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Extended NASA Langley Vortex Lattice Method computer program VLM, estimates subsonic aerodynamic characteristics of up to four complex planforms. Planforms include wings with variable-sweep outer panels, wings with several changes in dihedral angle across span, wings with winglets, and wing (or wings) in conjunctions with tail and/or canard. VLM written in FORTRAN IV.
The low coupling efficiency of semiconductor laser emissions into a single mode optical fibers place a severe restriction on their use. Associated with these conventional optical coupling techniques are stringent alignment sensitivities. Using holographic elements, the coupling efficiency may be increased and the alignment sensitivity greatly reduced. Both conventional and computer methods used in the generation of the holographic couplers are described and diagrammed. The reconstruction geometries used are shown to be somewhat restrictive but substantially less rigid than their conventional optical counterparts. Single and double hologram techniques are examined concerning their respective ease of fabrication and relative merits.
An ocean atmosphere radiative transfer process computation method which is suitable for determining lower boundary ocean albedo and other radiation components from spectral measurements of upwelling radiance taken from a high altitude platform is described. The method was applied to a set of color scanner data taken from slope water of the South Atlantic Bight to determine the influence of cholorophyll-a pigments in the sea on the ratio of upwelling radiance to down welling irradiance as a function of wavelength. The resulting chlorophyll concentrations are compared with measurements made by ships stationed along the flight path.
A computational method with which to obtain a physical understanding of the turbulent field of two coaxial jets entering an axisymmetric chamber is developed. Even the laminar field of this flow is quite complicated. This is due to the many different domains which exist in the field especially in the entrance region. Physically, three regions may be identified: the wall region, the initial region near the axis of symmetry and the mixing region. Advancing downstream, these regions change relative size with the ratio of the two jets' mass fluxes as the main parameter. The turbulent field of these flows is much more complicated due to the difference in the effective transport coefficients and turbulence level from region to region. However, being aware beforehand of the complications and the different regions of this field, the appropriate turbulence model and numerical scheme can be adjusted to treat the problem.
Frequencies of solar oscillation for normal modes described by spherical harmonics with l-values between 0 and 4 are computed. The method of computation is discussed and some of the theoretical uncertainties are examined. It is shown that the standard solar model has eigenfrequencies which do not agree with the frequencies observed for the low l-modes to within the estimated accuracy of either the observed or theoretical frequencies. Four non-standard models are considered: (1) the interior Z abundance is lower than the surface abundance; (2) the interior Z abundance is higher than the surface abundance; (3) the interior Z abundance is altered by mixing; and (4) a large primordial magnetic field remains in the solar core. The effect of all these models on the solar neutrino flux is considered, with the result that the high-Z model is rejected. The conclusions of Bahcall and Ulrich (1971) that a primordial magnetic field increases the neutrino flux are disputed.
An efficient computational method is demonstrated for determining the far-field patterns of reflectors illuminated by pyramidal horns. A uniform geometrical theory of diffraction (GTD) formulation is used to determine the near- and far-fields of the horn. The far-field patterns of the offset reflector are constructed using the physical optics (PO) formulation in conjunction with the Jacobi-Bessel expansion method. Many representative results are shown for the far-field patterns of the reflector. In particular, the concept of the optimum phase center for the best location of a horn illuminating a reflector is carefully studied and some useful observations are made.
Recent progress in computational methods for time dependent fluid dynamics is presented. The emphasis is on advances applicable to large scale systems with the connection between the numerics and the physics of the code stressed. All aspects of a working code are discussed including such topics as initialization, boundary conditions, grid generation in addition to algorithmic advances. One sometimes uses a time dependent method as an iteration procedure to reach a steady state solution. Work in accelerating the convergence to the steady state is also surveyed.
Recent advances in computational techniques and computer hardware have made it possible to attack the problem of computing steady-state inviscid flowfields over complex three-dimensional bodies such as the Space Shuttle Orbiter. Certain problems have arisen in connection with cases involving high angles of attack. Weilmuenster et al. (1981, 1982) have, therefore, presented a time asymptotic computational method, HALIS, designed to handle the high angle-of-attack problem for the inviscid flow over the Space Shuttle vehicle. The code was modified to include all of the Shuttle vehicle forward of the wing root. Body surface pressures generated by the HALIS code were shown to be in excellent agreement with flight pressures measured on the Shuttle vehicle. In the present investigation, results from the HALIS code, which has been extended to cover the first 1212 inches of the Shuttle vehicle, are compared with flight surface pressures. Shock shapes at several angles of attack are also presented.
Results are presented from a quasi-three-dimensional calculation of steady (relative), inviscid, adiabatic, subsonic/shock-free transonic flow on multiple hub-to-shroud stream surfaces through turbomachinery blade rows. The quasi-three-dimensional technique incorporates some three-dimensional effects while retaining much of the simplicity of two-dimensional computational methods. Three typical turbomachinery flowfield calculations are presented including an axial-flow compressor rotor, a turbine stator vane cascade, and a radial-inflow turbine rotor. The calculations were performed using quasi-three-dimensional extensions of existing two-dimensional methods. The current results represent an intermediate step in the complete quasi-three-dimensional solution process. However, the results demonstrate the usefulness of the quasi-three-dimensional technique in complementing and extending the applicability of the two-dimensional methods of turbomachinery flow analysis.
