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At least 127 records · Page 7

Bending Stiffness of Multiwall Sandwich

An analytical and experimental study was carried out to understand the extensional and flexural behavior of multiwall sandwich, a metallic insulation composed of alternate layers of flat and dimpled foil. The multiwall sandwich was structurally analyzed by using several simplifying assumptions combined with a finite element analysis. The simplifying assumptions made in this analysis were evaluated by bending and tensile tests. Test results validate the assumption that flat sheets in compression do not significantly contribute to the flexural stiffness of multiwall sandwich for the multiwall geometry tested. However, calculations show that thicker flat sheets may contribute significantly to bending stiffness and cannot be ignored. Results of this analytical approach compare well with test data; both show that the extensional stiffness of the dimpled sheet in he 0 deg direction is about 30 percent of that for a flat sheet, and that in the 45 deg direction, it is about 10 percent. The analytical and experimental multiwall bending stiffness showed good agreement for the particular geometry tested.

Blosser, M. L.↗

Design analysis for a nutating plate drive 4

A simplified design analysis was conducted on a nutating plate type drive system for a 2500 horsepower helicopter main rotor gear box. A drive system that split the output torque evenly between two nutating plates for the purpose of reducing the load on each nutating plate was analyzed. Needle bearings were used on the nutating plate pins. The results of the analysis indicate that the required load capacity of the pin bearings and the speed of the nutating plate bearings were beyond the state-of-the-art capacity of rolling-element bearings. The analysis further indicates that the nutating plate drive is less efficient, and results in a higher weight per horsepower than a conventional planetary helicopter transmission with similar design specifications.

Loewenthal, S. H.↗

Effects of planform geometry on hover performance of a 2-meter-diameter model of a four-bladed rotor

Hover tests were conducted on three small scale rotors to evaluate the effects of blade planform taper on rotor hover performance. Tests were conducted on a rectangular swept-tip configuration, on a configuration with a 3 to 1 taper over the outboard 20 percent of the span, and on a configuration with a 5 to 1 taper over the outboard 20 percent of the blade span. The investigation covered a range of thrust coefficients from 0 to 0.0075 and a range of tip speeds from 300 to 600 ft/sec. The tests showed that both tapered configurations had better hover performance than the swept-tip rectangular configuration and that the 3 to 1 taper configuration was better than the 5 to 1 taper configuration. The test results were compared with predictions made with a prescribed wake analysis, a momentum analysis, and a simplified free wake analysis.

Phelps, A. E., III↗

Developing a Vision for Heliophysics Infrastructure: The LIKED Resource and the DIARieS Ecosystem

Heliophysics data and computational infrastracture are not equipped for 21st science, suffering from holes in the know-how to build better systems. Without a clear vision, efforts to improve the infrastructure have been incremental and incoherent. This poster presents both the vision and the technology required: an online LIbrary KnowledgE and Discovery (LIKED) resource for discovering and implementing knowledge, data, and infrastructure resources; and an online analysis ecosystem to simplify Discovery, Implementation, Analysis, Reproducibility, and Sharing (DIARieS) of scientific results and environments. The LIKED and DIARieS solutions adopt FAIR data principles and the best practices from the budding field of open science. The proposed new infrastructure components will close many of the current gaps in heliophysics’ infrastructure, such as the ability to search for data and knowledge by phenomenon across domains, and to find software and examples relevant to the desired data set (including model data). Further, these components will enable community members to more efficiently use the resources already present and improve upon the content via a community-curated and trusted library. Combining these solutions lowers the barriers to heliophysics resources for all, increasing the return on our investments. Finally, the structure behind these ideas are topic-agnostic, so they are fully extensible to other fields, leading to invaluable connections to other disciplines. Just as with the development and construction of a long-term satellite mission, we must work together as a community to build a vision of the infrastructure that will most benefit the community, and then collaborate to construct, assemble, and test all the necessary pieces individually and as a unit. Our purpose in presenting this work is to not only describe the proposed vision, but also to gather feedback from the community on this topic.

infrastructure↗

A simplified method for thermal analysis of a cowl leading edge subject to intense local shock-wave-interference heating

Type IV shock wave interference heating on a blunt body causes extremely intense heating over a very localized region of the body. An analytical solution is presented to a heat transfer problem that approximates the shock wave interference heating of an engine cowl leading edge of the National Aero-Space Plane. The problem uses a simplified geometry to represent the leading edge. An analytical solution is developed that provides a means for approximating maximum temperature differences between the outer and inner surface temperatures of the leading edge. The solution is computationally efficient and, as a result, is well suited for conceptual and preliminary design or trade studies. Transient and steady state analyses are conducted, and results obtained from the analytical solution are compared with results of 2-D thermal finite element analyses over a wide range of design parameters. Isotropic materials as well as laminated composite materials are studied. Results of parametric studies are presented to indicate the effects of the thickness of the cowl leading edge and the width of the region heated by the shock wave interference on the thermal response of the leading edge.

