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At least 199 records · Page 11

Technical and Economic Assessment and Gap Analysis of Advanced Nuclear Reactor Integration with a Reference Oil Refinery

Efforts to identify the most-economic methods to decarbonize several sectors of the U.S. economy are underway. Industrial processes such as crude-oil refining rely heavily on energy-dense and easily stored and transported fossil fuels for powering their operations. Refineries use large amounts of energy, primarily derived from fossil sources to separate crude-oil components, break down heavier hydrocarbons into lighter compounds, remove impurities, reform hydrocarbon molecules, and generate steam and electricity for pumps and compressors and other various auxiliary systems. Crude-oil refining operations such as distillation, cracking, desulfurization, reforming, utilities systems and some offsite facilities collectively account for most of the energy consumption. Other operations such as hydrocracking or hydrotreating also require hydrogen for developing hydrogenation reactions which involve substantial heating to keep the reactors at high-temperature and pressure levels. All heat and energy demands are typically provided by natural gas (NG), oil, or other fuels, which makes refinery industry one of the most-difficult sectors to decarbonize. Nuclear power is a viable and energy-dense source of clean electricity, heat, and hydrogen to provide the large, sustainable energy supply that the refining industry demands. The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Integrated Energy Systems (IES) program is working to perform research and development, design, economic siting, and risk analysis. This state-of-the-art work will enable the first on-site demonstrations and commercial deployments of advanced small modular nuclear reactors (SMNRs) integrated with industries such as chemical production, refining, iron and steel making, and more. IES seeks to demonstrate the ability of advanced nuclear reactors to meet the heat and power demands of these industries while reducing carbon emissions in a sustainable and cost-competitive way. The primary objective of this research effort is to analyze industrial-scale SMNR integration intended to decarbonize refining facilities. The foreseen outcome is the provision of reliable, cost-competitive, and sustainable clean energy, alongside a reduction of carbon emissions. Specifically, the focus of this work lies on meeting the reference facilities’ heat and electricity demands with nuclear power while also supplying clean hydrogen via integrated high-temperature steam electrolysis (HTSE). This report presents a comprehensive technical and economic assessment of the integration of advanced nuclear reactors into a reference refinery, leveraging financial incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The evaluation aims to explore the potential economic benefits and challenges associated with incorporating advanced nuclear reactors into refinery operations, particularly in terms of energy efficiency, economic implications and environmental impact. By examining both the technical feasibility and economic viability, this analysis seeks to identify existing gaps and propose solutions for successful nuclear integration implementation. The findings are intended to provide valuable insights for stakeholders considering the adoption of advanced nuclear reactors in the refining sector. A refinery reference-plant was developed, using an open-source refinery model, Petroleum Refinery Lifecycle Inventory Model (PRELIM) and expert assessment, as a base case for comparison with various nuclear integration options. The capacity of 100 kbd/day (KBD) of heavy crude-oil feed was selected to represent a general coking-type refinery with deep conversion capabilities (incorporating heavy-oil upgrading with FCC, coking, and associated hydrotreating process units), using a heavy crude-oil feed, which represents about 70% of U.S. refineries configurations. A summary of all cases considered in this study is shown in Table 1.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Reflections on Centaur Upper Stage Integration by the NASA Lewis (Glenn) Research Center

The NASA Glenn (then Lewis) Research Center (GRC) led several expendable launch vehicle (ELV) projects from 1963 to 1998, most notably the Centaur upper stage. These major, comprehensive projects included system management, system development, integration (both payload and stage), and launch operations. The integration role that GRC pioneered was truly unique and highly successful. Its philosophy, scope, and content were not just invaluable to the missions and vehicles it supported, but also had significant Agencywide benefits. An overview of the NASA Lewis Research Center (now the NASA Glenn Research Center) philosophy on ELV integration is provided, focusing on Atlas/Centaur, Titan/Centaur, and Shuttle/Centaur vehicles and programs. The necessity of having a stable, highly technically competent in-house staff is discussed. Significant depth of technical penetration of contractor work is another critical component. Functioning as a cohesive team was more than a concept: GRC senior management, NASA Headquarters, contractors, payload users, and all staff worked together. The scope, content, and history of launch vehicle integration at GRC are broadly discussed. Payload integration is compared to stage development integration in terms of engineering and organization. Finally, the transition from buying launch vehicles to buying launch services is discussed, and thoughts on future possibilities of employing the successful GRC experience in integrating ELV systems like Centaur are explored.

