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At least 1,387 records · Page 77

Agricultural soil moisture experiment, Colby, Kansas 1978: Measured and predicted hydrological properties of the soil

Predictive procedures for developing soil hydrologic properties (i.e., relationships of soil water pressure and hydraulic conductivity to soil water content) are presented. Three models of the soil water pressure-water content relationship and one model of the hydraulic conductivity-water content relationship are discussed. Input requirements for the models are indicated, and computational procedures are outlined. Computed hydrologic properties for Keith silt loam, a soil typer near Colby, Kansas, on which the 1978 Agricultural Soil Moisture Experiment was conducted, are presented. A comparison of computed results with experimental data in the dry range shows that analytical models utilizing a few basic hydrophysical parameters can produce satisfactory data for large-scale applications.

Arya, L. M.↗

Heart Pump Design for Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Through a Lewis CommTech Program project with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, the NASA Lewis Research Center is playing a key role in the design and development of a permanently implantable, artificial heart pump assist device. Known as the Innovative Ventricular Assist System (IVAS), this device will take on the pumping role of the damaged left ventricle of the heart. The key part of the IVAS is a nonpulsatile (continuous flow) artificial heart pump with centrifugal impeller blades, driven by an electric motor. Lewis is part of an industry and academia team, led by the Ohio Aerospace Institute (OAI), that is working with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to make IVAS a reality. This device has the potential to save tens of thousands of lives each year, since 80 percent of heart attack victims suffer irreversible damage to the left ventricle, the part of the heart that does most of the pumping. Impeller blade design codes and flow-modeling analytical codes will be used in the project. These codes were developed at Lewis for the aerospace industry but will be applicable to the IVAS design project. The analytical codes, which currently simulate the flow through the compressor and pump systems, will be used to simulate the flow within the blood pump in the artificial heart assist device. The Interdisciplinary Technology Office heads up Lewis' efforts in the IVAS project. With the aid of numerical modeling, the blood pump will address many design issues, including some fluid-dynamic design considerations that are unique to the properties of blood. Some of the issues that will be addressed in the design process include hemolysis, deposition, recirculation, pump efficiency, rotor thrust balance, and bearing lubrication. Optimum pumping system performance will be achieved by modeling all the interactions between the pump components. The interactions can be multidisciplinary and, therefore, are influenced not only by the fluid dynamics of adjacent components but also by thermal and structural effects. Lewis-developed flow-modeling codes to be used in the pump simulations will include a one-dimensional code and an incompressible three-dimensional Navier-Stokes flow code. These codes will analyze the prototype pump designed by the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. With an improved understanding of the flow phenomena within the prototype pump, design changes to improve the performance of the pump system can be verified by computer prior to fabrication in order to reduce risks. The use of Lewis flow modeling codes during the design and development process will improve pump system performance and reduce the number of prototypes built in the development phase. The first phase of the IVAS project is to fully develop the prototype in a laboratory environment that uses a water/glycerin mixture as the surrogate fluid to simulate blood. A later phase of the project will include testing in animals for final validation. Lewis will be involved in the IVAS project for 3 to 5 years.

Source record↗

Three-Dimensional Field Solutions for Multi-Pole Cylindrical Halbach Arrays in an Axial Orientation

This article presents three-dimensional B field solutions for the cylindrical Halbach array in an axial orientation. This arrangement has applications in the design of axial motors and passive axial magnetic bearings and couplers. The analytical model described here assumes ideal magnets with fixed and uniform magnetization. The field component functions are expressed as sums of 2-D definite integrals that are easily computed by a number of mathematical analysis software packages. The analysis is verified with sample calculations and the results are compared to equivalent results from traditional finite-element analysis (FEA). The field solutions are then approximated for use in flux linkage and induced EMF calculations in nearby stator windings by expressing the field variance with angular displacement as pure sinusoidal function whose amplitude depends on radial and axial position. The primary advantage of numerical implementation of the analytical approach presented in the article is that it lends itself more readily to parametric analysis and design tradeoffs than traditional FEA models.

