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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 271 records · Page 15
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2015

Exploring Propulsion System Requirements for More and All-Electric Helicopters

Helicopters offer unique capabilities that are important for certain missions. More and all-electric propulsion systems for helicopters offer the potential for improved efficiency, reliability, vehicle and mission capabilities as well as reduced harmful emissions. To achieve these propulsion system-based benefits, the relevant requirements must be understood and developed for the various component, sub-component and ancillary systems of the overall propulsion system. Three representative helicopters were used to explore propulsion and overall vehicle and mission requirements. These vehicles varied from light utility (one to three occupants) to highly capable (three crew members plus ten passengers and cargo). Assuming 15 and 30 year technology availability, analytical models for electric system components were developed to understand component and ancillary requirements. Overall propulsion system characteristics were developed and used for vehicle sizing and mission analyses to understand the tradeoffs of component performance and weight, with increase in vehicle size and mission capability. Study results indicate that only the light utility vehicle retained significant payload for an arbitrary 100 nautical mile range assuming 15 year technology. Thirty year technology assumptions for battery energy storage are sufficient to enable some range and payload capabilities, but further improvements in energy density are required to maintain or exceed payload and range capabilities versus present systems. Hydrocarbon-fueled range extenders can be prudently used to recover range and payload deficiencies resulting from battery energy density limitations. Thermal loads for electric systems are low heat quality, but seem manageable. To realize the benefits from more and all-electric systems, technology goals must be achieved, as well as identify vehicles, missions and systems that are best suited to take advantage of their unique characteristics.

gearbox↗
NASA NTRS2015

A Description of the Development, Capabilities, and Operational Status of the Test SLATE Data Acquisition System at the National Transonic Facility

The paper will present a brief background of the previous data acquisition system at the National Transonic Facility (NTF) and the reasoning and goals behind the upgrade to the current Test SLATE (Test Software Laboratory and Automated Testing Environments) data acquisition system. The components, performance characteristics, and layout of the Test SLATE system within the NTF control room will be discussed. The development, testing, and integration of Test SLATE within NTF operations will be detailed. The operational capabilities of the system will be outlined including: test setup, instrumentation calibration, automatic test sequencer setup, data recording, communication between data and facility control systems, real time display monitoring, and data reduction. The current operational status of the Test SLATE system and its performance during recent NTF testing will be highlighted including high-speed, frame-by-frame data acquisition with conditional sampling post-processing applied. The paper concludes with current development work on the system including the capability for real-time conditional sampling during data acquisition and further efficiency enhancements to the wind tunnel testing process.

Cramer, Christopher J.↗
NASA NTRS2018

Validation and Norms of Cognition and Spaceflight Assessments with Senior Military Leaders

Spaceflight hazards include risks to cognitive performance. NASA requires sensitive neuropsychological screening tools to determine changes to cognitive risks to crew health and performance. Currently, NASA uses WinSCAT (Spaceflight Cognitive Assessment Tool for Windows) for neurocognitive screening and to monitor the status of astronauts during spaceflight. The CognitionTest Battery was recently developed by NASA-funded researchers at UPenn as part of the Behavioral Health and Performance component of NASA Standard Measures. This research provides independently validated norms and psychometric properties to compare WinSCAT to Cognition using a military population who operates in high demand, extreme environments similar to those experienced by astronauts (deployments, isolation, extreme environments).

Williams, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Large-Scale Boundary Layer Ingesting Propulsor Research

NASA’s Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) project is investigating boundary layer ingesting (BLI) propulsors for advanced subsonic commercial vehicle concepts to enable the reduction of fuel burn. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from NASA, United Technologies Research Center (UTRC), Virginia Polytechnic University, and the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex developed and tested an embedded BLI inlet and distortion-tolerant fan (BLI2DTF) system in the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) 8- foot by 6-foot (8x6) transonic wind tunnel. The test demonstrated the component performance goals necessary for an overall fuel burn reduction of 3 to 5 percent on a large hybrid wing body (HWB) aircraft. Special test equipment, including a raised floor with flow effectors and a bleed system, was developed for use in the 8x6 to produce the appropriate incoming boundary layer representative of an HWB application. Detailed measurements were made to determine the inlet total pressure loss and distortion, fan stage efficiency, and aeromechanic performance including blade vibration stress and displacement response. Results from this test were used as input to a vehicle-level system study performed by the AATT project to assess the impact of BLI on an alternative advanced concept aircraft referred to as the NASA D8 (ND8), which is somewhat similar to the HWB in its integration of the propulsor. This paper will provide an overview of the project timeline, special test equipment needed in the wind tunnel to develop the appropriate incoming boundary layer, and the difficulties in designing a propulsor for the test. The paper will conclude with some representative aerodynamic and aeromechanic data from the test itself and conclude with how this data was used in the ND8 system study.

