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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 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1988

Shape sensitivity analysis of wing static aeroelastic characteristics

A method is presented to calculate analytically the sensitivity derivatives of wing static aeroelastic characteristics with respect to wing shape parameters. The wing aerodynamic response under fixed total load is predicted using Weissinger's L-method; its structural response is obtained with Giles' equivalent plate method. The characteristics of interest in this study include the spanwise distribution of lift, trim angle of attack, rolling and pitching moments, wing induced drag as well as the divergence dynamic pressure. The shape parameters considered are the wing area, aspect ratio, taper ratio, sweep angle and tip twist angle. Results of sensitivity studies indicate that (1) approximations based on analytical sensitivity derivatives can be used for wide ranges of variations of the shape parameters considered and (2) the analytical calculation of sensitivity derivatives is significantly less expensive than the conventional finite difference alternative.

Barthelemy, Jean-Francois M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Design and analysis of numerical experiments

Methods for the design and analysis of numerical experiments that are especially useful and efficient in multidimensional parameter spaces are presented. The analysis method, which is similar to kriging in the spatial analysis literature, fits a statistical model to the output of the numerical model. The method is applied to a fully nonlinear, global, equivalent-barotropic dynamical model. The statistical model also provides estimates for the uncertainty of predicted numerical model output, which can provide guidance on where in the parameter space to conduct further experiments, if necessary. The method can provide significant improvements in the efficiency with which numerical sensitivity experiments are conducted.

Bowman, Kenneth P.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Monocular motion adaptation affects the perceived trajectory of stereomotion

Perceived stereomotion trajectory was measured before and after adaptation to lateral motion in the dominant or nondominant eye to assess the relative contributions of 2 cues: changing disparity and interocular velocity difference. Perceived speed for monocular lateral motion and perceived binocular visual direction (BVD) was also assessed. Unlike stereomotion trajectory perception, the BVD of static targets showed an ocular dominance bias, even without adaptation. Adaptation caused equivalent biases in perceived trajectory and monocular motion speed, without significantly affecting perceived BVD. Predictions from monocular motion data closely match trajectory perception data, unlike those from BVD sources. The results suggest that the interocular velocity differences make a significant contribution to stereomotion trajectory perception.

Depth Perception/physiology↗
NASA NTRS2002

Space radiation absorbed dose distribution in a human phantom

The radiation risk to astronauts has always been based on measurements using passive thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs). The skin dose is converted to dose equivalent using an average radiation quality factor based on model calculations. The radiological risk estimates, however, are based on organ and tissue doses. This paper describes results from the first space flight (STS-91, 51.65 degrees inclination and approximately 380 km altitude) of a fully instrumented Alderson Rando phantom torso (with head) to relate the skin dose to organ doses. Spatial distributions of absorbed dose in 34 1-inch-thick sections measured using TLDs are described. There is about a 30% change in dose as one moves from the front to the back of the phantom body. Small active dosimeters were developed specifically to provide time-resolved measurements of absorbed dose rates and quality factors at five organ locations (brain, thyroid, heart/lung, stomach and colon) inside the phantom. Using these dosimeters, it was possible to separate the trapped-proton and the galactic cosmic radiation components of the doses. A tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) and a charged-particle directional spectrometer (CPDS) were flown next to the phantom torso to provide data on the incident internal radiation environment. Accurate models of the shielding distributions at the site of the TEPC, the CPDS and a scalable Computerized Anatomical Male (CAM) model of the phantom torso were developed. These measurements provided a comprehensive data set to map the dose distribution inside a human phantom, and to assess the accuracy and validity of radiation transport models throughout the human body. The results show that for the conditions in the International Space Station (ISS) orbit during periods near the solar minimum, the ratio of the blood-forming organ dose rate to the skin absorbed dose rate is about 80%, and the ratio of the dose equivalents is almost one. The results show that the GCR model dose-rate predictions are 20% lower than the observations. Assuming that the trapped-belt models lead to a correct orbit-averaged energy spectrum, the measurements of dose rates inside the phantom cannot be fully understood. Passive measurements using 6Li- and 7Li-based detectors on the astronauts and inside the brain and thyroid of the phantom show the presence of a significant contribution due to thermal neutrons, an area requiring additional study.

