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At least 1,153 records · Page 64

Finite element for rotor/stator interactive forces in general engine dynamic simulation. Part 1: Development of bearing damper element

A general purpose squeeze-film damper interactive force element was developed, coded into a software package (module) and debugged. This software package was applied to nonliner dynamic analyses of some simple rotor systems. Results for pressure distributions show that the long bearing (end sealed) is a stronger bearing as compared to the short bearing as expected. Results of the nonlinear dynamic analysis, using a four degree of freedom simulation model, showed that the orbit of the rotating shaft increases nonlinearity to fill the bearing clearance as the unbalanced weight increases.

Adams, M. L.↗

Requirements and preliminary design for a general purpose real-time executive for flight computers

The requirements and preliminary design of a general purpose, real-time executive computers program for flight computers are provided. A description and the requirements are included for the major elements of the executive: an initialization model, a task scheduler, and an interrupt handler. Task priorities and various process interrupts are discussed. System parameters and variables are identified which make the design adaptable to various flight computer and applicaton specifications.

Smith, K. A.↗

Magnetic field of Jupiter: A generalized inverse approach

The estimation of planetary magnetic fields from observations of the magnetic field gathered along a spacecraft flyby trajectory is examined with the aid of generalized inverse techniques, with application to the internal magnetic field of Jupiter. Model nonuniqueness resulting from the limited spatial extent of the observations and noise on the data is explored and quantitative estimates of the model parameter resolution are found. The presence of a substantial magnetic field of external origin due to the currents flowing in the Jovian magnetodisc is found to be an important source of error in estimates of the internal Jovian field, and new models explicitly incorporating these currents are proposed. New internal field models are derived using the vector helium magnetometer observations and the high field fluxgate observations of Pioneer 11, and knowledge of the external current system gained from the Pioneer 10 and Voyagers 1 and 2 encounters.

Connerney, J. E. P.↗

Straight and chopped dc performance data for a General Electric 5BT 2366C10 motor and an EV-1 controller

Performance data on the General Electric 5BT 2366C10 series wound dc motor and EV-1 Chopper Controller is supplied for the electric vehicle manufacturer. Data is provided for both straight and chopped dc input to the motor, at 2 motor temperature levels. Testing was done at 6 voltage increments to the motor, and 2 voltage increments to the controller. Data results are presented in both tabular and graphical forms. Tabular information includes motor voltage and current input data, motor speed and torque output data, power data and temperature data. Graphical information includes torque-speed, motor power output-speed, torque-current, and efficiency-speed plots under the various operating conditions. The data resulting from this testing shows the speed-torque plots to have the most variance with operating temperature. The maximum motor efficiency is between 86% and 87%, regardless of temperature or mode of operation. When the chopper is utilized, maximum motor efficiency occurs when the chopper duty cycle approaches 100%.

Edie, P. C.↗

Straight and chopped dc performance data for a Prestolite MTC-4001 motor and a general electric EV-1 controller

Performance data on the Prestolite MTC-4001 series wound dc motor and General Electric EV-1 Chopper Controller is supplied for the electric vehicle manufacturer. Data are provided for both straight and chopped dc input to the motor, at 2 motor temperature levels. Testing was done at 6 voltage increments to the motor, and 2 voltage increments to the controller. Data results are presented in both tabular and graphical forms. Tabular information includes motor voltage and current input data, motor speed and torque output data, power data and temperature data. Graphical information includes torque-speed, motor power output-speed, torque-current, and efficiency-speed plots under the various operating conditions. The data resulting from this testing show the speed-torque plots to have the most variance with operating temperature. The maximum motor efficiency is between 76% and 82%, regardless of temperature or mode of operation.

Edie, P. C.↗

Design and evaluation of an integrated Quiet, Clean General Aviation Turbofan (QCGAT) engine and aircraft propulsion system

The design was based on the LTS-101 engine family for the core engine. A high bypass fan design (BPR=9.4) was incorporated to provide reduced fuel consumption for the design mission. All acoustic and pollutant emissions goals were achieved. A discussion of the preliminary design of a business jet suitable for the developed propulsion system is included. It is concluded that large engine technology can be successfully applied to small turbofans, and noise or pollutant levels need not be constraints for the design of future small general aviation turbofan engines.

