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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

NASA Tech Briefs, March 1998

Topics include: special coverage of computer aided design and engineering, electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, computer software, special coverage on mechanical technology, machinery/automation, manufacturing/fabrication, mathematics and information sciences, book and reports, and a special section of Electronics Tech Briefs. Profiles of the exhibitors at the National Design Engineering show are also included in this issue.

Source record↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

High-Temperature Mechanical Tensile Testing of Unidirectional Sic/Sic Composites Using A Versatile Lamp Furnace

Silicon carbide (SiC) based ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are of interest for high-temperature structural applications, including use in turbine engine components. To understand damage mechanisms and predict durability of these systems, in-depth knowledge of their behavior at ambient and high temperatures is necessary. A method for high temperature testing of SiC/SiC minicomposite specimens up to 1500oC in both tensile fast fracture and creep conditions to investigate their thermomechanical behavior will be presented. This method utilizes a novel radiation heat furnace, equipped with infrared lamps with ellipsoidal reflectors, to heat the specimen at the furnace center in user-defined atmospheres. The housing structure of the lamps allows for observation of the specimen during testing using optical methods and for conducting other experimental studies. The goal is to employ nondestructive health monitoring techniques in-situ, including acoustic emission (AE), electrical resistance (ER), and digital image correlation (DIC) to evaluate damage initiation and evolution in the minicomposite specimens during tensile testing. Results from mechanical testing and nondestructive techniques will be presented. Electron microscopy and X-ray micro-computed tomography were used to further characterize specimen damage after testing.

Aeronautics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Adaptive Control and Scaling Approach for the Emulation of Dynamic Sub-scale Torque Loads

Previous research by the authors proposed a control and scaling approach for emulating dynamic sub-scale torque loads. This approach produced an emulation controller that successfully regulated the dynamic behavior of a sub-scale electro-mechanical system intended to be a dynamical representation of the sub-scale turboelectric powertrain of a single-aisle commercial aircraft. The sub-scale system provides an environment without turbomachinery or rotors for the initial testing of electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) control algorithms as they would be applied to a full-scale EAP system. The sub-scale turbomachinery/rotor torque loads were produced by electric machines (EMs) driven by the control and scaling approach, a full-scale turboelectric powertrain model, and an advanced EAP control algorithm. Although successfully tested, this approach produces an emulation controller that does not guarantee asymptotic stability. Modifying the original control law and integrating adaptive control techniques into the emulation controller allows the designer to guarantee asymptotic stability. This paper introduces the idea behind the emulation controller modifications, derives the controller, proves asymptotic stability, describes the implementation of the controller on a sub-scale electro-mechanical system intended to represent a parallel hybrid-electric turbofan engine, and describes the testing of a full-scale advanced EAP control algorithm. The turbofan engine and emulation controller performance are compared to results obtained using the previous, non-adaptive control and scaling approach.

adaptive↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Adaptive Control and Scaling Approach for the Emulation of Dynamic Subscale Torque Loads

Previous research by the authors proposed a control and scaling approach for emulating dynamic sub-scale torque loads. This approach produced an emulation controller that successfully regulated the dynamic behavior of a sub-scale electro-mechanical system intended to be a dynamical representation of the sub-scale turboelectric powertrain of a single-aisle commercial aircraft. The sub-scale system provides an environment without turbomachinery or rotors for the initial testing of electrified aircraft propulsion (EAP) control algorithms as they would be applied to a full-scale EAP system. The sub-scale turbomachinery/rotor torque loads were produced by electric machines (EMs) driven by the control and scaling approach, a full-scale turboelectric powertrain model, and an advanced EAP control algorithm. Although successfully tested, this approach produces an emulation controller that does not guarantee asymptotic stability. Modifying the original control law and integrating adaptive control techniques into the emulation controller allows the designer to guarantee asymptotic stability. This paper introduces the idea behind the emulation controller modifications, derives the controller, proves asymptotic stability, describes the implementation of the controller on a sub-scale electro-mechanical system intended to represent a parallel hybrid-electric turbofan engine, and describes the testing of a full-scale advanced EAP control algorithm. The turbofan engine and emulation controller performance are compared to results obtained using the previous, non-adaptive control and scaling approach.

