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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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New report assesses offshore wind industry, offshore wind resource, technology challenges, economics, permitting procedures, and potential risks and benefits.
The Gearbox Reliability Collaborative gearbox was redesigned to improve its load-sharing characteristics and predicted fatigue life. The most important aspect of the redesign was to replace the cylindrical roller bearings with preloaded tapered roller bearings in the planetary section. Similar to previous work, the strain gages installed on the planet tapered roller bearings were calibrated in a load frame. This report describes the calibration tests and provides the factors necessary to convert the measured units from dynamometer testing to bearing loads, suitable for comparison to engineering models.
Inlet and nacelle static pressures were measured on a 0.55-scale model of the Quiet Short-Haul Research Airplane (QSRA) in the Ames Research Center's 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel. This model is powered by four JT-15D engines located above the wing with closely spaced adjacent inlets. A fifth JT-15D engine in the fuselage provides boundary-layer control air. Each inlet was instrumented with four to eight rows of axial pressure taps located between X/R approximately plus or minus 1. The tests simulated a broad range of aircraft operating conditions, including engine-out, with lift coefficients from 0.8 to 10.0. Results indicate that the inlets perform well under most operating conditions with little interaction between inlets when the aircraft is moving. Potential problem areas identified are high sideslip angle during approach and an interaction effect between adjacent inlets with high mass flows in static conditions.
The isolated counterrotating high speed turboprop noise prediction program was compared with model data taken in the GE Aircraft Engines Cell 41 anechoic facility, the Boeing Transonic Wind Tunnel, and in NASA-Lewis' 8x6 and 9x15 wind tunnels. The predictions show good agreement with measured data under both low and high speed simulated flight conditions. The installation effect model developed for single rotation, high speed turboprops was extended to include counterotation. The additional effect of mounting a pylon upstream of the forward rotor was included in the flow field modeling. A nontraditional mechanism concerning the acoustic radiation from a propeller at angle of attach was investigated. Predictions made using this approach show results that are in much closer agreement with measurement over a range of operating conditions than those obtained via traditional fluctuating force methods. The isolated rotors and installation effects models were combines into a single prediction program, results of which were compared with data taken during the flight test of the B727/UDF engine demonstrator aircraft. Satisfactory comparisons between prediction and measured data for the demonstrator airplane, together with the identification of a nontraditional radiation mechanism for propellers at angle of attack are achieved.
The isolated counterrotating high speed turboprop noise prediction program developed and funded by GE Aircraft Engines was compared with model data taken in the GE Aircraft Engines Cell 41 anechoic facility, the Boeing Transonic Wind Tunnel, and in the NASA-Lewis 8 x 6 and 9 x 15 wind tunnels. The predictions show good agreement with measured data under both low and high speed simulated flight conditions. The installation effect model developed for single rotation, high speed turboprops was extended to include counter rotation. The additional effect of mounting a pylon upstream of the forward rotor was included in the flow field modeling. A nontraditional mechanism concerning the acoustic radiation from a propeller at angle of attack was investigated. Predictions made using this approach show results that are in much closer agreement with measurement over a range of operating conditions than those obtained via traditional fluctuating force methods. The isolated rotors and installation effects models were combined into a single prediction program. The results were compared with data taken during the flight test of the B727/UDF (trademark) engine demonstrator aircraft.
The favorable speed of an airship is chiefly determined by the condition of the consumption of the least amount of fuel per unit of traveled distance, although other conditions come into play. The resulting rules depend on the character of the wind and on the variability of the efficiency of the engine propeller units. This investigation resulted in the following rules. 1) Always keep the absolute course and steer at such an angle with reference to it as to neutralize the side wind. 2) In a strong contrary wind, take a speed one and one half times the velocity of the wind. 3) As a general rule, take the velocity of the wind and the velocity of the course component of the wind. Add them together if the wind has a contrary component, but subtract them from each other if the wind has a favorable component.
Testing of air breathing propulsion systems in the 9x15 foot wind tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center depends on compressed air turbines for power. The drive rig turbines exhaust directly to the wind tunnel test section, and have been found to produce significant unwanted noise that reduces the quality of the acoustic measurements of the model being tested. In order to mitigate this acoustic contamination, a muffler can be attached downstream of the drive rig turbine. The modern engine designs currently being tested produce much less noise than traditional engines, and consequently a lower noise floor is required of the facility. An acoustic test of a muffler designed to mitigate this extraneous noise is presented, and a noise reduction of 8 dB between 700 Hz and 20 kHz was documented, significantly improving the quality of acoustic measurements in the facility.
