Energy transfer rates of an integrated life support system during manned and intermittently manned tests
Thermal and electric energy transfer within life support systems
Houck, O. K.↗
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Orchestrator Telemetry Processing Pipeline
Orchestrator is a software application infrastructure for telemetry monitoring, logging, processing, and distribution. The architecture has been applied to support operations of a variety of planetary rovers. Built in Java with the Eclipse Rich Client Platform, Orchestrator can run on most commonly used operating systems. The pipeline supports configurable parallel processing that can significantly reduce the time needed to process a large volume of data products. Processors in the pipeline implement a simple Java interface and declare their required input from upstream processors. Orchestrator is programmatically constructed by specifying a list of Java processor classes that are initiated at runtime to form the pipeline. Input dependencies are checked at runtime. Fault tolerance can be configured to attempt continuation of processing in the event of an error or failed input dependency if possible, or to abort further processing when an error is detected. This innovation also provides support for Java Message Service broadcasts of telemetry objects to clients and provides a file system and relational database logging of telemetry. Orchestrator supports remote monitoring and control of the pipeline using browser-based JMX controls and provides several integration paths for pre-compiled legacy data processors. At the time of this reporting, the Orchestrator architecture has been used by four NASA customers to build telemetry pipelines to support field operations. Example applications include high-volume stereo image capture and processing, simultaneous data monitoring and logging from multiple vehicles. Example telemetry processors used in field test operations support include vehicle position, attitude, articulation, GPS location, power, and stereo images.
Powell, Mark↗
Customer Avionics Interface Development and Analysis (CAIDA): Software Developer for Avionics Systems
The Customer Avionics Interface Development and Analysis (CAIDA) supports the testing of the Launch Control System (LCS), NASA's command and control system for the Space Launch System (SLS), Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), and ground support equipment. The objective of the semester-long internship was to support day-to-day operations of CAIDA and help prepare for verification and validation of CAIDA software.
Mitchell, Sherry L.↗
Advancements in Force and Angle Measurement by the NFMTC
The National Force Measurement Technology Capability (NFMTC) is a nationwide partnership established in 2008 and sponsored by NASA’s Aeronautics Evaluation and Test Capabilities (AETC) project to maintain and further develop force and angle measurement capabilities primarily for NASA’s ground test facilities. One of the NFMTC’s primary objectives is to develop new force and angle measurement capabilities to meet the needs of researchers testing in NASA’s ground test facilities. This work will highlight several new capabilities that are either at or near operational readiness. A new six-component flow-through balance was designed and fabricated to support an upcoming retropropulsion test campaign at the NASA Langley Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel. The balance employs membranes in place of bellows, which have historically been used, and passes the flow through load bearing parts of the balance. Flow through the balance is optimized via the addition of flow guides, which are manufactured as separate parts, and attached to the balance. Calibration of this new flow-through balance demonstrates that it can suitably characterize the load and pressure ranges it was designed for, which provides aero researchers a new tool to directly measure retropropulsion performance of powered descent vehicles. Balances used in NASA’s ground test facilities are typically either single-piece balances or floating-frame balances. Historically, these two types of balances have generally used different front-end (model) attachments. Single-piece balances generally have a cylindrical front end that is forward of any measuring sections and at a reduced diameter relative to the balance outer diameter. Floating-frame balances generally have front end fits that extend over one or more measuring sections and that engage at the balance outer diameter. Recently, the NFMTC fabricated a single-piece balance with a front end fit that is compatible with the hardware used to calibrate floating-frame balances. Calibration results evaluating this front end fit will be presented. From a recent survey of angle measurement needs, the development of smaller angle measurement packages was identified as one area of improvement. Micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) are continually being refined to provide high performance accelerometers that are a fraction of the volume of the quartz flexure based accelerometers that are standard in wind tunnels. A survey of commercial off-the-shelf MEMS accelerometers was conducted, and it identified the Safran Colibrys MS lines to be of adequate performance. Single-axis test boards and tri-axis rigid-flex production boards were designed and fabricated with a volume of approximately .18 cubic inches. The boards were designed to provide all the necessary conditioning for the MEMS accelerometers at levels to meet or exceed all requirements for the MS line sensors. Preliminary testing of these assembled sensor packages has demonstrated acceptable performance for wind-tunnel angle measurement. Several new rotating balances are at various stages of completion for NASA Glenn Research Center’s fan drive rigs. These balances provide direct measurement of thrust and torque of a driven fan or fan section to provide an estimate of fan efficiency and net thrust. Three two-component balances have been recently completed, and one six-component balance is in active development. A custom rotating telemetry system has been developed to support testing with these balances, and the telemetry system is integrated into the forward end of each one. The telemetry system is designed to remove mechanical sliprings by using an optical ethernet-based slipring for data transmission.
