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At least 865 records · Page 48
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

A linear aerodynamic analysis for unsteady transonic cascades

A potential flow analysis to predict unsteady airloads produced by the vibrations of turbomachinery blades operating at transonic Mach numbers is presented. The unsteady aerodynamic model includes the effects of blade geometry, finite mean pressure variation across the blade row, high frequency blade motion, and shock motion within the framework of a linearized, frequency domain formulation. The unsteady equations are solved implicit, least squares, finite difference approximation which is applicable on arbitrary grids. A numerical solution for the entire unsteady field is determined by matching a solution determined on a rectilinear type cascade mesh, which covers an extended blade passage region, to a solution determined on a detailed polar type local mesh, which covers and extends well beyond the supersonic region(s) adjacent to a blade surface. Cascades of double circular arc and flat plate blades demonstrate the unsteady analysis, and partially illustrate the effects of blade geometry, inlet Mach number, blade vibration frequency and shock motion on unsteady response.

Verdon, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Studies on the interference of wings and propeller slipstreams

The small disturbance potential flow theory is applied to determine the lift of an airfoil in a nonuniform parallel stream. The given stream is replaced by an equivalent stream with a certain number of velocity discontinuities, and the influence of these discontinuities is obtained by the method of images. Next, this method is extended to the problem of an airfoil in a nonuniform stream of smooth velocity profile. This model allows perturbation velocity potential in a rotational undisturbed stream. A comparison of these results with numerical solutions of Euler equations indicates that, although approximate, the present method provides useful information about the interaction problem while avoiding the need to solve the Euler equations.

Prabhu, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Energy management of three-dimensional minimum-time intercept

A real-time computer algorithm to control and optimize aircraft flight profiles is described and applied to a three-dimensional minimum-time intercept mission. The proposed scheme has roots in two well known techniques: singular perturbations and neighboring-optimal guidance. Use of singular-perturbation ideas is made in terms of the assumed trajectory-family structure. A heading/energy family of prestored point-mass-model state-Euler solutions is used as the baseline in this scheme. The next step is to generate a near-optimal guidance law that will transfer the aircraft to the vicinity of this reference family. The control commands fed to the autopilot (bank angle and load factor) consist of the reference controls plus correction terms which are linear combinations of the altitude and path-angle deviations from reference values, weighted by a set of precalculated gains. In this respect the proposed scheme resembles neighboring-optimal guidance. However, in contrast to the neighboring-optimal guidance scheme, the reference control and state variables as well as the feedback gains are stored as functions of energy and heading in the present approach. Some numerical results comparing open-loop optimal and approximate feedback solutions are presented.

Kelley, H. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Tolerance bounds for log gamma regression models

The present procedure for finding lower confidence bounds for the quantiles of Weibull populations, on the basis of the solution of a quadratic equation, is more accurate than current Monte Carlo tables and extends to any location-scale family. It is shown that this method is accurate for all members of the log gamma(K) family, where K = 1/2 to infinity, and works well for censored data, while also extending to regression data. An even more accurate procedure involving an approximation to the Lawless (1982) conditional procedure, with numerical integrations whose tables are independent of the data, is also presented. These methods are applied to the case of failure strengths of ceramic specimens from each of three billets of Si3N4, which have undergone flexural strength testing.

Jones, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Preconditioned minimal residual methods for Chebyshev spectral calculations

The problem of preconditioning the pseudospectral Chebyshev approximation of an elliptic operator is considered. The numerical sensitiveness to variations of the coefficients of the operator are investigated for two classes of preconditioning matrices: one arising from finite differences, the other from finite elements. The preconditioned system is solved by a conjugate gradient type method, and by a Dufort-Frankel method with dynamical parameters. The methods are compared on some test problems with the Richardson method and with the minimal residual Richardson method.

Canuto, C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A higher order theory of laminated composite cylindrical shells

A new higher order theory has been proposed for the analysis of composite cylindrical shells. The formulation allows for arbitrary variation of inplane displacements. Governing equations are presented in the form of a hierarchy of sets of partial differential equations. Each set describes the shell behavior to a certain degree of approximation. The natural frequencies of simply-supported isotropic and laminated shells and stresses in a ring loaded composite shell have been determined to various orders of approximation and compared with three dimensional solutions. These numerical studies indicate the improvements achievable in estimating the natural frequencies and the interlaminar shear stresses in laminated composite cylinders.

Krishna Murthy, A. V.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Vibrations in a moving flexible robot arm

The vibration in a flexible robot arm modeled by a moving slender prismatic beam is considered. It is found that the extending and contracting motions have destabilizing and stabilizing effects on the vibratory motions, respectively. The vibration analysis is based on a Galerkin approximation with time-dependent basis functions. Typical numerical results are presented to illustrate the qualitative features of vibrations.

