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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

Pioneer 10 ultraviolet photometer observations of Jupiter - The helium to hydrogen ratio

Pioneer 10 UV photometric observations of solar He I 584-A emissions diffusely reflected from the atmosphere of Jupiter are discussed which establish the expected presence of He in the planet. The intensity and profile of the solar He line are remeasured and found to be more intense than originally supposed, implying a lower value for the diffuse 584-A reflectivity of Jupiter and less He than previously estimated. Other measurements of the solar He line are reviewed, resonance scattering by He is analyzed, and radiative-transfer calculations for Jovian model atmospheres are improved by including the anisotropic phase function for helium resonance scattering. The assumption of coherent scattering in the formation of the Jovian airglow line is shown to be an accurate approximation, and present estimates of the atmospheric temperature and eddy diffusion coefficient are examined. An atmospheric He/H abundance ratio greater than zero but less than approximately 28% is determined by assuming an isothermal atmosphere with a temperature of 150 K and the range of eddy-diffusion values given by Pioneer 10 Ly-alpha observations. The effect of higher temperatures on the He/H abundance is briefly evaluated.

Carlson, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Explorer 45 observations of the proton ring current

Explorer 45 satellite data on the stormtime proton ring current are reported and analyzed. Storm-associated variations of equatorially mirroring protons, interactions between the ring current and the plasmapause, and storm recovery phase behavior are discussed. Pitch-angle distributions are plotted as a function of proton energy and radial distance, the structure implying domination of pitch-angle diffusion of ring-current protons in the plasmapause region by resonant interactions with ion cyclotron waves during storm recovery. The anisotropic precipitation in the plasmapause region and the more poleward isotropic precipitation observed at low altitudes outside the plasmapause are compared and distinguished.

Lyons, L. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Growth morphology with anisotropic surface kinetics

The morphological evolution of crystals growing from an incongruent vapor phase is studied using a Monte Carlo model, and the full range of growth morphologies is recovered. The diffusion in the bulk nutrient and the anisotropy in the interface kinetics are morphologically destabilizing and stabilizing, respectively. For a given set of simulation parameters and lattice symmetries there is a critical size, which scales linearly with the mean free path in the vapor, beyond which a crystal cannot retain its stable, macroscopically faceted growth shape. Surface diffusion stabilizes faceted growth on the shorter scale of the mean surface diffusion length. In simulations with a uniform drift superimposed on the random walk nutrient transport, crystal faces oriented toward the drift show enhanced morphological stability compared to the purely diffusive situation. Rotational drifts with periodic reversal of direction are morphologically stabilizing for all crystal facets.

Xiao, Rong-Fu↗
NASA NTRS1985

Rotation and flattening of globular clusters

Methods for measuring globular cluster ellipticities and the results of such measurements are reviewed, and the processes that determine the shapes of globular clusters and the ways in which they change with time are discussed. The use of the virial tensor theorem to study the connection between the global rotation, velocity anisotropy, and the shape of a self-gravitating system is addressed, and the employment of N-body models to simulate the evolution of globular clusters with initially anisotropic velocity distributions is examined. The application of a simple evaporation model and Fokker-Planck integrations to study the two-body diffusion in globular clusters is reviewed.

Fall, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

On the morphological development of second-phase particles in elastically-stressed solids

We examine the equilibrium shape and the dynamics of the morphological evolution of a coherent misfitting particle in an elastically anisotropic medium. No a priori assumptions are made on the possible particle morphologies; the particle evolves in a manner consistent with both the diffusion and elastic fields surrounding the particle and the thermodynamics of interfaces in stressed solids. Through these calculations we find the thermodynamically stable equilibrium shape of a misfitting particle. By thermodynamically stable we mean that all the equilibrium conditions, elastic, chemical and interfacial are satisfied simultaneously, in contrast to previous treatments which determined the equilibrium shape by minimizing the sum of the elastic and interfacial energies for certain classes of particle shapes. We find that the equilibrium particle morphologies are not simple geometric shapes, have fourfold symmetry and a continuously varying interfacial curvature with position along the interface. Furthermore, the results show that the times required for a particle to evolve to its equilibrium morphology are likely to be within those which are accessible experimentally. In addition, we develop a general approach for determining the equilibrium shape of a particle in an elastically stressed solid.