Force measurement↗
Nuclear Thermal Rocket Emulator for a Hardware-in-the-Loop Test Bed
To support NASA’s mission to use nuclear thermal rockets for future Mars missions, an instrumentation and control test bed has been built at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The system is designed as a hardware-in-the-loop test bed for testing control elements and autonomous control algorithms for nuclear thermal propulsion rockets. The mock reactor system consists of a modular and scalable framework, using inexpensive components and open-source software. The hardware system consists of a two-phase flow loop and a mock reactor with six control drums. A single-board computer (NVIDIA Jetson) handles reactor core emulation and hosts a message queuing telemetry transport broker that allows user-deployed control algorithms to interact with the system hardware. The reactor emulator receives sensor data from the hardware and provides the simulated performance of the reactor under steady-state, transient, and fault conditions. The emulator uses a reactivity lookup table and the point kinetics equations to solve for the reactor dynamics in real time. Emulated reactor dynamics and sensor input inform the autonomous control algorithm’s decision-making in a closed-loop manner. The current system is capable of operating at 10 Hz, but faster cycle rates are an area of ongoing research. This test bed will enable NASA and other space vendors to rigorously test their autonomous control systems for NTP rockets under transient (reactor startup and shutdown), steady-state, and fault conditions to reduce development time and risk for autonomous control systems in future missions.
autonomous control↗
Testing of Full Scale Flight Qualified Kevlar Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessels
Many decades ago NASA identified a need for low-mass pressure vessels for carrying various fluids aboard rockets, spacecraft, and satellites. A pressure vessel design known as the composite overwrapped pressure vessel (COPV) was identified to provide a weight savings over traditional single-material pressure vessels typically made of metal and this technology has been in use for space flight applications since the 1970's. A typical vessel design consisted of a thin liner material, typically a metal, overwrapped with a continuous fiber yarn impregnated with epoxy. Most designs were such that the overwrapped fiber would carry a majority of load at normal operating pressures. The weight advantage for a COPV versus a traditional singlematerial pressure vessel contributed to widespread use of COPVs by NASA, the military, and industry. This technology is currently used for personal breathing supply storage, fuel storage for auto and mass transport vehicles and for various space flight and aircraft applications. The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) was recently asked to review the operation of Kevlar 2 and carbon COPVs to ensure they are safely operated on NASA space flight vehicles. A request was made to evaluate the life remaining on the Kevlar COPVs used on the Space Shuttle for helium and nitrogen storage. This paper provides a review of Kevlar COPV testing relevant to the NESC assessment. Also discussed are some key findings, observations, and recommendations that may be applicable to the COPV user community. Questions raised during the investigations have revealed the need for testing to better understand the stress rupture life and age life of COPVs. The focus of this paper is to describe burst testing of Kevlar COPVs that has been completed as a part of an the effort to evaluate the effects of ageing and shelf life on full scale COPVs. The test articles evaluated in this discussion had a diameter of 22 inches for S/N 014 and 40 inches for S/N 011. The time between manufacture and burst was 28 and 22 years. Visual inspection, shearography, heat soak thermography and borescope inspection were performed on vessel S/N 011 and all but shearography was performed on S/N 014 before they were tested and details of this work can be found in a companion paper titled, "Nondestructive Methods and Special Test Instrumentation Supporting NASA Composite Overwrapped Pressure Vessel Assessments." The vessels were instrumented so that measurements could be made to aid in the understanding of vessel response. Measurements made on the test articles included girth, boss displacement, internal volume, multiple point strain, full field strain, eddy current, acoustic emission (AE) pressure and temperature. The test article before and during burst is shown with the pattern used for digital image correlation full field strain measurement blurring as the vessel fails.
