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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 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Retrieval of nonprecipitating liquid water cloud parameters from microwave data - A simulation study

A new microwave algorithm, analogous to the IR 'radiance-ratioing' method of Eyre and Menzel (1989) is developed to retrieve the height and 'effective' fraction (defined as the product of the emissivity times the actual physical fractional coverage) of nonprecipitating water clouds using various pairs of the 20 microwave channels planned for the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU), an instrument slated to fly on polar-orbiting satellites beginning in 1994. The results of a simulation study are presented to provide some insights into the potentials of this technique using different AMSU channel combinations. This study suggests that the use of the oxygen channels 3 and 5 and water vapor channels 19 and 20 will produce the most accurate retrievals of liquid water cloud parameters and the highest percentage of good-quality retrievals over a range of meteorological and cloud conditions.

Huang, Hung-Lung↗
NASA NTRS1989

Near wall flow parameters in the blade end-wall corner region

The effects of secondary end-wall corner flows on near wall flow parameters in turbomachinary are studied. Important near wall flow parameters such as the wall shear stress vector, the mean wall pressure, the wall pressure fluctuations, and the correlation of the wall pressure fluctuation with the velocity fluctuation in three-dimensional turbulent flows are first experimentally investigated. The blade end-wall corner region is simulated by mounting airfoil section of symmetric blades on both sides of the flat plate with semicircular leading edge. Observed changes in the maximum values of the wall shear stress and its location from the corner line could be associated with the streching and attenuation of the horseshoe vortex. The values of wall pressure fluctuation intensity in the blade end-wall corner region are found to be influenced by the changes of the strength of the horseshoe vortex. The correlation of the wall pressure fluctuation with the velocity fluctuation indicated higher values of correlation coefficient in the inner region as compared to the outer region of the shear layer. The values of wall pressure-velocity correlation coefficient in the blade end-wall corner region also decrease in the streamwise direction while increasing in the presence of favorable and adverse pressure gradients.

R K Bhargava↗
NASA NTRS1992

Constant reverse thrust activated reorientation of liquid hydrogen with Geyser initiation

A key objective of the cryogenic fluid management of the spacecraft propulsion system is to develop the technology necessary for acquisition or positioning of liquid outflow or vapor venting. Numerical simulation of positive liquid acquisition is attempted by introducing reverse gravity acceleration, resulting from the propulsive thrust of auxiliary engines, which exceeds critical value for the initiation of geyser. Based on the computer simulation of flowfields during the course of fluid reorientation, six dimensionless parameters resulted in this study. It shows that these parameters hold near-constant values through the entire ranges of liquid filled levels, from 30-80 percent, during the course of fluid reorientation.

Hung, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A Parametric Numerical Study of Mixing in a Cylindrical Duct

The interaction is described of some of the important parameters affecting the mixing process in a quick mixing region of a rich burn/quick mix/lean burn (RQL) combustor. The performance of the quick mixing region is significantly affected by the geometric designs of both the mixing domain and the jet inlet orifices. Several of the important geometric parameters and operating conditions affecting the mixing process were analytically studied. Parameters such as jet-to-mainstream momentum flux ratio (J), mass flow ratio (MR), orifice geometry, orifice orientation, and number of orifices/row (equally spaced) around the circumferential direction were analyzed. Three different sets of orifice shapes were studied: (1) square, (2) elongated slots, and (3) equilateral triangles. Based on the analytical results, the best mixing configuration depends significantly on the penetration depth of the jet to prevent the hot mainstream flow from being entrained behind the orifice. The structure in a circular mixing section is highly weighted toward the outer wall and any mixing structure affecting this area significantly affects the overall results. The increase in the number of orifices per row increases the mixing at higher J conditions. Higher slot slant angles and aspect ratios are generally the best mixing configurations at higher momentum flux ratio (J) conditions. However, the square and triangular shaped orifices were more effective mixing configurations at lower J conditions.

