Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “NASA Langley”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

Active Flow Control Activities at NASA Langley

NASA Langley continues to aggressively investigate the potential advantages of active flow control over more traditional aerodynamic techniques. This paper provides an update to a previous paper and describes both the progress in the various research areas and the significant changes in the NASA research programs. The goals of the topics presented are focused on advancing the state of knowledge and understanding of controllable fundamental mechanisms in fluids as well as to address engineering challenges. An organizational view of current research activities at NASA Langley in active flow control as supported by several projects is presented. On-center research as well as NASA Langley funded contracts and grants are discussed at a relatively high level. The products of this research are to be demonstrated either in bench-top experiments, wind-tunnel investigations, or in flight as part of the fundamental NASA R&D program and then transferred to more applied research programs within NASA, DOD, and U.S. industry.

Anders, Scott G.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Snapshot of Active Flow Control Research at NASA Langley

NASA Langley is aggressively investigating the potential advantages of active flow control as opposed to more traditional aerodynamic techniques. Many of these techniques will be blended with advanced materials and structures to further enhance payoff. Therefore a multi-disciplinary approach to technology development is being attempted that includes researchers from the more historical disciplines of fluid mechanics. acoustics, material science, structural mechanics, and control theory. The overall goals of the topics presented are focused on advancing the state of knowledge and understanding of controllable fundamental mechanisms in fluids rather than on specific engineering problems. An organizational view of current research activities at NASA Langley in active flow control as supported by several programs such as the Morphing Project under Breakthrough Vehicle Technologies Program (BVT). the Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology Program (UEET), and the 21st Century Aircraft Technology Program (TCAT) is presented. On-center research as well as NASA Langley funded contracts and grants are discussed at a relatively high level. The products of this research, as part of the fundamental NASA R and D (research and development) program. will be demonstrated as either bench-top experiments, wind-tunnel investigations, or in flight tests. Later they will be transferred to more applied research programs within NASA, DOD (Department of Defense), and U.S. industry.

Washburn, A. E.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Model-Based Systems Engineering Pilot Program at NASA Langley

NASA Langley Research Center conducted a pilot program to evaluate the benefits of using a Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach during the early phase of the Materials International Space Station Experiment-X (MISSE-X) project. The goal of the pilot was to leverage MBSE tools and methods, including the Systems Modeling Language (SysML), to understand the net gain of utilizing this approach on a moderate size flight project. The System Requirements Review (SRR) success criteria were used to guide the work products desired from the pilot. This paper discusses the pilot project implementation, provides SysML model examples, identifies lessons learned, and describes plans for further use on MBSE on MISSE-X.

Vipavetz, Kevin G.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

An Overview of the Patch Integral Method (PIM), a New Heat Transfer Analysis Tool for Hypersonic Wind Tunnel Facilities at NASA Langley

NASA Langley’s hypersonic wind tunnels are heavily leveraged for planetary missions. The data collection method in these tunnels is thermography, and surface temperature measurements of the model surface are collected and reduced to produce surface heating data, as seen in Fig 1. However, during model injection, no temperature data are collected, and thus conventional, integral heat transfer methods cannot be used to solve for surface heating. A method was developed in the 1990’s to reduce this data despite the data gap, known as the step approximation method. The method assumes that the film coefficient behaves as a step function, the model is semi-infinite, and thermal properties are constant. With these simplifying assumptions, a Laplace transform can be performed to result in an equation that takes the initial temperature of the model and a temperature at some point in time to back out the film coefficient at that time. This is the method that is used in the current thermographic data reduction software, IHEAT. While computationally light-weight, the step approximation has several issues associated with it. The time-history of temperature is not accounted for, which is vital as heat transfer is an integral process. Additionally, the required semi-infinite assumption is unnecessary and might be violated during runtime. Thermal variation of material properties can have a sizeable impact on heating results and are not modeled by the method. This method also takes multiple seconds to “collapse” to a steady state, which is undesirable from both a facility and data reduction standpoint. The method is also very sensitive to the “effective time” approximation, an approximation of when heating instantaneously starts (which is a nonphysical simplification), and a small variation in this value can result in an error in heating results.

