Performance and stability characteristics of nitrogen tetroxide-hydrazine combustors
Small uncooled combustion chamber tests of performance and stability characteristics of nitrogen tetroxide-hydrazine propellant
Hersch, M.↗
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Specimen/capsule preparation used on the JPL Material Compatibility program Final report, Aug. 1967 - Apr. 1970
Compatibility tests for spacecraft construction materials by specimen encapsulation with liquid rocket propellants
Cox, D. W.↗
Study of cryogenic fluid mixing techniques. Volume 2 - Large-scale mixing data Final report, Jul. 1969 - Jul. 1970
Basic mixing data and dimensionless correlations for 52 tests in large-scale stratified mixing tank for cryogenic rocket propellants
Van Hook, J. R.↗
Experience with Jacobs wind-driven electric generating plant, 1931 - 1957
Engineering, construction, performance, electric output, and different uses of the wind electric 2500- to 3000-watt plant are outlined. After several years of testing different types of windmills, the three blade aeroplane type of propeller was found to be far superior in power output. By means of a flyball governor operated, variable pitch speed control, the maximum speed of the propeller was accurately and easily controlled, to prevent excessive speeds in high winds and storms. The three blade propeller was found to be necessary to prevent excessive vibration whenever the shift of the wind direction required the plant to change its facing direction on the tower.
Jacobs, M. L.↗
Semiannual forecast for government furnished materials pressurants/propellants for space shuttle orbiter program
A semi-annual forecast of Government Furnished Pressurants and Propellant, and GFM required to support the development, fabrication, production, and test of the space shuttle orbiter.
Source record↗
Integrated thruster assembly program
The program is reported which has provided technology for a long life, high performing, integrated ACPS thruster assembly suitable for use in 100 typical flights of a space shuttle vehicle over a ten year period. The four integrated thruster assemblies (ITA) fabricated consisted of: propellant injector; a capacitive discharge, air gap torch type igniter assembly; fast response igniter and main propellant valves; and a combined regen-dump film cooled chamber. These flightweight 6672 N (1500 lb) thruster assemblies employed GH2/GO2 as propellants at a chamber pressure of 207 N/sq cm (300 psia). Test data were obtained on thrusted performance, thermal and hydraulic characteristics, dynamic response in pulsing, and cycle life. One thruster was fired in excess of 42,000 times.
Source record↗
Investigation of TC-1 flight failure using power spectral analysis
During the Titan Centaur 1 test flight a failure involving at least one of the Centaur propellant boost pumps occurred. Also, neither of the boost pump speed instruments indicated pump rotation. Accelerometer data from the Titan Centaur 1 flight failure were analyzed using power spectral density methods to determine boost pump speed during attempted starts of the Centaur. The technique was demonstrated on a reference flight. The hydrogen boost pump speed transient was determined for the TC-1 flight. Other trends are seen in the data. However, these are not believed to be the oxygen boost pump. Discussion of data enhancement techniques is also presented.
Lorenzo, C. F.↗
Study of liquid and vapor flow into a Centaur capillary device
The following areas of liquid and vapor flow were analyzed and experimentally evaluated; 1) the refilling of capillary devices with settled liquid, and 2) vapor flow across wetted screens. These investigations resulted in: 1) the development of a versatile computer program that was successfully correlated with test data and used to predict Centaur D-1S LO2 and LH2 start basket refilling; 2) the development of a semi-empirical model that was only partially correlated with data due to difficulties in obtaining repeatable test results. Also, a comparison was made to determine the best propellant management system for the Centaur D-1S vehicle. The comparison identified the basline Centaur D-1S system (using pressurization, boost pumps and propellant settling) as the best candidate based on payload weight penalty. However, other comparison criteria and advanced mission condition were identified where pressure fed systems, thermally subcooled boost pumps and capillary devices would be selected as attractive alternatives.
Blatt, M. H.↗
The MPD thruster development program
Recent research results have inferred that the self-field magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) thruster can attain efficiency and specific impulse levels which are competitive with ion thrusters. Based on these results, a program was initiated at JPL to develop this thruster for application on future spacecraft. Preliminary mission analyses have shown that the high thrust density MPD arcjet is advantageous for high power missions, such as a short trip time earth orbit transfer vehicle or a nuclear powered outer planet explorer. Direct thrust stand verification of the inferred performance levels used in these analyses is planned for a facility being assembled at Princeton University. A parallel effort at JPL is considering various thruster system configurations, energy storage concepts and propellant control techniques. In addition, a one pulse per second thruster test facility is planned at JPL to be used for thruster optimization studies including erosion and lifetime measurements.
Rudolph, L. K.↗
Performance degradation of propeller systems due to rime ice accretion
A theoretical ice accretion model has been established applicable to both aircraft propellers and helicopter rotors to determine the effect of rime ice on the thrust, power, and efficiency as a function of exposure time in a natural icing condition. Comparisons have been made of theoretical performance levels with previously published experimentally determined propeller thrust and efficiency for five natural icing conditions. Agreement between test and theory was acceptable.
Korkan, K. D.↗
Flow simulations for nacelle-propeller configurations using Euler equations
Euler codes for both axisymmetric and general three-dimensional nacelle-propeller flow analysis have been developed. Surface-fitted grids are generated either by a finite difference method or by an algebraic method. The propeller is represented by an actuator disk along a computational plane where proper boundary conditions are assigned to simulate the propeller power loading. Computed results for a NASA SR3 propeller as well as a NASA turboprop configuration are compared with test data. Good agreement has been achieved through the present simulation method.