Launch Vehicle↗

An Integrated Platform for Mission Performance: Goddard Space Flight Center's Meta Information System

Successful management of NASA Goddard Space Flight Centers portfolio of mission projects (i.e. spacecraft, spacecraft instruments / subsystems, and ground systems) depends upon numerous processes, data and information resources coming together throughout the life-cycle of the projects to enable sound decision-making, risk reduction, conformance with requirements and continual improvement. In the summer of 2012, GSFC SMA management recognized that the set of legacy data systems used to support the SMA mission and responsibilities at GSFC were not effective, integrated nor on par with best practices. Accordingly, GSFC SMA management launched a project to transform the GSFC electronic management system to create and deploy an integrated, state-of-the-market information system for process performance, data management and analytics that is currently operating in support of GSFC overall mission performance. The information system, known as Meta, provides controlled, process-based applications, integrated data management, and analytics for a robust set of integrated applications. Since the inception of the project, a lean, award-winning SMA project team has thus far designed, configured and managed the system to serve as an integrated platform for 18 applications that support key processes for GSFC and the Science Mission Directorate at NASA headquarters, such as internal Management System assessments, Supplier Assessments, Supplier Research & Analysis, Problem Reporting for in-house mission projects, On-orbit Anomaly Reporting for GSFC-operated spacecraft, GSFC Project Life-Cycle Reviews, Risk Management and Reporting, and SMA Project Team Reporting. The system has experienced steady growth in utilization with 1,917 users (NASA employees and support contractor personnel) and 44 gigabytes of data and related files managed by the system as of the end of April 2018. Overall, Meta has achieved increasing levels of process management and real-time data / information integration to enable improved process performance, richer analytics and informed decision-making. This paper will present and examine the need, goals, approach and design driving the management and operation of the Meta information system and its ongoing growth as an integrated platform for advancing NASA mission performance.

Integration↗

Amplitudes, supersymmetric black hole scattering at $\mathcal{O}\left({G}^5\right)$, and loop integration

We compute the potential-graviton contribution to the scattering amplitude, the radial action, and the scattering angle of two extremal black holes in $\mathcal{N}$ = 8 supergravity at the fifth post-Minkowskian order and to next-to-leading order in a large mass expansion (first self-force order). Properties of classical unitarity cuts allow us to focus on the integration-by-parts reduction of planar integrals, while nonplanar integrals at this order are obtained from the planar ones by straightforward manipulations. We present the solution to the differential equations for all master integrals necessary to evaluate the classical scattering amplitudes of massive scalar particles at this order in all gravitational theories, in particular in $\mathcal{N}$ = 8 supergravity, and in general relativity. Despite the appearance of higher-weight generalized polylogarithms and elliptic functions in the solution to the differential equation for master integrals, the final supergravity answer is remarkably simple and contains only (harmonic) polylogarithmic functions up to weight 2. The systematic analysis of elliptic integrals discussed here, as well as the particular organization of boundary integrals in $\mathcal{N}$ = 8 observables are independent of supersymmetry and may have wider applications, including to aspects of collider physics.

Black Holes↗

On the lapse contour in the gravitational path integral

The gravitational path integral is usually implemented with a covariant action by analogy with other gauge field theories, but the gravitational case is different in important ways. A key difference is that the integrand has an essential singularity, which occurs at zero lapse where the spacetime metric degenerates. The lapse integration contour required to impose the local time reparametrization constraints must run from − ∞ to + ∞ , yet must not pass through zero. This raises the question: for an application—such as a partition function—where the constraints should be imposed, what is the correct integration contour, and why? We study that question by starting with the reduced phase space path integral, which involves no essential singularity. We observe that if the momenta are to be integrated before the lapse, to obtain a configuration space path integral, the lapse contour should pass below the origin in the complex lapse plane. This contour is also consistent with the requirement that quantum field fluctuation amplitudes have the usual short distance vacuum form, and with obtaining the Bekenstein-Hawking horizon entropy from a Lorentzian path integral. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Banihashemi, Batoul (ORCID:0000000228679209)↗

