Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “rapid development”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

Continued Development of the Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) System for Advanced Extravehicular Activity Systems

Development activities related to the Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Humidity control system have progressed to the point of integrating the RCA into an advanced Primary Life Support System (PLSS 2.0) to evaluate the interaction of the RCA among other PLSS components in a ground test environment. The RCA 2.0 assembly (integrated into PLSS 2.0) consists of a valve assembly with commercial actuator motor, a sorbent canister, and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based process node controller. Continued design and development activities for RCA 3.0 have been aimed at optimizing the canister size and incorporating greater fidelity in the valve actuator motor and valve position feedback design. Further, the RCA process node controller is envisioned to incorporate a higher degree of functionality to support a distributed PLSS control architecture. This paper will describe the progression of technology readiness levels of RCA 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 along with a review of the design and manufacturing successes and challenges for 2.0 and 3.0 units. The anticipated interfaces and interactions with the PLSS 2.0/2.5/3.0 assemblies will also be discussed.

Papale, William↗
NASA NTRS2014

Continued Development of the Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) System for Advanced Extravehicular Activity Systems

Development activities related to the Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Humidity control system have progressed to the point of integrating the RCA into an advanced Primary Life Support System (PLSS 2.0) to evaluate the interaction of the RCA among other PLSS components in a ground test environment. The RCA 2.0 assembly (integrated into PLSS 2.0) consists of a valve assembly with commercial actuator motor, a sorbent canister, and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based process node controller. Continued design and development activities for RCA 3.0 have been aimed at optimizing the canister size and incorporating greater fidelity in the valve actuator motor and valve position feedback design. Further, the RCA process node controller is envisioned to incorporate a higher degree of functionality to support a distributed PLSS control architecture. This paper will describe the progression of technology readiness levels of RCA 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 along with a review of the design and manufacturing successes and challenges for 2.0 and 3.0 units. The anticipated interfaces and interactions with the PLSS 2.0/2.5/3.0 assemblies will also be discussed.

Papale, William↗
DOE OSTI2026

New Enzymes for Plastics Recycling from Biosensor-Guided Evolution and Machine Learning: Cooperative Research and Development Final Report, CRADA Number CRD-23-24335

The Agile BioFoundry (ABF) is a consortium of national laboratories dedicated to accelerating biomanufacturing and enabling the bioeconomy. The ABF operates a flexible biotechnology platform that can adjust to the needs of numerous government, academic, and industrial partners, thus enabling them to rapidly develop and optimize the production of a wide range of bioproducts. In this project, the ABF partnered with Birch Biosciences, Inc. to use ABF technology to assist in the development of high-performance enzymes that enable circular, sustainable recycling of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) plastics. A primary goal of this project is to enable cost-effective, high yield, sustainable recycling of PET plastic packaging products.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
NASA NTRS1986

Study on effects of powder and flake chemistry and morphology on the properties of Al-Cu-Mg-X-X-X powder metallurgy advanced aluminum alloys

A study was conducted: (1) to develop rapid solidification processed (RSP) dispersoid-containing Al-3Cu-2Li-1Mg-0.2Zr alloys as substitutes for titanium alloys and commercial 2XXX aluminum alloys for service to at least 150 C; and (2) to develop RSP Al-4Li-Cu-Mg-Zr alloys as substitutes for high-strength commercial 7XXX alloys in ambient-temperature applications. RSP Al-3Cu-2Li-1Mg-0.2Zr alloys have density-normalized yield stresses at 150 C up to 52% larger than that of 2124-T851 and up to 30% larger than that of Ti-6Al-4V. Strength at 150 C in these alloys is provided by thermally stable delta' (Al3Li), T1 (Al2LiCu), and S' (Al2CuMg) precipitates. Density-normalized yield stresses of RSP Al-3Cu-2Li-1Mg-0.2Zr alloys are up to 100% larger than that of 2124-T851 and equivalent to that of Al-8Fe-4Ce at 260 C. Strength in the RSP alloys at 260 C is provided by incoherent dispersoids and subboundary constituent particles such as T1 and S. The RSP alloys are attractive substitutes in less than or = 100-h exposures for 2xxx and Al-4Fe-Ce alloys up to 260 C and for titanium alloys up to 150 C. RSP Al-4Li-Cu-Mg-Zr alloys have ambient-temperature yield and ultimate tensile stresses similar to that of 7050-T7651, and are 14% less dense. RSP Al-4Li-0.5Cu-1.5Mg-0.2Zr has a 20% higher specific yield stress, 40% higher specific elastic modulus, and superior corrosion resistance compared to the properties of 7050-T7651. Strength in the Al-4Li-Cu-Mg-Zr alloy class is primarily provided by the substructure and delta' precipitates and is independent of Cu:Mg ratio. Improvements in fracture toughness and transverse-orientation properties in both alloy classes depend on improved melt practices to eliminate oxide inclusions which are incorporated into the consolidated forms.

