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At least 109 records · Page 6

Multigrid acceleration of a fractional-step solver in generalized curvilinear coordinate systems

The efficiency of the INS3D-fractional step (FS) code has been significantly enhanced by accelerating the Poisson solver with a multigrid (MG) method. This is apparently the first implementation of the MG method for solving the 3D discrete Poisson-like equation obtained in the derivation of FS solution methods for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations in generalized nonorthogonal coordinate systems using a staggered arrangement of the variables. The MG solver is insensitive to the geometry, even in cases of highly nonorthogonal clustered meshes, as well as to the free parameters of MG methods.

Rosenfeld, Moshe↗

QUIC-URB and QUIC-fire extension to complex terrain: Development of a terrain-following coordinate system

Ensemble-based approaches to prescribed fire planning cannot be supported by CFD-based models like FIRETEC and WFDS because they are too computationally expensive and cannot leverage LES approaches like CAWFE and WRF-SFIRE because too coarse of resolution. QUIC-Fire was developed to fill this gap but it cannot currently address complex terrain, typical for instance of the Western United States. In this paper, we describe the extension of the diagnostic wind model QUIC-URB, the wind engine of QUIC-Fire, to a terrain-following coordinate system. In particular, the paper presents the mathematical derivation of the wind solver leading to a linear system of equations that are solved through the successive over-relaxation method. The model is validated against a standard test used in previous works (the Askervein Hill) and against a new dataset from measurements in the Socorro Mountains, New Mexico. The terrain-following implementation captured the correct phenomenology for the isolated Askervein Hill, with a wind speed up at the top of the hill. We report the model agreed well with measurements on the upwind side of the peak, but overestimated speed-up on the downwind side of the hill. This is due to the inability of the model to generate flow separation and wake-eddy dynamics. On a common laptop, the divergence-free wind field was obtained in 6 s, making the solver appealing for coupled fire–atmosphere simulations. The Socorro Mountain was highly complex, with many cliff faces, peaks, and valleys. Although the model captures the magnitude and direction of inlet and outlet areas of the domain, it performs rather poorly in the valley region and in the regions near the steep cliffs. Hence, the model shows good agreement with data in areas of open sloped terrain but lacks in areas where flow separation and thermally driven effects may be present (neither effect was addressed in this work). Results highlight that future work should focus on the implementation of parameterizations of wake-eddies, similar to QUIC-URB’s building parameterizations, and on thermodynamic-driven flow.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Stability Analysis of the Flow over a Swept Forward-Facing Step using PIV Base Flowsin a Non-Orthogonal Coordinate System

Understanding the flow of a crossflow-vortex-dominated boundary layer over a forward-facing step excrescence is necessary in order to mitigate an early transition scenario on the wings and tail of commercial aircraft. By performing BiGlobal stability analysis on the flowfield measured with high-resolution, stereographic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV), previous work has shown that a family of unstable disturbances exists in the direct downstream vicinity of a supercritical, forward-facing step. The goal of the present paper is to improve the previously used stability approach on two fronts: 1) the stability problem is formulated in a non-orthogonal coordinate system and 2) the contribution of the out-of-plane base-flow derivatives is accounted for locally. The resulting eigen solutions feature significantly stronger growth rates and eigenfunctions that are localized above regions of reverse flow. The changes in the problem formulation furthermore establish a significant improvement in the comparison of the stability solutions with the results from the Spectral Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (SPOD) of a time-resolved measurement of the perturbation content. A large destabilizing effect by the out-of-plane base-flow derivatives is determined to be justified, despite the assumption that these derivatives are small, because the effect can be reconstructed upon using an eigenvalue-correction formula that assumes the responsible terms are infinitesimally small. The unstable perturbation mechanisms are demonstrated to have a convective nature by assessing the relation between the frequency and the out-of-plane wavenumber, which indicates that their group speed does not approach zero. The last 2 facts, that 1) the perturbations are convective and 2) that the out-of-plane base-flow-derivative terms are small, remove any qualitative suspicions that the perturbation problem is not conducive to parabolization. This opens the path to analyzing this problem with a plane-marching approach.

