Satellite Measurements of Middle Atmospheric Impacts by Solar Proton Events in Solar Cycle 23

Solar cycle 23 was extremely active with seven of the largest twelve solar proton events (SPEs) in the past forty years recorded. These events caused significant polar middle atmospheric changes that were observed by a number of satellites. The highly energetic protons produced ionizations, excitations, dissociations, and dissociative ionizations of the background constituents in the polar cap regions (>60 degrees geomagnetic latitude), which led to the production of HO_x (H, OH, HO₂) and NO_y (N, NO, NO₂, NO₃, N₂O₅, HNO₃, HO₂NO₂, BrONO₂, ClONO₂). The HO_x increases led to short-lived ozone decreases in the polar mesosphere and upper stratosphere due to the short lifetimes of the HO_x constituents. Polar middle mesospheric ozone decreases greater than 50 % were observed and computed to last for hours to days due to the enhanced HO_x. The NO_y increases led to long-lived polar stratospheric ozone changes because of the long lifetime of the NO_y family in this region. Upper stratospheric ozone decreases of >10 % were computed to last for several months past the solar events in the winter polar regions because of the enhanced NO_y.     

Springback prediction of thick-walled high-strength titanium tube bending

Significant springback occurs after tube rotary-draw-bending （RDB）, especially for a high-strength Ti-3A1-2.5V tube （HSTT） due to its high ratio of yield strength to Young＇s modulus. The combination scheme of explicit and implicit is preferred to predict the springback. This simulation strategy includes several numerical parameters, such as element type, number of elements through thickness （NEL）, element size, etc. However, the influences of these parameters on spring- back prediction accuracy are not fully understood. Thus, taking the geometrical specification 9.525 mm × 0.508 mm ofa HSTT as the objective, the effects of numerical parameters on prediction accuracy and computation efficiency of springback simulation of HSTT RDB are investigated. The simulated springback results are compared with experimental ones. The main results are： （1） solid and continuum-shell elements predict the experimental results well; （2） for C3DSR elements, NEL of at least 3 is required to obtain reliable results and a relative error of 29% can occur as NEL is varied in the range of 1-3; （3） specifying damping factor typically works well in Abaqus/Emplicit simulation of springback and the springback results are sensitive to the magnitude of damping factor. In addition, the explanations of the effect rules are given and a guideline is added.     

Radical recombination in a hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet nozzle

To reveal the radical recombination process in the scramjet nozzle flow and study the effects of various factors of the recombination, weighted essentially non-oscillatory(WENO)schemes are applied to solve the decoupled two-dimensional Euler equations with chemical reactions to simulate the hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet nozzle flow. The accuracy of the numerical method is verified with the measurements obtained by a shock tunnel experiment. The overall model length is nearly 0.5 m, with inlet static temperatures ranging from 2000 K to 3000 K, inlet static pressures ranging from 75 k Pa to 175 k Pa, and inlet Mach numbers of 2.0 ± 0.4 are involved.The fraction Damkohler number is defined as functions of static temperature and pressure to analyze the radical recombination progresses. Preliminary results indicate that the energy releasing process depends on different chemical reaction processes and species group contributions. In hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet nozzle flow, reactions with H have the greatest contribution during the chemical equilibrium shift. The contrast and analysis of the simulation results show that the radical recombination processes influenced by inflow conditions and nozzle scales are consistent with Damkohler numbers and potential dissociation energy release. The increase of inlet static temperature improves both of them, thus making the chemical non-equilibrium effects on the nozzle performance more significant. While the increase of inlet static pressure improves the former one and reduces the latter, it exerts little influence on the chemical non-equilibrium effects.     

Effect of dilution holes on the performance of a triple swirler combustor

A triple swirler combustor is considered to be a promising solution for future high temperature rise combustors. The present paper aims to study dilution holes including primary dilution holes and secondary dilution holes on the performance of a triple swirler combustor. Experimental investigations are conducted at different inlet airflow velocities(40–70 m/s) and combustor overall fuel–air ratio with fixed inlet airflow temperature(473 K) and atmospheric pressure. The experimental results show that the ignition is very difficult with specific performance of high ignition fuel–air ratio when the primary dilution holes are located 0.6H(where H is the liner dome height)downstream the dome, while the other four cases have almost the same ignition performance. The position of primary dilution holes has an effect on lean blowout stability and has a large influence on combustion efficiency. The combustion efficiency is the highest when the primary dilution holes are placed 0.9H downstream the dome among the five different locations.For the secondary dilution holes, the pattern factor of Design A is better than that of Design B.     

