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At least 793 records · Page 44

Intensity and polarization of light scattered by size distributions of randomly oriented nonspherical particles

Calculations of light scattering by small particles are important in many diverse fields of science and engineering. In many cases of practical interest, scattering particles are nonspherical and are distributed over sizes and orientations. However, accurate light scattering computations for ensembles of nonspherical particles are difficult and time-consuming, and the literature in which such calculations are reported is rather scarce. In this paper, the T-matrix approach, as extended recently to randomly oriented particles, is used to calculate rigorously light scattering by size distributions of randomly oriented axially symmetric particles. To model the variation of particle sizes in real ensembles, we use a power law distribution typical of some terrestrial aerosols. Contour plots of intensity and degree of linear polarization for polydisperse prolate and oblate spheroids of different aspect ratios and effective equivalent-sphere size parameters from 0 to 10 are calculated and compared with calculations for equivalent spheres. The angular scattering behavior of nonspherical polydispersions is found to be greatly different from that of spheres, while the scattering properties of oblate and prolate spheroids of the same aspect ratio are similar. With increasing particle size, both intensity and polarization become more shape-dependent. In general, nonspherical particles are stronger side scatterers and weaker backscatterers than equivalent spheres. With increasing aspect ratio of nonspherical particles polarization tends to be predominantly positive. Possible effects of particle nonsphericity on optical remote sensing of atmospheric aerosols are discussed.

Mishchenko, M. I.↗

The behavior of the plasmapause at mid-latitudes: ISIS-1 Langmuir probe measurements

Observations of the electron concentration, N sub e, and temperature, T sub e, from the electrostatic probes on the ISIS-1 satellite were used to examine the location and behavior of the plasmapause at about 3000 kilometers altitude in the vicinity of L = 4. At these altitudes, the N sub e measurements are equivalent to measurements of H(+) since the satellite is well into the protonosphere. The plasmapause as is evident as a sharp drop in N sub e by a factor of 10 to 100 as the satellite passes into the polar cap, and a corresponding increase is observed as it enters the plasmasphere on the opposite side of the Earth. An enhancement of T sub e is also observed at the plasmapause, an effect that is most visible at night when the temperatures at latitudes above and below the plasmapause are usually very low. The position of the plasmapause decreases with magnetic activity but is found to be somewhat less sensitive to K sub p than is the equatorial plasmapause. Also unlike its equatorial behavior, the mid-latitude plasmapause exhibits no detectable late afternoon bulge. These differences imply rather complex coupling of the thermal plasma along the field lines that link these two regions of the plasmasphere. An additional factor may be the recently observed axial asymmetry in the geomagnetic field at high altitudes.

Brace, L. H.↗

Viking radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and topography of Mars - Data acquired during 1 Martian year of tracking

The results of one Martian year of radio occultation measurements of the atmosphere and topography of Mars obtained using the Viking Orbiters are briefly summarized. Determinations of the vertical distribution of tropospheric gas refractivity and ionospheric electron density obtained from atmospheric Doppler frequency perturbations of the S and X band radio tracking frequencies indicate large meteorological variations, with near-surface temperatures ranging from 150 to 250 K, 5-km atmospheric pressure ranging from 3.5 to 4.8 mbar, inversion layers over the polar caps and dust storms, and seasonal pressure variations. Double- and single-layered upper atmospheric electron density profiles were observed on the sunlit and dark sides of the planet, respectively. A topographic map of the Martian surface, obtained from the limb diffraction effects observed at ingress and egress, is found to agree well with the elevation contours of US Geological survey map M 25M 3 RMC, with the exception of the south polar and Alba Patera regions.

Lindal, G. F.↗

Convergence behavior that controls adaptive wind tunnel walls near the test section in the high angle of attack range

The NACA 0012 profile at Mach 0.5 was investigated in a wind tunnel with adaptive walls. It is found that adaptation of the flexible walls is possible in the high angle of attack range on both sides of maximum lift. Oil film photographs of the flow at the profile surface show three dimensional effects in the region of the corners between the profile and the sidewall. It is concluded that pure two dimensional separated flow is not possible.

Ziemann, J.↗

Rotor inflow variability with advance ratio

A comparative study is conducted for the results of inflow calculations based on several analytical wake methods and laser-velocimeter rotor inflow measurements near a rectangular four-bladed rotor system operating in forward flight. The induced-flow characteristics at all advance ratios were found to be unsymmetrical about the longitudinal centerline, with maximum downwash in the rear portion of the disk, and skewed toward the advancing blade-side. Comparisons among analytical methods show that the region of induced upflow over the rotor disk was effectively modeled only at an advance ratio value of 0.15.

