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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1996

Rocket-Based Combined Cycle Engine Technology Development: Inlet CFD Validation and Application

A CFD methodology has been developed for inlet analyses of Rocket-Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) Engines. A full Navier-Stokes analysis code, NPARC, was used in conjunction with pre- and post-processing tools to obtain a complete description of the flow field and integrated inlet performance. This methodology was developed and validated using results from a subscale test of the inlet to a RBCC 'Strut-Jet' engine performed in the NASA Lewis 1 x 1 ft. supersonic wind tunnel. Results obtained from this study include analyses at flight Mach numbers of 5 and 6 for super-critical operating conditions. These results showed excellent agreement with experimental data. The analysis tools were also used to obtain pre-test performance and operability predictions for the RBCC demonstrator engine planned for testing in the NASA Lewis Hypersonic Test Facility. This analysis calculated the baseline fuel-off internal force of the engine which is needed to determine the net thrust with fuel on.

DeBonis, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Intelligent System Development Using a Rough Sets Methodology

The purpose of this research was to examine the potential of the rough sets technique for developing intelligent models of complex systems from limited information. Rough sets a simple but promising technology to extract easily understood rules from data. The rough set methodology has been shown to perform well when used with a large set of exemplars, but its performance with sparse data sets is less certain. The difficulty is that rules will be developed based on just a few examples, each of which might have a large amount of noise associated with them. The question then becomes, what is the probability of a useful rule being developed from such limited information? One nice feature of rough sets is that in unusual situations, the technique can give an answer of 'I don't know'. That is, if a case arises that is different from the cases the rough set rules were developed on, the methodology can recognize this and alert human operators of it. It can also be trained to do this when the desired action is unknown because conflicting examples apply to the same set of inputs. This summer's project was to look at combining rough set theory with statistical theory to develop confidence limits in rules developed by rough sets. Often it is important not to make a certain type of mistake (e.g., false positives or false negatives), so the rules must be biased toward preventing a catastrophic error, rather than giving the most likely course of action. A method to determine the best course of action in the light of such constraints was examined. The resulting technique was tested with files containing electrical power line 'signatures' from the space shuttle and with decompression sickness data.

Anderson, Gray T.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Processing Satellite Imagery To Detect Waste Tire Piles

A methodology for processing commercially available satellite spectral imagery has been developed to enable identification and mapping of waste tire piles in California. The California Integrated Waste Management Board initiated the project and provided funding for the method s development. The methodology includes the use of a combination of previously commercially available image-processing and georeferencing software used to develop a model that specifically distinguishes between tire piles and other objects. The methodology reduces the time that must be spent to initially survey a region for tire sites, thereby increasing inspectors and managers time available for remediation of the sites. Remediation is needed because millions of used tires are discarded every year, waste tire piles pose fire hazards, and mosquitoes often breed in water trapped in tires. It should be possible to adapt the methodology to regions outside California by modifying some of the algorithms implemented in the software to account for geographic differences in spectral characteristics associated with terrain and climate. The task of identifying tire piles in satellite imagery is uniquely challenging because of their low reflectance levels: Tires tend to be spectrally confused with shadows and deep water, both of which reflect little light to satellite-borne imaging systems. In this methodology, the challenge is met, in part, by use of software that implements the Tire Identification from Reflectance (TIRe) model. The development of the TIRe model included incorporation of lessons learned in previous research on the detection and mapping of tire piles by use of manual/ visual and/or computational analysis of aerial and satellite imagery. The TIRe model is a computational model for identifying tire piles and discriminating between tire piles and other objects. The input to the TIRe model is the georeferenced but otherwise raw satellite spectral images of a geographic region to be surveyed. The TIRe model identifies the darkest objects in the images and, on the basis of spatial and spectral image characteristics, discriminates against other dark objects, which can include vegetation, some bodies of water, and dark soils. The TIRe model can identify piles of as few as 100 tires. The output of the TIRe model is a binary mask showing areas containing suspected tire piles and spectrally similar features. This mask is overlaid on the original satellite imagery and examined by a trained image analyst, who strives to further discriminate against non-tire objects that the TIRe model tentatively identified as tire piles. After the analyst has made adjustments, the mask is used to create a synoptic, geographically accurate tire-pile survey map, which can be overlaid with a road map and/or any other map or set of georeferenced data, according to a customer s preferences.

