Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “FLOW METER”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module Calibration and Verification of High-Accuracy Instrumentation to Measure Heat Flow in Cryogenic Testing

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is an upcoming flagship observatory mission scheduled to be launched in 2018, Three of the four science instruments are passively cooled to their operational temperature range of 36K to 40K, and the fourth instrument is actively cooled to its operational temperature of approximately 6K. The requirement for multiple thermal zones results in the instruments being thermally connected to five external radiators via individual high purity aluminum heat straps. Thermal-vacuum and thermal balance testing of the flight instruments at the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) element level will take place within a newly constructed shroud cooled by gaseous helium inside Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Space Environment Simulator (SES). The flight external radiators are not available during ISIM-Ievel thermal vacuum/thermal testing, so they will be replaced in test with stable and adjustable thermal boundaries with identical physical interfaces to the flight radiators. Those boundaries are provided on specially designed test hardware which measures the heat flow within each of the five heat straps to an accuracy of less than 2 m W, which is less than 5% of the minimum predicted heat flow values. This is essential to ISIM thermal model correlation, since thermal models are more accurately correlated when temperature data is supplemented by accurate knowledge of heat flows. Devices that measure heat flow in this manner have historically been referred to as "Q-meters". Perhaps the most important feature of the design of the Q-meters is that it does not depend on the absolute accuracy of its temperature sensors, but rather on a difference in heater power, for which a table is empirically developed during a calibration campaign in a small chamber at GSFC. This paper discusses the Q-meter calibration procedure including calibration chamber modifications and accommodations, the handling of differing conditions between calibration and usage, the calibration process itself, and the results of the tests used to determine if the calibration is successful.

Comber, Brian↗
NASA NTRS2012

James Webb Space Telescope Integrated Science Instrument Module Calibration and Verification of High-Accuracy Instrumentation to Measure Heat Flow in Cryogenic Testing

The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is an upcoming flagship observatory mission scheduled to be launched in 2018. Three of the four science instruments are passively cooled to their operational temperature range of 36K to 40K, and the fourth instrument is actively cooled to its operational temperature of approximately 6K. The requirement for multiple thermal zoned results in the instruments being thermally connected to five external radiators via individual high purity aluminum heat straps. Thermal-vacuum and thermal balance testing of the flight instruments at the Integrated Science Instrument Module (ISIM) element level will take place within a newly constructed shroud cooled by gaseous helium inside Goddard Space Flight Center's (GSFC) Space environment Simulator (SES). The flight external radiators are not available during ISIM-level thermal vacuum/thermal testing, so they will be replaced in test with stable and adjustable thermal boundaries with identical physical interfaces to the flight radiators. Those boundaries are provided by specially designed test hardware which also measures the heat flow within each of the five heat straps to an accuracy of less than 2 mW, which is less than 5% of the minimum predicted heat flow values. Measurement of the heat loads to this accuracy is essential to ISIM thermal model correlation, since thermal models are more accurately correlated when temperature data is supplemented by accurate knowledge of heat flows. It also provides direct verification by test of several high-level thermal requirements. Devices that measure heat flow in this manner have historically been referred to a "Q-meters". Perhaps the most important feature of the design of the JWST Q-meters is that it does not depend on the absolute accuracy of its temperature sensors, but rather on knowledge of precise heater power required to maintain a constant temperature difference between sensors on two stages, for which a table is empirically developed during a calibration campaign in a small chamber at GSFC. This paper provides a brief review of Q-meter design, and discusses the Q-meter calibration procedure including calibration chamber modifications and accommodations, handling of differing conditions between calibration and usage, the calibration process itself, and the results of the tests used to determine if the calibration is successful.

Comber, Brian↗
NASA NTRS2013

Development and Testing of a Variable Conductance Thermal Acquisition, Transport, and Switching System

