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NASA NTRS1992

Development status of SINDA/FLUINT and SINAPS

SINDA/FLUINT (Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer/Fluid Integrator, formerly SINDA '85) is a computer code used to analyze thermal/fluid systems that can be represented in lumped parameter form. In addition to conduction and radiation heat transfer, the code is capable of modeling both single- and two-phase flow networks, their associated hardware, and their heat transfer processes. In this paper, recent improvements to SINDA/FLUINT are described, as are those in progress that will be available in the fall of 1992 in Version 2.5. Also, a preview of planned enhancements is provided. This paper also introduces SINAPS (SINDA Application Programming System), a powerful graphical pre- and postprocessor that will also be available in the fall of 1992.

Cullimore, Brent A.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Fire Detection Tradeoffs as a Function of Vehicle Parameters

Fire survivability depends on the detection of and response to a fire before it has produced an unacceptable environment in the vehicle. This detection time is the result of interplay between the fire burning and growth rates; the vehicle size; the detection system design; the transport time to the detector (controlled by the level of mixing in the vehicle); and the rate at which the life support system filters the atmosphere, potentially removing the detected species or particles. Given the large differences in critical vehicle parameters (volume, mixing rate and filtration rate) the detection approach that works for a large vehicle (e.g. the ISS) may not be the best choice for a smaller crew capsule. This paper examines the impact of vehicle size and environmental control and life support system parameters on the detectability of fires in comparison to the hazard they present. A lumped element model was developed that considers smoke, heat, and toxic product release rates in comparison to mixing and filtration rates in the vehicle. Recent work has quantified the production rate of smoke and several hazardous species from overheated spacecraft polymers. These results are used as the input data set in the lumped element model in combination with the transport behavior of major toxic products released by overheating spacecraft materials to evaluate the necessary alarm thresholds to enable appropriate response to the fire hazard.

microgravity↗

NASA NTRS2016

Fire Detection Tradeoffs as a Function of Vehicle Parameters

microgravity↗

NASA NTRS1980

Improved test methods for determining lightning-induced voltages in aircraft

A lumped parameter transmission line with a surge impedance matching that of the aircraft and its return lines was evaluated as a replacement for earlier current generators. Various test circuit parameters were evaluated using a 1/10 scale relative geometric model. Induced voltage response was evaluated by taking measurements on the NASA-Dryden Digital Fly by Wire F-8 aircraft. Return conductor arrangements as well as other circuit changes were also evaluated, with all induced voltage measurements being made on the same circuit for comparison purposes. The lumped parameter transmission line generates a concave front current wave with the peak di/dt near the peak of the current wave which is more representative of lightning. However, the induced voltage measurements when scaled by appropriate scale factors (peak current or di/dt) resulting from both techniques yield comparable results.

Crouch, K. E.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Using Piezoelectric Devices to Transmit Power through Walls

A method denoted wireless acoustic-electric feed-through (WAEF) has been conceived for transmitting power and/or data signals through walls or other solid objects made of a variety of elastic materials that could be electrically conductive or nonconductive. WAEF would make it unnecessary to use wires, optical fibers, tubes, or other discrete wall-penetrating signal-transmitting components, thereby eliminating the potential for structural weakening or leakage at such penetrations. Avoidance of such penetrations could be essential in some applications in which maintenance of pressure, vacuum, or chemical or biological isolation is required. In a basic WAEF setup, a transmitting piezoelectric transducer on one side of a wall would be driven at resonance to excite ultrasonic vibrations in the wall. A receiving piezoelectric transducer on the opposite side of the wall would convert the vibrations back to an ultrasonic AC electric signal, which would then be detected and otherwise processed in a manner that would depend on the modulation (if any) applied to the signal and whether the signal was used to transmit power, data, or both. An electromechanical-network model has been derived as a computationally efficient means of analyzing and designing a WAEF system. This model is a variant of a prior model, known in the piezoelectric-transducer art as Mason's equivalent-circuit model, in which the electrical and mechanical dynamics, including electromechanical couplings, are expressed as electrical circuit elements that can include inductors, capacitors, and lumped-parameter complex impedances. The real parts of the complex impedances are used to account for dielectric, mechanical, and coupling losses in all components (including all piezoelectric-transducer, wall, and intermediate material layers). In an application to a three-layer piezoelectric structure, this model was shown to yield the same results as do solutions of the wave equations of piezoelectricity and acoustic propagation in their full complexity.