Machine-assisted discovery of integrable symplectic mappings

Integrable systems possess a hidden symmetry associated with the existence of conserved quantities known as integrals of motion. These systems play an important role in understanding general dynamics in accelerators and have potential for future designs. This work will cover two automated methods for finding integrable symplectic maps of the plane. The first algorithm is based on the observation that the evolution of an integrable system in phase space is confined to a lower-dimensional submanifold of a specific type. The second algorithm relies on an analysis of dynamical variables. Both methods rediscover some of the famous McMillan-Suris integrable mappings and ultra-discrete Painlev\'e equations. Over 100 new integrable families are presented and analyzed, some of which are isolated in the space of parameters, while others are families with one parameter (or the ratio of parameters) being either continuous or discrete. In addition, the newly discovered maps are related to a general 2D symplectic map through the use of discrete perturbation theory. A method is proposed for constructing smooth near-integrable dynamical systems based on mappings with polygon invariants.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Machine-Assisted Discovery of Integrable Symplectic Mappings

Integrable systems possess a hidden symmetry associated with the existence of conserved quantities known as integrals of motion. These systems play an important role in understanding general dynamics in accelerators and have potential for future designs. This work will cover two automated methods for finding integrable symplectic maps of the plane. The first algorithm is based on the observation that the evolution of an integrable system in phase space is confined to a lower-dimensional submanifold of a specific type. The second algorithm relies on an analysis of dynamical variables. Both methods rediscover some of the famous McMillan-Suris integrable mappings and ultra-discrete Painlev\'e equations. Over 100 new integrable families are presented and analyzed, some of which are isolated in the space of parameters, while others are families with one parameter (or the ratio of parameters) being either continuous or discrete. In addition, the newly discovered maps are related to a general 2D symplectic map through the use of discrete perturbation theory. A method is proposed for constructing smooth near-integrable dynamical systems based on mappings with polygon invariants.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

PyARC Status Report: New Integrations and Upgrades to the Fast Reactor Analysis Workflow Management Tool

PyARC was initially developed as an open source tool to support fast reactor analyses using the Argonne Reactor Computation (ARC) code suite as a part of the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Workbench initiative in FY17. The goal of this initiative is to provide a common user interface for model generation, real-time validation, execution, output processing, and visualization for all integrated codes. This is accomplished through the reliance on tools available in the Workbench framework and runtime environment. While initially developed to support the ARC codes, PyARC was extended in FY22 to wrap other NEAMS and non-ARC codes, including Griffin and OpenMC, in the supported other neutronics workflows, and support users in the adoption of NEAMS-supported high fidelity analysis codes. Most recently, NUBOW-3D, a recently adopted ARC code, was integrated to support reactor bowing calculations as well. Integration of these codes into the NEAMS Workbench directly benefits the advanced reactor modeling community by: • Providing a set of controlled, maintained, documented and validated scripts to generate inputs, which promotes best practices, reduces the learning curve, and facilitates project collaboration. • Improving the user experience: the Workbench interface provides assistance for building an input through auto-completion, real-time validation, document navigation, and geometry and results visualization. • Automating complex calculations and workflows for reactor analysis. • Helping users transition to using high-fidelity NEAMS codes along-side the ARC codes. In FY22, a progress report was published that described the state of each of the tools integrated into PyARC. Since then, there have been many enhancements and upgrades to the existing integrations as well as entirely new code integrations as well. This report details all new integrations and major developments in PyARC since the version 2.0.0 release highlighted in the FY22 report.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Description of FY25 Theory and Simulation Performance Target: Development of an integrated modeling framework for fusion reactor design and assessment

The urgency to deliver fusion power is growing now more than ever, with increasing pressure for both public programs and private companies to meet milestones timelines and overcome significant remaining technical challenges to ensure growth of a nascent fusion industry in time to meet rapidly growing clean energy demands. With incredible advancements in computation and years of investment in fusion model development and validation, integrated modeling is poised to fill a key role in accelerating the timeline to a fusion pilot plant (FPP). Future fusion pilot plants will operate in regimes far beyond current experience, and device design will rely on physics-based prediction and extrapolation. Many concepts will also rely on simulation to assess safety (shielding, tritium management, materials activation and lifetimes), economics and scalability before the decision to build. Importantly, integrated simulation can be used to reveal and solve the complexities of system integration that may otherwise not be apparent in physical components or models developed in isolation. New experimental test facilities that produce relevant conditions to validate and resolve key technical challenges for various subsystems (materials, blankets, fuel cycle, etc.) have been repeatedly called for by the fusion community but are not yet realized. Integrated modeling has an important role in identifying realistic load conditions (thermal, electromagnetic, plasma, neutron and photon loads, etc.) and defining the components and experiments for these test facilities in order to ensure meaningful validation that sufficiently reduces modeling uncertainties and technical risk for the full integrated reactor. The Fusion REactor Design and Assessment (FREDA) SciDAC project is building a component-based integrated modeling framework & data structure to enable self-consistent, multi-fidelity, iterative optimization workflows for the fusion reactor design process. FREDA aims to shorten the time to viable designs by providing a set of flexible workflows to support the various stages of the design process using an integrated model hierarchy, ranging from the simple analytic descriptions to the highest fidelity, theory-based plasma and engineering modeling developed by the fusion and fission communities. These tools are expected to be needed for timely support of FPP design in the milestone program and in the FIRE collaboratives. The plasma simulation backbone of FREDA is IPS-FASTRAN with newly developed coupled Core-Edge Pedestal-SOL (CESOL) workflows, which is being extended to the far-SOL region up to the plasma facing components. FREDA incorporates the FERMI engineering modeling suite and will enable self-consistent evaluation of the thermal shields, limiters, blanket, magnets, and other surrounding structures with predictions of temperatures, erosion, dpa, activation, tritium generation and transport, creep, corrosion, material degradation, etc. Parametric generation of 3D CAD enables rapid iteration of component geometry in response to plasma and loading specifications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Boolean integration