Oechsle, V. L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

A parametric numerical study of mixing in a cylindrical duct

The interaction is described of some of the important parameters affecting the mixing process in a quick mixing region of a rich burn/quick mix/lean burn (RQL) combustor. The performance of the quick mixing region is significantly affected by the geometric designs of both the mixing domain and the jet inlet orifices. Several of the important geometric parameters and operating conditions affecting the mixing process were analytically studied. Parameters such as jet-to-mainstream momentum flux ratio (J), mass flow ratio (MR), orifice geometry, orifice orientation, and number of orifices/row (equally spaced around the circumferential direction were analyzed. Three different sets of orifice shapes were studied: (1) square, (2) elongated slots, and (3) equilateral triangles. Based on the analytical results, the best mixing configuration depends significantly on the penetration depth of the jet to prevent the hot mainstream flow from being entrained behind the orifice. The structure in a circular mixing section is highly weighted toward the outer wall and any mixing structure affecting this area significantly affects the overall results. The increase in the number of orifices per row increases the mixing at higher J conditions. Higher slot slant angles and aspect ratios are generally the best mixing configurations at higher momentum flux ratio (J) conditions. However, the square and triangular shaped orifices were more effective mixing configurations at lower J conditions.

Oechsle, V. L.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Spectroscopic analysis of solar and cosmic X-ray spectra. 1: The nature of cosmic X-ray spectra and proposed analytical techniques

Techniques for the study of the solar corona are reviewed as an introduction to a discussion of modifications required for the study of cosmic sources. Spectroscopic analysis of individual sources and the interstellar medium is considered. The latter was studied via analysis of its effect on the spectra of selected individual sources. The effects of various characteristics of the ISM, including the presence of grains, molecules, and ionization, are first discussed, and the development of ISM models is described. The expected spectral structure of individual cosmic sources is then reviewed with emphasis on supernovae remnants and binary X-ray sources. The observational and analytical requirements imposed by the characteristics of these sources are identified, and prospects for the analysis of abundances and the study of physical parameters within them are assessed. Prospects for the spectroscopic study of other classes of X-ray sources are also discussed.

Walker, A. B. C., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture Radar (DBSAR): Performance Analysis During the Eco-3D 2011 and Summer 2012 Flight Campaigns

The Digital Beamforming Synthetic Aperture radar (DBSAR) is a state-of-the-art airborne radar developed at NASA/Goddard for the implementation, and testing of digital beamforming techniques applicable to Earth and planetary sciences. The DBSAR measurements have been employed to study: The estimation of vegetation biomass and structure - critical parameters in the study of the carbon cycle; The measurement of geological features - to explore its applicability to planetary science by measuring planetary analogue targets. The instrument flew two test campaigns over the East coast of the United States in 2011, and 2012. During the campaigns the instrument operated in full polarimetric mode collecting data from vegetation and topography features.

SAR↗
NASA NTRS2022

Optimization Approach for Wind Tunnel Fan Blade Strain Gage Correlation with Test Fixture Unknowns

NASA has a significant maintenance challenge with the aging wind tunnel infrastructure across the Agency. Some wind tunnel fan blades, such as those in the National Transonic Facility at NASA Langley Research Center, have been in use for far longer than their planned 10-year lifetime. No detailed analytical models of the fan blades from their initial fabrication were created. To support the fabrication of either new, nominally identical fan blades or newly designed fan blades, accurate analytical models of the existing fan blades are necessary to demonstrate an understanding of the capabilities of the existing fan blades. Additionally, the existing documentation of the testing of the existing fan blades has gaps. In this report, a process for improving test-analysis correlation for these wind tunnel fan blades is discussed. This process involved a detailed study of unknown parameters in test fixture parameters from the old and incomplete test documentation. To improve correlation, these unknown parameters were used as design variables in an optimization study to minimize the error between test data and computed structural responses. Legacy strain gage data from tests conducted in 1981 were compared with results from a finite element model created in 2019. The use of test data from 1981 was necessary because none of the existing fan blades could be spared for use in destructive structural testing. While this process was demonstrated for wind tunnel fan blades, this process could be utilized for evaluating unknowns in test fixtures for other structural test configurations.

