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At least 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1959

Stability and Control Characteristics at Subsonic Speeds of a Flat-Top Arrowhead Wing-Body Combination

A wind-tunnel investigation was made to determine the longitudinal- and lateral-stability derivatives of a flat-top wing-body configuration at Mach numbers from 0.22 to 0.90 and Reynolds numbers of 3.5 and 17 million. The wing had a leading-edge sweepback of 78.9 deg and a cathedral of 45 deg on the outer panels. The tests included the determination of the effectiveness of elevon and rudder controls and also an investigation of ground effects. The model was tested at angles of attack up to 28 deg and angles of sideslip up to 18 deg. The dynamic response of this configuration has been determined from the wind-tunnel data for a simulated airplane having a wing loading of 17.7 pounds per square foot. The longitudinal data show a forward shift in aerodynamic center of 10 percent of the mean aerodynamic chord as the lift coefficient is increased above 0.1. Although flown in the lift range of decreasing stability, the simulated airplane did not encounter pitch-up in maneuvers initiated from steady level flight with zero static margin unless a load factor of 2.2 was exceeded. This maneuver margin was provided by a large value of pitching moment due to pitching velocity. The number of cycles to damp the Dutch roll mode to half amplitude, the time constants of the roll subsidence and spiral divergence modes, and control effectiveness in roll are computed. The lateral stability is shown to be positive but is marginal in meeting the military specifications for today's aircraft. An analog computer study has been made in five degrees of freedom (constant velocity) which illustrates that the handling characteristics are satisfactory. Several programed rolling maneuvers and coordinated turns also illustrate the handling qualities of the airplane.

Buell, Donald A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Spatial Orientation and Balance Control Changes Induced by Altered Gravito-Inertial Force Vectors

Seventeen healthy and eight vestibular deficient subjects were exposed to an interaural centripetal acceleration of 1 G (resultant 45 deg roll tilt of 1.4 G) on a 0.8 meter radius centrifuge for a period of 90 minutes in the dark. The subjects sat with head fixed upright, except every 4 of 10 minutes when instructed to rotate their head so that their nose and eyes pointed towards a visual point switched on every 3 to 5 seconds at random places (within +/- 30 deg) in the Earth horizontal plane. Motion sickness caused some subjects to limit their head movements during significant portions of the 90 minute period, and led three normal subjects to stop the test earlier. Eye movements, including directed saccades for subjective Earth- and head-referenced planes, were recorded before, during, and immediately after centrifugation using electro-oculography. Postural stability measurements were made before and within ten minutes after centrifugation. In normal subjects, postural sway and multisegment body kinematics were gathered during an eyes-closed head movement cadence (sway-referenced support platform), and in response to translational/rotational platform perturbations. A significant increase in postural sway, segmental motion amplitude and hip frequency was observed after centrifugation. This effect was short-lived, with a recovery time of several postural test trials. There were also asymmetries in the direction of post-centrifugation center of sway and head tilt which depended on the subject's orientation during the centrifugation adaptation period (left ear or right ear out). To delineate the effect of the magnitude of the gravito-inertial vector versus its direction during the adaptive centrifugation period, we tilted eight normal subjects in the roll axis at a 45 deg angle in the dark for 90 minutes without rotational motion. Their postural responses did not change following the period of tilt. Based on verbal reports, normal subjects overestimated roll-tilt during 90 minutes of both tilt and centrifugation stimuli. Subjective estimates of head-horizontal, provided by directed saccades, revealed significant errors after approximately 30 minutes that tended to increase only in the group who underwent centrifugation. Immediately after centrifugation, subjects reported feeling tilted on average 10 degrees in the opposite direction, which was in agreement with the direction of their earth-directed saccades. In vestibular deficient (VD) subjects, postural sway was measured using a sway-referenced or earth-fixed support surface, and with or without a head movement sequence. 'Me protocol was selected for each patient during baseline testing, and corresponded to the most challenging condition in which the patient was able to maintain balance with eyes closed. Bilaterally VD subjects showed no postural decrement after centrifugation, while unilateral VD subjects had varying degrees of decrement. Unilateral VD subjects were tested twice; they underwent centrifugation both with right ear out and left ear out. Their post-centrifuation center of sway shifted at right angles depending on the centrifuge GIF orientation. Bilateral VD subjects bad shifts as well, but no consistent directional trend. VD subjects underestimated roll-tilt during centrifugation, These results suggest that orientation of the gravito-inertial vector and its magnitude arc both used by the central nervous system for calibration of multiple orientation systems. A change in the background gravito-inertial force (otolith input) can rapidly initiate postural and perceptual adaptation in several sensorimotor systems, independent of a structured visual surround.

