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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 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2016

Green Monopropellant Status at Marshall Space Flight Center

NASA Marshall Space Flight Center is continuing investigations into the use of green monopropellants as a replacement for hydrazine in spacecraft propulsion systems. Work to date has been to push technology development through multiple activities designed to understand the capabilities of these technologies. Future work will begin to transition to mission pull as these technologies are mature while still keeping a solid goal of pushing technology development as opportunities become available. The AF-M315E activities began with hot-fire demonstration testing of a 1N monopropellant thruster in FY 14 and FY15. Following successful completion of the preliminary campaign, changes to the test stand to accommodate propellant conditioning capability and better control of propellant operations was incorporated to make testing more streamlined. The goal is to conduct hot-fire testing with warm and cold propellants using the existing feed system and original thruster design. Following the 1N testing, a NASA owned 100 mN thruster will be hot-fire tested in the same facility to show feasibility of scaling to smaller thrusters for cubesat applications. The end goal is to conduct a hot-fire test of an integrated cubesat propulsion system using an SLM printed propellant tank, an MSFC designed propulsion system electronic controller and the 100 mN thruster. In addition to the AF-M315E testing, MSFC is pursuing hot-fire testing with LMP-103S. Following our successful hot-fire testing of the 22N thruster in April 2015, a test campaign was proposed for a 440N LMP-103S thruster with Orbital ATK and Plasma Processes. This activity was funded through the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) ACO funding call in the last quarter of CY15. Under the same funding source a test activity with Busek and Glenn Research Center for testing of 5N AF-M315E thrusters was proposed and awarded. Both activities are in-work with expected completion of hot-fire testing by the end of FY17. MSFC is continuing to coordinate with the AF and academia on understanding the chemical reactions that occur in AF-M315E. An on-going investigation of the catalyst bed species using Raman Spectroscopy through the NASA Technology Research Fellowship Program (NSTRF) is looking for ways to minimize the amount of computation required by understanding the intermediate species created in the catalyst bed. The MSFC team is also working with commercial partners through Cooperative Agreement Notices (CAN's). Partnerships with commercial and academia include work in non-catalytic ignition of AF-M315, spark ignition of hybrid cubesat systems, printed SLM tanks, and dual-mode (electric and chemical) propulsion systems is continuing.

Burnside, Christopher G.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Coaxial Propellant Injectors With Faceplate Annulus Control

An improved design concept for coaxial propellant injectors for a rocket engine (or perhaps for a non-rocket combustion chamber) offers advantages of greater robustness, less complexity, fewer parts, lower cost, and less bulk, relative to prior injectors of equivalent functionality. This design concept is particularly well suited to small, tight-tolerance injectors, for which prior designs are not suitable because the practical implementation of those designs entails very high costs and difficulty in adhering to the tolerances.

Horn, Mark D.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Model of a Piezoelectric Transducer

It's difficult to control liquid and gas in propellant tanks in zero gravity. A possible a design would utilize acoustic liquid manipulation (ALM) technology which uses ultrasonic beams conducted through a liquid and solid media, to push gas bubbles in the liquid to desirable locations. We can propel and control the bubble with acoustic radiation pressure by aiming the acoustic waves on the bubble s surface. This allows us to design a so called smart tank in which the ALM devices transfer the gas to the outer wall of the tank and isolating the liquid in the center. Because the heat transfer rate of a gas is lower of that of the liquid it would substantially decrease boil off and provide of for a longer storage life. The ALM beam is composed of little wavelets which are individual waves that constructively interfere with each other to produce a single, combined acoustic wave front. This is accomplished by using a set of synchronized ultrasound transducers arranged in an array. A slight phase offset of these elements allows us to focus and steer the beam. The device that we are using to produce the acoustic beam is called the piezoelectric transducer. This device converts electrical energy to mechanical energy, which appears in the form of acoustic energy. Therefore the behavior of the device is dependent on both the mechanical characteristics, such as its density, cross-sectional area, and its electrical characteristics, such as, electric flux permittivity and coupling factor. These devices can also be set up in a number of modes which are determined by the way the piezoelectric device is arranged, and the shape of the transducer. For this application we are using the longitudinal or thickness mode for our operation. The transducer also vibrates in the lateral mode, and one of the goals of my project is to decrease the amount of energy lost to the lateral mode. To model the behavior of the transducers I will be using Pspice, electric circuit modeling tool, to determine the transducer's electrical characteristics at the frequency of interest. This will also help me determine the characteristics of an impedance matching network to operate the transducer at its optimum efficiency. For this I will use ABMs (analog behavioral modeling) to model dependent current and voltage sources that represent the transducer. I have also been working on the Labview control software for the phased array used to control the bubbles, and will begin testing on that before the end of my internship.

