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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 55 records · Page 3

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NASA NTRS1993

Flight testing of a fiber optic temperature sensor

A fiber optic temperature sensor (FOTS) system consisting of an optical probe, a flexible fiber optic cable, and an electro-optic signal processor was fabricated to measure the gas temperature in a turbine engine. The optical probe contained an emissive source embedded in a sapphire lightguide coupled to a fiber-optic jumper cable and was retrofitted into an existing thermocouple probe housing. The flexible fiber optic cable was constructed with 200 micron core, polyimide-coated fiber and was ruggedized for an aircraft environment. The electro-optic signal processing unit was used to ratio the intensities of two wavelength intervals and provided an analog output value of the indicated temperature. Subsequently, this optical sensor system was installed on a NASA Dryden F-15 Highly Integrated Digital Electronic Control (HIDEC) Aircraft Engine and several flight tests were conducted. Over the course of flight testing, the FOTS system's response was proportional to the average of the existing thermocouples sensing the changes in turbine engine thermal conditions.

Finney, M. J.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Flexible multi-filament high temperature superconducting cable

A multi-filament high temperature superconducting cable having improved AC current carrying capacity, quench resistance and flexibility. The multi-filament cable is formed from a plurality of stacked exfoliated filaments which provide current sharing between adjacent superconducting layers.

Solovyov, Vyacheslav↗

NASA NTRS1972

FCC in Viking articulated boom

The application requirements and manufacturing techniques for the flat conductor cable used in the Viking Lander Articulated Boom Unit are described. The Viking Boom is a 3-axis device utilized to position a soil sampler and provide digging forces. This application imposed severe restrictions on size, weight, materials, and choice of manufacturing processes. The final cable assembly design resulted in a combination of collated cable and flexible circuits assembled by resistance welding techniques.

Hawkins, E. S.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Selected developments in laser wire stripping

The operation of mechanical and thermal strippers and the early development of laser wire strippers are reviewed. NASA sponsored development of laser wire stripping for space shuttle includes bench-type strippers as well as an advanced portable hand-held stripper which incorporates a miniaturized carbon dioxide laser and a rotating optics unit with a gas-jet assist and debris exhaust. Drives and controls girdle the wire and slit the remaining slug without manual assistance. This unit can strip wire sizes 26 through 12 gage. A larger-capacity hand-held unit for wire sizes through 1/0 gage was built using a neodynium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser. The hand-held units have a flexible umbilical cable to an accompanying cart that carries the power supply, gas supply, cooling unit, and the controls.

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NASA NTRS1994

NEMA wire and cable standards development programs

The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) is the nation's largest trade association for manufacturers of electrical equipment. Its member companies produce components, end-use equipment and systems for the generation, transmission, distribution, control and use of electricity. The wire and cable division is presented in 6 sections: building wire and cable, fabricated conductors, flexible cords, high performance wire and cable, magnet wire, and power and control cable. Participating companies are listed.

Baird, Robert W.↗

NASA NTRS1992

High temperature solder device for flat cables

A high temperature solder device for flat cables includes a microwelder, an anvil which acts as a heat sink and supports a flexible flat ribbon cable that is to be connected to a multiple pin connector. The microwelder is made from a modified commercially available resistance welding machine such as the Split Tip Electrode microwelder by Weltek, which consists of two separate electrode halves with a removable dielectric spacer in between. The microwelder is not used to weld the items together, but to provide a controlled compressive force on, and energy pulse to, a solder preform placed between a pin of the connector and a conductor of the flexible flat ribbon cable. When the microwelder is operated, an electric pulse will flow down one electrode, through the solder preform and back up the other electrode. This pulse of electrical energy will cause the solder preform to heat up and melt, joining the pin and conductor.

Haehner, Carl L.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Design of ground test suspension systems for verification of flexible space structures

A simple model demonstrates the frequency-increasing effects of a simple cable suspension on flexible test article/suspension systems. Two passive suspension designs, namely a negative spring mechanism and a rolling cart mechanism, are presented to alleviate the undesirable frequency-increasing effects. Analysis methods are provided for systems in which the augmentations are applied to both discrete and continuous representations of test articles. The damping analyses are based on friction equivalent viscous damping. Numerical examples are given for comparing the two augmentations with respect to minimizing frequency and damping increases.

