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At least 91 records · Page 5

Gravitation- And Conduction-Driven Melting In A Sphere

Simplifying assumptions lead to approximate closed-form solution. Theoretical paper discusses melting of solid sphere in spherical container. Develops mathematical model of melting process, based in part on simplifying assumptions like those used in theories of lubrication and film condensation. Resulting equation for melting speed as function of melting distance solved approximately in closed form.

Bahrami, Parviz A.↗

Probability density and exceedance rate functions of locally Gaussian turbulence

A locally Gaussian model of turbulence velocities is postulated which consists of the superposition of a slowly varying strictly Gaussian component representing slow temporal changes in the mean wind speed and a more rapidly varying locally Gaussian turbulence component possessing a temporally fluctuating local variance. Series expansions of the probability density and exceedance rate functions of the turbulence velocity model, based on Taylor's series, are derived. Comparisons of the resulting two-term approximations with measured probability density and exceedance rate functions of atmospheric turbulence velocity records show encouraging agreement, thereby confirming the consistency of the measured records with the locally Gaussian model. Explicit formulas are derived for computing all required expansion coefficients from measured turbulence records.

Mark, W. D.↗

Rate of Heat Transfer from Finned Metal Surfaces

The object was to evaluate the factors which control the rate of heat transfer to a moving current of air from finned metal surfaces similar to those used on aircraft engine cylinders. The object was to establish data which will enable the finning of cooling surfaces to be designed to suit the particular needs of any specific application. Most of the work was done on flat copper specimens 6 inches square, upon which were mounted copper fins with spacings varying from 1/2 inch to 1/12 inch. All fins were 1 inch deep, 6 inches long, and .020 inch thick. The results of the investigation are given in the form of curves included here. In general, it was found that for specimens of this kind, the effectiveness of a given fin does not decrease very rapidly until its distance from adjacent fins has been reduced to 1/9 or 1/10 of an inch. A formula for the heat transfer from a flat surface without fins was developed, and an approximate formula for the finned specimens is suggested.

Taylor, G Fayette↗

Torque Balances on the Taylor Cylinders in the Geomagnetic Data Assimilation

In this presentation we report on our continuing effort in geomagnetic data assimilation, aiming at understanding and predicting geomagnetic secular variation on decadal time scales. In particular, we focus on the effect of the torque balances on the cylindrical surfaces in the core co-axial with the Earth's rotation axis (the Taylor cylinders) on the time evolution of assimilated solutions. We use our MoSST core dynamics,model and observed geomagnetic field at the Earth's surface derived via Comprehensive Field Model (CFM) for the geomagnetic data assimilation. In our earlier studies, a model solution is selected randomly from our numerical database. It is then assimilated with the observations such that the poloidal field possesses the same field tomography on the core-mantel boundary (CMB) continued downward from surface observations. This tomography change is assumed to be effective through out the outer core. While this approach allows rapid convergence between model solutions and the observations, it also generates sevee numerical instabilities: the delicate balance between weak fluid inertia and the magnetic torques on the Taylor cylinders are completely altered. Consequently, the assimilated solution diverges quickly (in approximately 10% of the magnetic free-decay time in the core). To improve the assimilation, we propose a partial penetration of the assimilation from the CMB: The full-scale modification at the CMB decreases linearly and vanish at an interior radius r(sub a). We shall examine from our assimilation tests possible relationships between the convergence rate of the model solutions to observations and the cut-off radius r(sub a). A better assimilation shall serve our nudging tests in near future.

Kuang, Weijia↗

Directional Radio-Frequency Identification Tag Reader

A directional radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag reader has been designed to facilitate finding a specific object among many objects in a crowded room. The device could be an adjunct to an electronic inventory system that tracks RFID-tagged objects as they move through reader-equipped doorways. Whereas commercial RFID-tag readers do not measure directions to tagged objects, the device is equipped with a phased-array antenna and a received signal-strength indicator (RSSI) circuit for measuring direction. At the beginning of operation, it is set to address only the RFID tag of interest. It then continuously transmits a signal to interrogate that tag while varying the radiation pattern of the antenna. It identifies the direction to the tag as the radiation pattern direction of peak strength of the signal returned by the tag. An approximate distance to the tag is calculated from the peak signal strength. The direction and distance can be displayed on a screen. A prototype containing a Yagi antenna was found to be capable of detecting a 915.5-MHz tag at a distance of approximately equal to 15 ft (approximately equal to 4.6 m).

