Results for “Layered electron gas” — Page 3

NASA NTRS1989

Critical Evaluation of the Conference on Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics at the University of Notre Dame

As a result of the continued interest in designing efficient low Reynolds number systems, the University of Notre Dame decided to organize a Conference on Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics in June 1989. This Conference followed the 1986 International Conference in London by about three years and the first Conference on Low Reynolds Number Airfoil Aerodynamics at Notre Dame in 1985 by four years. The emphasis of the 1989 Conference was to assess the state-of-the-art in the chord Reynolds number range from about 10,000 to about 700,000. Applications of current interest include high altitude remotely or robotically piloted vehicles, ultra-light, and human powered vehicles as well as mini-RPVs at low altitudes. Other examples include small axial-flow fans used to cool electronic equipment in the unpressurized sections of high-altitude aircraft and gas turbine blades. High Reynolds number airfoil design strategies attempt to control the onset and development of turbulent boundary layers. This is difficult at low Reynolds numbers because of the increased stability of attached laminar boundary layers. Therefore, laminar separation is common even at small angles of attack at low Reynolds numbers. Under these conditions, the development of a turbulent boundary layer usually depends on the formation of a transitional separation bubble. The purpose of this Conference on Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics was to bring together those researchers who have been active in areas closely related to this subject. It is clear from the papers presented that a great deal of progress has been made in understanding the occurrence and behavior of laminar separation and transition as well as their overall effect on the performance of airfoils at low chord Reynolds numbers. This progress has brought us closer to our goal of improving analytical methods for the design and evaluation of a variety of practical applications.

Mueller, Thomas J.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Plasma Science in Planetary Entry

Spacecraft entering a planetary atmosphere dissipate a great deal of energy into the surrounding gas. In the frame of reference of the vehicle, the atmospheric gas suddenly decelerates from hypersonic (Mach ~5-50) to subsonic velocities. The kinetic energy of the gas is rapidly converted to thermal and chemical energy, forming a bow shock behind which a plasma with energies on the order of one electron volt (eV) is produced. The resulting shock layer relaxes from strong thermal non-equilibrium that is translationally hot but internally cold and un-ionized toward a thermochemically equilibrated plasma over a distance of a few centimeters. Composition is dependent upon the planetary atmosphere – Air for Earth, CO2/N2 for Mars and Venus, N2/CH4 for Titan and H2/He/CH4 for Saturn, Neptune and Jupiter. Typical velocities of entry may range from 3-7 km/s (4-25 MJ/kg) for Titan/Mars, 8-14 km/s (30-100 MJ/kg) for Earth/Venus, and 25-40 km/s (300-800 MJ/kg) for outer planets. The equilibrium plasmas produced from these conditions are highly dissociated (up to and above 99%) and ionized (0.1- 15%), with temperatures from 7,000-15,000K and pressures from 0.1-1.0 bar. Understanding the behavior of these plasmas – the way in which they approach equilibrium, how they radiate, and how they interact with materials – is an active area of research necessitated by requirements to predict and test the performance of thermal protection systems (TPS) that enable spacecraft to deliver scientific instruments, and people, to foreign worlds and back to Earth. The endeavor is a multi-physics problem, with key processes highlighted in Fig. 1. This white paper describes the current state of the art in simulating shock layer plasmas both computationally and in ground test facilities. Gaps requiring further research and development are identified.

Cruden, Brett A.↗

NASA NTRS2018

Temperature Mapping Above and Below Air Film-Cooled Thermal Barrier Coatings Using Phosphor Thermometry

Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are typically used in conjunction with air film cooling to maximize overall cooling effectiveness and reliability while minimizing sacrifices in engine performance. The effects of thermal barrier coating (TBC) thermal protection and air film cooling effectiveness have usually been studied separately; however, their contributions to combined cooling effectiveness are interdependent and are not simply additive. The combined cooling effectiveness is always less than the sum of the cooling effectiveness of stand-alone TBC protection and stand-alone air film cooling. These diminishing returns arise because adding the thermally insulating TBC between the cooling air and the surface to be cooled reduces the air film cooling effectiveness and because the air film cooling reduces the heat flux through the TBC and therefore reduces the temperature difference sustained across the TBC thickness. Due to these considerations, combined cooling effectiveness must be measured to achieve an optimum balance between TBC thermal protection and air film cooling. In this investigation, temperature mapping above and below air film-cooled TBCs was performed using luminescence lifetime imaging-based phosphor thermometry. Measurements were performed in the NASA GRC Mach 0.3 burner rig on a TBC-coated plate using a scaled-up cooling hole geometry where both the hot mainstream gas temperature and the blowing ratio were varied. Surface temperature maps were obtained from a Cr-doped GdAlO3 thermographic phosphor deposited on the surface of the electron-beam vapor-deposited yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) TBC. From separate plates, temperature maps from the bottom of the TBC were obtained from a thin Er-doped YSZ layer integrated into the TBC below the overlying undoped YSZ. Procedures for temperature and cooling effectiveness mapping above and below the air film-cooled TBC surface are described. Most importantly, these measurements enable mapping the combined cooling effectiveness below the TBC, which is more important than surface cooling effectiveness when there is a barrier coating between the hot mainstream gas and the surface that needs thermal protection. Advantages of the luminescence lifetime imaging method over infrared thermography, as well as its limitations to steady-state conditions are discussed.

cooling effectiveness.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Improved electron-beam probe for hypersonic flows

Probe uses differentially-pumped drift tube to connect high and low pressure regions thereby allowing higher gas densities to be studied. System uses higher beam voltages (50 kV) and currents (1 mA delivered to gas), and extends boundary layer penetration up to 15.2 cm, and test duration to one hour.

Mcronald, A. D.↗

NASA NTRS1973

Interrelated structures of the transport shock and collisional relaxation layer in a multitemperature, multilevel ionized gas

The gas dynamic structures of the transport shock and the downstream collisional relaxation layer are evaluated for partially ionized monatomic gases. Elastic and inelastic collisional nonequilibrium effects are taken into consideration. In the microscopic model of the atom, three electronic levels are accounted for. By using an asymptotic technique, the shock morphology is found on a continuum flow basis. This procedure gives two distinct layers in which the nonequilibrium effects to be considered are different. A transport shock appears as the inner solution to an outer collisional relaxation layer. The results show four main interesting points: (1) on structuring the transport shock, ionization and excitation rates must be included in the formulation, since the flow is not frozen with respect to the population of the different electronic levels; (2) an electron temperature precursor appears at the beginning of the transport shock; (3) the collisional layer is rationally reduced to quadrature for special initial conditions, which (4) are obtained from new Rankine-Hugoniot relations for the inner shock.

Vinolo, A. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Aluminum oxide barriers in MCrAlY superalloy systems

An investigation was made of sputtered aluminum oxide diffusion barriers to protect gas turbine engine blade and vane alloys from their coatings. MAR M200 + Hf coated with sputtered NiCoCrAlY and MAR M509 coated with sputtered FeCrAlY were obtained both with and without 1 and 2 micron sputtered Al2O3 barrier layers. Electron dispersive X-ray analysis was used to determine the concentration profiles of as-received and heat treated samples.

Kreider, Kenneth G.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Rotational And Rovibrational Energy Transfer In Electron Collisions With Molecules

Air flows around a hypervelocity reentry vehicle undergo dissociation, rovibrational excitation and ionization. More specifically the air, initially 80% N2 and 20% O2, in the shock layer consists of species such as N, O, N2, O2, NO, N+, O+, N+, O+, NO+ and 2 free electrons. It was pointed out in multi temperature models'' that the temperature of the rotational energy modes and the gas-kinetic translational temperature are quickly equilibrated by a few collisions and rise rapidly to high temperatures as 50000K before falling off to equilibrium value of 10000K. Contrary, the electronic and vibrational temperatures state energy distributions remain low (less than 15000K) because of the slow equilibration. Electron vibrational energy transfer is thought to play a crucial role in such a ionizing flow regime since chemical reaction rates and dissociation depend strongly on the vibrational temperatures. Modeling of these flowfields in principle require the rovibrational excitation and de-excitation cross section data for average electron energies from threshold up to several eV (leV=11605.4 K). In this lecture we focus on theoretical description of rotational effects i.e. energy transfer of electrons to molecules such that the molecular rotational (vojo goes to voj) or vibrational and rotational (v(sub 0)j(sub 0) goes to vj) states are changed. Excitation and de-excitation of electronic states was discussed in a previous talk at this conference.

