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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Toward a Theory of Superdense Time in Simulation Models

In this work, we develop a theory of superdense time that encompasses existing uses of superdense time in discrete event simulations and points to new forms that have not previously been explored. A central feature of our development is a set of axioms for superdense time. Furthermore, the sufficiency of these axioms is demonstrated by using them to prove that a general model of a discrete event simulation procedure, expressed in terms of a mathematical system, constitutes a state transition function. Several forms of superdense time, both known and novel, are shown to satisfy the axioms.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Experiences with implementing Kokkos’ SYCL backend

With the recent diversification of the hardware landscape in the high-performance computing community, performance-portability solutions are becoming more and more important. One of the most popular choices is Kokkos. In this paper, we describe how Kokkos maps to SYCL 2020, how SYCL had to evolve to enable a full Kokkos implementation, and where we still rely on extensions provided by Intel’s oneAPI implementation. Furthermore, we describe how applications can use Kokkos and its ecosystem to already explore upcoming C++ features also when using the SYCL backend. Finally, we are providing some performance benchmarks comparing native SYCL and Kokkos and also discuss hierarchical parallelism in the SYCL 2020 interface.

Arndt, Daniel↗
DOE OSTI2020

Recommendations for Data-in-Transit Requirements for Securing DER Communications

With the adoption of Distributed Energy Resource (DER) interoperability standards, common communication protocols are now being deployed between power system operators and DER devices. In 2018, a revision to the US interconnection and interoperability standard, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Std. 1547, required DER equipment to have an IEEE 2030.5, IEEE 1815, or SunSpec Modbus communication exchange interface. This change supports the future transition to secure connection and exchange of information between the DER equipment and implementing parties, such as grid operators. Adoption of standardized communication protocols and associated information models is a critical step toward interoperability between power system operators and DER, such as photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage systems. However, security requirements for these standardized communication protocols are not comprehensive, resulting in non-standard and vendor-specific implementation that may leave DER equipment susceptible to cyberattacks. This paper examines the data-in-flight security requirements for standardized DER communication protocols, per IEEE 1547-2018 revision, as it relates to device authentication, key management, and encryption. The state of the art for these security features is also explored, addressing their impact on communication and performance of low-cost single board computers, which are typical of DER devices. In conclusion, a recommendation is provided to adopt a common set of communication requirements, which are intended to achieve interoperability and implement data security over DER network pathways, while ensuring reliable, secure, and real-time information delivery.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1974

Initial observations of magnetospheric boundaries by Explorer 45 /S3/

Attention is given to the nature of the inner edge of the proton ring current and its relationship to the plasmapause, the observation of the magnetopause during the large event of Aug. 4, 1972, and the observation of the electron plasma sheet at the apogee of Explorer 45. Two features in the interaction region between the inner edge of the proton ring current and the plasmapause are discussed.

Fritz, T. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Biaxial constitutive equation development

In developing the constitutive equations an interdisciplinary approach is being pursued. Specifically, both metallurgical and continuum mechanics considerations are recognized in the formulation. Experiments will be utilized to both explore general qualitative features of the material behavior that needs to be modeled and to provide a means of assessing the validity of the equations being developed. The model under development explicitly recognizes crystallographic slip on the individual slip systems. This makes possible direct representation of specific slip system phenomena. The present constitutive formulation takes the anisotropic creep theory and incorporates two state variables into the model to account for the effect of prior inelastic deformation history on the current rate-dependent response of the material.

Jordan, E. H.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Multimission modular spacecraft (MMS)

This paper discusses the design requirements for the low-cost standard spacecraft development which has come to be known as the Multimission Modular Spacecraft (MMS). The paper presents the wide range of launch configurations of the MMS users, the population of programs using the MMS, and the cost effectiveness of the MMS concept. The paper addresses the in-orbit serviceability of the design as demonstrated by the successful SMM repair, and the recent selection of MMS for the Explorer Platform, which features in-orbit payload exchanges.

Falkenhayn, Edward, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1986

An Ada inference engine for expert systems

The purpose is to investigate the feasibility of using Ada for rule-based expert systems with real-time performance requirements. This includes exploring the Ada features which give improved performance to expert systems as well as optimizing the tradeoffs or workarounds that the use of Ada may require. A prototype inference engine was built using Ada, and rule firing rates in excess of 500 per second were demonstrated on a single MC68000 processor. The knowledge base uses a directed acyclic graph to represent production lines. The graph allows the use of AND, OR, and NOT logical operators. The inference engine uses a combination of both forward and backward chaining in order to reach goals as quickly as possible. Future efforts will include additional investigation of multiprocessing to improve performance and creating a user interface allowing rule input in an Ada-like syntax. Investigation of multitasking and alternate knowledge base representations will help to analyze some of the performance issues as they relate to larger problems.