Thompson, William K.↗

Evaluation of the rheological and electrical percolation of high‐density polyethylene/carbon black composites using mathematical models

Abstract In this work, conductive polymer composites (CPCs) of bio‐based polyethylene (BioPe) containing different concentrations of carbon black (CB) were developed. By using oscillatory rheology analysis, a Newtonian plateau was observed in BioPe, and all BioPe/CB composites had a behavior of a pseudo‐solid and that composites with volume fractions ranging from 0.24 to 0.56 presented higher viscosity, storage, and loss modulus. This suggests the formation of a percolated network and by using the power‐law models, it was observed that the electrical percolation threshold was higher than the rheological percolation threshold. The electrical conductivity was measured using the four‐point probe method and a sigmoid model was used to predict the CPCs' electrical conductivity percolation threshold. The results indicated that the four‐point probe method presented satisfactory results according to the calculated standard deviations and voltage–current characteristics for each round of measurements considering the same ranging as used in rheology analysis. The analytical model used showed a coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) higher than 95%, allowing the prediction of the electrical conductivity of the CPC and the percolation threshold as a function of the volumetric fraction of the CB.

da SiIva, Moacy P.↗

Theories of mass loss from T Tauri stars

The available database on T Tauri stars is examined in order to develop criteria for modeling the physical processes occurring within and around pre-main sequence stars. Observational data on the temperature structures, mass loss rates, and mass motions in T Tauri envelopes are reviewed to form a basis for discussing the possible mechanisms for mass loss in the T Tauri objects. Analytical models are explored for thermally-driven, wave-driven and rotationally-driven winds. The possible interactions of the T Tauri stellar winds with processes occurring in the nearby FU Dri stars are noted, as is the necessity of momdeling physical processes such as turbulent velocity fields through accurate radiative transfer calculations in order to model the envelopes of the T Tauri stars.

Hartmann, L.↗

Forward Bay Cover Separation Modeling and Testing for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Spacecraft multi‐body separation events during atmospheric descent require complex testing and analysis to validate the flight separation dynamics model and to verify no recontact. NASA Orion Multi‐Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) teams examined key model parameters and risk areas to develop a robust but affordable test campaign in order to validate and verify the Forward Bay Cover (FBC) separation event for Exploration Flight Test‐1 (EFT‐1). The FBC jettison simulation model is highly complex, consisting of dozens of parameters varied simultaneously, with numerous multi‐parameter interactions (coupling and feedback) among the various model elements, and encompassing distinct near‐field, mid‐field, and far‐field regimes. The test campaign was composed of component‐level testing (for example gas‐piston thrusters and parachute mortars), ground FBC jettison tests, and FBC jettison air‐drop tests that were accomplished by a highly multi‐disciplinary team. Three ground jettison tests isolated the testing of mechanisms and structures to anchor the simulation models excluding aerodynamic effects. Subsequently, two air‐drop tests added aerodynamic and parachute parameters, and served as integrated system demonstrations, which had been preliminarily explored during the Orion Pad Abort‐1 (PA‐1) flight test in May 2010. Both ground and drop tests provided extensive data to validate analytical models and to verify the FBC jettison event for EFT‐1, but more testing is required to support human certification, for which NASA and Lockheed Martin are applying knowledge from Apollo and EFT‐1 testing and modeling to develop a robust but affordable human spacecraft capability.

Ali, Yasmin↗

Modeling of RMS Current in CSI Filter Capacitor and Minimum Conduction Loss Operation of CSI-Fed PMSM Drives for Traction Applications

This paper presents a new minimum conduction loss (MCL) torque control algorithm for current source inverter- (CSI-) fed permanent-magnet synchronous machine drives that improves the overall machine drive efficiency by minimizing the combined conduction losses in the inverter and machine at each operating point. First, analytical models of conduction losses in CSI-fed motor drives are presented, and a closed-form expression for optimal d-axis stator current to achieve MCL operation is derived. An expression for the rms current in both wye- and delta-connected CSI output capacitors is derived. A detailed simulation model that emulates the operation of a 100 kW SiC CSI-fed integrated machine drive (IMD) has been developed based on experimental results and finite element analysis. This simulation model is used to evaluate the proposed MCL control algorithm applied to a CSI-fed IMD system for a battery-electric vehicle traction drive, and the predicted total drive system loss with MCL control is compared to predicted losses with maximum-torque-per-ampere (MTPA) and minimum dc-link current (MDCC) control. Results show that MCL control can achieve loss reductions compared to the other two control algorithms over a wide range of operating conditions, with significant loss reductions >20% in the medium-speed regime.

