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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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High power millimeter wave sources for fusion program; ECH source development program strategy; and 1 MW, 140 GHz gyrotron experiment design philosophy are briefly outlined. This presentation is represented by viewgraphs only.
The activities of the High Power Arcjet Project (HIPARC) from August 1990 to January 1991 are discussed. In this period the HIPARC thruster was ignited for the first time. Power levels up to 140 kW with a mass flow rate of 300 mg/s hydrogen were reached. Specific impulse values of more than 1300 s were shown to be possible. Tests were performed with the baseline thruster version only, which has a 6 mm throat diameter and a conical nozzle with a 20 degree half angle. Measurement data summing up all tests carried out until now is included. All measuring methods are described, including a check on possible error sources.
This talk will give an overview of will give an overview of recent work that began to examine the feasibility of molten salts as a target material for very high power beams as a potential solution for some of the present and future challenges of high power targetry at Fermilab, anchored by the F2D2 conceptual design study. This will include discussion of target and beam dump applications as well as likely challenges, potential for future R&D, projects, and synergy with existing high-power targetry research.
Analyzed, developed, and tested were high power microwave components for communications satellites systems. Included were waveguide and flange configurations with venting, a harmonic filter, forward and reverse power monitors, electrical fault sensors, and a diplexer for two channel simultaneous transmission. The assembly of 8.36 GHz components was bench tested, and then operated for 60 hours at 3.5 kW CW in a high vacuum. The diplexer was omitted from this test pending a modification of its end irises. An RF leakage test showed only that care is required at flange junctions; all other components were RF tight. Designs were extrapolated for 12 GHz and 2.64 GHz high power satellite systems.
This work presents a measurement system to characterize the pulsed response of high-power GaN amplifiers for use in space-based SAR platforms that require very strict amplitude and phase stability. The measurement system is able to record and analyze data on three different time scales: fast, slow, and long, which allows for greater detail of the mechanisms that impact amplitude and phase stability. The system is fully automated through MATLAB, which offers both instrument control capability and in-situ data processing. To validate this system, a high-power GaN HEMT amplifier operated in saturation was characterized. The fast time results show that variations to the amplitude and phase are correlated to DC supply transients, while long time characteristics are correlated to temperature changes.
This work presents the design and measured results of a fully integrated switched power two-stage GaN HEMT high-power amplifier (HPA) achieving 60% power-added efficiency at over 120Woutput power. This high-efficiency GaN HEMT HPA is an enabling technology for L-band SweepSAR interferometric instruments that enable frequent repeat intervals and high-resolution imagery. The L-band HPA was designed using space-qualified state-of-the-art GaN HEMT technology. The amplifier exhibits over 34 dB of power gain at 51 dBm of output power across an 80 MHz bandwidth. The HPA is divided into two stages, an 8 W driver stage and 120 W output stage. The amplifier is designed for pulsed operation, with a high-speed DC drain switch operating at the pulsed-repetition interval and settles within 200 ns. In addition to the electrical design, a thermally optimized package was designed, that allows for direct thermal radiation to maintain low-junction temperatures for the GaN parts maximizing long-term reliability. Lastly, real radar waveforms are characterized and analysis of amplitude and phase stability over temperature demonstrate ultra-stable operation over temperature using integrated bias compensation circuitry allowing less than 0.2 dB amplitude variation and 2 deg phase variation over a 70 C range.
The high-power helicon, aka fast wave in the lower hybrid range of frequencies (LHRF), program has completed initial experiments at DIII-D. A 30-element comb-line traveling wave antenna successfully coupled over 0.3 MW of rf power at 476 MHz into both L-mode and ELMing H-mode plasmas for approximately 0.2 s. Here, we describe the helicon systems that enabled high-power operations, and the progress of conditioning in June 2021. Upgraded vacuum feedthroughs are described.
Lasers with high peak power pulses are commonly used in spaceflight missions for a wide range of applications, from LIDAR systems to optical communications. Due to the high optical power needed, the laser has to be located on the exterior of the satellite or coupled through a series of free space optics. This presents challenges for thermal management, radiation resistance, and mechanical design. Future applications will require multiple lasers located close together, which further complicates the design. Coupling the laser energy into a fiber optic cable allows the laser to be relocated to a more favorable position on the spacecraft. Typical fiber optic termination procedures are not sufficient for injection of these high-power laser pulses without catastrophic damage to the fiber endface. In the current study, we will review the causes of fiber damage during high-power injection and discuss our new manufacturing procedures that overcome these issues to permit fiber use with high reliability in these applications. We will also discuss the proper methods for launching the laser pulses into the fiber to avoid damage and how this is being implemented for current spaceflight missions.
A high power doubler for the frequency band 184 to 212 GHz has been fabricated and tested. The results of the continuing JPL Schottky diode physical modeling effort are discussed, including the effects of temperature and high power operation.
Space systems in the future will probably include high-voltage, high-power energy-storage and -production systems. Two such technologies are high-voltage ac and dc systems and high-power electrodynamic tethers. The working group identified several plasma interaction phenomena that will occur in the operation of these power systems. The working group felt that building an understanding of these critical interaction issues meant that several gaps in our knowledge had to be filled, and that certain aspects of dc power systems have become fairly well understood. Examples of these current collection are in quiescent plasmas and snap over effects. However, high-voltage dc and almost all ac phenomena are, at best, inadequately understood. In addition, there is major uncertainty in the knowledge of coupling between plasmas and large scale current flows in space plasmas. These gaps in the knowledge are addressed.
