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At least 811 records · Page 45

Design and Manufacture of Wheels for A Dual-Mode (Manned - Automatic) Lunar Surface Roving Vehicle. Volume 1: Detailed Technical Report

The concept development, testing, evaluation, and the selection of a final wheel design concept for a dual-mode lunar surface vehicle (DLRV) is detailed. Four wheel configurations were fabricated (one open wheel and three closed wheel) (and subjected to a series of soft soil, mechanical, and endurance tests. Results show that the open wheel has lower draw-bar pull (slope climbing) capability in loose soil due to its higher ground pressure and tendency to dig in at high wheel slip. Endurance tests indicate that a double mesh, fully enclosed wheel can be developed to meet DLRV life requirements. There is, however, a 1.0 to 1.8 lb/wheel weight penalty associated with the wheel enclosure. Also the button cleats used as grousers for the closed-type wheels result in local stress concentration and early fatigue failure of the wire mesh. Load deflection tests indicate that the stiffness of the covered wheel increased by up to 50% after soil bin testing, due to increased friction between the fabric and the wire mesh caused by the sand. No change in stiffness was found for the open wheel. The single woven mesh open wheel design with a chevron tread is recommended for continued development

Source record↗

The Creep of Single Crystals of Aluminum

The creep of single crystals of high-purity aluminum was investigated in the range of temperatures from room temperature to 400 F and at resolved-shear-stress levels of 200, 300, and 400 psi. The tests were designed in an attempt to produce data regarding the relation between the rate of strain and the mechanism of deformation. The creep data are analyzed in terms of shear strain rate and the results are discussed with regard to existing creep theories. Stress-strain curves were determined for the crystals in tinsel and constant-load-rate tests in the same temperature range to supplement the study of plastic deformation by creep with information regarding the part played by crystal orientation, differences in strain markings, and other variables in plastic deformation.

ALUMINUM↗

Design and Development of a Robotic Exoskeleton Device for use in Glove Boxes - 20374

Glovebox operators in nuclear facilities often operate under radioactive environment and typically perform monotonous, dull and repetitive work. This can result in muscle fatigue leading to increased levels of accidents. Current research work aims in assisting the glovebox operators by designing a novel upper limb exoskeleton device to reduce injuries and increase worker efficiency. Almost none of the commercially available hand and upper body exoskeletons are directly suitable for use in gloveboxes. This explains the novelty of the present work in developing a wearable powered robotic exoskeleton device. The device consists of electronics, motors and spring systems mounted on adjustable plates and is supported by a stationary frame behind the worker. The device is intended to be portable and adjustable according to the operator height. The elbow has a flexion movement assisted with motor control by way of a Bowden cable system. The system is floated on a spring and pulley combination that allows for extra safety and smoothness of operation. The end points are fixed near the pivot points to help minimize unwanted movement/torque. The extension movement of the upper and lower arm are assisted by gravity and a counter spring. The shoulder and upper arm movement are held in a neutral position with a spring system for counter balance allowing small movements within the glovebox. This initial concept considers only the vertical movement of the arm. The abduction and adduction movement will not be assisted or impeded by the over shoulder plate or at the forearm plate allowing for full range of motion. Several glovebox aspects such as the level of task assistance, ergonomic design, minimum hindrance in dexterity/operator movements and tear resistance for hazardous safety reasons will be considered in the design of the exoskeleton. Computer models will be simulated to test the load levels and stress conditions on the exoskeleton to enhance the designs. The exoskeleton focusses on major muscular involvement reduction through weight offset and active assistance with minimal parts and hence the device is derived with several joint links and contains both passive and active joints. The paper details the various stages in the design development and prototype testing of the exoskeleton device. Upon successful prototype device development, human testing will be conducted in a replica of the SRS-235F hot cell facility constructed at FIU-ARC. The final stage of the project will be potential testing/deployment of the exoskeleton device in one of the glovebox facilities in Savannah River Nuclear Waste site. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Water impact testing of a filament wound case

A lightweight Filament Wound Case (FWC) Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) is being developed by NASA to increase the payload capability of the space shuttle. As with the steel boosters, the current plan is to recover the FWC SRB's after they impact the ocean at 65 to 85 ft/sec. As the boosters enter the ocean (nozzle first) the water moves away from the vehicle creating a cavity, which then collapses on the vehicle, and results in a significant loading event. To understand this loading event, tests were conducted on a quarter scale FWC model to measure cavity collapse pressure distributions, deflected shape and the effects of end conditions and pressure scaling.

