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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 307 records · Page 17

Transient Response of Rotor on Rolling-Element Bearings with Clearance

Internal clearance in rolling element bearings is usually present to allow for radial and axial growth of the rotor-bearing system and to accommodate bearing fit-up. The presence of this clearance also introduces a "dead band" into the load-deflection behavior of the bearing. Previous studies demonstrated that the presence of dead band clearance might have a significant effect on synchronous rotor response. In this work, the authors investigate transient response of a rotor supported on rolling element bearings with internal clearance. In addition, the stiffness of the bearings varies nonlinearly with bearing deflection and with speed. Bearing properties were accurately calculated with a state of the art rolling bearing analysis code. The subsequent rotordynamics analysis shows that for rapid acceleration rates the maximum response amplitude may be less than predicted by steady-state analysis. The presence of clearance may shift the critical speed location to lower speed values. The rotor vibration response exhibits subharmonic components which are more prominent with bearing clearance.

Fleming, David P.↗

Analysis of Effectiveness of Phoenix Entry Reaction Control System

Interaction between the external flowfield and the reaction control system (RCS) thruster plumes of the Phoenix capsule during entry has been investigated. The analysis covered rarefied, transitional, hypersonic and supersonic flight regimes. Performance of pitch, yaw and roll control authority channels was evaluated, with specific emphasis on the yaw channel due to its low nominal yaw control authority. Because Phoenix had already been constructed and its RCS could not be modified before flight, an assessment of RCS efficacy along the trajectory was needed to determine possible issues and to make necessary software changes. Effectiveness of the system at various regimes was evaluated using a hybrid DSMC-CFD technique, based on DSMC Analysis Code (DAC) code and General Aerodynamic Simulation Program (GASP), the LAURA (Langley Aerothermal Upwind Relaxation Algorithm) code, and the FUN3D (Fully Unstructured 3D) code. Results of the analysis at hypersonic and supersonic conditions suggest a significant aero-RCS interference which reduced the efficacy of the thrusters and could likely produce control reversal. Very little aero-RCS interference was predicted in rarefied and transitional regimes. A recommendation was made to the project to widen controller system deadbands to minimize (if not eliminate) the use of RCS thrusters through hypersonic and supersonic flight regimes, where their performance would be uncertain.

Dyakonov, Artem A.↗

Object-Oriented Multi-Disciplinary Design, Analysis, and Optimization Tool

An Object-Oriented Optimization (O3) tool was developed that leverages existing tools and practices, and allows the easy integration and adoption of new state-of-the-art software. At the heart of the O3 tool is the Central Executive Module (CEM), which can integrate disparate software packages in a cross platform network environment so as to quickly perform optimization and design tasks in a cohesive, streamlined manner. This object-oriented framework can integrate the analysis codes for multiple disciplines instead of relying on one code to perform the analysis for all disciplines. The CEM was written in FORTRAN and the script commands for each performance index were submitted through the use of the FORTRAN Call System command. In this CEM, the user chooses an optimization methodology, defines objective and constraint functions from performance indices, and provides starting and side constraints for continuous as well as discrete design variables. The structural analysis modules such as computations of the structural weight, stress, deflection, buckling, and flutter and divergence speeds have been developed and incorporated into the O3 tool to build an object-oriented Multidisciplinary Design, Analysis, and Optimization (MDAO) tool.

