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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 1,405 records · Page 78

Optimal active control for Burgers equations

A method for active fluid flow control based on control theory is discussed. Dynamic programming and fixed point successive approximations are used to accommodate the nonlinear control problem. The long-term goal of this project is to establish an effective method applicable to complex flows such as turbulence and jets. However, in this report, the method is applied to stochastic Burgers equation as an intermediate step towards this goal. Numerical results are compared with those obtained by gradient search methods.

Ikeda, Yutaka↗

A time-optimal Space Station reboost guidance strategy

A closed-loop guidance strategy for time and fuel optimal reboost of Space Station Freedom is discussed in this paper. The reboost maneuver is formulated as an optimal control problem rather than a parameter optimization problem, the parameters being the thrust switching times. In the present approach the thrust switching structure need not be prescribed a priori to solve the resulting two point boundary value problem. Non-optimality of singular control or intermediate thrust is proved by utilizing the second order Kelley condition or the Generalized Legendre-Clebsch condition. Only a few sets of initial co-states and time-to-go guess values need to be stored on-board for a wide range of reboost scenarios.

Kumar, Renjith R.↗

Optimization and Control of Acoustic Liner Impedance with Bias Flow

Because communities are impacted by steady increases in aircraft traffic, aircraft noise continues to be a growing problem for the growth of commercial aviation. Research has focused on improving the design of specific high noise source areas of aircraft and on noise control measures to alleviate noise radiated from aircraft to the surrounding environment. Engine duct liners have long been a principal means of attenuating engine noise. The ability to control in-situ the acoustic impedance of a liner would provide a valuable tool to improve the performance of liners. The acoustic impedance of a liner is directly related to the sound absorption qualities of that liner. Increased attenuation rates, the ability to change liner acoustic impedance to match various operating conditions, or the ability to tune a liner to more precisely match design impedance represent some ways that in-situ impedance control could be useful. With this in mind, the research to be investigated will focus on improvements in the ability to control liner impedance using a mean flow through the liner which is referred to as bias flow.

Wood, Houston↗

Structured-groove phase gratings for control and optimization of the spectral efficiency

Phase gratings are used as dispersers in a variety of imaging spectroscopic instruments. However, conventional phase gratings provide limited spectral range and flexibility to fully optimize instrument performance for challenging applications. Presented here is a new design method that tailors and optimizes the spectral efficiency by introducing an arbitrary structure into the grating groove profile.

diffraction gratings↗

Optimizing Flight Control Software With an Application Platform

Flight controllers in NASA s mission control centers work day and night to ensure that missions succeed and crews are safe. The IT goals of NASA mission control centers are similar to those of most businesses: to evolve IT infrastructure from basic to dynamic. This paper describes Mission Control Technologies (MCT), an application platform that is powering mission control today and is designed to meet the needs of future NASA control centers. MCT is an extensible platform that provides GUI components and a runtime environment. The platform enables NASA s IT goals through its use of lightweight interfaces and configurable components, which promote standardization and incorporate useful solution patterns. The MCT architecture positions mission control centers to reach the goal of dynamic IT, leading to lower cost of ownership, and treating software as a strategic investment.

Smith, Irene Skupniewicz↗

Trajectory Optimization of Electric Aircraft Subject to Subsystem Thermal Constraints

Electric aircraft pose a unique design challenge in that they lack a simple way to reject waste heat from the power train. While conventional aircraft reject most of their excess heat in the exhaust stream, for electric aircraft this is not an option. To examine the implications of this challenge on electric aircraft design and performance, we developed a model of the electric subsystems for the NASA X-57 electric testbed aircraft. We then coupled this model with a model of simple 2D aircraft dynamics and used a Legendre-Gauss-Lobatto collocation optimal control approach to find optimal trajectories for the aircraft with and without thermal constraints. The results show that the X-57 heat rejection systems are well designed for maximum-range and maximum-efficiency flight, without the need to deviate from an optimal trajectory. Stressing the thermal constraints by reducing the cooling capacity or requiring faster flight has a minimal impact on performance, as the trajectory optimization technique is able to find flight paths which honor the thermal constraints with relatively minor deviations from the nominal optimal trajectory.

electric propulsion↗

LMI-Based Multiobjective Optimization and Control of Flexible Aircraft Using VCCTEF

This paper considers the control of coupled aeroelastic aircraft model with Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap (VCCTEF) system. The relative motion between two adjacent flaps is constrained and this actuation constraint problem is converted into an output covariance constraint problem, and therefore can be formulated using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). A set of LMI conditions is derived for the design of an observer-based dynamic output feedback controller for VCCTEF configured aeroelastic aircraft model. The proposed controller is then applied to the NASA Generic Transport Model (GTM) for simulation, and the results demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed approach.

LMI control↗

Autonomous battery control and optimization

An apparatus includes a battery state module that determines a battery state of each of a plurality of battery cells forming a battery unit. A battery state includes a health of the battery cell. A battery state of a battery cell differs from a battery state of other battery cells of the battery unit. Each battery cell is connected to a shared bus through a bypass converter that provides power from the battery cell to the shared bus. A charge/discharge modification module determines, based on battery state, an amount to vary a charging characteristic for each battery cell compared to a reference charging characteristic. Each charging characteristic varies as a function of a reference state. A charge/discharge module adjusts charging/discharging of a battery cell of the battery unit based on the charging characteristic of the battery cell.

Zane, Regan A.↗