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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 487 records · Page 27
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NASA NTRS1993

High-resolution measurements, line identification, and spectral modeling of K-alpha transitions in Fe XVIII-Fe XXV

A detailed analysis of the iron K-alpha emission spectrum covering the wavelength region from 1.840 to 1.940 A is presented. Measurements are made with a high-resolution Bragg crystal spectrometer on the Princeton Large Torus (PLT) tokamak for plasma conditions which closely resemble those of solar flares. A total of 40 features are identified, consisting of either single or multiple lines from eight charge states in iron, Fe XVIII - Fe XXV, and their wavelengths are determined with an accuracy of 0.1-0.4 mA. Many of these features are identified for the first time. In the interpretation of our observations we rely on model calculations that determine the ionic species abundances from electron density and temperature profiles measured independently with nonspectroscopic techniques and that incorporate theoretical collisional excitation and dielectronic recombination rates resulting in the excitation of the 1s2sr2ps configurations. The model calculations also include the effect of diffusive ion transport. Good overall agreement between the model calculations and the observations is obtained, which gives us confidence in our line identifications and spectral modeling capabilities. The results are compared with earlier analyses of the K-alpha emission from the Sun.

Beiersdorfer, P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A transport equation for the scalar dissipation in reacting flows with variable density: First results

Although the different regimes of premixed combustion are not well defined, most of the recent developments in turbulent combustion modeling are led in the so-called flamelet regime. The goal of these models is to give a realistic expression to the mean reaction rate (w). Several methods can be used to estimate (w). Bray and coworkers (Libby & Bray 1980, Bray 1985, Bray & Libby 1986) express the instantaneous reaction rate by means of a flamelet library and a frequency which describes the local interaction between the laminar flamelets and the turbulent flowfield. In another way, the mean reaction rate can be directly connected to the flame surface density (Sigma). This quantity can be given by the transport equation of the coherent flame model initially proposed by Marble & Broadwell 1977 and developed elsewhere. The mean reaction rate, (w), can also be estimated thanks to the evolution of an arbitrary scalar field G(x, t) = G(sub O) which represents the flame sheet. G(x, t) is obtained from the G-equation proposed by Williams 1985, Kerstein et al. 1988 and Peters 1993. Another possibility proposed in a recent study by Mantel & Borghi 1991, where a transport equation for the mean dissipation rate (epsilon(sub c)) of the progress variable c is used to determine (w). In their model, Mantel & Borghi 1991 considered a medium with constant density and constant diffusivity in the determination of the transport equation for (epsilon(sub c)). A comparison of different flamelet models made by Duclos et al. 1993 shows the realistic behavior of this model even in the case of constant density. Our objective in this present report is to present preliminary results on the study of this equation in the case of variable density and variable diffusivity. Assumptions of constant pressure and a Lewis number equal to unity allow us to significantly simplify the equation. A systematic order of magnitude analysis based on adequate scale relations is performed on each term of the equation. As in the case of constant density and constant diffusivity, the effects of stretching of the scalar field by the turbulent strain field, of local curvature, and of chemical reactions are predominant. In this preliminary work, we suggest closure models for certain terms, which will be validated after comparisons with DNS data.

Mantel, T.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Design and performance/measurement simulation studies for a ER-2 sunphotometer

Work and results, including developed software, obtained under this grant (NAG 2-620) have been reported in various progress reports, an M.S. Thesis, and software programs. The purpose of this final report is simply to provide a documented listing of what has already been reported. This includes the following: (1) Conceptual Design and Simulation of a Spectral Sunphotometer for the ER-2 Aircraft; (2) Continued Simulation and Design Studies for an ER-2 Sunphotometer; and (3) Simulation and Performance Studies of a Spectra Sunphotometer for the ER-2 Aircraft. Also, software and computational results for modeling airmass and diffuse light effects due to aerosols were provided in support of NASA ARC research on the effects of aerosols resulting from the Pinatubo volcanic eruptions. The references for these articles are as follows: (1) Post Pinatubo Optical Depth Spectra vs. Latitude and Vortex Structure; and (2) Pinatubo and Pre-Pinatubo Optical-Depth Spectra -- Mauna Loa Measurements, Comparisons, Inferred Particle Size Distributions, Radiative Effects, and Relationships to Lidar Data.

