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At least 127 records · Page 7

Structural considerations for a software life cycle dynamic simulation model

This paper presents the results of a preliminary study into the prospects for simulating the software implementation and maintenance life cycle process, with the aim of producing a computerized tool for use by management and software engineering personnel in project planning, tradeoff studies involving product, environmental, situational, and technological factors, and training. The approach taken is the modular application of a 'flow of resource' concept to the systems dynamics simulation modeling technique. The software life cycle process is represented as a number of stochastic, time-varying, interacting work tasks that each achieves one of the project milestones. Each task is characterized by the item produced, the personnel applied, and the budgetary profile.

Tausworthe, R. C.

Validation of a flight simulation model of the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter against flight test data

The FLYRT simulation model of the U.S. Army/McDonnell Douglas AH-64 Apache attack helicopter is validated against flight test data. The approach used for validation involves matching static trim attitudes and control positions and driving the model with measured control time histories to compare dynamic responses such as angular rates and normal acceleration. Flight test data is processed to determine kinematic consistency in the angular degrees of freedom. Modeling problems associated with aerodynamic interaction of the main rotor wake on the horizontal stabilator and engine response timing are identified. Appropriate model updates are made which result in good overall model correlation throughout the flight regime investigated.

Harding, J. W.

Development of Electronic Load Controllers for Free-Piston Stirling Convertors Aided by Stirling Simulation Model

The free-piston Stirling convertor end-to-end modeling effort at the NASA Glenn Research Center has produced a software-based test bed in which free-piston Stirling convertors can be simulated and evaluated. The simulation model includes all the components of the convertor: the Stirling cycle engine, heat source, linear alternator, controller, and load. So far, it has been used in evaluating the performance of electronic controller designs. Three different controller design concepts were simulated using the model: 1) Controllers with parasitic direct current loading. 2) Controllers with parasitic alternating current loading. 3) Controllers that maintain a reference current. The free-piston Stirling convertor is an electromechanical device that operates at resonance. It is the function of the electronic load controller to ensure that the electrical load seen by the machine is always great enough to keep the amplitude of the piston and alternator oscillation at the rated value. This is done by regulating the load on the output bus. The controller monitors the instantaneous voltage, regulating it by switching loads called parasitic loads onto the bus whenever the bus voltage is too high and removing them whenever the voltage is too low. In the first type of controller, the monitor-ing and switching are done on the direct-current (dc) bus. In the second type, the alternating current bus is used. The model allows designers to test a controller concept before investing time in hardware. The simulation code used to develop the model also offers detailed models of digital and analog electronic components so that the resulting designs are realistic enough to translate directly into hardware circuits.

Regan, Timothy F.

Operational Characteristics Identification and Simulation Model Verification for Incheon International Airport

Incheon International Airport (ICN) is one of the hub airports in East Asia. Airport operations at ICN have been growing more than 5% per year in the past five years. According to the current airport expansion plan, a new passenger terminal will be added and the current cargo ramp will be expanded in 2018. This expansion project will bring 77 new stands without adding a new runway to the airport. Due to such continuous growth in airport operations and future expansion of the ramps, it will be highly likely that airport surface traffic will experience more congestion, and therefore, suffer from efficiency degradation. There is a growing awareness in aviation research community of need for strategic and tactical surface scheduling capabilities for efficient airport surface operations. Specific to ICN airport operations, a need for A-CDM (Airport - Collaborative Decision Making) or S-CDM(Surface - Collaborative Decision Making), and controller decision support tools for efficient air traffic management has arisen since several years ago. In the United States, there has been independent research efforts made by academia, industry, and government research organizations to enhance efficiency and predictability of surface operations at busy airports. Among these research activities, the Spot and Runway Departure Advisor (SARDA) developed and tested by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is a decision support tool to provide tactical advisories to the controllers for efficient surface operations. The effectiveness of SARDA concept, was successfully verified through the human-in-the-loop (HITL) simulations for both spot release and runway operations advisories for ATC Tower controllers of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) in 2010 and 2012, and gate pushback advisories for the ramp controller of Charlotte/Douglas International Airport (CLT) in 2014. The SARDA concept for tactical surface scheduling is further enhanced and is being integrated into NASA's Airspace Technology Demonstration - 2 (ATD-2) project for technology demonstration of Integrated Arrival/Departure/Surface (ADS) operations at CLT. This study is a part of the international research collaboration between KAIA (Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement)/KARI (Korea Aerospace Research Institute) and NASA, which is being conducted to validate the effectiveness of SARDA concept as a controller decision support tool for departure and surface management of ICN. This paper presents the preliminary results of the collaboration effort. It includes investigation of the operational environment of ICN, data analysis for identification of the operational characteristics of the airport, construction and verification of airport simulation model using Surface Operations Simulator and Scheduler (SOSS), NASA's fast-time simulation tool.

