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The advantages of a newly developed code are demonstrated by comparisons of the analysis with existing theoretical data as well as with other available finite element programs. The new program shows promise to significantly reduce the computer time. It also permits accurate and efficient structural analysis of engine hot section components.
The new High Temperature Reactor (HTR) designs being considered for future Gen IV nuclear reactor deployment include designs utilizing molten salt as the primary coolant. These molten-salt cooled, graphite core designs pose new material compatibility challenges that are not considered within the gas-cooled HTR designs that have been previously built and operated. While the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE) demonstrated that the molten salt can be considered chemically inert to graphite the novel physical and thermal interactions that the molten salt poses may be just as impactful as the chemical reactivity. Specifically, molten salt intrusion into the open pore structure of nuclear graphite grades can provide additional internal stresses within the microstructure exacerbating the stress buildup from irradiation induced dimensional change. Additionally, designs using a molten salt containing liquid fuel could provide “hot spots” within graphite structural components causing local thermal stresses. Abrasion and erosion concerns are magnified with molten salt due to the extremely high density of the salts (some have higher densities than the structural graphite components). Finally, the graphite-graphite and fuel pebble-graphite tribological behavior are distinctly difference within the molten salt from the inert gas environments and must be investigated. These topics and others are currently under investigation within the DOE Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) graphite program and will be discussed in depth.
Annealed, hot pressed, and melt-quenched PEEK specimens have been analyzed by wide-angle X-ray diffraction. The analysis suggests, in part, that structural studies based on the reported similarity between the structure of PEEK and that reported for poly(p-phenylene oxide) are valid and may be extended to a structure more in keeping with the chemical structure of the material.
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A development program has been conducted to improve the cyclic properties of the PWA 1480 single-crystal superalloy by reducing or entirely eliminating casting porosity at fatigue-initiation sites, through the use of improved casting process parameters and HIPing; potential mechanical property improvements in a high-pressure hydrogen environment were also sought in alternatives to the standard coating and heat-treatment cycle. High thermal gradient casting was found to yield a reduction in overall casting porosity density and pore sizes. The most dramatic mechanical property improvement resulted from HIPing.
Analysis of Voyager 2 low-energy charged particle and magnetic field data in the Uranian magnetotail show that this system has many features similar to those seen at earth. Isotropization of core magnetosphere 28-43 keV ions has been observed at the trapping boundary upon entry into the magnetotail near L = 17, an effect seen in ion populations at earth and attributed to neutral sheet scattering. An extensive and persistent plasma sheet boundary layer is found to contain field-aligned ion streams with a variety of angular and energetically dispersive effects. Streaming distributions in the magnetotail horn region map to the auroral emission region observed by the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometer. A quiet-time near-tail region is distinguished from a distant disturbed region, where evidence of a substorm is observed. There is evidence suggesting that the distant plasma sheet is not corotating with the planet.
Early implementation of structural dynamics finite element analyses for calculation of design loads is considered common design practice for high volume manufacturing industries such as automotive and aeronautical industries. However with the rarity of rocket engine development programs starts, these tools are relatively new to the design of rocket engines. In the NASA MC-1 engine program, the focus was to reduce the cost-to-weight ratio. The techniques for structural dynamics analysis practices, were tailored in this program to meet both production and structural design goals. Perturbation of rocket engine design parameters resulted in a number of MC-1 load cycles necessary to characterize the impact due to mass and stiffness changes. Evolution of loads and load extraction methodologies, parametric considerations and a discussion of load path sensitivities are important during the design and integration of a new engine system. During the final stages of development, it is important to verify the results of an engine system model to determine the validity of the results. During the final stages of the MC-1 program, hot-fire test results were obtained and compared to the structural design loads calculated by the engine system model. These comparisons are presented in this paper.
