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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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NASA NTRS1974

Geothermal reservoir simulation

The prediction of long-term geothermal reservoir performance and the environmental impact of exploiting this resource are two important problems associated with the utilization of geothermal energy for power production. Our research effort addresses these problems through numerical simulation. Computer codes based on the solution of partial-differential equations using finite-element techniques are being prepared to simulate multiphase energy transport, energy transport in fractured porous reservoirs, well bore phenomena, and subsidence.

Mercer, J. W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Subsonic and supersonic indicial aerodynamics and aerodynamic transfer function for complex configurations

A general theory for indicial-potential-compressible aerodynamics around complex configurations is presented. The motion is assumed to consist of constant subsonic or supersonic speed (steady state) and small perturbations around the steady state. Using the finite-element method to discretize the space problem, a set of differential-difference equations in time relating the potential to its normal derivative on the surface of the body was obtained. The aerodynamics transfer function was derived by using standard method of operational calculus.

Morino, L.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Effect of damping on excitability of high-order normal modes

The effect of localized structural damping on the excitability of higher-order large space telescope spacecraft modes is investigated. A preprocessor computer program is developed to incorporate Voigt structural joint damping models in a finite-element dynamic model. A postprocessor computer program is developed to select critical modes for low-frequency attitude control problems and for higher-frequency fine-stabilization problems. The selection is accomplished by ranking the flexible modes based on coefficients for rate gyro, position gyro, and optical sensor, and on image-plane motions due to sinusoidal or random PSD force and torque inputs.

Merchant, D. H.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Structural evaluation of candidate designs for the large space telescope primary mirror

Structural performance analyses were conducted on two candidate designs (Itek and Perkin-Elmer designs) for the large space telescope three-meter mirror. The mirror designs and the finite-element models used in the analyses evaluation are described. The results of the structural analyses for several different types of loading are presented in tabular and graphic forms. Several additional analyses are also reported: the evaluation of a mirror design concept proposed by the Boeing Co., a study of the global effects of local cell plate deflections, and an investigation of the fracture mechanics problems likely to occur with Cervit and ULE. Flexibility matrices were obtained for the Itek and Perkin-Elmer mirrors to be used in active figure control studies. Summary, conclusions, and recommendations are included.

Soosaar, K.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Analytical and experimental investigation of fatigue in a sheet specimen with an interference-fit bolt

A fatigue analysis, based on finite-element calculations and fatigue tests, was conducted for an aluminum-alloy sheet specimen with a steel interference-fit bolt. The stress analysis of the region near the bolt hole showed that the beneficial effect of an interference-fit bolt can be interpreted as the combined result of two effects: (1) load transfer through the bolt and (2) the compressive interference stresses in the sheet. Results of the fatigue tests show that progressively higher interference levels produced longer fatigue lives. The tests also show that a high level of interference prevents fretting at the bolt-sheet interface and that interferences larger than this level produced little additional improvement in fatigue life.

Crews, J. H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Analysis of the effects on life of leading-edge holes in an airfoil subjected to arbitrary spanwise and chordwise temperature distributions

The effects of temperature gradients, cooling-hole rim and bulk metal temperatures, and mechanical stress were investigated by using a finite-element structural analysis of a symmetrical airfoil with and without leading-edge holes. The results indicate that leading-edge film cooling is beneficial when large chordwise temperature gradients exist and if the cooling-hole rim temperatures are above the bulk metal temperature. The effects of film cooling at other locations on the airfoil were not considered, and the relative merits of convection or film cooling at the leading edge, in terms of allowable turbine inlet temperature or coolant flow requirements, were not evaluated.

