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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 1,207 records · Page 67
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Nonlinear structural response using adaptive dynamic relaxation on a massively-parallel-processing system

A parallel adaptive dynamic relaxation (ADR) algorithm has been developed for nonlinear structural analysis. This algorithm has minimal memory requirements, is easily parallelizable and scalable to many processors, and is generally very reliable and efficient for highly nonlinear problems. Performance evaluations on single-processor computers have shown that the ADR algorithm is reliable and highly vectorizable, and that it is competitive with direct solution methods for the highly nonlinear problems considered. The present algorithm is implemented on the 512-processor Intel Touchstone DELTA system at Caltech, and it is designed to minimize the extent and frequency of interprocessor communication. The algorithm has been used to solve for the nonlinear static response of two and three dimensional hyperelastic systems involving contact. Impressive relative speedups have been achieved and demonstrate the high scalability of the ADR algorithm. For the class of problems addressed, the ADR algorithm represents a very promising approach for parallel-vector processing.

Oakley, David R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Review of performance, medical, and operational data on pilot aging issues

An extensive review of the literature and studies relating to performance, medical, operational, and legal data regarding pilot aging issues was performed in order to determine what evidence there is, if any, to support mandatory pilot retirement. Popular misconceptions about aging, including the failure to distinguish between the normal aging process and disease processes that occur more frequently in older individuals, continue to contribute to much of the misunderstanding and controversy that surround this issue. Results: Review of medical data related to the pilot aging issue indicate that recent improvement in medical diagnostics and treatment technology have made it possible to identify to a high degree individuals who are at risk for developing sudden incapacitating illness and for treating those with disqualifying medical conditions. Performance studies revealed that after controlling for the presence of disease states, older pilots are able to perform as well as younger pilots on many performance tasks. Review of accident data showed that older, healthy pilots do not have higher accident rates than younger pilots, and indeeed, evidence suggests that older pilots have an advantage in the cockpit due to higher experience levels. The Man-Machine-Mission-Environment interface of factors can be managed through structured, supervised, and enhanced operations, maintenance, flight reviews, and safety procedures in order to ensure safe and productive operations by reducing the margin of error and by increasing the margin of safety. Conclusions: There is no evidence indicating any specific age as an arbitrary cut-off point for pilots to perform their fight duties. A combination of regular medical screening, performance evaluation, enhanced operational maintenance, and safety procedures can most effectively ensure a safe pilot population than can a mandatory retirement policy based on arbitrary age restrictions.

Stoklosa, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Adaptive Neuron Model: An architecture for the rapid learning of nonlinear topological transformations

A method for the rapid learning of nonlinear mappings and topological transformations using a dynamically reconfigurable artificial neural network is presented. This fully-recurrent Adaptive Neuron Model (ANM) network was applied to the highly degenerate inverse kinematics problem in robotics, and its performance evaluation is bench-marked. Once trained, the resulting neuromorphic architecture was implemented in custom analog neural network hardware and the parameters capturing the functional transformation downloaded onto the system. This neuroprocessor, capable of 10(exp 9) ops/sec, was interfaced directly to a three degree of freedom Heathkit robotic manipulator. Calculation of the hardware feed-forward pass for this mapping was benchmarked at approximately 10 microsec.

Tawel, Raoul↗
NASA NTRS1994

Supersonic laminar flow control research

The objective of the research is to understand supersonic laminar flow stability, transition, and active control. Some prediction techniques will be developed or modified to analyze laminar flow stability. The effects of supersonic laminar flow with distributed heating and cooling on active control will be studied. The primary tasks of the research applying to the NASA/Ames Proof of Concept (POC) Supersonic Wind Tunnel and Laminar Flow Supersonic Wind Tunnel (LFSWT) nozzle design with laminar flow control are as follows: (1) predictions of supersonic laminar boundary layer stability and transition, (2) effects of wall heating and cooling for supersonic laminar flow control, and (3) performance evaluation of POC and LFSWT nozzles design with wall heating and cooling effects applying at different locations and various length.

