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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 NTRS1993

The use of subscale models to predict self-induced oscillations of flight vehicles

The suitability of utilizing subscale dynamic wind tunnel experiments to predict wing rock for slender aircraft is presented. As observed in experiments, both flight and wind tunnel, there is significant interaction of the forebody and leading-edge extension vortices. It is concluded that subscale models can be employed to predict high angle of attack dynamic behavior such as wing rock provided proper precautions are taken.

Nelson, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Check-Cases for Verification of 6-Degree-of-Freedom Flight Vehicle Simulations: Appendices - Volume 2

This NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) assessment was established to develop a set of time histories for the flight behavior of increasingly complex example aerospacecraft that could be used to partially validate various simulation frameworks. The assessment was conducted by representatives from several NASA Centers and an open-source simulation project. This document contains details on models, implementation, and results.

Murri, Daniel G.↗
NASA NTRS2017

Mission Success of U.S. Launch Vehicle Flights from a Propulsion Stage-Based Perspective: 1980-2015

This report documents a study of the historical safety and reliability trends of U.S. space launch vehicles from 1980 to 2015. The launch data history is examined to determine whether propulsion technology choices drove launch system risk and is used to understand how different propulsion system failures manifested into different failure scenarios. The historical data is processed by launch vehicle stage, where a stage is limited by definition to a single propulsion technology, either liquid or solid. Results are aggregated in terms of failure trends and manifestations as a functions of different propulsion stages. Failure manifestations are analyzed in order to understand the types and frequencies of accident environments in which an abort system for a crewed vehicle would be required to operate.

propulsion↗
NASA NTRS1998

Mars Ascent Vehicle Flight Analysis

The scientific objective of the Mars Surveyor Program 2005 mission is to return Mars rock, soil, and atmospheric samples to Earth for detailed analysis. The present investigation focuses on design of Mars Ascent Vehicle for this mission. Aerodynamic, aerothermodynamic, and trajectory design considerations are addressed to assess the ascent configuration, determine aerodynamic stability, characterize thermal protection system requirements, and ascertain the required system mass. Aerodynamic analysis reveals a subsonic static instability with the baseline configuration; however, stability augmentation options are proposed to mitigate this problem. The ascent aerothermodynamic environment is shown to be benign (on the order of the sea-level boiling point of water on Earth). As a result of these low thermal and pressure loads, a lightweight, low rigidity material can be employed as the aftbody aerodynamic shroud. The required nominal MAV lift-off mass is 426 kg for a December 2006 equatorial launch into a 300-km circular orbit with 30-degree inclination. Off-nominal aerodynamic and atmospheric conditions are shown to increase this liftoff mass by approximately 10%. Through performance of these analyses, the Mars Ascent Vehicle is deemed feasible with respect to the current mission mass and size constraints.

Desai, P. N.↗
NASA NTRS1985

B-52B/DTV (Drop Test Vehicle) flight test results: Drop test missions

The NASA test airplane, B-52B-008, was a carrier for drop tests of the shuttle booster recovery parachute system. The purpose of the test support by Boeing was to monitor the vertical loads on the pylon hooks. The hooks hold the Drop Test Vehicle to the B-52 pylon during drop test missions. The loads were monitored to assure the successful completion of the flight and the safety of the crew.

Doty, L. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

From Wind Tunnels to Flight Vehicles: Visualization and quantitative measurements supporting NASA’s space program

NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion Crew Module have been studied in wind tunnels using the planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) technique for flow visualization and quantitative thermometry and in flight using high-resolution imagery and quantitative infrared surface heating measurements. This paper reviews both types of measurements. OCIS codes: (120.1740) Combustion diagnostics; (300.2530) Fluorescence, laser-induced; (110.3080) Infrared imaging.

Planar Laser-Induced Fluorescence (PLIF)↗
NASA NTRS2015

Further Development of Verification Check-Cases for Six- Degree-of-Freedom Flight Vehicle Simulations

This follow-on paper describes the principal methods of implementing, and documents the results of exercising, a set of six-degree-of-freedom rigid-body equations of motion and planetary geodetic, gravitation and atmospheric models for simple vehicles in a variety of endo- and exo-atmospheric conditions with various NASA, and one popular open-source, engineering simulation tools. This effort is intended to provide an additional means of verification of flight simulations. The models used in this comparison, as well as the resulting time-history trajectory data, are available electronically for persons and organizations wishing to compare their flight simulation implementations of the same models.

Jackson, E. Bruce↗
NASA NTRS2011

Calculating Launch Vehicle Flight Performance Reserve

This paper addresses different methods for determining the amount of extra propellant (flight performance reserve or FPR) that is necessary to reach orbit with a high probability of success. One approach involves assuming that the various influential parameters are independent and that the result behaves as a Gaussian. Alternatively, probabilistic models may be used to determine the vehicle and environmental models that will be available (estimated) for a launch day go/no go decision. High-fidelity closed-loop Monte Carlo simulation determines the amount of propellant used with each random combination of parameters that are still unknown at the time of launch. Using the results of the Monte Carlo simulation, several methods were used to calculate the FPR. The final chosen solution involves determining distributions for the pertinent outputs and running a separate Monte Carlo simulation to obtain a best estimate of the required FPR. This result differs from the result obtained using the other methods sufficiently that the higher fidelity is warranted.

