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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

Modelling of transient two-phase heat transfer for spacecraft thermal management

A computational method for predicting the two-phase transient fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics within a reservoir of the capillary-pumped-loop, intended to be used for spacecraft thermal management, has been developed. The model is based on the enthalpy formulation in an axisymmetric configuration. The reservoir operates under a constant thermodynamic pressure by allowing mass exchange between the reservoir and the outside loop. Both 1 g and 0 g environments have been considered to assess the effects of gravity on the reservoir performance. Depending on the gravity level, the power input and the reservoir orientation, three different convection modes have been identified, namely, the thermocapillary mode, the buoyancy mode, and the rapid-expansion mode (caused by interface movement). The impact of these modes on the performance of the reservoir and the associated physical phenomena have been discussed.

Shyy, W.

Atmospheric Collapse on Early Mars: The Role of CO2 Clouds

The abundance of evidence that liquid water flowed on the surface early in Mars' history strongly implies that the early Martian atmosphere was significantly more massive than it is today. While it seems clear that the total CO2 inventory was likely substantially larger in the past, the fundamental question about the physical state of that CO2 is not completely understood. Because the temperature at which CO2 condenses increases with surface pressure, surface CO2 ice is more likely to form and persist as the atmospheric mass increases. For the atmosphere to remain stable against collapse, there must be enough energy, distributed planet wide, to stave off the formation of permanent CO2 caps that leads to atmospheric collapse. The presence of a "faint young sun" that was likely about 25 percent less luminous 3.8 billion years ago than the sun today makes this even more difficult. Several physical processes play a role in the ultimate stability of a CO2 atmosphere. The system is regulated by the energy balance between solar insolation, the radiative effects of the atmosphere and its constituents, atmospheric heat transport, heat exchange between the surface and the atmosphere, and latent heating/cooling. Specific considerations in this balance for a given orbital obliquity/eccentricity and atmospheric mass are the albedo of the caps, the dust content of the atmosphere, and the presence of water and/or CO2 clouds. Forget et al. show that, for Mars' current obliquity (in a circular orbit), CO2 atmospheres ranging in surface pressure from 500 hectopascals to 3000 hectopascals would have been stable against collapsing into permanent surface ice reservoirs. Soto et al. examined a similar range in initial surface pressure to investigate atmospheric collapse and to compute collapse rates. CO2 clouds and their radiative effects were included in Forget et al. but they were not included in Soto et al. Here we focus on how CO2 clouds affect the stability of the atmosphere against collapse.

Kahre, M. A.

Reward and uncertainty in exploration programs

A set of variables which are crucial to the economic outcome of petroleum exploration are discussed. These are treated as random variables; the values they assume indicate the number of successes that occur in a drilling program and determine, for a particular discovery, the unit production cost and net economic return if that reservoir is developed. In specifying the joint probability law for those variables, extreme and probably unrealistic assumptions are made. In particular, the different random variables are assumed to be independently distributed. Using postulated probability functions and specified parameters, values are generated for selected random variables, such as reservoir size. From this set of values the economic magnitudes of interest, net return and unit production cost are computed. This constitutes a single trial, and the procedure is repeated many times. The resulting histograms approximate the probability density functions of the variables which describe the economic outcomes of an exploratory drilling program.

Kaufman, G. M.

The use of LANDSAT data to monitor the urban growth of Sao Paulo Metropolitan area

Urban growth from 1977 to 1979 of the region between Billings and the Guarapiranga reservoir was mapped and the problematic urban areas identified using several LANDSAT products. Visual and automatic interpretation techniques were applied to the data. Computer compatible tapes of LANDSAT multispectral scanner data were analyzed through the maximum likelihood Gaussian algorithm. The feasibility of monitoring fast urban growth by remote sensing techniques for efficient urban planning and control is demonstrated.

Dejesusparada, N.

Initial steps toward automation of a propellant processor

This paper presents the results from an experimental study aimed at ultimately automating the mixing of propellants in order to minimize unintended variations usually attributed to human error. The water heater and delivery system of a one-pint Baker-Perkins (APV) vertical mixer are automated with computer control. Various innovations are employed to introduce economy and low thermal inertia. Some of these include twin heaters/reservoirs instead of one large reservoir, a compact water mixer for achieving the desired temperature quickly, and thorough insulation of the entire water system. The completed system is tested during two propellant mixes. The temperature uniformly is proven through careful measurements employing several local thermocouples.

