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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
DOE OSTI2022

Single-Step Fabrication of Au-Fe-BaTiO3 Nanocomposite Thin Films Embedded with Non-Equilibrium Au-Fe Alloyed Nanostructures

Nanocomposite thin film materials present great opportunities in coupling materials and functionalities in unique nanostructures including nanoparticles-in-matrix, vertically aligned nanocomposites (VANs), and nanolayers. Interestingly the nanocomposites processed through a non-equilibrium processing method, e.g., pulsed laser deposition (PLD), often possess unique metastable phases and microstructures that could not achieve using equilibrium techniques, and thus lead to novel physical properties. In this work, a unique three-phase system composed of BaTiO3 (BTO), with two immiscible metals, Au and Fe, is demonstrated. By adjusting the deposition laser frequency from 2 Hz to 10 Hz, the phase and morphology of Au and Fe nanoparticles in BTO matrix vary from separated Au and Fe nanoparticles to well-mixed Au-Fe alloy pillars. This is attributed to the non-equilibrium process of PLD and the limited diffusion under high laser frequency (e.g., 10 Hz). The magnetic and optical properties are effectively tuned based on the morphology variation. This work demonstrates the stabilization of non-equilibrium alloy structures in the VAN form and allows for the exploration of new non-equilibrium materials systems and their properties that could not be easily achieved through traditional equilibrium methods.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1971

True vertical laser

True vertical laser application for precision vertical alignment of large structures, using mercury mirror

Billman, K. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Study of cosmic ray motion in cosmic space near the earth

Data are presented on experimental installations developed in the cosmic ray variations laboratory in Kazgu (Alma-Ata). Various experiments on modelling the interaction of plasma with the geomagnetic field as well as the plasma distribution in quiet and disturbed fields are described. The characteristics of the meson supertelescope using scintillators (effective area, 10 sq m) for vertical alignments designed to study microvariations of the cosmic rays and their interrelation with magnetospheric fluctuations and the study of solar wind parameters are given.

Budilov, V. K.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Radiative transfer theory for active remote sensing of a layer of small ellipsoidal scatterers

The radiative transfer theory is applied within the Rayleigh approximation to calculate the backscattering cross section of a layer of randomly positioned and oriented small ellipsoids. The orientation of the ellipsoids is characterized by a probability density function of the Eulerian angles of rotation. The radiative transfer equations are solved by an iterative approach to first order in albedo. In the half space limit the results are identical to those obtained via the approach of Foldy's and distorted Born approximation. Numerical results of the theory are illustrated using parameters encountered in active remote sensing of vegetation layers. A distinctive characteristic is the strong depolarization shown by vertically aligned leaves.

Tsang, L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

A method for measuring skin friction drag on a flat plate in contaminated gas flows

A technique for measuring friction drag in turbulent gas and gas/particle flows over flat plates is presented, and preliminary results are reported. A 0.25-in.-thick 72 x 6-in. Al plate is suspended by six horizontal support air bearings and four vertical alignment air bearings between fixed dummy plates and leading-edge and trailing-edge fairings in the 32-in.-high 48-in.-wide 11-ft-long test section of a closed-circuit atmospheric wind tunnel operating at 50-150 ft/sec. Particles of Fe and Al oxides of diameter 20-150 microns and density up to 0.3 lb particles per lb air are injected via a 6 x 0.167-in. nozzle; turbulence is induced by a roughened section of the leading-edge fairing; and friction drag is measured using a load-cell pressure transducer. Sample results are shown in a graph, demonstrating good agreement with theoretical drag calculations.

Oetting, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Deep circulations under simple classes of stratification

Deep circulations where the motion field is vertically aligned over one or more scale heights are studied under barotropic and equivalent barotropic stratifications. The study uses two-dimensional equations reduced from the three-dimensional primitive equations in spherical geometry. A mapping is established between the full primitive equations and general shallow water behavior and the correspondence between variables describing deep atmospheric motion and those of shallow water behavior is established.

Salby, Murry L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Study of an orbiting tethered dumbbell system having positive orbital energy

For very long tethered systems the sum of the kinetic and potential energy can be positive. The system remains in a circular orbit as long as the masses remain vertically aligned. The system is unstable without constant control of the alignment. If the upper mass rotates forward in the direction of the orbital motion, the system escapes out of orbit. If the upper mass rotates backward, the system falls out of orbit and the lower mass impacts the body around which the system is orbiting.