Kaufman, Galen D.↗
NASA NTRS1950

Transonic Stability and Control Investigation of a 1/80-Scale Model of the Consolidated Vultee Skate 9 Seaplane, TED No. NACA DE 345: Transonic-Bump Method

An investigation of the longitudinal stability and of the all-movable horizontal tail and aileron control of a 1/80-scale reflection-plane model of the Consolidated Vultee Skate 9 seaplane has been made through a Mach number range of 0.6 to 1.16 on the transonic bump of the Langley high-speed 7- by 10-foot tunnel. At moderate lift coefficients (0.4 to 0.8) and below a Mach number of 1.0 the model was statically unstable longitudinally. The static longitudinal stability of the model at low lift coefficients increased with Mach number corresponding to a shift in aerodynamic center from 37 percent mean aerodynamic chord at a Mach number of 0.60 to 64 percent at a Mach number of 1.10. Estimates indicate that the tail deflection angle required for steady flight and for accelerated maneuvers of the Skate 9 airplane would probably not vary greatly with Mach number at sea level, but for accelerated maneuvers at altitude the tail deflection angle would probably vary erratically with Mach number. The variation of rolling-moment coefficient with aileron deflection angle was approximately linear, agreed well with theory, and held for the range of aileron deflections tested (-17.1 deg to 16.6 deg). At low lift coefficients the drag rise occurred at Mach numbers of 0.95 and 0.90 for the wing alone and the complete model, respectively. The effects of the canopy on the model were small. For the ranges investigated, angle-of-attack and Mach number changes caused no large pressure drops in the jet-engine duct.

Riebe, John M.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Solar Sail Topology Variations Due to On-Orbit Thermal Effects

The objective of this research was to predict the influence of non-uniform temperature distribution on solar sail topology and the effect of such topology variations on sail performance (thrust, torque). Specifically considered were the thermal effects due to on orbit attitude control maneuvers. Such maneuvers are expected to advance the sail to a position off-normal to the sun by as much as 35 degrees; a solar sail initially deformed by typical pre-tension and solar pressure loads may suffer significant thermally induced strains due to the non-uniform heating caused by these maneuvers. This on-orbit scenario was investigated through development of an automated analytical shape model that iterates many times between sail shape and sail temperature distribution before converging on a final coupled thermal structural affected sail topology. This model utilizes a validated geometrically non-linear finite element model and a thermal radiation subroutine. It was discovered that temperature gradients were deterministic for the off-normal solar angle cases as were thermally induced strains. Performance effects were found to be moderately significant but not as large as initially suspected. A roll torque was detected, and the sail center of pressure shifted by a distance that may influence on-orbit sail control stability.

Banik, Jeremy A.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Improved equivalent circuit for twin slot terahertz receivers

Series-fed coplanar waveguide embedding circuits are being developed for terahertz mixers using, in particular, submicron-sized superconducting devices, such as hot electron bolometers as the nonlinear element. Although these mixers show promising performance, they usually also show a considerable downward shift in the center frequency, when compared with simulations obtained by using simplified models. This makes it very difficult to design low-noise mixers for a given THz frequency. This shiftis principally caused by parasitics due to the extremely small details (in terms of wavelength) of the device, and by the electrical properties of the RF choke filter in the DC/IF line. In this paper, we present an improved equivalent network model of such mixer circuits which agrees with measured results at THz frequencies and we propose a new set of THz bolometric mixers that have been fabricated and are currently being tested.

