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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 1,171 records · Page 65

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NASA NTRS1983

A fracture mechanics approach for designing adhesively bonded joints

An analytical and experimental investigation was undertaken to determine if the adhesive debond initiation stress could be predicted for arbitrary joint geometries. The analysis was based upon a threshold total strain-energy-release rate (Gth) concept. Two bonded systems were tested: T300/5208 graphite/epoxy adherends bonded with either EC-3445 or FM-300 adhesive. The Gth for each adhesive was determined from cracked-lap-shear (CLS) specimens by initiation tests. Finite-element analyses of various tapered CLS specimen geometries predicted the specimen stress at which the total strain-energy-release rate (GT) equaled Gth at the joint tip. Experiments verified the predictions. The approach described herein predicts the maximum stress at which an adhesive joint can be cycled yet not debond. Furthermore, total strain-energy-release rate appeared to be the driving parameter for cyclic debonding and debond initiation in structural adhesives. In addition, debond initiation and growth were found to occur with virtually no peel stress present.

Johnson, W. S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Theory of silicon superlattices - Electronic structure and enhanced mobility

A realistic tight-binding band-structure model of silicon superlattices is formulated and used to study systems of potential applied interest, including periodic layered Si-Si(1-x)Ge(x) heterostructures. The results suggest a possible new mechanism for achieving enhanced transverse carrier mobility in such structures: reduced transverse conductivity effective masses associated with the superlattice band structure. For electrons in 100-line-oriented superlattices, a reduced conductivity mass arises intrinsically from the lower symmetry of the superlattice and its unique effect on the indirect bulk silicon band gap. An order of magnitude estimate of the range of mobility enhancement expected from this mechanism appears to be consistent with preliminary experimental results on Si-Si(1-x)Ge(x) superlattices.

Moriarty, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Overview of Code Verification

The verified code for the SIFT Executive is not the code that executes on the SIFT system as delivered. The running versions of the SIFT Executive contain optimizations and special code relating to the messy interface to the hardware broadcast interface and to packing of data to conserve space in the store of the BDX930 processors. The running code was in fact developed prior to and without consideration of any mechanical verification. This was regarded as necessary experimentation with the SIFT hardware and special purpose Pascal compiler. The Pascal code sections cover: the selection of a schedule from the global executive broadcast, scheduling, dispatching, three way voting, and error reporting actions of the SIFT Executive. Not included in these sections of Pascal code are: the global executive, five way voting, clock synchronization, interactive consistency, low level broadcasting, and program loading, initialization, and schedule construction.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1985

Computer studies of baroclinic flow

Programs necessary for computing the transition curve on the regime diagram for the atmospheric general circulation experiment (AGOE) were completed and used to determine the regime diagram for the rotating annulus and some axisymmetric flows for one possible AGOE configuration. The effect of geometrical constraints on the size of eddies developing from a basic state is being examined. In AGOE, the geometric constraint should be the width of the shear zone or the baroclinic zone. Linear and nonlinear models are to be used to examine both barotropic and baroclinic flows. The results should help explain the scale selection mechanism of baroclinic eddies in the atmosphere experimental models such as AGOE, and the multiple vortex phenomenon in tornadoes.

Gall, R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Near Earth space sporadic radio emission busts occurring during sunrise

During the period of low solar activity at sunrise the effect of sporadic high frequency near Earth space radio emission was experimentally discovered at middle latitudes. The possible mechanism of its origin is discussed.

Dudnik, A. V.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Program for Experimentation With Expert Systems

CERBERUS is forward-chaining, knowledge-based system program useful for experimentation with expert systems. Inference-engine mechanism performs deductions according to user-supplied rule set. Information stored in intermediate area, and user interrogated only when no applicable data found in storage. Each assertion posed by CERBERUS answered with certainty ranging from 0 to 100 percent. Rule processor stops investigating applicable rules when goal reaches certainty of 95 percent or higher. Capable of operating for wide variety of domains. Sample rule files included for animal identification, pixel classification in image processing, and rudimentary car repair for novice mechanic. User supplies set of end goals or actions. System complexity decided by user's rule file. CERBERUS written in FORTRAN 77.