Schallhorn, Paul

Time-dependent quasi-one-dimensional simulations of high enthalpy pulse facilities

A numerical methodology is presented for simulating the time-dependent reacting flow inside the entire length of high enthalpy pulse facilities. The methodology is based on a finite-volume TVD scheme for the quasi-1D Euler equations coupled with finite-rate chemistry. A moving mesh and tracking of gas interfaces are used to overcome certain numerical difficulties associated with these types of flows. Simulation results of a helium driven shock tube show that computations can be used to predict the off-tailored behavior of shock tubes and tunnels. Particular attention is given to computations of the flow through the NASA Ames 16-inch combustion driven shock tunnel which show the influence of nonuniformities in the driver section on the reservoir conditions; and the effect of finite secondary diaphragm opening times on the chemical composition of the test flow in the HYPULSE expansion tube.

Wilson, Gregory J.

Real gas flow parameters for NASA Langley 22-inch Mach 20 helium tunnel

A computational procedure was developed which can be used to determine the flow properties in hypersonic helium wind tunnels in which real gas behavior is significant. In this procedure, a three-coefficient virial equation of state and the assumption of isentropic nozzle flow are employed to determine the tunnel reservoir, nozzle, throat, freestream, and post-normal shock conditions. This method was applied to a range of conditions which encompasses the operational capabilities of the LaRC 22-Inch Mach 20 Helium Tunnel. Results are presented graphically in the form of real gas correction factors which can be applied to perfect gas calculations. Important thermodynamic properties of helium are also plotted versus pressure and temperature. The computational scheme used to determine the real-helium flow parameters was incorporated into a FORTRAN code which is discussed.

Hollis, Brian R.

SCB Quantum Computers Using iSWAP and 1-Qubit Rotations

Units of superconducting circuitry that exploit the concept of the single- Cooper-pair box (SCB) have been built and are undergoing testing as prototypes of logic gates that could, in principle, constitute building blocks of clocked quantum computers. These units utilize quantized charge states as the quantum information-bearing degrees of freedom. An SCB is an artificial two-level quantum system that comprises a nanoscale superconducting electrode connected to a reservoir of Cooper-pair charges via a Josephson junction. The logical quantum states of the device, .0. and .1., are implemented physically as a pair of charge-number states that differ by 2e (where e is the charge of an electron). Typically, some 109 Cooper pairs are involved. Transitions between the logical states are accomplished by tunneling of Cooper pairs through the Josephson junction. Although the two-level system contains a macroscopic number of charges, in the superconducting regime, they behave collectively, as a Bose-Einstein condensate, making possible a coherent superposition of the two logical states. This possibility makes the SCB a candidate for the physical implementation of a qubit. A set of quantum logic operations and the gates that implement them is characterized as universal if, in principle, one can form combinations of the operations in the set to implement any desired quantum computation. To be able to design a practical quantum computer, one must first specify how to decompose any valid quantum computation into a sequence of elementary 1- and 2-qubit quantum gates that are universal and that can be realized in hardware that is feasible to fabricate. Traditionally, the set of universal gates has been taken to be the set of all 1-qubit quantum gates in conjunction with the controlled-NOT (CNOT) gate, which is a 2-qubit gate. Also, it has been known for some time that the SWAP gate, which implements square root of the simple 2-qubit exchange interaction, is as computationally universal as is the CNOT operation.

Williams, Colin

An investigation of the phototropic effect on seedling orientation in a microgravity environment: A student involvement project

A microgravity growth chamber was designed to investigate the phototropic response of radish seedlings. Enclosed in a one fourth inch thick, hexagonal, fiberglass-foam spacepak nineteen inches across corners, the experiment consists of a growth chamber and germination tray, a water reservoir and solenoid valve, a fluorescent light for photo simulation, a Minolta X700 camera with programmable back, a 50 mm macro lens and flash, a battery pack, and a computer controller. Two temperature sensors and one light sensor located in the walls of the growth chamber provide temperature and illumination data. A computer provides 8 K command and 34 K data storage capability. The experiment was not activated during the STS flight because a malfunctioning latching relay stuck and reduced the battery power level.

Barainca, J. W.

