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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 NTRS2012

JPL Genesis and Rapid Intensification Processes (GRIP) Portal

Satellite observations can play a very important role in airborne field campaigns, since they provide a comprehensive description of the environment that is essential for the experiment design, flight planning, and post-experiment scientific data analysis. In the past, it has been difficult to fully utilize data from multiple NASA satellites due to the large data volume, the complexity of accessing NASA s data in near-real-time (NRT), as well as the lack of software tools to interact with multi-sensor information. The JPL GRIP Portal is a Web portal that serves a comprehensive set of NRT observation data sets from NASA and NOAA satellites describing the atmospheric and oceanic environments related to the genesis and intensification of the tropical storms in the North Atlantic Ocean. Together with the model forecast data from four major global atmospheric models, this portal provides a useful tool for the scientists and forecasters in planning and monitoring the NASA GRIP field campaign during the 2010 Atlantic Ocean hurricane season. This portal uses the Google Earth plug-in to visualize various types of data sets, such as 2D maps, wind vectors, streamlines, 3D data sets presented at series of vertical cross-sections or pointwise vertical profiles, and hurricane best tracks and forecast tracks. Additionally, it allows users to overlap multiple data sets, change the opacity of each image layer, generate animations on the fly with selected data sets, and compare the observation data with the model forecast using two independent calendars. The portal also provides the capability to identify the geographic location of any point of interest. In addition to supporting the airborne mission planning, the NRT data and portal will serve as a very rich source of information during the post-field campaign analysis stage of the airborne experiment. By including a diverse set of satellite observations and model forecasts, it provides a good spatial and temporal context for the high-resolution, but limited in space and time, airborne observations.

Knosp, Brian W.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Human Error and the International Space Station: Challenges and Triumphs in Science Operations

Any system with a human component is inherently risky. Studies in human factors and psychology have repeatedly shown that human operators will inevitably make errors, regardless of how well they are trained. Onboard the International Space Station (ISS) where crew time is arguably the most valuable resource, errors by the crew or ground operators can be costly to critical science objectives. Operations experts at the ISS Payload Operations Integration Center (POIC), located at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, have learned that from payload concept development through execution, there are countless opportunities to introduce errors that can potentially result in costly losses of crew time and science. To effectively address this challenge, we must approach the design, testing, and operation processes with two specific goals in mind. First, a systematic approach to error and human centered design methodology should be implemented to minimize opportunities for user error. Second, we must assume that human errors will be made and enable rapid identification and recoverability when they occur. While a systematic approach and human centered development process can go a long way toward eliminating error, the complete exclusion of operator error is not a reasonable expectation. The ISS environment in particular poses challenging conditions, especially for flight controllers and astronauts. Operating a scientific laboratory 250 miles above the Earth is a complicated and dangerous task with high stakes and a steep learning curve. While human error is a reality that may never be fully eliminated, smart implementation of carefully chosen tools and techniques can go a long way toward minimizing risk and increasing the efficiency of NASA's space science operations.

Harris, Samantha S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Keplerian Analysis for Versatile Evaluation of Arbitrary Trajectories

Designing interplanetary missions is an iterative process, with a tight coupling between mission analysis and vehicle design. The ability to simultaneously process both analyses early on can provide significant benefits in both the concept formulation and in overall mission feasibility. To implement such a simultaneous analysis process, there is a need to model interplanetary trajectories rapidly while maintaining an acceptable level of fidelity. Many simple patched conics tools make too many assumptions to satisfactorily address all relevant constraints and objectives, while full-fidelity trajectory design tools often require more time and expertise than is available in early conceptual studies. Hence, some form of middle-ground modeling tool would provide value. This paper introduces the development of such a tool using Python. This tool, Keplerian Analysis for Versatile Evaluation of Arbitrary Trajectories (KAVEAT), implements a patched conics method that enforces continuity of state (time, mass, position, velocity) through all transitions between various spheres of influence on the trajectory. The trajectory is constructed in an object-oriented manner, dynamically assembling unique maneuvers such as departure burns, heliocentric transfers (ballistic or with electric propulsion), and planetary flybys (powered or unpowered). Each maneuver has its own specific set of basic inputs needed to define it. The tool then takes these defined maneuvers, strings them together creating all the interdependencies required, and solves for the ideal trajectory using a gradient-based optimizer.