Engle, S. W.↗

NASA NTRS1986

The mechanics of solids in the plastically-deformable state

The mechanics of continua, which is based on the general stress model of Cauchy, up to the present has almost exclusively been applied to liquid and solid elastic bodies. Saint-Venant has developed a theory for the plastic or remaining form changes of solids, but it does not give the required number of equations for determining motion. A complete set of equations of motion for plastic deformable bodies is derived. This is done within the framework of Cauch mechanics. And it is supported by certain experimental facts which characterize the range of applications.

Mises, R. V.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A fracture mechanics approach for designing adhesively bonded joints

Johnson, W. S.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Elevated temperature crack growth

The objective of the Elevated Temperature Crack Growth Program is to evaluate proposed nonlinear fracture mechanics methods for application to hot section components of aircraft gas turbine engines. Progress during the past year included linear-elastic fracture mechanics data reduction on nonlinear crack growth rate data on Alloy 718. The bulk of the analytical work centered on thermal gradient problems and proposed fracture mechanics parameters. Good correlation of thermal gradient experimental displacement data and finite element prediction was obtained.

Malik, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Analyses of broadband noise mechanisms of rotors

The various source mechanisms which generate broadband noise on a range of rotors are reviewed. Analyses of these mechanisms are presented and compared to existing experimental data. The sources considered are load fluctuations due to inflow turbulence, due to turbulent blade boundary layers passing the trailing edge, and due to tip vortex formation turbulence. Vortex shedding noise due to laminar boundary layers and blunt trailing edges is not considered in detail as it can be avoided in most cases. Present analyses are adequate to predict the spectra from a wide variety of experiments on fans, helicopter rotors, and wind turbines to within about 5 to 10 dB. Better knowledge of the inflow turbulence improves the accuracy of the predictions. Inflow turbulence noise depends strongly on ambient conditions and dominates at low frequencies. Trailing edge and tip vortex noise are important at higher frequencies if inflow turbulence is weak. Boundary layer trailing edge noise increases slowly with angle of attack but not as rapidly as tip vortex formation noise. Tip noise can be important at high angles of attack for wide chord, square edge tips.

George, A. R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Rational-Spline Subroutines

Smooth curves drawn among plotted data easily. Rational-Spline Approximation with Automatic Tension Adjustment algorithm leads to flexible, smooth representation of experimental data. "Tension" denotes mathematical analog of mechanical tension in spline or other mechanical curve-fitting tool, and "spline" as denotes mathematical generalization of tool. Program differs from usual spline under tension, allows user to specify different values of tension between adjacent pairs of knots rather than constant tension over entire range of data. Subroutines use automatic adjustment scheme that varies tension parameter for each interval until maximum deviation of spline from line joining knots less than or equal to amount specified by user. Procedure frees user from drudgery of adjusting individual tension parameters while still giving control over local behavior of spline.

Schiess, James R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Evidence for a common high-temperature superconducting effect in La(1.85)Sr(0.15)CuO4 and YBa2Cu3O7

The paper reports the positron-annihilation lifetime and Doppler-broadening energy spectra in La(1.85)Sr(0.15)CuO4 superconductors for T = 10-297 K. A strong temperature dependence in positron lifetime and momentum distribution parameters is observed for positron-electron annihilation data while the sample is in the superconducting state, but not while it is in the normal state. Experimental evidence is presented that the superconducting mechanisms in La(1.85)Sr(0.15)CuO4 and YBa2Cu3O7 are similar and it is suggested that this is a consequence of a common physics involving the delicate balance between localized- and itinerant-electron behavior.

Jean, Y. C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A transputer based finite element solver

The feasibility of performing FEM structural-mechanics analyses on transputer systems is investigated experimentally. Transputers are programmable microprocessors equipped with local memory and point-to-point communication links; they can be joined in a large concurrent system via a programming language which supports distributed processing; this permits parallel processing at relatively low hardware cost. The computational tasks required by FEM programs are reviewed; the hardware (one PC, one master transputer, and 12 slave transputers) employed in the test calculations is described; and results demonstrating the speed and efficiency of the transputer array in assembling a global stiffness matrix and performing Gauss-Jordan matrix inversion are presented in graphs. It is predicted that larger transputer networks could approach the power of supercomputers at minicomputer costs.

