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At least 1,387 records · Page 77

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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Turbulence Simulations of Transonic Flows over NACA-0012 and OAT15A Airfoils

Three different simulation approaches, namely unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS), delayed detached-eddy simulation (DDES), and wall-modeled large-eddy simulation (WMLES) are employed to simulate transonic flow over an NACA-0012, OAT15A airfoils at different angles of attack covering pre- and post-buffet-onset regimes. The freestream Mach number is 0.75, and the Reynolds number based on the chord length is 10 and 3million, respectively. The NASA FUN3D solver is used for the simulations, which is an unstructured, compressible flow solver. The URANS simulations are performed using the Spalart-Allmaras (SA) model with the compressibility correction, the DDES predictions are based on the SA model, and the WMLES are performed using an equilibrium wall-model. The unsteady RANS simulations, only with the compressibility correction, predict the pre- and post- buffet characteristics, which compare well with the experimental results. DDES results predicted a lower buffet onset angle compared to experiment. The predicted shock locations are upstream of the locations predicted by URANS. Using a fine grid in the spanwise direction, WMLES predictions show buffeting consistent with the experiment.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Turbulence Simulations of Transonic Flows over NACA-0012 and OAT15A Airfoils

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗

NASA NTRS2004

Building a Propulsion Experiment Project Management Environment

What do you get when you cross rocket scientists with computer geeks? It is an interactive, distributed computing web of tools and services providing a more productive environment for propulsion research and development. The Rocket Engine Advancement Program 2 (REAP2) project involves researchers at several institutions collaborating on propulsion experiments and modeling. In an effort to facilitate these collaborations among researchers at different locations and with different specializations, researchers at the Information Technology and Systems Center,' University of Alabama in Huntsville, are creating a prototype web-based interactive information system in support of propulsion research. This system, to be based on experience gained in creating similar systems for NASA Earth science field experiment campaigns such as the Convection and Moisture Experiments (CAMEX), will assist in the planning and analysis of model and experiment results across REAP2 participants. The initial version of the Propulsion Experiment Project Management Environment (PExPM) consists of a controlled-access web portal facilitating the drafting and sharing of working documents and publications. Interactive tools for building and searching an annotated bibliography of publications related to REAP2 research topics have been created to help organize and maintain the results of literature searches. Also work is underway, with some initial prototypes in place, for interactive project management tools allowing project managers to schedule experiment activities, track status and report on results. This paper describes current successes, plans, and expected challenges for this project.

Keiser, Ken↗

NASA NTRS1998

Heat Transfer on a Film-Cooled Rotating Blade Using a Two Equation Turbulence Model

A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code has been used to compare the heat transfer coefficient on a film-cooled, rotating turbine blade. The blade chosen is the ACE rotor with five rows containing 93 film cooling holes covering the entire span. This is the only film-cooled rotating blade over which experimental data is available for comparison. Over 2.278 million grid points are used to compute the flow over the blade including the tip clearance region, using Coakley's q-omega turbulence model. Results are also compared with those obtained by Garg and Abhari (1997) using the zero-equation Baldwin-Lomax (B-L) model. A reasonably good comparison with the experimental data is obtained on the suction surface for both the turbulence models. At the leading edge, the B-L model yields a better comparison than the q-omega model. On the pressure surface, however, the comparison between the experimental data and the prediction from either turbulence model is poor. A potential reason for the discrepancy on the pressure surface could be the presence of unsteady effects due to stator-rotor interaction in the experiments which are not modeled in the present computations. Prediction using the two-equation model is in general poorer than that using the zero-equation model, while the former requires at least 40% more computational resources.

Garg, Vijay K.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Census cities experiment in urban change detection

The author has identified the following significant results. Computer compatible tapes for an early ERTS-1 multispectral scanner image over the San Francisco Bay area are being used to classify and analyze land use in this metropolitan region. NASA aircraft underflight data and land use maps from the Census Cities ERTS-1 experiment are providing training samples. The tape record has been reformatted for use with the LARSYSSA pattern recognition and classification algorithms developed at the Purdue University Laboratory for Applications of Remote Sensing. Trial land use classification systems are being compared with color infrared photography and ground truth data for San Jose and vicinity.