Medelius, Pedro J.↗

Structural/control system optimization with variable actuator masses

A method is presented to integrate the design space for structural/control system optimization problems in the case of linear state feedback control. Nonstructural lumped masses and control system design variables as well as structural sizing variables are all treated equally as independent design variables in the optimization process. Structural and control design variable linking schemes are used in order to avoid a prohibitively large increase in the total number of independent design variables. When actuator masses are treated as nonstructural lumped mass design variables, special consideration is given to the relation between the transient peak responses and the required actuator masses which is formulated as a behavior constraint form. The original nonlinear mathematical programming problem based on a finite element formulation and linear state feedback is replaced by a sequence of explicit approximate problems exploiting various approximation concepts such as design variable linkings, temporary constraint deletion and first order Taylor series expansion of nonlinear behavior constraints in terms of intermediate design variables. Examples which involve a variety of dynamic behavior constraints (including constraints on closed-loop eigenvalues, peak transient displacements, peak actuator forces, and relations between the peak responses and the actuator masses) are effectively solved by using the method presented.

Jin, Ik M.↗

Core-core and core-valence correlation

The effect of 1s core correlation on properties and energy separations are analyzed using full configuration-interaction (FCI) calculations. The Be1S - 1P, the C 3P - 5S,m and CH(+) 1Sigma(+) - 1Pi separations, and CH(+) spectroscopic constants, dipole moment, and 1Sigma(+) - 1Pi transition dipole moment have been studied. The results of the FCI calculations are compared to those obtained using approximate methods.

Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.↗

Maximum Rates of Olivine Dissolution on Mars

This work is a first step in constraining olivine alteration rates on Mars. By bounding dissolution rates of olivine, we can make inferences about the temporal extent of aqueous alteration on the surface. Several hypothesized low-temperature surface aqueous alteration processes include valley network formation from release of groundwater during impact or gully formation from snow melt, both of which may occur over a period of several thousand years. Outflow channels may have formed during brief floods lasting less than a year. If large bodies of water were present during a warm, wet period, large standing bodies of water may have been present for 104 to 109 years. High-temperature alteration processes include hydrothermal activity associated with impacts and magmatic features. These features may remain active for 104 to 106 years. Table 2 summarizes speculated duration times of these aqueous processes. For comparison, we have determined minimum olivine residence times (time until complete dissolution) for 1 mm diameter particles to range from much less than one year to approximately 5,000 years.

J D Stopar↗

Surface Tension and Fingering of Miscible Interfaces

Experiments on miscible, buoyantly unstable reaction-diffusion fronts and non-reacting displacement fronts in Hele-Shaw cells show a fingering-type instability whose wavelengths (lambda*) are consistent with an interfacial tension (sigma) at the front caused by the change in chemical composition, even though the solutions are miscible in all proportions. In conjunction with the Saffman-Taylor model, the relation sigma = K/tau, where tau is the interface thickness and K approximately equal 4 +/- 2 x 10(exp -6) dyne, enables prediction of our measured values of lambda* as well as results from prior experiments on miscible interfaces. These results indicate that even for miscible fluids, surface tension is generally a more significant factor than diffusion in interfacial stability and flow characteristics.

Abib, Mohammed↗

On the composition of neuKREEP: QMD contamination at Apollo 11?

