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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 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1976

A finite-element analysis of fatigue crack closure

The paper is concerned with the application of a two-dimensional, nonlinear, finite-element analysis using an incremental theory of plasticity to predict crack-closure and crack-opening stresses during the crack-growth process under cyclic loading. A two-dimensional finite-element computer program is developed, which accounts for both elastic-plastic material behavior and changing boundary conditions associated with crack extension and intermittent contact of the crack surfaces under cyclic loading. An efficient technique to account for changing boundary conditions under cyclic loading is also incorporated into the nonlinear analysis program. This program is used to study crack extension and crack closure behavior in a center-cracked panel under constant-amplitude and two-level block loading. The calculated crack-opening stresses are found to be quantitatively consistent with experimental measurements.

Newman, J. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Application of radial-splitters for improved wide-angle diffuser performance in a blowdown tunnel

Severe flow separation in the 15:1 area-ratio, 38 deg total angle conical diffuser preceding the settling-chamber of an intermittent blowdown wind tunnel was eliminated by the use of a novel radial-splitter arrangement. As a consequence, the operating life of settling-chamber screens was greatly extended and test-section flow steadiness improved, with no penalty in the tunnel running time.

Rao, D. M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Closed-cycle hydrogen-fueled engine

Innovation avoids pollution by retaining combustion products. Potential uses include applicability to pollution-free powerplant using intermittent solar energy. Engine parts are fabricated from silicon carbide, silicon nitride, stainless steel, and other high-tensile strength materials.

Laumann, E. A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Inexpensive solid-state monitoring circuit

Circuit reduces intermittent fan-flutter openings in airflow switch. Circuit ignores brief switch openings due to contact oscillations; however, if switch is open longer than selected interval, control circuit shuts down system and sounds alarm.

Hardy, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Pulsed thermionic converter study

A nuclear electric propulsion concept using a thermionic reactor inductively coupled to a magnetoplasmadynamic accelerator (MPD arc jet) is described, and the results of preliminary analyses are presented. In this system, the MPD thruster operates intermittently at higher voltages and power levels than the thermionic generating unit. A typical thrust pulse from the MPD arc jet is characterized by power levels of 1 to 4 MWe, a duration of 1 msec, and a duty cycle of approximately 20%. The thermionic generating unit operates continuously but with a lower power level of approximately 0.4 MWe. Energy storage between thrust pulses is provided by building up a large current in an inductor using the output of the thermionic converter array. Periodically, the charging current is interrupted, and the energy stored in the magnetic field of the inductor is utilized for a short duration thrust pulse. The results of the preliminary analysis show that a coupling effectiveness of approximately 85 to 90% is feasible for a nominal 400 KWe system with an inductive unit suitable for a flight vehicle.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1976

Effect of a chromium-containing fuel additive on hot corrosion

Four superalloys were tested at 900 C in high velocity combustion gases containing synthetic sea salt and, in some cases, a chromium containing fuel additive. While the additive reduced hot corrosion of the alloys over the 100 hour test period, the attack was not eliminated nor was the mode of attack changed. Reduction of the number of thermal cycles had as large a beneficial effect as the Cr additive. Intermittent washing during testing had either small beneficial or adverse effects depending on the alloy.

Lowell, C. E.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Zonal average earth radiation budget measurements from satellites for climate studies

Data from 29 months of satellite radiation budget measurements, taken intermittently over the period 1964 through 1971, are composited into mean month, season and annual zonally averaged meridional profiles. Individual months, which comprise the 29 month set, were selected as representing the best available total flux data for compositing into large scale statistics for climate studies. A discussion of spatial resolution of the measurements along with an error analysis, including both the uncertainty and standard error of the mean, are presented.

