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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 145 records · Page 8
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

High heat flux measurements and experimental calibrations/characterizations

Recent progress in techniques employed in the measurement of very high heat-transfer rates in reentry-type facilities at the Arnold Engineering Development Center (AEDC) is described. These advances include thermal analyses applied to transducer concepts used to make these measurements; improved heat-flux sensor fabrication methods, equipment, and procedures for determining the experimental time response of individual sensors; performance of absolute heat-flux calibrations at levels above 2,000 Btu/cu ft-sec (2.27 kW/cu cm); and innovative methods of performing in-situ run-to-run characterizations of heat-flux probes installed in the test facility. Graphical illustrations of the results of extensive thermal analyses of the null-point calorimeter and coaxial surface thermocouple concepts with application to measurements in aerothermal test environments are presented. Results of time response experiments and absolute calibrations of null-point calorimeters and coaxial thermocouples performed in the laboratory at intermediate to high heat-flux levels are shown. Typical AEDC high-enthalpy arc heater heat-flux data recently obtained with a Calspan-fabricated null-point probe model are included.

Kidd, Carl T.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Absolute OH absorption cross sections (for lidar measurements)

Experimental data are employed to calculate absorption cross sections for several rotational lines in the OH A-X system. The cross sections are computed as functions of the spectral and line widths and temperature of a laser beam, and account for lifetimes and branching ratios. Detection limits for the P1(2) transition of the (1,0) band were examined. The oscillator strengths and cross-sections obtained are important for quantifying OH concentrations in the stratosphere from lidar return signals.

Mcgee, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Aeroheating Predictions for the X-43 Cowl-Closed Configuration at Mach 7 and 10

A pre-flight analysis was conducted for the Mach 7 and Mach 10 X-43 cowl-closed configurations to evaluate three-dimensional flow-field effects on localized heating in the vicinity of the closed cowl flap and sidewall. First, engineering-level analyses based on documented laminar and turbulent surface heating database were used to estimate localized heating amplification factors to account for turbulent flow effects, corner flow effects and the presence of forebody boundary layer trip devices. These estimated factors were applied to 2-D computational predictions to develop surface heat loads. Second, thin-film gauge surface heating data were obtained for a Mach 10 cowl-closed configuration in a reflected shock tunnel at simulated flight conditions. Third, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) flow-field predictions were obtained at Mach 10 ground test conditions to provide comparisons with the engineering database predictions and experimental measurements. Similarly, a CFD solution was also obtained at Mach 7 flight conditions to provide qualitative comparisons with engineering predictions. The Mach 10 CFD predictions compare favorably with the experimental measurements and the engineering estimates for surface heating amplification on the closed cowl. However, experimental measurements were not of sufficient quantity on the sidewall surface to capture the highest localized heating rates, and also the Mach 10 CFD predictions suggest higher peak heating on the sidewall compared to the engineering estimates. Also, the Mach 7 CFD predictions indicate qualitative agreement with the database estimates in terms of flow-field structure and peak heating locations on the closed-cowl flap and sidewall surfaces.

Cockrell, Charles E., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Modeling of solid/porous wall boundary conditions for the validation of computational fluid dynamics codes

A computational study has been undertaken to investigate method of modeling solid and porous wall boundary conditions in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. The procedure utilizes experimental measurements at the walls to develop a flow field solution based on the method of singularities. This flow field solution is then imposed as a boundary condition in a CFD simulation of the internal flow field. The effectiveness of this method in describing the boundary conditions at the wind tunnel walls using only sparse experimental measurements has been investigated. Position and refinement of experimental measurement locations required to describe porous wall boundary conditions has also been considered.

Beutner, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Turbulent Inflow Measurements

In the present research, tilt rotor aeroacoustics have been studied experimentally and computationally. Experimental measurements were made on a 1/12.5 scale model. A dimensional analysis showed that the model was a good aeroacoustic approximation to the full-scale aircraft, and scale factors were derived to extrapolate the model measurements to the full-scale XV-15. The experimental measurements included helium bubble flow visualization, silk tuft flow visualization, 2-component hot wire anemometry, 7-hole pressure probe measurements, vorticity measurements, and outdoor far field acoustic measurements. The hot wire measurements were used to estimate the turbulence statistics of the flow field into the rotors, such as length scales, velocity scales, dissipation, and turbulence intermittency. To date, these flow measurements are the only ones in existence for a hovering tilt rotor. Several different configurations of the model were tested: (1) standard configurations (single isolated rotor, two rotors without the aircraft, standard tilt rotor configuration); (2) flow control devices (the 'plate', the 'diagonal fences'); (3) basic configuration changes (increasing the rotor/rotor spacing, reducing the rotor plane/wing clearance, operating the rotors out of phase). Also, an approximation to Sikorsky's Variable Diameter Tilt Rotor (VDTR) configuration was tested, and some flow measurements were made on a semi-span configuration of the model. Acoustic predictions were made using LOWSON.M, a Mathematica code. This hover prediction code, from HOVER.FOR, used blade element theory for the aerodynamics, and Prandtl's Vortex theory to model the wake, along with empirical formulas for the effects of Reynolds number, Mach number, and stall. Aerodynamic models were developed from 7-hole pressure probe measurements of the mean velocity into the model rotors. LOWSON.M modeled a rotor blade as a single force and source/sink combination separated in the chordwise direction, at an effective blade radius. Spanwise, Mach-weighted integrals were used to find the equivalent forces and equivalent source strengths.

