Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “recourse”

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.

88 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Towards LES Models of Jets and Plumes

As pointed out by Rodi standard integral solutions for jets and plumes developed for discharge into infinite, quiescent ambient are difficult to extend to complex situations, particularly in the presence of boundaries such as the sea floor or ocean surface. In such cases the assumption of similarity breaks down and it is impossible to find a suitable entrainment coefficient. The models are also incapable of describing any but the most slowly varying unsteady motions. There is therefore a need for full time-dependent modeling of the flow field for which there are three main approaches: (1) Reynolds averaged numerical simulation (RANS), (2) large eddy simulation (LES), and (3) direct numerical simulation (DNS). Rodi applied RANS modeling to both jets and plumes with considerable success, the test being a match with experimental data for time-averaged velocity and temperature profiles as well as turbulent kinetic energy and rms axial turbulent velocity fluctuations. This model still relies on empirical constants, some eleven in the case of the buoyant jet, and so would not be applicable to a partly laminar plume, may have limited use in the presence of boundaries, and would also be unsuitable if one is after details of the unsteady component of the flow (the turbulent eddies). At the other end of the scale DNS modeling includes all motions down to the viscous scales. Boersma et al. have built such a model for the non-buoyant case which also compares well with measured data for mean and turbulent velocity components. The model demonstrates its versatility by application to a laminar flow case. As its name implies, DNS directly models the Navier-Stokes equations without recourse to subgrid modeling so for flows with a broad spectrum of motions (high Re) the cost can be prohibitive - the number of required grid points scaling with Re(exp 9/4) and the number of time steps with Re(exp 3/4). The middle road is provided by LES whereby the Navier-Stokes equations are formally filtered with the filter chosen to only exclude the smallest turbulent motions. If successful, LES should provide much of the detail available to DNS but at more bearable cost. Fatica et al. in comparing LES with DNS for a low Reynolds number jet showed that the LES could simulate the temporally evolving behavior including growth of the jet thickness. It is the intention of this report to explore the application of an LES model to jets and plumes. As always, before tackling complex situations, the model must be tested for the simplest of cases and so we address only two, a non-buoyant axisymmetric jet issuing steadily from an orifice into a semi-infinite stationary environment and a buoyant jet in the same environment. The work is a continuation of Basu and Mansour.

Webb, A. T.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Uplink-Downlink: A History of the Deep Space Network, 1957-1997

In these pages, the informed reader will discover a simple description of what the Deep Space Network (DSN) is about, and how it works an aspect of NASA's spectacular planetary program that seldom found its way into the popular media coverage of those major events. Future historical researchers will find a complete record of the origin and birth of the DSN, its subsequent development and expansion over the ensuing four decades, and a description of the way in which the DSN was used to fulfill the purpose for which it was created. At the same time, the specialist reader is provided with an abundant source of technical references that address every aspect of the advanced telecommunications technology on which the success of the DSN depended. And finally, archivists, educators, outreach managers, and article writers will have ready recourse to the inner workings of the DSN and how they related to the more publicly visible events of the planetary space program.

Mudgway, Douglas J.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Flutter and Divergence Analysis using the Generalized Aeroelastic Analysis Method

The Generalized Aeroelastic Analysis Method (GAAM) is applied to the analysis of three well-studied checkcases: restrained and unrestrained airfoil models, and a wing model. An eigenvalue iteration procedure is used for converging upon roots of the complex stability matrix. For the airfoil models, exact root loci are given which clearly illustrate the nature of the flutter and divergence instabilities. The singularities involved are enumerated, including an additional pole at the origin for the unrestrained airfoil case and the emergence of an additional pole on the positive real axis at the divergence speed for the restrained airfoil case. Inconsistencies and differences among published aeroelastic root loci and the new, exact results are discussed and resolved. The generalization of a Doublet Lattice Method computer code is described and the code is applied to the calculation of root loci for the wing model for incompressible and for subsonic flow conditions. The error introduced in the reduction of the singular integral equation underlying the unsteady lifting surface theory to a linear algebraic equation is discussed. Acknowledging this inherent error, the solutions of the algebraic equation by GAAM are termed 'exact.' The singularities of the problem are discussed and exponential series approximations used in the evaluation of the kernel function shown to introduce a dense collection of poles and zeroes on the negative real axis. Again, inconsistencies and differences among published aeroelastic root loci and the new 'exact' results are discussed and resolved. In all cases, aeroelastic flutter and divergence speeds and frequencies are in good agreement with published results. The GAAM solution procedure allows complete control over Mach number, velocity, density, and complex frequency. Thus all points on the computed root loci can be matched-point, consistent solutions without recourse to complex mode tracking logic or dataset interpolation, as in the k and p-k solution methods.