42 ENGINEERING↗

An approximate method of analysis for notched unidirectional composites

An approximate method is proposed for the analysis of unidirectional, filamentary composite materials having slit notches perpendicular to the fibers and subjected to tension parallel to the fibers. The approach is based on an engineering model which incorporates important effects of material heterogeneity by considering average extensional stresses in the fibers and average shear stresses in the matrix. Effects of interfacial failure and matrix plasticity at the root of the notch are considered. Predictions of the analysis are in reasonably good agreement with previous analytical models and experimental data for graphite/epoxy.

Zweben, C.↗

Identification of large space structures - Overview

The system identification process presently discussed for the case of large space structures uses the observed input to a system and its observed response, or output, to derive an analytical model of the system which can then be used to predict its response to future inputs. Due to their size and complexity, as well as the intrinsic difficulty of identifying the environment in which they function, large space structures will require vast amounts of information, encompassing both experimental and analytical data for identification. A status evaluation is made of the structural system identification literature to date.

Denman, Eugene↗

Forward Bay Cover Separation Modeling and Testing for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Spacecraft multi-body separation events during atmospheric descent require complex testing and analysis to validate the flight separation dynamics models used to verify no re-contact. The NASA Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) architecture includes a highly-integrated Forward Bay Cover (FBC) jettison assembly design that combines parachutes and piston thrusters to separate the FBC from the Crew Module (CM) and avoid re-contact. A multi-disciplinary team across numerous organizations examined key model parameters and risk areas to develop a robust but affordable test campaign in order to validate and verify the FBC separation event for Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1). The FBC jettison simulation model is highly complex, consisting of dozens of parameters varied simultaneously, with numerous multi-parameter interactions (coupling and feedback) among the various model elements, and encompassing distinct near-field, mid-field, and far-field regimes. The test campaign was composed of component-level testing (for example gas-piston thrusters and parachute mortars), ground FBC jettison tests, and FBC jettison air-drop tests that were accomplished by a highly multi-disciplinary team. Three ground jettison tests isolated the testing of mechanisms and structures to anchor the simulation models excluding aerodynamic effects. Subsequently, two air-drop tests added aerodynamic and parachute elements, and served as integrated system demonstrations, which had been preliminarily explored during the Orion Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) flight test in May 2010. Both ground and drop tests provided extensive data to validate analytical models and to verify the FBC jettison event for EFT-1. Additional testing will be required to support human certification of this separation event, for which NASA and Lockheed Martin are applying knowledge from Apollo and EFT-1 testing and modeling to develop a robust human-rated FBC separation event.

Ali, Yasmin↗

Solar Sails

The Solar Sail Propulsion investment area has been one of the three highest priorities within the In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) Project. In the fall of 2003, the NASA Headquarters' Science Mission Directorate provided funding and direction to mature the technology as far as possible through ground research and development from TRL 3 to 6 in three years. A group of experts from government, industry, and academia convened in Huntsville, Alabama to define technology gaps between what was needed for science missions to the inner solar system and the current state of the art in ultra1ightweight materials and gossamer structure design. This activity set the roadmap for development. The centerpiece of the development would be the ground demonstration of scalable solar sail systems including masts, sails, deployment mechanisms, and attitude control hardware and software. In addition, new materials would be subjected to anticipated space environments to quantify effects and assure mission life. Also, because solar sails are huge structures, and it is not feasible to validate the technology by ground test at full scale, a multi-discipline effort was established to develop highly reliable analytical models to serve as mission assurance evidence in future flight program decision-making. Two separate contractor teams were chosen to develop the SSP System Ground Demonstrator (SGD). After a three month conceptual mission/system design phase, the teams developed a ten meter diameter pathfinder set of hardware and subjected it to thermal vacuum tests to compare analytically predicted structural behavior with measured characteristics. This process developed manufacturing and handling techniques and refined the basic design. In 2005, both contractor teams delivered 20 meter, four quadrant sail systems to the largest thermal vacuum chamber in the world in Plum Brook, Ohio, and repeated the tests. Also demonstrated was the deployment and articulation of attitude control mechanisms. In conjunction with these tests, the stowed sails were subjected to launch vibration and ascent vent tests. Other investments studied radiation effects on the solar sail materials, investigated spacecraft charging issues, developed shape measuring techniques and instruments, produced advanced trajectory modeling capabilities, and identified and resolved gossamer structure dynamics issues. Technology validation flight and application to a He1iophysics science mission is on the horizon.

