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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

Low speed inducers for cryogenic upper stages

Briefing charts are presented, which were used in an oral presentation of the results and recommendations for the design and analysis of low speed hydrogen and oxygen inducers and their drive systems applicable to the space tug. A discussion of the design of the 15K and RL-10 inducers is included.

King, J. A.↗

The chemistry and diffusion of aircraft exhausts in the lower stratosphere during the first few hours after fly-by

An analysis of the hydrogen-nitrogen-oxygen reaction systems in the lower stratosphere as they are initially perturbed by individual aircraft engine exhaust plumes was conducted in order to determine whether any significant chemical reactions occur, either among exhaust chemical species, or between these species and the environmental ozone, while the exhaust products are confined to intact plume segments at relatively high concentrations. The joint effects of diffusive mixing and chemical kinetics on the reactions were also studied, using the techniques of second-order closure diffusion/chemistry models. The focus of the study was on the larger problem of the potential depletion of ozone by supersonic transport aircraft exhaust materials emitted into the lower stratosphere.

Hilst, G. R.↗

Analysis of diffential absorption lidar technique for measurements of anhydrous hydrogen chloride from solid rocket motors using a deuterium fluoride laser

An active optical technique (differential absorption lidar (DIAL)) for detecting, ranging, and quantifying the concentration of anhydrous HCl contained in the ground cloud emitted by solid rocket motors (SRM) is evaluated. Results are presented of an experiment in which absorption coefficients of HCl were measured for several deuterium fluoride (DF) laser transitions demonstrating for the first time that a close overlap exists between the 2-1 P(3) vibrational transition of the DF laser and the 1-0 P(6) absorption line of HCl, with an absorption coefficient of 5.64 (atm-cm) to the -1 power. These measurements show that the DF laser can be an appropriate radiation source for detecting HCl in a DIAL technique. Development of a mathematical computer model to predict the sensitivity of DIAL for detecting anhydrous HCl in the ground cloud is outlined, and results that assume a commercially available DF laser as the radiation source are presented.

Bair, C. H.↗

The early spectral evolution of Nova Cassiopeiae 1993

In this paper we describe the evolution of Nova Cas 1993 over the first two months of its outburst. We present an ultraviolet light curve that covers the period from announcement to just after dust began forming in the ejecta (1994 Feb. 15) and International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spacecraft constraints forced us to halt our observations. We have used spherical, expanding, Non-local Thermodynamic Equilibrium (NLTE) stellar atmospheres to compute synthetic spectra and have compared the results to combined ultraviolet (low-resolution 1200-3400 A and high-resolution 2400-3300 A) spectra. Our fits show that the effective temperature of the ejecta increased from approx. 8000 to about approx. 16 000 K between 1993 Dec. 12 and 1993 Dec. 26. The temperature then increased more slowly to approx. 24 000 on 1994 Jan. 28. A preliminary abundance analysis shows evidence for hydrogen depletion, as we also found for Nova V1974 Cygni; however we find a larger enhancement of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen. We also show that the principal mechanism for mass ejection in this nova is a radiation pressure driven wind and that mechanical driving is not necessary.

Hauschildt, Peter H.↗

Materials for Low-Energy Neutron Radiation Shielding

Various candidate aircraft and spacecraft materials were analyzed and compared in a low-energy neutron environment using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) transport code with an energy range up to 20 MeV. Some candidate materials have been tested in particle beams, and others seemed reasonable to analyze in this manner before deciding to test them. The two metal alloys analyzed are actual materials being designed into or used in aircraft and spacecraft today. This analysis shows that hydrogen-bearing materials have the best shielding characteristics over the metal alloys. It also shows that neutrons above 1 MeV are reflected out of the face of the slab better by larger quantities of carbon in the material. If a low-energy absorber is added to the material, fewer neutrons are transmitted through the material. Future analyses should focus on combinations of scatterers and absorbers to optimize these reaction channels and on the higher energy neutron component (above 50 MeV).

