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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 37 records · Page 2

Modeling of Electro-Magneto-Thermo-Mechanical Interactions in High Voltage Materials and Structures for Electric Propulsion

The growing interest in developing high-voltage-, high-power-capable electrical components for electric aircraft propulsion requires a more in-depth understanding of their electrical characteristics, critical material responses, and their synergistic influence on the overall performance of the system. A model that can accurately replicate the electrical, magnetic, thermal, and mechanical operating stresses and successfully predict the performance of the components will help engineers optimize the system design for a given airframe and powertrain.

electric propulsion↗

Finite Difference Time Domain Electromagnetic Scattering from Frequency-Dependent Lossy Materials

During this effort the tasks specified in the Statement of Work have been successfully completed. The extension of Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) to more complicated materials has been made. A three-dimensional FDTD code capable of modeling interactions with both dispersive dielectric and magnetic materials has been written, validated, and documented. This code is efficient and is capable of modeling interesting targets using a modest computer work station platform. However, in addition to the tasks in the Statement of Work, a significant number of other FDTD extensions and calculations have been made. RCS results for two different plate geometries have been reported. The FDTD method has been extended to computing far zone time domain results in two dimensions. Finally, the capability to model nonlinear materials has been incorporated into FDTD and validated. The FDTD computer codes developed have been supplied, along with documentation, and preprints describing the other FDTD advances have been included with this report as attachments.

Luebbers, Raymond J.↗

Effects of grain size and shape in modeling reflectance spectra of mineral mixtures

An 'isograin model' of reflectance from particulate material is presented. The model treats reflectance as a series of grain interactions, incorporating optical constants of each material and two parameters that model the activity of scattering and absorption in the vertical and the horizontal directions, respectively. Mixing ratios of components in mixture are treated as variables and are calculated using least-squares fit. Grain size and shape have a significant effect on the accuracy of predicting mixing ratios but can be modeled by introducing the concept of effective grain size. The model calculates spectra in good agreement with measured spectra and models reflectance within 1 percent and mixing ratios within 5 wt pct.

Hiroi, T.↗

Validating Arc-jet Condition Targets Using Inverse 1D Material Response Models

Experiments were conducted using both the Interaction Heating Facility (IHF) and Aerodynamic Heating Facility (AHF), two hypersonic arc-jet facilities at NASA Ames. These tests were run to understand the material response of ablative thermal protection system materials by exposing them to high-enthalpy flows. Using thermocouple data from the materials, test conditions were inversely determined and compared with expected results from a one-dimensional model using facility target conditions; this allowed an approximate environmental scale factor to be determined and applied to more accurately predict material response in additional tests.

material response↗

Measurement of Charged Particle Interactions in Spacecraft and Planetary Habitat Shielding Materials

Accurate models of health risks to astronauts on long-duration missions outside the geomagnetosphere will require a full understanding of the radiation environment inside a spacecraft or planetary habitat. This in turn requires detailed knowledge of the flux of incident particles and their propagation through matter, including the nuclear interactions of heavy ions that are a part of the Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR). The most important ions are likely to be iron, silicon, oxygen, and carbon. Transport of heavy ions through complex shielding materials including self-shielding of tissue modifies the radiation field at points of interest (e.g., at the blood-forming organs). The incident flux is changed by two types of interactions: (1) ionization energy loss, which results in reduced particle velocity and higher LET (Linear Energy Transfer); and (2) nuclear interactions that fragment the incident nuclei into less massive ions. Ionization energy loss is well understood, nuclear interactions less so. Thus studies of nuclear fragmentation at GCR-like energies are needed to fill the large gaps that currently exist in the database. These can be done at only a few accelerator facilities where appropriate beams are available. Here we report results from experiments performed at the Brookhaven National Laboratory s Alternating Gradient Synchrotron (AGS) and the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba, Japan (HIMAC). Recent efforts have focused on extracting charge-changing and fragment production cross sections from silicon beams at 400, 600, and 1200 MeV/nucleon. Some energy dependence is observed in the fragment production cross sections, and as in other data sets the production of fragments with even charge numbers is enhanced relative to those with odd charge numbers. These data are compared to the NASA-LaRC model NUCFRG2. The charge-changing cross section data are compared to recent calculations using an improved model due to Tripathi, which accurately predicts the observed (slight) energy dependence. An additional set of data will be presented from an analysis of shielding material performance in the 1 GeV/nucleon iron beam at the AGS. A wide variety of candidate materials for spacecraft construction, as well as elemental targets, have been placed in this beam and their effects on transmitted dose and dose equivalent measured. The results support a prediction by J. Wilson et al. that hydrogen-loaded materials give the greatest dose reduction per unit mass.

