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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 415 records · Page 23

A survey of oscillating flow in Stirling engine heat exchangers

Similarity parameters for characterizing the effect of flow oscillation on wall shear stress, viscous dissipation, pressure drop and heat transfer rates are proposed. They are based on physical agruments and are derived by normalizing the governing equations. The literature on oscillating duct flows, regenerator and porous media flows is surveyed. The operating characteristics of the heat exchanger of eleven Stirling engines are discribed in terms of the similarity parameters. Previous experimental and analytical results are discussed in terms of these parameters and used to estimate the nature of the oscillating flow under engine operating conditions. The operating points for many of the modern Stirling engines are in or near the laminar to turbulent transition region. In several engines, working fluid does not pass entirely through heat exchangers during a cycle. Questions that need to be addressed by further research are identified.

Simon, Terrence W.↗

Development of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence in coronal loops

It is proposed that a stationary spectrum of magnetohydrodynamic turbulence is generated in solar coronal loops by the interweaving of magnetic field lines driven by the turbulent velocity field in the convective region. Starting from the set of incompressible magnetohydrodynamic equations, two ordinary differential equations describing the stationary turbulent energy spectrum and the frequency of direct energy cascade for a given kinetic energy spectrum of the subphotospheric convective motions are derived. An estimate of the typical dissipation length scale, at which magnetic energy efficiently heats the plasma by Joule dissipation is obtained. The impact of recent results of two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic numerical simulations on the coronal heating problem is also discussed.

Gomez, Daniel O.↗

Voltage regulator with multiple parallel power source sections

Voltage regulator provides improved voltage-regulating system in which power dissipation and consequent heat generation are minimized. Each power source section is controlled sequentially so that only one operates in a linear range at a time.

Binckley, W. G.↗

Preliminary design of an auxiliary power unit for the space shuttle: Component and system configuration screening analysis

The auxiliary power unit (APU) for the space shuttle is required to provide hydraulic and electrical power on board the booster and orbiter vehicles. Five systems and their associated components, which utilize hot gas turbines to supply horsepower at gearbox output pads, were studied. Hydrogen-oxygen and storable propellants were considered for the hot gas supply. All APU's were required to be self-contained with respect to dissipating internally generated heat. These five systems were evaluated relative to a consistent criteria. The system supplied with high pressure gaseous hydrogen and oxygen was recommended as the best approach. It included a two-stage pressure-compounded partial-admission turbine, a propellant conditioning system with recuperation, a control system, and a gearbox. The gearbox output used was 240 hp. At the close of the study a 400 hp level was considered more appropriate for meeting the prime shuttle vehicle needs, and an in-depth analysis of the system at the 400 hp output level was recommended.

Binsley, R. L.↗

Preliminary design of an auxiliary power unit for the space shuttle. Volume 2: Component and system configuration screening analysis

The auxiliary power unit (APU) for the space shuttle is required to provide hydraulic and electrical power on board the booster and orbiter vehicles. Five systems and their associated components, which utilize hot gas turbines to supply horsepower at gearbox output pads, were studied. Hydrogen-oxygen and storable propellants were considered for the hot gas supply. All APU's were required to be self contained with respect to dissipating internally generated heat. These five systems were evaluated relative to a consistent criteria. The system supplied with high pressure gaseous hydrogen and oxygen was recommended as the best approach. It included a two-stage pressure-compounded partial-admission turbine, a propellant conditioning system with recuperation, a control system, and a gearbox. The gearbox output used was 240 HP. At the close of the study a 400 HP level was considered more appropriate for meeting the prime shuttle vehicle needs, and an in-depth analysis of the system at the 400 HP output level was recommended.

Burriss, W. L.↗

Thermomechanical coupling in fatigue fracture of viscoelastic materials

Subcritical crack growth in a linear viscoelastic material subjected to cyclic loading is investigated starting with the thermodynamic power balance. Physically, it is supposed that the subcritical slow crack growth is due to local weakening of the material in the neighborhood of the crack tip. Under fatigue loading it is assumed that all energy dissipation goes into heat and that this heat build-up is the dominant irreversible process governing crack growth. The cycle averaged temperature distribution around the crack tip is obtained from local application of the first law of thermodynamics (i.e., conservation of energy). The analysis leads to the solution of a nonlinear integro-differential equation for crack length as a function of time which is coupled with the local energy equation. A regular perturbation technique is used to obtain an analytical solution which compares very well with experimental results.

Hufferd, W. L.↗

Heating of the solar chromosphere and corona. I - Generalized inhomogeneous wave equation for magnetoacoustic motions

The generalized inhomogeneous wave equation that governs magnetoacoustic, vortical, and thermal motions in compressible fluids and that is applicable to the problem of heating of the solar chromosphere and corona is obtained. The effects of kinematic and bulk viscosity, heat conduction, Joule dissipation, and magnetic diffusivity are included. Under the usual assumptions, the generalized wave equation reduces to the well-known equations of Lighthill, Kulsrud, Phillips, and others. The major problems encountered in applying Lighthill's (1952) mechanism to sound generation in turbulent media are reviewed for both the subsonic and supersonic cases.

