Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “CRITICAL PRESSURE”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1945

Effect of Normal Pressure on the Critical Compressive and Shear Stress of Curved Sheet

Results are presented of tests of two sets of 20 curved-sheet specimens to determine the effect of normal pressure on the critical compressive and shear stress of curved sheets. It was found that normal pressure raised the critical compressive and shear stress of curved sheets except when outward bulging occurred in compression, in which case the critical stress was lowered by normal pressure. (author)

Rafel, Norman↗
NASA NTRS2003

Membrane-Based Gas Traps for Ammonia, Freon-21, and Water Systems to Simplify Ground Processing

Gas traps are critical for the smooth operation of coolant loops because gas bubbles can cause loss of centrifugal pump prime, interference with sensor readings, inhibition of heat transfer, and blockage of passages to remote systems. Coolant loops are ubiquitous in space flight hardware, and thus there is a great need for this technology. Conventional gas traps will not function in micro-gravity due to the absence of buoyancy forces. Therefore, clever designs that make use of adhesion and momentum are required for adequate separation, preferable in a single pass. The gas traps currently used in water coolant loops on the International Space Station are composed of membrane tube sets in a shell. Each tube set is composed of a hydrophilic membrane (used for water transport and capture of bubbles) and a hydrophobic membrane (used for venting of air bubbles). For the hydrophilic membrane, there are two critical pressures, the pressure drop and the bubble pressure. The pressure drop is the decrease in system pressure across the gas trap. The bubble pressure is the pressure required for air bubbles to pass across the water filled membrane. A significant difference between these pressures is needed to ensure complete capture of air bubbles in a single pass. Bubbles trapped by the device adsorb on the hydrophobic membrane in the interior of the hydrophilic membrane tube. After adsorption, the air is vented due to a pressure drop of approximately 1 atmosphere across the membrane. For water systems, the air is vented to the ambient (cabin). Because water vapor can also transport across the hydrophobic membrane, it is critical that a minimum surface area is used to avoid excessive water loss (would like to have a closed loop for the coolant). The currently used gas traps only provide a difference in pressure drop and bubble pressure of 3-4 psid. This makes the gas traps susceptible to failure at high bubble loading and if gas venting is impaired. One mechanism for the latter is when particles adhere to the hydrophobic membrane, promoting formation of a water layer about it that can blind the membrane for gas transport (Figure 1). This mechanism is the most probable cause for observed failures with the existing design. The objective of this project was to devise a strategy for choosing new membrane materials (database development and procedure), redesign of the gas trap to mitigate blinding effects, and to develop a design that can be used in ammonia and Freon-21 coolant loops.

Ritchie, Stephen M. C.↗
NASA NTRS1947

Effects of Mach Number and Reynolds Number on the Maximum Lift Coefficient of a Wing of NACA 230-series Airfoil Sections

Wing was tested with full-span, partial-span, or split flaps deflected 60 Degrees and without flaps. Chordwise pressure-distribution measurements were made for all flap configurations.. Peak values of maximum lift coefficient were obtained at relatively low free-stream Mach numbers and, before critical Mach number was reached, were almost entirely dependent on Reynolds Number. Lift coefficient increased by increasing Mach number or deflecting flaps while critical pressure coefficient was reached at lower free-stream Mach numbers.

LIFT COEFFICIENTS - AIRFOILS - NACA 230↗
NASA NTRS1959

Effect on Inlet Performance of a Cowl Visor and an Internal-Contraction Cowl for Drag Reduction at Mach Numbers 3.07 and 1.89

Two methods for reducing the external cowl angle, and hence the cowl pressure drag, were investigated on a two-dimensional model. One method used at both on- and off-design Mach numbers was the addition of a cowl visor that had the inner surface parallel to the free stream at 0 deg angle of attack. The other method investigated consisted in replacing the original cowl by a flatter cowl that also provided internal contraction. Both the visor and the internal-contraction cowl reduced the cowl pressure drag 64 percent or more. The visor had little effect on inlet performance at the design Mach number except to reduce the stability range slightly. At off-design, the visor caused an increase in critical pressure recovery.