Pak, Chan-gi↗

Modeling Commercial Turbofan Engine Icing Risk With Ice Crystal Ingestion

The occurrence of ice accretion within commercial high bypass aircraft turbine engines has been reported under certain atmospheric conditions. Engine anomalies have taken place at high altitudes that have been attributed to ice crystal ingestion, partially melting, and ice accretion on the compression system components. The result was degraded engine performance, and one or more of the following: loss of thrust control (roll back), compressor surge or stall, and flameout of the combustor. As ice crystals are ingested into the fan and low pressure compression system, the increase in air temperature causes a portion of the ice crystals to melt. It is hypothesized that this allows the ice-water mixture to cover the metal surfaces of the compressor stationary components which leads to ice accretion through evaporative cooling. Ice accretion causes a blockage which subsequently results in the deterioration in performance of the compressor and engine. The focus of this research is to apply an engine icing computational tool to simulate the flow through a turbofan engine and assess the risk of ice accretion. The tool is comprised of an engine system thermodynamic cycle code, a compressor flow analysis code, and an ice particle melt code that has the capability of determining the rate of sublimation, melting, and evaporation through the compressor flow path, without modeling the actual ice accretion. A commercial turbofan engine which has previously experienced icing events during operation in a high altitude ice crystal environment has been tested in the Propulsion Systems Laboratory (PSL) altitude test facility at NASA Glenn Research Center. The PSL has the capability to produce a continuous ice cloud which are ingested by the engine during operation over a range of altitude conditions. The PSL test results confirmed that there was ice accretion in the engine due to ice crystal ingestion, at the same simulated altitude operating conditions as experienced previously in flight. The computational tool was utilized to help guide a portion of the PSL testing, and was used to predict ice accretion could also occur at significantly lower altitudes. The predictions were qualitatively verified by subsequent testing of the engine in the PSL. The PSL test has helped to calibrate the engine icing computational tool to assess the risk of ice accretion. The results from the computer simulation identified prevalent trends in wet bulb temperature, ice particle melt ratio, and engine inlet temperature as a function of altitude for predicting engine icing risk due to ice crystal ingestion.

Jorgenson, Philip C. E.↗

Assessment of the MACCS Code Applicability for Nearfield Consequence Analysis

Three codes are used for comparisons in this report to evaluate the adequacy of MACCS in the nearfield, AERMOD, ARCON96 and QUIC. Test cases were developed to give a broad range of weather conditions, building dimensions and plume buoyancy. Based on the comparisons of MACCS with AERMOD, ARCON96 and QUIC across the test cases, the following observations are made: MACCS calculations configured with point-source, ground-level, nonbuoyant plumes provide nearfield results that bound the centerline, ground-level air concentrations from AERMOD, ARCON96, and QUIC. MACCS calculations with ground-level, nonbuoyant plumes that include the effects of the building wake (area source) provide nearfield results that bound the results from AERMOD and QUIC and the results from ARCON96 at distances >250 m. If using a point-source is too conservative and it is desired to bound the results from all three codes, another alternative is to use area source parameters in MACCS that are less than the standard values, i.e., an area source intermediate between the standard recommendation and a point source. All these options provide results from MACCS that are bounding for the test cases evaluated. Based on these observations, it appears that MACCS is adequate for use in nearfield calculations, given the correct parameterization.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

PREWATE: An interactive preprocessing computer code to the Weight Analysis of Turbine Engines (WATE) computer code

The Weight Analysis of Turbine Engines (WATE) computer code was developed by Boeing under contract to NASA Lewis. It was designed to function as an adjunct to the Navy/NASA Engine Program (NNEP). NNEP calculates the design and off-design thrust and sfc performance of User defined engine cycles. The thermodynamic parameters throughout the engine as generated by NNEP are then combined with input parameters defining the component characteristics in WATE to calculate the bare engine weight of this User defined engine. Preprocessor programs for NNEP were previously developed to simplify the task of creating input datasets. This report describes a similar preprocessor for the WATE code.

Fishbach, L. H.↗

An efficient numerical model for predicting residual stress and strain in parts manufactured by laser powder bed fusion

Abstract Computational modeling of additively manufactured structures plays an increasingly important role in product design and optimization. For laser powder bed fusion processes, the accurate modeling of stress and distortion requires large amount of computational cost due to very localized heat input and evolving complex geometries. The current study takes advantage of a graphics processing unit accelerated explicit finite element analysis code and approximated heat conduction analysis to predict the macroscopic thermo-mechanical behavior in laser selective melting. Adjacent layers and tracks were lumped to reduce the number of time steps and elements in the finite element model. The effects of track and layer grouping on prediction accuracy and solution efficiency are investigated to provide a guidance for a cost-effective simulation. Thin-wall builds from Inconel alloy 625 (IN625) powders were simulated by applying the developed modeling approach to get the detailed residual stress and distortion at a computational speed 50 times higher than conventional approach. Under repeated heating and cooling cycles, a high tensile stress was produced near surfaces of a build due to a larger shrinkage on surface than that in central area. It is also shown that horizontal stresses concentrate near the root and top layers of the IN625 build. The predicted residual elastic strain distribution was validated by the experimental measurement using x-ray synchrotron diffraction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Implementation and Verification of the Sesame Equation of State Database into Abaqus