Kaufman, A.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Application of NASTRAN for stress analysis of left ventricle of the heart

Knowing the stress and strain distributions in the left ventricular wall of the heart is a prerequisite for the determination of the muscle elasticity and contractility in the process of assessing the functional status of the heart. NASTRAN was applied for the calculation of these stresses and strains and to help in verifying the results obtained by the computer program FEAMPS which was specifically designed for the plane-strain finite-element analysis of the left ventricular cross sections. Adopted for the analysis are the true shape and dimensions of the cross sections reconstructed from multiplanar X-ray views of a left ventricle which was surgically isolated from a dog's heart but metabolically supported to sustain its beating. A preprocessor was prepared to accommodate both FEAMPS and NASTRAN, and it has also facilitated the application of both the triangular element and isoparameteric quadrilateral element versions of NASTRAN. The stresses in several crucial regions of the left ventricular wall calculated by these two independently developed computer programs are found to be in good agreement. Such confirmation of the results is essential in the development of a method which assesses the heart performance.

Pao, Y. C.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Analysis of thermal stresses and metal movement during welding. I - Analytical study

This is the first part of a study of thermal stresses and metal movement during welding. This part discusses analysis of two-dimensional thermal stresses and metal movement during bead-on-plate and butt welding. A finite-element formulation has been derived, based on the variational principle. The formulation includes temperature dependence of material properties as well as the yield criterion.

Muraki, T.↗

NASA NTRS1974

U.S. National Congress of Applied Mechanics, 7th, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colo., June 3-7, 1974, Proceedings

A series of experimental, theoretical, and review papers dealing with various aspects of applied mechanics, including structural analysis, mathematical methods, and fluid dynamics. Some of the topics covered are: the direct formulation of two-dimensional mechanics problems, the mechanical aspects of athletics, Laplace's tidal equations, cochlear mechanics, dynamic constitutive equations, optical techniques for the determination of displacement and strain fields, chemical and biochemical problems involving nonlinear diffusion processes, thermal stresses, the rotating rod viscometer, finite-element methods in plasticity, ships of minimum resistance, and wide-band random vibration of structures. Individual items are announced in this issue.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1975

On an integro-differential equation model for the study of the response of an acoustically coupled panel

The response of a clamped panel to supersonically convected turbulence is considered. A theoretical model in the form of an integro-differential equation is employed that takes into account the coupling between the panel motion and the surrounding acoustic medium. The kernels of the integrals, which represent induced pressures due to the panel motion, are Green's functions for sound radiations under various moving and stationary sources. An approximate analysis is made by following a finite-element Ritz-Galerkin procedure. Preliminary numerical results, in agreement with experimental findings, indicate that the acoustic damping is the controlling mechanism of the response.

Yen, D. H. Y.↗

NASA NTRS1975

A method for the dynamic and thermal stress analysis of space shuttle surface insulation

The thermal protection system of the space shuttle consists of thousands of separate insulation tiles bonded to the orbiter's surface through a soft strain-isolation layer. The individual tiles are relatively thick and possess nonuniform properties. Therefore, each is idealized by finite-element assemblages containing up to 2500 degrees of freedom. Since the tiles affixed to a given structural panel will, in general, interact with one another, application of the standard direct-stiffness method would require equation systems involving excessive numbers of unknowns. This paper presents a method which overcomes this problem through an efficient iterative procedure which requires treatment of only a single tile at any given time. Results of associated static, dynamic, and thermal stress analyses and sufficient conditions for convergence of the iterative solution method are given.

Ojalvo, I. U.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Simultaneous calculation of aircraft design loads and structural member sizes

A design process which accounts for the interaction between aerodynamic loads and changes in member sizes during sizing of aircraft structures is described. A simultaneous iteration procedure is used wherein both design loads and member sizes are updated during each cycle yielding converged, compatible loads and member sizes. A description is also given of a system of programs which incorporates this process using lifting surface theory to calculate aerodynamic pressure distributions, using a finite-element method for structural analysis, and using a fully stressed design technique to size structural members. This system is tailored to perform the entire process with computational efficiency in a single computer run so that it can be used effectively during preliminary design. Selected results, considering maneuver, taxi, and fatigue design conditions, are presented to illustrate convergence characteristics of this iterative procedure.

