Showing papers by "Langley Research Center published in 1982"

A comparative study of computational methods in cosmic gas dynamics

Abstract: In search of reliable computational methods for cosmic flow problems, we apply several commonly used algorithms and one new algorithm, to a representative problem in galactic gas dynamics. A careful choice of the algorithm used in a calculation is found to be of the utmost importance in obtaining reliable results. Two methods most commonly employed in astronomy (the Beam scheme and FCT methods) prove to be highly unsuitable for our test problem. The penalty in programming effort and computer time per grid point required for the best second-order accurate codes tested is more than offset by the improvement in accuracy obtained and the possibility to reduce the number of points in a grid.

Boundary conditions for the numerical solution of elliptic equations in exterior regions

Abstract: Elliptic equations in exterior regions frequently require a boundary condition at infinity to ensure the well-posedness of the problem. Examples of practical applications include the Helmholtz equation and Laplace's equation. Computational procedures based on a direct discretization of the elliptic problem require the replacement of the condition on a finite artificial surface. Direct imposition of the condition at infinity along the finite boundary results in large errors. A sequence of boundary conditions is developed which provides increasingly accurate approximations to the problem in the infinite domain. Estimates of the error due to the finite boundary are obtained for several cases. Computations are presented which demonstrate the increased accuracy that can be obtained by the use of the higher order boundary conditions. The examples are based on a finite element formulation but finite difference methods can also be used.

Image reconstruction by parametric cubic convolution

Abstract: Cubic convolution, which has been discussed by Rifman and McKinnon (1974), was originally developed for the reconstruction of Landsat digital images. In the present investigation, the reconstruction properties of the one-parameter family of cubic convolution interpolation functions are considered and thee image degradation associated with reasonable choices of this parameter is analyzed. With the aid of an analysis in the frequency domain it is demonstrated that in an image-independent sense there is an optimal value for this parameter. The optimal value is not the standard value commonly referenced in the literature. It is also demonstrated that in an image-dependent sense, cubic convolution can be adapted to any class of images characterized by a common energy spectrum.

The prediction of helicopter rotor discrete frequency noise

Abstract: An accurate prediction of the noise produced by helicopters requires a good understanding of the noise generating mechanisms involved Such an understanding can lead to controlling the noise of existing helicopters by avoiding noisy regimes of flight or by redesigning the main and tail rotors The present investigation is concerned with approaches which are suitable for the calculation of discrete frequency noise of helicopter rotors The governing differential equation of acoustics used in a consideration of acoustic formulations is the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) equation Attention is given to a method reported by Farassat (1981), a method developed by Succi (1979), and a procedure discussed by Woan and Gregorek (1978)

Polar Stratospheric Cloud Sightings by SAM II

Abstract: The functions and data gained regarding stratospheric cloud sightings by the stratospheric aerosol measurement (SAM) II experiment on board the Numbus 7 spacecraft are reported. SAM II comprises a single channel sun photometer centered at 1.0 micron wavelength for measuring the solar intensity when the sun descends below an apparent 300 km altitude until the sun is occulted by clouds or the horizon. Readings are also made during sunrise in an opposite fashion. Transmission profiles are developed from the data and used to construct profiles of aerosol extinction with a 1 km resolution. Polar stratospheric clouds have been observed in more than 90% of the cases when the minimum temperature is 185 K or less, and 45% of the time when the temperature is 193 K or less. The clouds were more prevalent in the Antarctic winter than during the Arctic winter, and cloud height was lower than indicated by previous data.

Methane flux in the Great Dismal Swamp

Abstract: The paper reports measurements made over a 17-month period of the methane flux in the Great Dismal Swamp of Virginia in light of the potential implications of variations in atmospheric methane concentrations. Gas flux measurements were made by a technique combining a gas filter correlation IR absorption analyzer with improved sampling chambers that enclose a soil area under conditions ranging from totally flooded soils to dry soils resulting from drought conditions. Methane emissions are found to range from 0.0013 g CH4/sq m per day to 0.019 g CH4/sq m per day, depending on temperature and season, when the soil is in a waterlogged state. During drought conditions, the peat soils in the swamp were a sink for atmospheric methane, with fluxes from less than 0.001 to 0.005 g CH4/sq m per day and decreasing with decreasing temperature. Results illustrate the potential complexity of the processes which regulate the net flux of methane between wetland soils and the atmosphere.