Katherine T McBrayer↗
NASA NTRS1992

Object-oriented productivity metrics

Software productivity metrics are useful for sizing and costing proposed software and for measuring development productivity. Estimating and measuring source lines of code (SLOC) has proven to be a bad idea because it encourages writing more lines of code and using lower level languages. Function Point Analysis is an improved software metric system, but it is not compatible with newer rapid prototyping and object-oriented approaches to software development. A process is presented here for counting object-oriented effort points, based on a preliminary object-oriented analysis. It is proposed that this approach is compatible with object-oriented analysis, design, programming, and rapid prototyping. Statistics gathered on actual projects are presented to validate the approach.

Connell, John L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The development of two new KC-135 furnaces for studies on microgravity materials processing

Wyle Laboratories is currently designing and fabricating two KC-135 materials processing furnaces for Marshall Space Flight Center. The first of these, called the Rapid Melt/Rapid Quench (RM/RQ) Furnace, will be used to melt and resolidify Cu-, Al-, and Ni-based alloys and composites, all during the 20 to 30 seconds of low gravity (0.1 to 0.001 g) available in a single parabola of the KC-135. In addition, it will be capable of directional solidification of these alloys. The furnace can be configured for either liquid or gas quenching of the samples. The second furnace, called the Polymer Solidification Transparent (PST) Furnace, will use a wide range of sample translation rates to directionally solidify polymers and low-melting-point metals as the KC-135 flies a series of parabolic maneuvers. The use of transparent crucibles and an optics system between the hot and cold zones of the furnace will allow for high-resolution video monitoring of the solid-liquid interface during processing. It is hoped that the development of these two furnaces will lead to significant increases in understanding of interface kinetics, fluid flow, and heat transfer in materials during solidification in a low-gravity environment.

Fiske, Michael↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Rapid Development of Instrument Thermal Models: Perspectives and Guidelines from NASA Goddard’s Instrument Design Laboratory

The Instrument Design Laboratory (IDL), part of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Integrated Design Center (IDC), is a concurrent and collaborative environment which allows for rapid development of science instrumentation concepts within the span of less than two weeks. Science goals set by a Principal Investigator from government, industry or academia are translated into engineering requirements, from which a team of engineers spanning multiple disciplines use an established study process and a suite of analysis tools to work towards an instrument point design. As part of this process, a staff thermal engineer is tasked with designing a thermal control system which meets all incoming thermal requirements, while iterating real-time with other subsystems to ensure compatibility and functionality as a completed system. Thermal engineers on spaceflight projects typically have weeks or months to develop thermal models. However, the severe time limitation in this conceptual study setting makes thermal design particularly difficult, as rapid thermal modeling solely over the span of a few days is required to develop the instrument thermal design and understand the performance over its intended mission, especially if the instrument concept contains multiple thermal challenges such as dynamic environments or high heat dissipating components. In this paper, the authors provide a condensed guide for the most efficient ways to develop thermal models and conduct thermal analysis within the span of one-to-two weeks, as informed by decades of design experience and best practices in the IDL. The authors also focus on quick methods for determining worst-case thermal environments, deciding which modeling details are essential at this early phase, and quantifying the engineering resources necessary for thermal control. This paper concludes with specific thermal design tips for different instrument types across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Kan Yang↗
NASA NTRS1976

Experimental development of processes to produce homogenized alloys of immiscible metals, phase 3