3D computation of hypersonic nozzle

Numerical results of a NASP-like nozzle configuration are presented. The nozzle has characteristically a very large area ratio designed to operate in the hypersonic regime. The overall flowfield consists of the internal expansion from a stagnation reservoir and the external exhaust plume in a quiescent environment. The solutions were obtained for two experimental conditions at an underexpanded pressure ratio of 44000 and an overexpanded pressure ratio of 2495. These conditions produce flows expanding to high Mach numbers in the hypersonic range. At the nozzle entrance, the flow has a supersonic Mach number of 4.3 in the inviscid region. In the external expansion and exhaust regions, the flow expands to a maximum Mach number of 12.3 for the case of high pressure ratio, whereas a shock wave exists for the low pressure ratio case. The solutions from these three-dimensional calculations were compared to the experimental data for pressure distributions.

Lai, H. T.

Experimental and Computational Studies of the Flow Over a Sting Mounted Planetary Probe Configuration

This paper summarizes the results of a series of experimental studies in the LENS shock tunnel and computations with DSMC and Navier Stokes codes which have been made to examine the aerothermal and flowfield characteristics of the flow over a sting-supported planetary probe configuration in hypervelocity air and nitrogen flows. The experimental program was conducted in the LENS hypervelocity shock tunnel at total enthalpies of 5and 10 MJkg for a range of reservoir pressure conditions from 70 to 500 bars. Heat transfer and pressure measurements were made on the front and rear face of the probe and along the supporting sting. High-speed and single shot schlieren photography were also employed to examine the flow over the model and the time to establish the flow in the base recirculation region. Predictions of the flowfield characteristics and the distributions of heat transfer and pressure were made with DSMC codes for rarefied flow conditions and with the Navier-Stokes solvers for the higher pressure conditions where the flows were assumed to be laminar. Analysis of the time history records from the heat transfer and pressure instrumentation on the face of the probe and in the base region indicated that the base flow was fully established in under 4 milliseconds from flow initiation or between 35 and 50 flow lengths based on base height. The measurements made in three different tunnel entries with two models of identical geometries but with different instrumentation packages, one prepared by NASA Langley and the second prepared by CUBRC, demonstrated good agreement between heat transfer measurements made with two different types of thin film and coaxial gage instrumentation. The measurements of heat transfer and pressure to the front face of the probe were in good agreement with theoretical predictions from both the DSMC and Navier Stokes codes. For the measurements made in low density flows, computations with the DSMC code were found to compare well with the pressure and heat transfer measurements on the sting, although the computed heat transfer rates in the recirculation region did not exhibit the same characteristics as the measurements. For the 10MJkg and 500 bar reservoir match point condition, the measurements and heat transfer along the sting from the first group of studies were in agreement with the Navier Stokes solutions for laminar conditions. A similar set of measurements made in later tests where the model was moved to a slightly different position in the test section indicated that the boundary layer in the reattachment compression region was close to transition or transitional where small changes in the test environment can result in larger than laminar heating rates. The maximum heating coefficients on the sting observed in the present studies was a small fraction of similar measurements obtained at nominally the same conditions in the HEG shock tunnel, where it is possible for transition to occur in the base flow, and in the low enthalpy studies conducted in the NASA Langley high Reynolds number Mach 10 tunnel where the base flow was shown to be turbulent. While the hybrid Navier- StokedDMSC calculations by Gochberg et al. (Reference 1) suggested that employing the Navier- Stokes calculations for the entire flowfield could be seriously in error in the base region for the 10 MJkg, 500 bar test case, similar calculations performed by Cornell, presented here, do not.

Holden, Michael S.

Computer acquired performance data from an etched-rhenium, molybdenum planar diode

Performance data from an etched-rhenium, molybdenum thermionic converter are presented. The planar converter has a guard-ringed collector and a fixed spacing of 0.254 mm (10 mils). The data were acquired by using a computer and are available on microfiche as individual or composite parametric current, voltage curves. The parameters are the temperatures of the emitter T sub E, collector T sub C and cesium reservoir T sub R. The composite plots have constant T sub E, and varying T sub C or T sub R, or both. The envelope and composite plots having constant I sub E are presented. The diode was tested at increments between 1500 and 2000 K for the emitter, 750 and 1100 K for the collector, and 540 and 640 K for the reservoir. In all, 774 individual current, voltage curves were obtained.