Hanson, John M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Prediction of forces and moments for flight vehicle control effectors. Part 1: Validation of methods for predicting hypersonic vehicle controls forces and moments

Many types of hypersonic aircraft configurations are currently being studied for feasibility of future development. Since the control of the hypersonic configurations throughout the speed range has a major impact on acceptable designs, it must be considered in the conceptual design stage. The ability of the aerodynamic analysis methods contained in an industry standard conceptual design system, APAS II, to estimate the forces and moments generated through control surface deflections from low subsonic to high hypersonic speeds is considered. Predicted control forces and moments generated by various control effectors are compared with previously published wind tunnel and flight test data for three configurations: the North American X-15, the Space Shuttle Orbiter, and a hypersonic research airplane concept. Qualitative summaries of the results are given for each longitudinal force and moment and each control derivative in the various speed ranges. Results show that all predictions of longitudinal stability and control derivatives are acceptable for use at the conceptual design stage. Results for most lateral/directional control derivatives are acceptable for conceptual design purposes; however, predictions at supersonic Mach numbers for the change in yawing moment due to aileron deflection and the change in rolling moment due to rudder deflection are found to be unacceptable. Including shielding effects in the analysis is shown to have little effect on lift and pitching moment predictions while improving drag predictions.

Maughmer, Mark D.↗
NASA NTRS1970

Hypersonic Research Facilities Study - Volume III, Part 2: Phase II Parametric Studies Flight Vehicle Synthesis

Airbreathing hypersonic aircraft employing liquid hydrogen fuel have the potential of satisfying a number of mission requirements in the 1980-2000 time period. However, major advances in the technological state of the art are necessary before such aircraft can be considered either feasible or practical. The objective was to assess the research and development requirements for hypersonic aircraft and based on these requirements, to provide the NASA with characteristics of a number of desirable hypersonic research facilities. The study is organized in three phases. Phase I was a preliminary analysis of a broad group of concepts which were reduced to seven flight research facilities and eleven ground research facilities for Phase II study. The purpose of Phase II was to perform parametric studies to refine the facility designs and obtain sensitivity information in the neighborhood of "near optimum" designs, and to select those facilities that appear most attractive in the sense of research potential vs cost for further refinement in Phase III. This part of Volume III presents the results of the synthesis of the flight research facilities.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1990

Validation of the F-18 high alpha research vehicle flight control and avionics systems modifications

The verification and validation process is a critical portion of the development of a flight system. Verification, the steps taken to assure the system meets the design specification, has become a reasonably understood and straightforward process. Validation is the method used to ensure that the system design meets the needs of the project. As systems become more integrated and more critical in their functions, the validation process becomes more complex and important. The tests, tools, and techniques which are being used for the validation of the high alpha research vehicle (HARV) turning vane control system (TVCS) are discussed and the problems and their solutions are documented. The emphasis of this paper is on the validation of integrated system.

Chacon, Vince↗
NASA NTRS1990

Validation of the F-18 high alpha research vehicle flight control and avionics systems modifications

The verification and validation process is a critical portion of the development of a flight system. Verification, the steps taken to assure the system meets the design specification, has become a reasonably understood and straightforward process. Validation is the method used to ensure that the system design meets the needs of the project. As systems become more integrated and more critical in their functions, the validation process becomes more complex and important. The tests, tools, and techniques which are being used for the validation of the high alpha research vehicle (HARV) turning valve control system (TVCS) are discussed, and their solutions are documented. The emphasis of this paper is on the validation of integrated systems.

Chacon, Vince↗
NASA NTRS1993

Flight-vehicle materials, structures, and dynamics - Assessment and future directions. Vol. 4 - Tribological materials and NDE

The present volume on tribological materials and NDE discusses liquid lubricants for advanced aircraft engines, a liquid lubricant for space applications, solid lubricants for aeronautics, and thin solid-lubricant films in space. Attention is given to the science and technology of NDE, tools for an NDE engineering base, experimental techniques in ultrasonics for NDE and material characterization, and laser ultrasonics. Topics addressed include thermal methods of NDE and quality control, digital radiography in the aerospace industry, materials characterization by ultrasonic methods, and NDE of ceramics and ceramic composites. Also discussed are smart materials and structures, intelligent processing of materials, implementation of NDE technology on flight structures, and solid-state weld evaluation.

Fusaro, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS1970

Hypersonic Research Facilities Study - Volume II, Part 2: Phase I Preliminary Studies Flight Vehicle Synthesis

Airbreathing hypersonic aircraft employing liquid hydrogen fuel have the potential of satisfying a number of mission requirements in the 1980-2000 time period. However, major advances in the technological state of the art are necessary before such aircraft can be considered either feasible or practical. The objective was to assess the research and development requirements for hypersonic aircraft and based on these requirements, to provide the NASA with characteristics of a number of desirable hypersonic research facilities. The study is organized in three phases. Phase I is a preliminary analysis of a broad group of concepts. The purpose of Phase I was to compare the characteristics of these facilities considering research capability, versatility, adaptability, system confidence and costs and based on these comparisons select those facilities that appear most attractive for parametric study and further refinement in Phase II. This part of Volume II presents the results of the design and cost synthesis of the flight research facilities.

Source record↗