Cooley, V. M.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Compliant Joints For Robots

Compliant joints devised to accommodate misalignments of tools and/or workpieces with respect to robotic manipulators. Has characteristics and appearance of both universal-joint and cable-spring-type flexible shaft coupling. Compliance derived from elastic properties of short pieces of cable. Compliance of joint determined by lengths, distances between, relative orientations, thickness of strands, number of strands, material, amount of pretwist, and number of short pieces of cable. Worm-drive mechanism used to adjust lengths to vary compliance as needed during operation.

Kerley, James J., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1980

A versatile tunnel acts as a flexible duct

Tunnel activated by cable assembly can be expanded, contracted, and bent similar to flexible duct without uncoupling at either end. Tunnel was developed to join reusable space vehicle with cargo module and could be modified to be used as hydraulic or pneumatic hose or duct connecting complex moveable joints in remote manipulators and earth moving machinery.

Brown, N. D.↗

NASA NTRS1983

A polytetrafluorethylene insulated cable for high temperature oxygen aerospace applications

For electrical cables to function and survive in the severe high temperature oxygen environment that will be experienced in the external tanks of the space shuttle, extreme cleanliness and material purity is required. A flexible light weight cable has been developed for use in pure oxygen at worst case temperatures of -190 to +260 degrees Centigrade and pressures as high as 44 pounds per square inch absolute. A comprehensive series of tests were performed on cables manufactured to the best commercial practices in order to establish the basic guidelines for control of build configuration as well as each material used in construction of the cable.

Sheppard, A. T.↗

NASA NTRS2002

Heat Transfer Study for HTS Power Transfer Cables

Thermal losses are a key factor in the successful application of high temperature superconducting (HTS) power cables. Existing concepts and prototypes rely on the use of multilayer insulation (MLI) systems that are subject to large variations in actual performance. The small space available for the thermal insulation materials makes the application even more difficult because of bending considerations, mechanical loading, and the arrangement between the inner and outer piping. Each of these mechanical variables affects the heat leak rate. These factors of bending and spacing are examined in this study. Furthermore, a maintenance-free insulation system (high vacuum level for 20 years or longer) is a practical requirement. A thermal insulation system simulating a section of a flexible FITS power cable was constructed for test and evaluation on a research cryostat. This paper gives experimental data for the comparison of ideal MLI, MLI on rigid piping, and MLI between flexible piping. A section of insulated flexible piping was tested under cryogenic vacuum conditions including simulated bending and spacers.

Augustynowicz, S.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Proposal for superconducting quantum networks using multioctave transduction to lower frequencies

We propose networking superconducting quantum circuits by transducing their excitations (typically 4–8 GHz) to 200–500 MHz photons for transmission via superconducting cryogenic coaxial cables. This frequency down-conversion reduces transmission losses and, counterintuitively, reduces noise. We introduce a multioctave asymmetrically threaded superconducting quantum interference device circuit capable of the required efficient, high-rate transduction. For a 100-meter cable with 𝑄 𝑖 = 10 5 at 10 mK, we theoretically show that our approach achieves single-photon fidelities of 0.962 at 200 MHz versus 0.772 at 8 GHz, and triples the lower bound on quantum channel capacity. In conclusion, this method enables highly efficient networking of superconducting qubits while maintaining high fidelities, combining improved performance with the practical advantages of flexible, compact coaxial cables.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

NASA NTRS1973

Multilayer flat electrical cable

Flat electrical cable is lightweight, flexible over wide temperature range, withstands continuous exposure to high levels of nuclear radiation, and can carry high currents with minimum of temperature rise. Its magnetic cleanliness is equal to or better than twisted pair of wires, and it can be terminated in conventional electrical connector.

