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NASA NTRS2019

Observational Evidence of Magnetic Reconnection in the Terrestrial Bow Shock Transition Region

We report evidence of magnetic reconnection in the transition region of the Earth's bow shock when the angle between the shock normal and the immediate upstream magnetic field is 65°. An ion‐skin‐depth‐scale current sheet exhibits the Hall current and field pattern, electron outflow jet, and enhanced energy conversion rate through the nonideal electric field, all consistent with a reconnection diffusion region close to the X‐line. In the diffusion region, electrons are modulated by electromagnetic waves. An ion exhaust with energized field‐aligned ions and electron parallel heating are observed in the same shock transition region. The energized ions are more separated from the inflowing ions in velocity above the current sheet than below, possibly due to the shear flow between the two inflow regions. The observation suggests that magnetic reconnection may contribute to shock energy dissipation.

Wang, Shan↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Material Response Analysis of PICA-NuSil at the Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System

Phenolic impregnated carbon ablator (PICA) is a thermal protection system (TPS) that gained heritage during the Stardust mission and is the baseline TPS material for expeditions to Mars (e.g., Mars Science Laboratory and Mars 2020).1 PICA is friable; therefore, a polysiloxane resin (NuSil CV-1144-0) is deposited onto the surface of flight hardware before assembly, test, and launch operations (ATLO) to mitigate particle shedding. Furthermore, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and Mars 2020 heatshields were instrumented with an array of thermocouple plugs (MEDLI Integrated Sensor Plugs or MISP) designed to measure the in-depth thermal response of PICA during flight. Post-flight analysis of MISP data suggests that recession was lower than predicted, and NuSil is suspected as a reasonable cause. NuSil primarily consists of a copolymer blend of dimethyl and diphenyl-substituted polysiloxane resin. Four decades of research in the field of polymer-derived ceramics demonstrate that polysiloxane resins form oxidation-resistant silicon oxycarbide materials at pyrolysis temperatures as low as 800 °C. -2 Furthermore, silicon oxycarbide materials exhibit excellent thermal stability at relatively high-temperatures (< 1200 °C) but eventually decompose via carbothermal reduction. -3 Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that NuSil forms an oxidation-resistant thermal barrier coating on the TPS surface and influences the material response during atmospheric entry. Evidence for this notion was observed during prior arc-jet testing at both the Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF) and the Panel Test Facility (PTF) at the NASA Ames Research Center. Articles of PICA were subjected to testing in airflow, and a temperature discontinuity was recorded at the surface of coupons coated with NuSil. A glassy coating was observed to form at the surface in shear flow configurations (wedge and panel) under moderate heat fluxes. Furthermore, state-of-the-art material response models have yet to account for the underlying physics and chemistry of the temperature discontinuity. To this end, a pathfinder test campaign was executed at the Hypersonic Materials Environmental Test System (HyMETS) to enhance the fundamental understanding of PICA-NuSil ablation phenomena and provide a preliminary data set to aid in the development of material response models.

PICA↗

DOE OSTI2020

Evaluating turbulence models at high energy densities

The RESHOCK campaign at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been working on increasing our understanding of the evolution of turbulent, unstable plasma interfaces which are applicable in various HED applications including ICF implosions. A common approach to model such interfaces involves the use of Renolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) models whose parameters have been constrained by theory and experiments. These parameter sets are not unique and the applicability of one set of tuned model parameters to systems with differing shock strengths or material densities has not been well tested. Our new NIF experiments, along with related studies of turbulent shear flows, provide data and model validation for plasma interfaces in the HED regime. Our experiments measure mixing-layer width at an unstable interface in the plasma regime and are specifically designed to challenge mix models of the Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (RANS) type where turbulence is assumed to be fully developed, i.e. the flow exhibits a broad spectrum of length scales without memory of the initial condition.4 We utilize precise control of the initial interface conditions (densities on both sides of the interface, an initial rippled perturbation pattern consisting of equally weighted wavelengths between 10 and 20 microns, and initial material compositions) along with a repeatable drive history

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2020

Role of sheared E × B flow in self-organized, improved confinement states in magnetized plasmas