Meschter, P. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Selection Factors for Space Crops

NASA is actively researching space crop production to determine its potential to contribute to food system security on long duration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. Our near-term focus is on nutrient and variety supplementation of prepackaged food with fresh produce that requires little or no processing. The longer-term goal is caloric replacement to become less dependent on Earth, and this will require cultivation of staple crops, processing and cooking equipment, integration with spacecraft air, water, and power systems, and automation. There are numerous technology and knowledge gaps remaining for sustainable space crop production systems, but one high-impact area is in the development of crops specifically customized to meet the needs of controlled environment crop production, astronaut health and well-being, and space-unique environments. Modern crop breeding and genome engineering tools are allowing for rapid development of new genotypes with incredible specificity. Targeted aspects to optimize crops for space have been identified and characterized into five categories: plant growth and development, plant physiology, produce nutrition, produce organoleptic acceptability, and postharvest characteristics. Within each category there are several targets that further the development of crop production systems for spaceflight, such as crop size and harvest index, tolerance to specific environmental stresses, optimizing target nutrients that are low or degrade in the packaged diet, maintenance time requirements, and less indigestible structural material. NASA-funded PIs are already beginning to develop candidate crops, and spaceflight testing and validation of novel space crops is on the horizon. Crops developed for space also have the potential to benefit terrestrial controlled environment agriculture crop production systems. This research was supported by NASA’s Space Biology and Human Research Programs.

Space Crop Production↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Selection Factors for Space Crops

NASA is actively researching space crop production to determine its potential to contribute to food system security on long duration missions beyond Low Earth Orbit. Our near-term focus is on nutrient and variety supplementation of prepackaged food with fresh produce that requires little or no processing. The longer-term goal is caloric replacement to become less dependent on Earth, and this will require cultivation of staple crops, processing and cooking equipment, integration with spacecraft air, water, and power systems, and automation. There are numerous technology and knowledge gaps remaining for sustainable space crop production systems, but one high-impact area is in the development of crops specifically customized to meet the needs of controlled environment crop production, astronaut health and well-being, and space-unique environments. Modern crop breeding and genome engineering tools are allowing for rapid development of new genotypes with incredible specificity. Targeted aspects to optimize crops for space have been identified and characterized into five categories: plant growth and development, plant physiology, produce nutrition, produce organoleptic acceptability, and postharvest characteristics. Within each category there are several targets that further the development of crop production systems for spaceflight, such as crop size and harvest index, tolerance to specific environmental stresses, optimizing target nutrients that are low or degrade in the packaged diet, maintenance time requirements, and less indigestible structural material. NASA-funded PIs are already beginning to develop candidate crops, and spaceflight testing and validation of novel space crops is on the horizon. Crops developed for space also have the potential to benefit terrestrial controlled environment agriculture crop production systems. This research was supported by NASA’s Space Biology and Human Research Programs.

Space Crop Production↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advancement of Extreme Environment Additively Manufactured Alloys for Next Generation Space Propulsion Applications

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has been involved in the development and maturation of metal additive manufacturing (AM) for space applications since the late 2000’s. Several efforts focused on the understanding of AM processes through material characterization and testing, standards development, component fabrication, and infusion into propulsion development and flight applications. NASA matured commonly used aerospace alloys from various alloy families (Nickel, Copper, Stainless and Steel, Aluminum, and Titanium-based) through detailed AM process and heat treatment characterization, in addition to mechanical and thermophysical testing. While these alloys are actively used in many propulsion applications, there is a need for ongoing AM optimized alloys using integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) and process development for high performance applications. The applications targeted are liquid rocket engines; advanced propulsion systems; and in-space propulsion with high heat fluxes, high pressure, and/or that use propellants that can degrade alloys (e.g., hydrogen). This paper highlights the characterization and physical properties of the more common AM alloys using laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and laser powder directed energy deposition (LP-DED) processes. Additionally, this paper discusses some of the ongoing novel alloy development and maturation using AM for use in these harsh environments, such as GRCop-42, GRCop-84, NASA HR-1, GRX-810, and C-103. The results from these processes demonstrated that AM could enable rapid development and ongoing efforts for optimized alloys using ICME, yielding higher performances. These alloys have undergone modeling, fundamental metallurgical evaluations, heat treatment studies, detailed microstructure characterization, and mechanical testing campaigns. This, combined with direct application-specific component fabrication and hot-fire testing, enabled the increase of the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) through high duty-cycle testing. A background and overview of these novel AM-enabled alloys and AM processing developments including metallurgical and mechanical property studies is presented here. The latest advancement in the parallel component development and hot-fire testing and future developments for these alloys is also discussed.

