Measurements of the free-bound and free-free continua of nitrogen, oxygen and air
Photometric measurement of radiation in high temperature air
RADIATION MEASUREMENT↗
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Comparing Free-Free and Shaker Table Model Correlation Methods Using Jim Beam
Finite element model correlation as part of a spacecraft program has always been a challenge. For any NASA mission, the coupled system response of the spacecraft and launch vehicle can be determined analytically through a Coupled Loads Analysis (CLA), as it is not possible to test the spacecraft and launch vehicle coupled system before launch. The value of the CLA is highly dependent on the accuracy of the frequencies and mode shapes extracted from the spacecraft model. NASA standards require the spacecraft model used in the final Verification Loads Cycle to be correlated by either a modal test or by comparison of the model with Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) obtained during the environmental qualification test. Due to budgetary and time constraints, most programs opt to correlate the spacecraft dynamic model during the environmental qualification test, conducted on a large shaker table. For any model correlation effort, the key has always been finding a proper definition of the boundary conditions. This paper is a correlation case study to investigate the difference in responses of a simple structure using a free-free boundary, a fixed boundary on the shaker table, and a base-drive vibration test, all using identical instrumentation. The NAVCON Jim Beam test structure, featured in the IMAC round robin modal test of 2009, was selected as a simple, well recognized and well characterized structure to conduct this investigation. First, a free-free impact modal test of the Jim Beam was done as an experimental control. Second, the Jim Beam was mounted to a large 20,000 lbf shaker, and an impact modal test in this fixed configuration was conducted. Lastly, a vibration test of the Jim Beam was conducted on the shaker table. The free-free impact test, the fixed impact test, and the base-drive test were used to assess the effect of the shaker modes, evaluate the validity of fixed-base modeling assumptions, and compare final model correlation results between these boundary conditions.
Modal Test↗
Control of flexible beams using a free-free active truss
An analytical and experimental study involving controlling flexible beams using a free-free active truss is presented. This work extends previous work in controlling flexible continua with active trusses which were configured with fixed-free boundary conditions. The following describes the Lagrangian approach used to derive the equations of motion for the active truss and the beams attached to it. A partial-state feedback control law is derived for this system based on a full-state feedback Linear Quadratic Regulator method. The analytical model is examined via numerical simulations and the results are compared to a similar experimental apparatus described herein. The results show that control of a flexible continua is possible with a free-free active truss.
Clark, W. W.↗
Oil-Free Turbomachinery Team Passed Milestone on Path to the First Oil-Free Turbine Aircraft Engine
The Oil-Free Turbine Engine Technology Project team successfully demonstrated a foil-air bearing designed for the core rotor shaft of a turbine engine. The bearings were subjected to test conditions representative of the engine core environment through a combination of high speeds, sustained loads, and elevated temperatures. The operational test envelope was defined during conceptual design studies completed earlier this year by bearing manufacturer Mohawk Innovative Technologies and the turbine engine company Williams International. The prototype journal foil-air bearings were tested at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Glenn is working with Williams and Mohawk to create a revolution in turbomachinery by developing the world's first Oil-Free turbine aircraft engine. NASA's General Aviation Propulsion project and Williams International recently developed the FJX-2 turbofan engine that is being commercialized as the EJ-22. This core bearing milestone is a first step toward a future version of the EJ-22 that will take advantage of recent advances in foil-air bearings by eliminating the need for oil lubrication systems and rolling element bearings. Oil-Free technology can reduce engine weight by 15 percent and let engines operate at very high speeds, yielding power density improvements of 20 percent, and reducing engine maintenance costs. In addition, with NASA coating technology, engines can operate at temperatures up to 1200 F. Although the project is still a couple of years from a full engine test of the bearings, this milestone shows that the bearing design exceeds the expected environment, thus providing confidence that an Oil-Free turbine aircraft engine will be attained. The Oil-Free Turbomachinery Project is supported through the Aeropropulsion Base Research Program.
