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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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2024

A layered solid finite element formulation with interlaminar enhanced displacements for the modeling of laminated composite structures

Accurate modeling of layered composite structures often requires the use of detailed finite element models which can sufficiently resolve the kinematics and material behavior within each layer of the composite. However, individually discretizing each material layer into finite elements presents a prohibitive computational expensive given the large number of thin layers comprising some laminated composites. To address these challenges, an 8-node layered solid hexahedral finite element is formulated with the aim of striking an appropriate balance between efficiency and fidelity. The element is discretized into an arbitrary number of distinct material layers, and employs reduced in-plane integration within each layer. The chosen reduced integration scheme is supplemented by a novel physical stabilization approach which includes layerwise enhancements to mitigate various forms of locking phenomena. The proposed framework additionally supports the inclusion of interlaminar enhanced displacements to better represent the kinematics of general layered composite materials. Finally, the described element formulation has been implemented in the ParaDyn finite element code, and its efficacy for modeling laminated composite structures is demonstrated on a variety of verification problems.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1993

Improved Composite Flexible Blanket Insulation

Improved composite flexible blanket insulation is quilt of layers of advanced lightweight insulating materials. Each layer designed to optimize contribution to inhibition of radiative, conductive, and/or convective transfer of heat from hot side to cold side. Intended to protect spacecraft against heating during reentry into atmosphere, used on Earth where requirements for lightweight, flexible, highly efficient insulating materials protect people and equipment against temperatures up to about 1,650 degrees C. Such as, furnace curtains and insulating layers on firefighting equipment and protective clothing.

Kourtides, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

High-Flow Asymmetric Reverse-Osmosis Membranes

Water-soluble polymer membrane insolubilized by transition-metal salt. Thin layer of lower permeability material joined with thicker layer of highpermeability material. Two layers chemically identical or chemically distinct. They differ in density, compactness or other respects. Used to purify or desalinate seawater, brackish water, or industrial or domestic wastewater.

Katz, M. C.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Comparison of the Radiative Two-Flux and Diffusion Approximations

Approximate solutions are sometimes used to determine the heat transfer and temperatures in a semitransparent material in which conduction and thermal radiation are acting. A comparison of the Milne-Eddington two-flux approximation and the diffusion approximation for combined conduction and radiation heat transfer in a ceramic material was preformed to determine the accuracy of the diffusion solution. A plane gray semitransparent layer without a substrate and a non-gray semitransparent plane layer on an opaque substrate were considered. For the plane gray layer the material is semitransparent for all wavelengths and the scattering and absorption coefficients do not vary with wavelength. For the non-gray plane layer the material is semitransparent with constant absorption and scattering coefficients up to a specified wavelength. At higher wavelengths the non-gray plane layer is assumed to be opaque. The layers are heated on one side and cooled on the other by diffuse radiation and convection. The scattering and absorption coefficients were varied. The error in the diffusion approximation compared to the Milne-Eddington two flux approximation was obtained as a function of scattering coefficient and absorption coefficient. The percent difference in interface temperatures and heat flux through the layer obtained using the Milne-Eddington two-flux and diffusion approximations are presented as a function of scattering coefficient and absorption coefficient. The largest errors occur for high scattering and low absorption except for the back surface temperature of the plane gray layer where the error is also larger at low scattering and low absorption. It is shown that the accuracy of the diffusion approximation can be improved for some scattering and absorption conditions if a reflectance obtained from a Kubelka-Munk type two flux theory is used instead of a reflection obtained from the Fresnel equation. The Kubelka-Munk reflectance accounts for surface reflection and radiation scattered back by internal scattering sites while the Fresnel reflection only accounts for surface reflections.

Spuckler, Charles M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Extravehicular Activity Micormeteoroid and Orbital Debris Risk Assessment Methodology

A well-known hazard associated with exposure to the space environment is the risk of vehicle failure due to an impact from an micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) particle. Among the vehicles of importance to NASA is the extravehicular mobility unit (EMU) “spacesuit” used while performing a US extravehicular activity (EVA). An EMU impact is of great concern as a large leak could prevent an astronaut from safely reaching the airlock in time resulting in a loss of life. For this reason, a risk assessment is provided to the EVA office at the Johnson Space Center (JSC) prior to certification of readiness for each US EVA. To assess the risk of failure, a detailed finite element model (FEM) of the EMU has been created which has regions for the various shielding configurations. Each shielding configuration is based on the layers and materials over the innermost bladder layer that maintains the acceptable atmospheric environment for the astronaut. Ballistic limit equations (BLE) for each shielding configuration have been determined from hypervelocity impact testing of samples of the EMU layup.

