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At least 109 records · Page 6

Martian dust threshold measurements: Simulations under heated surface conditions

Diurnal changes in solar radiation on Mars set up a cycle of cooling and heating of the planetary boundary layer, this effect strongly influences the wind field. The stratification of the air layer is stable in early morning since the ground is cooler than the air above it. When the ground is heated and becomes warmer than the air its heat is transferred to the air above it. The heated parcels of air near the surface will, in effect, increase the near surface wind speed or increase the aeolian surface stress the wind has upon the surface when compared to an unheated or cooled surface. This means that for the same wind speed at a fixed height above the surface, ground-level shear stress will be greater for the heated surface than an unheated surface. Thus, it is possible to obtain saltation threshold conditions at lower mean wind speeds when the surface is heated. Even though the mean wind speed is less when the surface is heated, the surface shear stress required to initiate particle movement remains the same in both cases. To investigate this phenomenon, low-density surface dust aeolian threshold measurements have been made in the MARSWIT wind tunnel located at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California. The first series of tests examined threshold values of the 100 micron sand material. At 13 mb surface pressure the unheated surface had a threshold friction speed of 2.93 m/s (and approximately corresponded to a velocity of 41.4 m/s at a height of 1 meter) while the heated surface equivalent bulk Richardson number of -0.02, yielded a threshold friction speed of 2.67 m/s (and approximately corresponded to a velocity of 38.0 m/s at a height of 1 meter). This change represents an 8.8 percent decrease in threshold conditions for the heated case. The values of velocities are well within the threshold range as observed by Arvidson et al., 1983. As the surface was heated the threshold decreased. At a value of bulk Richardson number equal to -0.02 the threshold friction speed and threshold wind speed appears to level-off to a constant value. This trend also was observed in the MARSWIT experiments involving the 11 micron sized-silt material.

White, Bruce R.↗

Predicted thermal response of a cryogenic fuel tank exposed to simulated aerodynamic heating profiles with different cryogens and fill levels

A two dimensional finite difference thermal model was developed to predict the effects of heating profile, fill level, and cryogen type prior to experimental testing the Generic Research Cryogenic Tank (GRCT). These numerical predictions will assist in defining test scenarios, sensor locations, and venting requirements for the GRCT experimental tests. Boiloff rates, tank-wall and fluid temperatures, and wall heat fluxes were determined for 20 computational test cases. The test cases spanned three discrete fill levels and three heating profiles for hydrogen and nitrogen.

Hanna, Gregory J.↗

Numerical simulation of heat and mass transport during space crystal growth with MEPHISTO

The MEPHISTO space experiments are collaborative United States and French investigations aimed at understanding the fundamentals of crystal growth. Microgravity experiments were conducted aboard the USMP-1 and -2 missions on STS-52 and 62 in October 1992 and March 1994 respectively. MEPHISTO is a French designed and built Bridgman type furnace which uses the Seebeck technique to monitor the solid/liquid interface temperature and Peltier pulsing to mark the location and shape of the solid/liquid interface. In this paper the Bridgman growth of Sn-Bi and Bi-Sn under terrestrial and microgravity conditions is modeled using the finite element code, FIDAP*. The numerical model considers fully coupled heat and mass transport, fluid motion and solid/liquid phase changes in the crystal growth process. The primary goals of this work are: to provide a quantitative study of the thermal buoyancy-induced convection in the melt for the two flight experiments; to compare the vertical and horizontal growth configurations and systematically evaluate the effects of various gravity levels on the solute segregation. Numerical results of the vertical and horizontal Bridgman growth configurations are presented.

