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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

Evolution of the Shape of Detached GeSi Crystals in Microgravity

A series of GeSi crystal growth experiments are planned to be conducted in the Low Gradient Furnace (LGF) onboard the International Space Station. An objective of these experiments is to understand the mechanisms of detached Bridgman growth, a process in which a gap exists between the growing semiconductor crystal and the crucible wall. Crystals grown without wall contact have superior quality to otherwise similar crystals grown in direct contact with a container, especially with respect to impurity incorporation, formation of dislocations, and residual stress in crystals. Numerical calculations are used to determine the conditions in which a gap can exist. According to crystal shape stability theory, only some of these gap widths will be dynamically stable. Beginning with a crystal diameter that differs from stable conditions, the transient crystal growth process is analyzed. In microgravity, dynamic stability depends only on capillary effects and is decoupled from heat transfer. Depending on the initial conditions and growth parameters, the crystal shape will evolve towards the crucible wall, towards a stable gap width, or towards the center of the crucible, collapsing the meniscus.

Volz, M. P.↗

Environmentally-induced discharge transient coupling to spacecraft

The Hughes SCREENS (Space Craft Response to Environments of Space) technique was applied to generic spin and 3-axis stabilized spacecraft models. It involved the NASCAP modeling for surface charging and lumped element modeling for transients coupling into a spacecraft. A differential voltage between antenna and spun shelf of approx. 400 V and current of 12 A resulted from discharge at antenna for the spinner and approx. 3 kv and 0.3 A from a discharge at solar panels for the 3-axis stabilized Spacecraft. A typical interface circuit response was analyzed to show that the transients would couple into the Spacecraft System through ground points, which are most vulnerable. A compilation and review was performed on 15 years of available data from electron and ion current collection phenomena. Empirical models were developed to match data and compared with flight data of Pix-1 and Pix-2 mission. It was found that large space power systems would float negative and discharge if operated at or above 300 V. Several recommendations are given to improve the models and to apply them to large space systems.

Viswanathan, R.↗

Glass production rate in an electric melter: Melting rate correlation and primary foam stability

Waste loading and melting rate are major factors determining the lifecycle of nuclear waste disposal by vitrification in electric melters in which the heat to the cold cap is delivered from the melt pool. One of the crucial parameters that affect the rate of melting is the temperature at which the primary foam collapses at the cold cap bottom. Further, apart from the transient glass-forming melt viscosity, primary foam stability is affected by the shear stress imposed by the flow in the melt pool and the presence of residual solid particles.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Nano-Engineered Interfaces in Dual-Layer Electrodes for Protonic Ceramic Cells with Enhanced Stability and Kinetics

Enhancing interfacial stability and charge transfer in protonic ceramic cells (PCCs) remains a critical challenge, as structural degradation and interfacial resistance often compromise durability and efficiency. Here, we report a nanoengineered dual-layer oxygen electrode architecture designed to address these limitations by introducing a fine-grained nanoparticle interfacial contact layer beneath a porous catalytic backbone. The nanoscale powders, through enhanced sintering activity, densify into a robust interfacial layer that promotes strong chemical bonding, uniform adhesion, and continuous ionic/electronic pathways with the BCZYYb electrolyte. This hierarchical architecture mitigates delamination, redistributes mechanical stress, and establishes efficient charge and mass transport channels without relying on corrosive surface treatments. Electrochemical evaluation demonstrates that the dual-layer design markedly reduces interfacial polarization resistance and accelerates electrode kinetics. Compared to the single-layer counterpart, the architecture achieves a peel strength of 44.53 N/cm 2 , a 40% improvement in peak power density (0.96 W cm –2 at 600 °C), and a 130% enhancement in electrolysis current density (4.78 A cm –2 at 1.57 V). Faradaic efficiency remains as high as 88% under high steam concentrations, underscoring minimal charge loss during practical operation. Notably, the electrode retains stability across 450–600 °C and under transient voltage cycling, with impedance spectra confirming suppressed interfacial resistance growth over prolonged use. These results highlight nanoscale interface engineering as a powerful route to enhance both mechanical robustness and electrochemical kinetics in PCCs. The demonstrated scalability and durability of this architecture provide a versatile platform for advancing solid-state electrochemical systems, including reversible fuel cells and high-efficiency hydrogen production technologies.

Faradaic efficiency↗

Transonic calculation of airfoil stability and response with active controls

Transonic aeroelastic stability and response analyses are performed for the MBB A-3 supercritical airfoil. Three degrees of freedom are considered: plunge, pitch, and aileron pitch. The control of airfoil stability and response in transonic flow are studied. Stability analyses are performed using a Pade aeroelastic model based on the use of LTRAN2-NLR transonic small disturbance finite difference computer code. Response analyses are performed by coupling the structural equations of motion to the unsteady aerodynamic forces of LTRAN2-NLR. The focus is on transonic time marching transient response solutions using modal identification to determine stability. Frequency and damping of these modes are directly compared in the complex s-plane with Pade model eigenvalues. Transonic stability and response characteristics of 2-D airfoils are discussed and comparisons are made. Application of the Pade aeroelastic model and time marching analyses to flutter suppression using active controls is demonstrated.

