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At least 1,153 records · Page 64

A technique for measuring hypersonic flow velocity profiles

A technique for measuring hypersonic flow velocity profiles is described. This technique utilizes an arc-discharge-electron-beam system to produce a luminous disturbance in the flow. The time of flight of this disturbance was measured. Experimental tests were conducted in the Langley pilot model expansion tube. The measured velocities were of the order of 6000 m/sec over a free-stream density range from 0.000196 to 0.00186 kg/cu m. The fractional error in the velocity measurements was less than 5 percent. Long arc discharge columns (0.356 m) were generated under hypersonic flow conditions in the expansion-tube modified to operate as an expansion tunnel.

Gartrell, L. R.↗

On the generation of the sequence of diffuse resonances observed on top side ionograms

Two different plasma wave instabilities have been invoked in earlier models for the generation of top side ionogram diffuse resonances. Arguments are presented that support the model based on the Harris instability, i.e., the instability resulting from a sounder-stimulated anisotropic electron velocity distribution. Two modifications to this model are also presented. First, it is only necessary for the instability mechanism to operate for a period of the order of milliseconds (rather than tens of milliseconds) in order to explain the observations. Second, the wave associated with the second harmonic of the electron cyclotron frequency, which enters into the nonlinear wave-wave interaction process included in the model, comes from the side bands of the transmitted sounder pulse rather than from the turbulent state of the plasma caused by the pulse. The second modification provides an explanation for the variation of the time duration observed among the members of the sequence of diffuse resonances.

Benson, R. F.↗

Verification and transfer of thermal pollution model. Volume 4: User's manual for three-dimensional rigid-lid model

The theory of a three dimensional (3-D) mathematical thermal discharge model and a related one dimensional (1-D) model are described. Model verification at two sites, a separate user's manual for each model are included. The 3-D model has two forms: free surface and rigid lid. The former allows a free air/water interface and is suited for significant surface wave heights compared to mean water depth, estuaries and coastal regions. The latter is suited for small surface wave heights compared to depth because surface elevation was removed as a parameter. These models allow computation of time dependent velocity and temperature fields for given initial conditions and time-varying boundary conditions. The free surface model also provides surface height variations with time.

Lee, S. S.↗

STOL landing thrust: Reverser jet flowfields

Analysis tools and modeling concepts for jet flow fields encountered upon use of thrust reversers for high performance military aircraft are described. A semi-empirical model of the reverser ground wall jet interaction with the uniform cross flow due to aircraft forward velocity is described. This ground interaction model is used to demonstrate exhaust gas ingestion conditions. The effects of control of exhaust jet vector angle, lateral splay, and moving versus fixed ground simulation are discussed. The Adler/Baron jet-in-cross flow model is used in conjunction with three dimensional panel methods to investigate the upper surface jet induced flow field.

Kotansky, D. R.↗

Two-dimensional velocity, optical risetime, and peak current estimates for natural positive lightning return strokes

Velocities, optical risetimes, and transmission line model peak currents for seven natural positive return strokes are reported. The average 2D positive return stroke velocity for channel segments of less than 500 m in length starting near the base of the channel is 0.8 +/- 0.3 x 10 exp 8 m/s, which is slower than the present corresponding average velocity for natural negative first return strokes of 1.7 +/- 0.7 x 10 exp 8/s. It is inferred that positive stroke peak currents in the literature, which assume the same velocity as negative strokes, are low by a factor of 2. The average 2D positive return stroke velocity for channel segments of greater than 500 m starting near the base of the channel is 0.9 +/- 0.4 x 10 exp 8 m/s. The corresponding average velocity for the present natural negative first strokes is 1.2 +/- 0.6 x 10 exp 8 m/s. No significant velocity change with height is found for positive return strokes.

Mach, Douglas M.↗

Evaluation of Icing Scaling on Swept NACA 0012 Airfoil Models

Icing scaling tests in the NASA Glenn Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) were performed on swept wing models using existing recommended scaling methods that were originally developed for straight wing. Some needed modifications on the stagnation-point local collection efficiency (i.e., beta(sub 0) calculation and the corresponding convective heat transfer coefficient for swept NACA 0012 airfoil models have been studied and reported in 2009, and the correlations will be used in the current study. The reference tests used a 91.4-cm chord, 152.4-cm span, adjustable sweep airfoil model of NACA 0012 profile at velocities of 100 and 150 knot and MVD of 44 and 93 mm. Scale-to-reference model size ratio was 1:2.4. All tests were conducted at 0deg angle of attack (AoA) and 45deg sweep angle. Ice shape comparison results were presented for stagnation-point freezing fractions in the range of 0.4 to 1.0. Preliminary results showed that good scaling was achieved for the conditions test by using the modified scaling methods developed for swept wing icing.