Parametric analyses for synthetic jet control on separation and stall over rotor airfoil

Numerical simulations are performed to investigate the effects of synthetic jet control on separation and stall over rotor airfoils. The preconditioned and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations coupled with a k x shear stream transport turbulence model are employed to accomplish the flowfield simulation of rotor airfoils under jet control. Additionally,a velocity boundary condition modeled by a sinusoidal function is developed to fulfill the perturbation effect of periodic jets. The validity of the present CFD procedure is evaluated by the simulated results of an isolated synthetic jet and the jet control case for airfoil NACA0015. Then, parametric analyses are conducted specifically for an OA213 rotor airfoil to investigate the effects of jet parameters(forcing frequency, jet location and momentum coefficient, jet direction, and distribution of jet arrays) on the control effect of the aerodynamic characteristics of a rotor airfoil. Preliminary results indicate that the efficiency of jet control can be improved with specific frequencies(the best lift-drag ratio at F+= 2.0) and jet angles(40 or 75) when the jets are located near the separation point of the rotor airfoil. Furthermore, as a result of a suitable combination of jet arrays, the lift coefficient of the airfoil can be improved by nearly 100%, and the corresponding drag coefficient decreased by26.5% in comparison with the single point control case.     

Experimental study on NOx emission correlation of fuel staged combustion in a LPP combustor at high pressure based on NO-chemiluminescence

Experimental investigations on NO_x emissions of a single-cup, Lean Premixed Prevaporized (LPP), module combustor were carried out at elevated inlet temperature and pressure up to 810 K and 2.0 MPa, close to the real operating conditions of aero-engine combustors. This LPP combustor adopts centrally staged fuel injections which could produce separated stratified swirling spray flame. In the NO_x emissions measurements, the ranges of dome equivalence ratio and fuel stage ratio were from 0.55 to 0.58 and 8% to 24%, respectively. The optical diagnosis on separated stratified swirling spray flame were carried out with fuel stage ratio changing from 15% to 30%. Therefore, NO* and OH* chemiluminescence images were obtained. The results show that NO_x emissions increase with the increase of the fuel stage ratio. And from the chemiluminescence images, the main flame and pilot flame are found weakly coupled. The pilot flame plays a significant role in NO_x emission production because of its higher adiabatic flame temperature. Based on the results of chemiluminescence optical tests, a new NO_x emission prediction model is proposed based on the Lefebvre’s single flame model. The estimate of local equivalence ratio of the pilot stage’s non-premixed flame is modified considering the characteristics of spray combustion, and a “PLUS” emission prediction model suitable for separated stratified swirling spray flame is obtained. Compared to the experimental data, the “PLUS” model exhibits a good prediction in a range of ±13% of deviation.     

SCC investigation of low alloy ultra-high strength steel 30CrMnSiNi2A in 3.5wt%NaCl solution by slow strain rate technique

To evaluate stress corrosion cracking(SCC) mechanism of low alloy ultra-high strength steel 30CrMnSiNi2 A in environment containing NaCl, SCC behavior of the steel in 3.5wt% NaCl solution is investigated by slow strain rate technique(SSRT) with various strain rates and applied potentials, surface analysis technique, and electrochemical measurements. SCC susceptibility of the steel increases rapidly with strain rate decreasing from 1 · 10 5s 1to 5 · 10 7s 1, and becomes stable when strain rate is lower than 5 · 10 7s 1. SCC propagation of the steel in the solution at open circuit potential(OCP) needs sufficient hydrogen which is supplied at a certain strain rate.Fracture surface at OCP has similar characteristics with that at cathodic polarization 1000 mVSCE, which presents characteristic fractography of hydrogen induced cracking(HIC).All of these indicate that SCC behavior of the steel in the solution at OCP is mainly controlled by HIC rather than anodic dissolution(AD).     

Surface integrity and fatigue behavior when turning γ-TiAl alloy with optimized PVD-coated carbide inserts

This paper presents a comprehensive investigation on the effects of tool and turning parameters on surface integrity and fatigue behavior in turning c-Ti Al alloy. The wear of inserts surface, cutting forces, and surface roughness were studied to optimize PVD-coated carbide inserts.Surface topography, residual stresses, microhardness, and microstructure were analyzed to characterize the surfaces layer under different turning parameters. Surface integrity and fatigue life tests of c-Ti Al alloy were conducted under turning and turning-polishing processes. The results show that compared to CNMG120412-MF4, CNMG120408-SM is more suitable because it obtained low cutting force, surface roughness, and tool wear. With increasing the cutting speed and depth, the depths of the compressive residual stress layer, hardening layer, and plastic deformation layer increased. For turning and turning-polishing specimens, the compressive residual stress was relaxed by less than 20%–30% after 10~7 cycles. The fatigue life of a turning-polishing specimen with R_a= 0.15 mm has increased 3 times from that of a turning specimen with R_a= 0.43 mm.     

