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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 541 records · Page 30

Space Shuttle wind tunnel testing program

A major phase of the Space Shuttle Vehicle (SSV) Development Program was the acquisition of data through the space shuttle wind tunnel testing program. It became obvious that the large number of configuration/environment combinations would necessitate an extremely large wind tunnel testing program. To make the most efficient use of available test facilities and to assist the prime contractor for orbiter design and space shuttle vehicle integration, a unique management plan was devised for the design and development phase. The space shuttle program is reviewed together with the evolutional development of the shuttle configuration. The wind tunnel testing rationale and the associated test program management plan and its overall results is reviewed. Information is given for the various facilities and models used within this program. A unique posttest documentation procedure and a summary of the types of test per disciplines, per facility, and per model are presented with detailed listing of the posttest documentation.

Whitnah, A. M.↗

Leveraging Radiofrequency Identification Success Beyond Hazardous Material Inventory Management at a National Laboratory

Effective inventory management can be overshadowed by conflicting priorities in organizational procedures, particularly in research-focused institutions such as national laboratories that handle expensive, delicate, and hazardous materials. Here, this study investigated the potential of radiofrequency identification (RFID) technology, currently used for hazardous chemical inventory, in applications with higher metal interference and absorption, specifically pressure release device (PRD) compliance and nuclear container management, at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). This study was done to document best practices to enhance inventory identification speeds for inventory reconciliation and inventory recall and to explore optimal configurations for RFID implementation compared to traditional manual methods of equipment management. Tests were conducted to determine the ideal RFID tag orientation (read at angles of 0°, 90°, and 270°), various container layouts (linear, separated, curved, operational), and ID methods such as manual, barcode, and RFID performing three trials per method per orientation. Results indicated that 0° was the optimal read angle for minimizing metallic interference, and the operational and curved arrangements significantly outperformed the linear and separated configurations in read speed. 3D printed mounts were developed and tested, increasing the read range of the RFID reader by up to 235% in cases of high metallic interference. The RFID technology demonstrated an average speed increase of 65% over a simplified manual identification, which supports the conclusion that RFID is a more efficient method for large hazardous inventory management and equipment reconciliation. Additionally, capturing meta-data, such as location and date, can be used to query for inventory recall and automated updating of record information.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Learning to Predict and Improve Build Successes in Package Ecosystems

Software has become increasingly complex, with a typical application depending on tens or hundreds of packages. Finding compatible versions and build configurations of these packages is challenging. This paper presents a method to learn the likelihood of software build success, and techniques for leveraging this information to guide dependency solvers to better software configurations. We leverage the heavily parameterized package recipes from the Spack package manager to produce a training data set of builds, and we use Graph Neural Networks to learn whether a given package configuration will build successfully or not. We apply our tool to the U.S. Exascale Computing Project’s software stack. We demonstrate its effectiveness in predicting whether a given package will build successfully. We show that our technique can be used to improve the solutions generated by dependency solvers, reducing the need for developers to find working builds by trial and error.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

SMC Message Browser Projects

I work directly with the System Monitoring and Control (SMC) software engineers who develop, test and release custom and commercial software in support of the Kennedy Space Center Spaceport Command and Control System. (SCCS). SMC uses Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Enterprise Management Systems (EMS) software which provides a centralized subsystem for configuring, monitoring, and controlling SCCS hardware and software used in the Control Rooms. There are multiple projects being worked on using the COTS EMS software. I am currently working with the HP Operations Manager for UNIX (OMU) software which allows Master Console Operators (MCO) to access, view and interpret messages regarding the status of the SCCS hardware and software. The OMU message browser gets cluttered with messages which can make it difficult for the MCO to manage. My main project involves determining ways to reduce the number of messages being displayed in the OMU message browser. I plan to accomplish this task in two different ways: (1) by correlating multiple messages into one single message being displayed and (2) to create policies that will determine the significance of each message and whether or not it needs to be displayed to the MCO. The core idea is to lessen the number of messages being sent to the OMU message browser so the MCO can more effectively use it.