Voorhees, P. W.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Computer Simulations of Small Molecules in Membranes: Insights from Computer Simulations into the Interactions of Small Molecules with Lipid Bilayers

Two of Ernest Overton's lasting contributions to biology are the Meyer-Overton relationship between the potency of an anesthetic and its solubility in oil, and the Overton rule which relates the permeability of a membrane to the oil-water partition coefficient of the permeating molecule. A growing body of experimental evidence, however, cannot be reconciled with these theories. In particular, the molecular nature of membranes, unknown to Overton, needs to be included in any description of these phenomena. Computer simulations are ideally suited for providing atomic-level information about the behavior of small molecules in membranes. The authors discuss simulation studies relevant to Overton's ideas. Through simulations it was found that anesthetics tend to concentrate at interfaces and their anesthetic potency correlates better with solubility at the water-membrane interface than with solubility in oil. Simulation studies of membrane permeation revealed the anisotropic nature of the membranes, as evidenced, for example, by the highly nonuniform distribution of free volume in the bilayer. This, in turn, influences the diffusion rates of solutes, which increase with the depth in the membrane. Small solutes tend to move by hopping between voids in the bilayer, and this hopping motion may be responsible for the deviation from the Overton rule of the permeation rates of these molecules.

Pohorille, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS1983

Fresnel zone considerations for reflection and scatter from refractive index irregularities

Several different echoing mechanisms are proposed to explain VHF/UHF scatter from clear air; (1) anisotropic scatter; (2) Fresnel reflection, and (3) Fresnel scatter, in order to account for the spatial (angle and range) and temporal dependence of the echoes. The term diffuse reflection describes the echoing mechanism when both scatter and reflection coexist. A unifying formulation is presented incorporating a statistical approach that embraces all mechanisms the above mechanisms and gives conditions under which reflection or scatter dominates. A distinction between Fraunhofer and Fresnel scatter and a criterion is presented under which Fresnel scatter is important.

Doviak, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Fatigue life prediction modeling for turbine hot section materials

This paper presents a summary of the life prediction methods developed under the NASA Lewis Research Center's Hot Section Technology (HOST) program. A major objective of the fatigue and fracture efforts under the HOST program was to significantly improve the analytic life prediction tools used by the aeronautical gas turbine engine industry. This has been achieved in the areas of high-temperature thermal and mechanical fatigue of bare and coated high-temperature superalloys. Such technical improvements will eventually reduce life cycle costs. The cyclic crack initiation and propagation resistance of nominally isotropic polycrystalline alloys and highly anisotropic single crystal alloys has been addressed. A sizeable data base has been generated for three alloys [cast PWA 1455 (B-1900 + Hf), wrought Inconel 718, and cast single crystal PWA 1480] in bare and coated conditions. Two coatings systems, diffusion aluminide (PWA 273) and plasma sprayed MCrAIY overlay (PWA 286) were employed. Life prediction modeling efforts were devoted to creep-fatigue interaction, oxidation, coatings interactions, multiaxiality of stress-strain states, mean stress effects, cumulative damage, and thermomechanical fatigue. The fatigue crack initiation life models developed to date include the Cyclic Damage Accumulation (CDA) Model of Pratt & Whitney and the Total Strain Version of Strainrange Partitioning (TS-SRP) of NASA Lewis for nominally isotropic materials, and the Tensile Hysteretic Energy Model of Pratt & Whitney for anisotropic superalloys. The fatigue model being developed by the General Electric Company is based upon the concepts of Path-lndependent Integrals (PII) for describing cyclic crack growth under complex nonlinear response at the crack tip due to thermomechanical loading conditions. A micromechanistic oxidation crack extension model has been derived by researchers at Syracuse University. The models are described and discussed in the paper. Only limited verification has been achieved to-date as several of the technical programs are still in progress and the verification tasks are scheduled, quite naturally, near the conclusion of the program. To-date, efforts have concentrated on development of independent models for cyclic constitutive behavior, cyclic crack initiation, and cyclic crack propagation. The transition between crack initiation and crack propagation has not been thoroughly researched as yet, and the integration of these models into a unified life prediction method has not been addressed.

Metal fatigue↗
NASA NTRS1987

Hydrodynamical constraints on cosmic-ray acceleration in relativistic shocks

A two-fluid hydrodynamical model governing the transport of cosmic rays in a relativistically moving background plasma is developed. The equations are used to discuss the time asymptotic structure of a relativistic, plane-parallel shock wave significantly modified by first-order Fermi acceleration of cosmic rays. The model allows for an anisotropic cosmic-ray pressure tensor with pressure components parallel and perpendicular to the shock normal. It is surmised that the well-known energy threshold problem for diffusive shock acceleration that downstream particles have a large enough velocity to overtake the shock and subsequently scatter in the upstream medium before returning to the downstream medium may be expressed hydrodynamically by the condition V less than V(cr), where V is the fluid velocity relative to the shock and V(cr) is the relativistic cosmic-ray sound speed. Astrophysical implications of the results are briefly discussed.

