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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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An economical approach for advanced reactor power development is presented, and systems that result from the several stages of this plan are described. The development starts with a highly modularized heat-pipe, radioisotopic design and evolves into a low-specific-weight, high-performance reactor system.
Gland-type seal may be used with hydraulic and pneumatic actuators and similar equipment. It is designed for applications with partial vacuums and requires little space for installation and infrequent servicing.
The aerodynamic performance of two trailing edge ejection cooling configurations of a core-engine stator vane were experimentally determined in an ambient inlet-air full-annular cascade where three-dimensional effects could be obtained. The tests were conducted at the design mean-radius ideal aftermixed critical velocity ratio of 0.778. Overall vane aftermixed thermodynamic and primary efficiencies were obtained over a range of coolant flows to about 10 percent of the primary flow at a primary to coolant total temperature ratio of 1.0. The radial variation in efficiency and the circumferential and radial variations in vane-exit total pressure were determined. Comparisons are made with the solid (uncooled) vane.
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A new version of the semidirect iterative method eliminates significant restrictions of previous versions of the method. A semidirect method solves finite-difference equations by a rapid globally implicit iterative process driven by a fast direct elliptic solver. The new approach can treat complex systems of equations in an efficient 'correction form', and allows the use of general, nonorthogonal, boundary-fitted coordinate transformations. These features are expected to lead to significant practical applications with conservation-equation systems in either two or three dimensions. The present application to the full potential equations for steady transonic flow over an airfoil at angle of attack illustrates the utility of the technique.
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An accurate and efficient numerical solution algorithm is established for solution of the high Reynolds number limit of the Navier-Stokes equations governing the multidimensional flow of a compressible essentially inviscid fluid. Finite element interpolation theory is used within a dissipative formulation established using Galerkin criteria within the Method of Weighted Residuals. An implicit iterative solution algorithm is developed, employing tensor product bases within a fractional steps integration procedure, that significantly enhances solution economy concurrent with sharply reduced computer hardware demands. The algorithm is evaluated for resolution of steep field gradients and coarse grid accuracy using both linear and quadratic tensor product interpolation bases. Numerical solutions for linear and nonlinear, one, two and three dimensional examples confirm and extend the linearized theoretical analyses, and results are compared to competitive finite difference derived algorithms.
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Simple installation method allows thinner, lighter tether rings than conventional procedures, saving expensive materials. Installer inverts ring with pliers before it is slid over cable, then returns it to its original position after installation. Ring is in correct orientation, and coils are tightly compressed for high reliability fastening.
A large scale model representing a wing elevon junction on a shuttle-type entry vehicle was aerothermally tested in the Langley 8 foot high temperature structures tunnel with a turbulent boundary layer on the wing and elevon. The flow pattern between elevons was studied, and the pressure and heat load were determined within the chordwise gaps formed by adjacent elevons and by the stub fairing which separates the elevons. Model angle, elevon deflection angle, and gap widths were varied. Heating in the gaps was generally proportional to windward surface heating and inversely proportional to gap width. Maximum heating between the elevon and stub was 36 percent of the windward wing surface for a 0.18 cm wide elevon stub gas, and maximum heating between elevons was 30 percent of the heating on the windward elevon surfaces for a 7.7 cm wide elevon gap.
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Characteristics of terrain features in orbital radar imagery are investigated on the basis of radar physics and the human visual system. Signal scattering, the dominant factor in radar imagery, is caused by look angle and relief displacement. Power spectra characteristics are explored, noting that surface scattering dominates the low frequencies and slope significantly affects the high frequency tone variations. The maximum human visual response has been identified for achromatic scenes as 7 cycles per degree, whereas in radar imagery the low frequency half-power point occurs near 2.5 cycles/deg. Image feature size at a scale of 1:500,000 has been calculated for the maximum human response at 1.25 km. A hue-saturation-intensity transformation is presented for displaying two or three data sets on the same image and is demonstrated for Seasat SAR imagery. The transformation is shown to restore low spatial frequencies to the SAR imagery in order to identify terrain features which would otherwise not be visually discernible.
Intercomparisons of sea surface temperature (SST) products derived from the operational NOAA-7 AVHRR-II algorithm and in situ observations are made. The 1982 data sets consist of ship survey data during the winter from the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB), ship and buoy measurements during April and September in the Gulf of Mexico and shipboard observations during April off the N.W. Spanish coast. The analyses included single pixel comparisons and the warmest pixel technique for 2 x 2 pixel and 10 x 10 pixel areas. The reason for using multi-pixel areas was for avoiding cloud contaminated pixels in the vicinity of the field measurements. Care must be taken when applying the warmest pixel technique near oceanic fronts. The Gulf of Mexico results clearly indicate a persistent degradation in algorithm accuracy due to El Chichon aerosols. The MAB and Spanish data sets indicate that very accurate estimates can be achieved if care is taken to avoid clouds and oceanic fronts.
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The C IV doublet in the z = 1.795 absorption-line system in the QSO B2 1225 + 317 has been observed with the Multiple Mirror Telescope echelle spectrograph at a resolution of 10 km/s. The profile of C IV, previously known to contain at least three velocity components, is shown to consist of at least eleven. Individual components have Doppler width upper limits of 6.4-13.2 km/s. These low upper limits, plus a study of published profile shapes for several other species, suggest that the observed gas is not in an equilibrium state of collisional ionization, and that electron temperatures are 35,000 K or lower. The width of the aggregate profile (approximately 500 km/s) is larger by a factor of 5 than any C IV or Si IV profile observed through the halo of the Galaxy, while individual components are narrower than those in the Galaxy. Thus, intervening galaxies with halos similar to that of the Galaxy, even if occurring in groups, may not explain this QSO absorption-line system.
Prograde and retrograde sectoral oscillations of the sun have been observed so as to determine frequency differences produced by rotation. Oscillations in the frequency range 2.1-3.7 mHz and with spherical harmonic degrees from 1 to 100 have been identified. Average frequency shifts due to rotation in a sidereal reference frame are found to range from a high of about 660 nHz at degree 1 to a low of about 423 nHz at degree 6, rising to about 471 nHz at degree 100. These results indicate that most of the sun's volume rotates at a rate close to that of the surface, but also that the energy-generating core may rotate more rapidly than the surface.
The transfer of polarized light in an inhomogeneous stellar atmosphere, and the formation of magnetically sensitive spectral lines, are discussed. A new method for the solution of the transfer equations is proposed. The method gives a natural definition of the contribution functions for Stokes' parameters, i.e., functions describing the contributions from different parts along the line-of-sight (LOS). The formalism includes all magneto-optical effects, and allows for an arbitrary variation of magnetic field, velocity field, temperature, density, etc., along the LOS. The formation of FeI lambda 5250.2 in photospheric faculae is described. A potential-field model of a facular element is presented, and spectra profiles and contribution functions are computed for the Stokes parameters I, Q, and V.
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