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At least 757 records · Page 42

Combustion of solid fuel slabs with gaseous oxygen in a hybrid motor analog

Using a high-pressure, two-dimensional hybrid motor, an experimental investigation was conducted on fundamental processes involved in hybrid rocket combustion. HTPB (Hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene) fuel cross-linked with diisocyanate was burned with gaseous oxygen (GOX) under various operating conditions. Large-amplitude pressure oscillations were encountered in earlier test runs. After identifying the source of instability and decoupling the GOX feed-line system and combustion chamber, the pressure oscillations were drastically reduced from plus or minus 20% of the localized mean pressure to an acceptable range of plus or minus 1.5%. Embedded fine--wire thermocouples indicated that the surface temperature of the burning fuel was around 1000 K depending upon axial locations and operating conditions. Also, except near the leading edge region, the subsurface thermal wave profiles in the upstream locations are thicker than those in the downstream locations since the solid-fuel regression rate, in general, increases with distance along the fuel slab. The recovered solid fuel slabs in the laminar portion of the boundary layer exhibited smooth surfaces, indicating the existence of a liquid melt layer on the burning fuel surface in the upstream region. After the transition section, which displayed distinct transverse striations, the surface roughness pattern became quite random and very pronounced in the downstream turbulent boundary-layer region. Both real-time X-ray radiography and ultrasonic pulse echo techniques were used to determine the instantaneous web thicknesses and instantaneous solid-fuel regression rates over certain portions of the fuel slabs. Globally averaged and axially dependent but time-averaged regression rates were also obtained and presented. Several tests were conducted using, simultaneously, one translucent fuel slab and one fuel slab processed with carbon black powder. The addition of carbon black did not affect the measured regression rates or surface temperatures in comparison to the translucent fuel slabs.

Chiaverini, Martin J.↗

Feedback Linearization in a Six Degree-of-Freedom MAG-LEV Stage

A six degree-of-freedom electromagnetically suspended motion control stage (the Angstrom Stage) has been designed and constructed for use in short-travel, high-resolution motion control applications. It achieves better than 0.5 nm resolution over a 100 micron range of travel. The stage consists of a single moving element (the platen) floating in an oil filled chamber. The oil is crucial to the stage's operation since it forms squeeze film dampers between the platen and the frame. Twelve electromagnetic actuators provide the forces necessary to suspend and servo the platen, and six capacitance probes measure its position relative to the frame. The system is controlled using a digital signal processing board residing in a '486 based PC. This digital controller implements a feedback linearization algorithm in real-time to account for nonlinearities in both the magnetic actuators and the fluid film dampers. The feedback linearization technique reduces a highly nonlinear plant with coupling between the degrees of freedom into one that is linear, decoupled, and setpoint independent. The key to this procedure is a detailed plant model. The operation of the feedback linearization procedure is transparent to the outer loop of the controller, and so a proportional controller is sufficient for normal operation. We envision applications of this stage in scanned probe microscopy and for integrated circuit measurement.

Ludwick, Stephen J.↗

Solute Nucleation and Growth in Supercritical Fluid Mixtures

This research effort is directed toward two primary scientific objectives: (1) to determine the gravitational effect on the measurement of nucleation and growth rates near a critical point and (2) to investigate the nucleation process in supercritical fluids to aid in the evaluation and development of existing theoretical models and practical applications. A nucleation pulse method will be employed for this investigation using a rapid expansion to a supersaturated state that is maintained for approximately 1 ms followed by a rapid recompression to a less supersaturated state that effectively terminates nucleation while permitting growth to continue. Nucleation, which occurs during the initial supersaturated state, is decoupled from growth by producing rapid pressure changes. Thermodynamic analysis, condensation modeling, apparatus design, and optical diagnostic design necessary for the initiation of a theoretical and experimental investigation of naphthalene nucleation from supercritical CO2 have been completed.

