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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 649 records · Page 36

Airborne Systems Technology Application to the Windshear Threat

The general approach and products of the NASA/FAA Airborne Windshear Program conducted by NASA Langley Research Center are summarized, with references provided for the major technical contributions. During this period, NASA conducted 2 years of flight testing to characterize forward-looking sensor performance. The NASA/FAA Airborne Windshear Program was divided into three main elements: Hazard Characterization, Sensor Technology, and Flight Management Systems. Simulation models developed under the Hazard Characterization element are correlated with flight test data. Flight test results comparing the performance and characteristics of the various Sensor Technologies (microwave radar, lidar, and infrared) are presented. Most of the activities in the Flight Management Systems element were conducted in simulation. Simulation results from a study evaluating windshear crew procedures and displays for forward-looking sensor-equipped airplanes are discussed. NASA Langley researchers participated heavily in the FAA process of generating certification guidelines for predictive windshear detection systems. NASA participants felt that more valuable technology products were generated by the program because of this interaction. NASA involvement in the process and the resulting impact on products and technology transfer are discussed in this paper.

Arbuckle, P. Douglas↗

The Effect of Systematic Error in Forced Oscillation Testing

One of the fundamental problems in flight dynamics is the formulation of aerodynamic forces and moments acting on an aircraft in arbitrary motion. Classically, conventional stability derivatives are used for the representation of aerodynamic loads in the aircraft equations of motion. However, for modern aircraft with highly nonlinear and unsteady aerodynamic characteristics undergoing maneuvers at high angle of attack and/or angular rates the conventional stability derivative model is no longer valid. Attempts to formulate aerodynamic model equations with unsteady terms are based on several different wind tunnel techniques: for example, captive, wind tunnel single degree-of-freedom, and wind tunnel free-flying techniques. One of the most common techniques is forced oscillation testing. However, the forced oscillation testing method does not address the systematic and systematic correlation errors from the test apparatus that cause inconsistencies in the measured oscillatory stability derivatives. The primary objective of this study is to identify the possible sources and magnitude of systematic error in representative dynamic test apparatuses. Sensitivities of the longitudinal stability derivatives to systematic errors are computed, using a high fidelity simulation of a forced oscillation test rig, and assessed using both Design of Experiments and Monte Carlo methods.

Williams, Brianne Y.↗

Modal Test of the NASA Mobile Launcher at Kennedy Space Center

The NASA Mobile Launcher (ML), located at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), has recently been modified to support the launch of the new NASA Space Launch System (SLS). The ML is a massive structure—consisting of a 345-foot tall tower attached to a two-story base, weighing approximately 10.5 million pounds—that will secure the SLS vehicle as it rolls to the launch pad on a Crawler Transporter, as well as provide a launch platform at the pad. The ML will also provide the boundary condition for an upcoming SLS Integrated Modal Test (IMT). To help correlate the ML math models prior to this modal test, and allow focus to remain on updating SLS vehicle models during the IMT, a ML-only experimental modal test was performed in June 2019. Excitation of the tower and platform was provided by five uniquely-designed test fixtures, each enclosing a hydraulic shaker, capable of exerting thousands of pounds of force into the structure. For modes not that were not sufficiently excited by the test fixture shakers, a specially-designed mobile drop tower provided impact excitation at additional locations of interest. The response of the ML was measured with a total of 361 accelerometers. Following the random vibration, sine sweep vibration, and modal impact testing, frequency response functions were calculated and modes were extracted for three different configurations of the ML in 0 Hz to 12 Hz frequency range. This paper will provide a case study in performing modal tests on large structures by discussing the Mobile Launcher, the test strategy, an overview of the test results, and recommendations for meeting a tight test schedule for a large-scale modal test.

Hydraulic shakers↗

Great microwave bursts and hard X-rays from solar flares

In the present study of the microwave and hard X-ray characteristics of 13 solar flares emitting microwave fluxes greater than 500 solar flux units, simultaneous 3-35 GHz and hard X-ray observations were conducted in the 30-500 keV energy range. An analysis is conducted to determine whether the same distribution of energetic electrons can explain both emissions; tests for any correlations between them yield results suggesting that optically thick microwave emission, near the peak frequency, originates in the same electron population that produces the hard X-rays. A single temperature model and a multitemperature model were tested for consistency with the coincident X-ray and microwave spectra at microwave burst maximum; neither model, however, attempts to explain the high frequency component of the microwave spectrum.

