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NASA NTRS1987

Electron beam experiments at high altitudes

Experiments with the electron gun on the SCATHA satellite produced evidence of beam-plasma interactions, and heating of the low energy electrons around the satellite. These experiments were conducted near geosynchronous orbit, in the dusk bulge, and plasma sheet, with one short operation in the lobe regions, providing a range of ambient plasma densities. The electron gun was operated at 50 eV, with beam currents of 1, 10, and 100 micro-A. Data from electrostatic analyzers and the dc electric field experiment show that the satellite charged to near the beam energy in sunlight, if the beam current was sufficient. Higher ambient densities required higher beam currents. The electrostatic analyzers showed distribution functions which had peaks, or plateaus, at energies greater than the satellite potential. These measurements indicate heating of the ambient plasma at several Debye lengths from the satellite, with the heated plasma then accelerated into the satellite. It is likely that the ambient plasma is in fact the photoelectron sheath generated by the satellite.

Olsen, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Fracture mechanics concepts in reliability analysis of monolithic ceramics

Basic design concepts for high-performance, monolithic ceramic structural components are addressed. The design of brittle ceramics differs from that of ductile metals because of the inability of ceramic materials to redistribute high local stresses caused by inherent flaws. Random flaw size and orientation requires that a probabilistic analysis be performed in order to determine component reliability. The current trend in probabilistic analysis is to combine linear elastic fracture mechanics concepts with the two parameter Weibull distribution function to predict component reliability under multiaxial stress states. Nondestructive evaluation supports this analytical effort by supplying data during verification testing. It can also help to determine statistical parameters which describe the material strength variation, in particular the material threshold strength (the third Weibull parameter), which in the past was often taken as zero for simplicity.

Manderscheid, Jane M.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Surface-slip equations for multicomponent, nonequilibrium air flow

Equations are presented for the surface slip (or jump) values of species concentration, pressure, velocity, and temperature in the low-Reynolds-number, high-altitude flight regime of a space vehicle. These are obtained from closed-form solutions of the mass, momentum, and energy flux equations using the Chapman-Enskog velocity distribution function. This function represents a solution of the Boltzmann equation in the Navier-Stokes approximation. The analysis, obtained for nonequilibrium multicomponent air flow, includes the finite-rate surface catalytic recombination and changes in the internal energy during reflection from the surface. Expressions for the various slip quantities have been obtained in a form which can readily be employed in flow-field computations. A consistent set of equations is provided for multicomponent, binary, and single species mixtures. Expression is also provided for the finite-rate species-concentration boundary condition for a multicomponent mixture in absence of slip.

Gupta, Roop N.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Combined optimization of image-gathering and image-processing systems for scene feature detection

The relationship between the image gathering and image processing systems for minimum mean squared error estimation of scene characteristics is investigated. A stochastic optimization problem is formulated where the objective is to determine a spatial characteristic of the scene rather than a feature of the already blurred, sampled and noisy image data. An analytical solution for the optimal characteristic image processor is developed. The Wiener filter for the sampled image case is obtained as a special case, where the desired characteristic is scene restoration. Optimal edge detection is investigated using the Laplacian operator x G as the desired characteristic, where G is a two dimensional Gaussian distribution function. It is shown that the optimal edge detector compensates for the blurring introduced by the image gathering optics, and notably, that it is not circularly symmetric. The lack of circular symmetry is largely due to the geometric effects of the sampling lattice used in image acquisition. The optimal image gathering optical transfer function is also investigated and the results of a sensitivity analysis are shown.

Halyo, Nesim↗

NASA NTRS1986

Binary collision rates of relativistic thermal plasmas. II - Spectra

Spectra of importance for the analysis of relativistic thermal plasmas are numerically calculated assuming a thermal form for the particle distribution functions. Complete sets of optically thin thermal electron-proton, electron-electron, and electron-positron bremsstrahlung spectra are calculated throughout the transrelativistic regime of electron temperatures and compared with approximate expressions for the spectra in the nonrelativistic and extreme relativistic regimes of temperature. A method for calculating accurate secondary particle production spectra in proton-proton collisions from threshold to the highest energies is presented based on an isobaric model near threshold and scaling representations at high energies. The production spectra of charged and neutral pions resulting from proton-proton collisions in relativistic proton plasmas are calculated, and the resultant electron, positron, and gamma-ray spectra from the decay of secondary pions are presented.