Edwards, John W.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Definitive Mineralogical Analysis of Mars Analog Rocks Using the CheMin XRD/XRF Instrument

Mineral identification is a critical component of Mars Astrobiological missions. Chemical or elemental data alone are not definitive because a single elemental or chemical composition or even a single bonding type can represent a range of substances or mineral assemblages. Minerals are defined as unique structural and compositional phases that occur naturally. There are about 15,000 minerals that have been described on Earth, all uniquely identifiable via diffraction methods. There are likely many minerals yet undiscovered on Earth, and likewise on Mars. If an unknown phase is identified on Mars, it can be fully characterized by structural (X-ray Diffraction, XRD) and elemental analysis (X-ray Fluorescence, XRF) without recourse to other data because XRD relies on the principles of atomic arrangement for its determinations. XRD is the principal means of identification and characterization of minerals on Earth.

Blake, D. F.↗
NASA NTRS1943

Experimental Investigation of a Model of a Two-Stage Turboblower

In the present paper an investigation is made of two stages of a multistage turboblower having a vaneless diffuser behind the impeller and guide vanes at the inlet to the nest stage. The method employed was that of investigating the performance of the successive elements of the blower (the impeller, vaneless diffuser, ets.) whereby the kinematics of the flow through the blower could be followed and the pressure at the different points computed. The character of the flow and the physical significance of the loss coefficients could thereby be determined so as to secure the best agreement of the computed with the actual performance of the blower. Since the tests were carried out for various delivery volumes, the dependence of the coefficients on a number of factors (angle of attack, velocities, etc.) could be obtained. The distribution of the losses that occur during the transformation of dynamic pressure at the impeller exit into static pressure could be found and likewise the range within which the friction coefficient varies in the vaneless diffuser. With the aid of factors having a certain physical significance, the centrifugal blower could be computed on the basis of a more or less schematical consideration of the phenomena occuring during the air flow through it, and the use of arbitrary factors and recourse to the geometrical similtude law thus avoided. The present investigation largely summarizes all the previous work af the CHI Blower Section on the different elements of a centrifugal blower. Some considerations on the analysis of model test data for application to full-scale are presented in the appendix.

Dovjik, s.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Proposal Drafted for Allocating Space-to-Space Frequencies in the GPS Spectrum Bands

Radionavigation Satellite Service (RNSS) systems such as the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and the Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) are primarily being used today in the space-to-Earth direction (i.e., from GPS satellite to Earth user) for a broad range of applications such as geological surveying; aircraft, automobile, and maritime navigation; hiking and mountain climbing; and precision farming and mining. However, these navigation systems are being used increasingly in space. Beginning with the launch of the TOPEX/Poseidon remote-sensing mission in 1992, over 90 GPS receivers have flown onboard spacecraft for such applications as real-time spacecraft navigation, three-axis attitude control, precise time synchronization, precision orbit determination, and atmospheric profiling. In addition to use onboard many science spacecraft, GPS has been used or is planned to be used onboard the shuttles, the International Space Station, the International Space Station Emergency Crew Return Vehicle, and many commercial satellite systems such as Orbcomm, Globalstar, and Teledesic. From a frequency spectrum standpoint, however, one important difference between the space and terrestrial uses of GPS is that it is being used in space with no interference protection. This is because there is no frequency allocation for the space-to-space use of GPS (i.e., from GPS satellite to user spacecraft) in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) regulatory table of frequency allocations. If another space-based or groundbased radio system interferes with a spaceborne GPS user, the spaceborne user presently has no recourse other than to accept the interference. Consequently, for the past year and a half, the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field and other Government agencies have been working within ITU toward obtaining a GPS space-to-space allocation at the next World Radio Conference in the year 2000 (WRC 2000). Numerous interference studies have been conducted in support of a primary space-tospace allocation in the 1215- to 1260-MHz and 1559- to 1610-MHz RNSS bands. Most of these studies and analyses were performed by Glenn and submitted as U.S. input documents to the international Working Party 8D meetings in Geneva, Switzerland. In the structure of the ITU, Working Party 8D is responsible for frequency spectrum issues in the RNSS and the mobile satellite service (MSS). The full texts of the studies are available from the ITU web site under Working Party 8D contributions. Note that because spaceborne RNSS receivers operate in a receive-only mode with navigation signals already being broadcast toward the Earth, the addition of a space-tospace allocation will not result in interference with other systems. A space-based RNSS receiver, however, could experience interference from systems of other services, including intraservice interference from other RNSS systems. The interference scenarios examined in the studies can be inferred from the following frequency allocation charts. In these charts, services labeled in all capital letters (e.g., "ARNS") have primary status, whereas those labeled with sentence-style capitalization (e.g., "Amateur radio") have secondary status (i.e., a service with secondary status cannot claim interference protection from or cause harmful interference to a service with primary status). Charts showing the ITU frequency allocations in the 960 to 1350 MHZ range and the 1525-1660 MHZ range are discussed and presented.

