Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “study design”

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.

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

At least 1,099 records · Page 61

Radar cross section studies/compact range research

Achievements in advancing the state-of-the-art in the measurement, control, and analysis of electromagnetic scattering from general aerodynamic targets are summarized. The major topics associated with this study include: (1) electromagnetic scattering analysis; (2) indoor scattering measurement systems; (3) RCS control; (4) waveform processing techniques; (5) material scattering and design studies; (6) design and evaluation of standard targets; and (7) antenna studies. Progress in each of these areas is reported and related publications are listed.

Burnside, W. D.↗

Same Data, Different Audiences: Using Personas to Scope a Supercomputing Job Queue Visualization

Domain-specific visualizations sometimes focus on narrow, albeit important, tasks for one group of users. This focus limits the utility of a visualization to other groups working with the same data. While tasks elicited from other groups can present a design pitfall if not disambiguated, they also present a design opportunity—namely, the development of visualizations that support multiple groups. This development choice presents a trade-off of broadening the scope but limiting support for the more narrow tasks of any one group, which in some cases can enhance the overall utility of the visualization. We investigate this scenario through a design study where we develop Guidepost, a notebook-embedded visualization of data that helps scientists assess compute wait times, machine learning researchers understand prediction accuracy, and system maintainers analyze usage trends. We adapt the use of personas for visualization design from existing literature in the HCI and design domains, applying them to categorize tasks based on their uniqueness across stakeholder personas. Under this model, tasks shared between all groups should be supported by interactive visualizations and tasks unique to each group can be deferred to scripting with notebook-embedded visualization design. We evaluate our visualization through real-world case studies and a task-focused evaluation with nine participants. We observe that together, Guidepost's visual encodings, interactions, and export capabilities support the tasks of our differing personas.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Studies of scramjet/airframe integration techniques for hypersonic aircraft

New design and analysis techniques for engine-airframe integration were applied in a recent hypersonic vehicle design study. A new technique was developed to design the vehicle's forebody so that uniform precompressed flow was produced at the inlet entrance. Results are verified with three-dimensional characteristic calculations. Results from a new three-dimensional method for calculating nozzle flows show that the entire lower afterbody of the vehicle can be used as a scramjet exhaust nozzle to achieve efficient, controlled, and stable flight over a wide range of flight conditions.

Edwards, C. L. W.↗

Optimal design of geodesically stiffened composite cylindrical shells

An optimization system based on general-purpose finite element code CSM Testbed and optimization program ADS is described. The system can be used to obtain minimum-mass designs of composite shell structures with complex stiffening arrangements. Ply thicknesses, ply orientations, and stiffener heights can be used as design variables. Buckling, displacement, and material failure constraints can be imposed on the design. The system is used to conduct a preliminary design study of geodesically stiffened shells. For comparison purposes, optimal designs of unstiffened shells, and ring and longitudinal stringer stiffened shells are also studied. Trends in the design of geodesically stiffened shells are identified. Features that enhance the capabilities and efficiency of the design system are described.

Gendron, G.↗

Numerical optimization - An assessment of its role in transport aircraft aerodynamic design through a case study

An efficient transonic wing design procedure based upon numerical optimization together with three-dimensional transonic methods has been developed and used to design an advanced transport wing. The method development included an examination of the use of both full potential and extended small disturbance analysis codes and demonstrated that the former formulation was more reliable. In either case, the design procedure is economical and easy to use. Design verification in a unique semi-span test arrangement demonstrated that the design method produced a wing which satisfied the study design requirements. However, aeroelastic deformation of the wing occurred during the wind tunnel test. The computational methods used in the design procedure were employed to assess the effect of the aeroelastic deformation. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the design procedure and recommendation for its improvement.

Lores, M. E.↗

Developing a small participant framework: An investigation of mode choice influential factors

An in-depth comprehension of the changing impact of mode choice influencing factors is essential in planning for behavior-adaptive mode shift policies. This study developed a framework to investigate a method of evaluation of the changes in mode choice using a small participation pool. A field application in Pima County, Arizona was developed to test the developed framework to evaluate the impact of a real transit experience. Twenty-two participants were recruited and repeated measurements were taken before and after their transit trip. The results revealed that people are less susceptible to their mental biases after a transit trip and consider more objective elements such as walking time. The developed framework resulted in successful evaluation methods that are reproducible for other application study designs. Thus, the results further present that low participant recruitment in application-based field studies can be accomplished using this developed methodology, for other regions and studies.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Study of large flexible tunnel for shuttle/payload interface

A theoretical and preliminary design study of a large flexible tunnel for use at the shuttle/payload interface is discussed. The theoretical study consisted of evaluating various design concepts and determining their adaptability to the tunnel requirements. The theoretical study culminated in the selection of one concept. The selected concept was documented with preliminary drawings of a full-scale ground test model. Supporting preliminary structural, thermal, micrometeoroid, material, and weight analyses were conducted. The specified tunnel requirements could be broadly grouped into two categories; environmental and performance. The environmental requirements were those ambient conditions and loads associated with ground, launch, space and reentry of the shuttle vehicle. Materials are presently available which will meet all these environmental requirements and can be designed into the structure to withstand the specified loads.