scheduling

A Model Simulation of Pinatubo Volcanic Aerosols in the Stratosphere

A one-dimensional, time-dependent model is used to study the chemical, microphysical, and radiative properties of volcanic aerosols produced by the Mount Pinatubo eruption on June 15, 1991. Our model treats gas-phase sulfur photochemistry, gas-to-particle conversion of sulfur, and the microphysics of sulfate aerosols and ash particles under stratospheric conditions. The dilution and diffusion of the volcanic eruption clouds are also accounted for in these conditions. Heteromolecular homogeneous and heterogeneous binary H2SO4/H2O nucleation, acid and water condensational growth, coagulation, and gravitational sedimentation are treated in detail in the model. Simulations suggested that after several weeks, the volcanic cloud was composed mainly of sulfuric acid/water droplets produced in situ from the SO2 emissions. The large amounts of SO2 (around 20 Mt) injected into the stratosphere by the Pinatubo eruption initiated homogeneous nucleation which generated a high concentration of small H2SO4/H2O droplets. These newly formed particles grew rapidly by condensation and coagulation in the first few months and then reach their stabilized sizes with effective radii in a range between 0.3 and 0.5 micron approximately one-half year after the eruption. The predicted volcanic cloud parameters reasonably agree with measurements in term of the vertical distribution and lifetime of the volcanic aerosols, their basic microphysical structures (e.g., size distribution, concentration, mass ratio, and surface area) and radiative properties. The persistent volcanic aerosols can produce significant anomalies in the radiation field, which have important climatic consequences. The large enhancement in aerosol surface area can result in measurable global stratospheric ozone depletion.

Zhao , Jing-xia

Analysis of the impact of Seasat scatterometer data and horizontal resolution on GLA model simulations of the QE II storm

The impact of the Seasat-A satellite scatterometer wind data and the increased horizontal resolution on the Goddard Laboratory for Atmospheres model predictions of the Queen Elizabeth II (QE II) storm of 9-11 September 1978 was evaluated for four different GLA model simulations of the QE II storm. It is shown that the largest impact on the simulation was caused by doubling the model's horizontal resolution from 4 deg x 5 deg to 2 deg x 2.5 deg. The increased resolution resulted in a storm track which was much closer to the one observed, with a much deeper surface development, a stronger mass circulation, stronger heating, and stronger increase of angular momentum.

Lenzen, Allen J.

Investigation in the Langley Free-Flight Tunnel of the Low-Speed Stability and Control Characteristics of a 1/10-Scale Model Simulating the Convair F-102A Airplane

An investigation of the low-speed, power-off stability and control characteristics of a 1/10-scale model simulating the Convair F-102A airplane has been made in the Langley free-flight tunnel. The model in its basic configuration and with two modifications involving leading- edge slats and an increase in vertical-tail size was flown through a lift-coefficient range from 0.7 to the stall. Only relatively low-altitude conditions were simulated. The longitudinal stability characteristics of the model were considered satisfactory for all conditions investigated. The lateral stability characteristics were considered satisfactory for the basic configuration over the lift-coefficient range investigated, except near the stall, where large values of static directional instability caused the model to be directionally divergent. An 80-percent increase in vertical-tail area increased the angle of attack at which the model became directionally divergent. The longitudinal and lateral control characteristics were generally satisfactory. Although the adverse sideslip characteristics for the model were considered acceptable over the angle-of-attack range, analysis indicates that the adverse sideslip characteristics of the airplane may be objectionable at high angles of attack.

Boisseau, Peter C.

