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At least 469 records · Page 26

Common Mode Current Challenges and Opportunities in Electric Powertrain Testing

During the development of novel electric powertrain (EP) components key parameters may be evaluated by test before a fully integrated EMI design is implemented. However, insufficiently mitigated EMI could impact the test equipment and test measurements. This risk is particularly valid with high voltage wide bandgap switching converters which enable high efficiency but can increase the EMI source function producing high levels of common mode (CM) current. Test facility equipment may be susceptible to the CM current from these converters causing test delays or measurement errors. Characterization of the common mode EMI of a powertrain component by analysis and/or measurement and assessment of the test facility EMC design can reduce this risk to yield efficient tests and successful measurements.

electromagnetic interference↗

Modeling and Mitigation of dv/dt and Transmission Line Effect for Motor Drive System in Electric Aircraft Propulsion

Due to constraints in space and structure as well as other practical limitations in aircraft system, the motor controller or electric motor are often installed far away from each other and interconnected via long cables. This amplifies the transmission line effect excited by the dv/dt PWM voltage and induces high voltage stress on the machine winding. This paper investigates the state-of-art modeling approaches for such systems, identifies several limitations in matching the tested voltage reflection waveform in terms of peak voltage, oscillation frequency and damping speed, and offers several key considerations not well covered in literature or in engineering practice. It then proposes a practical modeling methodology which, as validated by experimental results, truly captures these critical reflection voltage specs. To mitigate the high peak voltage and strong oscillation, dv/dt filter is applied and a parametric design optimization based on widely adopted LC-R topology is illustrated, which not only alleviates the voltage stress but also minimized the power loss of the passive damping resistor.

Inductor↗

Equations for Estimating the Strength of TV Signals Scattered by Wind Turbines

During the late 1970's and early 1980's, concerns about the potential interference of wind turbine generators with electromagnetic communication signals led to a series of research studies, both in the laboratory and in the field, conducted by the staff of the University of Michigan Radiation Laboratory. These studies were sponsored by organizations such as the U.S. Department of Energy, the Solar Energy Research Institute, and private developers of wind power stations. Research objectives were to identify the mechanisms by which wind turbines might adversely affect communication signals, estimate the severity of these effects for different types of signals (e.g. television, radio, microwave, and navigation), and formulate mathematical models with which to predict the sizes of potential interference zones around wind turbines and wind power plants. This work formed the basis for preliminary standards on assessing electromagnetic interference (EMI) by wind turbines. With the current renewal of interest in wind energy projects, it is appropriate that the many experimental and analytical aspects of this pioneering work be reviewed and correlated. The purpose of this study is to combine test data and theory from previously published and unpublished research reports into a unified and consistent set of equations which are useful for estimating potential levels of television interference from wind turbines. To be comprehensive, these equations will include both horizontal-axis and vertical-axis wind turbines (HAWT's and VAWT's), blade configuration parameters (e.g. number, size, material, twist, and coning), signal frequency and power, and directional characteristics of the receiving antenna. The approach that is followed in this report is as follows. First, some basic equations that describe electromagnetic signals with interference are presented without detailed derivations, since the latter are available in the references. Minor changes in terminology are made for purposes of consistency. Next, the concept of a signal scatter ratio is introduced, which defines the fraction of the signal impinging on a wind turbine that is scattered by its blades onto a nearby receiver. Equations from references are modified for the calculation of experimental scatter ratios (from measured signals containing interference) and idealized scatter ratios (from rotor characteristics and relative locations of the transmitter, the turbine, and the receiver). Experimental and idealized scatter ratios are then calculated and compared for 75 cases from the literature, in which TVI measurements were made around a variety of wind turbines. An empirical equation is then defined for estimating the probability that an actual scatter ratio will differ from an idealized ratio by a given amount. Finally a sample calculation of the size of a potential TV interference zone around a hypothetical wind power station is presented.

Spera, David A.↗

Versatile Support For Electromagnetic-Test Model

Supporting apparatus holds model for measurements of electromagnetic properties. Includes rigid swept strut, on end of which model oriented over range of angles. Designed to interfere minimally with electromagnetic measurements.

Wood, Richard M.↗

Interference patterns of a horizontal electric dipole over layered dielectric media.

Interference patterns for electromagnetic fields due to a subsurface reflector below a layered lossy dielectric are calculated with the geometrical optics approximation for use in interpreting data to be collected on the moon by Apollo 17 as well as data currently being obtained on terrestrial glaciers. The radiating antenna lies on the surface. All six field components are calculated and studied. For the endfire solutions, the peak of the first reflected wave is found to be different from that of the broadside ones. To facilitate a physical discussion, we plotted the radiation patterns due to the antenna on the surface.

Tsang, L.↗

Fiber optic accelerometer

Low-cost, rugged lightweight accelerometer has been developed that converts mechanical motion into digitized optical outputs and is immune to electromagnetic and electrostatic interferences. Instrument can be placed in hostile environment, such as engine under test, and output led out through miscellany of electrical fields, high temperatures, etc., by optic fiber cables to benign environment of test panel. There, digitized optical signals can be converted to electrical signals for use in standard electrical equipment or used directly in optical devices, such as optical digital computer.

