SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Compaction technologies”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 955 records · Page 53

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2003

RF Manipulation and Detection of Protons in the High Performance Antiproton Trap (HiPAT)

The significant energy density of matter-antimatter annihilation is attractive to the designers of future space propulsion systems, with the potential to offer a highly compact source of power. Many propulsion concepts exist that could take advantage of matter-antimatter reactions, and current antiproton production rates are sufficient to support basic proof-of-principle evaluation of technology associated with antimatter-derived propulsion. One enabling technology for such experiments is portable storage of low energy antiprotons, allowing antiprotons to be trapped, stored, and transported for use at an experimental facility.

Martin, James J.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Heated-Pressure-Ball Monopropellant Rocket Engine

A recent technology disclosure presents a concept for a monopropellant thermal spacecraft thruster that would feature both the simplicity of a typical prior pressure-fed propellant supply system and the smaller mass and relative compactness of a typical prior pump-fed system. The source of heat for this thruster would likely be a nuclear- fission reactor. The propellant would be a cryogenic fluid (a liquefied low-molecular-weight gas) stored in a tank at a low pressure. The propellant would flow from the tank, through a feedline, into three thick-walled spherical tanks, denoted pressure balls, that would be thermally connected to the reactor. Valves upstream and downstream of the pressure balls would be operated in a three-phase cycle in which propellant would flow into one pressure ball while the fluid underwent pressurization through heating in another ball and pressurized propellant was discharged from the remaining ball into the reactor. After flowing through the reactor, wherein it would be further heated, the propellant would be discharged through an exhaust nozzle to generate thrust. A fraction of the pressurized gas from the pressure balls would be diverted to maintain the desired pressure in the tank.

Greene, William D.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Additive Manufacturing Technologies for Aerospace Applications

An overview will be provided on NASA GRC activities in additive manufacturing (AM) technology development for advanced high performance, propulsion component designs in electric motors and turbine engine systems in future electrified aircraft. AM offers significant benefits over conventional manufacturing to fabricate components that are more compact, lighter weight, geometrically complex, innovatively cooled, integrated, multi-material, and multifunctional. For turbine engine applications, silicon carbide (SiC) based composites are being pursued using binder jetting. For electric motor applications, additive processes are being applied toward optimized component designs to include the housing, rotor, and stators with 3-D printing and wire imbedded coils and with direct printed 3-phase coils. The will be an emphasis on capabilities in additive manufacturing.

Halbig, Michael C.↗

NASA NTRS2015

An All-Fiber, Modular, Compact Wind Lidar for Wind Sensing and Wake Vortex Applications

This paper discusses an innovative, compact and eyesafe coherent lidar system developed for wind and wake vortex sensing applications. With an innovative all-fiber and modular transceiver architecture, the wind lidar system has reduced size, weight and power requirements, and provides enhanced performance along with operational elegance. This all-fiber architecture is developed around fiber seed laser coupled to uniquely configured fiber amplifier modules. The innovative features of this lidar system, besides its all fiber architecture, include pulsewidth agility and user programmable 3D hemispherical scanner unit. Operating at a wavelength of 1.5457 microns and with a PRF of up to 20 KHz, the lidar transmitter system is designed as a Class 1 system with dimensions of 30"(W) x 46"(L) x 60"(H). With an operational range exceeding 10 km, the wind lidar is configured to measure wind velocities of greater than 120 m/s with an accuracy of +/- 0.2 m/s and allow range resolution of less than 15 m. The dynamical configuration capability of transmitted pulsewidths from 50 ns to 400 ns allows high resolution wake vortex measurements. The scanner uses innovative liquid metal slip ring and is built using 3D printer technology with light weight nylon. As such, it provides continuous 360 degree azimuth and 180 degree elevation scan angles with an incremental motion of 0.001 degree. The lidar system is air cooled and requires 110 V for its operation. This compact and modular lidar system is anticipated to provide mobility, reliability, and ease of field deployment for wind and wake vortex measurements. Currently, this wind lidar is undergoing validation tests under various atmospheric conditions. Preliminary results of these field measurements of wind characteristics that were recently carried out in Colorado are discussed.