Bream, Bruce L.↗
Free-Free Transitions in the Presence of Laser Fields at Very Low Incident Electron Energy
We study the free-free transition in electron-hydrogenic systems in ground state in presence of an external laser field at very loud incident energies. The laser field is treated classically while the collision dynamics is treated quantum mechanically. The laser field is chosen to be monochromatic, linearly polarized and homogeneous. The incident electron is considered to be dressed by the laser in a nonperturbative manner by choosing a Volkov wave function for it. The scattering weave function for the electron is solved numerically by taking into account the effect of the electron exchange, short-range as well as of the long-range interactions to get the S and P wave phase shifts while for the higher angular momentum phase shifts the exchange approximation has only been considered. We calculate the laser assisted differential cross sections (LADCS) for the aforesaid free-free transition process for single photon absorption/emission. The laser intensity is chosen to be much less than the atomic field intensity. A strong suppression is noted in the LADCS as compared to the field free (FF) cross sections. Unlike the FF ones, the LADCS exhibit some oscillations having a distinct maximum at a low value of the scattering angle depending on the laser parameters as well as on the incident energies.
Bhatia, A. K.↗
Free-Free Transitions in the Presence of Laser Fields at Very Low Incident Electron Energy
We study the free-free transition in electron-hydrogenic systems in ground state in presence of an external laser field at very low incident energies. The laser field is treated classically while the collision dynamics is treated quantum mechanically. The laser field is chosen to be monochromatic, linearly polarized and homogeneous. The incident electron is considered to be dressed by the laser in a nonperturbative manner by choosing a Volkov wave function for it The scattering wave function for the electron is solved numerically by taking into account the effect of the electron exchange, short-range as well as of the long-range interactions to get the S and P wave phase shifts while for the higher angular momentum phase shifts, the exchange approximation has only been considered. We calculate the laser-assisted differential cross sections (LADCS) for the aforesaid free-free transition process for single photon absorption/emission. The laser intensity is chosen to be much less than the atomic field intensity. A strong suppression is noted in the LADCS as compared to the field free (FF) cross sections. Unlike the FF ones, the LADCS exhibit some oscillations having a distinct maximum at a low value of the scattering angle depending on the laser parameters as well as on the incident energies.
Bhatia, Anand K.↗
Oil-Free Turbomachinery Technologies for Long-Life, Maintenance-Free Power Generation Applications
Turbines have long been used to convert thermal energy to shaft work for power generation. Conventional turbines rely upon oil-lubricated rotor supports (bearings, seals, etc.) to achieve low wear, high efficiency and reliability. Emerging Oil-Free technologies such as gas foil bearings and magnetic bearings offer a path for reduced weight and complexity and truly maintenance free systems. Oil-Free gas turbines, using gaseous and liquid fuels are commercially available in power outputs to at least 250kWe and are gaining acceptance for remote power generation where maintenance is a challenge. Closed Brayton Cycle (CBC) turbines are an approach to power generation that is well suited for long life space missions. In these systems, a recirculating gas is heated by nuclear, solar or other heat energy source then fed into a high-speed turbine that drives an electrical generator. For closed cycle systems such as these, the working fluid also passes through the bearing compartments thus serving as a lubricant and bearing coolant. Compliant surface foil gas bearings are well suited for the rotor support systems of these advanced turbines. Foil bearings develop a thin hydrodynamic gas film that separates the rotating shaft from the bearing preventing wear. During start-up and shut down when speeds are low, rubbing occurs. Solid lubricants are used to reduce starting torque and minimize wear. Other emerging technologies such as magnetic bearings can also contribute to robust and reliable Oil-Free turbomachinery. In this presentation, Oil-Free technologies for advanced rotor support systems will be reviewed as will the integration and development processes recommended for implementation.
turbomachinery↗
High pressure gas storage system consumable analyses for ALT flights free flight 1 and free flight 6
Consumables analyses are presented for the high pressure gas storage oxygen (O2), and hydrogen (H2) reactant systems for orbiter vehicle 101 approach and landing tests, for two flights, free flight 1 and free flight 6 are given. The consumables analyses are based on average power data. The required system and mission data updates were made in order to perform the analyses, notably the thermal environment profiles of the reactant storage cylinders and the power profile for the Electrical power subsystem. No mission-dependent environment profiles were provided; therefore, nominal free flight mission profile was used to generate environment profiles for free flights 1 and 6.
