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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 199 records · Page 11

Response of laminated composite plates to low-speed impact by airgun-propelled and dropped-weight impactors

An analytical procedure has been developed to determine the transient response of simply supported, rectangular laminated composite plates subjected to impact loads from airgun-propelled or dropped-weight impactors. A first-order shear-deformation theory has been included in the analysis to represent properly any local short-wavelength transient bending response. The impact force has been modeled as a locally distributed load with a cosine-cosine distribution. A double Fourier series expansion and the Timoshenko small increment method have been used to determine the contact force, out-of-plane deflections, and inplane strains and stresses at any plate location due to an impact force at any plate location. The results of experimental and analytical studies are compared for quasi-isotropic laminates. The results indicate the importance of including transverse shear deformation effects in the analysis for predicting the response of laminated plates subjected to both airgun-propelled and dropped-weight impactors. The results also indicate that plate boundary conditions influence the axial strains more significantly than the contact force for a dropped-weight impactor. The results of parametric studies identify a scaling approach based on impactor momentum that suggests an explanation for the differences in the responses of plates impacted by airgun-propelled or dropped-weight impactors.

Prasad, Chunchu B.↗

Minimization of the Vibration Energy of Thin-Plate Structures and the Application to the Reduction of Gearbox Vibration

While the vibration analysis of gear systems has been developed, a systematic approach to the reduction of gearbox vibration has been lacking. The technique of reducing vibration by shifting natural frequencies is proposed here for gearboxes and other thin-plate structures using the theories of finite elements, modal analysis, and optimization. A triangular shell element with 18 degrees of freedom is developed for structural and dynamic analysis. To optimize, the overall vibration energy is adopted as the objective function to be minimized at the excitation frequency by varying the design variable (element thickness) under the constraint of overall constant weight. Modal analysis is used to determine the sensitivity of the vibration energy as a function of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors. The optimum design is found by the gradient projection method and a unidimensional search procedure. By applying the computer code to design problems for beams and plates, it was verified that the proposed method is effective in reducing vibration energy. The computer code is also applied to redesign the NASA Lewis gear noise rig test gearbox housing. As one example, only the shape of the top plate is varied, and the vibration energy levels of all the surfaces are reduced, yielding an overall reduction of 1/5 compared to the initial design. As a second example, the shapes of the top and two side plates are varied to yield an overall reduction in vibration energy of 1/30.

Inoue, Katsumi↗

An Approach for Dynamic Grids

An approach is presented for the generation of two-dimensional, structured, dynamic grids. The grid motion may be due to the motion of the boundaries of the computational domain or to the adaptation of the grid to the transient, physical solution. A time-dependent grid is computed through the time integration of the grid speeds which are computed from a system of grid speed equations. The grid speed equations are derived from the time-differentiation of the grid equations so as to ensure that the dynamic grid maintains the desired qualities of the static grid. The grid equations are the Euler-Lagrange equations derived from a variational statement for the grid. The dynamic grid method is demonstrated for a model problem involving boundary motion, an inviscid flow in a converging-diverging nozzle during startup, and a viscous flow over a flat plate with an impinging shock wave. It is shown that the approach is more accurate for transient flows than an approach in which the grid speeds are computed using a finite difference with respect to time of the grid. However, the approach requires significantly more computational effort.

Slater, John W.↗

Sandwich Panels Evaluated With Ultrasonic Spectroscopy

Enhanced, lightweight material systems, such as 17-4PH stainless steel sandwich panels are being developed for use as fan blades and fan containment systems for next-generation engines. The bond strength between the core and face sheets is critical in maintaining the structural integrity of the sandwich structure. To improve the inspection and production of these systems, researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center are using nondestructive evaluation (NDE) techniques, such as ultrasonic spectroscopy, to evaluate the brazing quality between the face plates and the metallic foam core. The capabilities and limitations of a swept-frequency approach to ultrasonic spectroscopy were evaluated with respect to these sandwich structures. This report discusses results from three regions of a sandwich panel representing different levels of brazing quality between the outer face plates and a metallic foam core. Each region was investigated with ultrasonic spectroscopy. Then, on the basis of the NDE results, three shear specimens sectioned from the sandwich panel to contain each of these regions were mechanically tested.

