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This paper describes a psychoacoustic test in the Exterior Effects Room (EER) at the NASA Langley Research Center. The test investigated the degree to which sound quality metrics (sharpness, tonality, etc.) are predictive of annoyance to notional sounds of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) vehicles (e.g., air taxis). A suite of 136 unique (4.6 second duration) UAM rotor noise stimuli was generated. These stimuli were based on aeroacoustic predictions of a NASA reference UAM quadrotor aircraft under two flight conditions. The synthesizer changed rotor noise parameters such as the blade passage frequency, the relative level of broadband self-noise, and the relative level of tonal motor noise. With loudness constant, the synthesis parameters impacted sound quality in a way that created a spread of predictors both in synthesizer parameters and in sound quality metrics.

Third generation advanced high strength steels (AHSS) have been developed combining high strength and formability, allowing for lightweighting of vehicle structural components. These AHSS components are exposed to paint baking operations ranging in time and temperature to cure the applied paint. The paint baking treatment, combined with straining induced from part forming, may lead to increased in-service component performance due to a strengthening mechanism known as bake hardening. This study aims to quantify the bake hardening behavior of select AHSS grades. Materials investigated were press hardenable steels (PHS) 1500 and 2000; transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) aided bainitic ferrite (TBF) 1000 and 1200; and dual phase (DP) 1000. The number designations of these grades refer to minimum as-received ultimate tensile strengths in MPa. Paint baking was simulated using industrially relevant times and temperatures from 15 to 60 min and 120 to 200 °C, respectively.

Aerodynamic packages can provide a significant performance benefit to Formula SAE cars, but design and development of a full aerodynamics package can be time-consuming and expensive. An undertray system can provide significant aerodynamic benefits at a lower cost than a full aerodynamics package with front and rear wings. To properly design and test an undertray, a robust program of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis and verification is needed. CFD analysis can be challenging, especially for large external flow problems like that of a full car. Due to this difficulty, careful meshing and setup of simulations is necessary to ensure accurate results. Much like analysis, fabrication of an aerodynamics package for a Formula SAE car is difficult. Fiberglass and carbon fiber layup processes are commonly used, but are prone to a variety of issues, and can be costly and time-consuming. Therefore, a thorough layup schedule and a careful manufacturing process is necessary.

NASA and the FAA conducted two flight campaigns to quantify onboard weather radar measurements with in-situ measurements of high concentrations of ice crystals found in deep convective storms. The ultimate goal of this research was to improve the understanding of high ice water content (HIWC) and develop onboard weather radar processing techniques to detect regions of HIWC ahead of an aircraft to enable tactical avoidance of the potentially hazardous conditions. Both HIWC RADAR campaigns utilized the NASA DC-8 Airborne Science Laboratory equipped with a Honeywell RDR-4000 weather radar and in-situ microphysical instruments to characterize the ice crystal clouds. The purpose of this paper is to summarize how these campaigns were conducted and highlight key results. The first campaign was conducted in August 2015 with a base of operations in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

This paper introduces a data driven model for predicting airport arrival capacity with 2-8 hour look-ahead forecast data. The model is suitable for air traffic flow management by explicitly investigating the impact of convective weather on airport arrival meter fix throughput. Estimation of the arrival airport capacity under arrival meter fix flow constraints due to severe weather is an important part of Air Traffic Management (ATM). Airport arrival capacity can be reduced if one or more airport arrival meter fixes are partially or completely blocked by convective weather. When the predicted airport arrival demands exceed the predicted available airport’s arrival capacity for a sustained period, Ground Delay Program (GDP) operations will be triggered by ATM system.

This work establishes the relationship between core hardness, case hardness, and case depth on susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement of case hardened steel fasteners. Such fasteners have a high surface hardness in order to create their own threads in a mating hole, and are commonly used to attach bracketry and sheet metal in automotive applications. While case hardened fasteners have been studied previously, there are currently no processing guidelines supported by quantitative data for fastener standards. Through sustained load embrittlement testing techniques, the susceptibility of case hardened steel tapping screws to internal and environmental hydrogen embrittlement is examined. Further characterization of the fastener samples through microhardness testing, microstructure review, and fracture surface examination allows the investigation of susceptibility thresholds. It is shown that core hardness is the primary consideration for susceptibility.