J. S. Cheatwood↗
NASA NTRS2018

Cryogenic Angle Measurement at NASA Langley

NASA’s National Transonic Facility is one of the few cryogenic wind-tunnel facilities in the world, where tunnel conditions may reach -250 F. Model angle of attack (AoA) at NTF is typically measured by an on-board accelerometer package that is exposed to the cryogenic tunnel conditions. These NTF AoA packages house two Q-Flex accelerometers in a compact heated environment in order to maintain constant temperature of the sensors for stability. Recently, drift in sensor output was observed in one of the NTF AoA packages. The drift is correlated with the AoA package temperature and cryogenic soak time. This paper studies the temperature and time dependent behavior of the NTF AoA packages, and reviews their design and calibration. Recommended improvements to the AoA packages are made to improve the stability of the model angle of attack measurements at cryogenic conditions.

Toro, Kenneth G.↗
NASA NTRS2023

NASA Langley Transformation Plan

NASA Langley Research Center has a strong history of creating impactful contributions to NASA’s mission and the Nation, working across NASA’s mission directorate portfolio. NASA Langley develops and delivers innovative solutions and technologies across a diversified portfolio that includes aeronautics, space technology and exploration, and science. As NASA Langley enters its 106th year, the Center is working in changing environment driven by the global pace of technology advancement and increased global connectivity. It is within this global context that NASA Langley leadership has recognized the need to intentionally invest in modernization efforts and established the Langley Transformation Initiative. This document outlines the Langley Transformation Initiative vision and goals. Current transformation challenges are described, and a strategy is outlined for how to the Transformation Initiative plans to advance towards the transformation vision.

Transformation↗
NASA NTRS2015

A Review of Head-Worn Display Research at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley has conducted research in the area of helmet-mounted/head-worn displays over the past 30 years. Initially, NASA Langley's research focused on military applications, but recently it has conducted a line of research in the area of head-worn displays for commercial and business aircraft. This work has revolved around numerous simulation experiments as well as flight tests to develop technology and data for industry and regulatory guidance. The paper summarizes the results of NASA's helmet-mounted/head-worn display research. Of note, the work tracks progress in wearable collimated optics, head tracking, latency reduction, and weight. The research lends credence that a small, sunglasses-type form factor of the head-worn display would be acceptable to commercial pilots, and this goal is now becoming technologically feasible. The research further suggests that a head-worn display may serve as an "equivalent" Head-Up Display (HUD) with safety, operational, and cost benefits. "HUD equivalence" appears to be the economic avenue by which head-worn displays can become main-stream on the commercial and business aircraft flight deck. If this happens, NASA's research suggests that additional operational benefits using the unique capabilities of the head-worn display can open up new operational paradigms.

Arthur, Jarvis (Trey) J., III↗
NASA NTRS2011

Experimental Investigations of the NASA Common Research Model in the NASA Langley National Transonic Facility and NASA Ames 11-Ft Transonic Wind Tunnel (Invited)

Experimental aerodynamic investigations of the NASA Common Research Model have been conducted in the NASA Langley National Transonic Facility and the NASA Ames 11-ft wind tunnel. Data have been obtained at chord Reynolds numbers of 5 million for five different configurations at both wind tunnels. Force and moment, surface pressure and surface flow visualization data were obtained in both facilities but only the force and moment data are presented herein. Nacelle/pylon, tail effects and tunnel to tunnel variations have been assessed. The data from both wind tunnels show that an addition of a nacelle/pylon gave an increase in drag, decrease in lift and a less nose down pitching moment around the design lift condition of 0.5 and that the tail effects also follow the expected trends. Also, all of the data shown fall within the 2-sigma limits for repeatability. The tunnel to tunnel differences are negligible for lift and pitching moment, while the drag shows a difference of less than ten counts for all of the configurations. These differences in drag may be due to the variation in the sting mounting systems at the two tunnels.

Rivers, S. M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

Over-the-Rotor Liner Investigation via the NASA Langley Normal Incidence Tube

NASA Langley and Glenn Research Centers have collaborated on the usage of acoustic liners mounted very near or directly over the rotor of turbofan aircraft engines. This collaboration began over a decade ago with the investigation of a metallic foam liner. Similar to conventional acoustic liner applications, this liner was designed to absorb sound generated by the rotor-alone and rotor-stator interaction sources within the fan duct. Given its proximity to the rotor tips, the expectation was that the liner would also serve as a pressure release and thereby inhibit the amount of noise generated. Initial acoustic results were promising, but there was concern regarding potential aerodynamic penalties. Nevertheless, there were sufficient positive results to warrant further investigation. To that end, the current report presents results obtained in the NASA Langley Normal Incidence Tube for 20 acoustic liner candidates for the OTR application. The majority contain grooves at their surface, designed to minimize aerodynamic penalties caused by placing the liner in close proximity to the fan rotor tips. The intent is to assess the acoustic properties of each liner configuration, and in particular to assess the effects of including the grooves on the overall acoustic performance. An additional intent of this paper is to provide documentation regarding recent enhancements to the NASA Langley Normal Incidence Tube.