Wiehl, H. J.↗

Fracture mechanics applied to elevated temperature crack growth

Twenty-six isothermal crack growth tests were performed on Hastelloy-X tubular specimens at a variety of temperatures and strain ranges. Conditions were selected to include nominally elastic and nominally plastic conditions. A number of parameters including the stress intensity factor, strain intensity factor, J-integral, Crack Opening Displacement, and Tompkins model were examined for their ability to correlate the data. Test conditions were selected such that growth rates at a single value of the parameter were obtained at radially different crack lengths, thus exploring the geometry independence of the correlating parameter. None of the parameters were fully satisfactory. However, COD calculated from J-integral appeared to be the most successful.

Jordan, E. H.↗

Experimental Investigation of a Graphite-Composite Intertank Section for a Reusable Launch Vehicle

The use of graphite-composites as primary structure is essential for the development of a cost effective single-stage-to-orbit reusable launch vehicle (RLV). A full-scale segment of a graphite-composite intertank was designed and fabricated by an industry team and tested at NASA Langley Research Center as a part of the RLV technology development program. The intertank test component was approximately 3.0 m long by 6.7 m wide and included slightly less than a 90deg section of a cylindrical intertank. The test article was fabricated using graphite-bismaelimide composite material and consisted of a hat-stiffened skin with five ring frames. The stiffeners were secondarily bonded to the panel skin and the ring frames were mechanically attached. The test article was loaded to failure with a uniform compression load applied by 21 individually controlled hydraulic actuators. Resistance strain gages, linear variable differential transformers and video cameras were used to measure and record the test results. A linear f d t e element analysis of the test article and test fixture was performed. The test results verified the structural integrity cf the intertank test article up to the design limit load. However, the test article failed in general skin buckling between the ring frames at a load 1.08 times design limit load. This load was considerably lower than the expected failure load. The cause of premature failure is being investigated. Good correlation of the test and analysis results was obtained for loads up to the design limit load.

Sawyer, James Wayne↗

Notch strength of composites

The notch strength of composites is discussed. The point stress and average stress criteria relate the notched strength of a laminate to the average strength of a relatively long tensile coupon. Tests of notched specimens in which microstrain gages have been placed at or near the edges of the holes have measured strains much larger that those measured in an unnotched tensile coupon. Orthotropic stress concentration analyses of failed notched laminates have also indicated that failure occurred at strains much larger than those experienced on tensile coupons with normal gage lengths. This suggests that the high strains at the edge of a hole can be related to the very short length of fiber subjected to these strains. Lockheed has attempted to correlate a series of tests of several laminates with holes ranging from 0.19 to 0.50 in. Although the average stress criterion correlated well with test results for hole sizes equal to or greater than 0.50 in., it over-estimated the laminate strength in the range of hole sizes from 0.19 to 0.38 in. It thus appears that a theory is needed that is based on the mechanics of failure and is more generally applicable to the range of hole sizes and the varieties of laminates found in aircraft construction.

Whitney, J. M.↗

Using quantum noise correlation analysis to measure ion temperature

Quantum noise correlation analysis was tested at the proof-of-concept level as a technique to measure ion temperature in a plasma. If eventually successful, this technique could enable a compact, inexpensive, and robust ion temperature diagnostic suitable for a burning plasma environment. Ion temperature is a key parameter determining the fusion performance of a burning plasma, as the fusion cross-section has a strong dependence on ion temperature. This ion temperature diagnostic would require only a small optical view of the plasma through a port to passively record impurity line emission. The instrumentation would be remote from the reactor behind the neutron and bio-shielding. The technique relies solely on quantum correlations of the photons emitted by a plasma impurity to measure ion temperature; there is no grating dispersion of an emission line-width or pulse-height analysis of photon energy. This measurement innovation was tested with instrumentation consisting of two single-photon detectors with high timing resolution, a time-tagging unit, and simple light collection optics. This instrumentation measures the second-order correlation between the light intensity falling on the two detectors. The next steps beyond the proof-of-concept level will be development of diagnostic designs for application of this technique to high-temperature and burning plasmas. Arrays of single-photon avalanche detectors to multiplex measurements of photon correlation will be required to reduce signal integration time to an acceptable duration.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Correlations Between Metallurgical Characterization Studies, Exploratory Mechanical Tests, and Continuum Mechanics Approaches to Constitutive Equations

Austenitic stainless steels, such as types 316 and 304, are widely used as pressure vessel materials in the temperature range of 425 to 650 C. Stainless steel specimens were tested to rupture at two different stress levels sigma and sigma 2 sigma 1 sigma 2) to establish the normal stain-time behavior. A subsequent test was performed in which the specimen was crept at the higher stress (sigma 1) to the beginning of the secondary stage of creep, presumed to be the strain/time conditions at which a steady state microstructure is developed, and then the stress was reduced to the lower level (sigma 2). The associated microstructure, and significance of this microstructure on the creep strain-hardening model for variable uniaxial loads were assesed and found to be consistent with the use of creep-recovery models at high stresses and temperatures and strain-hardening models at low stresses and tempertures.

