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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

A Prognostics Framework for Battery Health Monitoring Integrated with Thermal Modeling

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) promises to revolutionize transportation in major cities, offering passenger travel, cargo delivery, and emergency medical services through a network of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. However, the limited range of current eVTOLs, due to the low specific energy of lithium-ion batteries along with a possibility of thermal runaway conditions poses significant safety concerns, leading to potentially compromising operational safety. To address this critical challenge, researchers are actively evaluating the impact of flight and environmental conditions on onboard lithium-ion battery health. This involves carefully assessing the performance of battery packs under laboratory and operational conditions for developing models to estimate future health using prognostics framework. This study examines the effectiveness of evaluating battery degradation leading to catastrophic failures under varying operational conditions in laboratory. These are captured using physics based models of underlying phenomenons and integrated into the prognostics framework. A fully charged battery undergoes controlled discharge cycles at varying C-rates based on the simulated power draw profile, with current and voltage, temperature data recorded throughout the experiment. The observed data provides valuable insights into how different operating conditions and mission profiles affect battery performance. This information is crucial for developing strategies to optimize battery systems, enhance range, and ultimately ensure the safe and reliable operation of UAM vehicles.

Thermal Modeling↗

A Prognostics Framework for Battery Health Monitoring Integrated with Thermal Modeling

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) promises to revolutionize transportation in major cities, offering passenger travel, cargo delivery, and emergency medical services through a network of electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft. However, the limited range of current eVTOLs, due to the low specific energy of lithium-ion batteries along with a possibility of thermal runaway conditions poses significant safety concerns, leading to potentially compromising operational safety. To address this critical challenge, researchers are actively evaluating the impact of flight and environmental conditions on onboard lithium-ion battery health. This involves carefully assessing the performance of battery packs under laboratory and operational conditions for developing models to estimate future health using prognostics framework. This study examines the effectiveness of evaluating battery degradation leading to catastrophic failures under varying operational conditions in laboratory. These are captured using physics based models of underlying phenomenons and integrated into the prognostics framework. A fully charged battery undergoes controlled discharge cycles at varying C-rates based on the simulated power draw profile, with current and voltage, temperature data recorded throughout the experiment. The observed data provides valuable insights into how different operating conditions and mission profiles affect battery performance. This information is crucial for developing strategies to optimize battery systems, enhance range, and ultimately ensure the safe and reliable operation of UAM vehicles.

Thermal Modeling↗

Note on the Effect of Horizontal Gradients for Nadir-Viewing Microwave and Infrared Sounders

Passive microwave and infrared nadir sounders such as the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit A (AMSU-A) and the Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS), both flying on NASA s EOS Aqua satellite, provide information about vertical temperature and humidity structure that is used in data assimilation systems for numerical weather prediction and climate applications. These instruments scan cross track so that at the satellite swath edges, the satellite zenith angles can reach approx. 60 deg. The emission path through the atmosphere as observed by the satellite is therefore slanted with respect to the satellite footprint s zenith. Although radiative transfer codes currently in use at operational centers use the appropriate satellite zenith angle to compute brightness temperature, the input atmospheric fields are those from the vertical profile above the center of the satellite footprint. If horizontal gradients are present in the atmospheric fields, the use of a vertical atmospheric profile may produce an error. This note attempts to quantify the effects of horizontal gradients on AIRS and AMSU-A channels by computing brightness temperatures with accurate slanted atmospheric profiles. We use slanted temperature, water vapor, and ozone fields from data assimilation systems. We compare the calculated slanted and vertical brightness temperatures with AIRS and AMSU-A observations. We show that the effects of horizontal gradients on these sounders are generally small and below instrument noise. However, there are cases where the effects are greater than the instrument noise and may produce erroneous increments in an assimilation system. The majority of the affected channels have weighting functions that peak in the upper troposphere (water vapor sensitive channels) and above (temperature sensitive channels) and are unlikely t o significantly impact tropospheric numerical weather prediction. However, the errors could be significant for other applications such as stratospheric analysis. Gradients in ozone and tropospheric temperature appear to be well captured by the analyses. In contrast, gradients in upper stratospheric and mesospheric temperature as well as upper tropospheric humidity are less well captured. This is likely due in part to a lack of data to specify these fields accurately in the analyses. Advanced new sounders, like AIRS, may help to better specify these fields in the future.