The Group A basalts of Apollo 11 differ in many respects from other high-Ti basalts of the region. Chemically, they are the only high-K (greater than 2000 ppm K) variety of high-Ti basalt and are enriched in incompatible trace elements relative to other basalts from both the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 sites. In addition, Group A basalts are the youngest of all high-Ti basalts, with an age of 3.56 +/- 0.02 Ga. The cluster of compositions is consistent with the Apollo 11 Group A basalts representing a single flow. Papanastassiou et al. have also indicated the uniqueness of these basalts, based particularly on relatively young Rb-Sr model ages (3.8 - 3.9 Ga). A model for the formation of the Group A basalts was presented by Jerde et al., wherein the Apollo 17 orange volcanic glass is the parent liquid. Fractionation of this composition, coupled with the assimilation of incompatible-element-rich material, results in compositions akin to those of the Apollo 11 Group A basalt population. Orange glass of similar major-element composition is present at the Apollo 11 site as well, although complete trace element analyses are not available. New modelling results using the Apollo 11 orange glass major elements are grossly similar to those obtained using the Apollo 17 orange glass, indicating approximately 30 percent fractionation.

Jerde, Eric A.↗

Second-order reconstruction of the inflationary potential

To first order in the deviation from scale invariance the inflationary potential and its first two derivatives can be expressed in terms of the spectral indices of the scalar and tensor perturbations, n and n(sub T), and their contributions to the variance of the quadrupole CBR temperature anisotropy, S and T. In addition, there is a 'consistency relation' between these quantities: n(sub T) = (-1/ 7)(T/S). We derive the second-order expressions for the inflationary potential and its first two derivatives and the first-order expression for its third derivative, in terms, of n, n(sub T), S, T, and dn/d ln gamma. We also obtain the second-order consistency relation, n(sub T) = (-1/7)(T/S)(1 + 0.11(T/S) + 0.15(n-1)). As an example we consider the exponential potential, the only known case where exact analytic solutions for the perturbation spectra exist. We reconstruct the potential via Taylor expansion (with coefficients calculated at both first and second order), and introduce the Pade approximate as a greatly improved alternative.

Liddle, Andrew R.↗

The Mantle and Basalt-Crust Interaction Below the Mount Taylor Volcanic Field, New Mexico

The Mount Taylor Volcanic Field (MTVF) lies on the Jemez Lineament on the southeastern margin of the Colorado Plateau. The field is centered on the Mt. Taylor composite volcano and includes Mesa Chivato to the NE and Grants Ridge to the WSW. MTVF magmatism spans approximately 3.8-1.5 Ma (K-Ar). Magmas are dominantly alkaline with mafic compositions ranging from basanite to hy-basalt and felsic compositions ranging from ne-trachyte to rhyolite. We are investigating the state of the mantle and the spatial and temporal variation in basalt-crustal interaction below the MTVF by examining mantle xenoliths and basalts in the context of new mapping and future Ar-Ar dating. The earliest dated magmatism in the field is a basanite flow south of Mt. Taylor. Mantle xenolith-bearing alkali basalts and basanites occur on Mesa Chivato and in the region of Mt. Taylor, though most basalts are peripheral to the main cone. Xenolith-bearing magmatism persists at least into the early stages of conebuilding. Preliminary examination of the mantle xenolith suite suggests it is dominantly lherzolitic but contains likely examples of both melt-depleted (harzburgitic) and melt-enriched (clinopyroxenitic) mantle. There are aphyric and crystal-poor hawaiites, some of which are hy-normative, on and near Mt. Taylor, but many of the more evolved MTVF basalts show evidence of complex histories. Mt. Taylor basalts higher in the cone-building sequence contain >40% zoned plagioclase pheno- and megacrysts. Other basalts peripheral to Mt. Taylor and at Grants Ridge contain clinopyroxene and plagioclase megacrysts and cumulate-textured xenoliths, suggesting they interacted with lower crustal cumulates. Among the questions we are addressing: What was the chemical and thermal state of the mantle recorded by the basaltic suites and xenoliths and how did it change with time? Are multiple parental basalts (Si-saturated vs. undersaturated) represented and, if so, what changes in the mantle or in the tectonic regime allowed their coexistence or caused the transition?

