Active aeroelastic control over a four control surface wing model

This paper describes the procedure implemented to design, develop and test an aeroelastic control system installed on a forward swept wing of the aeroelastic demonstrator X-DIA. A control method directly based on Nissim aerodynamic energy concept has been chosen. Two different modeling techniques have been adopted for the calculation of generalized aerodynamic forces, such as doublet lattice method and computational fluid dynamics and the obtained results are finally compared. The latter approach, applied to better estimate the control surfaces effectiveness, requires the capability to correctly model the control surface rotation and the grid deformation, usually addressed as non-trivial problems in CFD based aeroelastic analysis. A genetic algorithm optimization technique has been adopted to state and refine all the control gains.     

Experimental study on the PRE-X vehicle focusing on the transitional shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions

This article is devoted to the experimental works carried out in the R2Ch blow-down wind tunnel in the framework of the atmospheric re-entry PRE-X demonstrator program and to the fundamental studies performed on a hollow cylinder-flare relative to crucial problem of the transitional shock-wave/boundary-layer interaction.Shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions in hypersonic flows may have major consequences on thermal loads, especially if the shock is strong enough to induce separation. The heat-flux density levels in the interaction region strongly depend on the nature, laminar or turbulent of the boundary-layer. Special attention should be paid to transitional interactions, which are likely to exist at altitude where the Mach number is high and the density low.The wide Reynolds number range achievable in the R2Ch facility and reliable heat-flux measurements by infrared thermography have allowed to investigate the viscous interaction on the deflected flaps of the demonstrator model and to point out the laminar-to-turbulent boundary-layer natural and forced transition, in the light of the in-depth analysis of results obtained from the hollow cylinder-flare study.     

Experimental studies of the impulsive ultrasonic machining by a tool with an intermediate striker

Some experimental data on the process of impulsive ultrasonic machining are presented. Also given are the data on variations in the impulsive vibration frequency of a workpiece and a tool.     

Exoplanet Transit Spectroscopy and Photometry

Photometry and spectroscopy of extrasolar planets provides information about their atmospheres and surfaces. From extrasolar planet spectra and photometry we can infer the composition and temperature of the atmospheres as well as the presence of molecular species, including biosignature gases or surface features. So far photometry has been published for three different transiting hot Jupiters (gas giant planets in short-period orbits), opening the era of comparative exoplanetology.     

Trapped antiprotons produced by cosmic rays in the Earth's magnetosphere.

The existence of significant fluxes of antiparticles in the Earth magnetosphere has been predicted on theoretical considerations in this article. These antiparticles (positrons or antiprotons) at several hundred kilometers of altitudes, we believe are not of direct extraterrestrial origin, but are the natural products of nuclear reactions of the high energy primary cosmic rays (CR) and trapped protons (TP) confined in the terrestrial radiation belt, with the constituents of terrestrial atmosphere. Extraterrestrial positrons and antiprotons born in nuclear reactions of the same CR particles passing through only 5-7 g/cm2 of interstellar matter, exhibit lower fluxes compared to the antiprotons born at hundreds of g/cm2 in the atmosphere, which when confined in the magnetic field of the Earth (in any other planet), get accumulated. We present the results of the computations of the antiproton fluxes at 10 MeV to several GeV energies due to CR particle interactions with the matter in the interstellar space, and also with the residual atmosphere at altitudes of approximately 1000 km over the Earth's surface. The estimates show that the magnetospheric antiproton fluxes are greater by two orders of magnitude compared to the extraterrestrial fluxes measured at energies <1-2 GeV.     

Technique of integral diagnostics for a radio-frequency inductively coupled plasma discharge unit of an RF ion thruster

A technique of integral diagnostics for an RF inductively coupled plasma gas discharge unit of an ion thruster is proposed. This technique includes a priori measurements of antenna coil electrical parameters in free space and in assembled state as well as experimental determination of the antenna coil currents with and without discharge.     

Detection of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays and neutrinos by radio method using artificial lunar satellites

An estimate of the feasibility of the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray and neutrino detection using a lunar satellite-borne radio receiver is presented. The data obtained in the proposed experiment will make resolving the current contradictions in the ultrahigh-energy cosmic ray spectra measured with the major ground-based instruments possible. Moreover, they will enable us to considerably extend the accessible energy range and to check predictions of various models of the origin of the highest-energy particles in the Universe. At the same time the lunar radio detector provides a means of searching for ultrahigh-energy neutrinos with a high sensitivity combined with a very large target effective mass.     

Advances in non-linear apodization

Selected new methods and applications of non-linear apodization for irregularly-shaped and parse coherent apertures and arrays are presented. The benefits include unproved impulse response performance, i.e., reduced peak sidelobes and integrated sidelobe power, along with improved mainlobe resolution, compared to classic windowing techniques. Nonlinear apodization (NLA) techniques can also serve as powerful engines for effective superresolution and bandwidth extrapolation of coherent data for filling sparse apertures. The sparse aperture filling property of superresolution algorithms for radar data forms the basis for a new concept which is introduced here: synthetic multiple aperture radar technology (SMART). Increased swath and/or reduced antenna size are some of the benefits postulated for SMART applied to synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. The benefits of these new methods and applications for nonlinear apodization are then demonstrated for two specific applications: 1) sidelobe control for Y-type synthetic aperture radiometers, such as the European Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) system (Kerr et al.) and JPL's proposed GeoSTAR (Lambrigsten) concept; and, 2) filling of sparse synthetic aperture radar data by exploiting the bandwidth extrapolation properties of nonlinear apodization based superresolution techniques. The methods that have been developed and demonstrated herein have potential application to a wide range of passive and active microwave remote sensing and radar systems.     

Effect of variable thermal properties of the solid phase on composite solid propellant combustion

Effects of variable thermal properties (specific heat and thermal conductivity) of the solid phase on the combustion of composite solid propellants are studied analytically. Both steady and unsteady burning are considered. It is shown that the effects of variable thermal properties are small and can be accounted for by choosing proper average values of specific heat and thermal conductivity.     

Effect of earth?s rotation and range foldover on space-based radar performance

Space-based radar (SBR) by virtue of its motion generates a Doppler frequency component to the clutter return from any point on the Earth as a function of the SBR-Earth geometry. The effect of the rotation of the Earth around its own axis also adds an additional component to this Doppler frequency. The overall effect of the rotation of the Earth on the Doppler turns out to be two correction factors in terms of a crab angle affecting the azimuth angle, and a crab magnitude scaling the Doppler magnitude of the clutter patch. Interestingly, both these quantities depend only on the SBR orbit inclination and its latitude and not on the location of the clutter patch of interest. Further, the crab angle has maximum effect for an SBR on a polar orbit that is above the equator. The crab magnitude, on the other hand, peaks for an SBR on an equatorial orbit. Together with the range foldover phenomenon, their overall effect is to generate Doppler spread/splitting resulting in wider clutter notches that degrade the clutter nulling performance of adaptive processing techniques. A detailed performance analysis and methods to minimize these effects are discussed here