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DOE OSTI2022

Machine Learning for Improving Surface-Layer-Flux Estimates

Abstract Flows in the atmospheric boundary layer are turbulent, characterized by a large Reynolds number, the existence of a roughness sublayer and the absence of a well-defined viscous layer. Exchanges with the surface are therefore dominated by turbulent fluxes. In numerical models for atmospheric flows, turbulent fluxes must be specified at the surface; however, surface fluxes are not known a priori and therefore must be parametrized. Atmospheric flow models, including global circulation, limited area models, and large-eddy simulation, employ Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST) to parametrize surface fluxes. The MOST approach is a semi-empirical formulation that accounts for atmospheric stability effects through universal stability functions. The stability functions are determined based on limited observations using simple regression as a function of the non-dimensional stability parameter representing a ratio of distance from the surface and the Obukhov length scale (Obukhov in Trudy Inst Theor Geofiz AN SSSR 1:95–115, 1946), $$z/L$$ z / L . However, simple regression cannot capture the relationship between governing parameters and surface-layer structure under the wide range of conditions to which MOST is commonly applied. We therefore develop, train, and test two machine-learning models, an artificial neural network (ANN) and random forest (RF), to estimate surface fluxes of momentum, sensible heat, and moisture based on surface and near-surface observations. To train and test these machine-learning algorithms, we use several years of observations from the Cabauw mast in the Netherlands and from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Field Research Division tower in Idaho. The RF and ANN models outperform MOST. Even when we train the RF and ANN on one set of data and apply them to the second set, they provide more accurate estimates of all of the fluxes compared to MOST. Estimates of sensible heat and moisture fluxes are significantly improved, and model interpretability techniques highlight the logical physical relationships we expect in surface-layer processes.

Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences↗

NASA NTRS1982

Beam-plasma instability in the presence of low-frequency turbulence

General equations are derived for a linear beam-plasma instability in the presence of low-frequency turbulence. Within a 'quasi-linear' statistical approximation, these equations contain Langmuir wave scattering, diffusion, resonant and nonresonant anomalous absorption, and a 'plasma laser' effect. It is proposed that naturally occurring density irregularities in the solar wind may stabilize the beam-unstable Langmuir waves which occur during type III solar emissions.

Goldman, M. V.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Incompressible viscous flow simulations of the NFAC wind tunnel

The capabilities of an existing 3-D incompressible Navier-Stokes flow solver, INS3D, are extended and improved to solve turbulent flows through the incorporation of zero- and two-equation turbulence models. The two-equation model equations are solved in their high Reynolds number form and utilize wall functions in the treatment of solid wall boundary conditions. The implicit approximate factorization scheme is modified to improve the stability of the two-equation solver. Applications to the 3-D viscous flow inside the 80 by 120 feet open return wind tunnel of the National Full Scale Aerodynamics Complex (NFAC) are discussed and described.

Champney, Joelle Milene↗

NASA NTRS1995

Stabilization Of Combustion Of Sprayed Fuel

Several modifications of nozzle spraying liquid propellant into combustion chamber proposed to stabilize combustion. Proposed changes in design of nozzle alter flow field in combustion chamber, according to fluid-mechanical principles, in such way as to suppress oscillations. Various alternative nozzle configurations include bluff or toroidal body to generate turbulence. Other features helping to suppress oscillations include down-stream recirculation zones, baffles, and damping cavities. Similar modifications help to suppress oscillations in industrial combustion chambers and in commercial and domestic oil-burning furnaces.