Wang, P. K. C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

On conjugate gradient type methods and polynomial preconditioners for a class of complex non-Hermitian matrices

Conjugate gradient type methods are considered for the solution of large linear systems Ax = b with complex coefficient matrices of the type A = T + i(sigma)I where T is Hermitian and sigma, a real scalar. Three different conjugate gradient type approaches with iterates defined by a minimal residual property, a Galerkin type condition, and an Euclidian error minimization, respectively, are investigated. In particular, numerically stable implementations based on the ideas behind Paige and Saunder's SYMMLQ and MINRES for real symmetric matrices are proposed. Error bounds for all three methods are derived. It is shown how the special shift structure of A can be preserved by using polynomial preconditioning. Results on the optimal choice of the polynomial preconditioner are given. Also, some numerical experiments for matrices arising from finite difference approximations to the complex Helmholtz equation are reported.

Freund, Roland↗
NASA NTRS1990

Agent independent task planning

Agent-Independent Planning is a technique that allows the construction of activity plans without regard to the agent that will perform them. Once generated, a plan is then validated and translated into instructions for a particular agent, whether a robot, crewmember, or software-based control system. Because Space Station Freedom (SSF) is planned for orbital operations for approximately thirty years, it will almost certainly experience numerous enhancements and upgrades, including upgrades in robotic manipulators. Agent-Independent Planning provides the capability to construct plans for SSF operations, independent of specific robotic systems, by combining techniques of object oriented modeling, nonlinear planning and temporal logic. Since a plan is validated using the physical and functional models of a particular agent, new robotic systems can be developed and integrated with existing operations in a robust manner. This technique also provides the capability to generate plans for crewmembers with varying skill levels, and later apply these same plans to more sophisticated robotic manipulators made available by evolutions in technology.

Davis, William S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Counterrotating prop-fan simulations which feature a relative-motion multiblock grid decomposition enabling arbitrary time-steps

Improvements are presented of a computer algorithm developed for the time-accurate flow analysis of rotating machines. The flow model is a finite volume method utilizing a high-resolution approximate Riemann solver for interface flux definitions. The numerical scheme is a block LU implicit iterative-refinement method which possesses apparent unconditional stability. Multiblock composite gridding is used to orderly partition the field into a specified arrangement of blocks exhibiting varying degrees of similarity. Block-block relative motion is achieved using local grid distortion to reduce grid skewness and accommodate arbitrary time step selection. A general high-order numerical scheme is applied to satisfy the geometric conservation law. An even-blade-count counterrotating unducted fan configuration is chosen for a computational study comparing solutions resulting from altering parameters such as time step size and iteration count. The solutions are compared with measured data.

Janus, J. Mark↗
NASA NTRS1990

Optimal placement of actuators and sensors in control augmented structural optimization

A control-augmented structural synthesis methodology is presented in which actuator and sensor placement is treated in terms of (0,1) variables. Structural member sizes and control variables are treated simultaneously as design variables. A multiobjective utopian approach is used to obtain a compromise solution for inherently conflicting objective functions such as strucutal mass control effort and number of actuators. Constraints are imposed on transient displacements, natural frequencies, actuator forces and dynamic stability as well as controllability and observability of the system. The combinatorial aspects of the mixed - (0,1) continuous variable design optimization problem are made tractable by combining approximation concepts with branch and bound techniques. Some numerical results for example problems are presented to illustrate the efficacy of the design procedure set forth.

Sepulveda, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

The computation of induced drag with nonplanar and deformed wakes

The classical calculation of inviscid drag, based on far field flow properties, is reexamined with particular attention to the nonlinear effects of wake roll-up. Based on a detailed look at nonlinear, inviscid flow theory, it is concluded that many of the classical, linear results are more general than might have been expected. Departures from the linear theory are identified and design implications are discussed. Results include the following: Wake deformation has little effect on the induced drag of a single element wing, but introduces first order corrections to the induced drag of a multi-element lifting system. Far field Trefftz-plane analysis may be used to estimate the induced drag of lifting systems, even when wake roll-up is considered, but numerical difficulties arise. The implications of several other approximations made in lifting line theory are evaluated by comparison with more refined analyses.

Kroo, Ilan↗
NASA NTRS1990

Domain decomposition methods in aerodynamics

Compressible Euler equations are solved for two-dimensional problems by a preconditioned conjugate gradient-like technique. An approximate Riemann solver is used to compute the numerical fluxes to second order accuracy in space. Two ways to achieve parallelism are tested, one which makes use of parallelism inherent in triangular solves and the other which employs domain decomposition techniques. The vectorization/parallelism in triangular solves is realized by the use of a recording technique called wavefront ordering. This process involves the interpretation of the triangular matrix as a directed graph and the analysis of the data dependencies. It is noted that the factorization can also be done in parallel with the wave front ordering. The performances of two ways of partitioning the domain, strips and slabs, are compared. Results on Cray YMP are reported for an inviscid transonic test case. The performances of linear algebra kernels are also reported.

