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At least 1,351 records · Page 75

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NASA NTRS1976

A block iterative finite element algorithm for numerical solution of the steady-state, compressible Navier-Stokes equations

An iterative method for numerically solving the time independent Navier-Stokes equations for viscous compressible flows is presented. The method is based upon partial application of the Gauss-Seidel principle in block form to the systems of nonlinear algebraic equations which arise in construction of finite element (Galerkin) models approximating solutions of fluid dynamic problems. The C deg-cubic element on triangles is employed for function approximation. Computational results for a free shear flow at Re = 1,000 indicate significant achievement of economy in iterative convergence rate over finite element and finite difference models which employ the customary time dependent equations and asymptotic time marching procedure to steady solution. Numerical results are in excellent agreement with those obtained for the same test problem employing time marching finite element and finite difference solution techniques.

Cooke, C. H.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Extinct superheavy element in the Allende meteorite

Radiochemical neutron activation analysis of seven Allende samples for 26 trace elements were conducted. In addition, Cr and Fe were studied with the aid of instrumental neutron activation analysis. The investigation had the objective to identify the extinct superheavy element which was present in meteorites and decayed to Xe isotopes by spontaneous fission. The superheavy element was found to reside mainly in a rare mineral (probably a Fe, Ni, Cr, Al-sulfide), comprising only 0.04% of the meteorite. It is pointed out that of the nine volatile superheavy elements 111 to 119, only 115, 114, and 113 are expected to condense as sulfides in the temperature interval between 400 and 500 K corresponding to mineral formation conditions in the solar nebula.

Anders, E.↗

NASA NTRS1974

The simultaneous determination of 20 trace elements in terrestrial, lunar and meteoritic material by radiochemical neutron activation analysis

A radiochemical neutron activation method has been developed and applied to determine the content of 20 trace elements (Ag, Au, Bi, Br, Cd, Co, Cs, Cu, Ga, Ge, In, Ir, Ni, Rb, Re, Sb, Te, Tl, and Zn) in 45 terrestrial, 230 lunar, and 70 meteoritic samples. Results obtained for the U.S.G.S. standard basalt BCR-1 indicate that the inherent precision for most elements is 10% or better. The values obtained for the trace elements investigated are compared to those previously reported in the literature. Data for Type I carbonaceous chondrites show their compositions to be far more uniform than previously supposed. The values obtained for several elements represent significant revisions in the accepted cosmic abundances. These new values include: Zn, 1250; Cd, 1.51; and Ir, 0.72 atoms/million Si atoms. Further results have provided insight into the meteoritic material and accretion of the moon, and give evidence of lunar highland vulcanism.

Keays, R. R.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Elemental composition and size distribution of particulates in Cleveland, Ohio

Measurements have been made of the elemental particle size distribution at five contrasting urban environments with different source-type distributions in Cleveland, Ohio. Air quality conditions ranged from normal to air pollution alert levels. A parallel network of high-volume cascade impactors (5-stage) were used for simultaneous sampling on glass fiber surfaces for mass determinations and on Whatman-41 surfaces for elemental analysis by neutron activation for 25 elements. The elemental data are assessed in terms of distribution functions and interrelationships and are compared between locations as a function of resultant wind direction in an attempt to relate the findings to sources.

Leibecki, H. F.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Evolution of major mineral compositions and trace element abundances during fractional crystallization of a model lunar composition

The evolution of major mineral compositions and trace element abundances during perfect fractional crystallization of a model lunar magma ocean was calculated. The minerals in the model lunar composition were olivine, orthopyroxene, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase. Lunar bulk composition data, major mineral/melt equilibria data, and trace element partition data were taken from published sources. The results show olivine beginning to crystallize at 1380 C. Approximately 50% of the system crystallizes as olivine. From 50 to 60% solidification, orthopyroxene crystallizes alone. During the final 40% solidification, Ca-rich clinopyroxene and plagioclase crystallize together. Various changes in composition of all these minerals are also noted during the process. Concomitant evolution of major element abundances in the melt is followed along with that of trace element abundances. Consequences of the results for constraints on some aspects of the composition of the lunar magma ocean and of the primitive moon are discussed.