Reagan, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Vertical transport rates in the statosphere in 1993 from observations of CO2, N2O, and CH4

Measurements of CO2, N2O, and CH4 are analyzed to define hemispheric average vertical exchange rates in the lower stratosphere from November 1992 to October 1993. Effective vertical diffusion coefficients were small in summer, less than or equal to 1 sq m/s at altitudes below 25 km; values were similar near the tropopause in winter, but increased markedly with altitude. The analysis suggests possible longer residence times for exhaust from stratospheric aircraft, and more efficient transport from 20 km to the middle stratosphere, than predicted by many current models. Seasonally-resolved measurements of stratospheric CO2 and N2O provide significant new constraints on rates for global-scale vertical transport.

Wofsy, Steven C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Stationary premixed flames in spherical and cylindrical geometries

Stationary source-free spherical flames ('flame balls') in premixed combustible gases were studied by employing low-gravity (micro-g) environments in a drop tower and an aircraft flying parabolic trajectories to diminish the impact of buoyancy-induced convective flow. Flame balls were found in all mixture families tested when: (1) the Lewis number Le of the deficient reactant was sufficiently low; and (2) the compositions were sufficiently close to the flammability limits. Probably as a consequence of the reduction in buoyant convection, the flammability limits at micro-g were significantly more dilute than those at Earth gravity; for example, 3.35% H2 vs 4.0% H2 in lean H2-air mixtures. By comparison with analytical and computational models, it is inferred that the phenomenon is probably related to diffusive-thermal effects in low-Le mixtures in conjunction with flame-front curvature and radiative heat losses from the combustion products. The chemical reaction mechanism appears to play no qualitative role. In the aircraft experiments, the gravity levels (approximately equal 10(exp -2)g(sub 0)) were found to cause noticeable motion of flame balls due to buoyancy, which in turn influenced the behavior of flame balls. At these g levels, a new type of transient, nearly cylindrical flame structure, termed 'flame strings,' was observed.

Ronney, P. D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Large-Amplitude Long-Wave Instability of a Supersonic Shear Layer

For sufficiently high Mach numbers, small disturbances on a supersonic vortex sheet are known to grow in amplitude because of slow nonlinear wave steepening. Under the same external conditions, linear theory predicts slow growth of long-wave disturbances to a thin supersonic shear layer. An asymptotic formulation is given here which adds nonzero shear-layer thickness to the weakly nonlinear formulation for a vortex sheet. Spatial evolution is considered, for a spatially periodic disturbance having amplitude of the same order, in Reynolds number, as the shear-layer thickness. A quasi-equilibrium inviscid nonlinear critical layer is found, with effects of diffusion and slow growth appearing through nonsecularity condition. Other limiting cases are also considered, in an attempt to determine a relationship between the vortex-sheet limit and the long-wave limit for a thin shear layer; there appear to be three special limits, corresponding to disturbances of different amplitudes at different locations along the shear layer.

Messiter, A. F.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Vertical Transport Rates in the Stratosphere in 1993 from Observations of CO2, N2O and CH4

Measurements of CO2, N2O and CH4 are analyzed to define hemispheric average vertical exchange rates in the lower stratosphere from November 1992 to October 1993. Effective vertical diffusion coefficients were small in summer, less than or equal to 1 m(exp 2)/sec at altitudes below 25 km; values were similar near the tropopause in winter, but increased markedly with altitude. The analysis suggests possibly longer residence times for exhaust from stratospheric aircraft, and more efficient transport from 20 km to the middle stratosphere, than predicted by many current models. Seasonally-resolved measurements of stratospheric CO2 and N2O provide significant new constraints on rates for global-scale vertical transport.

Wofsy, Steven C.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Flame Propagation in Low-Intensity Turbulence under Microgravity Conditions

The goal of the research is to understand the influences of the hydrodynamic instability on premixed-flame propagation. It is known that coupling between flame and flow-field dynamics in association with the hydrodynamic instability may lead to flame-generated turbulence, flame acceleration and enhancement of burning rates. As a result of such hydrodynamic coupling the transition from initially planar or wrinkled laminar flames to fast turbulent flames or detonations is possible, even when diffusive-thermal effects associated with non-unity reactant Lewis numbers are not destabilizing. It is important to identify methods of suppressing the hydrodynamic instability so as to insure fire safety, particularly in space.