wind tunnel↗
NASA NTRS1976

Summary of some recent studies of subsonic vortex lift and parameters affecting the leading-edge vortex stability

Various subsonic configurations which develop vortex lift are examined herein. Comparisons are made with data and the combination of direct and indirect edge forces through use of the suction analogy. For most configurations, the use of the indirect or augmented vortex lift leads to improved agreement with data. The studies conducted showed that it is possible for the leading-edge vortex to exhibit bursting on a cropped wing and the wing aerodynamic characteristics not show the effect. It was further found that the distributions of leading-edge suction correlate well with the maintenance of vortex flow aerodynamic characteristics. Lastly, a method is presented for relating the initial value of circulation and axial velocity of the leading-edge shed vortex to the wing geometry.

Lamar, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Preliminary structural design of a lunar transfer vehicle aerobrake

An aerobrake for a lunar transfer vehicle was designed through the use of the Taguchi design method, structural finite element analyses, and structural sizing routines. A minimum weight aerobrake structural configuration was the objective of the study. Six design parameters were chosen to represent the aerobrake structural configuration. The design parameters included honeycomb core thickness, diameter-to-depth ratio, shape, material, number of concentric ring frames and number of radial frames. Each parameter had 3 levels. The optimum aerobrake configuration resulting from the study was approximately half the weight of the average of all the other experimental configurations. The parameters having the most significant impact on the aerobrake structural weight were identified.

Bush, Lance B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Analysis of Glint During the Artemis I Mission

Glint occurs when light reflects off a specular (mirror-like) surface. In the context of spacecraft, glinted light can land in places that may cause unintended, negative effects. During the Artemis I mission in November and December of 2022, glint was forced to occur in order to study its effect on the Orion electrical power system (EPS). With the vehicle in a nose-to-sun attitude, light was reflected off the crew module’s reflective skin and onto forward pointed solar array wings (SAWs), producing more current than would result from direct solar flux alone. The goal of this in-flight test was to anchor the models previously used to study this phenomenon and to understand what parameters have the most significant impact on glinted current generation. In this presentation, the two models used for estimating optical properties for glint analysis will be discussed, as well as a worst-case study that was performed before the Artemis I mission. In-flight telemetry data will be compared to values of SAW section current produced by the models. Each of the optical properties and parameters studied will be outlined and their significance on the impact of glint will be discussed.

Glint↗
NASA NTRS1984

Parametric study of turbine blade platform friction damping using the lumped parameter analysis

The hardware configuration used in the present study of turbine blade planform friction damping, by means of the lumped parameter analysis, is the first turbine stage of the Space Shuttle Main Engine's High Pressure Fuel Turbopump. The analysis procedure solves the nonlinear equations of motion for a turbine blade that is acted on by a platform friction damper, using an iterative matrix method. Attention is given to the effects on blade deflection response of variations in friction coefficient, the normal force on the friction surface interface, blade hysteretic damping, the blade-to-blade phase angle of the harmonic forcing function, and the amplitude of the forcing function.

Dominic, R. J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Monitoring water quality in the lower Kansas River using remote sensing

Abstract We demonstrate how to combine remote sensing data from satellite imagery (Sentinel‐2) with in situ water quality gauging (USGS Super Gages and the Gybe hyperspectral radiometer) to create spatially dense maps of water quality parameters (chlorophyll‐a concentration, turbidity, and nitrate plus nitrite concentration) along the lower Kansas River. The water quality maps are created using locally tuned models of the target water quality parameters, and this study describes the steps used to design, calibrate, and validate the empirical correlations. Water quality parameters such as chlorophyll‐a concentration are correlated with well‐studied absorption and scattering features in the visible spectrum (roughly 400–700 nm). Nutrients (such as nitrate plus nitrite concentration) lack strong absorption features in the visible spectrum, and in those cases we describe a novel surrogate data modeling approach that identifies overlapping water parcels between the in situ gauging and the remote sensing imagery. Measurements from the overlapping water parcels yield excellent correlations () for the target water quality parameters for limited windows of time (or limited sections of river reaches). Examples are provided illustrating how the water quality maps can be used to track river inputs from ungauged sources (such as creeks), or reveal the mixing patterns at the confluences.