Spence, Rodney L.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Eliminating Obliquity Error from the Estimation of Ionospheric Delay in a Satellite-Based Augmentation System

Current satellite-based augmentation systems estimate ionospheric delay using algorithms that assume the electron density of the ionosphere is non-negligible only in a thin shell located near the peak of the actual profile. In its initial operating capability, for example, the Wide Area Augmentation System incorporated the thin shell model into an estimation algorithm that calculates vertical delay using a planar fit. Under disturbed conditions or at low latitude where ionospheric structure is complex, however, the thin shell approximation can serve as a significant source of estimation error. A recent upgrade of the system replaced the planar fit algorithm with an algorithm based upon kriging. The upgrade owes its success, in part, to the ability of kriging to mitigate the error due to this approximation. Previously, alternative delay estimation algorithms have been proposed that eliminate the need for invoking the thin shell model altogether. Prior analyses have compared the accuracy achieved by these methods to the accuracy achieved by the planar fit algorithm. This paper extends these analyses to include a comparison with the accuracy achieved by kriging. It concludes by examining how a satellite-based augmentation system might be implemented without recourse to the thin shell approximation.

delay estimation↗
NASA NTRS2015

Impact of Utilizing Photos and Deimos as Waypoints for Mars Human Surface Missions

Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars, are interesting exploration destinations that offer extensibility of the Asteroid Redirect Mission (ARM) technologies. Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP), asteroid rendezvous and docking, and surface operations can be used to land on and explore the moons of Mars. The close Mars vicinity of Phobos and Deimos warrant examining them as waypoints, or intermediate staging orbits, for Mars surface missions. This paper outlines the analysis performed to determine the mass impact of using the moons of Mars both as an intermediate staging point for exploration as well as for in-situ recourse utilization, namely propellant, to determine if the moons are viable options to include in the broader Mars surface exploration architecture.

Cianciolo, Alicia D.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Formation and Recondensation of Complex Organic Molecules During Protostellar Luminosity Outbursts

During the formation of stars, the accretion of surrounding material toward the central object is thought to undergo strong luminosity outbursts followed by long periods of relative quiescence, even at the early stages of star formation when the protostar is still embedded in a large envelope. We investigated the gas-phase formation and recondensation of the complex organic molecules (COMs) di-methyl ether and methyl formate, induced by sudden ice evaporation processes occurring during luminosity outbursts of different amplitudes in protostellar envelopes. For this purpose, we updated a gas-phase chemical network forming COMs in which ammonia plays a key role. The model calculations presented here demonstrate that ion-molecule reactions alone could account for the observed presence of di-methyl ether and methyl formate in a large fraction of protostellar cores without recourse to grain-surface chemistry, although they depend on uncertain ice abundances and gas-phase reaction branching ratios. In spite of the short outburst timescales of about 100 years, abundance ratios of the considered species higher than 10% with respect to methanol are predicted during outbursts due to their low binding energies relative to water and methanol which delay their recondensation during cooling. Although the current luminosity of most embedded protostars would be too low to produce complex organics in the hot-core regions that are observable with current sub-millimetric interferometers, previous luminosity outburst events would induce the formation of COMs in extended regions of protostellar envelopes with sizes increasing by up to one order of magnitude.