A new validation campaign was conducted at the W2 Harold Alfond Ocean Engineering Laboratory at the University of Maine to investigate the hydrodynamic loading on floating offshore wind substructures, with a focus on the low-frequency contributions that tend to drive extreme and fatigue loading in semisubmersible designs. A component-level approach was taken to examine the hydrodynamic loads on individual parts of the semisubmersible in isolation and then in the presence of other members to assess the change in hydrodynamic loading. A variety of wave conditions were investigated, including bichromatic waves, to provide a direct assessment of difference-frequency wave loading. An assessment of the impact of wave uncertainty on the loading was performed, with the goal of enabling validation with this dataset of numerical models with different levels of fidelity. The dataset is openly available for public use and can be downloaded from the U.S. Department of Energy Data Archive and Portal.
A test of a model of the Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters (SRB's) was performed in a 14 x 14 inch Trisonic Wind Tunnel to determine the aerodynamic forces and moments imposed on the nozzle of the SRB during reentry. The model, with scale dimensions equal to 0.5479 of the actual SRB dimensions, was instrumented with a six-component force balance attached to the model nozzle so that only forces and moments acting on the nozzle were measured. A total of 137 runs (20 deg pitch polars) were performed during this test. The angle of attack ranged from 60 to 185 deg, the Reynolds number from 5.2 million to 7.6 million. The Mach numbers investigated were 1.96, 2.74, and 3.48. Five external protuberances were simulated. The effective roll angle simulated was 180 deg. The effects of three different heat shield configurations were investigated.
Tests were made in the Langley 7- by 10-foot tunnel to determine the lateral-stability characteristics with and without power of a model of a typical low-wing single-engine airplane with flaps neutral, with a full-span single slotted flap, and with a full-span double slotted flap. Power decreased the dihedral effect regardless of flap condition, and the double-slotted flap configuration showed the most marked decrease. The usual effect of power in increasing the directional stability was also shown. Deflection of the single slotted flap produced negative dihedral effect, but increased the directional stability. The effects of deflecting the double slotted flap were erratic and marked changes in both effective dihedral and directional stability occurred. The addition of the tail surfaces always contributed directional stability and generally produced positive dihedral effect.
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center s new Propulsion Flight Test Fixture (PFTF), designed in house, is an airborne engine-testing facility that enables engineers to gather flight data on small experimental engines. Without the PFTF, it would be necessary to obtain such data from traditional wind tunnels, ground test stands, or laboratory test rigs. Traditionally, flight testing is reserved for the last phase of engine development. Generally, engines that embody new propulsion concepts are not put into flight environments until their designs are mature: in such cases, either vehicles are designed around the engines or else the engines are mounted in or on missiles. However, a captive carry capability of the PFTF makes it possible to test engines that feature air-breathing designs (for example, designs based on the rocket-based combined cycle) economically in subscale experiments. The discovery of unknowns made evident through flight tests provides valuable information to engine designers early in development, before key design decisions are made, thereby potentially affording large benefits in the long term. This is especially true in the transonic region of flight (from mach 0.9 to around 1.2), where it can be difficult to obtain data from wind tunnels and computational fluid dynamics. In January 2002, flight-envelope expansion to verify the design and capabilities of the PFTF was completed. The PFTF was flown on a specially equipped supersonic F-15B research testbed airplane, mounted on the airplane at a center-line attachment fixture, as shown in Figure 1. NASA s F-15B testbed has been used for several years as a flight-research platform. Equipped with extensive research air-data, video, and other instrumentation systems, the airplane carries externally mounted test articles. Traditionally, the majority of test articles flown have been mounted at the centerline tank-attachment fixture, which is a hard-point (essentially, a standardized weapon-mounting fixture). This hard-point has large weight margins, and, because it is located near the center of gravity of the airplane, the weight of equipment mounted there exerts a minimal effect on the stability and controllability of the airplane. The PFTF (see Figure 2) includes a one-piece aluminum structure that contains space for instrumentation, propellant tanks, and feed-system components. The PFTF also houses a force balance, on which is mounted the subscale engine or other experimental apparatus that is to be the subject of a flight test. The force balance measures a combination of inertial and aerodynamic forces and moments acting on the experimental apparatus.