Yu, N. J.↗
Solution of the wave equation for open surfaces involving a line integral over the edge
A simple mathematical model of a stationary source distribution for the supersonic-propeller noise-prediction formula of Farassat (1983) is developed to test the validity of the formula solutions. The conventional thickness source term is used in place of the Isom thickness formula; the relative importance of the line and surface integrals in the solutions is evaluated; and the numerical results are compared with those obtained with a conventional retarded-time solution in tables. Good agreement is obtained over elevation angles from 10 to 90 deg, and the line-integral contribution is found to be significant at all elevation angles and of the same order of magnitude as the surface-integral contribution at angles less than 30 deg. The amplitude-normalized directivity patterns for the four cases computed (x = 1.5 or 10; k = 5.0 or 50) are presented graphically.
Farassat, F.↗
Noise transmission through an acoustically treated and honeycomb stiffened aircraft sidewall
The noise transmission characteristics of test panels and acoustic treatments representative of an aircraft sidewall are experimentally investigated in the NASA Langley Research Center transmission loss apparatus. The test panels were built to represent a segment sidewall in the propeller plane of a twin-engine, turboprop light aircraft. It is shown that an advanced treatment, which uses honeycomb for structural stiffening of skin panels, has better noise transmission loss characteristics than a conventional treatment. An alternative treatment, using the concept of limp mass and vibration isolation, provides more transmission loss than the advanced treatment for the same total surface mass. Effects on transmission loss of a variety of acoustic treatment materials (acoustic blankets, septa, damping tape, and trim panels) are presented. Damping tape does not provide additional benefit when the other treatment provides a high level of damping. Window units representative of aircraft installations are shown to have low transmission loss relative to a completely treated sidewall.
Grosveld, F. W.↗
A life test of a 22-Newton (5-lbf) hydrazine rocket
Life tests were conducted on a 22-N (5-lb) hydrazine rocket thruster which incorporates the latest technology to obtain long life from the catalyst bed. A spring mechanism surrounding the catalyst bed continually applies compression to the catalyst bed to prevent the formation of any void channels. The research rocket thruster was tested over an operational cycle of both steady state and pulse firing which simulated a possible space station duty cycle. The thruster ran as expected for about 40 hours, or 3.2 times 10 to the 6th power N-sec (7.2 times 10 to the 5th power lb-sec) total impulse. Subsequently, some thrust chamber pressure decreases were noted during long steady state test periods. After 60.2 hours of run time, tests had to be terminated due to a blockage in the propellant injector tube which occurred during heating of the thruster by a heat lamp. A chemical analysis of the catalyst indicated that iron and nickel metals had poisoned some of the catalyst, thereby causing a degradation in performance. It was determined that a contaminated barrel of hydrazine was the source of the metal poisoning.
Meng, P. R.↗
Cavitation characteristics of a small centrifugal pump in He I and He II
The cavitation characteristics of a small preinduced centrifugal pump operating in He I and He II over the temperature range 1.8-4.2 K are presented. The pump and close-coupled induction motor operate immersed in liquid helium. A six-blade propeller inducer and a three-blade screw inducer were both tested. With this pump configuration using either inducer, there is a tremendous difference between the cavitation characteristics of He I and He II. The net positive suction head requirements for this pump with the screw inducer could not be determined for He I, but it is less than -100 mm and, depending on flow rate, ranges between 35 and 165 mm for He II.
Ludtke, P. R.↗
Cathode erosion tests for 30 kW arcjets
Endurance tests (100 hours) were conducted to examine the effects of geometry and spacing on 30 kW arcjet cathode erosion. The effects of input power source ripple were also examined. The preliminary results from a 413 hour endurance test are also discussed. This test was terminated voluntarily. The condition of the nozzle, boron nitride propellant injector, and cathode are discussed. A modeling effort is described which is aimed at quantifying the cathode tip heating phenomena. The results of the experiments and the model are compared.
Deininger, W. D.↗
Investigation of methods to produce a uniform cloud of fuel particles in a flame tube
The combustion of a uniform, quiescent cloud of 30-micron fuel particles in a flame tube was proposed as a space-based, low-gravity experiment. The subject is the normal- and low-gravity testing of several methods to produce such a cloud, including telescoping propeller fans, air pumps, axial and quadrature acoustical speakers, and combinations of these devices. When operated in steady state, none of the methods produced an acceptably uniform cloud (+ or - 5 percent of the mean concentration), and voids in the cloud were clearly visible. In some cases, severe particle agglomeration was observed; however, these clusters could be broken apart by a short acoustic burst from an axially in-line speaker. Analyses and experiments reported elsewhere suggest that transient, acoustic mixing methods can enhance cloud uniformity while minimizing particle agglomeration.
Siegert, Clifford E.↗
The MPD thruster program at JPL
The main topics covered include: (1) the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) context; (2) critical issues of MPD Thruster design; and (3) the Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) Thruster Program at JPL. Under the section on the SEI context the nuclear electric propulsion system and some electric thruster options are addressed. The critical issues of MPD Thruster development deal with the requirements, status, and approach taken. The following areas are covered with respect to the MPD Thruster Program at JPL: (1) the radiation-cooled MPD thruster; (2) the High-Current Cathode Test Facility; (3) thruster component thermal modeling; and (4) alkali metal propellant studies.
Barnett, John↗