STS-91 Shuttle Project↗
NASA NTRS2010

HIFiRE Direct-Connect Rig (HDCR) Phase I Ground Test Results from the NASA Langley Arc-Heated Scramjet Test Facility

The initial phase of hydrocarbon-fueled ground tests supporting Flight 2 of the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experiment (HIFiRE) Program has been conducted in the NASA Langley Arc-Heated Scramjet Test Facility (AHSTF). The HIFiRE Program, an Air Force-lead international cooperative program includes eight different flight test experiments designed to target specific challenges of hypersonic flight. The second of the eight planned flight experiments is a hydrocarbon-fueled scramjet flight test intended to demonstrate dual-mode to scramjet-mode operation and verify the scramjet performance prediction and design tools. A performance goal is the achievement of a combusted fuel equivalence ratio greater than 0.7 while in scramjet mode. The ground test rig, designated the HIFiRE Direct Connect Rig (HDCR), is a full-scale, heat sink, direct-connect ground test article that duplicates both the flowpath lines and the instrumentation layout of the isolator and combustor portion of the flight test hardware. The primary objectives of the HDCR Phase I tests are to verify the operability of the HIFiRE isolator/combustor across the Mach 6.0-8.0 flight regime and to establish a fuel distribution schedule to ensure a successful mode transition prior to the HiFIRE payload Critical Design Review. Although the phase I test plans include testing over the Mach 6 to 8 flight simulation range, only Mach 6 testing will be reported in this paper. Experimental results presented here include flowpath surface pressure, temperature, and heat flux distributions that demonstrate the operation of the flowpath over a small range of test conditions around the nominal Mach 6 simulation, as well as a range of fuel equivalence ratios and fuel injection distributions. Both ethylene and a mixture of ethylene and methane (planned for flight) were tested. Maximum back pressure and flameholding limits, as well as a baseline fuel schedule, that covers the Mach 5.84-6.5 test space have been identified.

Hass, Neal E.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Sequential cumulative fatigue reliability

A component is assumed to be subjected to a sequence of several groups of sinusoidal stresses. Each group consists of a specific number of cycles having the same maximum alternating stress level and the same mean stress level, the maximum alternating stress level being different from group to group. A method for predicting the reliability of components subjected to such loads is proposed, given their distributional alternating stress versus cycles-to-failure (S-N) diagram. It is called the 'conditional reliability-equivalent life' method. It is applied to four-cases using distributional fatigue data generated in the Reliability Research Laboratory of The University of Arizona, and the predicted reliabilities are compared and discussed.

Kececioglu, D.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Static Aeroelastic Predictions for a Transonic Transport Model Using an Unstructured-Grid Flow Solver Coupled With a Structural Plate Technique

An equivalent-plate structural deformation technique was coupled with a steady-state unstructured-grid three-dimensional Euler flow solver and a two-dimensional strip interactive boundary-layer technique. The objective of the research was to assess the extent to which a simple accounting for static model deformations could improve correlations with measured wing pressure distributions and lift coefficients at transonic speeds. Results were computed and compared to test data for a wing-fuselage model of a generic low-wing transonic transport at a transonic cruise condition over a range of Reynolds numbers and dynamic pressures. The deformations significantly improved correlations with measured wing pressure distributions and lift coefficients. This method provided a means of quantifying the role of dynamic pressure in wind-tunnel studies of Reynolds number effects for transonic transport models.

