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Curtain-wall structure proposed for removing methane and airborne coal dust from hydrojet-jaw mining machines. Channel between curtain wall and mine wall forms closed exhaust passage. Through it, gas and dust continuously removed so high concentrations of these explosive materials not build up.
In two wind tunnels used for the two-dimensional airfoil tests, each wall above and below the model was modified by replacing small segments of the solid boundaries with perforated plates vented into sealed chambers. Perforated segments having approximately 40 percent open area were found to reduce the transonic wall interference to a negligible level, for a model chord-to-tunnel height ratio of 0.5. This report describes the physical arrangement and presents typical model pressure distributions to illustrate the effectiveness of the technique.
The first tests conducted in the adaptive-wall test section of the Ames Research Center's 2- by 2-Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel are described. A procedure was demonstrated for reducing wall interference in transonic flow past a two-dimensional airfoil by actively controlling flow through the slotted walls of the test section. Flow through the walls was controlled by adjusting pressures in compartments of plenums above and below the test section. Wall interference was assessed by measuring (with a laser velocimeter) velocity distributions along a contour surrounding the model, and then checking those measurements for their compatibility with free-air far-field boundary conditions. Plenum pressures for minimum wall interference were determined from empirical influence coefficients. An NACA 0012 airfoil was tested at angles of attach of 0 and 2, and at Mach numbers between 0.70 and 0.85. In all cases the wall-setting procedure greatly reduced wall interference. Wall interference, however, was never completely eliminated, primarily because the effect of plenum pressure changes on the velocities along the contour could not be accurately predicted.
Air control mechanism within a power turbine section of a gas turbine engine. The power turbine section includes a rotor and at least one variable pitch propulsor blade. The propulsor blade is coupled to and extends radially outwardly of the rotor. A first annular fairing is rotatable with the propulsor blade and interposed between the propulsor blade and the rotor. A second fairing is located longitudinally adjacent to the first fairing. The first fairing and the second fairing are differentially rotatable. The air control mechanism includes a platform fixedly coupled to a radially inner end of the propulsor blade. The platform is generally positioned in a first opening and a first fairing. The platform and the first fairing define an outer space. In a first position corresponding with a first propulsor blade pitch, the platform is substantially conformal with the first fairing. In a second position corresponding with the second propulsor blade pitch, an edge portion of the platform is displaced radially outwardly from the first fairing. When the blades are in the second position and rotating about the engine axis, the displacement of the edge portion with respect to the first fairing allows air to flow from the outer space to the annular cavity.
A lift producing device is disclosed which is adapted to be connected to a vehicle to provide lift to the vehicle when the vehicle is moved relative to a first fluid medium having a first density and viscosity and being in contact with a second fluid medium adjacent the vehicle. The second fluid medium has a second fluid density which is different from the first fluid density. The lift producing device comprises opposed first and second major surfaces joined at a longitudinally extending leading edge and at a longitudinally extending trailing edge, with at least a portion of the longitudinally extending leading edge being spaced from the longitudinally extending trailing edge by a predetermined mean chord length. When the vehicle is moved relative to the first fluid medium at a velocity within a range of predetermined velocities, with each of the velocities having a direction inclined from a plane extending through the leading edge and the trailing edge within a predetermined angular range, a region of high pressure is generated in the first fluid medium adjacent the first major surface and a region of low pressure is generated in the first fluid medium adjacent the second major surface. The lift producing device has a cross-sectional shape which will generate a pressure distribution around the device when the vehicle is moved relative to the first fluid medium at a velocity within the range of predetermined velocities such that the first fluid medium exhibits attached laminar flow along the device for a portion of the predetermined mean chord length from the leading edge to the trailing edge and will neither form a laminar separation bubble adjacent the second major surface of the device, nor exhibit turbulent separation adjacent the second major surface for substantially all of the predetermined mean chord length from the leading edge to the trailing edge. The portion along which attached laminar flow is maintained is the longest portion which will still fulfill the flow separation requirements. A method for producing the foil is also disclosed.
The Human Powered Centrifuge (HPC) is a hyper gravity facility that will be installed on board the International Space Station (ISS) to enable crew exercises under the artificial gravity conditions. The HPC equipment includes a bicycle for long-term exercises of a crewmember that provides power for rotation of HPC at a speed of 30 rpm. The crewmember exercising vigorously on the centrifuge generates the amount of carbon dioxide of several times higher than a crewmember in ordinary conditions. The goal of the study is to analyze the airflow and carbon dioxide distribution within Pressurized Multipurpose Module (PMM) cabin. The 3D computational model included PMM cabin. The full unsteady formulation was used for airflow and CO2 transport modeling with the so-called sliding mesh concept is considered in the rotating reference frame while the rest of the cabin volume is considered in the stationary reference frame. The localized effects of carbon dioxide dispersion are examined. Strong influence of the rotating HPC equipment on the CO2 distribution is detected and discussed.