adaptive↗
DOE OSTI2025

REIMAGINING HEAT EXCHANGERS FOR NEXT GENERATION ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS

Air-to-refrigerant heat exchangers (HXs) are essential components in space conditioning, refrigeration, and power systems, and recent efforts have focused on making these devices more compact, reducing refrigerant charge and lowering manufacturing costs. Historically, HX innovation has been limited by available computational resources, design tools, and manufacturing constraints. The best available technologies utilize tube-fin and micro- or macro-channel tubes with fins, which are not necessarily the optimal designs achievable with current technology. In this paper, we highlight the latest advancements in air-to-refrigerant HXs, specifically emphasizing innovations achieved through shape and topology optimization. A multi-scale design optimization approach is introduced, alongside similar methods in literature, which enable highly sophisticated shape-optimized tube designs with more than 50% reduction in size and 25% reduction in refrigerant charge, essential for A3 refrigerant charge limit compliance. The frameworks integrate traditional heat and mass transfer science with state-of-the-art machine learning, genetic algorithms, and adjoint algorithms to create novel designs. While many of these innovative designs may not be manufacturable using conventional methods, they allow us explore the boundaries of what is possible. These novel air-to-refrigerant HXs are key enablers for ultra-low-refrigerant charge heat pump and refrigeration systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Convergence Criteria for Multiphysics Simulations

The behavior of engineered systems is often influenced by multiple physical phenomena, such as mechanical deformation, heat transfer, and chemical species transport and reactions. There are often strong interactions between these phenomena, and there is increasing interest in applying coupled-physics models to improve understanding of physical behavior under complex environmental conditions. Multiple simulation frameworks that facilitate coupled-physics simulations are in widespread use, and these employ a variety of techniques to account for interactions between those physics. Many frameworks solve the physics models independently and transfer results between them. Alternatively, a single monolithic system of equations for every physics model can be formed and solved. Each of these approaches has its benefits and drawbacks, and the optimal approach varies depending on the nature of the problem. The open-source MOOSE framework was developed targeting solution of large-scale multiphysics problems. Although it provides options for all these coupling approaches, its standard approach for multiphysics solutions is to form and solve a single monolithic system of equations containing the unknowns for all physics models. MOOSE provides a streamlined approach for users to define the solution variables, the terms in the partial differential equations pertaining to each variable, and interactions between solution variables. One aspect of the monolithic solution approach that can be problematic, however, is defining appropriate convergence criteria for the nonlinear system. A standard approach is to determine convergence is to simply take a norm of the residual vector corresponding to the full vector of unknowns. However, if the residual vector contains variables for multiple physics models, the magnitudes of those variables can differ significantly, and the variables can converge at significantly different rates from each other. It is important to ensure that the variables for each of the physics are converged, and also ensure that the convergence criteria are not excessively stringent in cases when there is little change in the solution. This talk presents representative multiphysics problems to highlight these issues, and shows strategies for convergence criteria in MOOSE that are robust for multiphysics models under a variety of conditions.

97 - MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS2002

Analysis of Parallel Burn Without Crossfeed TSTO RLV Architectures and Comparison to Parallel Burn With Crossfeed and Series Burn Architectures