Young, Roy↗

Prediction of tissue optical properties using the Monte Carlo modeling of photon transport in turbid media and integrating spheres

Monte Carlo methods are an established technique for simulating light transport in biological tissue. Integrating spheres make experimental measurements of the reflectance and transmittance of a sample straightforward and inexpensive. This work presents an extension to existing Monte Carlo photon transport methods to simulate integrating sphere experiments. Crosstalk between spheres in dual-sphere experiments is accounted for in the method. Analytical models, previous works on Monte Carlo photon transport, and experimental measurements of a synthetic tissue phantom validate this method. We present two approaches for using this method to back-calculate the optical properties of samples. Experimental and simulation uncertainties are propagated through both methods. Both back-calculation methods find the optical properties of a sample accurately and precisely. Our model is implemented in standard Python 3 and CUDA C++ [J. Nickolls, I. Buck, M. Garland, and K. Skadron, ACM Queue 6 , 40 ( 2008 ) ] and is publicly available in Code 1.

Cook, Patrick D. (ORCID:0000000279345428)↗

Modeling of zero gravity venting: Studies of two-phase heat transfer under reduced gravity

The objective is to predict the pressure response of a saturated liquid-vapor system when undergoing a venting or depressurization process in zero gravity at low vent rates. An experimental investigation of the venting of cylindrical containers partially filled with initially saturated liquids was previously conducted under zero-gravity conditions and compared with an analytical model which incorporated the effect of interfacial mass transfer on the ullage pressure response during venting. A new model is presented to improve the estimation of the interfacial mass transfer. Duhammel's superposition integral is incorporated to approximate the transient temperature response of the interface, treating the liquid as a semi-infinite solid with conduction heat transfer. Account is also taken of the condensation taking place within the bulk of a saturated vapor as isentropic expansion takes place. Computational results are presented for the venting of R-11 from a given vessel and initial state for five different venting rates over a period of three seconds, and compared to prior NASA experiments. An improvement in the prediction of the final pressure takes place, but is still considerably below the measurements.

Merte, H., Jr.↗

Stochastic modeling and control system designs of the NASA/MSFC Ground Facility for large space structures: The maximum entropy/optimal projection approach

In the Control Systems Division of the Systems Dynamics Laboratory of the NASA/MSFC, a Ground Facility (GF), in which the dynamics and control system concepts being considered for Large Space Structures (LSS) applications can be verified, was designed and built. One of the important aspects of the GF is to design an analytical model which will be as close to experimental data as possible so that a feasible control law can be generated. Using Hyland's Maximum Entropy/Optimal Projection Approach, a procedure was developed in which the maximum entropy principle is used for stochastic modeling and the optimal projection technique is used for a reduced-order dynamic compensator design for a high-order plant.