Joiner, J.↗

Prediction and monitoring of clear air turbulence: An evaluation of the applicability of the rawinsonde system

The applicability of rawinsonde data for either detection or prediction of clear air turbulence is discussed. The mechanism currently believed responsible for the development of CAT is reviewed. Since previous studies determined that the most significant factor for the existence of turbulent layers is the magnitude of the vertical shear, certain theoretically derived shear criteria was applied to statistical and diagnostic comparisons of rawinsonde and Jimsphere/Jimsonde conjunctive vertical profiles. It is determined that the Rawinsonde system cannot reliably be used as a CAT detector in a single-station sense.

Keller, J. L.↗

Wind wheel electric power generator

Wind wheel electric power generator apparatus includes a housing rotatably mounted upon a vertical support column. Primary and auxiliary funnel-type, venturi ducts are fixed onto the housing for capturing wind currents and conducting to a bladed wheel adapted to be operatively connected with the generator apparatus. Additional air flows are also conducted onto the bladed wheel; all of the air flows positively effecting rotation of the wheel in a cumulative manner. The auxiliary ducts are disposed at an acute angle with respect to the longitudinal axis of the housing, and this feature, together with the rotatability of the housing and the ducts, permits capture of wind currents within a variable directional range.

Kaufman, J. W.↗

UAS Well Clear Recovery Against Non-Cooperative Intruders Using Vertical Maneuvers

This paper documents a study that drove the development of a mathematical expression in the minimum operational performance standards (MOPS) of detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). This equation describes the conditions under which vertical maneuver guidance could be provided during recovery of well clear separation with a non-cooperative VFR aircraft in addition to horizontal maneuver guidance. Although suppressing vertical maneuver guidance in these situations increased the minimum horizontal separation from 500 to 800 feet, the maximum severity of loss of well clear increased in about 35 of the encounters compared to when a vertical maneuver was preferred and allowed. Additionally, analysis of individual cases led to the identification of a class of encounter where vertical rate error had a large effect on horizontal maneuvers due to the difficulty of making the correct left-right turn decision: crossing conflict with intruder changing altitude. These results supported allowing vertical maneuvers when UAS vertical performance exceeds the relative vertical position and velocity accuracy of the DAA tracker given the current velocity of the UAS and the relative vertical position and velocity estimated by the DAA tracker. Looking ahead, these results indicate a need to improve guidance algorithms by utilizing maneuver stability and near mid-air collision risk when determining maneuver guidance to regain well clear separation.

detect and avoid↗

Simulation Studies for an Urban Air Mobility Aircraft using Hardware-In-Loop Experiments

Urban Air Mobility seeks to transport passengers, deliver cargo, and provide emergency transportation in major metropolitan areas. This will be accomplished with distributed electric-powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. The low specific energy of the current generation lithium-ion battery packs limit the operational range of electric aircraft. Limited range impacts safety by reducing the time available for analyzing and responding to errors and failures, and limiting the ability to fly to an alternative landing area or return to base. It is therefore critical to understand flight operational and environmental conditions that impact the onboard lithium-ion polymer battery pack’s health. With this as the motivation, experimental procedure in a laboratory setting, and results of the experiments performed on battery packs subject to power draw corresponding to power required during the different phases of flight of a NASA conceptual quadrotor aircraft in simulation are described. The fully charged battery is allowed to discharge at specific C-rates based on the power draw profile and the current and voltages are recorded. Observed results under different operating conditions and mission profiles are discussed.