OMU↗

Secondary battery management

A method of managing a battery system, the battery system including at least one battery cell, at least one sensor configured to measure at least one characteristic of the battery cell, and a battery management system including a microprocessor and a memory, the method comprising receiving by the battery management system, from the at least one sensor at least one measured characteristic of the battery cell at a first time and at least one measured characteristic of the battery cell at a second time. The battery management system estimating, at least one state of the battery cell by applying a physics-based battery model, the physics based battery model being based on differential algebraic equations; and regulating by the battery management system, at least one of charging or discharging of the battery cell based on the at least one estimated state.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Monitoring ethylene emissions from plants cultured for a controlled ecological life support system

Emission of hydrocarbons and other volatile compounds by materials and organisms in closed environments will be a major concern in the design and management of advanced life support systems with a bioregenerative component. Ethylene, a simple hydrocarbon synthesized by plants, is involved in the elicitation of a wide range of physiological responses. In closed environments, ethylene may build up to levels which become physiologically active. In several growouts of 'Yecora Rojo' wheat in Kennedy Space Center's Biomass Production Chamber (BPC), it was observed that leaf flecking and rolling occurred in the sealed environment and was virtually eliminated when potassium permanganate was used to scrub the atmospheric environment. It was suggested that ethylene, which accumulated to about 60 ppb in the chamber and which was effectively absorbed by potassium permanganate, was responsible for the symptoms. The objectives of this work were to: (1) determine rates of ethylene evolution from lettuce (Lactuca sativa cultivar Waldemann's Green) and wheat (Triticum aestivum cultivar Yecora Rojo) plants during growth and development; (2) determine the effects of exposure of whole, vegetative stage plants to exogenous ethylene concentrations in the range of what would develop in closed environment growth chambers; and (3) develop predictive functions for changes in ethylene concentration that would develop under different cropping and closed environment configurations. Results will lead to the development of management strategies for ethylene in bioregenerative life support systems.

Corey, Kenneth A.↗

Air traffic management evaluation tool

Methods for evaluating and implementing air traffic management tools and approaches for managing and avoiding an air traffic incident before the incident occurs. A first system receives parameters for flight plan configurations (e.g., initial fuel carried, flight route, flight route segments followed, flight altitude for a given flight route segment, aircraft velocity for each flight route segment, flight route ascent rate, flight route descent route, flight departure site, flight departure time, flight arrival time, flight destination site and/or alternate flight destination site), flight plan schedule, expected weather along each flight route segment, aircraft specifics, airspace (altitude) bounds for each flight route segment, navigational aids available. The invention provides flight plan routing and direct routing or wind optimal routing, using great circle navigation and spherical Earth geometry. The invention provides for aircraft dynamics effects, such as wind effects at each altitude, altitude changes, airspeed changes and aircraft turns to provide predictions of aircraft trajectory (and, optionally, aircraft fuel use). A second system provides several aviation applications using the first system. Several classes of potential incidents are analyzed and averted, by appropriate change en route of one or more parameters in the flight plan configuration, as provided by a conflict detection and resolution module and/or traffic flow management modules. These applications include conflict detection and resolution, miles-in trail or minutes-in-trail aircraft separation, flight arrival management, flight re-routing, weather prediction and analysis and interpolation of weather variables based upon sparse measurements. The invention combines these features to provide an aircraft monitoring system and an aircraft user system that interact and negotiate changes with each other.

Sridhar, Banavar↗

NASA and the Space Station - Current Status

In the baseline configuration of the Space Station, NASA engineers have provided for a range of modifications that will enlarge the capabilities available to future users. An extensive definition and design study has been completed which is supplemented by a critical evaluation of the Space Station configuration; a three-year technology-development effort has also drawn to a close which examined operational factors and restructured program management responsibilities. Costs have been estimated on the basis of the revised configuration in order to insure full consistency for program funding plans.

Moser, Thomas L.↗

Automated Traffic Management System and Method

A data management system and method that enables acquisition, integration, and management of real-time data generated at different rates, by multiple heterogeneous incompatible data sources. The system achieves this functionality by using an expert system to fuse data from a variety of airline, airport operations, ramp control, and air traffic control tower sources, to establish and update reference data values for every aircraft surface operation. The system may be configured as a real-time airport surface traffic management system (TMS) that electronically interconnects air traffic control, airline data, and airport operations data to facilitate information sharing and improve taxi queuing. In the TMS operational mode, empirical data shows substantial benefits in ramp operations for airlines, reducing departure taxi times by about one minute per aircraft in operational use, translating as $12 to $15 million per year savings to airlines at the Atlanta, Georgia airport. The data management system and method may also be used for scheduling the movement of multiple vehicles in other applications, such as marine vessels in harbors and ports, trucks or railroad cars in ports or shipping yards, and railroad cars in switching yards. Finally, the data management system and method may be used for managing containers at a shipping dock, stock on a factory floor or in a warehouse, or as a training tool for improving situational awareness of FAA tower controllers, ramp and airport operators, or commercial airline personnel in airfield surface operations.

