ALBERT

Description: In this manuscript we present the new friendly seismic tomography software based on joint inversion of active and passive seismic sources called PARTOS (Passive Active Ray TOmography Software). This code has been developed on the base of two well-known widely used tomographic algorithms (LOTOS and ATOM-3D), providing a robust set of algorithms. The dataset used to set and test the program has been provided by TOMO-ETNA experiment. TOMO-ETNA database is a large, highquality dataset that includes active and passive seismic sources recorded during a period of 4 months in 2014. We performed a series of synthetic tests in order to estimate the resolution and robustness of the solutions. Real data inversion has been carried out using 3 different subsets: (i) active data; (ii) passive data; and (iii) joint dataset. Active database is composed by a total of 16,950 air-gun shots during 1 month and passive database includes 452 local and regional earthquakes recorded during 4 months. This large dataset provides a high ray density within the study region. The combination of active and passive seismic data, together with the high quality of the database, permits to obtain a new tomographic approach of the region under study never done before. An additional user-guide of PARTOS software is provided in order to facilitate the implementation for new users.

Description: Published

Description: S0435

Description: 1V. Storia e struttura dei sistemi vulcanici

Description: JCR Journal

Description: open

Description: The TOMO-ETNA experiment was devised to image of the crust underlying the volcanic edifice and, possibly, its plumbing system by using passive and active refraction/reflection seismic methods. This experiment included activities both on-land and offshore with the main objective of obtaining a new high-resolution seismic tomography to improve the knowledge of the crustal structures existing beneath the Etna volcano and northeast Sicily up to Aeolian Islands. The TOMO-ETNA experiment was divided in two phases. The first phase started on June 15, 2014 and finalized on July 24, 2014, with the withdrawal of two removable seismic networks (a short period network and a broadband network composed by 80 and 20 stations respectively) deployed at Etna volcano and surrounding areas. During this first phase the oceanographic research vessel (R/V) “Sarmiento de Gamboa” and the hydro-oceanographic vessel (H/V) “Galatea” performed the offshore activities, which includes the deployment of ocean bottom seismometers (OBS), air-gun shooting for wide angle seismic refraction (WAS), multi-channel seismic (MCS) reflection surveys, magnetic surveys and ROV (remotely operated vehicle) dives. This phase finished with the recovery of the short period seismic network. In the second phase the broadband seismic network remained operative until October 28, 2014, and the R/V “Aegaeo” performed additional MCS surveys during November 19-27, 2014. Overall, the information deriving from TOMO-ETNA experiment could provide the answer to many uncertainties that have arisen while exploiting the large amount of data provided by the cutting-edge monitoring systems of Etna volcano and seismogenic area of eastern Sicily.

Description: Published

Description: S0426

Description: 7A. Geofisica di esplorazione

Description: JCR Journal

Description: open

Description: Elastic reverse time migration (RTM) can yield accurate subsurface information (e.g. PP and PS reflectivity) by imaging the multicomponent seismic data. However, the existing RTM methods are still insufficient to provide satisfactory results because of the finite recording aperture, limited bandwidth and imperfect illumination. Besides, the P - and S -wave separation and the polarity reversal correction are indispensable in conventional elastic RTM. Here, we propose an iterative elastic least-squares RTM (LSRTM) method, in which the imaging accuracy is improved gradually with iteration. We first use the Born approximation to formulate the elastic de-migration operator, and employ the Lagrange multiplier method to derive the adjoint equations and gradients with respect to reflectivity. Then, an efficient inversion workflow (only four forward computations needed in each iteration) is introduced to update the reflectivity. Synthetic and field data examples reveal that the proposed LSRTM method can obtain higher-quality images than the conventional elastic RTM. We also analyse the influence of model parametrizations and misfit functions in elastic LSRTM. We observe that Lamé parameters, velocity and impedance parametrizations have similar and plausible migration results when the structures of different models are correlated. For an uncorrelated subsurface model, velocity and impedance parametrizations produce fewer artefacts caused by parameter crosstalk than the Lamé coefficient parametrization. Correlation- and convolution-type misfit functions are effective when amplitude errors are involved and the source wavelet is unknown, respectively. Finally, we discuss the dependence of elastic LSRTM on migration velocities and its antinoise ability. Imaging results determine that the new elastic LSRTM method performs well as long as the low-frequency components of migration velocities are correct. The quality of images of elastic LSRTM degrades with increasing noise.

Description: Seismic noise measurements (ambient vibrations) have been increasingly used in rock slope stability assessment for both investigation and monitoring purposes. Recent studies made on gravitational hazard revealed significant spectral amplification at given frequencies and polarization of the wave-field in the direction of maximum rock slope displacement. Different properties (resonance frequencies, polarization and spectral ratio amplitudes) can be derived from the spectral analysis of the seismic noise to characterize unstable rock masses. The objective here is to identify the dynamic parameters that could be used to gain information on prone-to-fall rock columns’ geometry. To do so, the dynamic response of prone-to-fall columns to seismic noise has been studied on two different sites exhibiting cliff-like geometry. Dynamic parameters (main resonance frequency and spectral ratio amplitudes) that could characterize the column decoupling were extracted from seismic noise and their variations were studied taking into account the external environmental parameter fluctuations. Based on this analysis, a two-dimensional numerical model has been set up to assess the influence of the rear vertical fractures identified on both sites on the rock column motion response. Although a simple relation was found between spectral ratio amplitudes and the rock column slenderness, it turned out that the resonance frequency is more stable than the spectral ratio amplitudes to characterize this column decoupling, provided that the elastic properties of the column can be estimated. The study also revealed the effect of additional remote fractures on the dynamic parameters, which in turn could be used for detecting the presence of such discontinuities.

Description: Surface-related multiples have been utilized in the reverse-time migration (RTM) procedures, and additional illumination for subsurface can be provided. Meanwhile, many cross-talks are generated from undesired interactions between forward- and backward-propagated seismic waves. In this paper, subsequent to analysing and categorizing these cross-talks, we propose RTM of first-order multiples to avoid most undesired interactions in RTM of all-order multiples, where only primaries are forward-propagated and crosscorrelated with the backward-propagated first-order multiples. With primaries and multiples separated during regular seismic data processing as the input data, first-order multiples can be obtained by a two-step scheme: (1) the dual-prediction of higher-order multiples; and (2) the adaptive subtraction of predicted higher-order multiples from all-order multiples within local offset-time windows. In numerical experiments, two synthetic and a marine field data sets are used, where different cross-talks generated by RTM of all-order multiples can be identified and the proposed RTM of first-order multiples can provide a very interpretable image with a few cross-talks.

