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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2011

Electronic Systems Test Laboratory (ESTL) User Test Planning Guide

Test process, milestones and inputs are unknowns to first-time users of the ESTL. The User Test Planning Guide aids in establishing expectations for both NASA and non-NASA facility customers. The potential audience for this guide includes both internal and commercial spaceflight hardware/software developers. It is intended to assist their test engineering personnel in test planning and execution. Material covered includes a roadmap of the test process, roles and responsibilities of facility and user, major milestones, facility capabilities, and inputs required by the facility. Samples of deliverables, test article interfaces, and inputs necessary to define test scope, cost, and schedule are included as an appendix to the guide.

Robinson, Neil↗
NASA NTRS2012

Communication Systems Simulation Laboratory (CSSL): Simulation Planning Guide

The simulation process, milestones and inputs are unknowns to first-time users of the CSSL. The Simulation Planning Guide aids in establishing expectations for both NASA and non-NASA facility customers. The potential audience for this guide includes both internal and commercial spaceflight hardware/software developers. It is intended to assist their engineering personnel in simulation planning and execution. Material covered includes a roadmap of the simulation process, roles and responsibilities of facility and user, major milestones, facility capabilities, and inputs required by the facility. Samples of deliverables, facility interfaces, and inputs necessary to define scope, cost, and schedule are included as an appendix to the guide.

Schlesinger, Adam↗
NASA NTRS1997

Open-Loop HIRF Experiments Performed on a Fault Tolerant Flight Control Computer

During the third quarter of 1996, the Closed-Loop Systems Laboratory was established at the NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to study the effects of High Intensity Radiated Fields on complex avionic systems and control system components. This new facility provided a link and expanded upon the existing capabilities of the High Intensity Radiated Fields Laboratory at LaRC that were constructed and certified during 1995-96. The scope of the Closed-Loop Systems Laboratory is to place highly integrated avionics instrumentation into a high intensity radiated field environment, interface the avionics to a real-time flight simulation that incorporates aircraft dynamics, engines, sensors, actuators and atmospheric turbulence, and collect, analyze, and model aircraft performance. This paper describes the layout and functionality of the Closed-Loop Systems Laboratory, and the open-loop calibration experiments that led up to the commencement of closed-loop real-time flight experiments.

Koppen, Daniel M.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Integration of a Microturbine Power Conversion Unit in MAGNET

The Microreactor Agile Non-nuclear Experimental Testbed (MAGNET) facility is being constructed at Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) Energy Systems Laboratory to assist with the development, demonstration, and validation of microreactor components and systems. MAGNET will accommodate various types of test articles representative of different microreactor designs. A power conversion unit (PCU) simulator loop was proposed to use the rejected heat from the test article and mimic the thermal hydraulic conditions (e.g., temperature, pressure and flow rate) that would be experienced if an actual Brayton cycle PCU was attached. However, due to the high-estimated cost of the PCU simulator and the availability of a turbogenerator used for previous testing at Sandia National Laboratories, the PCU simulator design was abandoned in favor of integrating an actual PCU into MAGNET. A commercial Capstone C30 was modified by Sandia to use external electrical heating, rather than combustion heating, to provide a power output from 1 to ~30 kWe. The C30 has a single-stage centrifugal combustor, a static radial heat exchanger, and a radial inflow turbine arranged on a single shaft with a high-speed alternator. Since the operating temperature and energy transfer per unit working fluid mass are comparable, the MAGNET PCU will provide researchers with the ability to evaluate the test article heat transfer under representative operating conditions with the transient system behavior associated with a closed Brayton cycle PCU. This report examines the integration of a modified commercial Capstone C30 turbogenerator into MAGNET, outlines a proposed set of tests, and describes future work.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Dynamometer Facts

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Flatirons Campus features two dynamometers in the Water Power Systems Laboratory that can perform research validation on marine and hydrokinetic energy devices as well as wind turbine systems from 100 watts to 15 kilowatts (kW) in size. These capabilities can also be combined with programmable loads, blue economy (nrel.gov/water/powering-blue- economy.html) application simulators, and microgrid emulators to test an extensive range of system operation and technology integration. The dynamometers replicate realistic operational conditions to assess power take-of systems and advance the technical readiness of innovations.

dynomometer↗
NASA NTRS1985

Radiofrequency testing of satellite segment of simulated 30/20 GHz satellite communications system

A laboratory communications system has been developed that can serve as a test bed for the evaluation of advanced microwave (30/20 GHz) components produced under NASA technology programs. The system will ultimately permit the transmission of a stream of high-rate (220 Mbps) digital data from the originating user, through a ground terminal, through a hardware-simulated satellite, to a receiving ground station, to the receiving user. This report contains the results of radiofrequency testing of the satellite portion of that system. Data presented include output spurious responses, attainable signal-to-noise ratios, a baseline power budget, usable frequency bands, phase and amplitude response data for each of the frequency bands, and the effects of power level variation.