UAM↗

Assessing Helicopter Pilots’ Detect and Avoid and Collision Avoidance Performance With ACAS Xr

The latest variant of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS X) is being designed for both crewed and uncrewed rotorcraft. Referred to as ACAS Xr, the system joins a suite of other ACAS X variants poised to replace the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II). ACAS Xr is tuned to support current-day helicopter platforms as well as electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles that are still under development. Given this flexibility, ACAS Xr may be used by helicopter crews currently in operation or by remotely-operated eVTOL aircraft in the emerging Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market. To cover the range of potential uses, two distinct configurations are being proposed for ACAS Xr: Collision Avoidance System (CAS) and Detect and Avoid (DAA). Under the CAS configuration, ACAS Xr provides minimal caution-level alerting but issues directive warning-level alerting and guidance. The DAA configuration, by contrast, provides caution-level alerting and guidance, in addition to the warning-level alerting and guidance. The current study was performed as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s AAM project. Six helicopter pilots were recruited to fly a variety of scripted traffic scenarios in a full-motion, crewed eVTOL simulator. Participants flew 60 encounters over two days, reacting to pre-recorded intruder aircraft that were scripted to fly into the participant’s aircraft from different approach angles, relative altitudes, and during different phases of flight. The pilots flew half of the encounters with the CAS configuration and half with the DAA configuration. Within each block of 30 encounters, pilots experienced 10 conflicts while in cruise, 10 in hover, and 10 while on approach to a heliport. Results showed that pilot response times were consistently under 5 seconds for RAs and under 10 seconds for DAA alerts, when present, during all three phases of flight. Unsurprisingly, the DAA configuration was associated with lower rates of en-route and high-severity losses of DAA well clear compared to the CAS configuration in all phases of flight except for the terminal area. Rates of losses of DAA well clear were found to be substantially higher in the Hover scenario, compared to Cruise. Pilots failed to fully comply with RAs at a rate of 0.10-0.18 in all conditions except for the DAA configuration in the Hover scenario, which was associated with a higher non-compliance rate of 0.4 due to Descend RAs issued at low altitudes. The implications of these results with regards to the ongoing development of ACAS Xr is discussed.

air taxis↗

Assessing Helicopter Pilots’ Detect and Avoid and Collision Avoidance Performance with ACAS Xr

The latest variant of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Airborne Collision Avoidance System (ACAS X) is being designed for both crewed and uncrewed rotorcraft. Referred to as ACAS Xr, the system joins a suite of other ACAS X variants poised to replace the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS II). ACAS Xr is tuned to support current-day helicopter platforms as well as electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) vehicles that are still under development. Given this flexibility, ACAS Xr may be used by helicopter crews currently in operation or by remotely-operated eVTOL aircraft in the emerging Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) market. To cover the range of potential uses, two distinct configurations are being proposed for ACAS Xr: Collision Avoidance System (CAS) and Detect and Avoid (DAA). Under the CAS configuration, ACAS Xr provides minimal caution-level alerting but issues directive warning-level alerting and guidance. The DAA configuration, by contrast, provides caution-level alerting and guidance, in addition to the warning-level alerting and guidance. The current study was performed as part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s AAM project. Six helicopter pilots were recruited to fly a variety of scripted traffic scenarios in a full-motion, crewed eVTOL simulator. Participants flew 60 encounters over two days, reacting to pre-recorded intruder aircraft that were scripted to fly into the participant’s aircraft from different approach angles, relative altitudes, and during different phases of flight. The pilots flew half of the encounters with the CAS configuration and half with the DAA configuration. Within each block of 30 encounters, pilots experienced 10 conflicts while in cruise, 10 in hover, and 10 while on approach to a heliport. Results showed that pilot response times were consistently under 5 seconds for RAs and under 10 seconds for DAA alerts, when present, during all three phases of flight. Unsurprisingly, the DAA configuration was associated with lower rates of en-route and high-severity losses of DAA well clear compared to the CAS configuration in all phases of flight except for the terminal area. Rates of losses of DAA well clear were found to be substantially higher in the Hover scenario, compared to Cruise. Pilots failed to fully comply with RAs at a rate of 0.10-0.18 in all conditions except for the DAA configuration in the Hover scenario, which was associated with a higher non-compliance rate of 0.4 due to Descend RAs issued at low altitudes. The implications of these results with regards to the ongoing development of ACAS Xr is discussed.

air taxis↗

Development of Modeling & Simulation Capability to Analyze Supply Chain

Supply chain has brought up many challenges to the current aerospace industry (e.g. limited sources, lack of inventory, and cyber security). The purpose of this research is to develop a web-based modeling and simulation platform for supply chains relating to Advanced Air Mobility and vertical take-off and landing vehicles (VTOLs).

