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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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Presentation reporting the INL Center for Radiation Chemistry Research's activities supporting the development of advanced used nuclear reprocessing technologies through evaluating the radiation robustness of ligands.
The possibility of accelerating particles with a focused laser is considered. The particle is accelerated transversely by the electric field and redirected to the forward direction within a single half-cycle by the magnetic field of the radiation. The equations of motion of the particle are solved and discussed. Special attention is given to an intuitive understanding of the constraint imposed by the geometry of the focal region. Optimum conditions are examined.
Design and analysis of the inlet for a rocket based combined cycle engine is discussed. Computational fluid dynamics was used in both the design and subsequent analysis. Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes simulations were performed using both perfect gas and real gas assumptions. An inlet design that operates over the required Mach number range from 0 to 12 was produced. Performance data for cycle analysis was post processed using a stream thrust averaging technique. A detailed performance database for cycle analysis is presented. The effect ot vehicle forebody compression on air capture is also examined.
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Based on the exact solution of the Maxwell equations in the form of a collapsing spherical vector wave specified by an arbitrary function of time, we have calculated the maximum energy density that can be achieved when focusing extremely short pulses of various shapes. It is shown that our earlier formula expressing the maximum energy density in terms of the spectrum parameters for Gaussian quasi-monochromatic pulses is approximately (with an accuracy of ±40 %) valid for the main types of extremely short pulses. (extremely short laser pulses)
This presentation is about the robotic exploration of Mars using multiple targets command cycle, safe instrument placements, safe operation, and K9 Rover which has a 6 wheel steer rocket-bogey chassis (FIDO, MER), 70% MER size, 1.2 GHz Pentium M laptop running Linux OS, Odometry and compass/inclinometer, CLARAty architecture, 5 DOF manipulator w/CHAMP microscopic camera, SciCams, NavCams and HazCams.
Investigation of the pressure load carrying capacity and fatigue strength of filament-wound glass-reinforced plastic pressure vessels subjected to static and cyclic loading at ambient and cryogenic (liquid nitrogen) temperature environments. The results indicate that the static fatigue problem is not critical at cryogenic temperatures. Under static loading at liquid nitrogen temperature, a reinforced plastic cylinder sustained pressurization for 88 days without failure at about 90% of the single cycle burst strength. At ambient temperature, the static life at 90% of the burst strength was about 7 min. Under cyclic loading in liquid nitrogen, no failure resulted after 1509 cycles at 55% of the single cycle burst strength. Under the same cyclic loading at ambient temperature, the test results would predict failure in the reinforced plastic. The results of similar tests upon adhesively bonded polyimide aluminum-foil lined cylinders are also reviewed.-
Theoretical spectra of various emitting species in cometary comae were calculated both to investigate physical parameters that are measureable with cometary spectra and to provide fluorescence efficiencies for the derivation of abundances from fluxes. NH was found to be much further from nucleus than proviously thought and, because previous fluorescence efficiencies were much too high, NH is 5 times more abundant than previously thought. The spectrum of S sub 2 in comet I-A-A was analyzed. Despite its short lifetime, S sub 2 reaches fluorescent equlibrium. The equilibrium spectrum matches the relative band strengths in IUE spectra much better than does single cycle fluorescence. Equilibrium (but not single-cylce) flurescence also predicts strong optical emission bands which are seen in ground-based spectra of comet I-A-A. Equilibrium fluorescence efficiencies are much higher than single-cycle fluorescence efficiencies implying S sub 2 is only half as abundant as previously estimated. Fluorescence spectrum of SO was calculated and compared with several IUE spectra including those in which Wallis and Krishna Swamy claim SO to be present. Relative intensities and shapes of bands are inconsistent with any real identification.