Anand, S. P. S.↗

Early evolution of an X-ray emitting solar active region

The birth and early evolution of a solar active region has been investigated using X-ray observations from the mapping X-ray heliometer on board the OSO-8 spacecraft. X-ray emission is observed within three hours of the first detection of H-alpha plage. At that time, a plasma temperature of four million K in a region having a density on the order of 10 to the 10th power per cu cm is inferred. During the fifty hours following birth almost continuous flares or flare-like X-ray bursts are superimposed on a monotonically increasing base level of X-ray emission produced by the plasma. If the X-rays are assumed to result from heating due to dissipation of current systems or magnetic field reconnection, it may be concluded that flare-like X-ray emission soon after active region birth implies that the magnetic field probably emerges in a stressed or complex configuration.

Wolfson, C. J.↗

Seismic Q of the lunar upper mantle

Shallow moonquake data are used to determine the frequency dependence of Q values for both compressional and shear waves in the upper mantle of the moon at frequencies between 3 and 8 Hz. The seismic P wave Q is estimated to be at least 4000 and is nearly independent of frequency or decreases slightly with increasing frequency, while the S wave Q increases from at least 4000 at 3 Hz to at least 7000 at 8 Hz. The rate of increase of Q(S) is approximately proportional to the 0.7 + or - 0.1 power of the frequency above 5 Hz. With the absence of other dissipation mechanisms, compressional heat loss may be a dominant factor in the lunar interior. Uncertainty remains, however, in the absolute values of Q's owing to the largely unknown detailed structure of the lunar upper mantle.

Nakamura, Y.↗

Far-IR spectroscopy of the galactic center: Neutral and ionized gas in the central 10 pc of the galaxy

The 3P1 - 3P2 fine structure line emission from neutral atomic oxygen at 63 microns in the vicinity of the galactic center was mapped. The emission is extended over more than 4' (12 pc) along the galactic plane, centered on the position of Sgr A West. The line center velocities show that the O I gas is rotating around the galactic center with an axis close to that of the general galactic rotation, but there appear also to be noncircular motions. The rotational velocity at R is approximately 1 pc corresponds to a mass within the central pc of about 3 x 10(6) solar mass. Between 1 and 6 pc from the center the mass is approximately proportional to radius. The (O I) line probability arises in a predominantly neutral, atomic region immediately outside of the ionized central parsec of out galaxy. Hydrogen densities in the (O I) emitting region are 10(3) to 10(6) cm(-3) and gas temperatures are or = 100 K. The total integrated luminosity radiated in the line is about 10(5) solar luminosity, and is a substantial contribution to the cooling of the gas. Photoelectric heating or heating by ultraviolet excitation of H2 at high densities (10(5) cm(-3)) are promising mechanisms for heating of the gas, but heating due to dissipation of noncircular motions of the gas may be an alternative possibility. The 3P1 - 3P0 fine structure line of (O III) at 88 microns toward Sgr A West was also detected. The (O III) emission comes from high density ionized gas (n 10(4) cm(-3)), and there is no evidence for a medium density region (n 10(3) cm(-3)), such as the ionized halo in Sgr A West deduced from radio observations. This radio halo may be nonthermal, or may consist of many compact, dense clumps of filaments on the inner edges of neutral condensations at R or = 2 pc.

Hollenbach, D. J.↗

A unified theory of electrodynamic coupling in coronal magnetic loops - The coronal heating problem

The coronal heating problem is studied, and it is demonstrated that Ionson's (1982) LRC approach results in a unified theory of coronal heating which unveils a variety of new heating mechanisms and which links together previously proposed mechanisms. Ionson's LRC equation is rederived, focusing on various aspects that were not clarified in the original article and incorporating new processes that were neglected. A parameterized heating rate is obtained. It is shown that Alfvenic surface wave heating, stochastic magnetic pumping, resonant electrodynamic heating, and dynamical dissipation emerge as special cases of a much more general formalism. This generalized theory is applied to solar coronal loops and it is found that active region and large scale loops are underdamped systems. Young active region loops and (possibly) bright points are found to be overdamped systems.

Ionson, J. A.↗

Penecontemporaneous metamorphism, fragmentation, and reassembly of ordinary chondrite parent bodies

The thermal histories of ordinary chondrites and the canonical internal heating or onion shell models, which predict an inverse relation between the petrologic type of chondrites and the metallographic cooling rate, are reviewed. The thermal and accretional requirements of the 'metamorphosed planetesimal' model proposed by Scott and Rajan (1981) are analyzed, and an alternative model consistent with the metallographic cooling rate constraints is suggested in which ordinary chondrite parent bodies are collisionally fragmented and then rapidly reassembled before metamorphic heat has been dissipated.