Gertsma, Laurence W.↗
NASA NTRS1955

Preliminary Investigation of a Conical Spike Inlet in Combination with a Vertical-wedge Auxiliary Inlet at Mach Number 1.9

Pressure-recovery characteristics of a nacelle-type-spike inlet in combination with a vertical-wedge auxiliary scoop are presented for a free-stream Mach number of 1.9 at zero angle of attack. The auxiliary scoop provided 17 percent additional air flow with a drop in critical pressure recovery from 0.86 to 0.81. However, in terms of inlet-engine matching, the pressure recovery of the undersized spike inlet operating at a specified corrected air flow increased with the scoop open, for example, from 0.69 to 0.81.

Beke, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS1999

Design and Use of a Large-Scale Liquid Helium Conversion System

A large-scale liquid helium (LHe) to high-pressure (HP) gas conversion system has been implemented at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Helium is used by the Space Shuttle, Titan, Atlas, and Delta programs for prelaunch processing, during launch count-down, and for postlaunch securing. The first phase of modifications to the Compressor Converter Facility (CCF), operational in April 1998, allowed the facility to accept bulk liquid helium from tanker containers and to off-load the helium at super-critical pressures. The second phase of modifications, planned to be operational by January 2001, will implement a 227-cubic-meter (m(sup 3)) on-site liquid helium storage system. This paper describes the design and operation of the current system and discusses the design and implementation for the second phase system.

Knudsen, P. N.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Instability analysis of torispherical pressure vessel heads with triangular thin-shell finite elements

The elastic instability of an internally-pressurized cylindrical tank with a torispherical head is investigated using a triangular, doubly curved, thin-shell finite element. The formulation of the finite element, which is based upon cubic displacement functions and a modified principle of potential energy, is first described. Then, the element is verified by comparing numerical results for the linear, stable analysis to alternative solutions for the same problem. The subsequent instability investigation includes the solution of the linearized problem of equilibrium bifurcation, that is, of the classical eigenvalue problem, and a general nonlinear analysis, based on tracing the nonlinear load-displacement path. The critical pressure, obtained with use of the general nonlinear analysis, agrees closely with an experimental result as well as with a numerical solution stemming from an axisymmetric formulation.

Kanodia, V. L.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Validation of an All-Pressure Fluid Drop Model: Heptane Fluid Drops in Nitrogen

Despite the fact that supercritical fluids occur both in nature and in industrial situations, the fundamentals of their behavior is poorly understood because supercritical fluids combine the characteristics of both liquids and gases, and therefore their behavior is not intuitive. There are several specific reasons for the lack of understanding: First, data from (mostly optical) measurements can be very misleading because regions of high density thus observed are frequently identified with liquids. A common misconception is that if in an experiment one can optically identify "drops" and "ligaments", the observed fluid must be in a liquid state. This inference is incorrect because in fact optical measurements detect any large change (i.e. gradients) in density. Thus, the density ratio may be well below Omicron(10(exp 3)) that characterizes its liquid/gas value, but the measurement will still identify a change in the index of refraction providing that the change is sudden (steep gradients). As shown by simulations of supercritical fluids, under certain conditions the density gradients may remain large during the supercritical binary fluids mixing, thus making them optically identifiable. Therefore, there is no inconsistency between the optical observation of high density regions and the fluids being in a supercritical state. A second misconception is that because a fluid has a liquid-like density, it is appropriate to model it as a liquid. However, such fluids may have liquid-like densities while their transport properties differ from those of a liquid. Considering that the critical pressure of most fuel hydrocarbons used in Diesel and gas turbine engines is in the range of 1.5 - 3 MPa, and the fact that the maximum pressure attained in these engines is about 6 Mps, it is clear that the fuel in the combustion chamber will experience both subcritical and supercritical conditions. Studies of drop behavior over a wide range of pressures were performed in the past, however none of these studies identified the crucial differences between the subcritical and supercritical behavior. In fact, in two of these studies, it was found that the subcritical and supercritical behavior is similar as the drop diameter decreased according to the classical d(exp 2)-law over a wide range of pressures and drop diameters. The present study is devoted to the exploration of differences in fluid-behavior characteristics under subcritical and supercritical conditions in the particular case of heptane fluid drops in nitrogen; these substances were selected because of the availability of experimental observations for model validation.

