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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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12 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1973

Extended torsional tests of an interlocked bi-stem satellite boom

The effect is reported of continued oscillations of a 1.27-cm interlocked bi-stem satellite boom. The test setup oscillated a boom continuously between set torque limits and periodically recorded its hysteresis characteristics. Results showed that repeated oscillations affected torsional characteristics and that torsional rigidity changed as a function of the number of cycles oscillated within certain torque limits. Torsional characteristics changes caused by repeated oscillations were retained.

Abercrombie, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Thermoelastic limit cycling of zippered cross section spacecraft booms

The phenomenon of thermal flutter of open cross section storable tubular extendible member (STEM) spacecraft booms was first observed in OGO IV and subsequently on a number of other satellites. Theoretical work ultimately ascribed the anomalous, undamped oscillations to the low torsional rigidity of the open section booms. This was confirmed when 'zippered' cross section booms, with substantially higher torsional rigidity, were later flown without exhibiting thermal flutter. However, zippered STEM booms generally have sizeable torsional backlash zones. It is shown here that small amplitude thermoelastic limit cycling within this backlash zone is theoretically possible and is the likely explanation for undamped oscillations recorded on Voyager 1 and 2 in the early stages of the Voyager mission.

Laskin, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS2020

On Orbit Flight Testing of the Roll-Out Solar Array

The Roll-Out Solar Array (ROSA) is an innovative, lightweight solar array with a flexible substrate that makes use of the stored strain energy in its composite structural members to provide deployment without the use of motors while still packaging efficiently. The ROSA flight experiment was launched to the International Space Station (ISS)on June 3rd, 2017 as a part of the eleventh SpaceX commercial resupply mission. After two weeks of storage, ROSA was extracted from the Dragon spacecraft, deployed, and put through a week of tests to verify its structural characteristics as well as the performance of photovoltaics. The structural dynamics experiments included active excitation of out-of-plane bending modes, and a study of the thermal-structural interaction of the structure during day-night transitions. Data was gathered from a small number of accelerometers located at key points on the solar array and from cameras observing numerous photogrammetry targets spread out over the structure and the photovoltaic blanket. The goal in this effort was to better understand the performance of ROSA and to improve modeling efforts for future designs of similar solar arrays. Of particular interest are the first few system modes and mode shapes of the array, the amount of structural damping present, and degree of structural-thermal interaction seen during eclipse exit.

ROSA↗
NASA NTRS1972

Feasibility study of a 110 watt per kilogram lightweight solar array system

An investigation of the feasibility of a solar array panel subsystem which will produce 10,000 watts of electrical output at 1 A.U. with an overall beginning-of-life power-to-weight ratio of at least 110 watt/kg is reported. A description of the current baseline configuration which meets these requirements is presented. A parametric analysis of the single boom, two blanket planar solar array system was performed to arrive at the optimum system aspect ratio. A novel concept for the stiffening of a lightweight solar array by canting the solar cell blankets at a small angle to take advantage of the inherent in-plane stiffness to increase the symmetric out-of-plane frequency is introduced along with a preliminary analysis of the stiffening effect. A comparison of welded and soldered solar cell interconnections leads to the conclusion that welding is required on this ultralightweight solar array. The use of a boron/aluminum composite material in a BI-STEM type deployable boom is investigated as a possible advancement in the state-of-the-art.

Shepard, N. F.↗
NASA NTRS1973

Telescopic booms for the Hawkeye spacecraft

Several boom arrangements were proposed for the Hawkeye spacecraft. The design chosen to fly consists of one pair of stem roll-out booms and a set of telescopic booms. Some of the advantages of choosing this boom configuration were that the booms could be stored in the belt line area, which is near the center of gravity of the spacecraft, and also with the approach the telescopic booms could be extended at the spacecraft's initial spin rate (180 rpm). By being able to extend these booms at the initial spin rate of the spacecraft the need for a despin system was eliminated, thus weight saving to the spacecraft. With the method of storage and extension employed by the telescopic design, the desirable sensor distance from the spacecraft could also be attained.

