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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 NTRS2015

Rocket Propulsion 21 Steering Committee Meeting (RP21) NASA In-Space Propulsion Update

In-house Support of NEXT-C Contract Status Thruster NEXT Long Duration Test post-test destructive evaluation in progress Findings will be used to verify service life models identify potential design improvements Cathode heater fabrication initiated for cyclic life testing Thruster operating algorithm definition verification initiated to provide operating procedures for mission users High voltage propellant isolator life test voluntarily terminated after successfully operating 51,200 h Power processor unit (PPU) Replaced all problematic stacked multilayer ceramic dual inline pin capacitors within PPU Test bed Rebuilt installed discharge power supply primary power board Completed full functional performance characterization Final test report in progress Transferred PPU Testbed to contractor to support prototype design effort.

Electric Propulsion↗
NASA NTRS1972

Pulse performance analysis for small hypergolic-propellant rocket engines

Small rocket engine tests were conducted for the purpose of obtaining pulse performance data to aid in preliminary design and evaluation of attitude control systems. Both monopropellant and hypergolic bipropellant engines of thrust levels from 1 to 100 lbs were tested. The performance data for the hypergolic propellant rockets are compared with theoretical performance calculated from idealized chamber filling and evacuation characteristics. Electromechanical delays in valve response and heat transfer characteristics were found to cause substantial deviation between theoretical and test performance. The theoretical analysis is modified to obtain a semi-empirical model for hypergolic propellant rockets which is demonstrated to be reasonably accurate for two different engine configurations over a considerable range of duty cycles.

Smith, G. W.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Evaluation of cryogenic system test options for the OTV on-orbit propellant depot

Future space missions to geosynchronous, lunar, and planetary orbits will require an orbital depot for stockpiling propellants. This depot will provide long-term storage of cryogens, requiring new technologies for fluid management in microgravity and further development of thermal management technologies for minimization of cryogen boiloff. Preliminary evaluations have been made to define a test program approach for reducing technical risk through verifying performance models and building a base of engineering data for depot design. A number of testing options were defined and evaluated, leading to selection of ground testing combined with an orbital systems test. Ground testing is inadequate because of critical microgravity concerns; extending testing aboard the Space Station was eliminated because the data would not be available soon enough to benefit the propellant depot design. The orbital test would either be a short-term test carried out in the cargo bay of the Space Shuttle Orbiter using a nonhazardous cryogen or a longer term test carried out with hydrogen aboard a free-flying experiment orbited with an expendable launch vehicle.

Schuster, John R.↗
NASA NTRS1950

Investigation of the NACA 4-(3)(8)-045 Two-blade Propellers at Forward Mach Numbers to 0.725 to Determine the Effects of Compressibility and Solidity on Performance

As part of a general investigation of propellers at high forward speeds, tests of two 2-blade propellers having the NACA 4-(3)(8)-03 and NACA 4-(3)(8)-45 blade designs have been made in the Langley 8-foot high-speed tunnel through a range of blade angle from 20 degrees to 60 degrees for forward Mach numbers from 0.165 to 0.725 to establish in detail the changes in propeller characteristics due to compressibility effects. These propellers differed primarily only in blade solidity, one propeller having 50 percent and more solidity than the other. Serious losses in propeller efficiency were found as the propeller tip Mach number exceeded 0.91, irrespective of forward speed or blade angle. The magnitude of the efficiency losses varied from 9 percent to 22 percent per 0.1 increase in tip Mach number above the critical value. The range of advance ratio for peak efficiency decreased markedly with increase of forward speed. The general form of the changes in thrust and power coefficients was found to be similar to the changes in airfoil lift coefficient with changes in Mach number. Efficiency losses due to compressibility effects decreased with increase of blade width. The results indicated that the high level of propeller efficiency obtained at low speeds could be maintained to forward sea-level speeds exceeding 500 miles per hour.

Stack, John↗
NASA NTRS1981

Propfan installation aerodynamics of a supercritical swept wing transport configuration

A semispan model with a powered propeller has been tested to provide data on the installation drag penalty of advanced propfan-powered transports designed to cruise at a Mach number of 0.8. These tests, conducted in 14-foot and 11-foot transonic wind tunnels, are a part of a NASA program to develop efficient, high-speed propellers for more fuel-efficient commercial transports for the 1990s and beyond. The model is instrumented for measuring propeller forces, wing/nacelle forces and moments, and pressure distributions over the wing and nacelle. The body in these tests was nonmetric, being connected to the wing by an RTV seal at the wing/body juncture. Tests were run at angles of attack from -3 to +5 deg over the Mach number range 0.6 to 0.85 at a Reynolds number of about 9,000,000. Results of these tests indicate that the nacelle interference drag can be quite large relative to an uninstalled nacelle. However, the losses due to the nacelle were reduced to acceptable levels by changes to the wing leading edge and nacelle intersection. The propeller slipstream causes substantial changes in the wing span load distribution indicating that twist modifications are needed to recover a more favorable span load distribution.