Turbulent boundary layer drag reduction using riblets

Abstract: An experimental study of low-speed turbulent boundary layer flow over longitudinally grooved surfaces (i.e., riblets) is discussed. Results obtained with a highly accurate drag balance indicate that v-groove riblet surfaces can produce consistent net drag reductions as large as 8 percent provided the height and spacing of the grooves in terms of law of the wall variables are less than 25 wall units. Momentum balances confirmed these direct drag measurements. Conditionally sampled data indicate that the burst frequency for riblets is approximately the same as that for a flat plate but turbulence intensity is reduced. Attempts to optimize the net drag reduction by varying riblet cross-sectional geometry and alignment are also discussed.

Screech suppression in supersonic jets

Abstract: Jet screech from underexpanded sonic nozzles has been investigated experimentally. Multiple screech modes, or stages, are found to be present at some jet operating conditions. The fundamental screech tone of each mode attains a maximum amplitude at about 20 deg from the inlet axis, with higher harmonics exhibiting multiple lobes. The directivity of each harmonic is predicted quite well from a stationary array of acoustic monopoles, with phasing between consecutive monopoles determined by the shock cell spacing and eddy convection velocity. Large reduction of screech amplitude can be obtained from modifications to the nozzle exit, although the extent of this suppression is mode dependent.

The relationship between wind vector and normalized radar cross section used to derive SEASAT‐A satellite scatterometer winds

Abstract: The Seasat-A Satellite Scatterometer (SASS) ocean normalized radar cross section (NRCS) dependence on the 19.5-m neutral stability wind vector may be specified as a function of radar incidence angle, the angle between wind direction and radar azimuth, and the neutral stability wind speed expressed in m/sec at a height of 19.5 m. An account is given of the development of models both expressing this relationship and providing the basis of inversion of NRCS to SASS winds, from initially aircraft scatterometer measurement-based forms to three Seasat field-validation experiments which furnish model NRCS versus surface windspeed data for comparison with SASS data.

Sensitivity of Optimum Solutions of Problem Parameters

Abstract: Solution of the optimum sensitivity problem yields the values of derivatives of the optimal objective function and design variables with respect to those physical quantities which were kept constant as problem parameters during optimization. Examples of these sensitivity derivatives might include derivatives of cross-section al area and structural mass with respect to allowable stress and derivatives of fuel consumed and wing aspect ratio with respect to aircraft range. Derivation of the sensitivity equations that yield the sensitivity derivatives directly, which avoids the costly and inaccurate "perturb-and-reoptimize" approach, is discussed and solvability of the equations is examined. The equations apply to optimum solutions obtained by direct search methods as well as those generated by procedures of the sequential unconstrained minimization technique (SUMT) class. Applications are discussed for the use of the sensitivity derivatives in extrapolation of the optimal objective function and design variable values for incremented parameters, optimization with multiple objectives, and decomposition of large optimization problems. Several aspects of these applications and verification of the sensitivity equations are presented through numerical examples.

A linear decomposition method for large optimization problems. Blueprint for development

Abstract: A method is proposed for decomposing large optimization problems encountered in the design of engineering systems such as an aircraft into a number of smaller subproblems. The decomposition is achieved by organizing the problem and the subordinated subproblems in a tree hierarchy and optimizing each subsystem separately. Coupling of the subproblems is accounted for by subsequent optimization of the entire system based on sensitivities of the suboptimization problem solutions at each level of the tree to variables of the next higher level. A formalization of the procedure suitable for computer implementation is developed and the state of readiness of the implementation building blocks is reviewed showing that the ingredients for the development are on the shelf. The decomposition method is also shown to be compatible with the natural human organization of the design process of engineering systems. The method is also examined with respect to the trends in computer hardware and software progress to point out that its efficiency can be amplified by network computing using parallel processors.

UV radiation from the young Sun and oxygen and ozone levels in the prebiological palaeoatmosphere

Abstract: UV measurements of young T-Tauri stars, resembling the sun at an age of a few million years, have recently been made with the International Ultraviolet Explorer. They indicate that young stars emit up to 10,000 times more UV than the present sun. The implications for the origin and evolution of O2 and O3 in the prebiological palaeoatmosphere are presented here. The results of photochemical calculations indicate that the O2 surface mixing ratio was a factor 10,000-1,000,000 times greater than the standard value of 10 to the -15. This new value reconciles the simultaneous existence of oxidized iron and reduced uranium.

