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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1983

Formation of standing shocks in stellar winds and related astrophysical flows

Stellar winds and other analogous astrophysical flows can be described, to lowest order, by the familiar one dimensional hydrodynamic equations which, being nonlinear, admit in some instances discontinuous as well as continuous transonic solutions for identical inner boundary conditions. The characteristics of the time dependent differential equations of motion are described to show how a perturbation changes profile in time and, under well defined conditions, develops into a stationary shock discontinuity. The formation of standing shocks in wind type astrophysical flows depends on the fulfillment of appropriate necessary conditions, which are determined by the conservation of mass, momentum and energy across the discontinuity, and certain sufficient conditions, which are determined by the flow's history.

Tsinganos, K.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Numerical simulation of a plane turbulent mixing layer, with applications to isothermal, rapid reactions

A hybrid method has been developed for the numerical prediction of turbulent mixing in a spatially-developing, free shear layer. Most significantly, the computation incorporates the effects of large-scale structures, Schmidt number and Reynolds number on mixing, which have been overlooked in the past. In flow field prediction, large-eddy simulation was conducted by a modified 2-D vortex method with subgrid-scale modeling. The predicted mean velocities, shear layer growth rates, Reynolds stresses, and the RMS of longitudinal velocity fluctuations were found to be in good agreement with experiments, although the lateral velocity fluctuations were overpredicted. In scalar transport, the Monte Carlo method was extended to the simulation of the time-dependent pdf transport equation. For the first time, the mixing frequency in Curl's coalescence/dispersion model was estimated by using Broadwell and Breidenthal's theory of micromixing, which involves Schmidt number, Reynolds number and the local vorticity. Numerical tests were performed for a gaseous case and an aqueous case. Evidence that pure freestream fluids are entrained into the layer by large-scale motions was found in the predicted pdf. Mean concentration profiles were found to be insensitive to Schmidt number, while the unmixedness was higher for higher Schmidt number. Applications were made to mixing layers with isothermal, fast reactions. The predicted difference in product thickness of the two cases was in reasonable quantitative agreement with experimental measurements.

Lin, P.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Control of turbulence through a row of Helmholtz resonators

The manipulation of turbulent boundary layers is useful in a variety of situations including drag reduction and separation delay. In this study a passive method of altering the turbulence in a boundary layer is investigated. Ten Helmholtz resonators were imbedded in a spanwise row under a turbulent boundary layer. At certain airspeeds the resonators were strongly excited by the turbulence. In turn, the resonator motions interact to modify the turbulence and mean velocity profiles in the boundary layer. Tests were conducted to measure the response of the resonators as a function of freestream speed. Additional tests, conducted at the conditions for maximum response, documented the affect on the mean and turbulent velocity profiles.

Panton, Ronald L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Lidar Data Products and Applications Enabled by Conical Scanning

Several new data products and applications for elastic backscatter lidar are achieved using simple conical scanning. Atmospheric boundary layer spatial and temporal structure is revealed with resolution not possible with static pointing lidars. Cloud fractional coverage as a function of altitude is possible with high temporal resolution. Wind profiles are retrieved from the cloud and aerosol structure motions revealed by scanning. New holographic technology will soon allow quasi-conical scanning and push-broom lidar imaging without mechanical scanning, high resolution, on the order of seconds.

Schwemmer, Geary K.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Estimation of Lower-Body Kinetics from Loading Profile and Kinematics Alone, Without Measured Ground Reaction Forces

