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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 379 records · Page 21
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2000

Advanced Methods for Aircraft Engine Thrust and Noise Benefits: Nozzle-Inlet Flow Analysis

In this project, we continue to develop the previous joint research between the Fluid Mechanics and Acoustics Laboratory (FM&AL) at Hampton University (HU) and the Jet Noise Team (JNT) at the NASA Langley Research Center (NASA LaRC). The FM&AL was established at Hampton University in June of 1996 and has conducted research under two NASA grants: NAG-1-1835 (1996-99), and NAG-1-1936 (1997-00). In addition, the FM&AL has jointly conducted research with the Central AeroHydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI, Moscow) in Russia under a Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) grant #RE2-136 (1996-99). The goals of the FM&AL programs are twofold: (1) to improve the working efficiency of the FM&AUs team in generating new innovative ideas and in conducting research in the field of fluid dynamics and acoustics, basically for improvement of supersonic and subsonic aircraft engines, and (2) to attract promising minority students to this research and training and, in cooperation with other HU departments, to teach them basic knowledge in Aerodynamics, Gas Dynamics, and Theoretical and Experimental Methods in Aeroacoustics and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). The research at the HU FM&AL supports reduction schemes associated with the emission of engine pollutants for commercial aircraft and concepts for reduction of observables for military aircraft. These research endeavors relate to the goals of the NASA Strategic Enterprise in Aeronautics concerning the development of environmentally acceptable aircraft. It is in this precise area, where the US aircraft industry, academia, and Government are in great need of trained professionals and which is a high priority goal of the Minority University Research and Education (MUREP) Program, that the HU FM&AL can make its most important contribution. The main achievements for the reporting period in the development of concepts for noise reduction and improvement in efficiency for jet exhaust nozzles and inlets for aircraft engines are as follows: (1) Publications- The AIAA Paper #99-1924 has been presented at the 5th AIAA/CEAS Aeroacoustics Conference, May 10-12, 1999, Seattle, WA; the AIAA Paper #00-3315 has been accepted for the 36th AIAA/ASME/ SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, 17-19 July, 2000, Huntsville, AL; and another paper has been accepted for the International Environmental Congress, 14-16 June, 2000, St.-Petersburg, Russia. (2) Two patents were granted on July 20, 1999, and January 12, 2000. (3) Three reports/presentations at the NASA LaRC and GRC (06/22199, 09/26/ 99, and 06/25/00). (4) Grants and Proposals: Four proposals were submitted to the NASA and CRDF; a NASA Faculty Award was granted on January, 2000. A CRDF Young Investigator Program Award was granted for a 3 months visit of the Russian scientist to the HU FM&AL (03/99-05/99). (5) Theory and Numerical Simulations- Analytical theory, numerical simulation, comparison of theoretical with experimental results, and modification of theoretical approaches, models, grids etc. have been conducted for several complicated 2D and 3D nozzle and inlet designs using NASA codes based on full Euler and Navier-Stokes solvers: CFL3D, CRAFT, GODUNOV, and others. New approach for environmental monitoring via infrasound. (6) Experimental Tests: Experimental acoustic tests at the TsAGI, Moscow, with nozzles having Screwdriver or Axisymmetric Plug and Permeable Shells. A small scale working model of the NASA Low Speed Wind Tunnel (LSWT) has been installed in the Experimental Hall of the HU FM&AL (June, 1999). Preliminary preparations for experimental tests were made. (7) Students Research Activity: Involvement of the two graduate students as research assistants in the current research project.

Gilinsky, Mikhail↗
NASA NTRS1993

(abstract) Multispecies Gas Flows in the Interior of Comets

A theoretical comet nucleus model has been written which employs 3 volatiles: CO, CO 2 , and H 2 O. It allows variations for equations of state: the Clausius/Clapeyron equation as well as other equations based on the latest thermodynamic data: the Brown/Ziegler relationship for CO 2 and CO at low pressure and the Lowe expression for water vapor at low pressure. It allows for variations in the physics of the outflow, from an essentially throttling mechanism (pure sublimation to space), to the Knudsen regime, to the Dusty-Gas Dynamic model. Variations in several parameters are explored. Results are compared with data from actual comets. None of the variations in parameter space produce a result that compares well with the comet data. All models yield a total gas production between 10&sup27; and 10&sup28; per second (low). This suggests that secondary mechanisms peripheral to this modeling effort, such as the opening and closing of cracks, a conductivity expression which depends upon porosity as well as temperature, etc., may play a more important role in the cometary efflux process than previously thought.