Prasad, Narasimha S.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Logistics Reduction and Repurposing Technology for Long Duration Space Missions

One of NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) projects is the Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) project, which has the goal of reducing logistics resupply items through direct and indirect means. Various technologies under development in the project will reduce the launch mass of consumables and their packaging, enable reuse and repurposing of items and make logistics tracking more efficient. Repurposing also reduces the trash burden onboard spacecraft and indirectly reduces launch mass by replacing some items on the manifest. Examples include reuse of trash as radiation shielding or propellant. This paper provides the status of the LRR technologies in their third year of development under AES. Advanced clothing systems (ACS) are being developed to enable clothing to be worn longer, directly reducing launch mass. ACS has completed a ground exercise clothing study in preparation for an International Space Station (ISS) technology demonstration in 2014. Development of launch packaging containers and other items that can be repurposed on-orbit as part of habitation outfitting has resulted in a logistics-to-living (L2L) concept. L2L has fabricated and evaluated several multi-purpose cargo transfer bags (MCTBs) for potential reuse on orbit. Autonomous logistics management (ALM) is using radio frequency identification (RFID) to track items and thus reduce crew requirements for logistics functions. An RFID dense reader prototype is under construction and plans for integrated testing are being made. Development of a heat melt compactor (HMC) second generation unit for processing trash into compact and stable tiles is nearing completion. The HMC prototype compaction chamber has been completed and system development testing is underway. Research has been conducted on the conversion of trash-to-gas (TtG) for high levels of volume reduction and for use in propulsion systems. A steam reformation system was selected for further system definition of the TtG technology. And benefits analysis of all LRR technologies have been updated with the latest test and analysis results.

Broyan, James L.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) Doppler Wind Lidar Airborne Observations During the NOAA Joint Venture 3-D Wind Measurement Demonstration and NASA Active-Passive Profiling Experiment (APEX)

The NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) has recently completed development of the Aerosol Wind Profiler (AWP) airborne Doppler wind lidar (DWL) instrument. AWP was supported by the NASA Earth Science Technology Office and the Earth Science Division, a project that adapted the Wind-Space Pathfinder (Wind-SP) DWL transceiver onto a structure for flight aboard a variety of NASA research aircraft. AWP demonstrates many technologies required for a space DWL mission, including a coherent-detection, optical heterodyne laser transmitter with high pulse energy (up to ~55 mJ) and repetition rate (200 Hz), electronic control of the beam path allowing for multiple viewing angles (allowing vector wind measurements) with no moving parts, compact highly-stable and tunable reference lasers allowing for high-precision measurement of velocity at long ranges while mitigating the impact of satellite platform velocity, and many others. AWP represents NASA’s only currently operational airborne 3-D wind profiling sensor. NASA LaRC was selected by the NOAA Joint Venture (JV) program to conduct a suborbital 3-D Wind measurement campaign demonstrate how data from a coherent-detection DWL like AWP could serve NOAA’s weather analysis and forecasting needs. The NOAA JV program is designed to work with the private sector, academia and other federal agencies to explore the feasibility and capability of emerging technologies spacecraft and other mission-specific tools to meet NOAA’s mission requirements. AWP was initially demonstrated on the NASA DC-8 within this JV program in October 2023, piggybacking on the NASA EcoDemonstrator mission focused on in-situ sampling of jet aircraft emissions and contrail formation from Everett, Washington. The in-situ sampling resulted in very frequent and rapid aircraft attitude changes which unfortunately degraded AWP data quality. But, during times with level flight and AVAPS dropsonde operations, AWP demonstrated excellent precision (< 2 m/s RMS) with high vertical (< 100 meter) resolution and 2 km spacing between profiles. AWP will be flown again on the NASA LaRC Gulfstream-3 from mid-September to mid-October 2024 out of Hampton, VA to complete the NOAA JV 3-D wind demonstration. Additional AWP flights will occur in early November from southern California during the NASA Active-Passive Profiling Experiment (APEX), focused on underflights of the NASA ER-2 equipped with many atmospheric profiling sensors. This presentation will summarize AWP measurements collected during these two fall 2024 flight campaigns, and how the AWP data compares with AVAPS dropsonde, NOAA weather prediction model, and GOES atmospheric motion vector data.