Description: Author: Jake Yeston

Description: We investigated post-seismic velocity changes within the fault zone of the 2008 M 7.9 Wenchuan earthquake using coda wave data of repeating small earthquakes. We employed template matching and grid search methods to identify well-defined repeating earthquakes in order to minimize artefacts induced by variations in source location. We identified a total of 12 isolated patches in the fault zone that ruptured more than twice in a 1 yr period after the M 7.9 earthquake. We applied the coda wave interferometry technique to the waveform data of the 34 identified repeating earthquakes to estimate velocity changes between the first and subsequent events in each cluster. We found that major post-seismic velocity changes occurred in the southwestern part of the rupture area, where the main rupture was initiated and characterized by thrust motion, while the Beichuan area in the northeastern part of the rupture zone appears to experience very little post-seismic velocity changes.

Description: In this study, we demonstrate the feasibility of imaging broad-band (10–150 s) Rayleigh wave phase velocity maps on a continental scale using ambient noise tomography (ANT). We obtain broad-band Rayleigh waves from cross-correlations of ambient noise data between all station pairs of USArray and measure the dispersion curves from these cross-correlations at a period band of 10–150 s. The large-scale dense USArray enables us to obtain over 500 000 surface wave paths which cover the contiguous United States densely. Using these paths, we generate Rayleigh wave phase velocity maps at 10–150 s periods. Our phase velocity maps are similar to other reported phase velocity maps based on ambient noise data at short periods (〈50 s) and based on earthquake data at intermediate/long periods (50–90 s). This study extends ANT from short/intermediate periods (〈50 s) to long periods up to 150 s in a continental scale of the USA. These broad-band phase velocity maps from ANT can be used to construct 3-D lithospheric and asthenospheric velocity structures.

Description: Author: Jake Yeston

Description: A reassuring rule of thumb about earthquakes is breaking down. For decades, seismologists had assumed that individual faults—as well as isolated segments of longer faults—rupture independently of one another. That limits the maximum size of the potential earthquake that a fault zone can generate. But the magnitude-7.8 earthquake that struck New Zealand just after midnight on 14 November 2016—among the largest in the islands' modern history—has reduced that thinking to rubble. According to a new study, published online this week in Science, the heavy shaking in the Kaikoura quake was amassed by ruptures on at least 12 different faults, in some cases so far apart that they were thought to be immune to each other's influence. Author: Betsy Mason

Description: In finite-difference (FD) method, numerical dispersion is the dominant factor influencing the accuracy of seismic modelling. Various optimized FD schemes for scalar wave modelling have been proposed to reduce grid dispersion, while the optimized time–space domain FD schemes for elastic wave modelling have not been fully investigated yet. In this paper, an optimized FD scheme with Equivalent Staggered Grid (ESG) for elastic modelling has been developed. We start from the constant P - and S -wave speed elastic wave equations and then deduce analytical plane wave solutions in the wavenumber domain with eigenvalue decomposition method. Based on the elastic plane wave solutions, three new time–space domain dispersion relations of ESG elastic modelling are obtained, which are represented by three equations corresponding to P -, S - and converted-wave terms in the elastic equations, respectively. By using these new relations, we can study the dispersion errors of different spatial FD terms independently. The dispersion analysis showed that different spatial FD terms have different errors. It is therefore suggested that different FD coefficients to be used to approximate the three spatial derivative terms. In addition, the relative dispersion error in L2-norm is minimized through optimizing FD coefficients using Newton's method. Synthetic examples have demonstrated that this new optimal FD schemes have superior accuracy for elastic wave modelling compared to Taylor-series expansion and optimized space domain FD schemes.

Description: Markov chain Monte-Carlo (McMC) sampling generates correlated random samples such that their distribution would converge to the true distribution only as the number of samples tends to infinity. In practice, McMC is found to be slow to converge, convergence is not guaranteed to be achieved in finite time, and detection of convergence requires the use of subjective criteria. Although McMC has been used for decades as the algorithm of choice for inference in complex probability distributions, there is a need to seek alternative approaches, particularly in high dimensional problems. Walker & Curtis ( 2014 ) developed a method for Bayesian inversion of 2-D spatial data using an exact sampling alternative to McMC which always draws independent samples of the target distribution. Their method thus obviates the need for convergence and removes the concomitant bias exhibited by finite sample sets. Their algorithm is nevertheless computationally intensive and requires large memory. We propose a more efficient method for Bayesian inversion of categorical variables, such as geological facies that requires no sampling at all. The method is based on a 2-D Hidden Markov Model (2D-HMM) over a grid of cells where observations represent localized data constraining each cell. The data in our example application are seismic attributes such as P - and S -wave impedances and rock density; our categorical variables are the hidden states and represent the geological rock types in each cell—facies of distinct subsets of lithology and fluid combinations such as shale, brine-sand and gas-sand. The observations at each location are assumed to be generated from a random function of the hidden state (facies) at that location, and to be distributed according to a certain probability distribution that is independent of hidden states at other locations – an assumption referred to as ‘localized likelihoods’. The hidden state (facies) at a location cannot be determined solely by the observation at that location as it also depends on prior information concerning the spatial distribution of other hidden states elsewhere. The prior information is included in the inversion in the form of a training image which represents a conceptual depiction of local geologies that might be expected, but other forms of prior information can be used in the method as desired. The method provides direct estimates of posterior marginal probability distributions over each variable, so these do not need to be estimated from samples such as in McMC. Nevertheless, in the case that samples are desired, these can be generated. On a 2-D test example the method is shown to outperform previous methods significantly, at a fraction of the computational cost. In many foreseeable applications there are therefore no serious impediments to extending the method to 3-D cases.

Description: A double-correlation method is introduced to locate tremor sources based on stacks of complex, doubly-correlated tremor records of multiple triplets of seismographs back projected to hypothetical source locations in a geographic grid. Peaks in the resulting stack of moduli are inferred source locations. The stack of the moduli is a robust measure of energy radiated from a point source or point sources even when the velocity information is imprecise. Application to real data shows how double correlation focuses the source mapping compared to the common single correlation approach. Synthetic tests demonstrate the robustness of the method and its resolution limitations which are controlled by the station geometry, the finite frequency of the signal, the quality of the used velocity information and noise level. Both random noise and signal or noise correlated at time shifts that are inconsistent with the assumed velocity structure can be effectively suppressed. Assuming a surface wave velocity, we can constrain the source location even if the surface wave component does not dominate. The method can also in principle be used with body waves in 3-D, although this requires more data and seismographs placed near the source for depth resolution.

Description: The possibility of applying one explicit finite-difference (FD) scheme to all interior grid points (points not lying on a grid border) no matter what their positions are with respect to the material interface is one of the key factors of the computational efficiency of the FD modelling. Smooth or discontinuous heterogeneity of the medium is accounted for only by values of the effective grid moduli and densities. Accuracy of modelling thus very much depends on how these effective grid parameters are evaluated. We present an orthorhombic representation of a heterogeneous medium for the FD modelling. We numerically demonstrate its superior accuracy. Compared to the harmonic-averaging representation the orthorhombic representation is more accurate mainly in the case of strong surface waves that are especially important in local surface sedimentary basins. The orthorhombic representation is applicable to modelling seismic wave propagation and earthquake motion in isotropic models with material interfaces and smooth heterogeneities using velocity–stress, displacement–stress and displacement FD schemes on staggered, partly staggered, Lebedev and collocated grids.