Schmidt, A. A.↗

Fitts' Law? a Test of the Relationship Between Information Load and Movement Precision

The independence of information load (Hick's Law) and movement precision (Fitts' Law) was tested using additive factors methodology. Subjects were required to classify stimuli according to a decision rule with a variable entropy. The stimuli were presented in the center of the CRT screen. In response, subjects had to move a cursor from a starting point near the stimulus to the appropriate target. The precision of the response movement was varied by manipulating the ratio of the radius of the annulus to the width of the target area. The dependent measure was elapsed time between onset of the stimulus and completion of the response movement. Independence of the Hick's Law and Fitts' Law components of the reaction time was tested with an analysis of variance. Presence of an interaction would suggest that a decision stage and a response stage are dependent, and cannot be considered discrete steps in a serial process.

Zalaski, M.↗

Numerical analysis of the Iosipescu specimen for composite materials

A finite element analysis of the Iosipescu shear tests for unidirectional and cross-ply composites is presented. It is shown that an iterative analysis procedure must be used to model the fixture-specimen kinematics. The correction factors which are needed to compensate for the nonuniformity of stress distribution in calculating shear modulus are shown to be dependent on the material orthotropic ratio and the finite element loading models. Test section strain distributions representative of typical graphite-epoxy specimens are also presented.

Ho, H.↗

Numerical analysis of the Iosipescu specimen for composite materials

A finite element analysis of the Iosipescu shear tests for unidirectional and cross-ply composites is presented. It is shown that an iterative analysis procedure must be used to model the fixture-specimen kinematics. The correction factors which are needed to compensate for the nonuniformity of stress distribution in calculating shear modulus are shown to be dependent on the material orthotropic ratio and the finite element loading models. Test section strain distributions representative of typical graphite-epoxy specimens are also presented.

Ho, H.↗

Spin-Tunnel Investigation of a 1/40-Scale Model of the F-111A Airplane with Store Loadings and with Supplementary Spin-Recovery Devices

An investigation has been made in the Langley spin tunnel to determine the spin and spin-recovery characteristics of the F-111A airplane in the symmetric and asymmetric stores loading conditions. Tests were also made with the model in the clean condition to determine whether the spin-recovery characteristics could be improved by the use of supplementary devices.

Spin-recovery parachute↗

The circumferentially notched cylindrical bar as a fracture toughness test specimen

The present work reviews the use of the notched cylinder as a screening specimen for use in sorting materials with respect to their relative levels of plane strain fracture toughness. Irwin's work in developing an estimate of stress intensity factors for the circumferentially cracked cylinder is reviewed. Some discrepancies between stress intensity factors determined with fatigue cracked notched cylinders and those determined with plate specimens are discussed. Problems in the technical realization of fatigue cracking a specimen are briefly discussed, and the problem of ensuring low eccentricity of loading when testing notch cylindrical specimens is considered. Finally, specimen size requirements for testing are examined.

Brown, W. F., Jr.↗

Buckling Test Results and Preliminary Test and Analysis Correlation from the 8-Foot-Diameter Orthogrid-Stiffened Cylinder Test Article TA02

Results from the testing of cylinder test article SBKF-P2-CYL-TA02 (referred to herein as TA02) are presented. TA02 is an 8-foot-diameter (96-inches), 78.0-inch-long, aluminum-lithium (Al-Li), orthogrid-stiffened cylindrical shell similar to those used in current state-of-the-art launch-vehicle structures and was designed to exhibit global buckling when subjected to combined compression and bending loads. The testing was conducted at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), February 3-6, 2009, in support of the Shell Buckling Knockdown Factor Project (SBKF). The test was used to verify the performance of a newly constructed buckling test facility at MSFC and to verify the test article design and analysis approach used by the SBKF researchers.

