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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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Effects of high initial tensile and compressive loads and elevated temperatures on room temperature fatigue life of notched titanium alloy sheets
In this report Handley Page construction techniques are shown such as: solid-drawn tubular duralumin spars are used in the stabilizer; plain channel sections are used extensively for minor components; and the manner of assembling them into a stabilizer compression strut is shown.
This innovation replaces the linear alternator presently used in Stirling engines with a continuous-gradient, impedance-matched, oscillating magnetostrictive transducer that eliminates all moving parts via compression, maintains high efficiency, costs less to manufacture, reduces mass, and eliminates the need for a bearing system. The key components of this new technology are the use of stacked magnetostrictive materials, such as Terfenol-D, under a biased magnetic and stress-induced compression, continuous-gradient impedance-matching material, coils, force-focusing metallic structure, and supports. The acoustic energy from the engine travels through an impedancematching layer that is physically connected to the magnetostrictive mass. Compression bolts keep the structure under compressive strain, allowing for the micron-scale compression of the magnetostrictive material and eliminating the need for bearings. The relatively large millimeter displacement of the pressure side of the impedance-matching material is reduced to micron motion, and undergoes stress amplification at the magnetostrictive interface. The alternating compression and expansion of the magnetostrictive material creates an alternating magnetic field that then induces an electric current in a coil that is wound around the stack. This produces electrical power from the acoustic pressure wave and, if the resonant frequency is tuned to match the engine, can replace the linear alternator that is commonly used.
The use of pre-fabricated pultruded carbon-epoxy rods has reduced the manufacturing complexity and costs of stiffened composite panels while increasing the damage tolerance of the panels. However, repairability of these highly efficient discrete stiffeners has been a concern. Design, analysis, and test results are presented in this paper for a bolted-joint repair for the pultruded rod concept that is capable of efficiently transferring axial loads in a hat-section stiffener on the upper skin segment of a heavily loaded aircraft wing component. A tension and a compression joint design were evaluated. The tension joint design achieved approximately 1.0 percent strain in the carbon-epoxy rod-reinforced hat-section and failed in a metal fitting at 166 percent of the design ultimate load. The compression joint design failed in the carbon-epoxy rod-reinforced hat-section test specimen area at approximately 0.7 percent strain and at 110 percent of the design ultimate load. This strain level of 0.7 percent in compression is similar to the failure strain observed in previously reported carbon-epoxy rod-reinforced hat-section column tests.
Technique permits plating of primarily metallic substrates with either metals or nonmetals at normal temperature. Peening uses compressed air to apply concurrent streams of small glass beads and powdered plating material to the substrate.
A low cost compressor rotor was designed and fabricated for a small jet engine. The rotor hub and blade keepers were compression molded with graphite epoxy. Each pair of metallic blades was held in the hub by a keeper. All keepers were locked in the hub with circumferential windings. Feasibility of fabrication was demonstrated in this program.
Whipped cream stays in place even when turned upside down. Yet it readily flows through the nozzle of a spray can to reach the dessert plate. This demonstrates the phenomenon of shear thinning that is important to many industrial and physical processes. Paints, film emulsions, and other complex solutions that are highly viscous under normal conditions but become thin and flow easily under shear forces. A simple fluid, such as water, does not exhibit shear thinning under normal conditions. Very close to the liquid-vapor critical point, where the distinction between liquid and vapor disappears, the fluid becomes more complex and is predicted to display shear thinning. At the critical point, xenon atoms interact over long distances in a classical model of cooperative phenomena. Physicists rely on this system to learn how long-range order arises. The Critical Viscosity of Xenon Experiment (CVX-2) will measure the viscous behavior of xenon, a heavy inert gas used in flash lamps and ion rocket engines, at its critical point. Although it does not easily combine with other chemicals, its viscosity at the critical point can be used as a model for a range of fluids. Viscosity originates from the interactions of individual molecules. It is so complicated that, except for the simplest gas, it cannot be calculated accurately from theory. Tests with critical fluids can provide key data, but are limited on Earth because critical fluids are highly compressed by gravity. CVX-2 employs a tiny metal screen vibrating between two electrodes in a bath of critical xenon. The vibrations and how they dampen are used to measure viscosity. CVX flew on STS-85 (1997), where it revealed that, close to the critical point, the xenon is partly elastic: it can 'stretch' as well as flow. For STS-107, the hardware has been enhanced to determine if critical xenon is a shear-thinning fluid.
