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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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Four documents provide detailed information on ceramic/metal composite materials that are self-lubricating at temperatures as high as 900 degrees C. Materials used in bearings and seals for turbomachines, new energy-efficient automotive engines, power generators, pumps, and furnaces.
The videotape includes footage of the following: space and aeronautic montage, Surveyor lands on the Moon, Lunar Orbiter, weather satellites, Orbiting Geophysical Observatory, Pagoes, Pioneer, sounding rockets, solar eclipse, X-15, lifting bodies, solid rockets, nuclear powered engines, Project Gemini ends, and Apollo-Saturn.
This paper reviews some of the basic questions regarding the structure of the engine powering active galactic nuclei (AGN), the nature of the interaction between the AGN and the host galaxy, and the origin and evolution of AGN. The study of the dynamics and physical characteristics of the line-emitting gas in these objects has proven fruitful in addressing many of these issues. Recent advances in optical and infrared detector technology combined with the development of superior ground-based instruments have produced efficient new tools for the study of the line-emitting gas on nuclear and Galactic scales. Programs which take advantage of two of these new techniques, Fabry-Perot imaging spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy, are described in this paper. The origin of nuclear activity in galaxies is also addressed in a third project which aims at determining the nature of luminous infrared galaxies.
A flight investigation of an automatic throttle control in landing approaches has been made. It was found that airspeed could be maintained satisfactorily by the automatic throttle control. Turbulent air caused undesirably large variations of engine power which were uncomfortable and disconcerting; nevertheless, the pilot felt that he could make approaches 5 knots slower with equal assurance when the automatic control was in operation.
The transmission system of a helicopter must meet particularly critical requirements. It must transmit engine power to the rotor, at the same time ensuring a typical speed reduction of 60 to 1. It must also be safe, reliable, light, and reach a high level of performance while, at the same time, it must produce few vibrations and little noise. Helicopter transmissions have achieved high-level performances thanks to the combination of analyses, experiments, and the application of practical field experience. However, the new generation of helicopters will require transmission systems that are even safer, lighter, less noisy, and more reliable.
The foregoing science discussions, the required measurements and the detailed implementation plans should provide ample evidence in support of the contention that geospace multiprobes are the next logical step forward in exploration of our environment. The advancement of technology in areas such as mechanical engineering, power systems, circuit miniaturization, high-capacity data storage, and innovative propulsion systems all allow the implementation of multiple satellite configurations within a constrained budget. The problems that have plagued our interpretation of previous data and the advancements that could not be made without the availability of multiple platforms can now be overcome. New multiprobe missions promise to produce a real leap forward in our understanding of the geospace environment for they will allow all the required measurements to be made in all the right places. The most efficient use of resources, and application of experience and knowledge, will be achieved from a series of missions such as envisioned by Solar Terrestrial Probes. The return for our investment in a multiprobe mission sequence is the organized advancement of our understanding in two key areas. First, we will understand the geospace environment to a level that will allow real quantitative assessment of the impacts of humans and the vulnerability of human space systems. Second, this advancement will allow us to more fully evaluate present and future data from other planetary environments to assess differences important to habitability.
Narrative summary data produced by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been obtained and analyzed for all 8,436 U.S. civil registered rotorcraft accidents which occurred from mid-1963 through 1997. This analysis was based on the NTSB's assignment of each mishap into one of 21 "first event" categories. The number of U.S. civil registered rotorcraft as recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the same period has also been obtained. Taken together, these data indicate the civil rotorcraft accident rate (on a per 1,000 registered rotorcraft basis) has decreased by almost a factor of 10 (i.e., from 130 accidents per 1,000 rotorcraft in 1964 to 13.4 per 1,000 in 1997). Analysis of the mishap data indicates over 70% of the rotorcraft accidents were associated with one of the following four NTSB "first event" categories: 2408 Loss of engine power (28.5%); 1,322 In-flight collisions with objects (15.7%); 1,114 Loss of control (13.2%); 1,083 Airframe/component/system failure or malfunction (12.8%).
During August 1-14, 1999, NASA's Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project (AEAP) convened a workshop at the NASA Langley Research Center to try to determine why such a wide variation in aerosol emissions indices and chemical and physical properties have been reported by various independent AEAP-supported research teams trying to characterize the exhaust emissions of subsonic commercial aircraft. This workshop was divided into two phases, a laboratory phase and a field phase. The laboratory phase consisted of supplying known particle number densities (concentrations) and particle size distributions to a common manifold for the participating research teams to sample and analyze. The field phase was conducted on an aircraft run-up pad. Participating teams actually sampled aircraft exhaust generated by a Langley T-38 Talon aircraft at 1 and 9 m behind the engine at engine powers ranging from 48 to 100 percent. Results from the laboratory phase of this intercomparison workshop are reported in this paper.
