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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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NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Accelerating SNP Development with Radiation Source Approximations for Far-Field Environment Modeling

The successful development and deployment of space nuclear power and propulsion technology requires a high-fidelity, efficient means of modeling ex-core radiation fields. Monte Carlo particle transport codes provide enable the highest level of fidelity in radiation field modeling but are inefficient for modeling ex-core radiation without modification. This paper details the development of an approach to ex-core radiation field modeling that maintains the fidelity of a Monte Carlo transport approach without sacrificing computational efficiency. This approach is based on recent improvements to an existing Monte Carlo transport acceleration technique known as surface source banking. As the transport of many particles is required to ensure adequate uncertainty in far field transport, analytical reconstruction techniques are employed to represent surface source banks as sampleable series of distributions in particle phase from which an arbitrarily large number of particles can be generated and simulated. All steps of this approach are incorporated into an AMA model to test both the underlying mathematics of the analytical source reconstruction process, as well as the relevance of the technique as a whole towards SNP applications. These tests demonstrated that this approach is capable of accelerating far-field radiation modeling in SNP-relevant scenarios by factors of at least nine over purely eigenvalue-based scenarios without significantly sacrificing simulation accuracy.

Surface Source Banking↗
NASA NTRS2000

Turbine Airfoil With CMC Leading-Edge Concept Tested Under Simulated Gas Turbine Conditions

Silicon-based ceramics have been proposed as component materials for gas turbine engine hot-sections. When the Navy s Harrier fighter experienced engine (Pegasus F402) failure because of leading-edge durability problems on the second-stage high-pressure turbine vane, the Office of Naval Research came to the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field for test support in evaluating a concept for eliminating the vane-edge degradation. The High Pressure Burner Rig (HPBR) was selected for testing since it could provide temperature, pressure, velocity, and combustion gas compositions that closely simulate the engine environment. The study focused on equipping the stationary metal airfoil (Pegasus F402) with a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) leading-edge insert and evaluating the feasibility and benefits of such a configuration. The test exposed the component, with and without the CMC insert, to the harsh engine environment in an unloaded condition, with cooling to provide temperature relief to the metal blade underneath. The insert was made using an AlliedSignal Composites, Inc., enhanced HiNicalon (Nippon Carbon Co. LTD., Yokohama, Japan) fiber-reinforced silicon carbide composite (SiC/SiC CMC) material fabricated via chemical vapor infiltration. This insert was 45-mils thick and occupied a recessed area in the leading edge and shroud of the vane. It was designed to be free floating with an end cap design. The HPBR tests provided a comparative evaluation of the temperature response and leading-edge durability and included cycling the airfoils between simulated idle, lift, and cruise flight conditions. In addition, the airfoils were aircooled, uniquely instrumented, and exposed to the exact set of internal and external conditions, which included gas temperatures in excess of 1370 C (2500 F). In addition to documenting the temperature response of the metal vane for comparison with the CMC, a demonstration of improved leading-edge durability was a primary goal. First, the metal vane was tested for a total of 150 cycles. Both the leading edge and trailing edge of the blade exhibited fatigue cracking and burn-through similar to the failures experienced in service by the F402 engine. Next, an airfoil, fitted with the ceramic leading edge insert, was exposed for 200 cycles. The temperature response of those HPBR cycles indicated a reduced internal metal temperature, by as much as 600 F at the midspan location for the same surface temperature (2100 F). After testing, the composite insert appeared intact, with no signs of failure on either the vane s leading or trailing edge. Only a slight oxide scale, as would be expected, was noted on the insert. Overall, the CMC insert performed similarly to a thick thermal barrier coating. With a small air gap between the metal and the SiC/SiC leading edge, heat transfer from the CMC to the metal alloy was low, effectively lowering the temperatures. The insert's performance has proven that an uncooled CMC can be engineered and designed to withstand the thermal up-shock experienced during the severe lift conditions in the Pegasus engine. The design of the leading-edge insert, which minimized thermal stresses in the SiC/SiC CMC, showed that the CMC/metal assembly can be engineered to be a functioning component.