Harstad, K.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Ignition of confined gaseous mixtures by hot surfaces and hot wires

Ignition times and spatial and temporal variations of temperature and concentration in gaseous mixtures confined between two infinite parallel walls or two infinite cylinders have been obtained by numerical integration of the appropriate conservation equations written in Lagrangian coordinates. Ignition times and ignition energies are presented for the case of an isothermal wall in terms of the initial mixture pressure and equivalence ratio for both one and two-step chemical reaction mechanisms. The numerical results indicate that there is a critical mixture pressure for which the ignition time is minimum. The values of this critical pressure are larger (smaller) than 1 atm for the one- (two-) step reaction mechanism. The critical pressure for the ignition time is not equal to the critical pressure for the ignition energy. The ignition time and energy decrease with the equivalence ratio within a certain range and then remain constant.

Ramos, J. I.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Space shuttle SRB TPS protective paint test and evaluation in NASA Hot Gas Facility and AEDC Tunnel C

The results and outcome of thermal tests conducted to evaluate the performance of the protective coat of paint on the solid rocket booster (SRB) thermal protection system are discussed. A problem was uncovered during a series of tests on the SRB instrumentation islands in AEDC Tunnel C on 13 January 1979. The white protective paint or the Turco coating on the thermal protection system panels began to flow soon after the panels were exposed to the flow. This presented a serious problem especially since the critical pressure sensing, parachute opening baroswitches located on the frustum of the SRB were most likely to be contaminated by the paint flowing down the sides of the SRB nose cone. Because the first two flight articles were already completed, it was necessary to find a solution to the existing paint problem. It was found that all the coatings tested, except the Hypalon, had similar undesirable flow characteristics. Also even the Hypalon, which did not flow, would bubble up and disintegrate when it was applied on top of the new Turco. Recently, the Turco coating was removed from an MSA-:11 panel by dissolving the paint with a certain agent. This was done in two ways, by dissolving and removing almost all of the paint on one side of the panel and dissolving and removing about 50% of the paint on the other. The panel was then coated with Hypalon and tested as before in the Hot Gas Facility. No evidence of any paint flow nor any adverse performance of MSA was observed.

Karu, Z. S.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Engineering study of the rotary-vee engine concept

The applicable thermodynamic cycle and performance considerations when the rotary-vee mechanism is used as an internal combustion (I.C.) heat engine are reviewed. Included is a simplified kinematic analysis and studies of the effects of design parameters on the critical pressures, torques and parasitic losses. A discussion of the principal findings is presented.

Willis, Edward A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Engineering study on the rotary-vee engine concept

This paper provides a review of the applicable thermodynamic cycle and performance considerations when the rotary-vee mechanism is used as an internal combustion (IC) heat engine. Included is a simplified kinematic analysis and studies of the effects of design parameters on the critical pressures, torques and parasitic losses. A discussion of the principal findings is presented.

Willis, Edward A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Transonic aerodynamics of dense gases

Transonic flow of dense gases for two-dimensional, steady-state, flow over a NACA 0012 airfoil was predicted analytically. The computer code used to model the dense gas behavior was a modified version of Jameson's FL052 airfoil code. The modifications to the code enabled modeling the dense gas behavior near the saturated vapor curve and critical pressure region where the fundamental derivative, Gamma, is negative. This negative Gamma region is of interest because the nonclassical gas behavior such as formation and propagation of expansion shocks, and the disintegration of inadmissible compression shocks may exist. The results indicated that dense gases with undisturbed thermodynamic states in the negative Gamma region show a significant reduction in the extent of the transonic regime as compared to that predicted by the perfect gas theory. The results support existing theories and predictions of the nonclassical, dense gas behavior from previous investigations.