This study investigates the additive manufacturing (AM) processing, microstructural evolution, and resulting mechanical and thermal properties of multimaterial components combining 17-4PH stainless steel and pure copper (Cu) fabricated via laser powder directed energy deposition (LP-DED). Conventional tooling steels exhibit limited thermal conductivity, significantly constraining production throughput in high-volume processes. Incorporating Cu, with its superior thermal conductivity, could significantly enhance tool performance, though Cu and steel present metallurgical incompatibilities when processed via AM. A systematic investigation was conducted across compositions ranging from 0 to 100 wt% Cu, revealing critical thresholds influencing solidification behavior, defect formation, microstructure, hardness, and thermal transport. Optical microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), hardness testing, and thermal conductivity measurements provided comprehensive process–structure–property correlations. Severe hot cracking occurred at low-Cu contents (6–25 wt%), aligning generally well with crack susceptibility modeling, with an unexpected discrepancy at 25 wt%. Porosity remained low (≥99% dense) throughout the compositional spectrum. EBSD analysis revealed a transformation from columnar martensitic structures at low-Cu contents to equiaxed FCC Cu-dominated structures at higher Cu concentrations, highlighting the complex microstructural transitions driven by Cu-induced changes in solidification and phase stability. Hardness decreased from 330 HV (pure 17-4PH) to 62 HV (pure Cu), consistent with microstructural changes. Concurrently, thermal conductivity improved substantially from 13.5 W/m K to 367.9 W/m K, emphasizing Cu’s dominant role in thermal transport. The findings highlight the feasibility of leveraging compositional gradients between 17-4PH and Cu to achieve tailored tooling with optimized thermal and mechanical performance.
Degradation and damage that develops over time in hot section components can lead to catastrophic failure of the turbine section of aircraft engines. A range of thin film sensor technology has been demonstrated enabling on-component measurement of multiple parameters either individually or in sensor arrays including temperature, strain, heat flux, and flow. Conductive ceramics are beginning to be investigated as new materials for use as thin film sensors in the hot section, leveraging expertise in thin films and high temperature materials. The current challenges are to develop new sensor and insulation materials capable of withstanding the extreme hot section environment, and to develop techniques for applying sensors onto complex high temperature structures for aging studies of hot propulsion materials. The technology research and development ongoing at NASA Glenn Research Center for applications to future aircraft, launch vehicles, space vehicles, and ground systems is outlined.
Temporally resolved particle image velocimetry (TR-PIV) is the newest and most exciting tool recently developed to support our continuing efforts to characterize and improve our understanding of the decay of turbulence in jet flows—a critical element for understanding the acoustic properties of the flow. A new TR-PIV system has been developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center which is capable of acquiring planar PIV image frame pairs at up to 25 kHz. The data reported here were collected at Mach numbers of 0.5 and 0.9 and at temperature ratios of 0.89 and 1.76. The field of view of the TR-PIV system covered six nozzle diameters along the lip line of the 50.8 mm diameter jet. The cold flow data at Mach 0.5 were compared with hotwire anemometry measurements in order to validate the new TR-PIV technique. The axial turbulence profiles measured across the shear layer using TR-PIV were thinner than those measured using hotwire anemometry and remained centred along the nozzle lip line. The collected TR-PIV data illustrate the differences in the single point statistical flow properties of cold and hot jet flows. The planar, time-resolved velocity records were then used to compute two-point space–time correlations of the flow at the Mach 0.9 flow condition. The TR-PIV results show that there are differences in the convective velocity and growth rate of the turbulent structures between cold and hot flows at the same Mach number.
Temporally Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-PIV) is being used to characterize the decay of turbulence in jet flows a critical element for understanding the acoustic properties of the flow. A TR-PIV system, developed in-house at the NASA Glenn Research Center, is capable of acquiring planar PIV image frame pairs at up to 10 kHz. The data reported here were collected at Mach numbers of 0.5 and 0.9 and at temperature ratios of 0.89 and 1.76. The field of view of the TR-PIV system covered 6 nozzle diameters along the lip line of the 50.8 mm diameter jet. The cold flow data at Mach 0.5 were compared with hotwire anemometry measurements in order to validate the new TR-PIV technique. The axial turbulence profiles measured across the shear layer using TR-PIV were thinner than those measured using hotwire anemometry and remained centered along the nozzle lip line. The collected TR-PIV data illustrate the differences in the single point statistical flow properties of cold and hot jet flows. The planar, time-resolved velocity records were then used to compute two-point space-time correlations of the flow at the Mach 0.9 flow condition. The TR-PIV results show that there are differences in the convective velocity and growth rate of the turbulent structures between cold and hot flows at the same Mach number.