Additive Manufacturing↗
NASA NTRS2000

LH2 Tank Composite Coverplate Development and Flight Qualification for the X-33

In this paper, the development history for the first cryogenic pressurized fuel tank coverplates is presented along with a synopsis of the development strategy and technologies which led to success on this program. Coverplates are the large access panels used to access launch vehicle fuel tanks. These structures incorporate all of the requirements for a pressure vessel as well as the added requirement to mount all of the miscellaneous access points required for a fuel management system. The first composite coverplates to meet the requirements for flight qualification were developed on the X-33 program. The X-33 composite coverplates went from an open requirement to successful finished flight hardware with multiple unique configurations, complete with verification testing, in less than eighteen months. Besides the rapid development schedule, these components introduced several new technologies previously unseen in cryogenic composites including solutions to cryogenic shrinkage, self-supporting sealing surfaces, and highly loaded composite bosses with precision sealing interfaces. These components were proven to seal liquid hydrogen at cryogenic temperatures under maximum loading and pressure conditions.

Wright, Richard J.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Development of High Speed Imaging and Analysis Techniques Compressible Dynamics Stall

Dynamic stall has limited the flight envelope of helicopters for many years. The problem has been studied in the laboratory as well as in flight, but most research, even in the laboratory, has been restricted to surface measurement techniques such as pressure transducers or skin friction gauges, except at low speed. From this research, it became apparent that flow visualization tests performed at Mach numbers representing actual flight conditions were needed if the complex physics associated with dynamic stall was to be properly understood. However, visualization of the flow field during compressible conditions required carefully aligned and meticulously reconstructed holographic interferometry. As part of a long-range effort focused on exposing of the physics of compressible dynamic stall, a research wind tunnel was developed at NASA Ames Research Center which permits visual access to the full flow field surrounding an oscillating airfoil during compressible dynamic stall. Initially, a stroboscopic schlieren technique was used for visualization of the stall process, but the primary research tool has been point diffraction interferometry(PDI), a technique carefully optimized for use in th is project. A review of the process of development of PDI will be presented in the full paper. One of the most valuable aspects of PDI is the fact that interferograms are produced in real time on a continuous basis. The use of a rapidly-pulsed laser makes this practical; a discussion of this approach will be presented in the full paper. This rapid pulsing(up to 40,000 pulses/sec) produces interferograms of the rapidly developing dynamic stall field in sufficient resolution(both in space and time) that the fluid physics of the compressible dynamic stall flowfield can be quantitatively determined, including the gradients of pressure in space and time. This permits analysis of the influence of the effect of pitch rate, Mach number, Reynolds number, amplitude of oscillation, and other parameters on the dynamic stall process. When interferograms can be captured in real time, the potential for real-time mapping of a developing unsteady flow such as dynamic stall becomes a possibility. This has been achieved in the present case through the use of a high-speed drum camera combined with electronic circuitry which has resulted in a series of interferograms obtained during a single cycle of dynamic stall; images obtained at the rate of 20 KHz will be presented as a part of the formal presentation. Interferometry has been available for a long time; however, most of its use has been limited to visualization. The present research has focused on use of interferograms for quantitative mapping of the flow over oscillating airfoils. Instantaneous pressure distributions can now be obtained semi-automatically, making practical the analysis of the thousands of interferograms that are produced in this research. A review of the techniques that have been developed as part of this research effort will be presented in the final paper.

Chandrasekhara, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Developing disturbances in shear

The origin and growth to moderate amplitude of disturbances in shear flow has been traditionally ascribed to the linear modal instability of the flow. Recent work on initial value problems has suggested that nonmodal growth of perturbations may be of equal and perhaps greater importance, at least in cases of rapid development. Examples of robust growth in model problems which support no instabilities and in baroclinic flows with realistic Ekman damping for which the exponential modes have zero or negative growth rates have been shown. Such examples have focused attention on the perturbations which are configured to tap the energy of mean flows. Here a critical examination of these favorably configured perturbations is given, making use of the simple constant free shear barotropic model which allows construction of exact two-dimensional isolated wave packet solutions.

