Thermal modeling environment for TMT

In a previous study we had presented a summary of the TMT Aero-Thermal modeling effort to support thermal seeing and dynamic loading estimates. In this paper a summary of the current status of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations for TMT is presented, with the focus shifted in particular towards the synergy between CFD and the TMT Finite Element Analysis (FEA) structural and optical models, so that the thermal and consequent optical deformations of the telescope can be calculated. To minimize thermal deformations and mirror seeing the TMT enclosure will be air conditioned during day-time to the expected night-time ambient temperature. Transient simulations with closed shutter were performed to investigate the optimum cooling configuration and power requirements for the standard telescope parking position. A complete model of the observatory on Mauna Kea was used to calculate night-time air temperature inside the enclosure (along with velocity and pressure) for a matrix of given telescope orientations and enclosure configurations. Generated records of temperature variations inside the air volume of the optical paths are also fed into the TMT thermal seeing model. The temperature and heat transfer coefficient outputs from both models are used as input surface boundary conditions in the telescope structure and optics FEA models. The results are parameterized so that sequential records several days long can be generated and used by the FEA model to estimate the observing spatial and temporal temperature range of the structure and optics

Environmental Noise Mapping as a Smart Urban Tool Development

Since the European Directive 2002/49, large transportation infrastructure along with large urban areas should have completed strategic noise maps (SNM) and the relative noise action plans (NAP). The majority of European Member States (MS) has enforced this directive and completed fully or, in some cases, partially, with European smart cities to use and share the same criteria and methodologies and along with transport operators to communicate to the public the relevant results and respective action plans by ensuring the citizen’s awareness about the environmental noise, the quality acoustic environment, and their effect to their professional and everyday lifestyle. Today, 18 years after its first edition, the European Directive 2002/49/EC is needed to be reformulated to take into account all defects that have been identified and to adapt as well as possible to contemporary constraints. New methodology tools have been developed especially regarding soundscaping and environmental acoustic rehabilitation of urban areas, and the respective chapter will describe the progress being made on these smart developments of cities and infrastructures. This chapter will also evoke criticisms of these smart tools and will present results from several—state of the art—case studies especially regarding the practical and theoretical limits they face

Airborne and Ground-Borne Noise and Vibration from Urban Rail Transit Systems

The environmental effect of ground-borne vibration and noise generated by urban rail transit systems is a growing concern in urban areas. This chapter reviews, synthesizes and benchmarks new understandings related to railway vibration and associated airborne and ground-borne noise. The aim is to provide new thinking on how to predict noise and vibration levels from numerical modelling and from readily available conventional site investigation data. Recent results from some European metropoles (Brussels, Athens, etc.) are used to illustrate the dynamic effect of urban railway vehicles. It is also proved that train type and the contact conditions at the wheel/rail interface can be influential in the generation of vibration. The use of noise-mapping-based results offers an efficient and rapid way to evaluate mitigation measures in a large scale regarding the noise exposure generated to dense urban railway traffic. It is hoped that this information may provide assistance to future researchers attempting to simulate railway vehicle vibration and noise

Statistical approach to systems engineering for the Thirty Meter Telescope

Core components of systems engineering are the proper understanding of the top level system requirements, their allocation to the subsystems, and then the verification of the system built against these requirements. System performance, ultimately relevant to all three of these components, is inherently a statistical variable, depending on random processes influencing even the otherwise deterministic components of performance, through their input conditions. The paper outlines the Stochastic Framework facilitating both the definition and estimate of system performance in a consistent way. The environmental constraints at the site of the observatory are significant design drivers and can be derived from the Stochastic Framework, as well. The paper explains the control architecture capable of achieving the overall system performance as well as its allocation to subsystems. An accounting for the error and disturbance sources, as well as their dependence on environmental and operational parameters is included. The most current simulations results validating the architecture and providing early verification of the preliminary TMT design are also summarized