Temporally Resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (TR-PIV) is the newest and most exciting tool recently developed to support our continuing efforts to characterize and improve our understanding of the decay of turbulence in jet flows -- a critical element for understanding the acoustic properties of the flow. A new TR-PIV system has been developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center which is capable of acquiring planar PIV image frame pairs at up to 25 kHz. The data reported here were collected at Mach numbers of 0.5 and 0.9 and at temperature ratios of 0.89 and 1.76. The field of view of the TR-PIV system covered 6 nozzle diameters along the lip line of the 50.8 mm diameter jet. The cold flow data at Mach 0.5 were compared with hotwire anemometry measurements in order to validate the new TR-PIV technique. The axial turbulence profiles measured across the shear layer using TR-PIV were thinner than those measured using hotwire anemometry and remained centered along the nozzle lip line. The collected TR-PIV data illustrate the differences in the single point statistical flow properties of cold and hot jet flows. The planar, time-resolved velocity records were then used to compute two-point space-time correlations of the flow at the Mach 0.9 flow condition. The TR-PIV results show that there are differences in the convective velocity and growth rate of the turbulent structures between cold and hot flows at the same Mach number
Skutterudites have proven to be a useful thermoelectric system as a result of their high figure of merit, favorable mechanical properties, and good thermal stability. Binary skutterudites have received the majority of interest in recent years, as a result of successful double and triple filling schemes. Ternary skutterudites, such as Ni4Sb7Sn5, also demonstrate good thermoelectric performance, with high power factor and low thermal conductivity. Ternary skutterudites, as contrasted to binary systems, provide more possibility for tuning electronic structure as substitutions can be studied on three elements. The Co(x)Ni(4-x)Sb(12-y)Sn(y) system has been investigated as both a p- and n-type thermoelectric material, stable up to 200 C. The system is processed through a combination of solidification, mechanical alloying, and hot pressing steps. Rietveld structure refinement has revealed an interesting occupancy of Sn on both the 24g Wyckoff position with Sb as well as the 2a position as a rattler. In addition to thermoelectric properties, detailed processing routes have been investigated on the system.
As structural materials for hot-section components in advanced aerospace and land-based gas turbine engines, silicon carbide (SiC) ceramic matrix composites reinforced by high performance SiC fibers offer a variety of performance advantages over current bill-of-materials, such as nickel-based superalloys. These advantages are based on the SiC/SiC composites displaying higher temperature capability for a given structural load, lower density (approximately 30- to 50-percent metal density), and lower thermal expansion. These properties should, in turn, result in many important engine benefits, such as reduced component cooling air requirements, simpler component design, reduced support structure weight, improved fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, higher blade frequencies, reduced blade clearances, and higher thrust. Under the NASA Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) Project, much progress has been made at the NASA Glenn Research Center in identifying and optimizing two highperformance SiC/SiC composite systems. The table compares typical properties of oxide/oxide panels and SiC/SiC panels formed by the random stacking of balanced 0 degrees/90 degrees fabric pieces reinforced by the indicated fiber types. The Glenn SiC/SiC systems A and B (shaded area of the table) were reinforced by the Sylramic-iBN SiC fiber, which was produced at Glenn by thermal treatment of the commercial Sylramic SiC fiber (Dow Corning, Midland, MI; ref. 2). The treatment process (1) removes boron from the Sylramic fiber, thereby improving fiber creep, rupture, and oxidation resistance and (2) allows the boron to react with nitrogen to form a thin in situ grown BN coating on the fiber surface, thereby providing an oxidation-resistant buffer layer between contacting fibers in the fabric and the final composite. The fabric stacks for all SiC/SiC panels were provided to GE Power Systems Composites for chemical vapor infiltration of Glenn designed BN fiber coatings and conventional SiC matrices. Composite panels with system B were heat treated at Glenn, and the pores that remained open were filled by silicon melt infiltration (MI). Panels with system A and the other SiC/SiC systems were not heat treated, and remaining open pores in these systems were filled with SiC slurry and silicon MI.