Grimm, R. E.↗

Superfluidity in millisecond pulsars

The evidence for superfluidity in the Vela pulsar, the Crab pulsar and PSR 0525 + 21 is reviewed, and the prospects for observing similar consequences of superfluidity in the already-discovered millisecond pulsars are examined. Inter alia, the likelihood of observing glitches, the expected postglitch behavior, and pulsar heating by energy dissipation due to the creep of neutron vortex lines in pinned superfluid regions of the crust are considered.

Pines, D.↗

Observations of steady anomalous magnetic heating in thin current sheets

The Hard X-ray Imaging Spectrometer of the Solar Maximum Mission has yielded observations of a faint, steadily emitting loop-like structure, which have allowed the thermal evolution of this loop over a period of about 15 hr to be followed. Only 0.1 percent of the volume of the loop appears to be steadily heated, at the large rate of 0.6 erg/cu cm sec; this suggests that the heating represents the dissipation of magnetic fields in thin current sheets. Ion-kinetic tearing, as proposed by Galeev et al. (1981), is noted to be especially consonant with these observations. The source of the present X-ray emission is identified with the H-alpha filament in the same region. The present findings are held to constitute the first direct evidence for the steady dissipation of coronal magnetic fields via enhanced thin current sheet resistivity.

Martens, P. C. H.↗

A solar power system for an early Mars expedition

As NASA looks at missions that will expand human presence in the solar system, the power requirements for such missions need to be defined, developed and analyzed. One mission under consideration consists of a 40 day manned Mars surface expedition to perform science experiments. The mission time was centered around an aerocentric longitude (Ls) of 90 deg to lessen the probability of an occurrence of a local or planetary dust storm. The mission site was arbitrarily located at the Martian equator. The power requirements were assumed to be 40 kWe for life support and experiment power during the Martian day and 20 kWe for life support during the Martian night. A solar energy system consisting of roll-out amorphous silicon arrays and a hydrogen-oxygen regenerative fuel cell energy storage system was chosen for the study. The power available from a roll-out array, when plotted against time, approaches a cosine-like curve and depends on both array area and the amount of solar irradiance impinging on its horizontal surface. The array is sized to provide at least 20 KWe when the sun is 12.5 deg above the horizon and ramp up to 140 kWe peak power at Martian noon. In this configuration, the array is capable of supplying 40 KWe continuously to the user for the majority of the Martian day while supplying the excess energy to the electrolyzer portion of the energy storage system. A roll-out, pumped loop radiator system is used to dissipate the waste heat produced by the fuel cell. The power management and distribution system inverts the power from the individual solar array sub-modules and the fuel cell stacks and connects them to a 440 VAC single phase 20 kHz main bus. The total power system is comprised of 80 individual solar array modules with an integral bus and three energy storage modules consisting of fuel cell and electrolyzer stacks, reactant storage tanks, and a roll-out radiator. Power system mass, stowed volume, and deployed area were determined. Day/night power splits of 40/10 kWe, 40/30 kWe, and 40/40 kWe were also considered to determine the impact of a range of nighttime power requirements on the baseline system.

Mckissock, Barbara I.↗

Flare heating and ionization of the low solar chromosphere. II - Observations of five solar flares

Two neutral Mg spectral lines formed in the temperature-minimum region and the low chromosphere, at 4571 and 5173 A, are used to quantify the changes in the atmospheric structure as a function of time during five solar flares. Eight proposed flare heating and ionization mechanisms and predictions of the effects of each on the temperature minimum region are discussed. Two Mg spectral observations made at the National Solar Observatory (Sacramento Peak), along with observations of hard and soft X-rays from the SMM and GOES satellites, are compared to the predictions of the eight proposed mechanisms. The initial effects in all five flares are consistent with backwarming by enhanced Balmer- and Paschen-continuum radiation originating in the upper chromosphere. Extended heating observed in two of the flares is most likely due to UV irradiation. In all cases heating by the dissipation of nonreversed electric currents, collisions with an electron or proton beam, irradiation by soft X-rays, and dissipation of Alfven waves are eliminated.

Metcalf, Thomas R.↗

Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence dissipation and stochastic proton acceleration in solar flares

The Alfven and fast magnetosonic wave MHD modes can stochastically accelerate protons from super-Alfvenic to ultrarelativistic energies in solar flares. It is the Landau resonance, however, which generates most of the magnetosonic wave energy being dissipated on electron heating rather than on stochastic proton acceleration. Alfven waves are also subject to a nonlinear wave-particle interaction, and nonlinear Landau damping can selectively and efficiently heat the ambient protons to preaccelerate many to super-Alfvenic speeds. A spectrum of Alfven waves can therefore energize protons from low-temperature thermal to ultrarelativistic energies through a combination of linear and nonlinear particle-wave interactions.

Miller, James A.↗