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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Direct Coupling Method for Time-Accurate Solution of Incompressible Navier-Stokes Equations

A noniterative finite difference numerical method is presented for the solution of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with second order accuracy in time and space. Explicit treatment of convection and diffusion terms and implicit treatment of the pressure gradient give a single pressure Poisson equation when the discretized momentum and continuity equations are combined. A pressure boundary condition is not needed on solid boundaries in the staggered mesh system. The solution of the pressure Poisson equation is obtained directly by Gaussian elimination. This method is tested on flow problems in a driven cavity and a curved duct.

Soh, Woo Y.↗
NASA NTRS1998

WARP3D-Release 10.8: Dynamic Nonlinear Analysis of Solids using a Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient Software Architecture

This report describes theoretical background material and commands necessary to use the WARP3D finite element code. WARP3D is under continuing development as a research code for the solution of very large-scale, 3-D solid models subjected to static and dynamic loads. Specific features in the code oriented toward the investigation of ductile fracture in metals include a robust finite strain formulation, a general J-integral computation facility (with inertia, face loading), an element extinction facility to model crack growth, nonlinear material models including viscoplastic effects, and the Gurson-Tver-gaard dilatant plasticity model for void growth. The nonlinear, dynamic equilibrium equations are solved using an incremental-iterative, implicit formulation with full Newton iterations to eliminate residual nodal forces. The history integration of the nonlinear equations of motion is accomplished with Newmarks Beta method. A central feature of WARP3D involves the use of a linear-preconditioned conjugate gradient (LPCG) solver implemented in an element-by-element format to replace a conventional direct linear equation solver. This software architecture dramatically reduces both the memory requirements and CPU time for very large, nonlinear solid models since formation of the assembled (dynamic) stiffness matrix is avoided. Analyses thus exhibit the numerical stability for large time (load) steps provided by the implicit formulation coupled with the low memory requirements characteristic of an explicit code. In addition to the much lower memory requirements of the LPCG solver, the CPU time required for solution of the linear equations during each Newton iteration is generally one-half or less of the CPU time required for a traditional direct solver. All other computational aspects of the code (element stiffnesses, element strains, stress updating, element internal forces) are implemented in the element-by- element, blocked architecture. This greatly improves vectorization of the code on uni-processor hardware and enables straightforward parallel-vector processing of element blocks on multi-processor hardware.

Koppenhoefer, Kyle C.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Calculation of three-dimensional compressible laminar and turbulent boundary layers. An implicit finite-difference procedure for solving the three-dimensional compressible laminar, transitional, and turbulent boundary-layer equations

An implicit finite-difference procedure is presented for solving the compressible three-dimensional boundary-layer equations. The method is second-order accurate, unconditionally stable (conditional stability for reverse cross flow), and efficient from the viewpoint of computer storage and processing time. The Reynolds stress terms are modeled by (1) a single-layer mixing length model and (2) a two-layer eddy viscosity model. These models, although simple in concept, accurately predicted the equilibrium turbulent flow for the conditions considered. Numerical results are compared with experimental wall and profile data for a cone at an angle of attack larger than the cone semiapex angle. These comparisons clearly indicate that the numerical procedure and turbulence models accurately predict the experimental data with as few as 21 nodal points in the plane normal to the wall boundary.

Harris, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Real gas flow fields about three dimensional configurations

Real gas, inviscid supersonic flow fields over a three-dimensional configuration are determined using a factored implicit algorithm. Air in chemical equilibrium is considered and its local thermodynamic properties are computed by an equilibrium composition method. Numerical solutions are presented for both real and ideal gases at three different Mach numbers and at two different altitudes. Selected results are illustrated by contour plots and are also tabulated for future reference. Results obtained compare well with existing tabulated numerical solutions and hence validate the solution technique.

