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Barnes, Marvin W.

Publications and source records attributed to Barnes, Marvin W..

7 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2018

Demonstration of Subscale Cermet Fuel Specimen Fabrication Approach Using Spark Plasma Sintering and Diffusion Bonding

Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) has the potential to expand the limits of human space exploration by enabling crewed missions to Mars and beyond. The viability of NTP hinges on the development of a robust nuclear fuel material that can perform in the harsh operating environment (> or = 2500K, reactive hydrogen) of a nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine. Efforts are ongoing to develop fuel material and to assemble fuel elements that will be stable during the service life of an NTR. Ceramic-metal (cermet) fuels are being actively pursued by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) due to their demonstrated high-temperature stability and hydrogen compatibility. Building on past cermet fuel development research, experiments were conducted to investigate a modern fabrication approach for cermet fuel elements. The experiments used consolidated tungsten (W)-60vol%zirconia (ZrO2) compacts that were formed via spark plasma sintering (SPS). The consolidated compacts were stacked and diffusion bonded to assess the integrity of the bond lines and internal cooling channel cladding. The assessment included hot hydrogen testing of the manufactured surrogate fuel and pure W for 45 minutes at 2500 K in the compact fuel element environmental test (CFEET) system. Performance of bonded W-ZrO2 rods was compared to bonded pure W rods to access bond line integrity and composite stability. Bonded surrogate fuels retained structural integrity throughout testing and incurred minimal mass loss.

Barnes, Marvin W.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Optimization of a Wcl6 CVD System to Coat UO2 Powder with Tungsten

In order to achieve deep space exploration via Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is developing W-UO2 CERMET fuel elements, with focus on fabrication, testing, and process optimization. A risk of fuel loss is present due to the CTE mismatch between tungsten and UO2 in the W-60vol%UO2 fuel element, leading to high thermal stresses. This fuel loss can be reduced by coating the spherical UO2 particles with tungsten via H2/WCl6 reduction in a fluidized bed CVD system. Since the latest incarnation of the inverted reactor was completed, various minor modifications to the system design were completed, including an inverted frit sublimer. In order to optimize the parameters to achieve the desired tungsten coating thickness, a number of trials using surrogate HfO2 powder were performed. The furnace temperature was varied between 930 C and 1000degC, and the sublimer temperature was varied between 140 C and 200 C. Each trial lasted 73-82 minutes, with one lasting 205 minutes. A total of 13 trials were performed over the course of three months, two of which were re-coatings of previous trials. The powder samples were weighed before and after coating to roughly determine mass gain, and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) data was also obtained. Initial mass results indicated that the rate of layer deposition was lower than desired in all of the trials. SEM confirmed that while a uniform coating was obtained, the average coating thickness was 9.1% of the goal. The two re-coating trials did increase the thickness of the tungsten layer, but only to an average 14.3% of the goal. Therefore, the number of CVD runs required to fully coat one batch of material with the current configuration is not feasible for high production rates. Therefore, the system will be modified to operate with a negative pressure environment. This will allow for better gas mixing and more efficient heating of the substrate material, yielding greater tungsten coating per trial.

Belancik, Grace A.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Executive Summary of Propulsion on the Orion Abort Flight-Test Vehicles

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Orion Flight Test Office was tasked with conducting a series of flight tests in several launch abort scenarios to certify that the Orion Launch Abort System is capable of delivering astronauts aboard the Orion Crew Module to a safe environment, away from a failed booster. The first of this series was the Orion Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle, which was successfully flown on May 6, 2010 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This report provides a brief overview of the three propulsive subsystems used on the Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle. An overview of the propulsive systems originally planned for future flight-test vehicles is also provided, which also includes the cold gas Reaction Control System within the Crew Module, and the Peacekeeper first stage rocket motor encased within the Abort Test Booster aeroshell. Although the Constellation program has been cancelled and the operational role of the Orion spacecraft has significantly evolved, lessons learned from Pad Abort 1 and the other flight-test vehicles could certainly contribute to the vehicle architecture of many future human-rated space launch vehicles

Jones, Daniel S.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Executive Summary of Propulsion on the Orion Abort Flight-Test Vehicles

The NASA Orion Flight Test Office was tasked with conducting a series of flight tests in several launch abort scenarios to certify that the Orion Launch Abort System is capable of delivering astronauts aboard the Orion Crew Module to a safe environment, away from a failed booster. The first of this series was the Orion Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle, which was successfully flown on May 6, 2010 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This paper provides a brief overview of the three propulsive subsystems used on the Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle. An overview of the propulsive systems originally planned for future flight-test vehicles is also provided, which also includes the cold gas Reaction Control System within the Crew Module, and the Peacekeeper first stage rocket motor encased within the Abort Test Booster aeroshell. Although the Constellation program has been cancelled and the operational role of the Orion spacecraft has significantly evolved, lessons learned from Pad Abort 1 and the other flight-test vehicles could certainly contribute to the vehicle architecture of many future human-rated space launch vehicles.

Jones, Daniel S.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Executive Summary of Propulsion on the Orion Abort Flight-Test Vehicles

The NASA Orion Flight Test Office was tasked with conducting a series of flight tests in several launch abort scenarios to certify that the Orion Launch Abort System is capable of delivering astronauts aboard the Orion Crew Module to a safe environment, away from a failed booster. The first of this series was the Orion Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle, which was successfully flown on May 6, 2010 at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. This paper provides a brief overview of the three propulsive subsystems used on the Pad Abort 1 Flight-Test Vehicle. An overview of the propulsive systems originally planned for future flight-test vehicles is also provided, which also includes the cold gas Reaction Control System within the Crew Module, and the Peacekeeper first stage rocket motor encased within the Abort Test Booster aeroshell. Although the Constellation program has been cancelled and the operational role of the Orion spacecraft has significantly evolved, lessons learned from Pad Abort 1 and the other flight-test vehicles could certainly contribute to the vehicle architecture of many future human-rated space launch vehicles.

Jones, Daniel S.↗