Hoad, Danny R.↗

Part B: Pattern control of horn antennas

During this period, the computations of the impedance elements were completed. These include interactions between the two electric current modes, the elecric current mode and the magnetic current mode, and the two magnetic current modes. An accurate and efficient formulation of computing interactions between electric current mode and magnetic current mode was accomplished. This, together with other subroutines allows for the fill-in of all the elements in the matrix. After the fill-in of the impedance elements in the matrix, the forward problem is accomplished. That is, given the specification of the horn and the excitating waveguide mode, the radiation pattern of the antenna based on the integral equation can be obtained. An example case was run for a standard X-band gain-horn (DBG-520). The H- and E-plane patterns of this horn antenna with perfectly conducting walls are compared with the gain pattern available from the manufacturer for up to the first side lobe. Good agreements are obtained although the cross polarization has not yet been accounted for. The effect of the lossy coating on the radiation pattern was also investigated. The resulting E-plane pattern shows about 3-dB improvement in the first sidelobe and 4-dB improvement in the second sidelobe.

Balanis, Constantine A.↗

Pressure drop and He II flow through fine mesh screens

Fluid acquisition systems for He II transfer devices will utilize gallery arms to ensure that the fluid encounters the pump inlet. In near term experiments such as Superfluid Helium on Orbit Transfer (SHOOT), the preferred configuration consists of several rectangular channels which have one side made from a Dutch weave stainless steel screen having 325 x 2300 wires per inch. The effective pore diameter for this screen is about 5 microns. The present paper reports on measurements of pressure drop across a screen when it is subjected to a flow of liquid helium. The experiment measures the time rate of change of the level in two different helium reservoirs connected by a screen-blocked channel. Results with normal helium are compared with predictions based on the Armour-Cannon (1968) equations. The He II data show considerable deviation from the classical result. A discussion of the He II pressure drop results in terms of two fluid hydrodynamics is included.

Maddocks, J. R.↗

Comparison of High Aspect Ratio Cooling Channel Designs for a Rocket Combustion Chamber

An analytical investigation on the effect of high aspect ratio (height/width) cooling channels, considering different coolant channel designs, on hot-gas-side wall temperature and coolant pressure drop for a liquid hydrogen cooled rocket combustion chamber, was performed. Coolant channel design elements considered were: length of combustion chamber in which high aspect ratio cooling was applied, number of coolant channels, and coolant channel shape. Seven coolant channel designs were investigated using a coupling of the Rocket Thermal Evaluation code and the Two-Dimensional Kinetics code. Initially, each coolant channel design was developed, without consideration for fabrication, to reduce the hot-gas-side wall temperature from a given conventional cooling channel baseline. These designs produced hot-gas-side wall temperature reductions up to 22 percent, with coolant pressure drop increases as low as 7.5 percent from the baseline. Fabrication constraints for milled channels were applied to the seven designs. These produced hot-gas-side wall temperature reductions of up to 20 percent, with coolant pressure drop increases as low as 2 percent. Using high aspect ratio cooling channels for the entire length of the combustion chamber had no additional benefit on hot-gas-side wall temperature over using high aspect ratio cooling channels only in the throat region, but increased coolant pressure drop 33 percent. Independent of coolant channel shape, high aspect ratio cooling was able to reduce the hot-gas-side wall temperature by at least 8 percent, with as low as a 2 percent increase in coolant pressure drop. The design with the highest overall benefit to hot-gas-side wall temperature and minimal coolant pressure drop cooling can now be done in relatively short periods of time with multiple iterations.

Wadel, Mary F.↗

Comparison of High Aspect Ratio Cooling Channel Designs for a Rocket Combustion Chamber with Development of an Optimized Design

An analytical investigation on the effect of high aspect ratio (height/width) cooling channels, considering different coolant channel designs, on hot-gas-side wall temperature and coolant pressure drop for a liquid hydrogen cooled rocket combustion chamber, was performed. Coolant channel design elements considered were: length of combustion chamber in which high aspect ratio cooling was applied, number of coolant channels, and coolant channel shape. Seven coolant channel designs were investigated using a coupling of the Rocket Thermal Evaluation code and the Two-Dimensional Kinetics code. Initially, each coolant channel design was developed, without consideration for fabrication, to reduce the hot-gas-side wall temperature from a given conventional cooling channel baseline. These designs produced hot-gas-side wall temperature reductions up to 22 percent, with coolant pressure drop increases as low as 7.5 percent from the baseline. Fabrication constraints for milled channels were applied to the seven designs. These produced hot-gas-side wall temperature reductions of up to 20 percent, with coolant pressure drop increases as low as 2 percent. Using high aspect ratio cooling channels for the entire length of the combustion chamber had no additional benefit on hot-gas-side wall temperature over using high aspect ratio cooling channels only in the throat region, but increased coolant pressure drop 33 percent. Independent of coolant channel shape, high aspect ratio cooling was able to reduce the hot-gas-side wall temperature by at least 8 percent, with as low as a 2 percent increase in coolant pressure drop. ne design with the highest overall benefit to hot-gas-side wall temperature and minimal coolant pressure drop increase was the design which used bifurcated cooling channels and high aspect ratio cooling in the throat region. An optimized bifurcated high aspect ratio cooling channel design was developed which reduced the hot-gas-side wall temperature by 18 percent and reduced the coolant pressure drop by 4 percent. Reductions of coolant mass flow rate of up to 50 percent were possible before the hot-gas-side wall temperature reached that of the baseline. These mass flow rate reductions produced coolant pressure drops of up to 57 percent.

