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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1979

Bilinear tangent yaw guidance

This paper presents a parametric yaw steering law which has been used to provide closed-loop yaw guidance for the launch of the HEAO (High Energy Astronomy Observatory) satellite mission using the Atlas/Centaur launch vehicle. This bilinear tangent steering law provides near optimal yaw steering for maneuvers requiring insertion into orbits with a specified inclination and node. Bilinear tangent steering is shown to be optimal in both the pitch and yaw planes when a uniform gravitational field is assumed. The conditions under which the general bilinear tangent laws degenerate into linear tangent and constant attitude laws are presented. The flight computer implementation of these laws in a rotating coordinate system using real-time integration of the equations of motion is detailed. Explicit solution of the parametric guidance equations requires the inflight solution of (2x2) two-point boundary value problems in the pitch and yaw planes. Excellent results are obtained even for very large (greater than 50 deg) out-of-plane steering angles.

Brusch, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Spectral Element Method for the Simulation of Unsteady Compressible Flows

This work uses a discontinuous-Galerkin spectral-element method (DGSEM) to solve the compressible Navier-Stokes equations [1{3]. The inviscid ux is computed using the approximate Riemann solver of Roe [4]. The viscous fluxes are computed using the second form of Bassi and Rebay (BR2) [5] in a manner consistent with the spectral-element approximation. The method of lines with the classical 4th-order explicit Runge-Kutta scheme is used for time integration. Results for polynomial orders up to p = 15 (16th order) are presented. The code is parallelized using the Message Passing Interface (MPI). The computations presented in this work are performed using the Sandy Bridge nodes of the NASA Pleiades supercomputer at NASA Ames Research Center. Each Sandy Bridge node consists of 2 eight-core Intel Xeon E5-2670 processors with a clock speed of 2.6Ghz and 2GB per core memory. On a Sandy Bridge node the Tau Benchmark [6] runs in a time of 7.6s.

Diosady, Laslo Tibor↗
DOE OSTI2023

ARKODE: A Flexible IVP Solver Infrastructure for One-step Methods

We describe the ARKODE library of one-step time integration methods for ordinary differential equation (ODE) initial-value problems (IVPs). In addition to providing standard explicit and diagonally implicit Runge–Kutta methods, ARKODE supports one-step methods designed to treat additive splittings of the IVP, including implicit-explicit (ImEx) additive Runge–Kutta methods and multirate infinitesimal (MRI) methods. We present the role of ARKODE within the SUNDIALS suite of time integration and nonlinear solver libraries, the core ARKODE infrastructure for utilities common to large classes of one-step methods, as well as its use of “time stepper” modules enabling easy incorporation of novel algorithms into the library. Numerical results show example problems of increasing complexity, highlighting the algorithmic flexibility afforded through this infrastructure, and include a larger multiphysics application leveraging multiple algorithmic features from ARKODE and SUNDIALS.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2019

High-Order Finite-Difference Nonlinear Filter Methods for Subsonic Turbulence Simulation with Stochastic Forcing

Numerical stability of high-order filter schemes developed by Yee & Sjogreen is tested on three-dimensional turbulence simulations with stochastic forcing and their performance is compared with that of TVD and WENO schemes. The best­ performing filter method employs an eighth-order central base scheme with the Kennedy & Gruber skew-symmetric splitting of the inviscid flux derivative, a wavelet-based local flow sensor, a nonlinear filter utilizing the dissipative portion of seventh-order \VENO scheme, and an explicit third - or fourth-order Runge­-Kutta time integration. We show that the filter scheme is more computational]y efficient and provides a wider spectral bandwidth compared to the seventh-order WENO scheme. The method also demonstrates robust long-time integration for moderately compressible turbulence. In contrast, the fifth- and seventh­ order WENO schemes show non-trivial evolution of the velocity and density power spectra. over a. few dozen dynamical times, where both TVD and filter schemes recover a so lid statistically stationary turbulent state

Kritsuk, Alexei G.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Technical report series on global modeling and data assimilation. Volume 4: Documentation of the Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS) data assimilation system, version 1

This report describes the analysis component of the Goddard Earth Observing System, Data Assimilation System, Version 1 (GEOS-1 DAS). The general features of the data assimilation system are outlined, followed by a thorough description of the statistical interpolation algorithm, including specification of error covariances and quality control of observations. We conclude with a discussion of the current status of development of the GEOS data assimilation system. The main components of GEOS-1 DAS are an atmospheric general circulation model and an Optimal Interpolation algorithm. The system is cycled using the Incremental Analysis Update (IAU) technique in which analysis increments are introduced as time independent forcing terms in a forecast model integration. The system is capable of producing dynamically balanced states without the explicit use of initialization, as well as a time-continuous representation of non- observables such as precipitation and radiational fluxes. This version of the data assimilation system was used in the five-year reanalysis project completed in April 1994 by Goddard's Data Assimilation Office (DAO) Data from this reanalysis are available from the Goddard Distributed Active Center (DAAC), which is part of NASA's Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS). For information on how to obtain these data sets, contact the Goddard DAAC at (301) 286-3209, EMAIL daac@gsfc.nasa.gov.