Mcgowan, David M.↗

Design and performance analysis of solid-propellant rocket motors using a simplified computer program

An analysis and a computer program are presented which represent a compromise between the more sophisticated programs using precise burning geometric relations and the textbook type of solutions. The program requires approximately 900 computer cards including a set of 20 input data cards required for a typical problem. The computer operating time for a single configuration is approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds on the IBM 360 computer. About l minute and l5 seconds of the time is compilation time so that additional configurations input at the same time require approximately 15 seconds each. The program uses approximately 11,000 words on the IBM 360. The program is written in FORTRAN 4 and is readily adaptable for use on a number of different computers: IBM 7044, IBM 7094, and Univac 1108.

Sforzini, R. H.↗

Extension of a simplified computer program for analysis of solid-propellant rocket motors

A research project to develop a computer program for the preliminary design and performance analysis of solid propellant rocket engines is discussed. The following capabilities are included as computer program options: (1) treatment of wagon wheel cross sectional propellant configurations alone or in combination with circular perforated grains, (2) calculation of ignition transients with the igniter treated as a small rocket engine, (3) representation of spherical circular perforated grain ends as an alternative to the conical end surface approximation used in the original program, and (4) graphical presentation of program results using a digital plotter.

Sforzini, R. H.↗

Computational study of single-expansion-ramp nozzles with external burning

A computational investigation of the effects of external burning on the performance of single expansion ramp nozzles (SERN) operating at transonic speeds is presented. The study focuses on the effects of external heat addition and introduces a simplified injection and mixing model based on a control volume analysis. This simplified model permits parametric and scaling studies that would have been impossible to conduct with a detailed CFD analysis. The CFD model is validated by comparing the computed pressure distribution and thrust forces, for several nozzle configurations, with experimental data. Specific impulse calculations are also presented which indicate that external burning performance can be superior to other methods of thrust augmentation at transonic speeds. The effects of injection fuel pressure and nozzle pressure ratio on the performance of SERN nozzles with external burning are described. The results show trends similar to those reported in the experimental study, and provide additional information that complements the experimental data, improving our understanding of external burning flowfields. A study of the effect of scale is also presented. The results indicate that combustion kinetics do not make the flowfield sensitive to scale.

Yungster, Shaye↗

Preliminary analysis of the span-distributed-load concept for cargo aircraft design

A simplified computer analysis of the span-distributed-load airplane (in which payload is placed within the wing structure) has shown that the span-distributed-load concept has high potential for application to future air cargo transport design. Significant increases in payload fraction over current wide-bodied freighters are shown for gross weights in excess of 0.5 Gg (1,000,000 lb). A cruise-matching calculation shows that the trend toward higher aspect ratio improves overall efficiency; that is, less thrust and fuel are required. The optimal aspect ratio probably is not determined by structural limitations. Terminal-area constraints and increasing design-payload density, however, tend to limit aspect ratio.

Whitehead, A. H., Jr.↗

GENEX: A knowledge-based expert assistant for Genbank data analysis

We describe a knowledge-based expert assistant, GENEX (Gene Explorer), that simplifies some analysis of Genbank data. GENEX is written in CLIPS (C Language Integrated Production System), and expert system tool, developed at the NASA Johnson Space Center. The main purpose of the system is to look for gene start site annotations, unusual DNA sequence composition, and regulatory protein patterns. application where determinations are made via a decision tree.

Batra, Sajeev↗

A critical examination of the validity of simplified models for radiant heat transfer analysis.

Examination of the directional effects of the simplified models by comparing the experimental data with the predictions based on simple and more detailed models for the radiation characteristics of surfaces. Analytical results indicate that the constant property diffuse and specular models do not yield the upper and lower bounds on local radiant heat flux. In general, the constant property specular analysis yields higher values of irradiation than the constant property diffuse analysis. A diffuse surface in the enclosure appears to destroy the effect of specularity of the other surfaces. Semigray and gray analyses predict the irradiation reasonably well provided that the directional properties and the specularity of the surfaces are taken into account. The uniform and nonuniform radiosity diffuse models are in satisfactory agreement with each other.

Toor, J. S.↗

Engine Icing Data - An Analytics Approach

Engine icing researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center use the Escort data acquisition system in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) to generate and collect a tremendous amount of data every day. Currently these researchers spend countless hours processing and formatting their data, selecting important variables, and plotting relationships between variables, all by hand, generally analyzing data in a spreadsheet-style program (such as Microsoft Excel). Though spreadsheet-style analysis is familiar and intuitive to many, processing data in spreadsheets is often unreproducible and small mistakes are easily overlooked. Spreadsheet-style analysis is also time inefficient. The same formatting, processing, and plotting procedure has to be repeated for every dataset, which leads to researchers performing the same tedious data munging process over and over instead of making discoveries within their data. This paper documents a data analysis tool written in Python hosted in a Jupyter notebook that vastly simplifies the analysis process. From the file path of any folder containing time series datasets, this tool batch loads every dataset in the folder, processes the datasets in parallel, and ingests them into a widget where users can search for and interactively plot subsets of columns in a number of ways with a click of a button, easily and intuitively comparing their data and discovering interesting dynamics. Furthermore, comparing variables across data sets and integrating video data (while extremely difficult with spreadsheet-style programs) is quite simplified in this tool. This tool has also gathered interest outside the engine icing branch, and will be used by researchers across NASA Glenn Research Center. This project exemplifies the enormous benefit of automating data processing, analysis, and visualization, and will help researchers move from raw data to insight in a much smaller time frame.