Wray, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Experimental measurement and computer analysis of stray radiation in a telescope

A description is presented of an experimental measurement system for the study of the stray radiation performance of a 50-cm aperture astronomical telescope model. The model incorporates a very high performance baffle system. To simulate the space environment of the actual orbiting telescope, the telescope model was placed in a vacuum chamber. The stray radiation source for the experiment was a ruby laser system. A photomultiplier tube was used for the detector. A minicomputer system was used to control the experiment and to gather and process the data. A computer program was used to model the telescope baffle system. Experimentally and analytically determined stray radiation attenuation data are compared.

Hunt, G. H.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Aeroacoustic Simulations of Tandem Cylinders with Subcritical Spacing

Tandem cylinders are being studied because they model a variety of component level interactions of landing gear. The present effort is directed at the case of two identical cylinders with their centroids separated in the streamwise direction by 1.435 diameters. Experiments in the Basic Aerodynamic Research Tunnel and Quiet Flow Facility at NASA Langley Research Center have provided an extensive experimental database of the nearfield flow and radiated noise. The measurements were conducted at a Mach number of 0.1285 and Reynolds number of 1.66x10(exp 5) based on the cylinder diameter. A trip was used on the upstream cylinder to insure a fully turbulent flow separation and, hence, to simulate a major aspect of high Reynolds number flow. The parallel computational effort uses the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes solver CFL3D with a hybrid, zonal turbulence model that turns off the turbulence production term everywhere except in a narrow ring surrounding solid surfaces. The experiments exhibited an asymmetry in the surface pressure that was persistent despite attempts to eliminate it through small changes in the configuration. To model the asymmetry, the simulations were run with the cylinder configuration at a nonzero but small angle of attack. The computed results and experiments are in general agreement that vortex shedding for the spacing studied herein is weak relative to that observed at supercritical spacings. Although the shedding was subdued in the simulations, it was still more prominent than in the experiments. Overall, the simulation comparisons with measured near-field data and the radiated acoustics are reasonable, especially if one is concerned with capturing the trends relative to larger cylinder spacings. However, the flow details of the 1.435 diameter spacing have not been captured in full even though very fine grid computations have been performed. Some of the discrepancy may be associated with the simulation s inexact representation of the experimental configuration, but numerical and flow modeling errors are also likely contributors to the observed differences.

Lockard, David P.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Plume formation and lithosphere erosion - A comparison of laboratory and numerical experiments

The mechanics of thermal plume formation and intrusion into the lithosphere are investigated using a combination of laboratory and numerical simulations. The sequence of events leading to lithospheric thinning and uplift by thermal plumes is established, and some numerical estimates of the time scales for each stage in this process are derived that are applicable to the mantle. It is demonstrated that the two-dimensional finite element computations successfully reproduce the qualitative features seen in the experiments, with a quantitative discrepancy of typically 30 percent or less. The results of some calculations on plume formation and intrusion into model lithospheres with a variety of rheologies are presented.

Olson, Peter↗

NASA NTRS1975

Meteoroid flux from passive seismic experiment data

The meteoroid flux hitting the moon is recomputed using new information on the decrease of seismic signal amplitude with range. The new data are principally 17 large meteoroid impacts whose locations have been computed from recordings at all four of the operating Passive Seismic Experiment stations. These data suggest a rapid decrease in amplitudes beyond about 2200 km (chord range) which was not suspected earlier. The new estimate predicts the abundance of meteoroids with masses between 500 and 50,000 g. The result is considerably lower than estimates from earth-based observations, and close to our previous estimate from long-period lunar seismic data.

Duennebier, F.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Unmanned Vehicle Material Flammability Test

Microgravity combustion phenomena have been an active area of research for the past 3 decades however, there have been very few experiments directly studying spacecraft fire safety under low-gravity conditions. Furthermore, none of these experiments have studied sample and environment sizes typical of those expected in a spacecraft fire. All previous experiments have been limited to samples of the order of 10 cm in length and width or smaller. Terrestrial fire safety standards for all other habitable volumes on earth, e.g. mines, buildings, airplanes, ships, etc., are based upon testing conducted with full-scale fires. Given the large differences between fire behavior in normal and reduced gravity, this lack of an experimental data base at relevant length scales forces spacecraft designers to base their designs using 1-g understanding. To address this question a large scale spacecraft fire experiment has been proposed by an international team of investigators. This poster presents the objectives, status and concept of this collaborative international project to examine spacecraft material flammability at realistic scales. The concept behind this project is to utilize an unmanned spacecraft such as Orbital Cygnus vehicle after it has completed its delivery of cargo to the ISS and it has begun its return journey to earth. This experiment will consist of a flame spread test involving a meter scale sample ignited in the pressurized volume of the spacecraft and allowed to burn to completion while measurements are made. A computer modeling effort will complement the experimental effort. Although the experiment will need to meet rigorous safety requirements to ensure the carrier vehicle does not sustain damage, the absence of a crew removes the need for strict containment of combustion products. This will facilitate the examination of fire behavior on a scale that is relevant to spacecraft fire safety and will provide unique data for fire model validation. This will be the first opportunity to examine microgravity flame behavior at scales approximating a spacecraft fire.