During August 1-14, 1999, NASA's Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project (AEAP) convened a workshop at the NASA Langley Research Center to try to determine why such a wide variation in aerosol emissions indices and chemical and physical properties has been reported by various independent AEAP-supported research teams trying to characterize the exhaust emissions of subsonic commercial aircraft. This workshop was divided into two phases, a laboratory phase and a field phase. The laboratory phase consisted of supplying known particle number densities (concentrations) and particle size distributions to a common manifold for the participating research teams to sample and analyze. The field phase was conducted on an aircraft run-up pad. Participating teams actually sampled aircraft exhaust generated by a Langley T-38 Talon aircraft at 1 and 9 m behind the engine at engine powers ranging from 48 to 100 percent. Results from the laboratory phase of this intercomparison workshop are reported in this paper.
This report summarizes the work completed on the design and flight-testing of a small, unmanned, amphibious demonstrator aircraft that flies autonomously. The aircraft named ACAT (Autonomous Cargo Amphibious Transport) is intended to be a large cargo carrying unmanned aircraft that operates from water to avoid airspace and airfield conflict issues between manned and unmanned aircraft. To demonstrate the feasibility of this concept, a demonstrator ACAT was designed, built, and flown that has a six-foot wingspan and can fly autonomously from land or water airfield. The demonstrator was designed for a 1-hour duration and 1-mile telemetry range. A sizing code was used to design the smallest demonstrator UAV to achieve these goals. The final design was a six-foot wingspan, twin hull configuration that distributes the cargo weight across the span, reducing the wing structural weight. The demonstrator airframe was constructed from balsa wood, fiberglass, and plywood. A 4-stroke model airplane engine powered by methanol fuel was mounted in a pylon above the wing and powers the ACAT UAV. Initial flight tests from land and water were conducted under manual radio control and confirmed the amphibious capability of the design. Flight avionics that were developed by MLB for production UAVs were installed in the ACAT demonstrator. The flight software was also enhanced to permit autonomous takeoff and landing from water. A complete autonomous flight from ahard runway was successfully completed on July 5, 2001 and consisted of a take-off, rectangular flight pattern, and landing under complete computer control. A completely autonomous flight that featured a water takeoff and landing was completed on October 4, 2001. This report describes these activities in detail and highlights the challenges encountered and solved during the development of the ACAT demonstrator. hard runway was successfully completed on July 5, 2001 and consisted of a take-off, rectangular flight pattern, and landing under complete computer control. A completely autonomous flight that featured a water takeoff and landing was completed on October 4, 2001. This report describes these activities in detail and highlights the challenges encountered and solved during the development of the ACAT demonstrator.
The amount of engine power required for a helicopter to hover is an important, but difficult, consideration in helicopter design. The EHPIC program model produces converged, freely distorted wake geometries that generate accurate analysis of wake-induced downwash, allowing good predictions of rotor thrust and power requirements. Continuum Dynamics, Inc., the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) company that developed EHPIC, also produces RotorCRAFT, a program for analysis of aerodynamic loading of helicopter blades in forward flight. Both helicopter codes have been licensed to commercial manufacturers.
The United States and other countries face the problem of waste disposal in an economical, environmentally safe manner. A widely applied solution adopted by Americans is "waste to energy," incinerating the refuse and using the steam produced by trash burning to drive an electricity producing generator. NASA's computer program PRESTO II, (Performance of Regenerative Superheated Steam Turbine Cycles), provides power engineering companies, including Blount Energy Resources Corporation of Alabama, with the ability to model such features as process steam extraction, induction and feedwater heating by external sources, peaking and high back pressure. Expansion line efficiency, exhaust loss, leakage, mechanical losses and generator losses are used to calculate the cycle heat rate. The generator output program is sufficiently precise that it can be used to verify performance quoted in turbine generator supplier's proposals.
An investigation was made in the Cleveland Altitude wind tunnel to determine the performance of an Aeroproducts H20C-162-X11M2 four-blade propeller on a YP-47M airplane at high blade loadings and high engine powers. The propeller characteristics were obtained for a range of power coefficients from 0.30 to 1.00 at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.40 and 0.50. The results of the force measurements are indicative only of trends in propeller efficiency with changes in power coefficient and advance-diameter ratio because unknown interference effects existed during the investigation. At a free-stream Mach number of 0.40, the envelopes of the efficiency curves decreased about 11% between advance-diameter ratios of 2.40 and 4.40. An increase in power coefficient from 0.30 to 0.80 at an advance-diameter ratio of 2.40 had little effect on the propeller efficiency. A change in power coefficient from 0.40 to 1.00 at an advance-diameter ratio of 4.40 increased the propeller efficiency by about 40%. For conditions below the stall the thrust loading on the outboard blade sections increased more rapidly than on the inboard sections as the power coefficient was increased or as the advance-diameter ratio was decreased. For conditions beyond the stall, the thrust loading decreased on the outboard sections and increased on the inboard sections.