comets↗
NASA NTRS1980

Modeling of a solar-pumped iodine laser

The direct conversion in space of solar radiation into laser radiation for power transmission to earth, satellites, or deep space probes shows promise as a reasonably simple technology and may have cost advantage in deployment and greater reliability compared to other methods of space power generation and transmission. The main candidates for solar pumping are the gas dynamic, photochemical, and direct photoexcited lasers. Here consideration is given to the photochemical reaction of alkyliodides which predominantly excite the I(2P1/2) state which then lases at 1.315 microns. The iodine ground state is eventually lost to reconstituting the gas or in the formation of molecular iodine. The rates at which the gas is required to be recycled through the laser system are modest. The side exposure at 100-fold solar concentration of a 100-m long tube with a 1 sq m cross section is estimated to provide 20 kW of continuous laser output. Scaling laws and optimum operating conditions of this system are discussed.

Wilson, J. W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Constraining gas motion and non-thermal pressure beyond the core of the Abell 2029 galaxy cluster with XRISM

We report on a detailed spectroscopic study of the gas dynamics and hydrostatic mass bias of the galaxy cluster Abell 2029, utilizing high-resolution observations from XRISM Resolve. Abell 2029, known for its cool core and relaxed X-ray morphology, provides an excellent opportunity to investigate the influence of gas motions beyond the central region. Expanding upon prior studies that revealed low turbulence and bulk motions within the core, our analysis covers regions out to the scale radius $R_{2500}$ (670 kpc) based on three radial pointings extending from the cluster center toward the northern side. We obtain accurate measurements of bulk and turbulent velocities along the line of sight. The results indicate that non-thermal pressure accounts for no more than 2% of the total pressure at all radii, with a gradual decrease outward. The observed radial trend differs from many numerical simulations, which often predict an increase in non-thermal pressure fraction at larger radii. These findings suggest that deviations from hydrostatic equilibrium are small, leading to a hydrostatic mass bias of around 2% across the observed area.

X-rays: galaxies: clusters↗
NASA NTRS2003

Monte Carlo Methodology Serves Up a Software Success

Widely used for the modeling of gas flows through the computation of the motion and collisions of representative molecules, the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method has become the gold standard for producing research and engineering predictions in the field of rarefied gas dynamics. Direct Simulation Monte Carlo was first introduced in the early 1960s by Dr. Graeme Bird, a professor at the University of Sydney, Australia. It has since proved to be a valuable tool to the aerospace and defense industries in providing design and operational support data, as well as flight data analysis. In 2002, NASA brought to the forefront a software product that maintains the same basic physics formulation of Dr. Bird's method, but provides effective modeling of complex, three-dimensional, real vehicle simulations and parallel processing capabilities to handle additional computational requirements, especially in areas where computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is not applicable. NASA's Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Analysis Code (DAC) software package is now considered the Agency s premier high-fidelity simulation tool for predicting vehicle aerodynamics and aerothermodynamic environments in rarified, or low-density, gas flows.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1982

Radiative energy receiver for high performance energy conversion cycles

An analysis of gas dynamic processes pertinent to the functioning of earth-based and space-based solar electric power plants is presented, with attention given to potassium vapor as the working fluid. A device is described which features focused photon absorption by a nontransparent flowing gas. The feed flow is effected around the outside walls of a cavity receiver to raise efficiencies by trapping reemitted energy. A theoretical study of the interaction of a photon flux with a coaxial particle flux was performed, with the receiver flow treated as a Graetz flow. The critical parameters were defined, including a figure of merit as the gas enthalpy increase to absorbable energy ratio. A small-scale laboratory model was tested in comparison with the theoretically obtained values. Less than 15% of the absorbed energy was lost through dissipation while an 80% conversion efficiency was attained.