astrochemistry↗
NASA NTRS2017

Critical Software for Human Spaceflight

The NASA Orion vehicle that will fly to the moon in the next years is propelled along its mission by the European Service Module (ESM), developed by ESA and its prime contractor Airbus Defense and Space. This paper describes the development of the Propulsion Drive Electronics (PDE) Software that provides the interface between the propulsion hardware of the European Service Module with the Orion flight computers, and highlights the challenges that have been faced during the development. Particularly, the specific aspects relevant to Human Spaceflight in an international cooperation are presented, as the compliance to both European and US standards and the software criticality classification to the highest category A. An innovative aspect of the PDE SW is its Time- Triggered Ethernet interface with the Orion Flight Computers, which has never been flown so far on any European spacecraft. Finally the verification aspects are presented, applying the most exigent quality requirements defined in the European Cooperation for Space Standardization (ECSS) standards such as the structural coverage analysis of the object code and the recourse to an independent software verification and validation activity carried on in parallel by a different team.

Preden, Antonio↗
NASA NTRS2017

Semi-Supervised Learning of Lift Optimization of Multi-Element Three-Segment Variable Camber Airfoil

This chapter describes a new intelligent platform for learning optimal designs of morphing wings based on Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flaps (VCCTEF) in conjunction with a leading edge flap called the Variable Camber Krueger (VCK). The new platform consists of a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methodology coupled with a semi-supervised learning methodology. The CFD component of the intelligent platform comprises of a full Navier-Stokes solution capability (NASA OVERFLOW solver with Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model) that computes flow over a tri-element inboard NASA Generic Transport Model (GTM) wing section. Various VCCTEF/VCK settings and configurations were considered to explore optimal design for high-lift flight during take-off and landing. To determine globally optimal design of such a system, an extremely large set of CFD simulations is needed. This is not feasible to achieve in practice. To alleviate this problem, a recourse was taken to a semi-supervised learning (SSL) methodology, which is based on manifold regularization techniques. A reasonable space of CFD solutions was populated and then the SSL methodology was used to fit this manifold in its entirety, including the gaps in the manifold where there were no CFD solutions available. The SSL methodology in conjunction with an elastodynamic solver (FiDDLE) was demonstrated in an earlier study involving structural health monitoring. These CFD-SSL methodologies define the new intelligent platform that forms the basis for our search for optimal design of wings. Although the present platform can be used in various other design and operational problems in engineering, this chapter focuses on the high-lift study of the VCK-VCCTEF system. Top few candidate design configurations were identified by solving the CFD problem in a small subset of the design space. The SSL component was trained on the design space, and was then used in a predictive mode to populate a selected set of test points outside of the given design space. The new design test space thus populated was evaluated by using the CFD component by determining the error between the SSL predictions and the true (CFD) solutions, which was found to be small. This demonstrates the proposed CFD-SSL methodologies for isolating the best design of the VCK-VCCTEF system, and it holds promise for quantitatively identifying best designs of flight systems, in general.

Intelligent Systems↗
NASA NTRS2018

Surface Tension Containment Experiment (STCE) - Increasing Science Throughput on ISS

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on the International Space Station (ISS) is used for fluid transfer in many types of experiments. Reagents are handled in the MSG to prevent their accidental release into the cabin. However, the MSG is currently over-subscribed, creating a backlog of users in flight. As a recourse, current experiments are underway to assess the possibility of moving certain science operations from the MSG into the open cabin of the ISS. The experiments are designed to assess the efficacy of exploiting surface tension as a control to prevent the unwanted release of liquids. Dyed water currently serves as an ersatz for potentially more hazardous liquids. Common wet-lab operations such as de/mating wetted Luer-Lok fittings, liquid-bearing container lid removal, and pipetting between well plates are performed illustrating the facility and challenges imposed by the microgravity environment. Concerning the latter, various pipette cannula sizes are deployed at various injection, withdrawal, and translations rates to map the existence, size, velocity, and trajectory of satellite droplets expected to form when breaking contact between the water surface and the pipette tip. Though such drops frequently form in terrestrial operations, they are nearly imperceptible and inconsequential—due in part to their speed and because gravity quickly returns them to the well plate from which they came. The use of airflow to capture and collect such satellite droplets is demonstrated. The dynamic stability of the liquid-filled well plates is quantified in response to a variety of crew-imparted disturbances. From a safety perspective, the results from the STCE are of immediate practical value. If such routine low-gravity capillary fluidic operations can be established as mundane, their performance may be moved out of the MSG and into the cabin, significantly increasing the efficiency of experiments performed on ISS.

