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At least 1,207 records · Page 67

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NASA NTRS2003

Application of Probability Methods to Assess Crash Modeling Uncertainty

Full-scale aircraft crash simulations performed with nonlinear, transient dynamic, finite element codes can incorporate structural complexities such as: geometrically accurate models; human occupant models; and advanced material models to include nonlinear stress-strain behaviors, and material failure. Validation of these crash simulations is difficult due to a lack of sufficient information to adequately determine the uncertainty in the experimental data and the appropriateness of modeling assumptions. This paper evaluates probabilistic approaches to quantify the effects of finite element modeling assumptions on the predicted responses. The vertical drop test of a Fokker F28 fuselage section will be the focus of this paper. The results of a probabilistic analysis using finite element simulations will be compared with experimental data.

Lyle, Karen H.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Application of Probability Methods to Assess Crash Modeling Uncertainty

Lyle, Karen H.↗

NASA NTRS1992

On the numerical treatment of nonlinear source terms in reaction-convection equations

The objectives of this paper are to investigate how various numerical treatments of the nonlinear source term in a model reaction-convection equation can affect the stability of steady-state numerical solutions and to show under what conditions the conventional linearized analysis breaks down. The underlying goal is to provide part of the basic building blocks toward the ultimate goal of constructing suitable numerical schemes for hypersonic reacting flows, combustions and certain turbulence models in compressible Navier-Stokes computations. It can be shown that nonlinear analysis uncovers much of the nonlinear phenomena which linearized analysis is not capable of predicting in a model reaction-convection equation.

Lafon, A.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Climate stability for a Sellers-type model

We study a diffusive energy-balance climate model governed by a nonlinear parabolic partial differential equation. Three positive steady-state solutions of this equation are found; they correspond to three possible climates of our planet: an interglacial (nearly identical to the present climate), a glacial, and a completely ice-covered earth. We consider also models similar to the main one studied, and determine the number of their steady states. All the models have albedo continuously varying with latitude and temperature, and entirely diffusive horizontal heat transfer. The diffusion is taken to be nonlinear as well as linear. We investigate the stability under small perturbations of the main model's climates. A stability criterion is derived, and its application shows that the 'present climate' and the 'deep freeze' are stable, whereas the model's glacial is unstable. A variational principle is introduced to confirm the results of this stability analysis. For a sufficient decrease in solar radiation (about 2%) the glacial and interglacial solutions disappear, leaving the ice-covered earth as the only possible climate.

Ghil, M.↗

NASA NTRS1981

The Numerical Studies Program for the Atmospheric General Circulation Experiment (AGCE) for Spacelab Flights

The atmospheric general circulation experiment (AGCE) numerical design for Spacelab flights was studied. A spherical baroclinic flow experiment which models the large scale circulations of the Earth's atmosphere was proposed. Gravity is simulated by a radial dielectric body force. The major objective of the AGCE is to study nonlinear baroclinic wave flows in spherical geometry. Numerical models must be developed which accurately predict the basic axisymmetric states and the stability of nonlinear baroclinic wave flows. A three dimensional, fully nonlinear, numerical model and the AGCE based on the complete set of equations is required. Progress in the AGCE numerical design studies program is reported.

Fowlis, W. W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A numerical model for sonic boom propagation through an inhomogeneous, windy atmosphere

The ZEPHYRUS computer model calculates sonic boom distortion during propagation through the atmosphere. The model includes the effects of nonlinear distortion, attenuation, dispersion, and wind. Trial runs with the model indicate that, in general, stable shocks have not formed when the sonic boom reaches the ground. Also, the rise time of the lead shock may strongly depend on the overall waveform shape, and may be significantly increased by purely dispersive effects when matching occurs between the rise time and the characteristic oxygen molecular relaxation time.