Tufillaro, Nicholas↗
NASA NTRS1985

Estimation of Regional Evapotranspiration Using Remotely Sensed Land Surface Temperature. Part 1: Measurement of Evapotranspiration at the Environmental Research Center and Determination of Priestley-taylor Parameter

In order to study the distribution of evapotranspiration in the humid region using remote sensing technology, the parameter (alpha) in the Priestley-Taylor model was determined. The daily means of the parameter alpha = 1.14 can be available from summer to autumn and alpha = to approximately 2.0 in winter. The results of the satellite and the airborne sensing done on 21st and 22nd January, 1983, are described. Using the vegetation distribution in the Tsukuba Academic New Town, as well as the radiation temperature obtained by remote sensing and the radiation data observed at the ground surface, the evapotranspiration was calculated for each vegetation type by the Priestley-Taylor method. The daily mean evapotranspiration on 22nd January, 1983, was approximately 0.4 mm/day. The differences in evapotranspiration between the vegetation types were not detectable, because the magnitude of evapotranspiration is very little in winter.

Kotada, K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Dimension scaling effects on the yield sensitivity of HEMT digital circuits

In our previous works, using a graphical tool, yield factor histograms, we studied the yield sensitivity of High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMT) and HEMT circuit performance with the variation of process parameters. This work studies the scaling effects of process parameters on yield sensitivity of HEMT digital circuits. The results from two HEMT circuits are presented.

Sarker, Jogendra C.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Space transportation vehicle design evaluation using saturated designs

An important objective in the preliminary design and evaluation of space transportation vehicles is to find the best values of design variables that optimize the performance characteristic (e.g. dry weight). For a given configuration, the vehicle performance can be determined by the use of complex sizing and performance evaluation computer programs. These complex computer programs utilize iterative algorithms and they are generally too expensive and/or difficult to use directly in multidisciplinary design optimization. An alternative is to use response surface methodology (RSM) and obtain quadratic polynomial approximations to the functional relationships between performance characteristics and design variables. In RSM, these approximation models are then used to determine optimum design parameter values and for rapid sensitivity studies. Constructing a second-order model requires that 'n' design parameters be studied at least at 3 levels (values) so that the coefficients in the model can be estimated. There, 3(n) factorial experiments (point designs or observations) may be necessary. For small values of 'n' such as two or three, this design works well. However, when a large number of design parameters are under study, the number of design points required for a full-factorial design may become excessive. Fortunately, these quadratic polynomial approximations can be obtained by selecting an efficient design matrix using central composite designs (CCD) from design of experiments theory. Each unique point design from the CCD matrix is then conducted using computerized analysis tools (e.g. POST, CONSIZ, etc.). In the next step, least squares regression analysis is used to calculate the quadratic polynomial coefficients from the data. However, in some multidisciplinary applications involving a large number of design variables and several disciplines, the computerized performance synthesis programs may get too time consuming and expensive to run even with the use of efficient central composite designs. In such cases, it may be preferable to keep the number of design points to an absolute minimum and trade some model accuracy with cost. For this purpose, another class of experimental designs, called saturated D-optimal designs may be utilized for generating a matrix of vehicle designs. A design is called saturated when the number of design points is exactly equal to the number of terms in the model to be fitted. As a result, saturated designs require the absolute minimum number of design points ((n+1)(n+2)/s) to estimate the quadratic polynomial model coefficients. Saturated designs can be generated using the D-optimality criterion. A good saturated design should give rise to least squares estimates with minimum generalized variance.

