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Roller locking brake is normally braking rotary mechanism allowing free rotation when electromagnet in mechanism energized. Well suited to robots and other machinery which automatic braking upon removal of electrical power required. More compact and reliable. Requires little electrical power to maintain free rotation and exhibits minimal buildup of heat.
The operation of rotor rigs used to demonstrate various instability phenomena occurring in rotating machines is described. The instability phenomena demonstrated included oil whirl/whip antiswirl, rub, loose rotating parts, water-lubricated bearing instabilities, and cracked shaft. The rotor rigs were also used to show corrective measures for preventing instabilities. Vibrational response data from the rigs were taken with modern, computerized instrumentation. The rotor nonsynchronous perturbation rig demonstrated modal identification techniques for rotor/bearing systems. Computer-aided data acquisition and presentation, using the dynamic stiffness method, makes it possible to identify rotor and bearing parameters for low modes. The shaft mode demonstrator presented the amplified modal shape line of the shaft excited by inertia forces of unbalance (synchronous perturbation). The first three bending modes of the shaft can be demonstrated. The user-friendly software, Orbits, presented a simulation of rotor precessional motion that is characteristic of various instability phenomena. The data presentation demonstration used data measured on a turbine driven compressor train as an example of how computer aided data acquisition and presentation assists in identifying rotating machine malfunctions.
Among the numerous causes for unsteadiness in turbo machinery flows are turbulence and flow environment, wakes from stationary and rotating vanes, boundary layer separation, boundary layer/shear layer instabilities, presence of shock waves and deliberate unsteadiness for flow control purposes. These unsteady phenomena may lead to flow-structure interactions such as flutter and forced vibration as well as system instabilities such as stall and surge. A major issue of unsteadiness relates to the fact that a fundamental understanding of unsteady flow physics is lacking and requires continued attention. Accurate simulations and sufficient high fidelity experimental data are not available. The Glenn Research Center plan for Engine Component Flow Physics Modeling is part of the NASA 21st Century Aircraft Program. The main components of the plan include Low Pressure Turbine National Combustor Code. The goals, technical output and benefits/impacts of each element are described in the presentation. The specific areas selected for discussion in this presentation are blade wake interactions, flow control, and combustor exit turbulence and modeling.
A device used in the optical alignment of machinery to maintain a measuring scale in the proper position for optical readings to be taken is described. The device consists of a block containing a notch in the shape of an inverted ""v'' and a rotatable plug positioned over the centerline of notch. The block is placed on the object to be aligned, the notch allows the block to be securely placed upon flat or curved surfaces. A weighted measuring scale is inserted through plug so that it contacts the object to be aligned. The scale and plug combination can be rotated so that the scale faces an optical aligning instrument. The instrument is then used in conjunction with the scale to measure the distance of the machinery from a reference plane.
Electric motors and generators that use permarotating machinery, but aspects of control and power conditioning are also considered. The discussion is structured around three basic areas: rotating machine design considerations presents various configuration and material options, generator applications provides insight into utilization areas and shows actual hardware and test results, and motor applications provides the same type of information for drive systems.
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has demonstrated two measurement devices for sensing and resolving the hydrodynamic loads on fluid machinery. The first - a derivative of the six component wind tunnel balance - senses the forces and moments on the rotating device through a weakened shaft section instrumented with a series of strain gauges. This "rotating balance" was designed to directly measure the steady and unsteady hydrodynamic loads on an inducer, thereby defining both the amplitude and frequency content associated with operating in various cavitation modes. The second device - a high frequency response pressure transducer surface mounted on a rotating component - was merely an extension of existing technology for application in water. MSFC has recently completed experimental evaluations of both the rotating balance and surface-mount transducers in a water test loop. The measurement bandwidth of the rotating balance was severely limited by the relative flexibility of the device itself, resulting in an unexpectedly low structural bending mode and invalidating the higher frequency response data. Despite these limitations, measurements confirmed that the integrated loads on the four-bladed inducer respond to both cavitation intensity and cavitation phenomena. Likewise, the surface-mount pressure transducers were subjected to a range of temperatures and flow conditions in a non-rotating environment to record bias shifts and transfer functions between the transducers and a reference device. The pressure transducer static performance was within manufacturer's specifications and dynamic response accurately followed that of the reference.
Mechanical sequencing device produces cyclic rotations of two outputs from single cyclic rotary input. Device is useful in automatic assemble apparatus, in food-processing machinery, and as controller for sequentially operated valves.
Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has demonstrated two measurement devices for sensing and resolving the hydrodynamic loads on fluid machinery. The first - a derivative of the six-component wind tunnel balance - senses the forces and moments on the rotating device through a weakened shaft section instrumented with a series of strain gauges. This rotating balance was designed to directly measure the steady and unsteady hydrodynamic loads on an inducer, thereby defining both the amplitude and frequency content associated with operating in various cavitation modes. The second device - a high frequency response pressure transducer surface mounted on a rotating component - was merely an extension of existing technology for application in water. MSFC has recently completed experimental evaluations of both the rotating balance and surface-mount transducers in a water test loop. The measurement bandwidth of the rotating balance was severely limited by the relative flexibility of the device itself, resulting in an unexpectedly low structural bending mode and invalidating the higher-frequency response data. Despite these limitations, measurements confirmed that the integrated loads on the four-bladed inducer respond to both cavitation intensity and cavitation phenomena. Likewise, the surface-mount pressure transducers were subjected to a range of temperatures and flow conditions in a non-rotating environment to record bias shifts and transfer functions between the transducers and a reference device. The pressure transducer static performance was within manufacturer's specifications and dynamic response accurately followed that of the reference.
Marshall Space Flight Center has developed and demonstrated a measurement device for sensing and resolving the hydrodynamic loads on fluid machinery. The device - a derivative of the six-component wind tunnel balance - senses the forces and moments on the rotating device through a weakened shaft section instrumented with a series of strain gauges. This rotating balance was designed to directly measure the steady and unsteady hydrodynamic loads on an inducer, thereby defining the amplitude and frequency content associated with operating in various cavitation modes. The rotating balance was calibrated statically using a dead-weight load system in order to generate the 6 x 12 calibration matrix later used to convert measured voltages to engineering units. Structural modeling suggested that the rotating assembly first bending mode would be significantly reduced with the balance s inclusion. This reduction in structural stiffness was later confirmed experimentally with a hammer-impact test. This effect, coupled with the relatively large damping associated with the rotating balance waterproofing material, limited the device s bandwidth to approximately 50 Hertz Other pre-test validations included sensing the test article rotating assembly built-in imbalance for two configurations and directly measuring the assembly mass and buoyancy while submerged under water. Both tests matched predictions and confirmed the device s sensitivity while stationary and rotating. The rotating balance was then demonstrated in a water test of a full-scale Space Shuttle Main Engine high-pressure liquid oxygen pump inducer. Experimental data was collected a scaled operating conditions at three flow coefficients across a range of cavitation numbers for the single inducer geometry and radial clearance. Two distinct cavitation modes were observed symmetric tip vortex cavitation and alternate-blade cavitation. Although previous experimental tests on the same inducer demonstrated two additional cavitation modes at lower inlet pressures, these conditions proved unreachable with the rotating balance installed due to the intense dynamic environment. The sensed radial load was less influenced by flow coefficient than by cavitation number or cavitation mode although the flow coefficient range was relatively narrow. Transition from symmetric tip vortex to alternate-blade cavitation corresponded to changes in both radial load magnitude and radial load orientation relative to the inducer. Sensed moments indicated that the effective load center moved downstream during this change in cavitation mode. An occurrence of "higher+rdex cavitation" was also detected in both the stationary pressures and the rotating balance data although the frequency of the phenomena was well above the reliable bandwidth of the rotating balance. In summary the experimental tests proved both the concept and device s capability despite the limitations and confirmed that hydrodynamically-induced forces and moments develop in response to the unbalanced pressure field, which is, in turn, a product of the cavitation environment.
The present state of knowledge in the area of low-g natural convection is reviewed, taking into account a number of experiments conducted during the Apollo 14, 16, and 17 space flights. Convections due to steady low-g accelerations are considered. Steady g-levels result from spacecraft rotation, gravity gradients, solar wind, and solar pressure. Varying g-levels are produced by engine burns, attitude control maneuvers, and onboard vibrations from machinery or astronaut movement. Thermoacoustic convection in a low-g environment is discussed together with g-jitter convection, surface tension-driven convection, electrohydrodynamics under low-g conditions, phase change convection, and approaches for the control and the utilization of convection in space.
The present paper details the design of the counter rotating fans for a Turboelectric Distributed Propulsion (TeDP) system. Sixteen propulsors installed in mail-slot-shape nacelles are embedded on an aerodynamically optimized hybrid wing-body configuration. The hybrid-wing/body (HWB) configuration which was previously designed to satisfy the conditions of trim, longitudinally static stability and specific cargo space is employed as the baseline configuration in pursuing an optimal distributed propulsion system. A set of distributed propulsors is conceptually designed and the collective performance is evaluated against the target thrust mandated by the mission requirements. The concept of the distributed propulsion allows the fan pressure ratio to be around 1.27~1.32 for the target thrust. In addition, further splitting of the fan pressure ratio by using the counter-rotating fans for each slot realizes the target pressure ratio with low tip speed. In the distributed propulsion system, the nature of the flow conditions and/or the thickness of the ingested boundary layer may differ and result in different propulsive reaction of each individual propulsor. The optimization is, thus, approached from both the propulsion system and individual propulsor perspectives. An optimal distribution of the thrust and power output is determined by how the system utilizes each passage's propulsive characteristics and its interaction with the airframe. These system level analysis and optimization are conducted using an actuator disk model to account for the propulsion-airframe integration numerically. With respect to the propulsor level, aerodynamic shape optimizations of the fan blades are performed in a sequential multi-objective optimization process for various design objectives, such as mass flow rate condition, fan pressure ratio, efficiency and the exit flow angle of the fan stage by using a genetic algorithm, NSGA-II. The radial chord distribution, and meanline distribution of the rotors are designed on the circumferentially averaged axi-symmetric inlet profiles and tested on the six inlet profiles from six divided sectors to reckon flow distortion. The performances of the counter rotating fans are, thus, evaluated accordingly for obtaining distortion tolerant fan. The performance of the distributed propulsion system is evaluated by two CFD tools, i.e., a multi-stage turbo-machinery CFD code and one propulsion-airframe integration flow solver coupled with a body-force model. The optimized boundary layer ingestion propulsion system of 16 distributed slots not only reaches the system target thrust, but also delivers a close to 20% fuel saving benefit against its counterpart 12 distributed clean inlet propulsion system.