Description: Polynitrogens have the potential for ultrahigh-performing explosives or propellants because singly or doubly bonded polynitrogens can decompose to triply bonded dinitrogen (N2) with an extraordinarily large energy release. The large energy content and relatively low activation energy toward decomposition makes the synthesis of a stable polynitrogen allotrope an extraordinary challenge. Many elements exist in different forms (allotropes)—for example, carbon can exist as graphite, diamond, buckyballs, or graphene. However, no stable neutral allotropes are known for nitrogen, and only two stable homonuclear polynitrogen ions had been isolated until now—namely, the N3− anion (1) and the N5+ cation (2). On page 374 of this issue, Zhang et al. (3) report the synthesis and characterization of the first stable salt of the cyclo-N5− anion, only the third stable homonuclear polynitrogen ion ever isolated. Author: Karl O. Christe

Description: We present two independent, automated methods for estimating the absolute horizontal misorientation of seismic sensors. We apply both methods to 44 free-fall ocean-bottom seismometers (OBSs) of the RHUM-RUM experiment ( http://www.rhum-rum.net/ ). The techniques measure the 3-D directions of particle motion of (1) P -waves and (2) Rayleigh waves of earthquake recordings. For P -waves, we used a principal component analysis to determine the directions of particle motions (polarizations) in multiple frequency passbands. We correct for polarization deviations due to seismic anisotropy and dipping discontinuities using a simple fit equation, which yields significantly more accurate OBS orientations. For Rayleigh waves, we evaluated the degree of elliptical polarization in the vertical plane in the time and frequency domain. The results obtained for the RHUM-RUM OBS stations differed, on average, by 3.1° and 3.7° between the methods, using circular mean and median statistics, which is within the methods’ estimate uncertainties. Using P -waves, we obtained orientation estimates for 31 ocean-bottom seismometers with an average uncertainty (95 per cent confidence interval) of 11° per station. For 7 of these OBS, data coverage was sufficient to correct polarization measurements for underlying seismic anisotropy and dipping discontinuities, improving their average orientation uncertainty from 11° to 6° per station. Using Rayleigh waves, we obtained misorientation estimates for 40 OBS, with an average uncertainty of 16° per station. The good agreement of results obtained using the two methods indicates that they should also be useful for detecting misorientations of terrestrial seismic stations.

Description: We investigate the elastic and anelastic structure of the lowermost mantle at the western edge of the Pacific large low shear velocity province (LLSVP) by inverting a collection of S and ScS waveforms. The transverse component data were obtained from F-net for 31 deep earthquakes beneath Tonga and Fiji, filtered between 12.5 and 200 s. We observe a regional variation of S and ScS arrival times and amplitude ratios, according to which we divide our region of interest into three subregions. For each of these subregions, we then perform 1-D (depth-dependent) waveform inversions simultaneously for radial profiles of shear wave velocity ( V S ) and seismic quality factor ( Q ). Models for all three subregions show low V S and low Q structures from 2000 km depth down to the core–mantle boundary. We further find that V S and Q in the central subregion, sampling the Caroline plume, are substantially lower than in the surrounding regions, whatever the depth. In the central subregion, V S -anomalies with respect to PREM (d V S ) and Q are about –2.5 per cent and 216 at a depth of 2850 km, and –0.6 per cent and 263 at a depth of 2000 km. By contrast, in the two other regions, d V S and Q are –2.2 per cent and 261 at a depth of 2850 km, and –0.3 per cent and 291 at a depth of 2000 km. At depths greater than ~2500 km, these differences may indicate lateral variations in temperature of ~100 K within the Pacific LLSVP. At shallower depths, they may be due to the temperature difference between the Caroline plume and its surroundings, and possibly to a small fraction of iron-rich material entrained by the plume.

Description: A rotorcraft roof composite sandwich panel has been redesigned to optimize sound power transmission loss (TL) and minimize structure-borne sound for frequencies between 1 and 4 kHz where gear-meshing noise from the transmission has the most impact on speech intelligibility. The roof section, framed by a grid of ribs, was originally constructed of a single honeycomb core/composite face sheet sandwich panel. The original panel has acoustic coincidence frequencies near 600 Hz, leading to poor TL across the frequency range of 14 kHz. To quiet the panel, the cross section was split into two thinner sandwich subpanels separated by an air gap. The air gap was sized to target the fundamental mass-spring-mass resonance of the panel system to less than 500 Hz, well below the frequency range of interest. The panels were designed to withstand structural loading from normal rotorcraft operation, as well as "man-on-the-roof" static loads experienced during maintenance operations. Thin layers of viscoelastomer were included in the face sheet ply layups, increasing panel damping loss factors from about 0.01 to 0.05. TL measurements show the optimized panel provides 611 dB of acoustic TL improvement and 615 dB of structure-borne sound reduction at critical rotorcraft transmission tonal frequencies. Analytic panel TL theory simulates the measured performance within 3 dB over most frequencies. Detailed finite element/boundary element modeling simulates TL slightly more accurately, within 2 dB for frequencies up to 4 kHz, and also simulates structure-borne sound well, generally within 3 dB.

Description: The Common Research Model wing-body configuration is investigated with the k-kL-MEAH2015 turbulence model implemented in FUN3D. This includes results presented at the Sixth Drag Prediction Workshop and additional results generated after the workshop with a nonlinear Quadratic Constitutive Relation (QCR) variant of the same turbulence model. The workshop provided grids are used, and a uniform grid refinement study is performed at the design condition. A large variation between results with and without a reconstruction limiter is exhibited on medium grid sizes, indicating that the medium grid size is too coarse for drawing conclusions in comparison with experiment. This variation is reduced with grid refinement. At a fixed angle of attack near design conditions, the QCR variant yielded decreased lift and drag compared with the linear eddy-viscosity model by an amount that was approximately constant with grid refinement. The k-kL-MEAH2015 turbulence model produced wing root junction flow behavior consistent with wind tunnel observations.

Description: Greased Lightning (GL-10) is an aircraft configuration that combines the characteristics of a cruise efficient airplane with the ability to perform vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). This aircraft has been designed, fabricated and flight tested at the small unmanned aerial system (UAS) scale. This technical memorandum will document the procedures and findings of the flight test experiments. The GL-10 design utilized two key technologies to enable this unique aircraft design; namely, distributed electric propulsion (DEP) and inexpensive closed loop controllers. These technologies enabled the flight of this inherently unstable aircraft. Overall it has been determined thru flight test that a design that leverages these new technologies can yield a useful VTOL cruise efficient aircraft.

Description: This report is intended to provide a broad knowledge of various topics associated with NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), with particular interest on the NASA SBIR contracts awarded from 2011-2012 executed by small companies. The content of this report focuses on the high-quality, cutting-edge research that will lead to revolutionary concepts, technologies, and capabilities that enable radical change to both the airspace system and the aircraft that fly within it, facilitating a safer, more environmentally friendly, and more efficient air transportation system.