Boundary- Layer Transition↗

Model reduction in the physical coordinate system

In the dynamics modeling of a flexible structure, finite element analysis employs reduction techniques, such as Guyan's reduction, to remove some of the insignificant physical coordinates, thus producing a dynamics model that has smaller mass and stiffness matrices. But this reduction is limited in the sense that it removes certain degrees of freedom at a node points themselves in the model. From the standpoint of linear control design, the resultant model is still too large despite the reduction. Thus, some form of the model reduction is frequently used in control design by approximating a large dynamical system with a fewer number of state variables. However, a problem arises from the placement of sensors and actuators in the reduced model, because a model usually undergoes, before being reduced, some form of coordinate transformations that do not preserve the physical meanings of the states. To correct such a problem, a method is developed that expresses a reduced model in terms of a subset of the original states. The proposed method starts with a dynamic model that is originated and reduced in finite element analysis. Then the model is converted to the state space form, and reduced again by the internal balancing method. At this point, being in the balanced coordinate system, the states in the reduced model have no apparent resemblance to those of the original model. Through another coordinate transformation that is developed, however, this reduced model is expressed by a subset of the original states.

Yae, K. Harold↗

LUMIS: Land Use Management and Information Systems; coordinate oriented program documentation

An integrated geographic information system to assist program managers and planning groups in metropolitan regions is presented. The series of computer software programs and procedures involved in data base construction uses the census DIME file and point-in-polygon architectures. The system is described in two parts: (1) instructions to operators with regard to digitizing and editing procedures, and (2) application of data base construction algorithms to achieve map registration, assure the topological integrity of polygon files, and tabulate land use acreages within administrative districts.

Source record↗

Texture measurements on quartz single crystals to validate coordinate systems for neutron time-of-flight texture analysis

In crystallographic texture analysis, ensuring that sample directions are preserved from experiment to the resulting orientation distribution is crucial to obtain physical meaning from diffraction data. This work details a procedure to ensure instrument and sample coordinates are consistent when analyzing diffraction data with a Rietveld refinement using the texture analysis software MAUD . A quartz crystal is measured on the HIPPO diffractometer at Los Alamos National Laboratory for this purpose. The methods described here can be applied to any diffraction instrument measuring orientation distributions in polycrystalline materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Implementation of a Relay Coordination System for the Mars Network

Mars network relay operations involve the coordination of lander and orbiter teams through long-term and short-term planning, tactical changes and post-pass analysis. Much of this coordination is managed through email traffic and point-to-point file data exchanges. It is often difficult to construct a complete and accurate picture of the relay situation at any given moment, as there is no centralized store of correlated relay data. The Mars Relay Operations Service (MaROS) is being implemented to address the problem of relay coordination for current and next-generation relay missions. The service is provided for the purpose of coordinating communications sessions between landed spacecraft assets and orbiting spacecraft assets at Mars. The service centralizes a set of functions previously distributed across multiple spacecraft operations teams, and as such greatly improves visibility into the end-to-end strategic coordination process. Most of the process revolves around the scheduling of communications sessions between the spacecraft during periods of time when a landed asset on Mars is geometrically visible by an orbiting spacecraft. These "relay" sessions are used to transfer data both to and from the landed asset via the orbiting asset on behalf of Earth-based spacecraft operators. This paper will discuss the relay coordination problem space, overview the architecture and design selected to meet system requirements, and describe the first phase of system implementation

Allard, Daniel A.↗

Mariner 9 aerographic coordinate system

Preliminary Mariner 9 map products were based on computed aerocentric coordinates at the point where the optic path intercepts a spherical reference figure for Mars. The intercept point on a reference ellipsoid would in general have slightly different values of radius, latitude, and longitude. For near-vertical viewing used for mapping, these differences are on the order of 0.1 in latitude and longitude, which is negligible compared to the uncertainties of the initial uncontrolled mosaics and maps.

