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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2019

Multidisciplinary Optimization of a Turboelectric Tiltwing Urban Air Mobility Aircraft

Urban air taxis, also known as urban air mobility (UAM) vehicles, are anticipated to be an area of significant market growth in the near future. These vehicles are typically vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) designs which are capable of carrying 1 to 30 passengers in an intra-urban environment with flights of less than 50 nautical miles. Development of UAM vehicles and their integration into the airspace will be enabled by advancements in a number of areas including electrified propulsion systems, structures, acoustics, automation, and controls. However, the strong multidisciplinary interactions for these unique vehicles presents a significant new design challenge. This work describes the development of a multidisciplinary analysis and optimization environment which can be used to support the conceptual design of these UAM vehicles, using efficient gradient based optimization with analytic derivatives. The tools included in this multidisciplinary analysis model the aircraft trajectory, vehicle aerodynamics, structures, and electrified propulsion system. The multidisciplinary environment created in this research is unique in that all the physics tools are tightly integrated together, with the trajectory model directly calling the aerodynamics, structures, and propulsion models. This multidisciplinary analysis environment is then demonstrated in the design optimization of a turboelectric tiltwing UAM vehicle concept.

Hendricks, Eric S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Towards Gradient-Based Proprotor Design with VSPAERO

Gradient-based optimization techniques are an attractive approach to solving multidisciplinary design problems. In this work, the status of gradient-based proprotor optimizations with the VSPAERO code are described.

Multidisciplinary optimization↗
NASA NTRS1997

National Combustion Code: A Multidisciplinary Combustor Design System

The Internal Fluid Mechanics Division conducts both basic research and technology, and system technology research for aerospace propulsion systems components. The research within the division, which is both computational and experimental, is aimed at improving fundamental understanding of flow physics in inlets, ducts, nozzles, turbomachinery, and combustors. This article and the following three articles highlight some of the work accomplished in 1996. A multidisciplinary combustor design system is critical for optimizing the combustor design process. Such a system should include sophisticated computer-aided design (CAD) tools for geometry creation, advanced mesh generators for creating solid model representations, a common framework for fluid flow and structural analyses, modern postprocessing tools, and parallel processing. The goal of the present effort is to develop some of the enabling technologies and to demonstrate their overall performance in an integrated system called the National Combustion Code.

Stubbs, Robert M.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Variable-Complexity Multidisciplinary Optimization on Parallel Computers

This report covers work conducted under grant NAG1-1562 for the NASA High Performance Computing and Communications Program (HPCCP) from December 7, 1993, to December 31, 1997. The objective of the research was to develop new multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) techniques which exploit parallel computing to reduce the computational burden of aircraft MDO. The design of the High-Speed Civil Transport (HSCT) air-craft was selected as a test case to demonstrate the utility of our MDO methods. The three major tasks of this research grant included: development of parallel multipoint approximation methods for the aerodynamic design of the HSCT, use of parallel multipoint approximation methods for structural optimization of the HSCT, mathematical and algorithmic development including support in the integration of parallel computation for items (1) and (2). These tasks have been accomplished with the development of a response surface methodology that incorporates multi-fidelity models. For the aerodynamic design we were able to optimize with up to 20 design variables using hundreds of expensive Euler analyses together with thousands of inexpensive linear theory simulations. We have thereby demonstrated the application of CFD to a large aerodynamic design problem. For the predicting structural weight we were able to combine hundreds of structural optimizations of refined finite element models with thousands of optimizations based on coarse models. Computations have been carried out on the Intel Paragon with up to 128 nodes. The parallel computation allowed us to perform combined aerodynamic-structural optimization using state of the art models of a complex aircraft configurations.

Grossman, Bernard↗
DOE OSTI2025

Challenges in spatial metabolomics and proteomics for functional tissue unit and single-cell resolution

While transcriptomics is the most broadly applied technology for global spatial and single cell measurements in healthy and diseased tissues. Transcripts are often used as a proxy for protein and even metabolite measurements, but it has become commonly accepted that extrapolating this kind of information is a poor proxy and not a substitute for direct measurement. Within the last decade advanced developments of mass spectrometry-based assays have made these direct measurements not only possible, but routine. Where mass spectrometry has become an enabling technology, and various methods can now detect hundreds of metabolites and thousands of proteins from samples. Not only can this be performed within bulk measurements, but much effort has been directed into translating these measurements to single cells and tissues at cellular resolution. The information obtained from mass spectrometry is now able to trace metabolic events and decipher feedback loops across anatomical regions, connecting genetic and metabolic networks that define phenotypes. Herein, we will broadly overview developments in the field over the past decade, leading into several case studies which highlight the direct measurement of metabolites, proteins, and proteoforms from thinly sliced tissues. Much of this work is feasible due to multidisciplinary team science, and we offer brief perspective on paths forward and the challenges that persist with adoption and application of spatial omics.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2002

