Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Ragsdale, R. G..
The status of the Stirling project is summarized. Contract negotiations were completed with Ford Motor Company to carry out a major, cost-shared development program for an improved engine. A parallel, but independent, development activity by a second team is also planned.
A solar energy technology program is described that includes solar collector testing in an indoor solar simulator facility and in an outdoor test facility, property measurements of solar panel coatings, and operation of a laboratory-scale solar model system test facility. Early results from simulator tests indicate that non-selective coatings behave more nearly in accord with predicted performance than do selective coatings. Initial experiments on the decay rate of thermally stratified hot water in a storage tank have been run. Results suggest that where high temperature water is required, excess solar energy collected by a building solar system should be stored overnight in the form of chilled water rather than hot water.
The use of solar energy to heat and cool a new office building that is now under construction is reported. Planned for completion in December 1975, the 53,000 square foot, single story building will utilize 15,000 square feet of various types of solar collectors in a test bed to provide nearly all of the heating demand and over half of the air conditioning demand. Drawing on its space-program-developed skills and resources in heat transfer, materials, and systems studies, NASA-Lewis will provide technology support for the Langley building project. A solar energy technology program underway at Lewis includes solar collector testing in an indoor solar simulator facility and in an outdoor test facility, property measurements of solar panel coatings, and operation of a laboratory-scale solar model system test facility. Based on results obtained in this program, NASA-Lewis will select and procure the solar collectors for the Langley test bed.
An important component for a concept involving a 60-day Mars mission is the gas-core nuclear-rocket engine. A gas-core reactor, however, has also other potential applications including MHD power generators, breeder reactors, and nuclear-powered lasers. The gas-core engine uses a fissioning uranium plasma to heat hydrogen and then expands it through a nozzle to convert the thermal energy into thrust. To obtain a higher specific impulse than the 825 sec of the solid-core nuclear-rocket engine, a gas core has to produce hotter hydrogen.
Open cycle gas core nuclear rocket engine, considering reactor critical experiments and cold and hot flow tests
Calculated estimates of gas core nuclear rocket engine weights for specific impulses ranging from 3000 to 7000 seconds and for engine thrusts ranging from 4400 to 440,000 newtons
Review of gas-core rocket reactor research, and estimate of engine performance characteristics
Feasibility analysis of open-cycle gas-core nuclear rocket engine
Cavity diameter, reactor pressure, engine thrust, and hydrogen to uranium flow rate ratio of open cycle, gas core, reactor rocket engine
Engine weight estimation for showing effect on thrust, specific impulse and uranium loss rate for open cycle gas fueled nuclear rocket engine
Engine thrust, specific impulse, and uranium loss rate effects on gaseous fueled nuclear rocket engine weight
Summaries of recent gaseous reactor fluid mechanics experiments
Gaseous reactor fluid mechanics for nuclear rocket engines, discussing experiments on geometries used in open cycle engine for acceptable uranium loss rate
Simple equations for temperature distributions in radiating gray gases
Open cycle gaseous fueled nuclear rocket engines, describing method of comparing engine characteristics with predicted engine performance
Engine requirement parameters for gaseous fueled nuclear rocket engines
Performance potential of radiant heat transfer liquid-core nuclear rocket engine
Heat and mass transfer characteristics of axial- flow liquid-core nuclear rocket engine employing radiation heat transfer