Cosgriff, Laura M.↗

Demonstration of Passive Fuel Cell Thermal Management Technology

The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing advanced passive thermal management technology to reduce the mass and improve the reliability of space fuel cell systems for the NASA Exploration program. The passive thermal management system relies on heat conduction within highly thermally conductive cooling plates to move the heat from the central portion of the cell stack out to the edges of the fuel cell stack. Using the passive approach eliminates the need for a coolant pump and other cooling loop components within the fuel cell system which reduces mass and improves overall system reliability. Previous development demonstrated the performance of suitable highly thermally conductive cooling plates and integrated heat exchanger technology to collect the heat from the cooling plates (Ref. 1). The next step in the development of this passive thermal approach was the demonstration of the control of the heat removal process and the demonstration of the passive thermal control technology in actual fuel cell stacks. Tests were run with a simulated fuel cell stack passive thermal management system outfitted with passive cooling plates, an integrated heat exchanger and two types of cooling flow control valves. The tests were run to demonstrate the controllability of the passive thermal control approach. Finally, successful demonstrations of passive thermal control technology were conducted with fuel cell stacks from two fuel cell stack vendors.

Burke, Kenneth A.↗

Simultaneous control and optimization for elastic systems

Studies are conducted to determine the dynamic response of beams and plates to loads which are extreme within a certain class of admissible loads. Two approaches to this problem are suggested. In approach one, Pontryagin's maximality principle is regarded as an additional constraint. The optimality of design is then determined by standard numerical techniques. The "adjoint variable approach' to sensitivity of structural design is applied for a given inhomogeneous term. The inhomogeneous term is an extremal element of admissible load vectors, which constitute a closed subspace of a Sobolev space. Again, the maximality principle is invoked. While only beam and plate theory problems are used as examples, generalizations are easy to perceive.

Komkov, V.↗

Thermoplastic Composite Lunar Tower Truss Structure: Design Development and Verification Plans

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Space Technology and Mission Directorate (STMD) is advancing thermoplastic composite (TPC) technologies for exploration missions. The Technology Development for Exploration Applications (TDEA) project goals are to develop and mature TPC materials, designs, analyses tools and techniques, and mature manufacturing processes. This includes development of manufacturing and joining approaches relevant to space environments. To these ends TDEA endeavors toward demonstrating a TPC truss structure for a lunar tower configuration. The design, predicated on robotic assembly, uses open section truss elements fused to a joint splice plate, without a structural adhesive. This presentation details the TDEA lunar truss structure design development approach including design heritage, the requirements established, the mechanical design and analyses, and thermal analyses demonstrating structural requirements conformance, as well as planned building block verification efforts either underway or planned. The mechanical analyses show the most severe environment is a moon-quake the truss dynamic responses. The thermal analyses show the extreme cold for on-orbit welding, the window for less severe on-orbit welding, as well as the large thermal gradients on the truss. The building block approach shown includes ultrasonic welding and lap shear coupon testing on various truss element thicknesses and layups. Knockdown factor determinations due to lunar dust contamination (simulated) and effects of welding in a vacuum are presented. The most highly loaded truss joint configuration sub-element verification test matrix is outlined. Lastly, plans to build, inspect, and test a 2-bay truss representative unit cell that is 1.5 meters by 1.5 meters by 3.0 meters tall are detailed.

Lunar Tower↗

Development of Passive Fuel Cell Thermal Management Heat Exchanger

The NASA Glenn Research Center is developing advanced passive thermal management technology to reduce the mass and improve the reliability of space fuel cell systems for the NASA Exploration program. The passive thermal management system relies on heat conduction within highly thermally conductive cooling plates to move the heat from the central portion of the cell stack out to the edges of the fuel cell stack. Using the passive approach eliminates the need for a coolant pump and other cooling loop components within the fuel cell system which reduces mass and improves overall system reliability. Previous development demonstrated the performance of suitable highly thermally conductive cooling plates that could conduct the heat, provide a sufficiently uniform temperature heat sink for each cell of the fuel cell stack, and be substantially lighter than the conventional thermal management approach. Tests were run with different materials to evaluate the design approach to a heat exchanger that could interface with the edges of the passive cooling plates. Measurements were made during fuel cell operation to determine the temperature of individual cooling plates and also to determine the temperature uniformity from one cooling plate to another.