Manista, E. J.

Mathematical and computational studies of equilibrium capillary free surfaces

The results of several independent studies are presented. The general question is considered of whether a wetting liquid always rises higher in a small capillary tube than in a larger one, when both are dipped vertically into an infinite reservoir. An analytical investigation is initiated to determine the qualitative behavior of the family of solutions of the equilibrium capillary free-surface equation that correspond to rotationally symmetric pendent liquid drops and the relationship of these solutions to the singular solution, which corresponds to an infinite spike of liquid extending downward to infinity. The block successive overrelaxation-Newton method and the generalized conjugate gradient method are investigated for solving the capillary equation on a uniform square mesh in a square domain, including the case for which the solution is unbounded at the corners. Capillary surfaces are calculated on the ellipse, on a circle with reentrant notches, and on other irregularly shaped domains using JASON, a general purpose program for solving nonlinear elliptic equations on a nonuniform quadrilaterial mesh. Analytical estimates for the nonexistence of solutions of the equilibrium capillary free-surface equation on the ellipse in zero gravity are evaluated.

Albright, N.

Computer Program For Variable-Conductance Heat Pipes

VCHPDA provides accurate mathematical models of transient as well as steady-state performance of variable-conductance heat pipes over wide range of operating conditions. Applies to heat pipes with either cold, wicked or hot, nonwicked gas reservoirs and uses ideal-gas law and "flat-front" (negligible vapor diffusion) gas theory. Calculates length of gas-blocked region and temperature of vapor in active portion of heat pipe by solving set of nonlinear equations for conservation of energy and mass. Written in FORTRAN 77.

Antoniuk, D.

Geophysical and geochemical constraints favoring the capture hypothesis

The early fractionation of the Moon as a result of melting the outer layer of the Moon is discussed. This melting can be attributed to the accretional heating of the moon. Computations of the early thermal evolution of the Earth and Moon based on the assumption that these bodies accreted independently were carried out. The results are consistent with many observations. The concept of geochemical reservoirs was also applied to the Moon.

Turcotte, D. L.

Imaging a Free-Geometry Magma Reservoir Using FEM-Based Linear Inverse Modeling of InSAR Data: Application to Rabaul Caldera, Papua New Guinea

We test an innovative inversion scheme using Green’s functions from an array of pressure sources embedded in finite-element method (FEM) models to image, without assuming an a-priori geometry, the composite and complex shape of a volcano deformation source. We invert interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data to estimate the pressurization and shape of the magma reservoir of Rabaul caldera, Papua New Guinea. The results image the extended shallow magmatic system responsible for a broad and long-term subsidence of the caldera between 2007 February and 2010 December. Elastic FEM solutions are integrated into the regularized linear inversion of InSAR data of volcano surface displacements in order to obtain a 3-D image of the source of deformation. The Green’s function matrix is constructed from a library of forward line-of-sight displacement solutions for a grid of cubic elementary deformation sources. Each source is sequentially generated by removing the corresponding cubic elements from a common meshed domain and simulating the injection of a fluid mass flux into the cavity, which results in a pressurization and volumetric change of the fluidfilled cavity. The use of a single mesh for the generation of all FEM models avoids the computationally expensive process of non-linear inversion and remeshing a variable geometry domain. Without assuming an a-priori source geometry other than the configuration of the 3-D grid that generates the library of Green’s functions, the geodetic data dictate the geometry of the magma reservoir as a 3-D distribution of pressure (or flux of magma) within the source array. The inversion of InSAR data of Rabaul caldera shows a distribution of interconnected sources forming an amorphous, shallow magmatic system elongated under two opposite sides of the caldera. The marginal areas at the sides of the imaged magmatic system are the possible feeding reservoirs of the ongoing Tavurvur volcano eruption of andesitic products on the east side and of the past Vulcan volcano eruptions of more evolved materials on the west side. The interconnection and spatial distributions of sources correspond to the petrography of the volcanic products described in the literature and to the dynamics of the single and twin eruptions that characterize the caldera. The ability to image the complex geometry of deformation sources in both space and time can improve our ability to monitor active volcanoes, widen our understanding of the dynamics of active volcanic systems and improve the predictions of eruptions.

Inverse theory