Towards ability to perform advanced engineering calculations of shock driven processes requiring an accurate prediction of temperature inside the shock, the Sesame equation of state database has been implemented into Abaqus explicit, a finite element analysis code commonly used in the analysis community. The interface algorithm and supporting details are discussed, and results from a simple benchmark problem comparing Abaqus predictions to other previously validated calculations and published data are presented. Features of the Sesame-Abaqus interface are also discussed and a sample input file is provided for the interested user.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Validation of Numerical Tools for Calculating Reactivity Feedback in Sodium Fast Reactors Using SEFOR Experimental Data

The Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) was an experimental sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor operated from 1969 to 1972 with experiments designed to measure Doppler reactivity feedback in a wide temperature range from around 350 °F to temperatures approaching the melting point of mixed oxide fuel of around 5000 °F, providing valuable data for code validations. Co-supported by the Department of Energy (DOE) Fast Reactor Program (FRP) and the DOE Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, the SEFOR benchmark project focused on using the experimental data to validate numerical tools that are used in industry and academia to design and license sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs). By the end of FY-25, substantial progress was achieved in the SEFOR benchmark study. A variety of numerical tools commonly used for modeling SFRs were applied to develop models for SEFOR core configurations I-D, I-E, I-I, and I-J. These included Monte Carlo codes such as MCNP, Serpent, and Shift; deterministic codes such as the legacy Argonne Reactor Computation (ARC) suite and the high-fidelity NEAMS code Griffin; and the system analysis code SAS4A/SASSYS-1 (SAS). Using these models, both SEFOR zero-power experiments and power-ascending tests were successfully simulated. Comparisons were performed against experimental measurements of core criticalities, reflector worth, kinetics parameters (Λ/βeff), isothermal reactivity feedback (from 350 °F to 760 °F at zero power), and power-ascending reactivity feedback (as power increased from 0.4 MW to 17 MW). In general, these comparisons demonstrated very good agreement between numerical results and experimental data. In Fiscal Year 26 (FY-26), the SEFOR benchmark project will continue to address the modeling issues identified in FY-25. Effort will focus on the simulation of reactivity insertion transients in SEFOR core II using the ARC/SAS model. Future work will also focus on incorporating BISON into the SEFOR core modeling process to enable the first Multiphysics simulations of the isothermal tests based on the MOOSE framework.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

CAS22 - FORTRAN program for fast design and analysis of shock-free airfoil cascades using fictitious-gas concept

A user-oriented computer program, CAS22, was developed that is applicable to aerodynamic analysis and transonic shock-free redesign of existing two-dimensional cascades of airfoils. This FORTRAN program can be used: (1) as an analysis code for full-potential, transonic, shocked or shock-free cascade flows; (2) as a design code for shock-free cascades that uses Sobieczky's fictitious-gas concept; and (3) as a shock-free design code followed automatically by the analysis in order to confirm that the newly obtained cascade shape provides for an entirely shock-free transonic flow field. A four-level boundary-conforming grid of an O type is generated. The shock-free design is performed by implementing Sobieczky's fictitious-gas concept of elliptic continuation from subsonic into supersonic flow domains. Recomputation inside each supersonic zone is performed by the method of characteristics in the rheograph plane by using isentropic gas relations. Besides converting existing cascade shapes with multiple shocked supersonic regions into shock-free cascades, CAS22 can also unchoke previously choked cascades and make them shock free.

Dulikravich, D. S.↗

Interdisciplinary analysis procedures in the modeling and control of large space-based structures

The paper describes a computer software system called the Integrated Multidisciplinary Analysis Tool, IMAT, that has been developed at NASA Langley Research Center. IMAT provides researchers and analysts with an efficient capability to analyze satellite control systems influenced by structural dynamics. Using a menu-driven interactive executive program, IMAT links a relational database to commercial structural and controls analysis codes. The paper describes the procedures followed to analyze a complex satellite structure and control system. The codes used to accomplish the analysis are described, and an example is provided of an application of IMAT to the analysis of a reference space station subject to a rectangular pulse loading at its docking port.