This paper presents the necessary and sufficient conditions for a given differential expression to be compatibly integrable and it presents the necessary and sufficient conditions for a given expression to be exactly integrable. Methods are given for integrating a differential expression when it is exactly integrable and when it is compatibly integrable. The physical interpretation is given of the integral of order k, of a differential expression, and it is shown that any differential expression of the proper form is integrable by parts.

Tucker, J. H.↗

Flight propulsion control integration for V/STOL aircraft

The goal of the propulsion community is to have the enabling propulsion technologies in place to permit a low risk decision regarding the initiation of a research STOVL supersonic attack fighter aircraft in the mid-1990's. This technology will effectively integrate, enhance, and extend the supersonic cruise, STOVL, and fighter/attack programs to enable U.S. industry to develop a revolutionary supersonic short takeoff vertical landing fighter/attack aircraft in the post-ATF period. The rationale, methods, and criteria used in developing a joint NASA Lewis and NASA Ames research program to develop the technology element for integrated flight propulsion control through integrated methodologies is presented. This program, the Supersonic STOVL Integrated Flight Propulsion Controls Program, is part of the overall NASA Lewis Supersonic STOVL integrated approach to an integrated program to achieve integrated flight propulsion control technology.

Mihaloew, James R.↗

Flight propulsion control integration for V/STOL aircraft

The goal of the propulsion community is to have the enabling propulsion technologies in place to permit a low risk decision regarding the initiation of a research STOVL supersonic attack fighter aircraft in the mid-1990's. This technology will effectively integrate, enhance, and extend the supersonic cruise, STOVL, and fighter/attack programs to enable U.S. industry to develop a revolutionary supersonic short takeoff vertical landing fighter/attack aircraft in the post-ATF period. The rationale, methods, and criteria used in developing a joint NASA Lewis and NASA Ames research program to develop the technology element for integrated flight propulsion control through integrated methodologies is presented. This program, the Supersonic STOVL integrated Flight Propulsion Controls Program, is part of the overall NASA Lewis Supersonic STOVL integrated approach to an integrated program to achieve integrated flight propulsion control technology.

Mihaloew, James R.↗

Process and information integration via hypermedia

Success stories for advanced automation prototypes abound in the literature but the deployments of practical large systems are few in number. There are several factors that militate against the maturation of such prototypes into products. Here, the integration of advanced automation software into large systems is discussed. Advanced automation systems tend to be specific applications that need to be integrated and aggregated into larger systems. Systems integration can be achieved by providing expert user-developers with verified tools to efficiently create small systems that interface to large systems through standard interfaces. The use of hypermedia as such a tool in the context of the ground control centers that support Shuttle and space station operations is explored. Hypermedia can be an integrating platform for data, conventional software, and advanced automation software, enabling data integration through the display of diverse types of information and through the creation of associative links between chunks of information. Further, hypermedia enables process integration through graphical invoking of system functions. Through analysis and examples, researchers illustrate how diverse information and processing paradigms can be integrated into a single software platform.