Aerodynamic performance↗
NASA NTRS2019

Large-Scale Boundary Layer Ingesting Propulsor Research

_NASA's Advanced Air Transport Technology (AATT) project is investigating boundary layer ingesting (BLI) propulsors for advanced subsonic commercial vehicle concepts to enable the reduction of fuel burn. A multidisciplinary team of researchers from NASA, United Technologies Research Center (UTRC), Virginia Polytechnic University, and the Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex developed and tested an embedded BLI inlet and distortion-tolerant fan (BLI2DTF) system in the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) 8-foot by 6-foot (8x6) transonic wind tunnel. The test demonstrated the component performance goals necessary for an overall fuel burn reduction of 3 to 5 percent on a large hybrid wing body (HWB) aircraft. Special test equipment, including a raised floor with flow effectors and a bleed system, was developed for use in the 8x6 to produce the appropriate incoming boundary layer representative of an HWB application. Detailed measurements were made to determine the inlet total pressure loss and distortion, fan stage efficiency, and aeromechanic performance including blade vibration stress and displacement response. Results from this test were used as input to a vehicle-level system study performed by the AATT project to assess the impact of BLI on an alternative advanced concept aircraft referred to as the NASA D8 (ND8), which is somewhat similar to the HWB in its integration of the propulsor. This paper will provide an overview of the project timeline, special test equipment needed in the wind tunnel to develop the appropriate incoming boundary layer, and the difficulties in designing a propulsor for the test. The paper will conclude with some representative aerodynamic and aeromechanic data from the test itself and conclude with how this data was used in the ND8 system study.

Celestina, Mark L.↗
NASA NTRS2019

A comprehensive line spread function error for the Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment

The Off-plane Grating Rocket Experiment (OGRE) is a soft X-ray grating spectrometer to be flown on a suborbital rocket. The payload is designed to obtain the highest-resolution soft X-ray spectrum of Capella to date with a resolution goal of R(lambda/delta lambda) > 2000 at select wavelengths in its 10 - 55 A bandpass of interest. The optical design of the spectrometer realizes a maximum resolution of R 5000 with all components performing optimally, in perfect alignment, and not considering in-flight pointing errors; however, performance errors, misalignments, and in-flight pointing errors work to degrade this performance. A comprehensive line spread function (LSF) error budget has been constructed for the spectrometer to identify errors contributing to the LSF, to determine how each affects the LSF, and to inform performance requirements and alignment tolerances for the spectrometer. In this document, the comprehensive LSF error budget for the OGRE spectrometer is presented and its implications are discussed.

Benjamin D Donovan↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Utilizing Electrical Power Extraction for Stability Bleed Reduction within Gas Turbine Engines

This paper studies the role of power extraction in gas turbine stability and how an engine may be designed to utilize this extraction to replace engine stability bleed requirements with electrical system requirements. The considered engine architecture contains two engine spools and a power turbine spool. In the baseline, low-pressure compressor stall margin is maintained by bleed air from the back of the low-pressure compressor, which is then dumped to the bypass. Power extraction from the high-pressure and low-pressure shafts are then utilized as a replacement for this bleed. This study considers component performance, sizing, efficiency, and operability, but does not consider weight or cost. Analysis within this paper is general and the concepts could be applied to other dual spool engine types, including a turbofan. Results show it is possible to completely remove the stability bleed between the low pressure and high-pressure compressor by utilizing a 35% power extraction from the high-pressure shaft or a 1.5% power extraction from the low-pressure turbine.