An experimental drop tower package was designed and built for use in a drop tower. This effort consisted of a thermal analysis, container/heater fabrication, and assembly of an expulsion device for rapid quenching of heated specimens during low gravity conditions. Six gallium bismuth specimens with compositions in the immiscibility region (50 a/o of each element) were processed in the experimental package: four during low gravity conditions and two under a one gravity environment. One of the one gravity processed specimens did not have telemetry data and was subsequently deleted for analysis since the processing conditions were not known. Metallurgical, Hall effect, resistivity, and superconductivity examinations were performed on the five specimens. Examination of the specimens showed that the gallium was dispersed in the bismuth. The low gravity processed specimens showed a relatively uniform distribution of gallium, with particle sizes of 1 micrometer or less, in contrast to the one gravity control specimen. Comparison of the cooling rates of the dropped specimens versus microstructure indicated that low cooling rates are more desirable.

Reger, J. L.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Adaptive grid methods for RLV environment assessment and nozzle analysis

Rapid access to highly accurate data about complex configurations is needed for multi-disciplinary optimization and design. In order to efficiently meet these requirements a closer coupling between the analysis algorithms and the discretization process is needed. In some cases, such as free surface, temporally varying geometries, and fluid structure interaction, the need is unavoidable. In other cases the need is to rapidly generate and modify high quality grids. Techniques such as unstructured and/or solution-adaptive methods can be used to speed the grid generation process and to automatically cluster mesh points in regions of interest. Global features of the flow can be significantly affected by isolated regions of inadequately resolved flow. These regions may not exhibit high gradients and can be difficult to detect. Thus excessive resolution in certain regions does not necessarily increase the accuracy of the overall solution. Several approaches have been employed for both structured and unstructured grid adaption. The most widely used involve grid point redistribution, local grid point enrichment/derefinement or local modification of the actual flow solver. However, the success of any one of these methods ultimately depends on the feature detection algorithm used to determine solution domain regions which require a fine mesh for their accurate representation. Typically, weight functions are constructed to mimic the local truncation error and may require substantial user input. Most problems of engineering interest involve multi-block grids and widely disparate length scales. Hence, it is desirable that the adaptive grid feature detection algorithm be developed to recognize flow structures of different type as well as differing intensity, and adequately address scaling and normalization across blocks. These weight functions can then be used to construct blending functions for algebraic redistribution, interpolation functions for unstructured grid generation, forcing functions to attract/repel points in an elliptic system, or to trigger local refinement, based upon application of an equidistribution principle. The popularity of solution-adaptive techniques is growing in tandem with unstructured methods. The difficultly of precisely controlling mesh densities and orientations with current unstructured grid generation systems has driven the use of solution-adaptive meshing. Use of derivatives of density or pressure are widely used for construction of such weight functions, and have been proven very successful for inviscid flows with shocks. However, less success has been realized for flowfields with viscous layers, vortices or shocks of disparate strength. It is difficult to maintain the appropriate mesh point spacing in the various regions which require a fine spacing for adequate resolution. Mesh points often migrate from important regions due to refinement of dominant features. An example of this is the well know tendency of adaptive methods to increase the resolution of shocks in the flowfield around airfoils, but in the incorrect location due to inadequate resolution of the stagnation region. This problem has been the motivation for this research.

Thornburg, Hugh J.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Two dimensional recursive digital filters for near real time image processing

A program was designed toward the demonstration of the feasibility of using two dimensional recursive digital filters for subjective image processing applications that require rapid turn around. The concept of the use of a dedicated minicomputer for the processor for this application was demonstrated. The minicomputer used was the HP1000 series E with a RTE 2 disc operating system and 32K words of memory. A Grinnel 256 x 512 x 8 bit display system was used to display the images. Sample images were provided by NASA Goddard on a 800 BPI, 9 track tape. Four 512 x 512 images representing 4 spectral regions of the same scene were provided. These images were filtered with enhancement filters developed during this effort.

Olson, D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The use of COSMIC NASTRAN in an integrated conceptual design environment

Changes in both software and hardware are rapidly bringing conceptual engineering tools like finite element analysis into mainstream mechanical design. Systems that integrate all phases of the manufacturing process provide the most cost benefits. The application of programming concepts like object oriented programming allow for the encapsulation of intelligent data within the design geometry. This combined with declining cost in per seat hardware bring new alternatives to the user.

