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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 NTRS2000

Ground Vibration Test Planning and Pre-Test Analysis for the X-33 Vehicle

This paper describes the results of the modal test planning and the pre-test analysis for the X-33 vehicle. The pre-test analysis included the selection of the target modes, selection of the sensor and shaker locations and the development of an accurate Test Analysis Model (TAM). For target mode selection, four techniques were considered, one based on the Modal Cost technique, one based on Balanced Singular Value technique, a technique known as the Root Sum Squared (RSS) method, and a Modal Kinetic Energy (MKE) approach. For selecting sensor locations, four techniques were also considered; one based on the Weighted Average Kinetic Energy (WAKE), one based on Guyan Reduction (GR), one emphasizing engineering judgment, and one based on an optimum sensor selection technique using Genetic Algorithm (GA) search technique combined with a criteria based on Hankel Singular Values (HSV's). For selecting shaker locations, four techniques were also considered; one based on the Weighted Average Driving Point Residue (WADPR), one based on engineering judgment and accessibility considerations, a frequency response method, and an optimum shaker location selection based on a GA search technique combined with a criteria based on HSV's. To evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed sensor and shaker locations for exciting the target modes, extensive numerical simulations were performed. Multivariate Mode Indicator Function (MMIF) was used to evaluate the effectiveness of each sensor & shaker set with respect to modal parameter identification. Several TAM reduction techniques were considered including, Guyan, IRS, Modal, and Hybrid. Based on a pre-test cross-orthogonality checks using various reduction techniques, a Hybrid TAM reduction technique was selected and was used for all three vehicle fuel level configurations.

Bedrossian, Herand↗
NASA NTRS1961

Large-Scale Wind-Tunnel Tests of Exhaust Ingestion Due to Thrust Reversal on a Four-Engine Jet Transport during Ground Roll

Wind-tunnel tests have been conducted on a large-scale model of a swept-wing jet transport type airplane to study the factors affecting exhaust gas ingestion into the engine inlets when thrust reversal is used during ground roll. The model was equipped with four small jet engines mounted in nacelles beneath the wing. The tests included studies of both cascade and target type reversers. The data obtained included the free-stream velocity at the occurrence of exhaust gas ingestion in the outboard engine and the increment of drag due to thrust reversal for various modifications of thrust reverser configuration. Motion picture films of smoke flow studies were also obtained to supplement the data. The results show that the free-stream velocity at which ingestion occurred in the outboard engines could be reduced considerably, by simple modifications to the reversers, without reducing the effective drag due to reversed thrust.

Tolhurst, William H., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Holistic Design for Total Product Well Being

Recent hardware development work at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center creates and argument for the use of a holistic design approach as opposed to a piece part design approach. A piece part design approach being one where individual pieces are developed to their finished state having to meet certain interface and human engineering requirements without much consideration to the final product as a whole. A holistic design approach being one where the final product is evaluated early and frequently during the design process, and individual parts are developed with consideration to how they interact a whole,and how they interact with the user and environment. Examples from the development of the Materials Science Research Rack - 1 will illustrate: a design failure due to piece part design; a design save, due to a failure of piece part design, but saved by evaluating the design holistically; and a design success due to a holistic design approach.

Adams, Chris W.↗
NASA NTRS2005

NASA Glenn Research Center Program in High Power Density Motors for Aeropropulsion

Electric drive of transport-sized aircraft propulsors, with electric power generated by fuel cells or turbo-generators, will require electric motors with much higher power density than conventional room-temperature machines. Cryogenic cooling of the motor windings by the liquid hydrogen fuel offers a possible solution, enabling motors with higher power density than turbine engines. Some context on weights of various systems, which is required to assess the problem, is presented. This context includes a survey of turbine engine weights over a considerable size range, a correlation of gear box weights and some examples of conventional and advanced electric motor weights. The NASA Glenn Research Center program for high power density motors is outlined and some technical results to date are presented. These results include current densities of 5,000 A per square centimeter current density achieved in cryogenic coils, finite element predictions compared to measurements of torque production in a switched reluctance motor, and initial tests of a cryogenic switched reluctance motor.

Brown, Gerald V.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Granular Flow and Dynamics of Lunar Simulants in Excavating Implements

The exploration of the lunar surface will rely on properly designed excavation equipment for surface preparations and for collection of lunar regolith in In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) processes. Performance efficiency, i.e minimizing loading forces while maximizing material collection, and mass and volume reductions are major design goals. The NASA Glenn Research Center has embarked on an experimental program to determine the flow characteristics and dynamic forces produced by excavation operations using various excavator bucket designs. A new large scale soil bin facility, 2.27 m x 5.94 m x 0.76 m (nominally 8 ft. x 20 ft. x 27 in.) in size, capable of accommodating moderately large test implements was used for the simulations of lunar operations. The soil bin is filled with GRC-3simulant (a mixture of industrial sands and silt with a particle size distribution and the bulk mechanical (shear) strength representative of an average of lunar regolith from different regions) and uses motorized horizontal rails and a vertical actuator to drive the implement through the lunar simulant soil. A six-axis load cell and encoders provide well resolved measurements of the three dimensional forces and torques and motion of the bucket. In addition, simultaneous video allows for the analysis of the flow behavior and structure formation of the regolith during excavation. The data may be useful in anchoring soil mechanic models and to provide engineering data for design consideration.