Rault, D.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Volatile Element Depletion of the Moon – The Roles of Pre-Cursors, Post-Impact Disk Dynamics, and Core Formation

The compositional and isotopic similarity of Earth’s primitive upper mantle (PUM) and the Moon has bolstered the idea that the Moon was derived from the proto-Earth, but the Moon’s inventory of volatile lithophile elements – Na, K, Rb and Cs – are lower than in Earth’s PUM by a factor of 4 to 5. The abundances of fourteen other volatile elements exhibit siderophile behavior (volatile siderophile elements or VSE; P, As, Cu, Ag, Sb, Ga, Ge, Bi, Pb, Zn, Sn, Cd, In, and Tl) that could be used to evaluate whether the Moon was derived from the proto-Earth, and whether their depletion can be attributed to volatility or core formation. In this study, newly available core-mantle partitioning data are used, together with bulk Moon compositions, protolunar disk dynamics modelling to test the hypothesis that the Moon was derived from PUM-like material. At lunar core formation conditions, As, Sb, Ag, Ge, Bi, Sn are siderophile, whereas P, Cu, Ga, Pb, Zn, Cd, In and Tl are all weakly siderophile or lithophile. Most of the VSE can be explained by a combination of known processes – pre-cursor volatile depletion, melt-gas dynamics and equilibria in the protolunar disk, and core formation. Explaining this whole group of volatile elements may require a combination of mixing and separation of the newly formed Moon from remnant gas rich in the highest volatility VSEs. This large group of volatile elements informs a wide temperature range and offers a powerful test of melt-gas segregation mechanisms in the protolunar disk and lunar formation hypotheses.

Righter, K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Comparison of methodologies for describing relaxation in nonequilibrium gaseous systems

The heat transfer process in hypervelocity vehicles is dominated by nonequilibrium gas dynamics. One model used in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes to predict hypervelocity heat transfer is the 'two-temperature' model. An analysis has been made to test the validity of the two-temperature model for predicting another nonequilibrium phenomenon, sound absorption and deviation of signal speed in a high temperature gas. It is found that the two temperature model's prediction capabilities degenerate with increasing temperature. These results are felt to have significance concerning the two-temperature's ability to predict heat transfer in hypervelocity flows.

Schreiber, Willard C.↗
NASA NTRS1973

High intensity copper atom beam - Preliminary results

The development of a nozzle which gas-dynamically accelerates neutral copper atoms at controlled energy levels and flux rates suitable for the investigation of inelastic copper atom collision processes is reported. Preliminary test data demonstrate that vapor-deposited rhenium nozzles do not degrade in the presence of copper vapor at high temperatures. Operation with high purity helium gas at nozzle stagnation temperatures in the range 2650-2700 K and total stagnation pressures from 1/4 to 2 atm with continuous copper atom flux rates of approximately 10 to the 18th power per second has been maintained, for a total time of 8-1/2 h to date.

Kelly, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Line Emission Mapper Probing Physics of Cosmic Ecosystems

The Line Emission Mapper (LEM) is an X-ray Probe for the 2030s that will answer the outstanding questions of the Universe’s structure formation. It will also provide transformative new observing capabilities for every area of astrophysics, and to heliophysics and planetary physics as well. LEM’s main goal is a comprehensive look at the physics of galaxy formation, including stellar and black-hole feedback and flows of baryonic matter into and out of galaxies. These processes are best studied in X-rays; as emphasized by the 2020 Decadal Survey, emission-line mapping is the pressing need in this area. LEM will use a large microcalorimeter array/IFU (that builds on Athena XIFU technology developments), covering a 30 × 300 field with 1000 angular resolution, to map the soft Xray line emission from objects that constitute galactic ecosystems. These include supernova remnants, star-forming regions, superbubbles, galactic outflows (such as the Fermi/eROSITA bubbles in the Milky Way and their analogs in other galaxies), the Circumgalactic Medium in the Milky Way and other galaxies, and the Intergalactic Medium at the outskirts and beyond the confines of galaxies and clusters. LEM’s 1–2 eV spectral resolution in the 0.2–2 keV band will make it possible to disentangle the faintest emission lines in those objects from the bright Milky Way foreground, providing groundbreaking measurements of the physics of these plasmas, from temperatures, densities, chemical composition to gas dynamics. While the mission is optimized to provide critical observations that will push our understanding of galaxy formation, LEM will provide transformative capability for all classes of astrophysical objects, from the Earth’s magnetosphere, planets and comets to the interstellar medium and X-ray binaries in nearby galaxies, AGN, and cooling gas in galaxy clusters. In addition to pointed observations, LEM will perform a shallow all-sky survey that will dramatically expand the discovery space.

