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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Extraterrestrial Mining Via Two Coupled Thermal-Driven Phenomena

Two-coupled thermal-driven phenomena, Marangoni effect and thermal fractional decomposition under high vacuum, previously observed by the authors could lead to an extraterrestrial mining operation that would significantly reduce mechanical operation and allow in-situ product extraction directly from the mineral without the necessity of neither mineral beneficiation nor use of terrestrial precursors. Thermal Marangoni effect alone and coupled with fractional decomposition have been corroborated through paths of 10 and 13 inches respectively on molten JSC-1A lunar regolith simulant presenting a novel and valuable potential for extraterrestrial mining as the observed outcome (self-transportation via Marangoni effect and fractional decomposition at higher temperature) will be more prominent on extraterrestrial surfaces under higher vacuum and reduced gravity. A comprehensive 3D model built by the authors demonstrated to be a crucial tool to determine the right location of the sample to optimize the gradient temperature along the wall of a long tubular crucible enhancing the Marangoni effect as surface tension (the driving force for the thermal Marangoni effect) depends on the temperature gradient.

Jesus A Dominguez↗

NASA NTRS1971

Metric analysis of minitrack optical and interferometer data

The network analysis program (NAP-2), which has the capability of simultaneously solving for orbits and tracking station error model terms, was, after several modifications, used in the calibration of minitrack stations using minitrack satellite measurements (self-calibration). Several support programs were written to aid in this task. A simultaneous four-arc solution was obtained. A comparison with optically determined arcs for the same time spans showed rms position differences of 67m, 86m, 124m and 168m for the 4 arcs considered. An apparatus incorporating a diffraction grating was designed and successfully used to measure the drift rate of the Fort Myers MOTS camera drive.

Brown, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS2016

First-Principles Modeling of IAT-Driven Anomalous Resistivity in Hollow Cathode Discharges I: Theory

Self-consistent expressions are derived for the impact of ion acoustic turbulence (IAT) on the fluid properties of electrons and ions in the plume of a hollow cathode. This instability is believed to have a dominant role in the plasmadynamics in this region. The random phase approximation is applied to the perturbed Boltzmann equation to determine the effective drag and heating of the plasma species induced by the IAT. These driving terms are then incorporated into momentum and energy fluid equations for the ions and electrons. A fluid-like relation governing the evolution of the total IAT wave energy density is also presented. The physical significance of the IAT-based terms is discussed in the context of energy and momentum conservation, and a path forward is outlined for implementing the effects of IAT in the fluid-based model in Part II.

Jorns, Benjamin A.↗

NASA NTRS2001

2-D Modeling of Nanoscale MOSFETs: Non-Equilibrium Green's Function Approach

We have developed physical approximations and computer code capable of realistically simulating 2-D nanoscale transistors, using the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method. This is the most accurate full quantum model yet applied to 2-D device simulation. Open boundary conditions and oxide tunneling are treated on an equal footing. Electrons in the ellipsoids of the conduction band are treated within the anisotropic effective mass approximation. Electron-electron interaction is treated within Hartree approximation by solving NEGF and Poisson equations self-consistently. For the calculations presented here, parallelization is performed by distributing the solution of NEGF equations to various processors, energy wise. We present simulation of the "benchmark" MIT 25nm and 90nm MOSFETs and compare our results to those from the drift-diffusion simulator and the quantum-corrected results available. In the 25nm MOSFET, the channel length is less than ten times the electron wavelength, and the electron scattering time is comparable to its transit time. Our main results are: (1) Simulated drain subthreshold current characteristics are shown, where the potential profiles are calculated self-consistently by the corresponding simulation methods. The current predicted by our quantum simulation has smaller subthreshold slope of the Vg dependence which results in higher threshold voltage. (2) When gate oxide thickness is less than 2 nm, gate oxide leakage is a primary factor which determines off-current of a MOSFET (3) Using our 2-D NEGF simulator, we found several ways to drastically decrease oxide leakage current without compromising drive current. (4) Quantum mechanically calculated electron density is much smaller than the background doping density in the poly silicon gate region near oxide interface. This creates an additional effective gate voltage. Different ways to. include this effect approximately will be discussed.