Gas Turbine↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Utilizing Electrical Power Extraction for Stability Bleed Reduction within Gas Turbine Engines

This paper studies the role of power extraction in gas turbine stability and how an engine may be designed to utilize this extraction to replace engine stability bleed requirements with electrical system requirements. The considered engine architecture contains two engine spools and a power turbine spool. In the baseline, low-pressure compressor stall margin is maintained by bleed air from the back of the low-pressure compressor, which is then dumped to the bypass. Power extraction from the high-pressure and low-pressure shafts are then utilized as a replacement for this bleed. This study considers component performance, sizing, efficiency, and operability, but does not consider weight or cost. Analysis within this paper is general and the concepts could be applied to other dual spool engine types, including a turbofan. Results show it is possible to completely remove the stability bleed between the low pressure and high-pressure compressor by utilizing a 35% power extraction from the high-pressure shaft or a 1.5% power extraction from the low-pressure turbine.

Gas Turbine↗
NASA NTRS2022

A Novel Machine Learning-Based Gap-Filling of Fine-Resolution Remotely Sensed Snow Cover Fraction Data By Combining Downscaling and Regression

Satellite-based remotely sensed observations of snow cover fraction (SCF) can have data gaps in spatially distributed coverage from sensor and orbital limitations. We mitigate these limitations in the example fine-resolution Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data by gap-filling using auxiliary 1-km datasets that either aid in downscaling from coarser-resolution (5 km) MODIS SCF wherever not fully covered by clouds, or else by themselves via regression wherever fully cloud covered. This study’s prototype predicts a 1-km version of the 500-m MOD10A1 SCF target. Due to noncollocatedness of spatial gaps even across input and auxiliary datasets, we consider a recent gap-agnostic advancement of partial convolution in computer vision for both training and predictive gap-filling. Partial convolution accommodates spatially consistent gaps across the input images, effectively implementing a two-dimensional masking. To overcome reduced usable data from noncollocated spatial gaps across inputs, we innovate a fully generalized three-dimensional masking in this partial convolution. This enables a valid output value at a pixel even if only a single valid input variable and its value exist in the neighborhood covered by the convolutional filter zone centered around that pixel. Thus, our gap-agnostic technique can use significantly more examples for training (∼67%) and prediction (∼100%), instead of only less than 10% for the previous partial convolution. We train an example simple three-layer legacy super-resolution convolutional neural network (SRCNN) to obtain downscaling and regression component performances that are better than baseline values of either climatology or MOD10C1 SCF as relevant. Our generalized partial convolution can enable multiple Earth science applications like downscaling, regression, classification, and segmentation that were hindered by data gaps.

Soni Yatheendradas↗
NASA NTRS2022

Turbine Electrified Energy Management for Single Aisle Aircraft

Electrified aircraft propulsion technology is being developed to reduce the environmental impacts of the aviation industry. This is prompting the exploration of potential uses and benefits of hybrid systems in which electric powertrains are integrated with more traditional gas turbine propulsion systems. Turbine Electrified Energy Management (TEEM) is an energy management approach for hybrid-electric architectures in which electric machines are connected to the turbofan shafts and used to suppress the off-design operation naturally associated with engine transients. This reduces the need to maintain a large amount of compressor operability margin, thus allowing further exploration of the engine design space. In this study, a 19,000 lbf engine within a parallel hybrid propulsion system is considered along with a 30,000 lbf standalone engine. Data from prior TEEM applications are used to approximate the electric machine sizing required to achieve operability benefits. The TEEM controller is shown to improve operability during transients through the reduction of stall margin undershoots and the decrease of transient variations in component performance maps by over 29%.

Controls↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Turbine Electrified Energy Management for Single Aisle Aircraft

Electrified aircraft propulsion technology is being developed to reduce the environmental impacts of the aviation industry. This is prompting the exploration of potential uses and benefits of hybrid systems in which electric powertrains are integrated with more traditional gas turbine propulsion systems. Turbine Electrified Energy Management (TEEM) is an energy management approach for hybrid-electric architectures in which electric machines are connected to the turbofan shafts and used to suppress the off-design operation naturally associated with engine transients. This reduces the need to maintain a large amount of compressor operability margin, thus allowing further exploration of the engine design space. In this study, a 19,000 lbf engine within a parallel hybrid propulsion system is considered along with a 30,000 lbf standalone engine. Data from prior TEEM applications are used to approximate the electric machine sizing required to achieve operability benefits. The TEEM controller is shown to improve operability during transients through the reduction of stall margin undershoots and the decrease of transient variations in component performance maps by over 29%.