Yao, Minwu↗

Simulated Reentry Heating by Torching

The two first order reentry heating parameters are peak heating flux (W/cm2) and peak heat load (kJ/cm2). Peak heating flux (and deceleration, gs) is higher for a ballistic reentry and peak heat load is higher for a lifting reentry. Manned vehicle reentries are generally lifting reentries at nominal 1-5 gs so that personnel will not be crushed by high deceleration force. A few off-nominal manned reentries have experienced 8 or more gs with corresponding high heating flux (but below nominal heat load). The Shuttle Orbiter reentries provide about an order of magnitude difference in peak heating flux at mid-bottom (TPS tiles, approximately 6 W/cm2 or 5 BTU/ft2- sec) and leading edge (RCC, approximately 60 W/cm2 or 50 BTU/ft2- sec). Orion lunar return and Mars sample lander are of the same order of magnitude as orbiter leading edge peak heat loads. Flight temperature measurements are available for some orbiter TPS tile and RCC locations. Return-to-Flight on-orbit tile-repair-candidate-material-heating performance was evaluated by matching propane torch heating of candidate-materials temperatures at several depths to orbiter TPS tile flight-temperatures. Char and ash characteristics, heat expansion, and temperature histories at several depths of the cure-in-place ablator were some of the TPS repair material performance characteristics measured. The final char surface was above the initial surface for the primary candidate (silicone based) material, in contrast to a receded surface for the Apollo-type ablative heat shield material. Candidate TPS materials for Orion CEV (LEO and lunar return), and for Mars sample lander are now being evaluated. Torching of a candidate ablator material, PICA, was performed to match the ablation experienced by the STARDUST PICA heat shield. Torching showed that the carbon fiberform skeleton in a sample of PICA was inhomogeneous in that sample, and allowed measurements (of the clumps and voids) of the inhomogeneity. Additional reentry heating-performance characterizations of high temperature insulation materials were performed.

Harvey, Gale A.↗

Simulated Reentry Heating by Torching

The two first order reentry heating parameters are peak heating flux (W/square cm) and peak heat load (kJ/square cm). Peak heating flux (and deceleration, gs) is higher for a ballistic reentry and peak heat load is higher for a lifting reentry. Manned vehicle reentries are generally lifting reentries at nominal 1-5 gs so that personnel will not be crushed by high deceleration force. A few off-nominal manned reentries have experienced 8 or more gs with corresponding high heating flux (but below nominal heat load). The Shuttle Orbiter reentries provide about an order of magnitude difference in peak heating flux at mid-bottom (TPS tiles, approximately 6 W/square cm or 5 BTU/square ft - sec) and leading edge (RCC, approximately 60 W/square cm or 50 BTU/square ft- sec). Orion lunar return and Mars sample lander are of the same order of magnitude as orbiter leading edge peak heat loads. Flight temperature measurements are available for some orbiter TPS tile and RCC locations. Return-to-Flight on-orbit tile-repair-candidate-material-heating performance was evaluated by matching propane torch heating of candidate-materials temperatures at several depths to orbiter TPS tile flight-temperatures. Char and ash characteristics, heat expansion, and temperature histories at several depths of the cure-in-place ablator were some of the TPS repair material performance characteristics measured. The final char surface was above the initial surface for the primary candidate (silicone based) material, in contrast to a receded surface for the Apollo-type ablative heat shield material. Candidate TPS materials for Orion CEV (LEO and lunar return), and for Mars sample lander (MSL) are now being evaluated. Torching of a candidate ablator material, PICA, was performed to match the ablation experienced by the STARDUST PICA heat shield. Torching showed that the carbon fiberform skeleton in a sample of PICA was inhomogeneous in that sample, and allowed measurements (of the clumps and voids) of the inhomogeneity. Additional reentry heating-performance characterizations of high temperature insulation materials were performed.

Harvey, Gale A.↗

Quantum bath augmented stochastic nonequilibrium atomistic simulations for molecular heat conduction

Classical molecular dynamics (MD) has been shown to be effective in simulating heat conduction in certain molecular junctions since it inherently takes into account some essential methodological components which are lacking in the quantum Landauer-type transport model, such as many-body full force-field interactions, anharmonicity effects and nonlinear responses for large temperature biases. However, the classical MD reaches its limit in the environments where the quantum effects are significant (e.g. with low-temperatures substrates, presence of extremely high frequency molecular modes). Here, we present an atomistic simulation methodology for molecular heat conduction that incorporates the quantum Bose–Einstein statistics into an “effective temperature” in the form of a modified Langevin equation. We show that the results from such a quasi-classical effective temperature MD method deviates drastically when the baths temperature approaches zero from classical MD simulations and the results converge to the classical ones when the bath approaches the high-temperature limit, which makes the method suitable for full temperature range. In addition, we show that our quasi-classical thermal transport method can be used to model the conducting substrate layout and molecular composition (e.g. anharmonicities, high-frequency modes). Anharmonic models are explicitly simulated via the Morse potential and compared to pure harmonic interactions to show the effects of anharmonicities under quantum colored bath setups. Finally, the chain length dependence of heat conduction is examined for one-dimensional polymer chains placed in between quantum augmented baths.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