Kristopher Bedka↗

NASA NTRS2014

Logistics Reduction and Repurposing Technology for Long Duration Space Missions

One of NASA's Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) projects is the Logistics Reduction and Repurposing (LRR) project, which has the goal of reducing logistics resupply items through direct and indirect means. Various technologies under development in the project will reduce the launch mass of consumables and their packaging, enable reuse and repurposing of items, and make logistics tracking more efficient. Repurposing also reduces the trash burden onboard spacecraft and indirectly reduces launch mass by one manifest item having two purposes rather than two manifest items each having only one purpose. This paper provides the status of each of the LRR technologies in their third year of development under AES. Advanced clothing systems (ACSs) are being developed to enable clothing to be worn longer, directly reducing launch mass. ACS has completed a ground exercise clothing study in preparation for an International Space Station technology demonstration in 2014. Development of launch packaging containers and other items that can be repurposed on-orbit as part of habitation outfitting has resulted in a logistics-to-living (L2L) concept. L2L has fabricated and evaluated several multi-purpose cargo transfer bags for potential reuse on-orbit. Autonomous logistics management is using radio frequency identification (RFID) to track items and thus reduce crew time for logistics functions. An RFID dense reader prototype is under construction and plans for integrated testing are being made. A heat melt compactor (HMC) second generation unit for processing trash into compact and stable tiles is nearing completion. The HMC prototype compaction chamber has been completed and system development testing is under way. Research has been conducted on the conversion of trash-to-gas (TtG) for high levels of volume reduction and for use in propulsion systems. A steam reformation system was selected for further system definition of the TtG technology.

Broyan, James Lee, Jr.↗

DOE OSTI2018

AGR-3/4 PIE at Oak Ridge National Laboratory

The Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) Technology Development Office (TDO) is currently supporting a tristructural isotropic (TRISO) fuel development and qualification program, which includes fuel fabrication, test irradiations, and post-irradiation examination (PIE) and safety testing to assess fuel performance during normal irradiation and under accident conditions. PIE work on fuel from the third and fourth test irradiations, Advanced Gas Reactor-3/4 (AGR-3/4), will begin at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) in approximately April 2015. The work scope in this memorandum purchase order (MPO) includes Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) providing technical input, developing equipment and techniques for small-area deconsolidation of compacts, and initiating a system design for hot cell operations (expected to begin in about April 2015), and contributing expertise to this effort.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

NASA NTRS2010

Multi-Evaporator Miniature Loop Heat Pipe for Small Spacecraft Thermal Control: Validation Results - Part 2

Under NASA s New Millennium Program Space Technology 8 (ST 8) Project, Goddard Space Fight Center has conducted a Thermal Loop experiment to advance the maturity of the Thermal Loop technology from proof of concept to prototype demonstration in a relevant environment , i.e. from a technology readiness level (TRL) of 3 to a level of 6. The thermal Loop is an advanced thermal control system consisting of a miniature loop heat pipe (MLHP) with multiple evaporators and multiple condensers designed for future small system applications requiring low mass, low power, and compactness. The MLHP retains all features of state-of-the-art loop heat pipes (LHPs) and offers additional advantages to enhance the functionality, performance, versatility, and reliability of the system. An MLHP breadboard was built and tested in the laboratory and thermal vacuum environments for the TRL 4 and TRL 5 validations, respectively, and an MLHP proto-flight unit was built and tested in a thermal vacuum chamber for the TRL 6 validation. In addition, an analytical model was developed to simulate the steady state and transient behaviors of the MLHP during various validation tests. The MLHP demonstrated excellent performance during experimental tests and the analytical model predictions agreed very well with experimental data. All success criteria at various TRLs were met. Hence, the Thermal Loop technology has reached a TRL of 6. This paper presents the validation results, both experimental and analytical, of such a technology development effort.

Ku, Jentung↗

NASA NTRS2012

Towards an Imaging Mid-Infrared Heterodyne Spectrometer

We are developing a concept for a compact, low-mass, low-power, mid-infrared (MIR; 5- 12 microns) imaging heterodyne spectrometer that incorporates fiber optic coupling, Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) local oscillator, photomixer array, and Radio Frequency Software Defined Readout (RFSDR) for spectral analysis. Planetary Decadal Surveys have highlighted the need for miniaturized, robust, low-mass, and minimal power remote sensing technologies for flight missions. The drive for miniaturization of remote sensing spectroscopy and radiometry techniques has been a continuing process. The advent of MIR fibers, and MEMS techniques for producing waveguides has proven to be an important recent advancement for miniaturization of infrared spectrometers. In conjunction with well-established photonics techniques, the miniaturization of spectrometers is transitioning from classic free space optical systems to waveguide/fiber-based structures for light transport and producing interference effects. By their very nature, these new devices are compact and lightweight. Mercury-Cadmium-Telluride (MCT) and Quantum Well Infrared Photodiodes (QWIP) arrays for heterodyne applications are also being developed. Bulky electronics is another barrier that precluded the extension of heterodyne systems into imaging applications, and our RFSDR will address this aspect.

