Generation and measurement of high-amplitude square shocks in solids.
High amplitude square shaped shock waves in solid propellants, discussing shock wave generation by impact experiment and electrical resistance gage measurement
SEARCH · Search NASA
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.
High amplitude square shaped shock waves in solid propellants, discussing shock wave generation by impact experiment and electrical resistance gage measurement
Hypervelocity impact experiments using light gas gun facility
A plan for the economic evaluation of the Public Service Communications Satellite (PSCS) within domestic markets is presented. It extends through the planning, performance and evaluation of economic experiments following the launch of the PSCS in 1982, and includes the consideration of how the results of these experiments impact the transfer from demonstration to operations. The implementation of this plan will provide information needed to understand and manage the economic and social impacts of the PSCS program.
A total plan for the economic evaluation of the PSCS public service communication satellite program within domestic markets is presented. It extends from the present through the planning, performance and evaluation of economic experiments following the launch of the PSCS, and includes the consideration of how the results of these experiments impact the transfer from demonstration to operations. The implementation of this plan will provide NASA with information needed to understand and manage the economic and social impacts of the PSCS program.
Contrary to popular belief, very large meteorites can be sufficiently slowed by aerodynamic drag to survive impact with the earth's surface provided that they enter the atmosphere at very low angles. This is a stringent requirement and survival probabilities for large, unguided objects are low; but they are not zero. Based on high-velocity impact experiments and published tabulations of the parameters of shallow angle entry trajectories, we estimate the probability of survival for an iron meteorite approximately the size and shape of the legendary Chinguetti meteorite (100 x 40 x 20-40 m) to be between 0.1 and 1 percent. Together with a limiting estimate of the flux of such bodies encountering the earth, this leads to an expected survival rate of one per (0.1-1.0) billion years on the earth's land surface.
The preliminary concept, specifications, and requirements of a reusable zero gravity combustion facility (0-GCF) for use by experimenters aboard the spacelab payload of the space transportation system (STS) orbiter are described. The facility will be amenable to any mission of the STS orbiter in which a spacelab habitable segment and pallet segment are integral and for which orbital mission plans specify induced accelerations of 0.0001 g or less for sufficiently long periods so as not to impact experiment performance.
A simplified method called the transfer function technique (TFT) was devised for evaluating the stress wave environment in a structure containing internal equipment. The TFT consists of following the initial in-plane stress wave that propagates through a structure subjected to a dynamic load and characterizing how the wave is altered as it is transmitted through intersections of structural members. As a basis for evaluating the TFT, impact experiments and detailed stress wave analyses were performed for structures with two or three, or more members. Transfer functions that relate the wave transmitted through an intersection to the incident wave were deduced from the predicted wave response. By sequentially applying these transfer functions to a structure with several intersections, it was found that the environment produced by the initial stress wave propagating through the structure can be approximated well. The TFT can be used as a design tool or as an analytical tool to determine whether a more detailed wave analysis is warranted.
Eolian sediments on earth are mostly formed from quartz. The quartz particles originally came from a granitic source. With respect to eolian sediments on Mars, it appears that an entirely different set of criteria must apply, but some critical parameters can be usefully compared. Impact experiments with basalt in eolian abrasion devices suggest that basalt sand-sized particles fragment rapidly to produce silt and clay-sized detritus. Cohesive forces must be more effective on Mars since the gravitational contribution to the bond/weight ratio is lower. Compared to the terrestrial situation, both larger and smaller particles can be expected to make significant contributions to eolian sediments on Mars. The low gravity and the high speed of moving particles and the relative weak rock material of which they are composed will allow large-scale fine particle production.
The dynamic tensile strength of four rocks are determined. A flat plate impact experiment is employed to generate approximately one-microsecond-duration tensile stress pulses in rock samples by superposing rarefaction waves to induce fracture. It is noted that the effect of chemical weathering and other factors has not been explicitly studied. The given tensile strengths are based on a series of experiments on each rock where determination of incipient spallation is made by terminal microscopic examination. The data are generally consistent with previous determinations, at least one of which was for a significantly chemically altered but physically coherent rock.
Low-velocity impact experiments (0.14 to 1 km/s) carried out in polycrystalline water ice targets at 257 and 81 K reveal interactions which are assigned to four fragmentation classes: cratering, erosion, disruption, and total fragmentation. The specific kinetic energies for the transitions between these classes are found to be about one to two orders of magnitude below those for silicate rocks. The mass vs. cumulative number distribution of fragments in the experiments is described by a simple power law, similar to that observed in fragmented rocks both in the laboratory and in nature. The logarithmic slopes of cumulative number vs. fragment weight range from -0.9 to -1.8; they decrease with increasing projectile energy and are approximately independent of target temperature. The shapes of fragments resulting from erosion and disruption of ice targets are found to be significantly less spherical for 257 K targets than for 81 K targets. Fragment sphericity increases with increasing projectile energy at 257 K; however, no similar trend is observed for 81 K ice.
A general circulation model for numerical weather prediction, analysis, and forecast impact experiments, stratospheric analysis, and extended range weather forcasting was developed.
The aircraft industry has long been concerned with the increase of drag on airplanes due to fouling of the wings by insects. The present research studied the effects of surface energy and surface roughness on the phenomenon of insect sticking. Aluminum plates of different roughnesses were coated with thin films of polymers with varying surface energies. The coated plates were attached to a custom jig and mounted on top of an automobile for insect collection. Contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and specular reflectance infrared spectroscopy were used to characterize the surface before and after the insect impact experiments. Scanning electron microscopy showed the topography of insect residues on the exposed plates. Moments were calculated in order to find a correlation between the parameters studied and the amount of bugs collected on the plates. An effect of surface energy on the sticking of insect residues was demonstrated.