Greene, Nathanael↗
Model for Simulating a Spiral Software-Development Process
A discrete-event simulation model, and a computer program that implements the model, have been developed as means of analyzing a spiral software-development process. This model can be tailored to specific development environments for use by software project managers in making quantitative cases for deciding among different software-development processes, courses of action, and cost estimates. A spiral process can be contrasted with a waterfall process, which is a traditional process that consists of a sequence of activities that include analysis of requirements, design, coding, testing, and support. A spiral process is an iterative process that can be regarded as a repeating modified waterfall process. Each iteration includes assessment of risk, analysis of requirements, design, coding, testing, delivery, and evaluation. A key difference between a spiral and a waterfall process is that a spiral process can accommodate changes in requirements at each iteration, whereas in a waterfall process, requirements are considered to be fixed from the beginning and, therefore, a waterfall process is not flexible enough for some projects, especially those in which requirements are not known at the beginning or may change during development. For a given project, a spiral process may cost more and take more time than does a waterfall process, but may better satisfy a customer's expectations and needs. Models for simulating various waterfall processes have been developed previously, but until now, there have been no models for simulating spiral processes. The present spiral-process-simulating model and the software that implements it were developed by extending a discrete-event simulation process model of the IEEE 12207 Software Development Process, which was built using commercially available software known as the Process Analysis Tradeoff Tool (PATT). Typical inputs to PATT models include industry-average values of product size (expressed as number of lines of code), productivity (number of lines of code per hour), and number of defects per source line of code. The user provides the number of resources, the overall percent of effort that should be allocated to each process step, and the number of desired staff members for each step. The output of PATT includes the size of the product, a measure of effort, a measure of rework effort, the duration of the entire process, and the numbers of injected, detected, and corrected defects as well as a number of other interesting features. In the development of the present model, steps were added to the IEEE 12207 waterfall process, and this model and its implementing software were made to run repeatedly through the sequence of steps, each repetition representing an iteration in a spiral process. Because the IEEE 12207 model is founded on a waterfall paradigm, it enables direct comparison of spiral and waterfall processes. The model can be used throughout a software-development project to analyze the project as more information becomes available. For instance, data from early iterations can be used as inputs to the model, and the model can be used to estimate the time and cost of carrying the project to completion.
Mizell, Carolyn↗
Overview of NASA GRC Stirling Technology Development
The Stirling Radioisotope Generator (SRG) is currently being developed by Lockheed Martin Astronautics (LMA) under contract to the Depar1ment of Energy (DOE). The generator will be a high efficiency electric power source for NASA Space Science missions with the capability to operate in the vacuum of deep space or in an atmosphere such as on the surface of Mars. High system efficiency is obtained through the use of free-piston Stirling power conversion technology. Power output of the generator will be greater than 100 watts at the beginning of life with the decline in power being largely due to the decay of the plutonium heat source. In suppOl1 of the DOE SRG project, the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has established a near-term technology effort to provide some of the critical data to ensure a successful transition to flight for what will be the first dynamic power system used in space. Initially, a limited number of technical areas were selected for the GRC effort, however this is now being expanded to more thoroughly cover a range of technical issues. The tasks include in-house testing of Stirling convertors and controllers, materials evaluation and heater head life assessment, structural dynamics, electromagnetic interference, organics evaluation, and reliability analysis. Most of these high-level tasks have several subtasks within. There is also an advanced technology effort that is complementary near-term technology effort. Many of the tests make use of the 55-We Technology Demonstration Convel10r (TDC). There have been multiple controller tests to support the LMA flight controller design effort. Preparation is continuing for a thermal/vacuum system demonstration. A pair of flight prototype TDC's have recently been placed on an extended test with unattended, continuous operation. Heater head life assessment efforts continue, with the material data being refined and the analysis moving toward the system perspective. Long-term magnet aging tests are continuing to characterize any possible aging in the strength or demagnetization resistance of the permanent magnets used in the linear alternator. In a parallel effort, higher performance magnets are also being evaluated. A reliability effort is being initiated that will help to guide the development activities with an increased focus on the necessary components and subsystems. Some other disciplines that are active in the GRC technology effort include structural dynamics, linear alternator analysis, EMI/EMC, controls, and mechanical design evaluation. This paper will provide an overview of some of the GRC technical efforts, including the current status, and a description of future efforts.