Unal, Resit↗
NASA NTRS1984

A comparison of two photogrammetric algorithms for the measurement of model deformation in the National Transonic Facility

A comparison was made of two photogrammetric measurement techniques which can be used for the determination of the spatial loctions of targets. One technique is known as the Direct Linear Transformation (DLT), and the other is referred to as the Bundle method. Each technique utilizes triangulation of image data from two or more cameras, but they differ in their method of determining camera parameters. While the study was performed with simulated data, the geometries, image data accuracies and other parameters were set to simulate conditions for a two-camera, photogrammetric system which will be used at the National Transonic Facility at the NASA's Langley Research Center. For the conditions studied the Bundle technique was found to have smaller errors. Both methods were sensitive to the spatial distribution of control-point targets, but this effected the accuracy of the Bundle algorithm less than that of the DLT algorithm.

Monteith, J. H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Electric Sail Design Sensitivities

Electric Sails (E-Sails) are a promising propulsion technology that seek to enable high characteristic propellentless acceleration for spacecraft to reach distant and/or difficult to reach orbits such as rapid transit to heliopause. The E-Sail system exchanges momentum by using positively charged electrostatic tethers to repel solar wind photons to push it through space. This concept was first theorized by Pekka Janhunen in 2004 with further developments occurring including a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase 1 and Phase 2 hosted out of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC). These developments led to further maturation of the overall system, and this paper is designed to help identify different design sensitivities of an integrated Electric Sail system. To approach this, a small team at MSFC took an in-house developed three degrees of freedom (3DoF) simulation tool and a trajectory modelling tool to look at different design parameters and to determine a potential ideal E-Sail configuration. An E-Sail system has different design architectures including a barbell design, hub and spoke design, and a potential hybrid solution. The barbell design features two equally massed satellites that spin around a central point in the tether system. The hub and spoke design features a large central spacecraft with small end spacecraft to aid in formation control of the overall E-Sail system. Leveraging elements from both the hub and spoke, and barbell design, a hybrid option exists where one could have a larger central mass and one or two tethers extended to a smaller end mass [2]. In summary, the hub and spoke design is the ideal configuration for E-Sail with tethers spanning kilometers to achieve the designed design characteristic acceleration of at least one mm/s2 with this architecture being the focus of this study. Different key design parameters were varied as part of this study. These parameters include the total number of tethers, the length of the tethers, spin rate, relative spacecraft mass, tether voltage, inertia per tether, and impact of slew rate changes. These results started from an internal MSFC technology demonstration mission design and then the parameters were varied with engineering judgement to ensure that the results were consistent with expected results. These were varied in the MSFC 3DoF tool and compared to baseline results to generate a candidate ideal E-Sail design system. These results were then used to help inform the mission analysis design for the system. The 3DoF trajectory optimization was performed in the Astrodynamics and Space Science Enabling Toolbox (ASSET) and utilized collocation optimization of control vector pointing with the objective function being transfer duration. A representative model of the E-Sail force was derived as a function of the Sun-pointing vector direction. This model was initialized with a zero Sun Incidence Angle (SIA) trajectory for the initial guess generation, then with a portion of the mission optimized SIA time history for fast outbound transfers. After the trajectory is hyperbolic relative to a heliocentric frame, the SIA is maintained at 0 degrees except for any needed trajectory correction maneuvers. This trajectory optimization looked at different characteristic acceleration values to analyze the impact it had on mission performance. As a result of this study, the team can best inform mission designers and technology development efforts to mature the E-Sail system. This study will allow mission designers to have defined rules-of-thumb to design an E-Sail system to meet desired mission needs as well as providing several sample mission profiles. These design drivers will inform maturation efforts on which design requirements to consider for an integrated E-Sail design.

E-Sail↗