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NASA NTRS1989

Computational Fluid Dynamics Program at NASA Ames Research Center

The Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) Program at NASA Ames Research Center is reviewed and discussed. The technical elements of the CFD Program are listed and briefly discussed. These elements include algorithm research, research and pilot code development, scientific visualization, advanced surface representation, volume grid generation, and numerical optimization. Next, the discipline of CFD is briefly discussed and related to other areas of research at NASA Ames including experimental fluid dynamics, computer science research, computational chemistry, and numerical aerodynamic simulation. These areas combine with CFD to form a larger area of research, which might collectively be called computational technology. The ultimate goal of computational technology research at NASA Ames is to increase the physical understanding of the world in which we live, solve problems of national importance, and increase the technical capabilities of the aerospace community. Next, the major programs at NASA Ames that either use CFD technology or perform research in CFD are listed and discussed. Briefly, this list includes turbulent/transition physics and modeling, high-speed real gas flows, interdisciplinary research, turbomachinery demonstration computations, complete aircraft aerodynamics, rotorcraft applications, powered lift flows, high alpha flows, multiple body aerodynamics, and incompressible flow applications. Some of the individual problems actively being worked in each of these areas is listed to help define the breadth or extent of CFD involvement in each of these major programs. State-of-the-art examples of various CFD applications are presented to highlight most of these areas. The main emphasis of this portion of the presentation is on examples which will not otherwise be treated at this conference by the individual presentations. Finally, a list of principal current limitations and expected future directions is given.

Holst, Terry L.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Systems engineering and integration: Advanced avionics laboratories

In order to develop the new generation of avionics which will be necessary for upcoming programs such as the Lunar/Mars Initiative, Advanced Launch System, and the National Aerospace Plane, new Advanced Avionics Laboratories are required. To minimize costs and maximize benefits, these laboratories should be capable of supporting multiple avionics development efforts at a single location, and should be of a common design to support and encourage data sharing. Recent technological advances provide the capability of letting the designer or analyst perform simulations and testing in an environment similar to his engineering environment and these features should be incorporated into the new laboratories. Existing and emerging hardware and software standards must be incorporated wherever possible to provide additional cost savings and compatibility. Special care must be taken to design the laboratories such that real-time hardware-in-the-loop performance is not sacrificed in the pursuit of these goals. A special program-independent funding source should be identified for the development of Advanced Avionics Laboratories as resources supporting a wide range of upcoming NASA programs.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1998

Numerical Analysis of a Radiant Heat Flux Calibration System

A radiant heat flux gage calibration system exists in the Flight Loads Laboratory at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. This calibration system must be well understood if the heat flux gages calibrated in it are to provide useful data during radiant heating ground tests or flight tests of high speed aerospace vehicles. A part of the calibration system characterization process is to develop a numerical model of the flat plate heater element and heat flux gage, which will help identify errors due to convection, heater element erosion, and other factors. A 2-dimensional mathematical model of the gage-plate system has been developed to simulate the combined problem involving convection, radiation and mass loss by chemical reaction. A fourth order finite difference scheme is used to solve the steady state governing equations and determine the temperature distribution in the gage and plate, incident heat flux on the gage face, and flat plate erosion. Initial gage heat flux predictions from the model are found to be within 17% of experimental results.

Jiang, Shanjuan↗

NASA NTRS2014

Visual Advantage of Enhanced Flight Vision System During NextGen Flight Test Evaluation

Synthetic Vision Systems and Enhanced Flight Vision System (SVS/EFVS) technologies have the potential to provide additional margins of safety for aircrew performance and enable operational improvements for low visibility operations in the terminal area environment. Simulation and flight tests were jointly sponsored by NASA's Aviation Safety Program, Vehicle Systems Safety Technology project and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to evaluate potential safety and operational benefits of SVS/EFVS technologies in low visibility Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) operations. The flight tests were conducted by a team of Honeywell, Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation and NASA personnel with the goal of obtaining pilot-in-the-loop test data for flight validation, verification, and demonstration of selected SVS/EFVS operational and system-level performance capabilities. Nine test flights were flown in Gulfstream's G450 flight test aircraft outfitted with the SVS/EFVS technologies under low visibility instrument meteorological conditions. Evaluation pilots flew 108 approaches in low visibility weather conditions (600 feet to 3600 feet reported visibility) under different obscurants (mist, fog, drizzle fog, frozen fog) and sky cover (broken, overcast). Flight test videos were evaluated at three different altitudes (decision altitude, 100 feet radar altitude, and touchdown) to determine the visual advantage afforded to the pilot using the EFVS/Forward-Looking InfraRed (FLIR) imagery compared to natural vision. Results indicate the EFVS provided a visual advantage of two to three times over that of the out-the-window (OTW) view. The EFVS allowed pilots to view the runway environment, specifically runway lights, before they would be able to OTW with natural vision.