Devaucouleurs, G.↗

Lunar dynamics and observational coordinate systems

The state of the art in lunar dynamics studies is summarized by a partial review of papers presented at a recent COSPAR meeting. The following general conclusions are made from the papers: (1) a comprehensive system of fundamental lunar craters is now feasible. Its coordinates can be determined by combining spacecraft, laser, and radar data. The quality of this system is well in par with those of systems based on earth-based observations. (2) Progress toward very high-precision ephemeris measurements has been very impressive, with fitting errors reduced to a few meters. Physical libration modeling techniques, a major obstacle to further improvement, are in the process of refinement. The lunar figure and planetary attraction were found to influence librations. (3) A combination of new techniques and revolutionized old techniques has a potential for achieving a still higher precision in lunar dynamics studies.

Mulholland, J. D.↗

Data-Driven Distribution System Coordinated PV Inverter Control Using Deep Reinforcement Learning

The deployment of distributed solar photovoltaic (PV) systems has increased consistently over the past decades. High penetrations of PVs could cause a series of adverse grid impacts, such as voltage violations. The recent development of smart inverter technologies rises the incentives of developing PV control solutions that regulate the inverter output power and seeking the optimization on system operational objectives. This paper proposes a data-driven control solution based on deep reinforcement learning (DRL) to optimize PV inverters for voltage regulation. The proposed solution can minimize PV real power curtailment while maintaining network voltage at an acceptable range. Comparison results between the proposed DRL control algorithms with deep deterministic policy gradient (DDPG) and volt-var control on a real feeder in west Colorado highlight the advantage of the proposed framework in controlling the system voltage while minimizing the PV real power curtailment.

deep reinforcement learning↗

Conservation equations of gasdynamics in curvilinear coordinate systems

Description of a new method of writing the conservation equations of gasdynamics in curvilinear coordinates which eliminates undifferentiated terms. It is thus possible to readily apply difference schemes derived for Cartesian coordinates which conserve mass, momentum, and energy in the total flow field. The method is derived for orthogonal coordinates, and then extended to cover the most general class of coordinate transformations, using general tensor analysis. Several special features of the equations are discussed.

Vinokur, M.↗

Atmospheric pressure loading effects on Global Positioning System coordinate determinations

Earth deformation signals caused by atmospheric pressure loading are detected in vertical position estimates at Global Positioning System (GPS) stations. Surface displacements due to changes in atmospheric pressure account for up to 24% of the total variance in the GPS height estimates. The detected loading signals are larger at higher latitudes where pressure variations are greatest; the largest effect is observed at Fairbanks, Alaska (latitude 65 deg), with a signal root mean square (RMS) of 5 mm. Out of 19 continuously operating GPS sites (with a mean of 281 daily solutions per site), 18 show a positive correlation between the GPS vertical estimates and the modeled loading displacements. Accounting for loading reduces the variance of the vertical station positions on 12 of the 19 sites investigated. Removing the modeled pressure loading from GPS determinations of baseline length for baselines longer than 6000 km reduces the variance on 73 of the 117 baselines investigated. The slight increase in variance for some of the sites and baselines is consistent with expected statistical fluctuations. The results from most stations are consistent with approximately 65% of the modeled pressure load being found in the GPS vertical position measurements. Removing an annual signal from both the measured heights and the modeled load time series leaves this value unchanged. The source of the remaining discrepancy between the modeled and observed loading signal may be the result of (1) anisotropic effects in the Earth's loading response, (2) errors in GPS estimates of tropospheric delay, (3) errors in the surface pressure data, or (4) annual signals in the time series of loading and station heights. In addition, we find that using site dependent coefficients, determined by fitting local pressure to the modeled radial displacements, reduces the variance of the measured station heights as well as or better than using the global convolution sum.

Vandam, Tonie M.↗