Suarez, Max J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Stability of mixed time integration schemes for transient thermal analysis

A current research topic in coupled-field problems is the development of effective transient algorithms that permit different time integration methods with different time steps to be used simultaneously in various regions of the problems. The implicit-explicit approach seems to be very successful in structural, fluid, and fluid-structure problems. This paper summarizes this research direction. A family of mixed time integration schemes, with the capabilities mentioned above, is also introduced for transient thermal analysis. A stability analysis and the computer implementation of this technique are also presented. In particular, it is shown that the mixed time implicit-explicit methods provide a natural framework for the further development of efficient, clean, modularized computer codes.

Liu, W. K.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Forest aboveground biomass estimation through integration of sentinel-2 and PALSAR-2 time series: assessing models trained on GEDI and field inventory benchmarks

Accurate and spatially explicit forest Aboveground Biomass (AGB) mapping through remote sensing is critical for quantifying terrestrial carbon stocks and informing effective forest management strategies. However, AGB estimation in dense forests with complex terrain remains challenging due to satellite sensor signal saturation problem (saturation issue occurs in high biomass forests), structural complexity, and limited ground truth for calibration. This study presents a novel framework that integrates multi-temporal Sentinel-2 optical imagery, ALOS PALSAR-2 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data, and topographic variables with explainable Machine Learning to map AGB across mountainous forests within subtropical and temperate oceanic climate zones of Mexico. We evaluate the effects of temporal granularity and sensor synergy by comparing multiple temporal inputs and sensor configurations (Sentinel-2, PALSAR-2, and their fusion), and assess model performance using two reference datasets: NASA GEDI LiDAR-derived biomass and Mexico’s National Forest and Soil Inventory (INFyS). Our results showed that models trained on INFyS consistently outperformed those trained on GEDI, highlighting limitations in GEDI’s reliability in biomass estimates within this study region. Furthermore, the integration of Sentinel-2 and PALSAR-2 provided improved predictions compared to single-sensor models, particularly when combined with temporally explicit yearly statistics. The best-performing model, which was trained on INFyS data, and considered both Sentinel-2 and PALSAR-2 yearly statistics, as well as topographic variables, achieved an R2 of 0.64, RMSE of 51.10 Mg/ha, and relative RMSE (rRMSE) of 58.69%. Explainable ML analysis identified Sentinel-2 spectral indices and topographic features as key predictors, while PALSAR-2 metrics provided complementary information, partially mitigating saturation effects in high-biomass areas. Specifically, integrating both sensors substantially improved AGB estimation in high biomass forest (≥200 Mg/ha), yielding 98% gains over optical-only model, with resulting estimates exceeding GEDI L4B by 29% and ESA-CCI-BIOMASS by 174%. Terrain-stratified analysis indicated close agreement with GEDI in low-slope areas, with increasing divergence as slope steepness increased, while estimates remained consistently higher than ESA-CCI-BIOMASS across all slope classes. The proposed approach advances multi-sensor fusion and temporal feature engineering for AGB mapping using open-access satellite datasets, providing a scalable and reproducible framework for annual biomass monitoring in topographically complex mountainous forests. The resulting 25 m resolution biomass product has the potential to provide spatially detailed information for forest monitoring and may support applications in carbon accounting and forest management.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1991

Transonic cascade flow calculations using non-periodic C-type grids

A new kind of C-type grid is proposed for turbomachinery flow calculations. This grid is nonperiodic on the wake and results in minimum skewness for cascades with high turning and large camber. Euler and Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations are discretized on this type of grid using a finite volume approach. The Baldwin-Lomax eddy-viscosity model is used for turbulence closure. Jameson's explicit Runge-Kutta scheme is adopted for the integration in time, and computational efficiency is achieved through accelerating strategies such as multigriding and residual smoothing. A detailed numerical study was performed for a turbine rotor and for a vane. A grid dependence analysis is presented and the effect of artificial dissipation is also investigated. Comparison of calculations with experiments clearly demonstrates the advantage of the proposed grid.

