Results for “measurement data” — Page 50

NASA NTRS2016

Investigation of Damping Physics and CFD Tool Validation for Simulation of Baffled Tanks at Variable Slosh Amplitude

Determination of slosh damping is a very challenging task as there is no analytical solution. The damping physics involves the vorticity dissipation which requires the full solution of the nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. As a result, previous investigations were mainly carried out by extensive experiments. A systematical study is needed to understand the damping physics of baffled tanks, to identify the difference between the empirical Miles equation and experimental measurements, and to develop new semi-empirical relations to better represent the real damping physics. The approach of this study is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology to shed light on the damping mechanisms of a baffled tank. First, a 1-D Navier-Stokes equation representing different length scales and time scales in the baffle damping physics is developed and analyzed. Loci-STREAM-VOF, a well validated CFD solver developed at NASA MSFC, is applied to study the vorticity field around a baffle and around the fluid-gas interface to highlight the dissipation mechanisms at different slosh amplitudes. Previous measurement data is then used to validate the CFD damping results. The study found several critical parameters controlling fluid damping from a baffle: local slosh amplitude to baffle thickness (A/t), surface liquid depth to tank radius (d/R), local slosh amplitude to baffle width (A/W); and non-dimensional slosh frequency. The simulation highlights three significant damping regimes where different mechanisms dominate. The study proves that the previously found discrepancies between Miles equation and experimental measurement are not due to the measurement scatter, but rather due to different damping mechanisms at various slosh amplitudes. The limitations on the use of Miles equation are discussed based on the flow regime.

Yang, H. Q.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Validity of Miles Equation in Predicting Propellant Slosh Damping in Baffled Tanks at Variable Slosh Amplitude

Determination of slosh damping is a very challenging task as there is no analytical solution. The damping physics involves the vorticity dissipation which requires the full solution of the nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. As a result, previous investigations were mainly carried out by extensive experiments. A systematical study is needed to understand the damping physics of baffled tanks, to identify the difference between the empirical Miles equation and experimental measurements, and to develop new semi-empirical relations to better represent the real damping physics. The approach of this study is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology to shed light on the damping mechanisms of a baffled tank. First, a 1-D Navier-Stokes equation representing different length scales and time scales in the baffle damping physics is developed and analyzed. Loci-STREAM-VOF, a well validated CFD solver developed at NASA MSFC, is applied to study the vorticity field around a baffle and around the fluid-gas interface to highlight the dissipation mechanisms at different slosh amplitudes. Previous measurement data is then used to validate the CFD damping results. The study found several critical parameters controlling fluid damping from a baffle: local slosh amplitude to baffle thickness (A/t), surface liquid depth to tank radius (d/R), local slosh amplitude to baffle width (A/W); and non-dimensional slosh frequency. The simulation highlights three significant damping regimes where different mechanisms dominate. The study proves that the previously found discrepancies between Miles equation and experimental measurement are not due to the measurement scatter, but rather due to different damping mechanisms at various slosh amplitudes. The limitations on the use of Miles equation are discussed based on the flow regime.

Yang, H. Q.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Validity of Miles Equation in Predicting Propellant Slosh Damping in Baffled Tanks at Variable Slosh Amplitude

Determination of slosh damping is a very challenging task as there is no analytical solution. The damping physics involves the vorticity dissipation which requires the full solution of the nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations. As a result, previous investigations were mainly carried out by extensive experiments. A systematical study is needed to understand the damping physics of baffled tanks, to identify the difference between the empirical Miles equation and experimental measurements, and to develop new semi-empirical relations to better represent the real damping physics. The approach of this study is to use Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technology to shed light on the damping mechanisms of a baffled tank. First, a 1-D Navier-Stokes equation representing different length scales and time scales in the baffle damping physics is developed and analyzed. Loci-STREAM-VOF, a well validated CFD solver developed at NASA MSFC, is applied to study the vorticity field around a baffle and around the fluid-gas interface to highlight the dissipation mechanisms at different slosh amplitudes. Previous measurement data is then used to validate the CFD damping results. The study found several critical parameters controlling fluid damping from a baffle: local slosh amplitude to baffle thickness (A/t), surface liquid depth to tank radius (d/R), local slosh amplitude to baffle width (A/W); and non-dimensional slosh frequency. The simulation highlights three significant damping regimes where different mechanisms dominate. The study proves that the previously found discrepancies between Miles equation and experimental measurement are not due to the measurement scatter, but rather due to different damping mechanisms at various slosh amplitudes. The limitations on the use of Miles equation are discussed based on the flow regime.