Overview of Active Flow Control Actuator Development at NASA Langley Research Center

The paper provides an overview of the actuator development work that is currently underway at NASA Langley Research Center in the context of some of the Active Flow Control research being conducted at NASA Langley. The actuator development effort has provided a focused, centralized location for this work within NASA Langley. The multidisciplinary team approach utilized in this effort has allowed input from multiple disciplines on how various actuator challenges can be addressed and has lead to some unique approaches in actuation.

Schaeffler, Norman W.↗
NASA NTRS1985

An innovative, multidisciplinary educational program in interactive information storage and retrieval. Presentation visuals

This Working Paper Series entry represents a collection of presentation visuals associated with the companion report entitled An Innovative, Multidisciplinary Educational Program in Interactive Information Storage and Retrieval, USL/DBMS NASA/RECON Working Paper Series report number DBMS.NASA/RECON-12. The project objectives are to develop a set of transportable, hands-on, data base management courses for science and engineering students to facilitate their utilization of information storage and retrieval programs.

Dominick, Wayne D.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Lessons Learned from Applying Design Thinking in a NASA Rapid Design Study in Aeronautics

In late 2015, NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) funded an experiment in rapid design and rapid teaming to explore new approaches to solving challenging design problems in aeronautics in an effort to cultivate and foster innovation. This report summarizes several lessons learned from the rapid design portion of the study. This effort entailed learning and applying design thinking, a human-centered design approach, to complete the conceptual design for an open-ended design challenge within six months. The design challenge focused on creating a capability to advance experimental testing of autonomous aeronautics systems, an area of great interest to NASA, the US government as a whole, and an entire ecosystem of users and developers around the globe. A team of nine civil servant researchers from three of NASA's aeronautics field centers with backgrounds in several disciplines was assembled and rapidly trained in design thinking under the guidance of the innovation and design firm IDEO. The design thinking process, while used extensively outside the aerospace industry, is less common and even counter to many practices within the aerospace industry. In this report, several contrasts between common aerospace research and development practices and design thinking are discussed, drawing upon the lessons learned from the NASA rapid design study. The lessons discussed included working towards a design solution without a set of detailed design requirements, which may not be practical or even feasible for management to ascertain for complex, challenging problems. This approach allowed for the possibility of redesigning the original problem statement to better meet the needs of the users. Another lesson learned was to approach problems holistically from the perspective of the needs of individuals that may be affected by advances in topic area instead of purely from a technological feasibility viewpoint. The interdisciplinary nature of the design team also provided valuable experience by allowing team members from different technological backgrounds to work side-by-side instead of dividing into smaller teams, as is frequently done in traditional multidisciplinary design. The team also learned how to work with qualitative data obtained primarily through the 70-plus interviews that were conducted over the course of this project, which was a sharp contrast to using quantitative data with regards to identifying, capturing, analyzing, storing, and recalling the data. When identifying potential interviewees who may have useful contributions to the design subject area, the team found great value in talking to non-traditional users and potential beneficiaries of autonomous aeronautics systems whose impact on the aeronautics autonomy ecosystem is growing swiftly. Finally, the team benefitted from using "sacrificial prototyping," which is a method of rapidly prototyping draft concepts and ideas with the intent of enabling potential users to provide significant feedback early in the design process. This contrasts the more common approach of using expensive prototypes that focus on demonstrating technical feasibility. The unique design approach and lessons learned by the team throughout this process culminated in a final design concept that was quite different than what the team originally assumed would be the design concept initially. A summary of the more usercentered final design concept is also provided.

McGowan, Anna-Maria↗
NASA NTRS2006

Fabrication Materials for a Closed Cycle Brayton Turbine Wheel

A multidisciplinary analysis of a radial inflow turbine rotor is presented. This work couples high-fidelity fluid, structural, and thermal simulations in a seamless multidisciplinary analysis to investigate the consequences of material selection. This analysis extends multidisciplinary techniques previously demonstrated on rocket turbopumps and hypersonic engines. Since no design information is available for the anticipated Brayton rotating machinery, an existing rotor design (the Brayton Rotating Unit (BRU)) was used in the analysis. Steady state analysis results of a notional turbine rotor indicate that stress levels are easily manageable at the turbine inlet temperature, and stress levels anticipated using either superalloys or ceramics.