EAP↗
NASA NTRS2022

CALET Search for Electromagnetic Counterparts of Gravitational Waves During the LIGO/Virgo O3 Run

The CALorimetric Electron Telescope (CALET)on the International Space Station consists of a high-energy cosmic-ray CALorimeter (CAL)and a lower-energy CALET Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (CGBM). CAL is sensitive to electrons up to 20 TeV, cosmic-ray nuclei from Z=1 throughZ∼40, and gamma rays over the range1 GeV–10 TeV. CGBM observes gamma rays from 7 keV to 20 MeV. The combined CAL-CGBM instrument has conducted a search for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs)since 2015 October. We report here on the results of a search for X-ray/gamma-ray counterparts to gravitational-wave events reported during the LIGO/Virgo observing run O3. No events have been detected that pass all acceptance criteria. We describe the components, performance, and triggering algorithms of the CGBM—the two Hard X-ray Monitors consisting of LaBr3(Ce)scintillators sensitive to 7 keV–1 MeV gamma rays and a Soft Gamma-ray Monitor BGO scintillator sensitive to 40 keV–20 MeV—and the high-energy CAL consisting of a charge detection module, imaging calorimeter, and the fully active total absorption calorimeter. The analysis procedure is described and upper limits to the time-averaged fluxes are presented.

Gamma-ray astronomy↗
NASA NTRS2023

The Impact of Soft Magnetic Materials in Electrified Aircraft Applications

Electrical systems with high power and high power density are integral to many aerospace and energy applications. These systems, enabled by power electronics with wide bandgap semiconductor devices, require management of both efficiency/thermal aspects and electromagnetic interference that are problems specific to high power and high frequency applications, respectively. In addition to advanced active components, these applications also require passive components (inductors, capacitors, conductors) capable of operation under challenging conditions. This work surveys the state of the art of magnetic components and soft magnetic materials used as inductive cores. The wide variety of motor and converter topologies translates to a variety of requirements in the magnetics including mechanical properties, permeabilities, and frequency response. The scaling impact of material properties will be surveyed with respect to component performance and sizing, using both data from experiment and the published literature. Variations on simulations, both in lumped circuits and finite element models, will also be discussed as these are important aspects of the design phase of modern power electronics.

Alex Leary↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

System Health Management for a Series/Parallel Partial Hybrid Powertrain with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple interacting subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can leverage for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. A NASA concept aircraft, the SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan, is such a vehicle. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid-electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed and implemented. This paper describes the development of some of these algorithms for system health management applied to the powertrain of the SUSAN concept aircraft.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Pretest Simulations of a Supersonic Mixing and Combustion Validation Experiment to Assess Sensitivities

The reliance on CFD simulations to develop, design, and optimize scramjet systems (or components) has become commonplace. This reliance inevitably hinges on the ability of the computational analyst to quantify the level of confidence in their computational results. Unfortunately, nearly all the measured data available for this assessment comes from antiquated experimental datasets, or from tests that focused on the extraction of scramjet system (or component) performance. The objective of a CFD validation experiment is to quantify the predictive accuracy of one or more of the CFD physics submodels, implying that other uncertainties related to replicating the facility flow environment (e.g., knowledge of boundary conditions) must be minimized to the extent possible. This inevitably places stringent requirements on the quality and quantity of measurements taken to accurately specify inflow, outflow, and surface conditions for the CFD simulations; in addition to the measurements taken for the validation of physics submodels. This places additional demands on the experimental process above and beyond those for test article performance assessment. A recent high speed code credibility workshop series sponsored by AFRL identified a gap in existing validation data for fundamental assessments of turbulent mixing and combustion CFD closure models at scramjet engine relevant conditions. To address this gap, engineers at AFRL have designed a coaxial jet flame configuration that will be tested at two facilities (Research Cell 19 at the Air Force Research Lab, and at Purdue University). The effort described here documents pretest simulations of this validation experiment with the goal of fleshing out the extent of the facility flowpath that must be included to adequately reproduce the facility test section flow environment. The findings indicate that the flow around the support structure for the fuel injection centerbody upstream of the facility nozzle generates disturbances that persist throughout the nozzle expansion process; corrupting the azimuthal symmetry that was desired in the fuel/air mixing region of the test section. Simulations without this support structure maintained a high degree of azimuthal symmetry up until the fuel injection plane. However, even in this scenario the azimuthal symmetry was not maintained once the centerbody boundary layer transitioned to a wake flow downstream of the fuel injection plane.