Thuemmel, Helmar T.↗

NASA NTRS1983

The high latitude circulation and temperature structure of the thermosphere near solstice

NCAR thermospheric-general-circulation-model (TGCM) computations of solar-maximum thermospheric neutral-gas temperature and circulation around the December solstice are presented and discussed. The TGCM uses a 5 x 5-deg grid and 24 constant-pressure layers, corresponding to altitudes of about 97-500 km. The results are mapped as electron-density contours, polar plots, cylindrical equidistant projections, meridional cross sections, and F-region polar plots comparing the TGCM predictions with DE-2 satellite observations. The significant differences between summer and winter high-latitude F-region winds are attributed to the ion drag momentum associated with magnetospheric convection. The TGCM wind predictions follow the same pattern as the satellite measurements but are too small; possible model corrections are considered.

Roble, R. G.↗

NASA NTRS2018

One-Dimensional Modeling Methodology for Shock Tubes: Application to the EAST Facility

In this work, a one-dimensional methodology for simulating shock tubes is developed. The model accounts for the viscous interactions of the shock with the shock tube wall by adding an area change source term in the 1-D conservation equations corresponding to the boundary layer growth. This source term corresponds to the mass and energy going into the boundary layer. The boundary layer growth is computed using a simple model with a scaling factor. This scale factor is used to tailor a solution to match the deceleration profile of a shock tube test. In doing so, not only will the source term take into account boundary layer losses, it will also cover any effect due to radiative cooling loses from the gas. For this study, the Electric Arc Shock Tube(EAST) facility at NASA Ames Research Center is modeled for Earth reentry conditions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if anomalies identified for certain conditions in the EAST data are due to shock deceleration. These anomalies include measuring electron number density above equilibrium predictions and observing that radiance profiles can continually increase behind the shock, never reach steady state, for certain shots (typically those less than 10 km/s). An eleven species air mixture is chosen to study the chemistry of the flow. Comparisons of the simulations to the experimental results are presented. Good agreement with the shock deceleration profiles was achieved by tuning in the boundary layer scale factor. The temperature as well as electron number density increases behind the shock, as has also been observed in the experiments. Finally, radiance comparisons between results from NEQAIR and experiments also show good agreement for some shots, but significant discrepancies are still observed for others.

Sharma, Maitreyee↗

NASA NTRS2018

One-Dimensional Modeling Methodology for Shock Tubes: Application to the EAST Facility

In this work, a one-dimensional methodology for simulating shock tubes is developed. The model accounts for the viscous interactions of the shock with the shock tube wall by adding an area change source term in the 1-D conservation equations corresponding to the boundary layer growth. This source term corresponds to the mass and energy going into the boundary layer. The boundary layer growth is computed using a simple model with a scaling factor. This scale factor is used to tailor a solution to match the deceleration profile of a shock tube test. In doing so, not only will the source term take into account boundary layer losses, it will also cover any effect due to radiative cooling loses from the gas. For this study, the Electric Arc Shock Tube(EAST) facility at NASA Ames Research Center is modeled for Earth reentry conditions. The purpose of this paper is to investigate if anomalies identified for certain conditions in the EAST data are due to shock deceleration. These anomalies include measuring electron number density above equilibrium predictions and observing that radiance profiles can continually increase behind the shock, never reach steady state, for certain shots (typically those less than 10 km/s). An eleven species air mixture is chosen to study the chemistry of the flow. Comparisons of the simulations to the experimental results are presented. Good agreement with the shock deceleration profiles was achieved by tuning in the boundary layer scale factor. The temperature as well as electron number density increases behind the shock, as has also been observed in the experiments. Finally, radiance comparisons between results from NEQAIR and experiments also show good agreement for some shots, but significant discrepancies are still observed for others.