Hammen, David G.↗

Application of path-independent integrals to elevated temperature crack growth

The applicability of the J-integral in elasto-plastic fracture mechanics is limited to isothermal, monotonic loading conditions from the theoretical viewpoint, while in many applications, for instance gas turbine engines, crack growth occurs in the presence of cyclic inelastic loading, thermomechanical loading and temperature gradients. A number of path-independent (P-I) integrals have been proposed which do not have the restrictions of the J-integral. A review indicates that four of these integrals, although they are not the classical conservation integrals, are path-independent under these complex loading conditions. This paper describes a combined analytical and experimental effort to evaluate the ability of these four P-I integrals to correlate the crack growth data of Alloy 718 at elevated temperatures. Results for uniform temperature, 538 C, cases indicate that all these integrals are capable of correlating the crack growth data over a wide range of cyclic plasticity.

Kim, K. S.↗

Asymptotic integration algorithms for first-order ODEs with application to viscoplasticity

When constructing an algorithm for the numerical integration of a differential equation, one must first convert the known ordinary differential equation (ODE), which is defined at a point, into an ordinary difference equation (O(delta)E), which is defined over an interval. Asymptotic, generalized, midpoint, and trapezoidal, O(delta)E algorithms are derived for a nonlinear first order ODE written in the form of a linear ODE. The asymptotic forward (typically underdamped) and backward (typically overdamped) integrators bound these midpoint and trapezoidal integrators, which tend to cancel out unwanted numerical damping by averaging, in some sense, the forward and backward integrations. Viscoplasticity presents itself as a system of nonlinear, coupled first-ordered ODE's that are mathematically stiff, and therefore, difficult to numerically integrate. They are an excellent application for the asymptotic integrators. Considering a general viscoplastic structure, it is demonstrated that one can either integrate the viscoplastic stresses or their associated eigenstrains.

Freed, Alan D.↗

Flight-determined benefits of integrated flight-propulsion control systems

Over the last two decades, NASA has conducted several experiments in integrated flight-propulsion control. Benefits have included improved maneuverability; increased thrust, range, and survivability; reduced fuel consumption; and reduced maintenance. This paper presents the basic concepts for control integration, examples of implementation, and benefits. The F-111E experiment integrated the engine and inlet control systems. The YF-12C incorporated an integral control system involving the inlet, autopilot, autothrottle, airdata, navigation, and stability augmentation systems. The F-15 research involved integration of the engine, flight, and inlet control systems. Further extension of the integration included real-time, onboard optimization of engine, inlet, and flight control variables; a self-repairing flight control system; and an engines-only control concept for emergency control. The F-18A aircraft incorporated thrust vectoring integrated with the flight control system to provide enhanced maneuvering at high angles of attack. The flight research programs and the resulting benefits of each program are described.

James F Stewart↗

Exact Integrations of Polynomials and Symmetric Quadrature Formulas over Arbitrary Polyhedral Grids

This paper is concerned with two important elements in the high-order accurate spatial discretization of finite volume equations over arbitrary grids. One element is the integration of basis functions over arbitrary domains, which is used in expressing various spatial integrals in terms of discrete unknowns. The other consists of quadrature approximations to those integrals. Only polynomial basis functions applied to polyhedral and polygonal grids are treated here. Non-triangular polygonal faces are subdivided into a union of planar triangular facets, and the resulting triangulated polyhedron is subdivided into a union of tetrahedra. The straight line segment, triangle, and tetrahedron are thus the fundamental shapes that are the building blocks for all integrations and quadrature approximations. Integrals of products up to the fifth order are derived in a unified manner for the three fundamental shapes in terms of the position vectors of vertices. Results are given both in terms of tensor products and products of Cartesian coordinates. The exact polynomial integrals are used to obtain symmetric quadrature approximations of any degree of precision up to five for arbitrary integrals over the three fundamental domains. Using a coordinate-free formulation, simple and rational procedures are developed to derive virtually all quadrature formulas, including some previously unpublished. Four symmetry groups of quadrature points are introduced to derive Gauss formulas, while their limiting forms are used to derive Lobatto formulas. Representative Gauss and Lobatto formulas are tabulated. The relative efficiency of their application to polyhedral and polygonal grids is detailed. The extension to higher degrees of precision is discussed.