We calculate the rate of double parton scattering (DPS) in proton-proton collisions in the framework of the recently proposed hot spot model of the nucleon structure. The resulting rate, especially for the case of three hot spots, is compared with the current experimental data on DPS at the LHC.
The dynamics of large-scale coherent structures in general, and studies based on flow-visualization and phase-locked hot-wire measurements of the structures in the near fields of circular jets are considered. A study involving the nature of coherent structures under conditions of stable vortex pairing induced by controlled axisymmetric acoustic excitation reveals that azimuthal coherence initially enhanced by the excitation is lost before the end of the potential core through evolution of azimuthal lobe structures and turbulent breakdown. The evolution of a spark-induced spot in an axisymmetric turbulent mixing layer is also investigated, and the coherent Reynolds stress associated with the spot is found to be much higher than the background turbulence Reynolds stress. In addition, the state of organization in a high Reynolds number unperturbed axisymmetric mixing layer is examined, and it is shown that the shear layer is infrequently organized and the motions are intensely three-dimensional, while tearing and fractional pairing occur as frequently as complete pairing.
An investigation was conducted to determine the critical load levels and associated cracking beyond which a multidirectional laminate can be considered as structurally failed. Graphite/epoxy laminates were loaded to different strain levels up to ultimate failure. Transverse matrix cracking was monitored by acoustic and optical methods. Residual stiffness and strength that were parallel and perpendicular to the cracks were determined and related to the environmental/loading history. Results indicate that cracking density in the transverse layers has no major effect on laminate residual properties as long as the angle ply layers retain their structural integrity. Exposure to hot water revealed that cracking had only a small effect on absorption and reduced swelling when these specimens were compared with uncracked specimens. Cracked, moist specimens showed a moderate reduction in strength when compared with their uncracked counterparts. Within the range of environmental/loading conditions of the present study, it is concluded that the transverse cracking process is not crucial in its effect on the structural performance of multidirectional composite laminates.
Direct laser absorption of a slit supersonic discharge expansion provides the first high-resolution spectroscopic results on the symmetric CH stretch excitation (ν 1 ) of the bromomethyl (CH 2 Br) radical in the ground electronic state. Narrowband (<1 MHz) mid-infrared radiation is produced by difference-frequency generation of two visible laser beams, with the open shell halohydrocarbon radical generated by electron dissociative attachment of CH 2 Br 2 in a discharge and rapidly cooled to T rot = 18 ± 1 K in the subsequent slit-jet supersonic expansion. A rovibrational structure in the radical spectrum is fully resolved, as well as additional splittings due to spin-rotation effects and 79 Br/ 81 Br isotopologues in natural abundance. Spectroscopic constants and band origins are determined by fitting the transition frequencies to a non-rigid Watson Hamiltonian, yielding results consistent with a vibrationally averaged planar radical and an unpaired electron in the out-of-plane p π orbital. Additionally, extensive satellite band structure from a vibrational hot band is observed and analyzed. The hot band data is compared to CFOUR/VPT2 (CCSD(T)cc-pVQZ) ab initio anharmonic predictions of the vibration rotation alpha matrix, which permits unambiguous assignment to CH 2 symmetric-stretch excitation built on the singly excited CH 2 out-of-plane bending mode (ν 1 + ν 4 ← ν 4 ). Longitudinal cooling of the Doppler width in the slit-jet expansion geometry also reveals partially resolved hyperfine structure on transitions out of the lowest angular momentum states in excellent agreement with predictions based on microwave studies. High level ab initio MOLPRO calculations [CCSD(T)-f12b/VnZ-f12 (n = 3, 4, CBS)] are also performed with explicitly correlated f12 electron methods for the out-of-plane CH 2 bending mode over the halogen series CH 2 X (X = F, Cl, Br, I), which clearly reveals a non-planar geometry for X = F (with a ΔE ≈ 0.3 kcal/mol barrier) and yet planar equilibrium geometries for X = Cl, Br, and I. Finally, a detailed Boltzmann analysis of the transition intensities provides support for negligible collisional equilibration of the entangled H atom nuclear spin states on the few hundred microsecond time scale and high collision densities of a slit supersonic expansion.