Smith, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The scaling of the threshold conditions for solid propellant erosive burning

Rocket test firings were performed to measure the transition length threshold conditions while systematically varying various rocket motor parameters. These include the crossflow velocity, the chamber pressure, the propellant nonerosive burning rate, the propellant surface roughness, and the motor port diameter. The erosive burning trends with varying propellant burning rate, motor chamber pressure, and mass flow rate are consistent with published results.

Strand, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS1993

ALS engine propellant effector system

This report summarizes analysis, design, and experimental testing done on the propellant effector (valve plus electromechanical actuator) for the Advanced Launch System (ALS) main engine.

Faulkner, Colin↗
NASA NTRS2005

Test Results for a Non-toxic, Dual Thrust Reaction Control Engine

A non-toxic, dual thrust reaction control engine (RCE) was successfully tested over a broad range of operating conditions at the Aerojet Sacramento facility. The RCE utilized LOX/Ethanol propellants; and was tested in steady state and pulsing modes at 25-lbf thrust (vernier) and at 870-lbf thrust (primary). Steady state vernier tests vaned chamber pressure (Pc) from 0.78 to 5.96 psia, and mixture ratio (MR) from 0.73 to 1.82, while primary steady state tests vaned Pc from 103 to 179 psia and MR from 1.33 to 1.76. Pulsing tests explored EPW from 0.080 to 10 seconds and DC from 5 to 50 percent at both thrust levels. Vernier testing accumulated a total of 6,670 seconds of firing time, and 7,215 pulses, and primary testing accumulated a total of 2,060 seconds of firing time and 3,646 pulses.

Robinson, Philip J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Wind tunnel results of advanced high speed propellers in the takeoff, climb and landing operating regimes

Low speed wind tunnel performance tests of two advanced propellers were completed. The 62.2 cm diameter adjustable pitch models were tested at Mach numbers typical of takeoff, initial climbout, and landing speeds in the 10 by 10 ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel. Both models had eight blades and a cruise design point operating condition of 0.80 Mach number, 10.668 km S.A. altitude, 243.8 m/s tip speed and a high power loading of 301 kW sq m. No adverse or unusual low speed operating conditions were found during the test with either the straight blade SR-2 or the 45 deg swept SR-3 propellers. The 45 deg swept propeller efficiency exceeded the straight blade efficiency by 4 to 5%. Typical net efficiencies of the straight and 45 deg swept propeller at a Mach 0.20 takeoff condition were 50.2 and 54.9% respectively. At a Mach 0.34 climb condition, the efficiencies were 53.7 and 59.1%. Reverse thrust data indicates that these propellers are capable of producing more reverse thrust at Mach 0.20 than a high bypass turbofan engine at Mach 0.20.

Stefko, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Wind tunnel results of advanced high speed propellers in the takeoff, climb, and landing operating regimes

Low speed wind tunnel performance tests of two advanced propellers were completed. The 62.2 cm diameter adjustable pitch models were tested at Mach numbers typical of takeoff, initial climbout, and landing speeds in the 10 by 10 ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel. Both models had eight blades and a cruise design point operating condition of 0.80 Mach number, 10.668 km S.A. altitude, 243.8 m/s tip speed and a high power loading of 301 kW sq m. No adverse or unusual low speed operating conditions were found during the test with either the straight blade SR-2 or the 45 deg swept SR-3 propellers. The 45 deg swept propeller efficiency exceeded the straight blade efficiency by 4 to 5 percent. Typical net efficiencies of the straight and 45 deg swept propeller at a Mach 0.20 takeoff condition were 50.2 and 54.9 percent respectively. At a Mach 0.34 climb condition, the efficiencies were 53.7 and 59.1 percent. Reverse thrust data indicates that these propellers are capable of producing more reverse thrust at Mach 0.20 than a high bypass turbofan engine at Mach 0.20.

Stefko, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Ignition propagation and heat effects of propellant chips embedded in castable inhibitor using a laser flux test bomb

A castable inhibitor is applied to the aft face of the Space Shuttle Redesigned Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) forward segment propellant grain to control propellant surface burn area. During fabrication, the propellant surface is trimmed prior to the inhibitor application. This produces a potential for small propellant chips to remain undetected on the propellant surface and contaminate the inhibitor during application. The concern was that undetected propellant chips in the inhibitor might provide a fuse path for premature propellant ignition underneath the inhibitor. To evaluate the fuse path potential, testing was performed on inhibitor samples with embedded propellant. The internal motor environment was simulated with a calibrated CO2 laser beam directed onto a sample which was placed in a 4100 kPa (600 psi) nitrogen pressurized bomb (laser bomb). The testing showed definitive results pertaining to fuse path formation. Embedded propellant chips did not autoignite until the receding heat affected inhibitor surface reached, or passed, the propellant chip. Samples with embedded propellant chips in alignment did not propagate ignition from one chip to another with separation distances as small as 0.010 cm(0.004 inc) and some as little as 0.0051 cm (0.002 in). Propellant chips with volumes approximately less than 0.025 cu cm (0.0015 cu in) (which did not propagate ignition) did not increase the inhibitor material decomposition depth more than the resulting void cavity of the burned out propellant chip. In addition, the depth of this void cavity did not increase until it was overtaken by the surrounding material decomposition depth. This was due, in part, to the retention of the protective inhibitor char layer. Samples with embedded propellant strings, whose thicknesses were below 0.023 cm (0.009 in), did not propagate ignition. Propellant string thicknesses above 0.038 cm (0.015 in) did propagate ignition. Test sample char and heat affected layer measurements and observations compared well with those from the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Motor (SRM) Technical Evaluation Motor no. 9(TEM-9).

