CRITERIA FOR INJURY POTENTIAL
Automobile accidents - injury potential from instrument panel & projections
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Automobile accidents - injury potential from instrument panel & projections
A full scale, controlled crash test to simulate the crash of a Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain airplane is described. Comparisons were performed between the simulated crash and the actual crash in order to assess seat and floor behavior, and to estimate the acceleration levels experienced in the craft at the time of impact. Photographs, acceleration histories, and the tested airplane crash data is used to augment the accident information to better define the crash conditions. Measured impact parameters are presented along with flight path velocity and angle in relation to the impact surface.
Small metallic projectiles accelerated by magnetic field gradients for micrometeoroid impact simulation
Long-stretching body restraints - seat belt, acceleration stress, automobile accident, safety belt
Particle selection system for electrostatic accelerator for hypervelocity impact testing
Interpretation of the wealth of impact data available from the Long Duration Exposure Facility, in terms of the absolute and relative populations of space debris and natural micrometeoroids, requires three dimensional models of the distribution of impact directions, velocities and masses of such particles, as well as understanding of the impact processes. Although the stabilized orbit of LDEF provides limited directional information, it is possible to determine more accurate impact directions from detailed crater morphology. The applicability of this technique has already been demonstrated but the relationship between crater shape and impactor direction and velocity has not been derived in detail. We present the results of impact experiments and simulations: (1) impacts at micron dimensions using the Unit's 2MV Van de Graaff accelerator; (2) impacts at mm dimensions using a Light Gas Gun; and (3) computer simulations using AUTODYN-3D from which an empirical relationship between crater shape and impactor velocity, direction and particle properties we aim to derive. Such a relationship can be applied to any surface exposed to space debris or micrometeoroid particles for which a detailed pointing history is available.
Three-grid ion accelerator in which accelerator grid is biased at negative potential and decelerator grid downstream of accelerator grid biased at smaller negative potential. This grid and bias arrangement reduces frequency of impacts, upon accelerator grid, of charge-exchange ions produced downstream in collisions between accelerated ions and atoms and molecules of background gas. Sputter erosion of accelerator grid reduced.
Operation of high impact rate particle injector for electrostatic accelerator to simulate long-term micrometeoroid bombardment
A resurgence of interest in placing large solar concentrator solar dynamic systems in space for power generation has brought up again a concern for maintaining the integrity of the optical properties of highly specular reflecting surfaces in the near earth space environment. One of the environmental hazards needing evaluation is the micrometeoroid environment. It has been shown that highly reflective polished metals and thin film coatings degrade when exposed to simulated micrometeoroids in the lab. At NASA-Lewis, a shock tube was used to simulate the phenomenon of micrometeoroid impact by accelerating micron sized particles to hypervelocities. Any changes in the optical properties of surfaces exposed to this impact were then evaluated. The degradation of optical properties of polished metals and thin metallic films after exposure to simulated micrometeoroids was determined as a function of impacting kinetic energy area of the particles. A calibrated sensor was developed to not only detect the micrometeoroid environment, but also to evaluate the degradation of the optical properties of thin aluminum films in space. Results of the simulation are presented and discussed.
A resurgence of interest in placing large solar concentrator solar dynamic systems in space for power generation has brought up again a concern for maintaining the integrity of the optical properties of highly specular reflecting surfaces in the near earth space environment. One of the environmental hazards needing evaluation is the micrometeoroid environment. It has been shown that highly reflective polished metals and thin film coatings degrade when exposed to simulated micrometeoroids in the lab. At NASA-Lewis, a shock tube was used to simulate the phenomenon of micrometeoroid impact by accelerating micron sized particles to hypervelocities. Any changes in the optical properties of surfaces exposed to this impact were then evaluated. The degradation of optical properties of polished metals and thin metallic films after exposure to simulated micrometeoroids was determined as a function of impacting kinetic energy area of the particles. A calibrated sensor was developed to not only detect the micrometeoroid environment, but also to evaluate the degradation of the optical properties of thin aluminum films in space. Results of the simulation are presented and discussed.
A facility has been developed and put into operation to determine the feasibility of obtaining hypervelocity impact data by using the relative velocities of two projectiles. The facility utilizes the technique of firing a target toward an oncoming high-velocity projectile so that the impact velocity is equal to the sum of the projectile velocity and the target velocity. A 37-millimeter powder gun is utilized to accelerate the targets, and a specially designed 22-caliber light-gas gun accelerates the impacting projectiles. The light-gas gun is operated by detonating an explosive charge which permits it to be synchronized with the firing of the 37-millimeter gun. Impact velocities as great as 21,850 ft/sec have been obtained during development of the facility. After the oncoming projectiles impact the targets fired from the 37-millimeter gun, these targets are recovered by allowing them to impact into Celotex and soft wooden blocks. The craters formed in the targets then can be observed and measured. The results of several preliminary firings of the facility are included in this report.
