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The wing differential pressure distributions of two vehicles are predicted using FLEXSTAB. Three space shuttle configurations were investigated. Comparisons were made of wind tunnel and analytical data for a selected range of angle of attack, angle of sideslip, and Mach number. A drone-type vehicle was investigated and comparisons were made between flight and analytical data of wing pressure distributions and static longitudinal stability derivatives.
This report presents the results from an experimental and analytical investigation of the stress distributions occurring in a rail shear test. The effects of non-uniform stresses induced by differential thermal expansion, rail flexibility and specimen aspect ratio on measured shear modulus and ultimate strength of composite laminates are shown. A two-dimensional linearly elastic finite element model was used to analytically determine how various geometric parameters influenced the magnitude and distribution of inplane normal and shear stresses in a tensile rail shear specimen. Rail shear tests were conducted at room temperature and 589 K (600 F) on selected graphite-polyimide composite laminates using two titanium rail configurations. The analysis and test methods are discussed, and the results of the effects of the various parameters on shear modulus and ultimate strength are presented.
The diffusion equation for cosmic ray nucleons in the atmosphere has been solved analytically, taking into account the transverse momentum distribution of nucleons produced in nucleon-air nucleus collisions. The effect of the transverse momentum distribution increases the nucleon intensity at large zenith angles and low energies.
A wide variety of analytical tools are in use today to predict the history and spatial distributions of pressure in the combustion chambers of solid rocket motors (SRMs). Experimental and analytical methods are presented here that allow the verification of many of these predictions. These methods are applied to the redesigned space shuttle booster (RSRM). Girth strain-gage data is compared to the predictions of various one-dimensional quasisteady analyses in order to verify the axial drop in motor static pressure during ignition transients as well as quasisteady motor operation. The results of previous modeling of radial flows in the bore, slots, and around grain overhangs are supported by approximate analytical and empirical techniques presented here. The predictions of circumferential flows induced by inhibitor asymmetries, nozzle vectoring, and propellant slump are compared to each other and to subscale cold air and water tunnel measurements to ascertain their validity.
Acoustic receptivity of a Blasius boundary layer in the presence of distributed surface irregularities is investigated analytically. It is shown that, out of the entire spatial spectrum of the surface irregularities, only a small band of Fourier components can lead to an efficient conversion of the acoustic input at any given frequency to an unstable eigenmode of the boundary layer flow. The location, and width, of this most receptive band of wavenumbers corresponds to a relative detuning of O(R sub l.b.(exp -3/8)) with respect to the lower-neutral instability wavenumber at the frequency under consideration, R sub l.b. being the Reynolds number based on a typical boundary-layer thickness at the lower branch of the neutral stability curve. Surface imperfections in the form of discrete mode waviness in this range of wavenumbers lead to initial instability amplitudes which are O(R sub l.b.(exp 3/8)) larger than those caused by a single, isolated roughness element. In contrast, irregularities with a continuous spatial spectrum produce much smaller instability amplitudes, even compared to the isolated case, since the increase due to the resonant nature of the response is more than that compensated for by the asymptotically small band-width of the receptivity process. Analytical expressions for the maximum possible instability amplitudes, as well as their expectation for an ensemble of statistically irregular surfaces with random phase distributions, are also presented.
A Monte Carlo approach is used to obtain the energy spreading and angular distribution of initially monoenergetic and monodirectional beams of electron incident on a gas of molecular hydrogen. Several beams of primary electrons and the resultant secondaries are degraded in a step-by-step procedure which utilizes a detailed set of cross sections, together with reasonable approximations for the creation of secondary electrons. Particular attention is paid to the initial angular distribution of secondary electrons. An analytic function which characterizes current experimental differential cross-section data is used to provide realistic inputs into our calculations. The results for energy distribution as a function of distance and angular distribution at selected energies and distances are illustrated.
Approximate analytical expressions are derived for the velocity and temperature distributions in steady state coal slag deposits flowing over MHD generator walls. Effects of slag condensation and Joule heating are included in the analysis. The transport conditions and the slag temperature at the slag-gas interface are taken to be known parameters in the formulation. They are assumed to have been predetermined either experimentally or from the slag properties and the gas dynamic calculations of the free stream flow. The analysis assumes a power law velocity profile for the slag and accounts for the coupling between the energy and momentum conservation equations. Comparisons are made with the more exact numerical solutions to verify the accuracy of the results.
The structural performance of a space station thermal energy storage (TES) canister subject to orbital solar flux variation and engine cold start up operating conditions was assessed. The impact of working fluid temperature and salt-void distribution on the canister structure are assessed. Both analytical and experimental studies were conducted to determine the temperature distribution of the canister. Subsequent finite element structural analyses of the canister were performed using both analytically and experimentally obtained temperatures. The Arrhenius creep law was incorporated into the procedure, using secondary creep data for the canister material, Haynes 188 alloy. The predicted cyclic creep strain accumulations at the hot spot were used to assess the structural performance of the canister. In addition, the structural performance of the canister based on the analytically determined temperature was compared with that based on the experimentally measured temperature data.
This paper assesses the structural performance of a Space Station thermal energy storage (TES) canister subject to orbital solar flux variation and engine cold start-up operating conditions. The impact of working fluid temperature and salt-void distribution on the canister structure are assessed. Both analytical and experimental studies were conducted to determine the temperature distribution of the canister. Subsequent finite-element structural analyses of the canister were performed using both analytically and experimentally obtained temperatures. The Arrhenius creep law was incorporated into the procedure, using secondary creep data for the canister material, Haynes-188 alloy. The predicted cyclic creep strain accumulations at the hot spot were used to assess the structural performance of the canister. In addition, the structural performance of the canister based on the analytically-determined temperature was compared with that based on the experimentally-measured temperature data.
