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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

Effect of Crystal Orientation on Fatigue Failure of Single Crystal Nickel Base Turbine Blade Superalloys

High Cycle Fatigue (HCF) induced failures in aircraft gas-turbine engines is a pervasive problem affecting a wide range of components and materials. HCF is currently the primary cause of component failures in gas turbine aircraft engines. Turbine blades in high performance aircraft and rocket engines are increasingly being made of single crystal nickel superalloys. Single-crystal Nickel-base superalloys were developed to provide superior creep, stress rupture, melt resistance and thermomechanical fatigue capabilities over polycrystalline alloys previously used in the production of turbine blades and vanes. Currently the most widely used single crystal turbine blade superalloys are PWA 1480/1493 and PWA 1484. These alloys play an important role in commercial, military and space propulsion systems. PWA1493, identical to PWA1480, but with tighter chemical constituent control, is used in the NASA SSME (Space Shuttle Main Engine) alternate turbopump, a liquid hydrogen fueled rocket engine. Objectives for this paper are motivated by the need for developing failure criteria and fatigue life evaluation procedures for high temperature single crystal components, using available fatigue data and finite element modeling of turbine blades. Using the FE (finite element) stress analysis results and the fatigue life relations developed, the effect of variation of primary and secondary crystal orientations on life is determined, at critical blade locations. The most advantageous crystal orientation for a given blade design is determined. Results presented demonstrates that control of secondary and primary crystallographic orientation has the potential to optimize blade design by increasing its resistance to fatigue crack growth without adding additional weight or cost.

Arakere, Nagaraj K.↗

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2005

Topics covered include: Apparatus Characterizes Transient Voltages in Real Time; Measuring Humidity in Sealed Glass Encasements; Adaptable System for Vehicle Health and Usage Monitoring; Miniature Focusing Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometer; Cryogenic High-Sensitivity Magnetometer; Wheel Electrometer System; Carbon-Nanotube Conductive Layers for Thin-Film Solar Cells; Patch Antenna Fed via Unequal-Crossed-Arm Aperture; LC Circuits for Diagnosing Embedded Piezoelectric Devices; Nanowire Thermoelectric Devices; Code for Analyzing and Designing Spacecraft Power System Radiators; Decision Support for Emergency Operations Centers; NASA Records Database; Real-Time Principal- Component Analysis; Fuzzy/Neural Software Estimates Costs of Rocket- Engine Tests; Multicomponent, Rare-Earth-Doped Thermal-Barrier Coatings; Reactive Additives for Phenylethynyl-Containing Resins; Improved Gear Shapes for Face Worm Gear Drives; Alternative Way of Shifting Mass to Move a Spherical Robot; Parylene C as a Sacrificial Material for Microfabrication; In Situ Electrochemical Deposition of Microscopic Wires; Improved Method of Manufacturing SiC Devices; Microwave Treatment of Prostate Cancer and Hyperplasia; Ferroelectric Devices Emit Charged Particles and Radiation; Dusty-Plasma Particle Accelerator; Frozen-Plug Technique for Liquid-Oxygen Plumbing; Shock Waves in a Bose-Einstein Condensate; Progress on a Multichannel, Dual-Mixer Stability Analyzer; Development of Carbon- Nanotube/Polymer Composites; Thermal Imaging of Earth for Accurate Pointing of Deep-Space Antennas; Modifications of a Composite-Material Combustion Chamber; Modeling and Diagnostic Software for Liquefying- Fuel Rockets; and Spacecraft Antenna Clusters for High EIRP.

Source record↗

Internally Catalyzed Hydrogen Atom Transfer (I-CHAT)—A New Class of Reactions in Combustion Chemistry

The current paradigm of low-T combustion and autoignition of hydrocarbons is based on the sequential two-step oxygenation of fuel radicals. The key chain-branching occurs when the second oxygenation adduct (OOQOOH) is isomerized releasing an OH radical and a key ketohydroperoxide (KHP) intermediate. The subsequent homolytic dissociation of relatively weak O–O bonds in KHP generates two more radicals in the oxidation chain leading to ignition. Based on the recently introduced intramolecular “catalytic hydrogen atom transfer” mechanism (J. Phys. Chem. 2024, 128, 2169), abbreviated here as I-CHAT, we have identified a novel unimolecular decomposition channel for KHPs to form their classical isomers—enol hydroperoxides (EHP). The uncertainty in the contribution of enols is typically due to the high computed barriers for conventional (“direct”) keto–enol tautomerization. Remarkably, the I-CHAT dramatically reduces such barriers. The novel mechanism can be regarded as an intramolecular version of the intermolecular relay transfer of H-atoms mediated by an external molecule following the general classification of such processes (Catal. Rev.-Sci. Eng. 2014, 56, 403). Here, we present a detailed mechanistic and kinetic analysis of the I-CHAT-facilitated pathways applied to n-hexane, n-heptane, and n-pentane models as prototype molecules for gasoline, diesel, and hybrid rocket fuels. We particularly examined the formation kinetics and subsequent dissociation of the γ-enol-hydroperoxide isomer of the most abundant pentane-derived isomer γ-C5-KHP observed experimentally. To gain molecular-level insight into the I-CHAT catalysis, we have also explored the role of the internal catalyst moieties using truncated models. All applied models demonstrated a significant reduction in the isomerization barriers, primarily due to the decreased ring strain in transition states. In addition, the longer-range and sequential H-migration processes were also identified and illustrated via a combined double keto–enol conversion of heptane-2,6-diketo-4-hydroperoxide as a potential chain-branching model. To assess the possible impact of the I-CHAT channels on global fuel combustion characteristics, we performed a detailed kinetic analysis of the isomerization and decomposition of γ-C5-KHP comparing I-CHAT with key alternative reactions—direct dissociation and Korcek channels. Calculated rate parameters were implemented into a modified version of the n-pentane kinetic model developed earlier using RMG automated model generation tools (ACS Omega, 2023, 8, 4908). Simulations of ignition delay times revealed the significant effect of the new pathways, suggesting an important role of the I-CHAT pathways in the low-T combustion of large alkanes.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗

Densitometer Patent

Measuring density of single and two-phase cryogenic fluids in rocket fuel tanks

Jacobs, R. B.↗

Spray momentum measuring system

Technique enables accurate prediction of erosion and cavitation produced by fluid spray. Method measures high velocity sprays produced by small orifices. Originally designed to determine oxidizer-injection patterns of liquid fueled rocket engines, technique is used with other liquids, or, with appropriate modification, with gases.

Sheffield, E. W.↗

Polymer degradation rate control of hybrid rocket combustion

Polymer degradation to small fragments is treated as a rate controlling step in hybrid rocket combustion. Both numerical and approximate analytical solutions of the complete energy and polymer chain bond conservation equations for the condensed phase are obtained. Comparison with inert atmosphere data is very good. It is found that the intersect of curves of pyrolysis rate versus interface temperature for hybrid combustors, with the thermal degradation theory, falls at a pyrolysis rate very close to that for which a pressure dependence begins to be observable. Since simple thermal degradation cannot give sufficient depolymerization at higher pyrolysis rates, it is suggested that oxidative catalysis of the process occurs at the surface, giving a first order dependence on reactive species concentration at the wall. Estimates of the ratio of this activation energy and interface temperature are in agreement with best fit procedures for hybrid combustion data. Requisite active species concentrations and flux are shown to be compatible with turbulent transport. Pressure dependence of hybrid rocket fuel regression rate is thus shown to be describable in a consistent manner in terms of reactive species catalysis of polymer degradation.

Stickler, D. B.↗