Smedley, Gregory T.↗

Droplet Deformation in an Extensional Flow: The Role of Surfactant Physical Chemistry

Surfactant-induced Marangoni effects strongly alter the stresses exerted along fluid particle interfaces. In low gravity processes, these stresses can dictate the system behavior. The dependence of Marangoni effects on surfactant physical chemistry is not understood, severely impacting our ability to predict and control fluid particle flows. A droplet in an extensional flow allows the controlled study of stretching and deforming interfaces. The deformations of the drop allow both Marangoni stresses, which resist tangential shear, and Marangoni elasticities, which resist surface dilatation, to develop. This flow presents an ideal model system for studying these effects. Prior surfactant-related work in this flow considered a linear dependence of the surface tension on the surface concentration, valid only at dilute surface concentrations, or a non-linear framework at concentrations sufficiently dilute that the linear approximation was valid. The linear framework becomes inadequate for several reasons. The finite dimensions of surfactant molecules must be taken into account with a model that includes surfaces saturation. Nonideal interactions between adsorbed surfactant molecules alter the partitioning of surfactant between the bulk and the interface, the dynamics of surfactant adsorptive/desorptive exchange, and the sensitivity of the surface tension to adsorbed surfactant. For example, cohesion between hydrocarbon chains favors strong adsorption. Cohesion also slows the rate of desorption from interfaces, and decreases the sensitivity of the surface tension to adsorbed surfactant. Strong cohesive interactions result in first order surface phase changes with a plateau in the surface tension vs surface concentration. Within this surface concentration range, the surface tension is decoupled from surface concentration gradients. We are engaged in the study of the role of surfactant physical chemistry in determining the Marangoni stresses on a drop in an extensional flow in a numerical and experimental program. Using surfactants whose dynamics and equilibrium behavior have been characterized in our laboratory, drop deformation will be studied in ground-based experiment. In an accompanying numerical study, predictive drop deformations will be determined based on the isotherm and equation of state determined in our laboratory. This work will improve our abilities to predict and control all fluid particle flows.

Stebe, Kathleen J.↗

Planetesimal Formation in the Outer Solar Nebula

A numerical investigation of the orbital trajectories of individual particles in the turbulent outer solar nebula has been performed. The (spherical) particle consists of an unchanging mm-sized 'dust' core surrounded by an H2O ice mantle; the density of both core and mantle is 0.5 g/cm(exp 3). The simulations include the effects of H2O condensation from the gas phase, H2O sublimation from the particle surface, and collisional growth via particle collisions with a background distribution of small H2O grains. The model nebula is an azimuthally symmetric minimum-mass nebula of solar composition with a vertical (and radial) temperature gradient. Particle evolution follows a pattern. A particle starting out in a cool region grows via condensation and collisional accretion until it is large enough (decimeter- to meter-sized) to decouple somewhat from the turbulence. (This growth occurs on a timescale of several thousand years at 10 AU; at 30 AU, the timescale is approx. 104 years.) The particle then moves rapidly inward toward the sun due to secular gas drag forces, sublimates much of its icy mantle, and slows its inward migration as it gets caught up in the turbulence again (due to its now-smaller size) at the 'sublimation boundary,' where the ambient gas temperature is approx. 150 K. Such a process could, on a short timescale (i.e., a timescale much shorter than the nebular gas lifetime of approx. 106 yr), generate a population of decimeter- to meter-sized bodies which would then collisionally accrete to form planetesimals.

Supulver, K. D.↗

Numerical Simulations of High-Speed Chemically Reacting Flow

The Essentially NonOscillatory (ENO) shock-capturing scheme for the solution of hyperbolic equations is extended to solve a system of coupled conservation equations governing two-dimensional, time-dependent, compressible chemically reacting flow with full chemistry. The thermodynamic properties of the mixture are modeled accurately, and stiff kinetic terms are separated from the fluid motion by a fractional step algorithm. The methodology is used to study the concept of shock-induced mixing and combustion, a process by which the interaction of a shock wave with a jet of low-density hydrogen fuel enhances mixing through streamwise vorticity generation. Test cases with and without chemical reaction are explored here. Our results indicate that, in the temperature range examined, vorticity generation as well as the distribution of atomic species do not change significantly with the introduction of a chemical reaction and subsequent heat release. The actual diffusion of hydrogen is also relatively unaffected by the reaction process. This suggests that the fluid mechanics of this problem may be successfully decoupled from the combustion processes, and that computation of the mixing problem (without combustion chemistry) can elucidate much of the important physical features of the flow.