Description: FLOPS has been the primary aircraft synthesis software used by the Aeronautics Systems Analysis Branch at NASA Langley Research Center. It was created for rapid conceptual aircraft design and advanced technology impact assessments. FLOPS is a single computer program that includes weights estimation, aerodynamics estimation, engine cycle analysis, propulsion data scaling and interpolation, detailed mission performance analysis, takeoff and landing performance analysis, noise footprint estimation, and cost analysis. It is well known as a baseline and common denominator for aircraft design studies. FLOPS is capable of calibrating a model to known aircraft data, making it useful for new aircraft and modifications to existing aircraft. The weight estimation method in FLOPS is known to be of high fidelity for conventional tube with wing aircraft and a substantial amount of effort went into its development. This report serves as a comprehensive documentation of the FLOPS weight estimation method. The development process is presented with the weight estimation process.

Description: The NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft (NDARC) software is an aircraft system analysis tool that supports both conceptual design efforts and technology impact assessments. The principal tasks are to design (or size) a rotorcraft to meet specified requirements, including vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) operation, and then analyze the performance of the aircraft for a set of conditions. For broad and lasting utility, it is important that the code have the capability to model general rotorcraft configurations, and estimate the performance and weights of advanced rotor concepts. The architecture of the NDARC code accommodates configuration flexibility, a hierarchy of models, and ultimately multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization. Initially the software is implemented with low-fidelity models, typically appropriate for the conceptual design environment. An NDARC job consists of one or more cases, each case optionally performing design and analysis tasks. The design task involves sizing the rotorcraft to satisfy specified design conditions and missions. The analysis tasks can include off-design mission performance calculation, flight performance calculation for point operating conditions, and generation of subsystem or component performance maps. For analysis tasks, the aircraft description can come from the sizing task, from a previous case or a previous NDARC job, or be independently generated (typically the description of an existing aircraft). The aircraft consists of a set of components, including fuselage, rotors, wings, tails, and propulsion. For each component, attributes such as performance, drag, and weight can be calculated; and the aircraft attributes are obtained from the sum of the component attributes. Description and analysis of conventional rotorcraft configurations is facilitated, while retaining the capability to model novel and advanced concepts. Specific rotorcraft configurations considered are single-main-rotor and tail-rotor helicopter, tandem helicopter, coaxial helicopter, and tiltrotor. The architecture of the code accommodates addition of new or higher-fidelity attribute models for a component, as well as addition of new components.

Description: This year end progress report summarizes our engineering study of a large, VTOL civil transport that we began in August 2015. The task has been to follow up on work reported in Reference 1, which described a NASA, 2005 design study showing that a 120 passenger, tiltrotor aircraft capable of cruising at 350 knots at 30,000 feet was quite feasible. The objective of our task this year has been to investigate the feasibility of a 120 passenger, tiltrotor aircraft capable of cruising at 425 to 450 knots at altitude and having VSTOL capability at Denver (i.e., 5,000 feet) with an outside air temperature (OAT) of 95F. A corollary to our work has been to examine the suitability of the engineering tools available to conduct the concept design study we have begun. We have relegated two key pieces of corollary work to an appendix and used the body of this report to transmit progress in our preliminary performance trend studies. By way of background, in January of 2016, Mr. Harris presented a paper titled The VSTOL Performance Gap at the AHS Technical Meeting on Aeromechanics Design for Vertical Lift. This presentation is included in this year end report as Appendix A. A key concluding chart in that presentation is repeated here as Fig. 1. The Rotorcraft Branch at NASA Ames was already studying a tiltrotor suited for the regional carrier routes, but no effort beyond the 2005 results reported in Ref. 1 was going on. Therefore, we took on the task of extending the 350 knot, 120 passenger tiltrotor studies up to speeds associated with major airline routes.

Description: The Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge encompasses a rich mosaic of habitats and is a fecund and convenient field site for Earth science research, comprised of tidal salt marsh, open ponds, shallow water, mudflat habitat and encompassing a variety of tide, salinity, elevation, slope, and other conditions. Proximity to the NASA Ames Research Center and overlap with the center's UAS (unmanned aircraft systems) test area presents the opportunity to create a unique natural laboratory that can incubate and support a variety of research and benefit the Refuge in monitoring wildlife changes and habitat evolution over time.

Description: A computational and design study on an airfoil and high-lift flap for the X-57 Maxwell Distributed Electric Propulsion (DEP) testbed aircraft was conducted. The aircraft wing sizing study resulted in a wing area of 66.67 sq ft and aspect ratio of 15 with a design requirement of V(stall) = 58 KEAS, at a gross weight of 3,000 lb. To meet this goal an aircraft C(L,max) of 4.0 was required. The design cruise condition is 150 KTAS at 8,000 ft. This resulted in airfoil requirements of c(l) is approximately 0.90 for the cruise condition at Re = 2.35 x 10 (exp 6). A flapped airfoil with a c(l,max) of approximately 2.5 or greater, at Re = 1.0 x 10 (exp 6), was needed to have enough lift to meet the stall requirement with the DEP system. MSES computational analyses were conducted on the GAW-1, GAW-2, and the NACA 5415 airfoil sections, however they had limitations in either high drag or low c(l,max) on the cruise airfoil, which was the impetus for a new design. A design was conducted to develop a low drag airfoil for the X-57 cruise conditions with high c(l,max). The final design was the GNEW5BP93B airfoil with a minimum drag coefficient of c(d) = 0.0053 at c(l) = 0.90 and achieved laminar flow back to 69% chord on the upper surface and 62% chord on the lower surface. With fully turbulent flow, the drag increases to c(d) = 0.0120. The predicted maximum lift with turbulent flow is a c(l,max) of 1.95 at alpha = 19 deg. The airfoil is characterized by relatively flat pressure gradient regions on both surfaces at alpha = 0 deg, and aft camber to get extra lift out of the lower surface concave region. A 25% chord slotted flap was designed and analyzed with MSES for a 30 deg flap deflection. Additional 30 deg and 40 deg flap deflection analyses for two flap positions were conducted with USM3D using several turbulence models, for two angles of attack, to assess near c(l,max) with varied flap position. The maximum c(l) varied between 2.41 and 3.35. An infinite-span powered high-lift study was conducted on a GAW-1 constant chord 40 deg flapped airfoil section with FUN3D to quantify the airfoil lift increment that can be expected from a DEP system. The 16.7 hp/propeller blown wing increases the maximum C(L) from 3.45 to C(L) = 6.43, which is an effective q ratio of 1.86. This indicates that if the unblown high-lift flapped airfoil of the X-57 airplane achieves a c(l,max) of 2.78, then the high-lift augmentation blowing could yield a sectional lift coefficient of approximately 4.95 at c(l,max). Finally, a computational study was conducted with FUN3D on an infinite-span constant chord GAW-1 cruise airfoil to determine the impact of high-lift propeller diameter to wing chord ratio on the lift increment of the DEP system. A constant diameter propeller and nacelle size were used in the study. Three computational grids were made with airfoil chords of 0.5*chord, 1.0*chord, and 2.0*chord. Results of the propeller diameter to wing chord ratio study indicated that the blown to unblown C(L) ratio increased as the chord was decreased. However, because of the increase in relative size of the high-lift nacelle to the wing, which impacted wing lift performance, the study indicated that a propeller diameter to wing chord ratio of 1.0 gives the overall best maximum lift on the wing with the DEP system.