Drake, M. J.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Spacelab - A key element in the Space Shuttle Space Transportation System

Spacelab will be a key element in the Space Transportation System (STS) to be initiated with the advent of the first operational flight of Space Shuttle in 1980. Spacelab is an international, cooperative venture between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which is structured to provide the scientific community an earthlike laboratory in space by 1980. The responsibilities of both ESA and NASA are divided into design and development to be accomplished by ESA and the experiment integration and operation with the Space Shuttle by NASA. While the Spacelab is a key element in the STS, it is highly dependent on other elements in the system for its resources and payload support capabilities. This paper presents the relationship of the Spacelab to other elements and the operational planning that NASA is undertaking to make the Spacelab a flexible and efficient laboratory in space.

Lee, T. J.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Rare earth element abundances in rocks and minerals from the Fiskenaesset Complex, West Greenland

The paper reports activation-analysis determinations of rare-earth-element (REE) and other trace-element concentrations in selected rocks, plagioclase, and mafic separates from the Fiskenaesset Complex. The REE abundances are found to be very low and atypical in comparison with other terrestrial anorthosites. The plagioclases are shown to be characterized by a deficiency in heavy RE elements relative to light ones and a positive Eu anomaly, while the mafic separates are enriched in heavy rare earths and have no Eu anomaly, except in one sample. It is found that the bulk and trace-element abundances of the plagioclases are similar to those observed in some lunar anorthosites, but the degree of Eu anomaly is less in the plagioclases. The data are taken as confirmation of the idea that fractionation processes were involved in the origin of the Complex, and it is concluded that the Complex may have been produced from a magma generated by partial melting of a garnet-bearing source.

Henderson, P.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Application of finite element approach to transonic flow problems

A variational finite element model for transonic small disturbance calculations is described. Different strategy is adopted in subsonic and supersonic regions, and blending elements are introduced between different regions. In the supersonic region, no upstream effect is allowed. If rectangular elements with linear shape functions are used, the model is similar to Murman's finite difference operators. Higher order shape functions, nonrectangular elements, and discontinuous approximation of shock waves are also discussed.

Hafez, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Development of a curved pipe capability for the NASTRAN finite element program

A curved pipe element capability for the NASTRAN structural analysis program is developed using the NASTRAN dummy element feature. A description is given of the theory involved in the subroutines which describe stiffness, mass, thermal and enforced deformation loads, and force and stress recovery for the curved pipe element. Incorporation of these subroutines into NASTRAN is discussed. Test problems are proposed. Instructions on use of the new element capability are provided.

Jeter, J. W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1977

PLANS; a finite element program for nonlinear analysis of structures. Volume 2: User's manual

The PLANS system, rather than being one comprehensive computer program, is a collection of finite element programs used for the nonlinear analysis of structures. This collection of programs evolved and is based on the organizational philosophy in which classes of analyses are treated individually based on the physical problem class to be analyzed. Each of the independent finite element computer programs of PLANS, with an associated element library, can be individually loaded and used to solve the problem class of interest. A number of programs have been developed for material nonlinear behavior alone and for combined geometric and material nonlinear behavior. The usage, capabilities, and element libraries of the current programs include: (1) plastic analysis of built-up structures where bending and membrane effects are significant, (2) three dimensional elastic-plastic analysis, (3) plastic analysis of bodies of revolution, and (4) material and geometric nonlinear analysis of built-up structures.

Pifko, A.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Doubly-curved variable-thickness isoparametric heterogeneous finite element

This paper describes an element streamlined for the analysis of doubly-curved, variable-thickness structural components and illustrates its effective application to vibration and static problems. The element is isoparametric, doubly-curved, thin-shell and triangular with variable thickness and accounts for anisotropic, inhomogeneous elastic material behavior. The element has six nodes (three corner and three mid-side) with five degrees-of-freedom (DOF) per node - three translations and two rotations. Quadratic isoparametric interpolation polynomials are used to express the element geometry and displacement variables in terms of corresponding nodal variables.

Minich, M. D.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Application of finite element approach to transonic flow problems

A variational finite element model for transonic small disturbance calculations is described. Different strategy is adopted in subsonic and supersonic regions. Blending elements are introduced between different regions. In the supersonic region, no upstream effect is allowed. If rectangular elements with linear shape functions are used, the model is similar to Murman's finite difference operators. Higher order shape functions, non-rectangular elements and discontinuous approximation of shock waves are also discussed.