Accelerated fuel qualification has gained attention as a means to reduce the time needed to realize new nuclear fuel concepts and expand the operating windows of existing fuel forms. A key component of this approach is accelerated burnup irradiation testing. Although the concept of accelerated burnup has been familiar to the community for many decades, the specifics about how the increasing fission rate may be used as a qualification tool have not yet been elucidated. The present work provides a vision of how accelerated fission rate testing can enable accelerated fuel qualification. Technology readiness levels (TRLs) are reintroduced to demarcate the stages of traditional fuel qualification, and accelerated fuel qualification is presented in this context. The critical steps needed to achieve each TRL are reframed within the context of modern nuclear materials research and development, as revolutionary fuel concepts are more common than previous eras. The practical impacts of accelerated fuel qualification approaches as applied to contemporary fuel qualification efforts are illustrated. Examples are given to illustrate how accelerated burnup irradiations are being used currently and could be applied in the future to support qualification and licensure. Finally, outstanding challenges in the application of accelerated burnup methods to nuclear fuel qualification are summarized, with priority placed on understanding how fission rate impacts diffusion, microstructure evolution, and other critical mechanisms that dictate fuel performance.
Analysis of normal accelerations through center of gravity of aircraft due to landing impacts and ground operations associated with taxi, takeoff, and landing
Shock-melting features occur on planets at scales that range from micrometers to megameters. It is the objective of this study to determine the extent of thickness, volume geometry of the melt, and relationship with crater morphology. The variation in impact crater morphology on planets is influenced by a broad range of parameters: e.g., planetary density, thermal state, strength, impact velocity, gravitational acceleration. We modeled the normal impact of spherical projectiles on a semi-infinite planet over a broad range of conditions using numerical techniques.
Model tests have been made to determine the landing-impact characteristics of a parachute-supported reentry capsule that had a compliable metal structure as a load-alleviating device. A 1/6-scale dynamic model having compliable aluminum-alloy legs designed to give a low onset rate of acceleration on impact was tested at flight-path angles of 90 degrees ( vertical ) and 35 deg, at a vertical velocity of 30 ft/sec ( full scale), and at contact attitudes of 0 deg and +/-30 deg. Landings were made on concrete, sand, and water. The maximum acceleration encountered was approximately 35g and the maximum onset rate was 2,000 g/sec. on concrete a t the 55 deg flight-path, f30 contact-attitude conditions; therefore, load-alleviating devices on the canister end of the model would be required. To evaluate the scaling characteristics of compliable metal structures, models were tested with 1/4.1-scale and full-scale aluminum-alloy legs. The maximum vertical accelerations and strokes obtained from tests of the 1/4.1-scale and full-scale legs were the same within the recording accuracy of the equipment. Acceleration time histories for the 90 degree flight-path, 0 deg contact-attitude condition were computed and are in good agreement with the experimental results.
Feasibility of using strong magnetic field gradients to accelerate small, metallic projectiles to velocities for simulating micrometeoroid impacts
Model tests have been made to determine the landing-impact characteristics of a parachute-supported reentry capsule that had a compliable metal structure as a load-alleviating device. A 1/6-scale dynamic model having compliable aluminum-alloy legs designed to give a low onset rate of acceleration on impact was tested at flight-path angles of 90 degrees (vertical) and 35 degrees, at a vertical velocity of 30 ft/sec (full scale), and at contact attitudes of 0 degrees and +/-30 degrees. Landings were made on concrete, sand, and water.
A hypothesis that vaporization of a large amount of volatiles such as H2O and CO2 in the Martian surface by the impact of a large object could have accelerated solid ejecta to earth is examined. A hydrodynamic model is used to approximate a hemispherical gas cloud expanding into an atmosphere and entraining solid ejecta. Account is taken of the target material, the impactor materials, mass vaporized, impact velocity, drag coefficient, and crater sizes. A Martian crater larger than 30 km diam is found to be a necessary remnant of any impact that could have produced the shergottites, nakhlites and Chassigny meteorites which have been found on earth and possess similarities to analyzed Martian rocks.