Ceramics on metal substrates for potential use as high temperature seals or other applications are exposed to forces originating from differences in thermal expansion between the ceramic and the metal substrate. This report develops a relationship between the difference in expansion of the ceramic and the substrate, defines conditions under which shear between the ceramic and the substrate occurs, and those under which bending forces are produced in the ceramic. The off-axis effect of compression forces resulting from high temperature plastic flow of the ceramic producing buckling of the ceramic is developed. Shear is associated with the edge or boundary stresses on the component while bending is associated with the distortion of an interior region. Both modes are significant in predicting life of the ceramic. Previously announced in STAR as N83-27016
Solid-state low-temperature elastic properties have been experimentally studied at the NBS Cryogenic Division for four years. Most studies were between room temperature and liquid-helium temperature; some were only to liquid-nitrogen temperature. Two dynamic (high-frequency) experimental methods were used, pulse-echo and resonance, resulting in adiabatic elastic constants. The present paper reviews these studies for 47 technological materials - metals, alloys, and composites. The elastic constants primarily discussed are Young's modulus, the shear modulus, the bulk modulus (reciprocal compressibility), and Poisson's ratio. A summary table is presented to show which base metals tend to exhibit regular, irregular, or anomalous behavior in their elastic constant/temperature curves.
Method measures the area of the bonded zone of a compression weld by observing the electrical resistance of the weld zone while the load changes from full compression until the joint ruptures under tension. The ratio of bonding force to maximum tensile load varies considerably.
Description of a split-sphere apparatus modified for use at low temperature and affording a possible method for compressing molecular hydrogen to a pressure in excess of 1 Mbar and for converting it to the metallic state. The construction costs of the apparatus are relatively low and the amount of liquid helium required for low-temperature operation is readily obtainable with modern liquefiers.
Soft-seat poppet valve provides positive closure against fluid without damage to the seating surface on repeated cycling. It incorporates two compressible soft rings and a retaining ring of hard metal. Sealing is effected when the poppet seat is forced into intimate contact with a mating surface on one of the soft rings.
A strip specimen is cut from a unidirectional strong, brittle fiber composite material, and the surfaces of both ends of the specimen are grit blasted. The specimen is then placed between metal load transfer members having grit blasted surfaces. Sufficient compressive stress is applied to the load transfer members to prevent slippage during testing at both elevated temperatures and room temperatures. The need for adhesives, load pads, and other secondary composite processing is eliminated. This gripping system was successful in tensile testing, creep rupture testing, and fatigue testing uniaxial composite materials at 316 C.
The low plasticity burnishing (LPB) process produces a deep layer of surface compression in a quick and affordable manner to produce metal surfaces free of scratches, nicks, and gouges. The process, designed for easy inclusion in the manufacturing environment, can be performed with conventional Computer Numerical Control machine tools. This allows parts to be processed during manufacturing, rather than as a post process in a separate facility. A smooth, free-rolling spherical ball suspended in a fluid allows for single-point contact. The ball comes into mechanical contact only with the surface to be burnished, and can be moved in any direction. LPB can be applied to all types of carbon and alloy steel, stainless steel, cast iron, aluminum, titanium, and nickel- based super alloys. In addition to improving a surface's resistance to fatigue and damage, treatment stops the growth of shallow cracks. The LPB process is used on the leading edges of turbine blades to improve resistance to foreign object damage and crack growth. This means significant savings for aircraft owners, since maintenance requirements to inspect for fatigue damage, replace parts, and remove corrosion damage increase the cost of operation.
A document discusses a heat rejection device for transferring heat from a space vehicle by venting water into space through the use of a novel, two-stage water distribution system. The system consists of two different, porous media that stop water-borne contaminants from clogging the system and causing operational failures. Feedwater passes through a small nozzle, then into a porous disk made of sintered stainless steel, and then finally into large-pore aluminum foam. The smaller pore layer of the steel disk controls the pressure drop of the feedwater. The ice forms in the foam layer, and then sublimates, leaving any contaminants behind. The pore-size of the foam is two orders of magnitude larger than the current porous plate sublimators, allowing for a greater tolerance for contaminants. Using metallic fibers in the foam also negates problems with compression seen in the use of poly(tetrafluoroethylene) felt.
The purpose of the study was to develop improvements in the current methods for the calculation of the loads in members of metal truss wing spars which are subjected to combined bending and compression. The theory developed here has two important practical applications. One is the calculation of the effective moment of inertia of a truss spar from the geometry of the spar and the loads to which the spar is to be subjected. The second is the determination of the most economical location of metal for stiffening a truss spar which has too much deflection.
The adhesion and transfer of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to metals in ultrahigh vacuum were studied. The transfer was effected both by compressive static contact and by sliding contact. The transfer observed after static contact was independent of the chemical constitution of the substrate. Electron-induced desorption of the fluorine in the transferred PTFE showed that the fluorine had no chemical interaction with the metal substrate. The coefficient of friction on metals was independent of the chemical constitution of the substrate. However, sliding PTFE on soft metals, such as aluminum, generated wear fragments that lodged in the PTFE and machined the substrate.
Fixture designed for use in exposing compressed elastomeric O-ring or other ring seal to test fluid. Made of metal or plastic, with threaded recess into which O-ring placed. Opposite threaded end is opening through which test fluid introduced and placed in contact with O-ring. After exposure, compression set and swell or shrinkage of ring measured. Fixture set to compress ring by selected amount, providing for reproducible compression.