Zeitlin, Cary J.↗

Creep-Fatigue Interaction Testing

Fatigue fives in metals are nominally time independent below 0.5 T(sub Melt). At higher temperatures, fatigue lives are altered due to time-dependent, thermally activated creep. Conversely, creep rates are altered by super. imposed fatigue loading. Creep and fatigue generally interact synergistically to reduce material lifetime. Their interaction, therefore, is of importance to structural durability of high-temperature structures such as nuclear reactors, reusable rocket engines, gas turbine engines, terrestrial steam turbines, pressure vessel and piping components, casting dies, molds for plastics, and pollution control devices. Safety and lifecycle costs force designers to quantify these interactions. Analytical and experimental approaches to creep-fatigue began in the era following World War II. In this article experimental and life prediction approaches are reviewed for assessing creep-fatigue interactions of metallic materials. Mechanistic models are also discussed briefly.

Halford, Gary R.↗

Nonlinear Ultrasonic Characterization of Fatigue Microstructures

Dislocation dipole substructures formed during metal fatigue are shown to produce a substantial distortion of ultrasonic waves propagating through the fatigued material. A model of ultrasonic wave-dislocation dipole interactions is developed that quantifies the wave distortion by means of a material nonlinearity parameter (beta). Application of the model to AA2024-T4 predicts a value of p approximately 300% larger in material cyclically loaded for 100 kcycles in stress-control at 276 MPa and R=0 than that measured for virgin material. Experimental measurements show a monotonic increase in p as a function of the number of fatigue cycles that closely approaches the predicted increase. The experiments also suggest that the relevant dislocation substructures are localized in the material.

Cantrell, John H.↗

Modeling Electrostatic Fields Generated by Internal Charging of Materials in Space Radiation Environments

Internal charging is a risk to spacecraft in energetic electron environments. DICTAT, NU MIT computational codes are the most widely used engineering tools for evaluating internal charging of insulator materials exposed to these environments. Engineering tools are designed for rapid evaluation of ESD threats, but there is a need for more physics based models for investigating the science of materials interactions with energetic electron environments. Current tools are limited by the physics included in the models and ease of user implementation .... additional development work is needed to improve models.

Minow, Joseph I.↗

Scattering properties of woven fibrous insulations - Effects of interference for normal incidence

This paper examines the scattering properties of woven fibrous materials in order to model the interactions between the scattered radiation from individual fibers. A normally incident plane electromagnetic wave is considered and different representative geometries are analyzed theoretically. Experimental results are presented for specific woven thermal insulation fabrics. Previous studies in the literature have mostly ignored the effect of constructive or destructive addition of scattered waves from individual fibers with the exception of the case of parallel fibers. Whereas the light-scattering characteristics of a single long fiber depend only on the size parameter and on the material optical constants, the additional mechanism of interference between the scattered waves from fibers of parallel or perpendicular orientation introduces an additional dependence on fiber locations. In this study, analytical models are developed for obtaining the radiative scattering characteristics of woven fibrous media taking into account the mechanism of interference. Experimental measurements of forward- and backward-scattered light from a woven silica cloth over a broad range of wavelengths in the infrared are obtained and compared with the predicted results for a system of two orthogonal families of infinite parallel fibers.

Kumar, Sunil↗

Simulation of RCC Crack Growth Due to Carbon Oxidation in High-Temperature Gas Environments

The carbon wall oxidation technique coupled with a CFD technique was employed to study the flow in the expanding crack channel caused by the oxidation of the channel carbon walls. The recessing 3D surface morphing procedure was developed and tested in comparison with the arcjet experimental results. The multi-block structured adaptive meshing was used to model the computational domain changes due to the wall recession. Wall regression rates for a reinforced carbon-carbon (RCC) samples, that were tested in a high enthalpy arcjet environment, were computationally obtained and used to assess the channel expansion. The test geometry and flow conditions render the flow regime as the transitional to continuum, therefore Navier-Stokes gas dynamic approach with the temperature jump and velocity slip correction to the boundary conditions was used. The modeled mechanism for wall material loss was atomic oxygen reaction with bare carbon. The predicted channel growth was found to agree with arcjet observations. Local gas flow field results were found to affect the oxidation rate in a manner that cannot be predicted by previous mass loss correlations. The method holds promise for future modeling of materials gas-dynamic interactions for hypersonic flight.