Robinson, Leick D.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Thermal-Structural Analysis of Sunshield Membranes

Future large infrared space telescopes, such as the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), will require deployable sunshields to provide passive cooling for optics and instruments. Deployable sunshield structures for such applications typically consist of multiple thin-film membrane layers supported by deployable booms. The mechanical design of the sunshield must accommodate thermal strains due to layer-to-layer temperature differences as well as potentially large in-plane temperature gradients within individual film layers. This paper describes a thermal-structural analysis for predicting the stress state in a thin-film membrane subject to both mechanical thermal loads that could aid in the mechanical design of future sunshield structures. First the temperature field predicted by a thermal analysis is mapped to a structural finite element model, and then the structural response is predicted using a nonlinear static analysis. The structural model uses membrane elements in conjunction with a tension field material model to predict the response of the thin-film membrane layer. The tension field material model accounts for no-compression behavior associated with wrinkling and slackness. This approach was used to study the problem of a single membrane layer from the NASA reference concept for the JWST sunshield. Results from the analysis show that the membrane can experience a loss of tensile preload due to the presence of an in-plane temperature gradient representative of the cold-side layer temperature distribution predicted for the reference concept JWST.

Johnston, John↗

NASA NTRS2012

Simplified Models for the Study of Postbuckled Hat-Stiffened Composite Panels

The postbuckling response and failure of multistringer stiffened panels is analyzed using models with three levels of approximation. The first model uses a relatively coarse mesh to capture the global postbuckling response of a five-stringer panel. The second model can predict the nonlinear response as well as the debonding and crippling failure mechanisms in a single stringer compression specimen (SSCS). The third model consists of a simplified version of the SSCS that is designed to minimize the computational effort. The simplified model is well-suited to perform sensitivity analyses for studying the phenomena that lead to structural collapse. In particular, the simplified model is used to obtain a deeper understanding of the role played by geometric and material modeling parameters such as mesh size, inter-laminar strength, fracture toughness, and fracture mode mixity. Finally, a global/local damage analysis method is proposed in which a detailed local model is used to scan the global model to identify the locations that are most critical for damage tolerance.

Vescovini, Riccardo↗

NASA NTRS1992

Driven and unloading aspects of magnetospheric substorms

Issues concerning the 'driven' versus 'unloading' nature of substorms are presented. The original concepts attendant to this debate are presented and substorms are concluded to inextricably combine aspects that are driven with aspects that represent a loading-unloading system. For isolated substorms, the magnetosphere-ionosphere system is shown to exhibit a bimodal response to solar wind changes. A 20 min response characteristic is associated with the driven aspect of substorms, while a 1 hr response time is associated with unloading. It is found that for strong solar wind input conditions, the magnetospheric response becomes more nearly unimodal. This is interpreted in terms of a nonlinear dynamical evolution of the system. Simple analog models are described which capture the essence of the nonlinear magnetospheric behavior. These models exhibit chaotic transitions for strong driving conditions: this may explain the observed behavior of the magnetosphere during strong geomagnetic activity.

Baker, D. N.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Modeling Fiber Kinking at the Microscale and Mesoscale

A computational micromechanics (CMM) model is employed to interrogate the assumptions of a recently developed mesoscale continuum damage mechanics (CDM) model for fiber kinking. The CMM model considers an individually discretized three dimensional fiber and surrounding matrix accounting for nonlinearity in the fiber, matrix plasticity, fiber/matrix interface debonding, and geometric nonlinearity. Key parameters of the CMM model were measured through experiments. In particular, a novel experimental technique to characterize the in situ longitudinal compressive strength of carbon fibers through indentation of micropillars is presented. The CDM model is formulated on the basis of Budiansky's fiber kinking theory (FKT) with a constitutive deformation-decomposition approach to alleviate mesh size sensitivity. In contrast to conventional mesoscale CDM models that prescribe a constitutive response directly, the response of the proposed model is an outcome of material nonlinearity and large rotations of the fiber direction following FKT. Comparison of the predictions from the CMM and CDM models shows remarkable correlation in strength, post-peak residual stress, and fiber rotation, with less than 10% difference between the two models in most cases. Additional comparisons are made with several fiber kinking models proposed in the literature to highlight the efficacy of the two models. Finally, the CMM model is exercised in parametric studies to explore opportunities to improve the longitudinal compression strength of a ply through the use of nonconventional microstructures.

