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At least 181 records · Page 10

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NASA NTRS1987

Design, calibration and error analysis of instrumentation for heat transfer measurements in internal combustion engines

The paper reports the methodology and uncertainty analyses of instrumentation for heat transfer measurements in internal combustion engines. Results are presented for determining the local wall heat flux in an internal combustion engine (using a surface thermocouple-type heat flux gage) and the apparent flame-temperature and soot volume fraction path length product in a diesel engine (using two-color pyrometry). It is shown that a surface thermocouple heat transfer gage suitably constructed and calibrated will have an accuracy of 5 to 10 percent. It is also shown that, when applying two-color pyrometry to measure the apparent flame temperature and soot volume fraction-path length, it is important to choose at least one of the two wavelengths to lie in the range of 1.3 to 2.3 micrometers. Carefully calibrated two-color pyrometer can ensure that random errors in the apparent flame temperature and in the soot volume fraction path length will remain small (within about 1 percent and 10-percent, respectively).

Ferguson, C. R.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Review on drop towers and long drop tubes

A drop tube is an enclosure in which a molten sample can be solidified while falling; three such large tubes are currently in existence, all at NASA research facilities, and are engaged in combustion and fluid physics-related experiments rather than in materials research. JPL possesses smaller tubes, one of which can be cryogenically cooled to produce glass and metal microshells. A new small drop tube will soon begin operating at NASA Lewis that is equipped with four high-speed two-color pyrometers spaced equidistantly along the column.

Bayuzick, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Noncontact true temperature measurement

A laser pyrometer has been developed for acquiring the true temperature of a levitated sample. The laser beam is first expanded to cover the entire cross-sectional surface of the target. For calibration of such a system, the reflectivity signal of an ideal 0.95 cm diameter gold-coated sphere (reflectivity = 0.99) is used as the reference for any other real targets. The emissivity of the real target can then be calculated. The overall system constant is obtained by passively measuring the radiance of a blackbody furnace (emissivity = 1.0) at a known, arbitrary temperature. Since the photo sensor used is highly linear over the entire operating temperature range, the true temperature of the target can then be computed. Preliminary results indicate that true temperatures thus obtained are in excellent correlation with thermocouple measured temperatures.

Lee, Mark C.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Noncontacting measurement technologies for space propulsion condition monitoring

This paper describes four noncontacting measurement technologies that can be used in a turbopump condition monitoring system. The isotope wear analyzer, fiberoptic deflectometer, brushless torque-meter, and fiberoptic pyrometer can be used to monitor component wear, bearing degradation, instantaneous shaft torque, and turbine blade cracking, respectively. A complete turbopump condition monitoring system including these four technologies could predict remaining component life, thus reducing engine operating costs and increasing reliability.

Randall, M. R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Containerless laser-induced flourescence study of vaporization and optical properties for sapphire and alumina

Evaporation of aluminum oxide was studied from 1800 to 2327 K by laser-induced flourescence (LIF) detection of Al atom vapor over sapphire and alumina spheres that were levitated in an argon gas jet and heated with a continuous wave CO2 laser. Optical properties were determined from apparent specimen temperatures measured with an optical pyrometer and true temperatures deduced from the LIF intensity versus temperature measurements using the known temperature dependence of the Al atom vapor concentration in equilibrium with Al2O3. The effects of impurities and dissolved oxygen on the high-temperature optical properties of aluminum oxide were discussed.

Nordine, Paul C.↗

NASA NTRS1988

IR fiber temperature sensing system

Infrared fiber optic pyrometry has become a practical reality using improved strength fluoride glass fibers. The addition of a plastic coating and rugged cabling allows the fibers to be used in the field. A detailed theoretical model of the infrared fiber optic pyrometer (non-contact or radiative thermometer) has been derived and compared with data produced by a prototype fluoride glass fiber radiative thermometer. Excellent agreement was obtained between theory and experiment over a temperature range of 30 to 700 C.

Tran, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Radiation thermometry at NIST: An update of services and research activities

An overview of activities at the National Institute of Standards and Terminology (NIST) in radiation thermometry and related temperature scale research is presented. An expansion of calibration services for pyrometers will be described as well as efforts to develop calibration services for blackbody simulators. Research relevant to the realization of the new international temperature scale (ITS 90) will be discussed.

