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At least 163 records · Page 9

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NASA NTRS1972

Choked flow of fluid nitrogen with emphasis on the thermodynamic critical region

Experimental measurements of critical flow rate and pressure ratio for nitrogen flowing through a nozzle are presented. Data for selected stagnation isotherms from 87.5 to 234 K with pressures to 9.3 MN/m2 are compared to an equilibrium model with real fluid properties and also a nonequilibrium model. Critical flow pressure ratio along an isotherm tends to peak while the flow rate indicates an inflection. The point is closely associated with the transposed critical temperature and represents a change in the fluid structure.

Hendricks, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Choked flow of fluid nitrogen with emphasis on the thermodynamic critical region.

Results of experimental measurements of critical flow rate and pressure ratio for nitrogen flowing through a nozzle. Data for selected stagnation isotherms from 87.5 to 234 K with pressures to 9.3 MN/sq m are compared to an equilibrium model with real fluid properties and also a nonequilibrium model. Critical flow pressure ratio along an isotherm tends to peak while the flow rate indicates an inflection. The point is closely associated with the transposed critical temperature and represents a change in the fluid structure.

Hendricks, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS2017

Fluid Transient Analysis During Priming of Evacuated Line

Pressure surges are critical in the design of spacecraft propellant feed lines. The pressure transients that occur during priming of feed lines are very important in the design and analysis of liquid propulsion systems. During the start-up of the propulsion system of a spacecraft, the process of filling of an evacuated pipeline is called priming. Priming can generate severe pressure peaks due to the slam (water hammer) of the propellant against a closed thruster valve. The downstream conditions strongly affect the pressure surge. In space systems, satellites, or interplanetary probes, the propellant lines are vacuum-pumped or filled with low pressure helium or nitrogen before the launch. Before operations, these lines are primed with a vaporizing liquid, sometimes in the presence of a non-condensable gas (NCG), which produces water hammer phenomena. The objective of the current study is to use a finite volume based network flow solver (Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program, GFSSP) for the numerical simulation of Priming in (a) a straight feedline and (b) a flow network. The geometrical configurations and dimensions for the pipe and other components used for the current study are identical to experimental study of Prickett et al.

Bandyopadhyay, Alak↗

NASA NTRS1987

Three-step cylindrical seal for high-performance turbomachines

A three-step cylindrical seal configuration representing the seal for a high performance turbopump (e.g., the space shuttle main engine fuel pump) was tested under static (nonrotating) conditions. The test data included critical mass flux and pressure profiles over a wide range of inlet temperatures and pressures for fluid nitrogen and fluid hydrogen with the seal in concentric and fully eccentric positions. The critical mass flux (leakage rate) was 70% that of an equivalent straight cylindrical seal with a correspondingly higher pressure drop based on the same flow areas of 0.3569 sq cm but 85% that of the straight seal based on the third-step flow area of 0.3044 sq cm. The mass flow rates for the three step cylindrical seal in the fully eccentric and concentric positions were essentially the same, and the trends in flow coefficient followed those of a simple axisymmetric inlet configuration. However, for inlet stagnation temperatures less than the thermodynamic critical temperature the pressure profiles exhibited a flat region throughout the third step of the seal, with the pressure magnitude dependent on the inlet stagnation temperature. Such profiles represent an extreme positive direct stiffness. These conditions engendered a crossover in the pressure profile upstream of the postulated choke that resulted in a local negative stiffness. Flat and crossover profiles resulting from choking within the seal are practically unknown to the seal designer. However, they are of critical importance to turbomachine stability and must be integrated into any dynamic analysis of a seal of this configuration. In addition, choking is highly dependent on geometry, inlet-to-backpressure ratio, and inlet temperature and can occur within the seal even though the backpressure is above the critical pressure.

Hendricks, Robert C.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Tables of critical-flow functions and thermodynamic properties for methane and computational procedures for both methane and natural gas

Procedures for calculating the mass flow rate of methane and natural gas through nozzles are given, along with the FORTRAN 4 subroutines used to make these calculations. Three sets of independent variables are permitted in these routines. In addition to the plenum pressure and temperature, the third independent variable is either nozzle exit pressure, Mach number, or temperature. A critical-flow factor that becomes a convenient means for determining the mass flow rate of methane through critical-flow nozzles is tabulated. Other tables are included for nozzle throat velocity and critical pressure, density, and temperature ratios, along with some thermodynamic properties of methane, including compressibility factor, enthalpy, entropy, specific heat, specific-heat ratio, and speed of sound. These tabulations cover a temperature range from 120 to 600 K and pressures to 3 million N/sq m.