Voecks, Gerald E.↗

NASA NTRS2022

Combined Bluntness and Roughness Effects on Cones at Hypersonic Speeds

This computational study investigates the effects of discrete roughness elements on a blunt cone at zero degrees angle of attack in a Mach 6 flow. Motivation was provided by experiments conducted in the Air Force Research Laboratory Mach 6 High Reynolds Number facility on a 7-degree half-angle cone with a roughness array located at 45 degrees from the apex on two nose tips of different blutness but equivalent roughness Reynolds number. Transition was only affected on the blunter cone, indicating that the transition onset is associated with the combined effects of bluntness and roughness. The present study investigates the 15.24 mm nose radius, 420 azimuthal wavenumber case via Navier-Stokes computations of the laminar base flow and instability analysis. Plane-marching parabolized stability equations (PSE) and inflow-resolvent analysis based on the three-dimensional, harmonic linearized Navier-Stokes equations (HLNSE) are used to calculate the amplification of disturbances along the roughness wake as well as over the roughness nearfield. Results show that the roughness shape can have a great impact on the characteristics of the most amplified wake instabilities. For the experimental configuration with cubic roughness elements of 15 μ m height, the flow is marginally unstable. For prismatic elements of 20 μ m height, the PSE predicts a logarithmic disturbance amplification ratio of N = 5.6 along its wake, but this ratio increases to N = 9.6 when the amplification over the roughness and separation regions is included in the inflow-resolvent analysis.

Boundary-layer transition↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Physics and Modeling of Quasi-Steady and Forced Shock Trains

The dual-mode scramjet is a propulsive concept for contemporary hypersonic vehicles promising flight cruise speeds upwards of Mach 5. Despite decades of development and a recent resurgence in interest, such engines are not routinely deployed for commercial or military purposes. Instead, they have been confined to the realm of ground-test research and limited one-off flight test missions. One of the key stumbling blocks on the critical path to deployment of a dual-mode scramjet is the optimal design and stable operation of the isolator, a typically constant area duct that separates the scramjet inlet from the combustor. During ramjet mode at Mach numbers from 3 to 5 and during the transition to scramjet mode at higher Mach numbers, the isolator contains the pseudo-shock. Necessary to meet the back-pressure in the combustor, the pseudo-shock is typically divided into a shock dominated shock train region followed by a turbulence driven mixing region. Fluctuations in combustor pressure due to vehicle maneuvering, throttling, or combustion instabilities drive the shock train to shift streamwise within the isolator. In response to sharp pressure fluctuations, the shock train is unable to stabilize within the isolator, and the scramjet unstarts by ejecting the shock train out the inlet. This work addresses three key gaps in understanding of the isolator pseudo-shock. The phenomenon is studied in three experimental facilities to investigate the quasi-steady and unsteady fluid dynamics of the shock train in fueled and un-fueled test conditions. The strong link between boundary layer morphology and shock train structure is studied in detail and used as a tool to evaluate the state-of-the-art definitions and models of the pseudo-shock. Identifying the limitations of these models, a new process driven flux-conserved pseudo-shock model is proposed. This provides a computationally efficient model grounded in the fluid dynamic mechanisms of the pseudo-shock with better predictive capability than the current state-of-the-art across all facilities tested. The unsteady behavior of the shock train is further investigated to identify and understand two distinct forced dynamic modes: mechanically induced, low-rate forcing and high-rate combustion driven unsteadiness that sheds upstream propagating shocks. The proposed process driven model is found to be effective in the the limiting case of high-rate combustion driven unsteadiness by evaluating the model in a shock stationary reference frame. Further analysis identifies the approximately rigid chain motion of the shock train structure to mechanically induced forcing. The time delay between the onset of forced dynamics is found to saturate to a constant value and maximum shock train speed along the isolator with respect to the perturbation rate of change. The result of this work provides dual-mode scramjet designers with improved tools and physical understanding to develop more efficient, robust, and capable propulsion systems for hypersonic vehicles.

JAXA↗

NASA NTRS1993

A comparison of airborne eddy correlation and bulk aerodynamic methods for ocean-air turbulent fluxes during cold-air outbreaks

The viscous interfacial-sublayer model of Liu et al. (1979) is used to derive four bulk schemes (LKB, FG, D, and DB), with the flux-profile relationships of Lie et al., Francey and Garratt (1981), Dyer (1974), and Dyer and Bradley (1982). These schemes, with stability-dependent transfer coefficients, are tested against the eddy-correlation fluxes measured at the 50-m flight level above the western Atlantic Ocean during cold-air outbreaks. The bulk fluxes of momentum (tau), sensible heat (H), and latent heat (E) are found to increase with various von Karman constants. The dependence of transfer coefficients on wind speeds and roughness lengths is discussed. The transfer coefficients for tau and E agree excellently between LKB and FG. The ratio of the coefficent for H of LKB to that of FG, increasing with decreasing stability, is very sensitive to stability at low winds, but approaches the neutral value of 1.25 at high winds.