Allison, Dennis O.↗
NASA NTRS1996

In-flight radiation measurements on STS-60

A joint investigation between the United States and Russia to study the radiation environment inside the Space Shuttle flight STS-60 was carried out as part of the Shuttle-Mir Science Program (Phase 1). This is the first direct comparison of a number of different dosimetric measurement techniques between the two countries. STS-60 was launched on 3 February 1994 in a nearly circular 57 degrees x 353 km orbit with five U.S. astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut for 8.3 days. A variety of instruments provided crew radiation exposure, absorbed doses at fixed locations, neutron fluence and dose equivalent, linear energy transfer (LET) spectra of trapped and galactic cosmic radiation, and energy spectra and angular distribution of trapped protons. In general, there is good agreement between the U.S. and Russian measurements. The AP8 Min trapped proton model predicts an average of 1.8 times the measured absorbed dose. The average quality factor determined from measured lineal energy, y, spectra using a tissue equivalent proportional counter (TEPC), is in good agreement with that derived from the high temperature peak in the 6LiF thermoluminescent detectors (TLDs). The radiation exposure in the mid-deck locker from neutrons below 1 MeV was 2.53 +/- 1.33 microSv/day. The absorbed dose rates measured using a tissue equivalent proportional counter, were 171.1 +/- 0.4 and 127.4 +/- 0.4 microGy/day for trapped particles and galactic cosmic rays, respectively. The combined dose rate of 298.5 +/- 0.82 microGy/day is about a factor of 1.4 higher than that measured using TLDs. The westward longitude drift of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) is estimated to be 0.22 +/- 0.02 degrees/y. We evaluated the effects of spacecraft attitudes on TEPC dose rates due to the highly anisotropic low-earth orbit proton environment. Changes in spacecraft attitude resulted in dose-rate variations by factors of up to 2 at the location of the TEPC.

NASA Discipline Radiation Health↗
NASA NTRS2014

Uncertainties in Predicting Rice Yield by Current Crop Models Under a Wide Range of Climatic Conditions

Predicting rice (Oryza sativa) productivity under future climates is important for global food security. Ecophysiological crop models in combination with climate model outputs are commonly used in yield prediction, but uncertainties associated with crop models remain largely unquantified. We evaluated 13 rice models against multi-year experimental yield data at four sites with diverse climatic conditions in Asia and examined whether different modeling approaches on major physiological processes attribute to the uncertainties of prediction to field measured yields and to the uncertainties of sensitivity to changes in temperature and CO2 concentration [CO2]. We also examined whether a use of an ensemble of crop models can reduce the uncertainties. Individual models did not consistently reproduce both experimental and regional yields well, and uncertainty was larger at the warmest and coolest sites. The variation in yield projections was larger among crop models than variation resulting from 16 global climate model-based scenarios. However, the mean of predictions of all crop models reproduced experimental data, with an uncertainty of less than 10 percent of measured yields. Using an ensemble of eight models calibrated only for phenology or five models calibrated in detail resulted in the uncertainty equivalent to that of the measured yield in well-controlled agronomic field experiments. Sensitivity analysis indicates the necessity to improve the accuracy in predicting both biomass and harvest index in response to increasing [CO2] and temperature.

crop-model ensembles↗
NASA NTRS1974

Vibration-translation energy transfer in anharmonic diatomic molecules. 1: A critical evaluation of the semiclassical approximation

The semiclassical approximation is applied to anharmonic diatomic oscillators in excited initial states. Multistate numerical solutions giving the vibrational transition probabilities for collinear collisions with an inert atom are compared with equivalent, exact quantum-mechanical calculations. Several symmetrization methods are shown to correlate accurately the predictions of both theories for all initial states, transitions, and molecular types tested, but only if coupling of the oscillator motion and the classical trajectory of the incident particle is considered. In anharmonic heteronuclear molecules, the customary semiclassical method of computing the classical trajectory independently leads to transition probabilities with anomalous low-energy resonances. Proper accounting of the effects of oscillator compression and recoil on the incident particle trajectory removes the anomalies and restores the applicability of the semiclassical approximation.

Mckenzie, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Vibration-translation energy transfer in anharmonic diatomic molecules. I - A comparative evaluation of the semiclassical approximation

The semiclassical approximation (quantum oscillator, classical path) is applied to anharmonic diatomic oscillators in excited initial states. Multistate numerical solutions giving the vibrational transition probabilities for collinear collisions with an inert atom are compared with equivalent, exact quantum-mechanical calculations. Several symmetrization methods are shown to correlate accurately the predictions of both theories for all initial states, transitions, and molecular types tested, but only if coupling of the oscillator motion and the classical trajectory of the incident particle is considered. In anharmonic heteronuclear molecules, the customary semiclassical method of computing the classical trajectory independently leads to transition probabilities with anomalous low-energy resonances. Proper accounting of the effects of oscillator compression and recoil on the incident particle trajectory removes the anomalies and restores the applicability of the semiclassical approximation.