Bolton, Douglas E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Implementation and Initial Validation of a 100-Kilowatt Class Nested-Channel Hall Thruster

The X3 is a 100-kilowatt class nested-channel Hall thruster developed by the Plasmadynamics and Electric Propulsion Laboratory at the University of Michigan in collaboration with the Air Force Research Laboratory and NASA. The cathode, magnetic circuit, boron nitride channel rings, and anodes all required specific design considerations during thruster development, and thermal modeling was used to properly account for thermal growth in material selection and component design. A number of facility upgrades were required at the University of Michigan to facilitate operation of the X3. These upgrades included a re-worked propellant feed system, a completely redesigned power and telemetry break-out box, and numerous updates to thruster handling equipment. The X3 was tested on xenon propellant at two current densities, 37% and 73% of the nominal design value. It was operated to a maximum steady-state discharge power of 60.8 kilowatts. The tests presented here served as an initial validation of thruster operation. Thruster behavior was monitored with telemetry, photography and high-speed current probes. The photography showed a uniform plume throughout testing. At constant current density, reductions in mass flow rate of 18% and 26% were observed in the three-channel operating configuration as compared to the superposition of each channel running individually. The high-speed current probes showed that the thruster was stable at all operating points and that the channels influence each other when more than one is operating simultaneously. Additionally, the ratio of peak-to-peak AC-coupled discharge current oscillations to mean discharge current did not exceed 51% for any operating points reported here, and did not exceed 17% at the higher current density.

High Power↗
NASA NTRS1990

Aeroacoustic effects of reduced aft tip speed at constant thrust for a model counterrotation turboprop at takeoff conditions

A model high-speed, advanced counterrotation propeller, F7/A7, was tested in the NASA Lewis Research Center's 9- by 15-foot anechoic wind tunnel at simulated takeoff and approach conditions of Mach 0.2. The propeller was operated in a baseline configuration with the forward and aft rotor blade setting angles (36.2deg and 35.4 deg) and forward and aft rotational speeds essentially equal. Two additional configurations were tested with the aft rotor at increased blade setting angles and the rotational speed reduced to achieve overall performance similar to that of the baseline configuration. The aft rotor blade angles were adjusted such that the thrust and power absorption for each rotor remained the same as for the baseline configuration. Acoustic data were taken with an axially translating microphone probe that was attached to the tunnel floor. Concurrent aerodynamic data were taken to define propeller operating conditions. The aft rotor fundamental tone was about 6 dB lower with the 36.2 deg and 38.4 deg blade setting angles, and about 9 dB lower with the 36.2 and 41.4 deg blade setting angles. Predicted noise reductions based on tip speed considerations were 5 and 9.5 dB, respectively, for the two altered blade setting angles.

Woodward, Richard P.↗
NASA NTRS1983

New test techniques and analytical procedures for understanding the behavior of advanced propellers

Analytical procedures and experimental techniques were developed to improve the capability to design advanced high speed propellers. Some results from the propeller lifting line and lifting surface aerodynamic analysis codes are compared with propeller force data, probe data and laser velocimeter data. In general, the code comparisons with data indicate good qualitative agreement. A rotating propeller force balance demonstrated good accuracy and reduced test time by 50 percent. Results from three propeller flow visualization techniques are shown which illustrate some of the physical phenomena occurring on these propellers.

Stefko, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS1990

PC programs for the prediction of the linear stability behavior of liquid propellant propulsion systems and application to current MSFC rocket engine test programs, volume 1

Research on propulsion stability (chugging and acoustic modes), and propellant valve control was investigated. As part of the activation of the new liquid propulsion test facilities, it is necessary to analyze total propulsion system stability. To accomplish this, several codes were built to run on desktop 386 machines. These codes enable one to analyze the stability question associated with the propellant feed systems. In addition, further work was adapted to this computing environment and furnished along with other codes. This latter inclusion furnishes those interested in high frequency oscillatory combustion behavior (that does not couple to the feed system) a set of codes for study of proposed liquid rocket engines.

Doane, George B., III↗
NASA NTRS1929

The Twenty-Foot Propeller Research Tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics

This report describes in detail the new propeller research tunnel of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at Langley Field, Va. This tunnel has an open jet air stream 20 feet in diameter in which velocities up to 110 M. P. H. Are obtained. Although the tunnel was built primarily to make possible accurate full-scale tests on aircraft propellers, it may also be used for making aerodynamic tests on full-size fuselages, landing gears, tail surfaces, and other aircraft parts, and on model wings of large size. (author)

Weick, Fred E↗