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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1998

Magnetic Field Effect on Convective Fluid Flow in a Vertical Bridgman System

We studied the magnetic field effects on convective fluid flow in a differentially heated HgCdTe Bridgman growth system with linearly stratified vertical HgTe concentration. We followed J. E. Hart's system set-up, boundary conditions, and formulation. We obtained analytical steady parallel flow solutions for fluid flow's velocity and solutal concentration. These solutions depend only on solutal Rayleigh number. Our analytical solutions had different expressions from that of Hart's, but had similar numerical simulation results for the mean fluid velocity and solutal concentration gradient as a function of solutal Rayleigh number. We studied the effects of a transverse magnetic field on the fluid flow of the Bridgman growth systems both on the ground and in the space. The simulation results and comparison with experimental results will be presented.

Wang, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Bidirectional fluid-flow monitor

Bidirectional fluid-flow monitor detects flow rates as low as 0.1 gal/min (0.41/min) and operates at temperatures up to 350 F (177 C) and at pressures to 500 psig (3.6 X 10 to the sixth power N/M squared). Monitor shows "no flow" or "maximum flow" conditions and approximately indicates immediate flow rates.

Barajas, S. L.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Deployable Emergency Shutoff Device Blocks High-Velocity Fluid Flows

NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has developed a device and method for blocking the flow of fluid from an open pipe. Motivated by the sea-bed oil-drilling catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, NASA innovators designed the device to plug, control, and meter the flow of gases and liquids. Anchored with friction fittings, spikes, or explosively activated fasteners, the device is well-suited for harsh environments and high fluid velocities and pressures. With the addition of instrumentation, it can also be used as a variable area flow metering valve that can be set based upon flow conditions. With robotic additions, this patent-pending innovation can be configured to crawl into a pipe then anchor and activate itself to block or control fluid flow.

Nabors, Sammy A.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Conjugate Compressible Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Ducts

A computational approach to modeling transient, compressible fluid flow with heat transfer in long, narrow ducts is presented. The primary application of the model is for analyzing fluid flow and heat transfer in solid propellant rocket motor nozzle joints during motor start-up, but the approach is relevant to a wide range of analyses involving rapid pressurization and filling of ducts. Fluid flow is modeled through solution of the spatially one-dimensional, transient Euler equations. Source terms are included in the governing equations to account for the effects of wall friction and heat transfer. The equation solver is fully-implicit, thus providing greater flexibility than an explicit solver. This approach allows for resolution of pressure wave effects on the flow as well as for fast calculation of the steady-state solution when a quasi-steady approach is sufficient. Solution of the one-dimensional Euler equations with source terms significantly reduces computational run times compared to general purpose computational fluid dynamics packages solving the Navier-Stokes equations with resolved boundary layers. In addition, conjugate heat transfer is more readily implemented using the approach described in this paper than with most general purpose computational fluid dynamics packages. The compressible flow code has been integrated with a transient heat transfer solver to analyze heat transfer between the fluid and surrounding structure. Conjugate fluid flow and heat transfer solutions are presented. The author is unaware of any previous work available in the open literature which uses the same approach described in this paper.

Cross, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Analysis of Fluid Flow over a Surface

A method, apparatus, and computer program product for modeling heat radiated by a structure. The flow of a fluid over a surface of a model of the structure is simulated. The surface has a plurality of surface elements. Heat radiated by the plurality of surface elements in response to the fluid flowing over the surface of the model of the structure is identified. An effect of heat radiated by at least a portion of the plurality of surface elements on each other is identified. A model of the heat radiated by the structure is created using the heat radiated by the plurality of surface elements and the effect of the heat radiated by at least a portion of the plurality of surface elements on each other.

McCloud, Peter L.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Response Of Mineralizing And Non-Mineralizing Bone Cells To Fluid Flow: An In Vitro Model For Mechanotransruction

Humans reach peak bone mass at age 30. After this point, we lose 1 to 2 percent of bone mass each decade. In the microgravity environment of space, astronauts lose bone mass at an accelerated rate of 1 to 2 percent each month. When astronauts travel to Mars, they may be in space for as long as 3 years. During this time, they may lose about half of their bone mass from weight-bearing bones. This loss may be irreversible. The drastic loss in bone that astronauts experience in space makes them much more vulnerable to fractures. In addition, the corresponding removal of calcium from bone results in higher levels of calcium in the blood, which increases the risk of developing kidney stones. Currently, studies are being conducted which investigate factors governing bone adaptation and mechanotransduction. Bone is constantly adapting in response to mechanical stimuli. Increased mechanical loading stimulates bone formation and suppresses bone resorption. Reduction in mechanical loading caused by bedrest, disuse, or microgravity results in decreased bone formation and possibly increased bone resorption. Osteoblasts and osteoclasts are the two main cell types that participate in bone remodeling. Osteoblasts are anabolic (bone-forming) cells and osteoclasts are catabolic (bone-resorbing) cells. In microgravity, the activity of osteoblasts slows down and the activity of osteoclasts may speed up, causing a loss of bone density. Mechanotransduction, the molecular mechanism by which mechanical stimuli are converted to biochemical signals, is not yet understood. Exposure of cells to fluid flow imposes a shear stress on the cells. Several studies have shown that the shear stress that results from fluid flow induces a cellular response similar to that induced by mechanical loading. Thus, fluid flow can be used as an in vitro model to simulate the mechanical stress that bone cells experience in vivo. Previous in vitro studies have shown that fluid flow induces several responses in osteoblasts, including increased proliferation, osteoblastic differentiation, alkaline phosphatase activity, and production of nitric oxide, prostaglandins, and osteopontin. Several proteins have been implicated in osteoblastic mechanotransduction including Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 (BMP-2), parathyroid hormone, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor, osteopontin (OPN), osteoprotegerin (OPG), and alkaline phosphatase (AP). We will characterize relative levels of each protein in mineralizing or non-mineralizing MC3T3 osteoblastic cells that have been exposed to fluid flow compared to non-fluid flow using immunofluorescent staining and two- photon laser microscopy as well as western blotting. Because calcium-mediated pathways are important in osteoblastic signaling, we will transfect MC3T3 cells with cameleon probes for Ca2+ containing YFP and CFP. Results will be analyzed using FRET/FLIM to study differential release of intracellular Ca(2+) in response to fluid flow and conditions inducing matrix mineralization. In addition, we plan to conduct several microarray experiments to determine differential gene expression in MC3T3 cells in response to fluid flow and conditions inducing mineralization.