Balakrishnan, A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A solution procedure for three-dimensional incompressible Navier-Stokes equation and its application

An implicit, finite-difference procedure is presented for numerically solving viscous incompressible flows. For convenience of applying the present method to three-dimensional problems, primitive variables, namely the pressure and velocities, are used. One of the major difficulties in solving incompressible flows that use primitive variables is caused by the pressure field solution method which is used as a mapping procedure to obtain a divergence-free velocity field. The present method is designed to accelerate the pressure-field solution procedure. This is achieved by the method of pseudocompressibility in which the time derivative pressure term is introduced into the mass conservation equation. The pressure wave propagation and the spreading of the viscous effect is investigated using simple test problems. The present study clarifies physical and numerical characteristics of the pseudo-compressible approach in simulating incompressible flows. Computed results for external and internal flows are presented to verify the present procedure. The present algorithm has been shown to be very robust and accurate if the selection of the pseudo-compressibility parameter has been made according to the guidelines given.

Kwak, D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Flowfield computation of an aerobrake orbital transfer vehicle

Viscous real gas and ideal gas supersonic flowfields over the forebody of a aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicle are determined using a unsteady factored implicit algorithm. Air in chemical equilibrium is considered and its local thermodynamic properties are computed by an equilibrium composition method. Numerical solutions are obtained for both real and ideal gases at a Mach number of 30 and at angles of attack up to 20 degrees. Shock stand-off distances and surface pressure distributions are presented for the gas models with and without viscous effects. For the freestream conditions considered, viscous effects dominate the flow.

Balakrishnan, A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Viscous shock-layer solutions for the low-density hypersonic flow past long slender bodies

Results are obtained for the surface pressure, drag, heat-transfer, and skin-friction coefficients for hyperboloids and sphere cones. Body half angles from 5 to 22.5 degrees are considered for various low-density flow conditions. Recently obtained surface-slip and shock-slip equations are employed to account for the low-density effects. The method of solution employed for the viscous shock-layer (VSL) equations is a partially coupled spatial-marching implicit finite-difference technique. The flow cases analyzed include highly cooled long slender bodies in high Mach number flows. The present perfect-gas VSL calculations compare quite well with available experimental data. Results have also been obtained from the steady-state Navier-Stokes (NS) equations by successive approximations. Comparison between the NS and VSL results indicates that VSL equations even with body and shock-slip boundary conditions may not be adequate in the stagnation region at altitudes greater than about 75 km for the cases analyzed here.

Gupta, R. N.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Computations of three-dimensional steady and unsteady viscous incompressible flows

The INS3D family of computational fluid dynamics computer codes is presented. These codes are used to as tools in developing and assessing algorithms for solving the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations for steady-state and unsteady flow problems. This work involves applying the codes to real-world problems involving complex three-dimensional geometries. The algorithms utilized include the method of pseudocompressibility including both central and upwind differencing, several types of artificial dissipation schemes, approximate factorization, and an implicit line-relaxation scheme. These codes have been validated using a wide range of problems including flow over a backward-facing step, driven cavity flow, flow through various types of ducts, and steady and unsteady flow over a circular cylinder. Many diverse flow applications have been solved using these codes including parts of the Space Shuttle Main Engine, problems in naval hydrodynamics, low-speed aerodynamics, and biomedical fluid flows. The presentation details several of these, including the flow through a Space Shuttle Main Engine inducer, vortex shedding behind a circular cylinder, and flow through an artificial heart.

Kwak, Dochan↗
NASA NTRS1990

Real-time fuzzy inference based robot path planning

This project addresses the problem of adaptive trajectory generation for a robot arm. Conventional trajectory generation involves computing a path in real time to minimize a performance measure such as expended energy. This method can be computationally intensive, and it may yield poor results if the trajectory is weakly constrained. Typically some implicit constraints are known, but cannot be encoded analytically. The alternative approach used here is to formulate domain-specific knowledge, including implicit and ill-defined constraints, in terms of fuzzy rules. These rules utilize linguistic terms to relate input variables to output variables. Since the fuzzy rulebase is determined off-line, only high-level, computationally light processing is required in real time. Potential applications for adaptive trajectory generation include missile guidance and various sophisticated robot control tasks, such as automotive assembly, high speed electrical parts insertion, stepper alignment, and motion control for high speed parcel transfer systems.