Robinson, R. Craig↗
NASA NTRS2015

Forward Bay Cover Separation Modeling and Testing for the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Spacecraft multi-body separation events during atmospheric descent require complex testing and analysis to validate the flight separation dynamics models used to verify no re-contact. The NASA Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) architecture includes a highly-integrated Forward Bay Cover (FBC) jettison assembly design that combines parachutes and piston thrusters to separate the FBC from the Crew Module (CM) and avoid re-contact. A multi-disciplinary team across numerous organizations examined key model parameters and risk areas to develop a robust but affordable test campaign in order to validate and verify the FBC separation event for Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1). The FBC jettison simulation model is highly complex, consisting of dozens of parameters varied simultaneously, with numerous multi-parameter interactions (coupling and feedback) among the various model elements, and encompassing distinct near-field, mid-field, and far-field regimes. The test campaign was composed of component-level testing (for example gas-piston thrusters and parachute mortars), ground FBC jettison tests, and FBC jettison air-drop tests that were accomplished by a highly multi-disciplinary team. Three ground jettison tests isolated the testing of mechanisms and structures to anchor the simulation models excluding aerodynamic effects. Subsequently, two air-drop tests added aerodynamic and parachute elements, and served as integrated system demonstrations, which had been preliminarily explored during the Orion Pad Abort-1 (PA-1) flight test in May 2010. Both ground and drop tests provided extensive data to validate analytical models and to verify the FBC jettison event for EFT-1. Additional testing will be required to support human certification of this separation event, for which NASA and Lockheed Martin are applying knowledge from Apollo and EFT-1 testing and modeling to develop a robust human-rated FBC separation event.

Ali, Yasmin↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thermomechanical analysis and modeling of involute-shaped fuel plates using the Cheverton–Kelley experiments for the High Flux Isotope Reactor

Three research reactors with involute-shaped fuel plates are pursuing conversion from highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium fuel. Various core design and safety evaluation studies are essential to assess the feasibility of the conversion. The use of 3D computational multiphysics codes is being explored in these analyses and therefore they must undergo a thorough evaluation and quality assurance process due to their potential impact on nuclear safety. Here, the Cheverton and Kelley physical tests performed in the late 1960s to investigate the deflections of HFIR’s outer plate under uniform pressure and temperature fields are simulated by employing commercially available computational codes, with the goals to (1) verify and validate the models and numerical solvers implemented in the codes for thermomechanical analysis of involute reactor plates and (2) to develop a benchmark computational test to evaluate future versions of existing software or newly developed computational codes. The results of the simulations showed good agreement with each other as well as against the Cheverton–Kelley experimental data. Some minor deviations were observed for a few multiphysics cases and their potential origins and impact on the analysis results is investigated in the paper. The validated models increase the confidence in using multiphysics codes to evaluate existing or new LEU designs.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS2004

Goddard Space Flight Center Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility Restoration Project

The Goddard Space Flight Center Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility (SMTF) was constructed in the 1960's for the purpose of simulating geomagnetic and interplanetary magnetic field environments. The facility includes a three axis Braunbek coil system consisting of 12 loops, 4 loops on each of the three orthogonal axes; a remote earth field sensing magnetometer and servo control building; and a remote power control and instrumentation building. The inner coils are 42-foot in diameter and a 10-foot by 10-foot opening through the outer coils accommodates spacecraft access to the test volume. The physical size and precision of the facility are matched by only two other such facilities in the world. The facility was used extensively from the late 1960's until the early 1990's when the requirement for spacecraft level testing diminished. New NASA missions planned under the Living with a Star, Solar Terrestrial Probes, Explorer, and New Millennium Programs include precision, high-resolution magnetometers to obtain magnetic field data that is critical to fulfilling their scientific mission. It is highly likely that future Lunar and Martian exploration missions will also use precision magnetometers to conduct geophysical magnetic surveys. To ensure the success of these missions ground testing using a magnetic test facility such as the GSFC SMTF will be required. This paper describes the history of the facility, the future mission requirements that have renewed the need for spacecraft level magnetic testing, and the plans for restoring the facility to be capable of performing to its original design specifications.