Combustion↗

NASA NTRS1999

Laminar Soot Processes

Soot formation within hydrocarbon-fueled flames is an important unresolved problem of combustion science for several reasons: soot emissions are responsible for more deaths than any other combustion pollutant, thermal loads due to continuum radiation from soot limit the durability of combustors, thermal radiation from soot is mainly responsible for the growth and spread of unwanted fires, carbon monoxide associated with soot emissions is responsible for most fire deaths, and limited understanding of soot processes is a major impediment to the development of computational combustion. Thus, soot processes within laminar nonpremixed (diffusion) flames are being studied, emphasizing space-based experiments at microgravity. The study is limited to laminar flames due to their experimental and computational tractability, noting the relevance of these results to practical flames through laminar flamelet concepts. The microgravity environment is emphasized because buoyancy affects soot processes in laminar diffusion flames whereas effects of buoyancy are small for most practical flames. Results discussed here were obtained from experiments carried out on two flights of the Space Shuttle Columbia. After a brief discussion of experimental methods, results found thus far are described, including soot concentration measurements, laminar flame shapes, laminar smoke points and flame structure. The present discussion is brief.

Lin, K. -C.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Radiative heating rates during AAOE and AASE

Radiative transit computations of heating rates utilizing data from the 1987 Airborne Antarctic Ozone Experiment (AAOE) (Tuck et al., 1989) and the 1989 Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Experiment (AASE) (Turco et al., 1990) are described. Observed temperature and ozone profiles and a radiative transfer model are used to compute the heating rates for the Southern Hemisphere during AAOE and the Northern Hemisphere during AASE. The AASE average cooling rates computed inside the vortex are in good agreement with the diabatic cooling rates estimated from the ER-2 profile data for N2O for the AASE period (Schoeberl et al., 1989).

Rosenfield, Joan E.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Soot Formation in Purely-Curved Premixed Flames and Laminar Flame Speeds of Soot-Forming Flames

The research addressed here is a collaborative project between University of Delaware and Case Western Reserve University. There are two basic and related scientific objectives. First, we wish to demonstrate the suitability of spherical/cylindrical, laminar, premixed flames in the fundamental study of the chemical and physical processes of soot formation. Our reasoning is that the flame standoff distance in spherical/cylindrical flames under microgravity can be substantially larger than that in a flat burner-stabilized flame. Therefore the spherical/cylindrical flame is expected to give better spatial resolution to probe the soot inception and growth chemistry than flat flames. Second, we wish to examine the feasibility of determining the laminar flame speed of soot forming flames. Our basic assumption is that under the adiabatic condition (in the absence of conductive heat loss), the amount and dynamics of soot formed in the flame is unique for a given fuel/air mixture. The laminar flame speed can be rigorously defined as long as the radiative heat loss can be determined. This laminar flame speed characterizes the flame soot formation and dynamics in addition to the heat release rate. The research involves two integral parts: experiments of spherical and cylindrical sooting flames in microgravity (CWRU), and the computational counterpart (UD) that aims to simulate sooting laminar flames, and the sooting limits of near adiabatic flames. The computations work is described in this report, followed by a summary of the accomplishments achieved to date. Details of the microgra+ experiments will be discussed in a separate, final report prepared by the co-PI, Professor C-J. Sung of CWRU. Here only a brief discussion of these experiments will be given.