There are currently three dominant TSTO class architectures. These are Series Burn (SB), Parallel Burn with crossfeed (PBw/cf), and Parallel Burn without crossfeed (PBncf). The goal of this study was to determine what factors uniquely affect PBncf architectures, how each of these factors interact, and to determine from a performance perspective whether a PBncf vehicle could be competitive with a PBw/cf or SB vehicle using equivalent technology and assumptions. In all cases, performance was evaluated on a relative basis for a fixed payload and mission by comparing gross and dry vehicle masses of a closed vehicle. Propellant combinations studied were LOX: LH2 propelled orbiter and booster (HH) and LOX: Kerosene booster with LOX: LH2 orbiter (KH). The study conclusions were: 1) a PBncf orbiter should be throttled as deeply as possible after launch until the staging point. 2) a detailed structural model is essential to accurate architecture analysis and evaluation. 3) a PBncf TSTO architecture is feasible for systems that stage at mach 7. 3a) HH architectures can achieve a mass growth relative to PBw/cf of < 20%. 3b) KH architectures can achieve a mass growth relative to Series Burn of < 20%. 4) center of gravity (CG) control will be a major issue for a PBncf vehicle, due to the low orbiter specific thrust to weight ratio and to the position of the orbiter required to align the nozzle heights at liftoff. 5 ) thrust to weight ratios of 1.3 at liftoff and between 1.0 and 0.9 when staging at mach 7 appear to be close to ideal for PBncf vehicles. 6) performance for all vehicles studied is better when staged at mach 7 instead of mach 5. The study showed that a Series Burn architecture has the lowest gross mass for HH cases, and has the lowest dry mass for KH cases. The potential disadvantages of SB are the required use of an air-start for the orbiter engines and potential CG control issues. A Parallel Burn with crossfeed architecture solves both these problems, but the mechanics of a large bipropellant crossfeed system pose significant technical difficulties. Parallel Burn without crossfeed vehicles start both booster and orbiter engines on the ground and thus avoid both the risk of orbiter air-start and the complexity of a crossfeed system. The drawback is that the orbiter must use 20% to 35% of its propellant before reaching the staging point. This induces a weight penalty in the orbiter in order to carry additional propellant, which causes a further weight penalty in the booster to achieve the same staging point. One way to reduce the orbiter propellant consumption during the first stage is to throttle down the orbiter engines as much as possible. Another possibility is to use smaller or fewer engines. Throttling the orbiter engines soon after liftoff minimizes CG control problems due to a low orbiter liftoff thrust, but may result in an unnecessarily high orbiter thrust after staging. Reducing the number or size of engines size may cause CG control problems and drift at launch. The study suggested possible methods to maximize performance of PBncf vehicle architectures in order to meet mission design requirements.

Smith, Garrett↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Formal Approach to Requirements-Based Programming

No significant general-purpose method is currently available to mechanically transform system requirements into a provably equivalent model. The widespread use of such a method represents a necessary step toward high-dependability system engineering for numerous application domains. Current tools and methods that start with a formal model of a system and mechanically produce a provably equivalent implementation are valuable but not sufficient. The "gap" unfilled by such tools and methods is that the formal models cannot be proven to be equivalent to the requirements. We offer a method for mechanically transforming requirements into a provably equivalent formal model that can be used as the basis for code generation and other transformations. This method is unique in offering full mathematical tractability while using notations and techniques that are well known and well trusted. Finally, we describe further application areas we are investigating for use of the approach.

Hinchey, Michael G.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Orbit Transfer Vehicle (OTV) advanced expander cycle engine point design study. Task 7: Engine data summary

A performance optimized engine system design for a man-rated advanced LOX/hydrogen expander cycle engine was investigated. The data are presented in tables, figures, and drawings. The following categories of data for the advanced expander cycle engine are presented: engine operating specification and pressure schedule; engine system layout drawing; major component layout drawings, including thrust chamber and nozzle, extendible nozzle actuating mechanism and seal, LOX turbopump, LOX boost pump, hydrogen turbopump, hydrogen boost pump, and propellant control valves; engine performance and service life prediction; engine weight; and engine envelope. The data represent updates based upon current results from the design and analyses tasks performed under contract. Futher iterations in the designs and data can be expected as the advanced expander cycle engine design matures.

Christensen, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb Evaluated Under Fretting Conditions

Material parameters govern many of the design decisions in any engineering task. When two materials are in contact and microscopically small, relative motions (either vibratory or creeping) occur, and fretting fatigue can result. Fretting fatigue is a material response influenced by the materials in contact as well as by such variables as loading and vibratory conditions. Fretting produces fresh, clean interacting surfaces and induces adhesion, galling, and wear in the contact zone. Time, money, and materials are unnecessarily wasted when galling and wear result in excessive fretting fatigue that leads to poorly performing, unreliable mechanical systems. Fretting fatigue is a complex problem of significant interest to aircraft engine manufacturers. It can occur in a variety of engine components. Numerous approaches, depending on the component and the operating conditions, have been taken to address the fretting problems. The components of interest in this investigation were the low-pressure turbine blades and disks. The blades in this case were titanium aluminide, Ti-48Al-2Cr- 2Nb, and the disk was a nickel-base superalloy, Inconel 718 (IN 718). A concern for these airfoils is the fretting in fitted interfaces at the dovetail where the blade and disk are connected. Careful design can reduce fretting in most cases, but not completely eliminate it, because the airfoils frequently have a skewed (angled) blade-disk dovetail attachment, which leads to a complex stress state. Furthermore, the local stress state becomes more complex when the influence of the metal-metal contact and the edge of contact are considered.

