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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 1,279 records · Page 71
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

Coherent scattering of a spherical wave from an irregular surface

The scattering of a spherical wave from a rough surface using the Kirchhoff approximation is considered. An expression representing the measured coherent scattering coefficient is derived. It is shown that the sphericity of the wavefront and the antenna pattern can become an important factor in the interpretation of ground-based measurements. The condition under which the coherent scattering-coefficient expression reduces to that corresponding to a plane wave incidence is given. The condition under which the result reduces to the standard image solution is also derived. In general, the consideration of antenna pattern and sphericity is unimportant unless the surface-height standard deviation is small, i.e., unless the coherent scattering component is significant. An application of the derived coherent backscattering coefficient together with the existing incoherent scattering coefficient to interpret measurements from concrete and asphalt surfaces is shown.

Fung, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Design procedures for compressor blades

The conventional methods for the design of the blades in the case of axial turbomachines are considered, taking into account difficulties concerning the determination of optimal blade profiles. These difficulties have been partly overcome as a consequence of the introduction of new numerical methods during the last few years. It is pointed out that, in the case of the subsonic range, a new procedure is now available for the determination of the form of blade profile on the basis of a given velocity distribution on the profile surface. The search for a profile form with favorable characteristics is consequently transformed into a search for a favorable velocity or pressure distribution on the blade. The distribution of velocities depends to a large degree on the characteristics of the profile boundary layers. The considered concept is not new. However, its practical implementation has only recently become possible. The employment of the new design procedure is illustrated with the aid of an example involving a concrete design problem.

Starken, H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Feedback laws for fuel minimization for transport aircraft

The Theoretical Mechanics Branch has as one of its long-range goals to work toward solving real-time trajectory optimization problems on board an aircraft. This is a generic problem that has application to all aspects of aviation from general aviation through commercial to military. Overall interest is in the generic problem, but specific problems to achieve concrete results are examined. The problem is to develop control laws that generate approximately optimal trajectories with respect to some criteria such as minimum time, minimum fuel, or some combination of the two. These laws must be simple enough to be implemented on a computer that is flown on board an aircraft, which implies a major simplification from the two point boundary value problem generated by a standard trajectory optimization problem. In addition, the control laws allow for changes in end conditions during the flight, and changes in weather along a planned flight path. Therefore, a feedback control law that generates commands based on the current state rather than a precomputed open-loop control law is desired. This requirement, along with the need for order reduction, argues for the application of singular perturbation techniques.

Price, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Determination of the Sources of Radar Scattering

Fine-resolution radar backscattering measurements were proposed to determine the backscattering sources in various vegetation canopies and surface targets. The results were then used to improve the existing theoretical models of terrain scattering, and also to enhance understanding of the radar signal observed by an imaging radar over a vegetated area. Various experiments were performed on targets such as corn, milo, soybeans, grass, asphalt pavements, soil and concrete walkways. Due to the lack of available references on measurements of this type, the obtained results will be used primarily as a foundation or future experiments. The constituent backscattering characteristics of the vegetation canopies was also examined.

Moore, R. K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Wind Erosion and Dune Formation on High Frozen Bluffs

Frost penetration increases upslope on barren, windswept bluffs in cold environments. Along the south shore of Lake Superior, near the brow of 100 m high bluffs it typically exceeds 5 m. Frost increases the shear strength of damp sand to a level comparable to that of concrete, making winter slopes highly stable despite undercutting by waves and ground-water sapping along the footslope. Sublimation of interparticle ice in the slope face increases with wind speed and lower vapor pressures. The cold and dry winter winds of Lake Superior ablate these slopes through loss of binding ice. Wind erosion rates, based on measurements of sand accumulation on the forest floor downwind of the brow, show most airborne sand falls out within several meters of the brow, forming a berm 1 to 3 m high after many years. The spatial pattern of sand deposition, however, varies considerably over distances of several hundred meters along the top bluffs in response to frost conditions and the build-up of gravel lag on the slope face, sand exposure from mass movements, and local aerodynamics of the crest slope. The formation of perched sand dunes in the Great Lakes region is clearly related to wind erosion of sand from high bluffs in winter. Broadly similar processes may operate on Mars.

Marsh, W. M.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Flow properties of concentrated suspensions

The viscosity and flow behavior of a concentrated suspension, with special emphasis on fresh concrete containing a superplasticizer, is analyzed according to Newton's law of viscosity. The authors interpreted Newton's law in a new way, and explain non-Newton flow from Newton's law. The outline of this new theory is given. Viscosity of suspensions, and the effect of dispersants are analyzed.

