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Analog computer simulation of single shaft Brayton cycle system dynamics, including startup and shutdown transients
Recent insights into the workings of the solar system are reviewed as factors to be considered when formulating key questions to be answered during a large scale program to study the solar cycle. The main objectives of the Solar Cycle and Dynamics Mission are to determine the causes (physical origins and mechanisms) of the solar cycle and the effects of these mechanisms on the heliosphere, the vast region that includes the corona, interplanetary medium, and the terrestrial environment. The mission should be able to obtain synoptic data on solar variability associated with the cycle, and over at least a fraction of a single 11-year cycle.
Extensively axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric Single Stage To Orbit (SSTO) vehicles are considered. The information is presented in viewgraph form and the following topics are presented: payload comparisons; payload as a percent of dry weight - a system hardware cost indicator; life cycle cost estimations; operations and support costs estimation; selected engine type; and rocket engine specific impulse calculation.
The low cycle fatigue (LCF) properties of a single-crystal nickel-base superalloy Rene N4, have been examined at 760 and 980 C in air. Specimens having crystallographic orientations near the 001, 011, -111, 023, -236, and -145 lines were tested in fully reversed, total-strain-controlled LCF tests at a frequency of 0.1 Hz. At 760 C, this alloy exhibited orientation dependent tension-compression anisotropies of yielding which continued to failure. Also at 760 C, orientations exhibiting predominately single slip exhibited serrated yielding for many cycles. At 980 C, orientation dependencies of yielding behavior were smaller. In spite of the tension-compression anisotropies, cyclic stress range-strain range behavior was not strongly orientation dependent for either test temperature. Fatigue life on a total strain range basis was highly orientation dependent at 760 and 980 C and was related chiefly to elastic modulus, low modulus orientations having longer lives. Stage I crack growth on 111 planes was dominant at 760 C, while Stage II crack growth occurred at 980 C. Crack initiation generally occurred at near-surface micropores, but occasionally at oxidation spikes in the 980 C tests.
The purpose of this NASA Software Management Guidebook is twofold. First, this document defines the core products and activities required of NASA software projects. It defines life-cycle models and activity-related methods but acknowledges that no single life-cycle model is appropriate for all NASA software projects. It also acknowledges that the appropriate method for accomplishing a required activity depends on characteristics of the software project. Second, this guidebook provides specific guidance to software project managers and team leaders in selecting appropriate life cycles and methods to develop a tailored plan for a software engineering project.
In ingot metallurgy (IM) alloys, the number of delay cycles following a single tensile overload typically increases from a minimum at an intermediate baseline stress intensity range, Delta-K(B), with decreasing Delta-K(B) approaching threshold and increasing Delta-K(B) approaching unstable fracture to produce a characteristic 'U' shaped curve. Two models have been proposed to explain this behavior. One model is based on the interaction between roughness and plasticity-induced closure, while the other model only utilizes plasticity-induced closure. This article examines these models, using experimental results from constant amplitude and single overload fatigue tests performed on two powder metallurgy (PM) aluminum alloys, AL-905XL and AA 8009. The results indicate that the 'U'-shaped curve is primarily due to plasticity-induced closure, and that the plasticity-induced retardation effect is through-thickness in nature, occurring in both the surface and interior regions. However, the retardation effect is greater at the surface, because the increase in plastic strain at the crack tip and overload plastic zone size are larger in the plane-stress surface regions than in the plane-strain interior regions. These results are not entirely consistent with either of the proposed models.
The cyclic stress-strain response and the associated deformation structure of the single crystal nickel-base superalloy PWA 1480 were investigated. Specimens of various crystallographic orientations were tested in low-cycle fatigue (LCF) at 650 C, resulting in a significant tension-compression anisotropy in initial yield strength associated with the shearing of gamma-prime precipitates by dislocation pairs, and a LCF cyclic hardening of the crystals associated with dislocation interactions occurring in the gamma phase. In specimens deforming by slip on a single slip system, dislocations of the primary slip system accumulated in the gamma matrix and formed seesile entanglements. In specimens deforming by slip on several slip systems, the dislocations of the different operative slip systems intersected in the gamma matrix and formed sessile arrangements.
The factors that might influence the cycle life vs. depth of discharge relationship are examined. This is done first at the single cell level using a progressively more complex cell life model. This is then extended to multicell battery strings where the stochastic aspects associated with groupings of cells are introduced. These relationships are important when considering the weight, cost, and life of battery packs. The results of this theoretical study are compared with a recent review of actual cell cycling data. The factors examined are the rate of capacity loss, the amount of excess capacity built into the cells, and the penalty in capacity loss resulting from the use of deep depths of discharge. This study suggests that the relationship between cycle life and depth of discharge is not one that can be varied of significantly improved by cell research. The relationship appears to be determined by certain more or less fixed cell parameters. Among multicell strings, the standard deviation, as expected, plays an important role in determining overall battery life.