Batina, J. T.↗

Wind Turbine Structural Dynamics

A workshop on wind turbine structural dynamics was held to review and document current United States work on the dynamic behavior of large wind turbines, primarily of the horizontal-axis type, and to identify and discuss other wind turbine configurations that may have lower cost and weight. Information was exchanged on the following topics: (1) Methods for calculating dynamic loads; (2) Aeroelasticity stability (3) Wind loads, both steady and transient; (4) Critical design conditions; (5) Drive train dynamics; and (6) Behavior of operating wind turbines.

Miller, D. R.↗

A unified analysis and design procedure for a standardized control module for dc-dc switching regulators

Three basic switching regulators: buck, boost, and buck/boost, employing a multi-loop control module (SCM) were characterized by a common small signal block diagram. Employing the unified model, regulator performances such as stability, audiosusceptibility, output impedance and step load transient are analyzed and key performance indexes are expressed in simple analytical forms. More importantly, the performance characteristics of all three regulators are shown to enjoy common properties due to the unique SCM control scheme which nullifies the positive zero and provides adaptive compensation to the moving poles of the boost and buck/boost converters. This allows a simple unified design procedure to be devised for selecting the key SCM control parameters for an arbitrarily given power stage configuration and parameter values, such that all regulator performance specifications can be met and optimized concurrently in a single design attempt.

Lee, F. C.↗

Analysis and design of a standardized control module for switching regulators

Three basic switching regulators: buck, boost, and buck/boost, employing a multiloop standardized control module (SCM) were characterized by a common small signal block diagram. Employing the unified model, regulator performances such as stability, audiosusceptibility, output impedance, and step load transient are analyzed and key performance indexes are expressed in simple analytical forms. More importantly, the performance characteristics of all three regulators are shown to enjoy common properties due to the unique SCM control scheme which nullifies the positive zero and provides adaptive compensation to the moving poles of the boost and buck/boost converters. This allows a simple unified design procedure to be devised for selecting the key SCM control parameters for an arbitrarily given power stage configuration and parameter values, such that all regulator performance specifications can be met and optimized concurrently in a single design attempt.

Lee, F. C.↗

An unconditionally stable staggered algorithm for transient finite element analysis of coupled thermoelastic problems

An unconditionally stable second order accurate implicit-implicit staggered procedure for the finite element solution of fully coupled thermoelasticity transient problems is proposed. The procedure is stabilized with a semi-algebraic augmentation technique. A comparative cost analysis reveals the superiority of the proposed computational strategy to other conventional staggered procedures. Numerical examples of one and two-dimensional thermomechanical coupled problems demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed numerical solution algorithm.

Farhat, C.↗

Time simulation of flutter with large stiffness changes

Time simulation of flutter, involving large local structural changes, is formulated with a state-space model that is based on a relatively small number of generalized coordinates. Free-free vibration modes are first calculated for a nominal finite-element model with relatively large fictitious masses located at the area of structural changes. A low-frequency subset of these modes is then transformed into a set of structural modal coordinates with which the entire simulation is performed. These generalized coordinates and the associated oscillatory aerodynamic force coefficient matrices are used to construct an efficient time-domain, state-space model for a basic aeroelastic case. The time simulation can then be performed by simply changing the mass, stiffness, and damping coupling terms when structural changes occur. It is shown that the size of the aeroelastic model required for time simulation with large structural changes at a few apriori known locations is similar to that required for direct analysis of a single structural case. The method is applied to the simulation of an aeroelastic wind-tunnel model. The diverging oscillations are followed by the activation of a tip-ballast decoupling mechanism that stabilizes the system but may cause significant transient overshoots.

Karpel, Mordechay↗

Time simulation of flutter with large stiffness changes

Time simulation of flutter, involving large local structural changes, is formulated with a state-space model that is based on a relatively small number of generalized coordinates. Free-free vibration modes are first calculated for a nominal finite-element model with relatively large fictitious masses located at the area of structural changes. A low-frequency subset of these modes is then transformed into a set of structural modal coordinates with which the entire simulation is performed. These generalized coordinates and the associated oscillatory aerodynamic force coefficient matrices are used to construct an efficient time-domain, state-space model for basic aeroelastic case. The time simulation can then be performed by simply changing the mass, stiffness and damping coupling terms when structural changes occur. It is shown that the size of the aeroelastic model required for time simulation with large structural changes at a few a priori known locations is similar to that required for direct analysis of a single structural case. The method is applied to the simulation of an aeroelastic wind-tunnel model. The diverging oscillations are followed by the activation of a tip-ballast decoupling mechanism that stabilizes the system but may cause significant transient overshoots.

Karpel, M.↗

An unconditionally stable staggered algorithm for transient finite element analysis of coupled thermoelastic problems

An unconditionally stable second order accurate implicit-implicit staggered procedure for the finite element solution of fully coupled thermoelasticity transient problems is proposed. The procedure is stabilized with a semi-algebraic augmentation technique. A comparative cost analysis reveals the superiority of the proposed computational strategy to other conventional staggered procedures. Numerical examples of one- and two-dimensional thermomechanical coupled problems demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed numerical solution algorithm.