Silverman, P. G.↗

NASA NTRS1972

CJ concept for advanced aircraft wiring

The techniques and hardware are described which were developed for facilitating the use of flexible flat conductor cable (FFCC) in commercial air transports. The system was designed as an evolutionary transition from the current round wire harnessing to the use of FFCC harnesses. The equipment discussed includes the pressure crimp barrel designed for terminating FFCC, reel-fed applicator, cable connectors and adaptors, and equipment racks.

Redslob, J.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Low volume packaging for a microinstrumentation system

A folding, multi-platform assembly has been developed for the packaging of a multi-chip microinstrumentation system. The assembly includes three solid platforms connected by flexible micromachined ribbon cables and it can be populated by sensors and electronics from a variety of technologies including surface mount and integrated circuit (IC) processes. The entire structure is fabricated from a four-inch silicon wafer using a simple four mask process and a post-process EDP etch. The micromachined ribbon cables allow the platform assembly to be folded into a three level structure with control electronics on the bottom level, microsensors and interface electronics on the second level, and sensors that need environmental access on the top level. Using the silicon multi-platform assembly, a prototype microinstrumentation system has been developed that includes a microcontroller unit and sensors for measuring temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, altitude, and acceleration as well as a telemetry device for wireless communication. When folded in the three level structure, this microsystem occupies only 5 cc and can be placed in an outer case the size of a wristwatch.

Mason, A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

High Efficiency Plastic Scintillator Detector with Wave-Length Shifting Fiber Readout for the GLAST Large Area Telescope

This paper describes the design and performance studies of the scintillator tile detectors for the Anti-Coincidence Detector (ACD) of the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Gamma ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST), scheduled for launch in early 2008. The scintillator tile detectors utilize wavelength shifting fibers and have dual photomultiplier tube (PMT) readout. The design requires highly efficient and uniform detection of singly charged relativistic particles over the tile area and must meet all requirements for a launch, as well as operation in a space environment. We present here the design of three basic types of tiles used in the ACD, ranging in size from approx.450 sq cm to approx.2500 sq cm, all 1 cm thick, with different shapes, and with photoelectron yield of approx. 20 photoelectrons per minimum ionizing particle (mip) at normal tile incidence, uniform over the tile area. Some tiles require flexible clear fiber cables up to 1.5 m long to deliver scintillator light to remotely located PMT.

Moiseev, A. A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Infrared Imaging System for Studying Brain Function

A proposed special-purpose infrared imaging system would be a compact, portable, less-expensive alternative to functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) systems heretofore used to study brain function. Whereas a typical fMRI system fills a large room, and must be magnetically isolated, this system would fit into a bicycle helmet. The system would include an assembly that would be mounted inside the padding in a modified bicycle helmet or other suitable headgear. The assembly would include newly designed infrared photodetectors and data-acquisition circuits on integrated-circuit chips on low-thermal-conductivity supports in evacuated housings (see figure) arranged in multiple rows and columns that would define image coordinates. Each housing would be spring-loaded against the wearer s head. The chips would be cooled by a small Stirling Engine mounted contiguous to, but thermally isolated from, the portions of the assembly in thermal contact with the wearer s head. Flexible wires or cables for transmitting data from the aforementioned chips would be routed to an integrated, multichannel transmitter and thence through the top of the assembly to a patch antenna on the outside of the helmet. The multiple streams of data from the infrared-detector chips would be sent to a remote site, where they would be processed, by software, into a three-dimensional display of evoked potentials that would represent firing neuronal bundles and thereby indicate locations of neuronal activity associated with mental or physical activity. The 3D images will be analogous to current fMRI images. The data would also be made available, in real-time, for comparison with data in local or internationally accessible relational databases that already exist in universities and research centers. Hence, this system could be used in research on, and for the diagnosis of response from the wearer s brain to physiological, psychological, and environmental changes in real time. The images would also be stored in a relational database for comparison with corresponding responses previously observed in other subjects.

Mintz, Frederick↗

NASA NTRS1971

Data sampling system for monitor and control station

System design is based on development of standardized, interchangeable modules that minimize power dissipation, interconnecting cables and size. Maximum flexibility is achieved by using building block approach where all data modules are identical and are connected at any remote location and addressed in random fashion from central unit.

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