Goodenow, Debra↗
NASA NTRS2013

Determination of Liquid/Gas Interface and Liquid Center of Gravity for GPM Tank with PMD Using Surface Evolver

Many spacecraft, such as the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) spacecraft, use propellant management devices (PMDs) to control liquid propellant within propellant tanks. Surface Evolver, an energy minimization routine, is used to find liquid-gas interface shapes due to surface tension and propellant center of mass locations for varying initial liquid positions, contact angles, and fill fractions for the GPM tank with a PMD. This study shows that Surface Evolver can accurately model the liquid-gas interface and liquid center of mass location for a complicated tank and PMD. The Surface Evolver results show that the initial position of the propellant, the contact angle between the propellant and solid surfaces, and the fill fraction of the propellant can drastically affect the liquid-gas interface in the tank and thus the center of mass of the propellant.

Benson, David J.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Trajectory Design Employing Convex Optimization for Landing on Irregularly Shaped Asteroids

Mission proposals that land spacecraft on asteroids are becoming increasingly popular. However, in order to have a successful mission the spacecraft must reliably and softly land at the intended landing site with pinpoint precision. The problem under investigation is how to design a propellant optimal powered descent trajectory that can be quickly computed onboard the spacecraft, without interaction from the ground control. The propellant optimal control problem in this work is to determine the optimal finite thrust vector to land the spacecraft at a specified location, in the presence of a highly nonlinear gravity field, subject to various mission and operational constraints. The proposed solution uses convex optimization, a gravity model with higher fidelity than Newtonian, and an iterative solution process for a fixed final time problem. In addition, a second optimization method is wrapped around the convex optimization problem to determine the optimal flight time that yields the lowest propellant usage over all flight times. Gravity models designed for irregularly shaped asteroids are investigated. Success of the algorithm is demonstrated by designing powered descent trajectories for the elongated binary asteroid Castalia.

Pinson, Robin M.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Design and operation of the U.S. Space Station Freedom Propulsion System

The propulsion functions for the U.S. Space Station Freedom (SSF) are accomplished by two separate systems, the Primary Propulsion System and the Supplemental Reboost System (SRS). The Primary Propulsion System includes self-contained hydrazine modules for station reboost, attitude control and contingency maneuvers. These Propulsion Modules contain reboost and attitude control thrusters, propellant storage, thermal conditioning and electronic controls. The modules are serviced on the ground and launched on the Space Shuttle as replacements for the on-orbit modules which have expended their propellant. The expended modules are returned to the ground for reservicing and subsequent reuse. The Supplemental Reboost System includes a Waste Gas Assembly and Resistojet Modules which are used for reboost maneuvers only. The Waste Gas Assembly contains waste gas storage, compressors and dryers and the Resistojet Modules contain multipropellant resistojet thrusters, electronic pressure regulators and power conditioning equipment.

Morano, Joseph S.↗
NASA NTRS1961

Control and Guidance of Electrically Propelled Spacecraft

Some of the conditions and methods of control and guidance for a nuclear-electric spacecraft are discussed in general terms. The type of spacecraft considered is propelled by an ion motor. The broad aspects of the flight trajectory peculiar to this type of propulsion are examined. Some equipment limitations are reviewed.

NUCLEAR-ELECTRIC PROPULSION↗
NASA NTRS2013

Numerical Investigation of a Fuselage Boundary Layer Ingestion Propulsion Concept

In the present study, a numerical assessment of the performance of fuselage boundary layer ingestion (BLI) propulsion techniques was conducted. This study is an initial investigation into coupling the aerodynamics of the fuselage with a BLI propulsion system to determine if there is sufficient potential to warrant further investigation of this concept. Numerical simulations of flow around baseline, Boundary Layer Controlled (BLC), and propelled boundary layer controlled airships were performed. Computed results showed good agreement with wind tunnel data and previous numerical studies. Numerical simulations and sensitivity analysis were then conducted on four BLI configurations. The two design variables selected for the parametric study of the new configurations were the inlet area and the inlet to exit area ratio. Current results show that BLI propulsors may offer power savings of up to 85% over the baseline configuration. These interim results include the simplifying assumption that inlet ram drag is negligible and therefore likely overstate the reduction in power. It has been found that inlet ram drag is not negligible and should be included in future analysis.