Source record↗

Final analysis and design of a thermal protection system for 8-foot HTST combustor

The cylindrical shell combustor with T-bar supports in the 8-foot HTST at the NASA-Langley Research Center encountered vibratory fatigue cracking over a period of 50-250 tunnel tests within a limited range of the required operating envelope. A preliminary design study provided several suitable thermal protection system designs for the combustor, one of which was a two-pass regenerative type air-cooled omega-shaped segment liner. A final design layout of the omega segment liner was prepared and analyzed for steady-state and transient conditions. The design of a support system for the fuel spray bar assembly was also included. Detail drawings suitable for fabrication purposes were also prepared. Liner design problems defined during the preliminary study included (1) the ingress of gas into the attachment bulb section of the omega segment, (2) the large thermal gradient along the leg of the omega bulb attachment section and, (3) the local peak metal temperature at the radius between the liner ID and the leg of the bulb attachment. These were resolved during the final design task. Analyses of the final design of the omega segment liner indicated that all design goals were met and the design provided the capability of operating over the required test envelope with a life expectancy substantially above the goal of 1500 cycles.

Moskowitz, S.↗

The natural flow wing-design concept

A wing-design study was conducted on a 65 degree swept leading-edge delta wing in which the wing geometry was modified to take advantage of the naturally occurring flow that forms over a slender wing in a supersonic flow field. Three-dimensional nonlinear analysis methods were used in the study which was divided into three parts: preliminary design, initial design, and final design. In the preliminary design, the wing planform, the design conditions, and the near-conical wing-design concept were derived, and a baseline standard wing (conventional airfoil distribution) and a baseline near-conical wing were chosen. During the initial analysis, a full-potential flow solver was employed to determine the aerodynamic characteristics of the baseline standard delta wing and to investigate modifications to the airfoil thickness, leading-edge radius, airfoil maximum-thickness position, and wing upper to lower surface asymmetry on the baseline near-conical wing. The final design employed an Euler solver to analyze the best wing configurations found in the initial design and to extend the study of wing asymmetry to develop a more refined wing. Benefits resulting from each modification are discussed, and a final 'natural flow' wing geometry was designed that provides an improvement in aerodynamic performance compared with that of a baseline conventional uncambered wing, linear-theory cambered wing, and near-conical wing.

Wood, Richard M.↗

Proposed CTV design reference missions in support of Space Station Freedom

Use of design reference missions (DRM's) for the cargo transfer vehicle (CTV) in support of Space Station Freedom (SSF) can provide a common baseline for the design and assessment of CTV systems and mission operations. These DRM's may also provide baseline operations scenarios for integrated CTV, Shuttle, and SSF operations. Proposed DRM's for CTV, SSF, and Shuttle operations envisioned during the early post-PMC time frame and continuing through mature, SSF evolutionary operations are described. These proposed DRM's are outlines for detailed mission definition; by treating these DRM's as top-level input for mission design studies, a range of parametric studies for systems/operations may be performed. Shuttle flight design experience, particularly rendezvous flight design, provides an excellent basis for DRM operations studies. To begin analysis of the DRM's, shuttle trajectory design tools were used in single case analysis to define CTV performance requirements. A summary of these results is presented.

Saucillo, Rudy J.↗

AMPS data management concepts

Five typical AMPS experiments were formulated to allow simulation studies to verify data management concepts. Design studies were conducted to analyze these experiments in terms of the applicable procedures, data processing and displaying functions. Design concepts for AMPS data management system are presented which permit both automatic repetitive measurement sequences and experimenter-controlled step-by-step procedures. Extensive use is made of a cathode ray tube display, the experimenters' alphanumeric keyboard, and the computer. The types of computer software required by the system and the possible choices of control and display procedures available to the experimenter are described for several examples. An electromagnetic wave transmission experiment illustrates the methods used to analyze data processing requirements.

