Project Wish: The Emerald City, phase 3

Phase 3 of Project Wish saw the evolution of the Emerald City (E-City) from a collection of specialized independent analyses and ideas to a working structural design integrated with major support systems and analyses. Emphasis was placed on comparing and contrasting the closed and open cycle gas core nuclear rocket engines to further determine the optimum propulsive system for the C-City. Power and thermal control requirements were then defined and the question of how to meet these requirements was addressed. Software was developed to automate the mission/system/configuration analysis so changes dictated by various subsystems constraints could be managed efficiently and analyzed interactively. In addition, the liquid hydrogen propellant tank was statically designed for minimum mass and shape optimization using a finite element modeling package called SDRC I-DEAS while spoke and shaft cross-sectional areas were optimized on ASTROS (Automated Structural Optimization System). A structural dynamic analysis also conducted using ASTROS enabled a study of the displacements, accelerations, modes and frequencies of the C-City. Finally, the attitude control system design began with an initial mass moment of inertia analysis and was then designed and optimized using linear quadratic regulator control theory

A multiple pointing-mount control strategy for space platforms

A new disturbance-adaptive control strategy for multiple pointing-mount space platforms is proposed and illustrated by consideration of a simplified 3-link dynamic model of a multiple pointing-mount space platform. Simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of the new platform control strategy. The simulation results also reveal a system 'destabilization phenomena' that can occur if the set of individual platform-mounted experiment controllers are 'too responsive.

Computer algebra and transputers applied to the finite element method

Recent developments in computing technology have opened new prospects for computationally intensive numerical methods such as the finite element method. More complex and refined problems can be solved, for example increased number and order of the elements improving accuracy. The power of Computer Algebra systems and parallel processing techniques is expected to bring significant improvement in such methods. The main objective of this work has been to assess the use of these techniques in the finite element method. The generation of interpolation functions and element matrices has been investigated using Computer Algebra. Symbolic expressions were obtained automatically and efficiently converted into FORTRAN routines. Shape functions based on Lagrange polynomials and mapping functions for infinite elements were considered. One and two dimensional element matrices for bending problems based on Hermite polynomials were also derived. Parallel solvers for systems of linear equations have been developed since such systems often arise in numerical methods. Both symmetric and asymmetric solvers have been considered. The implementation was on Transputer-based machines. The speed-ups obtained are good. An analysis by finite element method of a free surface flow over a spillway has been carried out. Computer Algebra was used to derive the integrand of the element matrices and their numerical evaluation was done in parallel on a Transputer-based machine. A graphical interface was developed to enable the visualisation of the free surface and the influence of the parameters. The speed- ups obtained were good. Convergence of the iterative solution method used was good for gated spillways. Some problems experienced with the non-gated spillways have lead to a discussion and tests of the potential factors of instability

IAC user manual

The User Manual for the Integrated Analysis Capability (IAC) Level 1 system is presented. The IAC system currently supports the thermal, structures, controls and system dynamics technologies, and its development is influenced by the requirements for design/analysis of large space systems. The system has many features which make it applicable to general problems in engineering, and to management of data and software. Information includes basic IAC operation, executive commands, modules, solution paths, data organization and storage, IAC utilities, and module implementation

Myths and Legends in High-Performance Computing

In this thought-provoking article, we discuss certain myths and legends that are folklore among members of the high-performance computing community. We gathered these myths from conversations at conferences and meetings, product advertisements, papers, and other communications such as tweets, blogs, and news articles within and beyond our community. We believe they represent the zeitgeist of the current era of massive change, driven by the end of many scaling laws such as Dennard scaling and Moore's law. While some laws end, new directions are emerging, such as algorithmic scaling or novel architecture research. Nevertheless, these myths are rarely based on scientific facts, but rather on some evidence or argumentation. In fact, we believe that this is the very reason for the existence of many myths and why they cannot be answered clearly. While it feels like there should be clear answers for each, some may remain endless philosophical debates, such as whether Beethoven was better than Mozart. We would like to see our collection of myths as a discussion of possible new directions for research and industry investment

Approximations useful for the prediction of electrostatic discharges for simple electrode geometries

The report provides approximations for estimating the capacitance and the ratio of electric field strength to potential for a certain class of electrode geometries. The geometry consists of an electrode near a grounded plane, with the electrode being a surface of revolution about the perpendicular to the plane. Some examples which show the accuracy of the capacitance estimate and the accuracy of the estimate of electric field over potential can be found in the appendix. When it is possible to estimate the potential of the electrode, knowing the ratio of electric field to potential will help to determine if an electrostatic discharge is likely to occur. Knowing the capacitance will help to determine the strength of the discharge (the energy released by it) if it does occur. A brief discussion of discharge mechanisms is given. The medium between the electrode and the grounded plane may be a neutral gas, a vacuum, or an unchanged homogeneous isotropic dielectric

Three-dimensional modelling of generalized Newtonian fluids in domains including obstructions

Three dimensional flow regimes are encountered in many types of industrial flow processes such as filtration, mixing, reaction engineering, polymerization and polymer forming as well as environmental systems. Thus, the analyses of phenomena involved fluid flow are of great importance and have been subject of numerous ongoing research projects. The analysis of these important phenomena can be conducted in laboratory through experiments or simply by using the emerging computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques. But when dealing with three dimensional fluid flow problems, the complexities encountered make the analysis via the traditional experimental techniques a daunting task. For this reason, researchers often prefer to use the CFD techniques which with some care taken, often produce accurate and stable results while maintaining cost as low as possible. Many CFD codes have been developed and tested in the past decades and the results have been successful and thus encouraging researchers to develop new codes and/or improve existing codes for the solutions of real world problems. In this present project, CFD techniques are used to simulate the fluid flow phenomena of interest by solving the flow governing equations numerically through the use of a personal computer. The aim of this present research is to develop a robust and reliable technique which includes a novel aspect for the solution of three dimensional generalized Newtonian fluids in domains including obstructions, and this must be done bearing in mind that both accuracy and cost efficiency have to be achieved. To this end, the finite element method (FEM) is chosen as the CFD computational method. There are many existing FEM techniques namely the streamline upwind Petrov-Galerkin methods, the streamline diffusion methods, the Taylor-Galerkin methods, among others. But after a thorough analysis of the physical conditions (geometries, governing equations, boundary conditions, assumptions …) of the fluid flow problems to be solve in this project, the appropriate scheme chosen is the UVWP family of the mixed finite element methods. It is scheme originally developed to solve two dimensional fluid flow problems but since the scheme produced accurate and stable results for two dimensional problems, then attempt is made in this present study to develop a new version of the UVWP scheme for the numerical analysis of three dimensional fluid flow problems. But, after some initial results obtained using the developed three dimensional scheme, investigations were made during the course of this study on how to speed up solutions’ convergence without affecting the cost efficiency of the scheme. The outcomes of these investigations yield to the development of a novel scheme named the modified three dimensional UVWP scheme. Thus a computer model based on these two numerical schemes (UVWP and the Modified UVWP) is developed, tested, and validated through some benchmark problems, and then the model is used to solve some complicated tests problems in this study. Results obtained are accurate, and stable, moreover, the cost efficiency of the computer model must be mentioned because all the simulations carried out are done using a simple personal computer