Test and evaluation of the HIDEC engine uptrim algorithm

The highly integrated digital electronic control (HIDEC) program will demonstrate and evaluate the improvements in performance and mission effectiveness that result from integrated engine-airframe control systems. Performance improvements will result from an adaptive engine stall margin mode, a highly integrated mode that uses the airplane flight conditions and the resulting inlet distortion to continuously compute engine stall margin. When there is excessive stall margin, the engine is uptrimmed for more thrust by increasing engine pressure ratio (EPR). The EPR uptrim logic has been evaluated and implemented into computer simulations. Thrust improvements over 10 percent are predicted for subsonic flight conditions. The EPR uptrim was successfully demonstrated during engine ground tests. Test results verify model predictions at the conditions tested

Real-time in-flight thrust calculation on a digital electronic engine control-equipped F100 engine in an F-15 airplane

Computer algorithms which calculate in-flight engine and aircraft performance real-time are discussed. The first step was completed with the implementation of a real-time thrust calculation program on a digital electronic engine control (DEEC) equiped F100 engine in an F-15 aircraft. The in-flight thrust modifications that allow calculations to be performed in real-time, to compare results to predictions, are presented

Predicted performance benefits of an adaptive digital engine control system of an F-15 airplane

The highly integrated digital electronic control (HIDEC) program will demonstrate and evaluate the improvements in performance and mission effectiveness that result from integrating engine-airframe control systems. Currently this is accomplished on the NASA Ames Research Center's F-15 airplane. The two control modes used to implement the systems are an integrated flightpath management mode and in integrated adaptive engine control system (ADECS) mode. The ADECS mode is a highly integrated mode in which the airplane flight conditions, the resulting inlet distortion, and the available engine stall margin are continually computed. The excess stall margin is traded for thrust. The predicted increase in engine performance due to the ADECS mode is presented in this report

Automated seed manipulation and planting

The Mechanical Division fabricated three seed separators utilizing pressure gradients to move and separate wheat seeds. These separators are called minnow buckets and use air, water, or a combination of both to generate the pressure gradient. Electrostatic fields were employed in the seed separator constructed by the Electrical Division. This separator operates by forcing a temporary electric dipole on the wheat seeds and using charged electrodes to attract and move the seeds. Seed delivery to the hydroponic growth tray is accomplished by the seed cassette. The cassette is compatible with all the seed separators, and it consists of a plastic tube threaded with millipore filter paper. During planting operations, the seeds are placed in an empty cassette. The loaded cassette is then placed in the growth tray and nutrient solution provided. The solution wets the filter paper and capillary action draws the nutrients up to feed the seeds. These seeding systems were tested and showed encouraging results. Seeds were effectively separated and the cassette can support the growth of wheat plants. Problems remaining to be investigated include improving the success of delivering the seeds to the cassette and providing adequate spacing between seeds for the electric separator

Automated seed manipulation and planting

Activities for the Fall Semester, 1987 focused on investigating the mechanical/electrical properties of wheat seeds and forming various Seed Planting System (SPS) concepts based on those properties. The Electrical Division of the design group was formed to devise an SPS using electrostatic charge fields for seeding operations. Experiments concerning seed separation using electrical induction (rearranging of the charges within the seed) were conducted with promising results. The seeds, when exposed to the high voltage and low current field produced by a Van de Graff generator, were observed to move back and forth between two electrodes. An SPS concept has been developed based on this phenomena, and will be developed throughout the Spring Semester, 1988. The Mechanical Division centered on SPS concepts involving valves, pumps, and fluids to separate and deliver seeds. An SPS idea utilizing the pressure difference caused by air as it rushes out of holes drilled in the wall of a closed container has been formulated and will be considered for future development. Also, a system of seed separation and delivery employing a combination of centrifugal force, friction, and air flow was considered

Quantum Gravity and Equivariant Cohomology

A procedure for obtaining correlation function densities and wavefunctionals for quantum gravity from the Donaldson polynomial invariants of topological quantum field theories, is given. We illustrate how our procedure may be applied to three and four dimensional quantum gravity. Detailed expressions, derived from \sbft{}, are given in the three dimensional case. A procedure for normalizing these wavefunctionals is proposed.Comment: CTP-2340, 30 pgs., LaTeX Certain points are further elaborated on, typo's are corrected and one reference and acknowledgment adde

