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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.

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At least 109 records · Page 6
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1972

A simulator evaluation of the use of spoilers on a light aircraft

A fixed-base flight simulator was used to evaluate wing spoilers for longitudinal flight path control on a modified Cessna Cardinal aircraft. Spoilers which generated the proper pitching moment to maintain aircraft trim C sub L constant could be used as an effective descent rate control. More than 100 simulated ILS approaches were flown by evaluation pilots using both conventional methods and spoiler descent rate control. Three spoiler control schemes were evaluated during the ILS approaches. Using the spoilers for control, instrument approaches could be flown smoothly and precisely with constant airspeed and pitch attitude. While the spoilers could adequately control ILS approaches, a spoiler system with greater authority would be desirable for use in visual approaches.

Brainerd, C. H.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Applications of advanced aerodynamic technology to light aircraft.

This paper discusses a project for adapting advanced technology, much of it borrowed from the jet transport, to general aviation design practice. The NASA funded portion of the work began in 1969 at the University of Kansas and resulted in a smaller, experimental wing with spoilers and powerful flap systems for a Cessna Cardinal airplane. Some flight data and research pilot comments are presented. The project was expanded in 1972 to include a light twin-engine airplane. For the twin there was the added incentive of a potential increase in single-engine climb performance. The use of a new high-lift Whitcomb airfoil is planned for both the wing and the propellers. Preliminary data on the characteristics of the new airfoil are discussed. The configuration of an experimental wing for a Piper Seneca PA-34 and estimated airplane performance with this wing are discussed.

Crane, H. L.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Trajectory selection for the Mariner Jupiter/Saturn 1977 project

The use of decision analysis to facilitate a group decision-making problem in the selection of trajectories for the two spacecraft of the Mariner Jupiter/Saturn 1977 Project. A set of 32 candidate trajectory pairs was developed. Cardinal utility function values were assigned to the trajectory pairs, and the data and statistics derived from collective choice rules were used in selecting the science-preferred trajectory pair.

Dyer, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Trajectory selection for the Mariner Jupiter/Saturn 1977 Project

This paper describes the use of decision analysis to facilitate a group decision-making problem in the selection of trajectories for the two spacecraft of the Mariner Jupiter/Saturn 1977 Project. This NASA project includes the participation of some eighty scientists divided by specialization among eleven science teams. A set of thirty-two candidate trajectory pairs was developed by the Project in collaboration with the science teams. Each science team then ordinally ranked and assigned cardinal utility function values to the trajectory pairs. These data and statistics derived from collective choice rules were used by the scientists in selecting the preferred trajectory pair.

Dyer, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Surface circulation in the Great Lakes as observed by LANDSAT-1 August 1972 - December 1973: Southern Lake Michigan

The surface current circulation patterns of southern Lake Michigan were charted for all cardinal and subcardinal wind directions, employing LANDSAT-1 observations of the distribution of natural tracing material borne in the surface waters. These colorants consist chiefly of river discharges composed of suspended sediments, pollutants, and algae; extensive chemical precipitations proved valuable for areas farther from shore. Comparison of the satellite-derived surface current charts with previous theoretical and empirical studies shows good agreement.

Stumpf, H. G.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Finite difference grid generation by multivariate blending function interpolation

The General Interpolants Method (GIM) code which solves the multidimensional Navier-Stokes equations for arbitrary geometric domains is described. The geometry module in the GIM code generates two and three dimensional grids over specified flow regimes, establishes boundary condition information and computes finite difference analogs for use in the GIM code numerical solution module. The technique can be classified as an algebraic equation approach. The geometry package uses multivariate blending function interpolation of vector-values functions which define the shapes of the edges and surfaces bounding the flow domain. By employing blending functions which conform to the cardinality conditions the flow domain may be mapped onto a unit square (2-D) or unit cube (3-D), thus producing an intrinsic coordinate system for the region of interest. The intrinsic coordinate system facilitates grid spacing control to allow for optimum distribution of nodes in the flow domain.

