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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 469 records · Page 26

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NASA NTRS1988

Overview of CFD methods and comparison with flight aerothermal data

An overview of previously published aerothermal investigations which demonstrate the capabilities of detailed computational fluid dynamics and engineering codes to predict the aerothermal environment about an entry vehicle is presented. The overview consists of a brief discussion of the computational methods and experimental data and includes comparisons between the computed results and data. The overview focuses primarily on analyses of flight data since these data provide the unique capability to assess the real-gas chemistry options in the codes. The computed results are based on a series of codes which are employed by the Aerothermodynamics Branch of the Space System Division at the Langley Research Center. The flight data, which were measured on the Reentry F, the Space Shuttle, and the Fire II vehicles, represent a wide range of vehicle configurations and freestream conditions. Also, results of one recent set of ground tests are included since the tests provide data on a model of a pending flight project. The comparisons of the predicted results and data demonstrate the adequacy of the present computational fluid dynamics capabilities and indicate the potential to predict the aerothermal environment about future flight vehicles.

Sutton, Kenneth↗

NASA NTRS1989

Review and assessment of the database and numerical modeling for turbine heat transfer

The objectives of the NASA Hot Section Technology (HOST) Turbine Heat Transfer subproject were to obtain a better understanding of the physics of the aerothermodynamic phenomena and to assess and improve the analytical methods used to predict the flow and heat transfer in high-temperature gas turbines. At the time the HOST project was initiated, an across-the-board improvement in turbine design technology was needed. A building-block approach was utilized and the research ranged from the study of fundamental phenomena and modeling to experiments in simulated real engine environments. Experimental research accounted for approximately 75 percent of the funding while the analytical efforts were approximately 25 percent. A healthy government/industry/university partnership, with industry providing almost half of the research, was created to advance the turbine heat transfer design technology base.

H J Gladden↗

NASA NTRS1989

Automated thermal mapping techniques using chromatic image analysis

Thermal imaging techniques are introduced using a chromatic image analysis system and temperature sensitive coatings. These techniques are used for thermal mapping and surface heat transfer measurements on aerothermodynamic test models in hypersonic wind tunnels. Measurements are made on complex vehicle configurations in a timely manner and at minimal expense. The image analysis system uses separate wavelength filtered images to analyze surface spectral intensity data. The system was initially developed for quantitative surface temperature mapping using two-color thermographic phosphors but was found useful in interpreting phase change paint and liquid crystal data as well.

Buck, Gregory M.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Application of advanced computational technology to propulsion CFD

The Internal Fluid Mechanics Division of the NASA Lewis Research Center is combining the key elements of computational fluid dynamics, aerothermodynamic experiments, and advanced computational technology to bring internal computational fluid dynamics (ICFM) to a state of practical application for aerospace propulsion system design. This paper presents an overview of efforts underway at NASA Lewis to advance and apply computational technology to ICFM. These efforts include the use of modern, software engineering principles for code development, the development of an AI-based user-interface for large codes, the establishment of a high-performance, data communications network to link ICFM researchers and facilities, and the application of parallel processing to speed up computationally intensive and/or time-critical ICFM problems. A multistage compressor flow physics program is cited as an example of efforts to use advanced computational technology to enhance a current NASA Lewis ICFM research program.

Szuch, John R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

A high heat flux experiment for verification of thermostructural analysis

A major concern in advancing the state of the art technologies for hypersonic vehicles is the development of an aeropropulsion system capable of handling the high heat fluxes during flight. The leading edges of such systems must not only tolerate the maximum heating rates, but must also minimize distortions to the flow field due to excessive blunting and/or thermal warping of the conmpression surface to achieve the high inlet performance required. A combined analytical and experimental effort to study the aerothermodynamic loads on actively cooled structures for hypersonic applications was established. A hydrogen/oxygen rocket engine was modified to establish a high enthalpy high heat flux environment. The facility provides heat flux levels from about 200 up to 10000 Btu/sq ft/sec. Cross flow and parallel flow regeneratively cooled model can be tested and analyzed by using cooling fluids of water and hydrogen. Results are presented of the experiment and the characteristics of the Hot Gas Test Facility. The predicted temperature results of the cross flow model are compared with the experimental data on the first monolithic specimens and are found to be in good agreement. Thermal stress analysis results are also presented.

Gladden, H. J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Overview of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration tether activities

NASA research concerning the use of tethers in space is reviewed, including joint research with the Italian Space Agency. Tether applications under consideration are described, such as a tethered fuel depot and a tethered gravity laboratory platform for the Space Station, providing artificial gravity to and from Mars, payload recovery and waste management, aerothermodynamic magnetospheric physics, and electrodynamic propulsion, braking, and power generation for the Space Shuttle. Also, tether flight demonstrations are examined, including the Small Expendable Deployer System, the Get-Away Tether Experiment, the Tether Elevator Crawler System, and the Kinetic Isolation Tether Experiment.