Portable machine constructed for fatigue testing of structural materials or machinery parts subjected to fatigue loads. Piezoelectric crystal stack adds oscillatory force to constant force. Machine tests wider variety of objects than with usual rotating-beam fatigue tests.
A yarn carrier apparatus particularly suited for use in braiding machinery or the like due to its capability of continuous yarn feeding and retraction of long lengths of yarn. The yarn carrier apparatus comprises a yarn supply spool which is rotatably mounted within the housing, a spring motor also mounted within the housing and operatively connected to the yarn supply spool through a mechanical transmission assembly which is adapted to multiply rotational movement between the first element of the gear assembly operatively connected to the spring motor and the final element of the gear assembly operatively connected to the yarn supply spool. The spring motor is adapted to tension the yarn during both feeding and retraction thereof, and it is further adapted to periodically rotatably slip within the housing and partially unwind so as to allow for continuous withdrawal of a long length of yarn without the spring motor becoming fully wound and preventing further yarn retraction.
A yarn carrier apparatus particularly suited for use in braiding machinery or the like due to its capability of continuous yarn feeding and retraction of long lengths of yarn. The yarn carrier apparatus comprises a yarn supply spool which is rotatably mounted within the housing, a spring motor also mounted within the housing and operatively connected to the yarn supply spool through a mechanical transmission assembly which is adapted to multiply rotational movement between the first element of the gear assembly operatively connected to the spring motor and the final element of the gear assembly operatively connected to the yarn supply spool. The spring motor is adapted to tension the yarn during both feeding and retraction thereof, and it is further adapted to periodically rotatably slip within the housing and partially unwind so as to allow for continuous withdrawal of a long length of yarn without the spring motor becoming fully wound and preventing further yarn retraction.
A rapid quasi three-dimensional analysis was developed for blade-to-blade flows in turbomachinery. The analysis solves the unsteady Euler or thin layer Navier-Stokes equations in a body-fitted coordinate system. It accounts for the effects of rotation, radius change, and stream-surface thickness. The Baldwin-Lomax eddy-viscosity model is used for turbulent flows. The equations which are solved by a two-stage Runge-Kutta scheme made efficient by use of vectorization, a variable time-step, and a flux-based multigrid scheme, are described. A stability analysis is presented for the two-stage scheme. Results for a flat-plate model problem show the applicability of the method to axial, radial, and rotating geometries. Results for a centrifugal impeller and a radial diffuser show that the quasi three-dimensional viscous analysis can be a practical design tool.
Pilot effective delay increases with system delay. Report compares pilot effective time delays measured in simulations of aircraft-control systems equipped with Space Shuttle rotational hand controller and with two versions of conventional stick-type hand controller. Report of interest to those concerned with design of multiple-axis controllers in aircraft, armored vehicles, industrial machinery, and remote manipulators: operator response or delay critical to stable and accurate operation of such systems.
The accurate prediction of the aeroacoustic field generated by aerospace vehicles or nonaerospace machinery is necessary for designers to control and reduce source noise. Powerful computational aeroacoustic methods, based on various acoustic analogies (primarily the Lighthill acoustic analogy) and Kirchhoff methods, have been developed for prediction of noise from complicated sources, such as rotating blades. Both methods ultimately predict the noise through a numerical evaluation of an integral formulation. In this paper, we consider three generic acoustic formulations and several numerical algorithms that have been used to compute the solutions to these formulations. Algorithms for retarded-time formulations are the most efficient and robust, but they are difficult to implement for supersonic-source motion. Collapsing-sphere and emission-surface formulations are good alternatives when supersonic-source motion is present, but the numerical implementations of these formulations are more computationally demanding. New algorithms - which utilize solution adaptation to provide a specified error level - are needed.
Two energy-saving technologies tested recently at Marshall Space Flight Center use an induction motor operated in reverse (as an induction generator). In the first, energy ordinarily dissipated during load testing of machinery is recovered and returned to powerline. In the second, efficiency of wind-driven induction generator is improved, and useful range of windspeed is broadened. Both technologies take advantage of ac voltage developed across terminals of an induction motor when rotated at higher than-synchronous speed in the direction it normally turns when power is appled.