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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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Thermal Cycling for Development of Hybrid Fuel for a Notional Mars Ascent Vehicle

A Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) would be a critical part of a potential Mars sample return campaign. As currently envisioned, the MAV would launch samples from Mars into Mars orbit. Challenging requirements would be placed on a MAV as it would need to be able to survive in the harsh Martian environment which can get as cold as -120°C in the winter. At these cold temperatures, survival heating could be necessary to keep the MAV within the allowable flight temperature range. Estimates for survival heating power show that a fuel capable of operating at low temperature would significantly reduce the total required energy of the MAV. This has led to consideration of a hybrid propulsion system due to its anticipated low temperature capability. A new wax-based fuel, SP7, has been developed for a notional MAV mission. Thermal modeling of the fuel in the Mars environment was completed in order to estimate the temperature response of the fuel during Mars diurnal temperature cycling. Preliminary thermal testing was conducted to determine the max temperature range, radial gradient, and ramp rate the fuel could tolerate without cracking. The modeling and preliminary testing was used to develop a comprehensive, 100-day thermal cycling campaign. A total of 200 cycles are planned that are representative of 200 Martian diurnal cycles, roughly one-third of a Martian year. After 150 cycles, the fuel samples show no signs of cracking that would jeopardize the rocket’s performance. Though not yet complete, this testing is showing that SP7 has the potential to successfully be used on a MAV mission.

Farias, Edgardo↗
NASA NTRS2003

Carbonate Platform Development and Stromatolite Morphogenesis: Constraints on Environmental and Biological Evolution

Work has been completed on the digital mapping of a terminal Proterozoic reef complex in Namibia. This complex formed an isolated carbonate platform developed downdip on a carbonate ramp of the Nama Group. The stratigraphic evolution of the platform was digitally reconstructed from an extensive dataset that was compiled by using digital surveying technologies. The platform comprises three accommodation cycles in which each subsequent cycle experienced progressively greater influence of a long-term accommodation increase. Aggradation and progradation during the first cycle resulted in a flat, uniform, sheet-like platform. The coarsening and shallowing-upward sequence representing the first cycle is dominated by columnar stromatolitic thrombolites and massive dolostones with interbedded mudstone-grainstone at the base of the sequence grading into cross-bedded dolostones. The second cycle features aggradation, formation of a distinct margin containing thrombolite mounds and domes, and the development of a bucket geometry. Columnar stromatolitic thrombolites dominate the platform interior. The final stage of platform development shows a deepening trend with initial aggradation and formation of well-bedded, thin deposits in the interior and mound development at the margins. While the interior drowned, the platform margin kept up with rising sea level and a complex pinnacle reef formed containing fused and coalesced thrombolite mounds flanked by bioclastic grainstones (containing Cloudina and Namacalathus fossils) and collapse breccias. A set of isolated large thrombolite mounds flanked by shales indicate the final stage of the carbonate platform. During a progressive increase in accommodation, a flat-topped isolated carbonate platform becomes aerially less extensive by either backstepping or formation of smaller pinnacles or a combination of both. The overall geometric evolution of the studied platform from flat-topped to bucket with elevated margins is recorded in many Proterozoic and Phanerozoic isolated carbonate platforms with similar dimensions. The terminal Proterozoic, microbial-dominated, isolated carbonate platform of this study clearly illustrates that the answer to accommodation changes was already familiar among carbonate platforms before the dawn of metazoan-dominated platforms.

Grotzinger, John P.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

TPSAS-NF1676L-17931-DND

Many geophysical variables including temperature, clouds, and precipitation exhibit robust diurnal cycles in response to the daily cycle of solar insolation. Due to the fundamental nature of this variability, it is critical that weather and climate models accurately represent the diurnal cycle. Numerical model, however, have difficulty reproducing this observed diurnal cycle behavior, which leads to systematic errors in model representation of earth energy budget terms: including TOA and surface radiation, precipitation, and surface latent and sensible heat fluxes. This study evaluates the regional diurnal cycle in the Tropics within reanalysis models (ERA-Interim and MERRA) and quantifies systematic errors in the simulated TOA flux and precipitation due to biases in the diurnal cycle representation. The focus of this study is to quantify the importance of diurnal cycle simulation to systematic bias in reanalysis data set climatologies.