Hurst, J. E.↗
Flight tests of a radio-controlled airplane mode with a free-wing, free-canard configuration
Flight characteristics, controllability, and potential operating problems were investigated in a radio-controlled airplane model in which the wing is so attached to the fuselage that it is free to pivot about a spanwise axis forward of its aerodynamic center and is subject only to aerodynamic pitching moments imposed by lift and drag forces and a control surface. A simple technique of flying the test vehicle in formation with a pickup truck was used to obtain trim data. The test vehicle was flown through a series of maneuvers designed to permit evaluation of certain characteristics by observation. The free-wing free-canard concept was determined to be workable. Stall/spin characteristics were considered to be excellent, and no effect on longitudinal stability was observed when center of gravity changes were made. Several problems were encountered during the early stages of flight testing, such as aerodynamic lockup of the free canard and excessive control sensitivity. Lack of onboard instrumentation precluded any conclusions about gust alleviation or ride qualities.
Gee, S. W.↗
Effects of unsteady free-stream velocity and free-stream turbulence at a stagnation point
The combined effects of transient free stream velocity and turbulence at a stagnation point on a cylinder situated in a crossflow is investigated analytically, and a model is formulated for the eddy diffusivity induced by free-stream turbulence. The steepest descent method is used to integrate the governing momentum expression, and numerical solutions are given for the unsteady wall shear stress function for specific free-stream transients. It is found after correlation of the results by means of a new turbulence parameter that wall friction increases with increasing free-stream turbulence intensity, and that the friction factor increases with increasing reduced frequency of oscillation values.
Gorla, R. S. R.↗
Effect of inhomogeneous radiation fields on free-free scattering processes
The apparent collision cross section of an inverse-bremsstrahlung (free-free) collision process is investigated analytically for the case of laser-field inhomogeneity. Numerical computations are performed for typical experimental conditions involving high-intensity laser fields, and the results are presented in a table: significant effects due to the field inhomogeneity are found, and it is determined that free-free processes are less likely in the TEM(01) mode than in the TEM(00) mode for given values of the parameters p and n.
Curry, P. J.↗
Theoretical quasar emission-line ratios. VIII - Implications of free-free emission for QSO clouds
A range of simple theoretical models is presented which explores the effects of high densities in the broad-line clouds on near-IR free-free emission. These calculations demonstrate in a qualitiative way that large near-IR fluxes can result from high densities without compromising the observed hydrogen line spectrum. It is suggested that high density in the emission-line region provides a plausible explanation of several features seen in the spectra of QSOs and active galaxies, including (1) the 3-micron bump and/or the near-IR spectral break seen in many QSOs, (2) the low observed Pa-alpha broad-line fluxes seen in some objects, and (3) the highly depressed Br-gamma broad-line fluxes seen in active galaxies. It is also found that free-free emission in such clouds can be an important coolant.
Puetter, R. C.↗
A fast and accurate method for evaluating the nonrelativistic free-free Gaunt factor for hydrogenic ions
A fast method for obtaining a two-dimensional Chebyshev expansion of the nonrelativistic hydrogenic free-free Gaunt factor is presented which gives a maximum relative error of 0.7 percent over a wide range of temperatures and frequencies. The expansion derived by Karzas and Latter (1961) is used to derive primary values of the free-free Gaunt factor as a function of the initial and final electron energies. Thermal averages have been numerically computed and are presented in tabular form in intervals of 0.25 dex.
Hummer, D. G.↗
Planar reorientation of a free-free beam in space using embedded electromechanical actuators
It is demonstrated that the planar reorientation of a free-free beam in zero gravity space can be accomplished by periodically changing the shape of the beam using embedded electromechanical actuators. The dynamics which determine the shape of the free-free beam is assumed to be characterized by the Euler-Bernoulli equation, including material damping, with appropriate boundary conditions. The coupling between the rigid body motion and the flexible motion is explained using the angular momentum expression which includes rotatory inertia and kinematically exact effects. A control scheme is proposed where the embedded actuators excite the flexible motion of the beam so that it rotates in the desired sense with respect to a fixed inertial reference. Relations are derived which relate the average rotation rate to the amplitudes and the frequencies of the periodic actuation signal and the properties of the beam. These reorientation maneuvers can be implemented by using feedback control.