Sherrit, Stewart↗

DOE OSTI2024

SAM Code Enhancements for Modeling of Liquid Metal-Cooled Fast Reactor Concepts

The SAM code is under development and supported by DOE-NE’s Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation program as a modern system-level modeling and simulation tool for advanced non-light water reactor safety analyses. These advanced reactor concepts incorporate novel and improved approaches to achieve safety and economic feasibility. This report summarizes two major efforts in addressing the modeling gaps in SAM for liquid-metal-cooled fast reactor (LMFR) applications, i.e. thermal mixing and stratification phenomena in large pools and corrosion-oxidation of components in flowing lead. A new one-dimensional model for thermal mixing and stratification effects in large pools and enclosures is developed and implemented. Thermal mixing and stratification occur when fluid enters a pool at a temperature different than the bulk fluid itself, a scenario often encountered during transients in pool-type systems. These phenomena are critical for the safety of reactors, impacting phenomena like natural circulation, which is essential for passive cooling. The improved model in SAM addresses limitations of state-of-the-art approaches by combining one-dimensional (1D) channels, representing the coolant jet flow, with lumped-parameter zero-dimensional (0D) pools, representing the rest of coolant in the tank. Energy exchange between the 1D jet and the 0D pools is based on heat transfer correlations calibrated against 3D simulations. It is verified that this model can handle various flow configurations, including hot jets in colder pools, cold jets in hotter pools, and the presence of features like ceilings, free surfaces, and obstacles. Additionally, validation against experimental data demonstrates the ability of the model to capture mixing and stratification effects in a wide range of conditions. The flexibility and improved accuracy of the new model make it a valuable tool for reactor safety analysis, allowing for the simulation of different geometries encountered in advanced reactors. A system-level corrosion modeling capability is developed and implemented in SAM to support Lead Fast Reactor (LFR) development. Although the initial focus of this capability will be on LFR application, this can later be expanded to include other liquid metals such as Lead-Bismuth Eutectic (LBE) and PbLi. This report summarizes the common corrosion mitigation strategies and outlines the progress on implementing and validating a corrosion-oxidation model in SAM. Verification and validation of the corrosion-oxidation portion of the model was performed using analytical solution and measured data from samples tested in the non-isothermal pumped lead loop at IPPE Obninsk. The iron transport and corrosion/precipitation portion of the model was assessed using an analytical model and measured corrosion depths from a natural convection lead loop experiment performed at CEA. It is demonstrated that the model implemented in SAM performed well in these assessments.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

NASA NTRS1988

Modeling of combustion processes of stick propellants via combined Eulerian-Lagrangian approach

This research is motivated by the improved ballistic performance of large-caliber guns using stick propellant charges. A comprehensive theoretical model for predicting the flame spreading, combustion, and grain deformation phenomena of long, unslotted stick propellants is presented. The formulation is based upon a combined Eulerian-Lagrangian approach to simulate special characteristics of the two phase combustion process in a cartridge loaded with a bundle of sticks. The model considers five separate regions consisting of the internal perforation, the solid phase, the external interstitial gas phase, and two lumped parameter regions at either end of the stick bundle. For the external gas phase region, a set of transient one-dimensional fluid-dynamic equations using the Eulerian approach is obtained; governing equations for the stick propellants are formulated using the Lagrangian approach. The motion of a representative stick is derived by considering the forces acting on the entire propellant stick. The instantaneous temperature and stress fields in the stick propellant are modeled by considering the transient axisymmetric heat conduction equation and dynamic structural analysis.