Leonard, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Research Applications and Capabilities of the NASA/Army Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL)

The Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) is a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that is being modified by NASA and the US Army for flight systems research. The principal systems that are being installed in the aircraft are a Helmet-Mounted Display (HMD) and associated imaging systems, and a programmable full-authority Research Flight Control System (RFCS). In addition, comprehensive instrumentation of both the rigid body of the helicopter and the rotor system is provided. This paper describes the design features of this modern rotorcraft in-flight simulation facility and their current state of development. A brief description of initial research applications is included.

Aiken, Edwin W.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Helmet-Mounted Display Research Capabilities of the NASA/Army Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL)

The Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) is a UH-60A Black Hawk helicopter that is being modified by the US Army and NASA for flight systems research. The principal systems that are being installed in the aircraft are a Helmet Mounted Display (HMD) and imaging system, and a programmable full authority Research Flight Control System (RFCS). In addition, comprehensive instrumentation of both the rigid body of the helicopter and the rotor system is provided. The paper will describe the capabilities of these systems and their current state of development. A brief description of initial research applications is included. The wide (40 X 60 degree) field-of-view HMD system has been provided by Kaiser Electronics. It can be configured as a monochromatic system for use in bright daylight conditions, a two color system for darker ambients, or a full color system for use in night viewing conditions. Color imagery is achieved using field sequential video and a mechanical color wheel. In addition to the color symbology, high resolution computer-gene rated imagery from an onboard Silicon Graphics Reality Engine Onyx processor is available for research in virtual reality applications. This synthetic imagery can also be merged with real world video from a variety of imaging systems that can be installed easily on the front of the helicopter. These sensors include infrared or tv cameras, or potentially small millimeter wave radars. The Research Flight Control System is being developed for the aircraft by a team of contractors led by Boeing Helicopters. It consists of a full authority high bandwidth fly-by-wire actuators that drive the main rotor swashplate actuators and the tail rotor actuator in parallel. This arrangement allows the basic mechanical flight control system of the Black Hawk to be retained so that the safety pilot can monitor the operation of the system through the action of his own controls. The evaluation pilot will signal the fly-by-wire actuators through the flight computer from electrical sidearm controllers located in the right hand cockpit. The system will have very substantial input/output capacity and impressive computational power. These systems are installed in the aircraft using predominantly a MIL-STD 1553B data bus architecture. Sensor data from the RFCS, the basic aircraft and rotor system instrumentation including navigation information, and the HMD system are easily exchanged among user systems, or are available at the systems operator station located in the cabin for real time monitoring or data recording.

Jacobsen, R. A.↗
DOE OSTI2015

Observation of single-mode, Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a supersonic flow

This manuscript reports the first observations of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability evolving from well-characterized seed perturbations in a steady, supersonic flow. The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability occurs when two fluids move parallel to one another at different velocities, and contributes to an intermixing of fluids and transition to turbulence. It is ubiquitous in nature and engineering, including terrestrial systems such as cloud formations, astrophysical systems such as supernovae, and laboratory systems such as fusion experiments. In a supersonic flow, the growth rate of the instability is inhibited due to effects of compressibility. These effects are still not fully understood, and hold the motivation for the current work. The data presented here were obtained by developing a novel experimental platform capable of sustaining a steady shockwave over a precision-machined interface for unprecedented durations. The chosen interface was a well-characterized, single-mode sine wave, allowing us to document the evolution of individual vortices at high resolution. Understanding the behavior of individual vortices is the first of two fundamental steps towards developing a comprehensive model for the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a compressible flow. The results of this experiment were well reproduced with 2D hydrodynamic simulations. The platform has been extended to additional experiments, which study the evolution of different hydrodynamic instabilities in steady, supersonic flows.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1991

Models of remote manipulation in space

Robots involved in high value manipulation must be effectively coupled to a human operator either at the work-site or remotely connected via communication links. In order to make use of experimental performance evaluation data, models must be developed. Powerful models of remote manipulation by humans can be used to predict manipulation performance in future systems based on today's laboratory systems. In this paradigm, the models are developed from experimental data, and then used to predict performance in slightly different situations. Second, accurate telemanipulation will allow design of manipulation systems which extend manipulation capability beyond its current bounds.

Hannaford, Blake↗