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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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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1984

Analytical Models

A system-level design and analysis model was developed. This model was conceived to have several key elements: a solar pond thermodynamic performance model, a power generation subsystem model, and an economic analysis element. The basic approach was to create these elements or modules and refine them on an individual basis yet retain the capability to easily couple them into a full system design model. This building block approach allows for maximum flexibility and substitution of refined descriptions as the technology develops. A general overview of interconnecting these subsystem models is presented. The primary program control element will perform the administrative functions of data input, data output, information storage and transfer, and sequential calling of the subsystem models. From the point of view of the requirements of a system design model, a power conversion subsystem model was developed. The goal of the effort was a preliminary subsystem model compatible with the solar pond subsystem model so that a first order system simulation analysis could be performed.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1984

Study of alternate optical and fine guidance sensor designs for the space infrared telescope facility (SIRTF)

A unique optical design was developed that compensates for the coma degraded images caused by field chopping in SIRTF. The conic constants of a Cassegrain telescope were altered to compensate for the coma induced by the secondary mirror tilt. The modulation transfer function is essentially independent of secondary mirror tilt, and diffraction limited image quality is maintained over a several arcminute field during chopping. With an untilted secondary mirror, the coma compensated (CC) design has a smaller field than the unchopped Ritchey-Chretien design; but use of relay optics, such as the inverted Cassegrain design developed for the fine guidance sensor (FGS), can increase the CC telescope's field size. A reactionless secondary mirror chopper mechanism that uses superconducting magnets was studied. The heart producing elements are confined to a reaction plate that is not directly viewed by the IR focal plane. A design was also developed for a low moment of inertia, reticulated HIP beryllium secondary mirror consistent with blank fabrication technology and optical finishing requirements.

Wissinger, A.↗
NASA NTRS1986

An estimator-predictor approach to PLL loop filter design

An approach to the design of digital phase locked loops (DPLLs), using estimation theory concepts in the selection of a loop filter, is presented. The key concept is that the DPLL closed-loop transfer function is decomposed into an estimator and a predictor. The estimator provides recursive estimates of phase, frequency, and higher order derivatives, while the predictor compensates for the transport lag inherent in the loop. This decomposition results in a straightforward loop filter design procedure, enabling use of techniques from optimal and sub-optimal estimation theory. A design example for a particular choice of estimator is presented, followed by analysis of the associated bandwidth, gain margin, and steady state errors caused by unmodeled dynamics. This approach is under consideration for the design of the Deep Space Network (DSN) Advanced Receiver Carrier DPLL.

Statman, J. I.↗
NASA NTRS1992

An analytic formula for H-infinity norm sensitivity with applications to control system design

An analytic formula for the sensitivity of singular value peak variation with respect to parameter variation is derived. As a corollary, the derivative of the H-infinity norm of a stable transfer function with respect to a parameter is presented. It depends on some of the first two derivatives of the transfer function with respect to frequency and the parameter. For cases when the transfer function has a linear system realization whose matrices depend on the parameter, analytic formulas for these first two derivatives are derived, and an efficient algorithm for calculating them is discussed. Examples are given which provide numerical verification of the H-infinity norm sensitivity formula and which demonstrate its utility in designing control systems satisfying H-infinity norm constraints. In the appendix, derivative formulas for singular values are paraphrased.

Giesy, Daniel P.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Weapons to widgets: Organic systems and public policy for tech transfer

Large cuts in defense spending cause serious repercussions throughout the American economy. One means to counter the negative effects of defense reductions is to redirect federal dollars to temporarily prop up defense industries and, over the longer-term, stimulate growth of new nondefense industries. The creation of non-defense products and industries by channeling ideas from public laboratories into the private sector manufacturing facilities, known as technology transfer, is being undertaken in a massive program that has high visibility, large amounts of money, and broad federal agency involvement. How effectively federal money can be directed toward stimulating the creation of non-defense products will define the strength of the economy, (i.e., tax base, employment level, trade balance, capital investments, etc.), over the next decade. Key functions of the tech transfer process are technology and market assessment, capital formation, manufacturing feasibility, sales and distribution, and business organization creation. Those, however, are not functions typically associated with the federal government. Is the government prepared to provide leadership in those areas? This paper suggests organic systems theory as a means to structure the public sector's actions to provide leadership in functional areas normally outside their scope of expertise. By applying new ideas in organization theory, can we design government action to efficiently and effectively transfer technologies?