Arnone, Andrea↗
NASA NTRS1991

Synchrotron radiation with radiation reaction

A rigorous discussion is presented of the classical motion of a relativistic electron in a magnetic field and the resulting electromagnetic radiation when radiation reaction is important. In particular, for an electron injected with initial energy gamma(0), a systematic perturbative solution to the Lorentz-Dirac equation of motion is developed for field strengths satisfying gamma(0) B much less than 6 x 10 to the 15th G. A particularly accurate solution to the electron orbital motion in this regime is found and it is demonstrated how lowest-order corrections can be calculated. It is shown that the total energy-loss rate corresponds to what would be found using the exact Larmor power formula without including radiation reaction. Provided that the particle energy and field strength satisfy the same contraint, it is explicitly demonstrated that the intuitive prescription for calculating the time-integrated radiation spectrum described above is correct.

Nelson, Robert W.↗
NASA NTRS1994

The Flux-integral Method for Multidimensional Convection and Diffusion

The flux-integral method is a procedure for constructing an explicit, single-step, forward-in-time, conservative, control volume update of the unsteady, multidimensional convection-diffusion equation. The convective plus diffusive flux at each face of a control-volume cell is estimated by integrating the transported variable and its face-normal derivative over the volume swept out by the convecting velocity field. This yields a unique description of the fluxes, whereas other conservative methods rely on nonunique, arbitrary pseudoflux-difference splitting procedures. The accuracy of the resulting scheme depends on the form of the subcell interpolation assumed, given cell-average data. Cellwise constant behavior results in a (very artificially diffusive) first-order convection scheme. Second-order convection-diffusion schemes correspond to cellwise linear (or bilinear) subcell interpolation. Cellwise quadratic subcell interpolants generate a highly accurate convection-diffusion scheme with excellent phase accuracy. Under constant-coefficient conditions, this is a uniformly third-order polynomial interpolation algorithm (UTOPIA).

Leonard, B. P.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Toward quantum tunneling from excited states: Recovering imaginary-time instantons from a real-time analysis

We revisit the path integral description of quantum tunneling and its generalization to excited states. For clarity, we focus on the simple toy model of a point particle in a double-well potential, for which we perform all steps explicitly. Instead of performing the familiar Wick rotation from physical to imaginary time—which is inconsistent with the requisite boundary conditions when treating tunneling from excited states—we regularize the path integral by adding an infinitesimal complex contribution to the Hamiltonian, while keeping time strictly real. We find that this gives rise to a complex stationary-phase solution, in agreement with recent insights from Picard-Lefshetz theory. We then show that there exists a class of analytic solutions for the corresponding equations of motion, which can be made to match the appropriate boundary conditions in the physically relevant limits of a vanishing regulator and an infinite physical time. We provide a detailed discussion of this nontrivial limit. We find that, for systems without an explicit time-dependence, our approach reproduces the picture of an instantonlike solution defined on a finite Euclidean-time interval. Lastly, we discuss the generalization of our approach to broader classes of systems, for which it serves as a reliable framework for high-precision calculations. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Steingasser, Thomas (ORCID:0000000217262117)↗
DOE OSTI2023

A general non-Fourier Stefan problem formulation that accounts for memory effects

The Stefan problem is the classical model of a melting phase change. In heterogeneous systems, such phase changes can exhibit non-Fourier (anomalous) behaviors, where the advance of the melt interface does not follow the expected time scaling. These situations can be modeled by replacing the derivatives, in the governing partial differential equations, with fractional order derivatives. In particular, replacing the time derivatives leads to non-Fourier models that account for memory effects in the system. In this work, by using appropriate time convolution integrals, a general thermodynamic balance statement for melting phase problems, explicitly accounting for memory effects, is developed. From this balance, a general model formulation applicable to problems involving melting over a temperature range (i.e., a mushy region) is derived. A key component in this model is the representation of memory effects through the use of fractional derivative based constitutive models of the enthalpy and heat flux. Further, on shrinking the mushy region to a single isotherm, a general sharp interface melting model is obtained. Here, in contrast to the classic Stefan problem, the fractional derivatives induce a natural regularization, such that the constitutive models for enthalpy and heat flux are continuous at the melt interface; a result confirmed through numerical simulation. To further support the theoretical findings, a physical example of a non-Fourier Stefan problem is presented. Overall the development and results in this paper underscore the importance of explicitly relating the development of fractional calculus models to the appropriate thermodynamic balance statements.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1993

Explicit least squares system parameter identification for exact differential input/output models

The equation error for a class of systems modeled by input/output differential operator equations has the potential to be integrated exactly, given the input/output data on a finite time interval, thereby opening up the possibility of using an explicit least squares estimation technique for system parameter identification. The paper delineates the class of models for which this is possible and shows how the explicit least squares cost function can be obtained in a way that obviates dealing with unknown initial and boundary conditions. The approach is illustrated by two examples: a second order chemical kinetics model and a third order system of Lorenz equations.

