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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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At least 127 records · Page 7

Transport Phenomena of Off-Axis Sputtering Deposition

Various high quality epitaxial films, especially oxides, have been synthesized using off-axis sputtering deposition. In this presentation, we report the experiment results of ZnO films grown by the off-axis sputtering deposition. Films were synthesized in temperatures ranged from room temperature to 600 C, and pressures from 5 mTorr to 150 mTorr. Film growth rate was measured by surface profilometer, ellipsometer, and wavelength dispersive spectrometry. Due to the collisions between the sputtered species and the residue gases, the kinetic energy of species was reduced and the transport of depositing species changed from a ballistic movement for low pressure to a diffuse drift for high pressure in which the transport species were almost thermalized. The measurements show an increase of growth rates along the gravity vector when the Knodson (Knudsen??) number of transport species is less than 0.05, which suggests that gravity affected the transport characterization in off-axis sputtering deposition. Because the product of pressure (p) and travel distance (d) of sputtered species, p exceeds several mTorr-cm during film deposition, the classical simulations for sputtering process in high vacuum system may not be applied. Based on these experimental measurements, a transport process of the off-axis sputtering deposition is proposed. Several methods including the Monte Carlo method and gravity-driven flow dynamics simulation will be discussed.

Zhu, S.↗

Effect of Ram-jet Pressure Pulsations on Supersonic-diffuser Performance

Experimental study of effects of combustion roughness and controlled mechanical oscillations on diffuser operation was conducted on an 8-inch ram jet at Mach number 1.87. Within experimental accuracy, the optimum mean combustion-chamber static pressure occurred when the maximum instantaneous static pressure equalled the optimum steady-flow value and the corresponding decrement in optimum mean static pressure was equal to one-half the total amplitude of the pressure pulsations. A marked attenuation of amplitude of cold-buzz pressure fluctuations was effected over limited range of subcritical diffuser operation by means of properly tuned rotating disk located in combustion chamber.

Connors, James F↗

Characterization of the Reverberation Chamber at the NASA Langley Structural Acoustics Loads and Transmission (SALT) Facility

In 2011 the noise generating capabilities in the reverberation chamber of the Structural Acoustic Loads and Transmission (SALT) facility at NASA Langley Research Center were enhanced with two fiberglass reinforced polyester resin exponential horns, each coupled to Wyle Acoustic Source WAS-3000 airstream modulators. This report describes the characterization of the reverberation chamber in terms of the background noise, diffusivity, sound pressure levels, the reverberation times and the related overall acoustic absorption in the empty chamber and with the acoustic horn(s) installed. The frequency range of interest includes the 80 Hz to 8000 Hz one-third octave bands. Reverberation time and sound pressure level measurements were conducted and standard deviations from the mean were computed. It was concluded that a diffuse field could be produced above the Schroeder frequency in the 400 Hz one-third octave band and higher for all applications. This frequency could be lowered by installing panel diffusers or moving vanes to improve the acoustic modal overlap in the chamber. In the 80 Hz to 400 Hz one-third octave bands a successful measurement will be dependent on the type of measurement, the test configuration, the source and microphone locations and the desired accuracy. It is recommended that qualification measurements endorsed in the International Standards be conducted for each particular application.

Grosveld, Ferdinand W.↗

Thermal property measurements on lunar material returned by Apollo 11 and 12 missions.

Measurement of thermal diffusivity on Apollo 11 type A and type C samples in the temperature range between 150 and 440 K under atmospheric pressure. Thermal diffusivity of type C material is lower and less temperature-dependent than type A material. Both types of samples exhibit lower thermal diffusivities than nonporous terrestrial basalt. The rate of heat generation of Apollo 11 and 12 samples was calculated from the concentrations of radioactive elements: potassium, thorium, and uranium. Apollo 11 crystalline rocks show an average rate of heat generation which is not significantly different from terrestrial basalt. The Th/U ratio does not differ greatly from chondritic and terrestrial averages.