August, R. R.↗

Optical Temperature Sensor Has Digital Output

New instrument measures temperature reliabily and accurately. Device uses Fabry-Perot multiple-beam sensor. Both temperature sensor and optical lines are free of all electrical and electromagnetic effects and interference. Variation in spacer is made sensitive to other physical quantities, such as pressure. Sensing element itself is quite small, enhancing use in confined areas.

James, K.↗

Electromagnetic compatibility and the all-electric airplane

NASA is studying the feasibility of installing 'all-electric' controls in future commercial aircraft, replacing the current hydraulic and pneumatic systems. Planes utilizing such equipment should weigh less and be cheaper to maintain, but might also be susceptible to interference from undesired external electromagnetic fields. Possible sources of these extraneous signals include radio and television broadcasters, two-way communications stations, and radar installations of all kinds. One way to reduce the hazard would be to use fiber-optic cables to carry signals from the cockpit to the various points of use, a concept known as 'fly-by-light' or FBL. However, electrical circuits (PBW, or 'power-by-wire') would still be required at both ends of the cables to perform control functions, so the possibility of harmful interference would remain. Computer models for two different antennas were created in order to find the magnitude of the electric fields which would be generated in the airspace around them while in the transmit mode. The first antenna was a horizontal 'rhombic' used by the Voice of America (VOA) for long-distance short-wave broadcasting. The second antenna was a multi-element 'log-periodic dipole array' (LPDA) of a type often used for two-way radio communications. For each case, a specified amount of power was applied in the computer model, and the resulting electric field intensity was predicted at a variety of locations surrounding the antenna. This information will then be used to calculate the levels of interference which could occur inside an airplane flying in the vicinity of these radiation emitters.

Christman, Al↗

New Methods to Determine the Electromagnetic Effects from Precipitation Static

The Electrostatics and Surface Physic Laboratory has devised a new method to determine the electromagnetic effects from precipitation static or p-static as its commonly called. P-static occurs as a result of triboelectric charging of granular materials or ice crystals bombarded onto the surfaces of air and/or space vehicles at high speeds. The electrostatic charge that builds up on the outer surface can have deleterious effects that arise during discharge events. These discharges can cause loss of communication to and from the vehicle from ground stations, EMI interference, radio frequency noise, etc… There are even cases of total loss of vehicles caused by p-static charging. We have developed a method to simulate the extensive tribocharging of insulating materials that occurs during p-static through the use of corona charging which allows testing to occur within a lab environment. These tests simulate the discharges that occur on rocket vehicles during ascent as a result of gas breakdown by performing the corona charging tests inside a vacuum chamber and subsequently removing the air. The simultaneous gas discharges emit electromagnetic interference (EMI) which can be captured and monitored.

Charles R Buhler↗

Electromagnetic waveguide based thermal energy extraction with emissive materials and modifications

The method presented uses thermally emissive materials for the extraction of heat through the use of electromagnetic waveguides, wherein the emissive material comprises materials which emit electromagnetic radiation due to thermal excitation, wherein the electromagnetic radiation is coupled to electromagnetic waveguides; a receiver adapted to receive the electromagnetic radiation for utilization, wherein the extracted electromagnetic radiation may propagate arbitrary distances inside the waveguides before the need for processing, for example, to maximize the temperature differential between the emissive material and that of the receiver; and the exchange of the chemical composition of some portion of the environment the apparatus is housed in. The thermal energy extraction apparatus described herein has the purpose of removing heat from a source for conversion to other forms of energy such as electricity and for thermal management applications. Wherein for heat management, the benefit of waveguides would constitute reduced interference with electronics through electromagnetic coupling.

Poole, Zsolt↗

The Detection and Mitigation of RFI with the Aquarius L-Band Scatterometer

The Aquarius sea-surface salinity mission includes an L-band scatterometer to sense sea-surface roughness. This radar is subject to radio-frequency interference (RFI) in its passband from 1258 to 1262 MHz, a region also allocated for terrestrial radio location. Due to its received power sensitivity requirements, the expected RFI environment poses significant challenges. We present the results of a study evaluating the severity of terrestrial RFI sources on the operation of the Aquarius scatterometer, and propose a scheme to both detect and remove problematic RFI signals in the ocean backscatter measurements. The detection scheme utilizes the digital sampling of the ambient input power to detect outliers from the receiver noise floor which are statistically significant, and flags nearby radar echoes as potentially contaminated by RFI. This detection strategy, developed to meet tight budget and data downlink requirements, has been implemented and tested in hardware, and shows great promise for the detection and global mapping of L-band RFI sources.