Imaging infrared: Scene simulation, modeling, and real image tracking; Proceedings of the Meeting, Orlando, FL, Mar. 30, 31, 1989

Various papers on scene simulation, modeling, and real image tracking using IR imaging are presented. Individual topics addressed include: tactical IR scene generator, dynamic FLIR simulation in flight training research, high-speed dynamic scene simulation in UV to IR spectra, development of an IR sensor calibration facility, IR celestial background scene description, transmission measurement of optical components at cryogenic temperatures, diffraction model for a point-source generator, silhouette-based tracking for tactical IR systems, use of knowledge in electrooptical trackers, detection and classification of target formations in IR image sequences, SMPRAD: simplified three-dimensional cloud radiance model, IR target generator, recent advances in testing of thermal imagers, generic IR system models with dynamic image generation, modeling realistic target acquisition using IR sensors in multiple-observer scenarios, and novel concept of scene generation and comprehensive dynamic sensor test.

Triplett, Milton J.

High-order state space simulation models of helicopter flight mechanics

This paper describes the formulation and validation of a high-order linearized mathematical model of helicopter flight mechanics, which includes rotor flap and lag degrees of freedom as well as inflow dynamics. The model is extracted numerically from an existing nonlinear, blade element, time simulation model. Extensive modifications in the formulation and solution process of the nonlinear model, required for a theoretically rigorous linearization, are described in detail. The validation results show that the linearized model successfully captures the coupled rotor-fuselage dynamics in the frequency band most critical for the design of advanced flight control systems. Additional results quantify the extent to which the order of the model can be reduced without loss of fidelity.

Kim, Frederick D.

An Assessment of the Potential Predictability of Interannual and Decadal Variability Based on Climate Model Simulations with Specified SST

The USCLIVAR working group on drought recently initiated a series of global climate model simulations forced with idealized SST anomaly patterns, designed to address a number of uncertainties regarding the impact of SST forcing and the role of land-atmosphere feedbacks on regional drought. The runs were done with several global atmospheric models including NASA/NSIPP-1, NCEP/GFS, GFDL/AM2, and NCAR CCM3 and CAM3.5. Here we focus on the potential predictability associated with the leading patterns of inter-annual and decadal Pacific SST variability. Specific issues addressed include the nature of the seasonality and regionality of the signal, the noise, and the signal-to-noise ratios, as well as the dependence of the results on the models.

Schubert, Siegfried

Modelling, simulation and sounding of cometary nuclei; Proceedings of the International Workshop, Cagliari, Italy, May 28-30, 1991

The present workshop on the modeling, simulation, and sounding of cometary nuclei discusses the Rosetta comet-nucleus sample return mission, the importance of comet models in the design of the Rosetta mission, the challenge of sample acquisition in a cometary environment, and a simulation of Rosetta on-comet operations. Attention is given to HST observations of the inner coma of Comet Levy 1990c, cometary coma particulate modeling for the Rosetta mission aphelion rendezvous, recent gas flux modeling and applications of cometary nuclei, and the 3D time-dependent modeling of comet nucleus surface layers. Topics addressed include models of cometary nuclei and future space mission, the composition of cometary materials, experiments with cometary analogs at the DLR, and crust formation in cometary analogs. Also considered are gaseous products from VUV photolysis of cometary solids, cosmic ray modification of organic cometary matter as simulated by cyclotron irradiation, and KOSI comet simulation experiments.

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An Assessment of the Potential Predictability of Drought Over the United States Based on Climate Model Simulations with Specified SST

The USCLIV AR working group on drought recently initiated a series of global climate model simulations forced with idealized SST anomaly patterns, designed to address a number of uncertainties regarding the impact of SST forcing and the role of land-atmosphere feedbacks on regional drought. The runs were done with several global atmospheric models including NASA/NSIPP-l, NCEP/GFS, GFDLlAM2, and NCAR CCM3 and CAM3.5. Specific questions that the runs are designed to address include: What are mechanisms that maintain drought across the seasonal cycle and from one year to the next. To what extent can droughts develop independently of ocean variability due to year-to-year memory that may be inherent to the land. What is the role of the different ocean basins? Here we focus on the potential predictability of drought conditions over the United States. Specific issues addressed include the seasonality and regionality of the signal-to-noise ratios associated with Pacific and Atlantic SST forcing, and the sensitivity of the results to the climatological stationary waves simulated by the different AGCMs.