The temporal behavior of a sunspot cycle, as described by the International sunspot numbers, can be represented by a simple function with four parameters: starting time, amplitude, rise time, and asymmetry. Of these, the parameter that governs the asymmetry between the rise to maximum and the fall to minimum is found to vary little from cycle to cycle and can be fixed at a single value for all cycles. A close relationship is found between rise time and amplitude which allows for a representation of each cycle by a function containing only two parameters: the starting time and the amplitude. These parameters are determined for the previous 22 sunspot cycles and examined for any predictable behavior. A weak correlation is found between the amplitude accurate to within about 30% right at the start of the cycle. As the cycle progresses, the amplitude can be better determined to within 20% at 30 months and to within 10% at 42 months into the cycle, thereby providing a good prediction both for the timing and size of sunspot maximum and for the behavior of the remaining 7-12 years of the cycle.
Single olfactory bulb units were studied in two macrosmatic species of rodents under conditions intended to preserve the cyclical stimulation which normally accompanies nasal breathing. Patterns of unit activity related to the inhalation cycle were observed in all animals, often in the absence of specific stimuli, and could not be explained in simple mechanical terms. Distinctive changes in these patterns occurred in response to certain odors, and were generally independent of changes in the overall firing frequency. These findings indicate that a change in the overall firing frequency of unit discharges is neither a necessary nor sufficient measure of responsiveness to odors in the rodent olfactory bulb, and that stimulus-specific temporal distributions of unit firing may be involved in olfacto-endocrine activities.
Specimens of a single crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, both bare and coated with a NiCoCrAlY alloy, PWA 276, were tested in low-cycle fatigue at 650 and 1050 C, and in bithermal thermomechanical fatigue tests. In the two bithermal test types, tensile strain was imposed at one of the two temperatures and reversed in compression at the other. In the high-strain regime, lives for both bithermal test types approached that for the 650 C isothermal test on an inelastic strain basis, all being controlled by the low ductility of the superalloy at 650 C. In the low-strain regime, coating cracking reduced life in the 650 C isothermal test. The bithermal test imposing tension at 650 C, termed out-of-phase, also produced rapid surface cracking, but in both coated and bare specimens. Increased crack growth rates also occurred for the out-of-phase test. Increased lives in vacuum suggested that there is a large environmental contribution to damage in the out-of-phase test due to the 1050 C exposure followed by tensile straining at the low temperature.
Specimens of a single crystal superalloy, PWA 1480, both bare and coated with a NiCoCrAlY alloy, PWA 276, were tested in low-cycle fatigue at 650 and 1050 C, and in bithermal thermomechanical fatigue tests. In the two bithermal test types, tensile strain was imposed at one of the two temperatures and reversed in compression at the other. In the high-strain regime, lives for both bithermal test types approached that for the 650 C isothermal test on an inelastic strain basis, all being controlled by the low ductility of the superalloy at 650 C. In the low-strain regime, coating cracking reduced life in the 650 C isothermal test. The bithermal test imposing tension at 650 C, termed out-of-phase, also produced rapid surface cracking, but in both coated and bare specimens. Increased crack growth rates also occurred for the out-of-phase test. Increased lives in vacuum suggested that there is a large environmental contribution to damage in the out-of-phase test due to the 1050 C exposure followed by tensile straining at the low temperature.
The present investigation is concerned with the factors which might influence the cycle life vs. depth of discharge relationship, taking into account the rate of loss of cell capacity, the amount of excess capacity built into the cells, and the penalty in capacity loss resulting from the use of deep depths of discharge. 'First principles' are used to develop a cell life model for somewhat arbitrary conditions. This model is then used to estimate the cycle life vs. depth of discharge relationships for 'well behaved' cells. The stochastic variations associated with groupings of single cells are then introduced to the battery pack cycle life model. The term 'well behaved' cell is used to describe a single cell which does not suffer any abrupt failure mode during the course of its operation. It gradually loses capacity for any number of the usual reasons at a rate which is the product of the fractional depth of discharge and a factor which is characteristic of the cell under consideration.
