Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Soares, C. E..
A review of the radiation effects investigation capabilities of the JPL Dynamitron Accelerator Facility are discussed. A process for its use in performing total ionizing dose (TID) studies are outlined. The results of radiation effects in complicated test systems where device effects may occur due to local system irradiation are also presented.
Science missions targeting the detection of organics from jet plumes originating from icy moons (i.e. Europa and Enceladus) will employ next-generation, state-of-the-art mass spectrometers to measure the composition of icy moon plume effluents and exospheres. During fly-bys, as mass spectrometers make their scientific measurements, molecular emissions from the spacecraft can interact with the local exosphere and associated jet plumes from the sub-surface oceans of the icy moons. Spacecraft-induced molecular effluents collide with molecules from the ambient exosphere, and a fraction of the spacecraft emissions are returned to the spacecraft and its complement of science instruments. The rate at which emitted molecules are returned to the spacecraft by collisions with other molecules (e.g. in Europa’s exosphere) is the return flux. The return flux of molecular emission from spacecraft sources is a major contributor to contaminant deposition onto the complement of contamination-sensitive instruments. Characterization of return flux is critical to the definition of requirements for materials outgassing for the spacecraft and its instruments, and for the definition of thruster operations.
This paper presents a parametric study of a scramjet propulsion system integrated into a waverider lifting-body configuration. The analysis explores the effect of inlet geometry, internal cross-section-area distribution of the combustor section, the distribution of the heat release of the reacting mixture, the heat transfer, and the friction on the performance of the propulsion system. The Mach number, temperature, and pressure distributions within the scramjet model are studied parametrically, and the effects on the thrust are obtained. The results provide insight on the design concepts and problems that might arise for a given internal-flow configuration.