Singleterry, Robert C., Jr.↗

Determination of ammonia in ethylene using ion mobility spectrometry

A simple procedure to analyze ammonia in ethylene by ion mobility spectrometry is described. The spectrometer is operated with a silane polymer membrane., 63Ni ion source, H+ (H2O)n reactant ion, and nitrogen drift and source gas. Ethylene containing parts per billion (ppb) (v/v) concentrations of ammonia is pulled across the membrane and diffuses into the spectrometer. Preconcentration or preseparation is unnecessary, because the ethylene in the spectrometer has no noticeable effect on the analytical results. Ethylene does not polymerize in the radioactive source. Ethylene's flammability is negated by the nitrogen inside the spectrometer. Response to ammonia concentrations between 200 ppb and 1.5 ppm is near linear, and a detection limit of 25 ppb is calculated.

NASA Discipline Environmental Health↗

Lunar Prospector: overview

Lunar Prospector is providing a global map of the composition of the moon and analyzing the moon's gravity and magnetic fields. It has been in a polar orbit around the moon since 16 January 1998. Neutron flux data show that there is abundant H, and hence probably abundant water ice, in the lunar polar regions. Gamma-ray and neutron data reveal the distribution of Fe, Ti, and other major and trace elements on the moon. The data delineate the global distributions of a key trace element-rich component of lunar materials called KREEP and of the major rock types. Magnetic mapping shows that the lunar magnetic fields are strong antipodal to Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis and has discovered the smallest known magnetosphere, magnetosheath, and bow shock complex in the solar system. Gravity mapping has delineated seven new gravity anomalies and shown that the moon has a small Fe-rich core of about 300 km radius.

Flight Experiment↗

Eddy current correction in volume-localized MR spectroscopy

The quality of volume-localized magnetic resonance spectroscopy is affected by eddy currents caused by gradient switching. Eddy currents can be reduced with improved gradient systems; however, it has been suggested that the distortion due to eddy currents can be compensated for during postprocessing with a single-frequency reference signal. The authors propose modifying current techniques for acquiring the single-frequency reference signal by using relaxation weighting to reduce interference from components that cannot be eliminated by digital filtering alone. Additional sequences with T1 or T2 weighting for reference signal acquisition are shown to have the same eddy current characteristics as the original signal without relaxation weighting. The authors also studied a new eddy current correction method that does not require a single-frequency reference signal. This method uses two free induction decays (FIDs) collected from the same volume with two sequences with opposite gradients. Phase errors caused by eddy currents are opposite in these two FIDs and can be canceled completely by combining the FIDs. These methods were tested in a phantom. Eddy current distortions were corrected, allowing quantitative measurement of structures such as the -CH = CH- component, which is otherwise undetectable.

NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal↗

Temperatures, winds, and composition in the saturnian system

Stratospheric temperatures on Saturn imply a strong decay of the equatorial winds with altitude. If the decrease in winds reported from recent Hubble Space Telescope images is not a temporal change, then the features tracked must have been at least 130 kilometers higher than in earlier studies. Saturn's south polar stratosphere is warmer than predicted from simple radiative models. The C/H ratio on Saturn is seven times solar, twice Jupiter's. Saturn's ring temperatures have radial variations down to the smallest scale resolved (100 kilometers). Diurnal surface temperature variations on Phoebe suggest a more porous regolith than on the jovian satellites.

Saturn↗

Analysis of a Cylindrical Specimen Heated by an Impinging Hot Hydrogen Jet

A computational conjugate heat transfer methodology was developed, as a first step towards an efficient and accurate multiphysics, thermo-fluid computational methodology to predict environments for hypothetical solid-core, nuclear thermal engine thrust chamber and components. A solid conduction heat transfer procedure was implemented onto a pressure-based, multidimensional, finite-volume, turbulent, chemically reacting, thermally radiating, and unstructured grid computational fluid dynamics formulation. The conjugate heat transfer of a cylindrical material specimen heated by an impinging hot hydrogen jet inside an enclosed test fixture was simulated and analyzed. The solid conduction heat transfer procedure was anchored with a standard solid heat transfer code. Transient analyses were then performed with ,variable thermal conductivities representing three composites of a material utilized as flow element in a legacy engine test. It was found that material thermal conductivity strongly influences the transient heat conduction characteristics. In addition, it was observed that high thermal gradient occur inside the cylindrical specimen during an impulsive or a 10 s ramp start sequence, but not during steady-state operations.