We have conducted a detailed simulation of the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) in order to understand the system’s ability to link detections of asteroids within and across nights in order to populate a catalog of asteroid orbits. We show that LSST, using its baseline survey cadence, should be able to successfully link and catalog asteroids. In our simulation of a single monthly observing cycle, LSST produced 66 million candidate detections of main belt asteroids (MBAs) and near Earth objects (NEOs), of which 77% were spurious detections related to detector noise or image processing. Using the Moving Object Processing System, we were able to assemble single-night “tracklets” with negligible losses, but a purity of only 43%. The next stage of linking led to three-night orbits with data sets no more than 12 days in length, and it is at this stage that the false detections are readily removed from the data stream. Main-belt linkages were essentially complete and 99.8% pure. Similarly, only 0.02% of linked detections involving NEOs were spurious. On the other hand, NEO linking was 93.6% complete, indicating that 6.4% of potentially findable NEOs were not successfully linked. We believe that this rate can be improved with careful tuning of the MOPS linking algorithms. The NEO catalog was affected by main-belt confusion so that mis-linked MBAs appeared as NEOs, and many correctly linked MBAs were consistent with NEO orbits. We show that these cases arise primarily from MBAs detected at lower solar elongations and we postulate that this is an artifact of a one month simulation that will be readily resolved by surveying over many months.
This Contractor Report describes and presents the results of work that was done in an attempt to develop an augmented acceleration technique that would launch small projectiles of known shape, mass, and state to velocities of 10 km/sec and higher. The higher velocities were to be achieved by adding a third stage to a conventional two-stage, light-gas gun and using a modified firing cycle for the third stage. The technique did not achieve the desired results and was modified for use during the development program. Since the design of the components used for the augmented-acceleration, three-stage launcher could be readily adapted for use as a three-stage launcher that used a single-stage acceleration cycle; the remainder of the contract period was spent performing test firings using the modified three-stage launcher. Work with the modified three-stage launcher, although not complete, did produce test firings in which an 0.11-g cylindrical nylon projectile was launched to a velocity of 8.65 km/sec.
Recent studies of solar planetary relationships are directed toward exploring how far out from the sun one could observe solar cycle variations. A positive solar Jovian relationship is suggested from a Chree superposed epoch study of the intensity of the great red spot of Jupiter over a period of about six solar cycles. The characteristic double maxima observed in the solar cycle variation is common to other observations of solar events in the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona; radio and corpuscular emissions from the sun; cosmic ray intensity and geomagnetic activity. The same method of analysis adopted for the study of luminosity changes of the planets Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune indicates that the fluctuations of luminosity follow the single maximum solar cycle represented by sunspot numbers. In conjunction with changes of upper atmospheric density and temperature, it is suggested that the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emission from the sun may be connected with luminosity changes. A method of distinguishing between phenomena related to solar wind and those related to solar EUV is presented.
An advanced, small 2.27 kb/sec (5 lbs/sec), high temperature, variable area radial turbine was studied for a rotor craft application. Variable capacity cycles including single-shaft and free-turbine engine configurations were analyzed to define an optimum engine design configuration. Parametric optimizations were made on cooled and uncooled rotor configurations. A detailed structural and heat transfer analysis was conducted to provide a 4000-hour life HP turbine with material properties of the 1988 time frame. A pivoted vane and a moveable sidewall geometry were analyzed. Cooling and variable geometry penalties were included in the cycle analysis. A variable geometry free-turbine engine configuration with a design 1477K (2200 F) inlet temperature and a compressor pressure ratio of 16:1 was selected. An uncooled HP radial turbine rotor with a moveable sidewall nozzle showed the highest performance potential for a time weighted duty cycle.
The predictive performance of a multimechanism GVIPS model with saturating hardening function is assessed against a set of high temperature cyclic experiments under both strain-control and stress-control at varying rates of loading as well as several complex interrupted cyclic responses. The material specimens were composed of the titanium alloy, TIMETAL 21S, and tested at 650oC, see Lissenden et al., 2007. The model did a very good job of predicting the variety of tests, particularly given the fact that only monotonic loading tests (tensile, creep, relaxation) and a single fully reversed cycle was used for characterization. It was particularly interesting that the model was capable of reasonably capturing the rate of accumulated strain during ratchetting under tensile mean stress. Given complex interrupted cyclic response, the model was able to both qualitatively and even quantitatively predict reasonably well both the cyclic and associated relaxation periods (in all quadrants of the stress-strain space) thus confirming the validity of the chosen functional forms for both hardening and thermal recovery. The quantitative inaccuracy is associated with the fact that the material specimens tested by Lissenden et al., 2007 was significantly “softer” than those tested by Castelli in Saleeb et al., 1994 which were used for characterization of the GVIPS model parameters.