The General Interpolant Method computer code was used to analyze two-dimensional unsteady thermal convection in circular cylinders under variable low-g conditions associated with space flight. When an acceleration vector was applied parallel to the thermal gradient, in the case of a fluid at rest, no convection resulted for the stable direction, and an instability led to Rayleigh convection for the opposite direction. However, when the acceleration had a component orthogonal to the gradient, convection resulted at any Rayleigh number. The effect on convection of both types of acceleration, applied concurrently or sequentially, was investigated, including the case when the resultant vector varied in direction with time. An analysis of experimental results shows that for space flight conditions, the Rayleigh accelerations induce significant, but not dominating, changes in the established convection even when the Rayleigh number is less than critical.
A numerical simulation is carried out of the incompressible three-dimensional turbulent boundary-layer experiments of van den Berg and Elsenaar (1972), Dechow (1977), and Muller (1982). The simulation is effected by integrating the boundary-layer equations together with an algebraic eddy-viscosity turbulence model. With this computational method, the downstream portion of the flow treated by van den Berg and Elsenaar, where the crossflow is large, cannot be predicted. It is believed that this flow is significantly influenced by elliptic flow-field effects. Even though Dechow's experiment also indicated departures from the boundary-layer concept, the calculations made here agree reasonably well with the mean-flow development up to separation. The normal pressure gradients in Muller's experiment are found to be negligible in regions with large skewing, making it possible to test turbulence models using the boundary-layer equations. The simulation of this flow compares favorably with the experimental data throughout the flow field.
Computational methods are reported for construction of discrete and continuum Schroedinger states in atoms and molecules employing explicit Hilbert space procedures familiar from bound state studies. As theoretical development, the Schroedinger problem of interest is described, the Cauchy-Lanczos bases and orthonormal polynomials used in constructing L-squared Stieltjes-Tchebycheff (ST) approximations to the discrete and continuum states are defined, and certain properties of these functions are indicated. Advantages and limitations of the ST approach to spectral studies relative to more conventional calculations are discussed, and aspects of the approach in single-channel approximations to larger molecules are described. Procedures are indicated for construction of photoejection anisotropies and for performing coupled-channel calculations employing the ST formalism. Finally, explicit descriptive intercomparisons are made of the nature and diagnostic value of ST functions with more conventional scattering functions.
Five direct and five iterative algorithms for finite element equations in linear equilibrium problems investigated for number of parallel computer architectures and their basic computation methods compared.
Aerodynamic research relating to modern helicopters includes the study of three dimensional, unsteady, nonlinear flow fields. A selective review is made of some of the phenomenon that hamper the development of satisfactory engineering prediction techniques, but which provides a rich source of research opportunities: flow separations, compressibility effects, complex vortical wakes, and aerodynamic interference between components. Several examples of work in progress are given, including dynamic stall alleviation, the development of computational methods for transonic flow, rotor-wake predictions, and blade-vortex interactions.
The original computational method for determining wave drag in a three dimensional transonic analysis method was replaced by a wave drag formula based on the loss in momentum across an isentropic shock. This formula was used as the objective function in a numerical optimization procedure to reduce the wave drag of a fighter wing at transonic maneuver conditions. The optimization procedure minimized wave drag through modifications to the wing section contours defined by a wing profile shape function. A significant reduction in wave drag was achieved while maintaining a high lift coefficient. Comparisons of the pressure distributions for the initial and optimized wing geometries showed significant reductions in the leading-edge peaks and shock strength across the span.
Planar, as opposed to channelized, integrated optical circuits (IOCs) were stressed as the basis for computational devices. Both fully-parallel and systolic architectures are considered and the tradeoffs between the two device types are discussed. The Kalman filter approach is a most important computational method for many NASA problems. This approach to deriving a best-fit estimate for the state vector describing a large system leads to matrix sizes which are beyond the predicted capacities of planar IOCs. This problem is overcome by matrix partitioning, and several architectures for accomplishing this are described. The Luneburg lens work has involved development of lens design techniques, design of mask arrangements for producing lenses of desired shape, investigation of optical and chemical properties of arsenic trisulfide films, deposition of lenses both by thermal evaporation and by RF sputtering, optical testing of these lenses, modification of lens properties through ultraviolet irradiation, and comparison of measured lens properties with those expected from ray trace analyses.
Analytical and numerical computational methods to determine the location of the mode as a function of the parameters of a class of the bivariate gamma distribution are presented.
The principal objective was to estimate the economic impact on the turbine-powered business aviation fleet of potential changes in the composition and properties of aviation fuel. Secondary objectives include estimation of the sensitivity of costs to specific fuel properties, and an assessment of the directions in which further research should be directed. The study was based on the published characteristics of typical and specific modern aircraft in three classes; heavy jet, light jet, and turboprop. Missions of these aircraft were simulated by computer methods for each aircraft for several range and payload combinations, and assumed atmospheric temperatures ranging from nominal to extremely cold. Five fuels were selected for comparison with the reference fuel, nominal Jet A. An overview of the data, the mathematic models, the data reduction and analysis procedure, and the results of the study are given. The direct operating costs of the study fuels are compared with that of the reference fuel in the 1990 time-frame, and the anticipated fleet costs and fuel break-even costs are estimated.