Biomechanical models of human motion can estimate kinetic outcomes, such as joint moments, joint forces and muscle forces. Typically, one performs an inverse dynamics (ID) analysis to compute joint moments from joint angles and measured external forces. Sometimes it is impractical to measure ground reaction forces and moments (GRF&M). We devised an empirical method for performing ID analysis of resistance exercises without measured GRF&M. The method solves the multibody dynamics equations of motion with four key assumptions about the GRF&M that reduce the number of unknowns. The assumptions are 1) negligible ground reaction moments, 2) fixed lateral/medial location of the center of pressure (COP), 3) equal fore/aft location of the COP between the feet, and 4) constant angle of the GRF vector relative to the vertical axis in the frontal plane. We used evaluation trials from a spaceflight countermeasure resistance training device to test this approach. Four participants performed squat and deadlift exercises at various loads. We compared results from traditional ID analysis to results without measured GRF&M using our method. We found that joint moment trajectories in the sagittal plane were qualitatively similar in shape between the two methods, and the amount of root mean squared error (RMSE), measured by difference in joint moment impulse, was typically under 10 percent. Non-sagittal joint moment trajectories, which are much lower in overall magnitude, were not qualitatively similar in shape between the two methods. Non-sagittal moments displayed much higher RMSE, with typical values well over 50 percent. These findings were further supported by validation metrics (Sprague and Geers' P and M metrics, Pearson's r correlation coefficient). Based on these findings, we concluded that useful kinetic results are obtained from ID analysis of squat and deadlift exercises, even when GRF&M are not measured, as long as the outcomes of interest lie in the sagittal plane.

computational modeling↗
NASA NTRS2012

Antarctic Ice-Shelf Front Dynamics from ICESat

Time variable elevation profiles from ICESat Laser Altimetry over the period 2003-2009 provide a means to quantitatively detect and track topographic features on polar ice surfaces. The results of this study provide a measure of the horizontal motion of ice-shelf fronts. We examine the time histories of elevation profiles crossing the ice fronts of the Ross, Ronne, Filchner, Riiser-Larson and Fimbul shelves. This provides a basis for estimating dynamics in two dimensions, i.e. in elevation and horizontally in the along-track direction. Ice front velocities, corrected for ground-track intersection angle, range from nearly static to 1.1 km/yr. In many examples, a decrease in elevation up to 1 m/yr near the shelf frontis also detectable. Examples of tabular calving along shelf fronts are seen in some elevation profiles and are confirmed by corresponding MODIS imagery.

Robbins, John W.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Atmospheric Profile Imprint in Firewall Ablation Coefficient

A general formula which expresses the distance along the meteoric fireball trajectory 1 as a function of t is discussed. Differential equations which include the motion and ablation of a single nonfragmenting meteor body are presented. The importance of the atmospheric density profile in the meteor formula is emphasized.

Ceplecha, Z.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Turbulent and directed plasma motions in solar flares

An improved method for fitting asymmetric soft X-ray line profiles from solar flares is presented. A two-component model is used where one component represents the total emission from directed upflow plasma and the other the emission from the plasma at rest. Unlike previous methods, the width of the moving component is independent from that of the stationary component. Time variations of flare plasma characteristics (i.e., temperature, emission measure of moving and stationary plasma, upflow and turbulent velocities) are derived from the Ca XIX and Fe XXV spectra recorded by the Bent Crystal Spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission. The fitting technique provides a statistical estimation for the uncertainties in the fitting parameters. The relationship between the directed and turbulent motions has been studied, and a correlation of the random and directed motions has been found in some flares with intensive plasma upflows. Mean temperatures of the upflowing and stationary plasmas are compared for the first time from ratios of calcium to iron X-ray line intensities. Finally, evidence for turbulent motions and the possibility of plasma upflow late into the decay phase is presented and discussed.

Fludra, A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Line profile variations in M giants - Clues to mass-loss and chromospheric heating mechanisms

Analysis is presented of time-series, high dispersion spectra of the Mg II, k, Ca II H, and K lines of the semiregular giants Rho Per (M4 II-III, periodicity of about 50 days), R Lyr (M5 III, period of about 46 days), and g Her (M6 III, period of about 90 days). The fine error sensor on the IUE satellite and ground based UBV photometry was used to relate line profile variations to photospheric variations. The above mentioned stars were selected to study the relative importance of convective motions and global stellar pulsations in determining the structure of the outer atmospheres. Small amplitude changes, but substantial changes in the profiles of Mg II and Ca II lines were detected. It is contended that the observed variability is due to changes in chromospheric conditions and not variations within the circumstellar shell. The picture of a steady state chromosphere, which is modulated on long time scales, is corroborated by these observations. Localized heating is found in g Her.