Sharma, Maitreyee↗

NASA NTRS1993

Room-Temperature Determination of Two-Dimensional Electron Gas Concentration and Mobility in Heterostructures

A technique for determination of room-temperature two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) concentration and mobility in heterostructures is presented. Using simultaneous fits of the longitudinal and transverse voltages as a function of applied magnetic field, we were able to separate the parameters associated with the 2DEG from those of the parallel layer. Comparison with the Shubnikov-de Haas data derived from measurements at liquid helium temperatures proves that the analysis of the room-temperature data provides an excellent estimate of the 2DEG concentration. In addition we were able to obtain for the first time the room-temperature mobility of the 2DEG, an important parameter to device application. Both results are significantly different from those derived from conventional Hall analysis.

Schacham, S. E.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Concentration distribution of methyl chloride in the atmosphere

Electron capture gas chromatography techniques were used to obtain measurements of methyl chloride concentrations in the atmosphere, at latitudes ranging from about 65 N to 90 S. Most of the measurements were made over the Pacific Ocean. Average global concentrations within the boundary layer were found to be 815 plus or minus 25 pptv in 1977 and 755 plus or minus 37 pptv in 1978. Lower concentrations were observed above the boundary layer with average values of 629 plus or minus 23 pptv and 618 plus or minus 23 pptv in 1977 and 1978, respectively. Within 20 deg of the equator, the boundary layer concentrations were significantly higher than those above the boundary layer. The sources, the sinks, the budgets, and the latitudinal distributions of methyl chloride are discussed in the paper.

Rasmussen, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS2007

Bismuth Propellant Feed System Development at NASA-MSFC

NASA-MSFC has been developing liquid metal propellant feed systems capable of delivering molten bismuth at a prescribed mass flow rate to the vaporizer of an electric thruster. The first such system was delivered to NASA-JPL as part of the Very High Isp Thruster with Anode Layer (VHITAL) program. In this system, the components pictured were placed in a vacuum chamber and heated while the control electronics were located outside the chamber. The system was successfully operated at JPL in conjunction with a propellant vaporizer, and data was obtained demonstrating a new liquid bismuth flow sensing technique developed at MSFC. The present effort is aimed at producing a feed-system for use in conjunction with a bismuth-fed Hall thruster developed by Busek Co. Developing this system is more ambitious, however, in that it is designed to self-contain all the control electronics inside the same vacuum chamber as an operating bismuth-fed thruster. Consequently, the entire system, including an on-board computer, DC-output power supplies, and a gas-pressurization electro-pneumatic regulator, must be designed to survive a vacuum environment and shielded to keep bismuth plasma from intruding on the electronics and causing a shortcircuit. In addition, the hot portions of the feed system must be thermally isolated from the electronics to avoid failure due to high heat loads. This is accomplished using a thermal protection system (TPS) consisting of multiple layers of aluminum foil. The only penetrations into the vacuum chamber are an electrically isolated (floating) 48 VDC line and a fiberoptic line. The 48 VDC provides power for operation of the power supplies and electronics co-located with the system in the vacuum chamber. The fiberoptic Ethernet connection is used to communicate user-input control commands to the on-board computer and transmit real-time data back to the external computer. The partially assembled second-generation system is shown. Before testing at Busek, a more detailed flow sensor calibration will be performed to accurately quantify the flow monitoring capabilities. This effort is funded under a Technology Innovation Program (TIP) award from NASA-MSFC's Technology Transfer office and performed under SAA8-061060.