Schreiber, Jeffrey↗
Design, Test and Demonstration of Fault Current Limiting HTS Transformer
The project developed new technology that enables the creation of a high temperature superconductor-based FCL power transformer. SuperPower’s research and development created new methods to bond HTS conductor to a supporting substrate, test, and insulate the resulting bonded conductor, reduce winding ac losses, ensure FCL functionality during a transformer fault and build firm superconducting joints in the transformer harnesses and cabling. The bonded conductor in this program was shown to meet the critical operating parameters of providing the superconducting transformer operation while being able to meet the target normal state resistance required for FCL operation. The bonded conductor was also shown to be able to handle the fabrication stresses associated with the manufacture of the FCL transformer while also being able to handle the high hoop stresses and axial forces during a fault transient. Much of the technology developed here is applicable to the broader applied superconductivity community. The ability to tailor the clad conductors performance characteristics gives the designer of devices utilizing HTS a broader capability to address the particular needs of an given application. SuperPower worked with its sub-recipients Waukesha Electric Systems, ORNL, Southern California Edison and University of Houston to develop the design, fabrication, installation and operational aspects of a fault current limiting transformer on the electrical grid.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
A pulse-controlled modified-burst test instrument for accident-tolerant fuel cladding
Pellet-cladding mechanical interaction due to thermal expansion of nuclear fuel pellets during a reactivity-initiated accident (RIA) is a potential mechanism for failure of nuclear fuel cladding. To investigate the mechanical behavior of cladding during an RIA, we developed a mechanical pulse-controlled modified burst test instrument that simulates transient events with a pulse width from 10 to 300 ms. This paper includes validation tests of unirradiated and prehydrided ZIRLO cladding tubes. A ZIRLO cladding sample with a hydrogen content of 168 wt. ppm showed ductile behavior and failed at the maximum limits of the test setup with hoop strain to failure greater than 9.2%. ZIRLO samples showed high resistance to failure even at very high hydrogen contents (1,466 wt. ppm). When the hydrogen content was increased to 1,554 wt. ppm, brittle-like behavior was observed at a hoop strain of 2.5%. Preliminary scoping tests at room temperature with FeCrAl tubes were conducted to imitate the pulse behavior of transient test reactors during integral tests. The preliminary FeCrAl tests are informative from the perspective of characterizing the test rig and supporting the design of integral tests for current and potentially accident tolerant cladding materials.
12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
Techniques for hot structures testing
Hot structures testing have been going on since the early 1960's beginning with the Mach 6, X-15 airplane. Early hot structures test programs at NASA-Ames-Dryden focused on operational testing required to support the X-15 flight test program, and early hot structures research projects focused on developing lab test techniques to simulate flight thermal profiles. More recent efforts involved numerous large and small hot structures test programs that served to develop test methods and measurement techniques to provide data that promoted the correlation of test data with results from analytical codes. In Nov. 1988 a workshop was sponsored that focused on the correlation of hot structures test data with analysis. Limited material is drawn from the workshop and a more formal documentation is provided of topics that focus on hot structures test techniques used at NASA-Ames-Dryden. Topics covered include the data acquisition and control of testing, the quartz lamp heater systems, current strain and temperature sensors, and hot structures test techniques used to simulate the flight thermal environment in the lab.
Deangelis, V. Michael↗
Microelectronics Instrument Products Shock and Vibration Electro-Optics: Qualification Test Report - Section C
The table of contents include the following: hardware identification and configuration; qualification summary; qualification test data results; special test data; engineering rational to support analysis vs testing; qualification failure and corrective action; and qualification certificate.
Source record↗
Extended Operation of Stirling Convertors
A high-efficiency 110 W Stirling Radioisotope Generator 110 (SRG110) is being developed for potential NASA exploration missions. The SRG system efficiency is greater than 20%, making it an attractive candidate power system for deep space missions and unmanned rovers. The Department of Energy SRG110 Project team consists of the System Integrator, Lockheed Martin (LM), Stirling Technology Company (STC), and NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC). One of the GRC roles is to provide Independent Verification and Validation of the Stirling TDC s. At the request of LM, a part of this effort includes the Extended Operation of the TDC s in the dynamically balanced dual-opposed configuration. Performance data of Stirling Convertors over time is required to demonstrate that an SRG110 can meet long-duration mission requirements. A test plan and test system were developed to evaluate TDC s #13 and #14 steady-state performance for a minimum of 5000 hours. Hardware, software and TDC preparation processes were developed to support this test and insure safe, round-the-clock operation of the TDC s. This paper will discuss the design and development, and status of the Extended Operation Test.
Roth, Mary Ellen↗
Space Data Systems Applications in the iPAS Pathfinder Laboratory
The iPAS is an integrated hardware/software test and evaluation environment, in support of current and future spacecraft development The iPAS has two main elements. A common avionics, hardware, and software architecture that can be applied over various missions. A common testbed framework that supports integrated hardware/software testing for a variety of applications. The iPAS includes the following (non-flight qualified) components: Core Flight Software (from GSFC). Commercially available Proton and S950 Flight Computer boards. Power and propulsion systems based on representative flight hardware. A realistic flight deck based on the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), including realistic flight controls and displays. A Space Data System based on CCSDS protocols.