Webb, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1975

On the use of a finite difference method for solving anisotropic scattering problems

A new method of solving the radiative transfer equation is developed in which the scattering and absorption coefficients may have arbitrary variations with depth, and in which both internal (thermal) emission and incident radiation are allowed. Specular and diffuse reflection at both boundaries also is taken into account. The method begins by forming a paired set of coupled first-order differential equations for the symmetric and antisymmetric parts of the radiation field after writing the scattering integral as a numerical quadrature. These differential equations are broken into finite difference form, in which the symmetric and antisymmetric parts of the radiation field are found on alternate grid points. Numerical results for a number of test problems are shown, demonstrating that the method is very fast, that it returns specific intensities and fluxes that are accurate to at least a percent, and that it can be applied to optically thick problems.

Barkstrom, B. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Cosmic ray modulation in a random anisotropic magnetic field

Inhomogeneities of the interplanetary magnetic field can be divided into small scale and large scale ones as may be required by the character of the problem of cosmic ray (CR) propagation. CR propagation in stochastic magnetic fields is of diffusion character. The main contribution into the scattering of CR particles is made by their interaction with inhomogeneities of the magnetic field H which have characteristic dimensions 1 of the order of Larmor radius R=cp/eH of particle (p is the absolute value of particle momentum, e is particle charge, c is velocity of light). Scattering of particles on such inhomogeneities leads to their diffusion mostly along a magnetic field with characteristic dimensions of variation in space exceeding the mean free path.

Dorman, L. I.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Evaluation of models to predict insolation on tilted surfaces

An empirical study was performed to evaluate the validity of various insolation models which employ either an isotropic or an anisotropic distribution approximation for sky light when predicting insolation on tilted surfaces. Data sets of measured hourly insolation values were obtained over a 6-month period using pyranometers which received diffuse and total solar radiation on a horizontal plane and total radiation on surfaces tilted toward the equator at 37 degrees and 60 degrees angles above the horizon. Data on the horizontal surfaces were used in the insolation models to predict insolation on the tilted surface; comparisons of measured vs calculated insolation on the tilted surface were examined to test the validity of the sky light approximations. It was found that the Liu-Jordan isotropic distribution model provides a good fit to empirical data under overcast skies but underestimates the amount of solar radiation incident on tilted surfaces under clear and partly cloudy conditions.

Klucher, T. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Life prediction and constitutive models for engine hot section anisotropic materials

The development of directionally solidified and single crystal alloys is perhaps the most important recent advancement in hot section materials technology. The objective is to develop knowledge that enables the designer to improve anisotropic gas turbine parts to their full potential. Two single crystal alloys selected were PWA 1480 and Alloy 185. The coatings selected were an overlay coating, PWA 286, and an aluminide diffusion coating, PWA 273. The constitutive specimens were solid and cylindrical; the fatigue specimens were hollow and cylindrical. Two thicknesses of substrate are utilized. Specimens of both thickness (0.4 and 1.5 mm) will be coated and then tested for tensile, creep, and fatigue properties.

Swanson, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Second order closure modeling of turbulent buoyant wall plumes

Non-intrusive measurements of scalar and momentum transport in turbulent wall plumes, using a combined technique of laser Doppler anemometry and laser-induced fluorescence, has shown some interesting features not present in the free jet or plumes. First, buoyancy-generation of turbulence is shown to be important throughout the flow field. Combined with low-Reynolds-number turbulence and near-wall effect, this may raise the anisotropic turbulence structure beyond the prediction of eddy-viscosity models. Second, the transverse scalar fluxes do not correspond only to the mean scalar gradients, as would be expected from gradient-diffusion modeling. Third, higher-order velocity-scalar correlations which describe turbulent transport phenomena could not be predicted using simple turbulence models. A second-order closure simulation of turbulent adiabatic wall plumes, taking into account the recent progress in scalar transport, near-wall effect and buoyancy, is reported in the current study to compare with the non-intrusive measurements. In spite of the small velocity scale of the wall plumes, the results showed that low-Reynolds-number correction is not critically important to predict the adiabatic cases tested and cannot be applied beyond the maximum velocity location. The mean and turbulent velocity profiles are very closely predicted by the second-order closure models. but the scalar field is less satisfactory, with the scalar fluctuation level underpredicted. Strong intermittency of the low-Reynolds-number flow field is suspected of these discrepancies. The trends in second- and third-order velocity-scalar correlations, which describe turbulent transport phenomena, are also predicted in general, with the cross-streamwise correlations better than the streamwise one. Buoyancy terms modeling the pressure-correlation are shown to improve the prediction slightly. The effects of equilibrium time-scale ratio and boundary condition are also discussed.