Vernier, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2009

Science Operations for the 2008 NASA Lunar Analog Field Test at Black Point Lava Flow, Arizona

Surface science operations on the Moon will require merging lessons from Apollo with new operation concepts that exploit the Constellation Lunar Architecture. Prototypes of lunar vehicles and robots are already under development and will change the way we conduct science operations compared to Apollo. To prepare for future surface operations on the Moon, NASA, along with several supporting agencies and institutions, conducted a high-fidelity lunar mission simulation with prototypes of the small pressurized rover (SPR) and unpressurized rover (UPR) (Fig. 1) at Black Point lava flow (Fig. 2), 40 km north of Flagstaff, Arizona from Oct. 19-31, 2008. This field test was primarily intended to evaluate and compare the surface mobility afforded by unpressurized and pressurized rovers, the latter critically depending on the innovative suit-port concept for efficient egress and ingress. The UPR vehicle transports two astronauts who remain in their EVA suits at all times, whereas the SPR concept enables astronauts to remain in a pressurized shirt-sleeve environment during long translations and while making contextual observations and enables rapid (less than or equal to 10 minutes) transfer to and from the surface via suit-ports. A team of field geologists provided realistic science scenarios for the simulations and served as crew members, field observers, and operators of a science backroom. Here, we present a description of the science team s operations and lessons learned.

Garry W. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Reflectivity of the atmosphere-inhomogeneous surfaces system Laboratory simulation

Theoretical two- and three-dimensional solutions of the radiative transfer equation have been applied to the earth-atmosphere system. Such solutions have not been verified experimentally. A laboratory experiment simulates such a system to test the theory. The atmosphere was simulated by latex spheres suspended in water and the ground by a nonuniform surface, half white and half black. A stable radiation source provided uniform illumination over the hydrosol. The upward radiance along a line orthogonal to the boundary of the two-halves field was recorded for different amounts of the hydrosol. The simulation is a well-defined radiative transfer experiment to test radiative transfer models involving nonuniform surfaces. Good agreement is obtained between the measured and theoretical results.

Mekler, Y.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Confusion-limited galaxy fields. II - Classical analyses

Chokshi and Wright presented a detailed model for simulating angular distribution of galaxy images in fields that extended to very high redshifts. Standard tools are used to analyze these simulated galaxy fields for the Omega(O) = 0 and the Omega(O) = 1 cases in order to test the discriminatory power of these tools. Classical number-magnitude diagrams and surface brightness-color-color diagrams are employed to study crowded galaxy fields. An attempt is made to separate the effects due to stellar evolution in galaxies from those due to the space time geometry. The results show that this discrimination is maximized at near-infrared wavelengths where the stellar photospheres are still visible but stellar evolution effects are less severe than those observed at optical wavelenghts. Rapid evolution of the stars on the asymptotic giant branch is easily recognized in the simulated data for both cosmologies and serves to discriminate between the two extreme values of Omega(O). Measurements of total magnitudes of individual galaxies are not essential for studying light distribution in galaxies as a function of redshift. Calculations for the extragalactic background radiation are carried out using the simulated data, and compared to integrals over the evolutionary models used.