Rich, Tom↗
Nano-ADEPT Aeroloads Wind Tunnel Test
A wind tunnel test of the Adaptable Deployable Entry and Placement Technology (ADEPT) was conducted in April 2015 at the US Army's 7 by10 Foot Wind Tunnel located at NASA Ames Research Center. Key geometric features of the fabric test article were a 0.7 meter deployed base diameter, a 70 degree half-angle forebody cone angle, eight ribs, and a nose-to-base radius ratio of 0.7. The primary objective of this wind tunnel test was to obtain static deflected shape and pressure distributions while varying pretension at dynamic pressures and angles of attack relevant to entry conditions at Earth, Mars, and Venus. Other objectives included obtaining aerodynamic force and moment data and determining the presence and magnitude of any dynamic aeroelastic behavior (buzz/flutter) in the fabric trailing edge. All instrumentation systems worked as planned and a rich data set was obtained. This paper describes the test articles, instrumentation systems, data products, and test results. Four notable conclusions are drawn. First, test data support adopting a pre-tension lower bound of 10 foot pounds per inch for Nano-ADEPT mission applications in order to minimize the impact of static deflection. Second, test results indicate that the fabric conditioning process needs to be reevaluated. Third, no flutter/buzz of the fabric was observed for any test condition and should also not occur at hypersonic speeds. Fourth, translating one of the gores caused ADEPT to generate lift without the need for a center of gravity offset. At hypersonic speeds, the lift generated by actuating ADEPT gores could be used for vehicle control.
system engineering↗
DESIGN AND TESTING OF A 275 BAR 700 DEGREE CELSIUS EXPANDER FOR AN INTEGRALLY GEARED SUPERCRITICAL CO2 COMPANDER
An integrally-geared (IG) compressor-expander (compander) for use in a nominal 10 MW-scale concentrated solar power (CSP) supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) plant application was designed, manufactured, and tested. The integrally-geared compander (IGC) developed for this application comprises multiple pinion shafts interacting through a single bull gear to create a compact package and utilize a lowcost, low-speed driver. The present work will detail the design of the high-pressure high-temperature expander casing on an integrally geared frame, and illustrate how the project successfully mitigated the risk of fatigue and creep while allowing for rapid thermal transients in the design. Furthermore, test data from the test campaign will be presented supporting the analysis. Test results also show temperature profiles during operation exceeding 720° Celsius.
wilkes, jason↗
Advanced composite fuselage technology
Boeing's ATCAS program has completed its third year and continues to progress towards a goal to demonstrate composite fuselage technology with cost and weight advantages over aluminum. Work on this program is performed by an integrated team that includes several groups within The Boeing Company, industrial and university subcontractors, and technical support from NASA. During the course of the program, the ATCAS team has continued to perform a critical review of composite developments by recognizing advances in metal fuselage technology. Despite recent material, structural design, and manufacturing advancements for metals, polymeric matrix composite designs studied in ATCAS still project significant cost and weight advantages for future applications. A critical path to demonstrating technology readiness for composite transport fuselage structures was created to summarize ATCAS tasks for Phases A, B, and C. This includes a global schedule and list of technical issues which will be addressed throughout the course of studies. Work performed in ATCAS since the last ACT conference is also summarized. Most activities relate to crown quadrant manufacturing scaleup and performance verification. The former was highlighted by fabricating a curved, 7 ft. by 10 ft. panel, with cocured hat-stiffeners and cobonded J-frames. In building to this scale, process developments were achieved for tow-placed skins, drape formed stiffeners, braided/RTM frames, and panel cure tooling. Over 700 tests and supporting analyses have been performed for crown material and design evaluation, including structural tests that demonstrated limit load requirements for severed stiffener/skin failsafe damage conditions. Analysis of tests for tow-placed hybrid laminates with large damage indicates a tensile fracture toughness that is higher than that observed for advanced aluminum alloys. Additional recent ATCAS achievements include crown supporting technology, keel quadrant design evaluation, and sandwich process development.
Ilcewicz, Larry B.↗
Development of the structural technology of a large deployable antenna
The current NASA-sponsored Antenna Technology Development Program of the offset wrap-rib antenna concept is based on a ground test program of 'proof of concept' hardware whose potential on-orbit performance is based on analytical estimates. The ground demonstration hardware represents a partial 55-meter diameter reflector and feed support structure. Testing will include automated deployment, reflector surface quality evaluation and validation of analytical performance models. Test results and hardware fabrication costs will be used to refine the models that will be the basis for the preliminary design of a 100-meter diameter wrap-rib antenna system. Additionally, the design, processes, tooling, fabrication techniques, fixturing and assembly approaches used for the 'proof of concept' hardware are directly applicable to building flight systems up to 100 meters in diameter.
Wada, B. K.↗