Lo, Ching F.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Development of quiet-flow supersonic wind tunnels for laminar-turbulent transition research

This grant supported research into quiet-flow supersonic wind-tunnels, between May 1990 and December 1994. Quiet-flow nozzles operate with laminar nozzle-wall boundary layers, in order to provide low-disturbance flow for studies of laminar-turbulent transition under conditions comparable to flight. Major accomplishments include: (1) the design, fabrication, and performance-evaluation of a new kind of quiet tunnel, a quiet-flow Ludweig tube; (2) the integration of preexisting codes for nozzle design, 2D boundary-layer computation, and transition-estimation into a single user-friendly package for quiet-nozzle design; and (3) the design and preliminary evaluation of supersonic nozzles with square cross-section, as an alternative to conventional quiet-flow nozzles. After a brief summary of (1), a description of (2) is presented. Published work describing (3) is then summarized. The report concludes with a description of recent results for the Tollmien-Schlichting and Gortler instability in one of the square nozzles previously analyzed.

Schneider, Steven P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Manipulating flexible parts using a teleoperated system with time delay: An experiment

This paper reports experiments involving the handling of flexible parts (e.g. wires) when using a teleoperated system with time delay. The task is principally a peg-in-hole task involving the wrapping of a wire around two posts on the task-board. It is difficult to estimate the effects of the flexible parts; therefore, on-line teleoperation is indispensable for this class of unpredictable task. We first propose a teleoperation system based on the predictive image display, then describe an experimental teleoperation testbed with a four second transmission time delay. Finally, we report on wire handling operations that were performed to evaluate the performance of this system. Those experiments will contribute to future advanced experiments for the MITI ETS-7 mission.

Kotoku, T.↗
NASA NTRS1994

TOPEX/POSEIDON microwave radiometer performance and in-flight calibration

Results of the in-flight calibration and performance evaluation campaign for the TOPEX/POSEIDON microwave radiometer (TMR) are presented. Intercomparisons are made between TMR and various sources of ground truth, including ground-based microwave water vapor radiometers, radiosondes, global climatological models, special sensor microwave imager data over the Amazon rain forest, and models of clear, calm, subpolar ocean regions. After correction for preflight errors in the processing of thermal/vacuum data, relative channel offsets in the open ocean TMR brightness temperatures were noted at the approximately = 1 K level for the three TMR frequencies. Larger absolute offsets of 6-9 K over the rain forest indicated a approximately = 5% gain error in the three channel calibrations. This was corrected by adjusting the antenna pattern correction (APC) algorithm. AS 10% scale error in the TMR path delay estimates, relative to coincident radiosondes, was corrected in part by the APC adjustment and in part by a 5% modification to the value assumed for the 22.235 FGHz water vapor line strength in the path delay retrieval algorithm. After all in-flight corrections to the calibration, TMR global retrieval accuracy for the wet tropospheric range correction is estimated at 1.1 cm root mean square (RMS) with consistent peformance under clear, cloudy, and windy conditions.

Ruf, C. S.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Intelligent tutoring using HyperCLIPS

HyperCard is a popular hypertext-like system used for building user interfaces to databases and other applications, and CLIPS is a highly portable government-owned expert system shell. We developed HyperCLIPS in order to fill a gap in the U.S. Army's computer-based instruction tool set; it was conceived as a development environment for building adaptive practical exercises for subject-matter problem-solving, though it is not limited to this approach to tutoring. Once HyperCLIPS was developed, we set out to implement a practical exercise prototype using HyperCLIPS in order to demonstrate the following concepts: learning can be facilitated by doing; student performance evaluation can be done in real-time; and the problems in a practical exercise can be adapted to the individual student's knowledge.

Hill, Randall W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Supersonic laminar flow control research

The objective of this research is to understand supersonic laminar flow stability, transition and active control. Some prediction techniques will be developed or modified to analyze laminar flow stability. The effects of distributed heating and cooling as an active boundary layer control technique will be studied. The primary tasks of the research apply to the NASA/Ames PoC and LFSWT's nozzle design with laminar flow control and are listed as follows: (1) predictions of supersonic laminar boundary layer stability and transition; (2) effects of wall heating and cooling on supersonic laminar flow control; (3) performance evaluation of the PoC and LFSWT nozzle designs with wall heating and cooling applied at different locations and various lengths; and (4) effects of a conducted -vs- pulse wall temperature distribution for the LFSWT.