Ton, V. T.↗

Constraints on Martian Differentiation Processes from Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd Isotopic Analyses of the Basaltic Shergottite QUE 94201

Isotopic analyses of mineral, leachate, and whole rock fractions from the Martian shergottite meteorite QUE 94201 yield Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd crystallization ages of 327 +/- 12 and 327 +/- 19 Ma, respectively. These ages are concordant, although the isochrons are defined by different fractions within the meteorite. Comparison of isotope dilution Sm and Nd data for the various QUE 94201 fractions with in situ ion microprobe data for QUE 94201 minerals from the literature demonstrate the presence of a leachable crustal component in the meteorite. This component is likely to have been added to QUE 94201 by secondary alteration processes on Mars, and can affect the isochrons by selectively altering the isotopic systematics of the leachates and some of the mineral fractions. The absence of crustal recycling processes on Mars may preserve the geochemical evidence for early differentiation and the decoupling of the Rb-Sr and Sm-Nd isotopic systems, underscoring one of the fundamental differences between geologic processes on Mars and the Earth.

Borg, Lars E.↗

Global Evolution of Solid Matter in Turbulent Protoplanetry Disks: Aerodynamics of Solid Particles - Part 1

The problem of planetary system formation and its subsequent character can only be addressed by studying the global evolution of solid material entrained in gaseous protoplanetary disks. We start to investigate this problem by considering the space-time development of aerodynamic forces that cause solid particles to decouple from the gas. The aim of this work is to demonstrate that only the smallest particles are attached to the gas, or that the radial distribution of the solid matter has no momentary relation to the radial distribution of the gas. We present the illustrative example wherein a gaseous disk of 0.245 solar mass and angular momentum of 5.6 x 10(exp 52) g/sq cm/s is allowed to evolve due to turbulent viscosity characterized by either alpha = 10(exp -2) or alpha = 10(exp -3). The motion of solid particles suspended in a viscously evolving gaseous disk is calculated numerically for particles of different sizes. In addition we calculate the global evolution of single-sized, noncoagulating particles. We find that particles smaller than 0.1 cm move with the gas; larger particles have significant radial velocities relative to the gas. Particles larger than 0.1 cm but smaller than 10(exp 3) cm have inward radial velocities much larger than the gas, whereas particles larger than 10(exp 4) cm have inward velocities much smaller than the gas. A significant difference in the form of the radial distribution of solids and the gas develops with time. It is the radial distribution of solids, rather than the gas, that determines the character of an emerging planetary system.

Stepinski, T. F.↗

Numerical Simulations of High-Speed Chemically Reacting Flow

The essentially nonoscillatory (ENO) shock-capturing scheme for the solution of hyperbolic equations is extended to solve a system of coupled conservation equations governing two-dimensional, time-dependent, compressible chemically reacting flow with full chemistry. The thermodynamic properties of the mixture are modeled accurately, and stiff kinetic terms are separated from the fluid motion by a fractional step algorithm. The methodology is used to study the concept of shock-induced mixing and combustion, a process by which the interaction of a shock wave with a jet of low-density hydrogen fuel enhances mixing through streamwise vorticity generation. Test cases with and without chemical reaction are explored here. Our results indicate that, in the temperature range examined, vorticity generation as well as the distribution of atomic species do not change significantly with the introduction of a chemical reaction and subsequent heat release. The actual diffusion of hydrogen is also relatively unaffected by the reaction process. This suggests that the fluid mechanics of this problem may be successfully decoupled from the combustion processes, and that computation of the mixing problem (without combustion chemistry) can elucidate much of the important physical features of the flow.