Description: This study presents an aeroelastic wing shaping control concept for distributed propulsion aircraft. By leveraging wing flexibility, wing-mounted distributed propulsion can be used to re-twist wing shapes in-flight to improve aerodynamic efficiency. A multidisciplinary approach is used to develop an aero-propulsive-elastic model of a highly flexible wing distributed propulsion transport aircraft. The conceptual model is used to evaluate the aerodynamic benefit of the distributed propulsion aircraft. The initial conceptual analysis shows that an improvement in the aerodynamic efficiency quantity of lift-to-drag ratio L/D is possible with the proposed aeroelastic wing shaping control for distributed propulsion aircraft. Two concepts are studied: single-generator configuration and dual-generator configuration with four propulsors per wing. The baseline aircraft model is NASA Generic Transport Model. A fan performance analysis is developed for propulsion sizing. Cruise performance analysis is conducted to evaluate the potential improvement in the cruise range for the configurations under study. A flutter analysis is performed to address the potential flutter issue as the propulsors are placed toward the wing tip which would cause a reduction in the wing natural frequencies. Flight control considerations are addressed in the context of the engine-out requirement, yaw and roll controls, and yaw damping augmentation using differential thrust.

Description: Stereo photogrammetry was used to measure the position and attitude of a slender body of revolution during nozzle-plume/shock-wave interaction tests in the NASA Ames 9- by 7-Ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The model support system was designed to allow the model to be placed at many locations in the test section relative to a pressure rail on one sidewall. It included a streamwise traverse as well as a thin blade that offset the model axis from the sting axis. With these features the support system was more flexible than usual resulting in higher-than-usual uncertainty in the position and attitude of the model. Also contributing to this uncertainty were the absence of a balance, so corrections for sting deflections could not be applied, and the wings-vertical orientation of the model, which precluded using a gravity-based accelerometer to measure pitch angle. Therefore, stereo photogrammetry was chosen to provide independent measures of the model position and orientation. This paper describes the photogrammetry system and presents selected results from the test.

Description: Electrified aircraft have the potential to provide significant benefits for efficiency and emissions reductions. To assess these potential benefits, modeling tools are needed to provide rapid evaluation of diverse concepts and to ensure safe operability and peak performance over the mission. The modeling challenge for these vehicles is the ability to show significant benefits over the current highly refined aircraft systems. The STARC-ABL (single-aisle turbo-electric aircraft with an aft boundary layer propulsor) is a new test proposal that builds upon previous N3-X team hybrid designs. This presentation describes the STARC-ABL concept, the NASA Electric Aircraft Testbed (NEAT) which will allow testing of the STARC-ABL powertrain, and the related modeling and simulation efforts to date. Modeling and simulation includes a turbofan simulation, Numeric Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS), which has been integrated with NEAT; and a power systems and control model for predicting testbed performance and evaluating control schemes. Model predictions provide good comparisons with testbed data for an NPSS-integrated test of the single-string configuration of NEAT.

Description: This paper addresses the problem of building trust in the online prediction of a battery powered aircraft's remaining flying time. A series of flight tests is described that make use of a small electric powered unmanned aerial vehicle (eUAV) to verify the performance of the remaining flying time prediction algorithm. The estimate of remaining flying time is used to activate an alarm when the predicted remaining time is two minutes. This notifies the pilot to transition to the landing phase of the flight. A second alarm is activated when the battery charge falls below a specified limit threshold. This threshold is the point at which the battery energy reserve would no longer safely support two repeated aborted landing attempts. During the test series, the motor system is operated with the same predefined timed airspeed profile for each test. To test the robustness of the prediction, half of the tests were performed with, and half were performed without, a simulated powertrain fault. The pilot remotely engages a resistor bank at a specified time during the test flight to simulate a partial powertrain fault. The flying time prediction system is agnostic of the pilot's activation of the fault and must adapt to the vehicle's state. The time at which the limit threshold on battery charge is reached is then used to measure the accuracy of the remaining flying time predictions. Accuracy requirements for the alarms are considered and the results discussed.

Description: This presentation covers the status of the low boom x-plane effort and increase awareness.

Description: A third and final international project has been completed for the assessment of state-of-the-art computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capabilities to predict flight data obtained with an F-16XL aircraft. This work built upon two prior campaigns associated with the Cranked Arrow-Wing Aerodynamics Project International (CAWAPI). The second CAWAPI project, CAWAPI-2, focused on predictions for low-speed/high-angle-of-attack and transonic/low-to-moderate angle-of-attack conditions, and eight papers from this effort were published in Volume 54, Issue 2, of the Journal of Aircraft.

Description: This paper demonstrates a technique for locating the optimal control surface layout of an aeroservoelastic Common Research Model wingbox, in the context of maneuver load alleviation and active utter suppression. The combinatorial actuator layout design is solved using ideas borrowed from topology optimization, where the effectiveness of a given control surface is tied to a layout design variable, which varies from zero (the actuator is removed) to one (the actuator is retained). These layout design variables are optimized concurrently with a large number of structural wingbox sizing variables and control surface actuation variables in order to minimize the sum of structural mass and actuator mass. The results demonstrate interdependencies between structural sizing patterns and optimal control surface layouts for both static and dynamic aeroelastic physics.

Description: Overview of the Spanwise Adaptive Wing Project to be presented in TED Talks fashion.

Description: A conceptual design process focused on the development of a low-cost, large scale X-plane was developed as part of an internal research and development effort. One of the concepts considered for this process was the double-bubble configuration recently developed as an advanced single-aisle class commercial transport similar in size to a Boeing 737-800 or Airbus A320. The study objective was to reduce the contractor cost from contract award to first test flight to less than $100 million, and having the first flight within three years of contract award. Methods and strategies for reduced cost are discussed.

Description: The Technology Capability Level-2 National Campaign (TCL2nc) was conducted at six different test sites located across the USA, during May and June of 2017. The campaign resulted in over 250 data collection flights using 26 different aircraft and involving 23 flight crews. Flights not only varied in duration, but also in the environments and terrains over which they flew. The TCL2nc highlighted beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and altitude-stratified operations, and saw five partners bring their own, independently built, UTM Service Supplier (USS) for use during the flight tests. This document presents data collected during the TCL2nc that informs the 'Operator' section of the 'Requirements/Best Practices' from the UTM Technical Capability Matrix and Guidelines to Operate (Rios, version as of March 2017). A review of the data collected indicated that although teams were well qualified on paper (in terms of both completing training and having experience with flying UAS vehicles), greater consideration should be given to the unique perspectives and backgrounds of future UAS operators. Overall, teams looked at a variety of sources for information, including USS client-displays, and participants became more aware of the need to be aware of other vehicles, highlighting the value of reporting information. Observations found that flight crews' time to respond to a UTM issue depended heavily on the team structure, communication efficiency, and crew procedures.