Electromagnetic radiative interference↗

Classification of Intensity Distributions of Transmission Eigenchannels of Disordered Nanophotonic Structures Using Machine Learning

Light-matter interaction optimization in complex nanophotonic structures is a critical step towards the tailored performance of photonic devices. The increasing complexity of such systems requires new optimization strategies beyond intuitive methods. For example, in disordered photonic structures, the spatial distribution of energy densities has large random fluctuations due to the interference of multiply scattered electromagnetic waves, even though the statistically averaged spatial profiles of the transmission eigenchannels are universal. Classification of these eigenchannels for a single configuration based on visualization of intensity distributions is difficult. However, successful classification could provide vital information about disordered nanophotonic structures. Emerging methods in machine learning have enabled new investigations into optimized photonic structures. In this work, we combine intensity distributions of the transmission eigenchannels and the transmitted speckle-like intensity patterns to classify the eigenchannels of a single configuration of disordered photonic structures using machine learning techniques. Specifically, we leverage supervised learning methods, such as decision trees and fully connected neural networks, to achieve classification of these transmission eigenchannels based on their intensity distributions with an accuracy greater than 99%, even with a dataset including photonic devices of various disorder strengths. Simultaneous classification of the transmission eigenchannels and the relative disorder strength of the nanophotonic structure is also possible. Our results open new directions for machine learning assisted speckle-based metrology and demonstrate a novel approach to classifying nanophotonic structures based on their electromagnetic field distributions. These insights can be of paramount importance for optimizing light-matter interactions at the nanoscale.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Environmental projects. Volume 15: Environmental assessment: Proposed 1-megawatt radar transmitter at the Mars site

The Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex (GDSCC), located in the Mojave Desert about 64.5 km (40 mi) north of Barstow, California. and about 258 km (160 mi) northeast of Pasadena, California, is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Deep Space Network (DSN), one of the world's larger and more sensitive scientific telecommunications and radio navigation networks. The Goldstone Complex is managed, technically directed, and operated for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California. Activities at the GDSCC support the operation of six parabolic dish antennas located at five separate sites called Deep Space Stations (DSS's). Four sites, named Echo, Mars, Uranus, and Apollo, are operational for space missions, while the remaining Venus Site is devoted to research and development activities. The Mars Site at the GDSCC contains two antennas: the Uranus antenna (DSS 15, 34 m) and the Mars antenna (DSS 14, 70 m). This present volume deals solely with the DSS-14 Mars antenna. The Mars antenna not only can act as a sensitive receiver to detect signals from spacecraft, but it also can be used in radar astronomy as a powerful transmitter to send out signals to probe the solar system. At present, the Mars antenna operates as a continuous-wave microwave system at a frequency of 8.51 GHz at a power level of 0.5 MW. JPL has plans to upgrade the Mars antenna to a power level of 1 MW. Because of the anticipated increase in the ambient levels of radio frequency radiation (RFR), JPL retained Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratories (BPNL), Richland, Washington, to conduct an environmental assessment with respect to this increased RFR. This present volume is a JPL-expanded version of the BPNL report titled Environmental Assessment of the Goldstone Solar System Radar, which was submitted to JPL in Nov. 1991. This BPNL report concluded that the operation of the upgraded Mars antenna at the GDSCC, with its increased potential electromagnetic radiation hazards and interferences, would have no significantly adverse biological, physical, or socioeconomic effects on the environment. Thus, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate in accordance with local, State, Federal, and NASA environmental rules and regulations.

Source record↗

Application of Fresnel Zone to Cross Talk

Unintentional radiation results in cross coupling to nearby cables. As frequency increases, the amount of this coupling becomes significant especially in high speed data transmission and space lab experiments. There has been a considerable amount of research to model this radiation and design the electronic equipment accordingly so that operation of space lab instruments will be immune to unwanted radiation. Here at MSFC, the Electromagnetics and Aerospace Environment Branch has the responsibility to analyze, test, and make the necessary recommendation as to the safe operation of instruments used in the space program. Rules, regulation, and limits as set by this group are published in Electromagnetic Compatibility Design and Interference Control (MEDIC) Handbook. This document contains both conducted and radiate emission rules and limits are set by NASA. However cross coupling have not been included. At the time of assigning the research task for the author, the Group decided that a more in-depth investigation of Near Field is needed before establishing a set of rules and limits for cross coupling. Thus this task was assigned to the author with hope that his work will be more beneficial to NASA's Space mission experiments. The model and the method which will be described shortly is intended to improve the present approach of this Group and suggests a method for measuring the cross field coupling capacitance.

Javan, Hank↗

Miniature Six-Axis Load Sensor for Robotic Fingertip

A miniature load sensor has been developed as a prototype of tactile sensors that could fit within fingertips of anthropomorphic robot hands. The sensor includes a force-and-torque transducer in the form of a spring instrumented with at least six semiconductor strain gauges. The strain-gauge wires are secured to one side of an interface circuit board mounted at the base of the spring. This board protects the strain-gauge wires from damage that could otherwise occur as a result of finger motions. On the opposite side of the interface board, cables routed along the neutral axis of the finger route the strain-gauge output voltages to an analog-to-digital converter (A/D) board. The A/D board is mounted as close as possible to the strain gauges to minimize electromagnetic noise and other interference effects. The outputs of the A/D board are fed to a controller, wherein, by means of a predetermined calibration matrix, the digitized strain-gauge output voltages are converted to three vector components of force and three of torque exerted by or on the fingertip.

Diftler, Myron A.↗