Yang, H. Q.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Intercomparison of Ground and Aerial Systems for Urban Advanced Air Mobility Wind Field Campaigns

The need for accurate wind measurement data in urban areas is a rising concern for advanced air mobility such as uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS) and urban air mobility. The lack of quality observations of wind fields and other parameters presents a challenge for operability. Urban areas provide additional difficulty because of the complex terrain and varying building geometry and their associated flow fields. This has led to an extensive knowledge gap when it comes to real-time urban measurements. This paper focuses on comparison of available systems and the types of measurements for urban wind field campaigns. LiDARs and SoDARs are two of many ground instruments capable of gathering the necessary wind field information. UAS is also a viable technique of obtaining aerial wind measurements. Each of these all have specific strengths that make their measurements more suitable than others. Ground based and airborne systems are evaluated and compared to provide a thorough look into which system or instrument might provide the most accurate and definitive results for urban wind field campaigns.

Tyler L Willhite↗

NASA NTRS1996

Effects of Gravity on Sheared Turbulence Laden with Bubbles or Droplets

This is a new project which started in May 1996. The main objective of the experimental/numerical study is to improve the understanding of the physics of two-way coupling between the dispersed phase and turbulence in a prototypical turbulent shear flow - homogeneous shear, laden with small liquid droplets (in gas) or gaseous bubbles (in liquid). The method of direct numerical simulation (DNS) is used to solve the full three-dimensional, time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations including the terms describing the two-way coupling between the dispersed phase and the carrier flow. The results include the temporal evolution of the three-dimensional energy and dissipation spectra and the rate of energy transfer across the energy spectrum to understand the fundamental physics of turbulence modulation, especially the effects of varying the magnitude of gravitational acceleration. The mean-square displacement and diffusivity of the droplets (or bubbles) of a given size and the preferential accumulation of droplets in low vorticity regions and bubbles in high vorticity regions will be examined in detail for different magnitudes of gravitational acceleration. These numerical results which will be compared with their corresponding measured data will provide a data base from which a subgrid-scale (SGS) model can be developed and validated for use in large-eddy simulation (LES) of particle-laden shear flows. Two parallel sets of experiments will be conducted: bubbles in an immiscible liquid and droplets in air. In both experiments homogeneous shear will be imposed on the turbulent carrier flow. The instantaneous velocities of the fluid and polydispersed-size particles (droplets or bubbles) will be measured simultaneously using a two-component Phase-Doppler Particle Analyzer (PDPA). Also, the velocity statistics and energy spectra for the carrier flow will be measured.

Elghobashi, Said↗

NASA NTRS2007

Estimation of Cometary Rotation Parameters Based on Camera Images

The purpose of the Rosetta mission is the in situ analysis of a cometary nucleus using both remote sensing equipment and scientific instruments delivered to the comet surface by a lander and transmitting measurement data to the comet-orbiting probe. Following a tour of planets including one Mars swing-by and three Earth swing-bys, the Rosetta probe is scheduled to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in May 2014. The mission poses various flight dynamics challenges, both in terms of parameter estimation and maneuver planning. Along with spacecraft parameters, the comet's position, velocity, attitude, angular velocity, inertia tensor and gravitatonal field need to be estimated. The measurements on which the estimation process is based are ground-based measurements (range and Doppler) yielding information on the heliocentric spacecraft state and images taken by an on-board camera yielding informaton on the comet state relative to the spacecraft. The image-based navigation depends on te identification of cometary landmarks (whose body coordinates also need to be estimated in the process). The paper will describe the estimation process involved, focusing on the phase when, after orbit insertion, the task arises to estimate the cometary rotational motion from camera images on which individual landmarks begin to become identifiable.