Hilburger, Mark W.↗

Application of High-Temperature Extrinsic Fabry-Perot Interferometer Strain Sensor

In this presentation to the NASA Aeronautics Sensor Working Group the application of a strain sensor is outlined. The high-temperature extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI) strain sensor was developed due to a need for robust strain sensors that operate accurately and reliably beyond 1800 F. Specifically, the new strain sensor would provide data for validating finite element models and thermal-structural analyses. Sensor attachment techniques were also developed to improve methods of handling and protecting the fragile sensors during the harsh installation process. It was determined that thermal sprayed attachments are preferable even though cements are simpler to apply as cements are more prone to bond failure and are often corrosive. Previous thermal/mechanical cantilever beam testing of EFPI yielded very little change to 1200 F, with excellent correlation with SG to 550 F. Current combined thermal/mechanical loading for sensitivity testing is accomplished by a furnace/cantilever beam loading system. Dilatometer testing has can also be used in sensor characterization to evaluate bond integrity, evaluate sensitivity and accuracy and to evaluate sensor-to-sensor scatter, repeatability, hysteresis and drift. Future fiber optic testing will examine single-mode silica EFPIs in a combined thermal/mechanical load fixture on C-C and C-SiC substrates, develop a multi-mode Sapphire strain-sensor, test and evaluate high-temperature fiber Bragg Gratings for use as strain and temperature sensors and attach and evaluate a high-temperature heat flux gauge.

Piazza, Anthony↗

A study of two-phase flow in a reduced gravity environment

A test loop was designed and fabricated for observing and measuring pressure drops of two-phase flow in reduced gravity. The portable flow test loop was then tested aboard the NASA-JSC KC135 reduced gravity aircraft. The test loop employed the Sundstrand Two-Phase Thermal Management System (TPTMS) concept which was specially fitted with a clear two-phase return line and condenser cover for flow observation. A two-phase (liquid/vapor) mixture was produced by pumping nearly saturated liquid through an evaporator and adding heat via electric heaters. The quality of the two-phase flow was varied by changing the evaporator heat load. The test loop was operated on the ground before and after the KC135 flight tests to create a one-gravity data base. The ground testing included all the test points run during the reduced gravity testing. Two days of reduced gravity tests aboard the KC135 were performed. During the flight tests, reduced-gravity, one-gravity, and nearly two-gravity accelerations were experienced. Data was taken during the entire flight which provided flow regime and pressure drop data for the three operating conditions. The test results show that two-phase pressure drops and flow regimes can be accurately predicted in zero-gravity.

Hill, D.↗

Determination of the stiffness reduction of (0,90, + or - N 45) graphite/epoxy laminates under cyclic loading

A series of tests has been performed to determine the effect of fatigue loading on the stiffness degradation of graphite/epoxy composite materials. Specimens were tested in tension-tension fatigue at a loading frequency of 10 Hz and a stress ratio of 0.1, for a wide range of stress levels. During this investigation, both static and dynamic stiffnesses were continually monitored for the range of stress levels tested, and the results are presented in tabular and graphical form.

Jones, D. L.↗

Aerothermal performance and structural integrity of a Rene 41 thermal protection system at Mach 6.6

A flightweight panel based on a metallic thermal-protection-system concept for hypersonic and reentry vehicles was subjected repeatedly to thermal cycling by quartz-lamp radiant heating using a thermal history representative of a reentry heat pulse and to aerodynamic heating at heating rates required to sustain a surface temperature of 1089 K (1960 R). The panel consisted of a corrugated heat shield and support members of 0.05-cm (0.02-in.) thick Rene 41 of riveted construction and 5.08-cm (2-in.) thick silica fibrous insulation packages covered by Rene 41 foil and inconel screening. All tests were conducted in the Langley 8-foot high-temperature structures tunnel with the heat shield corrugations alined in the stream direction. The panel sustained 5.33 hr of intermittent radiant heating and 6.5 min of intermittent aerodynamic heating of up to 1-min duration for differential pressures up to 6.2 kPa (0.9 psi) with no apparent degradation of thermal or structural integrity, as indicated by temperature distributions and results from load deflection tests and vibration surveys of natural frequencies.