Cybersecurity↗

Simulation Studies for an Urban Air Mobility Aircraft using Hardware-In-Loop Experiments

Urban Air Mobility seeks to transport passengers, deliver cargo, and provide emergency medical transportation in major metropolitan areas. This will be accomplished with distributed electric powered vertical takeoff and landing aircraft vehicles. The low specific energy of the current generation lithium-ion battery packs limit the operational range of the electric aircraft. Limited range impacts safety by reducing the amount of time available for analyzing the potential impact of errors and failures and responding to them, and for flying to an alternative landing area or returning to the base. It is therefore critical to understand the impact of flight and environmental conditions on the onboard lithium-ion battery pack’s health. With this as the motivation, the procedure for evaluating the performance of battery packs in a laboratory setting and the results obtained using this procedure on battery packs subject to power draw characteristics of a simulated flight of a NASA conceptual quadrotor aircraft model are described. The fully charged battery is allowed to discharge at specific C-rates based on the power draw profile during the experiment, and the current and voltages are recorded as a function of time. Observed results under different operating conditions and mission profiles are discussed.

UAM↗

3-D Surface Depression Profiling Using High Frequency Focused Air-Coupled Ultrasonic Pulses

Surface topography is an important variable in the performance of many industrial components and is normally measured with diamond-tip profilometry over a small area or using optical scattering methods for larger area measurement. This article shows quantitative surface topography profiles as obtained using only high-frequency focused air-coupled ultrasonic pulses. The profiles were obtained using a profiling system developed by NASA Glenn Research Center and Sonix, Inc (via a formal cooperative agreement). (The air transducers are available as off-the-shelf items from several companies.) The method is simple and reproducible because it relies mainly on knowledge and constancy of the sound velocity through the air. The air transducer is scanned across the surface and sends pulses to the sample surface where they are reflected back from the surface along the same path as the incident wave. Time-of-flight images of the sample surface are acquired and converted to depth/surface profile images using the simple relation (d = V*t/2) between distance (d), time-of-flight (t), and the velocity of sound in air (V). The system has the ability to resolve surface depression variations as small as 25 microns, is useable over a 1.4 mm vertical depth range, and can profile large areas only limited by the scan limits of the particular ultrasonic system. (Best-case depth resolution is 0.25 microns which may be achievable with improved isolation from vibration and air currents.) The method using an optimized configuration is reasonably rapid and has all quantitative analysis facilities on-line including 2-D and 3-D visualization capability, extreme value filtering (for faulty data), and leveling capability. Air-coupled surface profilometry is applicable to plate-like and curved samples. In this article, results are shown for several proof-of-concept samples, plastic samples burned in microgravity on the STS-54 space shuttle mission, and a partially-coated cylindrical ceramic composite sample. Impressive results were obtained for all samples when compared with diamond-tip profiles and measurements from micrometers. The method is completely nondestructive, noninvasive, non-contact and does not require light-reflective surfaces.

Roth, Don J.↗

NASA Icing Remote Sensing System Comparisons From AIRS II

NASA has an on-going activity to develop remote sensing technologies for the detection and measurement of icing conditions aloft. A multiple instrument approach is the current emphasis of this activity. Utilizing radar, radiometry, and lidar, a region of supercooled liquid is identified. If the liquid water content (LWC) is sufficiently high, then the region of supercooled liquid cloud is flagged as being an aviation hazard. The instruments utilized for the current effort are an X-band vertical staring radar, a radiometer that measures twelve frequencies between 22 and 59 GHz, and a lidar ceilometer. The radar data determine cloud boundaries, the radiometer determines the sub-freezing temperature heights and total liquid water content, and the ceilometer refines the lower cloud boundary. Data is post-processed with a LabVIEW program with a resultant supercooled LWC profile and aircraft hazard identification. Individual remotely sensed measurements gathered during the 2003-2004 Alliance Icing Research Study (AIRS II) were compared to aircraft in-situ measurements. Comparisons between the remote sensing system s fused icing product and in-situ measurements from the research aircraft are reviewed here. While there are areas where improvement can be made, the cases examined indicate that the fused sensor remote sensing technique appears to be a valid approach.