Description: The SpaRibs topology of an aircraft wing has a significant effect on its structural behavior and stability as well as the flutter performance. The development of additive manufacturing techniques like Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (EBF3) has made it feasible to manufacture aircraft wings with curvilinear spars, ribs (SpaRibs) and stiffeners. In this article a new global-local optimization framework for wing with multiple sections using curvilinear SpaRibs is described. A single design space is used to parameterize the SpaRibs geometry. This method has been implemented using MSC-PATRAN to create a broad range of SpaRibs topologies using limited number of parameters. It ensures C0 and C1 continuities in SpaRibs geometry at the junction of two wing sections with airfoil thickness gradient discontinuity as well as mesh continuity between all structural components. This method is advantageous in complex multi-disciplinary optimization due to its potential to reduce the number of design variables. For the global-local optimization the local panels are generated by an algorithm which is totally based on a set algebra on the connectivity matrix data. The great advantage of this method is that it is completely independent of the coordinates of the nodes of the finite element model. It is also independent of the order in which the elements are distributed in the FEM. The code is verified by optimizing of the CRM Baseline model at trim condition at Mach number equal to 0.85 for five different angle of attack (-2deg, 0deg,2deg,4deg and 6deg). The final weight of the wing is 19,090.61 lb. This value is comparable to that obtained by Qiang et al. 6 (19,269 lb).

Description: This presentation addresses some of the safety concerns, and hazards that will be vital to buying down risk.

Description: Electric, hybrid-electric, and turbo-electric distributed propulsion technologies and concepts are beginning to gain traction in the aircraft design community, as they can provide improvements in operating costs, noise, fuel consumption, and emissions compared to conventional internal combustion or Brayton-cycle powered vehicles. NASA is building multiple demonstrators and testbeds to buy down airworthiness and flight safety risks for these new technologies, including X-57 Maxwell, HEIST, Airvolt, and NEAT.

Description: Design Reference Missions (DRM): Integrated ODM Air-Taxi Mission Features, Hybrid Electric Integrated System Testbed (HEIST) flight control. Structural Health, Energy Storage, Electric Components, Loss of Control, Degraded Systems, System Health, Real-Time IO Operator Geo-Fencing, Regional Noise Abatement and Trusted Autonomy Inter-operability.

Description: As the aviation vehicle design environment expands due to the in flux of new technologies, new methods of conceptual design and modeling are required in order to meet the customer's needs. In the case of distributed electric propulsion (DEP), the use of high-lift propellers upstream of the wing leading edge augments lift at low speeds enabling smaller wings with sufficient takeoff and landing performance. During cruise, however, these devices would normally contribute significant drag if left in a fixed or windmilling arrangement. Therefore, a design that stows the propeller blades is desirable. In this paper, we present a method for designing folding-blade configurations that conform to the nacelle surface when stowed. These folded designs maintain performance nearly identical to their straight, non-folding blade counterparts.

Description: This paper reviews the development of the Mission Adaptive Digital Composite Aerostructures Technologies (MADCAT) v0 demonstrator aircraft, utilizing a novel aerostructure concept that combines advanced composite materials manufacturing and fabrication technologies with a discrete construction approach to achieve high stiffness-to-density ratio ultra-light aerostructures that provide versatility and adaptability. This revolutionary aerostructure concept has the potential to change how future air vehicles are designed, built, and flown, with dramatic reductions in weight and manufacturing complexity the number of types of structural components needed to build air vehicles while enabling new mission objectives. We utilize the innovative digital composite materials and discrete construction technologies to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed aerostructure concept, by building and testing a scaled prototype UAV, MADCAT v0. This paper presents an overview of the design and development of the MADCAT v0 flight demonstrator.

Description: This presentation discusses key accomplishments of the MM-RTA project.

Description: The Sonic Booms in Atmospheric Turbulence (SonicBAT) Project flew a series of 20 F-18 flights with 69 supersonic passes at Edwards Air Force Base in July 2016 to quantify the effect of atmospheric turbulence on sonic booms. Most of the passes were at a pressure altitude of 32,000 feet and a Mach number of 1.4, yielding a nominal sonic boom overpressure of 1.6 pounds per square foot. Atmospheric sensors such as GPS sondeballoons, Sonic Detection and Ranging (SODAR) acoustic sounders, and ultrasonic anemometers were used to characterize the turbulence state of the atmosphere for each flight. Spiked signatures in excess of 7 pounds per square foot were measured at some locations, as well as rounded sonic-boom signatures with levels much lower than the nominal. This presentation will quantify the range of overpressure and Perceived Level of the sonic boom as a function of turbulence parameters, and also present the spatial variation of these quantities over the array. Comparison with historical data will also be shown.

Description: Recent and projected improvements for more or all-electric aviation propulsion systems can enable greater personal mobility, while also reducing environmental impact (noise and emissions). However, all-electric energy storage capability is significantly less than present, hydrocarbon-fueled systems. A system study was performed exploring design and performance assuming hybrid propulsion ranging from traditional hydrocarbon-fueled cycles (gasoline Otto and diesel) to all-electric systems using electric motors generators, with batteries for energy storage and load leveling. Study vehicles were a conventional, single-main rotor (SMR) helicopter and an advanced vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft. Vehicle capability was limited to two or three people (including pilot or crew); the design range for the VTOL aircraft was set to 150 miles (about one hour total flight). Search and rescue (SAR), loiter, and cruise-dominated missions were chosen to illustrate each vehicle and degree of hybrid propulsion strengths and weaknesses. The traditional, SMR helicopter is a hover-optimized design; electric hybridization was performed assuming a parallel hybrid approach by varying degree of hybridization. Many of the helicopter hybrid propulsion combinations have some mission capabilities that might be effective for short range or on-demand mobility missions. However, even for 30 year technology electrical components, all hybrid propulsion systems studied result in less available fuel, lower maximum range, and reduced hover and loiter duration than the baseline vehicle. Results for the VTOL aircraft were more encouraging. Series hybrid combinations reflective of near-term systems could improve range and loiter duration by 30. Advanced, higher performing series hybrid combinations could double or almost triple the VTOL aircrafts range and loiter duration. Additional details on the study assumptions and work performed are given, as well as suggestions for future study effort.