Johnson, R. C.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Limiting critical speed response on the SSME Alternate High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (ATD HPFTP) with bearing deadband

Yammamoto (1954) described the influence of bearing deadband on the critical speed response of a rotor-bearing system. Practical application of these concepts to limit critical speed response of turbopump rotors is described. Nonlinear rotordynamic analyses are used to define the effect of bearing deadband and rotor unbalance on the Space Shuttle Main Engine Alternate High Pressure Fuel Turbopump. Analysis results are used with hot fire test data to verify the presence of a lightly damped critical speed within the operating speed range. With the proper control of rotor unbalance and bearing deadband, the response of this critical speed is reduced to acceptable levels without major design modifications or additional sources of damping.

Goggin, David G.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Experimental and Analytical Study of Two-Phase Flow in Microgravity

A two-phase test loop has been designed and constructed to generate the necessary data for two-phase pressure drop and Critical Heat Flux (CHF) under reduced gravity conditions. A series of airplane trajectory tests aboard NASA KC-135 were performed and the data was used to evaluate the applicability of the earth gravity models for prediction of the reduced gravity data. Several commonly used correlations for the two-phase friction multiplier and critical heat flux were used to predict the data. It was generally concluded that the two-phase pressure drop can be predicted by the earth gravity correlations. The critical heat flux under reduced gravity conditions did not show a strong dependence on mass flow rate and the measured CHF were generally lower than the equivalent 1g conditions. The earth gravity models need to be modified for application to reduced gravities.

Abdollahian, D.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Pressure Effects in Droplet Combustion of Miscible Binary Fuels

The objective of this research is to improve understanding of the combustion of binary fuel mixtures in the vicinity of the critical point. Fiber-supported droplets of mixtures of n-heptane and n-hexadecane, initially 1 mm in diameter, were burned in room-temperature air at pressures from 1 MPa to 6 MPa under free-fall microgravity conditions. For most mixtures the total burning time was observed to achieve a minimum value at pressures well above the critical pressure of either of the pure fuels. This behavior is explained in terms of critical mixing conditions of a ternary system consisting of the two fuels and nitrogen. The importance of inert-gas dissolution in the liquid fuel near the critical point is thereby re-emphasized, and nonmonotonic dependence of dissolution on initial fuel composition is demonstrated. The results provide information that can be used to estimate high-pressure burning rates of fuel mixtures.

Mikami, Masato↗

NASA NTRS1977

A high pressure modulated molecular beam mass spectrometric sampling system

The current state of understanding of free-jet high pressure sampling is critically reviewed and modifications of certain theoretical and empirical considerations are presented. A high pressure, free-jet expansion, modulated molecular beam, mass spectrometric sampling apparatus was constructed and this apparatus is described in detail. Experimental studies have demonstrated that the apparatus can be used to sample high temperature systems at pressures up to one atmosphere. Condensible high temperature gaseous species have been routinely sampled and the mass spectrometric detector has provided direct identification of sampled species. System sensitivity is better than one tenth of a part per million. Experimental results obtained with argon and nitrogen beams are presented and compared to theoretical predictions. These results and the respective comparison are taken to indicate acceptable performance of the sampling apparatus. Results are also given for two groups of experiments related to hot corrosion studies. The formation of gaseous sodium sulfate in doped methane-oxygen flames was characterized and the oxidative vaporization of metals was studied in an atmospheric pressure flowing gas system to which gaseous salt partial pressures were added.

Stearns, C. A.↗

NASA NTRS2023

Damage Detection of a Pressure Vessel with Smart Sensing and Deep Learning

Structural Health Monitoring plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety and reliability of critical infrastructure, including pressure vessels involved in various applications. This research reports the damage detection of a pressure box employed in space habitat that operates in harsh environment where both structural failure and bolt joint loosening may occur. These failure modes are extremely hard to model based on first principles. We explore proper sensing mechanism and the associated inverse analysis algorithm that can elucidate the health condition of the pressure box. It is identified that piezoelectric impedance based active interrogation can provide necessary information for damage detection in such a system. Concurrently, deep learning technique leveraging spatial convolutional neural network is synthesized to analyze the raw data acquired and identify different types of damage. By training the deep learning model on a dataset of healthy and various damage scenarios, we can achieve high accuracy in identifying the presence of damage and its type. This research provides a data-driven methodology for structural damage detection using deep learning and has the potential to be extended to various systems with different failure modes.