Moteff, J.↗

Gravitational waves and red shifts - A space experiment for testing relativistic gravity using multiple time-correlated radio signals

A two-step satellite mission for improving the accuracy of gravitational wave detection and for observing actual gravity waveforms is proposed. The spacecraft would carry both a highly stable hydrogen maser, which would control a transmitter sending signals to earth, and a Doppler transponder operating in the two-way mode. The use of simultaneous one- and two-way Doppler transmissions offers four time records of frequency pulsations, which can reveal gravitational radiation at 1-10 MHz with an amplitude accuracy of a factor of six. The first mission phase would consist of a Shuttle launch into a highly eccentric orbit to obtain measurements of the gravitational redshift using gravitational potentials of different earth regions to establish that gravity is describable by a metric theory. Then, after a boost into a heliocentric orbit at 6 AU, the earth-satellite system could detect gravitational waves in the solar system, as well as bursts emitted by the collisions of supermassive black holes.

Smarr, L. L.↗

Measurements of Doppler shifts by gas correlation spectroscopy

IR gas correlation spectroscopy is a sensitive technique for the measurement of small Doppler shifts in spectra. This technique also exhibits several important advantages over alternative methods in the remote sensing of stratospheric and mesospheric winds from spacecraft. Attention is presently given to laboratory tests demonstrating gas correlation spectroscopy's quantitative measurement of small Doppler shifts in spectra, whose close agreement with theoretical predictions suggests that measurements of the change in the radiant flux through a gas correlation spectrometer can be used to measure the relative velocity between gas and instrument for a moving parcel of gas.

Mccleese, D. J.↗

Economic trade-offs between the performance of collector thermal performance tests on a Solar Simulator as opposed to outdoor testing

In 1976 a large Solar Simulator was designed and installed at Marshall Space Flight Center. This Solar Simulator is the largest of its type in the country and has a 'working' area of 4 ft x 8 ft. Recently completed comparison tests show excellent correlation with data collected in the natural sun. The Solar Simulator has been in operation since September 1976 and the costs of operation are now determinable together with the cost of design and construction. The authors compare the total operational costs of obtaining test data using the simulator with analogous costs of testing in the natural sun. In addition, productivity is compared.

Reily, J. C.↗

High-Temperature Structures, Adhesives, and Advanced Thermal Protection Materials for Next-Generation Aeroshell Design

The next generation of planetary exploration vehicles will rely heavily on robust aero-assist technologies, especially those that include aerocapture. This paper provides an overview of an ongoing development program, led by NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) and aimed at introducing high-temperature structures, adhesives, and advanced thermal protection system (TPS) materials into the aeroshell design process. The purpose of this work is to demonstrate TPS materials that can withstand the higher heating rates of NASA's next generation planetary missions, and to validate high-temperature structures and adhesives that can reduce required TPS thickness and total aeroshell mass, thus allowing for larger science payloads. The effort described consists of parallel work in several advanced aeroshell technology areas. The areas of work include high-temperature adhesives, high-temperature composite materials, advanced ablator (TPS) materials, sub-scale demonstration test articles, and aeroshell modeling and analysis. The status of screening test results for a broad selection of available higher-temperature adhesives is presented. It appears that at least one (and perhaps a few) adhesives have working temperatures ranging from 315-400 C (600-750 F), and are suitable for TPS-to-structure bondline temperatures that are significantly above the traditional allowable of 250 C (482 F). The status of mechanical testing of advanced high-temperature composite materials is also summarized. To date, these tests indicate the potential for good material performance at temperatures of at least 600 F. Application of these materials and adhesives to aeroshell systems that incorporate advanced TPS materials may reduce aeroshell TPS mass by 15% - 30%. A brief outline is given of work scheduled for completion in 2006 that will include fabrication and testing of large panels and subscale aeroshell test articles at the Solar-Tower Test Facility located at Kirtland AFB and operated by Sandia National Laboratories. These tests are designed to validate aeroshell manufacturability using advanced material systems, and to demonstrate the maintenance of bondline integrity at realistically high temperatures and heating rates. Finally, a status is given of ongoing aeroshell modeling and analysis efforts which will be used to correlate with experimental testing, and to provide a reliable means of extrapolating to performance under actual flight conditions. The modeling and analysis effort includes a parallel series of experimental tests to determine TSP thermal expansion and other mechanical properties which are required for input to the analysis models.