Reehorst, Andrew L.↗

Effect of oxide layer growth conditions on radiation detection performance of Ni/SiO 2 /epi-4H-SiC MOS capacitors

We report high resolution radiation detection has been demonstrated using Ni/SiO2/n-4H-SiC metal-oxidesemiconductor vertical capacitors fabricated using highly crystalline 4H-SiC epilayers. The oxide layers have been grown thermally using two different approaches: i) in-air, and ii) oxygen-ambience oxidation. The devices fabricated using the former method exhibited dark currents one order of magnitude higher than that in the latter. The observed difference has been attributed to the back-contact series resistance and capacitance. Regardless of the difference in the device parameters, detectors prepared using both of the methods exhibited very high energy resolutions of ≤ 0.5% for 5486 keV alpha particles emitted by an 241Am radioisotope. Capacitance mode deep level transient spectroscopic (DLTS) studies revealed similar type of electrically active defects along with Z1/2 and EH5 deep level defects in both the types of devices. The DLTS scans also revealed positive polarity peaks in these devices which indicate emission from minority carrier trap centers. The activation energy corresponding to the peak was found to be ~1.2 eV which has been assigned to HK3 defects responsible for hole trapping in 4H-SiC. The possibility of appearance of the positive peak due to non-negligible impedance of the back-contact has been ruled out based on the observation that the centroid of the observed peak did not change with detectors having different device parameters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Balloon-borne ozonesonde and rocket temperature and wind data gathered during the July 1977 intertropical convergence zone experiment

In middle latitudes, it is possible for large concentrations of stratospheric air to be brought down to the tropopause through folds or breaks in the tropopause. The exchange of air from the tropopause into higher altitudes is not well understood. Thus, the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) experiment, conducted from July 16 through July 31, 1977, included a series of balloon-borne ozone soundings. The results of these soundings are presented and explain in the vertical exchange of air and provide information on the short vertical scales-of-motion. Rocketsonde data was also gathered in the ITCZ experiment in support of a stratospheric scales-of-motion study. The investigation was to determine whether rocketsonde and satellite information currently used yield information on the stratospheric horizontal wave spectrum and its importance with respect to tropospheric and mesospheric interaction and transport.

Schmidlin, F. J.↗

Evaluation of Current Planetary Boundary Layer Retrieval Capabilities from Space

The PBL over land remains a significant gap in our water and energy cycle understanding from space. This work combines unique NASA satellite and model products to demonstrate the ability of current sensors (advanced IR sounding and lidar) to retrieve PBL properties and in turn their potential to be used globally to evaluate and improve weather and climate prediction models. While incremental progress has been made in recent AIRS retrieval versions, insufficient vertical resolution remains in terms of detecting PBL properties. Lidar shows promise in terms of detecting vertical gradients (and PBLh) in the lower troposphere, but daytime conditions over land remain a challenge due to noise, and their coverage is limited to approximately 2 weeks or longer return times.

