Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Normalizing flows”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2003

Prediction of Bubble Diameter at Detachment from a Wall Orifice in Liquid Cross Flow Under Reduced and Normal Gravity Conditions

Bubble formation and detachment is an integral part of the two-phase flow science. The objective of the present work is to theoretically investigate the effects of liquid cross-flow velocity, gas flow rate embodied in the momentum flux force, and orifice diameter on bubble formation in a wall-bubble injection configuration. A two-dimensional one-stage theoretical model based on a global force balance on the bubble evolving from a wall orifice in a cross liquid flow is presented in this work. In this model, relevant forces acting on the evolving bubble are expressed in terms of the bubble center of mass coordinates and solved simultaneously. Relevant forces in low gravity included the momentum flux, shear-lift, surface tension, drag and inertia forces. Under normal gravity conditions, the buoyancy force, which is dominant under such conditions, can be added to the force balance. Two detachment criteria were applicable depending on the gas to liquid momentum force ratio. For low ratios, the time when the bubble acceleration in the direction of the detachment angle is greater or equal to zero is calculated from the bubble x and y coordinates. This time is taken as the time at which all the detaching forces that are acting on the bubble are greater or equal to the attaching forces. For high gas to liquid momentum force ratios, the time at which the y coordinate less the bubble radius equals zero is calculated. The bubble diameter is evaluated at this time as the diameter at detachment from the fact that the bubble volume is simply given by the product of the gas flow rate and time elapsed. Comparison of the model s predictions was also made with predictions from a two-dimensional normal gravity model based on Kumar-Kuloor formulation and such a comparison is presented in this work.

Nahra, Henry K.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Superfluid transport and its applications in space

Various transport modes in superfluid helium are discussed. They include zero net mass flow and finite mass flow for pure superfluid and normal fluid flow. An attempt is made to characterize these transport modes in a common frame of reference. Two dimensionless numbers are used, namely, the dimensionless heat flux number and the dimensionless driving force number. The equations are generalized by the use of a characteristic length so that they can be applied to the transport of HE II in any geometry. The theories are then extended to applications in space. In particular, fountain effect pumps and superfluid management at zero g by vapor-liquid phase separators are discussed in detail.

Yuan, S. W. K.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Flow through very porous screens

Flow through and around screens with small resistance coefficient were analyzed. Both steady and oscillatory flows are considered, however, the case of a screen normal to the flow is treated. At second order in the asymptotic expansion the steady flow normal to the screen is nonuniform along the screen, due to components induced by the wake and by tangential drag. The third order pressure drop is nonuniform and the wake contains distributed vorticity, in addition to the vortex sheet along its boundary. The unsteady drag coefficient is found as a function of frequency.

Durbin, P. A.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Computer program of data reduction procedures for facilities using CO2-N2-O2-Ar equilibrium real-gas mixtures

Data reduction procedures for determining free-stream and post-normal-shock flow conditions are presented. These procedures are applicable to flows of CO2, N2, O2, Ar, or mixtures of these gases and include the effects of dissociation and ionization. The assumption of thermochemical equilibrium free-stream and post-normal-shock flow is made. Although derived primarily to meet the immediate needs of an expansion tube of a hot gas radiation research facility, these procedures are applicable to any supersonic or hypersonic test facility using these gases or mixtures thereof. The data reduction procedures are based on combinations of three of the following flow parameters measured in the immediate vicinity of the test section: (1) stagnation pressure behind normal shock, (2) free-stream static pressure, (3) stagnation-point heat-transfer rate, (4) free-stream velocity, and (5) free-stream density. Thus, these procedures do not depend explicitly upon measured or calculated upstream flow parameters. The procedures are incorporated into a single computer program written in FORTRAN IV language. A listing of this computer program is presented, along with a description of the inputs required and a sample of the data printout.

