Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “effective conductivity”

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 523 records · Page 29

Exploratory low-speed wind-tunnel study of concepts designed to improve aircraft stability and control at high angles of attack

A wind tunnel investigation of concepts to improve the high angle-of-attack stability and control characteristics of a high performance aircraft was conducted. The effect of vertical tail geometry on stability and the effectiveness of several conventional and unusual control concepts was determined. These results were obtained over a large angle-of-attack range. Vertical tail location, cant angle and leading edge sweep could influence both longitudinal and lateral-directional stability. The control concepts tested were found to be effective and to provide control into the post stall angle-of-attack region.

Hahne, D. E.↗

Finite element analysis of end notch flexure specimen

A finite element analysis of the end notch flexure specimen for mode II interlaminar fracture toughness measurement was conducted. The effect of friction between the crack faces and large deflection on the evaluation of G sub IIc from this specimen were investigated. Results of this study are presented in this paper.

Mall, S.↗

Pioneering the space frontier

The goals and plans of the program for exploration and development of the space frontier recommended by the National Commission on Space for the next 50 years are described. The topics discussed include civilian space goals for 21st-century America, low-cost access to the solar system, opening the space frontier, and American leadership on the space frontier. Papers are presented on advancing science; exploring, prospecting, and settling the solar system; space enterprise and building the technology base; and on an economical, phased approach. In addition, consideration is given to the aspects of conducting an effective science program, government policy and the private sector, international cooperation and competition, 21st-century America, and to what the recommended program will do.

Space Exploration↗

Finite-element analysis of end-notch flexure specimens

A finite-element analysis of the end-notch flexure specimen for Mode II interlaminar fracture toughness measurement was conducted. The effects of friction between the crack faces and large deflection on the evaluation of G(IIc) from this specimen were investigated. Results of this study are presented in this paper.

Mall, S.↗

Mathematical model for the Bridgman-Stockbarger crystal growing system

In a major technical breakthrough, a computer model for Bridgman-Stockbarger crystal growth was developed. The model includes melt convection, solute effects, thermal conduction in the ampule, melt, and crystal, and the determination of the curved moving crystal-melt interface. The key to the numerical method is the use of a nonuniform computational mesh which moves with the interface, so that the interface is a mesh surface. In addition, implicit methods are used for advection and diffusion of heat, concentration, and vorticity, for interface movement, and for internal gracity waves. This allows large time-steps without loss of stability or accuracy. Numerical results are presented for the interface shape, temperature distribution, and concentration distribution, in steady-state crystl growth. Solutions are presented for two test cases using water, with two different salts in solution. The two diffusivities differ by a factor of ten, and the concentrations differ by a factor of twenty.

Roberts, G. O.↗

Brightness curve and porosity of cometary nuclei

The brightness curve of a comet is analyzed in terms of porosity and nature of volatiles in its nucleus. Mobility of pores, densification, phase changes, differential thermal expansion and heat flow into and out of the nucleus are discussed leading to a method for estimating the effective heat conductivity and porosity of the nucleus. The method is applied to comets P/Giacobini-Zinner, P/Halley, P/Kopff, P/Encke, P/Tempel 2 and P/d'Arrest.

Smoluchowski, R.↗

A study of a circulation control airfoil with leading/trailing edge blowing

An experimental study of the flow past a two-dimensional circulation control airfoil under steady leading/trailing edge blowing was conducted. The effect of varying jet momentum on the flow field was determined through the use of flow visualization and airfoil force measurements. The flow patterns associated with leading edge blowing, alone and simultaneously with trailing edge blowing, are described and correlated with the lift measurements.

Mclachlan, B. G.↗

Electromagnetic fields backscattered from an s-shaped inlet cavity with an absorber coating on its inner walls

The EM backscatter from a two-dimensional S-shaped inlet cavity is analyzed using three different techniques, namely a hybrid combination of asymptotic high frequency and modal methods, an integral equation method, and the geometrical optics ray method, respectively. This inlet has a thin absorber coating on its perfectly conducting inner walls and the planar interior termination is made perfectly conducting. The effect of the absorber on the inner wall is treated via a perturbation scheme in the hybrid approach where it is assumed that the loss is sufficiently small for the method to be valid. The results are compared with the backscatter from a straight inlet cavity to evaluate the effect of offsetting the termination in the S-bend configuration such that it is not visible from the open end of the inlet. The envelope of the backscatter pattern for the straight inlet is always seen to peak around the forward axis due to the large return from the directly visible termination, and the pattern envelope tapers off away from the forward axis. Offsetting the termination causes the envelope of the backscatter pattern to flatten out, thereby reducing the return near the forward axis by several dB. The absorber coating reduces the pattern level of the straight inlet in directions away from the forward axis but has little effect on the peak near the axis; furthermore, the absorber coating is seen to consistently reduce the backscatter from the S-bend inlet for almost all incidence angles. The hybrid method gives excellent agreement with experimental data and with the integral equation solution, whereas, the geometrical optics ray tracing method is able to generally predict the average of the bachscatter pattern but not the pattern details.