HEB slot antennas CPW↗
NASA NTRS2008

Reconfiguration control system for an aircraft wing

Independently deflectable control surfaces are located on the trailing edge of the wing of a blended wing-body aircraft. The reconfiguration control system of the present invention controls the deflection of each control surface to optimize the spanwise lift distribution across the wing for each of several flight conditions, e.g., cruise, pitch maneuver, and high lift at low speed. The control surfaces are deflected and reconfigured to their predetermined optimal positions when the aircraft is in each of the aforementioned flight conditions. With respect to cruise, the reconfiguration control system will maximize the lift to drag ratio and keep the aircraft trimmed at a stable angle of attack. In a pitch maneuver, the control surfaces are deflected to pitch the aircraft and increase lift. Moreover, this increased lift has its spanwise center of pressure shifted inboard relative to its location for cruise. This inboard shifting reduces the increased bending moment about the aircraft's x-axis occasioned by the increased pitch force acting normal to the wing. To optimize high lift at low speed, during take-off and landing for example, the control surfaces are reconfigured to increase the local maximum coefficient of lift at stall-critical spanwise locations while providing pitch trim with control surfaces that are not stall critical.

Wakayama, Sean R.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Vibration Based Crack Detection in a Rotating Disk: Experimental Results - Part 2

This paper describes the experimental results concerning the detection of a crack in a rotating disk. The goal was to utilize blade tip clearance and shaft vibration measurements to monitor changes in the system's center of mass and/or blade deformation behaviors. The concept of the approach is based on the fact that the development of a disk crack results in a distorted strain field within the component. As a result, a minute deformation in the disk's geometry as well as a change in the system's center of mass occurs. Here, a notch was used to simulate an actual crack. The vibration based experimental results failed to identify the existence of a notch when utilizing the approach described above, even with a rather large, circumferential notch (l.2 in.) located approximately mid-span on the disk (disk radius = 4.63 in. with notch at r = 2.12 in.). This was somewhat expected, since the finite element based results in Part 1 of this study predicted changes in blade tip clearance as well as center of mass shifts due to a notch to be less than 0.001 in. Therefore, the small changes incurred by the notch could not be differentiated from the mechanical and electrical noise of the rotor system. Although the crack detection technique of interest failed to identify the existence ofthe notch, the vibration data produced and captured here will be utilized in upcoming studies that will focus on different data mining techniques concerning damage detection in a disk.

Gyekenyesi, Andrew L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Example of Occupational Surveillance in a Telemedicine Setting: Application of Epidemiologic Methods at NASA Johnson Space Center

In 2010, NASA implemented Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health, a formal occupational surveillance program for the U.S. astronaut corps. Because of the nature of the space environment, space medicine presents unique challenges and opportunities for epidemiologists. One such example is the use of telemedicine while crewmembers are in flight, where the primary source of information about crew health is verbal communication between physicians and their crewmembers. Due to restricted medical capabilities, the available health information is primarily crewmember report of signs and symptoms, rather than diagnoses. As epidemiologists at NASA, Johnson Space Center, we have shifted our paradigm from tracking diagnoses based on traditional terrestrial clinical practice to one in which we also incorporate reported symptomology as potential antecedents of disease. In this presentation we describe how characterization of reported signs and symptoms can be used to establish incidence rates for inflight immunologic events. We describe interdisciplinary data sources of information that are used in combination with medical information to analyze the data. We also delineate criteria for symptom classification inclusion. Finally, we present incidence tables and graphs to illustrate the final outcomes. Using signs and symptoms reported via telemedicine, the epidemiologists provide summary evidence regarding incidence of potential inflight medical conditions. These results inform our NASA physicians and scientists, and support evaluation of the occupational health risks associated with spaceflight.