Metzelaar, P. N.↗

Flutter and Stochastic Gust Constraint Studies of the Undeflected CRM using MPhys

Aircraft design must ultimately address gust and flutter characteristics to achieve airworthiness. As modern aircraft continue to become more lightweight and flexible, these aeroelastic phenomena are more likely to drive the design process and should thus be considered early. Designing for ride quality due to typical gust spectra is also of interest to ensure a smooth passenger experience. The present work demonstrates the new implementation of stochastic gust constraints in MPhys/OpenMDAO, in addition to flutter and static stress constraints, among others. Design studies are shown for the NASA Common Research Model, including both fuel burn minimization as well as multiobjective optimization of fuel burn and landing gross weight. Two sets of optimization problems are covered, differing mainly by the gust quantity of interest, which include tip displacement and root bending moment. Fuel burn penalties imposed by the flutter and gust constraints are also discussed.

aeroelasticity↗

Design of Orion Soil Impact Study using the Modern Design of Experiments

Two conventional One Factor At a Time (OFAT) test matrices under consideration for an Orion Landing System subscale soil impact study are reviewed. Certain weaknesses in the designs, systemic to OFAT experiment designs generally, are identified. An alternative test matrix is proposed that is based in the Modern Design of Experiments (MDOE), which achieves certain synergies by combining the original two test matrices into one. The attendant resource savings are quantified and the impact on uncertainty is discussed.

DeLoach, Richard↗

Technical and Economic Evaluation of Advanced Air Cargo Systems

The current air cargo environment and the relevance of advanced technology aircraft in enhancing the efficiency of the 1990 air cargo system are discussed. NASA preliminary design studies are shown to indicate significant potential gains in aircraft efficiency and operational economics for future freighter concepts. Required research and technology elements are outlined to develop a better base for evaluating advanced design concepts. Current studies of the market operation are reviewed which will develop design criteria for a future dedicated cargo transport. Design features desirable in an all-freighter design are reviewed. NASA-sponsored studies of large, distributed-load freighters are reviewed and these designs are compared to current wide-body aircraft. These concepts vary in gross takeoff weight from 0.5 Gg (one million lbs.) to 1.5 Gg (three million lbs.) and are found to exhibit economic advantages over conventional design concepts.

Whitehead, A. H., Jr.↗

CFD Simulations of Molten Salts Within Plasma-Facing Components with Twisted Tape Inserts Under One-Sided–Heated Conditions

For liquid immersion blankets (LIBs), the heat removal within different plasma-facing components (PFCs) requires substantial heat removal capabilities that could benefit from the usage of heat transfer enhancements. Of consideration are twisted tape insert heat transfer enhancements that are ribbon-like metal pieces inserted within cooling channels that increase fluid mixing, resulting in higher heat transfer and pressure drop. Unlike traditional applications, PFCs such as divertor coolant tubes experience a significantly higher heat flux on one side versus the other or entirely one-sided heating. These conditions are not well studied for molten salts where the higher Prandtl numbers characteristic of the fluids are significantly higher than water, gases, and liquid metals. As an effort to study this knowledge gap, large eddy simulations were done with Prandtl numbers representative of FLiBe at proposed operating conditions. In this study, the effects of applying a surface heat flux to one side of a tube versus the entire tube with a twisted tape insert were investigated for the heat transfer coefficient and effects on the temperature profile. The findings of the study suggest that for Prandtl number fluids above unity, the Nusselt number was largely unaffected by the change in boundary condition. Both boundary conditions showed good agreement with the Manglik and Bergles Nusselt number correlation for tight-fitting twisted tapes. Finally, the outcomes of this study will be useful for future design studies of LIBs to provide fundamental guidance implementing twisted tape inserts and their performance in one-sided–heated conditions.

molten salts↗

Brayton heat exchange unit development program

A Brayton Heat Exchanger Unit (BHXU), consisting of a recuperator, a heat sink heat exchanger and a gas ducting system, was designed, fabricated, and tested. The design was formulated to provide a high performance unit suitable for use in a long-life Brayton-cycle powerplant. A parametric analysis and design study was performed to establish the optimum component configurations to achieve low weight and size and high reliability, while meeting the requirements of high effectiveness and low pressure drop. Layout studies and detailed mechanical and structural design were performed to obtain a flight-type packaging arrangement. Evaluation testing was conducted from which it is estimated that near-design performance can be expected with the use of He-Xe as the working fluid.

Morse, C. J.↗

Propulsion technology for an advanced subsonic transport

Engine design studies for future subsonic commercial transport aircraft were conducted in parallel with airframe studies. These studies surveyed a broad distribution of design variables, including aircraft configuration, payload, range, and speed, with particular emphasis on reducing noise and exhaust emissions without severe economic and performance penalties. The results indicated that an engine for an advanced transport would be similar to the currently emerging turbofan engines. Application of current technology in the areas of noise suppression and combustors imposed severe performance and economic penalties.

Beheim, M. A.↗