Wadel, Mary F.↗

Superlattice Barrier Infrared Detector Development at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory

We report recent efforts in achieving state-of-the-art performance in type-II superlattice based infrared photodetectors using the barrier infrared detector architecture. We used photoluminescence measurements for evaluating detector material and studied the influence of the material quality on the intensity of the photoluminescence. We performed direct noise measurements of the superlattice detectors and demonstrated that while intrinsic 1/f noise is absent in superlattice heterodiode, side-wall leakage current can become a source of strong frequency-dependent noise. We developed an effective dry etching process for these complex antimonide-based superlattices that enabled us to fabricate single pixel devices as well as large format focal plane arrays. We describe the demonstration of a 1024x1024 pixel long-wavelength infrared focal plane array based the complementary barrier infrared detector (CBIRD) design. An 11.5 micron cutoff focal plane without anti-reflection coating has yielded noise equivalent differential temperature of 53 mK at operating temperature of 80 K, with 300 K background and cold-stop. Imaging results from a recent 10 ?m cutoff focal plane array are also presented.

superlattice↗

Wall Pressure Unsteadiness and Side Loads in Overexpanded Rocket Nozzles

Surveys of both the static and dynamic wall pressure signatures on the interior surface of a sub-scale, cold-flow and thrust optimized parabolic nozzle are conducted during fixed nozzle pressure ratios corresponding to FSS and RSS states. The motive is to develop a better understanding for the sources of off-axis loads during the transient start-up of overexpanded rocket nozzles. During FSS state, pressure spectra reveal frequency content resembling SWTBLI. Presumably, when the internal flow is in RSS state, separation bubbles are trapped by shocks and expansion waves; interactions between the separated flow regions and the waves produce asymmetric pressure distributions. An analysis of the azimuthal modes reveals how the breathing mode encompasses most of the resolved energy and that the side load inducing mode is coherent with the response moment measured by strain gauges mounted upstream of the nozzle on a flexible tube. Finally, the unsteady pressure is locally more energetic during RSS, albeit direct measurements of the response moments indicate higher side load activity when in FSS state. It is postulated that these discrepancies are attributed to cancellation effects between annular separation bubbles.

Baars, Woutijn J.↗

Observations on CFD Verification and Validation from the AIAA Drag Prediction Workshops

The authors provide observations from the AIAA Drag Prediction Workshops that have spanned over a decade and from a recent validation experiment at NASA Langley. These workshops provide an assessment of the predictive capability of forces and moments, focused on drag, for transonic transports. It is very difficult to manage the consistency of results in a workshop setting to perform verification and validation at the scientific level, but it may be sufficient to assess it at the level of practice. Observations thus far: 1) due to simplifications in the workshop test cases, wind tunnel data are not necessarily the “correct” results that CFD should match, 2) an average of core CFD data are not necessarily a better estimate of the true solution as it is merely an average of other solutions and has many coupled sources of variation, 3) outlier solutions should be investigated and understood, and 4) the DPW series does not have the systematic build up and definition on both the computational and experimental side that is required for detailed verification and validation. Several observations regarding the importance of the grid, effects of physical modeling, benefits of open forums, and guidance for validation experiments are discussed. The increased variation in results when predicting regions of flow separation and increased variation due to interaction effects, e.g., fuselage and horizontal tail, point out the need for validation data sets for these important flow phenomena. Experiences with a recent validation experiment at NASA Langley are included to provide guidance on validation experiments.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗

Boundary Layer Instabilities Generated by Freestream Laser Perturbations

A controlled, laser-generated, freestream perturbation was created in the freestream of the Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel (BAM6QT). The freestream perturbation convected downstream in the Mach-6 wind tunnel to interact with a flared cone model. The geometry of the flared cone is a body of revolution bounded by a circular arc with a 3-meter radius. Fourteen PCB 132A31 pressure transducers were used to measure a wave packet generated in the cone boundary layer by the freestream perturbation. This wave packet grew large and became nonlinear before experiencing natural transition in quiet flow. Breakdown of this wave packet occurred when the amplitude of the pressure fluctuations was approximately 10% of the surface pressure for a nominally sharp nosetip. The initial amplitude of the second mode instability on the blunt flared cone is estimated to be on the order of 10 −6 times the freestream static pressure. The freestream laser-generated perturbation was positioned upstream of the model in three different configurations: on the centerline, offset from the centerline by 1.5 mm, and offset from the centerline by 3.0 mm. When the perturbation was offset from the centerline of a blunt flared cone, a larger wave packet was generated on the side toward which the perturbation was offset. The offset perturbation did not show as much of an effect on the wave packet on a sharp flared cone as it did on a blunt flared cone.