Anderson, R. D.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Deployable and retractable telescoping tubular structure development

A new deployable and retractable telescoping boom capable of high deployed stiffness and strength is described. Deployment and retraction functions are controlled by simple, reliable, and fail-safe latches between the tubular segments. The latch and a BI-STEM (Storable Tubular Extendible Member) actuator work together to eliminate the need for the segments to overlap when deployed. This yields an unusually lightweight boom and compact launch configuration. An aluminum space-flight prototype with three joints displays zero structural deadband, low hysteresis, and high damping. The development approach and difficulties are discussed. Test results provide a joint model for sizing flight booms of any diameter and length.

Thomson, M. W.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Torsional Buckling Tests of a Simulated Solar Array

Spacecraft solar arrays are typically large structures supported by long, thin deployable booms. As such, they may be particularly susceptible to abnormal structural behavior induced by mechanical and thermal loading. One example is the Hubble Space Telescope solar arrays which consist of two split tubes fit one inside the other called BiSTEMs. The original solar arrays on the Hubble Space Telescope were found to be severely twisted following deployment and later telemetry data showed the arrays were vibrating during daylight to night and night to daylight transition. The solar array twist however can force the BiSTEM booms to change in cross-section and cause tile solar arrays to react unpredictably to future loading. The solar arrays were redesigned to correct for tile vibration, however, upon redeployment they again twisted. To assess the influence of boom cross-sectional configuration, experiments were conducted on two types of booms, (1)booms with closed cross-sections, and (2) booms with open cross-sections. Both models were subjected to compressive loading and imposed tip deflections. An existing analytical model by Chung and Thornton was used to define the individual load ranges for each model solar array configuration. The load range for the model solar array using closed cross-section booms was 0-120 Newtons and 0-160 Newtons for the model solar array using open cross-section booms. The results indicate the model solar array with closed cross-section booms buckled only in flexure. However, the results of the experiment with open cross-section booms indicate the model solar array buckled only in torsion and with imposed tip deflections the cross section can degrade by rotation of the inner relative to the outer STEM. For tile Hubble Space Telescope solar arrays the results of these experiments indicate the twisting resulted from the initial mechanical loading of the open cross-section booms.

Thornton, E. A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Propagation Analysis of the 3rd Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop Cases using sBOOM

The 3rd Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop was held on January 4-5, 2020 in conjunction with the AIAA SciTech conference. The workshop had 23 participants who represented 6 different countries and 18 unique organizations that included government, industry, and academia. The workshop was attended by over 50 individuals. The motivation for the workshop stems from the goal of obtaining supersonic commercial overland flight. In order to replace the current prohibition with a certification standard, an international effort is required to quantify the accuracy and reliability of prediction methods. The workshops also identify deficiencies in existing methods where further research should be focused. The workshop consisted of two days with the first day focused on near-field computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and the second day on propagation techniques. For the atmospheric propagation portion of the workshop, two required cases and one optional case were prescribed for the participants to exercise their propagation implementations. This paper presents and discusses the results that were obtained using the sonic boom propagation code sBOOM. Results show that sonic boom carpets could be much different under arbitrary atmospheric conditions as opposed to standard atmospheric conditions. Additionally, several unique features when using sBOOM are presented.

Sonic Boom↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Near Field Summary and Analysis of the Third AIAA Sonic Boom Workshop Shock-Plume Interaction Case

The Third AIAA Sonic Boom Prediction Workshop was held during January 2020, on the weekend prior to the AIAA SciTech conference. The workshop had 23 participants whom represented 6 different counties and 18 unique organizations that included government, industry and academia. The workshop was attend by over 50 individuals. The motivation for the workshop stems from the goal of obtaining supersonic commercial overland flight. In order to replace the current prohibition, with a certification standard, an international effort is required to quantify the accuracy and reliability of prediction methods. The workshops also identify deficiencies in existing methods where further research should be focused. The workshop consisted of two days with the first day focused on nearfield CFD and the second day on propagation techniques. The nearfield CFD study included two configurations known as the biconvex and the C608. This paper provided a summary and comparison of the results for the shock-plume interaction case, also known as the biconvex case. Overall agreement between the participants was very good with the largest standard deviations due to a slight shift of the shock location, not the predicted strength of the shocks.