Arnold, David A.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Comment on 'The Space Shuttle's impact on the stratosphere' by Michael J. Prather et al

Prather et al. (1990) argued that no local hole in column ozone could occur above the launch site of the Space Shuttle because (1) the HCl in the exhaust would require some time to be converted into more catalytically active forms, (2) the Shuttle trajectory is not vertically aligned, and (3) the corridor of exhaust gases is laterally spread over more than 1000 km in a day. In contradiction to these arguments, it is maintained here that assumption (1) is inconsistent with the empirical evidence, rendering (2) and (3) insufficient to maintain the claim that no local hole in column ozone could occur. In a reply, ozone image data from the TOMS on Nimbus 7 is used to support the argument of Prather et al.

Aftergood, Steven↗
NASA NTRS1992

Application of theoretical models to active and passive remote sensing of saline ice

The random medium model is used to interpret the polarimetric active and passive measurements of saline ice. The ice layer is described as a host ice medium embedded with randomly distributed inhomogeneities, and the underlying sea water is considered as a homogeneous half-space. The scatterers in the ice layer are modeled with an ellipsoidal correlation function. The orientation of the scatterers is vertically aligned and azimuthally random. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is employed to calculate the effective permittivity and the distorted Born approximation is used to obtain the polarimetric scattering coefficients. We also calculate the thermal emissions based on the reciprocity and energy conservation principles. The effects of the random roughness at the air-ice, and ice-water interfaces are accounted for by adding the surface scattering to the volume scattering return incoherently. The above theoretical model, which has been successfully applied to analyze the radar backscatter data of the first-year sea ice near Point Barrow, AK, is used to interpret the measurements performed in the CRRELEX program.

Han, H. C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Application of theoretical models to active and passive remote sensing of saline ice

The random medium model is used to interpret the polarimetric active and passive measurements of saline ice. The ice layer is described as a host ice medium embedded with randomly distributed inhomogeneities, and the underlying sea water is considered as a homogeneous half-space. The scatterers in the ice layer are modeled with an ellipsoidal correlation function. The orientation of the scatterers is vertically aligned and azimuthally random. The strong permittivity fluctuation theory is used to calculate the effective permittivity and the distorted Born approximation is used to obtain the polarimetric scattering coefficients. Thermal emissions based on the reciprocity and energy conservation principles are calculated. The effects of the random roughness at the air-ice, and ice-water interfaces are explained by adding the surface scattering to the volume scattering return incoherently. The theoretical model, which has been successfully applied to analyze the radar backscatter data of first-year sea ice, is used to interpret the measurements performed in the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's CRRELEX program.

Han, H. C.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Locating buildings in aerial photos

Algorithms and techniques for use in the identification and location of large buildings in digitized copies of aerial photographs are developed and tested. The building data would be used in the simulation of objects located in the vicinity of an airport that may be detected by aircraft radar. Two distinct approaches are considered. Most building footprints are rectangular in form. The first approach studied is to search for right-angled corners that characterize rectangular objects and then to connect these corners to complete the building. This problem is difficult because many nonbuilding objects, such as street corners, parking lots, and ballparks often have well defined corners which are often difficult to distinguish from rooftops. Furthermore, rooftops come in a number of shapes, sizes, shadings, and textures which also limit the discrimination task. The strategy used linear sequences of different samples to detect straight edge segments at multiple angles and to determine when these segments meet at approximately right-angles with respect to each other. This technique is effective in locating corners. The test image used has a fairly rectangular block pattern oriented about thirty degrees clockwise from a vertical alignment, and the overall measurement data reflect this. However, this technique does not discriminate between buildings and other objects at an operationally suitable rate. In addition, since multiple paths are tested for each image pixel, this is a time consuming task. The process can be speeded up by preprocessing the image to locate the more optimal sampling paths. The second approach is to rely on a human operator to identify and select the building objects and then to have the computer determine the outline and location of the selected structures. When presented with a copy of a digitized aerial photograph, the operator uses a mouse and cursor to select a target building. After a button on the mouse is pressed, with the cursor fully within the perimeter of the building, the program scans from the position of the cursor to a perimeter position where a shift in grayscale is detected. Once at the perimeter, the process traces along it, around the building, until it eventually returns to the perimeter starting point. Spatial resolution limits cause the perimeter trace to be somewhat course so that a line straightening algorithm is employed. One result is that the building corner positions become more distinctly defined.