Lavallee, David B.↗
NASA NTRS1991

ALLY: An operator's associate for satellite ground control systems

The key characteristics of an intelligent advisory system is explored. A central feature is that human-machine cooperation should be based on a metaphor of human-to-human cooperation. ALLY, a computer-based operator's associate which is based on a preliminary theory of human-to-human cooperation, is discussed. ALLY assists the operator in carrying out the supervisory control functions for a simulated NASA ground control system. Experimental evaluation of ALLY indicates that operators using ALLY performed at least as well as they did when using a human associate and in some cases even better.

Bushman, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Voyager Briefing: Expectations of the Neptune Encounter

This NASA KSC video release presents a news briefing held Aug. 4, 1989 at NASA Headquarters three weeks after Voyager 2's official "encounter" with Neptune began. The video is comprised of two slide presentations followed by a short question and answer period. The press conference is moderated by Charles Redmond, (NASA Public Affairs), includes an introduction by Dr. Geoffrey A Briggs (Dir., Solar System Exploration Div.), and features Norman R. Haynes (Voyager Project Manager, JPL) and Dr. Edward C. Stone (Voyager Project Scientist, Cal Tech). Mr. Haynes' presentation centers on Voyager's history, engineering changes, and spacecraft trajectories while Dr. Stone presents the scientific aspects of Voyager, including the 11 scientific investigations planned for the mission, instruments used, and imaging techniques.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2001

Maximum Likelihood Estimation of the Broken Power Law Spectral Parameters with Detector Design Applications

The maximum likelihood procedure is developed for estimating the three spectral parameters of an assumed broken power law energy spectrum from simulated detector responses and their statistical properties investigated. The estimation procedure is then generalized for application to real cosmic-ray data. To illustrate the procedure and its utility, analytical methods were developed in conjunction with a Monte Carlo simulation to explore the combination of the expected cosmic-ray environment with a generic space-based detector and its planned life cycle, allowing us to explore various detector features and their subsequent influence on estimating the spectral parameters. This study permits instrument developers to make important trade studies in design parameters as a function of the science objectives, which is particularly important for space-based detectors where physical parameters, such as dimension and weight, impose rigorous practical limits to the design envelope.

Howell, Leonard W.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Wind Tunnel Data Fusion and Immersive Visualization: A Case Study

This case study describes the process of fusing the data from several wind tunnel experiments into a single coherent visualization. Each experiment was conducted independently and was designed to explore different flow features around airplane landing gear. In the past, it would have been very difficult to correlate results from the different experiments. However, with a single 3-D visualization representing the fusion of the three experiments, significant insight into the composite flowfield was observed that would have been extremely difficult to obtain by studying its component parts. The results are even more compelling when viewed in an immersive environment.

Severance, Kurt↗
NASA NTRS2004

Fast Query-Optimized Kernel-Machine Classification

A recently developed algorithm performs kernel-machine classification via incremental approximate nearest support vectors. The algorithm implements support-vector machines (SVMs) at speeds 10 to 100 times those attainable by use of conventional SVM algorithms. The algorithm offers potential benefits for classification of images, recognition of speech, recognition of handwriting, and diverse other applications in which there are requirements to discern patterns in large sets of data. SVMs constitute a subset of kernel machines (KMs), which have become popular as models for machine learning and, more specifically, for automated classification of input data on the basis of labeled training data. While similar in many ways to k-nearest-neighbors (k-NN) models and artificial neural networks (ANNs), SVMs tend to be more accurate. Using representations that scale only linearly in the numbers of training examples, while exploring nonlinear (kernelized) feature spaces that are exponentially larger than the original input dimensionality, KMs elegantly and practically overcome the classic curse of dimensionality. However, the price that one must pay for the power of KMs is that query-time complexity scales linearly with the number of training examples, making KMs often orders of magnitude more computationally expensive than are ANNs, decision trees, and other popular machine learning alternatives. The present algorithm treats an SVM classifier as a special form of a k-NN. The algorithm is based partly on an empirical observation that one can often achieve the same classification as that of an exact KM by using only small fraction of the nearest support vectors (SVs) of a query. The exact KM output is a weighted sum over the kernel values between the query and the SVs. In this algorithm, the KM output is approximated with a k-NN classifier, the output of which is a weighted sum only over the kernel values involving k selected SVs. Before query time, there are gathered statistics about how misleading the output of the k-NN model can be, relative to the outputs of the exact KM for a representative set of examples, for each possible k from 1 to the total number of SVs. From these statistics, there are derived upper and lower thresholds for each step k. These thresholds identify output levels for which the particular variant of the k-NN model already leans so strongly positively or negatively that a reversal in sign is unlikely, given the weaker SV neighbors still remaining. At query time, the partial output of each query is incrementally updated, stopping as soon as it exceeds the predetermined statistical thresholds of the current step. For an easy query, stopping can occur as early as step k = 1. For more difficult queries, stopping might not occur until nearly all SVs are touched. A key empirical observation is that this approach can tolerate very approximate nearest-neighbor orderings. In experiments, SVs and queries were projected to a subspace comprising the top few principal- component dimensions and neighbor orderings were computed in that subspace. This approach ensured that the overhead of the nearest-neighbor computations was insignificant, relative to that of the exact KM computation.