Mckenzie, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Conceptual model of turbulent flameholding for scramjet combustors

New concepts and approaches to scramjet combustor design are presented. Blowoff was from failure of the recirculation-zone (RZ) flame to reach the dividing streamline (DS) at the rear stagnation zone. Increased turbulent exchange across the DS helped flameholding due to forward movement of the flame anchor point inside the RZ. Modeling of the blowoff phenomenon was based on a mass conservation concept involving the traverse of a flame element across the RZ and a flow element along the DS. The scale required to achieve flameholding, predicted by the model, showed a strong adverse effect of low pressure and low fuel equivalence ratio, moderate effect of flight Mach number, and little effect of temperature recovery factor. Possible effects of finite rate chemistry on flameholding and flamespreading in scramjets are discussed and recommendations for approaches to engine combustor design as well as for needed research to reduce uncertainties in the concepts are made.

Huber, P. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Multiple paths in complex tasks

The relationship between utility judgments of subtask paths and the utility of the task as a whole was examined. The convergent validation procedure is based on the assumption that measurements of the same quantity done with different methods should covary. The utility measures of the subtasks were obtained during the performance of an aircraft flight controller navigation task. Analyses helped decide among various models of subtask utility combination, whether the utility ratings of subtask paths predict the whole tasks utility rating, and indirectly, whether judgmental models need to include the equivalent of cognitive noise.

Galanter, Eugene↗
NASA NTRS1996

Dose equivalent near the bone-soft tissue interface from nuclear fragments produced by high-energy protons

During manned space missions, high-energy nucleons of cosmic and solar origin collide with atomic nuclei of the human body and produce a broad linear energy transfer spectrum of secondary particles, called target fragments. These nuclear fragments are often more biologically harmful than the direct ionization of the incident nucleon. That these secondary particles increase tissue absorbed dose in regions adjacent to the bone-soft tissue interface was demonstrated in a previous publication. To assess radiological risks to tissue near the bone-soft tissue interface, a computer transport model for nuclear fragments produced by high energy nucleons was used in this study to calculate integral linear energy transfer spectra and dose equivalents resulting from nuclear collisions of 1-GeV protons transversing bone and red bone marrow. In terms of dose equivalent averaged over trabecular bone marrow, target fragments emitted from interactions in both tissues are predicted to be at least as important as the direct ionization of the primary protons-twice as important, if recently recommended radiation weighting factors and "worst-case" geometry are used. The use of conventional dosimetry (absorbed dose weighted by aa linear energy transfer-dependent quality factor) as an appropriate framework for predicting risk from low fluences of high-linear energy transfer target fragments is discussed.

NASA Discipline Number 45-10↗
NASA NTRS2010

Drag Prediction for the NASA CRM Wing-Body-Tail Using CFL3D and OVERFLOW on an Overset Mesh

In response to the fourth AIAA CFD Drag Prediction Workshop (DPW-IV), the NASA Common Research Model (CRM) wing-body and wing-body-tail configurations are analyzed using the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) flow solvers CFL3D and OVERFLOW. Two families of structured, overset grids are built for DPW-IV. Grid Family 1 (GF1) consists of a coarse (7.2 million), medium (16.9 million), fine (56.5 million), and extra-fine (189.4 million) mesh. Grid Family 2 (GF2) is an extension of the first and includes a superfine (714.2 million) and an ultra-fine (2.4 billion) mesh. The medium grid anchors both families with an established build process for accurate cruise drag prediction studies. This base mesh is coarsened and enhanced to form a set of parametrically equivalent grids that increase in size by a factor of roughly 3.4 from one level to the next denser level. Both CFL3D and OVERFLOW are run on GF1 using a consistent numerical approach. Additional OVERFLOW runs are made to study effects of differencing scheme and turbulence model on GF1 and to obtain results for GF2. All CFD results are post-processed using Richardson extrapolation, and approximate grid-converged values of drag are compared. The medium grid is also used to compute a trimmed drag polar for both codes.