A great scientific success story of magnetic fusion research in the past several decades is the theoretical development and experimental testing of the process of turbulence decorrelation and stabilization by sheared E×B flow which shows that E×B shear effects are ubiquitous in magnetized plasmas. This concept of turbulence decorrelation and stabilization has the universality needed to explain the H-mode edge transport barriers seen in limiter and divertor tokamaks, stellarators, and mirror machines; the broader edge transport barrier seen in VHmode plasmas; and the core transport barriers formed in tokamaks. Similar effects are seen in linear devices. These examples of confinement improvement are of considerable physical interest; it is not often that a system self-organizes to reduce transport when an additional source of free energy is applied to it. The transport decrease associated with E×B velocity shear is also of great practical benefit to fusion research, since it contributed to substantially increased fusion yield in all DT magnetic fusion experiments conducted to date. The fundamental physics involved in transport reduction is the effect of E×B shear on the growth, radial extent, and phase correlation of turbulent eddies in the plasma. The same basic transport reduction process can be operational in various portions of the plasma because there are a number of ways to change the radial electric field Er. An important secondary theme in this area is the synergistic effect of E×B velocity shear and magnetic shear. Although the E×B velocity shear appears to have an effect on broader classes of microturbulence, magnetic shear can mitigate some potentially harmful effects of E×B velocity shear and facilitate turbulence stabilization. Our present understanding in this area is the result of a multi-decade, intertwined effort in theory, modeling and diagnostic development combined with continuing experimental investigations. These experiments have clearly demonstrated that increased E×B shear causes reductions in turbulence and transport. Finally, the experimental findings are generally consistent with the basic theoretical models although considerable work remains to be done before we have a fully predictive theory of transport in magnetized plasmas including E×B shear effects.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1979

Evaluation of the time dependent surface shear stress in turbulent flows

The time dependent surface shear stress has been evaluated using surface heat transfer measurements. For fully developed turbulent pipe and open channel water flows, and incompressible and compressible turbulent boundary layer air flows the measurements indicate the absolute magnitude of the surface shear stress fluctuations will be greater than two times the mean values. The root-mean-square shear stress fluctuations were of the order of 0.2 to 0.4 times the mean surface shear values. Due to these large surface shear stress fluctuations and the nonlinear relation between heat transfer and shear stress, a special technique has been developed to evaluate the measurements. It was found that the non-linear averaging errors for a hot film-surface shear stress gauge in a fully developed pipe flow was of the order of 10 percent at low velocities. A hot wire-surface shear stress gauge was employed for measurements of turbulent boundary layers in air.

Sandborn, V. A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Stochastic forcing of perturbation variance in unbounded shear and deformation flows

An alternative mechanism for growth and maintenance of perturbation variance - amplification in a straining flow of stochastically forced perturbations in the absence of exponential instabilities - is explored, using as examples unbounded constant shear and pure deformation flow for which closed-form solutions are available and neither of which support a nonsingular mode. With diffusive dissipation, amplification of isotropic band-limited stochastic driving is found to be unbounded for the case of pure deformation and to be bounded by a threefold increase at large shear for the case of a linear velocity profile. It is concluded that amplification of stochastic forcing in a straining field can maintain a variance field substantially more energetic than that resulting from the same forcing in the absence of a background straining flow.

Farrell, Brian F.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Numerical simulation of unsteady flow in an axisymmetric shear layer

Numerical simulation of unsteady flow in an axisymmetric subsonic shear layer is accomplished by solving the time-dependent compressible Navier-Stokes equations. The objective of the effort is to investigate by numerical means the influence of various flow parameters on the shear layer behavior. The parameters investigated include the velocity ratio of two streams, total temperature, and nozzle lip thickness. The computations are performed on a CRAY-IS computer using McCormack's explicit finite difference scheme. The computed results generally show qualitative agreement with experimental data.