Spindler, Karlheinz↗

NASA NTRS1979

Measurements of admittances and characteristic combustion times of reactive gaseous propellant coaxial injectors

The results of an experimental investigation that was concerned with the quantitative determination of the capabilities of combustion processes associated with coaxial injectors to amplify and sustain combustor oscillations was described. The driving provided by the combustion process was determined by employing the modified standing-wave method utilizing coaxial injectors and air-acetylene mixtures. Analyses of the measured data indicate that the investigated injectors are capable of initiating and amplifying combustion instabilities under favorable conditions of injector-combustion coupling and over certain frequency ranges. These frequency ranges and the frequency at which an injector's driving capacity is maximum are observed to depend upon the equivalence ratio, the pressure drop across the injector orifices and the number of injector elements. The characteristic combustion times of coaxial injectors were determined from steady state temperature measurements.

Janardan, B. A.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Measurements and analysis of far-field scattering from a prolate spheroid

The far-field acoustic scattering by a prolate spheroid with axial point sources near the tip of the body was measured. Data were taken for ka between 10 - 160 where (a) is the semi-major axis of the spheroidal. Comparisons were made with numerical results obtained by an integral equation based on the simple source method, with appropriate coordinate stretching introduced to permit high frequency solutions with a minimal number of grid points. Theory and experiment agree within experimental error except for the highest frequencies in the shadow region, where very rapid changes in pressure make precise measurements difficult. The results show that for frequencies of aeroacoustic interest, the scattered field is very large and cannot be ignored.

Bayliss, A.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Measurements and analysis of farfield scattering from a prolate spheroid

The farfield acoustic scattering by a prolate spheroid with axial point sources near the tip of the body was measured. Data were taken for ka between 10 and 160, where a is the semimajor axis of the spheroid. Comparisons were made with numerical results obtained by an integral equation based on the simple-source method, with appropriate coordinate stretching introduced to permit high-frequency solutions with a minimal number of grid points. Theory and experiment agree within experimental error except for the highest frequencies in the shadow region, where very rapid changes in pressure make precise measurements difficult. The results show that for frequencies of aeroacoustic interest, the scattered field is very large and cannot be ignored.

Bayliss, A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Automated Probabilistic Finite Element Model Calibration Tool Based on Uncertainty Quantification and Machine Learning

Qualification and certification of safety critical parts is a hurdle to the adoption of metallic additively manufactured components for aerospace vehicle applications. Challenges include variability in part properties due to inconsistent defect distribution and microstructure. Understanding of the process through finite element modeling (FEM), and process control through in-situ monitoring, may result in significant improvements; however, solutions useful to manufacturers will require large volumes of data and automated data utilization. Toward this end, a generalizable automated FEM calibration paradigm is developed. This paradigm leverages existing and novel tools from machine learning and uncertainty quantification to enable the automatic calibration of FEMs without requiring prior knowledge of the model performance across input parameter space, including meshing and solver settings, which can require time consuming manual model probing or cause noisy and inconsistent predictions. The result is a probabilistic distribution of calibrated and validated FEM input parameters targeting measured data.

Additive manufacturing model calibration finite el↗

NASA NTRS1993

Wake-vortex structure from lift and torque induced on a following wing

A procedure based on vortex lattice theory to interpret the lift and torque measured on a following model in a wind tunnel is developed to retrieve the velocity distribution in the vortex wake that caused the induced forces. It is concluded that the retrieval procedure has a potential for reliably determining the structure of vortex wakes that trail from the wings of subsonic transport aircraft. Tests using idealized theoretical models show that the procedure is highly reliable and accurate. However, certain difficulties are found in the retrieval procedure when applied to actual data measured with following wings of various sizes in a wind tunnel.

