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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 217 records · Page 12

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NASA NTRS2000

Gasdynamic Mirror Fusion Propulsion Experiment

A gasdynamic mirror (GDM) fusion propulsion experiment is currently being constructed at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to test the feasibility of this particular type of fusion device. Because of the open magnetic field line configuration of mirror fusion devices, they are particularly well suited for propulsion system applications since they allow for the easy ejection of thrust producing plasma. Currently, the MSFC GDM is constructed in three segments. The vacuum chamber mirror segment, the plasma injector mirror segment, and the main plasma chamber segment. Enough magnets are currently available to construct up to three main plasma chamber segments. The mirror segments are also segmented such that they can be expanded to accommodate new end plugging strategies with out requiring the disassembly of the entire mirror segment. The plasma for the experiment is generated in a microwave cavity located between the main magnets and the mirror magnets. Ion heating is accomplished through ambipolar diffusion. The objective of the experiment is to investigate the stability characteristics of the gasdynamic mirror and to map a region of parameter space within which the plasma can be confined in a stable steady state configuration. The mirror ratio, plasma density, and plasma "b" will be varied over a range of values and measurements subsequently taken to determine the degree of plasma stability.

Emrich, Bill↗

NASA NTRS1977

Production of dense plasmas in a hypocycloidal pinch apparatus

A high-power pinch apparatus consisting of disk electrodes was developed, and diagnostic measurements to study its mechanism of dense plasma production have been made. The collapse fronts of the current sheets are well organized, and dense plasma foci are produced on the axis with radial stability in excess of 5 microsec. A plasma density greater than 10 to the 18th power per cu cm is determined with Stark broadening and CO2 laser absorption. Essentially complete absorption of a high-energy CO2 laser beam has been observed. A plasma temperature of approximately 1 keV is measured with differential transmission of soft X-rays through thin foils. The advantages of this apparatus over the coaxial plasma focus are improvements in (1) plasma volume, (2) stability, (3) containment time, (4) access to additional heating by laser or electron beams, and (5) the possibility of scaling up to a multiple array for high-power operation.

Lee, J. H.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Nonlinear control of the minimum safety factor in tokamaks by optimal allocation of spatially moving electron cyclotron current drive

The minimum value of the safety factor profile is related to the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) stability of the plasma confined in a tokamak. Therefore, active control of the minimum safety factor may mitigate MHD instabilities that can degrade or even terminate plasma confinement. Typically, in most tokamak scenarios, the minimum safety factor evolves spatially with time, i.e., the location at which the safety factor achieves the minimum value changes with time. In addition to the inherent nonlinearities in the minimum safety factor evolution, its spatial variation makes the control design challenging. In particular, complexity in control design may arise from the need for time-dependent nonlinear models that account for spatial variation of the minimum safety factor. Furthermore, the minimum safety factor may drift to locations where the actuator authority is low. The problem of minimum safety factor control with target location tracking and moving electron cyclotron current drive (ECCD) is addressed in this work. A nonlinear time-dependent model that incorporates the spatial variation of the minimum safety factor is presented. A nonlinear controller based on optimal feedback linearization is developed to track a target minimum safety factor. The proposed controller treats the ECCD position as a controllable variable. In other words, the controller prescribes the ECCD position (in addition to the non-inductive powers) in real time based on an optimal criterion that is defined a priori. This work also presents the steps necessary to integrate the minimum safety factor controller with a total energy controller to achieve multiple control objectives simultaneously. In conclusion, the proposed integrated control algorithm is tested using nonlinear simulations in the Control Oriented Transport SIMulator (COTSIM) for a DIII-D tokamak scenario.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

DOE OSTI2026

Investigation of the Suppression of Edge Localized Modes by Resonant Magnetic Perturbations in NSTX/NSTX-U (Final Technical Report)

The purpose of the grant was to investigate the suppression of edge localized modes by resonant magnetic perturbations in both NSTX and NSTX-U. Unfortunately, the project quickly exhausted all of the relevant experimental data from NSTX. It was originally intended to use new data from NSTX-U, when it restarted. However, the considerable delay in the restart made this impossible. Hence, with the permission of DOE, the grant was pivoted toward a more general examination of the MHD stability of tokamak plasmas.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

NASA NTRS1975

Continued development of abradable gas path seals

Major program objectives were the continued development of NiCrAlY feltmetal and honeycomb systems for knife edge seal applications in the 1144 to 1366 K temperature range, and to initiate abradable seal material evaluation for blade tip seal applications in the 1366 to 1589 K temperature range. Larger fiber size, higher density feltmetal showed greatly improved erosion resistance with a slight reduction in abradability compared to the baseline feltmetal. Pack aluminide coating of the honeycomb extended the oxidation resistance and slightly improved the abradability of this material. Evaluation through selected abradability, erosion and oxidation testing, and pertinent metallography led to selection of a plasma sprayed yttria stabilized zirconia (ZrO2)/CoCrAlY layered system as the system with the most potential to meet the 1589 K requirement for blade tip seals. This system demonstrated structural integrity, erosion resistance, and some degree of abradability.