Herraez, Miguel↗

NASA NTRS1992

A new energy transfer model for turbulent free shear flow

A new model for the energy transfer mechanism in the large-scale turbulent kinetic energy equation is proposed. An estimate of the characteristic length scale of the energy containing large structures is obtained from the wavelength associated with the structures predicted by a weakly nonlinear analysis for turbulent free shear flows. With the inclusion of the proposed energy transfer model, the weakly nonlinear wave models for the turbulent large-scale structures are self-contained and are likely to be independent flow geometries. The model is tested against a plane mixing layer. Reasonably good agreement is achieved. Finally, it is shown by using the Liapunov function method, the balance between the production and the drainage of the kinetic energy of the turbulent large-scale structures is asymptotically stable as their amplitude saturates. The saturation of the wave amplitude provides an alternative indicator for flow self-similarity.

Liou, William W.-W.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Effect of debond growth on stress-intensity factors in a cracked orthotropic sheet stiffened by a semi-infinite orthotropic sheet

Stress-intensity factors are determined for a cracked infinite sheet adhesively bonded to a stringer, and debonding of the adhesive layer is predicted. The stringer is modeled as a semi-infinite sheet. Adhesive nonlinearity is also included. Both the sheet and stringer are treated as homogeneous, orthotropic materials. A set of integral equations is formulated and solved to obtain the adhesive shear stresses and crack-tip stress-intensity factors. Adhesive debonding is predicted using a rupture criterion based on the combined adhesive stresses. When the crack is not under the stringer, the debond extends along the edge of the stringer. When the crack tip is beneath the stringer, the debond grows to the end of the crack, then along the edge of the stringer. Stress levels required for debond initiation decrease as the crack tip is moved beneath the stringer. With a nonlinear adhesive, the debond initiates at higher applied stress levels than in linear adhesive cases. Compared with the linear adhesive solution, modeling a nonlinear adhesive causes the stress-intensity factor to increase when the bond is assumed to remain intact but causes the stress-intensity factor to decrease when debonding is included.

Bigelow, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Low-Dimensional Dynamical Models of Thermal Convection

A low-dimensional dynamic model for transitional buoyancy-driven flow in a differentially heated tall enclosure is presented. The full governing partial differential equations with the associated boundary conditions are solved by a spectral element method for a cavity of aspect ratio A=20. Proper orthogonal decomposition is applied to the oscillatory solution at Prandtl number Pr=P tau (omega) = 0.71 and Grashof number G tau (omega) = 3.2 x 10 (exp 4) to construct empirical eigenfunctions. Using the four most energetic empirical eigenfunctions for the velocity and temperature as basis functions and applying Galerkin's method, a reduced model consisting of eight nonlinear ordinary differential equations is obtained. Close to the 'design' conditions (P tau(omega) G tau(omega)), the low-order model (LOM) predictions are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the full model. In particular, the critical Grashof number at the onset of the first temporal flow instability (Hopf bifurcation) was well as the frequency and amplitude of oscillations at supercritical conditions are in excellent agreement with the predictions of the full model. Far from the 'design' conditions, the LOM predicts the existence of multiple stable steady solutions at large values of G tau, and a unique stable steady solution at small values of G tau, and exhibits hysteretic behavior that is qualitatively similar to that observed in direct numerical simulations based on the full model.

