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NASA NTRS1992

Aerodynamic design and optimization in one shot

This paper describes an efficient numerical approach for the design and optimization of aerodynamic bodies. As in classical optimal control methods, the present approach introduces a cost function and a costate variable (Lagrange multiplier) in order to achieve a minimum. High efficiency is achieved by using a multigrid technique to solve for all the unknowns simultaneously, but restricting work on a design variable only to grids on which their changes produce nonsmooth perturbations. Thus, the effort required to evaluate design variables that have nonlocal effects on the solution is confined to the coarse grids. However, if a variable has a nonsmooth local effect on the solution in some neighborhood, it is relaxed in that neighborhood on finer grids. The cost of solving the optimal control problem is shown to be approximately two to three times the cost of the equivalent analysis problem. Examples are presented to illustrate the application of the method to aerodynamic design and constraint optimization.

Ta'asan, Shlomo↗

NASA NTRS1992

Reusable thermal protection system development: A prospective

The state of the art in passive reusable thermal protection system materials is described. Development of the Space Shuttle Orbiter, which was the first reusable vehicle, is discussed. The thermal protection materials and given concepts and some of the shuttle development and manufacturing problems are described. Evolution of a family of grid and flexible ceramic external insulation materials from the initial shuttle concept in the early 1970's to the present time is described. The important properties and their evolution are documented. Application of these materials to vehicles currently being developed and plans for research to meet the space programs future needs are summarized.

Goldstein, Howard↗

NASA NTRS1992

A method of smooth bivariate interpolation for data given on a generalized curvilinear grid

A method of locally bicubic interpolation is presented for data given at the nodes of a two-dimensional generalized curvilinear grid. The physical domain is transformed to a computational domain in which the grid is uniform and rectangular by a generalized curvilinear coordinate transformation. The metrics of the transformation are obtained by finite differences in the computational domain. Metric derivatives are determined by repeated application of the chain rule for partial differentiation. Given the metrics and the metric derivatives, the partial derivatives required to determine a locally bicubic interpolant can be estimated at each data point using finite differences in the computational domain. A bilinear transformation is used to analytically transform the individual quadrilateral cells in the physical domain into unit squares, thus allowing the use of simple formulas for bicubic interpolation.

Zingg, David W.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Current-Collecting Grids For AMTEC Electrodes

Photodeposition or sputter deposition of refractory metal in grid pattern on solid electrolyte of alkali-metal thermoelectric converter (AMTEC) prior to deposition of electrode decreases electronic resistance and increases current and peak power of converter significantly. Concept also applicable to other devices that include electrically conductive, porous electrodes; such as solid-state fuel cells and solid-state electrolysis cells.

Ryan, Margaret A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

CFD analysis of hypersonic, chemically reacting flow fields

Design studies are underway for a variety of hypersonic flight vehicles. The National Aero-Space Plane will provide a reusable, single-stage-to-orbit capability for routine access to low earth orbit. Flight-capable satellites will dip into the atmosphere to maneuver to new orbits, while planetary probes will decelerate at their destination by atmospheric aerobraking. To supplement limited experimental capabilities in the hypersonic regime, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is being used to analyze the flow about these configurations. The governing equations include fluid dynamic as well as chemical species equations, which are being solved with new, robust numerical algorithms. Examples of CFD applications to hypersonic vehicles suggest an important role this technology will play in the development of future aerospace systems. The computational resources needed to obtain solutions are large, but solution adaptive grids, convergence acceleration, and parallel processing may make run times manageable.