This paper describes the development and testing of a scalable thermal control architecture for instruments, subsystems, or systems that must operate in severe space environments with wide variations in sink temperature. The architecture is comprised by linking one or more hot-side variable conductance heat pipes (VCHPs) in series with one or more cold-side loop heat pipes (LHPs). The VCHPs provide wide area heat acquisition, limited distance thermal transport, modest against gravity pumping, concentrated LHP startup heating, and high switching ratio variable conductance operation. The LHPs provide localized heat acquisition, long distance thermal transport, significant against gravity pumping, and high switching ratio variable conductance operation. Combining two variable conductance devices in series ensures very high switching ratio isolation from severe environments like the Earth's moon, where each lunar day spans 15 Earth days (270 K sink, with a surface-shielded/space viewing radiator) and each lunar night spans 15 Earth days (80-100 K radiative sink, depending on location). The single VCHP-single LHP system described herein was developed to maintain thermal control of International Lunar Network (ILN) anchor node lander electronics, but it is also applicable to other variable heat rejection space missions in severe environments. The LHPVCHP system utilizes a stainless steel wire mesh wick ammonia VCHP, a Teflon wick propylene LHP, a pair of one-third square meter high  radiators (one capillary-pumped horizontal radiator and a second gravity-fed vertical radiator), a half-meter of transport distance, and a wick-bearing co-located flow regulator (CLFR) to allow operation with a hot (deactivated) radiator. The VCHP was designed with a small reservoir formed by extending the length of its stainless steel heat pipe tubing. The system was able to provide end-to-end switching ratios of 300-500 during thermal vacuum testing at ATK, including 3-5 W/K ON conductance and 0.01 W/K OFF conductance. The test results described herein also include an in-depth analysis of VCHP condenser performance to explain VCHP switching operation in detail. Future multi-VCHP/multi-LHP thermal management system concepts that provide scalability to higher powers/longer transport lengths are also discussed in the paper.

Bugby, D. C.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Features Of Cavity Flow And Acoustics Of Stratospheric Observatory For Infrared Astronomy

The stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy (SOFIA) is a 2.5 meter aperture Cassegrain telescope with a Nasmyth focus that will be housed in an open cavity in the Boeing 747-SP aircraft and operated at altitudes around 41,000 feet for infrared (IR) viewing of celestial events of astronomical nature. At these altitudes the IR viewing capability of SOFIA far exceeds that of any ground based system. To minimize IR transmission losses, SOFIA will operate with an open cavity. Such an open cavity during flight creates several challenging aerodynamic and aeroacoustic design problems. Foremost of these are: the shear layer over the cavity may cause unwanted resonance if the cavity is untreated; this might give rise to excessive sound pressure levels (SPL) in the cavity and thus affect the unsteady loads on the telescope; the unsteady flow within the cavity produces large dynamic loads and moments that will impact the pointing accuracy of the telescope; the open cavity and the shear layer control devices produce additional drag that will affect directly the time of flight of the mission; the aft location of the cavity down stream of port wing will affect the the flow on the aircraft control surfaces and thus the stability of the aircraft. Also, the highly turbulent shear layer over the cavity and the temperature gradients and 'hot spots' within the cavity can produce a wave front error of the image when it reaches the focal plane of the recorder.

Srinivasan, G. R.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Aerodynamic characteristics of a Sparrow 3 missile model in the flow field of a generalized parent body at Mach 2.86

Longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics of a Sparrow 3 wing control missile model were measured through a range of separation distances relative to a flat plate surface that represented the parent-body configuration. Measurements were obtained with and without two dimensional circular arc protuberances attached to the flat plate surface. The tests were conducted at a Mach number of 2.86 and a Reynolds number per meter of 6.56 million. The behavior of these longitudinal characteristics with varying separation distance in the flow field created by the flat plate and protuberance was generally as would be expected on the basis of flow field boundaries determined from the second order approximation of Friedrich. In general, varying roll angle from 0 deg to 45 deg caused no significant effect on the store separation characteristics.

Stallings, R. L., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Dynamic measurement of total temperature, pressure and velocity in the Langley 0.3-meter transonic cryogenic tunnel

There is theoretical and experimental evidence which indicates that a sudden or step change in the rate at which the liquid nitrogen is injected into the circuit of a cryogenic wind tunnel can cause a temperature front in the flow for several tunnel circuit times. A temperature front, which occurs at intervals equal to the circuit time, is a sudden increase or decrease in the temperature of the flow followed by a nearly constant temperature. Since these fronts can have an effect on the control of the tunnel as well as the time required to establish steady flow conditions in the test section of cryogenic wind tunnel, tests were conducted in the settling chamber in the Langley 0.3-meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel (0.3-m TCT) in which high response instrumentation was used to measure the possible existence of these temperature fronts. Three different techniques were used to suddenly change the rate of liquid nitrogen being injected into the tunnel and the results from these three types of tests showed that temperature fronts do not appear to be present in the 0.3-m TCT. Also included are the velocity and pressure fluctuations measured in the settling chamber downstream of the screens and the associated power spectra.