Giles, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Finite element techniques applied to cracks interacting with selected singularities

The finite-element method for computing the extensional stress-intensity factor for cracks approaching selected singularities of varied geometry is described. Stress-intensity factors are generated using both displacement and J-integral techniques, and numerical results are compared to those obtained experimentally in a photoelastic investigation. The selected singularities considered are a colinear crack, a circular penetration, and a notched circular penetration. Results indicate that singularities greatly influence the crack-tip stress-intensity factor as the crack approaches the singularity. In addition, the degree of influence can be regulated by varying the overall geometry of the singularity. Local changes in singularity geometry have little effect on the stress-intensity factor for the cases investigated.

Conway, J. C.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Analytical study of mixing and reacting three-dimensional supersonic combustor flow fields

An analytical investigation is presented of mixing and reacting hydrogen jets injected from multiple orifices transverse and parallel to a supersonic airstream. The COMOC computer program, based upon a finite-element solution algorithm, was developed to solve the governing equations for three-dimensional, turbulent, reacting, boundary-region, and confined flow fields. The computational results provide a three-dimensional description of the velocity, temperature, and species-concentration fields downstream of hydrogen injection. Detailed comparisons between cold-flow data and results of the computational analysis have established validity of the turbulent-mixing model based on the elementary mixing-length hypothesis. A method is established to initiate computations for reacting flow fields based upon cold-flow correlations and the appropriate experimental parameters of Mach number, injector spacing, and pressure ratio. Key analytical observations on mixing and combustion efficiency for reacting flows are presented and discussed.

Baker, A. J.↗

NASA NTRS1974

The 3.3K thrust chamber life prediction

The cause of low-cycle fatigue failure of the 3.3K Thrust Chamber was investigated. This thrust chamber typifies the current trend in rocket nozzle design which calls for high performance coupled with weight and volume limitations as well as the requirement of reusability. The analysis was performed with the BOPACE finite-element computer program which provides capability to determine viscoplastic response of a structure subjected to cyclic thermal and mechanical loading. Results are presented which show the critical region for low-cycle fatigue and the history of strain within that region for each thermo-mechanical loading cycle in the 3.3K thrust chamber. The predicted behavior was used to evaluate the low-cycle fatigue life near the throat plane of the chamber. The results show that BOPACE provides an extremely accurate prediction of structural behavior; the critical region was identified and the life determined from computed strains was within 154 cycles of the observed failure at 1013 cycles.

Armstrong, W. H.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Analytical and experimental vibration studies of a 1/8-scale shuttle orbiter

Natural frequencies and mode shapes for four symmetric vibration modes and four antisymmetric modes are compared with predictions based on NASTRAN finite-element analyses. Initial predictions gave poor agreement with test data; an extensive investigation revealed that the major factors influencing agreement were out-of-plane imperfections in fuselage panels and a soft fin-fuselage connection. Computations with a more refined analysis indicated satisfactory frequency predictions for all modes studied, within 11 percent of experimental values.

Pinson, L. D.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Remote sensing applied to numerical modelling

Progress and remaining difficulties in the construction of predictive mathematical models of large bodies of water as ecosystems are reviewed. Surface temperature is at present the only variable than can be measured accurately and reliably by remote sensing techniques, but satellite infrared data are of sufficient resolution for macro-scale modeling of oceans and large lakes, and airborne radiometers are useful in meso-scale analysis (of lakes, bays, and thermal plumes). Finite-element and finite-difference techniques applied to the solution of relevant coupled time-dependent nonlinear partial differential equations are compared, and the specific problem of the Biscayne Bay and environs ecosystem is tackled in a finite-differences treatment using the rigid-lid model and a rigid-line grid system.

Sengupta, S.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Program design by a multidisciplinary team

The use of software engineering aids in the design of a structural finite-element analysis computer program for the STAR-100 computer is described. Nested functional diagrams to aid in communication among design team members were used, and a standardized specification format to describe modules designed by various members was adopted. This is a report of current work in which use of the functional diagrams provided continuity and helped resolve some of the problems arising in this long-running part-time project.

Voigt, S.↗