The blade crossing event of a coaxial counter-rotating rotor is a potential source of noise and impulsive blade loads. Blade crossings occur many times during each rotor revolution. In previous research by the authors, this phenomenon was analyzed by simulating two airfoils passing each other at specified speeds and vertical separation distances, using the compressible Navier-Stokes solver OVERFLOW. The simulations explored mutual aerodynamic interactions associated with thickness, circulation, and compressibility effects. Results revealed the complex nature of the aerodynamic impulses generated by upper/lower airfoil interactions. In this paper, the coaxial rotor system is simulated using two trains of airfoils, vertically offset, and traveling in opposite directions. The simulation represents multiple blade crossings in a rotor revolution by specifying horizontal distances between each airfoil in the train based on the circumferential distance between blade tips.

The Elytron 2S is a prototype aircraft concept to allow VTOL capabilities together with fixed wing aircraft performance. It has a box wing design with a centrally mounted tilt-wing supporting two rotors. This paper explores the aerodynamic characteristics of the aircraft using computational fluid dynamics in hover and low speed forward flight, as well as analyzing the unique control system in place for hover. The results are then used to build an input set for NASA Design and Analysis if Rotorcraft software allowing trim and flight stability and control estimations to be made with SIMPLI-FLYD.

Coaxial rotors are finding use in advanced rotorcraft concepts. Combined with lift offset rotor technology, they offer a solution to the problems of dynamic stall and reverse flow that often limit single rotor forward flight speeds. In addition, coaxial rotorcraft systems do not need a tail rotor, a major boon during operation in confined areas. However, the operation of two counter-rotating rotors in close proximity generates many possible aerodynamic interactions between rotor blades, blades and vortices, and between vortices. With two rotors, the parameter design space is very large, and requires efficient computations as well as basic experiments to explore aerodynamics of a coaxial rotor and the effects on performance, loads, and acoustics.

The strain-induced diffusionless shear transformation of retained austenite to martensite during straining of transformation induced plasticity (TRIP) assisted steels increases strain hardening and delays necking and fracture leading to exceptional ductility and strength, which are attractive for automotive applications. A novel technique that provides the retained austenite volume fraction variation with strain with improved precision is presented. Digital images of the gauge section of tensile specimens were first recorded up to selected plastic strains with a stereo digital image correlation (DIC) system. The austenite volume fraction was measured by synchrotron X-ray diffraction from small squares cut from the gage section. Strain fields in the squares were then computed by localizing the strain measurement to the corresponding region of a given square during DIC post-processing of the images recorded during tensile testing.

This paper summarizes the recent development of an adaptive aeroelastic wing shaping control technology called variable camber continuous trailing edge flap (VCCTEF). As wing flexibility increases, aeroelastic interactions with aerodynamic forces and moments become an increasingly important consideration in aircraft design and aerodynamic performance. Furthermore, aeroelastic interactions with flight dynamics can result in issues with vehicle stability and control. The initial VCCTEF concept was developed in 2010 by NASA under a NASA Innovation Fund study entitled “Elastically Shaped Future Air Vehicle Concept,” which showed that highly flexible wing aerodynamic surfaces can be elastically shaped in-flight by active control of wing twist and bending deflection in order to optimize the spanwise lift distribution for drag reduction. A collaboration between NASA and Boeing Research & Technology was subsequently funded by NASA from 2012 to 2014 to further develop the VCCTEF concept.

Fracture split forged steel connecting rods are utilized in many new high performance automotive engines to increase durability. Higher strength levels are needed as the power density increases. Fracture splitting without plastic deformation is necessary for manufacturability. Metallurgical design is a key for achieving the required performance levels. Several medium carbon steels containing 0.07 wt pct P, 0.06 wt pct S and various amounts of Mn, Si, V, and N were produced by vacuum induction melting laboratory heats and hot working the cast ingots into plates. The plates were cooled at varying rates to simulate typical cooling methods after forging. Microstructures were generally ferrite and pearlite as evaluated by light optical and scanning electron microscopy. Mechanical properties were determined by standard tensile tests, high strain rate notched tensile tests, and Charpy V-notch impact tests to assess “splittability”.

Quenching and partitioning (Q&P) is a novel heat treatment to produce third generation advanced high-strength steels (AHSS). The influence of carbon on mechanical properties of Q&P treated CMnSi-steels was studied using 0.3C-1.5Mn-1.5Si and 0.4C-1.5Mn-1.5Si alloys. Full austenitization followed by two-step Q&P treatments were conducted using varying partitioning times and a fixed partitioning temperature of 400 °C. The results were compared to literature data for 0.2C-1.6Mn-1.6Si, 0.2-3Mn-1.6Si and 0.3-3Mn-1.6Si Q&P treated steels. The comparison showed that increasing the carbon content from 0.2 to 0.4 wt pct increased the ultimate tensile strength by 140 MPa per 0.1 wt pct C up to 1611 MPa without significantly decreasing ductility for the partitioning conditions used. Increased alloy carbon content did not substantially increase the retained austenite fractions. The best combinations of ultimate tensile strength and total elongation were obtained using short partitioning times.