Edwards, T. A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Modeling jets in cross flow

Various approaches to the modeling of jets in cross flow are reviewed. These are grouped into four classes, namely: empirical models, integral models, perturbation models, and numerical models. Empirical models depend largely on the correlation of experimental data and are mostly useful for first-order estimates of global properties such as jet trajectory and velocity and temperature decay rates. Integral models are based on some ordinary-differential form of the conservation laws, but require substantial empirical calibration. They allow more details of the flow field to be obtained; simpler versions have to assume similarity of velocity and temperature profiles, but more sophisticated ones can actually calculate these profiles. Perturbation models require little empirical input, but the need for small parameters to ensure convergent expansions limits their application to either the near-field or the far-field. Therefore, they are mostly useful for the study of flow physics. Numerical models are based on conservation laws in partial-differential form. They require little empirical input and have the widest range of applicability. They also require the most computational resources. Although many qualitative and quantitative features of jets in cross flow have been predicted with numerical models, many issues affecting accuracy such as grid resolution and turbulence model are not completely resolved.

Demuren, A. O.↗

NASA NTRS2001

Remote Sensing of Cloud, Aerosol, and Land Properties from MODIS: Applications to the East Asia Region

MODIS is an earth-viewing cross-track scanning spectroradiometer launched on the Terra satellite in December 1999. MODIS scans a swath width sufficient to provide nearly complete global coverage every two days from a polar-orbiting, sun-synchronous platform at an altitude of 705 km, and provides images in 36 spectral bands between 0.415 and 14.235 microns with spatial resolutions of 250 m (two bands), 500 m (five bands) and 1000 m (29 bands). These bands have been carefully selected to enable advanced studies of land, ocean, and atmospheric processes. In this presentation we review the comprehensive set of remote sensing algorithms that have been developed for the remote sensing of atmospheric properties using MODIS data, placing primary emphasis on the principal atmospheric applications of (i) developing a cloud mask for distinguishing clear sky from clouds, (ii) retrieving global cloud radiative and microphysical properties, including cloud top pressure and temperature, effective emissivity, cloud optical thickness, thermodynamic phase, and effective radius, (iii) monitoring tropospheric aerosol optical thickness over the land and ocean and aerosol size distribution over the ocean, (iv) determining atmospheric profiles of moisture and temperature, and (v) estimating column water amount. The physical principles behind the determination of each of these atmospheric products will be described, together with an example of their application using MODIS observations to the east Asian region in Spring 2001. All products are archived into two categories: pixel-level retrievals (referred to as Level-2 products) and global gridded products at a latitude and longitude resolution of 1 degree (Level-3 products). An overview of the MODIS atmosphere algorithms and products, status, validation activities, and early level-2 and -3 results will be presented.

King, Michael D.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Textbook Multigrid Efficiency for the Steady Euler Equations

A fast multigrid solver for the steady incompressible Euler equations is presented. Unlike time-marching schemes, this approach uses relaxation of the steady equations. Application of this method results in a discretization that correctly distinguishes between the advection and elliptic parts of the operator, allowing efficient smoothers to be constructed. Solvers for both unstructured triangular grids and structured quadrilateral grids have been written. Computations for channel flow and flow over a nonlifting airfoil have computed. Using Gauss-Seidel relaxation ordered in the flow direction, textbook multigrid convergence rates of nearly one order-of-magnitude residual reduction per multigrid cycle are achieved, independent of the grid spacing. This approach also may be applied to the compressible Euler equations and the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations.

Roberts, Thomas W.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Numerical Simulations Using the Immersed Boundary Technique

The immersed-boundary method can be used to simulate flows around complex geometries within a Cartesian grid. This method has been used quite extensively in low Reynolds-number flows, and is now being applied to turbulent flows more frequently. The technique will be discussed, and three applications of the method will be presented, with increasing complexity. to illustrate the potential and limitations of the method, and some of the directions for future work.