Ralph Kraft↗
NASA NTRS1990

Research sensors

The LeRC program in research sensors is directed at development of sensors and sensing techniques for research applications on turbine engines and propulsion systems. In general, the sensors are used either to measure to response of an engine component to the imposed environment. Locations of concern are generally within the gas path and, for the most part, are within the hot section of the engine. Since these sensors are used for research testing as opposed to operational use, a sensor lifetime of the order of 50 hr is considered sufficient. The following discussion presents a sample of this work, describing programs to develop a dynamic gas temperature measuring system, total heat flux sensors, a variety of thin-film sensors, and high-temperature strain measuring systems.

Englund, David R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Development of a 3-D upwind PNS code for chemically reacting hypersonic flowfields

Two new parabolized Navier-Stokes (PNS) codes were developed to compute the three-dimensional, viscous, chemically reacting flow of air around hypersonic vehicles such as the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP). The first code (TONIC) solves the gas dynamic and species conservation equations in a fully coupled manner using an implicit, approximately-factored, central-difference algorithm. This code was upgraded to include shock fitting and the capability of computing the flow around complex body shapes. The revised TONIC code was validated by computing the chemically-reacting (M(sub infinity) = 25.3) flow around a 10 deg half-angle cone at various angles of attack and the Ames All-Body model at 0 deg angle of attack. The results of these calculations were in good agreement with the results from the UPS code. One of the major drawbacks of the TONIC code is that the central-differencing of fluxes across interior flowfield discontinuities tends to introduce errors into the solution in the form of local flow property oscillations. The second code (UPS), originally developed for a perfect gas, has been extended to permit either perfect gas, equilibrium air, or nonequilibrium air computations. The code solves the PNS equations using a finite-volume, upwind TVD method based on Roe's approximate Riemann solver that was modified to account for real gas effects. The dissipation term associated with this algorithm is sufficiently adaptive to flow conditions that, even when attempting to capture very strong shock waves, no additional smoothing is required. For nonequilibrium calculations, the code solves the fluid dynamic and species continuity equations in a loosely-coupled manner. This code was used to calculate the hypersonic, laminar flow of chemically reacting air over cones at various angles of attack. In addition, the flow around the McDonnel Douglas generic option blended-wing-body was computed and comparisons were made between the perfect gas, equilibrium air, and the nonequilibrium air results.

Tannehill, J. C.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Crack propagation and arrest in pressurized containers

The problem of crack propagation and arrest in a finite volume cylindrical container filled with pressurized gas is considered. It is assumed that the cylinder contains a symmetrically located longitudinal part-through crack with a relatively small net ligament. The net ligament suddenly ruptures initiating the process of fracture propagation and depressurization in the cylinder. The problem is formulated by making two major assumptions, namely, that the shell problem is quasi-static and the gas dynamics problem is one-dimensional. The problem is reduced to a proper initial value problem by introducing a dynamic fracture criterion which relates the crack acceleration to the difference between a load factor and the corresponding strength parameter. The main results are demonstrated by considering two examples, an aluminum cylinder which may behave in a quasi-brittle manner, and a steel cylinder which undergoes ductile fracture. The results indicate that generally in gas-filled cylinders fracture arrest is not possible unless the material behaves in a ductile manner and the container is relatively long.

Erdogan, F.↗
NASA NTRS1978

General heating distributions on the tumbling infinite cylinder

The Shuttle program plans to recover all flight hardware except the External Tank (ET). The ET reentry task requires the quaranteed safe disposal in a remote section and specific footprint of the Indian Ocean or the Antarctic Pacific. The ET is separated from the Orbiter at near orbital speeds and must reenter tumbling, to neutralize lift in an essentially ballistic trajectory. The aerothermodynamic heating becomes an intriguing, complex, and sophisticated series of flow field, boundary layer, and gas dynamic problems that is an important new technology in the reentering disposal task. The singular aspect given in this paper is the general heating distributions for all tumbling attitudes. The objective is to maintain simplicity in form but with variable coefficients to be analytically scaled to account for free molecule, convective laminar and turbulent flow, real gas dissociation or any Reynolds number or Mach number effects.