Aldredge, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Analysis of Aerothermal Heating Over Reusable Single-Stage to Orbit Vehicles

Using the General Aerodynamic Simulation Program (GASP) with finite-rate surface catalysis and radiative equilibrium surface temperature conditions, a computational study has been conducted to predict three-dimensional aero-convective heating over the proposed reusable single-stage to orbit vehicles. The solutions for three basic classes of usable single-stage-to-orbit vehicles, including wing body, lifting body and vertical lander, are presented and compared to provide information for vehicle design. The free stream conditions used in this study occur at an altitude of 57.5 km, ambient density of 4.129e-4 kg/cubic m, and velocity of 4,849 m/s. The convective heating over the vehicle surface in both laminar and turbulent flow regimes were computed. The Baldwin-Lomax algebraic model with a modified van Driest damping factor was applied in the turbulent flow calculations. A bifurcation model which guarantees the conservation of mass diffusive fluxes was adopted to account for the multi-species mass diffusion. The effects of turbulence and surface catalysis on the surface heating are discussed in detail The solutions indicate the degree of oxygen dissociation over the leeward side is sensitive to the shape of vehicle body. Predicted convective heating over the entire surface of lifting body is strongly affected by the presence of surface catalysis. For wing body and vertical lander, the surface catalysis effect does not appear to be important in the far downstream region, and turbulence is the dominant effect on the heating prediction in this region.

Chen, Y. K.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Novel High Efficient Organic Photovoltaic Materials: Appendix for Summary of Research

There are many different kinds of conjugated polymers that may be useful in photovoltaic devices. So far, the most popular and successful conjugated polymers used in photovoltaic devices include poly(1,4-)phenylenevinylenes (PPV), C60 and their derivatives. The discovery of electro-luminescence in PPV has stimulated a great deal of interest in developing "plastic" solid-state semiconductor devices. The overall synthetic methodology for the preparation of PPV can be divided into three main categories: (1) side chain derivatization, (2) precursor approach, and (3) in-situ polymerization. In this project, the first method was adopted. As discussed in project proposal and literatures, the overall efficiency of photovoltaic devices containing conjugated polymers is determined by the materials ability to generate excitons from incoming radiation, and then to separate the charges at donor/acceptor interfaces, and then to transport charges to respective electrodes. Given that effective exciton diffusion range are typical less then 30 nm, unique morphological structures are needed. This need led to several research groups to the idea that interpenetrating or bi-continuous networks of donor (electron donating) and acceptor (electron withdrawing) polymers should give better results. One approach involved the use of functionalized PPV. The attachment of electron withdrawing cyano groups to a PPV forms the CN-PPV, making it a strong electron acceptor. Underivatized PPV is a generally considered a hole-transporting material. Using blends of MEH-PPV, a soluble donor PPV derivative, as a hole transporter and CN-PPV as an electron transporter, a quantum efficiencies of up to 6% was achieved.

Sun, Sam↗
NASA NTRS1991

A contribution with review to the description of mineralization of bone and other calcified tissues in vivo

This manuscript considers certain aspects of mineral deposition in bone and other vertebrate calcifying tissues in order to examine physical, chemical, and biological factors important in the mineralization process. The paper in a discussion format principally presents a new data and the formulation of concepts based on such data as well as a summary of background material as necessary review. Mineralization is found to occur at spatially independent sites throughout the organic extracellular tissue matrices. Matrix vesicles and collagen fibrils each may serve as independent nucleation centers for mineral with vesicle mineralization being local and collagen mineralization dominating the tissues as a whole. Collagen fibril organization is suggested to be such that hole zones are aligned in three dimensions, creating extensive channels for mineral accommodation. Nucleation occurs initially in hole zones and crystal growth leads to the development of plate-like mineral particles whose orientation, disposition, and sizes within fibrils are detailed. Effects of diffusion, crystallinity, and critical nucleation and growth events are described with respect to their influence on mineral deposition in bulk and local regions of tissue matrices.

Review↗
NASA NTRS2006

A New Finite-Conductivity Droplet Evaporation Model Including Liquid Turbulence Effect

A new approach to account for finite thermal conductivity and turbulence effects within atomizing droplets of an evaporating spray is presented in this paper. The model is an extension of the T-blob and T-TAB atomization/spray model of Trinh and Chen [9]. This finite conductivity model is based on the two-temperature film theory in which the turbulence characteristics of the droplet are used to estimate the effective thermal diffusivity for the liquid-side film thickness. Both one-way and two-way coupled calculations were performed to investigate the performance cf this model against the published experimental data.