An elastic stress analysis was performed on a wedge specimen (prismatic bar with single-wedge cross section) subjected to thermal cycles in fluidized beds. Seven different combinations consisting of three alloys (NASA TAZ-8A, 316 stainless steel, and A-286) and four thermal cycling conditions were analyzed. The analyses were performed as a joint effort of two laboratories using different models and computer programs (NASTRAN and ISO3DQ). Stress, strain, and temperature results are presented.
Elastic-plastic stress-strain analyses were performed for single-edge wedge alloys subjected to thermal cycling in fluidized beds. Three cases (NASA TAZ-8A alloy under one cycling condition and 316 stainless steel alloy under two cycling conditions) were analyzed by using the MARC nonlinear, finite-element computer program. Elastic solutions from MARC showed good agreement with previously reported solutions that used the NASTRAN and ISO3DQ computer programs. The NASA TAZ-8A case exhibited no plastic strains, and the elastic and elastic-plastic analyses gave identical results. Elastic-plastic analyses of the 316 stainless steel alloy showed plastic strain reversal with a shift of the mean stresses in the compressive direction. The maximum equivalent total strain ranges for these cases were 13 to 22 percent greater than that calculated from elastic analyses.
Testing of electronic assemblies varies throughout industry, NASA, and the military. Differences include test levels, atmospheric versus vacuum testing of assemblies, dwell durations at temperature extremes (especially high temperature), and thermal cycling versus dwell testing. Of particular interest are the different philosophies of thermal cycling versus single-cycle thermal dwell. An examination of the various failure physics for electronic assemblies has been initiated at JPL. The intent is to determine which failure modes are best revealed by thermal cycling testing and which are susceptible to high-temperature dwell physics. Preliminary results of this study are presented, along with discussions of testing goals, flight environments, reliability models, and the differences between industry and JPL design/test approaches.
An array processing chip integrating 128 bit-serial processing elements (PEs) on a single die is discussed. Each PE has a 16-function logic unit, a single-bit adder, a 32-b variable-length shift register, and 1 kb of local RAM. Logic in each PE provides the capability to mask PEs individually. A modified grid interconnection scheme allows each PE to communicate with each of its eight nearest neighbors. A 32-b bus is used to transfer data to and from the array in a single cycle. Instruction execution is pipelined, enabling all instructions to be executed in a single cycle. The 1-micron CMOS design contains over 1.1 x 10 to the 6th transistors on an 11.0 x 11.7-mm die.
The accuracy of estimating the duration of single-cycle laser pulses with centre wavelengths of 910 and 780 nm is analysed using a single-shot second-order intensity autocorrelator. It is shown that estimates of the single-cycle pulse duration with an error of less than 5 % require the use of KDP crystals with a thickness of no more than 10 μm for the second harmonic generation. At the same time, to estimate the duration of a transform-limited pulse containing ten optical cycles, the crystal thickness can be up to 1 mm. In this case, at an optimum angle of convergence of the first-harmonic beams, the duration estimation error is less than 2 %. (paper)
This paper investigates the optimal crankshaft motion for an opposed piston (OP) engine in a novel hybrid architecture to maximize fuel efficiency. The OP engine was selected for this work due to its inherent thermodynamic benefits and the balanced nature of the engine which can achieve downsizing through reducing the number of cylinders rather than the individual cylinder volume. The typical geartrain required on an OP engine was exchanged for two electric motors, reducing friction loss and decoupling the crankshafts. Using the motors to control the crankshaft motion profiles, this architecture introduces capabilities to dynamically vary compression ratio, combustion volume, and scavenging dynamics. To leverage these opportunities, an optimization scheme was developed utilizing nonlinear optimization of a 0-D model to compute the crankshaft motion profile that maximizes the work generated by the system. This optimization was then iteratively coupled with a high fidelity model which supplies the cylinder flow boundary conditions. This iterative approach reduces the model complexity used in the optimal control problem (OCP) while capturing the gas exchange dynamics critical to the 2-stroke cycle of the OP engine. By using the rate of change of motor torque as the input to the OCP, the torque fluctuation in a single cycle can be limited to ensure tracking feasibility. The results show crankshaft velocity slows during the compression stroke and conversely accelerates during the expansion stroke, reducing the peak motor torque required for control and thus reducing the motor losses. The extended residence time at top dead center, however, leads to an increase in heat transfer, illustrating the trade-off between the work extraction efficiency and the indicated engine efficiency.