Johnson, C. B.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Evaluation of a hemispherical head flow direction sensor for inlet duct measurements

A hemispherical head flow direction sensor was tested in a wind tunnel to evaluate its effectiveness for measuring dynamic duct flow direction angles of plus and minus 27 degrees. The tests were conducted at Reynolds numbers of 3.8 million per meter (1.0 million per foot) and 4.92 million per meter (1.5 million per foot) and at Mach numbers from 0.30 to 0.70. The design criteria for the probe are discussed and the wind tunnel results are presented. Three techniques for deriving the flow angles are described.

Bennett, D. L.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Validation of strongly coupled geomechanics and gas hydrate reservoir simulation with multiscale laboratory tests

In this work, we validate a coupled flow-geomechanics simulator for gas hydrate deposits, named T+M AM , performing two meter-scale laboratory experiments of gas hydrates for production by depressurization, replicating the gas hydrate deposit in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea, South Korea. The first experiment with a sand-only specimen is a 1D 1 m-scale depressurization test based on the excess gas method, which represents the grain coating hydrate growth. On the other hand, the second is a 3D 1.5 m-scale test with the excess water method for a sand-mud alternating layer system, representing the pore filling hydrate growth. We measure production and displacement at the top with different depressurization levels. In particular, the 3D test exhibits high coupling strength of substantial deformation induced by incompressibility of water and high deformability of the specimen. For validation, we match pressure, flow rate, and displacement between the experimental data and numerical results. Thus, we identify that T+M AM is a reliable simulator, which can be applied to fields in both permafrost and deep oceanic hydrate deposits of strongly coupled flow and geomechanics systems. This validation also implies that other coupled simulators based on the same coupling formulation as T+M AM can be validated when individual flow and geomechanics simulators are stable and reliable.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS2016

Terrestrial Analogues for Lunar Impact Melt Flows

Lunar impact melt deposits have unique physical properties. They have among the highest observed radar returns at S-Band (12.6 cm wavelength), implying that they are rough at the decimeter scale. However, they are also observed in high-resolution optical imagery to be quite smooth at the meter scale. These characteristics distinguish them from well-studied terrestrial analogues, such as Hawaiian pahoehoe and ʻa ʻa lava flows. The morphology of impact melt deposits can be related to their emplacement conditions, so understanding the origin of these unique surface properties will help to inform us as to the circumstances under which they were formed. In this work, we seek to find a terrestrial analogue for well-preserved lunar impact melt flows by examining fresh lava flows on Earth. We compare the radar return and high-resolution topographic variations of impact melt flows to terrestrial lava flows with a range of surface textures. The lava flows examined in this work range from smooth Hawaiian pahoehoe to transitional basaltic flows at Craters of the Moon (COTM) National Monument and Preserve in Idaho to rubbly and spiny pahoehoe-like flows at the recent eruption at Holuhraun in Iceland. The physical properties of lunar impact melt flows appear to differ from those of all the terrestrial lava flows studied in this work. This may be due to (a) differences in post-emplacement modification processes or (b) fundamental differences in the surface texture of the melt flows due to the melts' unique emplacement and/or cooling environment. Information about the surface properties of lunar impact melt deposits will be critical for future landed missions that wish to sample these materials.

Earth↗
NASA NTRS1986

Modifications to the 4x7 meter tunnel for acoustic research: Engineering feasibility study

The NASA-Langley Research Center 4 x 7 Meter Low Speed Wind Tunnel is currently being used for low speed aerodynamics, V/STOL aerodynamics and, to a limited extent, rotorcraft noise research. The deficiencies of this wind tunnel for both aerodynamics and aeroacoustics research have been recognized for some time. Modifications to the wind tunnel are being made to improve the test section flow quality and to update the model cart systems. A further modification of the 4 x 7 Meter Wind Tunnel to permit rotorcraft model acoustics research has been proposed. As a precursor to the design of the proposed modifications, NASA is conducted both in-house and contracted studies to define the acoustic environment within the wind tunnel and to provide recommendations or the reduction of the wind tunnel background noise to a level acceptable to acoustics researchers. One of these studies by an acoustics consultant, has produced the primary reference documents that define the wind tunnel noise sources and outline recommended solutions.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2021

National Renewable Energy Laboratory, South Table Mountain Campus, Golden, Colorado