Sclafani, Anthony J.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Development of a Piezoelectric Rotary Hammer Drill

The Piezoelectric Rotary Hammer Drill is designed to core through rock using a combination of rotation and high frequency hammering powered by a single piezoelectric actuator. It is designed as a low axial preload, low mass, and low power device for sample acquisition on future missions to extraterrestrial bodies. The purpose of this internship is to develop and test a prototype of the Piezoelectric Rotary Hammer Drill in order to verify the use of a horn with helical or angled cuts as a hammering and torque inducing mechanism. Through an iterative design process using models in ANSYS Finite Element software and a Mason's Equivalent Circuit model in MATLAB, a horn design was chosen for fabrication based on the predicted horn tip motion, electromechanical coupling, and neutral plane location. The design was then machined and a test bed assembled. The completed prototype has proven that a single piezoelectric actuator can be used to produce both rotation and hammering in a drill string through the use of a torque inducing horn. Final data results include bit rotation produced versus input power, and best drilling rate achieved with the prototype.

sampling↗
NASA NTRS2016

Metabolic Potential and Activity in Fluids of the Coast Range Ophiolite Microbial Observatory, California, USA

Metabolic potential and activity associated with hydrogen and carbon monoxide were characterized in fluids sampled from the the Coast Range Ophiolite Microbial Observatory (CROMO). CROMO consists of two clusters of science-dedicated wells drilled to varying depths up to 35m in the actively serpentinizing, Jurassic-age Coast Range Ophiolite of Northern California, along with a suite of pre-existing monitoring wells at the same site. Consistent with the fluid chemistry observed in other serpentinizing systems, CROMO fluids are highly alkaline, with pH up to 12.5, high in methane, with concentrations up 1600 micromolar, and low in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), with concentrations of 10's to 100's of micromolar. CROMO is conspicuous for fluid H2 concentrations that are consistently sub-micromolar, orders of magnitude lower than is typical of other systems. However, higher H2 concentrations (10's -100's of micromolar) at an earlier stage of fluid chemical evolution are predicted by, or consistent with: thermodynamic models for fluid chemistry based on parent rock composition equivalent to local peridotite and with water:rock ratio constrained by observed pH; the presence of magnetite at several wt% in CROMO drill cores; and concentrations of formate and carbon monoxide that would require elevated H2 if formed in equilibrium with H2 and DIC. Calculated Gibbs energy changes for reaction of H2 and CO in each of several metabolisms, across the range of fluid composition encompassed by the CROMO wells, range from bioenergetically feasible (capable of driving ATP synthesis) to thermodynamically unfavorable. Active consumption relative to killed controls was observed for both CO and H2 during incubation of fluids from the pre-existing monitoring wells; in incubations of freshly cored solids, consumption was only observed in one sample set (corresponding to the lowest pH) out of three. The specific metabolisms by which H2 and CO are consumed remain to be determined.

Hydrogen↗
NASA NTRS2021

An Information Theory Approach to Physical Domain Discovery

The project of physics discovery is often equivalent to finding the most concise description of a physical system. The description with optimum predictive capability for a dataset generated by a physical system is one that minimizes both predictive error on the dataset and the complexity of the description. The discovery of the governing physics of a system can therefore be viewed as a mathematical optimization problem. We outline here a method to optimize the description of arbitrarily complex physical systems by minimizing the entropy of the description of the system. The Recursive Domain Partitioning (RDP) procedure finds the optimum partitioning of each physical domain into subdomains, and the optimum predictive function within each subdomain. Penalty functions are introduced to limit the complexity of the predictive function within each domain. Examples are shown in 1D and 2D. In 1D, the technique effectively discovers the elastic and plastic regions within a stress-strain curve generated by simulations of amorphous carbon material, while in 2D the technique discovers the free-flow region and the inertially-obstructed flow region in the simulation of fluid flow across a plate.

Daniel Shea↗