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At least 757 records · Page 42
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Numerical Simulations of an Unsteady Rocket Launch from the AH-64D Apache Longbow Helicopter

Rocket and missile firings from attack helicopters can cause main engine compressor stall. Studies of this phenomenon suggest that the main engine ingests either the plume from the rockets or the rocket blast waves. This creates surges at the inlet face, causing a loss of power in the main engine. The objective of this project is to set-up a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation of the AH-64D Apache Longbow helicopter during a rocket launch, in order to qualitatively study the fluid dynamics of the problem. This project presents a progression of three unsteady Navier-Stokes solutions. The first unsteady solution involves only a rocket launch from its launch canister. The second solution is a launch from a canister mounted on the Apache's wing-pylon assembly. The last solution includes the Apache main engine and fuselage. The computations use a series of structured, overset grid systems, which allow for a rocket moving in a prescribed path. The method implements a Roe upwind scheme with LU-SGS (lower-upper factored symmetric Gauss-Seidel). A rotor pressure disk model approximates the helicopter rotor, while the rocket engine exit properties are applied as a prescribed boundary condition. Although the project is only at the half-way point, the first and second CFD simulations suggest the possibility of pressure wave interference. Sudden surges in pressure occur from two sources: at rocket start-up, and as the rocket leaves the canister. Wave patterns set-up by these sources appear to propagate to the location of the engine inlet. However the simplified geometry simulation with the main engine needs to be performed before coming to a conclusion.

Okamoto, Kevin↗
NASA NTRS1974

Viscous, radiating hypersonic flow about a blunt body

The viscous, radiating hypersonic flow past an axisymmetric blunt body is analyzed based on the Navier-Stokes equations, plus a radiative equation of transfer derived from the Milne-Eddington differential approximation. The fluid is assumed to be a perfect gas with constant specific heats, a constant Prandtl number of order unity, a viscosity coefficient varying as a power of the temperature, and an absorption coefficient varying as the first power of the density and as a power of the temperature. The gray gas assumption is invoked, thereby making the absorption coefficient independent of the spectral frequency. Limiting forms of the solutions are studied as the freestream Mach number freestream Reynolds number and the temperature ratio across the shock wave, go to infinity, and as the Bouguer number and the density ratio across the shock wave go to zero. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used in the analysis, and it is shown that there is a far-field precursor, composed of two regions, in which the fluid mechanics can be neglected for all practical purposes but included for completeness.

Passamaneck, R. S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Transition region, corona, and solar wind in coronal holes - Some two-fluid models

A model is presented which treats the heating of the corona and the heating and acceleration of the solar wind as a single process, namely, the turbulent dissipation of solar-generated Alfven waves at the Kolmogorov rate. This model is similar to that described by Hollweg (1986), except that the electron temperature and the proton temperature are allowed to have different values. It is found that, similar to the findings of Hollweg, solutions which yield base pressures in the observed range lead to solar wind flows which are much too slow at 1 AU; a new feature is the appearance of proton temperature peak near 3-4 solar radii. Thus, this model seems to be also unsatisfactory. Several possible resolutions are discussed.

Hollweg, Joseph V.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Hydrodynamical constraints on cosmic-ray acceleration in relativistic shocks

A two-fluid hydrodynamical model governing the transport of cosmic rays in a relativistically moving background plasma is developed. The equations are used to discuss the time asymptotic structure of a relativistic, plane-parallel shock wave significantly modified by first-order Fermi acceleration of cosmic rays. The model allows for an anisotropic cosmic-ray pressure tensor with pressure components parallel and perpendicular to the shock normal. It is surmised that the well-known energy threshold problem for diffusive shock acceleration that downstream particles have a large enough velocity to overtake the shock and subsequently scatter in the upstream medium before returning to the downstream medium may be expressed hydrodynamically by the condition V less than V(cr), where V is the fluid velocity relative to the shock and V(cr) is the relativistic cosmic-ray sound speed. Astrophysical implications of the results are briefly discussed.