Patrick C Taylor↗
NASA NTRS1996

Phase 9 Fiber Optic Cable Microbending and Temperature Cycling Tests

Optical fibers represent the back bone of the current communications networks. Their performance in the field lacks long term testing data because of the continuous evolution of the manufacturing of fibers and cables. An optical fiber cable that is installed in NASA's KSC has experienced a dramatic increase in attenuation after three years of use from 0.7 dB/km to 7 dB/km in some fibers. A thorough study is presented to assess the causes of such an attenuation increase. Material and chemical decomposition testing showed that there are no changes in the composition of the fiber which might have caused the increase in attenuation. Microbending and heat cycling tests were performed on the cable and individual fibers. It was found that the increase in attenuation is due to microbending caused by excessive stress exerted on the fibers. This was the result of manufacturing and installation irregularities.

Abushagur, Mustafa A.G.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Environmental Loss Characterization of an Advanced Stirling Convertor (ASC-E2) Insulation Package Using a Mock Heater Head

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC) have been developing the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) for use as a power system for space science missions. This generator would use two highefficiency Advanced Stirling Convertors (ASCs), developed by Sunpower Inc. and NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). As part of ground testing of these ASCs, different operating conditions are used to simulate expected mission conditions. These conditions require achieving a specified electrical power output for a given net heat input. While electrical power output can be precisely quantified, thermal power input to the Stirling cycle cannot be directly measured. In an effort to improve net heat input predictions, the Mock Heater Head was developed with the same relative thermal paths as a convertor using a conducting rod to represent the Stirling cycle and tested to provide a direct comparison to numerical and empirical models used to predict convertor net heat input. The Mock Heater Head also served as the pathfinder for a higher fidelity version of validation test hardware, known as the Thermal Standard. This paper describes how the Mock Heater Head was tested and utilized to validate a process for the Thermal Standard.

Schifer, Nicholas A.↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Effects of Hygrothermal Aging on the Impact Penetration Resistance of Triaxially Braided Composites

An experimental study was conducted to measure the effects of long term hygrothermal aging on the impact penetration resistance of triaxially braided polymer composites. Flat panels of three different materials were subjected to repeated cycles of high and low temperature and high and low humidity for two years. Samples of the panels were periodically tested under impact loading during the two year time period. The purpose of the study was to identify and quantify any degradation in impact penetration resistance of these composites under cyclic temperature and humidity conditions experienced by materials in the fan section of commercial gas turbine engines for a representative aircraft flight cycle. The materials tested consisted of Toray ® T700S carbon fibers in a 2D triaxial braid with three different resins, Cycom® PR520, a toughened resin, Hercules® 3502, an untoughened resin and EPON 862, intermediate between the two. The fiber preforms consisted of a quasi-isotropic 0/+60/-60 braid with 24K tows in the axial direction and 12K tows in the bias directions. The composite panels were manufactured using a resin transfer molding process producing panels with a thickness of 0.125 inches. The materials were tested in their as-processed condition and again after one year and two years of aging (1.6 years in the case of E862). The aging process involved subjecting the test panels to two cycles per day of high and low temperature and high and low humidity. A temperature range of -60degF to 250degF and a humidity range of 0 to 85% rh was used to simulate extreme conditions for composite components in the fan section of a commercial gas turbine engine. Additional testing was conducted on the as-processed PR520 composite under cryogenic conditions. After aging there was some change in the failure pattern, but there was no reduction in impact penetration threshold for any of the three systems, and in the case of the 3502 system, a significant increase in penetration threshold. There was also an increase in the penetration resistance of the PR520 system impacted under cryogenic conditions.