George, Albert R.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Comparison of Space Launch System Aerodynamic Surface Pressure Measurements from Experimental Testing and CFD

A comparison of surface pressure coefficient measurements obtained using pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) measurements with predictions from the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code FUN3D is presented for the NASA SLS Block 1B crew vehicle. Overall, the flow features over the SLS configuration were captured by both the PSP data and CFD data at freestream Mach numbers (M(sub ∞)) of 0.8 and 1.3. Overall, the flow features over the SLS are captured by the PSP data but the intensities of large pressure gradients are less intense than what was predicted by the CFD data. Several examples of this observation are given including the flow interaction at the booster nose cone edge, core body, and forward booster attachment hardware at M(sub ∞) = 0.8.

FUN3D↗
NASA NTRS2016

Investigation of Damping Physics and CFD Tool Validation for Simulation of Baffled Tanks at Variable Slosh Amplitude

To meet the flight control damping requirement, baffles of various configurations have been devised to increase the natural viscous damping and decrease the magnitude of the slosh forces and torques. In the design of slosh baffles, the most widely used damping equation is the one derived by Miles, which is based on the experiments of Keulegan and Carpenter. This equation has been used in predicting damping of the baffled tanks in different diameters ranging from 12 to 112 inches. The analytical expression of Miles equation is easy to use, especially in the design of complex baffle system. Previous investigations revealed that some experiments had shown good agreements with the prediction method of Miles, whereas other experiments have shown significant deviations. For example, damping from Miles equation differs from experimental measurements by as much as 100 percent over a range of tank diameters from 12 to 112 inches, oscillation amplitudes from 0.1 to 1.5 baffle widths, and baffle depths of 0.3 to 0.5 tank radius. Previously, much of this difference has been attributed to experimental scatter. A systematical study is needed to understand the damping physics of baffled tanks, to identify the difference between Miles equation and experimental measurement, and to develop new semi-empirical relations to better represent the real damping physics. The approach of this study is to use CFD technology to shed light on the damping mechanisms of a baffled tank. First, a 1-D Navier-Stokes equation representing different length scales and time scales in the baffle damping physics is developed and analyzed. A well validated CFD solver, developed at NASA MSFC, Loci-STREAM-VOF, is applied to study vorticity field around the baffle and around the fluid interface to highlight the dissipation mechanisms at different slosh amplitudes. Previous measurement data are then used to validate the CFD damping results. The study found several critical parameters controlling fluid damping from a baffle: local slosh amplitude to baffle thickness (A/t), surface liquid depth to tank radius (h/R), local slosh amplitude to baffle width (A/W); and non-dimensional slosh frequency. The simulation highlights three significant damping regimes where different mechanisms dominate. The study proves that the previously found discrepancies between Miles equation and experimental measurement are not due to the measurement scatter, but rather due to different damping mechanisms at various slosh amplitudes. The limitations on the use of Miles equation are discussed based on the flow regime.

Yang, H. Q.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Determination of solid/porous wall boundary conditions from wind tunnel data for computational fluid dynamics codes

A computational and experimental study has been undertaken to investigate methods of modeling solid and porous wall boundary conditions in CFD codes. The procedure utilizes experimental measurements at the walls to develop a flow field solution based on the method of singularities. This flow field solution is then imposed as a boundary condition in a CFD simulation of the internal flow field. The effectiveness of this method in describing the boundary conditions at the wind tunnel walls using only sparse experimental measurements has been investigated. Verification of the approach using computational studies has been carried out using an incompressible flow solver. The current work demonstrates this technique for low speed flows and compares the result with experimental data obtained from a heavily instrumented variable porosity test section. Position and refinement of experimental measurements required to describe porous wall boundary conditions has also been considered for application to other porous wall wind tunnels.