Chokshi, Arati↗
DOE OSTI2022

Field Testing of a Hierarchical Model-Free Transactive Control Strategy in a Residential House

Demand response plays an important role in addressing the uncertain, intermittent, and variable nature of renewable energy sources. However, to be effective, it requires a significant amount of demand load flexibility, in which buildings are important flexible assets for electricity systems. In this regard, many transactive control tools have been developed to harness this demand flexibility. Yet, such tools are mostly simulation-based or deal with a single load, which may not be sufficient to demonstrate their effectiveness. Towards this end, this paper presents a field implementation and testing of a hierarchical model-free transactive control strategy using residential building thermostatically controlled loads. The transactive control implementation incorporates elements of virtual battery, game theory, and model-free control mechanisms. Experimental field-testing results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed transactive control strategy.

Olama, Mohammed M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

FD-TD numerical simulation of an entire lightning strike on the C160 aircraft

Experimental transient electromagnetic field measurements were performed on a Transall C160 aircraft during in-flight lightning strikes. The data allow a test of the predictive capabilities of a three dimensional time domain finite difference code (ALICE) developed at ONERA in order to investigate lightning-aircraft interactions. Using a transfer function technique in the 3D code, it is shown that a bi-leader attached to an aircraft can be simulated by a linear model, and so the electromagnetic fields can be calculated anywhere on the vehicle. Comparison of experimental and numerical results were made for several lightning strikes. Skin current density and electromagnetic field distributions are discussed in detail.

Alliot, J. C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

NASA’s Orion Crew Module Seakeeping Simulation and Test Comparisons in Ocean Wave Environments

The NASA Orion Crew Module (CM) post-landing seakeeping and uprighting capabilities are being evaluated across a variety of ocean wave conditions. This paper provides an overview of quarter-scale and full-scale test data and how it compares with the CM seakeeping dynamic simulation results evaluated using Wave Energy Convertor Simulator (WEC-Sim).This includes a discussion of the status of the dynamic modeling effort, correlation of model inputs with the wave field from the test, and a comparison of the results against the physical test data with emphasis on the full-scale results. Analysis in the frequency domain showed similar response characteristics between the model and the test and shows energy peaks corresponding to both the natural response and the forced response due to the wave environment. Time domain comparisons showed that the linear WEC-Sim model under predicted the amplitude of the pitch and roll motion of the test article, with improved matching for smaller, longer crested waves. An attempt was made to correlate the pitch/roll response to incident wave slope to account for a possible delay in the BTA’s response. The results did not show a strong relationship in the response characteristics to incident wave slope, but better correlation was seen by comparing responses in the frequency domain. Evaluation of the simulation’s ability to match test results aided in understanding the current fidelity of the CM model in WEC-Sim and identifying areas for model improvement

Abigail Lockard↗
NASA NTRS2004

Goddard Space Flight Center Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility Restoration Project

The Goddard Space Flight Center Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility (SMTF) was constructed in the 1960's for the purpose of simulating geomagnetic and interplanetary magnetic field environments. The facility includes a three axis Braunbek coil system consisting of 12 loops, 4 loops on each of the three orthogonal axes; a remote Earth field sensing magnetometer and servo controller; and a remote power control and instrumentation building. The inner coils of the Braunbek system are 42-foot in diameter with a 10-foot by 10-foot opening through the outer coils to accommodate spacecraft access into the test volume. The physical size and precision of the facility are matched by only two other such facilities in the world. The facility was used extensively from the late 1960's until the early 1990's when the requirement for spacecraft level testing diminished. New NASA missions planned under the Living with a Star, Solar Terrestrial Probes, Explorer, and New Millennium Programs include precision, high-resolution magnetometers to obtain magnetic field data that is critical to fulfilling their scientific mission. It is highly likely that future Lunar and Martian exploration missions will also use precision magnetometers to conduct geophysical magnetic surveys. To ensure the success of these missions, ground-testing using a magnetic test facility such as the GSFC SMTF will be required. This paper describes the history of the facility, the future mission requirements that have renewed the need for spacecraft level magnetic testing, and the plans for restoring the facility to be capable of performing to its original design specifications.