Shiembob, L. T.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Frequency analysis of 4- to 6-keV electrons associated with an auroral arc

The high time resolution (HTR) experiment considered consists of four sections, including electrostatic deflection plates, electron multiplier, preamplifier-integrator, and frequency analyzer. Electrons in the energy range from 4 to 6 keV electrons are selected by the deflection system, after which they are detected, multiplied, and passed to the charge sensitive preamplifier. The charge pulses are amplified and integrated, and the resulting voltage pulse series is fed to the frequency analyzer. The experiment is essentially a flux detector, so that estimates of the input flux can be made from the mean value of the output spectrum. The results obtained with the HTR in a rocket flight on March 14, 1974, are discussed. The lack of modulation noticed in the high-frequency range indicates that there is insufficient wave energy available in the vicinity of the rocket to produce a wave-particle interaction which the HTR is able to observe. This finding is consistent with the stabilization of the plasma by the low flux of energetic electrons.

Murphree, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Composite wall concept for high temperature turbine shrouds: Survey of low modulus strain isolator materials

Plasma sprayed yttria stabilized zirconium oxide turbine seal specimens, incorporating various low modulus porous metal strain isolator pads between the zirconium oxide and a dense metal substrate, were subjected to cyclic thermal shock testing. Specimens that had a low modulus pad composed of sintered FeNiCrAlY fibermetal survived 1000 thermal shock cycles without spalling of the ceramic. A figure of merit for the low modulus pad materials taking into consideration the elastic modulus, thermal conductivity, strength, and oxidation resistance of the pad was proposed, and showed reasonable agreement with the thermal shock results. A potential surface distress problem on the zirconium oxide, associated with nonuniform temperature distribution and rapid stress relaxation was identified. One approach to solving the surface distress problem through application of laser surface fusion of the zirconium oxide layer showed some promise, but improvements in the laser surface fusion process are necessary to prevent process associated damage to the ceramic.

Bill, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Nonlinear magnetohydrodynamic stability

The computer code developed by Bauer et al. (1978) for the study of the magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium and stability of a plasma in toroidal geometry is extended so that the growth rates of instabilities may be estimated more accurately. The original code, which is based on the variational principle of ideal magnetohydrodynamics, is upgraded by the introduction of a nonlinear formula for the growth rate of an unstable mode which acts as a quantitative measure of instability that is important in estimating numerical errors. The revised code has been applied to the determination of the nonlinear saturation, ballooning modes and beta limits for tokamaks, stellarators and torsatrons.

Bauer, F.↗

NASA NTRS1982

A nonlocal theory of an electrostatic sinusoidal density drift instability

The stability of space plasmas in which the macroscopic variables vary in the direction x perpendicular to the magnetic field is usually studied by means of the local approximation, in which the fluctuating potential is assumed to be independent of x. To remove this approximation, a nonlocal problem is studied in which the background density, and hence the fluctuating potentials, are periodic in x. From the linear Vlasov/Poisson equations, a set of coupled, linear, homogeneous, algebraic equations relating the Fourier amplitudes of the eigensolution is derived. The equations are solved numerically and a hierarchy of exact eigenmodes characterized by different growth rates and spatial structures is found. At points where the density gradient is locally zero, the mode amplitude is generally several orders of magnitude lower than the peak amplitude. The dependence of these solutions on the parameters which define the background density perturbation is studied and a correspondence between these nonlocal results and those obtained with the local approximation is demonstrated.

Thomsen, M. F.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Development of strain tolerant thermal barrier coating systems, tasks 1 - 3

Insulating ceramic thermal barrier coatings can reduce gas turbine airfoil metal temperatures as much as 170 C (about 300 F), providing fuel efficiency improvements greater than one percent and durability improvements of 2 to 3X. The objective was to increase the spalling resistance of zirconia based ceramic turbine coatings. To accomplish this, two baseline and 30 candidate duplex (layered MCrAlY/zirconia based ceramic) coatings were iteratively evaluated microstructurally and in four series of laboratory burner rig tests. This led to the selection of two candidate optimized 0.25 mm (0.010 inch) thick plasma sprayed partially stabilized zirconia ceramics containing six weight percent yttria and applied with two different sets of process parameters over a 0.13 mm (0.005 inch) thick low pressure chamber sprayed MCrAlY bond coat. Both of these coatings demonstrated at least 3X laboratory cyclic spalling life improvement over the baseline systems, as well as cyclic oxidation life equivalent to 15,000 commercial engine flight hours.

Anderson, N. P.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Simulation of electrostatic ion instabilities in the presence of parallel currents and transverse electric fields

A spatially two-dimensional electrostatic PIC simulation code was used to study the stability of a plasma equilibrium characterized by a localized transverse dc electric field and a field-aligned drift for L is much less than Lx, where Lx is the simulation length in the x direction and L is the scale length associated with the dc electric field. It is found that the dc electric field and the field-aligned current can together play a synergistic role to enable the excitation of electrostatic waves even when the threshold values of the field aligned drift and the E x B drift are individually subcritical. The simulation results show that the growing ion waves are associated with small vortices in the linear stage, which evolve to the nonlinear stage dominated by larger vortices with lower frequencies.