Hewagama, T.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Development of readout electronics for the CMS ME0 muon detector

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in the High Luminosity (HL-LHC) era will be upgraded to deliver instantaneous luminosities up to 5 X 10 34 cm -2 s -1 , five times more than the original design value. In order to maintain performance of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) Experiment under these conditions, ME0 is one of the new muon detectors to be added, along with GE1/1, GE2/1, RE3/1 and RE4/1. ME0 uses the triple Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) technology and is designed to cover the far-forward region of 2.0 < |η| < 2.8. Further, the readout electronics for ME0 must be designed to deal with high data rates and be sufficiently radiation hard to operate very close to the beamline. The design and development status of the readout electronics for ME0 are presented, along with recent results from integration tests performed using the latest electronics prototypes with GEM chambers.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2018

Calibration of two compact permanent magnet spectrometers for high current electron linear induction accelerators

In this work, two compact, permanent magnet, electron spectrometers have been built to measure the electron beam energy at the Dual Axis Radiographic Hydrodynamic Test facility. Using H - and OH - anions, the spectrometers were calibrated at the Special Technologies Laboratory in Santa Barbara, California (USA). The spectrometers were mounted on a custom drift tube that allows the magnet assemblies to be translated, which increases the path length of the electrons traveling through the magnetic field and therefore increases the upper bound of the measurable electron kinetic energy. The measurable range of electron kinetic energies is between 2.8 MeV–4.1 MeV for the first spectrometer and 14.1 MeV–21.1 MeV for the second spectrometer, with an overall measurement uncertainty of 0.32%.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS2006

Compact, Engineered 2-Micron Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar Prototype for Field and Airborne Evaluation

The state-of-the-art 2-micron coherent Doppler wind lidar breadboard at NASA/LaRC will be engineered and compactly packaged consistent with future aircraft flights. The packaged transceiver will be integrated into a coherent Doppler wind lidar system test bed at LaRC. Atmospheric wind measurements will be made to validate the packaged technology. This will greatly advance the coherent part of the hybrid Doppler wind lidar solution to the need for global tropospheric wind measurements.

Kavaya, Michael J.↗

NASA NTRS2006

IIP Update: A Packaged Coherent Doppler Wind Lidar Transceiver. Doppler Aerosol WiNd Lidar (DAWN)

Kavaya, Michael J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Differential absorption lidar (DIAL) for water vapor and aerosol profiling from airborne and space-based platforms

Many current challenges in weather and climate prediction involve cloud and aerosol processes, which are intimately linked to processes that initiate or take place within the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The current space-based observing system provides a wealth of information on the spatial distribution of key atmospheric variables such as profiles of water vapor (WV) and temperature, but lacks the sensitivity, accuracy, and vertical resolution in the PBL to overcome the observational gaps that inhibit the parametrization and advancement of current climate and weather models. To overcome some of these observational gaps and improve understanding and monitoring of these key processes, mature remote sensing techniques like Differential Absorption Lidar (DIAL) can be employed from various platforms to capture processes on a wide range of spatial scales. This presentation will provide an overview of NASA’s water vapor DIAL capabilities, present the strengths, weaknesses, and synergies of the DIAL technique relative to traditional methods, and provide representative data examples from the HALO airborne water vapor DIAL which was designed as a technology testbed for future space-based DIAL missions as well as a workhorse instrument in support of suborbital process studies. HALO is an airborne multifunction lidar system, simultaneously profiling WV with the DIAL technique and aerosol and cloud optical properties and PBL heights via the high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL) technique. HALO has a compact design that allows it to fly on most research aircraft, enabling nadir profiling from the lower stratosphere down through the PBL, which is critical for studying processes such as convection and cloud formation that can link the PBL and free troposphere. We will end with an outlook on the benefits and challenges of transitioning the mature DIAL technique to space to compliment other active and passive sounders and enable new PBL observations for the future Earth Observing System. The Atmospheric Boundary layer Lidar pathfindEr (ABLE), a program aimed at advancing technologies to enable the first demonstration of DIAL from space with cross-cutting observables of PBL heights, aerosol and cloud profiling, and methane columns from space will also be presented.