Kramer, Lynda J.↗

NASA NTRS2023

Predicting Two-Dimensional Airfoil Performance Using Graph Neural Networks

Computer simulations require the use of meshes to simulate geometries. These meshes capture important geometric features of the design and can be used in machine learning modeling. This report explores the use of graph neural networks (GNNs) to learn features from two-dimensional (2D) airfoil designs represented as a set of nodes connected using edges. This type of network is common in aerospace applications: most geometries are represented as a mesh in order to perform analysis. The objective of this work is to use GNNs to predict the performance of 2D airfoils generated using the program XFOIL. The predicted performance parameters include bulk quantities such as coefficients of lift (C L ), drag (C d , C dp ), moment (C m ), and node-specific quantities such as coefficient of pressure (C p ). In this report, a spline convolutional graph-based neural network is compared with deep learning neural networks to predict both bulk and node-specific quantities. The findings indicate the GNNs are able to predict bulk quantities quite well; however, when the number of outputs is increased, the deep neural network (DNN) proves to be better in its prediction capability. Two different normalization strategies were compared in the training of both GNNs and DNNs: minmax and standard deviation. In both types of networks, standard deviation scaling proved to be the best.

machine learning↗

NASA NTRS1996

Development of Collaborative Research Initiatives to Advance the Aerospace Sciences-via the Communications, Electronics, Information Systems Focus Group

The primary goal of the Adaptive Vision Laboratory Research project was to develop advanced computer vision systems for automatic target recognition. The approach used in this effort combined several machine learning paradigms including evolutionary learning algorithms, neural networks, and adaptive clustering techniques to develop the E-MOR.PH system. This system is capable of generating pattern recognition systems to solve a wide variety of complex recognition tasks. A series of simulation experiments were conducted using E-MORPH to solve problems in OCR, military target recognition, industrial inspection, and medical image analysis. The bulk of the funds provided through this grant were used to purchase computer hardware and software to support these computationally intensive simulations. The payoff from this effort is the reduced need for human involvement in the design and implementation of recognition systems. We have shown that the techniques used in E-MORPH are generic and readily transition to other problem domains. Specifically, E-MORPH is multi-phase evolutionary leaming system that evolves cooperative sets of features detectors and combines their response using an adaptive classifier to form a complete pattern recognition system. The system can operate on binary or grayscale images. In our most recent experiments, we used multi-resolution images that are formed by applying a Gabor wavelet transform to a set of grayscale input images. To begin the leaming process, candidate chips are extracted from the multi-resolution images to form a training set and a test set. A population of detector sets is randomly initialized to start the evolutionary process. Using a combination of evolutionary programming and genetic algorithms, the feature detectors are enhanced to solve a recognition problem. The design of E-MORPH and recognition results for a complex problem in medical image analysis are described at the end of this report. The specific task involves the identification of vertebrae in x-ray images of human spinal columns. This problem is extremely challenging because the individual vertebra exhibit variation in shape, scale, orientation, and contrast. E-MORPH generated several accurate recognition systems to solve this task. This dual use of this ATR technology clearly demonstrates the flexibility and power of our approach.

Knasel, T. Michael↗

NASA NTRS2005

Damage Assessment of Aerospace Structural Components by Impedance Based Health Monitoring

This paper addresses recent efforts at the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field relating to the set-up and assessment of electro-mechanical (E/M) impedance based structural health monitoring. The overall aim is the application of the impedance based technique to aeronautic and space based structural components. As initial steps, a laboratory was created, software written, and experiments conducted on aluminum plates in undamaged and damaged states. A simulated crack, in the form of a narrow notch at various locations, was analyzed using piezoelectric-ceramic (PZT: lead, zirconate, titarate) patches as impedance measuring transducers. Descriptions of the impedance quantifying hardware and software are provided as well as experimental results. In summary, an impedance based health monitoring system was assembled and tested. The preliminary data showed that the impedance based technique was successful in recognizing the damage state of notched aluminum plates.