Broadband Shock Noise from Supersonic Jets

Abstract: Broadband shock noise from supersonic jets is investigated through acoustic measurements in both the near and far fields. The peak Helmholtz number of broadband shock noise from unheated convergent nozzles is found to be independent of nozzle pressure ratio when based on the length of the shock cells and the ambient speed of sound. Excellent agreement between power spectral densities measured at various far-field angles is obtained at and above the peak shock noise frequency when source convection and directivity effects are included. The directivity of broadband shock noise is found to be pointed in the upstream direction, with omnidirectionality being approached only at high pressure ratios. For both convergent and convergent-divergent nozzles, the relative importance of shock noise with respect to jet-mixing noise is found to be maximum near the pressure ratio at which a Mach disk begins to form in the jet. Near-field measurements point to a limited portion of the shock cell system as the region of dominant broadband noise emission from a highly underexpanded convergent nozzle.

Aircraft noise prediction program theoretical manual, part 2

Abstract: Detailed prediction methods for specific aircraft noise sources are given. These sources are airframe noise, combustion noise, fan noise, single and dual stream jet noise, and turbine noise. Modifications to the NASA methods which comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization standard method for aircraft noise prediction are given.

Input impedance of microstrip antennas

Abstract: Using Richmond's reaction integral equation, an expression is derived for the input impedance of microstrip patch antennas excited by either a microstrip line or a coaxial probe. The effects of the finite substrate thickness, a dielectric protective cover, and associated surface waves are properly included by the use of the exact dyadic Green's function. Using the present formulation the input impedance of a rectangular microstrip antenna is determined and compared with experimental and earlier calculated results.

Integral equation formulation of microstrip antennas

Abstract: The problem of a microstrip antenna covered by a dielectric is formulated in terms of coupled integro-differential equations with the current distribution on the microstrip patch as an unknown variable. Galerkin's method is used to solve for the unknown patch current. Using the present formulation the resonant frequency and bandwidth of a rectangular microstrip antenna are determined and compared with experimental results.

Prediction of Fatigue Crack Growth under Variable-Amplitude and Spectrum Loading Using a Closure Model

Abstract: The present paper is concerned with the application of an analytical crack-closure model in the study of crack growth under various load histories. The model was based on a concept like the Dugdale model, but modified to leave plastically deformed material in the wake of the advancing crack tip. The model was used to correlate crack growth rates under constant-amplitude loading, and to predict crack growth under variable-amplitude and aircraft-spectrum loading on 2219-T851 aluminum alloy sheet material. Predicted crack-growth lives agreed well with experimental data. For 80 crack growth tests subjected to various load histories, the ratio of predicted-to-experimental lives, N P /N T , ranged from 0.5 to 1.8. The mean value of N P /N T was 0.97 and the standard deviation was 0.27.

Mixed models and reduced/selective integration displacement models for nonlinear shell analysis

Abstract: Simple mixed models are developed for the geometrically nonlinear analysis of shells. A total Lagrangian description of the shell deformation is used, and the analytical formulation is based on a form of the nonlinear shallow shell theory with the effects of transverse shear deformation and bending-extensional coupling included. The fundamental unknowns consist of eight stress resultants and five generalized displacements of the shell, and the element characteristic arrays are obtained by using the Hellinger-Reissner mixed variational principle. The polynomial interpolation (or shape) functions used in approximating the stress resultants are, in general, of different degree than those used for approximating the generalized displacements. The stress resultants are discontinuous at the element boundaries and are eliminated on the element level. The equivalence and ‘near-equivalence’ between the mixed models developed herein and displacement models based on reduced/selective integration of both transverse shear and extensional energy terms is discussed. The use of reduction methods in conjunction with the mixed models is outlined and the advantages of mixed models over displacement models are delineated. Analytic expressions are derived for the rigid-body and spurious (or zero energy) models for the various mixed models and their equivalent displacement models. Also, the advantages of mixed models over equivalent displacement models are outlined. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the high accuracy and effectiveness of the mixed models developed, and to compare their performance with other mixed models reported in the literature.

Ground-based infrared spectroscopic measurements of atmospheric hydrogen cyanide

Abstract: A number of lines of the nu-3 band of hydrogen cyanide have been detected in solar absorption spectra recorded near sunrise and sunset at Kitt Peak National Observatory (elevation 2095 m) with a 0.01/cm resolution Fourier transform spectrometer. Analysis of two of the strongest and best isolated lines has led to a value of 2.73 x 10 to the 15th molecules/sq cm for the vertical column abundance of HCN above Kitt Peak. The accuracy of this value is estimated as + or - 25%. This result, combined with the stratospheric concentration of HCN derived by Coffey, Mankin, and Cicerone (1981), yields 166 parts per trillion by volume for the average mixing ratio of HCN between 2 and 12 km. This is the first determination of the HCN concentration in the nonurban troposphere.