Ton, V. T.↗

Determination of Residual Stress in Composite Materials Using Ultrasonic Waves

The performance of high temperature composites can be significantly affected by the presence of residual stresses. These stresses arise during cooling processes from fabrication to room temperature due to mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients between matrix and fiber materials. This effect is especially pronounced in metal matrix and intermetallic composites. It can lead to plastic deformations, matrix cracking and fiber/matrix interface debonding. In this work the feasibility of ultrasonic techniques for residual stress assessment in composites is addressed. A novel technique for absolute stress determination in orthotropic materials from angular dependencies of ultrasonic velocities is described. The technique is applicable for determination of both applied and residual stresses and does not require calibration measurements on a reference sample. The important advantage of this method is that stress is determined simultaneously with stress-dependent elastic constants and is thus decoupled from the material texture. It is demonstrated that when the principal plane stress directions coincide with acoustical axes, the angular velocity data in the plane perpendicular to the stress plane may be used to determine both stress components. When the stress is off the acoustical axes, the shear and the difference of the normal stress components may be determined from the angular dependence of group velocities in the plane of stresses. Synthetic sets of experimental data corresponding to materials with different anisotropy and stress levels are used to check the applicability of the technique. The method is also verified experimentally. A high precision ultrasonic wave transmission technique is developed to measure angular dependence of ultrasonic velocities. Examples of stress determination from experimental velocity data are given. A method is presented for determination of velocities of ultrasonic waves propagating through the composite material with residual stresses. It is based on the generalized self-consistent multiple scattering model. Calculation results for longitudinal and shear ultrasonic wave velocities propagating perpendicular to the fibers direction in SCS-6/Ti composite with and without residual stresses are presented. They show that velocity changes due to presence of stresses are of order 1%.

Rokhlin, S. I.↗

Development and Operation of a Material Identification and Discrimination Imaging Spectroradiometer

Many imaging applications require quantitative determination of a scene's spectral radiance. This paper describes a new system capable of real-time spectroradiometric imagery. Operating at a full-spectrum update rate of 30Hz, this imager is capable of collecting a 30 point spectrum from each of three imaging heads: the first operates from 400 nm to 950 nm, with a 2% bandwidth; the second operates from 1.5 micro-m to 5.5 micro-m with a 1.5% bandwidth; the third operates from 5 micro-m to 12 micro-m, also at a 1.5% bandwidth. Standard image format is 256 x 256, with 512 x 512 possible in the VIS/NIR head. Spectra of up to 256 points are available at proportionately lower frame rates. In order to make such a tremendous amount of data more manageable, internal processing electronics perform four important operations on the spectral imagery data in real-time. First, all data in the spatial/spectral cube of data is spectro-radiometrically calibrated as it is collected. Second, to allow the imager to simulate sensors with arbitrary spectral response, any set of three spectral response functions may be loaded into the imager including delta functions to allow single wavelength viewing; the instrument then evaluates the integral of the product of the scene spectral radiances and the response function. Third, more powerful exploitation of the gathered spectral radiances can be effected by application of various spectral-matched filtering algorithms to identify pixels whose relative spectral radiance distribution matches a sought-after spectral radiance distribution, allowing materials-based identification and discrimination. Fourth, the instrument allows determination of spectral reflectance, surface temperature, and spectral emissivity, also in real-time. The spectral imaging technique used in the instrument allows tailoring of the frame rate and/or the spectral bandwidth to suit the scene radiance levels, i.e., frame rate can be reduced, or bandwidth increased to improve SNR when viewing low radiance scenes. The unique challenges of design and calibration are described. Pixel readout rates of 160 MHz, for full frame readout rates of 1000 Hz (512 x 512 image) present the first challenge; processing rates of nearly 600 million integer operations per second for sensor emulation, or over 2 billion per second for matched filtering, present the second. Spatial and spectral calibration of 66,536 pixels (262,144 for the 512 x 512 version) and up to 1,000 spectral positions mandate novel decoupling methods to keep the required calibration memory to a reasonable size. Large radiometric dynamic range also requires care to maintain precision operation with minimum memory size.

