Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “fluid systems”

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 145 records · Page 8

Fluid infusion system

Performance testing carried out in the development of the prototype zero-g fluid infusion system is described and summarized. Engineering tests were performed in the course of development, both on the original breadboard device and on the prototype system. This testing was aimed at establishing baseline system performance parameters and facilitating improvements. Acceptance testing was then performed on the prototype system to verify functional performance. Acceptance testing included a demonstration of the fluid infusion system on a laboratory animal.

Source record↗

Fluid-loop reaction system

An improved fluid actuating system for imparting motion to a body such as a spacecraft is disclosed. The fluid actuating system consists of a fluid mass that may be controllably accelerated through at least one fluid path whereby an opposite acceleration is experienced by the spacecraft. For full control of the spacecraft's orientation, the system would include a plurality of fluid paths. The fluid paths may be circular or irregular, and the fluid paths may be located on the interior or exterior of the spacecraft.

Lurie, Boris J.↗

Methods to capture proteomic and metabolomic signatures from cerebrospinal fluid and serum of healthy individuals

Discovery of reliable signatures for the empirical diagnosis of neurological diseases—both infectious and non-infectious—remains unrealized. One of the primary challenges encountered in such studies is the lack of a comprehensive database representative of a signature background that exists in healthy individuals, and against which an aberrant event can be assessed. For neurological insults and injuries, it is important to understand the normal profile in the neuronal (cerebrospinal fluid) and systemic fluids (e.g., blood). Here, we present the first comparative multi-omic human database of signatures derived from a population of 30 individuals (15 males, 15 females, 23–74 years) of serum and cerebrospinal fluid. In addition to empirical signatures, we also assigned common pathways between serum and CSF. Together, our findings provide a cohort against which aberrant signature profiles in individuals with neurological injuries/disease can be assessed—providing a pathway for comprehensive diagnostics and therapeutics discovery.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

RRFMC Drop Tester: Conduct of R&D Engineering System Risk Assessment

This report provides a documented risk assessment and subsequent determination of engineering rigor for the modification of the drop tester system inside of the Respirable Release Fraction Measurement Chamber (RRFMC) located in TA03-130. This risk assessment does not apply to the modification of the structural support system, containment barrier, pressure system, nor fluid system of the RRFMC, but only seeks to address the risk associated with the specific system used to raise and drop test articles.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Liquid Oxygen/Liquid Methane Integrated Power and Propulsion

The proposed paper will cover ongoing work at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Johnson Space Center (JSC) on integrated power and propulsion for advanced human exploration. Specifically, it will present findings of the integrated design, testing, and operational challenges of a liquid oxygen / liquid methane (LOx/LCH4) propulsion brassboard and Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) system. Human-Mars architectures point to an oxygen-methane economy utilizing common commodities, scavenged from the planetary atmosphere and soil via In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU), and common commodities across sub-systems. Due to the enormous mass gear-ratio required for human exploration beyond low-earth orbit, (for every 1 kg of payload landed on Mars, 226 kg will be required on Earth) increasing commonality between spacecraft subsystems such as power and propulsion can result in tremendous launch mass and volume savings. Historically, propulsion and fuel cell power subsystems have had little interaction outside of the generation (fuel cell) and consumption (propulsion) of electrical power. This was largely due to a mismatch in preferred commodities (hypergolics for propulsion; oxygen & hydrogen for fuel cells). Although this stove-piped approach benefits from simplicity in the design process, it means each subsystem has its own tanks, pressurization system, fluid feed system, etc. increasing overall spacecraft mass and volume. A liquid oxygen / liquid methane commodities architecture across propulsion and power subsystems would enable the use of common tankage and associated pressurization and commodity delivery hardware for both. Furthermore, a spacecraft utilizing integrated power and propulsion could use propellant residuals - propellant which could not be expelled from the tank near depletion due to hydrodynamic considerations caused by large flow demands of a rocket engine - to generate power after all propulsive maneuvers are complete thus utilizing previously wasted mass. Such is the case for human and robotic planetary landers. Although many potential benefits through integrated power & propulsion exist, integrated operations have yet to be successfully demonstrated and many challenges have already been identified the most obvious of which is the large temperature gradient. SOFC chemistry is exothermic with operating temperatures in excess of 1,000 K; however, any shared commodities will be undoubtedly stored at cryogenic temperatures (90-112 K) for mass efficiency reasons. Spacecraft packaging will drive these two subsystems in close proximity thus heat leak into the commodity tankage must be minimized and/or mitigated. Furthermore, commodities must be gasified prior to consumption by the SOFC. Excess heat generated by the SOFC could be used to perform this phase change; however, this has yet to be demonstrated. A further identified challenge is the ability of the SOFC to handle the sudden power spikes created by the propulsion system. A power accumulator (battery) will likely be necessary to handle these sudden demands while the SOFC thermally adjusts. JSC's current SOFC test system consists of a 1 kW fuel cell designed by Delphi. The fuel cell is currently undergoing characterization testing at the NASA JSC Energy Systems Test Area (ESTA) after which a Steam Methane Reformer (SMR) will be integrated and the combined system tested in closed-loop. The propulsion brassboard is approximately the size of what could be flown on a sounding rocket. It consists of one 100 lbf thrust "main" engine developed for NASA by Aerojet and two 10 lbf thrusters to simulate a reaction control system developed at NASA JSC. This system is also under development and initial testing at ESTA. After initial testing, combined testing will occur which will provide data on the fuel cell's ability to sufficiently handle the power spikes created by the propulsion system. These two systems will also be modeled using General-Use Nodal Network Solver (GUNNS) software. Once anchored with test data, this model will be used to extrapolate onto other firing profiles and used to size the power accumulator.