Morren, Sybil Huang↗
NASA NTRS1957

Experimental investigation of water injection in subsonic diffuser of a conical inlet operation at free-stream Mach number of 2.5

A spike-type nose inlet with sharp-lip cowl was investigated at a free-stream Mach number of 2.5 with water injection in its 16-inch diameter, 11-foot-long subsonic diffuser section. Inlet total temperature of exit with liquid-air ratios of about 0.04 with no apparent change in the critical pressure recovery. The observed temperature drops were less than the theoretically predicted values, and the amount of water evaporated was 35 to 50 percent less than that theoretically possible.

Beke, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS1997

An Experimental Study of Characteristic Combustion-Driven Flow for CFD Validation

A series of uni-element rocket injector studies were completed to provide benchmark quality data needed to validate computational fluid dynamic models. A shear coaxial injector geometry was selected as the primary injector for study using gaseous hydrogen/oxygen and gaseous hydrogen/liquid oxygen propellants. Emphasis was placed on the use of non-intrusive diagnostic techniques to characterize the flowfields inside an optically-accessible rocket chamber. Measurements of the velocity and species fields were obtained using laser velocimetry and Raman spectroscopy, respectively Qualitative flame shape information was also obtained using laser-induced fluorescence excited from OH radicals and laser light scattering studies of aluminum oxide particle seeded combusting flows. The gaseous hydrogen/liquid oxygen propellant studies for the shear coaxial injector focused on breakup mechanisms associated with the liquid oxygen jet under sub-critical pressure conditions. Laser sheet illumination techniques were used to visualize the core region of the jet and a Phase Doppler Particle Analyzer was utilized for drop velocity, size and size distribution characterization. The results of these studies indicated that the shear coaxial geometry configuration was a relatively poor injector in terms of mixing. The oxygen core was observed to extend well downstream of the injector and a significant fraction of the mixing occurred in the near nozzle region where measurements were not possible to obtain Detailed velocity and species measurements were obtained to allow CFD model validation and this set of benchmark data represents the most comprehensive data set available to date As an extension of the investigation, a series of gas/gas injector studies were conducted in support of the X-33 Reusable Launch Vehicle program. A Gas/Gas Injector Technology team was formed consisting of the Marshall Space Flight Center, the NASA Lewis Research Center, Rocketdyne and Penn State. Injector geometries studied under this task included shear and swirl coaxial configurations as well as an impinging jet injector.

Santoro, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Experimental Creep Life Assessment for the Advanced Stirling Convertor Heater Head

The United States Department of Energy is planning to develop the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for potential use on future space missions. The ASRG provides substantial efficiency and specific power improvements over radioisotope power systems of heritage designs. The ASRG would use General Purpose Heat Source modules as energy sources and the free-piston Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC) to convert heat into electrical energy. Lockheed Martin Corporation of Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, is integrating the ASRG systems, and Sunpower, Inc., of Athens, Ohio, is designing and building the ASC. NASA Glenn Research Center of Cleveland, Ohio, manages the Sunpower contract and provides technology development in several areas for the ASC. One area is reliability assessment for the ASC heater head, a critical pressure vessel within which heat is converted into mechanical oscillation of a displacer piston. For high system efficiency, the ASC heater head operates at very high temperature (850 C) and therefore is fabricated from an advanced heat-resistant nickel-based superalloy Microcast MarM-247. Since use of MarM-247 in a thin-walled pressure vessel is atypical, much effort is required to assure that the system will operate reliably for its design life of 17 years. One life-limiting structural response for this application is creep; creep deformation is the accumulation of time-dependent inelastic strain under sustained loading over time. If allowed to progress, the deformation eventually results in creep rupture. Since creep material properties are not available in the open literature, a detailed creep life assessment of the ASC heater head effort is underway. This paper presents an overview of that creep life assessment approach, including the reliability-based creep criteria developed from coupon testing, and the associated heater head deterministic and probabilistic analyses. The approach also includes direct benchmark experimental creep assessment. This element provides high-fidelity creep testing of prototypical heater head test articles to investigate the relevant material issues and multiaxial stress state. Benchmark testing provides required data to evaluate the complex life assessment methodology and to validate that analysis. Results from current benchmark heater head tests and newly developed experimental methods are presented. In the concluding remarks, the test results are shown to compare favorably with the creep strain predictions and are the first experimental evidence for a robust ASC heater head creep life.

Krause, David L.↗