Pacini, Peter J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A multiple-block multigrid method for the solution of the three-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes equations

A multiple block multigrid method for the solution of the three dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes equations is presented. The basic flow solver is a cell vertex method which employs central difference spatial approximations and Runge-Kutta time stepping. The use of local time stepping, implicit residual smoothing, multigrid techniques and variable coefficient numerical dissipation results in an efficient and robust scheme is discussed. The multiblock strategy places the block loop within the Runge-Kutta Loop such that accuracy and convergence are not affected by block boundaries. This has been verified by comparing the results of one and two block calculations in which the two block grid is generated by splitting the one block grid. Results are presented for both Euler and Navier-Stokes computations of wing/fuselage combinations.

Atkins, Harold↗
NASA NTRS1992

Chemical vapor deposition fluid flow simulation modelling tool

Accurate numerical simulation of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes requires a general purpose computational fluid dynamics package combined with specialized capabilities for high temperature chemistry. In this report, we describe the implementation of these specialized capabilities in the spectral element code NEKTON. The thermal expansion of the gases involved is shown to be accurately approximated by the low Mach number perturbation expansion of the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The radiative heat transfer between multiple interacting radiating surfaces is shown to be tractable using the method of Gebhart. The disparate rates of reaction and diffusion in CVD processes are calculated via a point-implicit time integration scheme. We demonstrate the use above capabilities on prototypical CVD applications.

Bullister, Edward T.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Global Qualitative Flow-Path Modeling for Local State Determination in Simulation and Analysis

For qualitative modeling and analysis, a general qualitative abstraction of power transmission variables (flow and effort) for elements of flow paths includes information on resistance, net flow, permissible directions of flow, and qualitative potential is discussed. Each type of component model has flow-related variables and an associated internal flow map, connected into an overall flow network of the system. For storage devices, the implicit power transfer to the environment is represented by "virtual" circuits that include an environmental junction. A heterogeneous aggregation method simplifies the path structure. A method determines global flow-path changes during dynamic simulation and analysis, and identifies corresponding local flow state changes that are effects of global configuration changes. Flow-path determination is triggered by any change in a flow-related device variable in a simulation or analysis. Components (path elements) that may be affected are identified, and flow-related attributes favoring flow in the two possible directions are collected for each of them. Next, flow-related attributes are determined for each affected path element, based on possibly conflicting indications of flow direction. Spurious qualitative ambiguities are minimized by using relative magnitudes and permissible directions of flow, and by favoring flow sources over effort sources when comparing flow tendencies. The results are output to local flow states of affected components.

Malin, Jane T.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Computational Study of Near-limit Propagation of Detonation in Hydrogen-air Mixtures

A computational investigation of the near-limit propagation of detonation in lean and rich hydrogen-air mixtures is presented. The calculations were carried out over an equivalence ratio range of 0.4 to 5.0, pressures ranging from 0.2 bar to 1.0 bar and ambient initial temperature. The computations involved solution of the one-dimensional Euler equations with detailed finite-rate chemistry. The numerical method is based on a second-order spatially accurate total-variation-diminishing (TVD) scheme, and a point implicit, first-order-accurate, time marching algorithm. The hydrogen-air combustion was modeled with a 9-species, 19-step reaction mechanism. A multi-level, dynamically adaptive grid was utilized in order to resolve the structure of the detonation. The results of the computations indicate that when hydrogen concentrations are reduced below certain levels, the detonation wave switches from a high-frequency, low amplitude oscillation mode to a low frequency mode exhibiting large fluctuations in the detonation wave speed; that is, a 'galloping' propagation mode is established.

Yungster, S.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Generalized Linear Covariance Analysis

This talk presents a comprehensive approach to filter modeling for generalized covariance analysis of both batch least-squares and sequential estimators. We review and extend in two directions the results of prior work that allowed for partitioning of the state space into solve-for'' and consider'' parameters, accounted for differences between the formal values and the true values of the measurement noise, process noise, and textita priori solve-for and consider covariances, and explicitly partitioned the errors into subspaces containing only the influence of the measurement noise, process noise, and solve-for and consider covariances. In this work, we explicitly add sensitivity analysis to this prior work, and relax an implicit assumption that the batch estimator's epoch time occurs prior to the definitive span. We also apply the method to an integrated orbit and attitude problem, in which gyro and accelerometer errors, though not estimated, influence the orbit determination performance. We illustrate our results using two graphical presentations, which we call the variance sandpile'' and the sensitivity mosaic,'' and we compare the linear covariance results to confidence intervals associated with ensemble statistics from a Monte Carlo analysis.