Penzo, Paul A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Tethered Satellite System-2 - A proposed program

A second mission (TSS-2) has been proposed for the reusable Tethered Satellite System (TSS) being developed jointly by the U.S. and Italy. The TSS-2 flight demonstration would use the TSS deployer/retriever system to deploy a research spacecraft attached to the end of a 100-km-long tether. The deployment would take place downward from the Space Shuttle into the outer atmosphere to an altitude of approximately 130 km. The objectives of the mission would be to demonstrate the atmospheric deployment of a tethered system, conduct scientific and aerothermodynamic research measurements, and conduct engineering measurements to verify flight system performance. Analytical studies have shown the feasibility of the TSS-2 mission from both the technology and operational dynamics standpoint. The TSS-1 mission (a 20 km tether deployed upward to conduct electrodynamic experiments) will validate the TSS itself as well as deployment and retrieval operations.

Anderson, John L.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Tethered Dynamics Explorer and Tethered Atmospheric Probe - A low-cost, low-risk tethered satellite program

A tethered satellite flight program to test theoretical studies of tether concepts is proposed. The program consists of multiple flights of an ELV such as the Delta II, using the Small Expendable Deployment System (SEDS) to deploy two instrumented satellite payloads, the Tethered Dynamics Explorer (TDE) and the Tethered Atmospheric Probe (TAP). The applications and characteristics of the TDE and the TAP are described, including verification of the SEDS, the validation of the dynamics and control model for low-tension deployment and the force and moment instrumentation, the demonstration of tether initiated reentry, the collection of in-situ atmospheric and aerothermodynamic data, and the study of long-term tether exposure.

Deloach, R.↗

NASA NTRS1989

A code calibration program in support of the Aeroassist Flight Experiment

The code calibration program for the Langley Aerothermodynamic Upwind Relaxation Algorithm to be used as support for the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE) is discussed. Comparisons between experimental data and numerical simulations are made which focus on perfect-gas tests involving a scale model of the AFE. Aspects of the thermochemical nonequilibrium model are called into question by the results of ground tests performed in a ballistic range and in a shock tunnel.

Gnoffo, Peter A.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Aerobrake heating rate sensitivity study for the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE)

The sensitivities associated with the prediction of the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE) vehicle's aerothermodynamic environment are presently evaluated in order to assess the heating-rate uncertainties of the AFE's aerobrake component, as a function of time in various trajectories, and as a function of distance around the aerobrake. Relative importance is evaluated by means of the Boundary Layer Integral Matrix Procedure for such areas of uncertainty as the trajectory parameters, the catalycity of the thermal-protection tiles, the nose radius variation/surface pressure distribution, and viscous interaction effects.

Rochelle, W. C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

NASP aerodynamics

This paper discusses the critical aerodynamic technologies needed to support the development of a class of aircraft represented by the National Aero-Space Plane (NASP). The air-breathing, single-stage-to-orbit mission presents a severe challenge to all of the aeronautical disciplines and demands an extension of the state-of-the-art in each technology area. While the largest risk areas are probably advanced materials and the development of the scramjet engine, there remains a host of design issues and technology problems in aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, and propulsion integration. The paper presents an overview of the most significant propulsion integration problems, and defines the most critical fluid flow phenomena that must be evaluated, defined, and predicted for the class of aircraft represented by the Aero-Space Plane.

Whitehead, Allen H., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Supercomputer requirements for selected disciplines important to aerospace

Speed and memory requirements placed on supercomputers by five different disciplines important to aerospace are discussed and compared with the capabilities of various existing computers and those projected to be available before the end of this century. The disciplines chosen for consideration are turbulence physics, aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, chemistry, and human vision modeling. Example results for problems illustrative of those currently being solved in each of the disciplines are presented and discussed. Limitations imposed on physical modeling and geometrical complexity by the need to obtain solutions in practical amounts of time are identified. Computational challenges for the future, for which either some or all of the current limitations are removed, are described. Meeting some of the challenges will require computer speeds in excess of exaflop/s (10 to the 18th flop/s) and memories in excess of petawords (10 to the 15th words).

Peterson, Victor L.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Prediction of aerodynamic heating and pressures on Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS) nose cap and comparison with STS-61C flight data

Results are presented from predictions of aerothermodynamic heating rates, temperatures, and pressures on the surface of the Shuttle Entry Air Data System (SEADS) nosecap during Orbiter reentry. These results are compared with data obtained by the first actual flight of the SEADS system aboard STS-61C. The data also used to predict heating rates and surface temperatures for a hypothetical Transatlantic Abort Landing entry trajectory, whose analysis involved ascertaining the increases in heating rate as the airstream flowed across regions of the lower surface catalycity carbon/carbon composite to the higher surface catalycity columbium pressure ports.