Hoffman, K. D.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Dark Material in the Polar Layered Deposits on Mars

Viking infrared thermal mapping (IRTM) and bistatic radar data suggest that the bulk density of the erg material is much lower than that of the average Martian surface or of dark dunes at lower latitudes.

Martian surface dark dunes Mars↗
NASA NTRS1985

Mass transfer across combustion gas thermal boundary layers - Power production and materials processing implications

The effects of Soret diffusion (for vapors) and thermophoresis (for particles) are illustrated using recent optical experiments and boundary layer computations. Mass transfer rate augmentations of up to a factor of 1000 were observed and predicted for submicron-particle capture by cooled solid surfaces, while mass transfer suppressions of more than 10 to the -10th-fold were predicted for 'overheated' surfaces. It is noted that the results obtained are of interest in connection with such technological applications as fly-ash capture in power generation equipment and glass droplet deposition in optical-waveguide manufacture.

Rosner, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Space Research Results Purify Semiconductor Materials

While President Obama's news that NASA would encourage private companies to develop vehicles to take NASA into space may have come as a surprise to some, NASA has always encouraged private companies to invest in space. More than two decades ago, NASA established Commercial Space Centers across the United States to encourage industry to use space as a place to conduct research and to apply NASA technology to Earth applications. Although the centers are no longer funded by NASA, the advances enabled by that previous funding are still impacting us all today. For example, the Space Vacuum Epitaxy Center (SVEC) at the University of Houston, one of the 17 Commercial Space Centers, had a mission to create advanced thin film semiconductor materials and devices through the use of vacuum growth technologies both on Earth and in space. Making thin film materials in a vacuum (low-pressure environment) is advantageous over making them in normal atmospheric pressures, because contamination floating in the air is lessened in a vacuum. To grow semiconductor crystals, researchers at SVEC utilized epitaxy the process of depositing a thin layer of material on top of another thin layer of material. On Earth, this process took place in a vacuum chamber in a clean room lab. For space, the researchers developed something called the Wake Shield Facility (WSF), a 12-foot-diameter disk-shaped platform designed to grow thin film materials using the low-pressure environment in the wake of the space shuttle. Behind an orbiting space shuttle, the vacuum levels are thousands of times better than in the best vacuum chambers on Earth. Throughout the 1990s, the WSF flew on three space shuttle missions as a series of proof-of-concept missions. These experiments are a lasting testament to the success of the shuttle program and resulted in the development of the first thin film materials made in the vacuum of space, helping to pave the way for better thin film development on Earth.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1997

Test Report: Direct and Indirect Lightning Effects on Composite Materials

Lightning tests were performed on composite materials as a part of an investigation of electromagnetic effects on the materials. Samples were subjected to direct and remote simulated lightning strikes. Samples included various thicknesses of graphite filament reinforced plastic (GFRP), material enhanced by expanded aluminum foil layers, and material with an aluminum honeycomb core. Shielding properties of the material and damage to the sample surfaces and joints were investigated. Adding expanded aluminum foil layers and increasing the thickness of GFRP improves the shielding effectiveness against lightning induced fields and the ability to withstand lightning strikes. A report describing the lightning strike tests performed by the U.S. Army Redstone Technical Test Center, Redstone Arsenal, AL, STERT-TE-E-EM, is included as an appendix.

Composite materials↗
NASA NTRS2019

Multi-Layer Wireless Sensor Construct for Use at Electrically-Conductive Material Surfaces

A multi-layer wireless sensor construct is provided. The construct includes a first dielectric layer adapted to be attached to a portion of a first surface of an electrically-conductive material. A layer of mu metal is provided on the first dielectric layer. A second dielectric layer is provided on the layer of mu metal. An electrical conductor is provided on the second dielectric layer wherein the second dielectric layer separates the electrical conductor from the layer of mu metal. The electrical conductor has first and second ends and is shaped to form an unconnected open-circuit that, in the presence of a time-varying magnetic field, resonates to generate a harmonic magnetic field response having a frequency, amplitude and bandwidth.