Webb, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Analytical and experimental investigations of the oblique detonation wave engine concept

Wave combustors, which include the oblique detonation wave engine (ODWE), are attractive propulsion concepts for hypersonic flight. These engines utilize oblique shock or detonation waves to rapidly mix, ignite, and combust the air-fuel mixture in thin zones in the combustion chamber. Benefits of these combustion systems include shorter and lighter engines which require less cooling and can provide thrust at higher Mach numbers than conventional scramjets. The wave combustor's ability to operate at lower combustor inlet pressures may allow the vehicle to operate at lower dynamic pressures which could lessen the heating loads on the airframe. The research program at NASA-Ames includes analytical studies of the ODWE combustor using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes which fully couple finite rate chemistry with fluid dynamics. In addition, experimental proof-of-concept studies are being performed in an arc heated hypersonic wind tunnel. Several fuel injection design were studied analytically and experimentally. In-stream strut fuel injectors were chosen to provide good mixing with minimal stagnation pressure losses. Measurements of flow field properties behind the oblique wave are compared to analytical predictions.

Menees, Gene P.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Stellar convection theory. I - The anelastic modal equations

Methods are developed for dealing with the various dynamical problems that arise because of convective zones in stars. A system of equations for stellar convection is derived from the full equations of compressible fluid dynamics with the aid of two major approximations. The first of these is the anelastic approximation, which involves both the filtering out of acoustic waves and a suitable linearization of the fluctuating thermodynamic variables. The second one approximates the horizontal structure of convection by expanding the motion in a set of horizontal cellular platforms and severely truncating the expansion. The resulting system of partial differential equations, referred to as the anelastic modal equations, is outlined along with suggested boundary conditions and techniques for solving the equations. Ways of assessing the overall validity of the present treatment are discussed.

Latour, J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

A note on sound radiation into a uniformly flowing medium

The influence of a uniform cross flow on the power output from an idealized mechanical source, namely a vibrating strip set in a coplanar rigid wall, is studied within the framework of linear acoustic theory, and the time-average power output is characterized by appropriate expansions (of exact integral representations), for both small and large wave length/strip width ratios, in the subsonic flow regime. Since boundary layers are ignored, the model source envisaged furnishes only a limited accounting of fluid-acoustical coupling effects.

Levine, H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Hydrogen turbines for space power systems: A simplified axial flow gas turbine model

Hydrogen cooled, turbine powered space weapon systems require a relatively simple, but reasonably accurate hydrogen gas expansion turbine model. Such a simplified turbine model would require little computational time and allow incorporation into system level computer programs while providing reasonably accurate volume/mass estimates. This model would then allow optimization studies to be performed on multiparameter space power systems and provide improved turbine mass and size estimates for the various operating conditions (when compared to empirical and power law approaches). An axial flow gas expansion turbine model was developed for these reasons and is in use as a comparative bench mark in space power system studies at Sandia. The turbine model is based on fluid dynamic, thermodynamic, and material strength considerations, but is considered simplified because it does not account for design details such as boundary layer effects, shock waves, turbulence, stress concentrations, and seal leakage. Although the basic principles presented here apply to any gas or vapor axial flow turbine, hydrogen turbines are discussed because of their immense importance on space burst power platforms.

Hudson, Steven L.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Spacelab experiments on convection in a rotating spherical shell with radial gravity

Data from the geophysical fluid flow cell experiment on Spacelab 3 revealed the diverse forms of fluid motion that can occur in geometrically simple models of global convection with rotation and radial gravity. The following types of convection were observed: midlatitude waves interacting with the low-latitude columnar convection rolls or 'banana cells', spiral waves' near the poles when latitudinal heating gradients are present on the bounding surfaces, and 'triangular waves' coupling midlatitude and equatorial disturbances under similar differential heating. It is believed that concepts based on the Taylor-Proudman theorem have a central role in many flows realized in the rapidly rotating experiments when H is approximately 0; however, the resulting banana cells are subject to secondary instabilities that produce intricate time dependence and eventually turbulent flows in which only hints of the simpler patterns are recognizable.

Toomre, Juri↗
NASA NTRS1990

Generation of strong MHD Alfvenic turbulence

Strong Alfvenic turbulence containing a number of solitonlike structures propagating at super-Alfvenic speeds is generated self-consistently and studied by means of computer simulation. A one-dimensional hybrid (kinetic ions, fluid electrons) code is used to investigate the nonlinear evolution of an electromagnetic ion-beam instability that generates low-frequency Alfven-like waves. As the instability develops, the field-aligned hydromagnetic waves steepen, forming a soliton that bifurcates several times, leading to a fully turbulent state.