Babiak-Vazquez, Adriana↗
NASA NTRS2020

Pterodactyl: Control Architectures Development for Integrated Control Design of a Mechanically Deployed Entry Vehicle

The need to return high mass payloads is driving the development of a new class of vehicles, Deployable Entry Vehicles (DEV) for which feasible and optimized control architectures have not been developed. The Pterodactyl project, seeks to advance the current state-of-the-art for entry vehicles by developing a design, test, and build capability for DEVs that can be applied to various entry vehicle configurations. This paper details the efforts on the NASA-funded Pterodactyl project to investigate multiple control techniques for the Lifting Nano-ADEPT (LNA) DEV. We design and implement multiple control architectures on the LNA and evaluate their performance in achieving varying guidance commands during entry.First we present an overview of DEVs and the Lifting Nano-ADEPT (LNA), along with the physical LNA configuration that influences the different control designs. Existing state-of-the-art for entry vehicle control is primarily propulsive as reaction control systems (RCS) are widely employed. In this work, we analyze the feasibility of using both propulsive control systems such as RCS to generate moments, and non-propulsive control systems such as aerodynamic control surfaces and internal moving mass actuations to shift the LNA center of gravity and generate moments. For these diverse control systems, we design different multi-input multi-output (MIMO) state-feedback integral controllers based on linear quadratic regulator (LQR) optimal control methods. The control variables calculated by the controllers vary, depending on the control system being utilized and the outputs to track for the controller are either the (i) bank angle or the (ii) angle of attack and sideslip angle as determined by the desired guidance trajectory. The LQR control design technique allows the relative allocation of the control variables through the choice of the weighting matrices in the cost index. Thus, it is easy to (i) specify which and how much of a control variable to use, and (ii) utilize one control design for different control architectures by simply modifying the choice of the weighting matrices.By providing a comparative analysis of multiple control systems, configurations, and performance, this paper and the Pterodactyl project as a whole will help entry vehicle system designers and control systems engineers determine suitable control architectures for integration with DEVs and other entry vehicle types.

Okolo, Wendy A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The design of an onboard digital Doppler processor for a spaceborne scatterometer

A digital Doppler processor, which will permit the Doppler center frequency of the measurement cell bandwidths to be adjusted to compensate for the effects of the earth's rotation, will be used in the next NASA spaceborn scatterometer known as NSCAT. The authors describe the design and genesis of the NSCAT digital Doppler processor and discusses the performance tradeoff issues that were evaluated during the design phase. In this FFT (fast Fourier transform)-based technique, computation of the adjustment to the cell center frequencies will be done onboard using an approximate expression for the Doppler shift of the cell center versus orbit time. This technique also permits modification of the parameters used to locate the radar-backscatter-coefficient measurement cells by ground command in response to orbit changes.

Long, David G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Buckling of composite beams (CDDF)

Presented are the results of an investigation of the twisting/warping deformation occurring in open-section composite beams. A series of C and L channels were manufactured using both hand layup and the innovative 'hot-drape forming' techniques. A transverse tip load was applied at the free end of the cantilevered open-section beams. The test setup allowed the tip load to be applied at various locations along the plane of and at the beam's shear center. Charts are included in this report depicting various angles of ply layups, loads applied, and load application points. A major verification resulting from this study is that the shear center of an open section composite beam can be altered, if not completely controlled, through laminate layup. Also, it was observed that the choice of the material system does not have an effect on the amount of deformation, as expected, and the material affects the location of an unsymmetric open section composite beam's true shear center. The results from this study have provided a foundation for further investigation into the apparent shifting of the shear center location in open-section composite beams.