Dermer, C. D.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Plasma wave turbulence in the strong coupling region at comet Giacobini-Zinner

Within 100,000 km of comet Giacobini-Zinner's nucleus, strong plasma wave turbulence was detected by the ICE electric and magnetic field wave instruments. The spatial profiles of the wave amplitudes are compared with measurements of the heavy ion fluxes of cometary origin, the plasma electron density, and the magnetic field strength. The general similarity of the wave and heavy ion profiles suggest that the waves might be generated by free energy in the pick-up ion distribution function. However, the expected parallel streaming instability of electrostatic modes generates waves with frequencies that are too low to explain the observations. The observed low frequency magnetic turbulence is plausibly explained by the lower hybrid loss-cone instability of heavy ions.

Coroniti, F. V.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Interaction of upgoing auroral H(+) and O(+) beams

Data from the S3-3 and DE 1 satellites are analyzed to study the interaction between H(+) and O(+) ions in upgoing auroral beams. Every data set analyzed showed some evidence of an interaction. The measured plasma was found to be unstable to a low-frequency electrostatic wave that propagates at an oblique angle to vector-B(0). A second wave, which can propagate parallel to vector-B(0), is weakly damped in the plasma studied in most detail. It is likely that the upgoing ion beams generate this parallel wave at lower altitudes. The resulting wave-particle interactions qualitatively can explain most of the features observed in ion distribution functions.

Kaufmann, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Numerical simulation of diffusion-controlled droplet growth Dynamical correlation effects

Diffusion-controlled coarsening (Ostwald ripening) of precipitated solutions is studied by numerical simulation. An algorithm is devised which exploits the screening of solute concentration fields, thereby removing the restriction to small systems of previous work. Simulation of the coarsening of 5000 droplets at 10-percent volume fraction reveals long-ranged dynamical correlations which broaden the droplet size-distribution function and increase the coarsening-rate coefficient.

Beenakker, C. W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The resolved layer of a collisionless, high beta, supercritical, quasi-perpendicular shock wave. III - Vlasov electrodynamics

The analysis of the fluid continuum level within the shock layer observed on November 7, 1977 by the ISEE satellites (Scudder et al., 1986) is extended to examine, within the framework of Vlasov electrodynamics, direct observational evidence for 'collisionless' resistivity. The analysis is based on the measured wave turbulence and the deviation of the observed electron velocity distribution function from the form predicted using the reversible individual electron trajectories in the presence of dc forces.

Scudder, J. D.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Compton scattering in strong magnetic fields

The relativistic cross section for Compton scattering by electrons in strong magnetic fields is derived. The results confirm and extend earlier work which has treated only transitions to the lowest or first excited Landau levels. For the teragauss field strengths expected in neutron star magnetospheres, the relative rates for excited state transitions are found to be significant, especially for incident photon energies several times the cyclotron frequency. Since these transitions must result in the rapid emission of one or more cyclotron photons as well as the Compton-scattered photon, the scattering process actually becomes a photon 'splitting' mechanism which acts to soften hard photon spectra, and also provides a specific mechanism for populating higher Landau levels in the electron distribution function. The results should be significant for models of gamma-ray bursters and pulsating X-ray sources.

Daugherty, Joseph K.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The synchrotron-maser theory of type II solar radio emission processes - The physical model and generation mechanism

A theory is proposed to explain the generation mechanism of type II solar radio bursts. It is suggested that the shock wave formed at the leading edge of a coronal transient can accelerate electrons. Because of the nature of the acceleration process, the energized electrons can possess a 'hollow-beam' type distribution function. When the electron beam propagates along the ambient magnetic field to lower altitudes and attains larger pitch angles, a synchrotron-maser instability can set in. This instability leads to the amplification of unpolarized or weakly polarized radiation. The present discussion incorporates a model which describes the ambient magnetic field and background plasma by means of MHD simulation. The potential emission regions may be located approximately, according to the time-dependent MHD simulation. Since the average local plasma frequency in the source region can be evaluated from the MHD model, the frequent drift associated with the radiation may be estimated. The result seems to be in good agreement with that derived from observations.

Wu, C. S.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Three-wave coupling coefficient in a drifting bi-Maxwellian plasma

A general electrostatic coupling coefficient which satisfies the Manley-Rowe relations is used to derive an explicit expression for the resonant three-wave coupling coefficient between electrostatic normal modes of a uniformly magnetized, infinite, homogeneous plasma with species described by drifting bi-Maxwellian distribution functions. The limit of this expression is taken when the phase velocities of the three waves are much larger than a species thermal speed, and also when the phase velocities are much smaller than the thermal speed. These are fluid limits and are applicable to the three-wave interaction between some low-frequency electrostatic waves, such as ion acoustic and ion cyclotron modes, in a plasma where T(e) is much greater than T(i).