Akimoto, K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Basic studies of baroclinic flows

Computations were completed of transition curves in the conventional annulus, including hysteresis effect. The model GEOSIM was used to compute the transition between axisymmetric flow and baroclinic wave flow in the conventional annulus experiments. Thorough testing and documentation of the GEOSIM code were also completed. The Spacelab 3 results from the Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell (GFFC) were reviewed and numerical modeling was performed of many of the cases with horizontal temperature gradients as well as heating from below, with different rates of rotation. A numerical study of the lower transition to axisymmetric flow in the baroclinic annulus was performed using GEOSIM.

Miller, Tim L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

On a Non-Reflecting Boundary Condition for Hyperbolic Conservation Laws

A non-reflecting boundary condition (NRBC) for practical computations in fluid dynamics and aeroacoustics is presented. The technique is based on the hyperbolicity of the Euler equation system and the first principle of plane (simple) wave propagation. The NRBC is simple and effective, provided the numerical scheme maintains locally a C(sup 1) continuous solution at the boundary. Several numerical examples in ID, 2D and 3D space are illustrated to demonstrate its robustness in practical computations.

Loh, Ching Y.↗
NASA NTRS2017

A First-Principles Model Based on Saturation of the Electron Cyclotron Drift Instability for Electron Transport in Hydrodynamics Simulations of Hall Thruster Plasmas

We present a computational model based on the hypothesis that the higher-than-expected electron mobility across magnetic field lines observed in Hall thrusters is due to the growth and eventual saturation of the electron cyclotron drift instability. The key improvement of this model with respect to previous work is that it decouples the saturation of the instability from the correlation that exists between mobility and magnitude of the wave perturbations in linear theory, thereby enabling first-principles simulations. The model has been incorporated in the 2-D (r-z) multi-fluids code Hall2De and simulations of the H6 thruster at 300 V, 20 A are numerically stable and achieve a steady-state solution at a computational cost that is not significantly higher than previous Hall2De simulations. The computed location of the acceleration region is found to be within 10% of the length of the acceleration channel compared to that inferred by experiments. The simulations also capture well the plasma gradients along the channel centerline of this thruster. To further establish the validity of this model, we plan to conduct simulations of other thrusters and/or operating conditions.

Lopez Ortega, Alejandro↗
NASA NTRS1991

Experimental study of a vortex subjected to imposed strain

An experimental project was undertaken to investigate the character of vortex breakdown with particular regard to the waveguide theories of vortex breakdown. A rectangular wing based on the NACA 0012 airfoil was used to produce a trailing vortex which convected downstream without undergoing breakdown. Dye marked the vortex location. A disturbance was then introduced onto the vortex using a small moving wire to 'cut' the vortex. The development of upstream and downstream propagating disturbance waves was observed and the propagation velocities measured. The downstream traveling wave produced a structure similar in appearance to a vortex breakdown. The upstream wave produced a moving, swirling, turbulent region that was not a vortex breakdown. The waves moving in either direction have the same swirl velocity profiles but quite different axial velocity profiles. The upstream disturbance (turbulence) moved into a flow with an axial velocity profile that had a wake-like defect in the core region. The downstream moving vortex breakdown moved into a flow with a jet-like overshoot in the core region. The fact that no breakdown was observed for the wake-like defect and breakdown was observed for the jet-like overshoot is not consistent with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) calculations. Although there are not a lot of examples, CFD results show breakdown for both types of profiles. The longitudinal and swirl velocity profiles were documented by Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) measurement. Wave velocities, swirl angles, and swirl parameters are reported.

