Possibilities of parallel calculations in solving gas dynamics problems in the CFD environment of FLUENT software

The results of studying an incompressible gas flow field in a periodic element of the porous structure made up of the same radius spheres are presented; the studies were based on the solution of the Navier-Stokes equations using FLUENT software. The possibilities to accelerate the solution process with the use of parallel calculations are investigated and the calculation results under changes of pressure differential in the periodic element are given.     

A program package for solving problems of FV structure design

In this paper, a program package for solving problems in the field of thin-walled three-dimensional FV structure design is described.     

Emergence of a Habitable Planet

We address the first several hundred million years of Earth’s history. The Moon-forming impact left Earth enveloped in a hot silicate atmosphere that cooled and condensed over ∼1,000 yrs. As it cooled the Earth degassed its volatiles into the atmosphere. It took another ∼2 Myrs for the magma ocean to freeze at the surface. The cooling rate was determined by atmospheric thermal blanketing. Tidal heating by the new Moon was a major energy source to the magma ocean. After the mantle solidified geothermal heat became climatologically insignificant, which allowed the steam atmosphere to condense, and left behind a ∼100 bar, ∼500 K CO₂ atmosphere. Thereafter cooling was governed by how quickly CO₂ was removed from the atmosphere. If subduction were efficient this could have taken as little as 10 million years. In this case the faint young Sun suggests that a lifeless Earth should have been cold and its oceans white with ice. But if carbonate subduction were inefficient the CO₂ would have mostly stayed in the atmosphere, which would have kept the surface near ∼500 K for many tens of millions of years. Hydrous minerals are harder to subduct than carbonates and there is a good chance that the Hadean mantle was dry. Hadean heat flow was locally high enough to ensure that any ice cover would have been thin (<5 m) in places. Moreover hundreds or thousands of asteroid impacts would have been big enough to melt the ice triggering brief impact summers. We suggest that plate tectonics as it works now was inadequate to handle typical Hadean heat flows of 0.2–0.5 W/m². In its place we hypothesize a convecting mantle capped by a ∼100 km deep basaltic mush that was relatively permeable to heat flow. Recycling and distillation of hydrous basalts produced granitic rocks very early, which is consistent with preserved >4 Ga detrital zircons. If carbonates in oceanic crust subducted as quickly as they formed, Earth could have been habitable as early as 10–20 Myrs after the Moon-forming impact.     

Problems of application of face gasodynamic seals in aircraft engines

Problems arising in introduction of gasodynamic seals in aircraft engines are considered. The operation of a face gasodynamic seal as part of a natural gas pump is analyzed and its efficiency in the presence of oil is shown.     

A system for measuring the altitude-airspeed parameters of rotorcraft and very light flight vehicles

In this paper, a problem on measuring the altitude-airspeed parameters (AAPs) of rotorcraft and very light flight vehicles is considered. Some ways of improving systems used to measure the parameters of FV elements and units have been determined. Also suggested and substantiated are the principles and designs of the basic variants of these measuring systems as well as the algorithms of their operation.     

Two years of INTEGRAL observation of the BHC IGR J17464-3213

On March 2003, IBIS, the γ-ray imager on board the INTEGRAL satellite, detected an outburst from a new source, IGR J17464-3213, that turned out to be an HEAO-1 transient, namely H1743-322. The spectral and temporal evolutions of the source were observed by INTEGRAL in different periods. Also RXTE observed the source for the first time on 2003 March 29 during a PCA Galactic bulge scan. The source flux decayed below the RXTE PCA sensitivity limit in November 2003, then in April 2004 it was again detected by INTEGRAL. On July 3, 2004 the source was again detected by RXTE/PCA at a 2–10 keV intensity of 16 mCrab and on July 7, reached 69 mCrab. Recently, a new outburst was observed on August 2005. We briefly summarise here the behaviour of the source observed by INTEGRAL from March 2003 to August 2005. The new outbursts of the source and the analysis of all the data collected (now public) give a global view of the spectral and time behaviour of this X-ray transient.     

Unmanned aircraft navigation for shipboard landing using infrared vision

This paper addresses the problem of determining the relative position and orientation of an unmanned air vehicle with respect to a ship using three visible points of known separation. The, images of the points are obtained from an onboard infrared camera. The paper develops a numerical solution to this problem. Both simulation and flight test results are presented.     

Features of active sidestick controllers

This paper discusses the advantages of incorporating active sidesticks into a modern aircraft cockpit. Active sidestick controllers for manual pilot inputs in pitch and roll are examined for commercial transport aircraft. Options and requirements for sidesticks are reviewed. The recommendation of an active sidestick controller is developed providing both cross-cockpit coupling and autopilot backdrive capability. These characteristics provide pilot cues identical to traditional cable-linked column/yoke configurations     

Methodologies in user interface design

Software applications that require a high learning curve, a mountain of documentation, and weeks of training should be things of the past. Today's applications need to be simple to learn and to use. The human/computer interface should be intuitive and consistent. Context sensitive help should be available to keep the user on track. This paper provides some guidelines for taking commercial world concepts and applying them to the Automatic Test Equipment world. Examples included are from the Integrated Maintenance Information System (IMIS)