Thompson, P.↗
DOE OSTI2025

First-principles computations of the Stark shift of a defect-bound exciton: The case of the T center in silicon

The T center in silicon has recently drawn a lot of attention for its potential in quantum information science. The sensitivity of the zero-phonon line (ZPL) to electrical field was recently investigated by a combination of different experimental methods but there are still few first principles studies on the Stark shift of the T center. Dealing with the defect-bound exciton nature of the excited state is particularly challenging using density functional theory because of the large spatial delocalization associated with the wavefunction. Here, in this work, we tackle this issue by performing a convergence study over the supercell size. We obtain an exciton binding energy of 28.5 meV, in good agreement with experimental results. We then calculate the Stark shift through the dipole moment change of the ZPL transition of the T center using the modern theory of polarization formalism and find a modest linear coefficient of Δ⁢𝜇=0.79⁢D along X and Δ⁢𝜇=0.03⁢𝐷 along Y. We discuss our results in light of the recent experimental measurements of the Stark shift. Our analysis suggests that bound-exciton defects could be particularly sensitive to local field effect as a result of their large spatial extent.

color centers↗
DOE OSTI2025

Adoption of AI in the Utility T&D Sector: Use Cases, Consequence, Assessment and Benefits

Digital transformation and utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in the electric grid are fundamentally changing the industry’s approach to common problems and enabling a broader paradigm shift in grid planning and operations. The change in approach is circularly both enabling and driving modernization, with load growth and reliable management of data center and AI infrastructure shifting away from planning approaches with relatively predictable behaviors and toward a mix of consumer and industrial choices that surpass human cognitive abilities to process. This movement has potential to condition humans to not understand the system on which the AI depends, while requiring it for development of the necessary infrastructure. Approaches which would address most likely grid conditions and events, such as faults, aging of equipment, and weather, now must also account for large loads which shift not based upon weather or time of day, but the computational load. Quantifying computational load is independent of the traditional grid forecasting variables, where a data center’s aggregate load is determined by user and AI system behavior and decoupled from normal grid planning and operations. AI is both the cause and solution for these challenges, with new grid planning tools integrating massive amounts of decisions into frameworks.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
NASA NTRS1972

Position annihilation radiation from neutron stars

Matter accreted on the surfaces of neutron stars consists of energetic particles of a few tens to a couple hundred MeV/nucleon, depending on the neutron star mass. In addition to heat, such particles produce nuclear reactions with the surface material. It is proposed that the recently observed 473 + or - 30 keV spectral feature from the galactic center is gravitationally red-shifted positron annihilation radiation produced at the surfaces of old neutron stars. The principal observational tests of the model would be the detection of nuclear gamma ray lines from the galactic center and red-shifted positron annihilation radiation from the galactic disk.

Ramaty, R.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Quantum Emitter Formation Dynamics and Probing of Radiation-Induced Atomic Disorder in Silicon

Near-infrared color centers in silicon are emerging candidates for on-chip integrated quantum emitters, optical-access quantum memories, and sensing. We access ensemble G-color-center formation dynamics and radiation-induced atomic disorder in silicon for a series of megaelectronvolt proton-flux conditions. The photoluminescence results reveal that the G centers are formed more efficiently by pulsed-proton irradiation than by continuous-wave proton irradiation. The enhanced transient excitations and dynamic annealing within nanoseconds allows optimization of the ratio of G-center formation to nonradiative defect accumulation. The G centers preserve narrow line widths of about 0.1 nm when they are generated by moderate pulsed-proton fluences, while the line width broadens significantly as the pulsed-proton fluence increases. This implies vacancy or interstitial clustering by overlapping collision cascades. The tracking of G-center properties for a series of irradiation conditions enables sensitive probing of atomic disorder, serving as a complementary analytical method for sensing damage accumulation. Aided by ab initio electronic structure calculations, we provide insight into the atomic disorder induced inhomogeneous broadening by introducing vacancies, silicon interstitials, and oriented strain fields in the vicinity of a G center. A vacancy leads to a tensile strain and can result in either a red shift or a blue shift of the G-center emission, depending on its position relative to the G center. Meanwhile, Si interstitials lead to compressive strain, which results in a monotonic red shift. In conclusion, high-flux and tunable ion pulses enable the exploration of the fundamental dynamics of radiation-induced defects as well as methods for the optimization of G-center formation and qubit synthesis for quantum information processing.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1986