Khandelwal, Suresh↗
DOE OSTI2018

Developing Novel Multifunctional Materials for High-Efficiency Electrical Energy Storage

This is the final report for the program “Developing Novel Multifunctional Materials for High-efficiency Electrical Energy Storage”, funded by The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), and performed by University of Tennessee, from September 01, 2013 to August 31, 2018. Securing a sustainable energy economy by developing affordable and clean energy from renewable energy is a central element to the mission of DOE/NETL. To further this mission, NETL funds research and development of novel multifunctional materials that can be used for high-efficiency electrical energy storage. The main objective of this research program is to conduct fundamental and applied research that lead to successful development and demonstration of novel multifunctional materials, which can improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of hydrogen production with water electrolysis. The specific objectives of this research program include: 1) Design, fabrication and demonstration of thin/well-tunable liquid/gas diffusion layer (TT-LGDLs) with different pore morphologies, including pore sizes and pore porosities. 2) Development of comprehensive computational models of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer cell (PEMECs) for the investigation of influence of different operating conditions and physical design parameters on its performance. 3) Surface modification of TT-LGDLs for better catalyst access and product/reactant removal, and smaller interfacial contact resistance (ICR). To achieve the above challenging goals, a multidisciplinary research team was formed to work on fundamental and applied research on the following three major technical areas: 1) Design, fabrication and demonstration of thin/well-tunable LGDLs (TT-LGDLs) by using photolithography and wet etching of thin titanium (Ti) foils. During the project period, the team has successfully fabricated TT-LGDLs with different pore morphologies, including pore sizes and pore porosities. The manufacturing steps mainly include cleaning thin Ti foil, supporting the foils, applying photoresist, patterning the photoresist with designed mask, exposing and developing, etching, removing photoresist, and lift-off and cleaning. The manufactured TT-LGDLs were characterized with optical microscopies and scanning electron microscopies. Their pore morphologies, including pore size and porosity, were derived based on advanced image process. The feasibility for scale-up manufacturing has been demonstrated. The TT-LGDLs have been successfully investigated for water splitting in PEMECs, which showing better performance than their counterparts fabricated with the traditional fiber-based materials. 2) Comprehensive computational modeling of a PEMEC. A comprehensive computational model has been successfully developed, and the influence of different operating conditions and physical design parameters on its performance has been investigated, including operating temperature, pressure, exchange current density, electrode thickness, membrane thickness, and interfacial resistance. Results obtained from the present model provide a comprehensive understanding of design parameter effects and consequently improve the design/performance in a PEMEC. 3) Surface modification of TT-LGDLs. The proposed surface modifications of TT-LGDLs by sputter coating and/ electroplating have been successfully demonstrated. It has been found that the performance of PEMECs can be improved by both methods, and the thickness of the electroplated gold thin layer has limited effects on the performance. With the help of the surface modifications, the PEMECs achieved the best ever performance compared with the public literatures. In addition to completion of the proposed method, microporous layers (MPLs) with both irregular micro and sphere nano titanium particles on novel TT-LGDLs was developed for the first time. The MPLs were fabricated by a low-temperature air spraying method, which provide a better catalyst access and product/reactant removal. In summary, under the close collaborations among the research team, all the tasks have been completed and the proposed research objectives have been fulfilled. All the technical milestones have been achieved and the project has been completed successfully. The technical breakthroughs obtained under this project provide novel LGDLs with well-tunable pore morphologies that can significantly improve the performance of water splitting and energy storage. This development can be directly used in existing and next generation energy storage and fuel systems.

08 HYDROGEN↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Human Capabilities Assessments for Autonomous Missions: A Multi-Team Research Effort to Reduce Risk in the Human-System Integration Architecture for Future Deep-Space Missions