Brian J. Carroll↗

DOE OSTI2026

Cosmic axions revealed via amplified modulation of the ellipticity of a laser

We propose a new axion dark matter detection strategy that employs optical readout of laser beam ellipticity modulations caused by axion-induced electric fields in a microwave cavity, using electro-optic (EO) crystals, enhanced by externally injected radio-frequency (rf) power. Building upon the variance-based probing method [Phys. Rev. D 107, 103005 (2023).], we extend this concept to the optical domain: A weak probe laser interacts with an EO crystal coupled to the resonant microwave cavity field at cryogenic temperatures, and the axion-induced electric field is revealed through induced ellipticity. The injected rf signal coherently interferes with that of the axion field, amplifying the optical response and significantly improving sensitivity. While our EO-based method employs a Fabry-Pérot resonator, we do not require Michelson interferometers. Our method, hence, enables compact, high-frequency axion searches, across the 0.5–50 GHz range. Operating at cryogenic temperatures not only suppresses thermal backgrounds, but, critically, allows the probing method to mitigate the quantum noise. This approach offers a scalable path forward for axion detection over the ∼(few−200) μ⁢eV mass range—covering the preferred parameter space for the postinflationary Peccei-Quinn axion dark matter—using compact, tunable systems.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2017

Comprehensive Characterization of Silicon Photomultipliers for Nuclear Security Applications

Scintillation detectors are an essential instrument in a variety of fields, serving as an effective means of detecting radiation for industrial, defense, medical, and basic-research applications. Light sensors are an integral part of all scintillation detectors and can affect detector performance as much as the scintillator itself. The photomultiplier tube (PMT) has been the standard light sensor for over half a century, but alternatives have been developed recently, and the silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) is perhaps the most promising of these new technologies. SiPMs can produce gains of the same order of magnitude as most PMTs and have shown reduced noise levels in the newest generations. Additionally, they posses benefits characteristic of solid-state devices such as insensitivity to magnetic fields, mechanical ruggedness, compactness, low operating voltages, and high quantum efficiencies. The timing properties of light sensors are an important characteristic for many applications, including nuclear security. For example, accurate timing is necessary for time of flight experiments, scatter cameras, and background suppression. This work aims to characterize the time resolution of many commercially available new-generation SiPMs, specifically in a time coincidence setting. SiPMs have been acquired from five leading manufacturers possessing a variety of pixel and microcell sizes. Results are presented with an organic scintillator p-terphenyl and coincidence time resolution of less than 300 picoseconds is achieved. Comparison with PMTs shows that the PMT pair tested has a superior time resolution of 83 picoseconds.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

DOE OSTI2018

Tribological Performance of Ni{sub 3}Al Matrix Self-Lubricating Composites Containing Multilayer Graphene Prepared by Additive Manufacturing

In order to improve tribological performance of Ni{sub 3}Al-based alloy, Ni{sub 3}Al matrix composites containing 1.5 wt.% multilayer graphene (MLG) are prepared through additive manufacturing (AM) and spark plasma sintering (SPS), which are denoted as NMAM and NMSPS, respectively. Tribological behaviors of NMAM and NMSPS against Si{sub 3}N{sub 4} balls are researched under constant speed (0.2 m/s) and varied loads (from 4 to 16 N) for evaluating the tribological properties of NMAM and NMSPS. The results present that NMAM exhibits the excellent tribological properties [low friction coefficients (0.26-0.40) and considerable wear resistance (2.8-4.6 × 10{sup −5} mm{sup 3} N{sup −1} m{sup −1})] as compared to NMSPS, which attributes to the uniform enrichment of MLG with properties of high tensile strength and being easily sheared off on the worn surfaces. Owing to the use of spherical prealloyed powder containing multilayer graphene and the characteristics of layer by layer depositing in the AM process, NMAM has a more compact and uniform substrate, which persistently provides a source of the formation of continuous and stable frictional layer. Due to the characteristics of AM rapid solidification, NMAM has the small grain size and well-compacted microstructure, which can effectively reduce the probability of spalling wear and lead to the increase in wear resistance of materials. The research can offer the reference for self-lubricating materials prepared by AM technology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