Favenesi, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1986

A study on thermal barrier coatings including thermal expansion mismatch and bond coat oxidation

The present investigation deals with a plasma-sprayed thermal barrier coating (TBC) intended for high temperature applications to advanced gas turbine blades. Typically, this type of coating system consists of a zirconia-yttria ceramic layer with a nickel-chromium-aluminum bond coat on a superalloy substrate. The problem on hand is a complex one due to the fact that bond coat oxidation and thermal mismatch occur in the TBC. Cracking in the TBC has also been experimentally illustrated. A clearer understanding of the mechanical behavior of the TBC is investigated. The stress states in a model thermal barrier coating as it cools down in air is studied. The powerful finite element method was utilized to model a coating cylindrical specimen. Four successively refined finite element models were developed. Some results obtained using the first two models have been reported previously. The major accomplishment is the successful development of an elastic TBC finite element model known as TBCG with interface geometry between the ceramic layer and the bond coat. An equally important milestone is the near-completion of the new elastic-plastic TBC finite element model called TBCGEP which yielded initial results. Representative results are presented.

Chang, George C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Hydrazine vapor detonations

The detonation velocity and cell widths for hydrazine decomposition were measured over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. The detonation velocity in pure hydrazine was within 5 percent of the calculated C-J velocity. The detonation cell width measurements were interpreted using the Zeldovich-Doering-von Neumann model with a detailed reaction mechanism for hydrazine decomposition. Excellent agreement with experimental data for pure hydrazine was obtained using the empirical relation that detonation cell width was equal to 29 times the kinetically calculated reaction zone length.

Pedley, M. D.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Mechanics of the crack path formation

A detailed analysis of experimentally obtained curvilinear crack path trajectories formed in a heterogeneous stress field is presented. Experimental crack path trajectories were used as data for numerical simulations, recreating the actual stress field governing the development of the crack path. Thus, the current theories of crack curving and kinking could be examined by comparing them with the actual stress field parameters as they develop along the experimentally observed crack path. The experimental curvilinear crack path trajectories were formed in the tensile specimens with a hole positioned in the vicinity of a potential crack path. The numerical simulation, based on the solution of equivalent boundary value problems with the possible perturbations of the crack path, is presented here.

Rubinstein, Asher A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Aeroelastic problems in turbomachines

A review of the field of turbomachinery aeroelasticity is presented. Developments over the past decade are emphasized, and an assessment of possible future directions of research is offered. The paper reviews the areas of unsteady cascade flows, structural modeling, and flutter prediction methods. Representative results for unsteady flow calculations and flutter boundary predictions in subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flows are discussed, including recent calculations based on the methods of computational fluid mechanics. Results from current attempts to correlate experimental data with theoretical predictions are discussed briefly. It is recommended that future research include investigations of novel approaches to flutter calculations that can take full advantage of parallel processing supercomputers. The feasibility of using mistuning and aeroelastic tailoring as passive flutter suppression techniques should also be pursued.

Bendiksen, Oddvar O.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Dynamic response of a hammerhead launch vehicle wind-tunnel model

A wind-tunnel test of a 1/10th-scale Atlas-Centaur I large payload fairing launch vehicle model was conducted in the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel. The wind tunnel model was an aeroelastically-scaled version of the flight vehicle and was capable of simulating either of the first two bending vibration modes of the full-scale vehicle by a partial mode technique. The primary purpose of the test was to gather data concerning buffet response which could be used to clear the vehicle for flight. Additionally, angle-of-attack studies were conducted and several payload fairing configurations were tested to assess the buffet response and dynamic stability of off-design flight conditions and geometric parameters. No dynamic instabilities were found for any of the configurations tested. The buffet response data for the nominal flight configuration indicate that the unsteady buffet loads represent 5 to 10 percent of the total design load; therefore, the buffet loads are not a large factor affecting the overall vehicle design. Payload fairing length-to-diameter ratio variations were found to have small effects on the buffet response of the model, except in the case of the smallest length-to-diameter models for the second bending mode simulation. The effects of angle of attack on buffet response were found to be small. The model was more sensitive to Mach number changes than to angle of attack. The buffet response results from this wind tunnel test were influenced by the tunnel facility vibration levels. An attempt was made to experimentally reduce the effect of the facility mechanical vibration for the nominal flight configuration by testing with vertical rods used to stiffen the sting support. The first flight of the Atlas-Centaur I vehicle successfully occurred on July 25, 1990, and a comparison of flight measurements with wind tunnel data is presented. The flight data was found to be well within the 3 sigma level of the wind tunnel data.

Cole, Stanley R.↗