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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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278 records · Page 16

An Integrated Design Tool for Tow-Steered Laminates of Composites in Abaqus and MSC.Patran/Nastran

Tow-steered composites can be tailored for optimal mechanical performance of lightweight structures. However, there are no commercial-grade design tools for tow-steered composite structures, which hinders the design innovation of tow-steered composites in realistic structures. The novelty of this paper is to develop an integrated design framework along with the development of graphical user interface (GUI) plug-ins in commercial finite element (FE) software Abaqus and MSC.Patran/Nastran. The GUI plug-ins take all the design setups and communicate with external codes for the material modeling and optimization, and hence provide a unified design environment within the FE codes. The mechanics of structure genome (MSG) plate model computes shell element properties based on user-defined fiber paths and layup, which are defined via the GUI plug-ins. The optimization is performed by an open-source code, Dakota, from Sandia National Laboratories (Sandia), which also coordinates the structural analysis, material modeling, and optimization in design iterations. Two examples are presented to demonstrate the user-friendliness and versatility of the developed GUI plug-ins. The developed tools will ease the design process and facilitate the application of tow-steered composites in realistic aerospace structures.

Xin Liu↗

Space Crop Production and Exploration Food Systems

A virtual presentation to the University of North Dakota (UND) Space Studies Colloquium providing both an historical overview as well as NASA's current and future plans for crop production in support of exploration.

Crops↗

Stratospheric Operations Market

This presentation has been prepared for the 2024 Stratospheric Operations and Research Symposium (SOaRS2024) held at the University of North Dakota. The presentation includes contributions from NASA, the FAA and results of a market study carried out by LMI for NASA. It provides an overview for industry and other government agencies why this novel traffic management system, called upper Class E Traffic Management System - ETM, will lead to an increase in access to the Stratosphere. The slides emphasize that expected High-Altitude Balloons, solar-powered High-Altitude long Endurance Aircraft, Airships, Supersonic and Hypersonic aircraft will benefit from this concept by exemplifying how markets in telecommunication, public safety and transportation are expected to grow. By comparing expected demand and showing that current concepts, such as Altitude Reservation (ALTRV) will not be able to meet demand as such showing that the ETM concept aims to increase safety, efficiency and fairness in a collaborative environment. Further, past work and engagement with Industry participants is highlighted.

stratosphere↗

Ice in Convective Storm Environments: Assessing Impacts of Microphysics on Simulated Reflectivities

Satellite radar retrievals of clouds and precipitation rely on assumptions about the microphysical properties of hydrometeors such as particle size distributions (PSDs) and massdimensional relationships, which have been shown to vary in distinct environments. A deeper understanding of linkages between mass-dimensional relationships, ice crystal shape, and radar reflectivities across cloud and precipitation regimes is necessary for developing new retrievals for upcoming satellite radar missions, including the INvestigation of Convective UpdraftS (INCUS), as well as future missions that will feature space-borne radars observing clouds, convection, and precipitation. This study investigates ice microphysical characteristics through aircraft in-situ and remote sensing observations from two convective events during the Mid-latitude Continental Convective Clouds Experiment (MC3E) in the Southern Great Plains, and tests implications for ice particle habit in forward modeled radar observations. During MC3E, the Ka/Ku- band High Altitude Imaging Wind and Rain Airborne Profiler (HIWRAP) was onboard the NASA ER-2 aircraft, while in-situ measurements were taken onboard the University of North Dakota Citation. In-situ PSDs and particle shape information from optical array probe data are used to forward model radar reflectivities from particle scattering databases and are compared against HIWRAP reflectivities. Various particle combinations can be used to find agreement with HIWRAP observations, and the forward modeled reflectivities were sensitive to particle type. Varying the riming on the aggregate and graupel particles resulted in larger than 10 dB differences in reflectivities. The in-situ and radar observations imply the occurrence of aggregation, size sorting and lofting particles.

Julia A. Shates↗

Luminescent Tension-Indicating Orthopedic Strain Gauges for Non-Invasive Measurements Through Tissue

Strain gauges that can provide information with regard to the state of implantable devices are described. The strain gauges can exhibit luminescence that is detectable through living tissue, and the detectable luminescent emission can vary according to the strain applied to the gauge. A change in residual strain of the device can signify a loss of mechanical integrity and/or loosening of the implant, and this can be non-invasively detected either by simple visual detection of the luminescent emission or through examination of the emission with a detector such as a spectrometer or a camera.

Anker, Jeffrey↗

Urban Heat Wave Hazard Assessment

Heat waves are the largest cause of environment-related deaths globally. On average, over 6,000 people in the United States alone are hospitalized each summer due to excessive heat. Key elements leading to these disasters are elevated humidity and the urban heat island effect, which act together to increase apparent temperature and amplify the effects of a heat wave. Urban demographics and socioeconomic factors also play a role in determining individual risk. Currently, advisories of impending heat waves are often too generalized, with limited or no spatial variability over urban regions. This frequently contributes to a lack of specific response on behalf of the population. A goal of this project is to develop a product that has the potential to provide more specific heat wave guidance invoking greater awareness and action.

Urban↗

A Survey of Small-Scale Waves and Wave-Like Phenomena in Jupiter’s Atmosphere Detected by JunoCam

In the first 20 orbits of the Juno spacecraft around Jupiter, we have identified a variety of wave‐like features in images made by its public‐outreach camera, JunoCam. Because of Juno's unprecedented and repeated proximity to Jupiter's cloud tops during its close approaches, JunoCam has detected more wave structures than any previous surveys. Most of the waves appear in long wave packets, oriented east‐west and populated by narrow wave crests. Spacing between crests were measured as small as ~30 km, shorter than any previously measured. Some waves are associated with atmospheric features, but others are not ostensibly associated with any visible cloud phenomena and thus may be generated by dynamical forcing below the visible cloud tops. Some waves also appear to be converging, and others appear to be overlapping, possibly at different atmospheric levels. Another type of wave has a series of fronts that appear to be radiating outward from the center of a cyclone. Most of these waves appear within 5° of latitude from the equator, but we have detected waves covering planetocentric latitudes between 20°S and 45°N. The great majority of the waves appear in regions associated with prograde motions of the mean zonal flow. Juno was unable to measure the velocity of wave features to diagnose the wave types due to its close and rapid flybys. However, both by our own upper limits on wave motions and by analogy with previous measurements, we expect that the waves JunoCam detected near the equator are inertia‐gravity waves.

Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration↗

The Role of Trust and Usability in Enabling Spaceflight Crew Autonomy

Future long duration exploration missions will require an increased use of onboard automated systems as spaceflight crews venture further than before and have longer communications delays with ground support. The design of these systems must support appropriate crew trust and have sufficient usability to enable spaceflight crew autonomy or risk being misused while crews wait to communicate with ground support. We evaluated trust & usability in our self-scheduling tool, Playbook, for crew mission timelines. Data was collected in a controlled lab experiment with 31 participants. Participants in the study conducted two tasks: scheduling, where participants were responsible for scheduling a majority of a day's operational tasks, and rescheduling, where participants were provided a schedule and asked to reschedule higher priority activities. We found a significant correlation between system trust and usability, irrespective of self-scheduling tasks. We conclude that system usability may play a bigger role in how trust is learned while conducting novel crew autonomy tasks such as self-scheduling. Future research should investigate the role of usability to encourage appropriate trust in onboard automated crew systems and enable crew autonomy.

crew autonomy↗