Piomelli, Ugo↗

NASA NTRS2006

Distributed Computing Framework for Synthetic Radar Application

We are developing an extensible software framework, in response to Air Force and NASA needs for distributed computing facilities for a variety of radar applications. The objective of this work is to develop a Python based software framework, that is the framework elements of the middleware that allows developers to control processing flow on a grid in a distributed computing environment. Framework architectures to date allow developers to connect processing functions together as interchangeable objects, thereby allowing a data flow graph to be devised for a specific problem to be solved. The Pyre framework, developed at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), and now being used as the basis for next-generation radar processing at JPL, is a Python-based software framework. We have extended the Pyre framework to include new facilities to deploy processing components as services, including components that monitor and assess the state of the distributed network for eventual real-time control of grid resources.

synthetic aperture radar (SAR)↗

NASA NTRS2010

Micro-Ramps for External Compression Low-Boom Inlets

The application of vortex generators for flow control in an external compression, axisymmetric, low-boom concept inlet was investigated using RANS simulations with three-dimensional (3-D), structured, chimera (overset) grids and the WIND-US code. The low-boom inlet design is based on previous scale model 1- by 1-ft wind tunnel tests and features a zero-angle cowl and relaxed isentropic compression centerbody spike, resulting in defocused oblique shocks and a weak terminating normal shock. Validation of the methodology was first performed for micro-ramps in supersonic flow on a flat plate with and without oblique shocks. For the inlet configuration, simulations with several types of vortex generators were conducted for positions both upstream and downstream of the terminating normal shock. The performance parameters included incompressible axisymmetric shape factor, separation area, inlet pressure recovery, and massflow ratio. The design of experiments (DOE) methodology was used to select device size and location, analyze the resulting data, and determine the optimal choice of device geometry. The optimum upstream configuration was found to substantially reduce the post-shock separation area but did not significantly impact recovery at the aerodynamic interface plane (AIP). Downstream device placement allowed for fuller boundary layer velocity profiles and reduced distortion. This resulted in an improved pressure recovery and massflow ratio at the AIP compared to the baseline solid-wall configuration.

Rybalko, Michael↗

NASA NTRS2017

Verification of a Finite Element Model for Pyrolyzing Ablative Materials

Ablating thermal protection system (TPS) materials have been used in many reentering spacecraft and in other applications such as rocket nozzle linings, fire protection materials, and as countermeasures for directed energy weapons. The introduction of the finite element model to the analysis of ablation has arguably resulted in improved computational capabilities due the flexibility and extended applicability of the method, especially to complex geometries. Commercial finite element codes often provide enhanced capability compared to custom, specially written programs based on versatility, usability, pre- and post-processing, grid generation, total life-cycle costs, and speed.

ablating materials↗

NASA NTRS1989

TranAir: Recent advances and applications

TranAir is a computer code which solves the full-potential equation for transonic flow about very general and complex configurations. Piecewise flat surface panels are used to describe the surface geometry. This paneled definition is then embedded in an unstructured cartesian flow field grid. Finite elements are used in the discretization of the flow field grid in a manner which is fully conservative and second-order accurate. Since geometries may be defined with relative ease, and since the user is not involved in the generation of the flow field grid, computational results may be generated rather quickly for a wide range of geometries. For transonic cases in the cruise angle-of-attack range, TranAir has generated results which are in generally good agreement with both Euler results and wind tunnel data. A typical transonic case runs in 1 to 2 CPU hours on a Cray X-MP. For subcritical cases, the code runs in 15 to 30 CPU minutes, even for geometries in which several thousand surface panels are used in the definition. This ability to rapidly and accurately provide both subsonic and transonic predictions about very complex aircraft configurations gives TranAir the potential of being a very powerful and widely used design tool.

Madson, Michael D.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Design and Analysis of Turbomachinery for Space Applications

This presentation provides an overview of CORSAIR, a three dimensional computational fluid dynamics software code for the analysis of turbomachinery components available from NASA, and discusses its potential use in the design of these parts. Topics covered include: time-dependent equations of motion, grid topology, turbulence models, boundary conditions, parallel simulations and miscellaneous capabilities.