In this paper, a two-dimensional microstructure-based finite element modeling method is adopted to investigate the effects of material parameters of the constituent phases on the macroscopic tensile behavior of Q&P steel and to perform a computational material design approach for performance improvement. For this purpose, a model Q&P steel is first produced and various experiments are then performed to characterize the model steel. Actual microstructure-based model is generated based on the information from EBSD, SEM and nano-indentation test, and the material properties for the constituent phases in the model are determined based on the initial constituent properties from HEXRD test and the subsequent calibration of model predictions to tensile test results. The influence of various material parameters of the constituents on the macroscopic behavior is then investigated.

When the demand for either a region of airspace or an airport approaches or exceeds the available capacity, miles-in-trail (MIT) restrictions are the most frequently issued traffic management initiatives (TMIs) that are used to mitigate these imbalances. Miles-in-trail operations require aircraft in a traffic stream to meet a specific inter-aircraft separation in exchange for maintaining a safe and orderly flow within the stream. This stream of aircraft can be departing an airport, over a common fix, through a sector, on a specific route or arriving at an airport. This study begins by providing a high-level overview of the distribution and causes of arrival MIT restrictions for the top ten airports in the United States. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the frequency, duration and cause of MIT restrictions impacting the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (ATL) from 2009 through 2011.

This paper features a set of advanced technologies for autonomy and intelligence in advanced inspection systems of facility operations. These technologies offer a significant contribution to set a path to establish a system and an operating environment with autonomy and intelligence for inspection, monitoring and safety via gas and ambient sensors, video mining and speech recognition commands on unmanned ground vehicles and other platforms to support operational activities in the Cryogenics Test bed and other facilities and vehicles. These advanced technologies are in current development and progress and their functions and operations require guidance and formulation in conjunction with the development team(s) toward the system architecture.

This paper presents a novel health monitoring and fault adaptive control architecture for an unmanned hexrotor helicopter. The technologies developed to achieve the described level of robust fault contingency management include; 1.) A Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) routine for maximizing the “built-in” fault tolerance that the closed loop flight control system affords, 2.) A two-stage Kalman filter scheme for real-time identification of faults that are masked by control system compensation, and 3.) A reconfigurable control allocation method which compensates for large degradations of the six main motor/rotor assemblies. The fault adaptive control system presented herein has strong robustness against small faults without the need for controller reconfiguration, and strong tolerance of large faults through adaptive accommodation of the fault source and severity.

The term Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) describes a set of capabilities that enable sustainable and safe operation of components and subsystems within aerospace platforms. However, very little guidance exists for the systems engineering aspects of design with IVHM in mind. It is probably because of this that designers have to use knowledge picked up exclusively by experience rather than by established process. This motivated a group of leading IVHM practitioners within the aerospace industry under the aegis of SAE's HM-1 technical committee to author a document that hopes to give working engineers and program managers clear guidance on all the elements of IVHM that they need to consider before designing a system. This proposed recommended practice (ARP6883 [1]) will describe all the steps of requirements generation and management as it applies to IVHM systems, and demonstrate these with a “real-world” example related to designing a landing gear system.

In this study, a procedure for characterizing advanced high strength steel sheets is presented in view of determining the material parameters for constitutive models that can be used for accurate prediction of springback and sidewall curl. The mechanical properties of DP980 and TRIP780 sheets were obtained experimentally, and their cyclic tension-compression behaviour was modeled with the Chaboche nonlinear kinematic hardening model and the Yoshida-Uemori two-surface plasticity model that are implemented in LS-DYNA. The unloading moduli were determined from monotonic tension tests at various prestrain levels. An inverse approach based on linear and quadratic response surfaces created by Sequential Strategy with Domain Reduction (SRSM) methodology using LS-OPT software was used and investigated to identify specific material parameters in each constitutive model.

An iterative learning control (ILC) algorithm has been developed for a test cell electro-hydraulic, fully flexible valve actuation system to track valve lift profile under steady-state and transient operation. A dynamic model of the plant was obtained from experimental data to design and verify the ILC algorithm. The ILC is implemented in a prototype controller. The learned control input for two different lift profiles can be used for engine transient tests. Simulation and bench test are conducted to verify the effectiveness and robustness of this approach. The simple structure of the ILC in implementation and low cost in computation are other crucial factors to recommend the ILC. It does not totally depend on the system model during the design procedure. Therefore, it has relatively higher robustness to perturbation and modeling errors than other control methods for repetitive tasks.