Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Wave functions”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,693 records · Page 94
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

The kinetic effects of Alfven wave pressure in the solar wind

The results of a kinetic model for the radial evolution of the proton component of the solar wind in the presence of Alfven waves are presented. The calculation is based on general quasi-linear equations developed to describe the temporal and spatial evolution of the ion distribution functions of a multispecies plasma in presence of waves, using a short wavelength expansion. These equations include new wave-particle interaction terms arising from temporal and spatial inhomogeneities in the plasma. Numerical solutions are obtained of these equations specialized to the case of Alfven waves in a spherically symmetric solar wind. The Alfven wave effects on the proton distribution function vary strongly in velocity space. Protons with small transverse velocities are primarily decelerated with respect to the wave rest frame. This deceleration becomes less important with increasing transverse velocity, as wave induced diffusion to larger transverse velocity becomes the dominant effect. The competition of these effects results in interesting distortions of evolving proton distribution functions which give rise the wave acceleration well known from fluid theory.

Goodrich, C. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Observations of 35- 10 1600-keV protons and low-frequency waves upstream of interplanetary shocks

The present investigation is concerned with a comparison of measurements of energetic protons in the range from 35 to 1600 keV and low-frequency waves (periods of approximately 6 s) on ISEE 3 associated with the passage of the large oblique shock of April 5, 1979, which exhibits an extended foreshock. An attempt is made to identify the energy of the particles which are responsible for the waves. Intensity profiles of both waves and particles as a function of upstream distance are compared, taking into account the relation between the energy of the particles and the period of the waves. The considered approach makes it possible to identify protons with energies of a few hundred keV as being responsible for the waves in the extended foreshock. It is believed that the high energy density of the high-energy solar flare protons preceding the shock could be responsible for 'seed' waves which provide the scattering centers necessary for the acceleration of the lower-energy protons via a first-order Fermi mechanism.

Sanderson, T. R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Effects of sea maturity on satellite altimeter measurements

For equilibrium and near-equilibrium sea states, the wave slope variance is a function of wind speed U and of the sea maturity. The influence of both factors on the altimeter measurements of wind speed, wave height, and radar cross section is studied experimentally on the basis of 1 year's worth of Geosat altimeter observations colocated with in situ wind and wave measurements by 20 NOAA buoys. Errors and biases in altimeter wind speed and wave height measurements are investigted. A geophysically significant error trend correlated with the sea maturity is found in wind-speed measurements. This trend is explained by examining the effect of the generalized wind fetch on the curves of the observed dependence. It is concluded that unambiguous measurements of wind speed by altimeter, in a wide range of sea states, are impossible without accounting for the actual degree of wave development.

Glazman, Roman E.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Propagation of electromagnetic waves parallel to the magnetic field in the nightside Venus ionosphere

The propagation of electromagnetic waves parallel to the magnetic field in the nightside Venus ionosphere is presented in a theoretical and numerical analysis. The model assumes a source of electromagnetic radiation in the Venus atmosphere, such as that produced by lightning. Specifically addressed is wave propagation in the altitude range z = 130-160 km at the four frequencies detectable by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Electric Field Detector: 100 Hz, 730 Hz, 5.4 kHz, and 30 kHz. Parameterizations of the wave intensities, peak electron density, and Poynting flux as a function of magnetic field are presented. The waves are found to propagate most easily in conditions of low electron density and high magnetic field. The results of the model are consistent with observational data.

Huba, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Decadal Changes in the Interannual Variability of Heat Waves in East Asia Caused by Atmospheric Teleconnection Changes

The heat wave in East Asia is examined by using empirical orthogonal function analysis to isolate dominant heat-wave patterns in the ground-based temperature observations over the Korean Peninsula and China and related large-scale atmospheric circulations obtained from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center for Atmospheric Research Reanalysis 1 during 1973–2012. This study focuses particularly on the interannual variability of heat waves and its decadal change. The analysis identifies two major atmospheric teleconnection patterns playing an important role in developing typical heat-wave patterns in East Asia—the Scandinavian (SCAND) and the circumglobal teleconnection (CGT) patterns, which exhibit a significant decadal change in the interannual variability in the mid-1990s. Before the mid-1990s, heat-wave occurrence was closely related to the CGT pattern, whereas the SCAND pattern is more crucial to explain heat-wave variability in the recent period. The stationary wave model experiments suggest an intensification of the SCAND pattern in the recent period driven by an increase in land–atmosphere interaction over Eurasia and decadal change in the dominant heat-wave patterns in East Asia.