The temperature distribution in liquid-cooled turbine blades determines the amount of cooling required to reduce the blade temperature to permissible values at specified locations. This report presents analytical methods for computing temperature distributions in liquid-cooled turbine blades, or in simplified shapes used to approximate sections of the blade. The individual analyses are first presented in terms of their mathematical development. By means of numerical examples, comparisons are made between simplified and more complete solutions and the effects of several variables are examined. Nondimensional charts to simplify some temperature-distribution calculations are also given.
A directional solidification technique was developed and applied to the problem of fractional crystallization of an iron meteorite parent body. Samples of Fe-Ni alloys close to meteorite compositions and containing S, P, and C were made. The solidified structures contain secondary phases such as sulphides within the proeutectic single crystal austenite (taenite). As a result of these experiments, we propose that the secondary phases observed in iron meteorites were formed during primary solidification of austenite (taenite). The measured composition profiles of Ni, P and C in the alloys were used to explain the elemental distribution within a chemical group of iron meteorites. An analytical procedure was applied to determine the equilibrium distribution coefficients as a function of fraction solidified for Ni and P from the composition profiles. The distribution coefficients of Ni and P agree with previous values. These distribution coefficients are of particular interest in the determination of the elemental distributions in iron meteorites.
An analytical model has been developed to predict the flow behavior within axisymmetric single-nozzle ejectors employing variable-area mixing tubes. The primary flow may be supersonic or subsonic and may have a different stagnation temperature from the subsonic secondary flow. Tests were performed on an ejector with an 800 F supersonic (M = 2.72) primary jet to evaluate the analytical model. Measured velocity profiles, temperature profiles, and wall static pressure distributions are presented and compared to the analytical predictions. Agreement is generally good.
A thermal analytic model for a 30-cm engineering model mercury-ion thruster was developed and calibrated using the experimental test results of tests of a pre-engineering model 30-cm thruster. A series of tests, performed later, simulated a wide range of thermal environments on an operating 30-cm engineering model thruster, which was instrumented to measure the temperature distribution within it. The modified analytic model is described and analytic and experimental results compared for various operating conditions. Based on the comparisons, it is concluded that the analytic model can be used as a preliminary design tool to predict thruster steady-state temperature distributions for stage and mission studies and to define the thermal interface bewteen the thruster and other elements of a spacecraft.
The research program is documented for developing space and ground-based remote sensing techniques performed during the period from December 15, 1977 to March 15, 1985. The program involved the application of sophisticated radiative transfer codes and inversion methods to various advanced remote sensing concepts for determining atmospheric constituents, particularly aerosols. It covers detailed discussions of the solar aureole technique for monitoring columnar aerosol size distribution, and the multispectral limb scattered radiance and limb attenuated radiance (solar occultation) techniques, as well as the upwelling scattered solar radiance method for determining the aerosol and gaseous characteristics. In addition, analytical models of aerosol size distribution and simulation studies of the limb solar aureole radiance technique and the variability of ozone at high altitudes during satellite sunrise/sunset events are also described in detail.
As part of ongoing efforts to develop models of lunar soil mechanics, this report reviews two topics that are important to discrete element method (DEM) modeling the behavior of soils (such as lunar soils): (1) methods of modeling particle shapes and (2) analytical representations of particle size distribution. The choice of particle shape complexity is driven primarily by opposing tradeoffs with total number of particles, computer memory, and total simulation computer processing time. The choice is also dependent on available DEM software capabilities. For example, PFC2D/PFC3D and EDEM support clustering of spheres; MIMES incorporates superquadric particle shapes; and BLOKS3D provides polyhedra shapes. Most commercial and custom DEM software supports some type of complex particle shape beyond the standard sphere. Convex polyhedra, clusters of spheres and single parametric particle shapes such as the ellipsoid, polyellipsoid, and superquadric, are all motivated by the desire to introduce asymmetry into the particle shape, as well as edges and corners, in order to better simulate actual granular particle shapes and behavior. An empirical particle size distribution (PSD) formula is shown to fit desert sand data from Bagnold. Particle size data of JSC-1a obtained from a fine particle analyzer at the NASA Kennedy Space Center is also fitted to a similar empirical PSD function.
Incompressible two dimensional turbulent boundary layer equations with arbitrary pressure distribution solved by weighted residual method
Incompressible two dimensional turbulent boundary layer equations with arbitrary pressure distribution solved by weighted residual method
An approach for conducting reliability-based analysis (RBA) of a Composite Crew Module (CCM) is presented. The goal is to identify and quantify the benefits of probabilistic design methods for the CCM and future space vehicles. The coarse finite element model from a previous NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) project is used as the baseline deterministic analysis model to evaluate the performance of the CCM using a strength-based failure index. The first step in the probabilistic analysis process is the determination of the uncertainty distributions for key parameters in the model. Analytical data from water landing simulations are used to develop an uncertainty distribution, but such data were unavailable for other load cases. The uncertainty distributions for the other load scale factors and the strength allowables are generated based on assumed coefficients of variation. Probability of first-ply failure is estimated using three methods: the first order reliability method (FORM), Monte Carlo simulation, and conditional sampling. Results for the three methods were consistent. The reliability is shown to be driven by first ply failure in one region of the CCM at the high altitude abort load set. The final predicted probability of failure is on the order of 10-11 due to the conservative nature of the factors of safety on the deterministic loads.