Lo, Ching F.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Supersonic laminar flow control research

The objective is to understand supersonic laminar flow stability, transition, and active control. Some prediction techniques will be developed or modified to analyze laminar flow stability. The effects of distributed heating and cooling as an active boundary layer control technique will be studied. The primary tasks of the research apply to the NASA/Ames Proof of Concept (PoC) and Laminar Flow Supersonic Wind Tunnel's (LFSWT's) nozzle design with laminar flow control and are listed as follows: (1) predictions of supersonic laminar boundary layer stability and transition, (2) effects of wall heating and cooling on supersonic laminar flow control, (3) performance evaluation of the PoC and LFSWT nozzle designs with wall heating and cooling applied at different locations and various lengths, and (4) effects of a conducted versus pulse wall temperature distribution for the LFSWT.

Lo, Ching F.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Investigation of Advanced Processed Single-Crystal Turbine Blade Alloys

This investigation studied the influence of thermal processing and microstructure on the mechanical properties of the single-crystal, nickel-based superalloys PWA 1482 and PWA 1484. The objective of the program was to develop an improved single-crystal turbine blade alloy that is specifically tailored for use in hydrogen fueled rocket engine turbopumps. High-gradient casting, hot isostatic pressing (HIP), and alternate heat treatment (HT) processing parameters were developed to produce pore-free, eutectic-free microstructures with different (gamma)' precipitate morphologies. Test materials were cast in high thermal gradient solidification (greater than 30 C/cm (137 F/in.)) casting furnaces for reduced dendrite arm spacing, improved chemical homogeneity, and reduced interdendritic pore size. The HIP processing was conducted in 40 cm (15.7 in.) diameter production furnaces using a set of parameters selected from a trial matrix study. Metallography was conducted on test samples taken from each respective trial run to characterize the as-HIP microstructure. Post-HIP alternate HT processes were developed for each of the two alloys. The goal of the alternate HT processing was to fully solution the eutectic gamma/(gamma)' phase islands and to develop a series of modified (gamma)' morphologies for subsequent characterization testing. This was accomplished by slow cooling through the (gamma)' solvus at controlled rates to precipitate volume fractions of large (gamma)'. Post-solution alternate HT parameters were established for each alloy providing additional volume fractions of finer precipitates. Screening tests included tensile, high-cycle fatigue (HCF), smooth and notched low-cycle fatigue (LCF), creep, and fatigue crack growth evaluations performed in air and high pressure (34.5 MPa (5 ksi)) hydrogen at room and elevated temperature. Under the most severe embrittling conditions (HCF and smooth and notched LCF in 34.5 MPa (5 ksi) hydrogen at 20 C (68 F), screening test results showed increases in fatigue life typically on the order of 1OX, when compared to the current Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) Alternate Turbopump (AT) blade alloy (PWA 1480).

Peters, B. J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Dual-Use Space Technology Transfer Conference and Exhibition, Volume 1

This document contains papers presented at the Dual-Use Space Technology Transfer Conference and Exhibition held at the Johnson Space Center February 1-3, 1994. Possible technology transfers covered during the conference were in the areas of information access; innovative microwave and optical applications; materials and structures; marketing and barriers; intelligent systems; human factors and habitation; communications and data systems; business process and technology transfer; software engineering; biotechnology and advanced bioinstrumentation; communications signal processing and analysis; new ways of doing business; medical care; applications derived from control center data systems; human performance evaluation; technology transfer methods; mathematics, modeling, and simulation; propulsion; software analysis and decision tools systems/processes in human support technology; networks, control centers, and distributed systems; power; rapid development perception and vision technologies; integrated vehicle health management; automation technologies; advanced avionics; ans robotics technologies. More than 77 papers, 20 presentations, and 20 exhibits covering various disciplines were presented b experts from NASA, universities, and industry.

