Spacecraft thermal energy accommodation from atomic recombination
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
Carleton, Karen L.↗
Engineering topics
Marinelli, William J.
Publications and source records attributed to Marinelli, William J..
Spacecraft thermal energy accommodation from atomic recombination
Measurements of atomic recombination probabilities important in determining energy release to reusable spacecraft thermal protection surfaces during reentry are presented. An experimental apparatus constructed to examine recombination of atomic oxygen from thermal protection and reference materials at reentry temperatures is described. The materials are examined under ultrahigh vacuum conditions to develop and maintain well characterized surface conditions that are free of contamination. When compared with stagnation point heat transfer measurements performed in arc jet facilities, these measurements indicate that a significant fraction of the excess energy available from atom recombination is removed from the surface as metastable O2.
Carleton, Karen L.↗
H2/O2 three-body rates at high temperatures
Hydrogen atoms are produced in the presence of excess O2, and the first-order decay are studied as a function of temperature and pressure in order to obtain the rate coefficient for the three-body reaction between H-atoms and O2. Attention is focused on the kinetic scheme employed as well as the reaction cell and photolysis and probe laser system. A two-photon laser-induced fluorescence technique is employed to detect H-atoms without optical-thickness or O2-absorption problems. Results confirm measurements reported previously for the H + O2 + N2 reaction at 300 K and extend these measurements to higher temperatures. Preliminary data indicate non-Arrehenius-type behavior of this reaction rate coefficient as a function of temperature. Measurements of the rate coefficient for H + O2 + Ar reaction at 300 K give a rate coefficient of 2.1 +/- 0.1 x 10 to the -32nd cm exp 6/molecule sec.
Marinelli, William J.↗
Copper atom based measurements of velocity and turbulence in arc jet flows
Laboratory and field measurements were combined with a modeling effort to explore the feasibility of using atomic copper laser-induced fluorescence to measure velocity, turbulence, and temperature in arcjet flows. Both CW and pulsed frequency-doubled dye lasers were used to demonstrate the ability to measure velocity with 10 percent accuracy at rates of 200,000 cm/s in a rarefied flow of Cu atoms seeded in He. The pulsed laser established a threshold energy for power-broadening of the absorption line at 3.5 x 10 to the -8th J/sq cm. Field measurements at the NASA/JSC 10-MW arcjet facility demonstrated the ability to perform these measurements under actual test conditions. The use of this technique to measure freestream temperatures in the flow was examined for the 0.08/cm linewidth laser used in the NASA/JSC effort. Finally, single-shot turbulence measurements at the USAF/AEDC 35-MW H2 arcjet facility were measured with 4 percent accuracy using the laser/absorption line-overlap technique.
Marinelli, William J.↗
H2/O2 three-body rates at high temperatures
The extraction of thrust from air breathing hypersonic propulsion systems is critically dependent on the degree to which chemical equilibrium is reached in the combustion process. In the combustion of H2/Air mixtures, slow three-body chemical reactions involving H-atoms, O-atoms, and the OH radical play an important role in energy extraction. A first-generation high temperature and pressure flash-photolysis/laser-induced fluorescence reactor was designed and constructed to measure these important three-body rates. The system employs a high power excimer laser to produce these radicals via the photolysis of stable precursors. A novel two-photon laser-induced fluorescence technique is employed to detect H-atoms without optical thickness or O2 absorption problems. To demonstrate the feasibility of the technique the apparatus in the program is designed to perform preliminary measurements on the H + O2 + M reaction at temperatures from 300 to 835 K.
Marinelli, William J.↗