Kolmanovsky, Ilya V.↗
Free-flight Performance of 16-inch-diameter Supersonic Ram-jet Units II : Five Units Designed for Combustion-chamber-inlet Mach Number of 0.16 at Free-stream Mach Number of 1.60 (units B-1, B-2, B-3, B-4, and B-5) /c Wesley E. Messing and Scott H. S
Free-flight performance of five 16-inch-diameter ram-jet units was determined over range of free-stream Mach numbers of 0.50 to 1.86 and gas total-temperature ratios between 1.0 and 6.1 Time histories of performance data are presented for each unit. Correlations illustrate effect of free-stream Mach number and gas total-temperature ratio on diffuser total-pressure recovery, net-thrust coefficient, and external drag coefficient. One unit had smooth steady burning throughout the entire flight and encountered a maximum free-stream Mach number of 1.86 with a net acceleration of approximately 4.2 g's.
COMBUSTION - RAM-JET ENGINES↗
Aerodynamic Heating and Boundary-Layer Transition on a 1/10-Power Nose Shape in Free Flight at Mach Numbers up to 6.7 and Free-Stream Reynolds Numbers up to 16 x 10(exp 6)
A modified 1/10-power nose shape has been tested in free flight at Mach numbers up to 6.7 and free - stream Reynolds numbers based on diameter up to 16 X 10(exp 6). Measured heating rates were presented and compared with calculated values. Agreement ranges from poor on the forward portion of the nose to good on the rearward portion. The local Reynolds numbers of transition based on calculated momentum thickness varied between 1, 600 and 350. Laminar flow was maintained at momentum thickness Reynolds numbers of about 1,000 until the free-stream Reynolds number based on a length of 1 foot reached about 27 X 10(exp 6). At slightly higher free-stream Reynolds numbers transition occurred at momentum thickness Reynolds numbers as low as 250.
Garland, Benjamine J↗
Free-free and fixed base modal survey tests of the Space Station Common Module Prototype
This paper describes the testing aspects and the problems encountered during the free-free and fixed base modal surveys completed on the original Space Station Common Module Prototype (CMP). The CMP is a 40-ft long by 14.5-ft diameter 'waffle-grid' cylinder built by the Boeing Company and housed at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) near Huntsville, AL. The CMP modal survey tests were conducted at MSFC by the Dynamics Test Branch. The free-free modal survey tests (June '90 to Sept. '90) included interface verification tests (IFVT), often referred to as impedance measurements, mass-additive testing and linearity studies. The fixed base modal survey tests (Feb. '91 to April '91), including linearity studies, were conducted in a fixture designed to constrain the CMP in 7 total degrees-of-freedom at five trunnion interfaces (two primary, two secondary, and the keel). The fixture also incorporated an airbag off-load system designed to alleviate the non-linear effects of friction in the primary and secondary trunnion interfaces. Numerous test configurations were performed with the objective of providing a modal data base for evaluating the various testing methodologies to verify dynamic finite element models used for input to coupled load analysis.
Driskill, T. C.↗
Generalizing Backtrack-Free Search: A Framework for Search-Free Constraint Satisfaction
Tractable classes of constraint satisfaction problems are of great importance in artificial intelligence. Identifying and taking advantage of such classes can significantly speed up constraint problem solving. In addition, tractable classes are utilized in applications where strict worst-case performance guarantees are required, such as constraint-based plan execution. In this work, we present a formal framework for search-free (backtrack-free) constraint satisfaction. The framework is based on general procedures, rather than specific propagation techniques, and thus generalizes existing techniques in this area. We also relate search-free problem solving to the notion of decision sets and use the result to provide a constructive criterion that is sufficient to guarantee search-free problem solving.
Jonsson, Ari K.↗