In future exploration missions beyond low earth-orbit, crew will have to execute complex operations and respond to off-nominal events, without real-time support from Mission Control. It is anticipated that increased reliance on automated systems, including human-centric vehicle and information architecture, will need to be designed to support the crew; increased risk to performance, health, and safety may occur if these are not implemented appropriately. The Human Factors and Behavioral Performance Element (HFBP) in the NASA Human Research Program supports research to characterize and mitigate such human health and performance risks, including the Risk of Adverse Outcome Due to Inadequate Human Systems Integration Architecture (HSIA). The HSIA risk addresses the integration of onboard capability and the crew roles and responsibilities necessary to enable the crew to respond effectively and efficiently in the increasingly autonomous mission operations environment. In 2017, HFBP released the “Human Capabilities Assessments for Autonomous Missions” (HCAAM) research topic to address HSIA related questions. HCAAM is a major NASA research effort that has assembled a multidisciplinary team from seven institutions to work closely with design and engineering efforts on research towards developing and refining human performance standards, guidelines and automation tools. The scientific focus is on quantitative assessment of human capabilities relevant to future deep-space missions during which earth/spacecraft communication is so delayed and intermittent that the crew must be able to function autonomously. The integrated strategy of the HCAAM project characterizes human capabilities and limitations related to potential performance decrements during long duration exploration mission spaceflight as relevant to both routine and complex task performance; defines system characteristics that reduce the likelihood or impact of potential decrements in human performance capabilities; performs integrated assessment of intelligent system responses within the context of an operational environment with relevant NASA tools, systems, and data structures in order to determine positive or negative interactions and validate recommended approaches; and proposes specific updates to existing standards and guidelines for inclusion in NASA handbooks for the design of future spacecraft intelligent systems that provide crew performance assessment/feedback, and to also serve as decision-support aids for the onboard crew (i.e., NASA-STD-3001, and NASA/SP-Human Integration Design Handbook (HIDH)). The scientific research vectors being addressed by the seven HCAAM teams include: - crew task performance (accuracy, efficiency) (crew + automation) - crew performance (accuracy, efficiency) - crew Situation Awareness - procedure design and multi-modal enhancement - concurrent tasking (mixed manual + some level of autonomy) - task handover - crew self-planning and time-lining - task design - trust in automation, real-time calibration - human multi-sensory feedback and guidance - human trust in on-board software-based intelligent assistants - virtual assistants The presentation will highlight plans and progress made in each of these research areas as well as the methods by which surrogate astronaut crews in the NASA JSC HERA spaceflight analog facility will function as human test subjects for all of the HCAAM research projects.

HCAAM VNSCOR↗
DOE OSTI2026

Phenomena Identification and Ranking Tables (PIRT) analysis of wind turbine blade leading edge erosion

Leading edge erosion (LEE) of wind turbine blades has been identified as a major factor in decreased wind turbine blade lifetimes and energy output over time. Accordingly, the International Energy Agency Wind Technology Collaboration Programme (IEA Wind TCP) has created the Task 46 Phase 2 to undertake cooperative research in the key topic of blade erosion. The purpose of Task 46 Erosion Phase 2 is to further improve understanding of erosion driving factors, develop datasets and model tools to enhance prediction of leading-edge erosion likelihood, identify damage at the earliest possible stage and advance potential solutions. The scope of work covers several technical areas, reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the challenge. Participants in the task are given in Table 1.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1993

Nonlinear aerodynamics and the design of wing tips

This contract began in April 1990 with studies on the effect of wingtip shape on induced drag. That work considered problems of determining induced drag from computational aerodynamic methods and examined effects of wake roll up on the induced drag of elliptical and crescent wings. The research contract was continued in April 1991 and again in April 1992 with scope augmented to include considerations other than induced drag. The idea was to develop methods for comparing wing tip shapes on the basis of their effects on total drag, structural weight, and high lift performance. To accomplish this, work was done to improve methods for multidisciplinary analysis and optimization of wings. This report describes results of research conducted from April 1992 through March 1993. The general objective was to improve an existing wing optimization method and apply the method to specific problems of interest. The method, while a valuable tool for wing tip design studies, can be applied to more general problems, and has been applied to some of these other problems during its development. Specific goals that were accomplished are listed below and are explained in more detail in attached reports: analysis methods were improved in the area of structural modeling; small improvements to the high lift model were made, and ideas were collected on how clean wing c(sub l(sub max)) should vary with sweep - these ideas should provide a guide for future examination of high lift with experiment or CFD; and a calculation for drag due to the loss of leading edge suction was added to the wing analysis.

Kroo, Ilan↗
NASA NTRS1994

Development and application of structural dynamics analysis capabilities

Extensive research activities were performed in the area of multidisciplinary modeling and simulation of aerospace vehicles that are relevant to NASA Dryden Flight Research Facility. The efforts involved theoretical development, computer coding, and debugging of the STARS code. New solution procedures were developed in such areas as structures, CFD, and graphics, among others. Furthermore, systems-oriented codes were developed for rendering the code truly multidisciplinary and rather automated in nature. Also, work was performed in pre- and post-processing of engineering analysis data.