A hybrid Zakharov particle simulation of ionospheric heating

A 1D hybrid simulation model incorporating one of the Zakharov equations for the high-frequency waves and a particle-in-cell simulation of the ions is described and applied to ionospheric heating using realistic parameters. Results from the hybrid simulation are compared with a Zakharov simulation that incorporates a phenomenological model of ion damping. Both the hybrid and Zakharov simulations predict the formation of solitonlike waves. The early time behavior of the two simulations is different due to the high noise level in the hybrid simulation, but the late time behavior is quite similar.

Clark, K. L.↗

Development of an Advanced Computational Model for OMCVD of Indium Nitride

An advanced computational model is being developed to predict the formation of indium nitride (InN) film from the reaction of trimethylindium (In(CH3)3) with ammonia (NH3). The components are introduced into the reactor in the gas phase within a background of molecular nitrogen (N2). Organometallic chemical vapor deposition occurs on a heated sapphire surface. The model simulates heat and mass transport with gas and surface chemistry under steady state and pulsed conditions. The development and validation of an accurate model for the interactions between the diffusion of gas phase species and surface kinetics is essential to enable the regulation of the process in order to produce a low defect material. The validation of the model will be performed in concert with a NASA-North Carolina State University project.

Cardelino, Carlos A.↗

Simulation of divertor heat flux width on EAST by BOUT++ transport code

The BOUT++ edge plasma transport code is applied to study the effects of neutral recycling, drifts and heating scheme on edge plasma profiles and the divertor heat flux width of two discharges of the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak (EAST) steady-state H-mode plasmas heated by low hybrid wave (LHW) and neutral beam (NB), respectively. Neutral recycling seems to have played an important role in the plasma density profile. The edge plasma density drops dramatically for the case w/o neutral recycling, while it can be sustained for the case w/ neutral recycling. Drifts are found to have significant influences on edge plasma profiles. Both the amplitude and width of the divertor heat flux are found to have increased a lot due to drifts. The simulated heat flux width w/ drifts for the two discharges shows reasonable agreement with the experiments. However, the width from the simulation and experiment for the LHW heated discharge is much larger than that of the NB heated discharge. Comparison with Goldston's drift-based model and more detailed analysis on the heat flux contributions from drifts versus turbulence show that drifts are the dominant factor in edge plasma transport for both LHW and NB heated discharges, while turbulence may have played a more important role in determining the heat flux width in LHW heated discharges than that in NB heated discharges. This may account for the larger heat flux width in the LHW heated discharge. The magnetic topology and the equilibrium change by the LHW power may also be a potential reason for the larger heat flux width in the LHW heated discharges, which still needs more evidence and studies to support it. Finally, additional SOLPS simulation w/o drifts for the two discharges show reasonable agreement with the counterpart from the BOUT++ simulation, suggesting the two are both suitable codes for EAST edge plasma simulation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Multi-Dimensional, Inviscid Flux Reconstruction for Simulation of Hypersonic Heating on Tetrahedral Grids

The quality of simulated hypersonic stagnation region heating on tetrahedral meshes is investigated by using a three-dimensional, upwind reconstruction algorithm for the inviscid flux vector. Two test problems are investigated: hypersonic flow over a three-dimensional cylinder with special attention to the uniformity of the solution in the spanwise direction and hypersonic flow over a three-dimensional sphere. The tetrahedral cells used in the simulation are derived from a structured grid where cell faces are bisected across the diagonal resulting in a consistent pattern of diagonals running in a biased direction across the otherwise symmetric domain. This grid is known to accentuate problems in both shock capturing and stagnation region heating encountered with conventional, quasi-one-dimensional inviscid flux reconstruction algorithms. Therefore the test problem provides a sensitive test for algorithmic effects on heating. This investigation is believed to be unique in its focus on three-dimensional, rotated upwind schemes for the simulation of hypersonic heating on tetrahedral grids. This study attempts to fill the void left by the inability of conventional (quasi-one-dimensional) approaches to accurately simulate heating in a tetrahedral grid system. Results show significant improvement in spanwise uniformity of heating with some penalty of ringing at the captured shock. Issues with accuracy near the peak shear location are identified and require further study.