Hafez, M. M.↗

NASA NTRS1976

The development of the Poincare-similar elements with true anomaly as the independent variable

In reference 1, the Hamiltonian of the unperturbed two-body problem in extended phase space is established. Depending on the type of time transformation, eight canonical elements were developed with the true anomaly or the eccentric anomaly as the independent variable. These two new sets, DS(phi) and DS(u), however contain singularities for small eccentricities and inclinations. In reference 2, these singularities are removed by a transformation from DS(u) to eight canonical PS(u) elements. In reference 3, the DS(phi) variables are transformed to the PS(phi) elements to remove the singularities. However, no direct relation was established between the eight canonical PS(phi) elements and the Cartesian coordinates. It is the purpose of this report to establish those relations and to develop the perturbed equations of motion in the PS(phi) space. This report also demonstrates the accuracy of this new set when it is applied to numerical orbit prediction problems.

Mueller, A.↗

NASA NTRS1977

A block iterative finite element algorithm for numerical solution of the steady-state, compressible Navier-Stokes equations

An iterative method for numerically solving the time independent Navier-Stokes equations for viscous compressible flows is presented. The method is based upon partial application of the Gauss-Seidel principle in block form to the systems of the nonlinear algebraic equations which arise in construction of finite element (Galerkin) models approximating solutions of fluid dynamic problems. The continuous cubic element on triangles is employed for function approximation. Computational results for a free shear flow at Re = 1000 indicate significant achievement of economy in iterative convergence rate over finite element and finite difference models which employ the customary time dependent equations and symptotic time marching procedure to steady solution. Numerical results are in excellent agreement with those obtained for the same test problem employing time marching finite element and finite difference solution techniques.

Cooke, C. H.↗

NASA NTRS1978

New alloys to conserve critical elements

Previous studies and surveys on availability of domestic reserves have shown that chromium is a most critical element within the U.S. metal industry. More precisely, the bulk of chromium is consumed in the production of stainless steels, specifically Type 304 stainless steel (304SS) which contains 18% Cr. The present paper deals with means of reducing chromium in commercial stainless steels by substituting more abundant or less expensive elements with the intent of maintaining the properties of 304SS. The discussion focuses on some of the oxidation and corrosion properties of new substitute stainless steels with only 12% Cr, which represents a potential saving of 33% of the chromium consumed in the production of 304SS. The alloying elements substituted for Cr in 304SS are selected according to their potential for protective oxide formation during high-temperature oxidation; these are Al, Si, Ti, Y, and misch metal which is 99.7% rare-earth metals containing 50 to 55% cerium. Other alloying elements to impart corrosion resistance are Mn, Mo, and V.

Stephens, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

A finite element thermal analysis procedure for several temperature-dependent parameters

A finite-element thermal analysis procedure for elements with several temperature-dependent thermal parameters is presented. The procedure, based on an application of the Newton-Raphson iteration technique, is formulated by resolving element matrices into component matrices, one component for each thermal parameter. Component conductance matrices are evaluated by assuming constant thermal parameters within an element and are computed once per unit thermal parameter. Significant savings in computer time result from the unit thermal parameter concept. The solution procedure applied to a convectively cooled structure with significantly varying thermal parameters converged in four iterations.

Thornton, E. A.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Development of a finite dynamic element for free vibration analysis of two-dimensional structures

The paper develops an efficient free-vibration analysis procedure of two-dimensional structures. This is achieved by employing a discretization technique based on a recently developed concept of finite dynamic elements, involving higher order dynamic correction terms in the associated stiffness and inertia matrices. A plane rectangular dynamic element is developed in detail. Numerical solution results of free-vibration analysis presented herein clearly indicate that these dynamic elements combined with a suitable quadratic matrix eigenproblem solution technique effect a most economical and efficient solution for such an analysis when compared with the usual finite element method.

Gupta, K. K.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Finite element analysis in a minicomputer/mainframe environment

Design considerations were evaluated for general purpose finite element systems to maximize performance when installed on distributed computer hardware/software systems. It is shown how the features of current minicomputers complement those of a modular implementation of the finite element method for increasing the control, speed, and visibility (interactive graphics) in solving structural problems at reduced cost. The approach used is to implement a finite element system in a distributed computer environment to solve structural problems and to explore alternatives in distributing finite element computations.

Storaasli, O. O.↗