Fatigue crack propagation of new aluminum lithium alloy bonded with titanium alloy strap

A new type of aluminum lithium alloy (Al-Li alloy) Al-Li-S-4 was investigated by test in this paper. Alloy plate of 400 mm · 140 mm · 6 mm with single edge notch was made into samples bonded with Ti-6Al-4V alloy (Ti alloy) strap by FM 94 film adhesive after the surface was treated. Fatigue crack growth of samples was investigated under cyclic loading with stress ratio (R) of 0.1 and load amplitude constant. The results show that Al-Li alloy plate bonded with Ti alloy strap could retard fatigue crack propagation. Retardation effect is related with width and thickness of strap. Flaws have an observable effect on crack propagation direction.     

An approach for parameter estimation of combined CPPM and LFM radar signal

In this paper, the problem of parameter estimation of the combined radar signal adopting chaotic pulse position modulation (CPPM) and linear frequency modulation (LFM), which can be widely used in electronic countermeasures, is addressed. An approach is proposed to estimate the initial frequency and chirp rate of the combined signal by exploiting the second-order cyclostationarity of the intra-pulse signal. In addition, under the condition of the equal pulse width, the pulse repetition interval (PRI) of the combined signal is predicted using the low-order Volterra adaptive filter. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed cyclic autocorrelation Hough transform (CHT) algorithm is theoretically tolerant to additive white Gaussian noise. When the value of signal noise to ratio (SNR) is less than 4 dB, it can still estimate the intra-pulse parameters well. When SNR = 3 dB, a good prediction of the PRI sequence can be achieved by the Volterra adaptive filter algorithm, even only 100 training samples.     

Temperature effect on buckling properties of ultra-thin-walled lenticular collapsible composite tube subjected to axial compression

This paper seeks to outline the temperature effect on the buckling properties of ultra-thin-walled lenticular collapsible composite tube(LCCT) subjected to axial compression.The buckling tests of the LCCT specimens subjected to axial compression were carried out on INSTRON-500 N servo-hydraulic machine in dry state and at the temperatures of 25 C, 100 C and 80 C. The load–displacement curves and buckling initiation loads were measured and the buckling initiation mechanism was discussed from experimental observations. Experiments show that the buckling initiation load, on average, is only about 2.2% greater at the low temperature of 80 C than at the room temperature of 25 C due to the material hardening, demonstrating an insignificant increase in the buckling initiation load, whereas it is about 19.5% lower at the high temperature of 100 C than at the room temperature owing to the material softening, implying a significant decrease in the buckling initiation load. The failure mode of the LCCT in axial compression tests at three different temperatures can be reckoned to be characteristic of the buckling initiation and propagation around the central region until rupture. The finite element(FE) model is presented to simulate the buckling initiation mechanism based on the eigenvalue-based methodology. Good correlation between experimental and numerical results is achieved.     

NOx emissions of turbofan powered unmanned aerial vehicle for complete flight cycle

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been getting more and more popular in both civil and military arena. Similar to manned aircraft, their propulsion systems or engines emit harmful gases such as nitrogen oxides. Since UAVs have different mission profiles and operational parameters than manned aircraft, it is worthy to investigate their NO_x emissions. Therefore, in this study, NO_x emissions of a turbofan powered UAV for complete flight cycle was calculated and optimized within a range of altitude and speed parameters. NO_x emissions were calculated based on ICAO ground test data and corrected to any speed and altitude during flight legs using both Boeing Fuel Flow Method 2 and DLR Fuel Flow Method. Total NO_x emissions were calculated for complete flight cycles for different altitude and speed parameters. Numerical results were presented graphically and additionally optimization studies were conducted. Optimization studies include determination and comparison of speed and altitude for minimum NO_x emissions by the two fuel flow methods and maximum loiter time achievable by UAV.     