Burkholder, R. J.↗

Rotating disk transition due to isolated roughness with intense acoustic irradiation

The low transition Reynolds numbers associated with boundary-layers which exhibit crossflow instability have made them an important area of study in fluid mechanics. An excellent test bed for the study of this flow is a flat disk rotating in still fluid. An experimental investigation of stability and transition of a rotating disk boundary-layer has been conducted. The effects of isolated roughness elements and acoustic forcing, both alone and in combination, were considered. The flow showed no receptivity to intense monochromatic acoustic forcing except in the presence of sizable roughness. A case was investigated where the growth of the primary instability, seeded by an isolated roughness element, was positively altered in the presence of sound, leading to a downstream movement of transition. In agreement with the work of several investigators, the results of this study suggest that receptivity to long wavelength phenomena, such as traveling sound waves, is contingent upon the presence of strong localized pressure gradients (such as those introduced by roughness) to reduce the length scales of the disturbance to those which are consistent with unstable wavelengths in the flow field.

Waitz, Ian A.↗

Hall-Effect Current Sensors For Integrated Circuits

Built-in devices measure direct or alternating currents. Hall-effect sensors placed near constriction in conductor strip. Differential configuration reduces effects of stray magnetic fields, nonlinearities, and changes in temperature. Preliminary design studies and experiments with macroscopic commercial Hall-effect sensors conducted to assess feasibility, limitations, and need for further research and development of this concept. Potential applications include programmable power supplies and protective circuitry.

Rippel, Wally E.↗

An Experimental Investigation of Helicopter Rotor Hub Fairing Drag Characteristics

A study was done in the NASA 14- by 22-Foot Wind Tunnel at Langley Research Center on the parasite drag of different helicopter rotor hub fairings and pylons. Parametric studies of hub-fairing camber and diameter were conducted. The effect of hub fairing/pylon clearance on hub fairing/pylon mutual interference drag was examined in detail. Force and moment data are presented in tabular and graphical forms. The results indicate that hub fairings with a circular-arc upper surface and a flat lower surface yield maximum hub drag reduction; and clearance between the hub fairing and pylon induces high mutual-interference drag and diminishes the drag-reduction benefit obtained using a hub fairing with a flat lower surface. Test data show that symmetrical hub fairings with circular-arc surfaces generate 74 percent more interference drag than do cambered hub fairings with flat lower surfaces, at moderate negative angle of attack.

Sung, D. Y.↗

Two-dimensional model of a Space Station Freedom thermal energy storage canister

The Solar Dynamic Power Module being developed for Space Station Freedom uses a eutectic mixture of LiF-CaF2 phase change salt contained in toroidal canisters for thermal energy storage. Results are presented from heat transfer analyses of the phase change salt containment canister. A 2-D, axisymmetric finite difference computer program which models the canister walls, salt, void, and heat engine working fluid coolant was developed. Analyses included effects of conduction in canister walls and solid salt, conduction and free convection in liquid salt, conduction and radiation across salt vapor filled void regions and forced convection in the heat engine working fluid. Void shape, location, growth or shrinkage (due to density difference between the solid and liquid salt phases) were prescribed based on engineering judgement. The salt phase change process was modeled using the enthalpy method. Discussion of results focuses on the role of free-convection in the liquid salt on canister heat transfer performance. This role is shown to be important for interpreting the relationship between ground based canister performance (in l-g) and expected on-orbit performance (in micro-g). Attention is also focused on the influence of void heat transfer on canister wall temperature distributions. The large thermal resistance of void regions is shown to accentuate canister hot spots and temperature gradients.