CFD↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Pretest Simulations of a Supersonic Mixing and Combustion Validation Experiment to Assess Sensitivities

The reliance on CFD simulations to develop, design, and optimize scramjet systems (or components) has become commonplace. This reliance inevitably hinges on the ability of the computational analyst to quantify the level of confidence in their computational results. Unfortunately, nearly all the measured data available for this assessment comes from antiquated experimental datasets, or from tests that focused on the extraction of scramjet system (or component) performance. The objective of a CFD validation experiment is to quantify the predictive accuracy of one or more of the CFD physics submodels, implying that other uncertainties related to replicating the facility flow environment (e.g., knowledge of boundary conditions) must be minimized to the extent possible. This inevitably places stringent requirements on the quality and quantity of measurements taken to accurately specify inflow, outflow, and surface conditions for the CFD simulations; in addition to the measurements taken for the validation of physics submodels. This places additional demands on the experimental process above and beyond those for test article performance assessment. A recent high speed code credibility workshop series sponsored by AFRL identified a gap in existing validation data for fundamental assessments of turbulent mixing and combustion CFD closure models at scramjet engine relevant conditions. To address this gap, engineers at AFRL have designed a coaxial jet flame configuration that will be tested at two facilities (Research Cell 19 at the Air Force Research Lab, and at Purdue University). The effort described here documents pretest simulations of this validation experiment with the goal of fleshing out the extent of the facility flowpath that must be included to adequately reproduce the facility test section flow environment. The findings indicate that the flow around the support structure for the fuel injection centerbody upstream of the facility nozzle generates disturbances that persist throughout the nozzle expansion process; corrupting the azimuthal symmetry that was desired in the fuel/air mixing region of the test section. Simulations without this support structure maintained a high degree of azimuthal symmetry up until the fuel injection plane. However, even in this scenario the azimuthal symmetry was not maintained once the centerbody boundary layer transitioned to a wake flow downstream of the fuel injection plane.

CFD↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

System Health Management for a Series/Parallel Partial Hybrid Powertrain with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple interacting subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can leverage for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. A NASA concept aircraft, the SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan, is such a vehicle. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid-electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed and implemented. This paper describes the development of some of these algorithms for system health management applied to the powertrain of the SUSAN concept aircraft.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗
NASA NTRS2024

System Health Management for a Series/Parallel Partial Hybrid Powertrain with Distributed Electric Propulsion

Electrified aircraft powertrains contain multiple interacting subsystems, making them much more complex than traditional aircraft propulsion systems in terms of integration and control. Electrification enables aircraft to have distributed thrust-producing fans that the flight control system can leverage for enhanced maneuverability, further increasing the control complexity. A NASA concept aircraft, the SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan, is such a vehicle. SUSAN is a series/parallel partial hybrid-electric single-aisle transport aircraft that takes advantage of its electrified powertrain to provide fuel burn and emissions benefits when compared to the state-of-the-art. Achieving these benefits requires an appropriately designed control architecture that coordinates the various powertrain and flight control subsystems. As such, the SUSAN aircraft is designed with a high level of automation, allowing it to properly manage coupled subsystems and react rapidly to failures and anomalies. To do this effectively, algorithms that perform component health management, fault detection, isolation, and accommodation, and continuous optimization, must be developed and implemented. This paper describes the development of some of these algorithms for system health management applied to the powertrain of the SUSAN concept aircraft.

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion↗