Pearson, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Dynamic Beam Solutions for Real-Time Simulation and Control Development of Flexible Rockets

In this study, flexible rockets are structurally represented by linear beams. Both direct and indirect solutions of beam dynamic equations are sought to facilitate real-time simulation and control development for flexible rockets. The direct solution is completed by numerically integrate the beam structural dynamic equation using an explicit Newmark-based scheme, which allows for stable and fast transient solutions to the dynamics of flexile rockets. Furthermore, in the real-time operation, the bending strain of the beam is measured by fiber optical sensors (FOS) at intermittent locations along the span, while both angular velocity and translational acceleration are measured at a single point by the inertial measurement unit (IMU). Another study in this paper is to find the analytical and numerical solutions of the beam dynamics based on the limited measurement data to facilitate the real-time control development. Numerical studies demonstrate the accuracy of these real-time solutions to the beam dynamics. Such analytical and numerical solutions, when integrated with data processing and control algorithms and mechanisms, have the potential to increase launch availability by processing flight data into the flexible launch vehicle's control system.

flexible body dyanmics fiber optic strain sensor p↗
DOE OSTI2020

A scalable matrix-free spectral element approach for unsteady PDE constrained optimization using PETSc/TAO

In this work, we provide a new approach for the efficient matrix-free application of the transpose of the Jacobian for the spectral element method for the adjoint-based solution of partial differential equation (PDE) constrained optimization. This results in optimizations of nonlinear PDEs using explicit integrators where the integration of the adjoint problem is not more expensive than the forward simulation. Solving PDE constrained optimization problems entails combining expertise from multiple areas, including simulation, computation of derivatives, and optimization. The Portable, Extensible Toolkit for Scientific computation (PETSc) together with its companion package, the Toolkit for Advanced Optimization (TAO), is an integrated numerical software library that contains an algorithmic/software stack for solving linear systems, nonlinear systems, ordinary differential equations, differential algebraic equations, and large-scale optimization problems and, as such, is an ideal tool for performing PDE-constrained optimization. This paper describes an efficient approach in which the software stack provided by PETSc/TAO can be used for large-scale nonlinear time-dependent problems. Time integration can involve a range of high-order methods, both implicit and explicit. The PDE-constrained optimization algorithm used is gradient-based and seamlessly integrated with the simulation of the physical problem.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Simulation of crumpled sheets via alternating quasistatic and dynamic representations

In this work, we present a method for simulating the large-scale deformation and crumpling of thin, elastoplastic sheets. Motivated by the physical behavior of thin sheets during crumpling, two different formulations of the governing equations of motion are used: (1) a quasistatic formulation that effectively describes smooth deformations, and (2) a fully dynamic formulation that captures large changes in the sheet's velocity. The former is a differential-algebraic system of equations integrated implicitly in time, while the latter is a set of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) integrated explicitly. We adopt a hybrid integration scheme to adaptively alternate between the quasistatic and dynamic representations as appropriate. Further, we demonstrate the capacity of this method to effectively simulate a variety of crumpling phenomena. Finally, we show that statistical properties, notably the accumulation of creases under repeated loading, as well as the area distribution of facets, are consistent with experimental observations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1978

On a method computing transient wave propagation in ionospheric regions

A consequence of an exoatmospheric nuclear burst is an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) radiated from it. In a region far enough away from the burst, where nonlinear effects can be ignored, the EMP can be represented by a large-amplitude narrow-time-width plane-wave pulse. If the ionosphere intervenes the origin and destination of the EMP, frequency dispersion can cause significant changes in the original pulse upon reception. A method of computing these dispersive effects of transient wave propagation is summarized. The method described is different from the standard transform techniques and provides physical insight into the transient wave process. The method, although exact, can be used in approximating the early-time transient response of an ionospheric region by a simple integration with only explicit knowledge of the electron density, electron collision frequency, and electron gyrofrequency required. As an illustration of the method, it is applied to a simple example and contrasted with the corresponding transform solution.

Gray, K. G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Navier-Stokes simulations of the effects of suction holes on a flat plate boundary layer

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of the Navier-Stokes equations are employed to explore the effects of suction holes on transition in a laminar flat plate boundary layer. The Navier-Stokes equations are cast in vorticity-velocity form. Periodicity is imposed in spanwise direction; all other spatial derivatives are discretized with fourth order compact differences. An explicit fourth order Runge-Kutta scheme is employed for the time-integration of the vorticity transport equations. Suction is applied through a row of holes aligned in spanwise direction. For low suction strengths, each hole generates a pair of stable streamwise vortices. When the suction strength exceeds a critical value, the vortices become unstable. For high suction strengths, vortex shedding occurs right at the suction holes. Our numerical findings agree well with experimental observations.

Meitz, Hubert L.↗