Agui, Juan H.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Comprehensive Forced Response Analysis of J2X Turbine Bladed-Discs with 36- Degree Variation in CFD Loading

At NASA/MSFC, Structural Dynamics personnel continue to perform advanced analysis for the turbomachinery in the J2X Rocket Engine, which is under consideration for the new Space Launch System. One of the most challenging analyses in the program is predicting turbine blade structural capability. Resonance was predicted by modal analysis, so comprehensive forced response analyses using high fidelity cyclic symmetric finite element models were initiated as required. Analysis methodologies up to this point have assumed the flow field could be fully described by a sector, so the loading on every blade would be identical as it travelled through it. However, in the J2X the CFD flow field varied over the 360 deg of a revolution because of the flow speeds and tortuous axial path. MSFC therefore developed a complex procedure using Nastran Dmap's and Matlab scripts to apply this circumferentially varying loading onto the cyclically symmetric structural models to produce accurate dynamic stresses for every blade on the disk. This procedure is coupled with static, spin, and thermal loading to produce high cycle fatigue safety factors resulting in much more accurate analytical assessments of the blades.

Elrod, David↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Power of Self-Skepticism in Astrobiology

Any claims for evidence of life on other worlds have the potential to be transformative events in human history. Accordingly, any such claims will be met with intense scrutiny from the scientific community. This will be particularly true for claims for evidence of life on exoplanets--planets around other stars--for which we will only have remote-sensing data and no ability to grab a piece of that world and put it under both literal and figurative microscopes. The data upon which these claims will be made will be the integrated product of the entire careers of some of the world's greatest scientists and engineers, paid for by considerable taxpayer expense. This presents astrobiologists with a paradox: How can such investments be justified if the end goal is destined to be a highly scrutinized discovery?

Shawn Domagal-Goldman↗
NASA NTRS2017

The Power of Self-Skepticism in Astrobiology

Any claims for evidence of life on other worlds have the potential to be transformative events in human history. ccordingly, any such claims will be met with intense scrutiny from the scientific community. This will be particularly true for claims for evidence of life on exoplanets-planets around other stars-for which we will only have remote-sensing data and no ability to grab a piece of that world and put it under both literal and figurative microscopes. The data upon which these claims will be made will be the integrated product of the entire careers of some of the world's greatest scientists and engineers, paid for by considerable taxpayer expense. This presents astrobiologists with a paradox: How can such investments be justified if the end goal is destined to be a highly scrutinized discovery?

Biosignature↗
NASA NTRS2020

Flutter Analysis with Stabilized Finite Elements Based on the Linearized Frequency-Domain Approach

When designing and certifying aircraft, engineers must take into consideration aeroelastic effects such as flutter. Design and certification of a vehicle may require analysis of thousands of aeroelastic responses. Standard tools in the aerospace industry are based on linear aerodynamic models such as the doublet-lattice method, but these methods can be nonconservative in certain situations such as in the transonic regime. While computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a higher fidelity alternative, the time-marching approach has a drastically increased computational cost compared to the linear aerodynamic methods. By taking advantage of the periodic nature of flutter, frequency-domain methods offer a more efficient alternative to time-marching CFD. In this work, a linearized frequency-domain method is implemented and verified in the stabilized finite-element solver in FUN3D. The linearized frequency-domain method is demonstrated and compared to other methods for traditional benchmark cases for computational aeroelasticity: the AGARD 445.6 wing, the Benchmark Supercritical Wing, and the Benchmark NACA 0012Wing.

Kevin E Jacobson↗
NASA NTRS2010

A Historical Systems Study of Liquid Rocket Engine Throttling Capabilities

This is a comprehensive systems study to examine and evaluate throttling capabilities of liquid rocket engines. The focus of this study is on engine components, and how the interactions of these components are considered for throttling applications. First, an assessment of space mission requirements is performed to determine what applications require engine throttling. A background on liquid rocket engine throttling is provided, along with the basic equations that are used to predict performance. Three engines are discussed that have successfully demonstrated throttling. Next, the engine system is broken down into components to discuss special considerations that need to be made for engine throttling. This study focuses on liquid rocket engines that have demonstrated operational capability on American space launch vehicles, starting with the Apollo vehicle engines and ending with current technology demonstrations. Both deep throttling and shallow throttling engines are discussed. Boost and sustainer engines have demonstrated throttling from 17% to 100% thrust, while upper stage and lunar lander engines have demonstrated throttling in excess of 10% to 100% thrust. The key difficulty in throttling liquid rocket engines is maintaining an adequate pressure drop across the injector, which is necessary to provide propellant atomization and mixing. For the combustion chamber, cooling can be an issue at low thrust levels. For turbomachinery, the primary considerations are to avoid cavitation, stall, surge, and to consider bearing leakage flows, rotordynamics, and structural dynamics. For valves, it is necessary to design valves and actuators that can achieve accurate flow control at all thrust levels. It is also important to assess the amount of nozzle flow separation that can be tolerated at low thrust levels for ground testing.