Scott, J. N.↗

DOE OSTI2021

Development of five-moment two-fluid modeling for Z-pinch physics

The Z-pinch m = 0 instability as well as its stabilization by radially sheared axial flow is studied using the nonlinear ideal five-moment twofluid (5M2F) model with an extension of that model to include Braginskii heat and momentum transport. Using the ideal 5M2F model, linear growth rate results are compared with prior work using MHD and Hall MHD. At small normalized wavenumber, 1 < k a < 4 , where a is the effective pinch radius, 5M2F results agree with Hall MHD within 20% in scenarios without radially sheared axial flow. With the sheared flow and focusing on ka = 10/3, agreement with Hall MHD is excellent. In the limit of small ion inertial length, results also match with MHD. A comparison with PIC modeling of shear-free m = 0 stability focuses on a plasma scenario based on recent experimental results. In a scan of mode wavenumber, ideal 5M2F results are qualitatively similar to PIC: the growth rate rises to a peak at a moderate wavenumber and declines at a large wavenumber in contrast to MHD results, which show the saturation of the growth rate with the increasing wavenumber rather than a decline. The peak normalized 5M2F growth rate is γ τ A = 1.5 , where sA is the Alfven transit time across the pinch. The peak occurs at normalized wavenumber ka = 10. For comparison, PIC results have a peak growth of γ τ A = 0.77 at ka = 5. Including Braginskiibased closure of the 5M2F model does not qualitatively change the ideal results in this particular case. Nonlinear saturation is studied using the 5M2F model with the dissipative Braginskii-based closure in cases with pinch-edge sheared-flow speed equal to half the Alfven speed. Nonlinear mixing due to the sheared flow yields a quasi-steady state after modest losses of pinch ion inventory and pinch thermal energy, approximately 30% and 10%, respectively. 5M2F modeling captures the essential physics of m = 0 instability and offers a computationally tractable route to high-fidelity modeling of 3D Z-pinch behavior, including m = 1 instability.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2021

ESSENCE- A rapid, shear-enhanced, flow-through, capacitive electrochemical platform for rapid detection of biomolecules

The rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of target analytes using electrochemical sensors are challenging. ESSENCE, a new Electrochemical Sensor that uses a Shear-Enhanced, flowthrough Nanoporous Capacitive Electrode, overcomes current electrochemical sensors' response limitations, selectivity, and sensitivity limitations. ESSENCE is a microfluidic channel packed with transducer material sandwiched by a top and bottom microelectrode. The room-temperature instrument less integration process allows the switch of the transducer materials to make up the porous electrode without modifying the electrode architecture or device protocol. ESSENCE can be used to detect both biomolecules and small molecules by simply changing the packed transducer material. Electron microscopy results confirm the high porosity. In conjunction with the non-planar interdigitated electrode, the packed transducer material results in a flow-through porous electrode. Electron microscopy results confirm the high porosity. The enhanced shear forces and increased convective fluxes disrupt the electric double layer's (EDL) diffusive process in ESSENCE. This disruption migrates the EDL to high MHz frequency allowing the capture signal to be measured at around 100 kHz, significantly improving device timing (rapid detection) with a low signal-to-noise ratio. The device’s unique architecture allows us multiple configuration modes for measuring the impedance signal. This allows us to use highly conductive materials like carbon nanotubes. We show that by combining single-walled carbon nanotubes as transducer material with appropriate capture probes, NP-µIDE has high selectivity and sensitivity for DNA (fM sensitivity, selective against non-target DNA), breast cancer biomarker proteins (p53, pg/L sensitivity, selective against non-target HER2).

Cheng, Yu-Hsuan↗

NASA NTRS1992

Interfacial shear modeling and flow predictions for internal film condesation flows

Internal flow of pure vapor experiencing film condesation on the walls of a straight duct is studied. The commonly occuring case of turbulent (or laminar) vapor flow in the core and laminar flow of the liquid condensate-with or without waves on the interface-is emphasized. We propose and implement a new first principle methodolgy which model interfacial shear with the help of reliable experimental data on heat transfer rates. Other details of the flow are predicted with the help of this model. These predictions are shown to be in agreement with relevant experimental data. Correlations for film thickness and heat transfer rates are also given.