Horai, K.-I.↗

Force and Pressure Recovery Characteristics at Supersonic Speeds of a Conical Spike Inlet with a Bypass Discharging from the Top or Bottom of the Diffuser in an Axial Direction

Force and pressure-recovery characteristics of a nacelle-type conical-spike inlet with a fixed-area bypass located in the top or bottom of the diffuser are presented for flight Mach numbers of 1.6, 1.8, and 2.0 for angles of attack from 0 degrees to 9 degrees. Top or bottom location of the bypass did not have significant effects on diffuser pressure-recovery, bypass mass-flow ratio, or drag coefficient over the range of angles of attack, flight Mach numbers, and stable engine mass-flow ratios investigated. A larger stable subcritical operating range was obtained with the bypass on the bottom at angles of attack from 3 degrees to 9 degrees at a flight Mach number of 2.0. At a flight Mach number of 2.0, the discharge of 14 percent of the critical mass flow of the inlet by means of a bypass increased the drag only one-fifth of the additive drag that would result for equivalent spillage behind an inlet normal shock without significant reductions in diffuser pressure recovery.

DIFFUSERS, SUBSONIC↗

Effect of Static Strains on Diffusion

A theory is developed that gives the diffusion coefficient in strained systems as an exponential function of the strain. This theory starts with the statistical theory of the atomic jump frequency as developed by Vineyard. The parameter determining the effect of strain on diffusion is related to the changes in the inter-atomic forces with strain. Comparison of the theory with published experimental results for the effect of pressure on diffusion shows that the experiments agree with the form of the theoretical equation in all cases within experimental error.

Girifalco, L. A.↗

Production and diffusion of H 2 O 2 during the interaction of a direct current pulsed atmospheric pressure plasma jet on a hydrogel

The interaction of cold atmospheric pressure plasma jets with hydrogels has been used as a model system to study the interaction of plasmas with tissues. In this study, we analyze the diffusion of reactive oxygen species (in particular H 2 O 2 ) and quantify the amount of plasma-produced H 2 O 2 species that penetrates into a gelatin hydrogel. We show that the diffusion constant of H 2 O 2 in 10% gelatin hydrogel is similar to its diffusion constant in water and that the production of H 2 O 2 in the hydrogel is significantly less than the production of H 2 O 2 in distilled water for the same plasma operation conditions suggesting that the scavenging of OH radicals at the plasma-gel interface significantly reduces the H 2 O 2 production.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Environmental controls on the light use efficiency of terrestrial gross primary production

Abstract Gross primary production (GPP) by terrestrial ecosystems is a key quantity in the global carbon cycle. The instantaneous controls of leaf‐level photosynthesis are well established, but there is still no consensus on the mechanisms by which canopy‐level GPP depends on spatial and temporal variation in the environment. The standard model of photosynthesis provides a robust mechanistic representation for C 3 species; however, additional assumptions are required to “scale up” from leaf to canopy. As a consequence, competing models make inconsistent predictions about how GPP will respond to continuing environmental change. This problem is addressed here by means of an empirical analysis of the light use efficiency (LUE) of GPP inferred from eddy covariance carbon dioxide flux measurements, in situ measurements of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), and remotely sensed estimates of the fraction of PAR (fAPAR) absorbed by the vegetation canopy. Focusing on LUE allows potential drivers of GPP to be separated from its overriding dependence on light. GPP data from over 100 sites, collated over 20 years and located in a range of biomes and climate zones, were extracted from the FLUXNET2015 database and combined with remotely sensed fAPAR data to estimate daily LUE. Daytime air temperature, vapor pressure deficit, diffuse fraction of solar radiation, and soil moisture were shown to be salient predictors of LUE in a generalized linear mixed‐effects model. The same model design was fitted to site‐based LUE estimates generated by 16 terrestrial ecosystem models. The published models showed wide variation in the shape, the strength, and even the sign of the environmental effects on modeled LUE. These findings highlight important model deficiencies and suggest a need to progress beyond simple “goodness of fit” comparisons of inferred and predicted carbon fluxes toward an approach focused on the functional responses of the underlying dependencies.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Experimental performance of a 13.65-centimeter-tip-diameter tandem-bladed sweptback centrifugal compressor designed for a pressure ratio of 6

A 13.65 cm tip diameter backswept centrifugal impeller having a tandem inducer and a design mass flow rate of 0.907 kg/sec was experimentally investigated to establish stage and impeller characteristics. Tests were conducted with both a cascade diffuser and a vaneless diffuser. A pressure ratio of 5.9 was obtained near surge for the smallest clearance tested. Flow range at design speed was 6.3 percent for the smallest clearance test. Impeller exit to shroud axial clearance at design speed was varied to determine the effect on stage and impeller performance.