Navagation↗
NASA NTRS2014

Generalized Linear Covariance Analysis

This talk presents a comprehensive approach to filter modeling for generalized covariance analysis of both batch least-squares and sequential estimators. We review and extend in two directions the results of prior work that allowed for partitioning of the state space into solve-for'' and consider'' parameters, accounted for differences between the formal values and the true values of the measurement noise, process noise, and textita priori solve-for and consider covariances, and explicitly partitioned the errors into subspaces containing only the influence of the measurement noise, process noise, and solve-for and consider covariances. In this work, we explicitly add sensitivity analysis to this prior work, and relax an implicit assumption that the batch estimator's epoch time occurs prior to the definitive span. We also apply the method to an integrated orbit and attitude problem, in which gyro and accelerometer errors, though not estimated, influence the orbit determination performance. We illustrate our results using two graphical presentations, which we call the variance sandpile'' and the sensitivity mosaic,'' and we compare the linear covariance results to confidence intervals associated with ensemble statistics from a Monte Carlo analysis.

n/a↗
NASA NTRS1985

Towards developing robust algorithms for solving partial differential equations on MIMD machines

Methods for efficient computation of numerical algorithms on a wide variety of MIMD machines are proposed. These techniques reorganize the data dependency patterns to improve the processor utilization. The model problem finds the time-accurate solution to a parabolic partial differential equation discretized in space and implicitly marched forward in time. The algorithms are extensions of Jacobi and SOR. The extensions consist of iterating over a window of several timesteps, allowing efficient overlap of computation with communication. The methods increase the degree to which work can be performed while data are communicated between processors. The effect of the window size and of domain partitioning on the system performance is examined both by implementing the algorithm on a simulated multiprocessor system.

Saltz, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Towards developing robust algorithms for solving partial differential equations on MIMD machines

Methods for efficient computation of numerical algorithms on a wide variety of MIMD machines are proposed. These techniques reorganize the data dependency patterns to improve the processor utilization. The model problem finds the time-accurate solution to a parabolic partial differential equation discretized in space and implicitly marched forward in time. The algorithms are extensions of Jacobi and SOR. The extensions consist of iterating over a window of several timesteps, allowing efficient overlap of computation with communication. The methods increase the degree to which work can be performed while data are communicated between processors. The effect of the window size and of domain partitioning on the system performance is examined both by implementing the algorithm on a simulated multiprocessor system.

Saltz, Joel H.↗
NASA NTRS1995

The space-time solution element method: A new numerical approach for the Navier-Stokes equations

This paper is one of a series of papers describing the development of a new numerical method for the Navier-Stokes equations. Unlike conventional numerical methods, the current method concentrates on the discrete simulation of both the integral and differential forms of the Navier-Stokes equations. Conservation of mass, momentum, and energy in space-time is explicitly provided for through a rigorous enforcement of both the integral and differential forms of the governing conservation laws. Using local polynomial expansions to represent the discrete primitive variables on each cell, fluxes at cell interfaces are evaluated and balanced using exact functional expressions. No interpolation or flux limiters are required. Because of the generality of the current method, it applies equally to the steady and unsteady Navier-Stokes equations. In this paper, we generalize and extend the authors' 2-D, steady state implicit scheme. A general closure methodology is presented so that all terms up through a given order in the local expansions may be retained. The scheme is also extended to nonorthogonal Cartesian grids. Numerous flow fields are computed and results are compared with known solutions. The high accuracy of the scheme is demonstrated through its ability to accurately resolve developing boundary layers on coarse grids. Finally, we discuss applications of the current method to the unsteady Navier-Stokes equations.

Scott, James R.↗