Tsao, Jen-Ching↗

Abundance variations in high-velocity interstellar gas

Based on line-of-sight models and profile fitting, abundance variations of Ca, Si, Fe, and Na in high-velocity interstellar clouds toward Mu Columbae, HD 28497, and HD 50896 are discussed. The correlation of larger ratios N(Ca II)/N(Na I) with increasing radial velocity in clouds with absolute values of radial velocity from 20 to 100 km/s, is shown to quite likely be due to abundance variations in Ca rather than an ionization effect. Copernicus UV data show that the ratios N(Fe II)/N(S II) and N(Si II)/N(S II) have the same velocity correlation as Ca II, and the ambiguity concerning the relative abundance of Na I to hydrogen is removed. Theories of grain disruption are discussed as they relate to the observed Ca, Si, and Fe enhancements and their correlation with cloud velocity.

Shull, J. M.↗

Nitric oxide molecular tagging velocimetry of a free-flight model in a reflected shock tunnel

Nitric oxide molecular tagging velocimetry (NO MTV) is used to characterize the wake behind a free-flight spherical model in the test section of a free-piston reflected shock tunnel using a burst-mode laser operated at 100 kHz. A novel (to our knowledge) multi-delay timing scheme was implemented to measure velocity in a varying collisional environment in the wake of the free-flight model. Four simultaneous velocity profiles were measured in the wake of the model from -600 to 3600 m/s for flow enthalpies of 10.3 and 12.0 MJ/kg. Finally, the measured velocity distributions show good agreement when compared to computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Observations and Modeling of Ocean Circulation in the Seychelles Plateau Region

The ocean circulation around and over the Seychelles Plateau is characterized using 35 months of temperature and velocity measurements along with a numerical model. The results here provide the first documented description of the ocean circulation atop the Seychelles Plateau. The Seychelles Plateau is an unusually broad (~200 km), shallow (~50 m) plateau, dropping off steeply to the abyss. It is situated in a dynamic location (3.5-5.5S, 54-57E) in the south-western tropical Indian Ocean where northwesterly winds are present during austral summer and become southeasterly in austral winter, following the reversal of the western Indian Ocean monsoon winds. Measurements around the Inner Islands, on the Seychelles Plateau, have been carried out since 2015. Velocity measurements show that most of the depth-averaged current variance on the Seychelles Plateau arises from near-inertial oscillations and lower-frequency variability. Lower-frequency variability encompasses seasonal and intraseasonal variability, the latter of which includes the effects of mixed Rossby-gravity waves and mesoscale eddies. Here, a global 0.1-degree numerical ocean simulation is used in conjunction with these observations to describe the regional circulation around the Seychelles Plateau. Atop the Seychelles Plateau, circulation is dominated by ageostrophic processes consistent with Ekman dynamics, while around the Seychelles Plateau, both geostrophic and ageostrophic processes are important and vary seasonally. Stratification responds to the sea surface height semi-annual signal which is due to Ekman pumping-driven upwelling (related to the Seychelles-Chagos Thermocline Ridge) and the arrival of an annual downwelling Rossby wave.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Planetary and Primitive Object Strength Measurements and Sampling Apparatus

We present experimental data and a model for the low-velocity (subsonic, 0 - 1000 m/s) penetration of brittle materials by both solid and hollow (i.e., coring) penetrators. The experiments show that penetration is proportional to momentum/frontal area of the penetrator. Because of the buildup of a cap in front of blunt penetrators, the presence or absence of a streamlined or sharp front end usually has a negligible effect for impact into targets with strength. The model accurately predicts the dependence of penetration depth on the various parameters of the target-penetrator system, as well as the qualitative condition of the target material ingested by a corer. In particular, penetration depth is approximately inversely proportional to the static bearing strength of the target. The bulk density of the target material has only a small effect on penetration, whereas friction can be significant, especially at higher impact velocities, for consolidated materials. This trend is reversed for impacts into unconsolidated materials. The present results suggest that the depth of penetration is a good measure of the strength, but not the density, of a consolidated target. Both experiments and model results show that, if passage through the mouth of a coring penetrator requires initially porous target material to be compressed to less than 26% porosity, the sample collected by the corer will be highly fragmented. If the final porosity remains above 26%, then most materials, except cohesionless materials, such as dry sand, will be collected as a compressed slug of material.