An investigation was conducted in the Cleveland altitude wind tunnel to determine the performance of a Curtiss propeller with four 838-lC2-lSRl blades on a YP-47M airplane at high blade loadings and engine powers. The study was made for a range of power coefficients between 0.30 and 1.00 at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.40 and 0.50. The results of the force measurements indicate primarily the trend of propeller efficiency for changes in power coefficient or advance-diameter ratio, inasmuch as corrections for the effects of tunnel-wall constriction on the installation have not been applied. Slip-stream pressure surveys across the propeller disk are presented to illustrate blade thrust load distribution for several operating conditions. At a free-stream Mach number of 0.40, nearly constant peak efficiencies were obtained at power coefficients from 0.30 to 0.70. A change in power coefficient from 0.70 to 0.90 reduced the peak efficiency about 5 percent. Blade stall at the tip sections became evident for a power coefficient of 0.91 when the advance-diameter ratio was reduced to 1.87. At a free-stream Mach number of 0.50, the highest propeller efficiencies were obtained for power coefficients from 0.80 to 1.00 at advance-diameter ratios above 2.90. At advance-diameter ratios below 2.90, the highest efficiencies were obtained for power coefficients of 0.60 and 0.70. The envelope of the efficiency curves decreased about 12 percent between advance-diameter ratios of 2.60 and 4.20. Local compressibility effects became evident for a power coefficient of 0.40 when the advance-diameter ratio was decreased to 1.75.
An altitude-wind-tunnel investigation has been made to determine the performance of a Curtiss 732-1C2-0 four-blade propeller on a YP-47M airplane at high blade loadings and engine power. Propeller characteristics were obtained for a range of power coefficients from 0.30 to 1.00 at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.40 and .50.
An altitude-wind-tunnel investigation has been made to determine the performance of Hamilton Standard 6507A-2 four-blade and three-blade propellers on a YP-47M airplane at high blade loadings and high engine powers. Characteristics of the four-blase propeller were obtained for a range of power coefficients from 0.10 to 1.00 at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.20, 0.30, 0.40. Characteristics of the three-blade propeller were obtained for a range of power coefficients from 0.30 to 1.00 at a free-stream Mach number of 0.40. Results of the force measurements indicate primarily the trend of propeller efficiency for changes in power coefficient or advance-diameter ratio because no corrections for the effects of tunnel-wall constriction on the installation were applied. Slipstream surveys are presented to illustrate blade thrust load distribution for certain operating conditions. Within the range of advance-diameter ratios investigated at each free-stream Mach number, the efficiency of the four-blade propeller decreased as the power coefficient was increased from 0.10 to 1.00. For the three-blade propeller, nearly constant maximum efficiencies were obtained for power coefficients from 0.32 to 0.63 at advance-diameter ratios between 1.90 and 3.00. In general, for conditions below the stall and critical tip Mach number, the maximum thrust load shifted from the inboard sections toward the tip sections as the power coefficient was increased or as the advance-diameter ratio was decreased. For conditions beyond the stall or critical tip Mach number, losses in thrust occurred on the outboard blade sections owing to flow break-down; the thrust load increased slightly on the inboard sections.
NASA and the U.S. aerospace industry have been assessing the economic viability and environmental acceptability of a second-generation supersonic civil transport, or High Speed Civil Transport (HSCT). Development of a propulsion system that satisfies strict airport noise regulations and provides high levels of cruise and transonic performance with adequate takeoff performance, at an acceptable weight, is critical to the success of any HSCT program. The principal objectives were to: 1. Develop a preliminary design of an innovative 2-D exhaust nozzle with the goal of meeting FAR36 Stage III noise levels and providing high levels of cruise performance with a high specific thrust for Mach 2.4 HSCT with a range of 5000 nmi and a payload of 51,900 lbm, 2. Employ advanced acoustic and aerodynamic codes during preliminary design, 3. Develop a comprehensive acoustic and aerodynamic database through scale-model testing of low-noise, high-performance, 2-D nozzle configurations, based on the preliminary design, and 4. Verify acoustic and aerodynamic predictions by means of scale-model testing. The results were: 1. The preliminary design of a 2-D, convergent/divergent suppressor ejector nozzle for a variable-cycle engine powered, Mach 2.4 HSCT was evolved, 2. Noise goals were predicted to be achievable for three takeoff scenarios, and 3. Impact of noise suppression, nozzle aerodynamic performance, and nozzle weight on HSCT takeoff gross weight were assessed.
Aircraft noise pollution is becoming a major environmental concern for the world community. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is responding to this concern by imposing more stringent noise restrictions for aircraft certification then ever before to keep the U.S. industry competitive with the rest of the world. At the NASA Lewis Research Center, attempts are underway to develop noise-reduction technology for newer engines and for retrofitting existing engines so that they are as quiet as (or quieter than) required. Lewis conducted acoustic and Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) tests using Pratt & Whitney's Internal Exhaust Gas Mixers (IEGM). The IEGM's mix the core flow with the fan flow prior to their common exhaust. All tests were conducted in Lewis' Aero-Acoustic Propulsion Laboratory--a semihemispheric dome open to the ambient atmosphere. This was the first time Laser Doppler Velocimetry was used in such a facility at Lewis. Jet exhaust velocity and turbulence and the internal velocity fields were detailed. Far-field acoustics were also measured. Pratt & Whitney provided 1/7th scale model test hardware (a 12-lobe mixer, a 20-lobe mixer, and a splitter) for 1.7 bypass ratio engines, and NASA provided the research engineers, test facility, and test time. The Pratt & Whitney JT8D-200 engine power conditions were used for all tests.