Miyoshi, Kazuhisa↗
NASA NTRS1981

Blade loss transient dynamics analysis, volume 1. Task 1: Survey and perspective

An analytical technique was developed to predict the behavior of a rotor system subjected to sudden unbalance. The technique is implemented in the Turbine Engine Transient Rotor Analysis (TETRA) computer program using the component element method. The analysis was particularly aimed toward blade-loss phenomena in gas turbine engines. A dual-rotor, casing, and pylon structure can be modeled by the computer program. Blade tip rubs, Coriolis forces, and mechanical clearances are included. The analytical system was verified by modeling and simulating actual test conditions for a rig test as well as a full-engine, blade-release demonstration.

Gallardo, V. C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Secure biosystems design in Saccharomyces cerevisiae establishes effective biocontainment strategies and mechanisms of escape

The widespread application of recombinant DNA and synthetic biology approaches for microbial metabolic engineering pursuits has motivated the development of biocontainment strategies, targeting safe and secure deployment of genetically modified microorganisms (GMMs). However, the design rules and mechanistic drivers governing biocontainment efficacy, as well as impacts of biocontainment upon microbial fitness, remain to be comprehensively evaluated, hindering predictive design and application of these strategies. We have developed a platform for high-resolution analysis of a transactivated kill switch in laboratory and industrial strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to assess modes of biocontainment escape and establish design rules for development of kill switch systems in diverse microbes. A camphor-regulated, RelE toxin system was systematically deployed to assess the impacts of differential kill switch copy number and ploidy in laboratory vs industrial strains. CRISPR-mediated integration of the biocontainment system at various loci revealed rapid escape events driven, in part, by mutations to both the Cam-transactivator (cam-TA) and RelE toxin. Genetic engineering enabled recapitulation of escape phenotypes, confirming mechanisms of escape and establishing structure-function relationships in the cam-TA system. Interestingly, genomic resequencing of escape mutants also revealed a series of off-target mutations, implicating additional modes of kill switch escape. Multi-copy integration of the kill switch system mitigated these effects by orders of magnitude, without compromising the biosynthetic capacity of the microbes, but proved insufficient to establish sustained biocontainment. The resultant data define a series of key design rules for next-generation biocontainment strategies and add to a growing foundational knowledge base targeting establishment of secure biosystems designs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Nuclear Materials Packaging, Transportation, and Systems Analysis Group Software Quality Assurance Plan: ANSYS Mechanical Finite Element Analysis Software Version 2023R1

ANSYS Inc. develops and markets engineering simulation software and services used in the aerospace, automotive, manufacturing, electronics, biomedical, energy, defense, and many other industries. ANSYS is dedicated to engineering simulation and is the world’s leading software provider. ANSYS was founded in 1970 and is headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. ANSYS provides an engineering analysis tool combining structural, thermal, computational fluid dynamics, acoustic, and electromagnetic simulation capabilities. ANSYS has two main programs, which use the same solvers: (1) Mechanical APDL (ANSYS Design Parametric Language), a Fortran-based coding platform, and (2) ANSYS Workbench, which uses a graphical user interface to aid in finite element analysis implementation. This plan covers both APDL and Workbench. The ANSYS computer program is a large-scale, multipurpose finite element program that can be used to solve several classes of engineering analyses. The analysis capabilities of ANSYS include the ability to solve static and dynamic structural analyses, steady-state and transient heat transfer problems, mode-frequency and buckling eigenvalue problems, static or time-varying magnetic analyses, and various types of field and coupled-field applications. The program contains many special features that allow nonlinearities or secondary effects such as plasticity, large strain, hyperelasticity, creep, swelling, large deflections, contact, stress stiffening, temperature dependency, material anisotropy, and radiation to be included in the solution. As ANSYS has been developed, other special capabilities such as substructuring, submodeling, random vibration, kinetostatics, kinetodynamics, free convection fluid analysis, acoustics, magnetics, piezoelectrics, coupled-field analysis, and design optimization have been added to the program. These capabilities contribute further to making ANSYS a multipurpose analysis tool for varied engineering disciplines. The ANSYS program has been in commercial use for over 50 years and has been used extensively in the aerospace, automotive, construction, electronic, energy services, manufacturing, nuclear, plastics, oil, and steel industries. Additionally, many consulting firms and hundreds of universities have used ANSYS for analysis, research, and educational purposes. ANSYS is recognized worldwide as one of the most widely used and capable programs of its type. Ansys design analysis software is the first created within a quality system with ISO 9001 certification, the internationally accepted quality standard. Product development, testing, maintenance and support processes also meet the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission's quality requirements, as they have for nearly four decades. The Quality Assurance Service Agreement is suitable for the customers working in the nuclear industry who need to meet specific federal regulations including 10CRF50 Appendix B and provisions of 10CFR21. ANSYS has retained its original International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 accreditation certificate since1995-05-04, It’s current certificate is valid until 2027-05-29.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Complex Electrical Conductivity of a Single‐Fractured Rock: Fracture‐and‐Matrix Coupling Mechanism and Aperture Size Predictions