Titov, E. V.↗

COMGEN: A computer program for generating finite element models of composite materials at the micro level

COMGEN (Composite Model Generator) is an interactive FORTRAN program which can be used to create a wide variety of finite element models of continuous fiber composite materials at the micro level. It quickly generates batch or session files to be submitted to the finite element pre- and postprocessor PATRAN based on a few simple user inputs such as fiber diameter and percent fiber volume fraction of the composite to be analyzed. In addition, various mesh densities, boundary conditions, and loads can be assigned easily to the models within COMGEN. PATRAN uses a session file to generate finite element models and their associated loads which can then be translated to virtually any finite element analysis code such as NASTRAN or MARC.

Melis, Matthew E.↗

Thermostructural Analysis of Carbon Cloth Phenolic Material Tested at the Laser Hardened Material Evaluation Laboratory

RSRM nozzle liner components have been analyzed and tested to explore the occurrence of anomalous material performance known as pocketing erosion. Primary physical factors that contribute to pocketing seem to include the geometric permeability, which governs pore pressure magnitudes and hence load, and carbon fiber high temperature tensile strength, which defines a material limiting capability. The study reports on the results of a coupled thermostructural finite element analysis of Carbon Cloth Phenolic (CCP) material tested at the Laser Hardened Material Evaluation Laboratory (the LHMEL facility). Modeled test configurations will be limited to the special case of where temperature gradients are oriented perpendicular to the composite material ply angle. Analyses were conducted using a transient, one-dimensional flow/thermal finite element code that models pore pressure and temperature distributions and in an explicitly coupled formulation, passes this information to a 2-dimensional finite element structural model for determination of the stress/deformation behavior of the orthotropic fiber/matrix CCP. Pore pressures are generated by thermal decomposition of the phenolic resin which evolve as a multi-component gas phase which is partially trapped in the porous microstructure of the composite. The nature of resultant pressures are described by using the Darcy relationships which have been modified to permit a multi-specie mass and momentum balance including water vapor condensation. Solution to the conjugate flow/thermal equations were performed using the SINDA code. Of particular importance to this problem was the implementation of a char and deformation state dependent (geometric) permeability as describing a first order interaction between the flow/thermal and structural models. Material property models are used to characterize the solid phase mechanical stiffness and failure. Structural calculations were performed using the ABAQUS code. Iterations were made between the two codes involving the dependent variables temperature, pressure and across-ply strain level. Model results comparisons are made for three different surface heat rates and dependent variable sensitivities discussed for the various cases.

Clayton, J. Louie↗

Design and Analysis of Shape Memory Spring Tires for Martian and Lunar Rover Vehicles

Shape memory alloys (SMAs) have played an important role in various innovative engineering and medical applications, such as aerospace actuators, vibration damping devices, and coronary stents. In applications, shape memory alloys are commonly utilized in two fundamentally different ways: (i) making use of the superelasticity/ pseudoelasticity (SE/PE) phenomena, as in applications in biomedical engineering, and (ii) taking advantages of the shape memory effect (SME), as is used for actuators. Their ability to act in such vastly different capacities is mainly due to their unique capability to recover large amounts of deformation produced by either applied stresses or temperature changes. One recent emerging application in use of SMAs has been in the area of non-pneumatic tire designs for Martian or Lunar roving vehicles. These vehicles require tires that are capable of traversing rugged terrain while withstanding extreme temperatures and atmospheric conditions. Inspired by the flexible wire mesh tires used on three Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) missions to the Moon on Apollo 15, 16, and 17, a new compliant tire technology was developed by the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Goodyear Tire & Rubber, known as the Spring Tire. The Spring Tire consists of several hundred coiled springs woven into a flexible mesh and formed into the shape of a tire. Like the LRV wire mesh tires, the original Spring Tires were made from spring steel and were prone to permanent deformation when undergoing high localized loads. Later, a new iteration of this technology was invented, known as the ‘Superelastic Tire’. This new technology incorporated the use of superelastic SMA springs, which could effectively undergo approximately 30 times more reversible deformation than the steel spring. It also provided even greater durability and allowed for more flexibility in design, such as the use of other structural forms to reduce mass or increase load carrying capacity. Because of the unique nature of both the SMA material and the complex interactions between the springs, designing Spring Tires for a specific application requires extensive effort. Historically, design decisions have relied on full-scale empirical testing; however, this is very expensive and time consuming, especially when multiple iterations are needed. Therefore, developing a large-scale, robust, and predictive numerical model entailing complex spring interactions and the shape memory material behavior within a tire construct is the first essential step towards a successful design program. The current work focuses on implementation of the user-defined Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) model, otherwise known as SMA-GVIPs, in the Finite Element analysis (FEA) program ABAQUS for large-scale simulations of the GRC-developed Spring Tires made of SMA. The novelty of this work lies in the thorough, detail-oriented, and computationally efficient finite element analysis of full-scale SMA tires. A well-thought material characterization plan followed by model validation and a systemic sensitivity study on SMA tires has never been reported in the previous literature. The main objective of this study is to help the team improve and optimize the structural design of the SMA tires through in-depth numerical analysis and sensitivity studies. Various design variables (wire diameter, coil diameter, pitch, bead angle, and number of springs) were varied to study their influence on the global load-displacement response of the tire construct. A detailed investigation of the three-dimensional stress states was also carried out to enhance our understanding of the local changes as the tire goes through global deformation. It was concluded that a robust numerical model with a good predictive capability, together with a thoughtfully crafted sensitivity study can result in improved design iterations required to reach a desired tire performance while, significantly reducing manufacturing, labor and testing expenses. A summary of the Finite Element (FE) model construction will be presented together with a description of the user-defined SMA model, characterization process, experimental results, model validation, and numerical sensitivity study results.