Klassen, H. A.↗

DRACO: An Overview [Slides]

DRACO (Diffusion ReACtiOn) is a diffusion and chemistry code designed to: 1) Operate on 3D with an unstructured grid defining an arbitrary geometry of interacting parts. 2) Generate its own meshes and use meshes created by other software. 3)Model the transport of any number of diffusing quantities: Concentrations, pressures, temperature, etc. 4) Allow diffusion coefficients to depend in an arbitrary way on concentration, temperature, position, time, etc. 5) Model general chemistry between concentrations with arbitrary reaction rates. 6) Allow arbitrary initial conditions, boundary conditions, and sources/sinks. 7) Allow all of the above to be specified by the user.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DMC-ICE13 : Ambient and high pressure polymorphs of ice from diffusion Monte Carlo and density functional theory

Ice is one of the most important and interesting molecular crystals, exhibiting a rich and evolving phase diagram. Recent discoveries mean that there are now 20 distinct polymorphs; a structural diversity that arises from a delicate interplay of hydrogen bonding and van der Waals dispersion forces. This wealth of structures provides a stern test of electronic structure theories, with Density Functional Theory (DFT) often not able to accurately characterize the relative energies of the various ice polymorphs. Thanks to recent advances that enable the accurate and efficient treatment of molecular crystals with Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC), we present here the DMC-ICE13 dataset; a dataset of lattice energies of 13 ice polymorphs. This dataset encompasses the full structural complexity found in the ambient and high-pressure molecular ice polymorphs, and when experimental reference energies are available, our DMC results deliver sub-chemical accuracy. Using this dataset, we then perform an extensive benchmark of a broad range of DFT functionals. Of the functionals considered, revPBE-D3 and RSCAN reproduce reference absolute lattice energies with the smallest error, while optB86b-vdW and SCAN+rVV10 have the best performance on the relative lattice energies. Our results suggest that a single functional achieving reliable performance for all phases is still missing, and that care is needed in the selection of the most appropriate functional for the desired application. The insights obtained here may also be relevant to liquid water and other hydrogen-bonded and dispersion-bonded molecular crystals.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Molecular Simulations Probing the Adsorption and Diffusion of Ammonia, Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Their Mixtures in Bulk MFI Zeolite and MFI Nanosheets at High Temperature and Pressure

Recent advances in the synthesis of MFI zeolite nanosheets have led to highly selective membranes that are promising candidates for small-scale ammonia separation from ammonia/nitrogen/hydrogen mixtures in distributed green ammonia production plants. Using force-field-based molecular simulations, we evaluate the performance of bulk all-silica MFI zeolite and a 3 nm thick all-silica MFI nanosheet for ammonia/nitrogen/hydrogen separations at moderate temperature and pressure conditions (T = 373 K, p = 5 bar) as well as conditions relevant for a membrane-based reactor–separator process (T = 523 or 623 K, p = 80 bar). Isobaric–isothermal Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo (GEMC) simulations were carried out to understand the selective adsorption behavior for these mixtures. Molecular dynamics simulations in the canonical ensemble were performed to examine the transport behavior of ammonia in a mixture with nitrogen or hydrogen at loadings obtained from the GEMC simulations. Our results show that both bulk MFI and the nanosheet with explicit surface silanols are highly selective toward ammonia adsorption, but the adsorption selectivity decreases by factors of 4 and 10 for ammonia/nitrogen and ammonia/hydrogen mixtures as the temperature is increased from 373 to 623 K. Conversely, the diffusion selectivities toward ammonia are more favorable at process-relevant temperatures and for the MFI nanosheet. Here, at T = 523 K and p = 80 bar, our simulations predict overall separation factors of 3.8 ± 0.2 and 4.5 ± 0.3 for ammonia/nitrogen and ammonia/hydrogen mixtures, respectively, in the bulk MFI zeolite, and separation factors of 8.6 ± 0.4 and 12.5 ± 0.8, respectively, for the MFI nanosheet.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Water reactive polyurethane grouting for deep vadose zone contaminant immobilization