Kuo, K. K.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Combustion instability coupling with feed system acoustics

High frequency combustion instability has recently been observed by Rocketdyne in a 40K thrust methane/LOX combustion chamber. The oscillations had frequencies as high as 14,000 Hz with pressure amplitudes in the LOX dome of 500 psi at a chamber pressures of 2,000 psi. At this frequency the wave length associated with a period of oscillation is 2.3 inches in LOX and 1.4 inches in methane. These distances are comparable to the lengths of the injector elements which requires that acoustic waves be considered in the feed systems rather than using lumped parameters as is normally considered for feed system coupled oscillations. To expand the capability of existing models, the Feiler and Heidmann feed system coupled instability model was modified to include acoustic oscillations in the feed system. Similarly the vaporization controlled instability model of Heidmann and Wieber was modified to include flow oscillations that would be produced by feed system coupling. The major elements that control oscillations in a rocket combustion chamber are shown and discussed.

Priem, Richard J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Experience in distributed parameter modeling of the Spacecraft Control Laboratory Experiment (SCOLE) structure

The Spacecraft Control Laboratory Experiment (SCOLE) configuration is used to compare exact and approximate solutions of the partial differential equations which define its structural dynamics. The need for a proof model for evaluating competing control laws demands that solutions be generated which not only exhibit accurate modal characteristics, but precise static deflections as well. Because precise pointing is required, the motion of the end bodies of the Shuttle-attached antenna must be known with great accuracy. Modal models are attractive because of their stable solutions but require hundreds of modes to obtain a static deflection accuracy of only one percent. Although proportional damping in bending agrees well with experimental results using the SCOLE experimental apparatus, modes which involve both torsion and bending differ significantly from proportional damping. A lumped mass model is used to generate exact static deflections, but only approximate modal characteristics. Asymptotic solutions to the distributed parameter system approximate very accurately the modal characteristics at high mode numbers. Ways are examined for refining the approximate solutions by applying a first-order variation and by employing singular perturbation techniques which are usually limited to ordinary differential equations. The most accurate solutions of the distributed parameter model of SCOLE are obtained by combining exact and asymptotic solutions.

Taylor, L. W.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Extended State Observer-Based Robust Model Predictive Velocity Control for Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor

This article proposes an extended state observer based robust model predictive velocity control to decrease system prediction error under parameter uncertainties for permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM). We develop a new PMSM model that consists of velocity and acceleration to lump the system information and an external disturbance into a disturbance. The extended state observer (ESO) is designed to estimate the velocity, acceleration, and disturbance. By estimating the state variables and disturbance using the ESO, the model predictive control (MPC) finds the optimal control input by predicting future system behavior. Additionally, the direct current controller is designed so that the direct current converges to zero. Because the proposed method is not designed based on the cascade structure from the viewpoint of velocity control, the optimization control for the velocity and currents can be defined. Thus, the proposed method is robust against external disturbances and parameter uncertainties owing to feedback linearization, state feedback, and ESO-based MPC using the acceleration PMSM model. The proposed control algorithm was experimentally verified and it showed improved velocity tracking performance compared with ESO-based MPC using the conventional PMSM model.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2018

Quantification of Dynamic Model Validation Metrics Using Uncertainty Propagation from Requirements