Chou, Shu-Hsien↗

NASA NTRS2022

Interaction of a Tunnel-like Acoustic Disturbance Field with a Blunt Cone Boundary Layer at Mach 8

The existing measurements of laminar-to-turbulent transition over circular cones in conventional (i.e., “noisy”) hypersonic wind tunnels have established that the transition location moves downstream when the nose radius is increased from zero. However, this initially downstream movement slows down and ultimately reverses beyond a critical value of the nose radius, and may be related to external forcing in the form of freestream disturbances and/or surface roughness. To understand the effects of freestream acoustic disturbances on transition reversal over a blunt body, hypersonic boundary-layer receptivity to broadband freestream acoustic disturbances from the nozzle wall of a digital conventional wind tunnel is investigated by both direct numerical simulations (DNS) and modal and nonmodal stability analysis. A Mach 8 flow over a 7 deg half-angle cone with a nose radius of 𝑅 𝑛 = 5.2mm and freestream Reynolds number of 12.2 × 10 6 m -1 is considered. The results show that the broadband tunnel noise in the free stream of a convectional hypersonic wind tunnel (i.e., outside of the nozzle-wall turbulent boundary layer) can be well represented by an acoustic model with an ansatz of slow acoustic waves. With successful calibration of the model parameters against the precursor tunnel DNS, such an acoustic ansatz can successfully reproduce both the frequency-wavenumber spectra and the temporal evolution of the broadband tunnel noise radiated from the nozzle wall. Additionally, the DNS of the Mach 8 blunt cone with tunnel-like acoustic input above the bow shock showed that the spectra of wall-pressure and heat-transfer fluctuations recovers the signature of the axisymmetric waves predicted by the nonmodal analysis. Furthermore, the azimuthal wavenumber and frequency spectrum of the temperature fluctuations as a function of the wall-normal distance show higher amplitudes for three-dimensional waves above the boundary-layer edge. The numerical schlieren contours show the inclined structures commonly observed in blunt cone experiments, demonstrating that they correspond to three-dimensional structures due to freestream disturbances in the presence of an entropy layer.

Boundary-layer transition↗

NASA NTRS2022

Interaction of a Tunnel-like Acoustic Disturbance Field with a Blunt Cone Boundary Layer at Mach 8

Boundary layer transition↗

NASA NTRS1980

Theoretical studies of solar oscillations

Possible sources for the excitation of the solar 5 minute oscillations were investigated and a linear non-adiabatic stability code was applied to a preliminary study of the solar g-modes with periods near 160 minutes. Although no definitive conclusions concerning the excitation of these modes were reached, the excitation of the 5 minute oscillations by turbulent stresses in the convection zone remains a viable possibility. Theoretical calculations do not offer much support for the identification of the 160 minute global solar oscillation (reported by several independent observers) as a solar g-mode. A significant advance was made in attempting to reconcile mixing-length theory with the results of the calculations of linearly unstable normal modes. Calculations show that in a convective envelope prepared according to mixing length theory, the only linearly unstable modes are those which correspond to the turbulent eddies which are the basic element of the heuristic mixing length theory.

Goldreich, P.↗

NASA NTRS1984

The drive for Aircraft Energy Efficiency

NASA's Aircraft Energy Efficiency (ACEE) program, which began in 1976, has mounted a development effort in four major transport aircraft technology fields: laminar flow systems, advanced aerodynamics, flight controls, and composite structures. ACEE has explored two basic methods for achieving drag-reducing boundary layer laminarization: the use of suction through the wing structure (via slots or perforations) to remove boundary layer turbulence, and the encouragement of natural laminar flow maintenance through refined design practices. Wind tunnel tests have been conducted for wide bodied aircraft equipped with high aspect ratio supercritical wings and winglets. Maneuver load control and pitch-active stability augmentation control systems reduce fuel consumption by reducing the drag associated with high aircraft stability margins. Composite structures yield lighter airframes that in turn call for smaller wing and empennage areas, reducing induced drag for a given payload. In combination, all four areas of development are expected to yield a fuel consumption reduction of 40 percent.