Description: The adjoint-based design capability in FUN3D is extended to allow efficient gradient- based optimization and design of concepts with highly integrated aero-propulsive systems. A circumferential distortion calculation, along with the derivatives needed to perform adjoint-based design, have been implemented in FUN3D. This newly implemented distortion calculation can be used not only for design but also to drive the existing mesh adaptation process and reduce the error associated with the fan distortion calculation. The design capability is demonstrated by the shape optimization of an in-house aircraft concept equipped with an aft fuselage propulsor. The optimization objective is the minimization of flow distortion at the aerodynamic interface plane of this aft fuselage propulsor.

Description: Aerodynamically-actuated radical shape change (AARSC) is a novel concept that enables flight vehicles to conduct a mission profile containing radically different flight regimes while possibly mitigating the typical penalties incurred by radical geometric change. Weight penalties are mitigated by utilizing a primary flight control to generate aerodynamic loads that then drive a shape-change actuation. The flight mission profile used to analyze the AARSC concept is that of a transport aircraft that cruises at a lower altitude than typical transports. Based upon a preliminary analysis, substantial fuel savings are realized for mission ranges below 2000 NM by comparison to a state-of-the-art baseline, with an increasing impact as mission range is reduced. The predicted savings are so significant at short-haul ranges that the shape-change concept rivals the fuel-burn performance of turboprop aircraft while completing missions in less time than typical jet aircraft. Lower-altitude cruise has also been sought after in recent years for environmental benefits, however, the performance penalty to conventional aircraft was prohibitive. AARSC may enable the opportunity to realize the environmental benefits of lower-altitude emissions coupled with mission fuel savings. The findings of this study also reveal that the AARSC concept appears to be controllable, turbulence susceptibility is likely not an issue, and the shape change concept appears to be mechanically and aerodynamically feasible.

Description: Major enhancements were made to the Higher-fidelity Conceptual Design and structural optimization (HCDstruct) tool developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). Whereas previous versions were limited to hybrid wing body (HWB) configurations, the current version of HCDstruct now supports the analysis of generalized tube and wing (TW) aircraft concepts. Along with significantly enhanced user input options for all air- craft configurations, these enhancements represent HCDstruct version 2.0. Validation was performed using a Boeing 737-200 aircraft model, for which primary structure weight estimates agreed well with available data. Additionally, preliminary analysis of the NASA D8 (ND8) aircraft concept was performed, highlighting several new features of the tool.

Description: Optical measurement techniques have become a standard option for wind tunnel tests. Pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) is a mature test technique and a common experimental technique in many wind tunnels to measure the global mean static pressure on a model. PSP is a valuable tool when a more detailed distribution of the pressure is needed rather than the conventional pressure taps alone. Planning for a test with optical-based techniques can present new challenges even for experienced customer. The purpose of this paper is to provide a resource to the wind tunnel testing community and customers interested in obtaining PSP measurements on a wind tunnel model at the NASA Ames Research Centers Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel. An overview of PSP mechanics, a list of requirements for ones considering PSP measurements, and PSP deliverable details are specified.

Description: Modern aircraft design methods have produced acceptable designs for large conventional aircraft performance. With revolutionary electronic propulsion technologies fueled by the growth in the small UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems) industry, these same prediction models are being applied to new smaller, and experimental design concepts requiring a VTOL (Vertical Take Off and Landing) capability for ODM (On Demand Mobility). A 50% sub-scale GL-10 flight model was built and tested to demonstrate the transition from hover to forward flight utilizing DEP (Distributed Electric Propulsion)[1][2]. In 2016 plans were put in place to conduct performance flight testing on the 50% sub-scale GL-10 flight model to support a NASA project called DELIVER (Design Environment for Novel Vertical Lift Vehicles). DELIVER was investigating the feasibility of including smaller and more experimental aircraft configurations into a NASA design tool called NDARC (NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft)[3]. This report covers the performance flight data collected during flight testing of the GL-10 50% sub-scale flight model conducted at Beaver Dam Airpark, VA. Overall the flight test data provides great insight into how well our existing conceptual design tools predict the performance of small scale experimental DEP concepts. Low fidelity conceptual design tools estimated the (L/D)( sub max)of the GL-10 50% sub-scale flight model to be 16. Experimentally measured (L/D)( sub max) for the GL-10 50% scale flight model was 7.2. The aerodynamic performance predicted versus measured highlights the complexity of wing and nacelle interactions which is not currently accounted for in existing low fidelity tools.

Description: This report summarizes work performed by The Boeing Company, through its Boeing Research & Technology organization located in Huntington Beach, California, under the Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) project. The report documents work performed to structurally analyze and assemble a large-scale Multi-bay Box (MBB) Test Article capable of withstanding bending and internal pressure loadings representative of a Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) aircraft. The work included fabrication of tooling elements for use in the fabrication and assembly of the test article.

Description: To evaluate new airframe technologies we need design tools based on high-fidelity models that consider multidisciplinary interactions early in the design process. The overarching goal of this NRA is to develop tools that enable high-fidelity multidisciplinary design optimization of aircraft configurations, and to apply these tools to the design of high aspect ratio flexible wings. We develop a geometry engine that is capable of quickly generating conventional and unconventional aircraft configurations including the internal structure. This geometry engine features adjoint derivative computation for efficient gradient-based optimization. We also added overset capability to a computational fluid dynamics solver, complete with an adjoint implementation and semiautomatic mesh generation. We also developed an approach to constraining buffet and started the development of an approach for constraining utter. On the applications side, we developed a new common high-fidelity model for aeroelastic studies of high aspect ratio wings. We performed optimal design trade-o s between fuel burn and aircraft weight for metal, conventional composite, and carbon nanotube composite wings. We also assessed a continuous morphing trailing edge technology applied to high aspect ratio wings. This research resulted in the publication of 26 manuscripts so far, and the developed methodologies were used in two other NRAs. 1

Description: Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) is a planar velocity measurement technique that has found widespread use across a wide class of engineering disciplines. Tomographic PIV (tomoPIV) is an extension of the traditional PIV technique whereby the velocity across a volume of fluid is measured. TomoPIV provides additional fluid mechanical properties of the flow due to the adjacent planes of velocity information that are extracted. Dual Plane PIV is another approach for providing cross-plane flow field properties. Dual Plane PIV and tomoPIV provide all of the same flow properties, albeit through very different routes with significantly different levels of effort, hence a comparison of their application and performance would prove beneficial in a well-known, highly three dimensional flow field. A synthetic jet flow which has a wide range of flow field features including high velocity gradients and regions of high vorticity was used as a rigorous test bed to determine the capabilities limitations of the Dual Plane PIV and tomoPIV techniques. The results show that compressing 3D particle field information down to a limited number of views does not permit the accurate reconstruction of the flow field. The traditional thin sheet techniques are the best approach for accurate flow field measurements.