composite↗
NASA NTRS1992

Measuring dry plant residues in grasslands: A case study using AVIRIS

Grasslands, savannah, and hardwood rangelands are critical ecosystems and sensitive to disturbance. Approximately 20 percent of the Earth's surface are grasslands and represent 3 million ha. in California alone. Developing a methodology for estimating disturbance and the effects of cumulative impacts on grasslands and rangelands is needed to effectively monitor these ecosystems. Estimating the dry biomass residue remaining on rangelands at the end of the growing season provides a basis for evaluating the effectiveness of land management practices. The residual biomass is indicative of the grazing pressure and provides a measure of the system capacity for nutrient cycling since it represents the maximum organic matter available for decomposition, and finally, provides a measure of the erosion potential for the ecosystem. Remote sensing presents a possible method for measuring dry residue. However, current satellites have had limited application due to the coarse spatial scales (relative to the patch dynamics) and insensitivity of the spectral coverage to resolve dry plant material. Several hypotheses for measuring the biochemical constituents of dry plant material, particularly cellulose and lignin, using high spectral resolution sensors were proposed. The use of Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometers (AVIRIS) to measure dry plant residues over an oak savannah on the eastern slopes of the Coast Range in central California was investigated and it was asked what spatial and spectral resolutions are needed to quantitatively measure dry plant biomass in this ecosystem.

Fitzgerald, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Role of Adaptation in Body Load-Regulating Mechanisms During Locomotion

Body loading is a fundamental parameter that modulates motor output during locomotion, and is especially important for controlling the generation of stepping patterns, dynamic balance, and termination of locomotion. Load receptors that regulate and control posture and stance in locomotion include the Golgi tendon organs and muscle spindles at the hip, knee, and ankle joints, and the Ruffini endings and the Pacinian corpuscles in the soles of the feet. Increased body weight support (BWS) during locomotion results in an immediate reorganization of locomotor control, such as a reduction in stance and double support duration and decreased hip, ankle, and knee angles during the gait cycle. Previous studies on the effect during exposure to increased BWS while walking showed a reduction in lower limb joint angles and gait cycle timing that represents a reorganization of locomotor control. Until now, no studies have investigated how locomotor control responds after a period of exposure to adaptive modification in the body load sensing system. The goal of this research was to determine the adaptive properties of body load-regulating mechanisms in locomotor control during locomotion. We hypothesized that body load-regulating mechanisms contribute to locomotor control, and adaptive changes in these load-regulating mechanisms require reorganization to maintain forward locomotion. Head-torso coordination, lower limb movement patterns, and gait cycle timing were evaluated before and after a 30-minute adaptation session during which subjects walked on a treadmill at 5.4 km/hr with 40% body weight support (BWS). Before and after the adaptation period, head-torso and lower limb 3D kinematic data were obtained while performing a goal directed task during locomotion with 0% BWS using a video-based motion analysis system, and gait cycle timing parameters were collected by foot switches positioned under the heel and toe of the subjects shoes. Subjects showed adaptive modification in the body load-regulating mechanisms that included increased head movement amplitude, increased knee and ankle flexion, and increased stance, stride, and double support time, with no change in the performance of the task with respect to that measured before exposure to BWS. These changes in locomotor control are opposite to that reported during 40% BWS exposure and indicative of an after-effect after removal of the adaptive stimulus. Therefore, it is evident that just 30 minutes of 40% BWS during locomotion was sufficient to induce adaptive modifications in the body load sensing systems that contribute to reorganization of sensory contributions to stable locomotor control.

Ruttley, Tara↗
NASA NTRS2006

Predicting Lifetime of a Thermomechanically Loaded Component

NASALIFE is a computer program for predicting the lifetime, as affected by low cycle fatigue (LCF) and creep rupture, of a structural component subject to temporally varying, multiaxial thermomechanical loads. The component could be, for example, part of an aircraft turbine engine. Empirical data from LCF tests, creep rupture tests, and static tensile tests are used as references for predicting the number of missions the component can withstand under a given thermomechanical loading condition. The user prepares an input file containing the creep-rupture and cyclic-fatigue information, temperature-dependent material properties, and mission loading and control flags. The creep rupture information can be entered in tabular form as stress versus life or by means of parameters of the Larson-Miller equation. The program uses the Walker mean-stress model to adjust predicted life for ranges of the ratio between the maximum and minimum stresses. Data representing complex load cycles are reduced by the rainflow counting method. Miner's rule is utilized to combine the damage at different load levels. Finally, the program determines the total damage due to creep and combines it with the fatigue damage due to the cyclic loading and predicts the approximate number of missions a component can endure before failing.