Kerslake, Thomas W.↗

Measuring Electrical Resistivity Of Compacted Powder

Slightly modified micrometer used in conjunction with special cup to measure electrical resistance of specimen of powder as function of packing fraction. Powder pressed between anvils of micrometer, which make electrical contact with specimen. Device used in manufacturing batteries to determine effective electrical conductivities of powders loaded into plastic sheets to make battery substrates. Coupled with good mathematical description of expected conductivity of particulate composite as function of packing density. Also serves as tool for evaluating conductivity of dispersed phase, as well as evaluating electrical resistances of interparticle contacts.

Shlichta, Paul J.↗

A conceptual approach for noncontact calorimetry in space

A concept is developed and described which allows to measure the heat capacity and the effective thermal conductivity of stable and undercooled liquid metals and alloys in an electromagnetic levitation apparatus. A proposal is made to use an ac pulse heating method which is used nowadays as a standard technique for precision measurement of low-temperature heat capacities. The ideal process parameters, including the drop diameter D, temperature T, and frequency of measurement omega, can be optimized when the following relations hold for the external and internal relaxation time constants tau-1 and tau-2, respectively: omega(tau-1) greater than 10 and omega(tau-2) less than 0.1. Then, heat capacity data can be obtained with an accuracy of better than 1 percent with D about 5 to 10 mm, T between 1200 and 1800 K, and omega between 0.1 and 1 Hz for typical metals and alloys.

Fecht, H. J.↗

Two-dimensional model of a Space Station Freedom thermal energy storage canister

The Solar Dynamic Power Module being developed for Space Station Freedom uses a eutectic mixture of LiF-CaF2 phase change salt contained in toroidal canisters for thermal energy storage. Results are presented from heat transfer analyses of the phase-change salt containment canister. A 2-D, axisymmetric finite-difference computer program which models the canister walls, salt, void, and heat engine working fluid coolant was developed. Analyses included effects of conduction in canister walls and solid salt, conduction and free convection in liquid salt, conduction and radiation across salt vapor filled void regions, and forced convection in the heat engine working fluid. Void shape, location, and growth or shrinkage (due to density difference between the solid and liquid salt phases) were prescribed based on engineering judgement. The salt phase change process was modeled using the enthalpy method. Discussion of results focuses on the role of free-convection in the liquid salt on canister heat transfer performance. This role is shown to be important for interpreting the relationship between groundbased canister performance (in 1-g) and expected on-orbit performance (in micro-g). Attention is also focused on the influence of void heat transfer on canister wall temperature distributions. The large thermal resistance of void regions is shown to accentuate canister hot spots and temperature gradients.

Kerslake, Thomas W.↗

Performance analysis of advanced spacecraft TPS

Spacecraft entering a planetary atmosphere require a very sophisticated thermal protection system. The materials used must be tailored to each specific vehicle based on its planned mission profiles. Starting with the Space Shuttle, many types of ceramic insulation with various combinations of thermal properties have been developed by others. The development of two new materials is described: A Composite Flexible Blanket Insulation which has a significantly lower effective thermal conductivity than other ceramic blankets; and a Silicon Matrix Composite which has applications at high temperature locations such as wing leading edges. Also, a systematic study is described that considers the application of these materials for a proposed Personnel Launch System. The study shows how most of these available ceramic materials would perform during atmospheric entry of this vehicle. Other specific applications of these thermal protection materials are discussed.

Pitts, William C.↗

NASA support for commerce in space - Broadening opportunities

The status of the NASA Office of Commercial Program's initiatives to implement the 1988 commercial space policy and expand industrial interest in the commercial development of space in the post-Challenger era is presented. Specific objectives have been developed to capture the drive and creativity of the private sector, for increasing NASA's effectiveness in conducting business with industrial firms, and impacting the commercial space market. An aggressive, comprehensive, and forward-looking program has been defined which provides the type of infrastructure and organization required to bring industry into the mainstream of space activities.

Stone, Barbara A.↗

Effect of crystal orientation on conductivity and electron mobility in single-crystal alumina

The electrical conductivity of high-purity, single-crystal alumina is determined parallel to and perpendicular to the c-axis. The mean conductivity of four samples of each orientation is a factor 3.3 higher parallel to the c-axis than perpendicular to it. The conductivity as a function of temperature is attributed to extrinsic electron conduction at temperatures from 400 to 900 C, and intrinsic semiconduction at temperatures from 900 to 1300 C. In the high-temperature regime, the slope on all eight specimens is 4.7 +/- 0.1 eV. Hence, the thermal bandgap at O K is 9.4 +/- 0.2 eV.

Will, Fritz G.↗