Svizhenko, Alexei↗

NASA NTRS1991

Operations with the special purpose dextrous manipulator on Space Station Freedom

SPAR Canada is actively participating in the Space Station Freedom Program by contributing the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) which will be involved in assembly, maintenance and servicing of both the Space Station and the MSS itself. Part of the MSS is the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (SPDM), a two armed dextrous robot with advanced vision and manipulative capabilities. In addition to Space Station and payload servicing activities the SPDM will be designed to perform self maintenance on the MSS itself. The majority of Space Station equipment will be on orbit for the anticipated 30 year lifespan and the maintenance philosophy will be to repair by the exchange of Orbit Replacement Units or ORUs. The present concept, configuration, and operation of the SPDM and the detailed simulations associated with the maintenance of part of the MSS are described. The Design Reference Mission is the replacement of a Joint Drive Module on the Canadian large payload manipulator, the Space Station Remote Manipulator System. Other Design Reference Missions that were investigated are briefly described, and future operations activity to support the definition of SPDM requirements are discussed.

Cox, B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Planetary circulations in the presence of transient and self-induced heating

The linearized global primitive equation model of Salby and Garcia (1987) was modified to study tropospheric circulations and their interaction with tropical convection. The vertical resolution was increased to approximately 1.5 km, with the effective vertical domain extending the approximately 40 km (higher altitudes in the calculation are used to ensure the radiation upper boundary condition is satisfied). A formal wave conditional instability of the second kind (CISK) parameterization was introduced. That parameterization allows low-frequency disturbances to interact with convection by organizing surface moisture. Boundary layer friction has two important effects in these calculations: it exaggerates surface convergence near the equator by driving the flow out of geostrophic balance; and it introduces a phase shift between the convergence pattern and the circulation, which drives the heating out of quadrature with the temperature field and allows a positive feedback to take place. The observational complement of this theoretical work involves Global Cloud Imagery (GCI) composited from six satellites in the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) which were simultaneously observing the Earth's cloud field. Having global coverage, horizontal resolution of half a degree, and produced synoptically every 3 hours, the GCI affords an unprecendented view of global convection. A full year (1983 to 1984) of GCI has now been successfully created. Among other phenomena, that imagery reveals a regular progression of easterly waves in the convective pattern of the Western Pacific. Those disturbances have odd symmetry about the equator and organize convection into a pattern with similar symmetry. In time-mean maps of cloud cover, these propagating disturbances produce a split Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) in the western Pacific.

Salby, Murry L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Group-kinetic theory of turbulence

The two phases are governed by two coupled systems of Navier-Stokes equations. The couplings are nonlinear. These equations describe the microdynamical state of turbulence, and are transformed into a master equation. By scaling, a kinetic hierarchy is generated in the form of groups, representing the spectral evolution, the diffusivity and the relaxation. The loss of memory in formulating the relaxation yields the closure. The network of sub-distributions that participates in the relaxation is simulated by a self-consistent porous medium, so that the average effect on the diffusivity is to make it approach equilibrium. The kinetic equation of turbulence is derived. The method of moments reverts it to the continuum. The equation of spectral evolution is obtained and the transport properties are calculated. In inertia turbulence, the Kolmogoroff law for weak coupling and the spectrum for the strong coupling are found. As the fluid analog, the nonlinear Schrodinger equation has a driving force in the form of emission of solitons by velocity fluctuations, and is used to describe the microdynamical state of turbulence. In order for the emission together with the modulation to participate in the transport processes, the non-homogeneous Schrodinger equation is transformed into a homogeneous master equation. By group-scaling, the master equation is decomposed into a system of transport equations, replacing the Bogoliubov system of equations of many-particle distributions. It is in the relaxation that the memory is lost when the ensemble of higher-order distributions is simulated by an effective porous medium. The closure is thus found. The kinetic equation is derived and transformed into the equation of spectral flow.