James, R. L., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Transition flight experiments on a swept wing with suction

Flight boundary-layer transition experiments were conducted on a 30-degree swept wing with a perforated leading-edge suction panel. The transition location on the panel was changed by systematically varying the location and amount of suction. Transition from laminar to turbulent flow was due to leading-edge turbulence contamination or crossflow disturbance growth and/or Tollmien-Schlichting disturbance growth, depending on flight condition and suction variation. Amplification factor correlations with transition location were made for various suction configurations using a state-of-the-art linear stability theory which accounts for body and streamline curvature and compressibility.

Maddalon, D. V.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Transition Flight Experiments on a Swept Wing with Suction

Flight boundary-layer transition experiments were conducted on a 30 degree swept wing with a perforated leading-edge suction panel. The transition location on the panel was changed by systematically varying the location and amount of suction. Transition from laminar to turbulent flow was due to leading-edge turbulence contamination or crossflow disturbance growth and/or Tollmien-Schlichting disturbance growth, depending on flight condition and suction variation. Amplification factor correlations with transition location were made for various suction configurations using a state-of-the-art linear stability theory which accounts for body and streamline curvature and compressibility.

Maddalon, D. V.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Extending Newtonian Dynamics to Include Stochastic Processes

A paper presents further results of continuing research reported in several previous NASA Tech Briefs articles, the two most recent being Stochastic Representations of Chaos Using Terminal Attractors (NPO-41519), [Vol. 30, No. 5 (May 2006), page 57] and Physical Principle for Generation of Randomness (NPO-43822) [Vol. 33, No. 5 (May 2009), page 56]. This research focuses upon a mathematical formalism for describing post-instability motions of a dynamical system characterized by exponential divergences of trajectories leading to chaos (including turbulence as a form of chaos). The formalism involves fictitious control forces that couple the equations of motion of the system with a Liouville equation that describes the evolution of the probability density of errors in initial conditions. These stabilizing forces create a powerful terminal attractor in probability space that corresponds to occurrence of a target trajectory with probability one. The effect in configuration space (ordinary three-dimensional space as commonly perceived) is to suppress exponential divergences of neighboring trajectories without affecting the target trajectory. As a result, the post-instability motion is represented by a set of functions describing the evolution of such statistical quantities as expectations and higher moments, and this representation is stable.

Zak, Michail↗

DOE OSTI2020

How Should Machine Learning Be Successfully Used for Wind Speed Vertical Extrapolation?

An accurate characterization of the wind resource available at hub-height is required for an efficient and bankable wind farm project. However, direct measurement of wind speed at the constantly increasing height of the hub of commercial wind turbines is oftentimes challenging and expensive, so that it is common practice to vertically extrapolate the wind resource from lower and more easily accessible levels. Conventional techniques for wind speed vertical extrapolation include the use of a power law and a logarithmic profile. While simple, the limits in accuracy of these methods have been shown in various studies. Recently, machine learning has been proposed as a new method to vertically extrapolate winds. All the published studies on the topic assess the performance of machine learning techniques in vertically extrapolating the wind resource at the same location where the algorithm has been trained. However, in real-world applications, the wind resource is measured at the instrument location, but it then needs to be extrapolated at hub height at the location of the wind turbines within the find farm. To be able to fully recommend the use of machine learning techniques over the simple power law and logarithmic law, the spatial variability of the performance improvements of the machine learning approaches needs to be assessed. Here, we propose a round-robin validation of a machine learning-based method for wind speed extrapolation. We use 20 months of observations at four locations spanning a 100 km wide region at the Southern Great Plains (SGP) atmospheric observatory, in north-central Oklahoma. At each location, we train a random forest to predict 30-min average wind speed at 143 m AGL. We use as input features lidar wind speed at 65 m AGL, time of day, sonic anemometer wind speed at 4 m AGL, turbulent kinetic energy, and Obukhov length. First, we perform a same-site comparison of the performance of the proposed random forest against the conventional techniques for wind speed extrapolation (namely power law and logarithmic profile, with widely accepted stability corrections). We find that the random forest outperforms the power law in vertically extrapolating wind speed in all the considered stability regimes, with a 33% reduction in MAE for stable conditions, and a 31% reduction in unstable conditions. Similar results are found when comparing predictions of extrapolated winds from the logarithmic profile and the random forest with the observed values. Next, we propose a round-robin validation, to use the random forest trained at each site to extrapolate wind speed at the remaining three sites. We find that the performance of the random forest approach degrades when the algorithm is tested at a site different than the training one. However, even under those circumstances, the machine learning-based approach still outperforms the conventional techniques for wind speed extrapolation, with, on average, a reduction in mean absolute error between 15 and 20% over the conventional methods, with the largest benefits obtained under stable conditions.