Narain, A.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Analytical Study and Experimental Verification of Shear-Thinning Ink Flow in Direct Ink Writing Process

Abstract Direct ink writing (DIW) process is a facile additive manufacturing technology to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) objects with various materials. Its versatility has attracted considerable interest in academia and industry in recent years. As such, upsurging endeavors are invested in advancing the ink flow behaviors in order to optimize the process resolution and the printing quality. However, so far, the physical phenomena during the DIW process are not revealed in detail, leaving a research gap between the physical experiments and its underlying theories. Here, we present a comprehensive analytical study of non-Newtonian ink flow behavior during the DIW process. Different syringe-nozzle geometries are modeled for the comparative case studies. By using the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation method, we reveal the shear-thinning property during the ink extrusion process. Besides, we study the viscosity, shear stress, and velocity fields, and analyze the advantages and drawbacks of each syringe-nozzle model. On the basis of these investigations and analyses, we propose an improved syringe-nozzle geometry for stable extrusion and high printing quality. A set of DIW printing experiments and rheological characterizations are carried out to verify the simulation studies. The results developed in this work offer an in-depth understanding of the ink flow behavior in the DIW process, providing valuable guidelines for optimizing the physical DIW configuration toward high-resolution printing and, consequently, improving the performance of DIW-printed objects.

Engineering↗

DOE OSTI2025

Topology-Dependent Polymer Stretching and Scission in Solution at Extreme Shear Rates

There has been significant interest in the engineering of polymer topology to control rheology and mechanical stability in dilute solutions for applications involving extreme shear rate flows. However, methods to experimentally probe properties at relevant shear rates (≈ 10 4 –10 6 s –1 ) have remained ex situ, obscuring access to measures of polymer deformation and rheology that would otherwise provide mechanistic insight into the topology-dependent properties that control their behavior in extreme shear flows. In this study, we used novel in situ small angle neutron scattering measurements in a capillary rheometer (capillary rheo-SANS) to simultaneously measure solution viscosities and polymer deformations in high shear on a series of chemically homologous topology-defined polymers including linear, randomly branched, and star-shaped molecules. We demonstrate that differences in the onset of chain stretching and shear thinning of these polymers in dilute solution are controlled primarily by differences in their molecular relaxation time. These differences correlate with differences in chain scission inferred from ex situ measurements at more extreme shear rates. Together, the results demonstrate a direct coupling between chain deformation and scission, and suggest that the dominant effect of branching as a means to impart resilience against mechanical degradation is through differences in relaxation dynamics due to branching. We anticipate that these results will provide key insights to engineer topology-controlled polymers for rheological modification, mechanical stability, and controlled mechano-chemistry.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

NASA NTRS1999

Disturbance Dynamics in Transitional and Turbulent Flows

In order to expand the predictive capability of single-point turbulence closure models to account for the early-stage transition regime, a methodology for the formulation and calibration of model equations for the ensemble-averaged disturbance kinetic energy and energy dissipation rate is presented. First the decay of laminar disturbances and turbulence in mean shear-free flows is studied. In laminar flows, such disturbances are linear superpositions of modes governed by the Orr-Sommerfeld equation. In turbulent flows, disturbances are described through transport equations for representative mean quantities. The link between a description based on a deterministic evolution equation and a probability based mean transport equation is established. Because an uncertainty in initial conditions exists in the laminar as well as the turbulent regime, a probability distribution must be defined even in the laminar case. Using this probability distribution, it is shown that the exponential decay of the linear modes in the laminar regime can be related to a power law decay of both the (ensemble) mean disturbance kinetic energy and the dissipation rate. The evolution of these mean disturbance quantities is then described by transport equations similar to those for the corresponding turbulent decaying flow. Second, homogeneous shear flow, where disturbances can be described by rapid distortion theory (RDT), is studied. The relationship between RDT and linear stability theory is exploited in order to obtain a closed set of modeled equations. The linear disturbance equations are solved directly so that the numerical simulation yields a database from which the closure coefficients in the ensemble-averaged disturbance equations can be determined.