Polzin, Kurt A.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Plastic deformation at surface during unlubricated sliding

The plastic deformation and wear of 304 stainless-steel surface slid against an aluminum oxide rider were observed by using a scanning electron microscope and an optical microscope. Experiments were conducted in a vacuum of 0.000001 Pa and in an environment of 0.0005 Pa chlorine gas at 25 C. The load was 500 grams and the sliding velocity was 0.5 centimeter per second. The deformed surface layer which accumulates and develops successively is left behind the rider, and step-shaped protuberances are developed even after single pass sliding under both environmental conditions. A fully developed surface layer is gradually torn off leaving a characteristic pattern. These observations result from both adhesion and an adhesive wear mechanism.

Yamamoto, T.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Thermal and sputtered aluminum oxide coatings for high temperature electrical insulation

Aluminum oxide coatings have been investigated as electrically insulating layers for mounting thin film Pt-Pt/Rh thermocouples on gas turbine blade and vane alloys (MAR M200 + Hf and MAR M509). Thermal oxides were grown directly onto NiCoCrAlY and FeCrAlY coatings on these alloys at temperature between 1300 and 1400 K in oxygen partial pressures 10 to the -7th to 2 x 10 to the 4th Pa. Although these thermal oxides exhibited good adherence, analytical characterizations using electron and optical microscopy, as well as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that they had defects and impurities which limited their insulating ability. The insulating quality of the coating was greatly improved however by reactively sputtering an aluminum oxide film over the thermal oxide. Results are presented on the electrical performance of the 2-5 micron thick composite layers for temperatures up to 1300 K.

Kreider, K. G.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Plastic deformation and wear process at a surface during unlubricated sliding

The plastic deformation and wear of a 304 stainless steel surface sliding against an aluminum oxide rider with a spherical surface (the radius of curvature: 1.3 cm) were observed by using scanning electron and optical microscopes. Experiments were conducted in a vacuum of one million Pa and in an environment of fifty thousandth Pa of chlorine gas at 25 C. The load was 500 grams and the sliding velocity was 0.5 centimeter per second. The deformed surface layer which accumulates and develops successively is left behind the rider, and step shaped proturbances are developed even after single pass sliding under both environmental conditions. A fully developed surface layer is gradually torn off leaving a characteristic pattern. The mechanism for tearing away of the surface layer from the contact area and sliding track contour is explained assuming the simplified process of material removal based on the adhesion theory for the wear of materials.

Yamamoto, T.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Plastic deformation and wear process at a surface during unlubricated sliding

The plastic deformation and wear of a 304 stainless steel surface sliding against an aluminum oxide rider with a spherical surface (the radius of curvature: 1.3 cm) were observed by using scanning electron and optical microscopes. Experiments were conducted in a vacuum of one million Pa and in an environment of fifty thousandth Pa of chlorine gas at 25 C. The load was 500 grams and the sliding velocity was 0.5 centimeter per second. The deformed surface layer which accumulates and develops successively is left behind the rider, and step shaped proturbances are developed even after single pass sliding under both environmental conditions. A fully developed surface layer is gradually torn off leaving a characteristic pattern. The mechanism for tearing away of the surface layer from the contact area and sliding track contour is explained assuming the simplified process of material removal based on the adhesion theory for the wear of materials. Previously announced in STAR as N82-32735

Yamamoto, T.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Basic governing equations for the flight regimes of aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles

The basic governing equations for the low-density, high-enthalpy flow regimes expected in the shock layers over the heat shields of the proposed aeroassisted orbital transfer vehicles are derived by combining and extending existing theories. The conservation equations are derived from gas kinetic principles for a four-component ionized gas consisting of neutral molecules, neutral atoms, singly ionized ions, and electrons, assuming a continuum flow. The differences among translational-rotational, vibrational, and electron temperatures are accounted for, as well as chemical nonequilibrium and electric-charge separation. Expressions for convective and viscous fluxes, transport properties, and the terms representing interactions among various energy modes are given explicitly. The expressions for the rate of electron-vibration energy transfer, which violates the Landau-Teller conditions, is derived by solving the system of master equations accounting for the multiple-level transitions.

Lee, J.-H.↗