Deveikis, W. D.↗

Free-Spinning Tunnel Tests of a 1/24-Scale Model of the Grumman XTB3F-1 Airplane, TED No. NACA DE304

In accordance with a request of the Bureau of Aeronautics, Navy Department, tests were performed in the Langley 20-foot free-spinning tunnel to determine the spin and recovery characteristics of a 1/24 scale model of the Grumman XTB3F-1 airplane. The airplane is a two-place, midwing torpedo bomber equipped with a tractor propeller and an auxiliary jet engine. The effect of control setting and movement on the erect and inverted spin and recovery characteristics of the model were determined for the normal loading. Brief tests with mass extended slightly along the fuselage were also made, however, in order to determine the effect of such a mass variation on elevator effectiveness. Tests were performed to determine the size of emergency spin-recovery tail and wing-tip parachutes required for satisfactory recovery by parachute action alone. The investigation also included emergency pilot-escape tests and tests to determine the rudder pedal and elevator stick forces necessary to move the rudder and elevator for recovery.

Berman, Theodore↗

Crack Initiation Behavior of Cold-Worked Alloy 690 in Simulated PWR Primary Water - Role of Starting Microstructure, Applied Stress and Cold Work on Precursor Damage Evolution

Long-term stress corrosion crack (SCC) initiation behavior in Alloy 690 is being evaluated by constant load tensile testing in simulated pressurized water reactor primary water. Seven commercial Alloy 690 heats with different starting microstructures and cold-work levels are being tested at either 90% or 100% of the material yield stress. Previous studies have revealed grain boundary (GB) cavity formation after 7,110 to 9,220 hours of exposure in certain thermally treated (TT) Alloy 690 heats in highly cold-worked (CW) conditions, serving as precursors to intergranular cracks. This paper summarizes the new characterization results for the evolution of GB cavities in four Alloy 690TT heats in 21% and 31%CW conditions loaded at yield stress after 18,400 hours of exposure. Link-up of GB cavities has led to formation of long internal creep cracks, resulting in crack initiation detected by direct current potential drop in a highly CW Alloy 690TT heat with uniform, semi-continuous distribution of small GB carbides. In comparison, highly CW materials featuring larger and more widely spaced GB carbides did not show a significant increase in GB cavity density or size. Quantitative assessments were performed on GB cavity evolution in highly CW specimens for two Alloy 690TT heats demonstrating the strong dependence of GB cavity evolution on applied stress and starting GB microstructure.

Zhai, Ziqing↗

Impact of Porous Transport Layer Morphology on the Performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers with Ultra-Low Iridium Loadings

Reducing Ir loadings in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer anodes is critical for lowering capital expenses. Loading reduction could be achieved by improving the Ir activity via doping/alloying and/or the development of advanced microstructures. However, the anode porous transport layer (PTL) is a comparatively simple component whose properties also impact Ir utilization. Therefore, well-designed PTLs may also enable reduced Ir loadings. In this work, we survey eight PTLs from various manufacturers to observe their impact on cell performance at low (0.4 mg Ir cm -2 ) and ultralow (0.1 mg Ir cm -2 ) Ir loadings. The PTLs were characterized by their microstructural properties, including porosity, particle size distribution, and pore size distribution. Electrochemical cell performance was correlated to PTL morphology, and it was found that PTLs with lower porosities and smaller particle and pore radii enabled good performance even at ultralow Ir loadings. 1000-h durability testing indicated that using lower porosity PTLs can significantly improve durability behavior. A runaway voltage phenomenon was observed during durability testing of cells with ultralow Ir loadings, which was caused by increases in both anode and cathode overpotentials. Furthermore, we observed that the beginning of test performance of 0.1 mg Ir cm -2 cells correlates to the 1000-h degradation rates of 0.4 mg Ir cm -2 cells, suggesting that for the Ir catalyst used in this work, short-term testing at ultralow loadings can be used as an indicator of long-term degradation at higher loadings.

08 HYDROGEN↗