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) South Table Mountain campus, located in Golden, Colorado, has multiyear datasets from buildings with approximately 1,100,000 sq ft of floor area. These 16 buildings include a large office, nine laboratories, and other education or public assembly facilities such as an education center, a warehouse, quick service restaurants, two site entrance security buildings, and a parking garage—all constructed and improved from 1982 to 2014. These datasets are also available from the NREL data storage and management platform SkySparks. The datasets contain electricity meter data (poser, voltage, and current) with 1-minute resolution and building automation system (BAS) data with resolutions of 5 or 15 minutes. Some subsystems (e.g., lighting) or equipment electricity data have the same intervals as above. Some mechanical equipment state or condition data, such as flow and temperature, are captured with 5- to 15-minute intervals. The types of measurement points (i.e., electrical meter power and zone temperature) and associated data quality across the campus are typical, which helps reduce the unreliability of data quality.

STM, Systems and equipment operational, Energy use↗
NASA NTRS1931

Performance of a Compression-ignition Engine with a Precombustion Chamber Having High-Velocity Air Flow

Presented here are the results of performance tests made with a single-cylinder, four stroke cycle, compression-ignition engine. These tests were made on a precombustion chamber type of cylinder head designed to have air velocity and tangential air flow in both the chamber and cylinder. The performance was investigated for variable load and engine speed, type of fuel spray, valve opening pressure, injection period and, for the spherical chamber, position of the injection spray relative to the air flow. The pressure variations between the pear-shaped precombustion chamber and the cylinder for motoring and full load conditions were determined with a Farnboro electric indicator. The combustion chamber designs tested gave good mixing of a single compact fuel spray with the air, but did not control the ensuing combustion sufficiently. Relative to each other, the velocity of air flow was too high, the spray dispersion by injection too great, and the metering effect of the cylinder head passage insufficient. The correct relation of these factors is of the utmost importance for engine performance.

Spanogle, J A↗
NASA NTRS1993

Radar properties of several fluidized ejecta blankets on Venus

Magellan SAR imagery, altimetry, and radiometry are being analyzed to characterize the radar properties of the fluidized ejecta blankets (FEB's) that are associated with over 40 percent of the impact craters on Venus. The FEB flows and plains units surrounding the craters Isabella (175 km), Addams (90 km), Seymore (65 km), and a crater located at 4 S, 155.5 E (70 km) are examined here using the MIT-produced ARCDR and GxDR data. Individual orbital footprints obtained from the ARCDR's have been classified according to their dominant simple geologic unit (e.g., plains, FEB flows). This permits average values of reflectivity (corrected for diffuse scattering), rms meter-scale slopes, emissivity, and SAR backscatter to be calculated for each unit. GxDR images provide a means of visualizing the spatial relations between the various data sets. Variability of radar properties within the FEB's and relative to surrounding regions may have implications concerning the genesis and possible emplacement mechanisms of fluidized ejecta.

Johnson, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Investigation of Point Doppler Velocimetry (PDV) for Transition Detection in Boundary Layers

A two-component Point Doppler Velocimeter (PDV) system has been improved through the use of vapor-limited iodine cells that have responses that are insensitive to temperature variations. Two-component PDV velocity measurements have been obtained for a 1 inch diameter uniform circular jet flow at a nominal exit velocity of 60 m/sec, corresponding to a Reynolds number of 100,000. Similar data have also been obtained for an annular jet and a swirling jet, These PDV data runs have been duplicated to judge the repeatability of these measurements, and also have been compared with hot wire anemometer data for the same flow conditions. PDV mean velocity results are repeatable to within approximately 1-2 meters per second; the PDV RMS velocity results are also quite repeatable. Exit profiles of PDV mean axial velocity data generally agree with hot wire anemometer results to within about 2 meters per second as well. However, the PDV RMS velocity results are consistently lower than the hot wire results everywhere but at the exit of the standard jet, where they are too high relative to the hot wire data. This is believed to at least be partially due to the method used to compute the RMS (Root Mean Square).