Ellis, J. S.↗
NASA NTRS1977

An experimental investigation of a three dimensional wall jet

One and two point statistical properties are measured in the flow fields of a coflowing turbulent jet. Two different confining surfaces (one flat, one with large curvature) are placed adjacent to the lip of the circular nozzle; and the resultant effects on the flow field are determined. The one point quantities measured include mean velocities, turbulent intensities, velocity and concentration autocorrelations and power spectral densities, and intermittencies. From the autocorrelation curves, the Taylor microscale and the integral length scale are calculated. Two point quantities measured include velocity and concentration space-time correlations and pressure velocity correlations. From the velocity space-time correlations, iso-correlation contours are constructed along with the lines of maximum maximorum. These lines allow a picture of the flow pattern to be determined. The pressures monitored in the pressure velocity correlations are measured both in the flow field and at the surface of the confining wall(s).

Catalano, G. D.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The alleged contributions of Pedro E. Paulet to liquid-propellant rocketry

The first practical working liquid propellant rocket motor was claimed by Pedro E. Paulet, a South American engineer from Peru (1895). He operated a conical motor, 10 centimeters in diameter, using nitrogen peroxide and gasoline as propellants and measuring thrust up to 90 kilograms, and apparently used spark ignition and intermittent propellant injection. The test device which he used contained elements of later test stands, such as a spring thrust-measuring device. However, he did not publish his work until twenty-five years later. Evidence is examined concerning this only known claim to liquid propellant rocket engine experiments in the nineteenth century.

Ordway, F. I., III↗
NASA NTRS1976

Inductively coupled TI-MPD spacecraft electric propulsion

A nuclear electric propulsion concept using a thermionic reactor inductively coupled to a magnetoplasma-dynamic (MPD) accelerator is described and the results of preliminary analyses are presented. In this system, the thermionic generating unit operates continuously at a power level of approximately 0.4 MW, while the MPD thruster operates intermittently at higher voltages and power levels. Energy storage is provided by building up a large current in an inductor. Periodically, the charging current is interrupted and the energy stored in the magnetic field of the inductor is utilized for a short duration thrust pulse. A typical thrust pulse is characterized by a power level of 1 to 4 MWe, a duration of 1 msec, and a duty cycle of approximately 20%. Results of the preliminary analysis show that approximately 85 to 90% of the power available from the thermionic converter array can be delivered to the MPD thruster for a nominal 400 kWe system with an inductive unit suitable for a flight vehicle. Optimized values of the total specific mass of the system including the thermionic reactor, the inductor, and the MPD thruster are estimated in the range of 23 to 24 kg/kWe.

Britt, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Field-aligned currents in the Jovian magnetosphere - Pioneer 10 and 11

Field-aligned currents, which are known to play an important role in the dynamics of the earth's magnetosphere, would also be expected to flow in the Jovian magnetosphere during magnetically active periods. Such currents are difficult to observe largely because of their limited spatial extent and intermittent nature, but on the Pioneer 11 inbound pass to Jupiter on day 336, 1800 GRT, near the L shell of Ganymede, the helium vector magnetometer recorded a structured perturbation with the characteristic signature of a field-aligned current. No analogous structure was found on a similar Pioneer 10 inbound pass (day 337, 1200 GRT). The perturbation could have been caused by turbulence with the wake of Ganymede through which the spacecraft was moving or the perturbation could represent the first observation of a Jovian substorm. The observations are discussed in terms of both models, and difficulties are examined.

Kivelson, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Impulsive ion injection into the polar cusp

Impulsive bursts of positive ions were observed in the polar cusp during the rocket flights. Dispersion of arrival time with energy implies a modulation or acceleration region at a distance of 11 to 13 earth radii, presumably in the magnetosheath. The ion energy spectra closely match typical magnetosheath spectra. The bursts had a duration of about 20 s and repetition period on the order of 100 s. These results suggest that ions have intermittent rather than continuous entry at the polar cusps. At times, the ion and electron precipitations were anticorrelated in a manner consistent with a parallel electric field.

