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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 NTRS2010

MCNP Simulations of Measurement of Insulation Compaction in the Cryogenic Rocket Fuel Tanks at Kennedy Space Center by Fast/Thermal Neutron Techniques

MCNP simulations have been run to evaluate the feasibility of using a combination of fast and thermal neutrons as a nondestructive method to measure of the compaction of the perlite insulation in the liquid hydrogen and oxygen cryogenic storage tanks at John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Perlite is a feldspathic volcanic rock made up of the major elements Si, AI, Na, K and 0 along with some water. When heated it expands from four to twenty times its original volume which makes it very useful for thermal insulation. The cryogenic tanks at Kennedy Space Center are spherical with outer diameters of 69-70 feet and lined with a layer of expanded perlite with thicknesses on the order of 120 cm. There is evidence that some of the perlite has compacted over time since the tanks were built 1965, affecting the thermal properties and possibly also the structural integrity of the tanks. With commercially available portable neutron generators it is possible to produce simultaneously fluxes of neutrons in two energy ranges: fast (14 Me V) and thermal (25 me V). The two energy ranges produce complementary information. Fast neutrons produce gamma rays by inelastic scattering, which is sensitive to Fe and O. Thermal neutrons produce gamma rays by prompt gamma neutron activation (PGNA) and this is sensitive to Si, Al, Na, K and H. The compaction of the perlite can be measured by the change in gamma ray signal strength which is proportional to the atomic number densities of the constituent elements. The MCNP simulations were made to determine the magnitude of this change. The tank wall was approximated by a I-dimensional slab geometry with an 11/16" outer carbon steel wall, an inner stainless wall and 120 cm thick perlite zone. Runs were made for cases with expanded perlite, compacted perlite or with various void fractions. Runs were also made to simulate the effect of adding a moderator. Tallies were made for decay-time analysis from t=0 to 10 ms; total detected gamma-rays; detected gamma-rays from thermal neutron reactions d. detected gamma-rays from non-thermal neutron reactions and total detected gamma-rays as a function of depth into the annulus volume. These indicated a number of possible independent metrics of perlite compaction. For example the count rate for perlite elements increased from 3600 to 8500 cps for an increase in perlite density from 6 lbs/lcf to 16.5 lbs/cf. Thus the MCNP simulations have confirmed the feasibility of using neutron methods to map the compaction of perlite in the walls of the cryogenic tanks.

Livingston, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

PING Gamma Ray and Neutron Measurements of a Meter-Sized Carbonaceous Asteroid Analog

Determining the elemental composition of carbonaceous (spectral type C) asteroids is still one of the basic problems when studying these objects. The only main source of elemental composition information for asteroids is from their optical, NIR and IR properties, which include their spectral reflectance characteristics, albedo, polarization, and the comparison of optical spectroscopy with meteorite groups corresponding to asteroids of every spectral type. Unfortunately, these sources reflect observations from widely contrasting spatial scales that presently yield a void in the continuum of microscopic and macroscopic evidence, a lack of in situ measurement confirmation, and require deeper sensing techniques to discern the nature of these asteroids. The Probing In situ with Neutrons and Gamma rays (PING) instrument is ideally suited to address this problem because it can be used to determine the bulk elemental composition, H and C content, the average atomic weight and density of the surface and subsurface layers of C-type asteroids, and can provide measurements used to determine the difference between and distinguish between different types of asteroids. We are currently developing the PING instrument that combines gamma ray and neutron detectors with a 14 Me V pulsed neutron generator to determine the in-situ bulk elemental abundances and geochemistry of C-type asteroids with a spatial resolution of 1 m down to depths of tens of cm to 1 m. One aspect of the current work includes experimentally testing and optimizing PING on a known meter-sized Columbia River basalt C-type asteroid analog sample that has a similar composition and the same neutron response as that of a C-type asteroid. An important part of this effort focuses on utilizing timing measurements to isolate gamma rays produced by neutron inelastic scattering, neutron capture and delayed activation processes. Separating the gamma ray spectra by nuclear processes results in higher precision and sensitivity elemental composition measurements. Using gated data acquisition techniques allows for the unambiguous identification of gamma ray lines from different isotopes and nuclear processes, especially in situations when limited detector resolution results in overlapping gamma ray lines that cannot be individually resolved. In this paper, we will present the PING basalt layering experimental data, taken at the test facility at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center using the time tagged event-by-event data analysis technique, compared to our MCNPX computer simulation results for the C-type asteroid and basalt layering simulant models. Comparison of these data will show the advantages, validity, and measurement sensitivity of PING's nuclear interrogation methods to obtain more precise and sensitive in situ bulk elemental composition and density measurements of the subsurface of asteroids.

Bodnarik, J.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Thermodynamic measurements in a high pressure hydrogen-oxygen flame using Raman scattering from a broadband excimer laser