Results of an electron impact experiment in which a crossed-beam method was used to determine the differential excitation cross sections of atomic oxygen (3P-1D transition) are reported. The measurements cover energies of 7, 10, 15, 20, and 30 eV, with the angular range varying from 30 to 150 deg in 15-deg increments. The results are consistent, both in shape and in magnitude, with theoretical predictions, providing a direct confirmation of the theoretical total excitation cross sections of O(1D) state. Details of the experimental equipment and procedure are given.
Laboratory simulations of geological processes on the terrestrial planets are described, summarizing results published during the period 1983-1986. Included are studies of wind-driven processes on Mars and Venus (using the special wind-tunnel facilities at NASA Ames); simulations of shock-induced loss of volatiles from solids; equation-of-state determinations; impact experiments simulating cratering, spallation, regolith formation, and disruption; fluid-flow simulations of channel formation on Mars; and dust studies. The use of the microgravity environment of the Space Station for planetary-geology experiments is briefly considered.
To study the dynamic fragmentation of rock to simulate asteroid collisions, we use a 2-D, continuum damage numerical hydrocode which models two-body impacts. This hydrocode monitors stress wave propagation and interaction within the target body, and includes a physical model for the formation and growth of cracks in rock. With this algorithm we have successfully reproduced fragment size distributions and mean ejecta speeds from laboratory impact experiments using basalt, and weak and strong mortar as target materials. Using the hydrocode, we have determined that the energy needed to fracture a body has a much stronger dependence on target size than predicted from most scaling theories. In addition, velocity distributions obtained indicate that mean ejecta speeds resulting from large-body collisions do not exceed escape velocities.
The 2.5-inch frangible nut is used in two places to attach the Space Shuttle Orbiter to the External Tank. It must be capable of sustaining structural loads and must also separate into two pieces upon command. Structural load capability is verified by proof loading each flight nut, while ability to separate is verified on a sample of a production lot. Production lots of frangible nuts beginning in 1987 experienced an inability to reliably separate using one of two redundant explosive boosters. The problems were identified in lot acceptance tests, and the cause of failure has been attributed to differences in the response of the Inconel 718. Subsequent tests performed on the frangible nuts resulted in design modifications to the nuts along with redesign of the explosive booster to reliably separate the frangible nut. The problem history along with the design modifications to both the explosive booster and frangible nut are discussed in this paper. Implications of this failure experience impact any pyrotechnic separation system involving fracture of materials with respect to design margin control and lot acceptance testing.
This report summarizes research on the effects of target porosity on the mechanics of impact cratering. Impact experiments conducted on a centrifuge provide direct simulations of large-scale cratering on porous asteroids. The experiments show that large craters in porous materials form mostly by compaction, with essentially no deposition of material into the ejecta blanket that is a signature of cratering in less-porous materials. The ratio of ejecta mass to crater mass is shown to decrease with increasing crater size or target porosity. These results are consistent with the observation that large closely-packed craters on asteroid Mathilde appear to have formed without degradation to earlier craters.
This Edition contains the following reports: GRACE: Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment; Impact Craters in the Solar System; 1997 Apparition of Comet Hale-Bopp Historical Comet Observations; Baby Stars in Orion Solve Solar System Mystery; The Center of the Galaxy; The First Rock in the Solar System; Fun Times with Cosmic Rays; The Gamma-Ray Burst Next Door; The Genesis Mission: An Overview; The Genesis Solar Wind Sample Return Mission; How to Build a Supermassive Black Hole; Journey to the Center of a Neutron Star; Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion; The Kuiper Belt and Oort Cloud ; Mapping the Baby Universe; More Hidden Black Hole Dangers; A Polarized Universe; Presolar Grains of Star Dust: Astronomy Studied with Microscopes; Ring Around the Black Hole; Searching Antarctic Ice for Meteorites; The Sun; Astrobiology: The Search for Life in the Universe; Europa and Titan: Oceans in the Outer Solar System?; Rules for Identifying Ancient Life; Inspire ; Remote Sensing; What is the Electromagnetic Spectrum? What is Infrared? How was the Infrared Discovered?; Brief History of Gyroscopes ; Genesis Discovery Mission: Science Canister Processing at JSC; Genesis Solar-Wind Sample Return Mission: The Materials ; ICESat: Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite ICESat: Ice, Cloud, and Land; Elevation Satellite ICESat: Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite ICESat: Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite ICESat: Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite Measuring Temperature Reading; The Optical Telescope ; Space Instruments General Considerations; Damage by Impact: The Case at Meteor Crater, Arizona; Mercury Unveiled; New Data, New Ideas, and Lively Debate about Mercury; Origin of the Earth and Moon; Space Weather: The Invisible Foe; Uranus, Neptune, and the Mountains of the Moon; Dirty Ice on Mars; For a Cup of Water on Mars; Life on Mars?; The Martian Interior; Meteorites from Mars, Rocks from Canada; Organic Compounds in Martian Meteorites May be Terrestrial Contaminants; Bands on Europa;Big Mountain, Big Landslide on Jupiter's Moon, Io; Cratering of the Moon; Europa's Salty Surface; The Europa Scene in the Voyager-Galileo Era; Explosive Volcanic Eruptions on the Moon; Ice on the Bone Dry Moon; Jupiter's Hot, Mushy Moon; The Moon Beyond 2002 ; Phases of the Moon; The Ph-D Project: Manned Expedition to the Moons of Mars; and Possible Life in a Europan Ocean.