Betts, Erin M.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Engineering study of the rotary-vee engine concept

The applicable thermodynamic cycle and performance considerations when the rotary-vee mechanism is used as an internal combustion (I.C.) heat engine are reviewed. Included is a simplified kinematic analysis and studies of the effects of design parameters on the critical pressures, torques and parasitic losses. A discussion of the principal findings is presented.

Willis, Edward A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Processing study of injection molding of silicon nitride for engine applications

The high hardness of silicon nitride, which is currently under consideration as a structural material for such hot engine components as turbine blades, renders machining of the material prohibitively costly; the near net shape forming technique of injection molding is accordingly favored as a means for component fabrication. Attention is presently given to the relationships between injection molding processing parameters and the resulting microstructural and mechanical properties of the resulting engine parts. An experimental program has been conducted under NASA sponsorship which tests the quality of injection molded bars of silicon nitride at various stages of processing.

Rorabaugh, M. E.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Computer program for the design of toroidal transformers

Program relieves designer of most of the computational details, while he maintains control over most engineering decisions. Number of specifications that must be supplied by user allows for considerable flexibility and for exercise of engineering judgment. Speed of program makes it possible to run many cases, economically determining effect of various parameter changes.

Dayton, J. A., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Probability and Statistics in Aerospace Engineering

This monograph was prepared to give the practicing engineer a clear understanding of probability and statistics with special consideration to problems frequently encountered in aerospace engineering. It is conceived to be both a desktop reference and a refresher for aerospace engineers in government and industry. It could also be used as a supplement to standard texts for in-house training courses on the subject.

Rheinfurth, M. H.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Jet Engine Noise Generation, Prediction and Control

Aircraft noise has been a problem near airports for many years. It is a quality of life issue that impacts millions of people around the world. Solving this problem has been the principal goal of noise reduction research that began when commercial jet travel became a reality. While progress has been made in reducing both airframe and engine noise, historically, most of the aircraft noise reduction efforts have concentrated on the engines. This was most evident during the 1950 s and 1960 s when turbojet engines were in wide use. This type of engine produces high velocity hot exhaust jets during takeoff generating a great deal of noise. While there are fewer commercial aircraft flying today with turbojet engines, supersonic aircraft including high performance military aircraft use engines with similar exhaust flow characteristics. The Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229, pictured in Figure la, is an example of an engine that powers the F-15 and F-16 fighter jets. The turbofan engine was developed for subsonic transports, which in addition to better fuel efficiency also helped mitigate engine noise by reducing the jet exhaust velocity. These engines were introduced in the late 1960 s and power most of the commercial fleet today. Over the years, the bypass ratio (that is the ratio of the mass flow through the fan bypass duct to the mass flow through the engine core) has increased to values approaching 9 for modern turbofans such as the General Electric s GE-90 engine (Figure lb). The benefits to noise reduction for high bypass ratio (HPBR) engines are derived from lowering the core jet velocity and temperature, and lowering the tip speed and pressure ratio of the fan, both of which are the consequences of the increase in bypass ratio. The HBPR engines are typically very large in diameter and can produce over 100,000 pounds of thrust for the largest engines. A third type of engine flying today is the turbo-shaft which is mainly used to power turboprop aircraft and helicopters. An example of this type of engine is shown in Figure IC, which is a schematic of the Honeywell T55 engine that powers the CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Since the noise from the propellers or helicopter rotors is usually dominant for turbo-shaft engines, less attention has been paid to these engines in so far as community noise considerations are concerned. This chapter will concentrate mostly on turbofan engine noise and will highlight common methods for their noise prediction and reduction.

Huff, Dennis L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Photovoltaic power system reliability considerations

An example of how modern engineering and safety techniques can be used to assure the reliable and safe operation of photovoltaic power systems is presented. This particular application is for a solar cell power system demonstration project designed to provide electric power requirements for remote villages. The techniques utilized involve a definition of the power system natural and operating environment, use of design criteria and analysis techniques, an awareness of potential problems via the inherent reliability and FMEA methods, and use of fail-safe and planned spare parts engineering philosophy.

Lalli, V. R.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Aircraft engine pollution reduction.

The effect of engine operation on the types and levels of the major aircraft engine pollutants is described and the major factors governing the formation of these pollutants during the burning of hydrocarbon fuel are discussed. Methods which are being explored to reduce these pollutants are discussed and their application to several experimental research programs are pointed out. Results showing significant reductions in the levels of carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen obtained from experimental combustion research programs are presented and discussed to point out potential application to aircraft engines. An experimental program designed to develop and demonstrate these and other advanced, low pollution combustor design methods is described. Results that have been obtained to date indicate considerable promise for reducing advanced engine exhaust pollutants to levels significantly below current engines.

Rudey, R. A.↗