Nishikawa, K.-I.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Tearing modes in solar coronal loops

It is shown that solar coronal-like magnetic loops, that is loops emerging from and reentering heavy plasma, are unstable to tearing modes. In particular, the previously made assumption of line tying to the heavy plasma, resulting in stabilization, is shown to be inapplicable because the growth rate is sub-Alfvenic in the entire loop, including the submerged part. In fact, it is shown that the tearing mode may grow faster than ordinarily surmised because the growth rate is determined by the average resistivity along an entire flux line rather than by the resistivity in the corona alone.

Hassam, A. B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Simulation of electrostatic turbulence due to sheared flows parallel and transverse to the magnetic field

A spatially two-dimensional electrostatic particle simulation code is used to examine the stability of a plasma equilibrium characterized by a localized transverse dc electric field and a magnetic-field-aligned electron drift for L much less than Lx, where Lx is the simulation length in the x direction and L is the scale length associated with the dc electric field. It is found that the dc electric field and the field-aligned current can together play a synergistic role to enable the excitation of electrostatic waves even when the threshold values of the field-aligned drift and the E x B drift are individually subcritical. The simulation results indicate that a broadband turbulence is associated with such an equilibrium.

Nishikawa, K.-I.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Process, properties and environmental response of plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings

Experimental results are shown which demonstrate that the properties of plasma sprayed fully stabilized zirconia are strongly influenced by the process parameters. Properties of the coatings in the as-sprayed condition are shown to be additionally influenced by environmental exposure. This behavior is dependent on raw material considerations and processing conditions as well as exposure time and temperature. Process control methodology is described which can take into consideration these complex interactions and help to produce thermal barrier coatings in a cost effective way while meeting coating technical requirements.

Novak, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Inverse correlations between the ion temperature anisotropy and plasma beta in the Earth's quasi-parallel magnetosheath

Average proton parameters in the magnetosheath downstream from the quasi-perpendicular shock (the quasi-perpendicular magnetosheath) for high solar wind dynamic pressure conditions are observed to vary continuously from high-beta, low-temperature anisotropy to low-beta, high-temperature anisotropy. Observations and theory have shown that this inverse correlation is a direct consequence of pitch angle scattering by electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves, which regulate the anisotropy, restoring the plasma toward marginal stability. ALthough the previously documented spectral characteristics of EMIC waves are not evident downstream of the quasi-parallel bow shock, the inverse anisotropy-beta relation found in the quasi-perpendicular magnetosheath also holds in the quasi-parallel magnetosheath. This indicates that the EMIC instability regulates the ion anisotropy regardless of the shock geometry.

Fuselier, Stephen A.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Process, properties, and environmental response of plasma sprayed thermal barrier coatings

Novak, Richard C.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Thermal Conductivity and Water Vapor Stability of Ceramic HfO2-Based Coating Materials

HfO2-Y2O3 and La2Zr2O7 are candidate thermal/environmental barrier coating materials for gas turbine ceramic matrix composite (CMC) combustor liner applications because of their relatively low thermal conductivity and high temperature capability. In this paper, thermal conductivity and high temperature phase stability of plasma-sprayed coatings and/or hot-pressed HfO2-5mol%Y2O3, HfO2-15mol%Y2O3 and La2Zr2O7 were evaluated at temperatures up to 1700 C using a steady-state laser heat-flux technique. Sintering behavior of the plasma-sprayed coatings was determined by monitoring the thermal conductivity increases during a 20-hour test period at various temperatures. Durability and failure mechanisms of the HfO2-Y2O3 and La2Zr2O7 coatings on mullite/SiC Hexoloy or CMC substrates were investigated at 1650 C under thermal gradient cyclic conditions. Coating design and testing issues for the 1650 C thermal/environmental barrier coating applications will also be discussed.

Zhu, Dong-Ming↗

NASA NTRS2006

Analytical Ion Thruster Discharge Performance Model

A particle and energy balance model of the plasma discharge in magnetic ring-cusp ion thrusters has been developed. The model follows the original work of Brophy in the development of global 0-D discharge models that utilize conservation of particles into and out of the thruster and conservation of energy into the discharge and out of the plasma in the form of charged particles to the walls and beam and plasma radiation. The present model is significantly expanded over Brophy's original work by including self-consistent calculations of the internal neutral pressure, electron temperature, primary electron density, electrostatic ion confinement (due to the ring-cusp fields), plasma potential, discharge stability, and time dependent behavior during recycling. The model only requires information on the thruster geometry, ion optics performance and electrical inputs such as discharge voltage and currents, etc. to produce accurate performance curves of discharge loss versus mass utilization efficiency. The model has been benchmarked against the NEXIS Laboratory Model (LM) and Development Model (DM) thrusters, and successfully predicts the thruster discharge loss as a function of mass utilization efficiency for a variety of thrusters. The discharge performance model will be presented and results showing ion thruster performance and stability given.

discharge chambers↗