White, Gil↗
NASA NTRS1992

The ROMPS robot in HitchHiker

The Robotics Branch of the Goddard Space Flight Center has under development a robot that fits inside a Get Away Special can. In the RObotic Materials Processing System (ROMPS) HitchHiker experiment, this robot is used to transport pallets containing wafers of different materials from their storage rack to a halogen lamp furnace for rapid thermal processing in a microgravity environment. It then returns them to their storage rack. A large part of the mechanical design of the robot dealt with the potential misalignment between the various components that are repeatedly mated and demated. A system of tapered guides and compliant springs was designed to work within the robot's force and accuracy capabilities. This paper discusses the above and other robot design issues in detail, and presents examples of ROMPS robot analyses that are applicable to other HitcherHiker materials handling missions.

Voellmer, George↗
NASA NTRS2011

Investigating Material Approximations in Spacecraft Radiation Analysis

During the design process, the configuration of space vehicles and habitats changes frequently and the merits of design changes must be evaluated. Methods for rapidly assessing astronaut exposure are therefore required. Typically, approximations are made to simplify the geometry and speed up the evaluation of each design. In this work, the error associated with two common approximations used to simplify space radiation vehicle analyses, scaling into equivalent materials and material reordering, are investigated. Over thirty materials commonly found in spacesuits, vehicles, and human bodies are considered. Each material is placed in a material group (aluminum, polyethylene, or tissue), and the error associated with scaling and reordering was quantified for each material. Of the scaling methods investigated, range scaling is shown to be the superior method, especially for shields less than 30 g/cm2 exposed to a solar particle event. More complicated, realistic slabs are examined to quantify the separate and combined effects of using equivalent materials and reordering. The error associated with material reordering is shown to be at least comparable to, if not greater than, the error associated with range scaling. In general, scaling and reordering errors were found to grow with the difference between the average nuclear charge of the actual material and average nuclear charge of the equivalent material. Based on this result, a different set of equivalent materials (titanium, aluminum, and tissue) are substituted for the commonly used aluminum, polyethylene, and tissue. The realistic cases are scaled and reordered using the new equivalent materials, and the reduced error is shown.

Walker, Steven A.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Particle-Displacement Tracking In Particle-Image Velocimetry

Particle images processed rapidly and automatically into velocity-vector maps. This technique requires no processing of photographic plates, no tedious visual recognition and manual designation of large numbers of image features for subsequent processing, little or no interruption by technician and is order of magnitude faster than any of prior techniques.

Wernet, Mark P.↗
NASA NTRS1990

PAYCOS: A new multidisciplinary analysis program for hypersonic vehicle design

The Payload Conceptual Sizing Code (PAYCOS), a new multidisciplinary computer program for use in the conceptual development phase of hypersonic lifting vehicles (HV's), is described. The program allows engineers to rapidly determine the feasibility of an HV concept and then improve upon the concept by means of optimization theory. The code contains analysis modules for aerodynamics, thermodynamics, mass properties, flight stability, controls, loads, structures, and packaging. Motivation for the code lies with the increased complexity of HV's over their body-of-revolution ballistic predecessors. With these new shapes, the need to rapidly screen out poor concepts and actively develop new and better concepts is an even more crucial part of the early design process. Preliminary results are given which demonstrate the optimization capabilities of the code.

Stubbe, J. R.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Application of Rapid Prototyping and Wire Arc Spray to the Fabrication of Injection Mold Tools (MSFC Center Director's Discretionary Fund)

Rapid prototyping (RP) is a layer-by-layer-based additive manufacturing process for constructing three-dimensional representations of a computer design from a wax, plastic, or similar material. Wire arc spray (WAS) is a metal spray forming technique, which deposits thin layers of metal onto a substrate or pattern. Marshall Space Flight Center currently has both capabilities in-house, and this project proposed merging the two processes into an innovative manufacturing technique, in which intermediate injection molding tool halves were to be fabricated with RP and WAS metal forming.