German, J.↗

The January and July performance of the OSU two-level atmospheric general circulation model

A modified version of the two-level atmospheric general circulation model has been developed and employed in the simulation of January and July global climates. The overall physical and numerical formation of the Oregon State University model is the same as that described by Gates and Schlesinger (1977), but in the new version water vapor at the upper level has been made a prognostic variable, the parameterizations of cumulus convection, large-scale condensation and evaporation, clouds, and radiative transfer have been changed, the surface snow mass and ground temperature have been made prognostic variables, and the treatment of the surface boundary layer has been revised. It is found that the model simulates most features of the large-scale distributions of observed January and July climate more accurately than before.

Schlesinger, M. E.↗

Arctic and Antarctic climatology of a GLAS general circulation model

A Jan.-Feb. climatology model was constructed from the GLAS general circulation model by averaging eight 30-day means of periods from Jan. 15-Feb. 14. The position and intensity of the Aleutian and Icelandic lows in the winter, the central Arctic pressure distribution during winter and summer, and the summertime North Atlantic and North Pacific high pressure regimes were satisfactorily simulated; sensible and evaporative heat fluxes and radiation budget parameters were reasonable, although a rigorous comparison is difficult due to data deficiencies. The model is less successful in simulating the Southern Hemisphere climatology; the 500 mb circumpolar flow is adequate, but the stationary low pressure centers at the surface around the Antarctic continent are not well reproduced.

Herman, G. F.↗

Applications of the concept of generalized vorticity to space plasmas

A reformulation of the momentum equation for electrons or ions in a collisionless plasma leads to an equation which describes the behavior of the plasma in terms of a generalized vorticity. This vorticity is both divergence-free and conserved along plasma flow streamlines. When the plasma has zero vorticity, a special relation is established which appears to have application to small scale magnetic features within both conventional space plasmas and superconductors.

Banks, P. M.↗

Closed coronal structures. II - Generalized hydrostatic model

Numerical computations of stationary solar coronal loop atmospheres are used to extend earlier analytical work. Two classes of loops are examined, namely symmetric loops with a temperature maximum at the top but now having a length greater than the pressure scale height and loops which have a local temperature minimum at the top. For the first class, new scaling laws are found which relate the base pressure and loop length to the base heating, the heating deposition scale height, and the pressure scale height. It is found that loops for which the length is greater than about two to three times the pressure scale height do not have stable solutions unless they have a temperature minimum at the top. Computed models with a temperature inversion at the top are permitted in a wider range of heating deposition scale height values than are loops with a temperature maximum at the top. These results are discussed in relation to observations showing a dependence of prominence formation and stability on the state of evolution of magnetic structures, and a general scenario is suggested for the understanding of loop evolution from emergence in active regions through the large-scale structure phase to opening in coronal holes.

Serio, S.↗

Dependence of tropospheric temperature on the parameterization of cumulus convection in the GLAS model of the general circulation

Analysis of the simulation of seasonal change by the GLAS model of the general circulation reveals deficiencies in the simulation of tropospheric temperature and of convective cloud cover. These interrelated deficiencies are due to a spurious doubling from January to July in the convective cloud cover of the Northern Hemisphere. The spurious doubling, in turn, is due to the oversensitivity of cumulus convection, in the GLAS model, to the specific humidity of the lower atmosphere. The oversensitivity is enhanced by a feedback mechanism which perpetuates the existence of deep, penetrative convective clouds at certain preferred locations. The cumulus parameterization scheme has been modified to more realistically relate the onset of cumulus convection to the relative humidity of the lower atmosphere. The modified parameterization has improved the simulation of tropospheric temperature, planetary albedo and convective cloud cover as well as their seasonal variations. Comparison of this experiment with its control has shown a high degree of interrelation among these fields in the GLAS model and has demonstrated the sensitivity of the atmospheric heat budget to the design of the cumulus parameterization scheme. Also, the modification to the cumulus scheme has demonstrated a plausible mechanism to explain the correlation between convective cloud cover and relative humidity in the real atmosphere.

Helfand, H. M.↗

Engine dynamic analysis with general nonlinear finite-element codes. I Overall approach and development of bearing damper element

NASA-sponsored research on engine dynamic simulation using general finite element nonlinear time transient computer codes available on the open market is reviewed. The approach taken was to develop software packages to model engine components which are not typically found on dynamical structures and are therefore not already computer codes. The software package developed for squeeze-film bearing dampers is outlined, and the results of a parametric study of damper pressure for a variety of specified circular orbits are presented for both long-bearing and short-bearing solutions. The data from a four-degree-of-freedom rotor-damper-stator model under conditions of small rotor unbalance through large rotor unbalance are also given.