Description: NASA's investment and research in aviation has led to new technologies and concepts that make aircraft more efficient and environmentally friendly. One aircraft design operational concept is the reduction of cruise speed to reduce fuel burned during a mission. Although this is not a new idea, it was used by all of the contractors involved in a 2008 NASA sponsored study that solicited concept and technology ideas to reduce environmental impacts for future subsonic passenger transports. NASA is currently improving and building new analysis capabilities to analyze advanced concepts. To test some of these new capabilities, a transonic truss braced wing configuration was used as a test case. This paper examines the effects due to changes in the design cruise speed and other tradeoffs in the design space. The analysis was baselined to the Boeing SUGAR High truss braced wing concept. An optimization was run at five different design cruise Mach numbers. These designs are compared to provide an initial assessment space and the parameters that should be considered when selecting a design cruise speed. A discussion of the design drivers is also included. The results show that the wing weight in the current analysis has more influence on the takeoff gross weight than expected. This effect caused lower than expected wing sweep angle values for higher cruise speed designs.

Description: This presentation describes aerostructures lessons learned and best practices developed over the years at AFRC.

Description: PROBLEM: Current power turbines are designed for single operating speed, and performance degrades rapidly as power turbine speed decreases. OBJECTIVES: Demonstrate 50 improvement in efficient operational capability using a Variable Speed Power Turbine concept. (Refer to figure lower left, where the goal is to raise efficiency from the current technology line to the green line which represents the AVSPOT VSPT goal.APPROACH: Conduct RD required to advance the technology readiness level of VSPT technology to TRL 4Partner with DoD and leverage DOD AVSPOT contract to share government cost (5050) of contracted efforts to GE and PW for VSPT TRL 45 demonstration.

Description: Aspects of Human Autonomy Teaming - background on safe and efficient crew autonomy teaming project and introduction of three following talks.

Description: In late 2015, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) funded an experiment in rapid design and rapid teaming to explore new approaches to solving challenging design problems in aeronautics in an effort to cultivate and foster innovation. This report summarizes several lessons learned from the rapid design portion of the study. This effort entailed learning and applying design thinking, a human-centered design approach, to complete the conceptual design for an open-ended design challenge within six months. The design challenge focused on creating a capability to advance experimental testing of autonomous aeronautics systems, an area of great interest to NASA, the US government as a whole, and an entire ecosystem of users and developers around the globe. A team of nine civil servant researchers from three of NASA's aeronautics field centers with backgrounds in several disciplines was assembled and rapidly trained in design thinking under the guidance of the innovation and design firm IDEO. The design thinking process, while used extensively outside the aerospace industry, is less common and even counter to many practices within the aerospace industry. In this report, several contrasts between common aerospace research and development practices and design thinking are discussed, drawing upon the lessons learned from the NASA rapid design study. The lessons discussed included working towards a design solution without a set of detailed design requirements, which may not be practical or even feasible for management to ascertain for complex, challenging problems. This approach allowed for the possibility of redesigning the original problem statement to better meet the needs of the users. Another lesson learned was to approach problems holistically from the perspective of the needs of individuals that may be affected by advances in topic area instead of purely from a technological feasibility viewpoint. The interdisciplinary nature of the design team also provided valuable experience by allowing team members from different technological backgrounds to work side-by-side instead of dividing into smaller teams, as is frequently done in traditional multidisciplinary design. The team also learned how to work with qualitative data obtained primarily through the 70-plus interviews that were conducted over the course of this project, which was a sharp contrast to using quantitative data with regards to identifying, capturing, analyzing, storing, and recalling the data. When identifying potential interviewees who may have useful contributions to the design subject area, the team found great value in talking to non-traditional users and potential beneficiaries of autonomous aeronautics systems whose impact on the aeronautics autonomy ecosystem is growing swiftly. Finally, the team benefitted from using "sacrificial prototyping," which is a method of rapidly prototyping draft concepts and ideas with the intent of enabling potential users to provide significant feedback early in the design process. This contrasts the more common approach of using expensive prototypes that focus on demonstrating technical feasibility. The unique design approach and lessons learned by the team throughout this process culminated in a final design concept that was quite different than what the team originally assumed would be the design concept initially. A summary of the more usercentered final design concept is also provided.

Description: Since the NASA-HDBK-7005 first released in 2001, oversights and imprecise language leading to misinterpretations have been identified in the handbook and new issues in the discipline have arisen that need to be addressed. The majority of the technology described in handbook is mature and is standard practice among experts in the discipline. Advances in the discipline have been made in several areas and clarifications are needed in some of existing material. Many of these advances and clarifications are a product of new NASA launch vehicle program. The revision of the 7005 handbook benefits current NASA manned space flight program, NASAs numerous unmanned space missions, and the community at large. A community wide contribution is made and numerous suggestions have been offered for the revision. This paper summarizes sections of the handbook that have gone through significant revisions.

Description: This paper presents a novel hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed for systems level diagnostics and prognostics of an electric propulsion system used in UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicle). Referencing the all electric, Edge 540T aircraft used in science and research by NASA Langley Flight Research Center, the HIL testbed includes an identical propulsion system, consisting of motors, speed controllers and batteries. Isolated under a controlled laboratory environment, the propulsion system has been instrumented for advanced diagnostics and prognostics. To produce flight like loading on the system a slave motor is coupled to the motor under test (MUT) and provides variable mechanical resistance, and the capability of introducing nondestructive mechanical wear-like frictional loads on the system. This testbed enables the verification of mathematical models of each component of the propulsion system, the repeatable generation of flight-like loads on the system for fault analysis, test-to-failure scenarios, and the development of advanced system level diagnostics and prognostics methods. The capabilities of the testbed are extended through the integration of a LabVIEW-based client for the Live Virtual Constructive Distributed Environment (LVCDC) Gateway which enables both the publishing of generated data for remotely located observers and prognosers and the synchronization the testbed propulsion system with vehicles in the air. The developed HIL testbed gives researchers easy access to a scientifically relevant portion of the aircraft without the overhead and dangers encountered during actual flight.

Description: Abstract

Description: Raw-, SEG-Y and other supplementary data of the landside deployment from the amphibious wide-angle seismic experiment ALPHA are presented. The aim of this project was to reveal the crustal and lithospheric structure of the subducting Adriatic plate and the external accretionary wedge in the southern Dinarides. Airgun shots from the RV Meteor were recorded along two profiles across Montenegro and northern Albania.

Description: Abstract

Description: This dataset contains supplementary data concerning the SELASOMA project (GIPP-Project: Madagaskar; ID: 201204; FDSN-network code: ZE): (1) For stations with Cube data loggers, the raw data files are included. (2) For stations with EDL data loggers the log and auxiliary files are included. The main purpose of this dataset is to archive raw information on the timing quality, and to allow future use of alternative Cube-to-miniseed converters. Do not use this dataset if you are interested in continuous or event-based waveform data. Instead, refer to related dataset containing continuous waveforms . The dataset contains 1) log files for the stations with EDL data loggers (organized in sub-directories according to time range and station code); 2) separated MSEED-formatted data affected by some problems (organized in sub-directories according to time range and station code) and 3) raw CUBE-formatted data (organized in sub-directories according to time range and station name).