Beutner, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Determination of solid/porous wall boundary conditions from wind tunnel data for computational fluid dynamics codes

A computational and experimental study has been undertaken to investigate methods of modelling solid and porous wall boundary conditions in computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes. The procedure utilizes experimental measurements at the walls to develop a flow field solution based on the method of singularities. This flow field solution is then imposed as a pressure boundary condition in a CFD simulation of the internal flow field. The effectiveness of this method in describing the boundary conditions at the wind tunnel walls using only sparse experimental measurements has been investigated. Verification of the approach using computational studies has been carried out using an incompressible flow solver. The current work demonstrates this technique for low speed flows and compares the result with experimental data obtained from a heavily instrumented variable porosity test section. Position and refinement of experimental measurements required to describe porous wall boundary conditions have also been considered for application to other porous wall wind tunnels. The approach developed is simple, computationally inexpensive, and does not require extensive or intrusive measurements. It may be applied to both solid and porous wall wind tunnel tests. Some consideration is given to the extension of this method to three dimensions.

Beutner, Thomas J.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Elevated temperature crack growth

Alloy 718 crack growth experiments were conducted to assess the ability of the selected path-independent (P-I) integrals to describe the elevated temperature crack growth behavior. These tests were performed on single edge notch (SEN) specimens under displacement control with multiple extensometers to monitor the specimen and crack mouth opening displacement (CMOD). The displacements in these tests were sufficiently high to induce bulk cyclic inelastic deformation of the specimen. Under these conditions, the linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) parameter K does not correlate the crack growth data. The experimentally measured displacement gradients at the end of specimen gage length were used as the boundary conditions in elastic-plastic finite element method (FEM) analyses. These analyses were performed with a node release approach using CYANIDE, a GEAE FEM code, which included a gap element which is capable of efficiently simulating crack closure. Excellent correlation was obtained between the experimentally measured and predicted variation of stress and CMOD with crack length and the stress-CMOD loops for Alloy 718 tests conducted at 538 C. This confirmed the accuracy of the FEM crack growth simulation approach. The experimentally measured crack growth rate data correlated well the selected P-I integrals. These investigations have produced significant progress in developing P-I integrals as non-linear fracture mechanics parameters. The results suggest that this methodology has the potential of accurately describing elevated temperature crack growth behavior under the combined influence of thermal cycling and bulk elastic-inelastic deformation states.

Kim, K. S.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Tilt Rotor Aircraft Aeroacoustics

A fleet of civil tilt rotor transports offers a means of reducing airport congestion and point-to-point travel time. The speed, range, and fuel economy of these aircraft, along with their efficient use of vertiport area, make them good candidates for short-to-medium range civil transport. However, to be successfully integrated into the civilian community, the tilt rotor must be perceived as a quiet, safe, and economical mode of transportation that does not harm the environment. In particular, noise impact has been identified as a possible barrier to the civil tilt rotor. Along with rotor conversion-mode flight, and blade-vortex interaction noise during descent, hover mode is a noise problem for tilt rotor operations. In the present research, tilt rotor hover aeroacoustics have been studied analytically, experimentally, and computationally. Various papers on the subject were published as noted in the list of publications. More recently, experimental measurements were made on a 1/12.5 scale model of the XV-15 in hover and analyses of this data and extrapolations to full scale were also carried out. A dimensional analysis showed that the model was a good aeroacoustic approximation to the full-scale aircraft, and scale factors were derived to extrapolate the model measurements to the full-scale XV-15. The experimental measurements included helium bubble flow visualization, silk tuft flow visualization, 2-component hot wire anemometry, 7-hole pressure probe measurements, vorticity measurements, and outdoor far field acoustic measurements. The hot wire measurements were used to estimate the turbulence statistics of the flow field into the rotors, such as length scales, velocity scales, dissipation, and turbulence intermittency. Several different configurations of the model were tested: (1) standard configurations (single isolated rotor, two rotors without the aircraft, standard tilt rotor configuration); (2) flow control devices (the 'plate', the 'diagonal fences'); (3) basic configuration changes (increasing the rotor/rotor spacing, reducing the rotor plane/wing clearance. operating the rotors out of phase). Also, an approximation to Sikorsky's Variable Diameter Tilt Rotor (VDTR) configuration was tested, and some flow measurements were made on a semi-span configuration of the model. Acoustic predictions were made using LOWSON.M, a Mathematica code Mean aerodynamic models were developed based on hover performance predictions from HOVER.FOR. This hover prediction code used blade element theory for the aerodynamics, and Prandtl's Vortex theory to model the wake, along with empirical formulas for the effects of Reynolds number, Mach number, and stall. Aerodynamic models were developed from 7-hole pressure probe measurements of the mean velocity into the model rotors.

George, Albert R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Measurement and calculation of forces in a magnetic journal bearing actuator

Numerical calculations and experimental measurements of forces from an actuator of the type used in active magnetic journal bearings are presented. The calculations are based on solution of the scalar magnetic potential field in and near the gap regions. The predicted forces from single magnet with steady current are compared with experimental measurements in the same geometry. The measured forces are smaller than calculated ones in the principal direction but are larger than calculated in the normal direction. This combination of results indicate that material and spatial effects other than saturation play roles in determining the force available from an actuator.