Farrell, Brian↗
DOE OSTI2025

High-Fidelity Building Emulator for Integrated Comfort and Energy Analysis using EnergyPlus and Radiance

The growing need for smart, energy-efficient, and occupant-centric buildings has created a demand for advanced control systems that can optimize building operations to balance energy savings, demand flexibility, and comfort. However, current building energy simulation tools, such as EnergyPlus, have limitations that hinder the development and evaluation of these complex control systems. To address this challenge, we introduce a high-fidelity building emulator that dynamically couples EnergyPlus with Radiance for enhanced daylight modeling. The introduced workflow allows researchers and practitioners to rapidly develop and evaluate innovative control solutions. An example study looking at a south-facing office zone revealed up to 67% deviation in predicted light levels, which can significantly impact building assessment.

Yu, Tammie↗
NASA NTRS2017

North American Drought and Links to Northern Eurasia: The Role of Stationary Rossby Waves

This chapter provides an overview of the role of stationary Rossby waves in the sub-seasonal development of warm season drought over North America and subsequent downstream development of climate anomalies over northern Eurasia. The results are based on a case study of a stationary Rossby wave event that developed during 20 May 15 June 1988. Simulations with the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) atmospheric general circulation model highlight the importance of the mean jet streams in guiding and constraining the path and speed of wave energy propagation. In particular, convective anomalies that developed over the western Pacific in late May (in the presence of the strong North Pacific jet) produce a predilection for persistent upper-level high anomalies over central North America about ten days later, leading to the rapid development of severe dry conditions there. There are indications of continued downstream wave energy propagation that reaches northern Eurasia about two weeks later, leading to the development of dry conditions over eastern Europe and western Russia, and cool and wet conditions over western Europe and central northern Eurasia. The results suggest that stationary Rossby waves can serve as a source of predictability for sub-seasonal development of droughts over North America and northern Eurasia.

GEOS-5↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Strategy for Risk Quantification of Spaceflight Crew Health and Performance Using Dynamic Probabilistic Risk Assessment

At NASA, the Crew Health and Performance (CHP) system represents the span of countermeasures, capabilities, interventions, and tested processes and procedures that in combination work to mitigate the human component of spaceflight mission risk. Across the varying NASA mental models of the CHP system, the different functionalities needed to meet human flight systems standards can be broken down into specific categories (i.e. medical capability, environmental health, behavioral health). These categories can be further broken down into specific subgroups generally associated with the CHP functionalities meant to mitigate or buy down individual human system risks. Taking a similar development approach we seek to leverage dynamic probabilistic risk assessment as a means to quantify and relatively assess the human risk state within the crew health and performance domain. By utilizing existing tools as integrators, we propose a rapid development strategy for incorporating research and operational data that represent the influence of the CHP system functionalities, in order to provide order of magnitudes estimates of the influence on most human system risks outcomes. The model system utilizes a modest cumulative risk approach and that limits the scope to primary paths of influence between the CHP functionalities and human system risks, thus enabling quick prototypes of the integrative effects of CHP functional combinations to solicit valuable feedback from stakeholders and customers on the data, relationship, and structure of the integration.

Drayton Munster↗
NASA NTRS2019

Modeling of Tunable Elastic Ultralight Aircraft

Aircraft weight is one of the most critical factors in the design and operation of modern vehicles. The ability to integrate ultra-light materials into the primary load bearing structures has the potential to reduce aircraft weight significantly. Ultralight materials tend to be lattice-based meta-materials that are difficult and computationally expensive to model. One of the advantages of meta-materials is to be able to tune or "program" their bulk material properties through the placement of heterogeneous components in the material. A large amount of time devoted to the simulation in the development time for the tuning of the material can be a barrier to the adoption of large scale lattice materials. In this paper, we present a workflow and analysis tool-set to provide first-order estimates for rapid development of engineered lattice materials for aerospace applications. We present results for estimating the displacement and maximum structural stresses.

cellular solids↗
NASA NTRS2021

System Analysis and Generative Design for Icenode, a Buoyant Vehicle for Measuring Melt Rate Under Ice Shelves