Vernier, Robert↗
NASA NTRS2004

Goddard Space Flight Center Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility Restoration Project

The Goddard Space Flight Center Spacecraft Magnetic Test Facility (SMTF) was constructed in the 1960's for the purpose of simulating geomagnetic and interplanetary magnetic field environments. The facility includes a three axis Braunbek coil system consisting of 12 loops, 4 loops on each of the three orthogonal axes; a remote Earth field sensing magnetometer and servo controller; and a remote power control and instrumentation building. The inner coils of the Braunbek system are 42-foot in diameter with a 10-foot by 10-foot opening through the outer coils to accommodate spacecraft access into the test volume. The physical size and precision of the facility are matched by only two other such facilities in the world. The facility was used extensively from the late 1960's until the early 1990's when the requirement for spacecraft level testing diminished. New NASA missions planned under the Living with a Star, Solar Terrestrial Probes, Explorer, and New Millennium Programs include precision, high-resolution magnetometers to obtain magnetic field data that is critical to fulfilling their scientific mission. It is highly likely that future Lunar and Martian exploration missions will also use precision magnetometers to conduct geophysical magnetic surveys. To ensure the success of these missions, ground testing using a magnetic test facility such as the GSFC SMTF will be required. This paper describes the history of the facility, the future mission requirements that have renewed the need for spacecraft level magnetic testing, and the plans for restoring the facility to be capable of performing to its original design specifications.

Vernier, Robert↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Airframe Noise Simulations of a Full-Scale Large Civil Transport in Landing Configuration

This paper summarizes the results obtained from an extensive computational campaign to accurately predict full-scale landing gear noise for large civil transports. A highly accurate digital model of a full-scale Boeing 777-300ER aircraft with as-flown nose and main landing gear components was developed for use in the simulations. Two aircraft configurations were selected: nose and main landing gear deployed with wing high-lift devices retracted, and nose and main landing gear deployed with wing high-lift devices deflected. The two configurations were simulated without and with toboggan fairings installed on the main gear to represent the principal configurations evaluated during the 2005 QTD2 flight test. All simulations were performed with the lattice Boltzmann solver PowerFLOW® to resolve and capture the highly complex, unsteady flow field in the immediate vicinity of the aircraft. The far-field noise sig-nature of the aircraft was computed via a Ffowcs-Williams and Hawkings integral approach, with flow quantities on a permeable surface enclosing the source regions used as input. Synthetic pressure records at ground array microphone locations used during the QDT2 test were employed to generate narrowband acoustic maps and integrated far-field noise spectra. With high-lift devices retracted, the predicted spectra showed that landing gear noise is equivalent to total airframe noise, with no other airframe sources appearing within 10 dB of gear peak levels. Application of a toboggan fairing to the main gear produced modest noise reductions of 1-2 dB across the resolved frequency range. With high-lift devices deflected, undercarriage noise was within 3-4 dB of the total airframe noise, thus comprising nearly half of the total airframe noise. For this configuration, the toboggan fairing did not produce a reduction in noise, corroborating trends previously observed in QTD2 flight test data.

airframe noise↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

USM3D Simulations for Third Sonic Boom Workshop

The NASA USM3D flow solver was used to compute test cases for the Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop (SBPW3). The test cases include an axisymmetric equivalent area body, a near field biconvex shock-plume interaction wind tunnel model, and the C608 Low Boom Flight Demonstrator. Numerical simulations were conducted on the mixed element grids and the tetrahedral grids provided by the workshop committee, as well as a family of grids generated by an in-house approach for sonic boom analyses known as Boom Grid. The near-field pressure signatures were extracted, propagated to the ground and the perceived loudness levels on the ground was computed. The USM3D near-field pressure signatures,corresponding ground signatures, and loudness levels on the ground are compared with mean values from other workshop participants.

Supersonics↗
NASA NTRS1971

Protective coatings for columbium applied in the field.