Burke, Kenneth A.↗

Transfer function modeling of damping mechanisms in viscoelastic plates

This work formulates a method for the modeling of material damping characteristics in plates. The Sophie German equation of classical plate theory is modified to incorporate hysteresis effects represented by complex stiffness using the transfer function approach proposed by Golla and Hughes, (1985). However, this procedure is not limited to this representation. The governing characteristic equation is decoupled through separation of variables, yielding a solution similar to that of undamped classical plate theory, allowing solution of the steady state as well as the transient response problem.

Slater, J. C.↗

Commercial phosphoric acid fuel cell system technology development

Reducing cost and increasing reliability were the technology drivers in both the electric utility and on-site integrated energy system applications. The longstanding barrier to the attainment of these goals was materials. Differences in approaches and their technological features, including electrodes, matrices, intercell cooling, bipolar/separator plates, electrolyte management, fuel selection, and system design philosophy were discussed.

Prokopius, P. R.↗

Effects of design on cost of flat-plate solar photovoltaic arrays for terrestrial central station power applications

The paper examines the impact of module and array designs on the balance-of-plant costs for flat-plate terrestrial central station power applications. Consideration is given to the following types of arrays: horizontal, tandem, augmented, tilt adjusted, and E-W tracking. The life-cycle cost of a 20-year plant life serves as the costing criteria for making design and cost tradeoffs. A tailored code of accounts is developed for determining consistent photovoltaic power plant costs and providing credible photovoltaic system cost baselines for flat-plate module and array designs by costing several varying array design approaches.

Tsou, P.↗

A Feasibility Study of Synthesizing Subsurfaces Modeled with Computational Neural Networks

This paper investigates the feasibility of synthesizing substructures modeled with computational neural networks. Substructures are modeled individually with computational neural networks and the response of the assembled structure is predicted by synthesizing the neural networks. A superposition approach is applied to synthesize models for statically determinate substructures while an interface displacement collocation approach is used to synthesize statically indeterminate substructure models. Beam and plate substructures along with components of a complicated Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) model are used in this feasibility study. In this paper, the limitations and difficulties of synthesizing substructures modeled with neural networks are also discussed.

Wang, John T.↗

The Evolution of Modulated Wavetrains Into Turbulent Spots

Experiment are being carried out to study the process by which th almost periodic disturbance waves generated naturally by the freestream evolve into turbulence. The boundary layer on a flat plate has been used for this study. The novelty of the approach is in the form of artificial excitation that is used. In this work the flow is excited artificially by deterministic white noise. The weak T-S wave created develops down stream, becomes nonlinear and blows up locally onto a highly distorted flow. These large local distortions of the mean flow allow very high frequency disturbances to grow and form into small turbulent spots. The spots arise from the excitation, and if the same noise sequence is repeated a spot will form at the same position and time instant relative to the excitation.

Gaster, M.↗

Effects of Material Choice on Biocide Loss in Orion Water Storage Tanks

When preparing for long-duration spaceflight missions, maintaining a safe supply of potable water is of the utmost importance. One major aspect of that is ensuring that microbial growth is minimized. Historically, this challenge has been addressed through the use of biocides. When using biocides, the choice of materials for the storage containers is important, because surface reactions can reduce biocide concentrations below their effective range. In the water storage system baselined for the Orion vehicle, the primary wetted materials are stainless steel (316 L) and a titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V). Previous testing with these materials has shown that the biocide selected for use in the system (ionic silver) will plate out rapidly upon initial wetting of the system. One potential approach for maintaining an adequate biocide concentration is to spike the water supply with high levels of biocide in an attempt to passivate the surface. To evaluate this hypothesis, samples of the wetted materials were tested individually and together to determine the relative loss of biocide under representative surface area-to-volume ratios after 24 hours. Additionally, we have analyzed the efficacy of disinfecting a system containing these materials by measuring reductions in bacterial counts in the same test conditions. Preliminary results indicate that the use of titanium, either individually or in combination with stainless steel, can result in over 95% loss of biocide, while less than 5% is lost when using stainless steel. In bacterial testing, viable organisms were recovered from samples exposed to the titanium coupons after 24 hours. By comparison, no organisms were recovered from the test vessels containing only stainless steel. These results indicate that titanium, while possessing some favorable attributes, may pose additional challenges when used in water storage tanks with ionic silver biocide.