Chou, Amanda↗

The Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) Mission Radar: A Novel Conically Scanning SAR

The Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) mission is a NASA mission identified by the NRC "decadal survey" to measure both soil moisture and freeze/thaw state from space. The mission will use both active radar and passive radiometer instruments at L-Band. In order to achieve a wide swath at sufficiently high resolution for both active and passive chan-nels, an instrument architecture that uses a large rotating reflector is employed. The active radar will further utilize SAR processing in order to obtain the sub-footprint resolution necessary for the geophysical retrievals. The SMAP radar has a unique geometry where the antenna footprint is continuously rotated about nadir in a conical fashion, as opposed to the more common side-looking SAR design. In additional to the unconventional scan geometry, the SMAP radar must address the effects of Faraday rotation and radio frequency interference (RFI), both consequences of the L-Band frequency of operation.

L-band↗

Impact of Wake Dispersion on Axial Compressor Performance

Detailed development of wakes and their impact on the performance of a low-speed one and half stage axial compressor are investigated with a large eddy simulation (LES). To investigate effects of wake mixing recovery and wake interaction with the boundary layer of the downstream blade, spacing between the rotor blade and the stator is varied. The calculated LES flow fields based on a fine computational grid are compared with related measurements and analyzed in detail at several radial locations. The current LES calculates the effects of wake recovery very well. The effects of wake recovery vary significantly in the radial direction. Loss generation is higher on the pressure side at the stator exit at both near design and near stall condition. The current investigation indicates that better management of wake development can be achieved for improved compressor performance.

LES↗

Radar Autofocus Algorithm Incorporating a priori Terrain Knowledge for Correction of Mars’ Ionospheric Distortion in MARSIS Observations

Low-frequency subsurface radar observations of Mars’ polar ice deposits by MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) are heavily impacted by the electron content of Mars’ ionosphere. The resulting ionospheric distortion can be represented as attenuation and bulk delay, in addition to higher-order frequency dispersion effects. Baseline, uncorrected images are often unusable when the solar zenith angle is less than 90◦ (day side). In this work, a radar autofocus algorithm is developed that estimates and inverts ionospheric distortion, producing a focused radargram of the ice deposit subsurface. Previously published autofocus algorithms have sought to maximize peak-to-noise contrast, which may yield sub-optimal results for complex terrain. Instead, a maximum likelihood approach is developed that incorporates simulated surface clutter returns for the current spacecraft position, based on the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) elevation model of the Martian surface. An ancillary product is a surface-only clutter simulation for each orbit, which is necessary to identify true subsurface features.

McMichael, Joseph G.↗

The Use of High Energy Heavy Ion Facilities for Single Event Effects (SEE) Testing: A Perspective on Return on Investment (ROI)

With challenges related to testing highly complex integrated circuits as well as entire systems continuing to grow, the use of higher energy heavy ions for single-event effects (SEE) testing becomes a critical technical need. This presentation, however, focuses only partially on the technical side with the main emphasis on the economics of using a high-energy heavy ion beam and comparing via notional cost models for testing.

Kenneth A. LaBel↗

An Investigation at Mach Numbers of 1.40 and 1.59 of the Effects of Aileron Profile on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of a Complete Model of a Supersonic Aircraft Configuration

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley 4- by 4-foot supersonic tunnel at Mach numbers 1.40 and 1.59 to determine the effect of aileron profile on the aerodynamic characteristics of a complete model of a supersonic aircraft configuration. The model had a 40 degree sweptback tapered wing with 10-percent-thick circular-arc sections normal to the quarter-chord line. The ailerons were 20-percent chord and were located on the outboard 50 percent of the wing semispans. The various ailerons investigated included the basic circular-arc profile and three flat-sided ailerons having ratios of trailing-edge thickness to hinge-line thickness t of 0, 0.5, and 1.0. Low aileron effectiveness was obtained with the circular-arc and t = 0 profiles. Increasing the trailing-edge thickness (t = 0.5 and 1.0) resulted in increased effectiveness as well as increased hinge moments with only a slight increase in drag.

Spearman, M Leroy↗