Melissa Carter↗
NASA NTRS1988

The X-beam as a deployable boom for the space station

Extension of antennas and thrust modules from the primary structure of the space station will require deployable beams of high stiffness and strength, as well as low mass and package volume. A square boom cross section is desirable for interface reasons. These requirements and others are satisfied by the X-beam. The X-beam folds by simple geometry, using single-degree-of-freedom hinges at simple angles, with no strain during deployment. Strut members are of large diameter with unidirectional graphite fibers for maximum beam performance. Fittings are aluminum with phosphor bronze bushings so that compliance is low and joint lifetime is high. The several beam types required for different applications on the space station will use the same basic design, with changes in strut cross section where necessary. Deployment is by a BI-STEM which pushes the beam out; retraction is by cables which cause initial folding and pull the beam in.

Adams, Louis R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

A Vegetation Correction Methodology for Time Series Based Soil Moisture Retrieval From C-band Radar Observations

A methodology is presented to correct backscatter (sigma(sup 0)) observations for the effect of vegetation. The proposed methodology is based on the concept that the ratio of the surface scattering over the total amount of scattering (sigma(sup 0)(sub soil)/sigma(sup 0)) is only affected by the vegetation and can be described as a function of the vegetation water content. Backscatter observations sigma(sup 0) from the soil are not influenced by vegetation. Under bare soil conditions (sigma(sup 0)(sub soil)/sigma(sup 0)) equals 1. Under low to moderate biomass and soil moisture conditions, vegetation affects the observed sigma(sup 0) through absorption of the surface scattering and contribution of direct scattering by the vegetation itself. Therefore, the contribution of the surface scattering is smaller than the observed total amount of scattering and decreases as the biomass increases. For dense canopies scattering interactions between the soil surface and vegetation elements (e.g. leaves and stems) also become significant. Because these higher order scattering mechanisms are influenced by the soil surface, an increase in (sigma(sup 0)(sub soil)/sigma(sup 0)) may be observed as the biomass increases under densely vegetated conditions. This methodology is applied within the framework of time series based approach for the retrieval of soil moisture. The data set used for this investigation has been collected during a campaign conducted at USDA's Optimizing Production Inputs for Economic and Environmental Enhancement OPE-3) experimental site in Beltsville, Maryland (USA). This campaign took place during the corn growth cycle from May 10th to 0ctober 2nd, 2002. In this period the corn crops reached a vegetation water content of 5.1 kg m(exp -2) at peak biomass and a soil moisture range varying between 0.00 to 0.26 cubic cm/cubic cm. One of the deployed microwave instruments operated was a multi-frequency (C-band (4.75 GHz) and L-band (1.6 GHz)) quad-polarized (HH, HV, VV, VH) radar which was mounted on a 20 meter long boom. In the OPE-3 field campaign, radar observations were collected once a week at nominal times of 8 am, 10 am, 12 noon and 2 pm. During each data run the radar acquired sixty independent measurements within an azimuth of 120 degrees from a boom height of 12.2 m and at three different incidence angles (15,35, and 55 degrees). The sixty observations were averaged to provide one backscatter value for the study area and its accuracy is estimated to be 51.0 dB. For this investigation the C-band observations have been used. Application of the proposed methodology to the selected data set showed a well-defined relationship between (sigma(sup 0)(sub soil)/sigma(sup 0)) and the vegetation water content. It is found that this relationship can be described with two experimentally determined parameters, which depend on the sensing configuration (e.g. incidence angle and polarization). Through application of the proposed vegetation correction methodology and the obtained parameterizations, the soil moisture retrieval accuracy within the framework of a time series based approach is improved from 0.033 to 0.032 cubic cm/cubic cm, from 0.049 to 0.033 cubic cm/cubic cm and from 0.079 to 0.047 cubic cm/cubic cm for incidence angles of 15,35 and 55 degrees, respectively. Improvement in soil moisture retrieval due to vegetation correction is greater at larger incidence angles (due to the increased path length and larger vegetation effects on the surface signal at the larger angles).

Joseph, Alicia T.↗