Turbulence amplification in shock-wave boundary-layer interaction

Abstract: Attention is directed to the acoustics research of the 1950s and 1960s for guidance in understanding and quantizing the turbulence amplification that can occur in regions of shock-wave boundary-layer interaction. Three primary turbulence amplifier-generator mechanisms are identified and shown, by linear analysis, to be responsible for turbulence amplification across a shock wave in excess of 100% of the incident turbulence intensity.

The velocity field induced by a helical vortex filament

Abstract: An exact analytical solution for the velocity field, both interior and exterior, induced by an infinite right‐handed helical vortex filament is derived. Due to the way the variables combine in this solution, the paper also shows that it is possible to derive a stream function for this nonaxisymmetric flow. Sample calculations of these expressions are included.

Computer program for solving laminar, transitional, or turbulent compressible boundary-layer equations for two-dimensional and axisymmetric flow

Abstract: A numerical algorithm and computer program are presented for solving the laminar, transitional, or turbulent two dimensional or axisymmetric compressible boundary-layer equations for perfect-gas flows. The governing equations are solved by an iterative three-point implicit finite-difference procedure. The software, program VGBLP, is a modification of the approach presented in NASA TR R-368 and NASA TM X-2458, respectively. The major modifications are: (1) replacement of the fourth-order Runge-Kutta integration technique with a finite-difference procedure for numerically solving the equations required to initiate the parabolic marching procedure; (2) introduction of the Blottner variable-grid scheme; (3) implementation of an iteration scheme allowing the coupled system of equations to be converged to a specified accuracy level; and (4) inclusion of an iteration scheme for variable-entropy calculations. These modifications to the approach presented in NASA TR R-368 and NASA TM X-2458 yield a software package with high computational efficiency and flexibility. Turbulence-closure options include either two-layer eddy-viscosity or mixing-length models. Eddy conductivity is modeled as a function of eddy viscosity through a static turbulent Prandtl number formulation. Several options are provided for specifying the static turbulent Prandtl number. The transitional boundary layer is treated through a streamwise intermittency function which modifies the turbulence-closure model. This model is based on the probability distribution of turbulent spots and ranges from zero to unity for laminar and turbulent flow, respectively. Several test cases are presented as guides for potential users of the software.

Sea foam reflectance and influence on optimum wavelength for remote sensing of ocean aerosols

Abstract: According to previous investigations, sea foam is a major variable in the accurate determination of aerosol turbidity over the oceans with remote-sensing systems. As a result, tests have been conducted to measure sea foam reflectance at wavelengths from 0.55 micron to 2.8 microns. Data from the tests offer an improved knowledge of the effects of sea foam on radiation upwelled from the ocean surface at near-infrared wavelengths. Application of the new data suggests potential for a 40 percent improvement in signal to noise characteristics of aerosol measurements over the oceans if a 1.56 micron waveband is used instead of 0.75 micron.

Image sampling, reconstruction, and the effect of sample-scene phasing.

Abstract: This paper is a 1-D analysis of the degradation caused by image sampling and interpolative reconstruction. The analysis includes the sample-scene phase as an explicit random parameter and provides a complete characterization of this image degradation as the sum of two terms: one term accounts for the mean effect of undersampling (aliasing) and nonideal reconstruction averaged over all sample-scene phases; the other term accounts for variations about this mean. The results of this paper have application to the design and performance analysis of image scanning, sampling, and reconstruction systems.

Effect of resin on impact damage tolerance of graphite/epoxy laminates

Abstract: Twenty-four different epoxy resin systems were evaluated by a variety of test techniques to identify materials that exhibited improved impact damage tolerance in graphite/epoxy composite laminates. Forty-eight-ply composite panels of five of the material systems were able to sustain 100 m/s impact by a 1.27-cm-diameter aluminum projectile while statically loaded to strains of 0.005. Of the five materials with the highest tolerance to impact, two had elastomeric additives, two had thermoplastic additives, and one had a vinyl modifier; all the five systems used bisphenol A as the base resin. An evaluation of test results shows that the laminate damage tolerance is largely determined by the resin tensile properties, and that improvements in laminate damage tolerance are not necessarily made at the expense of room-temperature mechanical properties. The results also suggest that a resin volume fraction of 40 percent or greater may be required to permit the plastic flow between fibers necessary for improved damage tolerance.