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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

Parallel operation of two Brayton-cycle alternators with parasitic speed controllers

The experimental paralleling characteristics of two 1200 Hz Brayton-cycle alternators are presented. Since the Brayton power conversion system uses electric speed controllers, the paralleling requirements are somewhat different from those for conventional ground-based systems. Results include the transient effects of synchronizing the two alternators with various phase-angle, voltage, and frequency differences. Based on these results, the effects of synchronizing differences can be defined, and adjustment requirements of the parasitic speed controllers during synchronizing can be established. Data indicate that parasitically loaded alternators are able to parallel over a wide range of synchronizing differences. However, equilibrium could not be reached in extreme cases where alternator load differences were great and, at the same time, the phase-angle error was large (150 deg or more).

Perz, D. A.↗

Parallel operation of two Brayton-cycle alternators with parasitic speed controllers.

The experimental paralleling characteristics of two 1200-Hz Brayton-cycle alternators are presented. Since the Brayton power conversion system uses electric speed controllers, the paralleling requirements are somewhat different from those for conventional ground-based power systems. Results include the transient effects of synchronizing the two alternators with various phase-angle, voltage, and frequency differences. Based on these results, the effects of synchronizing differences can be defined, and adjustment requirements of the parasitic speed controllers during synchronizing can be established. Data indicate that parasitically loaded alternators are able to parallel over a wide range of synchronizing differences.

Perz, D. A.↗

Radiation characteristics of microstrip arrays with parasitic elements

Detailed experimental results on microstrip antennas consisting of one center-fed patch and several identical parasitic patches are presented. The effects of the number of elements and interelement spacing are studied for two configurations: a linear array and a five-element array. It is shown that placing identical parasitic elements adjacent to a fed patch permits broadside radiation patterns with significant enhancement in gain to be obtained without any degradation of the pattern characteristics.

Lee, R. Q.↗

Gain enhancement of microstrip antennas with overlaying parasitic directors

An experimental study of gain enhancement in microstrip antennas using identical parasitic patch directors is reported. The results indicate that, with two overlying parasitic directors, the gain of a rectangular microstrip antenna is enhanced from 4.7 dB to 10.6 dB, while the 3 dB beamwidth is reduced from 103 deg to 30 deg for the E-plane and from 70 deg to 35 deg for the H-plane. The three-layer electromagnetically coupled patch antenna exhibits similar antenna characteristics to those of the Yagi array, with over 120 dB gain and with about 1 percent bandwidth.

Lee, R. Q.↗

Spectral-domain moment-method analysis of coplanar microstrip parasitic subarrays

Basic characteristics of several configurations of coplanar microstrip parasitic subarrays consisting of one fed patch and two or more parasitic patches were investigated by means of a spectral-domain full-wave analysis and the moment method analysis. Results are presented for radiating- and nonradiating edge-coupled three-element linear subarrays and for a five-patch cross. A comparison of the theoretical input impedance results obtained by the analysis of a three-element linear array showed a reasonable agreement between computed and measured R and X values.

Chen, Wei↗

Reduction of Helicopter Parasite Drag

A reduction in helicopter parasite drag is possible but not profitable except in those cases where high speed and long range are primary requirements . For some of the factors causing drag, reduction in parasite-drag area may result in increased weight whereas, in other cases, it does not. The final design, however, must be a compromise between the reduction of drag and the increase in weight .

Robert D Harrington↗

Parasitic current collection by solar arrays in LEO

Solar cells at potentials positive with respect to a surrounding plasma collect electrons. Current is collected by the exposed high voltage surfaces: the interconnects and the sides of the solar cells. This current is a drain on the array power that can be significant for high-voltage arrays. In addition, this current influences the current balance that determines the floating potential of the spacecraft. One of the objectives of the Air Force (PL/GPS) PASP Plus experiment is an improved understanding of parasitic current collection. As part of the PASP Plus program, we are using computer modeling to improve our understanding of the physical processes that control parasitic current collection.

Davis, Victoria A.↗

Microstrip antenna arrays with parasitic elements

This research was concerned with using parasitic elements to improve the bandwidth, gain and axial ratio characteristics of microstrip antennas and arrays. Significant improvements in these characteristics were obtained using stacked and coplanar parasitic elements. Details of the results are described in a total of 16 journal and 17 conference papers. These are listed in Section four of this report.

Lee, Kai-Fong↗

Parasite-Drag Measurements of Five Helicopter Rotor Hubs

An investigation has been conducted in the Langley full-scale tunnel to determine the parasite drag of five production-type helicopter rotor hubs. Some simple fairing arrangements were attempted in an effort to reduce the hub drag. The results indicate that, within the range of the tests, changes in angle of attack, hub rotational speed, and forward speed generally had only a small effect on the equivalent flat-plate area representing parasite drag. The drag coefficients of the basic hubs, based on projected hub frontal area, increased with hub area and varied from 0.5 to 0.76 for the hubs tested.

Churchill, Gary B.↗

Self-regulating control of parasitic loads in a fuel cell power system

A fuel cell power system comprises an internal or self-regulating control of a system or device requiring a parasitic load. The internal or self-regulating control utilizes certain components and an interconnection scheme to produce a desirable, variable voltage potential (i.e., power) to a system or device requiring parasitic load in response to varying operating conditions or requirements of an external load that is connected to a primary fuel cell stack of the system. Other embodiments comprise a method of designing such a self-regulated control scheme and a method of operating such a fuel cell power system.

Vasquez, Arturo↗

Delta Method Application for the Correlation of IR Detector Thermal Parasitic Loads with Statistically Accurate Results

The Linear Etalon Imaging Spectral Array (LEISA) is a cryogenic IR detector that is passively cooled below 110K. LEISA is part of the L’Ralph instrument, which is going on the Lucy mission, with planned flyby’s of the Trojan asteroids around 5.5 AU. One of the primary thermal challenges is to successfully quantify each significant parasitic heat flow value with statistical certainty.Simulation of flight-like thermal environments and correlation of thermal models is an important part of this challenge, which can be critical for thermally sensitive systems such as cryogenic detectors that are passively cooled. It is common practice during TVAC to achieve several thermal balance points and then to correlate several design variables in order to achieve the closest match to all balance points tested. This approach lends itself to high levels of uncertainty in the correlated values due to the cumulative effect of absolute temperature uncertainty and differences between the sensors used for the measurement. Accuracy can be improved with the use of more accurate sensors, by calibrating all sensors with respect to each other, and by using Zero-Q methodologies, all of which add cost and complexity to the test.The Delta Method uses the difference in temperature caused by the changes in the boundary conditions to calculate heat flows and/or thermal resistances across temperature differentials. This eliminates the problem of high uncertainties with absolute temperature measurements, and yields statistically accurate results down to the sensor resolution of 1mK at < 100K, by taking the sensor’s calibration errors out of the equation. During testing, this method relies on parametric variations around an initial balance point, by varying the boundary conditions of the different parasitic heat sources. The Delta Method, as well as its application on the LEISA thermal test, will be discussed in detail.

Daniel G. Bae↗

Low-loss C-band parasitic probe

Low insertion-loss C band parasitic probe couples RF energy from a transmitting medium to a receiving medium with a minimum of interference in order to minimize power requirements.

Cribb, H. E.↗