Murthy, Pappu L. N.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Modern methodology of designing target reliability into rotating mechanical components

Experimentally determined distributional cycles-to-failure versus maximum alternating nominal strength (S-N) diagrams, and distributional mean nominal strength versus maximum alternating nominal strength (Goodman) diagrams are presented. These distributional S-N and Goodman diagrams are for AISI 4340 steel, R sub c 35/40 hardness, round, cylindrical specimens 0.735 in. in diameter and 6 in. long with a circumferential groove 0.145 in. radius for a theoretical stress concentration = 1.42 and 0.034 in. radius for a stress concentration = 2.34. The specimens are subjected to reversed bending and steady torque in specially built, three complex-fatigue research machines. Based on these results, the effects on the distributional S-N and Goodman diagrams and on service life of superimposing steady torque on reversed bending are established, as well as the effect of various stress concentrations. In addition a computer program for determining the three-parameter Weibull distribution representing the cycles-to-failure data, and two methods for calculating the reliability of components subjected to cumulative fatigue loads are given.

Kececioglu, D. B.↗
NASA NTRS2012

TRMM Latent Heating Retrieval and Comparisons with Field Campaigns and Large-Scale Analyses

Rainfall production is a fundamental process within the Earth's hydrological cycle because it represents both a principal forcing term in surface water budgets, and its energetics corollary, latent heating (LH), is one of the principal sources of atmospheric diabatic heating. Latent heat release itself is a consequence of phase changes between the vapor, liquid, and frozen states of water. The vertical distribution of LH has a strong influence on the atmosphere, controlling large-scale tropical circulations, exciting and modulating tropical waves, maintaining the intensities of tropical cyclones, and even providing the energetics of midlatitude cyclones and other mobile midlatitude weather systems. Moreover, the processes associated with LH result in significant non-linear changes in atmospheric radiation through the creation, dissipation and modulation of clouds and precipitation. Yanai et al. (1973) utilized the meteorological data collected from a sounding network to present a pioneering work on thermodynamic budgets, which are referred to as the apparent heat source (Q1) and apparent moisture sink (Q2). Yanai's paper motivated the development of satellite-based LH algorithms and provided a theoretical background for imposing large-scale advective forcing into cloud-resolving models (CRMs). These CRM-simulated LH and Q1 data have been used to generate the look-up tables used in LH algorithms. This paper examines the retrieval, validation, and application of LH estimates based on rain rate quantities acquired from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite (TRMM). TRMM was launched in November 1997 as a joint enterprise between the American and Japanese space agencies -- with overriding goals of providing accurate four-dimensional estimates of rainfall and LH over the global Tropics and subtropics equatorward of 35o. Other literature has acknowledged the achievement of the first goal of obtaining an accurate rainfall climatology. This paper describes the second major goal of obtaining credible LH estimates as well as their applications within TRMM's zone of coverage, the standard TRMM LH products, and areas for further improvement.

latent heating↗
NASA NTRS1969

Probabilistic-graphical and phenomenological analysis of combined bending-torsion fatigue reliability data

Fatigue data generated by three combined bending-torsion fatigue reliability research machines at The University of Arizona are probabilistic-graphically and phenomenologically analyzed. Distributions that are applicable to fatique life and static strength data are discussed. Phenomenological justifications for the use of these distributions are presented. It is found that the normal distribution represents the cycles-to-failure data at the highest stress levels best. The lognormal distribution appears to fit the cycles-to-failure data at the lower stress levels best and quite well at all stress levels including the highest. A regression analysis and least-squares goodness-of-fit test was performed for normal and lognormal plots. In most cases, the correlation coefficient gave a better fit to the data using the normal distribution, but the difference between the two was so slight that positive discrimination could not be made.

Kececioglu, D.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Structural considerations for a software life cycle dynamic simulation model

This paper presents the results of a preliminary study into the prospects for simulating the software implementation and maintenance life cycle process, with the aim of producing a computerized tool for use by management and software engineering personnel in project planning, tradeoff studies involving product, environmental, situational, and technological factors, and training. The approach taken is the modular application of a 'flow of resource' concept to the systems dynamics simulation modeling technique. The software life cycle process is represented as a number of stochastic, time-varying, interacting work tasks that each achieves one of the project milestones. Each task is characterized by the item produced, the personnel applied, and the budgetary profile.