Green, James S.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A Model with Ellipsoidal Scatterers for Polarimetric Remote Sensing of Anisotropic Layered Media

This paper presents a model with ellipsoidal scatterers for applications to polarimetric remote sensing of anisotropic layered media at microwave frequencies. The physical configuration includes an isotropic layer covering an anisotropic layer above a homogeneous half space. The isotropic layer consists of randomly oriented spheroids. The anisotropic layer contains ellipsoidal scatterers with a preferential vertical alignment and random azimuthal orientations. Effective permittivities of the scattering media are calculated with the strong fluctuation theory extended to account for the nonspherical shapes and the scatterer orientation distributions. On the basis of the analytic wave theory, dyadic Green's functions for layered media are used to derive polarimetric backscattering coefficients under the distorted Born approximation. The ellipsoidal shape of the scatterers gives rise to nonzero cross-polarized returns from the untilted anisotropic medium in the first-order approximation. Effects of rough interfaces are estimated by an incoherent addition method. Theoretical results and experimental data are matched at 9 GHz for thick first-year sea ice with a bare surface and with a snow cover at Point Barrow, Alaska. The model is then used to study the sensitivity of polarimetric backscattering coefficients with respect to correlation lengths representing the geometry of brine inclusions. Polarimetric signatures of bare and snow-covered sea ice are also simulated based on the model to investigate effects of different scattering mechanisms.

Nghiem, S. V.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Experimental and Computational Studies of the Control of Convection of Non-Conducting Liquids During solidification by Means of a Magnetic Field Gradient

The elimination of convection is essential in experimental investigations of diffusive transport (of heat and matter) during solidification. One classical approach to damping convection in a conducting liquid is the application of a magnetic field. The damping phenomenon is the induction, by the motion of a conductor in a magnetic field, of currents which interact with the field to produce Lorentz forces that oppose the flow. However, there are many liquids which are not sufficiently conducting to exploit this phenomenon; examples include the transparent liquids (such as succinonitrile-acetone) that are used as "model alloys" in fundamental solidification studies. There have been several investigations of the solidification of these liquids that have been carried out in orbiting laboratories to eliminate natural convection. The paper describes an investigation of an alternative approach whereby a magnetic field gradient is applied to the liquid. A magnetic body force then arises which is dependent on the susceptibility of the liquid and thereby on the temperature and or concentration. With the field gradient aligned vertically and of correct magnitude, the variation of gravitational body force due to temperature/concentration dependent density can be counterbalanced by a variation in magnetic body force. Experiments have been carried out in a super-conducting magnet at Marshall Space Flight Center to measure velocities in an aqueous manganese chloride solution. The solution was contained in a chamber with temperature controlled end walls and glass side walls. Velocities were measured by particle image velocimetry. Starting from zero current in the magnet (zero field gradient) flow driven by the temperature difference between the end walls was measured. At a critical current the flow was halted. At higher currents the normal convection was reversed. The experiments included ones where the solution was solidified and were accompanied by solution of the flow/transport equations using the software package FLUENT.

Seybert, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS2000

MACS, An Instrument, and a Methodology for Simulations and Global Measurements of the Coronal Electron Temperature and the Solar Wind Velocity on the Solar Corona