Miller, C. G., III↗
NASA NTRS1931

An extended theory of thin airfoils and its application to the biplane problem

The report presents a new treatment, due essentially to von Karman, of the problem of the thin airfoil. The standard formulae for the angle of zero lift and zero moment are first developed and the analysis is then extended to give the effect of disturbing or interference velocities, corresponding to an arbitrary potential flow, which are superimposed on a normal rectilinear flow over the airfoil. An approximate method is presented for obtaining the velocities induced by a 2-dimensional airfoil at a point some distance away. In certain cases this method has considerable advantage over the simple "lifting line" procedure usually adopted. The interference effects for a 2-dimensional biplane are considered in the light of the previous analysis. The results of the earlier sections are then applied to the general problem of the interference effects for a 3-dimensional biplane, and formulae and charts are given which permit the characteristics of the individual wings of an arbitrary biplane without sweepback or dihedral to be calculated. In the final section the conclusions drawn from the application of the theory to a considerable number of special cases are discussed, and curves are given illustrating certain of these conclusions and serving as examples to indicate the nature of the agreement between the theory and experiment.

Millikan, Clark B↗
NASA NTRS2002

Verification Assessment of Flow Boundary Conditions for CFD Analysis of Supersonic Inlet Flows

Boundary conditions for subsonic inflow, bleed, and subsonic outflow as implemented into the WIND CFD code are assessed with respect to verification for steady and unsteady flows associated with supersonic inlets. Verification procedures include grid convergence studies and comparisons to analytical data. The objective is to examine errors, limitations, capabilities, and behavior of the boundary conditions. Computational studies were performed on configurations derived from a "parameterized" supersonic inlet. These include steady supersonic flows with normal and oblique shocks, steady subsonic flow in a diffuser, and unsteady flow with the propagation and reflection of an acoustic disturbance.

Slater, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Steady state cooling flow models with gas loss for normal elliptical galaxies

A grid of cooling flow models for the hot gas in normal elliptical galaxies is calculated, including the loss of gas due to inhomogeneous cooling. The loss process is modeled as a distributed sink for the gas with the rate of loss being proportional to the local cooling rate. The cooling flow models with gas loss have smaller sonic radii, smaller inflow rates in their central regions, lower densities, and higher temperatures than homogeneous models. The reduction in the amount of hot gas flowing into the center of the models brings the models into much better agreement with the observed X-ray surface brightness profiles of elliptical galaxies. However, there is a large dispersion in the observed X-ray luminosities of ellipticals, and this cannot be explained by variations in the efficiency of gas loss. The gas-loss models have X-ray surface brightness profiles which are much less centrally peaked than the no-gas-loss models.

Sarazin, Craig L.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Evaluation of boundary layer transition criteria for space shuttle orbiter entry

A comparison was made of the effect of boundary layer transition on center-line heating in a conical and a normal-shock flow field. It was shown that the time of transition onset (and, hence, the heating parameter) is significantly influenced by the choice of transition criterion in the normal-shock flow but that this parameter is much less sensitive to the transition criterion in a conical flow field. An evaluation of the effects of boundary layer transition on center-line heating in the conical flow field has shown that the temperatures are less affected by the use of various transition crieria than are heat loads. This difference is due to the delay in the time of transition onset predicted by those criteria with high transition Reynolds numbers. The criteria which predict the most severe thermal environment are those of fully turbulent flow throughout the entry, because transition occurs early in the trajectory for each of these criteria, they tend to predict similar values of maximum temperature and total heat load especially at center-line locations aft of 0.6. Evaluation of center-line heating generated by various trajectory shaping approaches has shown that the maximum surface temperature distribution was not significantly affected by the shaping technique. However, the heat load distribution is influenced, particularly on the forward portion of the vehicle.

Helms, V. T., III↗
NASA NTRS1974

Normalizing parameters for the critical flow rate of simple fluids through nozzles

The two-phase critical flow rate for the simple fluids of methane, nitrogen, oxygen, and argon were normalized using the parameter G* = the square root of (rho sub c x P sub c/Z sub c). The values of G* are given and the question of how to apply this procedure to normalize the critical flow rates of the quantum fluids para-hydrogen and helium was addressed. Experimental data for p-hydrogen, reduced pressures to 4.5 and reduced temperatures from 0.87, were analyzed.