A 43GHz VLBI mapping of SiO maser emission associated with Orion-KL IRC-2

A milliarcsecond resolution spot map of the SiO maser emission associated with IRC-2 in Orion-KL is presented. The two dominant groups of spectral features, near V(LRS) = -6 and 16 km/s, were observed in the 43 GHz, v = 1 to 0 transition of SiO, using a Mark III VLBI system. The 74 km baseline ran from Haystack Observatory in Westford, Massachusetts to Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) in New Salem, Massachusetts. Five distinct maser features were observed: -8.5 to -6.5 km/s; -5 to -1.5 km/s; 12 to 13.5 km/s; 16.5 to 19 km/s; and 20 to 21 km/s (stellar velocity = 5 km/s). The relative positions were established, from an analysis of fringe phases, to an accuracy of about 5 milliarcseconds. All the features lay within an area of radius 0.08 arcseconds or 6x10(14) cm, at a distance of 500 pc. Previous interferometric studies were only able to measure the gross separation between the red and the blue shifted groups. Our measurement of the separation between these two gropus is consistent with those of the previous studies, indicating the persistence of these two centers of activity. The absolute positions of the masers with respect to IRC-2 are only known to an accuracy of about 1 arcsecond. It is assumed that IRC-2 is centered between the red shifted and the blue shifted maser features. The relative placement of these two groups of maser features agrees with observations of thermal emission from SO, which traces the outflow on a much larger scale. The SiO masers trace the neutral outflow from IRC-2 on the smallest scale yet observed.

Greenhill, L. J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

First-principles study of the Stark shift effect on the zero-phonon line of the NV center in diamond

Point defects in semiconductors are attractive candidates for quantum information science applications owing to their ability to act as spin-photon interface or single-photon emitters. However, the coupling between the change of dipole moment upon electronic excitation and stray electric fields in the vicinity of the defect, an effect known as Stark shift, can cause significant spectral diffusion in the emitted photons. In this work, using first principles computations, we revisit the methodology to compute the Stark shift of point defects up to the second order. The approach consists of applying an electric field on a defect in a slab and monitoring the changes in the computed zero-phonon line (i.e., difference in energy between the ground and excited state) obtained from constraining the orbital occupations (constrained-DFT). Here, we study the Stark shift of the negatively charged nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond using this slab approach. We discuss and compare two approaches to ensure a negatively charged defect in a slab and we show that converged values of the Stark shift measured by the change in dipole moment between the ground and excited states (Δ⁢μ) can be obtained. We obtain a Stark shift of Δ⁢μ = 2.68⁢D using the semilocal GGA-PBE functional and of Δ⁢μ = 2.23⁢D using the HSE hybrid functional. These values are in good agreement with experimental results. We also show that modern theory of polarization can be used on constrained-DFT to obtain Stark shifts in very good agreement with the slab computations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1991

Imaging the earth's magnetosphere - Effects of plasma flow and temperature

The effects of Doppler shifting on the line centers of the magnetospheric O(+) cross section are investigated, and the resulting structure of the scattering rate as a function of bulk density is explained. Whereas the Doppler shifting frequently results in a decrease of the scattering rate, it is demonstrated that for certain drift speeds the overlap of the cross section and the solar intensity profile can lead to an increased rate, thus enhancing the relative brightness of the image above that obtained when v(p) is zero. Simulated images of the magnetosphere are obtained which are used to show quantitively how the magnetospheric image responds to variations in plasma drift speed and temperature. Changes in the brightness of the magnetospheric images also depend on the variability of the solar flux at 83.4 nm. In regions where there are plasma drifts, the brightness in the image is governed by the structure of the scattering rate, assuming a fixed temperature.

Garrido, D. E.↗