Ahrens, Thomas J.↗

The Corrected Distortion model for Lagrangian spray simulation of transcritical fuel injection

In this work, we present a detailed implementation and validation of the droplet modeling framework proposed by Dahms and Oefelein (2016) into the engine commercial CFD software CONVERGE using the User Defined Function (UDF) interface. The model accounts for the nonlinear deformation and oscillation experienced by liquid spray droplet injected into high pressure and temperature. Lagrangian spray simulations of Engine Combustion Network (ECN) Spray A are performed. Model validation against standard experimental measurements of liquid velocity, vapor mixture fraction is conducted. To perform more rigorous model validation, new experimental measurements based on Diffused Back Illumination (DBI) are introduced. The new measurements are processed for Projected Liquid Volume (PLV), which offers as close as possible one-to-one model validation for liquid penetration while offering new insights into the spray physics. Comparison with a One-D model based on adiabatic mixing theory by Siebers (1999) and Desantes et al. (2007) are also conducted. Through these model validation exercises, it is shown that the new framework improves liquid-phase penetration predictions, following a tendency for enhanced evaporation, compared to the standard approach for both Reynolds Average Navier Stokes (RANS) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES). Additionally, at the liquid length, maximum mixture fraction values predicted by the new approach are in good agreement those of an adiabatic mixing model. Qualitative analysis of the spray behaviors during the early stage of the injection process reveals that the proposed framework predicts significant increase in droplet evaporation rate with lower drop drag compared to the current standard approach.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Droplet Impingement and Ingestion by Supersonic Nose Inlet in Subsonic Tunnel Conditions

The amount of water in cloud droplet form ingested by a full-scale supersonic nose inlet with conical centerbody was measured in the NACA Lewis icing tunnel. Local and total water impingement rates on the cowl and centerbody surfaces were also obtained. All measurements were made with a dye-tracer technique. The range of operating and meteorological conditions studied was: angles of attack of 0 deg and 4.2 deg, volume-median droplet diameters from about 11 to 20 microns, and ratios of inlet to free-stream velocity from about 0.4 to 1.8. Although the inlet was designed for supersonic (Mach 2.0) operation of the aircraft, the tunnel measurements were confined to a free-stream velocity of 156 knots (Mach 0.237). The data are extendable to other subsonic speeds and droplet sizes by dimensionless impingement parameters. Impingement and ingestion efficiencies are functions of the ratio of inlet to free-stream velocity as well as droplet size. For the model and range of conditions studied, progressively increasing the inlet velocity ratio from less than to greater than 1.0 increased the centerbody impingement efficiency and shifted the cowl impingement region from the inner- to outer-cowl surfaces, respectively. The ratio of water ingested by the inlet plane to that contained in a free-stream tube of cross section equal to that at the inlet plane also increased with increasing inlet velocity ratio. Theoretically calculated values of inlet water (or droplet) ingestion are in good agreement with experiment for annular inlet configurations.

Gelder, Thomas F.↗

Photoelectric return-stroke velocity and peak current estimates in natural and triggered lightning

Two-dimensional photoelectric return stroke velocities from 130 strokes are presented, including 86 negative natural, 41 negative triggered, one positive triggered, and two positive natural return strokes. For strokes starting near the ground and exceeding 500 m in length, the average velocity is 1.3 + or - 0.3 X 10 to the 8th m/s for natural return strokes and 1.2 + or - 0.3 X 10 to the 8th m/s for triggered return strokes. For strokes with lengths less than 500 m, the average velocities are slightly higher. Using the transmission line model (TLM), the shortest segment one-dimensional return stroke velocity, and either the maximum or plateau electric field, it is shown that natural strokes have a peak current distribution that is lognormal with a median value of 16 kA (maximum E) or 12 kA (plateau E). Triggered lightning has a medium peak current value of 21 kA (maximum E) or 15 kA (plateau E). Correlations are found between TLM peak currents and velocities for triggered and natural subsequent return strokes, but not between TLM peak currents and natural first return stroke velocities.

Mach, Douglas M.↗

Empirical models for spacecraft damage from orbital debris penetration and effects on spacecraft survivability

Semi-empirical models of hole diameter and tip-to-tip crack length for different multi-wall shielding systems currently under development for the International Space Station are presented. These equations were developed using light gas gun test data at impact velocities of 6.5 km/s and inhibited shaped charge test data for an impact velocity of 11.3 km/s. These models are incorporated into a survivability analysis using the manned spacecraft crew survivability computer code to determine whether or not module unzipping or crew incapacitation would occur under a specific set of impact conditions.