heat wave patterns↗
NASA NTRS1988

Input-output characterization of fiber composites by SH waves

Input-output characterization of fiber composites is studied theoretically by tracing SH waves in the media. A fiberglass epoxy composite is modeled as a homogeneous transversely isotropic continuum plate. The reflection of an SH wave at a stress-free plane boundary in a semi-infinite transversely isotropic medium is considered first. It is found that an incident SH wave reflects only a similar SH wave back into the medium. It is also established that the angle of reflection of the reflected wave is equal to the angle of incidence of the incident wave. The phase velocity of the SH waves and the delay time of the SH waves in reaching the receiving transducer are computed as functions of a reflection index, defined as the number of reflections of the SH waves from the bottom face of the continuum plate. The directivity function corresponding to the shear stress associated with the SH waves in the continuum plate is also derived as a function of the reflection index. A theoretical output voltage from the receiving transducer is calculated for a tone burst (a periodic input voltage of finite duration). The output voltage is shown for tone bursts of duration 60 microseconds and center frequencies of 0.75, 1.00, and 1.25 MHz. The study enhances the quantitative and qualitative understanding of the nondestructive evaluation (NDE) of fiber composites which can be modeled as transversely isotropic media.

Renneisen, John D.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A study of electron density profiles in relation to ionization sources and ground-based radio wave absorption measurements, part 2

The D-region ion production functions are used to calculate the relationship between radio wave absorption and the flux level of X-rays in the 1-8A wavelength band. In order to bring this calculation into agreement with the empirically established relationship, it was found necessary to reduce by, a factor of about 5, the Meira nitric oxide densities below 90 km.

Gnanalingam, S.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Surface electrical properties experiment

The Surface Electrical Properties Experiment (SEP) was flown to the moon in December 1972 on Apollo 17 and used to explore a portion of the Taurus-Littrow region. SEP used a relatively new technique, termed radio frequency interferometry (RFI). Electromagnetic waves were radiated from two orthogonal, horizontal electric dipole antennas on the surface of the moon at frequencies of 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and 32 Mhz. The field strength of the EM waves was measured as a function of distance with a receiver mounted on the Lunar Roving Vehicle and using three orthogonal, electrically small, loops. The interference pattern produced by the waves that travelled above the moon's surface and those that travelled below the surface was recorded on magnetic tape. The tape was returned to earth for analysis and interpretation. Several reprints, preprints, and an initial draft of the first publication of the SEP results are included. These documents provide a rather complete account of the details of the theory of the RFI technique, of the terrestrial tests of the technique, and of the present state of our interpretation of the Apollo 17 data.

Simmons, G.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Imperfection surveys on a 10-ft-diameter shell structure

The results of an extensive imperfection survey on a 10-ft-diameter integrally stiffened cylindrical shell are presented. The shape of the measured initial imperfections is clearly influenced by details of the shell construction. The modal components of the measured imperfection surface as a function of the circumferential and of the axial wave numbers are calculated. The discrete axial power spectral density functions and the corresponding root-mean-square values of the imperfections are also determined for given circumferential wave numbers. Using the Fourier coefficients of the measured initial imperfections, buckling loads are calculated by solving the nonlinear Donnell-type imperfect shell equations iteratively. The calculated lowest buckling load compares favorably with the values usually recommended for similar shell structures.

Arbocz, J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Spectral Analysis of Regular Material Point Method and its Application to Study High Pressure Reverse Osmosis Membrane Compaction and Embossing

Material Point Method (MPM) is gaining widespread interest in applied continuum mechanics. The fact that all the continuum properties are stored on the particles (or material points) and the governing equations are solved on these material points makes MPM extremely suited to problems involving severe material deformations, such as crack propagation, soil movement, and fluid flows. Despite its popularity, only a few studies have focused on the numerical properties of MPM. This presentation introduces a global spectral analysis of the regular material point method. Contrary to previous studies, the analysis focuses on the numerical properties of the method in the spectral space. The amplification factor is derived as a function of the non- dimensional wave numbers. It provides insights into the stability and dissipative properties of the method for various CFL and Fourier numbers. The effect of the grid shape functions, number of particles per cell and their locations inside the grid cell are also analyzed. The EXAGOOP MPM solver (https://github.com/NREL/Exagoop.git) is developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as a part of the NAWI UHPRO project and is based on the AMReX framework. A single-level, uniform cartesian grid is used as the background mesh, while the particle class in AMReX is used to manage the material point operations. Linear hat and B-splines are used as grid shape functions, while the time integration is performed using explicit Euler time integration. EXAGOOP is both CPU and GPU compatible and has been demonstrated to work well on multiple compute architectures. The performance of EXAGOOP on various computing architectures is presented along with its application to study compaction and embossing of high-pressure reverse osmosis membranes. The MPM solution accurately reproduces the membrane deformation. The deformed pore size and structure simulated using MPM also agree well with experimental SEM images.

material point method↗
NASA NTRS1973

Geodesic synchrotron radiation

This paper presents the results and methods of computing the high-frequency radiation emitted by freely falling particles moving in circular geodesic orbits in a spherically symmetric gravitational field. The high-frequency radiation, to which the methods of this paper apply, is the principal part of radiated energy only in the case of a particle moving in a highly relativistic, and therefore unstable, circular geodesic. The geodesic synchrotron radiation emitted in this case shows excitation of high-frequency harmonics and a narrow angular distribution. A Green's-function solution of the scalar wave equation is obtained using WKB methods. For application to relativistic circular orbits, a parabolic WKB approximation is required and yields solutions in terms of parabolic cylinder functions.