Judge, P. G.↗
DOE OSTI2025

New generation bunch shape monitor for ion accelerators

Measuring longitudinal beam parameters is important for operation and development of high intensity linear accelerators, but it is notoriously difficult for proton and ion beams at non-relativistic energies. The Bunch Shape Monitor (BSM) is a device used for measuring the longitudinal bunch distribution in ion linacs. The existing BSM models have poor electron collection efficiency from the wire and are limited to one-dimensional measurements of the phase coordinate. In response to this problem, we have developed a new generation BSM with improved performance. The proposed design incorporates three major innovations: First, the collection efficiency was improved by adding a focusing field between the wire and the entrance slit, which will also allow measurements over a much wider dynamic range. Second, an improvement in the measurement speed was achieved by sampling longitudinal profiles of multiple energy slices simultaneously, where the BSM wire is placed at the exit of an ion spectrometer so that ions with different energies hit the wire at different horizontal coordinates along the wire. Finally, the design incorporates a motion system that can shift the wire and deflecting cavity together, enabling transverse profile measurements like a wire scanner. Here, in this paper, we will provide the design of the new BSM and report on its beam test results at the Spallation Neutron Source facility in Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
NASA NTRS1998

Turbulent Compressible Convection with Rotation: Mean Flows and Differential Rotation - 2

The effects of rotation on turbulent, compressible convection within stellar envelopes are studied through three-dimensional numerical simulations conducted within a local f-plane model. This work seeks to understand the types of differential rotation that can be established in convective envelopes of stars like the Sun, for which recent helioseismic observations suggest an angular velocity profile with depth and latitude at variance with many theoretical predictions. This paper analyzes the mechanisms that are responsible for the mean (horizontally averaged) zonal and meridional flows that are produced by convection influenced by Coriolis forces. The compressible convection is considered for a range of Rayleigh, Taylor, and Prandtl (and thus Rossby) numbers encompassing both laminar and turbulent flow conditions under weak and strong rotational constraints. When the nonlinearities are moderate, the effects of rotation on the resulting laminar cellular convection leads to distinctive tilts of the cell boundaries away from the vertical. These yield correlations between vertical and horizontal motions that generate Reynolds stresses that can drive mean flows, interpretable as differential rotation and meridional circulations. Under more vigorous forcing, the resulting turbulent convection involves complicated and contorted fluid particle trajectories, with few clear correlations between vertical and horizontal motions, punctuated by an evolving and intricate downflow network that can extend over much of the depth of the layer. Within such networks are some coherent structures of vortical downflow that tend to align with the rotation axis. These yield a novel turbulent alignment mechanism, distinct from the laminar tilting of cellular boundaries, that can provide the principal correlated motions and thus Reynolds stresses and subsequently mean flows. The emergence of such coherent structures that can persist amidst more random motions is a characteristic of turbulence with symmetries broken by rotation and stratification. Such structure is here found to play a crucial role in defining the mean zonal and meridional flows that coexist with the convection. Though they are subject to strong inertial oscillations, the strength and type of the mean flows are determined by a combination of the laminar tilting and the turbulent alignment mechanisms. Varying the parameters produces a wide range of mean motions. Among these, some turbulent solutions exhibit a mean zonal velocity profile that is nearly constant with depth, much as deduced by helioseismology at midlatitudes within the Sun. The solutions exhibit a definite handedness, with the direction of the persistent mean flows often prescribing a spiral with depth near the boundaries, also in accord with helioseismic deductions. The mean helicity has a profile that is positive in the upper portion of the domain and negative in the lower portion, a property bearing on magnetic dynamo processes that may be realized within such rotating layers of turbulent convection.

Brummell, Nicholas H.↗
NASA NTRS1970

Mass motion in the solar chromosphere

Solar chromosphere mass motion, studying macroturbulence influences on visible spectrum lines high resolution profiles from rocket spectrograms

Jones, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Liquid content of the lower clouds of Venus as determined from Mariner 10 radio occultation

S- and X-band radio occulation data obtained during the Mariner 10 flyby of Venus are analyzed to determine the effects of signal attenuation due to the clouds of Venus. The signal-amplitude data are corrected for errors introduced by spacecraft motion and antenna steering during the occultation, absorption-coefficient profiles are computed, and the liquid content of the Venusian clouds is estimated. Excess attenuation effects are found and ascribed to absorption by small liquid particles, consisting of a water-sulfuric acid mixture containing 75% + or - 25% sulfuric acid, in the clouds. Three absorbing cloud layers at respective heights of 68, 60, and 48 km are suggested by the X-band absorptivity profile, but only the 68- and 48-km layers are clearly indicated by the S-band profile. The relatively slow S-band absorption at 60 km is tentatively attributed to an unknown constituent that is much more absorbing in the X-band than in the S-band. The results are compared with nephelometer measurements performed at 0.9 micron by the Venera 9 and 10 probes.