Banker, Brian↗

Design of a Family of Mars Chemical Transportation Elements

NASA’s Mars Architecture Team (MAT) has recently developed a collection of concepts to assess the capabilities and constraints presented by architectures incorporating large-scale Mars In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) propellant production. The focus of this manuscript is on the concept design of chemical propellant-based transportation systems including a dual role lander/ascent vehicle and an in-space transporter. Mission performance analyses performed during a recent design analysis cycle derived the 300,000 kg propellant production capacity utilized for preliminary concept designs of enabling surface ISRU systems, power systems, fluid handling systems, and their concept of operation, detailed in companion papers.

Mars↗

Design of a Family of Mars Chemical Transportation Elements

NASA’s Mars Architecture Team (MAT) has recently developed a collection of concepts to assess the capabilities and constraints presented by architectures incorporating large-scale Mars In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) propellant production. The focus of this manuscript is on the concept design of chemical propellant-based transportation systems including a dual role lander/ascent vehicle and an in-space transporter. Mission performance analyses performed during a recent design analysis cycle derived the 300,000 kg propellant production capacity utilized for preliminary concept designs of enabling surface ISRU systems, power systems, fluid handling systems, and their concept of operation, detailed in companion papers.

Mars↗

A mixed method Poisson solver for three-dimensional self-gravitating astrophysical fluid dynamical systems

A key ingredient in the simulation of self-gravitating astrophysical fluid dynamical systems is the gravitational potential and its gradient. This paper focuses on the development of a mixed method multigrid solver of the Poisson equation formulated so that both the potential and the Cartesian components of its gradient are self-consistently and accurately generated. The method achieves this goal by formulating the problem as a system of four equations for the gravitational potential and the three Cartesian components of the gradient and solves them using a distributed relaxation technique combined with conventional full multigrid V-cycles. The method is described, some tests are presented, and the accuracy of the method is assessed. We also describe how the method has been incorporated into our three-dimensional hydrodynamics code and give an example of an application to the collision of two stars. We end with some remarks about the future developments of the method and some of the applications in which it will be used in astrophysics.

Duncan, Comer↗

Numerical simulation of forced convection in a two fluid layered system in a floating zone configuration

Forced convection due to rotational effects has been numerically studied in a stable two-fluid layered system in which the lighter fluid occupies the upper portion of the computational and physical domain. Results are presented for three different fluid height combinations for conditions prevailing in a microgravity environment. It is found that the heavier fluid tends to dominate the flow field, and that equal corotation and counterrotation cases produce nearly identical behavior in the flow and thermal fields.

Ramachandran, N.↗

Personal Computer Transport Analysis Program

The Personal Computer Transport Analysis Program (PCTAP) is C++ software used for analysis of thermal fluid systems. The program predicts thermal fluid system and component transients. The output consists of temperatures, flow rates, pressures, delta pressures, tank quantities, and gas quantities in the air, along with air scrubbing component performance. PCTAP s solution process assumes that the tubes in the system are well insulated so that only the heat transfer between fluid and tube wall and between adjacent tubes is modeled. The system described in the model file is broken down into its individual components; i.e., tubes, cold plates, heat exchangers, etc. A solution vector is built from the components and a flow is then simulated with fluid being transferred from one component to the next. The solution vector of components in the model file is built at the initiation of the run. This solution vector is simply a list of components in the order of their inlet dependency on other components. The component parameters are updated in the order in which they appear in the list at every time step. Once the solution vectors have been determined, PCTAP cycles through the components in the solution vector, executing their outlet function for each time-step increment.