Effects of different aging treatments on microstructures and mechanical properties of Al-Cu-Li alloy joints welded by electron beam welding

Post-weld single aging treatment(solution treatment at 510 ℃ for 1 h, water quenching,and aging at 155 ℃ for 16 h) and post-weld double aging treatment(solution treatment at 510 ℃ for 1 h, water quenching, aging at 155 ℃ for 16 h, and aging at 130 ℃ for 12 h) are carried out on Al-Cu-Li alloy joints by electron beam welding(EBW) respectively. The effects of aging treatments on microstructures and mechanical properties of welded joints are investigated. Results show that the mechanical properties of welded joints are obviously improved after both aging treatments. The strength coefficient of joints is increased from 0.64 in an as-welded condition(AW) to 0.90 after post-weld double aging treatment. Microstructure analysis shows that the precipitates of the fusion zone within grains and grain boundaries are less in the AW condition. After post-weld heat treatment(PWHT), a lot of fine needle-like phases T_1(Al_2 Cu Li) precipitate in grain boundaries of the fusion zone, and more horseshoe-shaped β' (Al_3 Zr) particles precipitate within grains. In addition,grains of the fusion zone are refined after post-weld double aging treatment, which leads to an effect of grain refinement strengthening. Consequently, the mechanical properties of welded joints are greatly improved.     

Experimental investigations on the power extraction of a turbine driven by a pulse detonation combustor

In order to grasp the interaction mechanism between the pulse detonation combustor（PDC）and the turbine,the experimental work in this paper investigates the key factors on the power extraction of a turbocharger turbine driven by a PDC.A PDC consisting of an unvalved tube is integrated with a turbocharger turbine which has a nominal mass flow rate of 0.6 kg/s and50000 r/min.The PDC-turbine hybrid engine is operated on gasoline-air mixtures and runs for6＋min to achieve a thermal steady state,and then the engine performance is evaluated under different operating conditions.Results show that the momentum difference per unit area between the turbine inlet and outlet plays an important role in the power extraction,while the pressure peak of the detonation has little effect.The equivalence ratio of fuel and air mixture and the transition structure between PDC and turbine are also important to the power extraction of the turbine.The present work is promising as it suggests that the performance beneft of a PDC-turbine hybrid engine can be realized by increasing the momentum difference per unit area through the optimal design of transition section between the PDC and turbine.     

Brazing of C/C composite and Ti-6Al-4V with graphene strengthened AgCuTi filler: Effects of graphene on wettability,microstructure and mechanical properties

Graphene nanosheets(GNSs) strengthened AgCuTi composite filler(AgCuTi_G) was used to braze C/C composite and Ti-6Al-4V. The effects of GNSs on the wettability of AgCuTi_G filler on the C/C composite surface and the interfacial microstructure and mechanical properties of brazed joints were investigated. The results indicate that the addition of GNSs reduced the wettability of AgCuTi_G. The interfacial microstructure of brazed joints evolved with the addition of GNSs, where Ti_3Cu_4 and TiCu_4 were converted to TiCu and the thickness of the reaction layer adjacent to the base material decreased. The maximum shear strength of joints brazed at 0.3 wt% GNSs was 23.3 MPa(880℃/10 min). Further adding GNSs deteriorated the shear strength of the joints. Fracture of the joints occurred in the C/C composite substrate and the TiC layer adjacent to C/C composite.     

Numerical analysis of hypersonic thermochemical non-equilibrium environment for an entry configuration in ionized flow

A theoretical methodology for thermochemical non-equilibrium flow combing with the HLLC (Harten-Lax-van Leer Contact) scheme was applied to study the hypersonic thermochemical non-equilibrium environment of an entry configuration in ionized flow. A two-temperature controlling model was utilized and the Gupta’s 11 species (N₂, O₂, NO, O, N, NO⁺, N₂⁺, O₂⁺, N⁺, O⁺, e^?) thermochemical non-equilibrium model was taken. Firstly, numerical calculations of hypersonic thermochemical non-equilibrium environments for different aerodynamic shapes were carried out to verify the reliability of the method above. Then, the method was used to research the effects of ionization and wall catalysis on the hypersonic thermochemical non-equilibrium environment of the entry configuration in ionized flow. The shock stand-off distance can be reduced by thermochemical reactions but doesn’t continue to decrease significantly when ionization occurs. The shock stand-off distance calculated by the 11 species model is 4.2% smaller than that calculated by the 5 species (N₂, O₂, NO, O, N) thermochemical non-equilibrium model without considering ionization. Ionization reduces wall heat flux but increases wall pressure a little. The effect of ionization on aerothermal loads is greater than that of aerodynamic loads. The thermochemical reactions of electrons and ions catalyzed at the wall increase wall heat flux significantly but make a small change in wall pressure. The maximum wall heat flux obtained by only considering the electrons and ions catalyzed at the partially catalytic wall condition is 11.8% less than that calculated at the super-catalytic wall condition.     