The various aspects of field repair of columbium alloy panels with protective coatings designed as part of the Space Shuttle thermal protection system are examined. The field repair of the coatings is accomplished by employing ceramic cement repairs, and reapplying the fused slurry silicide coating. Techniques are described which improve the practicality of these repairs by employing torch heating. The repair coating quality is demonstrated by testing which simulates flight temperature, pressure, stress and acoustic vibration conditions as a function of time. Conclusions on the present status of field repair coatings are presented and recommendations are given for appropriate future activities relative to the use on an operational Space Shuttle system.

Carter, J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Numerical Investigation of Observational Flux Partitioning Methods for Water Vapor and Carbon Dioxide

Abstract While yearly budgets of CO 2 flux (F c ) and evapotranspiration (ET) above vegetation can be readily obtained from eddy‐covariance measurements, the separate quantification of their soil (respiration and evaporation) and canopy (photosynthesis and transpiration) components remains an elusive yet critical research objective. In this work, we investigate four methods to partition observed total fluxes into soil and plant sources: two new and two existing approaches that are based solely on analysis of conventional high frequency eddy‐covariance (EC) data. The physical validity of the assumptions of all four methods, as well as their performance under different scenarios, are tested with the aid of large‐eddy simulations, which are used to replicate eddy‐covariance field experiments. Our results indicate that canopies with large, exposed soil patches increase the mixing and correlation of scalars; this negatively impacts the performance of the partitioning methods, all of which require some degree of uncorrelatedness between CO 2 and water vapor. In addition, best performances for all partitioning methods were found when all four flux components are non‐negligible, and measurements are collected close to the canopy top. Methods relying on the water‐use efficiency (W) perform better whenWis known a priori, but are shown to be very sensitive to uncertainties in this input variable especially when canopy fluxes dominate. We conclude by showing how the correlation coefficient between CO 2 and water vapor can be used to infer the reliability of differentWparameterizations.

Environmental Sciences & Ecology↗
DOE OSTI2022

OCEANFILMS (Organic Compounds from Ecosystems to Aerosols: Natural Films and Interfaces via Langmuir Molecular Surfactants) sea spray organic aerosol emissions – implementation in a global climate model and impacts on clouds

Sea spray aerosol is one of the major sources of atmospheric particulate matter globally. It has increasingly been recognized that organic matter derived from ocean biological precursors contributes significantly to the composition of submicron sea spray and may modify sea spray aerosol impacts on clouds and climate. This paper describes the implementation of the OCEANFILMS (Organic Compounds from Ecosystems to Aerosols: Natural Films and Interfaces via Langmuir Molecular Surfactants) parameterization for sea spray organic aerosol emissions in a global Earth system model, the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM). OCEANFILMS is a physically based model that links sea spray chemistry with ocean biogeochemistry using a Langmuir partitioning approach. We describe the implementation details of OCEANFILMS within E3SM, compare simulated aerosol fields with observations, and investigate impacts on simulated clouds and climate. Four sensitivity cases are tested, in which organic emissions either strictly add to or strictly replace sea salt emissions (in mass and number) and are either fully internally or fully externally mixed with sea salt. The simulation with internally mixed, added organics agrees reasonably well with observed seasonal cycles of organic matter in marine aerosol and has been selected as the default configuration of the E3SM. In this configuration, sea spray organic aerosol contributes an additional source of cloud condensation nuclei, adding up to 30 cm -3 to Southern Ocean boundary-layer cloud condensation nuclei concentrations (supersaturation = 0.1 %). The addition of this new aerosol source strengthens shortwave radiative cooling by clouds by -0.36 W m -2 in the global annual mean and contributes more than -3.5 W m -2 to summertime zonal mean cloud forcing in the Southern Ocean, with maximum zonal mean impacts of about -4 W m -2 around 50–60°S. This is consistent with a previous top-down, satellite-based empirical estimate of the radiative forcing by sea spray organic aerosol over the Southern Ocean. Through its mechanistic approach, OCEANFILMS offers a path towards improved understanding of the feedbacks between ocean biology, sea spray organic matter, and climate.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