Grosch, Chester E.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Measurement of the Shear Lift Force on a Bubble in a Channel Flow

Two-phase flow systems play vital roles in the design of some current and anticipated space applications of two-phase systems which include: thermal management systems, transfer line flow in cryogenic storage, space nuclear power facilities, design and operation of thermal bus, life support systems, propulsion systems, In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), and space processes for pharmaceutical applications. The design of two-phase flow systems for space applications requires a clear knowledge of the behaviors of the dispersed phase (bubble), its interaction with the continuous phase (liquid) and its effect on heat and mass transfer processes, The need to understand the bubble generation process arises from the fact that for all space applications, the size and distribution of bubbles are extremely crucial for heat and mass transfer control. One important force in two-phase flow systems is the lift force on a bubble or particle in a liquid shear flow. The shear lift is usually overwhelmed by buoyancy in normal gravity, but it becomes an important force in reduced gravity. Since the liquid flow is usually sheared because of the confining wall, the trajectories of bubbles and particles injected into the liquid flow are affected by the shear lift in reduced gravity. A series of experiments are performed to investigate the lift force on a bubble in a liquid shear flow and its effect on the detachment of a bubble from a wall under low gravity conditions. Experiments are executed in a Poiseuille flow in a channel. An air-water system is used in these experiments that are performed in the 2.2 second drop tower. A bubble is injected into the shear flow from a small injector and the shear lift is measured while the bubble is held stationary relative to the fluid. The trajectory of the bubble prior, during and after its detachment from the injector is investigated. The measured shear lift force is calculated from the trajectory of the bubble at the detachment point. These values for the shear lift are then compared with the theoretical predictions from various published works on shear lift in the open literature, which include asymptotic solutions at low bubble Reynolds number, potential flow predictions and numerical studies that deal with intermediate bubble Reynolds numbers.

Nahra, Henry K.↗

NASA NTRS1979

A time dependent difference theory for sound propagation in ducts with flow

A time dependent numerical solution of the linearized continuity and momentum equation was developed for sound propagation in a two dimensional straight hard or soft wall duct with a sheared mean flow. The time dependent governing acoustic difference equations and boundary conditions were developed along with a numerical determination of the maximum stable time increments. A harmonic noise source radiating into a quiescent duct was analyzed. This explicit iteration method then calculated stepwise in real time to obtain the transient as well as the steady state solution of the acoustic field. Example calculations were presented for sound propagation in hard and soft wall ducts, with no flow and plug flow. Although the problem with sheared flow was formulated and programmed, sample calculations were not examined. The time dependent finite difference analysis was found to be superior to the steady state finite difference and finite element techniques because of shorter solution times and the elimination of large matrix storage requirements.

Baumeister, K. J.↗

NASA NTRS1979

A time dependent difference theory for sound propagation in ducts with flow

A time dependent numerical solution of the linearized continuity and momentum equation is developed for sound propagation in a two-dimensional straight hard or soft wall duct with a sheared mean flow. The time dependent governing acoustic-difference equations and boundary conditions are developed along with a numerical determination of the maximum stable time increments. The analysis begins with a harmonic noise source radiating into a quiescent duct. This explicit iteration method then calculates stepwise in real time to obtain the transient as well as the 'steady' state solution of the acoustic field. Example calculations are presented for sound propagation in hard and soft wall ducts, with no flow and with plug flow. Although the problem with sheared flow has been formulated and programmed, sample calculations have not yet been examined. So far, the time dependent finite difference analysis has been found to be superior to the steady state finite difference and finite element techniques because of shorter solution times and the elimination of large matrix storage requirements.

Baumeister, K. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Transition from laminar to turbulent flow in separated shear layers

The location of boundary layer separation may be predicted by either semiempirical criteria or by various computer codes written for such calculations; attention is presently given to the streamwide length from separation to transition, denoted by Re(sL). It is demonstrated that the unit Reynolds number, a feature of the transition phenomenon implicit in the data of Schmidt et al. (1985) and overlooked in previous investigations, must be considered in future work.

Potter, J. Leith↗

NASA NTRS1989

d.c. electric field stabilization of plasma fluctuations due to a velocity shear in the parallel ion flow

Consideration is given to the suggestion by Basu and Coppi (1988, 1989) that the DE-2 observations of broadband turbulence associated with sheared ion flows can be explained by electrostatic waves driven by a sheared ion flow along the magnetic field. It is pointed out that such a theory ignores the stronger shear in the ion flow transverse to the magnetic field, and that, when this shear is taken into account, the modes described by Basu and Coppi are easily destabilized. The theory of Basu and Coppi is shown to break down even when the shear in the parallel flow exceeds the shear in the transverse flow.

Ganguli, G.↗