Gnoffo, Peter A.↗

Tape heating method for space simulation testing

An ohmic heating technique for simulating the solar heat input to a spacecraft during space environment testing was developed. Tests of spacecraft radiator sample panels were used to evaluate the heating method for its potential hazard to sensitive surfaces and for its application accuracy prior to use in full scale thermal vacuum tests of flight spacecraft and thermal models.

Presley, H. W.↗

Numerical simulation of hyperbolic heat conduction with convection boundary conditions and pulse heating effects

The paper describes the numerical simulation of hyperbolic heat conduction with convection boundary conditions. The effects of a step heat loading, a sudden pulse heat loading, and an internal heat source are considered in conjunction with convection boundary conditions. Two methods of solution are presened for predicting the transient behavior of the propagating thermal disturbances. In the first method, MacCormack's predictor-corrector method is employed for integrating the hyperbolic system of equations. Next, the transfinite element method, which employs specially tailored elements, is used for accurately representing the transient response of the propagating thermal wave fronts. The agreement between the results of various numerical test cases validate the representative behavior of the thermal wave fronts. Both methods represent hyperbolic heat conduction behavior by effectively modeling the sharp discontinuities of the propagating thermal disturbances.

Glass, David E.↗

Heat Rejection Systems Utilizing Composites and Heat Pipes: Design and Performance Testing

Polymer matrix composites offer the promise of reducing the mass and increasing the performance of future heat rejection systems. With lifetimes for heat rejection systems reaching a decade or more in a micrometeoroid environment, use of multiple heat pipes for fault tolerant design is compelling. The combination of polymer matrix composites and heat pipes is of particular interest for heat rejection systems operating on the lunar surface. A technology development effort is under way to study the performance of two radiator demonstration units manufactured with different polymer matrix composite face sheet resin and bonding adhesives, along with different titanium-water heat pipe designs. Common to the two radiator demonstration units is the use of high thermal conductivity fibers in the face sheets and high thermal conductivity graphite saddles within a light weight aluminum honeycomb core. Testing of the radiator demonstration units included thermal vacuum exposure and thermal vacuum exposure with a simulated heat pipe failure. Steady state performance data were obtained at different operating temperatures to identify heat transfer and thermal resistance characteristics. Heat pipe failure was simulated by removing the input power from an individual heat pipe in order to identify the diminished performance characteristics of the entire panel after a micrometeoroid strike. Freeze-thaw performance was also of interest. This paper presents a summary of the two radiator demonstration units manufactured to support this technology development effort along with the thermal performance characteristics obtained to date. Future work will also be discussed.

Jaworske, Donald A.↗

Recent Experiences Calculating g-functions for Use in Simulation of Ground Heat Exchangers

Temperature response functions, known as g-functions, are a computationally efficient method for simulating ground heat exchangers (GHEs), used with ground-source heat pump (GSHP) systems, either as part of a whole-building energy simulation or as part of a dedicated ground heat exchanger design tool. In fact, at present, they are the only feasible way to simulate a ground-source heat pump system in a whole-building energy simulation. This paper summarizes recent developments in the field and recent experience using a new open-source g-function calculation tool known as pygfunction (Cimmino 2018a, 2018b). This experience includes accuracy, computation time, memory requirements and sensitivity to boundary conditions. With larger ground heat exchangers, e.g. in excess of 100 boreholes, the computational time and memory requirements can create challenges.

Spitler, Jeffery↗

Heat-pipe transient model for space applications

A two-dimensional model is developed for simulating heat pipes transient performance following changes in the input/rejection power or in the evaporator/condenser temperatures. The model employs the complete form of governing equations and momentum and energy jump conditions at the liquid-vapor interface. Although the model is capable of handling both cylindrical and rectangular geometries, the results reported are for a circular heat pipe with liquid lithium as the working fluid. The model incorporates a variety of other working fluids, such as water, ammonia, potassium, sodium and mercury, and offers combinations of isothermal, isoflux, convective and radiative heating/cooling conditions in the evaporator and condenser regions of the heat pipe. Results presented are for lithium heat pipes with exponential heating of the evaporator and isothermal cooling of the condenser.

Tournier, Jean-Michel↗