Torbert, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1976

A new approach to the pulsed thermocouple for high gas temperature measurements

Pulsed thermocouple systems can be used to measure gas temperatures above the melting point of the thermocouple by various techniques of short term or intermittent exposure of the thermocouple operating at lower temperatures. This paper describes an approach which uses a thermocouple cooled by a small jet of inert gas. When a measurement is to be made, the cooling jet is turned off and the thermocouple allowed to heat up to near its melting point, at which time the cooling is reapplied. The final temperature which the thermocouple should have attained is then calculated by extrapolating an exponential curve fit to the data. Temperature measurements can be recorded and displayed in near real time by using modern high-speed computing systems to perform these calculations. Examples of the technique applied to high temperature jet engine combustor development are presented.

Glawe, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Features of a separating turbulent boundary layer in the vicinity of separation

Laser anemometer measurements using a directionally sensitive system were obtained for a nominally two-dimensional separating turbulent boundary layer produced by an adverse pressure gradient. An airfoil-type flow was generated in which the flow was accelerated and then decelerated until separation. The results include the skin friction, mean velocity profiles, turbulent shear stresses and intensities, spectra, dissipation rate, turbulent/non-turbulent interfacial intermittency, and eddy speeds.

Simpson, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Thermal interaction of the core and the mantle and long-term behavior of the geomagnetic field

The effects of temperature changes at the earth's core-mantle boundary on the velocity field of the core are analyzed. It is assumed that the geomagnetic field is maintained by thermal convection in the outer core. A model for the thermal interaction of the core and the mantle is presented which is consistent with current views on the presence of heat sources in the core and the properties of the lower mantle. Significant long-term variations in the frequency of geomagnetic reversals may be the result of fluctuating temperatures at the core-mantle boundary, caused by intermittent convection in the lower mantle. The thermal structure of the lower mantle region D double prime, extending from 2700 to 2900 km in depth, constitutes an important test of this hypothesis and offers a means of deciding whether the geomagnetic dynamo is thermally driven.

Jones, G. M.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Accelerated heat-aging studies on fluororubber in various media

Heat-aging studies were conducted on fluororubber (copolymers of vinylidene fluoride and perfluoropropylene) using N,N-dicinnamylidene-1,6-hexanediamine, a Schiff's base of 1,6-hexanediamine, and MgO as acid acceptor. The principal technique employed was chemical stress relaxation for determining network changes brought about in the heat-aged fluororubber. This technique was backed up by swelling measurements, gel permeation chromatography, and IR spectroscopy. Stress relaxation curves are plotted for a wide range of variation in parameters (time, crosslinking density, state of curing, temperature, intermittent and continuous relaxation).

Kalfayan, S. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A production parylene coating process for hybrid microcircuits

The real impetus for developing a production parylene coating process for internal hybrid passivation came as a result of the possibility of loose conductive particles in hybrid microelectronic circuits, causing intermittent and sometimes permanent failures. Because of the excellent mechanical properties of parylene, it is capable of securing the loose particles in place and prevent such failures. The process of coating described consists of (1) vaporizing the initial charge, which is in the form of a dimer; (2) conversion of the dimer into a reactive monomer; and (3) deposition and subsequent polymerization of the monomer in the deposition chamber which forms a uniform parylene film over all the cold surfaces in contact. Experimental results are discussed in terms of wire bond reliability, resistor drift, high-temperature storage characteristics of parylene, and coating acceptance standards. It is concluded that internal cavities of microelectronic circuits can be successfully coated with parylene provided appropriate tooling is used to protect external leads from the parylene monomer.

Kale, V. S.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Heavy ion circulation in the earth's magnetosphere

A mechanism for heavy ion circulation in the magnetosphere is proposed. Singly charged ions heavy ions from the plasmasphere are convected intermittently to the dayside magnetopause, accelerated there, swept into the distant tail lobes and boundary layer, and convected earthward in the plasma sheet to reenter the magnetosphere.

Freeman, J. W.↗