Hendricks, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

The barotropic normal modes in certain shear flows and the traveling waves in the atmosphere

It is shown analytically and numerically that in certain shear flows the linearized nondivergent barotropic vorticity equation has a limited number of neutral normal modes. The latitudinal structures of these shear flows can be expressed as polynomials of the sine of latitude. The first few such shear flows resemble the gross features of the zonal winds in the atmosphere of the earth at different times and altitudes. The spatial structures of the neutral normal modes in these shear flows are spherical harmonics, and, as a consequence, these modes are also the exact solutions of the fully nonlinear equation because the nonlinear interaction term vanishes identically. The spatial structures of the observed 5-, 4-, 2-, and 16-day free traveling waves in the atmosphere are often identified with the spherical harmonics with indices of (m, n) = ( 1, 2), (2, 3), (3, 3), and ( 1, 4), which are known previously as the neutral normal modes of the nondivergent barotropic vorticity equation in a motionless background state. Our results could explain why these free traveling waves can survive the shearing effects of zonal flows that are far different from rest because these spherical harmonics are also normal modes in certain shear flows that resemble the observations of the atmosphere.

Chen, Ping↗
NASA NTRS1991

System for determining position of normal shock in supersonic flow

Light from a plurality of light emitting diodes is transmitted through optical cables (12) to a lens system. The lenses (56, 58) expand and collimate the light and project it in a sheet (16) across the supersonic inlet of an aircraft power plant perpendicular to incoming airflow. A normal shock bends a portion of the sheet of light (16). A linear array of a multiplicity of optical fiber ends collects discrete samples of light. The samples are processed and compared to a predetermined profile to determine the shock location.

Iverson, Jr., Donald G.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Multiphase Flow: The Gravity of the Situation

A brief survey is presented of flow patterns in two-phase, gas-liquid flows at normal and microgravity, the differences between them being explored. It seems that the flow patterns in zero gravity are in general much simpler than those in normal gravity with only three main regimes (namely bubbly, slug and annular flows) being observed. Each of these three regimes is then reviewed, with particular reference to identification of areas of study where investigation of flows at microgravity might not only be interesting in themselves, but also throw light on mechanisms at normal earth gravity. In bubbly flow, the main area of interest seems to be that of bubble coalescence. In slug flow, the extension of simple displacement experiments to the zero gravity case would appear to be a useful option, supplemented by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies. For annular flow, the most interesting area appears to be the study of the mechanisms of disturbance waves; it should be possible to extend the region of investigation of the onset and behavior of these waves to much low gas velocities where measurements are clearly much easier.

Hewitt, Geoffrey F.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Employing Sensitivity Derivatives for Robust Optimization under Uncertainty in CFD

A robust optimization is demonstrated on a two-dimensional inviscid airfoil problem in subsonic flow. Given uncertainties in statistically independent, random, normally distributed flow parameters (input variables), an approximate first-order statistical moment method is employed to represent the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code outputs as expected values with variances. These output quantities are used to form the objective function and constraints. The constraints are cast in probabilistic terms; that is, the probability that a constraint is satisfied is greater than or equal to some desired target probability. Gradient-based robust optimization of this stochastic problem is accomplished through use of both first and second-order sensitivity derivatives. For each robust optimization, the effect of increasing both input standard deviations and target probability of constraint satisfaction are demonstrated. This method provides a means for incorporating uncertainty when considering small deviations from input mean values.

Newman, Perry A.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Normal- and oblique-shock flow parameters in equilibrium air including attached-shock solutions for surfaces at angles of attack, sweep, and dihedral

Normal- and oblique-shock flow parameters for air in thermochemical equilibrium are tabulated as a function of shock angle for altitudes ranging from 15.24 km to 91.44 km in increments of 7.62 km at selected hypersonic speeds. Post-shock parameters tabulated include flow-deflection angle, velocity, Mach number, compressibility factor, isentropic exponent, viscosity, Reynolds number, entropy difference, and static pressure, temperature, density, and enthalpy ratios across the shock. A procedure is presented for obtaining oblique-shock flow properties in equilibrium air on surfaces at various angles of attack, sweep, and dihedral by use of the two-dimensional tabulations. Plots of the flow parameters against flow-deflection angle are presented at altitudes of 30.48, 60.96, and 91.44 km for various stream velocities.

Hunt, J. L.↗