Knight, Josiah↗
NASA NTRS1973

Neutron measurements in space.

The experimental measurements of the neutron flux and energy spectrum in space since 1964 are reviewed and related to the theoretical predictions. A discussion of the neutron sources is presented. The difficulties associated with neutron measurements of both the atmospheric neutron leakage flux and solar neutrons are included. Particular emphasis is placed upon the neutron leakage flux and energy measurements at energies greater than about 1 MeV. The possibilities of CRAND as a source for the energetic trapped protons are discussed in light of recent measurements of the 10- to 100-MeV neutron flux. The current status of the solar neutron flux observations is also presented. An attempt is made to interpret and discuss recent neutron measurements. In order to understand these results, the theoretical predictions of the neutron fluxes and energy spectra from possible neutron sources are briefly presented.

Lockwood, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Underwater measurements of muon intensity

Experimental measurements of cosmic ray muon intensity deep underwater aimed at determining a muon absorption curve are of considerable interest, as they allow to reproduce independently the muon energy spectrum at sea level. The comparison of the muon absorption curve in sea water with that in rock makes it possible to determine muon energy losses caused by nuclear interactions. The data available on muon absorption in water and that in rock are not equivalent. Underground measurements are numerous and have been carried out down to the depth of approx. 15km w.e., whereas underwater muon intensity have been measured twice and only down to approx. 3km deep.

V.M. Fedorov↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Comparison of NO Laser-Induced Fluorescence Models at Conditions Relevant to Supersonic and Hypersonic Flows

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) of the nitric oxide (NO) molecule has been widely used in wind tunnel facilities for flow visualization, velocity, and temperature measurements. The experimental PLIF measurements are often compared with synthetic PLIF images using computationally derived temperatures, pressures, velocities, and species mole fractions. This approach is commonly referred to as computational flow imaging (CFI). In the present work, we compare signal intensity from PLIF models with experimental PLIF measurements obtained within a low pressure gas cell system at pressures and NO mole fractions relevant to supersonic and hypersonic flowfields. Experimental measurements were compared to several different laser induced-fluorescence models reported in the literature including LIFBASE, LINUS, and a NASA two-level model. The experimental measurements agreed well with all of the models at lower pressures and lower NO mole fractions; the fluorescence there is linear with both of these parameters. However, at higher pressures and mole fractions, the signal becomes nonlinear with respect to these parameters as self-quenching limits the signal and absorption further limits the signal. In fact, for the experimental path length of the experiment, the combination of high pressure and high NO mole fraction causes the experimental results to deviate significantly from the predicted results that neglect absorption of the incident laser sheet. The LINUS model, which allows absorption to be calculated, provided results that agreed better with the experimental measurements. Since supersonic and hypersonic flowfields may contain a region of the flow with high pressures and measurements in large-scale facilities often include a long path length, neglecting absorption may have a significantly negative effect on the CFI comparison to experimental PLIF images. As a result, PLIF models that account for absorption should be included in computational flow imaging approaches for laser induced fluorescence.

laser-induced fluorescence↗
NASA NTRS1976

Vibrational and rotational relaxation in mixtures of water vapor and oxygen

Experimental measurements of sound absorption in air, measurements of ultrasonic absorption in H2O/O2 mixtures at 500 K, and experimental measurements in mixtures of H2O with other impurities have been analyzed to determine the energy transfer rates in mixtures of O2 and H2O as a function of temperature. A set of energy transfer rate coefficients was found that give results consistent with all the experimental data examined and with vibrational energy transfer theory. The rotational relaxation time for H2O/O2 mixtures was determined from the 500 K ultrasonic measurements.

Bass, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Glass formability of high T(sub c) Bi-Sr-Ca-Cu-O superconductors

A number of compositions of ceramic oxide high T(sub c) superconductors were evaluated for their glass formation ability by means of rapid thermal analysis during quenching, optical and electron microscopy of the quenched samples, and with subsequent DSC measurements. Correlations between experimental measurements and the methodical composition changes identified the formulations of superconductors that can easily form glass. The superconducting material was first formed as a glass, then with subsequent devitrification it was formed into bulk crystalline superconductor by a series of processing methods.

Kaukler, William F.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Study of the glass formation of high temperature superconductors

A number of compositions of ceramic oxide high T(sub c) superconductors were elevated for their glass formation ability by means of rapid thermal analysis during quenching, optical, and electron microscopy of the quenched samples, and with subsequent DSC measurements. Correlations between experimental measurements and the methodical composition changes identified the formulations of superconductors that can easily form glass. The superconducting material was first formed as a glass; then, with subsequent devitrification, it was formed into a bulk crystalline superconductor by a series of processing methods.

Ethridge, Edwin C.↗