Hillard, G. Barry↗

NASA NTRS1989

Dynamic response for thermal control and measurement and fast radiation thermometry

A preliminary evaluation was made by ORNL of a two-color ratio pyrometer (TCRP) for temperature control in the Modular Electromagnetic Levitation (MEL) experiment. A discussion was presented by Eric Spjut at the 1987 NASA Non-Contact Temperature Measurement Workshop (NASA Conf. Publ. 2503, pp. 182-213) in which he described the non-linear characteristics of the time response of TCPs. Researchers replicated his model and results and note that the non-linear response behavior is minimized for small temperature steps at high temperatures. They then used the predicted response in a model for a proportional or integral feedback controller and predicted the control characteristics for heating and cooling a 5-mm diameter sphere of niobium at high (1500 to 2750 K) temperatures. The analysis shows that for a slow (25-ms) time response for a commercial RCRP, overshoots of several hundred kelvins will result from a 100-K decrease in the setpoint, and temperature tracking errors of 14 to 45 K will occur for control temperature ramps of 1000K/s. For a fast (greater than 0.1 ms) time response, the overshoot and ramp response errors are largely eliminated.

Shepard, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Report on the multicolor pyrometry session at the Second NASA Non-Contact Temperature-Measurement Workshop

The session met jointly with the other special sessions. Due to time constraints, the concerns of multicolor pyrometry were not addressed in depth. Multicolor pyrometry attempts to determine an object's temperature and emittance as a function of wavelength from simultaneous measurement of the spectral radiance of the object at multiple wavelengths. The main issues are those of the most appropriate model for the wavelength dependence of the emittance, the number of undetermined parameters, and the error in the measured temperature. It has long been known that it is inappropriate to attempt to model the emittance with a functional form that contains as many unknowns as wavelengths. Such attempts will lead to gross errors in the measured temperature. However, more recent work by Hunter and Khan has indicated that emittance can be modeled by a function with many fewer degrees of freedom than sampled wavelengths (e.g., it may be appropriate to use a second order polynomial to fit data from a forty-color pyrometer). In a platform lecture, Khan described algorithms for determination of the parameters by minimization of the errors between the model and the data in a least-squares sense. The first was a linear method and the second was a non-linear method where the emittance could assume any functional form. Both methods were shown to be very sensitive to random noise and non-linearity in the measurement system.

Spjut, R. Erik↗

NASA NTRS1990

NCTM of liquids at high temperatures using polarization techniques

Temperature measurement and control is extremely important in any materials processing application. However, conventional techniques for non-contact temperature measurement (mainly optical pyrometry) are very uncertain because of unknown or varying surface emittance. Optical properties like other properties change during processing. A dynamic, in-situ measurement of optical properties including the emittance is required. Intersonics is developing new technologies using polarized laser light scattering to determine surface emittance of freely radiating bodies concurrent with conventional optical pyrometry. These are sufficient to determine the true surface temperature of the target. Intersonics is currently developing a system called DAPP, the Division of Amplitude Polarimetric Pyrometer, that uses polarization information to measure the true thermodynamic temperature of freely radiating objects. This instrument has potential use in materials processing applications in ground and space based equipment. Results of thermophysical and thermodynamic measurements using laser reflection as a temperature measuring tool are presented. The impact of these techniques on thermophysical property measurements at high temperature is discussed.

Krishnan, Shankar↗

NASA NTRS1991

Development of high temperature containerless processing equipment and the design and evaluation of associated systems required for microgravity materials processing and property measurements

The development of high temperature containerless processing equipment and the design and evaluation of associated systems required for microgravity materials processing and property measurements are discussed. Efforts were directed towards the following task areas: design and development of a High Temperature Acoustic Levitator (HAL) for containerless processing and property measurements at high temperatures; testing of the HAL module to establish this technology for use as a positioning device for microgravity uses; construction and evaluation of a brassboard hot wall Acoustic Levitation Furnace; construction and evaluation of a noncontact temperature measurement (NCTM) system based on AGEMA thermal imaging camera; construction of a prototype Division of Amplitude Polarimetric Pyrometer for NCTM of levitated specimens; evaluation of and recommendations for techniques to control contamination in containerless materials processing chambers; and evaluation of techniques for heating specimens to high temperatures for containerless materials experimentation.

Rey, Charles A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Experimental investigation of passive infrared ice detection for helicopter applications

A technique is proposed to remotely detect rotor icing on helicopters. Using passive infrared (IR) thermometry it is possible to detect the warming caused by latent heat released as supercooled water freezes. During icing, the ice accretion region on the blade leading edge will be warmer than the uniced trailing edge resulting in a chordwise temperature profile characteristic of icing. Preliminary tests were conducted on a static model in the NASA Icing Research Tunnel for a variety of wet (glaze) and dry (rime) ice conditions. The characteristic chordwise temperature profiles were observed with an IR thermal video system and confirmed with thermocouple measurements. A prototype detector system was built consisting of a single point IR pyrometer, and experiments were run on a small scale rotor model. Again the characteristic chordwise temperature profiles were observed during icing, and the IR system was able to remotely detect icing. Based on the static and subscale rotor tests the passive IR technique is promising for rotor ice detection.