Unsteady wind loads for TMT: Replacing parametric models with CFD

Unsteady wind loads due to turbulence inside the telescope enclosure result in image jitter and higher-order image degradation due to M1 segment motion. Advances in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) allow unsteady simulations of the flow around realistic telescope geometry, in order to compute the unsteady forces due to wind turbulence. These simulations can then be used to understand the characteristics of the wind loads. Previous estimates used a parametric model based on a number of assumptions about the wind characteristics, such as a von Karman spectrum and frozen-flow turbulence across M1, and relied on CFD only to estimate parameters such as mean wind speed and turbulent kinetic energy. Using the CFD-computed forces avoids the need for assumptions regarding the flow. We discuss here both the loads on the telescope that lead to image jitter, and the spatially-varying force distribution across the primary mirror, using simulations with the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) geometry. The amplitude, temporal spectrum, and spatial distribution of wind disturbances are all estimated; these are then used to compute the resulting image motion and degradation. There are several key differences relative to our earlier parametric model. First, the TMT enclosure provides sufficient wind reduction at the top end (near M2) to render the larger cross-sectional structural areas further inside the enclosure (including M1) significant in determining the overall image jitter. Second, the temporal spectrum is not von Karman as the turbulence is not fully developed; this applies both in predicting image jitter and M1 segment motion. And third, for loads on M1, the spatial characteristics are not consistent with propagating a frozen-flow turbulence screen across the mirror: Frozen flow would result in a relationship between temporal frequency content and spatial frequency content that does not hold in the CFD predictions. Incorporating the new estimates of wind load characteristics into TMT response predictions leads to revised estimates of the response of TMT to wind turbulence, and validates the aerodynamic design of the enclosure

Numerical Simulations of Incompressible Flows in Complex Geometries.

A mainly spectral code along with domain-decomposition, a combination that is not widely in use in complex problems, has been developed for the solution of the 3-D unsteady incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. The code uses fully spectral or a combination of spectral-collocation and finite difference approximations and a 3-step splitting time-marching scheme. The developed Poisson solver utilizes matrix diagonalization and incorporates a direct sub-structuring method based on the influence matrix technique. As a first step, laminar and turbulent confined flows were simulated, initially with DNS, then with LES, using a modified Smagorinksi model. The domain-decomposition technique and parallel implementation were tested on the Poisson solver. The study focused on fluid flow phenomena and did not involve chemical reactions. We compared our calculations with numerical experiments performed on turbulent developed channel and pipe flow at Retau = 180. Annular flow, interesting but less popular, was also simulated. Finally we attempted to approach the problem of pipe flow with sudden expansion (confined jet) at low and moderate Reynolds numbers to investigate the ability of the code to handle complex geometries

Wind loads on ground-based telescopes

One of the factors that can influence the performance of large optical telescopes is the vibration of the telescope structure due to unsteady wind inside the telescope enclosure. Estimating the resulting degradation in image quality has been difficult because of the relatively poor understanding of the flow characteristics. Significant progress has recently been made, informed by measurements in existing observatories, wind-tunnel tests, and computational fluid dynamic analyses. We combine the information from these sources to summarize the relevant wind characteristics and enable a model of the dynamic wind loads on a telescope structure within an enclosure. The amplitude, temporal spectrum, and spatial distribution of wind disturbances are defined as a function of relevant design parameters, providing a significant improvement in our understanding of an important design issue

Thermal modeling of the TMT Telescope

Thermal modeling of the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) was conducted for evaluations of thermal performances by finite element (FE) and optical analysis tools. The thermal FE models consist of the telescope optical assembly systems, instruments, laser facility, control and electronic equipments, and telescope structural members. A three-consecutive-day thermal environment data was implemented for the thermal boundary created by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based on the environment conditions of the TMT site. Temporal and spatial temperature distributions of the optical assembly systems and the telescope structure were calculated under the environmental thermal conditions including air convections, conductions, heat flux loadings, and radiations. With the calculated temperature distributions, the thermo-elastic analysis was performed to predict thermal deformations of the telescope structure and the optical systems. The line of sight calculation was made using the thermally induced deformations of the optics and structures. Merit function routines (MFR) were utilized to calculate the Optical Path Difference (OPD) maps after repositioning the optics based on a best fit of M1 segment deformations. The goal of this thermal modeling is to integrate the mechanical and optical deformations in order to simulate the thermal effects with the TMT site environment data from CFD

Ground-borne noise and vibration transmitted from subway networks to multi-storey reinforced concrete buildings

During the operation of urban subway rail transit systems, vibrations are generated that transmitted through the soil, induce vibrations in nearby buildings. The transmission of ground-borne vibrations from subway rail transit systems in a building is governed by the soil-foundation interaction, the reduction of vibration level between floors, and the amplication due to resonances of building elements. These are influenced by the type of the building, its construction materials, the foundation soil, and the frequency content of the excitation. A methodology is proposed for the determination of the sound vibration along the height of the building for a specic construction type, demonstrating how the attenuation and amplication parameters can be calculated. For this particular building type, a notable amplication of the vibration due to floor and other structural resonances was found, whereas the vibration and hence the radiated noise levels are similar from the first floor up. An overall building amplication factor is proposed, taking into account all the above mentioned transmission mechanisms. First published online 04 September 201