Rossow, Vernon J.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Investigation of Rotor Performance and Loads of a UH-60A Individual Blade Control System

Wind tunnel measurements of performance, loads, and vibration of a full-scale UH-60A Black Hawk main rotor with an individual blade control (IBC) system are compared with calculations obtained using the comprehensive helicopter analysis CAMRAD II and a coupled CAMRAD II/OVERFLOW 2 analysis. Measured data show a 5.1% rotor power reduction (8.6% rotor lift to effective-drag ratio increase) using 2/rev IBC actuation with 2.0 amplitude at = 0.4. At the optimum IBC phase for rotor performance, IBC actuator force (pitch link force) decreased, and neither flap nor chord bending moments changed significantly. CAMRAD II predicts the rotor power variations with the IBC phase reasonably well at = 0.35. However, the correlation degrades at = 0.4. Coupled CAMRAD II/OVERFLOW 2 shows excellent correlation with the measured rotor power variations with the IBC phase at both = 0.35 and = 0.4. Maximum reduction of IBC actuator force is better predicted with CAMRAD II, but general trends are better captured with the coupled analysis. The correlation of vibratory hub loads is generally poor by both methods, although the coupled analysis somewhat captures general trends.

Yeo, Hyeonsoo↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Study of the Swelling and Bursting of the High Pressure Coupling (HPC) of a Two-Stage Light Gas Gun

• Need for data at muzzle velocities of 7.0 km/s and above to simulate impacts of space debris and naturally occurring meteoroids • The two-stage light gas gun is a well known way of achieving these velocities • There is a danger of significant swelling and even bursting of the HPC (high pressure coupling). • A consistent picture of the swelling and bursting of the HPCs of two Ames two-stage light gas guns is developed, based on the following: 1. Experimental measurements of the swelling and bursting of the HPCs of two two-stage light gas guns. 2. Stress-strain calculations of the swelling and bursting of thick walled steel tubes. 3. Experimental measurements swelling and bursting of thick walled steel tubes. 4. CFD calculations of the maximum pressures in the HPC of a two-stage light gas gun using the code LGGUN. • It is shown that model developed predicts swelling and bursting that agrees reasonably well with measured data. • Hence, it is suggested that the model could be used in the design of a two-stage light gas guns to assess the risk of swelling and bursting and to give maximum suggested operating conditions for an existing gun.

Ballistic Range↗

NASA NTRS2009

Metrology System for a Large, Somewhat Flexible Telescope

A proposed metrology system would be incorporated into a proposed telescope that would include focusing optics on a rigid bench connected via a deployable mast to another rigid bench holding a focal-plane array of photon counting photodetectors. Deformations of the deployable mast would give rise to optical misalignments that would alter the directions (and, hence, locations) of incidence of photons on the focal plane. The metrology system would measure the relative displacement of the focusing- optics bench and the focal-plane array bench. The measurement data would be used in post-processing of the digitized photodetector outputs to compensate for the mast-deformation-induced changes in the locations of incidence of photons on the focal plane, thereby making it possible to determine the original directions of incidence of photons with greater accuracy. The proposed metrology system is designed specifically for the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) a proposed spaceborne x-ray telescope. The basic principles of design and operation are also applicable to other large, somewhat flexible telescopes, both terrestrial and spaceborne. In the NuSTAR, the structural member connecting the optical bench and the photodetector array would be a 10-m-long deployable mast, and there is a requirement to keep errors in measured directions of incidence of photons below 10 arc seconds (3 sigma). The proposed system would include three diode lasers that would be mounted on the focusing-optics bench. For clarity, only one laser is shown in the figure, which is a greatly simplified schematic diagram of the system. Each laser would be aimed at a position-sensitive photodiode that would be mounted on the detector bench alongside the aforementioned telescope photodetector array. The diode lasers would operate at a wavelength of 830 nm, each at a power of 200 mW. Each laser beam would be focused to a spot of .1-mm diameter on the corresponding position-sensitive photodiode. To reduce the effect of sunlight on the measurements, a one-stage light baffle and an 830-nm transmission filter of 10-nm bandwidth would be placed in front of the position- sensitive photodiode. For each metrology reading, the output of the position-sensitive detector would be sampled and digitized twice: once with the lasers turned on, then once with the lasers turned off. The data from these two sets of samples would be subtracted from each other to further reduce the effects of sun glints or other background light sources.