Panton, Ronald L.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Lumped Parameter Models of the Central Nervous System for VIIP Research

INTRODUCTION: Current long-duration missions to the International Space Station and future exploration-class missions beyond low-Earth orbit, such as to Mars and asteroids, expose astronauts to increased risk of Visual Impairment and Intracranial Pressure (VIIP) syndrome [1]. It has been hypothesized that the headward shift of cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) and blood in microgravity may cause significant elevation of intracranial pressure (ICP), which in turn induces VIIP syndrome through biomechanical pathways [1, 2]. However, there is insufficient evidence to confirm this hypothesis. In this light, we are developing lumped-parameter models of fluid transport in the central nervous system (CNS) as a means to simulate the influence of microgravity on ICP. The CNS models will also be used in concert with the lumped parameter and finite element models of the eye described in the realted IWS abstracts submitted by Nelson et al., Feola et al. and Ethier et al. METHODS: We have developed a nine compartment CNS model (Figure 1) capable of both time-dependent and steady state fluid transport simulations, based on the works of Stevens et al. [3]. The breakdown of compartments within the model includes: vascular (3), CSF (2), brain (1) and extracranial (3). The boundary pressure in the Central Arteries [A] node is prescribed using an oscillating pressure function PA(t) simulating the carotid pulsatile pressure wave as developed by Linninger et al. [4]. For each time step, pressures are integrated through time using an adaptive-timestep 4th and 5th order Runga-Kutta solver. Once pressures are found, constitutive equations are used to solve for flowrates (Q) between each compartment. In addition to fluid flow between the different compartments, compliance (C) interactions between neighboring compartments are represented. We are also developing a second CNS model based on the works of Linninger et al. [4] which takes a more granular approach to represent the interactions of the intracranial and spinal compartments with the inclusion of arteries, arterioles, capillaries, venules, veins, venous sinus, and ventricles. The flow through the arteries, veins and CSF compartments are governed by continuity, momentum and distensibility balance equations. Furthermore, unlike the Stevens et al. approach, the Monro-Kellie doctrine of constant cranial volume and the bi-phasic nature of the brain parenchyma are implemented. These features appear to be more consistent with the physiologic and anatomical behavior of the CNS, and follow a modeling philosophy similar to the lumped parameter eye model that is intended to be integrated with the CNS model. However, Linninger’s approach has never been implemented to include hydrostatic gradient and microgravity simulation capabilities. Therefore, we aim at implement this modeling approach for spaceflight simulations and assess its overall applicability to VIIP research. OBJECTIVES: We will present verification and validation test results for both models, as well as head-to-head comparison to explore their strengths and limitations with respect to mathematical implementation and physiological significance for VIIP research. In doing so, we hope to provide some guidance to the HRP research community on how to appropriately leverage lumped parameter models for space biomedical research.

Vera, J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Conjugate Compressible Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Ducts

A computational approach to modeling transient, compressible fluid flow with heat transfer in long, narrow ducts is presented. The primary application of the model is for analyzing fluid flow and heat transfer in solid propellant rocket motor nozzle joints during motor start-up, but the approach is relevant to a wide range of analyses involving rapid pressurization and filling of ducts. Fluid flow is modeled through solution of the spatially one-dimensional, transient Euler equations. Source terms are included in the governing equations to account for the effects of wall friction and heat transfer. The equation solver is fully-implicit, thus providing greater flexibility than an explicit solver. This approach allows for resolution of pressure wave effects on the flow as well as for fast calculation of the steady-state solution when a quasi-steady approach is sufficient. Solution of the one-dimensional Euler equations with source terms significantly reduces computational run times compared to general purpose computational fluid dynamics packages solving the Navier-Stokes equations with resolved boundary layers. In addition, conjugate heat transfer is more readily implemented using the approach described in this paper than with most general purpose computational fluid dynamics packages. The compressible flow code has been integrated with a transient heat transfer solver to analyze heat transfer between the fluid and surrounding structure. Conjugate fluid flow and heat transfer solutions are presented. The author is unaware of any previous work available in the open literature which uses the same approach described in this paper.

Cross, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS1929

Impact waves and detonation. Part I

Among the numerous thermodynamic and kinetic problems that have arisen in the application of the gaseous explosive reaction as a source of power in the internal combustion engine, the problem of the mode or way by which the transformation proceeds and the rate at which the heat energy is delivered to the working fluid became very early in the engine's development a problem of prime importance. The work of Becker here given is a notable extension of earlier investigations, because it covers the entire range of the explosive reaction in gases - normal detonation and burning.

DETONATION↗