Jones, Michael G↗
NASA NTRS1994

The World Wide Web and Technology Transfer at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) began using the World Wide Web (WWW) in the summer of 1993, becoming the first NASA installation to provide a Center-wide home page. This coincided with a reorganization of LaRC to provide a more concentrated focus on technology transfer to both aerospace and non-aerospace industry. Use of the WWW and NCSA Mosaic not only provides automated information dissemination, but also allows for the implementation, evolution and integration of many technology transfer applications. This paper describes several of these innovative applications, including the on-line presentation of the entire Technology Opportunities Showcase (TOPS), an industrial partnering showcase that exists on the Web long after the actual 3-day event ended. During its first year on the Web, LaRC also developed several WWW-based information repositories. The Langley Technical Report Server (LTRS), a technical paper delivery system with integrated searching and retrieval, has proved to be quite popular. The NASA Technical Report Server (NTRS), an outgrowth of LTRS, provides uniform access to many logically similar, yet physically distributed NASA report servers. WWW is also the foundation of the Langley Software Server (LSS), an experimental software distribution system which will distribute LaRC-developed software with the possible phase-out of NASA's COSMIC program. In addition to the more formal technology distribution projects, WWW has been successful in connecting people with technologies and people with other people. With the completion of the LaRC reorganization, the Technology Applications Group, charged with interfacing with non-aerospace companies, opened for business with a popular home page.

Nelson, Michael L.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Structures and Materials Research at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery. The Structures and Materials discipline at NASA Langley Research Center supports this mission through advanced materials and manufacturing approaches applied to innovative structural concepts. We start with synthesizing novel material systems and applying tools and methods to predict and validate their static, dynamic, durability and damage tolerance behavior. We mature materials from test tube to test flight by developing manufacturing techniques that enable the advancement of aerospace structures from concept to reality. We develop advanced measurement techniques for health management and nondestructive evaluation. We draw on our structures and materials core capabilities to enable safe, reliable lightweight aerospace structures for application in all environments. You will find the results of our work in the assembly of large structures in space and on other planets, vehicles that carry crew into space, vehicles that operate at high speeds and in extreme environments, and technology for passenger and crew safety in commercial aviation. This presentation will provide an overview of Langley Research Center’s role within the agency, then focus on how current Structures and Materials research areas support a variety of NASA missions in space operations, exploration, and aeronautics.

Structures↗
NASA NTRS1997

Desktop Access to Full-Text NACA and NASA Reports: Systems Developed by NASA Langley Technical Library

NASA Langley Technical Library has been involved in developing systems for full-text information delivery of NACA/NASA technical reports since 1991. This paper will describe the two prototypes it has developed and the present production system configuration. The prototype systems are a NACA CD-ROM of thirty-three classic paper NACA reports and a network-based Full-text Electronic Reports Documents System (FEDS) constructed from both paper and electronic formats of NACA and NASA reports. The production system is the DigiDoc System (DIGItal Documents) presently being developed based on the experiences gained from the two prototypes. DigiDoc configuration integrates the on-line catalog database World Wide Web interface and PDF technology to provide a powerful and flexible search and retrieval system. It describes in detail significant achievements and lessons learned in terms of data conversion, storage technologies, full-text searching and retrieval, and image databases. The conclusions from the experiences of digitization and full- text access and future plans for DigiDoc system implementation are discussed.