Cooper, Paul A.↗

Advances in Structural Integrity Analysis Methods for Aging Metallic Airframe Structures with Local Damage

Analysis methodologies for predicting fatigue-crack growth from rivet holes in panels subjected to cyclic loads and for predicting the residual strength of aluminum fuselage structures with cracks and subjected to combined internal pressure and mechanical loads are described. The fatigue-crack growth analysis methodology is based on small-crack theory and a plasticity induced crack-closure model, and the effect of a corrosive environment on crack-growth rate is included. The residual strength analysis methodology is based on the critical crack-tip-opening-angle fracture criterion that characterizes the fracture behavior of a material of interest, and a geometric and material nonlinear finite element shell analysis code that performs the structural analysis of the fuselage structure of interest. The methodologies have been verified experimentally for structures ranging from laboratory coupons to full-scale structural components. Analytical and experimental results based on these methodologies are described and compared for laboratory coupons and flat panels, small-scale pressurized shells, and full-scale curved stiffened panels. The residual strength analysis methodology is sufficiently general to include the effects of multiple-site damage on structural behavior.

fatigue-crack growth↗

Fluid Structure Interaction in a Turbine Blade

An unsteady, three dimensional Navier-Stokes solution in rotating frame formulation for turbomachinery applications is presented. Casting the governing equations in a rotating frame enabled the freezing of grid motion and resulted in substantial savings in computer time. The turbine blade was computationally simulated and probabilistically evaluated in view of several uncertainties in the aerodynamic, structural, material and thermal variables that govern the turbine blade. The interconnection between the computational fluid dynamics code and finite element structural analysis code was necessary to couple the thermal profiles with the structural design. The stresses and their variations were evaluated at critical points on the Turbine blade. Cumulative distribution functions and sensitivity factors were computed for stress responses due to aerodynamic, geometric, mechanical and thermal random variables.

Gorla, Rama S. R.↗

Used Nuclear Fuel-Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-ST&DARDS)

This will be licensed via RSICC. A new, integrated data and analysis system has been designed to simplify and automate the performance of accurate and efficient evaluations for characterizing the input to the overall nuclear waste management system -UNF-Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-ST&DARDS). A relational database within UNF-ST&DARDS provides a standard means by which UNF-ST&DARDS can succinctly store and retrieve modeling and simulation (M&S) parameters for specific spent nuclear fuel analysis. A library of various analysis model templates provides the ability to communicate the various set of M&S parameters to the most appropriate M&S application. Interactive visualization capabilities facilitate data analysis and results interpretation. UNF-ST&DARDS current analysis capabilities include (1) assembly-specific depletion and decay, (2) and spent nuclear fuel cask-specific criticality and shielding. Currently, UNF-ST&DARDS uses SCALE nuclear analysis code system for performing nuclear analysis.

Banerjee, Kaushik↗

Verification and Validation Activities of Molten Salt Reactors Multiphysics Coupling Schemes at Idaho National Laboratory

This paper presents the latest verification and validation activities in molten salt reactor modeling and simulation performed at Idaho National Laboratory. Multiphysics solutions are obtained by coupling the neutronics code Griffin, the thermal hydraulics code Pronghorn, and the system analysis code SAM, under the MOOSE framework. We present various multiphysics coupling schemes with these codes for molten salt reactor problems and provide verification and validation results. First, we present verification test results of the Griffin-Pronghorn coupled scheme for the CNRS benchmark. Then validation test results are presented for the Griffin-SAM coupled scheme for the pump startup and coast down transients of the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment. Finally, the Griffin-Pronghorn-SAM coupled scheme is demonstrated for the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment reactivity insertion transient using a domain-overlapping coupling algorithm between Pronghorn and SAM. The results of these various coupling schemes demonstrate the ability to capture the effect of fuel flow and the various feedback mechanisms important to MSRs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

A Thermal Management Systems Model for the NASA GTX RBCC Concept

The Vehicle Integrated Thermal Management Analysis Code (VITMAC) was further developed to aid the analysis, design, and optimization of propellant and thermal management concepts for advanced propulsion systems. The computational tool is based on engineering level principles and models. A graphical user interface (GUI) provides a simple and straightforward method to assess and evaluate multiple concepts before undertaking more rigorous analysis of candidate systems. The tool incorporates the Chemical Equilibrium and Applications (CEA) program and the RJPA code to permit heat transfer analysis of both rocket and air breathing propulsion systems. Key parts of the code have been validated with experimental data. The tool was specifically tailored to analyze rocket-based combined-cycle (RBCC) propulsion systems being considered for space transportation applications. This report describes the computational tool and its development and verification for NASA GTX RBCC propulsion system applications.

Traci, Richard M.↗