes (e.g., polymerization vs. depolymerization) may have different carbon and hydrogen isotopic patterns [16]. Results from previous experiments studying decomposition of higher molecular weight organic compounds (lignite) also suggested that pressure could be a crucial factor affecting fractionation of carbon isotopes [17]. Under high pressure conditions, no experimental data are available describing fractionation of carbon isotope during mineral catalyzed FTT synthesis. Thus, hydrothermal experiments present an excellent opportunity to provide the requisite carbon isotope data. Such data can also be used to identify reaction pathways of abiotic organic synthesis under experimental conditions.

Fu, Qi↗