Bergmann, Rachelle↗

NASA NTRS1987

The effects of engine speed and injection characteristics on the flow field and fuel/air mixing in motored two-stroke diesel engines

A numerical analysis is presented on the effects of the engine speed, injection angle, droplet distribution function, and spray cone angle on the flow field, spray penetration and vaporization, and turbulence in a turbocharged motored two-stroke diesel engine. The results indicate that the spray penetration and vaporization, velocity, and turbulence kinetic energy increase with the intake swirl angle. Good spray penetration, vaporization, and mixing can be achieved by injecting droplets of diameters between 50 and 100 microns along a 120-deg cone at about 315 deg before top-dead-center for an intake swirl angle of 30 deg. The spray penetration and vaporization were found to be insensitive to the turbulence levels within the cylinder. The results have also indicated that squish is necessary in order to increase the fuel vaporization rate and mixing.

Nguyen, H. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Characteristics of the tail of Comet Giacobini-Zinner

The physical structure and characteristics of the Comet Giacobini-Zinner tail are described. Variations in the vector B-field configuration, the electron distribution function, the energetic ion population, and the electromagnetic and electrostatic plasma wave spectra are analyzed. The ICE detected a two-lobe magnetic field configuration and a narrow central plasma sheet. Additional analyses proposed for the Giacobini-Zinner tail data are discussed.

Scarf, F. L.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Systems simulations supporting NASA telerobotics

Two simulation and analysis environments have been developed to support telerobotics research at the Langley Research Center. One is a high-fidelity, nonreal-time, interactive model called ROBSIM, which combines user-generated models of workspace environment, robots, and loads into a working system and simulates the interaction among the system components. Models include user-specified actuator, sensor, and control parameters, as well as kinematic and dynamic characteristics. Kinematic, dynamic, and response analyses can be selected, with system configuration, task trajectories, and arm states displayed using computer graphics. The second environment is a real-time, manned Telerobotic Systems Simulation (TRSS) which uses the facilities of the Intelligent Systems Research Laboratory (ISRL). It utilizes a hierarchical structure of functionally distributed computers communicating over both parallel and high-speed serial data paths to enable studies of advanced telerobotic systems. Multiple processes perform motion planning, operator communications, forward and inverse kinematics, control/sensor fusion, and I/O processing while communicating via common memory. This paper describes both ROBSIM and TRSS, including their capability, status, and future plans. Also described is the architecture of ISRL and recent telerobotic system studies in ISRL.

Harrison, F. Wallace, Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Scattering from mirrors contaminated by particulates - A model

A model has been used to fit the bidirectional reflectance distribution function for a variety of samples with different angles of incidence and degrees of contamination and roughness by the proper adjustment of six parameters. Exponential and Gaussian composite surface height autocorrelation functions are used to simulate the data at the small and medium angles, and a perturbation of these functions with two additional parameters allows the fit of the upward and downward curve portions of the data at the large angles. Good agreement is found with previous results. The present approach is the same as the classical dispersion equation in treating the index of refraction of optical materials.

Wang, Yaujen↗

NASA NTRS1986

Linear stability analysis of the Vlasov-Poisson equations in high density plasmas in the presence of crossed fields and density gradients

The equations for the single-particle orbits in a nonneutral high density plasma in the presence of inhomogeneous crossed fields are obtained. Using these orbits, the linearized Vlasov equation is solved as an expansion in the orbital radii in the presence of inhomogeneities and density gradients. A model distribution function is introduced whose cold-fluid limit is exactly the same as that used in many previous studies of the cold-fluid equations. This model function is used to reduce the linearized Vlasov-Poisson equations to a second-order ordinary differential equation for the linearized electrostatic potential whose eigenvalue is the perturbation frequency.

Kaup, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays in a galactic wind and its termination shock

Results are reported from numerical modeling of the acceleration and transport of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays in a galactic wind and its termination shock. A two-dimensional (azimuthally symmetric) wind and spiral magnetic field, with a spherical termination shock, where the velocity drops suddenly, is assumed. The time-dependent cosmic-ray transport equation, including all major transport effects is solved using an implicit finite-difference scheme. Particles are injected as the shock of low energy, and the subsequent evolution of the distribution function is followed. Iron nuclei are readily accelerated at the shock to energies up to 100 billion GeV, and protons to 10 billion GeV. A major effect aiding the acceleration of these particles is the spiral of the magnetic field carried out by the wind, caused by the rotation of the Galaxy, with the result that the shock is nearly normal over most of its area. Increasing the magnetic field or rotation rate increases the maximum energy attainable. Anisotropies and energy densities of the particles are also discussed. It is concluded that the process is consistent with observations of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays.

Jokipii, J. R.↗