Contaminants in the deep vadose zone (DVZ) pose a long-term threat to groundwater, human health, and the environment. Polyurethane grouting is a type of chemical grouting that is potentially advantageous in immobilizing contaminants in DVZs. Polyurethane resin has low viscosity that makes it feasible to penetrate and fill the pore space between fine particles. Here, in this study a series of laboratory pressure grouting and leaching tests were conducted to simulate and assess the effectiveness of polyurethane grouting for immobilizing contaminants in DVZs. Soil with fine particles was prepared with 127 I (as iodide) that served as a non-radioactive surrogate for radioactive 129 I. After grouting and curing, leaching tests were used to measure and compare contaminant diffusivity and leachability index values. Additionally, changes in porosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity of grouted soil were measured. X-Ray Computer Tomography (XCT) results showed that the cured polyurethane was distributed nearly homogeneously and approximately half of the voids were filled with cured polyurethane. Grouting reduced the saturated hydraulic conductivity of soil by 37 %. The effective diffusivity decreased by more than 80 % as compared with the ungrouted soil. The leachability index of the grouted soil was 6.5; meeting the criteria established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) standard. The results obtained in this study provide a valuable assessment of polyurethane grouting for iodide immobilization in the DVZ and indicate this approach may be a viable method for contaminant remediation in DVZ soils.

Contaminant Diffusion↗

Analytical and experimental study of axisymmetric truncated plug nozzle flow fields

Experimental and analytical investigation of the flow field and base pressure of internal-external-expansion truncated plug nozzles are discussed. Experimental results for two axisymmetric, conical plug-cylindrical shroud, truncated plug nozzles are presented for both open and closed wake operations. These results include extensive optical and pressure data covering nozzle flow field and base pressure characteristics, diffuser effects, lip shock strength, Mach disc behaviour, and the recompression and reverse flow regions. Transonic experiments for a special planar transonic section are presented. An extension of the analytical method of Hall and Mueller to include the internal shock wave from the shroud exit is presented for closed wake operation. Results of this analysis include effects on the flow field and base pressure of ambient pressure ratio, nozzle geometry, and the ratio of specific heats. Static thrust is presented as a function of ambient pressure ratio and nozzle geometry. A new transonic solution method is also presented.

Muller, T. J.↗

Osmotic Pressure Gradient Effects on Water Diffusion in Porous Rock: Can They Pervert Permeability Tests?

Abstract Generation of a large network of hydraulic cracks is of key importance not only for the success of fracking of shale but also for the recent scheme of sequestration of CO2 in deep formations of basalt and peridotite, which are mafic and ultramafic rocks that combine chemically with CO2. In numerical simulation of the creation of a fracture network in porous rock, an important goal is to enhance the rock permeability. The objective of this article is to calculate the effect of osmotic pressure gradients caused by gradients of concentration of the ions of Ca, Mg, Na, etc. on the effective permeability of the rock. The basic differential equations are formulated, and their explicit solutions for appropriate initial and boundary conditions are obtained under certain plausible simplifications. The main result is explicit approximate formulas for the critical time before which no water permeation through a test specimen can be observed. Depending on various parameters, this time can be unacceptably long, which is manifested as a zero water outflow. The solution may also explain the unreasonably small permeability values reported for some shales.

Mechanics↗

Numerical Study of the Transient Vaporization of an Oxygen Droplet at Sub- and Super-Critical Conditions

Unsteady vaporization of a droplet in a high-pressure quiescent environment has been studied. With spherical symmetry and constant pressure, the process is diffusion controlled. At low pressures droplet heating is significant for most of the droplet lifetime, and an unsteady analysis of the gas phase is required. Then, the vaporization of a liquid oxygen droplet in gaseous hydrogen at moderate and high pressures is considered. At super-critical pressures, the surface temperature reaches the computed critical mixture value where a model for super-critical combustion is needed. The details of the diffusion layer of dissolved hydrogen do not significantly affect the results. Various methods are explored to compute the gas-phase density. Under the model's assumptions, homogeneous nucleation is not likely to occur.

Delplanque, J.-P.↗