Dershowitz, Adam↗

NASA NTRS1991

Lag compensation of optical fibers or thermocouples to achieve waveform fidelity in dynamic gas pyrometry

Fidelity of waveform reproduction requires constant amplitude ratio and constant time lag of a temperature sensor's indication, at all frequencies of interest. However, heat-transfer type sensors usually cannot satisfy these requirements. Equations for the actual indication of a thermocouple and an optical-fiber pyrometer are given explicitly, in terms of sensor and flowing-gas properties. A practical, realistic design of each type of sensor behaves like a first-order system with amplitude-ratio attenuation inversely proportional to frequency when the frequency exceeds the corner frequency. Only at much higher frequencies does the amplitude-ratio attenuation for the optical fiber sensor become inversely proportional to the square root of the frequency. Design options for improving the frequency response are discussed. On-line electrical lag compensation, using a linear amplifier and a passive compensation network, can extend the corner frequency of the thermocouple 100-fold or more; a similar passive network can be used for the optical-fiber sensor. Design details for these networks are presented.

Warshawsky, I.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Experimental investigation of passive infrared ice detection for helicopter applications

A technique is proposed to remotely detect rotor icing on helicopters. Using passive infrared (IR) thermometry, it is possible to detect the warming caused by latent heat released as supercooled water freezes. During icing, the ice accretion region on the blade leading edge will be warmer than the uniced trailing edge, resulting in a chordwise temperature profile characteristic of icing. Preliminary tests were conducted on a static model in the NASA Icing Research Tunnel for a variety of wet (glaze) and dry (rime) ice conditions. The characteristic chordwise temperature profiles were observed with an IR thermal video system and confirmed with thermocouple measurements. A prototype detector system was built consisting of a single point IR pyrometer. Experiments were run on a small scale rotor model. Again, the characteristic chordwise temperature profiles were observed during icing, and the IR system was able to remotely detect icing. Based on the static and subscale rotor tests, the passive IR technique is promising for rotor ice detection.

Dershowitz, Adam↗

NASA NTRS1992

Temperature-dependent reflectivity of silicon carbide

The spectral reflectivity of a commercial silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic surface was measured at wavelengths from 2.5 to 14.5 microns and at temperatures ranging from 358 to 520 K using a NASA-developed multiwavelength pyrometer. The SiC surface reflectivity was low at the short wavelengths, decreasing to almost zero at 10 microns, then increasing rapidly to a maximum at approximately 12.5 microns, and decreasing gradually thereafter. The reflectivity maximum increased in magnitude with increasing surface temperature. The wavelength and temperature dependence can be explained in terms of the classical dispersion theory of crystals and the Lorentz electron theory. Electronic transitions between the donor state and the conduction band states were responsible for the dispersion. The concentration of the donor state in SiC was determined to be approximately 4 x 10 exp 18 and its ionization energy was determined to be approximately 71 meV.

Ng, Daniel↗

NASA NTRS1992

A hybrid electromagnetic-acoustic levitator for the containerless processing of undercooled melts

The hybrid, acoustic-EM levitator discussed provides a small lifting force independently of its EM component by exciting an acoustic resonance that serves as a pressure node at the position of the EM-levitated specimen. The system also stabilizes and damps chaotic oscillations during specimen positioning, and can excite forced oscillations of levitated molten metals for drop-physics and thermophysical property measurements. Attention is given to the character and function of the atmosphere in the levitator. Noncontact temperature measurement is via single-color optical pyrometer.

Hmelo, Anthony B.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Fiber optic and laser sensors VIII; Proceedings of the Meeting, San Jose, CA, Sept. 17-19, 1990

This issue presents topics on the advances in fiber-optic sensor technology, fiber-optic gyroscope, fiber-optic position and pressure sensors, fiber-optic magnetic and temperature sensors, and generic fiber-optic sensors. Papers included are on a novel analog phase tracker for interferometric fiber-optic sensor applications, recent development status of fiber-optic sensors in China, the magnetic-field sensitivity of depolarized fiber-optic gyros, a depolarized fiber-optic gyro for future tactical applications, fiber-optic position transducers for aircraft controls, and a metal embedded optical-fiber pressure sensor. Attention is also given to a fiber-optic magnetic field sensor using spectral modulation encoding, a bare-fiber temperature sensor, an interferometric fiber-optic accelerometer, improvement of specular reflection pyrometer, a theoretical analysis of two-mode elliptical-core optical fiber sensors, and a fiber probe for ring pattern.

Depaula, Ramon P.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Pyrometry Without Spurious Reflections

Temperature of heated spherical specimen of opaque material with specular surface measured by optical pyrometry, without need to correct for effect of reflected thermal radiation upon measured radiances, provided reflections eliminated. To prevent unwanted reflections, apparatus must be arranged so field of view of pyrometer does not contain any lines of sight to image of wall. Particularly useful for making accurate noncontact measurements of levitated specimens of molten metal and other materials in containerless processing.

Thomas, Andrew S. W.↗