Skiles, Joseph↗
NASA NTRS1991

Probabilistic lifetime strength of aerospace materials via computational simulation

The results of a second year effort of a research program are presented. The research included development of methodology that provides probabilistic lifetime strength of aerospace materials via computational simulation. A probabilistic phenomenological constitutive relationship, in the form of a randomized multifactor interaction equation, is postulated for strength degradation of structural components of aerospace propulsion systems subjected to a number of effects of primitive variables. These primitive variables often originate in the environment and may include stress from loading, temperature, chemical, or radiation attack. This multifactor interaction constitutive equation is included in the computer program, PROMISS. Also included in the research is the development of methodology to calibrate the constitutive equation using actual experimental materials data together with the multiple linear regression of that data.

Boyce, Lola↗
NASA NTRS2002

Characterization of Side Load Phenomena Using Measurement of Fluid/Structure Interaction

During ground-tests of most production rocket engines over the last 30 years, large asymmetric transient side loads coming from the nozzle and related steady-state vibrational loads within the nozzle have been measured. The widely varying magnitude of these loads has been large enough to fail interfacing components as well as nozzles in these engines. This paper will discuss a comprehensive test and analysis program that has been undertaken to develop a methodology to accurately predict the character and magnitude of this loading. The project to-date has incorporated analytical modeling of both the fluid flow and the nozzle structure and testing of both full-scale and sub-scale rocket nodes. Examination of the test data indicates that one of the two-nodal diameter structural modes may be interacting with flow separation from the nozzle inside-wall in a self-excited or aeroelastic vibration phenomenon. If verified, this observation will be used to develop a methodology for design and analysis. A fuller understanding of the characteristics of this vibration will provide an increase in the accuracy and confidence of side load predictions, which will be critical for the successful construction of the next generation of low-cost, reliable rocket engines.

Brown, Andrew M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Ada and the rapid development lifecycle

JPL is under contract, through NASA, with the US Army to develop a state-of-the-art Command Center System for the US European Command (USEUCOM). The Command Center System will receive, process, and integrate force status information from various sources and provide this integrated information to staff officers and decision makers in a format designed to enhance user comprehension and utility. The system is based on distributed workstation class microcomputers, VAX- and SUN-based data servers, and interfaces to existing military mainframe systems and communication networks. JPL is developing the Command Center System utilizing an incremental delivery methodology called the Rapid Development Methodology with adherence to government and industry standards including the UNIX operating system, X Windows, OSF/Motif, and the Ada programming language. Through a combination of software engineering techniques specific to the Ada programming language and the Rapid Development Approach, JPL was able to deliver capability to the military user incrementally, with comparable quality and improved economies of projects developed under more traditional software intensive system implementation methodologies.

Deforrest, Lloyd↗
NASA NTRS2004

Minimizing Launch Mass for ISRU Processes

The University of Dayton and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are developing a methodology for estimating the Earth launch mass (ELM) of processes for In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) with a focus on lunar resource recovery. ISRU may be enabling for both an extended presence on the Moon, and for large sample return missions and for a human presence on Mars. To accomplish these exploration goals, the resources recovered by ISRU must offset the ELM for the recovery process. An appropriate figure of merit is the cost of the exploration mission, which is closely related to ELM. For a given production rate and resource concentration, the lowest ELM - and the best ISRU process - is achieved by minimizing capital equipment for both the ISRU process and energy production. ISRU processes incur Carnot limitations and second law losses (irreversibilities) that ultimately determine production rate, material utilization and energy efficiencies. Heat transfer, chemical reaction, and mechanical operations affect the ELM in ways that are best understood by examining the process's detailed energetics. Schemes for chemical and thermal processing that do not incorporate an understanding of second law losses will be incompletely understood. Our team is developing a methodology that will aid design and selection of ISRU processes by identifying the impact of thermodynamic losses on ELM. The methodology includes mechanical, thermal and chemical operations, and, when completed, will provide a procedure and rationale for optimizing their design and minimizing their cost. The technique for optimizing ISRU with respect to ELM draws from work of England and Funk that relates the cost of endothermic processes to their second law efficiencies. Our team joins their approach for recovering resources by chemical processing with analysis of thermal and mechanical operations in space. Commercial firms provide cost inputs for ELM and planetary landing. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