Antarctic ice shelves buttress the Antarctic Ice Sheet from sliding into the ocean, and their collapse could trigger a meter or more of global sea level rise by the end of the century. Current state-of-the-art predictions for ice shelf behavior in a warming climate have large uncertainty, significantly hindered by a lack of in situ melt rate observations under ice shelves, especially near grounding zones. IceNode is a novel robotic vehicle under development at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to acquire such measurements, but presents a complex design problem owing to the large design space and conflicting performance requirements. Evaluating a preliminary design requires several types of tedious analysis which prevents rapid iteration and exploration of the design space. We present the implementation of a custom system analysis framework which was used to automate analysis such as resource budgeting, mission simulation, mass and buoyancy balancing, and static landing stability analysis of a given design configuration. Using this framework, we selected parameters which had the largest effects on design success and conducted a generative design study in which we programmatically varied a handful of parameters to generate 1540 different design candidates and test them across 160 different environmental scenarios. The custom built system analysis tool enabled rapid development of critical analysis and automated exploration of a large design space to guide preliminary design of the IceNode vehicle.

Gebara, Christine↗
NASA NTRS2010

Development of a Solar Array Drive Assembly for CubeSat

Small satellites and in particular CubeSats, have increasingly become more viable as platforms for payloads typically requiring much larger bus structures. As advances in technology make payloads and instruments for space missions smaller, lighter and more power efficient, a niche market is emerging from the university community to perform rapidly developed, low-cost missions on very small spacecraft - micro, nano, and picosatellites. In just the last few years, imaging, biological and new technology demonstration missions have been either proposed or have flown using variations of the CubeSat structure as a basis. As these missions have become more complex, and the CubeSat standard has increased in both size (number of cubes) and mass, available power has become an issue. Body-mounted solar cells provide a minimal amount of power; deployable arrays improve on that baseline but are still limited. To truly achieve maximum power, deployed tracked arrays are necessary. To this end, Honeybee Robotics Spacecraft Mechanisms Corporation, along with MMA of Nederland Colorado, has developed a solar array drive assembly (SADA) and deployable solar arrays specifically for CubeSat missions. In this paper, we discuss the development of the SADA.

Passaretti, Mike↗
NASA NTRS2023

Space Trusted Autonomy Readiness Levels

Technology Readiness Levels are a mainstay for organizations that fund, develop, test, acquire, or use technologies. Technology Readiness Levels provide a standardized assessment of a technology’s maturity and enable consistent comparison among technologies. They inform decisions throughout a technology’s development life cycle, from concept, through development, to use. A variety of alternative Readiness Levels have been developed, including Algorithm Readiness Levels, manufacturing Readiness Levels, Human Readiness Levels, Commercialization Readiness Levels, Machine Learning Readiness Levels, and Technology Commitment Levels. However, while Technology Readiness Levels have been increasingly applied to emerging disciplines, there are unique challenges to assessing the rapidly developing capabilities of autonomy. This paper adopts the moniker of Space Trusted Autonomy Readiness Levels to identify a two-dimensional scale of readiness and trust appropriate for the special challenges of assessing autonomy technologies that seek space use. It draws inspiration from other readiness levels’ definitions, and from the rich field of trust and trustworthiness. The Space Trusted Autonomy Readiness Levels were developed by a collaborative Space Trusted Autonomy subgroup, which was created from The Space Science and Technology Partnership Forum between the United States Space Force, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Reconnaissance Office.

Kerianne L Hobbs↗
NASA NTRS1989

The Real Time Interactive Display Environment (RTIDE), a display building tool developed by Space Shuttle flight controllers

NASA's Mission Control Center, located at Johnson Space Center, is incrementally moving from a centralized architecture to a distributed architecture. Starting with STS-29, some host-driven console screens will be replaced with graphics terminals driven by workstations. These workstations will be supplied realtime data first by the Real Time Data System (RTDS), a system developed inhouse, and then months later (in parallel with RTDS) by interim and subsequently operational versions of the Mission Control Center Upgrade (MCCU) software package. The Real Time Interactive Display Environment (RTIDE) was built by Space Shuttle flight controllers to support the rapid development of multiple new displays to support Shuttle flights. RTIDE is a display building tool that allows non-programmers to define object-oriented, event-driven, mouseable displays. Particular emphasis was placed on upward compatibility between RTIDE versions, ability to acquire data from different data sources, realtime performance, ability to modularly upgrade RTIDE, machine portability, and a clean, powerful user interface. The operational and organizational factors that drove RTIDE to its present form, the actual design itself, simulation and flight performance, and lessons learned in the process are discussed.

Kalvelage, Thomas A.↗