Elmiligui, Alaa A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Aerodynamic Design of a Propeller for High-Altitude Balloon Trajectory Control

The aerodynamic design of a propeller for the trajectory control of a high-altitude, scientific balloon has been performed using theoretical methods developed especially for such applications. The methods are described. Optimum, nonlinear chord and twist distributions have been developed in conjunction with the design of a family of airfoils, the SE403, SE404, and SE405, for the propeller. The very low Reynolds numbers along the propeller blade fall in a range that has yet to be rigorously investigated, either experimentally or theoretically.

Eppler, Richard↗
NASA NTRS2016

Integrated System for Health Management and Autonomous Control (ISHM-AC) for Cryogenic Operations on the Simulated Propellant Loading System

Autonomous control systems represent a technological barrier from manual and automated operated control systems in an industry wide application. An increase in energy-efficient storage, transfer and use of cryogens and cryogenic propellants on Earth and in space has been observed in space related industries between NASA, government and commercial programs. An increase in efficiency of cryogenic systems demands an increase in the capabilities of the control and monitoring system that manages them. As new technologies are developed for cryogenic systems, complexity and capability increases. The increase in complexities are a natural drive to develop better and more capable health monitoring and control system management. Current research and development efforts lead the Cryogenics Test Laboratory at the Kennedy Space Center to improve its automated control and health monitoring system from a Programmable Logic Control (PLC) based-only system to a fully Integrated System for Health Management (ISHM) - Autonomous Control (AC) capable of performing autonomous operations on a cryogenic propellant transfer system. This ISHM-AC system has been developed and tested by controlling a complete simulated propellant transfer operation. The capabilities and test results of this fully integrated autonomous system for cryogenics propellant transfer operation will be presented in this paper.

Toro Medina, Jaime A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Experiments on reduction of propeller induced interior noise by active control of cylinder vibration

The feasibility of reducing interior noise caused by advanced turbo propellers by controlling the vibration of aircraft fuselages was investigated by performing experiments in an anechoic chamber with an aircraft model test rig and apparatus. It was found that active vibration control provides reasonable global attenuation of interior noise levels for the cases of resonant (at 576 Hz) and forced (at 708 Hz) system response. The controlling mechanism behind the effect is structural-acoustic coupling between the shell and the contained field, termed interface modal filtering.

Fuller, C. R.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Ventless pressure control of two-phase propellant tanks in microgravity

This work studies pressurization and pressure control of a large liquid hydrogen storage tank. A finite element model is developed that couples a lumped thermodynamic formulation for the vapor region with a complete solution of the Navier-Stokes and energy equations for the flow and temperature fields in the liquid. Numerical results show that buoyancy effects are strong, even in microgravity, and can reposition a vapor bubble that is initially at the center of the tank to a region near the tank wall in a relatively short time. Long-term tank pressurization with the vapor bubble at the tank wall shows that after an initial transient lasting about a week, the final rate of pressure increase agrees with a purely thermodynamic analysis of the entire tank. However, the final pressure levels are quite different from thermodynamic predictions. Numerical results also show that there is significant thermal stratification in the liquid due to the effects of natural convection. A subcooled jet is used to provide simultaneous cooling and mixing in order to bring the tank pressure back down to its initial value. Three different jet speeds are examined. Although the lowest jet speed is ineffective at controlling the pressure because of insufficient penetration into the liquid region, the highest jet speed is shown to be quite effective at disrupting thermal stratification and reducing the tank pressure in reasonable time.

Weightlessness↗
NASA NTRS1999

Hybrid Thermal Control Testing of a Cryogenic Propellant Tank

This report presents the experimental results of a hybrid thermal control system, one that integrates a passive system (multi-layer insulation) with an active system (a mechanical cyrocooler) applied to cryogenic propellant storage. These experiments were performed on a 1.39 m diameter spherical propellant tank filled with LH2 while installed in an evacuated chamber. The tank heat transfer to the cryocooler was accomplished with a condenser installed in the ullage of the tank and mated to the second stage of the cooler, and by conduction, through copper leaves mated to the first stage of the cooler. The first hybrid system test was performed with both the condenser and the leaves, a configuration that had excess capacity to remove the heat entering the tank; the second test was performed with only the condenser, with a capacity closely matched to the tank heating rate. In both of these tests, the goal of zero boil-off was achieved.

Plachta, David W.↗