Wang, Ten-See↗

Reduced Order Modeling of SLS Liquid Hydrogen Pre-Valve Flow Guide to Enable Rapid Transient Analysis

NASA is developing a new launch vehicle, called the Space Launch System (SLS), which is intended on taking humans out of low earth orbit to destinations including the moon, asteroids, and Mars. The propulsion system for the core stage of this vehicle includes four RS-25 Liquid Hydrogen/Oxygen rocket engines. These engines are upgraded versions of the Space Shuttle Main Engines (SSME); the upgrades include higher power levels and affordability enhancements. As with any new vehicle, the Main Propulsion System (MPS), which include the feedlines and ancillary hardware connecting the engines to the fuel and oxidizer tanks, had to be redesigned (figure 1 - export clearance in progress), as the previous MPS for the SSME's was inherently part of the Space Shuttle System, which had a completely different overall configuration.

Brown, Andrew M.↗

Single Degree-of-Freedom Modeling of SLS Liquid Hydrogen Pre-Valve Flow Guide to Enable Rapid Transient Analysis

A unique single degree-of-freedom approximation technique has been developed to enable rapid application of a temporally-defined multi-spectral semi-narrow-band loading for generation of realistic stress/cycle values compared to a resonant analysis. The technique uses the harmonic analysis at resonance of a high-fidelity finite element model to produce a transfer function, which is then used to calibrate the response of the SDOF model. A standard numerical ordinary differential equation solver is then used to obtain the temporal response, and its histogram is used in a fatigue/fracture model. This technique is related to other SDOF methods used widely in industry, such as Miles' Equation and the Shock Response Spectra, but it is unique in that it produces a realistic time history of the response. The most obvious error in the process, which is the effect of closely-spaced modes, was also assessed using the parallel application of several SDOF models, and the error is shown to be small. The application of this unique and tractable reduced-order methodology has enabled the SLS program to avoid substantial cost and schedule penalties if a redesign or change of material were required. It has also enabled quick analysis of a number of other structures undergoing the same or similar excitation fields, and quick assessment when the excitation and structural configuration has been altered due to design changes in the system.

Brown, Andrew M.↗

High temperature electrolytic recovery of oxygen from gaseous effluents from the carbo-chlorination of lunar anorthite and the hydrogenation of ilmenite: A theoretical study

A thermodynamic analysis discusses the compositions of gaseous effluents from the reaction of carbon and chlorine and of hydrogen with lunar anorthite and ilmenite, respectively. The computations consider the effects of the indigenous volatiles on the solid/gas reactions and on the composition of the effluent gases. A theoretical parameterization of the high temperature electrolysis of such gases is given for several types of solid ceramic electrolytes, and the effect of oxygen removal on the effluents is computed. Potential chemical interactions between the gases and the ceramic electrolytes are analyzed and discussed.

Erstfield, T. E.↗

Spherical Cryogenic Hydrogen Tank Preliminary Design Trade Studies

A structural analysis, sizing optimization, and weight prediction study was performed by Collier Research Corporation and NASA Glenn on a spherical cryogenic hydrogen tank. The tank consisted of an inner and outer wall separated by a vacuum for thermal insulation purposes. HyperSizer (Collier Research and Development Corporation), a commercial automated structural analysis and sizing software package was used to design the lightest feasible tank for a given overall size and thermomechanical loading environment. Weight trade studies were completed for different panel concepts and metallic and composite material systems. Extensive failure analyses were performed for each combination of dimensional variables, materials, and layups to establish the structural integrity of tank designs. Detailed stress and strain fields were computed from operational temperature changes and pressure loads. The inner tank wall is sized by the resulting biaxial tensile stresses which cause it to be strength driven, and leads to an optimum panel concept that need not be stiffened. Conversely, the outer tank wall is sized by a biaxial compressive stress field, induced by the pressure differential between atmospheric pressure and the vacuum between the tanks, thereby causing the design to be stability driven and thus stiffened to prevent buckling. Induced thermal stresses become a major sizing driver when a composite or hybrid composite/metallic material systems are used for the inner tank wall for purposes such as liners to contain the fuel and reduce hydrogen permeation.

Arnold, Steven M.↗