Venus-GRAM Overview - Engineering-oriented atmospheric model that estimates mean values and statistical variations of Venus atmospheric properties - Outputs include atmospheric density, temperature, pressure, chemical composition, and wind components along a user-defined path - Widely used by the engineering community because of its ability to create realistic atmospheric dispersions - Can be integrated into high fidelity flight dynamic simulations of launch, entry, descent and landing (EDL), aerobraking and aerocapture - Has been used in multiple studies and proposals including NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) Autonomous Aerobraking Study and various Discovery proposals - Optional trajectory input file consisting of time, height, latitude, and longitude can be used to provide the Venus-GRAM trajectory path - Optional auxiliary profile consisting of height, latitude, longitude, temperature, pressure, density, eastward wind, and northward wind may be used to replace model data in Venus-GRAM - Not a forecast model - GRAMs are also available for Earth, Mars, Titan, Neptune, Uranus, and Jupiter - Available through the NASA Software Catalog https://software.nasa.gov/software/MFS-33888-1
An approximately 0.25 scale model of the transition section of a tandem fan variable cycle engine nacelle was tested in the NASA Lewis Research Center 10-by-10 foot wind tunnel. Two 12-inch, tip-turbine driven fans were used to simulate a tandem fan engine. Three testing modes simulated a V/STOL tandem fan airplane. Parallel mode has two separate propulsion streams for maximum low speed performance. A front inlet, fan, and downward vectorable nozzle forms one stream. An auxilliary top inlet provides air to the aft fan - supplying the core engine and aft vectorable nozzle. Front nozzle and top inlet closure, and removal of a blocker door separating the two streams configures the tandem fan for series mode operations as a typical aircraft propulsion system. Transition mode operation is formed by intermediate settings of the front nozzle, blocker door, and top inlet. Emphasis was on the total pressure recovery and flow distortion at the aft fan face. A range of fan flow rates were tested at tunnel airspeeds from 0 to 240 knots, and angles-of-attack from -10 to 40 deg for all three modes. In addition to the model variables for the three modes, model variants of the top inlet were tested in the parallel mode only. These lip variables were: aft lip boundary layer bleed holes, and Three position turning vane. Also a bellmouth extension of the top inlet side lips was tested in parallel mode.
In this research study, the micro-pitting related contact failures of wind turbine gearbox components were investigated both experimentally and theoretically. On the experimental side, a twin-disk type test machine was used to simulate wind turbine transmission contacts in terms of their kinematic (rolling and sliding speeds), surface roughnesses, material parameters and lubricant conditions. A test matrix that represents the ranges of contact conditions of the wind turbine gear boxes was defined and executed to bring an empirical understanding to the micro-pitting problem in terms of key contact parameters and operating conditions. On the theoretical side, the first deterministic micro-pitting model based on a mixed elastohydrodynamic lubrication formulations and multi-axial near-surface crack initiation model was developed. This physics-based model includes actual instantaneous asperity contacts associated with real surface roughness profiles for predicting the onset of the micro-pit formation. The predictions from the theoretical model were compared to the experimental data for validation of the models. The close agreement between the model and measurements was demonstrated. With this, the proposed model can be deemed suitable for identifying the mechanisms leading to micro-pitting of gear and bearing surfaces of wind turbine gear boxes, including all key material, lubricant and surface engineering aspects of the problem, and providing solutions to these micro-pitting problems.
A wind tunnel investigation was conducted to study the flow field in which separation is caused by an expanding plume, with emphasis on effects associated with periodic unsteadiness in the plume. The separation shock was photographed with high speed motion pictures, from which mean shock position and excursion data are reported. Pressure fluctuations were measured beneath the separation shock and statistics of the results are reported. A response of the separation shock to plume periodic unsteadiness was identified, and the magnitude of a corresponding transfer function was defined and is reported.
Douglas Juanarena, a former NASA Langley instrument design engineer, found a solution to the problem of long, repetitive tunnel runs needed to measure airflow pressures. Electronically scanned pressure (ESP) replaced mechanical systems with electronic sensors. Juanarena licensed the NASA-patented technology and now manufactures ESP modules for research centers, aerospace companies, etc.
turb_costSE is a set of models that link wind turbine component masses (and a few other key variables) to component costs.