Collins, Timothy J.↗

Investigation of Spiral Bevel Gear Condition Indicator Validation Via AC-29-2C Using Damage Progression Tests

This report documents the results of spiral bevel gear rig tests performed under a NASA Space Act Agreement with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to support validation and demonstration of rotorcraft Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) for maintenance credits via FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 29-2C, Section MG-15, Airworthiness Approval of Rotorcraft (HUMS) (Ref. 1). The overarching goal of this work was to determine a method to validate condition indicators in the lab that better represent their response to faults in the field. Using existing in-service helicopter HUMS flight data from faulted spiral bevel gears as a "Case Study," to better understand the differences between both systems, and the availability of the NASA Glenn Spiral Bevel Gear Fatigue Rig, a plan was put in place to design, fabricate and test comparable gear sets with comparable failure modes within the constraints of the test rig. The research objectives of the rig tests were to evaluate the capability of detecting gear surface pitting fatigue and other generated failure modes on spiral bevel gear teeth using gear condition indicators currently used in fielded HUMS. Nineteen final design gear sets were tested. Tables were generated for each test, summarizing the failure modes observed on the gear teeth for each test during each inspection interval and color coded based on damage mode per inspection photos. Gear condition indicators (CI) Figure of Merit 4 (FM4), Root Mean Square (RMS), +/- 1 Sideband Index (SI1) and +/- 3 Sideband Index (SI3) were plotted along with rig operational parameters. Statistical tables of the means and standard deviations were calculated within inspection intervals for each CI. As testing progressed, it became clear that certain condition indicators were more sensitive to a specific component and failure mode. These tests were clustered together for further analysis. Maintenance actions during testing were also documented. Correlation coefficients were calculated between each CI, component, damage state and torque. Results found test rig and gear design, type of fault and data acquisition can affect CI performance. Results found FM4, SI1 and SI3 can be used to detect macro pitting on two more gear or pinion teeth as long as it is detected prior to progressing to other components or transitioning to another failure mode. The sensitivity of RMS to system and operational conditions limit its reliability for systems that are not maintained at steady state. Failure modes that occurred due to scuffing or fretting were challenging to detect with current gear diagnostic tools, since the damage is distributed across all the gear and pinion teeth, smearing the impacting signatures typically used to differentiate between a healthy and damaged tooth contact. This is one of three final reports published on the results of this project. In the second report, damage modes experienced in the field will be mapped to the failure modes created in the test rig. The helicopter CI data will then be re-processed with the same analysis techniques applied to spiral bevel rig test data. In the third report, results from the rig and helicopter data analysis will be correlated. Observations, findings and lessons learned using sub-scale rig failure progression tests to validate helicopter gear condition indicators will be presented.

gears↗

Significance of Landsat-7 Spacecraft Level Thermal Balance and Thermal Test for ETM+Instrument

The thermal design and the instrument thermal vacuum (T/V) test of the Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) instrument were based on the Landsat-4, 5 and 6 heritage. The ETM+ scanner thermal model was also inherited from Landsat-4, 5 and 6. The temperature predictions of many scanner components in the original thermal model had poor agreement with the spacecraft and instrument integrated sun-pointing safehold (SPSH) thermal balance (T/B) test results. The spacecraft and instrument integrated T/B test led to a change of the Full Aperture Calibrator (FAC) motor stack "solar shield" coating from MIL-C-5541 to multi-layer insulation (MLI) thermal blanket. The temperature predictions of the Auxiliary Electronics Module (AEM) in the thermal model also had poor agreement with the T/B test results. Modifications to the scanner and AEM thermal models were performed to give good agreement between the temperature predictions and the test results. The correlated ETM+ thermal model was used to obtain flight temperature predictions. The flight temperature predictions in the nominal 15-orbit mission profile, plus margins, were used as the yellow limits for most of the ETM+ components. The spacecraft and instrument integrated T/B and TN test also revealed that the standby heater capacity on the Scan Mirror Assembly (SMA) was insufficient when the Earth Background Simulator (EBS) was 1 50C or colder, and the baffle heater possibly caused the coherent noise in the narrow band data when it was on. Also, the cooler cool-down was significantly faster than that in the instrument T/V test, and the coldest Cold Focal Plane Array (CFPA) temperature achieved was colder.

Choi, Michael K.↗