Farhat, Charbel↗

Superhumps in cataclysmic binaries. 3: V795 Herculis

We report photometry of the cataclysmic variable V795 Herculis during 1990-1994. Comparison of recent with previously published data shows that the 2.78-hr periodicity has essentially disappeared; the amplitude has diminished by a factor of at least 10. In its place, there is a low-amplitude signal near the radial-velocity (orbital?) period of 2.60 hr. During 1983-1989, the star did show an obvious 2.78-hr signal. We study the published data on this signal, together with our own data under the (questionable) assumption that the signal still exists with an amplitude too small to survive the rigors of unbiased period detection. The data are really too sparse and too poorly distributed to decide the issue of phase stability. But since the photometric signal is transient and exceeds the likely orbital period by approximately 8%, the photometric waves are likely to be yet another example of 'superhumps', the phenomenon made famous by dwarf novae in superoutburst. At high frequencies, the star shows a quasi-periodic signal with P approximately 1160 s, and possibly also a stable signal with P = 1310.2 s (or 1330.4 s, the one-day alias). The beat period between these signals could be the orbital period, or that of the vanished superhump.

Patterson, Joseph↗

Rapid evolution of analog circuits configured on a field programmable transistor array

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate evolution of analog circuits on a stand-alone board-level evolvable system (SABLES). SABLES is part of an effort to achieve integrated evolvable systems. SABLES provides autonomous, fast (tens to hundreds of seconds), on-chip circuit evolution involving about 100,000 circuit evaluations. Its main components are a JPL Field Programmable Transistor Array (FPTA) chip used as transistor-level reconfigurable hardware, and a TI DSP that implements the evolutionary algorithm controlling the FPTA reconfiguration. The paper details an example of evolution on SABLES and points out to certain transient and memory effects that affect the stability of solutions obtained reusing the same piece of hardware for rapid testing of individuals during evolution.

SABLES analog circuits field programmable transist↗

Transonic calculation of airfoil stability and response with active controls

Transonic aeroelastic stability and response analyses are performed for the MBB A-3 supercritical airfoil. Three degrees of freedom are considered: plunge, pitch, and aileron pitch. The objective of this study is to gain insight into the control of airfoil stability and response in transonic flow. Stability analyses are performed using a Padeaeroelastic model based on the use of the LTRAN2-NLR transonic small-disturbance finite-difference computer code. Response analyses are performed by coupling the structural equations of motion to the unsteady aerodynamic forces of LTRAN2-NLR. The focus of the present effort is on transonic time-marching transient response solutions using modal identification to determine stability. Frequency and damping of these modes are directly compared in the complex s-plane with Pademodel eigenvalues. Transonic stability and response characteristics of two-dimensional airfoils are discussed and comparisons are made. Application of the Padeaeroelastic model and time-marching analyses to flutter suppression using active controls is demonstrated.

Batina, J. T.↗

Review of the frequency stabilization of TEA CO2 laser oscillators

Most applications of TEA CO2 lasers in heterodyne radar systems require that the transmitter has a high degree of frequency stability. This ensures good Doppler resolution and maximizes receiver sensitivity. However, the environment within the device is far from benign with fast acoustic and electrical transients being present. Consequently the phenomena which govern the frequency stability of pulsed lasers are quite different from those operative in their CW counterparts. This review concentrates on the mechanisms of chirping within the output pulse; pulse to pulse frequency drift may be eliminated by frequency measurement and correction on successive pulses. It emerges that good stability hinges on correct cavity design. The energy-dependent laser-induced frequency sweep falls dramatically as mode diameter is increased. Thus, it is necessary to construct resonators with good selectivity for single mode operation while having a large spot size.

Willetts, David V.↗

Transient nucleation in glasses

Nucleation rates in condensed systems are frequently not at their steady state values. Such time dependent (or transient) nucleation is most clearly observed in devitrification studies of metallic and silicate glasses. The origin of transient nucleation and its role in the formation and stability of desired phases and microstructures are discussed. Numerical models of nucleation in isothermal and nonisothermal situations, based on the coupled differential equations describing cluster evolution within the classical theory, are presented. The importance of transient nucleation in glass formation and crystallization is discussed.

Kelton, K. F.↗

Stability of limit cycles in frictionally damped and aerodynamically unstable rotor stages

This paper deals with the stability of limit cycles (Steady-State Oscillations) associated with the multi-degree-of-freedom model of a frictionally damped and aerodynamically unstable rotor stage. By using the first order averaging technique, a generalized criterion has been established to sort out those unstable limit cycles which govern the maximum transient amplitude beyond which the rotor stage becomes unstable.The stability of the remaining steady-state solutions is analyzed by linearizing the averaged system of differential equations. Numerical results are discussed for three-, four- and five-bladed disks.

Sinha, A.↗