Liu, Yen↗

A Collaborative Analysis Tool for Integrated Hypersonic Aerodynamics, Thermal Protection Systems, and RBCC Engine Performance for Single Stage to Orbit Vehicles

Presented is a computer-based tool that connects several disciplines that are needed in the complex and integrated design of high performance reusable single stage to orbit (SSTO) vehicles. Every system is linked to every other system, as is the case of SSTO vehicles with air breathing propulsion, which is currently being studied by NASA. An RBCC propulsion system integrates airbreathing and rocket propulsion into a single engine assembly enclosed within a cowl or duct. A typical RBCC propulsion system operates as a ducted rocket up to approximately Mach 3. Then there is a transition to a ramjet mode for supersonic-to-hypersonic acceleration. Around Mach 8 the engine transitions to a scramjet mode. During the ramjet and scramjet modes, the integral rockets operate as fuel injectors. Around Mach 10-12 (the actual value depends on vehicle and mission requirements), the inlet is physically closed and the engine transitions to an integral rocket mode for orbit insertion. A common feature of RBCC propelled vehicles is the high degree of integration between the propulsion system and airframe. At high speeds the vehicle forebody is fundamentally part of the engine inlet, providing a compression surface for air flowing into the engine. The compressed air is mixed with fuel and burned. The combusted mixture must be expanded to an area larger than the incoming stream to provide thrust. Since a conventional nozzle would be too large, the entire lower after body of the vehicle is used as an expansion surface. Because of the high external temperatures seen during atmospheric flight, the design of an airbreathing SSTO vehicle requires delicate tradeoffs between engine design, vehicle shape, and thermal protection system (TPS) sizing in order to produce an optimum system in terms of weight (and cost) and maximum performance. To adequately determine the performance of the engine/vehicle, the Hypersonic Flight Inlet Model (HYFIM) module was designed to interface with the RBCC engine model. HYFIM performs the aerodynamic analysis of forebodies and inlet characteristics of RBCC powered SSTO launch vehicles. HYFIM is applicable to the analysis of the ramjet/scramjet engine operations modes (Mach 3-12), and provides estimates of parameters such as air capture area, shock-on-lip Mach number, design Mach number, compression ratio, etc., based on a basic geometry routine for modeling axisymmetric cones, 2-D wedge geometries. HYFIM also estimates the variation of shock layer properties normal to the forebody surface. The thermal protection system (TPS) is directly linked to determination of the vehicle moldline and the shaping of the trajectory. Thermal protection systems to maintain the structural integrity of the vehicle must be able to mitigate the heat transfer to the structure and be lightweight. Herein lies the interdependency, in that as the vehicle's speed increases, the TPS requirements are increased. And as TPS masses increase the effect on the propulsion system and all other systems is compounded. The need to analyze vehicle forebody and engine inlet is critical to be able to design the RBCC vehicle. To adequately determine insulation masses for an RBCC vehicle, the hypersonic aerodynamic environment and aeroheating loads must be calculated and the TPS thicknesses must be calculated for the entire vehicle. To accomplish this an ascent or reentry trajectory is obtained using the computer code Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories (POST). The trajectory is then used to calculate the convective heat rates on several locations on the vehicles using the Miniature Version of the JA70 Aerodynamic Heating Computer Program (MINIVER). Once the heat rates are defined for each body point on the vehicle, then insulation thicknesses that are required to maintain the vehicle within structural limits are calculated using Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer (SINDA) models. If the TPS masses are too heavy for the performance of the vehicle the process may be repeated altering the trajectory or some other input to reduce the TPS mass. E-PSURBCC is an "engine performance" model and requires the specification of inlet air static temperature and pressure as well as Mach number (which it pulls from the HYFIM and POST trajectory files), and calculates the corresponding stagnation properties. The engine air flow path geometry includes inlet, a constant area section where the rocket is positioned, a subsonic diffuser, a constant area afterburner, and either a converging nozzle or a converging-diverging nozzle. The current capabilities of E-PSURBCC ejector and ramjet mode treatment indicated that various complex flow phenomena including multiple choking and internal shocks can occur for combinations of geometry/flow conditions. For a given input deck defining geometry/flow conditions, the program first goes through a series of checks to establish whether the input parameters are sound in terms of a solution path. If the vehicle/engine performance fails mission goals, the engineer is able to collaboratively alter the vehicle moldline to change aerodynamics, or trajectory, or some other input to achieve orbit. The problem described is an example of the need for collaborative design and analysis. RECIPE is a cross-platform application capable of hosting a number of engineers and designers across the Internet for distributed and collaborative engineering environments. Such integrated system design environments allow for collaborative team design analysis for performing individual or reduced team studies. To facilitate the larger number of potential runs that may need to be made, RECIPE connects the computer codes that calculate the trajectory data, aerodynamic data based on vehicle geometry, heat rate data, TPS masses, and vehicle and engine performance, so that the output from each tool is easily transferred to the model input files that need it.

Stanley, Thomas Troy↗