Hattori, K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

NASTRAN Structural Model for the Large 64-meter Antenna Pedestal. Part 3: Applications to Hydrostatic Bearing Oil Film

Investigations are conducted on the 64-meter antenna hydrostatic bearing oil film thickness under a variety of loads and elastic moduli. These parametric studies use a NASTRAN pedestal structural model to determine the deflections under the hydrostatic bearing pad. The deflections form the input for a computer program to determine the hydrostatic bearing oil film thickness. For the future 64-meter to 70-meter antenna extension and for the 2.2-meter (86-in.) haunch concrete replacement cases, safe oil film thickness (greater than 0.13 mm (0.005 in.) at the corners of the pad) are predicted. The effects of varying moduli of elasticity for different sections of the pedestal and the film height under distressed runner conditions are also studied.

Chian, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Snowcover influence on backscattering from terrain

The effects of snowcover on the microwave backscattering from terrain in the 8-35 GHz region are examined through the analysis of experimental data and by application of a semiempirical model. The model accounts for surface backscattering contributions by the snow-air and snow-soil interfaces, and for volume backscattering contributions by the snow layer. Through comparisons of backscattering data for different terrain surfaces measured both with and without snowcover, the masking effects of snow are evaluated as a function of snow water equivalent and liquid water content. The results indicate that with dry snowcover it is not possible to discriminate between different types of ground surface (concrete, asphalt, grass, and bare ground) if the snow water equivalent is greater than about 20 cm (or a depth greater than 60 cm for a snow density of 0.3 g/cu cm). For the same density, however, if the snow is wet, a depth of 10 cm is sufficient to mask the underlying surface.

Ulaby, F. T.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Core structure of EAS in 10(15) to 10(17) eV

With the use of Akeno calorimeter, the attenuation of particles in concrete is analyzed as the function of the shower size of 10 to the 5th power to 10 to the 7th power. The attenuation length does not depend much on the shower size but depends a little on the shower age. The average value is approx. 150 g/sq cm for s = 0.5 to 0.85 and approx. 40 g/sq cm for s = 0.85 to 1.15. These values and their fluctuations are consistent with the equi-intensity curves of extensive air showers (EAS).

Hara, T.↗
NASA NTRS1985

The identification of gamma ray induced EAS

Some of the penetrating particles in gamma-induced EAS from Cygnus X-3 observed by a single layer of flash-bulbs under 880 g cm/2 concrete, may be punched through photons rather than muons. An analysis of the shielded flash-tube response detected from EAS is presented. The penetration of the electro-magnetic component through 20 cm of Pb is observed at core distances approx. 10 m.

Blake, P. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Delayed particles in EAS at Akeno

Using two 2.25 square meter fast scintillation detectors, delayed particles in cosmic ray showers (CRS) have been observed at Akeno Observatory. These are set under 1 m concrete and 2.5 cm lead plates respectively. About 2500 CRS are analyzed. The lateral distribution of delayed particles for the CRS size 10 to the 7th power is flatter than that for to the 7th power. The lateral density of delayed particles is almost constant for the size range 2.2 X 10 to the 5th power approx. 10 to the 7th power and increases rapidly above 10 to the 7th power. These facts may suggest change of nuclear interaction at 10 to the 7th power and substantially the existence of heavy particles with long life.

Sakuyama, H.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Aspheric concave grating spectrographs

The design of aspheric concave gratings for high-resolution spectroscopes is examined theoretically, using the requirements of the proposed Far-UV Spectroscopic Explorer (effective area 100 sq cm and lambda/delta lambda = 30,000 in the 90-120-nm range) as a concrete example and taking the limitations of current fabrication technology (straight grooves only and maximum density 6000 lines/mm) into account. The total-path function derived by Namioka (1961) for an ellipsoidal grating is subjected to aberration analysis to obtain the optical surface best suited to the design requirements; expressions for corrections to the conventional stigmatic Rowland-circle mount are obtained and shown to produce significant performance improvements; and the design advantages of coma-corrected non-Rowland geometries are explored. Ray tracings and deviation contours are provided.