England, C.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Certification

Objective 1: Provide regulators with a methodology for development of airworthiness requirements for certification of UAS. a) Rationale: a comprehensive methodology does not currently exist to support development of regulation for certification of UAS. Regulation is essential to enable routine access to the NAS. b) Approach: 1) assess existing approaches and classification schemes for deriving acceptable means of compliance to airworthiness requirements. 2) investigate a service-based approach to classification of UAS. 3) conduct comparative analysis of different methodologies. 4) work with FAA to determine best approach and conduct case study. 5) participate in regulatory/standards organizations developing safety and performance requirements for UAS. Objective 2: Provide regulators and industry with hazard and risk-related data to support criteria for UAS type design. a) Rationale: There is presently little UAS specific data (incident, accident, and reliability), especially in a civil context, to support risk assessment and development of standards and regulation. b) Approach: Identify gaps in existing data, provide measured data as needed, and formulate recommendations by: 1) evaluating UAS incident/accident data collection efforts and determining additional support necessary for regulation. 2) assessing UAS-specific hazards and risks. 3) evaluating need for reliability data for UAS-unique systems, components and subsystem, and determining additional measurement requirements. 4) developing guidance and best practices for UAS type design.

Hayhurst, Kelly↗
NASA NTRS1995

Development of advanced structural analysis methodologies for predicting widespread fatigue damage in aircraft structures

NASA is developing a 'tool box' that includes a number of advanced structural analysis computer codes which, taken together, represent the comprehensive fracture mechanics capability required to predict the onset of widespread fatigue damage. These structural analysis tools have complementary and specialized capabilities ranging from a finite-element-based stress-analysis code for two- and three-dimensional built-up structures with cracks to a fatigue and fracture analysis code that uses stress-intensity factors and material-property data found in 'look-up' tables or from equations. NASA is conducting critical experiments necessary to verify the predictive capabilities of the codes, and these tests represent a first step in the technology-validation and industry-acceptance processes. NASA has established cooperative programs with aircraft manufacturers to facilitate the comprehensive transfer of this technology by making these advanced structural analysis codes available to industry.

Harris, Charles E.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Progress in the Development of a Nozzle Design Methodology for Pulsed Detonation Engines

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), in support of the NASA Glenn Research Center (NASA GRC), is investigating performance methodologies and system integration issues related to Pulsed Detonation Engine (PDE) nozzles. The primary goal of this ongoing effort is to develop design and performance assessment methodologies applicable to PDE exit nozzle(s). APL is currently focusing its efforts on a common plenum chamber design that collects the exhaust products from multiple PDE tubes prior to expansion in a single converging-diverging exit nozzle. To accomplish this goal, a time-dependent, quasi-one-dimensional analysis for determining the flow properties in and through a single plenum and exhaust nozzle is underway. In support of these design activities, parallel modeling efforts using commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software are on-going. These efforts include both two and three-dimensional as well as steady and time-dependent computations to assess the flow in and through these devices. This paper discusses the progress in developing this nozzle design methodology.

Leary, B. A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Application of satellite remote sensing to North Carolina. Development of a monitoring methodology for trophic states of lakes in North Carolina

Conjunctive study of four shallow coastal plain lakes in northeastern North Carolina and their LANDSAT-2 images demonstrates that it is possible to differentiate between the lakes and their respective trophic states on the basis of the multispectral scanner imagery. The year-long investigation established that monitoring of the trophic states of the lakes on a seasonal basis through application of color additive imagery enchancement techniques is possible. Utilizing a standard setting of the color additive viewer, an investigator can normalize the imagery to an internal standard of constant reflectance characteristics. By comparison of the false color renditions with a standard interference color chart combined with brightness measurements made on the viewer screen, one can relate the lake reflectances to their trophic states. Two or more bands of the imagery are required, and the present study established that for the lakes studied, Band 5 and Band 6 form a good combination.

Welby, C. W.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Polymer research at NASA Langley Research Center

Polymer synthesis programs involve the development of Novel thermoplastics, pseudothermoplastics, and thermosets. These systems are prepared to elucidate structure-property relationships involving thermal capabilities, toughness, processability and environmental stability. Easily processable polyimides, solvent-resistant polysulfones and polyphenylquinoxalines, and tougher high and intermediate temperature polymers were developed. Characterization efforts included high pressure liquid chromatography methodology, the development of toughness tests for fiber reinforced composites, a study of electrical properties of metal ion filled polyimides, and a study of the mutagenicity of aromatic diamines. Also the mechanism of cure/degradation of experimental polymers was studied by rheology, mechanical behavior, separation techniques and spectroscopy. The degradative crosslinking of alkyl-containing polyimides, the separation and identification of crosslinked phenylquinoxalines, the rheological behavior of hot-melt polyimides, and the elucidation of the cure of norbornene endcapped imides were also studied.