Monte Carlo↗

DOE OSTI2026

Investigation of onshore wind farm wake recovery with in situ aircraft measurements during AWAKEN

The share of wind power for electricity supply is increasing worldwide. This highly variable resource requires the improved prediction of power output for network stability. The interaction between wind farm wakes and the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) introduces uncertainties in power production that warrant detailed investigation. The flow downwind of wind farms is characterized by a reduction in wind speed and an increase in turbulence, which both vary with atmospheric conditions. During the American WAKE experimeNt (AWAKEN), the Technische Universität Braunschweig conducted measurement flights with a research aircraft upwind and downwind of onshore wind farms in the southern Great Plains in Oklahoma in the USA. This study utilizes data from 20 flights conducted at approximately hub height in September 2023 to investigate the wind field variability downwind of the wind farms and vertical profiles to observe atmospheric stratification. The flights were aligned perpendicular to the main wind direction downwind of the King Plains and Armadillo Flats wind farms. Additionally, lidar data from both upwind and downwind ground-based measurement sites and sonic anemometer data were used for comprehensive analysis. Results indicate that under stable ABL conditions, the wake persists at greater downwind distances with a higher velocity deficit in the wake relative to the undisturbed flow compared to unstable stratification. In homogeneous terrain under stable conditions, wake recovery to 95 % occurs between a distance of 4.5 and 9 km downwind of the wind farm. In the semi-complex terrain characterized by shallow hills, slopes, and valleys, the wake exhibits a higher velocity deficit compared to homogeneous terrain, while in some cases the wake was amplified by the terrain resulting in higher velocity deficit 10 km downwind of the wind farm compared to the measurements closer to the wind farm. The turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and “TKE difference” was found to be a valuable measure in understanding wakes in a semi-complex terrain, showing a clear wake recovery and formation depending on the stratification of the ABL.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1990

Numerical simulation of transition in a rotating disk flow

An investigation of the laminar-turbulence transition process in a three-dimensional boundary layer on a rotating disk is initiated. Preliminary results from a direct numerical simulation using spectral collocation method are presented. The simulation results in the linear regime is tested against linear stability theory. Saturation of the primary disturbance energy suggests the importance of modal interaction in initiating transition.

Balachandar, S.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Analysis of Lean Premixed/Prevaporized Combustion with KIVA-2

Requirements to reduce the emissions of pollutants from gas turbines used in aircraft propulsion and ground based power generation have led to consideration of lean premixed/prevaporized (LPP) combustion concept. This paper describes some of the LPP flame tube analyses performed at the NASA Research Center with KIVA-2, a well-known multi-dimensional CFD code for problems including sprays, turbulence, and combustion. Modifications to KIVA-2's boundary condition and chemistry treatments have been made to meet the needs of the present study. The study itself focuses on two key aspects of the LPP concept, low emissions and flame stability (including flashback and lean blowoff.

Deur, J. M.↗