Kuhlman, John↗
NASA NTRS2015

NASAs Evolvable Mars Campaign: Mars Moons Robotic Precursor

Human exploration missions to the moons of Mars are being considered within NASA's Evolvable Mars Campaign (EMC) as an intermediate step for eventual human exploration and pioneering of the surface of Mars. A range of mission architectures is being evaluated in which human crews would explore one or both moons for as little as 14 days or for as long as 500 days with a variety of orbital and surface habitation and mobility options being considered. Relatively little is known about the orbital, surface, or subsurface characteristics of either moon. This makes them interesting but challenging destinations for human exploration missions during which crewmembers must be able to effectively conduct scientific exploration without being exposed to undue risks due to radiation, dust, micrometeoroids, or other hazards. A robotic precursor mission to one or both moons will be required to provide data necessary for the design and operation of subsequent human systems and for the identification and prioritization of scientific exploration objectives. This paper identifies and discusses considerations for the design of such a precursor mission based on current human mission architectures. Objectives of a Mars' moon precursor in support of human missions are expected to include: 1) identifying hazards on the surface and the orbital environment at up to 50-km distant retrograde orbits; 2) collecting data on physical characteristics for planning of detailed human proximity and surface operations; 3) performing remote sensing and in situ science investigations to refine and focus future human scientific activities; and 4) prospecting for in situ resource utilization. These precursor objectives can be met through a combination or remote sensing (orbital) and in-situ (surface) measurements. Analysis of spacecraft downlink signals using radio science techniques would measure the moon's mass, mass distribution, and gravity field, which will be necessary to enable trajectory planning. Laser altimetry would precisely measure the moon's shape and improve the accuracy of radio science measurements. A telescopic imaging camera would map the moon at submeter resolution and photograph selected areas of interest at subcentimeter resolution and a visible and near-infrared (0.4-3.0 mm) imaging spectrograph would produce a global map of mineral composition variations at a resolution of tens of meters and maps of selected areas of interest at meter resolution. Additional remote sensing capabilities could include a thermal infrared imager (heat flow, thermal inertia, and grain size distributions), a gamma-ray and neutron detector (atomic composition), a ground-penetrating radar (internal structure), and a magnetometer and Langmuir probe (magnetic properties and plasma field). Once on the surface of Phobos or Deimos, necessary instrumentation would include a penetrometer (regolith compressive strength), a motion-imagery camera (to observe the penetrometer tests before, during, and after contact), a dust-adhesion witness plate and camera (dust levitation), a microimager (dust particle sizes and shapes), and an alpha-proton-X-ray, X-ray fluorescence, Mossbauer, or Raman spectrometer (atomic and mineral composition of surface materials) and an optional temperature probe (regolith thermal properties). A variety of robotic mission design options to enable both orbital and surface measurements are being considered that include fully integrated and modular approaches. In-situ measurements from at least one surface location would be required, with additional measurement locations possible through use of multiple landers, through propulsive relocation of a single lander, or through electromechanical surface translation by a walking or hopping lander vehicle, which could also serve to evaluate such mobility capabilities for subsequent human missions. Preliminary orbital analysis suggests that remote sensing would likely be performed while in a distant retrograde orbit around the target moon. Mission design options to enable characterization of both Mars’ moons in a single mission are also being studied.

Gernhardt, Michael L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

SRMAFTE facility checkout model flow field analysis

The Solid Rocket Motor Air Flow Equipment (SRMAFTE) facility was constructed for the purpose of evaluating the internal propellant, insulation, and nozzle configurations of solid propellant rocket motor designs. This makes the characterization of the facility internal flow field very important in assuring that no facility induced flow field features exist which would corrupt the model related measurements. In order to verify the design and operation of the facility, a three-dimensional computational flow field analysis was performed on the facility checkout model setup. The checkout model measurement data, one-dimensional and three-dimensional estimates were compared, and the design and proper operation of the facility was verified. The proper operation of the metering nozzles, adapter chamber transition, model nozzle, and diffuser were verified. The one-dimensional and three-dimensional flow field estimates along with the available measurement data are compared.

Dill, Richard A.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Arrival Metering Precision Study

This paper describes the background, method and results of the Arrival Metering Precision Study (AMPS) conducted in the Airspace Operations Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center in May 2014. The simulation study measured delivery accuracy, flight efficiency, controller workload, and acceptability of time-based metering operations to a meter fix at the terminal area boundary for different resolution levels of metering delay times displayed to the air traffic controllers and different levels of airspeed information made available to the Time-Based Flow Management (TBFM) system computing the delay. The results show that the resolution of the delay countdown timer (DCT) on the controllers display has a significant impact on the delivery accuracy at the meter fix. Using the 10 seconds rounded and 1 minute rounded DCT resolutions resulted in more accurate delivery than 1 minute truncated and were preferred by the controllers. Using the speeds the controllers entered into the fourth line of the data tag to update the delay computation in TBFM in high and low altitude sectors increased air traffic control efficiency and reduced fuel burn for arriving aircraft during time based metering.

human/systems↗