shape memory alloys↗

Two-dimensional Finite Element Modeling for Modeling Tectonic Stress and Strain

Techniques of finite element analysis in two dimensional plane strain were applied to problems of geophysics and tectonics. More specifically, the flexibility of the finite element method was employed to address problems involving geological complexity and fault interactions. The modeling of effective anisotropy in material elastic properties proved useful in describing the deformation of faulted crustal blocks. The applications of this modeling work to problems of actual tectonics in southern California was explored. Preliminary models show encouraging agreement with measured tectonic strain in this region, and modeling work was done to gain an understanding of the stress state in a locked fault region with future seismic potential.

Lyzenga, G. A.↗

The 41.5 day binary X-ray pulsar 4U 1223 - 62 (GX 301 - 2)

Ariel 5 and SAS 3 X-ray pulse timing data for the 700 s X-ray pulsar 4U 1223 - 62 (GX 301 - 2) are reexamined in order to deduce the orbital elements of this system. The Ariel 5/SAS 3 arrival times are first reanalyzed to obtain the best solution for an orbital period close to 41.5 days and to estimate the uncertainties in it caused by unknown variations in the underlying pulse period. Spectral measurements by OSO 8 and HEAO 1 at a variety of orbital phases are presented and the origin of an unabsorbed, unpulsed soft component is discussed. OSO 8 observations of occasions when the amplitude and shape of the pulse profile changed dramatically are discussed. The global X-ray properties of the system are explained in terms of a simple stellar wind accretion model, and the interaction of the inflowing material with the neutron star magnetosphere is considered.

White, N. E.↗

Degradation studies of SMRM Teflon

A working group was organized to study materials and components of the Solar Max Satellite (SMS) that was returned by the STS 41C. These materials were exposed in space for 50 months and represent the only real time long term exposure data available to date. In the molecular modeling of material and energetic oxygen atom interaction, it is pointed out that the importance of developing correlation between accelerated exposure data from STS and some real time data. In particular, it was predicted that Teflon which showed no detectable degradation on various STS flights may be susceptible to atomic oxygen degradation under real time conditions. Initial inspection of returned SMS samples showed that Teflon suffered visual damage such as cracking and yellowing. The results of examination of these samples are given.

Liang, R. H.↗

Degradation studies of SMRM teflon

Teflon samples returned from the Solar Max Satellite (SMS) suffered noticeable damage such as cracking and yellowing. This is in contrast to teflon exposed aboard STS-5 and STS-8 which showed no detectable changes. Selected teflon tape samples from SMS were studied to evaluate the extent and mechanism of degradation. ESCA studies revealed that these teflon samples contain hydrocarbon segments which were susceptible to oxygen atom degradation. Mechanical measurements also showed bulk property changes as a result of LEO exposure. A molecular model of material and energetic oxygen atom interaction was proposed. SMS data and the importance of developing correlation between accelerated exposure data from STS and ground-based testing and real time data will be presented.

Liang, Ranty H.↗