Buchanan, Thomas↗

NASA NTRS1977

Nitramine smokeless propellant research

A transient ballistics and combustion model is derived to represent the closed vessel experiment that is widely used to characterize propellants. A computer program is developed to solve the time-dependent equations, and is applied to explain aspects of closed vessel behavior. In the case of nitramine propellants the cratering of the burning surface associated with combustion above break-point pressures augments the effective burning rate as deduced from the closed vessel experiment. Low pressure combustion is significantly affected by the ignition process and, in the case of nitramine propellants, by the developing and changing surface structure. Thus, burning rates deduced from the closed vessel experiment may or may not agree with those measured in the equilibrium strand burner. Series of T burner experiments are performed to compare the combustion instability characteristics of nitramine (HMX) containing propellants and ammonium perchlorate (AP)propellants. Although ash produced by more fuel rich propellants could have provided mechanical suppression, results from clean-burning propellants permit the conclusion that HMX reduces the acoustic driving.

Cohen, N. S.↗

NASA NTRS2012

A Multiscale Computational Model of the Response of Swine Epidermis After Acute Irradiation

Radiation exposure from Solar Particle Events can lead to very high skin dose for astronauts on exploration missions outside the protection of the Earth s magnetic field [1]. Assessing the detrimental effects to human skin under such adverse conditions could be predicted by conducting territorial experiments on animal models. In this study we apply a computational approach to simulate the experimental data of the radiation response of swine epidermis, which is closely similar to human epidermis [2]. Incorporating experimentally measured histological and cell kinetic parameters into a multiscale tissue modeling framework, we obtain results of population kinetics and proliferation index comparable to unirradiated and acutely irradiated swine experiments [3]. It is noted the basal cell doubling time is 10 to 16 days in the intact population, but drops to 13.6 hr in the regenerating populations surviving irradiation. This complex 30-fold variation is proposed to be attributed to the shortening of the G1 phase duration. We investigate this radiation induced effect by considering at the sub-cellular level the expression and signaling of TGF-beta, as it is recognized as a key regulatory factor of tissue formation and wound healing [4]. This integrated model will allow us to test the validity of various basic biological rules at the cellular level and sub-cellular mechanisms by qualitatively comparing simulation results with published research, and should lead to a fuller understanding of the pathophysiological effects of ionizing radiation on the skin.

FROM↗

NASA NTRS2004

Computational Aerothermodynamic Design Issues for Hypersonic Vehicles

A brief review of the evolutionary progress in computational aerothermodynamics is presented. The current status of computational aerothermodynamics is then discussed, with emphasis on its capabilities and limitations for contributions to the design process of hypersonic vehicles. Some topics to be highlighted include: (1) aerodynamic coefficient predictions with emphasis on high temperature gas effects; (2) surface heating and temperature predictions for thermal protection system (TPS) design in a high temperature, thermochemical nonequilibrium environment; (3) methods for extracting and extending computational fluid dynamic (CFD) solutions for efficient utilization by all members of a multidisciplinary design team; (4) physical models; (5) validation process and error estimation; and (6) gridding and solution generation strategies. Recent experiences in the design of X-33 will be featured. Computational aerothermodynamic contributions to Mars Pathfinder, METEOR, and Stardust (Comet Sample return) will also provide context for this discussion. Some of the barriers that currently limit computational aerothermodynamics to a predominantly reactive mode in the design process will also be discussed, with the goal of providing focus for future research.

Olynick, David R.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Computational Aerothermodynamic Design Issues for Hypersonic Vehicles

A brief review of the evolutionary progress in computational aerothermodynamics is presented. The current status of computational aerothermodynamics is then discussed, with emphasis on its capabilities and limitations for contributions to the design process of hypersonic vehicles. Some topics to be highlighted include: (1) aerodynamic coefficient predictions with emphasis on high temperature gas effects; (2) surface heating and temperature predictions for thermal protection system (TPS) design in a high temperature, thermochemical nonequilibrium environment; (3) methods for extracting and extending computational fluid dynamic (CFD) solutions for efficient utilization by all members of a multidisciplinary design team; (4) physical models; (5) validation process and error estimation; and (6) gridding and solution generation strategies. Recent experiences in the design of X-33 will be featured. Computational aerothermodynamic contributions to Mars Path finder, METEOR, and Stardust (Comet Sample return) will also provide context for this discussion. Some of the barriers that currently limit computational aerothermodynamics to a predominantly reactive mode in the design process will also be discussed, with the goal of providing focus for future research.

Gnoffo, Peter A.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Computational Aerothermodynamic Design Issues for Hypersonic Vehicles

Gnoffo, Peter A.↗