Kliore, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Measurement of oil film thickness for application to elastomeric Stirling engine rod seals

The rod seal in the Stirling engine has the function of separating high pressure gas from low or ambient pressure oil. An experimental apparatus was designed to measure the oil film thickness distribution for an elastomeric seal in a reciprocating application. Tests were conducted on commercial elastomeric seals having a 76 mm rod and a 3.8 mm axial width. Test conditions included 70 and 90 seal durometers, a sliding velocity of 0.8 m/sec, and a zero pressure gradient across the seal. An acrylic cylinder and a typical synthetic base automotive lubricant were used. The experimental results showed that the effect of seal hardness on the oil film thickness is considerable. A comparison between analytical and experimental oil film profiles for an elastomeric seal during relatively high speed reciprocating motion showed an overall qualitative agreement.

Krauter, A. I.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Radiative properties of a plasma moving across a magnetic field. I - Theoretical analysis. II - Numerical results

The early-time evolution of plasmas moving across a background magnetic field is addressed with a 2D model in which a plasma cloud is assumed to have formed instantaneously with a velocity across a uniform background magnetic field and with a Gaussian density profile in the two dimensions perpendicular to the direction of motion. This model treats both the dynamics associated with the formation of a polarization field and the generation and propagation of electromagnetic waves. In general, the results indicate that, to zeroth order, the plasma cloud behaves like a large dipole antenna oriented in the direction of the polarization field which oscillates at frequencies defined by the normal mode of the system. Radiation damping is shown to play an important role in defining the plasma cloud evolution, causing a rapid decay of the polarizaiton field and a loss of plasma kinetic energy and momentum on time scales comprable to several ion gyroperiods. Scaling laws are derived for the plasma momentum and energy loss rates, and predictions for the braking time, the amplitude and spectrum of the radiation field, and the total radiated power are presented for conditions relevant to the recent Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite experiments.

Roussel-Dupre, Robert↗
NASA NTRS1951

On stability and turbulence of fluid flows

This investigation is divided into two parts, the treatment of the stability problem of fluid flows on the one hand, and that of the turbulent motion on the other. The first part summarizes all previous investigations under a unified point of view, that is, sets up as generally as possible the conditions under which a profile possesses unstable or stable characteristics, and indicates the methods for solution of the stability equation for any arbitrary velocity profile and for calculation of the critical Reynolds number for unstable profiles. In the second part, under certain greatly idealizing assumptions, differential equations for the turbulent motions are derived and from them qualitative information about several properties of the turbulent velocity distribution is obtained.

FLOW, TURBULENT↗
NASA NTRS1983

The influence of convective activity on the vorticity budget

The influence of convective activity on the vorticity budget was determined during the AVE VII and AVE-SESAME I periods. This was accomplished by evaluating each term in the expanded vorticity equation with twisting and tilting and friction representing the residual of all other terms. Convective areas were delineated by use of radar summary charts. The influence of convective activity was established by analyzing contoured fields of each term as well as numerical values and profiles of the various terms in convective and nonconvective areas. Vertical motion was computed by the kinematic method, and all computations were performed over the central United States using a grid spacing of 158 km. The results show that, in convective areas in particular, the residual is of comparable magnitude to the horizontal advection and divergence terms, and therefore, cannot be neglected. In convective areas, the residual term represents a sink of vorticity below 500 mb and a strong source near 300 mb. In nonconvective areas, the residual was small in magnitude at all levels, but tended to be negative (vorticity sink) at 300 mb. The local change term, over convective areas, tended to be balanced by the residual term, and appeared to be a good indicator of development (vorticity becoming more cyclonic). Finally, the shape of the vertical profiles of the term in the budget equation agreed with those found by other investigators for easterly waves, but the terms were one order of magnitude larger than those for easterly waves.

Townsend, T. L.↗