Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “BLADDER”

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 127 records · Page 7

Locomotion of Amorphous Surface Robots

An amorphous robot includes a compartmented bladder containing fluid, a valve assembly, and an outer layer encapsulating the bladder and valve assembly. The valve assembly draws fluid from a compartment(s) and discharges the drawn fluid into a designated compartment to displace the designated compartment with respect to the surface. Another embodiment includes elements each having a variable property, an outer layer that encapsulates the elements, and a control unit. The control unit energizes a designated element to change its variable property, thereby moving the designated element. The elements may be electromagnetic spheres with a variable polarity or shape memory polymers with changing shape and/or size. Yet another embodiment includes an elongated flexible tube filled with ferrofluid, a moveable electromagnet, an actuator, and a control unit. The control unit energizes the electromagnet and moves the electromagnet via the actuator to magnetize the ferrofluid and lengthen the flexible tube.

Bradley, Arthur T.↗

Development Requirements for Spacesuit Elbow Joint

Functional Requirements for spacesuit elbow joint:1) The system is a conformal, single-axis spacesuit pressurized joint that encloses the elbow joint of the suited user and uses a defined interface to connect to the suit systems on either side of the joint.2) The system shall be designed to bear the loads incurred from the internal pressure of the system, as well as the expected loads induced by the user while enabling the user move the joint through the required range of motion. The joint torque of the system experienced by the user shall remain at or below the required specification for the entire range of motion.3) The design shall be constructed, at a minimum, as a two-layer system. The internal, air-tight layer shall be referred to as the bladder, and the layer on the unpressurized side of the bladder shall be referred to as the restraint. The design of the system may include additional features or layers, such as axial webbing, to meet the overall requirements of the design.

Peters, Benjamin↗

Locomotion of Amorphous Surface Robots

An amorphous robot includes a compartmented bladder containing fluid, a valve assembly, and an outer layer encapsulating the bladder and valve assembly. The valve assembly draws fluid from a compartment(s) and discharges the drawn fluid into a designated compartment to displace the designated compartment with respect to the surface. Another embodiment includes elements each having a variable property, an outer layer that encapsulates the elements, and a control unit. The control unit energizes a designated element to change its variable property, thereby moving the designated element. The elements may be electromagnetic spheres with a variable polarity or shape memory polymers with changing shape and/or size. Yet another embodiment includes an elongated flexible tube filled with ferrofluid, a moveable electromagnet, an actuator, and a control unit. The control unit energizes the electromagnet and moves the electromagnet via the actuator to magnetize the ferrofluid and lengthen the flexible tube.

Bradley, Arthur T.↗

Inflatable Softgoods Testing Capability Development for Habitation

The Habitation Systems Development Office (HP40) at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center supports systems engineering, integration, and project management for next generation space habitats. The office is responsible for formulation activities for Lunar Surface Habitat and Mars Transit Habitat. HP40 also manages commercial partnerships for exploration habitat development. The Lunar Surface Habitat is intended to initially support a minimum of two crew on the lunar surface for an approximately 30-day mission, with the ability to accommodate four crew for short durations. The Mars Transit Habitat will transport four crew to and from Mars orbit on a potentially 1,200 day mission. Both concepts are envisioned to leverage inflatable softgoods as the primary structural material for the habitation portion of the architecture. Inflatable softgoods are a complex, multi-material system consisting of multiple layers which perform specific functions. A bladder layer (polymer) contains the habitat’s atmosphere. The bladder is indexed to a woven restraint layer, usually Kevlar or Vectran, which serves as the structural layer. The remaining outer layers are for micro-meteoroid orbital debris (MMOD) shielding, protection from atomic Oxygen (if the material system is to be deployed in low earth orbit), and thermal insulation. The primary advantage of inflatable softgoods is that they can offer a larger volume per unit mass relative to a rigid metal structure. Inflatable softgoods have a strong development heritage within NASA, beginning with work in the 1960s in partnership with Goodyear Aerospace and continuing with Johnson Space Center’s TransHab project in the 1990s . Some development efforts subsequently transitioned into the private sector to mature the material technology for flight applications, including human habitation. In August 2022, NASA published its guidelines for certification of crewed inflatable softgoods structures (JSC-67721). This document outlines a series of tests which will be needed to certify inflatable softgoods material systems for use in crewed mission applications. It includes burst testing at the subscale and full-scale to determine the ultimate burst pressure of the softgoods architecture. Creep (long term deformation of the material under stress) is a key failure mode which must be characterized. Creep testing at the component and module levels is also recommended to generate time to failure curves and verify that the inflatable system has a predicted operational life which exceeds mission parameters. ET (Test Engineering) at MSFC and HP40 have worked together to establish softgoods testing capabilities for the center. This includes the ability to conduct module level burst tests and creep tests. The poster will highlight these capabilities and provide examples of testing which has been performed to date by ET. NASA MSFC anticipates that these test capabilities will continue to offer critical support for companies pursuing inflatable softgoods for exploration applications (lunar surface habitation, Mars transit) as well as commercial low earth orbit platforms.

habitation↗

Liquid propulsion systems

Bladder and expulsion devices for spacecraft liquid propulsion systems - pinhole leak test fixture, heat sterilization of ethylene propylene with hydrazine, and metal diaphragms

PROPYLENE↗

Polymer Research

Network density of filled composites, nitroso compound reactions with hydrocarbons, cryogenic bladder bag materials, thermoplastic rubbers as binders, and other polymer research studies

COMPOSITE MATERIAL↗

Liquid propulsion

Expulsion bladders for liquid propellant systems, resonant combustion injector, and propellant flow separation

FLOW SEPARATION↗

Benchmark Performance Metrics of a Vane Propellant Management Device for a 0.15 m3 Liquid Hydrogen Tank

The use of cryogenic propellants has and will continue to play an integral role in manned-space exploration due the high specific impulses offered and its ubiquity through in-situ resource utilization. But guaranteeing vapor-free transfer of such low-surface tension liquids is difficult for traditional capillary-action propellant management devices (PMDs). Screen-channel liquid acquisition devices and compliant origami bladders are potential solutions, but to quantify the benefits these technologies offer, this paper present a cast study analyzing the performance metrics of an orthodox vane PMD as a benchmark for comparison. A 0.15 m3 liquid hydrogen tank at 20.3 K and 103 kPa was selected for study. Then assuming no body forces and no heat transfer (for simplicity), a steady-state 1-D differential equation was numerically solved in tandem with four possible wetted area configurations to yield an expulsion efficiency for a theoretically maximum inputted expulsion flow rate. Maximization of the flow rate was constrained by the onset of choked flow. Additional inputs, including vane height and vane number, were parametrically varied between 0.1 – 10 cm and 4 – 28 vanes, respectively.

Liquid Acquisition Device↗

Life in the clouds of Venus/ques/

Indigenous biology in Venus clouds, proposing isopycnic float bladder macroorganism ingesting water and minerals blown up from surface by pinocytosis

EXTRATERRESTRIAL LIFE↗

Liquid propulsion

Patch-type tests of ethylene-propylene rubber expulsion bladder material for thermal sterilization compatibility studies

Source record↗

Fluid sample collection and storage device

Fluid sampling device collects a sample from a low-pressure fluid system and stores it for an indefinite period, with little risk of contamination of either the sample or the surrounding environment. The collector /a plastic bladder/ is separated from the sampler after a sample is collected.

Cohen, D.↗