Schubert, Siegfried

Enhanced Contact Graph Routing (ECGR) MACHETE Simulation Model

Contact Graph Routing (CGR) for Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN) space-based networks makes use of the predictable nature of node contacts to make real-time routing decisions given unpredictable traffic patterns. The contact graph will have been disseminated to all nodes before the start of route computation. CGR was designed for space-based networking environments where future contact plans are known or are independently computable (e.g., using known orbital dynamics). For each data item (known as a bundle in DTN), a node independently performs route selection by examining possible paths to the destination. Route computation could conceivably run thousands of times a second, so computational load is important. This work refers to the simulation software model of Enhanced Contact Graph Routing (ECGR) for DTN Bundle Protocol in JPL's MACHETE simulation tool. The simulation model was used for performance analysis of CGR and led to several performance enhancements. The simulation model was used to demonstrate the improvements of ECGR over CGR as well as other routing methods in space network scenarios. ECGR moved to using earliest arrival time because it is a global monotonically increasing metric that guarantees the safety properties needed for the solution's correctness since route re-computation occurs at each node to accommodate unpredicted changes (e.g., traffic pattern, link quality). Furthermore, using earliest arrival time enabled the use of the standard Dijkstra algorithm for path selection. The Dijkstra algorithm for path selection has a well-known inexpensive computational cost. These enhancements have been integrated into the open source CGR implementation. The ECGR model is also useful for route metric experimentation and comparisons with other DTN routing protocols particularly when combined with MACHETE's space networking models and Delay Tolerant Link State Routing (DTLSR) model.

Segui, John S.

Simulation model of a twin-tail, high performance airplane

The mathematical model and associated computer program to simulate a twin-tailed high performance fighter airplane (McDonnell Douglas F/A-18) are described. The simulation program is written in the Advanced Continuous Simulation Language. The simulation math model includes the nonlinear six degree-of-freedom rigid-body equations, an engine model, sensors, and first order actuators with rate and position limiting. A simplified form of the F/A-18 digital control laws (version 8.3.3) are implemented. The simulated control law includes only inner loop augmentation in the up and away flight mode. The aerodynamic forces and moments are calculated from a wind-tunnel-derived database using table look-ups with linear interpolation. The aerodynamic database has an angle-of-attack range of -10 to +90 and a sideslip range of -20 to +20 degrees. The effects of elastic deformation are incorporated in a quasi-static-elastic manner. Elastic degrees of freedom are not actively simulated. In the engine model, the throttle-commanded steady-state thrust level and the dynamic response characteristics of the engine are based on airflow rate as determined from a table look-up. Afterburner dynamics are switched in at a threshold based on the engine airflow and commanded thrust.

Buttrill, Carey S.

Transonic Wind-Tunnel Investigation of the Fin Loads on a 1/8-Scale Model Simulating the First Stage of the Scout Research Vehicle

An investigation to determine the fin loads on a 1/8-scale model simulating the first stage of the Scout research vehicle was made in the Langley 8-foot transonic tunnel at Mach numbers from 0.40 to 1.20. Tests were conducted over an angle-of-attack range from about -10 to 10 deg and at a Reynolds number per foot of approximately 3.5 x 10(exp 6). Results of the tests indicate that for a given angle of attack, negative tip-control deflections caused decreases in normal-force and fin-bending-moment coefficients and increases in pitching-moment coefficient, as would be expected. The effects were slight at a model angle of attack of -10 deg where tip-control stall had probably occurred but increased with an increase in angle of attack.

Kelly, Thomas C.

SIMWEST - A simulation model for wind energy storage systems

This paper describes a comprehensive and efficient computer program for the modeling of wind energy systems with storage. The level of detail of SIMWEST (SImulation Model for Wind Energy STorage) is consistent with evaluating the economic feasibility as well as the general performance of wind energy systems with energy storage options. The software package consists of two basic programs and a library of system, environmental, and control components. The first program is a precompiler which allows the library components to be put together in building block form. The second program performs the technoeconomic system analysis with the required input/output, and the integration of system dynamics. An example of the application of the SIMWEST program to a current 100 kW wind energy storage system is given.

Edsinger, R. W.

High-order state space simulation models of helicopter flight mechanics

This paper describes the formulation and validation of a high-order linearized mathematical model of helicopter flight mechanics, which includes rotor flap and lag degrees of freedom as well as inflow dynamics. The model is extracted numerically from an existing nonlinear, blade element, real-time simulation model. Extensive modifications in the formulation and solution process of the nonlinear model, required for a theoetically rigorous linearization, are described in detail. The validation results show that the linearized model successfully captures the coupled rotor-fuselage dynamics in the frequency band most critical for the design of advanced flight control systems. Additional results quantify the extent to which the order of the model can be reduced without loss of fidelity.

Kim, Frederick D.