Yang Zhang↗

NASA NTRS1959

Charts and Tables for Estimating the Stability of the Compressible Laminar Boundary Layer with Heat Transfer and Arbitrary Pressure Gradient

The minimum critical Reynolds numbers for the similar solutions of the compressible laminar boundary layer computed by Cohen and Reshotko and also for the Falkner and Skan solutions as recomputed by Smith have been calculated by Lin's rapid approximate method for two-dimensional disturbances. These results enable the stability of the compressible laminar boundary layer with heat transfer and pressure gradient to be easily estimated after the behavior of the boundary layer has been computed by the approximate method of Cohen and Reshotko. The previously reported unusual result (NACA Technical Note 4037) that a highly cooled stagnation point flow is more unstable than a highly cooled flat-plate flow is again encountered. Moreover, this result is found to be part of the more general result that a favorable pressure gradient is destabilizing for very cool walls when the Mach number is less than that for complete stability. The minimum critical Reynolds numbers for these wall temperature ratios are, however, all larger than any value of the laminar-boundary-layer Reynolds number likely to be encountered. For Mach numbers greater than those for which complete stability occurs a favorable pressure gradient is stabilizing, even for very cool walls.

Tetervin, Neal↗

NASA NTRS1996

Study of Critical Heat Flux and Two-Phase Pressure Drop Under Reduced Gravity

The design of the two-phase flow systems which are anticipated to be utilized in future spacecraft thermal management systems requires a knowledge of two-phase flow and heat transfer phenomena in reduced gravities. This program was funded by NASA headquarters in response to NRA-91-OSSA-17 and was managed by Lewis Research Center. The main objective of this program was to design and construct a two-phase test loop, and perform a series of normal gravity and aircraft trajectory experiments to study the effect of gravity on the Critical Heat Flux (CHF) and onset of instability. The test loop was packaged on two aircraft racks and was also instrumented to generate data for two-phase pressure drop. The normal gravity tests were performed with vertical up and downflow configurations to bound the effect of gravity on the test parameters. One set of aircraft trajectory tests was performed aboard the NASA DC-9 aircraft. These tests were mainly intended to evaluate the test loop and its operational performance under actual reduced gravity conditions, and to produce preliminary data for the test parameters. The test results were used to demonstrate the applicability of the normal gravity models for prediction of the two-phase friction pressure drop. It was shown that the two-phase friction multipliers for vertical upflow and reduced gravity conditions can be successfully predicted by the appropriate normal gravity models. Limited critical heat flux data showed that the measured CHF under reduced gravities are of the same order of magnitude as the test results with vertical upflow configuration. A simplified correlation was only successful in predicting the measured CHF for low flow rates. Instability tests with vertical upflow showed that flow becomes unstable and critical heat flux occurs at smaller powers when a parallel flow path exists. However, downflow tests and a single reduced gravity instability experiment indicated that the system actually became more stable with a parallel single-phase flow path. Several design modifications have been identified which will improve the system performance for generating reduced gravity data. The modified test loop can provide two-phase flow data for a range of operating conditions and can serve as a test bed for component evaluation.

Abdollahian, Davood↗

NASA NTRS1945

Data for Design of Entrance Vanes from Two-Dimensional Tests of Airfoils in Cascade

As a part of a program of the NACA directed toward increasing the efficiency of compressors and turbines, data were obtained for application to the design of entrance vanes for axfax-flow compressors or turbines. A series of blower-blade sections with relatively high critical speeds have been developed for turning air efficiently from 0 deg to 80 deg starting with an axial direction. Tests were made of five NACA 65-series blower blades (modified NACA 65(216)-010 airfoils) and of four experimentally designed blower blades in a stationary cascade at low Mach numbers. The turning effectiveness and the pressure distributions of these blade sections at various angles of attack were evaluated over a range of solidities near 1. Entrance-vane design charts are presented that give a blade section and angle of attack for any desired turning angle. The blades thus obtained operate with peak-free pressure distributions. Approximate critical Mach numbers were calculated from the pressure distributions.