Tchen, C. M.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Experimental Observations of Mechanisms of Pattern Formation During Freeze Casting

Empirically, many different materials compositions have been freeze cast over the years. Few have been analyzed to better understand the mechanisms by which the ice crystal growth drives structure formation, particularly the substructures on the cell walls. Collating substructural features, for example, ridges, bridges, and “jellyfish-like” substructures, found on the cell walls of freeze-cast ceramics (platelets versus particles), fibrillated biopolymers (collagen, nanocellulose), and "smooth" biopolymers (chitosan, trehalose), we capture the ice crystal growth process and analyze it both in situ in 2D and "post-mortem" in 3D to gain insights into anisotropic ice crystal growth and other self-assembly mechanisms. Combining these experimental observations with 3D Phase-field simulations of structure formation in ice-templated materials, detailed in a companion presentation, it becomes possible to gain fundamental science insights and to obtain the desired structure-property-processing correlations not only at the more traditional macroscopic, but also at the meso- and microscopic scales.

Kaiyang Yin↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Experimental Observations of Mechanisms of Pattern Formation During Freeze Casting

Kaiyan Yin↗

NASA NTRS2001

Particle Generation and Evolution in Silane/Acetylene Flames in Microgravity

The objective of this new experimental program is to advance the understanding of the formation of particles from gas phase combustion processes. The work will utilize the unique SiH4/C2H2 combustion system which generates particulate products ranging from high purity, white SiC to carbonaceous soot depending on equivalence ratio. A key goal of this work is to identify gas phase or particle formation processes that provide the enthalpy release necessary to drive the combustion wave, and to locate the parts of the particle formation process that determine SiC stoichiometry and crystallinity. In a real sense, these SiH4/C2H2 flames act like "highly sooty" hydrocarbon flames, but with simpler chemistry. This simplification is expected to allow them to be used as surrogates to advance understanding of soot formation in such rich hydrocarbon flames. It is also expected that this improved understanding of SiC particle generation and evolution in these self-sustaining flames will advance the commercial potential of the flame process for the generation of high purity SiC powders.

Keil, D. G.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Particle Generation And Evolution In Silane (SiH4)/Acetylene (C2H2) Flames In Microgravity

The objective of this experimental program is to advance the understanding of the coupling of particle formation with gas phase combustion processes. The work utilizes the unique SiH4/C2H2 combustion system which generates particulate products ranging from high purity, white SiC to carbonaceous soot depending on equivalence ratio (Ref. 1). A goal of this work is to identify gas phase or particle formation processes that provide the enthalpy release needed to drive the combustion wave, and to locate the steps of the particle formation process that determine SiC stoichiometry and crystallinity. In a real sense, these SiH4/C2H2 flames act like highly sooty hydrocarbon flames, but with simpler chemistry. This simplification is expected to allow them to be used as surrogates to advance understanding of soot formation in such rich hydrocarbon flames. It is also expected that this improved understanding of SiC particle generation and evolution in these self-sustaining flames will advance the commercial potential of the flame process for the generation of high purity SiC powders.

Keil, D. G.↗

NASA NTRS2003

NASA Tech Briefs, February 2003

opics covered include: Integrated Electrode Arrays for Neuro-Prosthetic Implants; Eroding Potentiometers; Common/Dependent-Pressure-Vessel Nickel-Hydrogen Batteries; 120-GHz HEMT Oscillator With Surface-Wave-Assisted Antenna; 80-GHz MMIC HEMT Voltage-Controlled Oscillator; High-Energy-Density Capacitors; Microscale Thermal-Transpiration Gas Pump; Instrument for Measuring Temperature of Water; Improved Measurement of Coherence in Presence of Instrument Noise; Compact Instruments Measure Helium-Leak Rates; Irreversible Entropy Production in Two-Phase Mixing Layers; Subsonic and Supersonic Effects in Bose-Einstein Condensate; Nanolaminate Mirrors With "Piston" Figure-Control Actuators; Mixed Conducting Electrodes for Better AMTEC Cells; Process for Encapsulating Protein Crystals; Lightweight, Self-Deployable Wheels; Grease-Resistant O Rings for Joints in Solid Rocket Motors; LabVIEW Serial Driver Software for an Electronic Load; Software Computes Tape-Casting Parameters; Software for Tracking Costs of Mars Projects; Software for Replicating Data Between X.500 and LDAP Directories; The Technical Work Plan Tracking Tool; Improved Multiple-DOF SAW Piezoelectric Motors; Propulsion Flight-Test Fixture; Mechanical Amplifier for a Piezoelectric Transducer; Swell Sleeves for Testing Explosive Devices; Linear Back-Drive Differentials; Miniature Inchworm Actuators Fabricated by Use of LIGA; Using ERF Devices to Control Deployments of Space Structures; High-Temperature Switched-Reluctance Electric Motor; System for Centering a Turbofan in a Nacelle During Tests; Fabricating Composite-Material Structures Containing SMA Ribbons; Optimal Feedback Control of Thermal Networks; Artifacts for Calibration of Submicron Width Measurements; Navigating a Mobile Robot Across Terrain Using Fuzzy Logic; Designing Facilities for Collaborative Operations; and Quantitating Iron in Serum Ferritin by Use of ICP-MS.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2012