The Space Launch System, NASA's new large launch vehicle for long range space exploration, is presently in the final design and construction phases, with the first launch scheduled for 2019. A dynamic model of the system has been created and is critical for calculation of interface loads and natural frequencies and mode shapes for guidance, navigation, and control (GNC). Because of the program and schedule constraints, a single modal test of the SLS will be performed while bolted down to the Mobile Launch Pad just before the first launch. A Monte Carlo and optimization scheme will be performed to create thousands of possible models based on given dispersions in model properties and to determine which model best fits the natural frequencies and mode shapes from modal test. However, the question still remains as to whether this model is acceptable for the loads and GNC requirements. An uncertainty propagation and quantification (UP and UQ) technique to develop a quantitative set of validation metrics that is based on the flight requirements has therefore been developed and is discussed in this paper. There has been considerable research on UQ and UP and validation in the literature, but very little on propagating the uncertainties from requirements, so most validation metrics are "rules-of-thumb;" this research seeks to come up with more reason-based metrics. One of the main assumptions used to achieve this task is that the uncertainty in the modeling of the fixed boundary condition is accurate, so therefore that same uncertainty can be used in propagating the fixed-test configuration to the free-free actual configuration. The second main technique applied here is the usage of the limit-state formulation to quantify the final probabilistic parameters and to compare them with the requirements. These techniques are explored with a simple lumped spring-mass system and a simplified SLS model. When completed, it is anticipated that this requirements-based validation metric will provide a quantified confidence and probability of success for the final SLS dynamics model, which will be critical for a successful launch program, and can be applied in the many other industries where an accurate dynamic model is required.

Brown, Andrew M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Simple Model for Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine Sizing and Performance Estimates

A Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine (RDRE) model is described which characterizes the device as an essentially infinite number of circumferentially arranged, sequentially firing pulse detonation engine (PDE) tubes. The PDE tubes are in turn treated as lumped-parameter chambers, each of which executes a dynamic (i.e. time dependent) Atkinson cycle with an allowance for a finite Mach number during the refill portion of the cycle. The formulation results in several free parameters which are used to essentially tune the model such that it closely matches higher fidelity computational fluid dynamic RDRE simulations in terms of performance, flow rates, etc. The simplicity of the model allows for straightforward combination with component models (e.g. turbopumps, cooling jackets, etc.) as well as implementation within larger vehicle simulations. Such capability allows for realistic mission analyses and benefits studies which will help to determine the best application for the RDRE concept.

detonation↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Simple Model for Rotating Detonation Rocket Engine Sizing and Performance Estimates

detonation↗

NASA NTRS1981

The influence of gyroscopic forces on the dynamic behavior of rotating blades

The question of divergent oscillatory stability of an axial turbomachine blade when the bladed rotor system is subjected to a forced precessional motion is studied by using two simplified models of the blade. The simplest (lumped) model is a point mass restrained by three orthogonal linear springs attached to the rotor. An improved distributed parameter model represents the blade by a uniform cantilever beam with bending in one plane. In both instances instability is shown to be strongly dependent upon the ratio of blade root radius to blade length and the magnitude of the rotor spin relative to the nonrotating blade natural frequency for realistic values of precession rate. Results are presented on augmented Campbell diagrams. Implications for design and operation are drawn as are the characteristics of needed future studies.

Sisto, F.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Flow Analysis of a Gas Turbine Low- Pressure Subsystem

The NASA Lewis Research Center is coordinating a project to numerically simulate aerodynamic flow in the complete low-pressure subsystem (LPS) of a gas turbine engine. The numerical model solves the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes flow equations through all components within the low-pressure subsystem as well as the external flow around the engine nacelle. The Advanced Ducted Propfan Analysis Code (ADPAC), which is being developed jointly by Allison Engine Company and NASA, is the Navier-Stokes flow code being used for LPS simulation. The majority of the LPS project is being done under a NASA Lewis contract with Allison. Other contributors to the project are NYMA and the University of Toledo. For this project, the Energy Efficient Engine designed by GE Aircraft Engines is being modeled. This engine includes a low-pressure system and a high-pressure system. An inlet, a fan, a booster stage, a bypass duct, a lobed mixer, a low-pressure turbine, and a jet nozzle comprise the low-pressure subsystem within this engine. The tightly coupled flow analysis evaluates aerodynamic interactions between all components of the LPS. The high-pressure core engine of this engine is simulated with a one-dimensional thermodynamic cycle code in order to provide boundary conditions to the detailed LPS model. This core engine consists of a high-pressure compressor, a combustor, and a high-pressure turbine. The three-dimensional LPS flow model is coupled to the one-dimensional core engine model to provide a "hybrid" flow model of the complete gas turbine Energy Efficient Engine. The resulting hybrid engine model evaluates the detailed interaction between the LPS components at design and off-design engine operating conditions while considering the lumped-parameter performance of the core engine.