The project aimed to drive strong-field excitation of bound electronic coherences in gas-phase atoms and molecules using a novel source of near-single-cycle optical field transients, based on industrial-grade Yb:solid-state laser technology. Key objectives included generating near-single cycle field transients and isolated attosecond pulses, reconstructing time-dependent wave packets in atoms and molecules, probing their decoherence using attosecond interferometry, and controlling the dynamic evolution of systems on attosecond to few-femtosecond timescales. A secondary goal of the project was to develop field-resolved measurement platforms as a novel approach for studying electron dynamics in atomic and molecular systems.
Optimization in nuclear fuel-management assists the core reload engineer with finding optimal out-of-core and in-core strategies. RAVEN is INL’s open source software that is equipped with fuel-management optimization capabilities including single-cycle, single- and multi-objective optimization of pressurized water reactors (PWRs) loading patterns (LP) of a fresh core using genetic algorithm (GA) and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). In practice, however, medium and long term planning of fuel-management needs a multi-cycle approach, where the history and availability of fuel assemblies is considered in the optimization process. In this paper, we present a description of an initial expansion of RAVEN fuel-management optimization capabilities for a multi-cycle optimization framework. N-th cycle optimization capabilities that account for the unique history of recycled fuel assembly in the core were added. The multi-cycle optimization approach taken is formulated as a cycle-wise optimization problem where out-of-core decisions are used to onset each cycle optimization. Out-of-core decisions are managed externally to the in-core optimization by a fuel inventory management module. A proof-of-concept optimization problem is also presented.
A research program to develop a He-3/He-4 solution refrigerator for space applications is underway. The results of the effort to use an electric field as a substitute for gravity to control the He-3/He-4 mixture interface that separates phases in terrestrial units are described. Further, experimental results obtained from an engineering model of a single-cycle dilution refrigerator with a mixing chamber capable of operating in a zero-gravity environment are described. Future research and development plans are outlined, in particular the need to test the operation of a single-cycle as well as a continuously operating dilution refrigerator in space.
In this work, we discuss numerical and experimental results on frequency downshifting and upshifting of a 10 μ m infrared (IR) laser to cover the entire wavelength (frequency) range from λ = 1 to 150 μ m ( ν = 300–2 THz) using two different plasma techniques. The first plasma technique utilizes frequency downshifting of the drive laser pulse in a nonlinear plasma wake. Based on this technique, we have proposed and demonstrated that in a tailored plasma structure, multi-millijoule energy, single-cycle, long-wavelength IR (3–20 μ m) pulses can be generated by using an 810 nm Ti:sapphire drive laser. Here, we extend this idea to the THz frequency regime. We show that sub-joule, terawatts, single-cycle terahertz (2–12 THz or 150–25 μ m) pulses can be generated by replacing the drive laser with a picosecond 10 μ m CO 2 laser and a different shaped plasma structure. The second plasma technique employs frequency upshifting by colliding a CO 2 laser with a rather sharp relativistic ionization front created by ionization of a gas in less than half cycle (17 fs) of the CO 2 laser. Even though the electrons in the ionization front carry no energy, the frequency of the CO 2 laser can be upshifted due to the relativistic Doppler effect as the CO 2 laser pulse enters the front. The wavelength can be tuned from 1 to 10 μ m by simply changing the electron density of the front. While the upshifted light with 5 < λ ( μ m ) < 10 propagates in the forward direction, that with 1 < λ ( μ m ) < 5 is back-reflected. These two plasma techniques seem extremely promising for covering the entire molecular fingerprint region.