Consider this scenario: A soldier has been critically wounded in a sudden firefight in a remote region of Afghanistan. The soldier s comrades attend to him and radio for help, but the soldier needs immediate medical expertise and treatment that is currently miles away. The connection between medical support for soldiers on the battlefield and astronauts in space may not be immediately obvious. But when it comes to providing adequate critical care, NASA and the military have very similar operational challenges, says Shannon Melton of NASA contractor Wyle Integrated Science and Engineering. Melton works within Johnson Space Center s Space Medicine Division, which supports astronaut crew health before, during, and after flight. In space, we have a limited number of care providers, and those providers are not always clinicians with extensive medical training. We have limited room to provide care, limited consumables, and our environment is not like that of a hospital, she says. The Space Medicine Division s Advanced Projects Group works on combining the expertise of both clinicians and engineers to develop new capabilities that address the challenges of medical support in space, including providing care to distant patients. This field, called telemedicine, blends advanced communications practices and technologies with innovative medical devices and techniques to allow caregivers with limited or no medical experience to support a patient s needs. NASA, just by its nature, has been doing remote medicine since the beginning of the Space Program, says Melton, an engineer in the Advanced Projects Group. Since part of NASA s mandate is to transfer the results of its technological innovation for the benefit of the public, the Agency has worked with doctors and private industry to find ways to apply the benefits of space medicine on Earth. In one such case, a NASA partnership has resulted in new technologies that may improve the quality of emergency medicine for wounded soldiers on the battlefield and regular civilians.
The Human Powered Centrifuge (HPC) is a facility that is planned to be installed on board the International Space Station (ISS) to enable crew exercises under the artificial gravity conditions. The HPC equipment includes a "bicycle" for long-term exercises of a crewmember that provides power for rotation of HPC at a speed of 30 rpm. The crewmember exercising vigorously on the centrifuge generates the amount of carbon dioxide of about two times higher than a crewmember in ordinary conditions. The goal of the study is to analyze the airflow and carbon dioxide distribution within Pressurized Multipurpose Module (PMM) cabin when HPC is operating. A full unsteady formulation is used for airflow and CO2 transport CFD-based modeling with the so-called sliding mesh concept when the HPC equipment with the adjacent Bay 4 cabin volume is considered in the rotating reference frame while the rest of the cabin volume is considered in the stationary reference frame. The rotating part of the computational domain includes also a human body model. Localized effects of carbon dioxide dispersion are examined. Strong influence of the rotating HPC equipment on the CO2 distribution detected is discussed.
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A summary of the SUSAN, QUEEN, and Spacecraft Cabin Vent Fan research projects at NASA for the NASA Acoustics Technical Working Group Meeting.
A challenge for the International Space Station (ISS) is accumulation of Foreign Object Debris (FOD) and the impacts to crew, equipment, and experiments. One function of the temperature and humidity control system is to capture FOD with various methods of filtration to minimize these impacts. ISS filtration has been augmented by charcoal filters and screens. A qualitative comparison of the quantity of FOD found over the years and the current levels are evaluated. Impacts to FOD are crew time for cleaning, reduction of equipment life, and component damage and examples are provided. Recommendations for further improvements to reduce the accumulation of FOD on ISS is provided.
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Metabolic heat regenerated Temperature Swing Adsorption (MTSA) technology is being developed for thermal, carbon dioxide (CO2) and humidity control for a Portable Life Support Subsystem (PLSS). Metabolically-produced CO2 present in the ventilation gas of a PLSS is collected using a CO2selective adsorbent via temperature swing adsorption. The temperature swing is initiated through cooling to well below metabolic temperatures. Cooling is achieved with a sublimation heat exchanger using water or liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2) expanded below sublimation temperature when exposed to low pressure or vacuum. Subsequent super heated vapor, as well as additional coolant, is used to further cool the astronaut. The temperature swing on the adsorbent is then completed by warming the adsorbent with a separate condensing ice heat exchanger (CIHX) using metabolic heat from moist ventilation gas. The condensed humidity in the ventilation gas is recycled at the habitat. The water condensation from the ventilation gas is a significant heat transfer mechanism for the warming of the adsorbent bed because it represents as much as half of the energy potential in the moist ventilation gas. Designing a heat exchanger to efficiently transfer this energy to the adsorbent bed and allow the collection of the water is a challenge since the CIHX will operate in a temperature range from 210K to 280K. The ventilation gas moisture will first freeze and then thaw, sometimes existing in three phases simultaneously. A NASA Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase 1 contract was performed to investigate condensing and icing as applied to MTSA to enable higher fidelity modeling and assess the impact of geometry variables on CIHX performance for future CIHX design optimization. Specifically, a design tool was created using analytical relations to explore the complex, interdependent design space of a condensing ice heat exchanger. Numerous variables were identified as having nontrivial contributions to performance such as hydraulic diameter, heat exchanger effectiveness, ventilation gas mass flow rate and surface roughness. Using this tool, four test articles were designed and manufactured to map to a full MTSA subassembly (the adsorbent bed, the sublimation heat exchanger for cooling and the condensing ice heat exchanger for warming). The design mapping considered impacts due to CIHX geometry as well as subassembly impacts such as thermal mass and thermal resistance through the adsorbent bed. The test articles were tested at simulated PLSS ventilation loop temperature, moisture content and subambient pressure. Ice accumulation and melting were observed. Data and test observations were analyzed to identify drivers of the condensing ice heat exchanger performance. This paper will discuss the analytical models, the test article designs, and testing procedures. Testing issues will be discussed to better describe data and share lessons learned. Data analysis and subsequent conclusions will be presented.