Balasubramanyam, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS2004

NASA Tech Briefs, October 2004

Topics include: Relative-Motion Sensors and Actuators for Two Optical Tables; Improved Position Sensor for Feedback Control of Levitation; Compact Tactile Sensors for Robot Fingers; Improved Ion-Channel Biosensors; Suspended-Patch Antenna With Inverted, EM-Coupled Feed; System Would Predictively Preempt Traffic Lights for Emergency Vehicles; Optical Position Encoders for High or Low Temperatures; Inter-Valence-Subband/Conduction-Band-Transport IR Detectors; Additional Drive Circuitry for Piezoelectric Screw Motors; Software for Use with Optoelectronic Measuring Tool; Coordinating Shared Activities; Software Reduces Radio-Interference Effects in Radar Data; Using Iron to Treat Chlorohydrocarbon-Contaminated Soil; Thermally Insulating, Kinematic Tensioned-Fiber Suspension; Back Actuators for Segmented Mirrors and Other Applications; Mechanism for Self-Reacted Friction Stir Welding; Lightweight Exoskeletons with Controllable Actuators; Miniature Robotic Submarine for Exploring Harsh Environments; Electron-Spin Filters Based on the Rashba Effect; Diffusion-Cooled Tantalum Hot-Electron Bolometer Mixers; Tunable Optical True-Time Delay Devices Would Exploit EIT; Fast Query-Optimized Kernel-Machine Classification; Indentured Parts List Maintenance and Part Assembly Capture Tool - IMPACT; An Architecture for Controlling Multiple Robots; Progress in Fabrication of Rocket Combustion Chambers by VPS; CHEM-Based Self-Deploying Spacecraft Radar Antennas; Scalable Multiprocessor for High-Speed Computing in Space; and Simple Systems for Detecting Spacecraft Meteoroid Punctures.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2013

Galactic Cosmic-Ray Energy Spectra and Composition during the 2009-2010 Solar Minimum Period

We report new measurements of the elemental energy spectra and composition of galactic cosmic rays during the 2009-2010 solar minimum period using observations from the Cosmic Ray Isotope Spectrometer (CRIS) onboard the Advanced Composition Explorer. This period of time exhibited record-setting cosmic-ray intensities and very low levels of solar activity. Results are given for particles with nuclear charge 5 <= Z <= 28 in the energy range approx. 50-550 MeV / nucleon. Several recent improvements have been made to the earlier CRIS data analysis, and therefore updates of our previous observations for the 1997-1998 solar minimum and 2001-2003 solar maximum are also given here. For most species, the reported intensities changed by less than approx. 7%, and the relative abundances changed by less than approx. 4%. Compared with the 1997-1998 solar minimum relative abundances, the 2009-2010 abundances differ by less than 2sigma, with a trend of fewer secondary species observed in the more recent time period. The new 2009-2010 data are also compared with results of a simple "leaky-box" galactic transport model combined with a spherically symmetric solar modulation model. We demonstrate that this model is able to give reasonable fits to the energy spectra and the secondary-to-primary ratios B/C and (Sc+Ti+V)/Fe. These results are also shown to be comparable to a GALPROP numerical model that includes the effects of diffusive reacceleration in the interstellar medium.

Galactic Cosmic Rays↗
NASA NTRS1994

An Improved Theoretical Ni-Cd Battery Performance Model

Previous reports have shown how a battery model was developed using porous electrode theory. Since then the model has been upgraded and expanded. These upgrades include oxygen reation and positive electrode intercalation and proton diffusion. The effects of additional details of the solid state physics of the nickel electrode will be reported here.

battery↗
NASA NTRS1992

Evolutionary models and the p-mode oscillation spectrum of Alpha Centauri A and B

Spectroscopically observed abundances of Furenlid and Meylan (1990) and Los Alamos Opacity Library opacities specifically constructed for this mixture are used to construct the most detailed models to date for Alpha Cen A and B. Models including the effects of the diffusion of helium in Alpha Cen A's interior were constructed. Although the effect of helium diffusion is small in Alpha Cen A, it is slightly larger than in the sun because of the larger mass and therefore shallower convection zone of Alpha Cen A. Keeping the heavy-element mixture unchanged but varying Z within the uncertainties yields limits to the helium abundance of Y = 0.295 and 0.305, respectively. The derived age of Alpha Cen is 4.6 +/-0.4 Gyr, very similar to the solar age of 4.5 Gyr.

Edmonds, Peter↗