Cooper, K. G.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Modern Radar Techniques for Geophysical Applications: Two Examples

The last decade of the evolution of radar was heavily influenced by the rapid increase in the information processing capabilities. Advances in solid state radio HF devices, digital technology, computing architectures and software offered the designers to develop very efficient radars. In designing modern radars the emphasis goes towards the simplification of the system hardware, reduction of overall power, which is compensated by coding and real time signal processing techniques. Radars are commonly employed in geophysical radio soundings like probing the ionosphere; stratosphere-mesosphere measurement, weather forecast, GPR and radio-glaciology etc. In the laboratorio di Geofisica Ambientale of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, Italy, we developed two pulse compression radars. The first is a HF radar called AIS-INGV; Advanced Ionospheric Sounder designed both for the purpose of research and for routine service of the HF radio wave propagation forecast. The second is a VHF radar called GLACIORADAR, which will be substituting the high power envelope radar used by the Italian Glaciological group. This will be employed in studying the sub glacial structures of Antarctica, giving information about layering, the bed rock and sub glacial lakes if present. These are low power radars, which heavily rely on advanced hardware and powerful real time signal processing. Additional information is included in the original extended abstract.

Arokiasamy, B. J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Large Scale and Multi-Alloy Rocket Engine Component Development using Various Metal Additive Manufacturing Techniques

The NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) has been involved with various forms of metallic additive manufacturing (AM) for use in liquid rocket engine component design, development, and testing since 2010. These AM techniques have been demonstrated to significantly reduce hardware cost, shorten fabrication schedules, increase reliability by reducing the number of joints, and improve hardware performance by allowing fabrication of designs not feasible by conventional means. The focus at the NASA MSFC for these metal additive manufacturing techniques include laser powder-bed fusion (L-PBF), blown powder directed energy deposition (DED), arc-based deposition, and Laser Wire Direct Closeout (LWDC). A variety of components have been evaluated and tested including thrust chamber injectors, injector components such as faceplates, regeneratively-cooled combustion chambers, regeneratively-cooled nozzles, gas generator and preburner hardware, and augmented spark igniters. To support these component applications in harsh environments, NASA has advanced a variety of “standard” additive manufacturing alloys such as those in the superalloy-family and also evolved new alloys including GRCop-84, GRCop-42, NASA HR-1, and JBK-75. The purpose of this presentation is to discuss the various component programs at the NASA MSFC using AM to develop, fabricate, and test combustion devices hardware and the evolution of the new additive alloys. One of these projects that will be highlighted is Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology (RAMPT), which includes new process development for large scale AM components, multi-metallic AM components, including unique component designs using additive manufacturing. Additional information will be provided on the development of other components, hot-fire testing, post-processing of AM techniques including surface enhancements (polishing) techniques, material and process characterization, future development programs, and dissemination of data to industry partners.

Additive Manufacturing↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Revolutionizing Investigation of Unsteady Flow with Pressure-Sensitive Paint

NASA and its Stakeholders are developing increasingly advanced aerospace vehicles. Performing a ground test is a standard method to quantify the loads a vehicle will experience during flight. In order to efficiently design these new advanced aerospace vehicles, more advanced tools are required. A new state-of-the-art technique to measure unsteady aerodynamics is currently being developed using pressure-sensitive paint (PSP), high-speed cameras, and advanced image processing methods. This new technique is capable of acquiring fluctuating pressures up to 20 kHz with continuous spatial resolution which enables direct calculation of unsteady loads. To successfully develop a new capability, a systems perspective must be taken. Recently, a connection was established between the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel and the NASA Advanced Supercomputer, both located at NASA Ames Research Center. The rapid transfer, processing, and display of high-speed PSP data from the wind tunnel demonstrated the ability to make real-time decisions in order to decrease design cycle time.

PSP↗