Fractured rocks play a crucial role in myriad natural and engineered systems, including Earth's critical zone, oil/gas/geothermal reservoirs, and geological CO 2 /H 2 /waste storage systems. While complex electrical conductivity is extensively used to estimate the pore and grain sizes of conventional porous rocks and soils, it is rarely used to predict the aperture size of fractured rocks and this remains poorly understood. Here, integrating theory, simulations, and experiments, we show that under external fields, fractured rocks follow the fracture-and-matrix coupling to make the bulk complex conductivity non-linear with respect to water conductivity. We find that the relaxation time and quadrature conductivity for porous media do not apply to fractured rocks, but, instead, reasonably accurate predictions of aperture size can be made based on the true formation factor. This study unravels the fundamental mechanism governing conduction and polarization of fractured rocks and paves the way for the non-invasive investigation of global fractured rocks.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

DECOVALEX-2023: Task F2 Salt Final Report

The subject of Task F of DECOVALEX-2023 concerns performance assessment modelling of radioactive waste disposal in deep mined repositories. The primary objectives of Task F are to build confidence in the models, methods, and software used for performance assessment (PA) of deep geologic nuclear waste repositories, and/or to bring to the fore additional research and development needed to improve PA methodologies. In Task F2- (salt), these objectives have been accomplished through staged development and comparison of the models and methods used by participating teams in their PA frameworks. Coupled-process submodels and deterministic simulations of the entire PA model for a reference scenario for waste disposal in domal salt have been conducted. The task specification has been updated continuously since the initiation of the project to reflect the staged development of the conceptual repository model and performance metrics. Thermal, hydrological, mechanical, and chemical properties of individual components of the engineered and natural system were chosen for relevance by participating teams. The salt reference case system was characterized using data and measurements collected at relevant underground research laboratories (URLs), field sites, and simulation results from teams with specialized modelling capability. Participating teams made a wide range of model assumptions from compartmentalized networks to full 3D models of the salt formation. No single contributed model includes full-fidelity representation of all the features, events, and processes (FEPs) detailed in the task specification, but almost all features and processes are represented in at least one model. Despite differences in the modelling strategies developed by participating teams, all models indicate that salt compaction and radionuclide diffusion are key processes in the repository, and for the FEPs and model scenario considered, little of the disposed radionuclides will migrate beyond the repository seal over the 100,000 year simulations. In general, the model output quantities have the largest differences over the short term and near the waste. The models tend to be more similar further from waste and at later time. Disparities between the models are believed to be due to differing simplifications from the task specification, some of which are chosen simplifications to reduce complexity, and some are restrictions imposed by the modelling tools. A second round of this task has been accepted for DECOVALEX-2027 in conjunction with Task F1 on crystalline PA modelling. The future round includes waste package heating, improved modelling of salt creep closure, additional comparisons of coupled-process sub-models, and the impact of repository engineering design on radionuclide migration in the repository. Participants will also propose and finalize a set of uncertain inputs for the reference case simulations, propagate these uncertainties in a set of realizations, and conduct sensitivity analyses on the simulation results.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