Dorney, D.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Application of FUN3D Solver for Aeroacoustics Simulation of a Nose Landing Gear Configuration

Numerical simulations have been performed for a nose landing gear configuration corresponding to the experimental tests conducted in the Basic Aerodynamic Research Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center. A widely used unstructured grid code, FUN3D, is examined for solving the unsteady flow field associated with this configuration. A series of successively finer unstructured grids has been generated to assess the effect of grid refinement. Solutions have been obtained on purely tetrahedral grids as well as mixed element grids using hybrid RANS/LES turbulence models. The agreement of FUN3D solutions with experimental data on the same size mesh is better on mixed element grids compared to pure tetrahedral grids, and in general improves with grid refinement.

Vatsa, Veer N.↗

NASA NTRS1984

A conservative treatment of zonal boundaries for Euler equation calculations

Finite-difference calculations require the generation of a grid for the region of interest. A zonal approach, wherein the given region is subdivided into zones and the grid for each zone is generated independently, makes the grid-generation process for complicated topologies and for regions requiring selective grid refinement a fairly simple task. This approach results in new boundaries within the given region, that is, zonal boundaries at the interfaces of the various zones. The zonal-boundary scheme (the integration scheme used to update the points on the zonal boundary) for the Euler equations must be conservative, accurate, stable, and applicable to general curvilinear coordinate systems. A zonal-boundary scheme with these desirable properties is developed in this study. The scheme is designed for explicit, first-order-accurate integration schemes but can be modified to accommodate second-order-accurate explicit and implicit integration schemes. Results for inviscid flow, including supersonic flow over a cylinder, blast-wave diffraction by a ramp, and one-dimensional shock-tube flow are obtained on zonal grids. The conservative nature of the zonal-boundary scheme permits the smooth transition of the discontinuities associated with these flows from one zone to another. The calculations also demonstrate the continuity of contour lines across zonal boundaries that can be achieved with the present zonal scheme.

Rai, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1986

A Conservation Treatment of Zonal Boundaries for Euler Equation Calculations

Rai, Man Mohan↗

NASA NTRS2014

Global Top-Down Smoke-Aerosol Emissions Estimation Using Satellite Fire Radiative Power Measurements

Fire emissions estimates have long been based on bottom-up approaches that are not only complex, but also fraught with compounding uncertainties. We present the development of a global gridded (1 deg ×1 deg) emission coefficients (Ce) product for smoke total particulate matter (TPM) based on a top-down approach using coincident measurements of fire radiative power (FRP) and aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites. This new Fire Energetics and Emissions Research version 1.0 (FEER.v1) Ce product has now been released to the community and can be obtained from http://feer.gsfc. nasa.gov/, along with the corresponding 1-to-1 mapping of their quality assurance (QA) flags that will enable the Ce values to be filtered by quality for use in various applications. The regional averages of Ce values for different ecosystem types were found to be in the ranges of 16-21/gMJ−1 for savanna and grasslands, 15-32/gMJ−1 for tropical forest, 9-12/gMJ−1 for North American boreal forest, and 18- 26/MJ−1 for Russian boreal forest, croplands and natural vegetation. The FEER.v1 Ce product was multiplied by time-integrated FRP data to calculate regional smoke TPM emissions, which were compared with equivalent emissions products from three existing inventories. FEER.v1 showed higher and more reasonable smoke TPM estimates than two other emissions inventories that are based on bottom-up approaches and already reported in the literature to be too low, but portrayed an overall reasonable agreement with another top-down approach. This suggests that top-down approaches may hold better promise and need to be further developed to accelerate the reduction of uncertainty associated with fire emissions estimation in air-quality and climate research and applications. Results of the analysis of FEER.v1 data for 2004-2011 show that 65-85 Tg yr−1 of TPM is emitted globally from open biomass burning, with a generally decreasing trend over this short time period. The FEER.v1 Ce product is the first global gridded product in the family of "emission factors", that is based essentially on satellite measurements, and requires only direct satellite FRP measurements of an actively burning fire anywhere to evaluate its emission rate in near-real time, which is essential for operational activities, such as the monitoring and forecasting of smoke emission impacts on air quality.

biomass burning↗