AIRS↗

A Summary of Results from Vertical Drop Testing of Hybrid III and WIAMan ATDs

With the development and maturation of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) market, many new types of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) vehicles will be flying in the national airspace carrying goods, people or conducting operations for a variety of missions. These types of vehicles are unlike current aircraft due to their novel design and operational profile. Several considerations must be examined in areas including noise, comfort and safety in order for these vehicles to be utilized and accepted into the current airspace system. Researchers at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) have conducted sub-scale and full-scale tests on representative eVTOL airframes and seats under a variety of dynamic impact conditions. These tests were conducted to generate data necessary to inform the development of standards in the areas specific to crashworthiness of eVTOL vehicle systems and safety. The data in this report relates to occupant responses obtained during a test campaign utilizing various makes, models, and sizes of Anthropomorphic Test Devices (ATD’s, a.k.a. crash test dummies) undergoing vertical impacts in a variety of seats. The data is intended to provide occupant behavior response and injury metrics for several anticipated impact scenarios that may occur in eVTOL operations. This report will present test data highlighting the effects of several variables on the test results. Discussions on the ATD sizes, along with comparisons between different ATD makes and types will be included. The performance of an in-house developed energy absorbing seat will be detailed, and discussions pertaining to the applicability in various loading conditions will be presented. Finally, a discussion as to the applicability of the tested results to eVTOL full-scale conditions will be included.

Dynamic Drop Testing↗

The Recovery of Medical Isotope 188 W from Irradiated W Metal Target - A New Approach

Tungsten-188 is in widespread use in 188 W(t 1/2 = 69 d )/ 188 Re(t 1/2 = 16.9 h ) biomedical generators. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been providing this product to the world since 1999. At ORNL, 188 W is produced via irradiation in ORNL’s High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR). Enriched 186 W targets in the form of sintered metallic pellets or rings achieve a compact loading in the irradiation vessel, providing a high yield per unit target. The enrichment of the target is >90% 186 W, and this isotope undergoes double neutron capture to produce the desired 188 W product. While 188 W is produced by neutron bombardment, 191 Os(t 1/2 = 15.4 d ) is simultaneously produced as a by-product and expected to be separated from 188 W by postirradiation treatment.In the current processing pathway, the irradiated W metal rings are first converted into an oxide form of WO 3 by heating the irradiated W metal target at 750°C in a quartz reaction vessel inside a vertical furnace under a constant flow of air. During heating, W metal reacts with oxygen in the air to produce WO 3 , which is soluble in 6 M NaOH for preparation of 188 W product. This oxidation process also converts 188 Os (the decay daughter of 188 W) and 191 Os (15.4 d , the irradiation produced byproduct) into OsO 4 , a highly volatile and toxic gas. The gaseous effluents driven from the quartz reaction vessel are passed through a scrubbing array to remove OsO 4 before the air is discharged from the process. This heterogeneous oxidation method simultaneously achieves goals of (1) converting metal target to a soluble oxide form and (2) removing volatile OsO 4 away from the solid WO 3 product by air flow and absorbing the harmful Os species by the scrubbing array. But this method has two potential problems as well: (1) O 2 reacts with only W metal at high temperatures, not with W alloyed with other elements. The O 2 –W reaction will be retarded when formation of WRe or WC occurs, or even when a layer of non-W materials on the surface of the irradiated W rings.; (2) 100% absorption of OsO 4 of high yield (>90%) from the reaction of Os + O 2 is a strict requirement to the OsO 4 scrubbing system--so NaOH scrubbers of a redundant size (2x 1.5 L) are in use for safety reasons.To resolve above two potential problems, direct dissolution of the irradiated W metal target by a selected reagent is a preferred pathway to avoid heating step with generation of tremendous amount of volatile OsO 4 . Hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) is such a candidate to dissolve W in forms of either metal or alloys, although literature lacks information of solubilities of Re or Os in H 2 O 2 . With experimental results of dissolving non-radioactive W, Re and Os in H 2 O 2 under various conditions, this report illustrates a method of H 2 O 2 dissolution for irradiated W target, with a complete dissolution of W and Re, but ≤10% dissolution of Os (converted into gaseous OsO 4 and carried out into a scrubbing for absorption) during processing irradiated W target. The portion of undissolved Os can be separated from W solution by a follow up filtration step. Solubilities of W, Re and Os in H 2 O 2 at a temperature range from 14° to 50°C are presented. And a dissolution rate of W metal per surface area of W metal in H 2 O 2 is calculated based on results of dissolving a W metal cylinder of known surface area in H 2 O 2 at room temperature without stirring.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