Mazzoni, Dominic↗
NASA NTRS2012

Highlights of the First 15 Months of Aquarius Salinity Measurements

Aquarius satellite salinity measurements are resolving the major global and regional spatial patterns, and temporal variations, since the start of routine data collection on 25 August 2011. This description includes the principal seasonal variations over the first annual cycle as observed by the mission. In particular, we identify the evolution of low salinity anomalies associated with the Atlantic and Pacific intertropical convergence zones (ITCZ), major river outflows such as the Amazon, a seasonal low salinity anomaly in the Panama bight, and other features. We also explore the links that the salinity variations have with precipitation and surface currents. We then will describe the variations related to the presently evolving 2012 El Nino, now evident, as it progresses through the summer and fall 2012. We conclude with a brief summary of the Aquarius data products and validation

Lagerloef, Gary S. E.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Turbulence Modeling Verification and Validation

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software that solves the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations has been in routine use for more than a quarter of a century. It is currently employed not only for basic research in fluid dynamics, but also for the analysis and design processes in many industries worldwide, including aerospace, automotive, power generation, chemical manufacturing, polymer processing, and petroleum exploration. A key feature of RANS CFD is the turbulence model. Because the RANS equations are unclosed, a model is necessary to describe the effects of the turbulence on the mean flow, through the Reynolds stress terms. The turbulence model is one of the largest sources of uncertainty in RANS CFD, and most models are known to be flawed in one way or another. Alternative methods such as direct numerical simulations (DNS) and large eddy simulations (LES) rely less on modeling and hence include more physics than RANS. In DNS all turbulent scales are resolved, and in LES the large scales are resolved and the effects of the smallest turbulence scales are modeled. However, both DNS and LES are too expensive for most routine industrial usage on today's computers. Hybrid RANS-LES, which blends RANS near walls with LES away from walls, helps to moderate the cost while still retaining some of the scale-resolving capability of LES, but for some applications it can still be too expensive. Even considering its associated uncertainties, RANS turbulence modeling has proved to be very useful for a wide variety of applications. For example, in the aerospace field, many RANS models are considered to be reliable for computing attached flows. However, existing turbulence models are known to be inaccurate for many flows involving separation. Research has been ongoing for decades in an attempt to improve turbulence models for separated and other nonequilibrium flows. When developing or improving turbulence models, both verification and validation are important steps in the process. Verification insures that the CFD code is solving the equations as intended (no errors in the implementation). This is typically done either through the method of manufactured solutions (MMS) or through careful step-by-step comparisons with other verified codes. After the verification step is concluded, validation is performed to document the ability of the turbulence model to represent different types of flow physics. Validation can involve a large number of test case comparisons with experiments, theory, or DNS. Organized workshops have proved to be valuable resources for the turbulence modeling community in its pursuit of turbulence modeling verification and validation. Workshop contributors using different CFD codes run the same cases, often according to strict guidelines, and compare results. Through these comparisons, it is often possible to (1) identify codes that have likely implementation errors, and (2) gain insight into the capabilities and shortcomings of different turbulence models to predict the flow physics associated with particular types of flows. These are valuable lessons because they help bring consistency to CFD codes by encouraging the correction of faulty programming and facilitating the adoption of better models. They also sometimes point to specific areas needed for improvement in the models. In this paper, several recent workshops are summarized primarily from the point of view of turbulence modeling verification and validation. Furthermore, the NASA Langley Turbulence Modeling Resource website is described. The purpose of this site is to provide a central location where RANS turbulence models are documented, and test cases, grids, and data are provided. The goal of this paper is to provide an abbreviated survey of turbulence modeling verification and validation efforts, summarize some of the outcomes, and give some ideas for future endeavors in this area.