DiStefano, Frank, III↗

Thermal Analysis System

A thermal fluid system modeler including a plurality of individual components. A solution vector is configured and ordered as a function of one or more inlet dependencies of the plurality of individual components. A fluid flow simulator simulates thermal energy being communicated with the flowing fluid and between first and second components of the plurality of individual components. The simulation extends from an initial time to a later time step and bounds heat transfer to be substantially between the flowing fluid, walls of tubes formed in each of the individual components of the plurality, and between adjacent tubes. Component parameters of the solution vector are updated with simulation results for each of the plurality of individual components of the simulation.

DiStefano, III, Frank James↗

Free vibration analysis of coupled fluid-structure systems

An efficient numerical technique for the eigenvalue solution in the free vibration analysis of compressible fluid-structure coupled systems is presented. The fluid is assumed to be compressible in nature and the incompressible problem is only a special case of the present generalized algorithm. A natural frequency analysis of the structure in the absence of any fluid is achieved by a combined Sturm sequence and inverse iteration technique that computes only the required eigenvalues and vectors. A special inverse iteration scheme is then developed for the coupled system that uses the computed eigenvalues as starting iteration values for convergence. Numerical results obtained by solving a number of standard test cases indicate the pattern of root convergence corresponding to various simplifying assumptions.

Gupta, K. K.↗

Intravenous Fluid Generation System

The ability to stabilize and treat patients on exploration missions will depend on access to needed consumables. Intravenous (IV) fluids have been identified as required consumables. A review of the Space Medicine Exploration Medical Condition List (SMEMCL) lists over 400 medical conditions that could present and require treatment during ISS missions. The Intravenous Fluid Generation System (IVGEN) technology provides the scalable capability to generate IV fluids from indigenous water supplies. It meets USP (U.S. Pharmacopeia) standards. This capability was performed using potable water from the ISS; water from more extreme environments would need preconditioning. The key advantage is the ability to filter mass and volume, providing the equivalent amount of IV fluid: this is critical for remote operations or resource- poor environments. The IVGEN technology purifies drinking water, mixes it with salt, and transfers it to a suitable bag to deliver a sterile normal saline solution. Operational constraints such as mass limitations and lack of refrigeration may limit the type and volume of such fluids that can be carried onboard the spacecraft. In addition, most medical fluids have a shelf life that is shorter than some mission durations. Consequently, the objective of the IVGEN experiment was to develop, design, and validate the necessary methodology to purify spacecraft potable water into a normal saline solution, thus reducing the amount of IV fluids that are included in the launch manifest. As currently conceived, an IVGEN system for a space exploration mission would consist of an accumulator, a purifier, a mixing assembly, a salt bag, and a sterile bag. The accumulator is used to transfer a measured amount of drinking water from the spacecraft to the purifier. The purifier uses filters to separate any air bubbles that may have gotten trapped during the drinking water transfer from flowing through a high-quality deionizing cartridge that removes the impurities in the water before entering the salt bag and mixing with the salt to create a normal saline solution.

McQuillen, John↗

Design considerations for a micro-g superfluid helium fluid acquisition system

The general description, the operation, and the design of a superfluid helium (SFHe) fluid acquisition system (FAS) for use under microgravity conditions is presented. For the type of FAS considered here, where fine-mesh woven screens are used to retain flowing SFHe within a gallery arm (flow) channel, those forces which determine the flow dynamics are the micro-g accelerations, liquid surface tension, and tensile strength and cumulative pressure drops along a flow path that begins at the bulk liquid and ends at the entrance to a pump. For this case, the dimensionless number, N(T) is written as the ratio between the pressure drop across the screen and the surface tension forces at the screen for low fluid velocities. Static Bond number measurements have bene taken for SFHe using 325 x 2300 twilled Dutch screen and have indicated a screen pore hydraulic radius of 0.00031 cm.

Lee, J. M.↗

Thermal Vibrational Convection in a Two-phase Stratified Liquid

The response of a two-phase stratified liquid system subject to a vibration parallel to an imposed temperature gradient is analyzed using a hybrid thermal lattice Boltzmann method (HTLB). The vibrations considered correspond to sinusoidal translations of a rigid cavity at a fixed frequency. The layers are thermally and mechanically coupled. Interaction between gravity-induced and vibration-induced thermal convection is studied. The ability of applied vibration to enhance the flow, heat transfer and interface distortion is investigated. For the range of conditions investigated, the results reveal that the effect of vibrational Rayleigh number and vibrational frequency on a two-phase stratified fluid system is much different than that for a single-phase fluid system. Comparisons of the response of a two-phase stratified fluid system with a single-phase fluid system are discussed.

Chang, Qingming↗