Ambur, Manjula Y.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Lidar remote sensing of tropospheric pollutants and trace gases - Programs of NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley Research Center is engaged in a number of in-house and contracted programs to develop, evaluate, and apply lidar techniques to remote measurements of pollutant gases, trace molecules, and aerosols. The differential absorption lidar (DIAL) research programs include the development and evaluation of a UV DIAL system for remote measurements of SO2 and O3 concentrations and aerosol dispersion in urban and power-plant stack plumes, a near-IR DIAL system for vertical measurements of water vapor concentrations, and a high-power tunable IR DIAL system which will measure the concentration of gas species that have absorption features in the 1.4- to 4.4-micron wavelength range. The lidar programs which deal with aerosol measurements include the evaluation of a mobile ruby lidar system for use in plume dispersion model verification and the development of a high-spectral-resolution lidar system for measurement of aerosol extinction and backscattering coefficients. System characteristics and measurement sensitivities are discussed, and comparisons are made between simulations and experimental results.

Browell, E. V.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Current wind tunnel capability and planned improvements at the NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley's major wing wind tunnels and the projected facilities planned to be completed by 1988 are presented. Special capabilities, uses, and the improvements done during the Langley's tunnel revitalization program are described for the following facilities: (1) the 30 x 60-ft subsonic tunnel, (2) the 4 x 7-m low-speed testing tunnel, (3) the Low-Turbulence Tunnel, (4) the Spin Tunnel, (5) the National Transonic Pressure Tunnel, (6) Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel, (7) the National Transonic Facility, (8) the 16-ft Transonic Tunnel, (9) the Transonic Dynamic Tunnel, (10) the Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel, and (11) a new 20-inch supersonic wind tunnel which is currently undergoing final checkout. The design concept of an extremely-low disturbance level supersonic tunnel, the upgrading plans for the hypersonic aerothermal complex, and the present and planned capabilities for testing the hydrogen-fueled Scramjet engines are also presented. In addition, uses of inexpensive simple-to-operate research wind tunnels are discussed. Tunnel diagrams and graphs of upgrade results are included.

Bower, R. E.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Active Control Technology at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley has a long history of attacking important technical opportunities from a broad base of supporting disciplines. The research and development at Langley in this subject area range from the test tube to the test flight. The information covered here will range from the development of innovative new materials, sensors and actuators, to the incorporation of smart sensors and actuators in practical devices, to the optimization of the location of these devices, to, finally, a wide variety of applications of these devices utilizing Langley's facilities and expertise. Advanced materials are being developed for sensors and actuators, as well as polymers for integrating smart devices into composite structures. Contributions reside in three key areas: computational materials; advanced piezoelectric materials; and integrated composite structures. The computational materials effort is focused on developing predictive tools for the efficient design of new materials with the appropriate combination of properties for next generation smart airframe systems. Research in the area of advanced piezoelectrics includes optimizing the efficiency, force output, use temperature, and energy transfer between the structure and device for both ceramic and polymeric materials. For structural health monitoring, advanced non-destructive techniques including fiber optics are being developed for detection of delaminations, cracks and environmental deterioration in aircraft structures. The computational materials effort is focused on developing predictive tools for the efficient design of new materials with the appropriate combination of properties for next generation smart airframe system. Innovative fabrication techniques processing structural composites with sensor and actuator integration are being developed.

Antcliff, Richard R.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Active Control Technology at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley has a long history of attacking important technical Opportunities from a broad base of supporting disciplines. The research and development at Langley in this subject area range from the test tube to the test flight, The information covered here will range from the development of innovative new materials, sensors and actuators, to the incorporation of smart sensors and actuators in practical devices, to the optimization of the location of these devices, to, finally, a wide variety of applications of these devices utilizing Langley's facilities and expertise. Advanced materials are being developed for sensors and actuators, as well as polymers for integrating smart devices into composite structures. Contributions reside in three key areas: computational materials; advanced piezoelectric materials; and integrated composite structures.

Antcliff, Richard R.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Active Control Technology at NASA Langley Research Center

NASA Langley has a long history of attacking important technical opportunities from a broad base of supporting disciplines. The research and development at Langley in this subject area range from the test tube to the test flight. The information covered here will range from the development of innovative new materials, sensors and actuators, to the incorporation of smart sensors and actuators in practical devices, to the optimization of the location of these devices, to, finally, a wide variety of applications of these devices utilizing Langley's facilities and expertise. Advanced materials are being developed for sensors and actuators, as well as polymers for integrating smart devices into composite structures. Contributions reside in three key areas: (1) computational materials; (2) advanced piezoelectric materials; and (3) integrated composite structures.

Antcliff, Richard R.↗