Terry L. St. Clair↗
NASA NTRS1982

Evaluating software development by analysis of changes: The data from the software engineering laboratory

An effective data collection methodology for evaluating software development methodologies was applied to four different software development projects. Goals of the data collection included characterizing changes and errors, characterizing projects and programmers, identifying effective error detection and correction techniques, and investigating ripple effects. The data collected consisted of changes (including error corrections) made to the software after code was written and baselined, but before testing began. Data collection and validation were concurrent with software development. Changes reported were verified by interviews with programmers.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

An overview of the NASA textile composites program

The NASA Langley Research Center is conducting and sponsoring research to explore the benefits of textile reinforced composites for civil transport aircraft primary structures. The objective of this program is to develop and demonstrate the potential of affordable textile reinforced composite materials to meet design properties and damage tolerance requirements of advanced aircraft structures. In addition to in-house research, the program includes major participation by the aircraft industry and aerospace textile companies. The major program elements include development of textile preforms, processing science, mechanics of materials, experimental characterization of materials, and development and evaluation of textile reinforced composite structural elements and subcomponents. The NASA Langley in-house research is focused on science-based understanding of resin transfer molding (RTM), development of powder-coated towpreg processes, analysis methodology, and development of a performance database on textile reinforced composites. The focus of the textile industry participation is on development of multidirectional, damage-tolerant preforms, and the aircraft industry participation is in the areas of innovative design concepts, cost-effective fabrication, and testing of textile reinforced composite structural elements and subcomponents. Textile processes such as 3-D weaving, 2-D and 3-D braiding, and knitting/stitching are being compared with conventional laminated tape processes for improved damage tolerance. Through-the-thickness reinforcements offer significant damage tolerance improvements. However, these gains must be weighed against potential loss in in-plane properties such as strength and stiffness. Analytical trade studies are underway to establish design guidelines for the application of textile material forms to meet specific loading requirements. Fabrication and testing of large structural components are required to establish the full potential of textile reinforced composite materials. The goals of the NASA Langley-sponsored research program are to demonstrate technology readiness with subscale composite components by 1995 and to verify the performance of full-scale composite primary aircraft structural components by 1997. The status of textile reinforced composite structural elements under development by Boeing, Douglas, Lockheed, and Grumman are presented. Included are braided frames and woven/stitched wing and fuselage panels.

Dexter, H. Benson↗
NASA NTRS1992

Recent progress in NASA Langley textile reinforced composites program

The NASA LaRC is conducting and sponsoring research to explore the benefits of textile reinforced composites for civil transport aircraft primary structures. The objective of this program is to develop and demonstrate the potential of affordable textile reinforced composite materials to meet design properties and damage tolerance requirements of advanced aircraft structural concepts. In addition to in-house research, the program was recently expanded to include major participation by the aircraft industry and aerospace textile companies. The major program elements include development of textile preforms, processing science, mechanics of materials, experimental characterization of materials, and development and evaluation of textile reinforced composite structural elements and subcomponents. The NASA Langley in-house focus is as follows: development of a science-based understanding of resin transfer molding (RTM), development of powder-coated towpreg processes, analysis methodology, and development of a performance database on textile reinforced composites. The focus of the textile industry participation is on development of multidirectional, damage-tolerant preforms, and the aircraft industry participation is in the areas of design, fabrication and testing of textile reinforced composite structural elements and subcomponents. Textile processes such as 3D weaving, 2D and 3D braiding, and knitting/stitching are being compared with conventional laminated tape processes for improved damage tolerance. Through-the-thickness reinforcements offer significant damage tolerance improvements. However, these gains must be weighed against potential loss in in-plane properties such as strength and stiffness. Analytical trade studies are underway to establish design guidelines for the application of textile material forms to meet specific loading requirements. Fabrication and testing of large structural components are required to establish the full potential of textile reinforced composite materials.

Dexter, H. Benson↗