Schrader, Christian M.↗

Jupiter's great red spot revisited

On the original Taylor column theory of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, the fixed latitude of the Spot is taken to imply that the Taylor column in Jupiter's atmosphere is associated with a disturbance such as a topographic feature of the surface Q underlying the atmosphere. The alternative suggestion that the Taylor column is produced by a solid raft floating at depth in the atmosphere is somewhat easier to reconcile with the approximately 10s difference between the respective rotation periods P sub S and P sub R of the Red Spot and of the radio sources, but it does not account so readily for the fixed latitude of the Spot unless it can be shown that the raft is in stable equilibrium under the north-south components of the dynamical forces, including wind effects, acting upon it. A slight wavering of the upper end of the Taylor column relative to the lower end could account at least in part for the most rapid variations in P sub S, but the slow large-amplitude variations in P sub S must reflect changes in the longitudinal motion of either the surface Q or of the raft. By generalizing the Proudman-Taylor theorem to the case of a non-homogeneous fluid it is shown that the Taylor column theory does not imply very special and therefore unlikely horizontal and vertical temperature variations in Jupiter's atmosphere, thus refuting a widely-held belief to the contrary.

Hide, R.↗

A semiempirical method for analysis of the reflectance spectra of binary mineral mixtures

A simple semiempirical method is presented for determination of the spectral reflectance of a powdered binary mineral mixture. This technique uses a two-stream radiative transfer model (a modified Kubelka-Munk model) on a particulate medium of isotroic scatterers The particles are assumed to be much larger than the wavelength of light under consideration. This same method can be used to determine the relative proportion of components in a mixture for which the spectral reflectance is known. Binary mixtures of olivine, two pyroxenes, and magnetite are used to test this model. The theoretical and empirical results agree approximately within experimental errors.

Johnson, P. E.↗

An implicit and stiffly stable finite element CFD algorithm for unsteady aerodynamics

A stable and accurate finite element CFD algorithm for hyperbolic/incompletely parabolic conservation law systems is described and verified. It combines a Taylor weak statement FEM, an optimal implicit Runge-Kutta time integration algorithm, and a matrix tensor product approximate factorization linear algebra procedure. The results of computational experiments show that the developed algorithm is robust.

Baker, A. J.↗

On a finite element CFD algorithm for compressible, viscous and turbulent aerodynamic flows

This paper develops and analyses individual construction aspects of an efficient and accurate finite element algorithm for prediction of viscous and turbulent flow fields of impact in aerodynamics. The theoretical construction employs a Taylor weak statement (TWS) for coincident embedding of stability mechanisms within a classic Galerkin finite element formulation of semidiscrete approximation error orthogonalization. A wide variety of the stabilizing mechanisms of independently derived CFD algorithms are contained within the TWS theory. An implicit construction that meets the requirement of efficient convergence to steady state is developed. The theoretical asymptotic error estimates of the TWS finite element algorithm for supersonic and viscous boundary layer flows are verified. Application to a three-dimensional turbulent flow is cited.

Baker, A. J.↗

Shape optimization of 3D continuum structures via force approximation techniques

The existing need to develop methods whereby the shape design efficiency can be improved through the use of high quality approximation methods is addressed. An efficient approximation method for stress constraints in 3D shape design problems is proposed based on expanding the nodal forces in Taylor series with respect to shape variations. The significance of this new method is shown through elementary beam theory calculations and via numerical computations using 3D solid finite elements. Numerical examples including the classical cantilever beam structure and realistic automotive parts like the engine connecting rod are designed for optimum shape using the proposed method. The numerical results obtained from these methods are compared with other published results, to assess the efficiency and the convergence rate of the proposed method.

Vanderplaats, Garret N.↗

Spacelab experiments on convection in a rotating spherical shell with radial gravity

Data from the geophysical fluid flow cell experiment on Spacelab 3 revealed the diverse forms of fluid motion that can occur in geometrically simple models of global convection with rotation and radial gravity. The following types of convection were observed: midlatitude waves interacting with the low-latitude columnar convection rolls or 'banana cells', spiral waves' near the poles when latitudinal heating gradients are present on the bounding surfaces, and 'triangular waves' coupling midlatitude and equatorial disturbances under similar differential heating. It is believed that concepts based on the Taylor-Proudman theorem have a central role in many flows realized in the rapidly rotating experiments when H is approximately 0; however, the resulting banana cells are subject to secondary instabilities that produce intricate time dependence and eventually turbulent flows in which only hints of the simpler patterns are recognizable.

Toomre, Juri↗