Dombrowski, Mark↗

Multi Objective Controller Design for Linear System via Optimal Interpolation

We propose a methodology for the design of a controller which satisfies a set of closed-loop objectives simultaneously. The set of objectives consists of: (1) pole placement, (2) decoupled command tracking of step inputs at steady-state, and (3) minimization of step response transients with respect to envelope specifications. We first obtain a characterization of all controllers placing the closed-loop poles in a prescribed region of the complex plane. In this characterization, the free parameter matrix Q(s) is to be determined to attain objectives (2) and (3). Objective (2) is expressed as determining a Pareto optimal solution to a vector valued optimization problem. The solution of this problem is obtained by transforming it to a scalar convex optimization problem. This solution determines Q(O) and the remaining freedom in choosing Q(s) is used to satisfy objective (3). We write Q(s) = (l/v(s))bar-Q(s) for a prescribed polynomial v(s). Bar-Q(s) is a polynomial matrix which is arbitrary except that Q(O) and the order of bar-Q(s) are fixed. Obeying these constraints bar-Q(s) is now to be 'shaped' to minimize the step response characteristics of specific input/output pairs according to the maximum envelope violations. This problem is expressed as a vector valued optimization problem using the concept of Pareto optimality. We then investigate a scalar optimization problem associated with this vector valued problem and show that it is convex. The organization of the report is as follows. The next section includes some definitions and preliminary lemmas. We then give the problem statement which is followed by a section including a detailed development of the design procedure. We then consider an aircraft control example. The last section gives some concluding remarks. The Appendix includes the proofs of technical lemmas, printouts of computer programs, and figures.

Ozbay, Hitay↗

Parameterizing Grid-Averaged Longwave Fluxes for Inhomogeneous Marine Boundary Layer Clouds

This paper examines the relative impacts on grid-averaged longwave flux transmittance (emittance) for Marine Boundary Layer (MBL) cloud fields arising from horizontal variability of optical depth tau and cloud sides, First, using fields of Landsat-inferred tau and a Monte Carlo photon transport algorithm, it is demonstrated that mean all-sky transmittances for 3D variable MBL clouds can be computed accurately by the conventional method of linearly weighting clear and cloudy transmittances by their respective sky fractions. Then, the approximations of decoupling cloud and radiative properties and assuming independent columns are shown to be adequate for computation of mean flux transmittance. Since real clouds have nonzero geometric thicknesses, cloud fractions A'(sub c) presented to isotropic beams usually exceed the more familiar vertically projected cloud fractions A(sub c). It is shown, however, that when A(sub c)less than or equal to 0.9, biases for all-sky transmittance stemming from use of A(sub c) as opposed to A'(sub c) are roughly 2-5 times smaller than, and opposite in sign to, biases due to neglect of horizontal variability of tau. By neglecting variable tau, all-sky transmittances are underestimated often by more than 0.1 for A(sub c) near 0.75 and this translates into relative errors that can exceed 40% (corresponding errors for all-sky emittance are about 20% for most values of A(sub c). Thus, priority should be given to development of General Circulation Model (GCM) parameterizations that account for the effects of horizontal variations in unresolved tau, effects of cloud sides are of secondary importance. On this note, an efficient stochastic model for computing grid-averaged cloudy-sky flux transmittances is furnished that assumes that distributions of tau, for regions comparable in size to GCM grid cells, can be described adequately by gamma distribution functions. While the plane-parallel, homogeneous model underestimates cloud transmittance by about an order of magnitude when 3D variable cloud transmittances are less than or equal to 0.2 and by approx. 20% to 100% otherwise, the stochastic model reduces these biases often by more than 80%.

Barker, Howard W.↗

A comparative modeling of supernova 1993J

The light curve of Supernova 1993J is calculated using two computational radiation transport approaches. The two approaches are represented by the computer codes STELLA and EDDINGTON. The emphasis is on the shock breakout and the photometry in the U, B and V bands during the first 120 days of the supernova. The STELLA model includes implicit hydrodynamics and is able to model early supernova evolution before the expansion is homologous. The STELLA model employs multi-group photonics and is able to follow the radiation as it decouples from the matter. The EDDINGTON code uses an algorithm for integrating the transport equation which assumes homologous expansion and uses a finer frequency resolution. The agreement between the two codes is considered to be satisfactory only in the case where compatible physical assumptions are made concerning the opacity. The assumptions are justified. The continuum spectrum for SN 1993J is predicted near the shock breakout to be superior to that predicted by standard single energy group hydrocodes. The uncertainties involved in current time dependent models of supernova light curves are discussed.