A Markov Chain Approach to Probabilistic Swarm Guidance

This paper introduces a probabilistic guidance approach for the coordination of swarms of autonomous agents. The main idea is to drive the swarm to a prescribed density distribution in a prescribed region of the configuration space. In its simplest form, the probabilistic approach is completely decentralized and does not require communication or collabo- ration between agents. Agents make statistically independent probabilistic decisions based solely on their own state, that ultimately guides the swarm to the desired density distribution in the configuration space. In addition to being completely decentralized, the probabilistic guidance approach has a novel autonomous self-repair property: Once the desired swarm density distribution is attained, the agents automatically repair any damage to the distribution without collaborating and without any knowledge about the damage.

Markov chain↗

NASA NTRS1986

Clay energetics in chemical evolution

Clays have been implicated in the origin of terrestrial life since the 1950's. Originally they were considered agents which aid in selecting, concentrating and promoting oligomerization of the organic monomeric substituents of cellular life forms. However, more recently, it has been suggested that minerals, with particular emphasis on clays, may have played a yet more fundamental role. It has been suggested that clays are prototypic life forms in themselves and that they served as a template which directed the self-assembly of cellular life. If the clay-life theory is to have other than conceptual credibility, clays must be shown by experiment to execute the operations of cellular life, not only individually, but also in a sufficiently concerted manner as to produce some semblance of the functional attributes of living cells. Current studies are focussed on the ability of clays to absorb, store and transfer energy under plausible prebiotic conditions and to use this energy to drive chemistry of prebiotic relevance. Conclusions of the work are applicable to the role of clays either as substrates for organic chemistry, or in fueling their own life-mimetic processes.

Coyne, L. M.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Self-consistent analysis of lattice-matched and pseudomorphic quantum-well emission transistors

A self-consistent analysis of the quantum-well emission transistor (QWET) is presented allowing an exact calculation of the device quantum properties. Poisson's and Schroedinger's equation are solved numerically using a finite-difference method on a self-consistent basis. Pseudomorphic AlGaAs/InGaAs designs with 15-20 percent excess In are suggested for improving the device performance. Design with doping in various parts of the QWET are also studied. This analysis reveals that the device performance is less optimistic than previously predicted by analytic approaches. By introducing the pseudomorphic channel principle, while maintaining a reasonably low Al content for the gate and collector layers, it is, however, possible to obtain satisfactory performance. Optimum pseudomorphic designs showed high current driving capability (200,000 A/sq cm), high transconductance (3S/mm), and small intrinsic delay time (2 ps).