Tausworthe, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1984

European development experience on energy storage wheels for space

High speed fiber composite rotors suspended by contactless magnetic bearings were produced. European industry has acquired expertise in the study and fabrication of energy storage wheels and magnetic suspension systems for space. Sufficient energy density performance for space viability is being achieved on fully representative hardware. Stress cycle testing to demonstrate life capability and the development of burst containment structures remains to be done and is the next logical step.

Robinson, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

High-thermal-gradient Superalloy Crystal Growth

Single, (001)-oriented crystals of PWA 1480 were processed in alumina/silica shell molds in a laboratory high gradient furnace. The furnace employs a graphite resistance heated element, a radiation baffle, and a water cooled radiation trap below the baffle. All crystals were grown in vacuum (10 torr) and all heat transfer was radiative. The element is constructed with a variable cross section that is tapered just above the baffle to maximize heat input and therefore thermal gradient. A maximum alloy temperature of 1600 C was used. A thermal gradient of 130 deg C/cm was recorded at 1370 C just above the solidus of the PWA 1480 alloys. Crystal bars with 14.4 and 17.5 mm diameters were grown in alumina/silica shell molds. Each crystal was started from a 1.6 mm pencil seed at a rate of 76 mm/hr and slowly accelerated to a rate of 200 mm/hr under computer control. Volume percent porosity and average pore size were measured as functions of distance in representative bars. Low cycle fatigue behavior and stress rupture properties were determined.

Pearson, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A proposed Kalman filter algorithm for estimation of unmeasured output variables for an F100 turbofan engine

To develop advanced control systems for optimizing aircraft engine performance, unmeasurable output variables must be estimated. The estimation has to be done in an uncertain environment and be adaptable to varying degrees of modeling errors and other variations in engine behavior over its operational life cycle. This paper represented an approach to estimate unmeasured output variables by explicitly modeling the effects of off-nominal engine behavior as biases on the measurable output variables. A state variable model accommodating off-nominal behavior is developed for the engine, and Kalman filter concepts are used to estimate the required variables. Results are presented from nonlinear engine simulation studies as well as the application of the estimation algorithm on actual flight data. The formulation presented has a wide range of application since it is not restricted or tailored to the particular application described.

Alag, Gurbux S.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Heat pipe radiation cooling of advanced hypersonic propulsion system components

Heat transfer, heat pipe, and system studies were performed to assess the newly proposed heat pipe radiation cooling (HPRC) concept. With an HPRC system, heat is removed from the ramburner and nozzle of a hypersonic aircraft engine by a surrounding, high-temperature, heat pipe nacelle structure, transported to nearby external surfaces, and rejected to the environment by thermal radiation. With HPRC, the Mach number range available for using hydrocarbon fuels for aircraft operation extends into the Mach 4 to Mach 6 range, up from the current limit of about Mach 4. Heat transfer studies using a newly developed HPRC computer code determine cooling system and ramburner and nozzle temperatures, heat loads, and weights for a representative combined-cycle engine cruising at Mach 5 at 80,000 ft altitude. Heat pipe heat transport calculations, using the Los Alamos code HTPIPE, reveal that adequate heat trasport capability is available using molybdenum-lithium heat pipe technology. Results show that the HPRC system radiator area is limited in size to the ramburner-nozzle region of the engine nacelle; reasonable system weights are expected; hot section temperatures are consistent with advanced structural materials development goals; and system impact on engine performance is minimal.

Martin, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Oscillating-flow regenerator test rig: Woven screen and metal felt results

We present correlating expressions, in terms of Reynolds or Peclet numbers, for friction factors, Nusselt numbers, enhanced axial conduction ratios, and overall heat flux ratios in four porous regenerator samples representative of stirling cycle regenerators: two woven screen samples and two random wire samples. Error estimates and comparison of data with others suggest our correlations are reliable, but we need to test more samples over a range of porosities before our results will become generally useful.

Gedeon, D.↗