Adams, M. L.↗

A generalized formulation of minimum shift keying modulation

The modulator structure consisting of a single-input two-output sequential transducer whose output sequences control the modulated signal in the manner s(t) = x(i)p(t) + y(i)q(t) is considered. Here, iT is less than or equal to t, which is less than iT + T, where T is the modulation bit duration and where x(i) and y(i) take values in /+1, -1, 0/. The behavior of a sequential transducer is characterized by means of a 'trellis'. It is shown that, provided only that the 'carriers' p(t) and q(t) have the same energy in every bit interval, the optimum demodulator for the additive white Gaussian noise channel need process the received signal over only two bit intervals in making each data bit decision. It is demonstrated that particular choices of the sequential transducer yield differential minimum shift keying and differential staggered quadriphase shift keying. Possible generalizations of this approach are discussed.

Massey, J. L.↗

A description of the general aviation fixed wing accident

The Emergency Local Transmitter (ELT) is a radio transmitter with a self-contained power source designed to provide notification of and homing to aircraft accident sites. The Crash Research Institute has monitored general aviation fixed-wing accidents in the United States and in Canada and has found that: (1) the ELT was destroyed in approximately 25% of all fatal accidents; (2) the ELT activated in about 62% of the fatal accidents, 69% of the fatal with survivors accidents, almost 80% of the serious accidents and about 57% of the minor accidents; (3) in fatal accidents the aircraft sections least likely to be destroyed are the vertical and horizontal tail surfaces; (4) antenna cable disconnection and antenna breakage caused failure to transmit usable signals; and (5) initial alerting control occurred in nearly half of the situations where the ELT aided in search.

Hall, D. S.↗

A general time element for orbit integration in Cartesian coordinates

Two techniques are discussed for increasing the accuracy of the numerical integration of eccentric orbits in Cartesian coordinates. One involves the use of an independent variable different from time; this increases the efficiency of the numerical integration. The other uses a time element, which reduces the in-track error. A general expression is given of a time element valid for an arbitrary independent variable. It is pointed out that this time element makes it possible to switch the independent variable merely by applying a scaling factor; there is no need to change the differential equations of the motion. Eccentric, true, and elliptic anomalies are used as independent variables in the case of a transfer orbit for a geosynchronous orbit. The elliptic anomaly is shown to perform much better than the other classical anomalies.

Janin, G.↗

General formulation of optical paths for large zenith angles in the earth's curved atmosphere

Formulas that can be used to determine the optical path between two points along an atmospheric ray path are derived for the case when the local zenith angle of the ray path is larger than 70 deg. For angles less than 70 deg, these formulas reduce to the airmass function; viz., the secant of the zenith angle. The formulation presented in this paper is general enough to be applicable to a wide variety of atmospheric conditions, such as spherical and nonspherical atmospheres, and vertically and horizontally homogeneous as well as inhomogeneous atmospheres. A formulation for the case when atmospheric refraction is important also is presented here.

Wang, P.-H.↗

Noise and performance of general aviation aircraft - A review of the MIT study

The primary objective of the study was to explore the possibility of reducing noise from a general-aviation-type propeller without altering significantly its aerodynamic performance or the engine characteristics. Our study of this possibility involved aerodynamic and acoustic theory, design, construction, and wind tunnel testing of model propellers, design and manufacture of full-scale propellers, and, finally, flight tests. One propeller exhibited an overall measured reduction of 4.8 dBA during a flight test. This reduction was achieved with minimal changes in performance.

Succi, G. P.↗

Low and high speed propellers for general aviation - Performance potential and recent wind tunnel test results

A survey is presented of current research efforts in general aviation, low-speed propeller design and high-speed propfan design, with attention on such features as (1) advanced blade shapes, with novel airfoils and sweep, (2) tip devices, (3) integrated propeller/nacelle designs, (4) area-ruled spinners, (5) lightweight, all-composite blade construction, and (6) contra-rotating propfan systems. The potential overall improvements associated with these design modifications are calculated to lie at 10-15% for low-speed rotors and 15-30% for high-speed ones. Emphasis is placed on noise reduction, blade drag, performance prediction methods and wind tunnel testing of alternative rotor configurations. Extensive use of graphs is made in performance comparisons between alternative blade and rotor designs.

Jeracki, R. J.↗