Matching suitable feature construction for SAR images based on evolutionary synthesis strategy

In the paper,a set of algorithms to construct synthetic aperture radar（SAR）matching suitable features are frstly proposed based on the evolutionary synthesis strategy.During the process,on the one hand,the indexes of primary matching suitable features（PMSFs）are designed based on the characteristics of image texture,SAR imaging and SAR matching algorithm,which is a process involving expertise;on the other hand,by designing a synthesized operation expression tree based on PMSFs,a much more flexible expression form of synthesized features is built,which greatly expands the construction space.Then,the genetic algorithm-based optimized searching process is employed to search the synthesized matching suitable feature（SMSF）with the highest effciency,largely improving the optimized searching effciency.In addition,the experimental results of the airborne synthetic aperture radar ortho-images of C-band and P-band show that the SMSFs gained via the algorithms can reflect the matching suitability of SAR images accurately and the matching probabilities of selected matching suitable areas of ortho-images could reach 99±0.5%.     

Research on windmill starting characteristics of MTE-D micro turbine engine

Micro turbine engine (MTE) is an important kind of propulsion system for miniature unmanned aircraft or missiles, because of its better high-speed performance (than propeller propulsion) and higher propulsion efficiency (obviously than rockets). Windmill start is a common air-starting mode used in micro turbine engine. The windmill starting characteristics are important to the practical use of micro turbine engine. In this paper, the windmill starting characteristics research for a 12 cm diameter (MTE-D) micro turbine engine is carried out by experiment and numerical simulation. The characteristic of rotor mechanical losses at low-speed condition is stud- ied, and the engine common working line of windmill starting process is obtained. Based on the engine windmill characteristics, the propane ignition characteristics under different inflow conditions are researched, and the envelope of propane ignition and propane flameout is determined. The experimental research of fuel supply and ignition characteristics is completed, and the envelope of fuel supply and ignition is obtained. The windmill stage, propane ignition stage, fuel ignition stage and acceleration process from idling-speed to 80% full speed of MTE-D micro turbine engine is optimized, and the optimization windmill starting parameters are collected. The successful wind-mill starting experiment under this condition with engine speed up to 80% full speed indicates that these starting parameters are reasonable. All the starting parameters of MTE-D micro turbine engine obtained in this work are dimensionless parameters, and the conclusions obtained in this study have some reference to other micro turbine engines with the similar structural form and starting process.     

Yield anisotropy and tension/compression asymmetry of a Ni3Al based intermetallic alloy

In order to investigate the yielding behavior of the newly developed Ni 3 Al-based intermetallic alloy IC10, yield stresses have been measured in tension and compression with different orientations. The specimens were cut from a sheet with different angles inclined from the solidification direction. The inclined angles were taken to be 0 , 22.5 , 45 , 67.5 and 90 . All experiments were conducted at room temperature except for orientation 0 , whose deformation temperatures ranged from 298 to 1273 K. Experimental results show that the yield strength of alloy IC10 has the anomalous behavior which has been observed for other Ll 2 -long-range ordered intermetallic alloys, but it is less pronounced. The abnormalities show the following characteristics: (i) the yield strength increases as the temperature is raised below the peak temperature, (ii) yield strength anisotropy, (iii) tension/compression asymmetry. Compared to Ni 3 Al single crystals, the polycrystalline exhibits some different yielding behaviors which may be due to the high volume fraction of c phase.     

Low-frequency unsteadiness of vortex wakes over slender bodies at high angle of attack

A type of flow unsteadiness with low frequencies and large amplitude was investigated experimentally for vortex wakes around an ogive-tangent cylinder. The experiments were carried out at angles of attack of 60–80 and subcritical Reynolds numbers of 0.6–1.8×105. The reduced frequencies of the unsteadiness are between 0.038 and 0.072, much less than the frequency of Karman vortex shedding. The unsteady flow induces large fluctuations of sectional side forces. The results of pressure measurements and particle image velocimetry indicate that the flow unsteadiness comes from periodic oscillation of the vortex wakes over the slender body. The time-averaged vortex patterns over the slender body are asymmetric, whose orientation is dependent on azimuthal locations of tip perturbations. Therefore, the vortex oscillation is a type of unsteady oscillation around a time-averaged asymmetric vortex structure.