Engine Icing↗

Simplified cyclic structural analyses of SSME turbine blades

Anisotropic high-temperature alloys are used to meet the safety and durability requirements of turbine blades for high-pressure turbopumps in reusable space propulsion systems. The applicability to anisotropic components of a simplified inelastic structural analysis procedure developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center is assessed. The procedure uses as input the history of the total strain at the critical crack initiation location computed from elastic finite-element analyses. Cyclic heat transfer and structural analyses are performed for the first stage high-pressure fuel turbopump blade of the space shuttle main engine. The blade alloy is directionally solidified MAR-M 246 (nickel base). The analyses are based on a typical test stand engine cycle. Stress-strain histories for the airfoil critical location are computed using both the MARC nonlinear finite-element computer code and the simplified procedure. Additional cases are analyzed in which the material yield strength is arbitrarily reduced to increase the plastic strains and, therefore, the severity of the problem. Good agreement is shown between the predicted stress-strain solutions from the two methods. The simplified analysis uses about 0.02 percent (5 percent with the required elastic finite-element analyses) of the CPU time used by the nonlinear finite element analysis.

Kaufman, A.↗

Large Angle Transient Dynamics (LATDYN) demonstration problem manual

LATDYN is a computer code for modeling the Large Angle Transient Dynamics of structures. The objective in developing the code was to investigate new techniques for analyzing flexible deformation and control/structure interaction problems associated with large angular motions of spacecraft. Such motions may consist of pointing the entire spacecraft or articulation of individual components, events which occur frequently during construction, operation, and maintenance of large spacecraft. This type of analysis is beyond the routine capability of conventional analytical tools without simplifying assumptions. In some instances, the motion may be sufficiently slow and the spacecraft (or component) sufficiently rigid to simplify the analysis of dynamics and controls by making pseudo-static and/or rigid body assumptions. LATDYN introduces a new approach to the problem by combining finite element structural analysis, multi-body dynamics, and control system analysis in a single tool. It includes a new type of finite element that can deform and rotate through large angles at the same time, and which can be connected to other finite elements either rigidly or through mechanical joints. LATDYN also provides symbolic capabilities for modeling control systems which are interfaced directly with the finite element structural model. Thus, the nonlinear equations representing the structural model are integrated along with the equations representing sensors, processing, and controls as a coupled system.

Wu, Shih-Chin↗

X-Antenna: A graphical interface for antenna analysis codes

This report serves as the user's manual for the X-Antenna code. X-Antenna is intended to simplify the analysis of antennas by giving the user graphical interfaces in which to enter all relevant antenna and analysis code data. Essentially, X-Antenna creates a Motif interface to the user's antenna analysis codes. A command-file allows new antennas and codes to be added to the application. The menu system and graphical interface screens are created dynamically to conform to the data in the command-file. Antenna data can be saved and retrieved from disk. X-Antenna checks all antenna and code values to ensure they are of the correct type, writes an output file, and runs the appropriate antenna analysis code. Volumetric pattern data may be viewed in 3D space with an external viewer run directly from the application. Currently, X-Antenna includes analysis codes for thin wire antennas (dipoles, loops, and helices), rectangular microstrip antennas, and thin slot antennas.

Goldstein, B. L.↗

Two simplified procedures for predicting cyclic material response from a strain history

Simplified inelastic analysis procedures were developed at NASA Lewis and Pratt & Whitney Aircraft for predicting the stress-strain response at the critical location of a thermomechanically cycled structure. These procedures are intended primarily for use as economical structural analysis tools in the early design stages of aircraft engine hot section components where nonlinear finite-element analyses would be prohibitively expensive. Both simplified methods use as input the total strain history calculated from a linear elastic analysis. The elastic results are modified to approximate the characteristics of the inelastic cycle by incremental solution techniques. A von Mises yield criterion is used to determine the onset of active plasticity. The fundamental assumption of these methods is that the inelastic strain is local and constrained from redistribution by the surrounding elastic material.

Kaufman, A.↗

Cyclic creep analysis from elastic finite-element solutions

A uniaxial approach was developed for calculating cyclic creep and stress relaxation at the critical location of a structure subjected to cyclic thermomechanical loading. This approach was incorporated into a simplified analytical procedure for predicting the stress-strain history at a crack initiation site for life prediction purposes. An elastic finite-element solution for the problem was used as input for the simplified procedure. The creep analysis includes a self-adaptive time incrementing scheme. Cumulative creep is the sum of the initial creep, the recovery from the stress relaxation and the incremental creep. The simplified analysis was exercised for four cases involving a benchmark notched plate problem. Comparisons were made with elastic-plastic-creep solutions for these cases using the MARC nonlinear finite-element computer code.

Kaufman, A.↗