Glass, Brian J.↗

Router Agent Technology for Policy-Based Network Management

This innovation can be run as a standalone network application on any computer in a networked environment. This design can be configured to control one or more routers (one instance per router), and can also be configured to listen to a policy server over the network to receive new policies based on the policy- based network management technology. The Router Agent Technology transforms the received policies into suitable Access Control List syntax for the routers it is configured to control. It commits the newly generated access control lists to the routers and provides feedback regarding any errors that were faced. The innovation also automatically generates a time-stamped log file regarding all updates to the router it is configured to control. This technology, once installed on a local network computer and started, is autonomous because it has the capability to keep listening to new policies from the policy server, transforming those policies to router-compliant access lists, and committing those access lists to a specified interface on the specified router on the network with any error feedback regarding commitment process. The stand-alone application is named RouterAgent and is currently realized as a fully functional (version 1) implementation for the Windows operating system and for CISCO routers.

Chow, Edward T.↗

Conceptual design study: Forest Fire Advanced System Technology (FFAST)

An integrated forest fire detection and mapping system that will be based upon technology available in the 1990s was defined. Uncertainties in emerging and advanced technologies related to the conceptual design were identified and recommended for inclusion as preferred system components. System component technologies identified for an end-to-end system include thermal infrared, linear array detectors, automatic georeferencing and signal processing, geosynchronous satellite communication links, and advanced data integration and display. Potential system configuration options were developed and examined for possible inclusion in the preferred system configuration. The preferred system configuration will provide increased performance and be cost effective over the system currently in use. Forest fire management user requirements and the system component emerging technologies were the basis for the system configuration design. A preferred system configuration was defined that warrants continued refinement and development, examined economic aspects of the current and preferred system, and provided preliminary cost estimates for follow-on system prototype development.

Nichols, J. D.↗

Forest fire advanced system technology (FFAST) conceptual design study

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service completed a conceptual design study that defined an integrated forest fire detection and mapping system that will be based upon technology available in the 1990s. Potential system configuration options in emerging and advanced technologies related to the conceptual design were identified and recommended for inclusion as preferred system components. System component technologies identified for an end-to-end system include airborne mounted, thermal infrared (IR) linear array detectors, automatic onboard georeferencing and signal processing, geosynchronous satellite communications links, and advanced data integration and display. Potential system configuration options were developed and examined for possible inclusion in the preferred system configuration. The preferred system configuration will provide increased performance and be cost effective over the system currently in use. Forest fire management user requirements and the system component emerging technologies were the basis for the system configuration design. The conceptual design study defined the preferred system configuration that warrants continued refinement and development, examined economic aspects of the current and preferred system, and provided preliminary cost estimates for follow-on system prototype development.

Nichols, J. David↗

Offshore Wind ENergy Simulation Toolkit (OWENS)

SAND2021-2751 O The Offshore Wind ENergy Simulation Toolkit (OWENS) is a collection of aerodynamic, structural, hydrodynamic, drivetrain, controls, composite structure and mesh preprocessing, and data postprocessing. OWENS is primarily an ontology, or glue code, pulling together many open-source and Sandia-developed libraries to model the aero-servo-hydro-elastic physics of wind and marine energy turbines. The toolkit’s intended use is for arbitrary aeroelastic rotor configurations analysis including vertical-axis wind turbines, horizontal-axis wind turbines, and analogous marine energy applications for fixed-bottom and floating configurations. Sandia National Laboratories is a multimission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA0003525

Owens, Brian↗

Profitability, Scalability and Optimized Siting for Waste-to-Energy Supply Chains: A Case Study on Hydrothermal Liquefaction

Waste-to-Energy (WtE) conversion technologies have the potential to simultaneously reduce waste volumes, treatment-related emissions, and carbon intensity while producing valuable energy services. However, questions remain regarding under which conditions emerging WtE technologies are feasible to deploy. In this project, we develop an optimized siting method for WtE technologies to assess cost-effective WtE processor locations, throughput scales, and profitability. We apply the model using Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) as an example WtE technology. We develop calibrated capital and operating expense cost curves based on literature data to study the techno-economic characteristics of WtE supply chains. Prior to solving the siting optimization, we analyze the model parameters to describe organic waste management system behavior under four different HTL deployment configurations: Co-Processing, where HTL plants send biocrude to existing conventional refineries via assumed pipelines; Co-Location, where biorefineries are co-located with HTL plants; and two alternative Standalone Biorefining cases, where distributed HTL plants transport biocrude intermediate via either assumed pipelines or trucking to centralized biorefineries. We also define and apply several feedstock gate fee calculations, representing different revenue distribution options, to investigate how bioproduct value could impact WtE supply chain economics in terms of waste producer and processor profit or cost reduction.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Conceptual Design of a HTS Dipole Insert Based on Bi2212 Rutherford Cable