Heinemann, Klaus W.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Approach to Modeling Boundary Layer Ingestion Using a Fully Coupled Propulsion-RANS Model

Airframe-propulsion integration concepts that use boundary layer ingestion have the potential to reduce aircraft fuel burn. One concept that has been recently explored is NASA's Starc-ABL aircraft configuration, which offers the potential for 12% mission fuel burn reduction by using a turbo-electric propulsion system with an aft-mounted electrically driven boundary layer ingestion propulsor. This large potential for improved performance motivates a more detailed study of the boundary layer ingestion propulsor design, but to date, analyses of boundary layer ingestion have used uncoupled methods. These methods account for only aerodynamic effects on the propulsion system or propulsion system effects on the aerodynamics, but not both simultaneously. This work presents a new approach for building fully coupled propulsive-aerodynamic models of boundary layer ingestion propulsion systems. A 1D thermodynamic cycle analysis is coupled to a RANS simulation to model the Starc-ABL aft propulsor at a cruise condition and the effects variation in propulsor design on performance are examined. The results indicates that both propulsion and aerodynamic effects contribute equally toward the overall performance and that the fully coupled model yields substantially different results compared to uncoupled. The most significant finding is that boundary layer ingestion, while offering substantial fuel burn savings, introduces throttle dependent aerodynamics effects that need to be accounted for. This work represents a first step toward the multidisciplinary design optimization of boundary layer ingestion propulsion systems.

Boundary Layer Ingestion↗
NASA NTRS2022

Increasing the Uptake of Ecological Model Results in Policy Decisions to Improve Biodiversity Outcomes

Models help decision-makers anticipate the consequences of policies for ecosystems and people; for instance, improving our ability to represent interactions between human activities and ecological systems is essential to identify pathways to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. However, use of modeling outputs in decision-making remains uncommon. We share insights from a multidisciplinary National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center working group on technical, communication, and process-related factors that facilitate or hamper uptake of model results. We emphasize that it is not simply technical model improvements, but active and iterative stakeholder involvement that can lead to more impactful outcomes. In particular, trust- and relationship-building with decision-makers are key for knowledge-based decision making. In this respect, nurturing knowledge exchange on the interpersonal (e.g., through participatory processes), and institutional level (e.g., through science-policy interfaces across scales), represent promising approaches. To this end, we offer a generalized approach for linking modeling and decision-making.

Biodiversity-ecosystem function relationships↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Multidisciplinary Design Optimization of a Transonic Truss-Braced Wing using Physics-Based Models

Economic and environmental forces have placed pressure on the aviation industry to produce future aircraft designs with substantial improvements over those flying today. In order to meet these ambitious goals, new concepts such as the Transonic Truss-Braced Wing (TTBW) are being considered which diverge from the traditional tube-and-wing design. While this concept offers potential performance benefits over its traditional counterpart, it also features more coupling between various physics disciplines that must be considered during the design of the concept. This unique challenge provides a ripe opportunity for the application of multidisciplinary design optimization tool sets. The final work will couple together the mission analysis capability of Aviary with OpenAeroStruct for aerodynamic analysis and TACS for structural analysis. Using these tools we will preform a design optimization on the TTBW concept minimizing design fuel burn. The optimization will include design variables for mission trajectory, wing geometry, and structural sizing variables.

mbsae↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advanced Materials for the Lunar Surface: Multiscale Computational Design of Refractory Alloys and Carbides

Emerging operational environments, such as the lunar surface, present novel challenges for NASA and drive the need for advanced materials in applications like fission surface power systems. To address these demands, computational materials science is rapidly evolving to augment or replace costly and hazardous empirical testing. Although materials selection at NASA remains predominantly experimentally driven, advanced simulation methodologies are being steadily integrated into the engineering lifecycle. This work details the application of multiscale simulation techniques—including first-principles calculations, CALPHAD, dislocation dynamics, and molecular dynamics—at NASA's Ames Research Center to evaluate advanced materials for extreme environments. First, we present contributions to the Space Nuclear Propulsion Project. Be-cause propellant channel coatings in nuclear thermal rockets must withstand high-pressure, high-temperature hydro-gen, optimizing these materials is critical. First-principles calculations were employed to establish a rigorous quantitative and qualitative understanding of the behavior of the refractory carbides ZrC, NbC, and their mixtures in high-enthalpy hydrogen environments. This necessitated the generation of high-fidelity thermodynamic models for both stoichiometric and carbon-depleted carbides, both with and without the presence of hydrogen. Furthermore, we highlight efforts under the Refractory Alloy Additive Manufacturing Build Optimization (RAAMBO) project, where existing and novel alloy compositions were assessed for additive manufacturing printability and subsequent performance in applications such as heat pipes and rocket nozzle extensions. This was accomplished through a comprehensive multiscale simulation framework that bridged the gap from the nanometer to the millimeter scale. Across both initiatives, rigorous validation against empirical data was prioritized. By systematically employing a verified and validated computational frame-work, we demonstrate how simulation effectively supports multidisciplinary engineering efforts, builds project-wide confidence, and drives critical materials development.

computational materials↗