Neutron/proton ratio of nucleon emissions as a probe of neutron skin

The dependence between neutron-to-proton yield ratio ($R_{np}$) and neutron skin thickness ($\delta_{np}$) in neutron-rich projectile induced reactions is investigated within the framework of the Isospin-Dependent Quantum Molecular Dynamics (IQMD) model. The density distribution of the Droplet model is embedded in the initialization of the neutron and proton densities in the present IQMD model. By adjusting the diffuseness parameter of neutron density in the Droplet model for the projectile, the relationship between the neutron skin thickness and the corresponding $R_{np}$ in the collisions is obtained. The results show strong linear correlation between $R_{np}$ and $\delta_{np}$ for neutron-rich Ca and Ni isotopes. It is suggested that $R_{np}$ may be used as an experimental observable to extract $\delta_{np}$ for neutron-rich nuclei, which is very significant to the study of the nuclear structure of exotic nuclei and the equation of state (EOS) of asymmetric nuclear matter.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures; accepted by Phys. Lett.

Theory of Multiphonon Excitation in Heavy-Ion Collisions

We study the effects of channel coupling in the excitation dynamics of giant resonances in relativistic heavy ions collisions. For this purpose, we use a semiclassical approximation to the Coupled-Channels problem and separate the Coulomb and the nuclear parts of the coupling into their main multipole components. In order to assess the importance of multi-step processes, we neglect the resonance widths and solve the set of coupled equations exactly. Finite widths are then considered. In this case, we handle the coupling of the ground state with the dominant Giant Dipole Resonance exactly and study the excitation of the remaining resonances within the Coupled-Channels Born Approximation. A comparison with recent experimental data is made.Comment: 29 pages, 7 Postscript figures available upon reques

MOMDIS: a Glauber model computer code for knockout reactions

A computer program is described to calculate momentum distributions in stripping and diffraction dissociation reactions. A Glauber model is used with the scattering wavefunctions calculated in the eikonal approximation. The program is appropriate for knockout reactions at intermediate energy collisions (30 MeV $\leq$ E$_{lab}/$nucleon $\leq 2000$ MeV). It is particularly useful for reactions involving unstable nuclear beams, or exotic nuclei (e.g. neutron-rich nuclei), and studies of single-particle occupancy probabilities (spectroscopic factors) and other related physical observables. Such studies are an essential part of the scientific program of radioactive beam facilities, as in for instance the proposed RIA (Rare Isotope Accelerator) facility in the US.Comment: 22 pages. Accepted for publication in Computer Physics Communications. Code available from CPC web sit

Evolutionary Signatures in the Formation of Low-Mass Protostars. II. Towards Reconciling Models and Observations

A long-standing problem in low-mass star formation is the "luminosity problem," whereby protostars are underluminous compared to the accretion luminosity expected both from theoretical collapse calculations and arguments based on the minimum accretion rate necessary to form a star within the embedded phase duration. Motivated by this luminosity problem, we present a set of evolutionary models describing the collapse of low-mass, dense cores into protostars, using the Young & Evans (2005) model as our starting point. We calculate the radiative transfer of the collapsing cores throughout the full duration of the collapse in two dimensions. From the resulting spectral energy distributions, we calculate standard observational signatures to directly compare to observations. We incorporate several modifications and additions to the original Young & Evans model in an effort to better match observations with model predictions. We find that scattering, 2-D geometry, mass-loss, and outflow cavities all affect the model predictions, as expected, but none resolve the luminosity problem. A cycle of episodic mass accretion, however, can resolve this problem and bring the model predictions into better agreement with observations. Standard assumptions about the interplay between mass accretion and mass loss in our model give star formation efficiencies consistent with recent observations that compare the core mass function (CMF) and stellar initial mass function (IMF). The combination of outflow cavities and episodic mass accretion reduce the connection between observational Class and physical Stage to the point where neither of the two common observational signatures (bolometric temperature and ratio of bolometric to submillimeter luminosity) can be considered reliable indicators of physical Stage.Comment: 27 pages. Accepted for publication in Ap