Makuch, Lauren A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

GEOSIM: A numerical model for geophysical fluid flow simulation

A numerical model which simulates geophysical fluid flow in a wide range of problems is described in detail, and comparisons of some of the model's results are made with previous experimental and numerical studies. The model is based upon the Boussinesq Navier-Stokes equations in spherical coordinates, which can be reduced to a cylindrical system when latitudinal walls are used near the pole and the ratio of latitudinal length to the radius of the sphere is small. The equations are approximated by finite differences in the meridional plane and spectral decomposition in the azimuthal direction. The user can specify a variety of boundary and initial conditions, and there are five different spectral truncation options. The results of five validation cases are presented: (1) the transition between axisymmetric flow and baroclinic wave flow in the side heated annulus; (2) the steady baroclinic wave of the side heated annulus; (3) the wave amplitude vacillation of the side heated annulus; (4) transition to baroclinic wave flow in a bottom heated annulus; and (5) the Spacelab Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell (spherical) experiment.

Butler, Karen A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

The Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell Experiment

The Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell (GFFC) experiment performed visualizations of thermal convection in a rotating differentially heated spherical shell of fluid. In these experiments dielectric polarization forces are used to generate a radially directed buoyancy force. This enables the laboratory simulation of a number of geophysically and astrophysically important situations in which sphericity and rotation both impose strong constraints on global scale fluid motions. During USML-2 a large set of experiments with spherically symmetric heating were carried out. These enabled the determination of critical points for the transition to various forms of nonaxisymmetric convection and, for highly turbulent flows, the transition latitudes separating the different modes of motion. This paper presents a first analysis of these experiments as well as data on the general performance of the instrument during the USML-2 flight.

Hart, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Water Hammer Simulations of MMH Propellant - New Capability Demonstration of the Generalized Fluid Flow Simulation Program

Fluid Transient analysis is important for the design of spacecraft propulsion system to ensure structural stability of the system in the event of sudden closing or opening of the valve. Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP), a general purpose flow network code developed at NASA/MSFC is capable of simulating pressure surge due to sudden opening or closing of valve when thermodynamic properties of real fluid are available for the entire range of simulation. Specifically GFSSP needs an accurate representation of pressure-density relationship in order to predict pressure surge during a fluid transient. Unfortunately, the available thermodynamic property programs such as REFPROP, GASP or GASPAK does not provide the thermodynamic properties of Monomethylhydrazine (MMH). This paper will illustrate the process used for building a customized table of properties of state variables from available properties and speed of sound that is required by GFSSP for simulation. Good agreement was found between the simulations and measured data. This method can be adopted for modeling flow networks and systems with other fluids whose properties are not known in detail in order to obtain general technical insight. Rigorous code validation of this approach will be done and reported at a future date.

Burkhardt, Z.↗
NASA NTRS1970

Simplified computation of compressible fluid flow parameters

Mathematical techniques analyze fluid flow through circular duct, enlarged or constricted circular duct, and across an orifice or nozzle. Using subsonic Mach number as basic flow parameter, a series of working graphs displays the variation of various physical parameters in each of the flow conditions.

Beimgraben, H. W.↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Impact of Wettability on the Co-moving Velocity of Two-Fluid Flow in Porous Media

Abstract The impact of wettability on the co-moving velocity of two-fluid flow in porous media is analyzed herein. The co-moving velocity, developed by Roy et al. (Front Phys 8:4, 2022), is a novel representation of the flow behavior of two fluids through porous media. Our study aims to better understand the behavior of the co-moving velocity by analyzing simulation data under various wetting conditions. We analyzed 46 relative permeability curves based on the Lattice–Boltzmann color fluid model and two experimentally determined relative permeability curves. The analysis of the relative permeability data followed the methodology proposed by Roy et al. (Front Phys 8:4, 2022) to reconstruct a constitutive equation for the co-moving velocity. Surprisingly, the coefficients of the constitutive equation were found to be nearly the same for all wetting conditions. On the basis of these results, a simple approach was proposed to reconstruct the relative permeability of the oil phase using only the co-moving velocity relationship and the relative permeability of the water phase. This proposed method provides new information on the interdependence of the relative permeability curves, which has implications for the history matching of production data and the solution of the associated inverse problem. The research findings contribute to a better understanding of the impact of wettability on fluid flow in porous media and provide a practical approach for estimating relative permeability based on the co-moving velocity relationship, which has never been shown before.

Engineering↗