The U.S. Magnet Development Program (US-MDP) is aimed at developing high-field accelerator magnets with magnetic fields beyond the limits of Nb 3 Sn technology. Recent progress with composite wires and Rutherford cables based on the first generation high-temperature superconductor Bi 2 Sr 2 CaCu 2 O 8-x (Bi2212) allows considering them for this purpose. However, Bi2212 wires and cables are sensitive to transverse stresses and strains, which are large in high-field accelerator magnets. This requires magnet designs with stress management concepts to control azimuthal and radial strains in the coil windings and prevent the degradation of the current carrying capability of Bi2212 conductor or even its permanent damage. This paper describes a novel stress management approach, which was developed at Fermilab for high-field large-aperture Nb 3 Sn accelerator magnets, and is now being applied to high-field dipole inserts based on Bi2212 Rutherford cables. The insert conceptual design and main parameters, including the superconducting wire and cable, as well as the coil stress management structure, key technological steps and approaches, test configurations and their target parameters, are presented and discussed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Myna

The additive manufacturing (AM) community has been developing digital factory tools over the past decade to better leverage the multi-modal process data coming out of the advanced manufacturing process. As a result, numerous databases of additive manufacturing process data exist in the literature and in the archival storage of disparate research groups. While some efforts have been made to create a standard ontology for storing and sharing AM data, in practice a variety of data structures are used to store AM build data, even within a single institution. This causes many problems for maintainability and extensibility when attempting to integrate computational modeling tools with experimental data to either validate models or to provide further insight into results and trends. Myna is a Python-based framework that aims to decrease the effort needed to connect individual computational models to the variety of AM process data that exist in different research groups and institutions. This type of software is sometimes referred to as "middleware" or “glueware,” in that it connects disparate databases and applications into a single computational ecosystem. Instead of maintaining unique interfaces between each application and each database, developers can create a single interface from each application to Myna and thereby gain access to the implemented database connections. Similarly, developing a database connection in Myna provides access to the developed simulation applications. This framework greatly simplifies the maintainability of model applications that rely on experimental data. Using external simulation tools, users will also be able to run pre-configured workflows using the built-in workflow manager. Several examples of input files are provided with Myna for different workflows, including melt pool geometry predictions and detailed melt pool and solidification microstructure predictions.

Knapp, GerryL. [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORN↗

New development in high reliability strapdown platforms using TDF sensors

New development in high reliability strapdown navigation platform using two-degree-of-freedom sensors and redundancy concept is presented in this paper. The development is based on the assumption that each axis of the sensor can fail without affecting the remaining axis. The systems reliability is investigated, the optimum redundancy configurations are proposed, a technique of sensor performance management is developed for the proposed systems.

Tsuei, Y. D.↗

Orbital spacecraft resupply technology

The resupplying of orbital spacecraft using the Space Shuttle, Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle, Orbital Transfer Vehicle or a depot supply at a Space Station is studied. The governing factor in fluid resupply designs is the system size with respect to fluid resupply quantities. Spacecraft propellant management for tankage via diaphragm or surface tension configurations is examined. The capabilities, operation, and application of adiabatic ullage compression, ullage exchange, vent/fill/repressurize, and drain/vent/no-vent fill/repressurize, which are proposed transfer methods for spacecraft utilizing tankage configurations, are described. Selection of the appropriate resupply method is dependent on the spacecraft design features. Hydrazine adiabatic compression/detonation, liquid-free vapor venting to prevent freezing, and a method for no-vent liquid filling are analyzed. Various procedures for accurate measurements of propellant mass in low gravity are evaluated; a system of flowmeters with a PVT system was selected as the pressurant solubility and quantity gaging technique. Monopropellant and bipropellant orbital spacecraft consumable resupply system tanks which resupply 3000 lb of hydrazine and 7000 lb of MMH/NTO to spacecraft on orbit are presented.

Eberhardt, R. N.↗