Venkatakrishnan, V.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The computation of induced drag with nonplanar and deformed wakes

The classical calculation of inviscid drag, based on far field flow properties, is re-examined with particular attention to the nonlinear effects of wake roll-up. Based on a detailed look at nonlinear, inviscid flow theory, the paper concludes that many of the classical, linear results are more general than might have been expected. Departures from the linear theory are identified and design implications are discussed. Results include the following: wake deformation has little effect on the induced drag of a single element wing, but introduces first order corrections to the induced drag of a multi-element lifting system. Far field Trefftz-plane analysis may be used to estimate the induced drag of lifting systems, even when wake roll-up is considered, but numerical difficulties arise. The implications of several other approximations made in lifting line theory are evaluated by comparison with more refined analyses.

Kroo, Ilan↗
NASA NTRS1992

Upper bounds for convergence rates of vector extrapolation methods on linear systems with initial iterations

The application of the minimal polynomial extrapolation (MPE) and the reduced rank extrapolation (RRE) to a vector sequence obtained by the linear iterative technique x(sub j) + 1 = Ax(sub j) = b,j = 1,2,..., is considered. Both methods produce a two dimensional array of approximations s(sub n,k) to the solution of the system (I - A)x = b. Here, s(sub n,k) is obtained from the vectors x(sub j), n is less than or equal to j is less than or equal to n + k + 1. It was observed in an earlier publication by the first author that the sequence s(sub n,k), k = 1,2,..., for n greater than 0, but fixed, possesses better convergence properties than the sequence s(sub 0,k), k = 1,2,.... A detailed theoretical explanation for this phenomenon is provided in the present work. This explanation is heavily based on approximations by incomplete polynomials. It is demonstrated by numerical examples when the matrix A is sparse that cycling with s(sub n,k) for n greater than 0, but fixed, produces better convergence rates and costs less computationally than cycling with s(sub 0,k). It is also illustrated numerically with a convection-diffusion problem that the former may produce excellent results where the latter may fail completely. As has been shown in an earlier publication, the results produced by s(sub 0,k) are identical to the corresponding results obtained by applying the Arnoldi method or generalized minimal residual scheme (GMRES) to the system (I - A)x = b.

Sidi, Avram↗
NASA NTRS1992

Reduced basis technique for evaluating the sensitivity coefficients of the nonlinear tire response

An efficient reduced-basis technique is proposed for calculating the sensitivity of nonlinear tire response to variations in the design variables. The tire is modeled using a 2-D, moderate rotation, laminated anisotropic shell theory, including the effects of variation in material and geometric parameters. The vector of structural response and its first-order and second-order sensitivity coefficients are each expressed as a linear combination of a small number of basis vectors. The effectiveness of the basis vectors used in approximating the sensitivity coefficients is demonstrated by a numerical example involving the Space Shuttle nose-gear tire, which is subjected to uniform inflation pressure.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗
NASA NTRS1993

High-order cyclo-difference techniques: An alternative to finite differences

The summation-by-parts energy norm is used to establish a new class of high-order finite-difference techniques referred to here as 'cyclo-difference' techniques. These techniques are constructed cyclically from stable subelements, and require no numerical boundary conditions; when coupled with the simultaneous approximation term (SAT) boundary treatment, they are time asymptotically stable for an arbitrary hyperbolic system. These techniques are similar to spectral element techniques and are ideally suited for parallel implementation, but do not require special collocation points or orthogonal basis functions. The principal focus is on methods of sixth-order formal accuracy or less; however, these methods could be extended in principle to any arbitrary order of accuracy.

Carpenter, Mark H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The roughness of the Martian surface: A scale dependent model

In the coming decade, several lander missions to Mars are planned (e.g., MESUR Pathfinder, MESUR). One of the dangers facing planners of these missions is the rough topography observed at both Viking Lander sites. Both landing sites are ubiquitously covered with meter-scale boulders. Objects of this size pose obvious threats to soft landers, especially at Mars where the distance from Earth causes prohibitive time lags between the transmission of commands and feedback from the spacecraft. An obvious solution is to scout for a 'smooth' site prior to the landing. However, the best resolutions realizable on current and future missions (i.e., Mars Observer) are on the order of several meters. Even at this scale, boulders of 1-2 meters in size are unresolvable. Additionally, the amount of time and spacecraft resources required to search even a small area of the planet are unrealistic given other mission objectives. An alternative is to determine the 'roughness' of the surface at a subpixel scale using bidirectional reflectance observations. Much larger areas of the planet can be searched, and much of the search can easily be automated. The morphology of the martian plains observed by the Viking Landers is physically simple. The surface is covered with a layer (approximately flat lying) of aeolian sediment from which numerous outcrops of bedrock and boulders protrude. This morphology, while simple, will be difficult to characterize from orbit using traditional bidirectional reflectance models for two reasons. First, modeling the surface as facets with Gaussian or exponential slope distributions is not realistic given the morphology described above. Second, the roughness parameter is an 'average' of the roughness at scales ranging from the wavelength of light being scattered to the pixel size of the observation. Thus, there is no definite scale of roughness that can be extracted from the Hapke roughness parameter. Using the concepts of geometric and boolean models developed by several workers, we have developed a model for the bidirectional reflectance of a surface morphology comparable to that observed at the Viking Lander sites.

Shepard, M. K.↗