Anderson, P. G.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Evaluation of spring wheat and barley crop calender models for the 1979 crop year

During the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment, spring wheat planting date and crop development stage estimates based on historical normals were improved by the use of the Feyerherm planting date and Robertson spring wheat crop calendar models. The Supporting Research Crop Calendar Project element modified the Robertson model to reduce bias at cardinal growth stages within the growing season. These models were tested in 1980 along with a state-of-the-art barley model (Williams) against a ground-truth data set from 49 calendar year 1979 segments in the U.S. Great Plains spring wheat and barley region.

Nazare, C. V.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Aircraft body-axis rotation measurement system

A two gyro four gimbal attitude sensing system having gimbal lock avoidance is provided with continuous azimuth information, rather than roll information, relative to the magnetic cardinal headings while in near vertical attitudes to allow recovery from vertical on a desired heading. The system is comprised of a means for stabilizing an outer roll gimbal that is common to a vertical gyro and a directional gyro with respect to the aircraft platform which is being angularly displaced about an axis substantially parallel to the outer roll gyro axis. A means is also provided for producing a signal indicative of the magnitude of such displacement as an indication of aircraft heading. Additional means are provided to cause stabilization of the outer roll gimbal whenever the pitch angle of the aircraft passes through a threshold prior to entering vertical flight and destabilization of the outer roll gimbal upon passing through the threshold when departing vertical flight.

Cowdin, K. T.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Parallelism and pipelining in high-speed digital simulators

The attainment of high computing speed as measured by the computational throughput is seen as one of the most challenging requirements. It is noted that high speed is cardinal in several distinct classes of applications. These classes are then discussed; they comprise (1) the real-time simulation of dynamic systems , (2) distributed parameter systems, and (3) mixed lumped and distributed systems. From the 1950s on, the quest for high speed in digital simulators concentrated on overcoming the limitations imposed by the so-called von Neumann bottleneck. Two major architectural approaches have made ig possible to circumvent this bottleneck and attain high speeds. These are pipelining and parallelism. Supercomputers, peripheral array processors, and microcomputer networks are then discussed.

Karplus, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

The SIMRAND methodology: Theory and application for the simulation of research and development projects

A research and development (R&D) project often involves a number of decisions that must be made concerning which subset of systems or tasks are to be undertaken to achieve the goal of the R&D project. To help in this decision making, SIMRAND (SIMulation of Research ANd Development Projects) is a methodology for the selection of the optimal subset of systems or tasks to be undertaken on an R&D project. Using alternative networks, the SIMRAND methodology models the alternative subsets of systems or tasks under consideration. Each path through an alternative network represents one way of satisfying the project goals. Equations are developed that relate the system or task variables to the measure of reference. Uncertainty is incorporated by treating the variables of the equations probabilistically as random variables, with cumulative distribution functions assessed by technical experts. Analytical techniques of probability theory are used to reduce the complexity of the alternative networks. Cardinal utility functions over the measure of preference are assessed for the decision makers. A run of the SIMRAND Computer I Program combines, in a Monte Carlo simulation model, the network structure, the equations, the cumulative distribution functions, and the utility functions.

Miles, R. F., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1986

A 405-MHz, 5-beam phased array antenna

The Wave Propagation Lab. has completed the design and construction of a phased array antenna for use at 405.25 MHz for atmospheric wind profiling. The steering geometry of the sequentially switched beam is shown. The Yagi-Uda antenna elements are arranged on a square grid whose axes are 45 deg with respect to the cardinal directions. By constraining the phase difference between rows of identically phased elements to an even, integral submultiple of 360 deg, symmetries appear in the phasing maps which reduce the switching hardware. The vertical beam is generated by switching around the four beam circuitry which results in identical phasing on all of the elements. After the 18 signals are synthesized they are split and distributed about the array while maintaining proper phasing because of the symmetries. Computer simulations were employed in the design process.

Law, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Multigrid-sinc methods

A Galerkin method using Whittaker cardinal or 'sinc' functions as basis functions is described for the solution of boundary-value problems. When the solution is analytic in the interior of the domain, the error of approximation using 2N + 1 points is O(e exp /-gamma sq rt N/) even if derivatives of the solution are singular at the boundaries. A multigrid method with overall complexity O(N log N) is used to solve the discrete equations. This paper contains a description of the multigrid-sinc algorithm along with some preliminary numerical results for two-point boundary-value problems.