Williamsen, Joel↗

Grid-Independent Large-Eddy Simulation in Turbulent Channel Flow using Three-Dimensional Explicit Filtering

In this paper, turbulence-closure models are evaluated using the 'true' LES approach in turbulent channel flow. The study is an extension of the work presented by Gullbrand (2001), where fourth-order commutative filter functions are applied in three dimensions in a fourth-order finite-difference code. The true LES solution is the grid-independent solution to the filtered governing equations. The solution is obtained by keeping the filter width constant while the computational grid is refined. As the grid is refined, the solution converges towards the true LES solution. The true LES solution will depend on the filter width used, but will be independent of the grid resolution. In traditional LES, because the filter is implicit and directly connected to the grid spacing, the solution converges towards a direct numerical simulation (DNS) as the grid is refined, and not towards the solution of the filtered Navier-Stokes equations. The effect of turbulence-closure models is therefore difficult to determine in traditional LES because, as the grid is refined, more turbulence length scales are resolved and less influence from the models is expected. In contrast, in the true LES formulation, the explicit filter eliminates all scales that are smaller than the filter cutoff, regardless of the grid resolution. This ensures that the resolved length-scales do not vary as the grid resolution is changed. In true LES, the cell size must be smaller than or equal to the cutoff length scale of the filter function. The turbulence-closure models investigated are the dynamic Smagorinsky model (DSM), the dynamic mixed model (DMM), and the dynamic reconstruction model (DRM). These turbulence models were previously studied using two-dimensional explicit filtering in turbulent channel flow by Gullbrand & Chow (2002). The DSM by Germano et al. (1991) is used as the USFS model in all the simulations. This enables evaluation of different reconstruction models for the RSFS stresses. The DMM consists of the scale-similarity model (SSM) by Bardina et al. (1983), which is an RSFS model, in linear combination with the DSM. In the DRM, the RSFS stresses are modeled by using an estimate of the unfiltered velocity in the unclosed term, while the USFS stresses are modeled by the DSM. The DSM and the DMM are two commonly used turbulence-closure models, while the DRM is a more recent model.

Gullbrand, Jessica↗

Jet Noise Scaling in Dual Stream Nozzles

Power spectral laws in dual stream jets are studied by considering such flows a superposition of appropriate single-stream coaxial jets. Noise generation in each mixing region is modeled using spectral power laws developed earlier for single stream jets as a function of jet temperature and observer angle. Similarity arguments indicate that jet noise in dual stream nozzles may be considered as a composite of four single stream jets representing primary/secondary, secondary/ambient, transition, and fully mixed zones. Frequency filter are designed to highlight spectral contribution from each jet. Predictions are provided at an area ratio of 2.0--bypass ratio from 0.80 to 3.40, and are compared with measurements within a wide range of velocity and temperature ratios. These models suggest that the low frequency noise in unheated jets is dominated by the fully mixed region at all velocity ratios, while the high frequency noise is dominated by the secondary when the velocity ratio is larger than 0.80. Transition and fully mixed jets equally dominate the low frequency noise in heated jets. At velocity ratios less than 0.50, the high frequency noise from primary/bypass becomes a significant contributing factor similar to that in the secondary/ambient jet.

Khavaran, Abbas↗

An accurate perturbative approach to redshift space clustering of biased tracers in modified gravity

We extend the scale-dependent Gaussian Streaming Model (GSM) to produce analytical predictions for the anisotropic redshift-space correlation function for biased tracers in modified gravity models. Employing the Convolution Lagrangian Perturbation Theory (CLPT) re-summation scheme, with a local Lagrangian bias schema provided by the peak-background split formalism, we predict the necessary ingredients that enter the GSM, the real-space halo pairwise velocity and the pairwise velocity dispersion. We further consider effective field theory contributions to the pairwise velocity dispersion in order to model correctly its large scale behavior. We apply our method on two widely-considered modified gravity models, the chameleon-screened ƒ(R) Hu-Sawicki model and the nDGP Vainshtein model and compare our predictions against state-of-the-art N-body simulations for these models. We demonstrate that the GSM approach to predict the monopole and the quadrupole of the redshift-space correlation function for halos, gives very good agreement with the simulation data, for a wide range of screening mechanisms, levels of screening and halo masses at z = 0.5 and z = 1. Our work shows the applicability of the GSM, for cosmologies beyond GR, demonstrating that it can serve as a powerful predictive tool for the next stage of cosmological surveys like DESI, Euclid, LSST and WFIRST.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Monitoring river flow status using low-cost wildlife camera and image segmentation artificial intelligence

Continuous measurement and monitoring of surface water coverage in non-perennial streams are essential for understanding the exchange fluxes between surface and subsurface waters under both inundated and non-inundated conditions. In this study, a wildlife camera photo-based framework was developed to monitor small stream water inundation, depth, discharge, and velocity. Two advanced machine learning models, YOLOv8 and Mask2Former, were utilized to efficiently analyze images captured by wildlife cameras. The accuracy of the framework was validated against on-site depth measurements at six sites in the Yakima River Basin, along with the gage height, discharge, and velocity data from four USGS sites. This approach facilitates long-term, continuous monitoring and quantification of river intermittency and water availability with high precision and low cost, thereby advancing river ecosystem research and management.

machine learning↗