Breuer, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Landau damping in space plasmas

The Landau damping of electrostatic Langmuir waves and ion-acoustic waves in a hot, isotropic, nonmagnetized, generalized Lorentzian plasma is analyzed using the modified plasma dispersion function. Numerical solutions for the real and imaginary parts of the wave frequency omega sub 0 - (i)(gamma) have been obtained as a function of the normalized wave number (k)(lambda sub D), where lambda sub D is the electron Debye length. For both particle distributions the electrostatic modes are found to be strongly damped at short wavelengths. At long wavelengths, this damping becomes less severe, but the attenuation of Langmuir waves is much stronger for a generalized Lorentzian plasma than for a Maxwellian plasma. It is concluded that Landau damping of ion-acoustic waves is only slightly affected by the presence of a high energy tail, but is strongly dependent on the ion temperature.

Thorne, Richard M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Barotropic instability of basic states with a realistic jet and a wave

The stability of basic states consisting of a jet similar to the stratospheric polar night jet and a traveling wave with a single zonal wavenumber is examined in a linearized nondivergent barotropic model on a sphere. Basic state waves are chosen to resemble observed traveling and stationary features in the winter stratosphere. Results are presented for disturbance growth rates, propagation characteristics, and energy conversion as a function of the basic state wave amplitude. The effects of small amplitude basic state waves on unstable disturbances arising from a zonally symmetric jet are discussed; results are shown where a small amplitude basic state wave dramatically affects the stability characteristics. Evidence is shown that the presence of a traveling wave may favor the appearance of disturbances that include other zonal wavenumbers which move with the basic state wave; this result is discussed in relation to the origin of observed quasi-nondispersive features in the polar winter stratosphere. Results for a stationary wavenumber 1 basic state wave suggest that a distorted polar vortex may be unstable to disturbances that would lead to further distortion. An unstable disturbance for a basic state with an eastward moving wavenumber 2 has components which resemble, in period and location, traveling waves that are observed in the winter stratosphere.

Manney, Gloria L.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Nonlinear Slosh Damping Testing and Analysis for Launch Vehicle Propellant Tanks

Propellant tank slosh damping models for launch vehicle ascent analysis typically employ linear models for bare-wall damping, or assume a single, low-amplitude wave height for baffled configurations. A higher fidelity damping model would incorporate nonlinear effects to increase damping as slosh wave amplitude increases. This paper provides an overview of a technical assessment performed by the NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) to evaluate lateral slosh damping as a function of lateral force (or wave) amplitude for multiple tank configurations. The increased fidelity of nonlinear slosh damping models, if leveraged, has the potential to reduce over-conservatism associated with the use of linear slosh damping models. This can provide design flexibility to enhance launch vehicle flight control performance, reduce baffle design requirements and/or increase robustness in targeted areas such as control-structure interaction during ascent.

Tannen S VanZwieten↗
NASA NTRS1991

Development of a grid-independent approximate Riemannsolver

A grid-independent approximate Riemann solver for use with the Euler and Navier-Stokes equations was introduced and explored. The two-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes equations are described in Cartesian and generalized coordinates, as well as the traveling wave form of the Euler equations. The spatial and temporal discretization are described for both explicit and implicit time-marching schemes. The grid-aligned flux function of Roe is outlined, while the 5-wave grid-independent flux function is derived. The stability and monotonicity analysis of the 5-wave model are presented. Two-dimensional results are provided and extended to three dimensions. The corresponding results are presented.

Rumsey, Christopher Lockwood↗
NASA NTRS1978

The gravitational wave detection experiment: Description and anticipated requirements

The experiment to detect gravitational waves in ultraprecise two-way Doppler data is described, as are the anticipated requirements for the Deep Space Network, the spacecraft, and the data processing system. The special feature which allows the usage of ultraprecise Doppler data for the possible detection of gravitational waves is a unique three-pulse signature which is a function of the spacecraft, earth, and gravitational wave propagation direction geometry. The pulses (fractional frequency shifts) result from effects which are conveniently described as follows: Clock speed-up (earth only effect) and buffeting (equal earth and spacecraft effect).

Berman, A. L.↗