Gyekenyesi, Andrew L.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Evaluation of Additively Manufactured Monolithic SiC and SiC Ceramic Matrix Composites for Concentrating Solar Receiver Applications

Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office, US Department of Energy, GE Aerospace Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR). We report the results of our study of the effective heat transfer characteristic of several candidate structure motifs, or feature geometries, made of SiC via additive manufacturing in a simulative laboratory test. The SiC structure motifs studied include different permutations of three-dimensional periodic lattices and defined shapes. The solar-thermal simulating laboratory test setup is constructed using a 4kW CO2 laser system with beam shaping optics to apply radiative heating power on one face of 2”-diameter cylindrical feature specimens representing the structure motifs of interest for receiver element design. Using the test setup, simulative test conditions representative of a concentrated solar flux of up to ~2000 suns could be achieved in the lab tests under varying air flow through the test structure. A numerical analysis scheme is developed to extract an effective or compound heat transfer coefficient representative of the test structure under steady-state heat flow conditions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1981

The 1981 NASA ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship Program, volume 2

A collection of papers on miscellaneous subjects in aerospace research is presented. Topics discussed are: (1) Langmuir probe theory and the problem of anisotropic collection; (2) anthropometric program analysis of reach and body movement; (3) analysis of IV characteristics of negatively biased panels in a magnetoplasma; (4) analytic solution to classical two body drag problem; (5) fast variable step size integration algorithm for computer simulations of physiological systems; (6) spectroscopic experimental computer assisted empirical model for the production of energetics of excited oxygen molecules formed by atom recombination shuttle tile surfaces; and (7) capillary priming characteristics of dual passage heat pipe in zero-g.

Robertson, N. G.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Stepper motor instabilities in an aerospace application

Stepper motors are frequently used in positioning mechanisms because they have several advantages over ordinary DC motors. However, there is frequently no feedback loop and the motor may exhibit instabilities under some conditions. A stepper motor in an aerospace positioning mechanism was investigated. During testing, the motor exhibited unstable behavior, such as backrunning and forward running. The instability was dependent on voltage pulse characteristics, temperature, positioning angle, step rate, and interaction between the two motors in the system. Both testing and analysis results verified the instability. A special purpose FORTRAN code was written to simulate the system. This code was combined with another simpler code to show the performance of the system in the phase plane so that instability boundaries could be displayed along with the motor performance. The analysis was performed to verify that proposed modifications would produce stable performance before implementation in the hardware. Subsequent testing verified the analytic stability predictions.

Russell Kackley↗

NASA NTRS2002

Dual-Mode Combustion

The Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Virginia has conducted an investigation of the mixing and combustion processes in a hydrogen fueled dual-mode scramjet combustor. The experiment essentially consisted of the "direct connect" continuous operation of a Mach 2 rectangular combustor with a single unswept ramp fuel injector. The stagnation enthalpy of the test flow simulated a flight Mach number of 5. Measurements were obtained using conventional wall instrumentation and laser based diagnostics. These diagnostics included, pressure and wall temperature measurements, Fuel Plume Imaging (FPI) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). A schematic of the combustor configuration and a summary of the measurements obtained are presented. The experimental work at UVa was parallel by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) work at NASA Langley. The numerical and experiment results are compared in this document.

Goyne, Christopher P.↗

NASA NTRS2014

The X-15 3-65 Accident: An Aircraft Systems and Flight Control Perspective

Despite the NASA X-15 program's outstanding success in developing and operating the first manned hypersonic research platform, the program suffered a fatal accident on November 15, 1967, when X-15-3, the only aircraft outfitted with advanced pilot displays and an adaptive flight control system, was lost after entering uncontrolled flight at an altitude of 230,000 feet and a velocity near Mach 5. The pilot, Major Michael J. Adams, was incapacitated by the aircraft accelerations and was killed either during the ensuing breakup or upon ground impact. In light of mitigating risk to current and emerging manned aerospace vehicles, a comprehensive systems level analysis of the accident is presented with a focus on the electrical power, flight control, and instrumentation failures that affected not only the vehicle dynamics but substantially impacted the pilot decisions that led to an inevitable loss of control. Insights based on reconstructed flight data as well as analysis and simulation of the X-15's unique adaptive control system, yield new conclusions about the reasons for the control systems anomalous behavior and the system-level interactions and human-machine interface design oversights that led to the accident.

Accident Investigation↗

DOE OSTI2022

High-Entropy Borides under Extreme Environment of Pressures and Temperatures

The high-entropy transition metal borides containing a random distribution of five or more constituent metallic elements offer novel opportunities in designing materials that show crystalline phase stability, high strength, and thermal oxidation resistance under extreme conditions. We present a comprehensive theoretical and experimental investigation of prototypical high-entropy boride (HEB) materials such as (Hf, Mo, Nb, Ta, Ti)B2 and (Hf, Mo, Nb, Ta, Zr)B2 under extreme environments of pressures and temperatures. The theoretical tools include modeling elastic properties by special quasi-random structures that predict a bulk modulus of 288 GPa and a shear modulus of 215 GPa at ambient conditions. HEB samples were synthesized under high pressures and high temperatures and studied to 9.5 GPa and 2273 K in a large-volume pressure cell. The thermal equation of state measurement yielded a bulk modulus of 276 GPa, in excellent agreement with theory. The measured compressive yield strength by radial X-ray diffraction technique in a diamond anvil cell was 28 GPa at a pressure of 65 GPa, which is a significant fraction of the shear modulus at high pressures. The high compressive strength and phase stability of this material under high pressures and high temperatures make it an ideal candidate for application as a structural material in nuclear and aerospace fields.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS1979