Kumar Krishen↗
NASA NTRS1994

Dual-Use Space Technology Transfer Conference and Exhibition

This is the second volume of papers presented at the Dual-Use Space Technology Transfer Conference and Exhibition held at the Johnson Space Center February 1-3, 1994. Possible technology transfers covered during the conference were in the areas of information access; innovative microwave and optical applications; materials and structures; marketing and barriers; intelligent systems; human factors and habitation; communications and data systems; business process and technology transfer; software engineering; biotechnology and advanced bioinstrumentation; communications signal processing and analysis; medical care; applications derived from control center data systems; human performance evaluation; technology transfer methods; mathematics, modeling, and simulation; propulsion; software analysis and decision tools; systems/processes in human support technology; networks, control centers, and distributed systems; power; rapid development; perception and vision technologies; integrated vehicle health management; automation technologies; advanced avionics; and robotics technologies.

Krishen, Kumar↗
NASA NTRS1996

Supersonic Laminar Flow Control Research

The objective of this research is to understand supersonic laminar flow stability, transition and active control. Some prediction techniques are developed or modified to analyze laminar flow stability. The effects of distributed heating and cooling as an active boundary layer control technique are studied. The primary tasks of the research apply to the NASA/Ames Proof-of-Concept (PoC) and the Laminar Flow Supersonic Wind Tunnel's (LFSWT's) nozzle design with laminar flow control and are listed as follows: (1) Predictions of supersonic laminar boundary layer stability and transition; (2) Effects of wall heating and cooling on supersonic laminar flow control on a flat plate; (3) Performance evaluation of the PoC and LFSWT nozzle designs with wall heating and cooling applied at different locations and various lengths; (4) Effects of a conducted -vs- pulse wall temperature distribution for the LFSWT; and (5) Application of wall heating and/or cooling to laminar boundary layer and flow separation control of airfoils and investigation of related active control techniques.

Lo, C. F.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Design and Application of a Collocated Capacitance Sensor for Magnetic Bearing Spindle

This paper presents a collocated capacitance sensor for magnetic bearings. The main feature of the sensor is that it is made of a specific compact printed circuit board (PCB). The signal processing unit has been also developed. The results of the experimental performance evaluation on the sensitivity, resolution and frequency response of the sensor are presented. Finally, an application example of the sensor to the active control of a magnetic bearing is described.

Shin, Dongwon↗
NASA NTRS1996

DKRZ workload analysis

The UniTree product as it is released emits a rather large amount of logging information into various log files, but this data typically is meant for operator information in difficult operational situations or directly for debugging purposes. It is strongly advised that the existing logging functionality in the standard release is advanced by adding messages with relevant parameters for every major event in the course of executing file or device oriented requests as described. This upgrade would be relatively easy in terms of implementation effort. The benefit is a complete sequence of transaction descriptions generated by external user requests or by internal administration commands. This collection of transaction records can be used for intensive statistics and performance evaluations. It is furthermore a perfect source to drive realistic system simulations to study the effects of possible hardware or software changes.

Fichter, Hartmut↗
NASA NTRS1996

Supersonic Laminar Flow Control Research

The objective of this research is to understand supersonic laminar flow stability, transition and active control. Some prediction techniques will be developed or modified to analyze laminar flow stability. The effects of distributed heating and cooling as an active boundary layer control technique will be studied. The primary tasks of the research apply to the NASA/Ames PoC and LFSWT's nozzle design with laminar flow control and are listed as follows: Predictions of supersonic laminar boundary layer stability and transition; Effects of wall heating and cooling on supersonic laminar flow control on a flat plate; Performance evaluation of the PoC and LFSWT nozzle designs with wall heating and cooling applied at different locations and various lengths; Effects of a conducted-vs-pulse wall temperature distribution for the LFSWT; and Application of wall heating and/or cooling to laminar boundary layer and flow separation control of airfoils and investigation of related active control techniques.

Lo, Ching F.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Shape Control of Plates with Piezo Actuators and Collocated Position/Rate Sensors

This paper treats the control problem of shaping the surface deformation of a circular plate using embedded piezo-electric actuator and collocated rate sensors. An explicit Linear Quadratic Gaussian (LQG) optimizer stability augmentation compensator is derived as well as the optimal feed-forward control. Corresponding performance evaluation formulas are also derived.

Balakrishnan, A. V.↗