Aerospace Engineering Commons^™

An Adaptive Remeshing Finite Element Method For High-Speed Compressible Flows Using Quadrilateral And Triangular Elements, Gururaja R. Vemaganti

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

In this study a new adaptive remeshing method for high speed compressible flow analysis is presented. The method uses quadrilateral elements where possible, and triangles are introduced as needed. The primary goal of this study is to develop a remeshing method which uses both the concepts of unstructured and structured meshes for the finite element analysis to predict accurate aerodynamic heating in problems related to high speed viscous flows. The remeshing method uses a solution based on an old mesh to create a new mesh based on an advancing front technique. In the present implementation, a structured mesh of quadrilaterals …

Low Speed Flowfield Characterization By Infrared Measurements Of Surface Temperatures, Ehud Gartenberg

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

An experimental program was aimed at identifying areas in low speed aerodynamic research where infrared imaging systems can make significant contributions. Implementing a new technique, a long electrically heated wire was placed across a laminar jet. By measuring the temperature distribution along the wire with the IR imaging camera, the flow behavior was identified. Furthermore, using Nusselt number correlations, the velocity distribution could be deduced. The same approach was used to survey wakes behind cylinders in a wind-tunnel. This method is suited to investigate flows with position dependent velocities, e.g., boundary layers, confined flows, jets, wakes and shear layers. It …

Measured Spectra Of The Hygroscopic Fraction Of Atmospheric Aerosol Particles, Darryl J. Alofs, Donald E. Hagen, Max B. Trueblood

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The Relation between Dry Diameter (Xo) and Critical Supersaturation (Sc) for Atmospheric Submicron Aerosol Particles is Investigated. the Particles Are Passed through an Electrostatic Aerosol Size Classifier, and Then through an Isothermal Haze Chamber. Results Are Reported in Terms of an Apparent Volume Fraction of Soluble Material, Εv, Defined Such that for Particles Composed Only of Ammonium Sulfate and Water Insoluble Compounds, Εv is the Actual Volume Fraction of Soluble Material. the Probability Distribution of Εv is Found to Be Approximately Gaussian in the Εv Range 0.2 to 1.3. the Mean Εv is 0.5, for Electrostatic Aerosol Classifier Settings of …

Viscous Cross-Waves: An Analytical Treatment, Andrew J. Bernoff, L. P. Kwok, Seth Lichter

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

Viscous effects on the excitation of cross‐waves in a semi‐infinite box of finite depth and width are considered. A formalism using matched asymptotic expansions and an improved method of computing the solvability condition is used to derive the relative contributions of the free‐surface, sidewall, bottom, and wavemaker viscous boundary layers. This analysis yields an expression for the damping coefficient previously incorporated on heuristic grounds. In addition, three new contributions are found: a viscous detuning of the resonant frequency, a slow spatial variation in the coupling to the progressive wave, and a viscous correction to the wavemaker boundary condition. The wavemaker …

Adiabatic Shear Banding In Plane Strain Problems, R. C. Batra, De Shin Liu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Plane strain thermomechanical deformations of a viscoplastic body are studied with the objective of analyzing the localization of deformation into narrow bands of intense straining. Two different loadings, namely, the top and bottom surfaces subjected to a prescribed tangential velocity, and these two surfaces subjected to a preassigned normal velocity, are considered. In each case a material defect, flaw, or inhomogeneity is modeled by introducing a temperature bump at the center of the specimen. The solution of the initial boundary value problem by the Galerkin-Adams method reveals that the deformation eventually localizes into a narrow band aligned along the direction …

Nonlinear Tracking Control Of Brushless Dc Motors For High-Performance Applications, N. Hemati, Ming-Chuan Leu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The tracking control problem associated with brushless DC motors (BLDCMs) for high-performance applications is considered. To guarantee their high-dynamic-performance operation in motion control systems, the magnetic saturation and reluctance variation effects are accounted for in the BLDCM mathematical model. The trajectory tracking control problem is addressed in the context of the transformation theory of nonlinear systems. A nonlinear control law is implemented and shown to compensate for the nonlinearities of a BLDCM. A case study is presented in which a direct-drive inverted pendulum actuated by a BLDCM is used to investigate the effectiveness of the control law. The effectiveness of …

Generic Singularities Of Robot Manipulators, Ming-Chuan Leu, D. K. Pai

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The singularities of the differential kinematic map, i.e. of the manipulator Jacobian, are considered. The authors first examine the notion of a generic kinematic map, whose singularities form smooth manifolds of prescribed dimension in the joint space of the manipulator. For three-joint robots, an equivalent condition for genericity using determinants is derived. The condition lends itself to symbolic computation and is sufficient for the study of decoupled manipulators, i.e. manipulators that an be separated into a three-joint translating part and a three-joint orienting part. The results are illustrated by analyzing the singularities of two classes of three-joint positioning robots.

Axisymmetric Vibrations Of Reinforced Orthotropic Shallow Spherical Caps, Victor Birman, George J. Simitses

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Axisymmetric vibrations of reinforced shallow, spherical caps manufactured from orthotropic materials are considered. The closed form solution is obtained for the natural frequency of the cap with a clamped and immovable circular edge by assuming that the motion component parallel to the cap boundary plane (in plane) is negligible. Parametric studies are performed to assess the effect of various geometric and structural parameters on the natural frequency of the cap and, most importantly, to identify the most influencing parameters of the problem. From the generated data, it is concluded that the national frequency increases with increasing extensional stiffness and eccentricity …

Optimal Design Rules Applied To The Design Of High-Speed Mechanisms Under Deflection And Stress Constraints, Frank W. Liou, Jenny Liu

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Presented in this paper are two approaches for the design of flexible mechanisms under stress and deflection constraints. Based on the optimality conditions derived in this paper, two procedures are developed to design the minimum weight of mechanisms subject to stress and deflection limitations. The first procedure is the improvement of Thornton's design process r 17), and the second procedure is based on the interpolation technique. Several design examples are also presented to demonstrate these methods.

Effects Of Nose Bluntness And Shock-Shock Interactions On Blunt Bodies In Viscous Hypersonic Flows, Dal J. Singh

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A numerical study has been conducted to investigate the effects of blunt leading edges on the viscous flow field around a hypersonic vehicle such as the proposed National Aero-Space Plane. Attention is focused on two specific regions of the flow field. Analysis of these flow regions is required to accurately predict the overall flow field as well as to get necessary information on localized zones of high pressure and intense heating.

The forebody is modeled by slender cones and ogives with spherically blunted nose. A combination of Navier-Stokes and parabolized Navier-Stokes equations is used to compute the flow field. The …