Hsia, Wei-Shen↗

Ablation loading of barium ions into a surface-electrode trap

Trapped-ion quantum information processing may benefit from qubits encoded in isotopes that are practically available in only small quantities, e.g., due to low natural abundance or radioactivity. Laser ablation provides a method of controllably liberating neutral atoms or ions from low-volume targets, but energetic ablation products can be difficult to confine in the small ion-electrode distance, micron-scale microfabricated traps amenable to high-speed, high-fidelity manipulation of ion arrays. Here, we investigate ablation-based ion loading into surface-electrode traps of different sizes to test a model describing ion loading probability as a function of effective trap volume and other trap parameters. We characterize loading of ablated barium from a metallic source in two cryogenic surface-electrode traps with 730 and 50 μm ion-electrode distances. Furthermore, our loading rate agrees with a predictive analytical model, providing insight for the confinement of limited-quantity species of interest for quantum computing, simulation, and sensing.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Ne viii in the Warm-hot Circumgalactic Medium of FIRE Simulations and in Observations

Abstract The properties of warm-hot gas around ∼ L * galaxies can be studied with absorption lines from highly ionized metals. We predict Ne viii column densities from cosmological zoom-in simulations of halos with masses in ∼10 12 and ∼10 13 M ☉ from the Feedback in Realistic Environments (FIRE) project. Ne viii traces the volume-filling, virial-temperature gas in ∼10 12 M ☉ halos. In ∼10 13 M ☉ halos the Ne viii gas is clumpier, and biased toward the cooler part of the warm-hot phase. We compare the simulations to observations from the COS Absorption Survey of Baryon Harbors (or CASBaH) and COS Ultraviolet Baryon Survey (or CUBS). We show that when inferring halo masses from stellar masses to compare simulated and observed halos, it is important to account for the scatter in the stellar-mass–halo-mass relation, especially at M ⋆ ≳ 10 10.5 M ☉ . Median Ne viii columns in the fiducial FIRE-2 model are about as high as observed upper limits allow, while the simulations analyzed do not reproduce the highest observed columns. This suggests that the median Ne viii profiles predicted by the simulations are consistent with observations, but that the simulations may underpredict the scatter. We find similar agreement with analytical models that assume a product of the halo gas fraction and metallicity (relative to solar) ∼0.1, indicating that observations are consistent with plausible circumgalactic medium temperatures, metallicities, and gas masses. Variants of the FIRE simulations with a modified supernova feedback model and/or active galactic nuclei feedback included (as well as some other cosmological simulations from the literature) more systematically underpredict Ne viii columns. The circumgalactic Ne viii observations therefore provide valuable constraints on simulations that otherwise predict realistic galaxy properties.

Wijers, Nastasha A. (ORCID:0000000163747185)↗

SPS pilot signal design and power transponder analysis, volume 2, phase 3

The problem of pilot signal parameter optimization and the related problem of power transponder performance analysis for the Solar Power Satellite reference phase control system are addressed. Signal and interference models were established to enable specifications of the front end filters including both the notch filter and the antenna frequency response. A simulation program package was developed to be included in SOLARSIM to perform tradeoffs of system parameters based on minimizing the phase error for the pilot phase extraction. An analytical model that characterizes the overall power transponder operation was developed. From this model, the effects of different phase noise disturbance sources that contribute to phase variations at the output of the power transponders were studied and quantified. Results indicate that it is feasible to hold the antenna array phase error to less than one degree per power module for the type of disturbances modeled.

Lindsey, W. C.↗

International Space Station ECLSS Technical Task Agreement Summary Report

This Technical Memorandum provides a summary of current work accomplished under Technical Task Agreement (TTA) by the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) regarding the International Space Station (ISS) Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS). Current activities include ECLSS component design and development, computer model development, subsystem/integrated system testing, life testing, and general test support provided to the ISS program. Under ECLSS design, MSFC was responsible for the six major ECLSS functions, specifications and standard, component design and development, and was the architectural control agent for the ISS ECLSS. MSFC was responsible for ECLSS analytical model development. In-house subsystem and system level analysis and testing were conducted in support of the design process, including testing air revitalization, water reclamation and management hardware, and certain nonregenerative systems. The activities described herein were approved in task agreements between MSFC and NASA Headquarters Space Station Program Management Office and their prime contractor for the ISS, Boeing. These MSFC activities are in line to the designing, development, testing, and flight of ECLSS equipment planned by Boeing. MSFC's unique capabilities for performing integrated systems testing and analyses, and its ability to perform some tasks cheaper and faster to support ISS program needs, are the basis for the TTA activities.

Ray, C. D.↗