Cash, W. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Flow structure capturing on overset patched meshes

The present paper describes the application of a simple, robust stable implicit approach to solutions of the conservative equations of gasdynamics on either composite or overset meshes to capture flow structures such as shocks with high resolution in complex geometric domains. Without requiring special flux conservative operators, but rather, interpolating conservative variable data at mesh boundaries, the well posed upwind method provides accurate and oscillation free solutions, even when shocks cross the interior patch boundaries. In three problems with flow complexities that require grid refinement, the paper demonstrates the capability to conveniently carry out for gasdynamics the adaptive refined meshing strategy in overset patches proposed by Berger and Oliger (1984), and it extends this technique to rapidly convergent implicit methods for the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. The numerical experiments show concretely, in a realistic aerodynamic problem, the savings in mesh points (about an order of magnitude here in two dimensions) for similar accuracy that flow structure aligned adaptive patched meshing affords compared to uniform grid refinement.

Venkatapathy, E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Summary of tower designs for large horizontal axis wind turbines

Towers for large horizontal axis wind turbines, machines with a rotor axis height above 30 meters and rated at more than 500 kW, have varied in configuration, materials of construction, type of construction, height, and stiffness. For example, the U.S. large HAWTs have utilized steel truss type towers and free-standing steel cylindrical towers. In Europe, the trend has been to use only free-standing and guyed cylindrical towers, but both steel and reinforced concrete have been used as materials of construction. These variations in materials of construction and type of construction reflect different engineering approaches to the design of cost effective towers for large HAWTs. Tower designs are the NASA/DOE Mod-5B presently being fabricated. Design goals and requirements that influence tower configuration, height and materials are discussed. In particular, experiences with United States large wind turbine towers are elucidated. Finally, current trends in tower designs for large HAWTs are highlighted.

Frederick, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

NASTRAN structural model for the large ground antenna pedestal with applications to hydrostatic bearing of film

Investigations were conducted on the 64-meter antenna hydrostatic bearing oil film thickness under a variety of loads and elastic moduli. These parametric studies used a NASTRAN pedestal structural model to determine the deflections under the hydrostatic bearing pad. The deflections formed the input for a computer program to determine the hydrostratic bearing oil film thickness. For the future 64-meter to 70-meter antenna extension and for the 2.2-meter (86-in.) haunch concrete replacement cases, the program predicted safe oil film thickness (greater than 0.13 mm (0.005 in.) at the corners of the pad). The effects of varying moduli of elasticity for different sections of the pedestal and the film height under stressed runner conditions were also studied.

Chian, C. T.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Computer-assisted design of organic synthesis

The computer programs to design synthetic pathways of organic compounds have been utilized throughout the world since the first system was reported by Corey in 1969, and the LHASA was reported in1972 to become the predominant system. Many programs have been reported mainly in the United States and Europe, and groups of corporations, especially chemical companies, have been trying to improve programs and increase the efficiency of research. In Japan, unfortunately, no concrete movement in this area has been seen. Of course, it goes without saying that these kinds of programs are effective for efficient research, but the remarkable aspect is that these can present unexpected data to the researchers to stimulate them to develop new ideas.

Kaminaka, H.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Space Station lubrication considerations

Future activities in space will require the use of large structures and high power availability in order to fully exploit opportunities in Earth and stellar observations, space manufacturing and the development of optimum space transportation vehicles. Although these large systems will have increased capabilities, the associated development costs will be high, and will dictate long life with minimum maintenance. The Space Station provides a concrete example of such a system; it is approximately one hundred meters in major dimensions and has a life requirement of thirty years. Numerous mechanical components will be associated with these systems, a portion of which will be exposed to the space environment. If the long life and low maintenance goals are to be satisfied, lubricants and lubrication concepts will have to be carefully selected. Current lubrication practices are reviewed with the intent of determining acceptability for the long life requirements. The effects of exposure of lubricants and lubricant binders to the space environment are generally discussed. Potential interaction of MoS2 with atomic oxygen, a component of the low Earth orbit environment, appears to be significant.

Leger, Lubert J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Structural error and identifiability

In most identification problems, the possibility of identifying a model from the observation of input and output is approached by first assuming that the model is an exact representation of the process. Since models are only approximations to a real process, this paper presents a concrete way of taking into account the difference in structure between the model and the process it represents. The identifiability problem is reformulated on the basis of equivalence and near-equivalence between model and process. Necessary and sufficient conditions under which the differences between the outputs of the process and a model remains within a desired bound in the presence of modeling error are given. Necessary and sufficient conditions for the identifiability of parameters are presented.

Hadaegh, F. Y.↗