Veres, Joseph P.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Heat transfer measurements for Stirling machine cylinders

The primary purpose of this study was to measure the effects of inflow-produced heat turbulence on heat transfer in Stirling machine cylinders. A secondary purpose was to provide new experimental information on heat transfer in gas springs without inflow. The apparatus for the experiment consisted of a varying-volume piston-cylinder space connected to a fixed volume space by an orifice. The orifice size could be varied to adjust the level of inflow-produced turbulence, or the orifice plate could be removed completely so as to merge the two spaces into a single gas spring space. Speed, cycle mean pressure, overall volume ratio, and varying volume space clearance ratio could also be adjusted. Volume, pressure in both spaces, and local heat flux at two locations were measured. The pressure and volume measurements were used to calculate area averaged heat flux, heat transfer hysteresis loss, and other heat transfer-related effects. Experiments in the one space arrangement extended the range of previous gas spring tests to lower volume ratio and higher nondimensional speed. The tests corroborated previous results and showed that analytic models for heat transfer and loss based on volume ratio approaching 1 were valid for volume ratios ranging from 1 to 2, a range covering most gas springs in Stirling machines. Data from experiments in the two space arrangement were first analyzed based on lumping the two spaces together and examining total loss and averaged heat transfer as a function of overall nondimensional parameter. Heat transfer and loss were found to be significantly increased by inflow-produced turbulence. These increases could be modeled by appropriate adjustment of empirical coefficients in an existing semi-analytic model. An attempt was made to use an inverse, parameter optimization procedure to find the heat transfer in each of the two spaces. This procedure was successful in retrieving this information from simulated pressure-volume data with artificially generated noise, but it failed with the actual experimental data. This is evidence that the models used in the parameter optimization procedure (and to generate the simulated data) were not correct. Data from the surface heat flux sensors indicated that the primary shortcoming of these models was that they assumed turbulence levels to be constant over the cycle. Sensor data in the varying volume space showed a large increase in heat flux, probably due to turbulence, during the expansion stroke.

Kornhauser, Alan A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The identification of a distributed parameter model for a flexible structure

A computational method is developed for the estimation of parameters in a distributed model for a flexible structure. The structure we consider (part of the RPL experiment) consists of a cantilevered beam with a thruster and linear accelerometer at the free end. The thruster is fed by a pressurized hose whose horizontal motion effects the transverse vibration of the beam. The Euler-Bernoulli theory is used to model the vibration of the beam and treat the hose thruster assembly as a lumped or point mass dashpot spring system at the tip. Measurements of linear acceleration at the tip are used to estimate the hose parameters (mass, stiffness, damping) and a Voigt-Kelvin viscoelastic structural damping parameter for the beam using a least squares fit to the data. Spline based approximations are considered to the hybrid (coupled ordinary and partial differential equations) systems; theoretical convergence results and numerical studies with both simulation and actual experimental data obtained from the structure are presented and discussed.

Banks, H. T.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Thermal analysis considerations for large space structures

A number of issues and needs relative to thermal analysis of large space structures and space stations are discussed. Some indications of trends in the Langley thermal-structural analysis research program consistent with the issues and needs are also presented. The main heat transfer mechanism in space is radiation; consequently, there is a need for a strong thrust on improved radiation analysis capability. Also the important interactions among temperatures, deformations, and controls need to be accounted for. Finite element analysis capability seems to be lagging behind lumped-parameter capability or heat pipe analysis. The Langley plan will include improving radiation analysis capability, evaluating the errors involved in certain approximate analysis and modeling techniques for large space trusses, and continuing the development of integrated thermal-structural finite elements with an emphasis on radiation heat transfer. Work will be initiated to develop finite element analysis techniques for heat pipes. Finally, optimization research activities will be oriented toward methods to design flexible orbiting structures to account for thermal and thermal deformation requirements.

Adelman, H. M.↗