Dudley, Kenneth L.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Transient Analysis of Thermal Protection System for X-33 Aircraft using MSC/NASTRAN

X-33 is an advanced technology demonstrator vehicle for the Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) program. The thermal protection system (TPS) for the X-33 is composed of complex layers of materials to protect internal components, while withstanding severe external temperatures induced by aerodynamic heating during high speed flight. It also serves as the vehicle aeroshell in some regions using a stand-off design. MSC/NASTRAN thermal analysis capability was used to predict transient temperature distribution (within the TPS) throughout a mission, from launch through the cool-off period after landing. In this paper, a typical analysis model, representing a point on the vehicle where the liquid oxygen tank is closest to the outer mold line, is described. The maximum temperature difference between the outer mold line and the internal surface of the liquid oxygen tank can exceed 1500 F. One dimensional thermal models are used to select the materials and determine the thickness of each layer for minimum weight while insuring that all materials remain within the allowable temperature range. The purpose of working with three dimensional (3D) comprehensive models using MSC/NASTRAN is to assess the 3D radiation effects and the thermal conduction heat shorts of the support fixtures.

Miura, Hirokazu↗
NASA NTRS1995

Thin-Film Power Transformers

Transformer core made of thin layers of insulating material interspersed with thin layers of ferromagnetic material. Flux-linking conductors made of thinner nonferromagnetic-conductor/insulator multilayers wrapped around core. Transformers have geometric features finer than those of transformers made in customary way by machining and mechanical pressing. In addition, some thin-film materials exhibit magnetic-flux-carrying capabilities superior to those of customary bulk transformer materials. Suitable for low-cost, high-yield mass production.

Katti, Romney R.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Hybrid bilayered vanadium oxide electrodes with large and tunable interlayer distances in lithium-ion batteries

The interlayer distances in layered electrode materials, influenced by the chemical composition of the confined interlayer regions, have a significant impact on their electrochemical performance. Chemical preintercalation of inorganic metal ions affects the interlayer spacing, yet expansion is limited by the hydrated ion radii. Herein, we demonstrate that using varying concentrations of decyltrimethylammonium (DTA + ) and cetyltrimethylammonium (CTA + ) cations in chemical preintercalation synthesis followed by hydrothermal treatment, the interlayer distance of hybrid bilayered vanadium oxides (BVOs) can be tuned between 11.1 Å and 35.6 Å. Our analyses reveal that these variations in interlayer spacing are due to different amounts of structural water and alkylammonium cations confined within the interlayer regions. Increased concentrations of alkylammonium cations not only expand the interlayer spacing but also induce local bending and disordering of the V-O bilayers. Electrochemical cycling of hybrid BVO electrodes in non-aqueous lithium-ion cells show that specific capacities decrease as interlayer regions expand, suggesting that the densely packed alkylammonium cations obstruct intercalation sites and hinder Li + ion transport. Furthermore, we found that greater layer separation facilitates the dissolution of active material into the electrolyte, resulting in rapid capacity decay during extended cycling. In conclusion, this study emphasizes that layered electrode materials require both spacious interlayer regions as well as high structural and chemical stabilities, providing guidelines for structural engineering of organic–inorganic hybrids.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Artificial-Intelligence Aided Design and Synthesis of Novel Layered 2D Multi-Principal Element Materials for Energy Storage (Final Report)

This DOE-EPSCoR project aimed to predict, synthesize, and characterize novel layered two-dimensional (2D) high-entropy materials (HEMs). These 2D-HEMs, composed of multiple principal elements in nearly equal concentrations, are distinct from traditional 2D materials (typically containing two or three elements) and conventional alloys (dominated by a single primary element with minor secondary additions). Their unique structural and compositional features enable significant lattice strain accommodation, resulting in enhanced electrode performance and potential applications in catalysis, hydrogen storage, sensing, quantum information technologies, and flexible electronics. The research focused on addressing four fundamental questions: (i) What combinations of elements can form stable and synthesizable 2D-HEMs? (ii) What mechanisms drive the stability and synthesizability of crystalline single-phase 2D-HEMs? (iii) How do local chemical disorder and defects influence the macroscopic electronic and mechanical properties? and (iv) What charge storage mechanisms are active in selectively synthesized 2D-HEMs for battery and supercapacitor electrode applications? To achieve these goals, the project employed an integrated theory-experiment approach, incorporating high-throughput first-principles calculations, theoretical modeling, data mining, experimental synthesis, and advanced characterization techniques. The advanced computing resources and state-of-the-art experimental characterization facilities at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) were leveraged through collaboration. Beyond scientific advancements, the project contributed to workforce development. Two postdoctoral researchers and three graduate students at the University of Maine were trained through co-advising by ORNL scientists and collaborative interactions, strengthening their expertise in cutting-edge materials science.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1992