Liakopoulos, Anthony↗

NASA NTRS1997

Nonlinear Behavior of a Typical Airfoil Section with Control Surface Freeplay: A Numerical and Experimental Study

A three degree-of-freedom aeroelastic typical section with control surface freeplay is modeled theoretically as a system of piecewise linear state-space models. The system response is determined by time marching of the governing equations using a standard Runge-Kutta algorithm in conjunction with Henon's method for integrating a system of equations to a prescribed surface of phase space section. Henon's method is used to locate the "switching points" accurately and efficiently as the system moves from one linear region into another. An experimental model which closely approximates the three degree-of-freedom, typical section in two-dimensional, incompressible flow has been created to validate the theoretical model. Consideration is given to modeling realistically the structural damping present in the experimental system. The effect of the freeplay on the system response is examined numerically and experimentally. The development of the state-space model offers a low-order, computationally efficient means of modeling fully the freeplay nonlinearity and may offer advantages in future research which will investigate the effects of freeplay on the control of flutter in the typical section.

Conner, M. D.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Computational study of nonlinear plasma waves

A low-noise plasma simulation model is developed and applied to a series of linear and nonlinear problems associated with electrostatic wave propagation in a one-dimensional, collisionless, Maxwellian plasma, in the absence of magnetic field. It is demonstrated that use of the hybrid simulation model allows economical studies to be carried out in both the linear and nonlinear regimes with better quantitative results, for comparable computing time, than can be obtained by conventional particle simulation models, or direct solution of the Vlasov equation. The characteristics of the hybrid simulation model itself are first investigated, and it is shown to be capable of verifying the theoretical linear dispersion relation at wave energy levels as low as .000001 of the plasma thermal energy. Having established the validity of the hybrid simulation model, it is then used to study the nonlinear dynamics of monochromatic wave, sideband instability due to trapped particles, and satellite growth.

Matsuda, Y.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Nonlinear interaction of resonant plasma oscillations.

Using the water-bag model of an electron plasma the nonlinear interaction of two plasma wave pulses (each of sufficiently narrow wave-number spectrum) is discussed. It is shown that for the special case of a resonant (zero group velocity) pulse interacting with a nonresonant pulse, the interaction produces an effective slowing down of the group velocity of the nonresonant pulse. An application of this theory to the explanation of the apparent resonances at fractions of the plasma frequency observed in the ionosphere is discussed.

Lewak, G. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

A numerical study of the nonlinear thermal stability of solar loops

A time-dependent numerical model is used to investigate the nonlinear thermal stability of static loops of various heights. Simulations show that the instability of a hot state with loop heights of less than about 1000 km is physically significant, with an initially hot atmosphere in low-lying compact loops evolving to an extended atmosphere with temperatures far below 100,000 K. Results also show that high-lying loops are stable to all reasonable perturbations, including those of large initial amplitude and long wavelength. The simulation results suggest that low-lying compact loops should not be common to the sun, and that cool loops with temperatures near 100,000 K must be formed in the cool state initially and cannot evolve from preexisiting loops.

Klimchuk, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Relations between the photospheric magnetic field and the emission from the outer atmospheres of cool stars. I - The solar Ca II K line core emission

Observations of a solar active region complex and its surroundings are used to establish a quantitative relation between the Ca II K line core intensity and magnetic flux density. The Ca II K line core intensity is transformed to a Ca II H + K line core flux density to facilitate a comparison of solar and stellar data. A new absolute calibration for the Mount Wilson Ca II H + K fluxes for G-type dwarfs is derived. The minimum Ca II K flux, found in the centers of supergranulation cells in quiet regions on the sun, is identical to the minimum flux that is observed for solar-type stars. An expression is presented for the nonlinear trend between the Ca II H + K line core excess flux density and the absolute value of the magnetic flux density. Models that explain the nonlinearity of the mean trend and the large intrinsic scatter about it are discussed. The solar data define a relation that is similar to the relation between stellar hemisphere-average magnetic flux densities and Ca II H + K excess flux densities.

Schrijver, C. J.↗