Blinnikov, Sergei↗

Dynamic Reconstruction and Multivariable Control for Force-Actuated, Thin Facesheet Adaptive Optics

The Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) under development at the University of Arizona takes a new approach in adaptive optics placing a large (0.65 m) force-actuated, thin facesheet deformable mirror at the secondary of an astronomical telescope, thus reducing the effects of emissivity which are important in IR astronomy. However, The large size of the mirror and low stiffness actuators used drive the natural frequencies of the mirror down into the bandwidth of the atmospheric distortion. Conventional adaptive optics takes a quasi-static approach to controlling the, deformable mirror. However, flexibility within the control bandwidth calls for a new approach to adaptive optics. Dynamic influence functions are used to characterize the influence of each actuator on the surface of the deformable mirror. A linearized model of atmospheric distortion is combined with dynamic influence functions to produce a dynamic reconstructor. This dynamic reconstructor is recognized as an optimal control problem. Solving the optimal control problem for a system with hundreds of actuators and sensors is formidable. Exploiting the circularly symmetric geometry of the mirror, and a suitable model of atmospheric distortion, the control problem is divided into a number of smaller decoupled control problems using circulant matrix theory. A hierarchic control scheme which seeks to emulate the quasi-static control approach that is generally used in adaptive optics is compared to the proposed dynamic reconstruction technique. Although dynamic reconstruction requires somewhat more computational power to implement, it achieves better performance with less power usage, and is less sensitive than the hierarchic technique.

Grocott, Simon C. O.↗

Inertial Pointing and Positioning System

An inertial pointing and control system and method for pointing to a designated target with known coordinates from a platform to provide accurate position, steering, and command information. The system continuously receives GPS signals and corrects Inertial Navigation System (INS) dead reckoning or drift errors. An INS is mounted directly on a pointing instrument rather than in a remote location on the platform for-monitoring the terrestrial position and instrument attitude. and for pointing the instrument at designated celestial targets or ground based landmarks. As a result. the pointing instrument and die INS move independently in inertial space from the platform since the INS is decoupled from the platform. Another important characteristic of the present system is that selected INS measurements are combined with predefined coordinate transformation equations and control logic algorithms under computer control in order to generate inertial pointing commands to the pointing instrument. More specifically. the computer calculates the desired instrument angles (Phi, Theta. Psi). which are then compared to the Euler angles measured by the instrument- mounted INS. and forms the pointing command error angles as a result of the compared difference.

Yee, Robert↗

Determination of Stress Coefficient Terms in Cracked Solids for Monoclinic Materials with Plane Symmetry at x3 = 0

Determination of all the coefficients in the crack tip field expansion for monoclinic materials under two-dimensional deformation is presented in this report. For monoclinic materials with a plane of material symmetry at x(sub 3) = 0, the in-plane deformation is decoupled from the anti-plane deformation. In the case of in-plane deformation, utilizing conservation laws of elasticity and Betti's reciprocal theorem, together with selected auxiliary fields, T-stress and third-order stress coefficients near the crack tip are evaluated first from path-independent line integrals. To determine the T-stress terms using the J-integral and Betti's reciprocal work theorem, auxiliary fields under a concentrated force and moment acting at the crack tip are used respectively. Through the use of Stroh formalism in anisotropic elasticity, analytical expressions for all the coefficients including the stress intensity factors are derived in a compact form that has surprisingly simple structure in terms of the Barnett-Lothe tensors, L. The solution forms for degenerated materials, orthotropic, and isotropic materials are presented.

Yuan, F. G.↗

Frequency-Domain Identification of XV-15 Tilt-Rotor Aircraft Dynamics in Hovering Flight

Frequency-domain methods are used to identify the open-loop dynamics of the XV-15 tilt-rotor aircraft from flight tests. Piloting and data analysis techniques are presented to determine frequency response plots and equivalent transfer function models. The open-loop pitch and roll dynamics for the hover flight condition exhibit unstable low-frequency oscillations, whereas the dynamics in the remaining degrees of freedom are lightly damped and generally decoupled. Comparisons of XV-15 flight-test and simulator data are more favorable for high-frequency inputs (omega greater than 1.0 rad/sec) than low-frequency inputs. Time-domain comparisons of the extracted transfer functions with step response flight data are very favorable, even for large amplitude motions. The results presented in this paper demonstrate the utility of the frequency-domain techniques for dynamics identification and simulator fidelity studies.

Tischler, Mark B.↗