Wallace, W. T.↗

Summary of the 5th Propulsion Aerodynamics Workshop Nozzle Test Case: Heated Nozzle Exhaust Passing Over A Film-Cooled Plate

This paper summarizes findings from the fifth AIAA Propulsion Aerodynamics Workshop nozzle test case. The experimental configuration examined by workshop participants was a subsonic nozzle with a square exit blowing a heated exhaust over a film-cooled plate. Computational fluid dynamics solutions were obtained and compared to experimental measurements of flow velocities and temperatures, as well as plate surface temperatures. The heated nozzle operated with a Mach 0.3 exit flow at a static temperature ratio of 2.7. Cooling air blowing ratios of 0, 1, and 2 were considered. Computational meshes for the flow domain were provided for participants. Workshop participants from eight separate organizations represented government, industry, and academia. A variety of flow solutions were obtained: Most of the flow solutions employed a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach, but scale-resolving simulations were used in some cases, including wall-modeled large-eddy simulation (LES), and a few hybrid RANS-LES approaches. One Lattice-Boltzmann solver was employed. For heat transfer to the test article, many participants used a conjugate heat transfer approach. Effects of mesh sensitivity, flow solution approach, and wall heat transfer approach are considered. In general, a fully three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer approach enabled better prediction of surface temperatures than simpler wall temperature boundary treatments. Also, the scale resolving approaches provided better prediction of static temperatures in the flow immediately above the plate consisting of the hot jet exhaust boundary layer interacting with the cooling film. Comparisons of plate surface friction drag and heat transfer obtained from the computations are also presented.

nozzle↗

Summary of the 5th Propulsion Aerodynamics Workshop Nozzle Test Case: Heated Nozzle Exhaust Passing Over A Film-Cooled Plate

This paper summarizes findings from the fifth AIAA Propulsion Aerodynamics Workshop nozzle test case. The experimental configuration examined by workshop participants was a subsonic nozzle with a square exit blowing a heated exhaust over a film-cooled plate. Computational fluid dynamics solutions were obtained and compared to experimental measurements of flow velocities and temperatures, as well as plate surface temperatures. The heated nozzle operated with a Mach 0.3 exit flow at a static temperature ratio of 2.7. Cooling air blowing ratios of 0, 1, and 2 were considered. Computational meshes for the flow domain were provided for participants. Workshop participants from eight separate organizations represented government, industry, and academia. A variety of flow solutions were obtained: Most of the flow solutions employed a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) approach, but scale-resolving simulations were used in some cases, including wall-modeled large-eddy simulation (LES), and a few hybrid RANS-LES approaches. One Lattice-Boltzmann solver was employed. For heat transfer to the test article, many participants used a conjugate heat transfer approach. Effects of mesh sensitivity, flow solution approach, and wall heat transfer approach are considered. In general, a fully three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer approach enabled better prediction of surface temperatures than simpler wall temperature boundary treatments. Also, the scale resolving approaches provided better prediction of static temperatures in the flow immediately above the plate consisting of the hot jet exhaust boundary layer interacting with the cooling film. Comparisons of plate surface friction drag and heat transfer obtained from the computations are also presented.

nozzle↗

Pin-loaded holes in large orthotropic plates

Pin-loaded holes commonly occur in engineering structures. However, accurate analysis of such holes presents formidable difficulties because of the load-dependent contact of the pin with the plate. Significant progress has recently been achieved in the analysis of holes in isotropic plates. This paper develops a simple and accurate method for the partial contact analysis of pin-loaded holes in composites. The method is based on an inverse formulation that seeks to determine loads in a given contact-separation configuration. A unified approach for all types of fit was used. Continuum solutions were obtained for infinitely large plates of various typical orthotropic properties with holes loaded by smooth rigid pins. These solutions were then compared with those for isotropic plates. The effects of orthotropy and the type of fit were studied through load-contact relationships, distribution of stresses and displacements, and their variation with load. The results are of direct relevance to the analysis and design of pin joints in composite plates.

Mangalgiri, P. D.↗