Compression response of thick layer composite laminates with through-the-thickness reinforcement

Compression and compression-after-impact (CAI) tests were conducted on seven different AS4-3501-6 (0/90) 0.64-cm thick composite laminates. Four of the seven laminates had through-the-thickness (TTT) reinforcement fibers. Two TTT reinforcement methods, stitching and integral weaving, and two reinforcement fibers, Kevlar and carbon, were used. The remaining three laminates were made without TTT reinforcements and were tested to establish a baseline for comparison with the laminates having TTT reinforcement. Six of the seven laminates consisted of nine thick layers whereas the seventh material was composed of 46 thin plies. The use of thick-layer material has the potential for reducing structural part cost because of the reduced part count (layers of material). The compression strengths of the TTT reinforced laminates were approximately one half those of the materials without TTT reinforcements. However, the CAI strengths of the TTT reinforced materials were approximately twice those of materials without TTT reinforcements. The improvement in CAI strength is due to an increase in interlaminar strength produced by the TTT reinforcement. Stitched laminates had slightly higher compression and CAI strengths than the integrally woven laminates.

Farley, Gary L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Space Shuttle Columbia Reconstruction Effort: An Analysis of the Thermal Protection System.

Upon the breakup of the Space Shuffle Columbia, which occurred during peak heating, at an altitude of 200,000 feet, and traveling at Mach 19, the daunting responsibility was placed upon National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to determine the root cause of the accident. One of the foremost tasks was to begin locating Columbia's debris, which was scattered acr ss a 2,000 square miles area of Texas and into western Louisiana. Each potential shuttle debris piece found was categorized and the longitude and latitude noted. This provided crucial data to the vehicle's breakup trajectory path and aided in locating key shuffle components. Since the airframe and tiles would be the primary focus during the reconstruction effort at the Kennedy Space center in Florida, packing and shipping was crucial to the preservation of the shape and condition of each recovered object. Over 83,000 pieces of Columbia, in a five-month timeframe, were located. The recovered tiles still bonded to structure indicated failures modes due to heating and aerodynamic loads. Also, different types of tile bond failure modes were observed, with adhesion failures at the Koropon layer or material failure at the tile's densification layer. Numerous tiles had the identification markings burned off, slumping of the Reaction-Cured Glass (RCG) coating, and of the Ll-900 silica base material. The conditions in which the tiles were found resulted in developing methods to aid in the identification of the tile. Correctly identifying each tile was critical to understanding the heating patterns of the tiles in relationship to the vehicle, since it was known that the lower left wing received the initial external tank foam impact. With the aid of multiple disciplines, the clues found in the TPS debris, lead to the root cause of the breakup of Columbia.

Micklos, Ann M.↗
NASA NTRS1971

High contrast cathode ray tube

A layer of material is described, which contains fine grains of phosphor material stimulated by electrons to produce visible radiation. The layer, which also contains fine grains of cobalt oxide, is deposited on the glass screen of a cathode ray tube to provide high contrast, by absorbing most of the visible radiation which is directed to the layer through the screen, while not materially affecting the visible light which the phosphor material produces in response to the electron stimulation.

Lisovicz, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS2013

A Nanostructured Composites Thermal Switch Controls Internal and External Short Circuit in Lithium Ion Batteries

A document discusses a thin layer of composite material, made from nano scale particles of nickel and Teflon, placed within a battery cell as a layer within the anode and/or the cathode. There it conducts electrons at room temperature, then switches to an insulator at an elevated temperature to prevent thermal runaway caused by internal short circuits. The material layer controls excess currents from metal-to-metal or metal-to-carbon shorts that might result from cell crush or a manufacturing defect

McDonald, Robert C.↗