FLOW-VANES, GUIDE↗

NASA NTRS1982

Assessment of critical-fluid extractions in the process industries

The potential for critical-fluid extraction as a separation process for improving the productive use of energy in the process industries is assessed. Critical-fluid extraction involves the use of fluids, normally gaseous at ambient conditions, as extraction solvents at temperatures and pressures around the critical point. Equilibrium and kinetic properties in this regime are very favorable for solvent applications, and generally allow major reductions in the energy requirements for separating and purifying chemical component of a mixture.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1977

Equations of state and impact-induced shock-wave attenuation on the moon

Equation of state formulations are considered in a framework that permits comparison with one-dimensional impedance match solutions. The problem considered is the peak pressures attained along the impact symmetry axis when a sphere impacts with a half-space. The regimes of melting and vaporization - in particular, incipiently melted, completely melted, incipiently vaporized, and completely vaporized states - are examined, and the pressures at which critical isentropes intersect the Hugoniots of iron and gabbroic anorthosite are considered. A means of representing the spatial attenuation of shock pressure along the impact axis by two regimes is introduced, and results for the near-field and far-field regime are presented. It is thought that the treatment can be used to obtain quantitative bounds on the impact velocity of the meteorite.

Ahrens, T. J.↗

NASA NTRS2023

High-Pressure, Normal-Gravity Droplet Combustion Experimental Hardware

The High-Pressure, Trans-Critical (HPTC) 1-g Liquid Droplet Combustion Experiments will assess the autoignition and combustion of liquid fuel droplets at elevated temperatures and pressures. These experiments are being conducted at the NASA Glenn Research Center in a manner similar to experiments performed in Glenn’s Zero Gravity Research Facility (ZGF) using the B drop vehicle. The modification to the test capabilities of the ZGF experiments in the new experimental configuration will allow researchers to continue performing normal-gravity liquid droplet combustion experiments without requiring the use of the ZGF test equipment. These normal-gravity experiments will be conducted at lower pressures than in the ZGF because the pressure vessel for this setup is limited to a maximum working pressure of 7.74 atm (99.1 psig) at 366.5 K (200 °F). This experimental configuration will enable development of a similar capability for conducting high-pressure combustion and supercritical oxidation research on the International Space Station. Experiments will be conducted with the capability of altering the ambient pressure, temperature, and gas concentrations, as well as the fuel type for each test. For these experiments, the test vessel operates at pressures up to 7.5 atm (95.5 psig), temperatures up to 1,073 K (1,472 °F) inside the insulated oven, and oxygen concentrations up to 30 percent.

Droplet Combustion↗

NASA NTRS1989

On the dynamic response of pressure transmission lines in the research of helium-charged free piston Stirling engines

In free piston Stirling engine research the integrity of both amplitude and phase of the dynamic pressure measurements is critical to the characterization of cycle dynamics and thermodynamics. It is therefore necessary to appreciate all possible sources of signal distortion when designing pressure measurement systems for this type of research. The signal distortion inherent to pressure transmission lines is discussed. Based on results from classical analysis, guidelines are formulated to describe the dynamic response properties of a volume-terminated transmission tube for applications involving helium-charged free piston Stirling engines. The scope and limitations of the dynamic response analysis are considered.

Miller, Eric L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Combustion of LOX with H2(sub g) under subcritical, critical, and supercritical conditions (Task 1) and experimental observation of dense spray and mixing of impinging jets (Task 2)

The objective was to achieve a better understanding of the combustion processes of liquid oxygen and gaseous hydrogen under broad range of pressure covering subcritical, critical, and supercritical conditions. The scope of the experimental work falls into the following areas: (1) design of the overall experimental setup; (2) modification of an existing windowed high pressure chamber; (3) design of the LOX feeding system; (4) provision of the safety features in the test rig design; (5) LOX cleanliness requirements; (6) cold shock testing; (7) implementation of data acquisition systems; (8) preliminary tests for system checkout; (9) modification of LOX feeding system; and (10) evaporation tests. Progress in each area is discussed.

Kuo, K. K.↗