Schaffer, Steve↗
NASA NTRS1988

Evaluation of surface energy and radiation balance systems for FIFE

The energy balance and radiation balance components were determined at six sites during the First International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project Field Experiment (FIFE) conducted south of Manhattan, Kansas during the summer of 1987. The objectives were: to determine the effect of slope and aspect, throughout a growing season, on the magnitude of the surface energy balance fluxes as determined by the Energy Balance Method (EBM); to investigate the calculation of the soil heat flux density at the surface as calculated from the heat capacity and the thermal conductivity equations; and to evaluate the performance of the Surface Energy and Radiation Balance System (SERBS). A total of 17 variables were monitored at each site. They included net, solar (up and down), total hemispherical (up and down), and diffuse radiation, soil temperature and heat flux density, air and wet bulb temperature gradients, wind speed and direction, and precipitation. A preliminary analysis of the data, for the season, indicate that variables including net radiation, air temperature, vapor pressure, and wind speed were quite similar at the sites even though the sites were as much as 16 km apart and represented four cardinal slopes and the top of a ridge.

Fritschen, Leo J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A class of parallel algorithms for computation of the manipulator inertia matrix

Parallel and parallel/pipeline algorithms for computation of the manipulator inertia matrix are presented. An algorithm based on composite rigid-body spatial inertia method, which provides better features for parallelization, is used for the computation of the inertia matrix. Two parallel algorithms are developed which achieve the time lower bound in computation. Also described is the mapping of these algorithms with topological variation on a two-dimensional processor array, with nearest-neighbor connection, and with cardinality variation on a linear processor array. An efficient parallel/pipeline algorithm for the linear array was also developed, but at significantly higher efficiency.

Fijany, Amir↗
NASA NTRS1989

Interval polynomial positivity

It is shown that a univariate interval polynomial is globally positive if and only if two extreme polynomials are globally positive. It is shown that the global positivity property of a bivariate interval polynomial is completely determined by four extreme bivariate polynomials. The cardinality of the determining set for k-variate interval polynomials is 2k. One of many possible generalizations, where vertex implication for global positivity holds, is made by considering the parameter space to be the set dual of a boxed domain.

Bose, N. K.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Software reliability through fault-avoidance and fault-tolerance

Twenty independently developed but functionally equivalent software versions were used to investigate and compare empirically some properties of N-version programming, Recovery Block, and Consensus Recovery Block, using the majority and consensus voting algorithms. This was also compared with another hybrid fault-tolerant scheme called Acceptance Voting, using dynamic versions of consensus and majority voting. Consensus voting provides adaptation of the voting strategy to varying component reliability, failure correlation, and output space characteristics. Since failure correlation among versions effectively reduces the cardinality of the space in which the voter make decisions, consensus voting is usually preferable to simple majority voting in any fault-tolerant system. When versions have considerably different reliabilities, the version with the best reliability will perform better than any of the fault-tolerant techniques.

Vouk, Mladen A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Advanced CLIPS capabilities

The C Language Integrated Production System (CLIPS) is a forward chaining rule based language developed by NASA. CLIPS was designed specifically to provide high portability, low cost, and easy integration with external systems. The current release of CLIPS, version 4.3, is being used by over 2500 users throughout the public and private community. The primary addition to the next release of CLIPS, version 5.0, will be the CLIPS Object Oriented Language (COOL). The major capabilities of COOL are: class definition with multiple inheritance and no restrictions on the number, types, or cardinality of slots; message passing which allows procedural code bundled with an object to be executed; and query functions which allow groups of instances to be examined and manipulated. In addition to COOL, numerous other enhancements were added to CLIPS including: generic functions (which allow different pieces of procedural code to be executed depending upon the types or classes of the arguments); integer and double precision data type support; multiple conflict resolution strategies; global variables; logical dependencies; type checking on facts; full ANSI compiler support; and incremental reset for rules.

Riley, Gary↗