Carroll, H. R.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Simulator

The Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Simulator (SAMSIM) is a numerical model dedicated to plan and validate operations of the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument on the surface of Mars. The SAM instrument suite, currently operating on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), is an analytical laboratory designed to investigate the chemical and isotopic composition of the atmosphere and volatiles extracted from solid samples. SAMSIM was developed using Matlab and Simulink libraries of MathWorks Inc. to provide MSL mission planners with accurate predictions of the instrument electrical, thermal, mechanical, and fluid responses to scripted commands. This tool is a first example of a multi-purpose, full-scale numerical modeling of a flight instrument with the purpose of supplementing or even eliminating entirely the need for a hardware engineer model during instrument development and operation. SAMSIM simulates the complex interactions that occur between the instrument Command and Data Handling unit (C&DH) and all subsystems during the execution of experiment sequences. A typical SAM experiment takes many hours to complete and involves hundreds of components. During the simulation, the electrical, mechanical, thermal, and gas dynamics states of each hardware component are accurately modeled and propagated within the simulation environment at faster than real time. This allows the simulation, in just a few minutes, of experiment sequences that takes many hours to execute on the real instrument. The SAMSIM model is divided into five distinct but interacting modules: software, mechanical, thermal, gas flow, and electrical modules. The software module simulates the instrument C&DH by executing a customized version of the instrument flight software in a Matlab environment. The inputs and outputs to this synthetic C&DH are mapped to virtual sensors and command lines that mimic in their structure and connectivity the layout of the instrument harnesses. This module executes, and thus validates, complex command scripts prior to their up-linking to the SAM instrument. As an output, this module generates synthetic data and message logs at a rate that is similar to the actual instrument.

Benna, Mehdi↗
NASA NTRS1985

Application of CFD techniques toward the validation of nonlinear aerodynamic models

Applications of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods to determine the regimes of applicability of nonlinear models describing the unsteady aerodynamic responses to aircraft flight motions are described. The potential advantages of computational methods over experimental methods are discussed and the concepts underlying mathematical modeling are reviewed. The economic and conceptual advantages of the modeling procedure over coupled, simultaneous solutions of the gas dynamic equations and the vehicle's kinematic equations of motion are discussed. The modeling approach, when valid, eliminates the need for costly repetitive computation of flow field solutions. For the test cases considered, the aerodynamic modeling approach is shown to be valid.

Schiff, L. B.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Reionization of the Universe and the Photoevaporation of Cosmological Minihalos

The first sources of ionizing radiation to condense out of the dark and neutral Intergalactic Medium (IGM) sent ionization fronts sweeping outward through their surroundings, overtaking other condensed objects and photoevaporating them. This feedback effect of universal reionization on cosmic structure formation is demonstrated here for the case of a cosmological minihalo of dark matter and baryons exposed to an external source of ionizing radiation with a quasar-like spectrum, just after the passage of the global ionization front created by the source. We model the pre-ionization minihalo as a truncated, nonsingular isothermal sphere in hydrostatic equilibrium following its collapse out of the expanding background universe and virialization. Results are presented of the first, gas dynamical simulations of this process, including radiative transfer. A sample of observational diagnostics is also presented, including the spatially-varying ionization levels of C, N, and O in the flow if a trace of heavy elements is present and the integrated column densities of H I, He I and He II, and C IV through the photoevaporating gas at different velocities, which would be measured in absorption against a background source like that responsible for the ionization.

Shapiro, Paul R.↗
NASA NTRS2009

ANITA Air Monitoring on the International Space Station: Results Compared to Other Measurements

ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) is a flight experiment precursor for a permanent continuous air quality monitoring system on the ISS (International Space Station). For the safety of the crew, ANITA can detect and quantify quasi-online and simultaneously 33 gas compounds in the air with ppm or sub-ppm detection limits. The autonomous measurement system is based on FTIR (Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy). The system represents a versatile air quality monitor, allowing for the first time the detection and monitoring of trace gas dynamics in a spacecraft atmosphere. ANITA operated on the ISS from September 2007 to August 2008. This paper summarizes the results of ANITA s air analyses with emphasis on comparisons to other measurements. The main basis of comparison is NASA s set of grab samples taken onboard the ISS and analysed on ground applying various GC-based (Gas Chromatography) systems.

Honne, A.↗