The determination of the radial and latitudinal temperature and wind profiles of the solar corona is of great importance in understanding the coronal heating mechanism and the dynamics of coronal expansion. Cram presented the theory for the formation of the K-coronal spectrum and identified two important observations. He observed the existence of temperature sensitive anti-nodes at certain wavelengths in the theoretical K-coronal spectra. The anti-nodes are separated by temperature-insensitive nodes. Remarkably, Cram showed that the wavelengths of the nodes and anti-nodes are almost independent of altitude above the solar limb. Because of these features, Cram suggested that the intensity ratios at two anti-nodes could be used as a diagnostic of the electron temperature in the K-corona. Based on this temperature diagnostic technique prescribed by Cram a slit-based spectroscopic study was performed by Ichimoto et al. on the solar corona in conjunction with the total solar eclipse of 3 Nov 1994 in Putre, Chile to determine the temperature profile of the solar corona. In this thesis Cram's theory has been extended to incorporate the role of the solar wind in the formation of the K-corona, and we have identified both temperature and wind sensitive intensity ratios. The instrument, MACS, for Multi Aperture Coronal Spectrometer, a fiber optic based spectrograph, was designed for global and simultaneous measurement of the thermal electron temperature and the solar wind velocity in the solar corona. The first ever experiment of this nature was conducted in conjunction with the total solar eclipse of 11 Aug 1999 in Elazig, Turkey. In this instrument one end of each of twenty fiber optic tips were positioned in the focal plane of the telescope in such a way that we could observe conditions simultaneously at many different latitudes and two different radial distances in the solar corona. The other ends of the fibers were vertically aligned and placed at the primary focus of the collimating lens of the spectrograph to obtain simultaneous and global spectra on the solar corona. By isolating the K-coronal spectrum from the spectrum recorded by each fiber the temperature and the wind sensitive intensity ratios were calculated to obtain simultaneous and global measurements of the thermal electron temperature and the solar wind velocity. We were successful in obtaining reliable estimates of the coronal temperature at many positions in the corona. This is the first time that simultaneous measurements of coronal temperatures have been obtained at so many points. However due to instrumental scattering encountered during observations, reliable estimates of the wind velocity turned out to be impossible to obtain. Although remedial measures were taken prior to observation, this task proved to be difficult owing to the inability to replicate the conditions expected during an eclipse in the laboratory. The full extent of the instrumental scattering was apparent only when we analyzed the observational sequence. Nevertheless the experience obtained from this very first attempt to simultaneously and globally measure both the wind velocity and the temperature on the solar corona have provided valuable information to conduct any future observations successfully.

Reginald, Nelson L.↗
NASA NTRS2003

CVD Growth of Carbon Nanotubes: Structure, Catalyst, and Growth

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) exhibit extraordinary mechanical and unique electronic properties and hence have been receiving much attention in recent years for their potential in nanoelectronics, field emission devices, scanning probes, high strength composites and many more applications. Catalytic decomposition of hydrocarbon feedstock with the aid of supported transition metal catalysts - also known as chemical vapor deposition (CVD) - has become popular to produce single-walled and multi-walled nanotubes (SWNTs, MWNTs) and multiwalled nanofibers (MWNFs). The ability to grow CNTs on patterned substrates and in vertically aligned arrays, and the simplicity of the process, has made CVD growth of CNTs an attractive approach.

Delzeit, Lance↗
NASA NTRS2003

Carbon Nanotube Electrode Arrays For Enhanced Chemical and Biological Sensing

Applications of carbon nanotubes for ultra-sensitive electrical sensing of chemical and biological species have been a major focus in NASA Ames Center for Nanotechnology. Great progress has been made toward controlled growth and chemical functionalization of vertically aligned carbon nanotube arrays and integration into micro-fabricated chip devices. Carbon nanotube electrode arrays devices have been used for sub-attomole detection of DNA molecules. Interdigitated carbon nanotubes arrays devices have been applied to sub ppb (part per billion) level chemical sensing for many molecules at room temperature. Stability and reliability have also been addressed in our device development. These results show order of magnitude improvement in device performance, size and power consumption as compared to micro devices, promising applications of carbon nanotube electrode arrays for clinical molecular diagnostics, personal medical testing and monitoring, and environmental monitoring.

Han, Jie↗
NASA NTRS2003

Carbon Nanotube Nanoelectrode Array for Ultrasensitive DNA Detection

A reliable nanoelectrode array based on vertically aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) embedded in SiO2 is used for ultrasensitive DNA detection. Characteristic nanoelectrode behavior is observed using low-density MWNT arrays for measuring both bulk and surface immobilized redox species such as K4Fe(CN)6. The open-end of MWNTs present similar properties as graphite edge-plane electrodes with wide potential window, flexible chemical functionalities, and good biocompatibility. Oligonucleotide probes are selectively functionalized at the open ends cf the nanotube array and specifically hybridized with oligonucleotide targets. The guanine groups are employed as the signal moieties in the electrochemical measurements. Ru(bpy)3(2+) mediator is used to further amplify the guanine oxidation signal. The hybridization of subattomoles of PCR amplified DNA targets is detected electrochemically by combining the MWNT nanoelectrode array with the Ru(bpy)32' amplification mechanism. This system provides a general platform of molecular diagnostics for applications requiring ultrahigh sensitivity, high-degree of miniaturization, and simple sample preparations.

Li, Jun↗