Hong, Kyushik↗

NASA NTRS1991

Lunar regolith densification

Core tube samples of the lunar regolith obtained during the Apollo missions showed a rapid increase in the density of the regolith with depth. Various hypotheses have been proposed for the possible cause of this phenomenon, including the densification of the loose regolith material by repeated shaking from the seismic tremors which have been found to occur at regular monthly intervals when the moon and earth are closest to one another. A test bed was designed to study regolith densification. This test bed uses Minnesota Lunar Simulant (MLS) to conduct shaking experiments in the geotechnical centrifuge with an inflight shake table system. By reproducing realistic in-situ regolith properties, the experiment also serves to test penetrator concepts. The shake table system was designed and used for simulation experiments to study effects of earthquakes on terrestrial soil structures. It is mounted on a 15 g-ton geotechnical centrifuge in which the self-weight induced stresses are replicated by testing an n-th scale model in a gravity field which is n times larger than Earth's gravity. A similar concept applies when dealing with lunar prototypes, where the gravity ratio required for proper simulation of lunar gravity effects is that between the centrifugal acceleration and the lunar gravity. Records of lunar seismic tremors, or moonquakes, were obtained. While these records are being prepared for use as the input data to drive the shake table system, records from the El Centro earthquake of 1940 are being used to perform preliminary tests, using a soil container which was previously used for earthquake studies. This container has a laminar construction, with the layers free to slide on each other, so that the soil motion during the simulated earthquake will not be constrained by the otherwise rigid boundaries. The soil model is prepared by pluviating the MLS from a hopper into the laminar container to a depth of 6 in. The container is mounted on the shake table and the centrifuge is operated to generate an acceleration of 10 times Earth's gravity or 60 times the lunar gravity, thus simulating a lunar regolith thickness of 30 ft. The shake table is then operated using the scaled 'moonquake' as the input motion. One or more model moonquakes are used in each experiment, after which the soil is analyzed for its density profile with depth. This is accomplished by removing from the soil bed a column of soil contained within a thin rubber sleeve which has been previously embedded vertically in the soil during pluviation. This column of soil is transferred to a gamma ray device, in which the gamma ray transmission transversely through the soil is measured and compared with standard calibration samples. In this manner, the density profile can be determined. Preliminary results to date are encouraging, and the Center plans to study the effects of duration of shaking, intensity of the shaking motion, and the frequency of the motion.

Ko, Hon-Yim↗

NASA NTRS2010

Electron Beam Return-Current Losses in Solar Flares: Initial Comparison of Analytical and Numerical Results

Accelerated electrons play an important role in the energetics of solar flares. Understanding the process or processes that accelerate these electrons to high, nonthermal energies also depends on understanding the evolution of these electrons between the acceleration region and the region where they are observed through their hard X-ray or radio emission. Energy losses in the co-spatial electric field that drives the current-neutralizing return current can flatten the electron distribution toward low energies. This in turn flattens the corresponding bremsstrahlung hard X-ray spectrum toward low energies. The lost electron beam energy also enhances heating in the coronal part of the flare loop. Extending earlier work by Knight & Sturrock (1977), Emslie (1980), Diakonov & Somov (1988), and Litvinenko & Somov (1991), I have derived analytical and semi-analytical results for the nonthermal electron distribution function and the self-consistent electric field strength in the presence of a steady-state return-current. I review these results, presented previously at the 2009 SPD Meeting in Boulder, CO, and compare them and computed X-ray spectra with numerical results obtained by Zharkova & Gordovskii (2005, 2006). The phYSical significance of similarities and differences in the results will be emphasized. This work is supported by NASA's Heliophysics Guest Investigator Program and the RHESSI Project.

Holman, Gordon↗

NASA NTRS1991

Magnetostrictive direct drive motor

Highly magnetostrictive materials such as Tb.3Dy.7Fe2, commercially known as TERFENOL-D, have been used to date in a variety of devices such as high power actuators and linear motors. The larger magnetostriction available in twinned single crystal TERFENOL-D, approx. 2000 ppm at moderate magnetic field strengths, makes possible a new generation of magnetomechanical devices. NASA researchers are studying the potential of this material as the basis for a direct microstepping rotary motor with torque densities on the order of industrial hydraulics and five times greater than that of the most efficient, high power electric motors. Such a motor would be a micro-radian stepper, capable of precision movements and self-braking in the power-off state. Innovative mechanical engineering techniques are juxtaposed on proper magnetic circuit design to reduce losses in structural flexures, inertias, thermal expansions, eddy currents, and magneto-mechanical coupling, thus optimizing motor performance and efficiency. Mathematical models are presented, including magnetic, structural, and both linear and nonlinear dynamic calculations and simulations. In addition, test results on prototypes are presented.

Naik, Dipak↗