Raman scattering is an inelastic molecular scattering process in which incident radiation is reemitted at a fixed change in frequency. Raman spectroscopy can be used to measure the number density and temperature of the irradiated species. The strength of the Raman signal is inversely proportional to the wavelength raised to the fourth power. Consequently, high signal to noise ratios are obtained by using ultraviolet (UV) excitation sources. Using UV sources for Raman Spectroscopy in flames is complicated by the fact that some of the primary constituents in hydrogen-oxygen combustion absorb and reemit light in the UV and these fluorescence processes interfere with the Raman signals. This problem has been handled in atmospheric pressure flames in some instances by using a narrowband tunable excimer laser as a source. This allows for detuning from absorption transitions and the elimination of interfering fluorescence signals at the Raman wavelengths. This approach works well in the atmospheric pressure flame; however, it has two important disadvantages. First, injection-locked narrowband tunable excimer lasers are very expensive. More importantly, however, is the fact that at the high pressures characteristic of rocket engine combustion chambers, the absorption transitions are broadened making it difficult to tune to a spectral location at which substantial absorption would not occur. The approach taken in this work is to separate the Raman signal from the fluorescence background by taking advantage of the fact that Raman signal has nonisotropic polarization characteristics while the fluorescence signals are unpolarized. Specifically, for scattering at right angles to the excitation beam path, the Raman signal is completely polarized. The Raman signal is separated from the fluorescence background by collecting both horizontally and vertically polarized signals separately. One of the polarizations has both the Raman signal and the fluorescence background while the other has only the fluorescence signal. The Raman scatter is the difference between the signals. By choosing an appropriate optical setup, both signals can be obtained simultaneously with the same monochromator; hence, time resolved measurements are possible using this approach.

Hartfield, Roy, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Absolute Inelastic Differential Electron Scattering Cross Sections for He, Xe, N2, and CO at Near Threshold Impact Energies for 90(deg) Scattering Angle

There is a great deal of need for accurate differential cross sections (DCSs) associated with electron impact excitation of various atomic and molecular species. These cross sections are needed for modeling of various plasma systems (ranging from lasers and material processing plasmas to planetary and astrophysical plasmas) and for guiding development of theoretical and computational schemes.

DCS beam scattering beam-beam scattering↗
NASA NTRS1977

Theory of inelastic ion-atom scattering at low and intermediate energies

Ab initio calculations are presented of inelastic energy loss and ionization phenomena associated with Ar(+)-Ar collisions at small distances of closest approach and for laboratory collision energies ranging from several keV to several hundred keV. Outer-shell excitations are handled statistically; inner-shell excitations are calculated from the viewpoint of quasidiabatic molecular orbital promotion. Auger electron yield, average state of ionization, and average inelastic energy loss are calculated per collision as a function of distance of closest approach of the collision partners for several laboratory collision energies. Average charge-state probabilities per collision partner are calculated as a function of the average inelastic energy loss per atom. It is shown that the structure in the data is due to the underlying structure in the inner-shell independent-electron quasimolecular promotion probabilities.

Schmid, G. B.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Determining gas temperatures from laser scattering.

Lidar techniques may be applicable to inelastic, Raman scattering. When a light beam interacts with gas molecules, the energies of scattered photons may be increased or decreased relative to the incident photons. The Raman return signal can theoretically yield information on gas pressure, temperature, and molecular species concentration. The temperature can be calculated from the measurement of two scattered Raman rotational line intensities. Questions of measurement accuracy, line selection, and multiple line ratios are considered. The measurement apparatus is discussed together with the measurement techniques.

Salzman, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Scattering of helium nozzle beams from LiF/001/ and NaCl/001/ crystal surfaces. I - Elastic and inelastic transitions

Nozzle-type atomic beams and time-of-flight detection methods are employed in studies of the scattering of thermal-energy He-4 atoms from LiF (001) and NaCl (001) surfaces under conditions where diffraction is observed and where substantial inelastic scattering occurs. Intensity and speed-distribution measurements are obtained for the portion of the scattering within the plane of incidence. For these measurements, incident-beam orientation with respect to target (polar angle and azimuth), incident-beam de Broglie wavelength (0.38-0.60 A), and crystal temperature (300-1000 K) are varied. For LiF, the measured intensity distributions exhibit sharp peaks comprised essentially of elastically scattered atoms and corresponding to up to third-order diffraction, inelastic scattering in the form of local dispersion about each of the elastic peaks, and a component of nominally diffuse scattering distributed below and between the peaks. For NaCl, the same general types of scattering are observed, with elastic scattering less prevalent, intensity peaks not as sharp, and dispersions of inelastic scattering harder to resolve.

Bledsoe, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1979

DUMAND Summer Workshop, University of California, La Jolla, Calif., July 24-September 2, 1978, Proceedings. Volume 2 - UHE interactions, neutrino astronomy

The volume covers categories on inelastic neutrino scattering and the W-boson, and other ultra-high-energy processes, on pulsars, quasars and galactic nuclei, as well as other point sources and constants from gamma ray astronomy. Individual subjects include weak intermediate vector bosons and DUMAND, the Monte Carlo simulation of inelastic neutrino scattering in DUMAND, and Higgs boson production by very high-energy neutrinos. The observability of the neutrino flux from the inner region of the galactic disk, the diffuse fluxes of high-energy neutrinos, as well as the significance of gamma ray observations for neutrino astronomy are also among the topics covered.

Roberts, A.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Model potentials for electron scattering - Converged close coupling calculations for the differential cross section for e/-/N2 at 30-50 eV

A calculation has been made of the elastic scattering and rotational excitation cross sections for e(-)-N2 scattering at 30 and 50 eV using quantum chemical techniques specially designed to be applicable to elastic and inelastic electron scattering by general polyatomic molecules. The angle dependence of the sum of the elastic and rotational excitation differential cross sections is in good agreement with experiment at all scattering angles at both energies, but at 50 eV the difference from experiment exceeds the experimental uncertainty at small scattering angles and near the minimum of the differential cross section. At large scattering angles the rotational excitation cross sections are predicted to exceed the elastic scattering cross sections. The absolute cross sections agree with experiment at some angles but at other angles are as much as 51% (30 eV) or 90% (50 eV) higher; this may be due at least in part to the difficulty of putting the experimental results on an absolute scale.

Onda, K.↗