Ting, Paul C.↗

NASA NTRS1989

Boost-phase discrimination research activities

Theoretical research in two areas was performed. The aerothermodynamics research focused on the hard-body and rocket plume flows. Analytical real gas models to describe finite rate chemistry were developed and incorporated into the three-dimensional flow codes. New numerical algorithms capable of treating multi-species reacting gas equations and treating flows with large gradients were also developed. The computational chemistry research focused on the determination of spectral radiative intensity factors, transport properties and reaction rates. Ab initio solutions to the Schrodinger equation provided potential energy curves transition moments (radiative probabilities and strengths) and potential energy surfaces. These surfaces were then coupled with classical particle reactive trajectories to compute reaction cross-sections and rates.

Cooper, David M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

NASA aerodynamics program

Presented here is a comprehensive review of the following aerodynamics elements: computational methods and applications, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) validation, transition and turbulence physics, numerical aerodynamic simulation, drag reduction, test techniques and instrumentation, configuration aerodynamics, aeroacoustics, aerothermodynamics, hypersonics, subsonic transport/commuter aviation, fighter/attack aircraft and rotorcraft.

Holmes, Bruce J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

AFE dynamic effects in inhomogeneous plasmas

The Microwave Reflectometer Ionization Sensor (MRIS) is an instrument on the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE) satellite which will be deployed from the space shuttle. The flow characteristic around a hypersonic bluff reentry vehicle will be measured by the AFE. The general mission of the MRIS is to measure the electron density within the range from 10(exp12) to 10(exp 15) electrons per cu cm and determine the distance to the location of each measured from the surface of the aerobrake. These measurements will be compared with prior aerothermodynamic computer code predictions. Since a knowledge of plasma dynamic effects is important for MRIS design and post flight analysis, it is of interest to consider any possibility of plasma dynamic effects and especially in inhomogeneous plasmas. Of particular interest is the need to study plasma dynamic effects that may emerge from a flow field stationary state that was determined without regard to electric or magnetic fields.

Juang, Jeng-Nan↗

NASA NTRS1990

Flight mechanics applications for tethers in space: Cooperative Italian-US programs

Since the 1974 proposal by Giuseppe Colombo to fly a tethered subsatellite from the Shuttle Orbiter, the creative thinking of many scientists and engineers from Italy and U.S. has generated a broad range of potential tether applications in space. Many of these applications have promise for enabling innovative research and operational activities relating to flight mechanics in earth orbit and at suborbital altitudes. From a flight mechanics standpoint the most interesting of the currently proposed flight demonstrations are: the second Tethered Satellite System experiment which offers both the potential for aerothermodynamics and hypersonics research and for atmospheric science research; the Tethered Initiated Space Recovery System which would enable orbital deboost and recovery of a re-entry vehicle and waste removal from a space station; and the Tether Elevator/Crawler System which would provide a variable microgravity environment and space station center of mass management. The outer atmospheric and orbital flight mechanics characteristics of these proposed tether flight demonstrations are described. The second Tethered Satellite System mission will deploy the tethered satellite earthward and will bring it as low as 130 km from ground and thus into the transition region between the atmosphere (non-ionized) and the partially ionized ionosphere. The atmospheric flight mechanics of the tethered satellite is discussed and simulation results are presented. The Tether Initiated Space Recovery System experiment will demonstrate the ability of a simple tether system to deboost and recover a reentry vehicle. The main feature of this demonstration is the utilization of a Small Expendable Deployment System (SEDS) and the low-tension deployment assumed to separate the reentry vehicle from the Shuttle. This low-tension deployment maneuver is discussed and its criticalities are outlined. The Tether Elevator/Crawler System is a new space element able to move in a controlled way between the ends of a deployed tethered system. A Shuttle test of an Elevator model is planned to demonstrate the unique capability of this element as a microgravity facility and to test the transfer motion control. The basic dynamical features of the Elevator system are presented and a preliminary assessment of the Elevator-induced tether vibrations is discussed.

Bevilacqua, Franco↗

NASA NTRS1989

Atmospheric deployment of tethered systems - The proposed TSS-2 flight demonstration

Areas of strong user interest in the atmospheric deployment of tethered systems are addressed. They include hypersonic and aerothermodynamics research to support next-generation aerospace vehicle design, lower thermosphere scientific research supporting global change monitoring and earth systems investigations, and payload recovery/trash disposal from Space Station Freedom. The proposed tethered flight demonstration TSS-2 is described.

Couch, L. M.↗