Ungar, Eugene K.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Multi-Node Modeling of Cryogenic Tank Pressurization System Using Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program

Cryogenic Tanks are pressurized by inert gas such as Helium or Nitrogen to maintain the required pressure of the propellant delivered to the turbo-pump of a liquid rocket engine. Thermo-fluid system simulation tools are used to analyze the pressurization process of a cryogenic tank. Most system level codes (GFSSP and ROCETS) use single node1 to represent ullage which is the gaseous space in the tank. Ullage space in a cryogenic tank is highly stratified because the entering inert gas is at ambient temperature whereas the liquid propellant is at a cryogenic temperature. A single node model does not account for the effect of temperature gradient in the ullage. High fidelity Navier-Stokes based CFD model of Tank Pressurization is not practical for running a long duration transient model with thousands and millions of nodes. A possible recourse is to construct a multi-node model with system level code that can account for ullage stratification.

Bandyopadhyay, Alak↗
NASA NTRS2020

Durability Characterization of Low Ice Adhesion and Impact Resistance Coatings

Glaze, rime and mixed icing conditions can cause significant variation in aerodynamic performance, fuel efficiency, and flight safety. For commercial aircraft, active icing mitigation strategies are utilized to enable safe flight within icing conditions according to the FAR Part 25/29 Appendix C icing envelope. For general aviation and unmanned aerial vehicles that cannot support active anti-icing technologies, avoidance is the only recourse. Passive approaches have been investigated to reduce weight and energy consumption for active systems and to expand the operational envelope for smaller aircraft. Coatings are one passive method to reduce or mitigate ice accretion on frontal surfaces of commercial aircraft with the greatest region of interest being wing leading edges. Aircraft wing leading edges represent an extreme environment. Durability must be considered for any material to be applied as a coating in this area. Currently, there are no specifications regarding coating durability of a low ice adhesion material applied on the wing leading edge. Therefore, a reasonable starting point is to use the durability specifications put forth for an aircraft external coating. Besides the tests called out in these specifications, others were included such as Taber abrasion to simulate wear and erosion. Beyond durability, performance metrics with regards to adhesion strength of accreted in-flight (i.e., impact) icing are central to determine coating usefulness. Determination of this property though is particularly challenging and only a few facilities have the capability to quantify this. An instrument at NASA Langley Research Center [Adverse Environment Rotary Test Stand Jr., (AERTS Jr.)], based on the AERTS system at The Pennsylvania State University, allows for screening numerous coatings subjected to the icing environment. To establish a benchmark for comparison with research coatings, a state-of-the-art (SOA) commercial aircraft coating was subjected to an array of salient durability and performance experiments. The same tests were conducted using a baseline epoxy (BE) resin formulation that demonstrated some initial promising results for comparison. Results from this initial screening will be discussed herein.

Miranda L Beaudry↗
NASA NTRS2022

Using Machine Learning to Identify Novel Hydroclimate States

Anthropogenic climate change is expected to alter drought risk in the future. However, droughts are not uncommon or unprecedented, as documented in tree-ring-based reconstructions of the summer average Palmer drought severity index (PDSI). Using an unsupervised machine-learning method trained on these reconstructions of pre-industrial climate, we identify outliers: years in which the spatial pattern of PDSI is unusual relative to ‘normal' variability. We show that in many regions, outliers are more frequently identified in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. This trend is more pronounced when the regional drought atlases are combined into a single global dataset. By definition, outlier patterns at the 10% level are expected to occur once per decade, but from 1950 to 2000 more than 6 years per decade are identified as outliers in the global drought atlas (GDA). Extending the GDA through 2020 using an observational dataset suggests that anomalous global drought conditions are present in 80% of years in the twenty-first century. Our results indicate, without recourse to climate models, that the world is more frequently experiencing drought conditions that are highly unusual in the context of past natural climate variability.

Drought risk↗
NASA NTRS2024

Expansion of Check-Cases for 6DOF Simulation

This is the Appendix containing a description of the solution for Case 1 in the assessment, “Expansion of Check-Cases for 6DOF Simulation”. For cases of spherical gravity, it is possible to provide a two-body solution without recourse to numerical integration and thus it is accurate to machine precision. Python code for a Keplerian Propagator (propagate.py) which produced a reference trajectory for Case 1 is provided in this appendix. There is also code for generating test cases which was used as an independent verification of the propagator. This is a high-level description of the algorithm employed. The documentation of each function includes implementation details, including equations for each task.

Modeling↗