Zhu, Gang↗
NASA NTRS2000

A New Fast Algorithm to Completely Account for Non-Lambertian Surface Reflection of The Earth

Surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) influences not only radiance just about the surface, but that emerging from the top of the atmosphere (TOA). In this study we propose a new, fast and accurate, algorithm CASBIR (correction for anisotropic surface bidirectional reflection) to account for such influences on radiance measured above TOA. This new algorithm is based on a 4-stream theory that separates the radiation field into direct and diffuse components in both upwelling and downwelling directions. This is important because the direct component accounts for a substantial portion of incident radiation under a clear sky, and the BRDF effect is strongest in the reflection of the direct radiation reaching the surface. The model is validated by comparison with a full-scale, vector radiation transfer model for the atmosphere-surface system. The result demonstrates that CASBIR performs very well (with overall relative difference of less than one percent) for all solar and viewing zenith and azimuth angles considered in wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared over three typical, but very different surface types. Application of this algorithm includes both accounting for non-Lambertian surface scattering on the emergent radiation above TOA and a potential approach for surface BRDF retrieval from satellite measured radiance.

Qin, Wen-Han↗
NASA NTRS2008

Development of Eddy Current Techniques for Detection of Deep Fatigue Cracks in Multi-Layer Airframe Components

Thick, multi-layer aluminum structure has been widely used in aircraft design in critical wing splice areas. The multi-layer structure generally consists of three or four aluminum layers with different geometry and varying thickness, which are held together with fasteners. The detection of cracks under fasteners with ultrasonic techniques in subsurface layers away from the skin is impeded primarily by interlayer bonds and faying sealant condition. Further, assessment of such sealant condition is extremely challenging in terms of complexity of structure, limited access, and inspection cost. Although Eddy current techniques can be applied on in-service aircraft from the exterior of the skin without knowing sealant condition, the current eddy current techniques are not able to detect defects with wanted sensitivity. In this work a series of low frequency eddy current probes have been designed, fabricated and tested for this application. A probe design incorporating a shielded magnetic field sensor concentrically located in the interior of a drive coil has been employed to enable a localized deep diffusion of the electromagnetic field into the part under test. Due to the required low frequency inspections, probes have been testing using a variety of magnetic field sensors (pickup coil, giant magneto-resistive, anisotropic magneto-resistive, and spin-dependent tunneling). The probe designs as well as capabilities based upon a target inspection for sub-layer cracking in an airframe wing spar joint is presented.

Wincheski, Russell A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Evaluating some computer enhancement algorithms that improve the visibility of cometary morphology

The observed morphology of cometary comae is determined by ejection circumstances and the interaction of the ejected material with the local environment. Anisotropic emission can provide useful information on such things as orientation of the nucleus, location of active areas on the nucleus, and the formation of ion structure near the nucleus. However, discrete coma features are usually diffuse, of low amplitude, and superimposed on a steep intensity gradient radial to the nucleus. To improve the visibility of these features, a variety of digital enhancement algorithms were employed with varying degrees of success. They usually produce some degree of spatial filtering, and are chosen to optimize visibility of certain detail. Since information in the image is altered, it is important to understand the effects of parameter selection and processing artifacts can have on subsequent interpretation. Using the criteria that the ideal algorithm must enhance low contrast features while not introducing misleading artifacts (or features that cannot be seen in the stretched, unprocessed image), the suitability of various algorithms that aid cometary studies were assessed. The strong and weak points of each are identified in the context of maintaining positional integrity of features at the expense of photometric information.

Larson, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Two-stream theory of spectral reflectance of snow

Spectral reflectance of snow under diffuse illumination is studied using the two-stream approximation of the radiative transfer equation. The scattering and absorption within the snowcover due to the randomly distributed ice grains are characterized by the single scattering albedo and anisotropic phase function. Geometric optics calculations are used to relate the scattering and absorption parameters to grain size and density of snow. Analytical expressions for the intensity within the snowpack and the asymptotic flux extinction coefficient are also obtained. Good agreement is shown between the theory and available experimental data on visible and near-infrared reflectance and asymptotic flux extinction coefficient. The theory also may be used to explain the observed effect of aging on the snow reflectance.

Choudhury, B. J.↗