Rumsey, Christopher L.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Aram Chaos: a Long Lived Subsurface Aqueous Environment with Strong Water Resources Potential for Human Missions on Mars

Aram Chaos, Mars is a crater 280 kilometers in diameter with elevations circa. minus 2 to minus 3 kilometers below datum that provides a compelling landing site for future human explorers as it features multiple scientific regions of interest (ROI) paired with a rich extensible Resource ROI that features poly-hydrated sulfates [1]. The geologic history of Aram Chaos suggests several past episodes of groundwater recharge and infilling by liquid water, ice, and other materials [1-3]. The creation of the fractured region with no known terrestrial equivalent may have been caused by melting of deep ice reservoirs that triggered the collapse of terrain followed by catastrophic water outflows over the region. Aram Chaos is of particular scientific interest because it is hypothesized that the chaotic terrain may be the source of water that contributed to the creation of nearby valleys such as Ares Vallis flowing toward Chryse Planitia. The liquid water was likely sourced as groundwater and therefore represents water derived from a protected subsurface environment making it a compelling astrobiological site [2]. The past history of water is also represented by high concentrations of hematite, Fe-oxyhydroxides, mono-hydrated and poly-hydrated sulfates [1, 2]. Poly-hydrated sulfates are likely to contain abundant water that evolves at temperatures below 500 degrees Centigrade thus conferring Aram Chaos a potentially high value for early in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) [4]. The geologic history also calls for future prospecting of deep ice deposits and possibly liquid water via deep drilling. The most recent stratigraphic units in the central part of Aram Chaos are not fractured, and are part of a dome-shaped formation that features bright, poorly-consolidated material that contains both hydrated sulfates and ferric oxides according to OMEGA (Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité) data [5]. These surface material characteristics are preliminary indications of their potential use in civil engineering activities that involve regolith moving and hauling, while further study is needed to assess traverse-ability challenges. The widespread distribution of sulfates is also of interest as a resource for the use of sulfur as a binding compound in regolith-based concrete for constructions. The terrain depressions caused by the rock fracturing events may challenge surface mobility but also suggest the possibility of using such natural features for additional shielding from space radiation and as emplacement of nuclear surface power reactors for the same reason. The high concentration of hematite (up to 16 percent) in some of the smoother recent terrains of the central part of Aram Chaos [2] is a favorable attribute for metal extraction ISRU to create iron-based feedstock for in-situ fabrication of replacement parts or their repairs. Preliminary data on Aram Chaos indicate that it offers a combination of many critical criteria for human missions to the surface of Mars: equatorial region at low Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA), evidence of hydrated minerals over large areas and at high concentrations tied to historic evidence of liquid water over long periods.

Sibille, L.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Development of the Science Data System for the International Space Station Cold Atom Lab

Cold Atom Laboratory (CAL) is a facility that will enable scientists to study ultra-cold quantum gases in a microgravity environment on the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2016. The primary science data for each experiment consists of two images taken in quick succession. The first image is of the trapped cold atoms and the second image is of the background. The two images are subtracted to obtain optical density. These raw Level 0 atom and background images are processed into the Level 1 optical density data product, and then into the Level 2 data products: atom number, Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) lifetime, magnetic chip-trap atom lifetime, and condensate fraction. These products can also be used as diagnostics of the instrument health. With experiments being conducted for 8 hours every day, the amount of data being generated poses many technical challenges, such as downlinking and managing the required data volume. A parallel processing design is described, implemented, and benchmarked. In addition to optimizing the data pipeline, accuracy and speed in producing the Level 1 and 2 data products is key. Algorithms for feature recognition are explored, facilitating image cropping and accurate atom number calculations.

bose einstein condensate↗
NASA NTRS2016

Auralization of NASA N+2 Aircraft Concepts from System Noise Predictions

Auralization of aircraft flyover noise provides an auditory experience that complements integrated metrics obtained from system noise predictions. Recent efforts have focused on auralization methods development, specifically the process by which source noise information obtained from semi-empirical models, computational aeroacoustic analyses, and wind tunnel and flight test data, are used for simulated flyover noise at a receiver on the ground. The primary focus of this work, however, is to develop full vehicle auralizations in order to explore the distinguishing features of NASA's N+2 aircraft vis-à-vis current fleet reference vehicles for single-aisle and large twin-aisle classes. Some features can be seen in metric time histories associated with aircraft noise certification, e.g., tone-corrected perceived noise level used in the calculation of effective perceived noise level. Other features can be observed in sound quality metrics, e.g., loudness, sharpness, roughness, fluctuation strength and tone-to-noise ratio. A psychoacoustic annoyance model is employed to establish the relationship between sound quality metrics and noise certification metrics. Finally, the auralizations will serve as the basis for a separate psychoacoustic study aimed at assessing how well aircraft noise certification metrics predict human annoyance for these advanced vehicle concepts.

Rizzi, Stephen A.↗