Liebe, Carl Christian↗

NASA NTRS1987

An evaluation of active noise control in a cylindrical shell

The physical mechanisms governing the use of active noise control in an extended volume of a cylindrical shell are discussed. Measured data was compared with computer results from a previously derived analytical model based on an infinite shell theory. For both the analytical model and experiment, the radiation of the external monopoles is coupled to the internal acoustic field through the radial displacement of the thin, elastic cylindrical shell. An active noise control system was implemented in the cylinder using a fixed array of discrete monopole sources, all of which lie in the plane of the exterior noise sources. Good agreement between measurement and prediction was obtained for both internal pressure response and overall noise reduction. Attenuations in the source plane greater than 15 dB were recorded along with a uniformly quieted noise environment over the entire length of the experimental model. Results indicate that for extended axial forcing distributions or very low shell damping, axial arrays of control sources may be required. Finally, the Nyquist criteria for the number of azimuthal control sources is shown to provide for effective control over the full cylinder cross section.

Silcox, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Spacecraft attitude determination using a second-order nonlinear filter

The stringent attitude determination accuracy and faster slew maneuver requirements demanded by present-day spacecraft control systems motivate the development of recursive nonlinear filters for attitude estimation. This paper presents the second-order filter development for the estimation of attitude quaternion using three-axis gyro and star tracker measurement data. Performance comparisons have been made by computer simulation of system models and filter mechanization. It is shown that the second-order filter consistently performs better than the extended Kalman filter when the performance index of the root sum square estimation error of the quaternion vector is compared. The second-order filter identifies the gyro drift rates faster than the extended Kalman filter. The uniqueness of this algorithm is the online generation of the time-varying process and measurement noise covariance matrices, derived as a function or the process and measurement nonlinearity, respectively.

Vathsal, S.↗

NASA NTRS1989

An evaluation of active noise control in a cylindrical shell

The physical mechanisms governing the use of active noise control in an extended volume of a cylindrical shell are discussed. Measured data was compared with computer results from a previously derived analytical model based on an infinite shell theory. For both the analytical model and experiment, the radiation of the external monopoles is coupled to the internal acoustic field through the radial displacement of the thin, elastic cylindrical shell. An active noise control system was implemented in the cylinder using a fixed array of discrete monopole sources, all of which lie in the plane of the exterior noise sources. Good agreement between measurement and prediction was obtained for both internal pressure response and overall noise reduction. Attenuations in the source plane greater than 15 dB were recorded along with a uniformly quieted noise environment over the entire length of the experimental model. Results indicate that for extended axial forcing distributions or very low shell damping, axial arrays of control sources may be required. Finally, the Nyquist criteria for the number of azimuthal control sources is shown to provide for effective control over the full cylinder cross section.

Silcox, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Investigation of Rotor Performance and Loads of a UH-60A Individual Blade Control System

Wind tunnel measurements of performance, loads, and vibration of a full-scale UH-60A Black Hawk main rotor with an individual blade control (IBC) system are compared with calculations obtained using the comprehensive helicopter analysis CAMRAD II and a coupled CAMRAD II/OVERFLOW 2 analysis. Measured data show a 5.1% rotor power reduction (8.6% rotor lift to effective-drag ratio increase) using 2/rev IBC actuation with 2.0. amplitude at u = 0.4. At the optimum IBC phase for rotor performance, IBC actuator force (pitch link force) decreased, and neither flap nor chord bending moments changed significantly. CAMRAD II predicts the rotor power variations with IBC phase reasonably well at u = 0.35. However, the correlation degrades at u = 0.4. Coupled CAMRAD II/OVERFLOW 2 shows excellent correlation with the measured rotor power variations with IBC phase at both u = 0.35 and u = 0.4. Maximum reduction of IBC actuator force is better predicted with CAMRAD II, but general trends are better captured with the coupled analysis. The correlation of vibratory hub loads is generally poor by both methods, although the coupled analysis somewhat captures general trends.

Yeo, Hyeonsoo↗