Silicon Solar Cell Process Development, Fabrication and Analysis

Solar cells were constructed from polycrystalline silicon sheet material (10 cm x 10 cm). These cells were made using conventional aerospace methods and serve as the so-called baseline cell for analysis and comparison with cells to be made from similar material, but using optimized processing techniques. Before and during the processing of the baseline cells in a cleaned diffusion tube, control cells were built using the baseline method. All cells were measured on a solar simulator at air mass zero and 28 C. Average efficiency for the baseline cells was 9.5%. Efficiency was found to vary with location in the sheet. Center regions had higher efficiencies whereas corner and edge regions had lower efficiencies. In general, the efficiency falls off with distance from the center of the sheet.

Minahan, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

An application of object-oriented knowledge representation to engineering expert systems

The paper describes an object-oriented knowledge representation and its application to engineering expert systems. The object-oriented approach promotes efficient handling of the problem data by allowing knowledge to be encapsulated in objects and organized by defining relationships between the objects. An Object Representation Language (ORL) was implemented as a tool for building and manipulating the object base. Rule-based knowledge representation is then used to simulate engineering design reasoning. Using a common object base, very large expert systems can be developed, comprised of small, individually processed, rule sets. The integration of these two schemes makes it easier to develop practical engineering expert systems. The general approach to applying this technology to the domain of the finite element analysis, design, and optimization of aerospace structures is discussed.

D S Logie↗

NASA NTRS1999

RF Bonding Investigation: The Effects of a Space Environment on Coatings

Coatings are commonly used in the aerospace industry for corrosion control of metals. The impedance of these coatings can reduce the effectiveness of EMI filters. This paper documents the effects of a space environment on a variety of coatings applied to electrical bonding surfaces. Nickel plating, anodizing, and chemical conversion coatings of alodine and iridite are investigated. The test fixture is designed to simulate a feed-through filter in a metal chassis. The filter insertion loss will be shown as a function of frequency and coating.

Krome, Mark E.↗

NASA NTRS2009

Refined Zigzag Theory for Laminated Composite and Sandwich Plates

A refined zigzag theory is presented for laminated-composite and sandwich plates that includes the kinematics of first-order shear deformation theory as its baseline. The theory is variationally consistent and is derived from the virtual work principle. Novel piecewise-linear zigzag functions that provide a more realistic representation of the deformation states of transverse-shear-flexible plates than other similar theories are used. The formulation does not enforce full continuity of the transverse shear stresses across the plate s thickness, yet is robust. Transverse-shear correction factors are not required to yield accurate results. The theory is devoid of the shortcomings inherent in the previous zigzag theories including shear-force inconsistency and difficulties in simulating clamped boundary conditions, which have greatly limited the accuracy of these theories. This new theory requires only C(sup 0)-continuous kinematic approximations and is perfectly suited for developing computationally efficient finite elements. The theory should be useful for obtaining relatively efficient, accurate estimates of structural response needed to design high-performance load-bearing aerospace structures.

Tessler, Alexander↗

NASA NTRS2011

Extensions to the Dynamic Aerospace Vehicle Exchange Markup Language

The Dynamic Aerospace Vehicle Exchange Markup Language (DAVE-ML) is a syntactical language for exchanging flight vehicle dynamic model data. It provides a framework for encoding entire flight vehicle dynamic model data packages for exchange and/or long-term archiving. Version 2.0.1 of DAVE-ML provides much of the functionality envisioned for exchanging aerospace vehicle data; however, it is limited in only supporting scalar time-independent data. Additional functionality is required to support vector and matrix data, abstracting sub-system models, detailing dynamics system models (both discrete and continuous), and defining a dynamic data format (such as time sequenced data) for validation of dynamics system models and vehicle simulation packages. Extensions to DAVE-ML have been proposed to manage data as vectors and n-dimensional matrices, and record dynamic data in a compatible form. These capabilities will improve the clarity of data being exchanged, simplify the naming of parameters, and permit static and dynamic data to be stored using a common syntax within a single file; thereby enhancing the framework provided by DAVE-ML for exchanging entire flight vehicle dynamic simulation models.

Brian, Geoffrey J.↗