In high energy particle physics there is a demand for multi-MW high performance particle production targets. Nanofiber microstructure will have better performance than current solid targets in mitigating increased thermal tress waves, radiation damage. The objective is to fabricate thicker ceramic/metallic nano-fiber with high strength, thermal shock resistance using low cost electrospinning process.
This viewgraph presentation reports on the development of a high power 780 nm laser suitable for space applications of laser cooling. A possible solution is to use frequency doubling of high power 1560 nm telecom lasers. The presentation shows a diagram of the frequency conversion, and a graph of the second harmonic generation in one crystal, and the use of the cascading crystals. Graphs show the second harmonic power as a function of distance between crystals, second harmonic power vs. pump power, tunability of laser systems.
The effective protection of a klystron in a high-power transmitter requires the diversion of all stored energy in the protected circuit through an alternate low-impedance path, the crowbar, such that less than 1 joule of energy is dumped into the klystron during an internal arc. A scheme of adding a bypass inductor in the crowbar-protected circuit of the high-power transmitter was tested using computer simulations and actual measurements under a test load. Although this scheme has several benefits, including less power dissipation in the resistor, the tests show that the presence of inductance in the portion of the circuit to be protected severely hampers effective crowbar operation.
Wireless charging systems are foreseen as an effective solution to improve the convenience and safety of conventional conductive chargers. As this technology has matured, recent broad applications of wireless chargers to electrified transportation have indicated a trend toward higher power, power density, modularity, and scalability of designs. In this article, commercial systems and laboratory prototypes are reviewed, focusing mostly on the advances in high-power wireless charging systems. The recent endeavors in magnetic pad designs, compensation networks, power electronics converters, control strategies, and communication protocols are illustrated. Both stationary and dynamic (in-motion) wireless charging systems are discussed, and critical differences in their designs and applications are emphasized. On that basis, the comparisons among different solutions and design considerations are summarized to present the essential elements and technology roadmap that will be necessary to support large-scale deployment of high-power wireless charging systems. The review is concluded with the discussion of several fundamental challenges and prospects of high-power wireless power transfer (WPT) systems. Foreseen challenges include utilization of advanced materials, electric and electromagnetic field measurement and mitigation, customization, communications, power metering, and cybersecurity.
The rapid electrification of aerial transportation is driving the need for high‐performance Li‐ion batteries that can operate reliably under stringent thermal and safety constraints. The unique mission profile of electric Vertical Take‐off and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft necessitates a focused investigation into the thermal behavior and safety characteristics of these batteries. Here, in this study, operando isothermal microcalorimetry is employed to examine the thermal evolution of Li‐ion batteries under cycling conditions representative of eVTOL operations. These findings reveal that high‐power discharge events—such as those during take‐off and landing—shift the thermal response toward exothermic behavior, in contrast to the typically endothermic response expected under near‐equilibrium cycling conditions. Additionally, the results suggest that advanced electrolyte formulations may help suppress excess heat generation, thereby improving battery safety. Notably, the calorimetric results exhibit a distinct thermal signature associated with lithium plating, offering a potential diagnostic for detecting Li plating during eVTOL operation. Overall, this study demonstrates the utility of isothermal microcalorimetry as a valuable tool for assessing thermal risks in Li‐ion batteries for eVTOL applications, and highlights the importance of targeted design strategies to mitigate safety hazards during high‐power demand scenarios.
The lack of high-power integrated lasers has been limiting silicon photonics. Despite much progress in chip-scale laser integration, power output remains below levels required for key applications due to low energy efficiency at high pumping currents. Here we break this power limitation by coupling a broad-area multimode gain chip to a silicon-nitride ring resonator and single-mode filter. The resulting optical feedback causes the multimode-gain chip to concentrate its power into a single highly coherent mode. Our device produces more than 150 mW of power and 400 kHz linewidth. We achieve these metrics while maintaining a small footprint of 3 mm 2 .
In order to improve performance testing, NASA's High-Power Spacecraft Thermal Management system has been modified through (1) an augmentation of heat-dissipation capacity of the condenser sink for steady-state high power operation, (2) the addition of more pressure transducers for pressure-drop monitoring in various system components, (3) the installation of pressure-contact thermocouples on the evaporators to measure heating surface temperature, (4) the provision of a coolant loop to one of the evaporator plates, (5) the placing of a transient fluid flow-monitoring load cell in the reservoir, and (6) the reorientation of the reservoir to reduce compressed vapor effects. The system is now capable of 10 hours of continuous capillary mode operation at an input power level of 20 kW.
In the study of the propagation of high power microwave pulse, one of the main concerns is how to minimize the energy loss of the pulse before reaching the destination. In the very high power region, one has to prevent the cutoff reflection caused by the excessive ionization in the background air. A frequency auto-conversion process which can lead to reflectionless propagation of powerful EM pulses in self-generated plasmas is studied. The theory shows that under the proper conditions the carrier frequency, omega, of the pulse will indeed shift upward with the growth of plasma frequency, omega(sub pe). Thus, the plasma during breakdown will always remain transparent to the pulse (i.e., omega greater than omega(sub pe)). A chamber experiment to demonstrate the frequency auto-conversion during the pulse propagation through the self-generated plasma is then conducted in a chamber. The detected frequency shift is compared with the theoretical result calculated y using the measured electron density distribution along the propagation path of the pulse. Good agreement between the theory and the experiment results is obtained.