Cargo, Russell A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design of a Thruster Vector Servo-Elastic Filter

This presents a method to improve the thruster vector servo elasticity (TVSE) stability. TVSE is the coupling between the TVC system engine dynamics and the vehicle flexible modes. It can lead to instability of the flexible modes due to the energy injection from the thrust. For large boosters with heavy TVC engine, TVSE is more likely to cause instability. This instability is part of the plant dynamics and is not detected by the flight control. In this paper, the TVSE is treated as a disturbance rejection problem with the inertial force of the flexible motion viewed as an external disturbance to the TVC actuator control system. By effectively rejecting this disturbance, the engine can be decoupled from the flexible dynamics thus improving TVSE stability. The actuator disturbance transfer function is modified by inserting a TVSE filter into the control system. The filter aims to reduce the magnitude and introduce phase lead of the disturbance transfer function over the TVSE sensitive frequency range while maintaining adequate stability margins of the actuator control system. A prefilter is also designed for good command tracking. The filter and prefilter resulting from this method are usually of low order and can be included to the existing actuator controller if the controller is programmable. This method was demonstrated for a hydraulic Simplex actuator model. Its applications to SLS B1 and B2 TVC actuator are also described. B2 actuator controller is modified based on this method. The tradeoff between TVSE stability and the control system stability can be balanced by adjusting the amount of phase lead introduced by the TVSE filter. This method provides a useful way to solve the TVSE instability issue without costly and time-consuming a TVC system redesign. This method is based on the basic control principles of loop shaping and disturbance rejection and has been proven to be effective under proper circum-stances.

Thrust vector control↗
NASA NTRS1986

A class of optimum digital phase locked loops

This paper presents a class of optimum digital filters for digital phase locked loops, for the important case in which the maximum update rate of the loop filter and numerically controlled oscillator (NCO) is limited. This case is typical when the loop filter is implemented in a microprocessor. In these situations, pure delay is encountered in the loop transfer function and thus the stability and gain margin of the loop are of crucial interest. The optimum filters designed for such situations are evaluated in terms of their gain margin for stability, dynamic error, and steady-state error performance. For situations involving considerably high phase dynamics an adaptive and programmable implementation is also proposed to obtain an overall optimum strategy.

Kumar, R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Investigation of two and three parameter equations of state for cryogenic fluids

Two-phase flows are a common occurrence in cryogenic engines and an accurate evaluation of the heat-transfer coefficient in two-phase flow is of significant importance in their analysis and design. The thermodynamic equation of state plays a key role in calculating the heat transfer coefficient which is a function of thermodynamic and thermophysical properties. An investigation has been performed to study the performance of two- and three-parameter equations of state to calculate the compressibility factor of cryogenic fluids along the saturation loci. The two-parameter equations considered here are van der Waals and Redlich-Kwong equations of state. The three-parameter equation represented here is the generalized Benedict-Webb-Rubin (BWR) equation of Lee and Kesler. Results have been compared with the modified BWR equation of Bender and the extended BWR equations of Stewart. Seven cryogenic fluids have been tested; oxygen, hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, argon, neon, and air. The performance of the generalized BWR equation is poor for hydrogen and helium. The van der Waals equation is found to be inaccurate for air near the critical point. For helium, all three equations of state become inaccurate near the critical point.

Jenkins, Susan L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Experimental implementation of adaptive control for flexible space structures

On-going research at The Aerospace Corporation studying the feasibility of applying adaptive control methodologies to the control of flexible space structures is described. A laboratory testbed was established to test system identification and control approaches. The laboratory set-up and controller design approach are discussed. The ARX least squares parameter estimation technique is analyzed in terms of frequency domain transfer function bias error. This analysis approach enables the determination of the effects of sampling rate, sensor type, and data prefiltering on the estimation performance. The ability to identify space structure dynamics over a range of frequencies is shown to be heavily dependent on these factors.

Mcgraw, Gary A.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Lightweight Low Force Rotary Percussive Coring Tool for Planetary Applications

A prototype low-force rotary-percussive rock coring tool for use in acquiring samples for geological surveys in future planetary missions was developed. The coring tool could eventually enable a lightweight robotic system to operate from a relatively small (less than 200 kg) mobile or fixed platform to acquire and cache Mars or other planetary rock samples for eventual return to Earth for analysis. To gain insight needed to design an integrated coring tool, the coring ability of commercially available coring bits was evaluated for effectiveness of varying key parameters: weight-on-bit, rotation speed, percussive rate and force. Trade studies were performed for different methods of breaking a core at its base and for retaining the core in a sleeve to facilitate sample transfer. This led to a custom coring tool design which incorporated coring, core breakage, core retention, and core extraction functions. The coring tool was tested on several types of rock and demonstrated the overall feasibility of this approach for robotic rock sample acquisition.

Hironaka, Ross↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design of a Thrust Vector Servoelastic Filter for SLS Block 2 Booster Thrust Vector Control System

This paper presents a method to improve the thrust vector servoelastic (TVSE) response of a launch vehicle. TVSE is the coupling between the Thrust Vector Control (TVC) system nozzle dynamics and the vehicle flexible modes. A poorly phased TVC response, i.e. in phase with the structural velocity, can lead to instability of the flexible modes due to the energy injection from the thrust. For large boosters with heavy nozzles, TVSE is more likely to cause instability. This instability is part of the plant dynamics and may not be readily detected by the flight control system. In this paper, TVSE is treated as a disturbance rejection problem with the inertial force of the flexible motion viewed as an external disturbance to the TVC actuator control system. By effectively rejecting this disturbance, the engine can be decoupled from the flexible dynamics thus improving TVSE stability. The actuator disturbance transfer function is modified by inserting a filter into the servo-loop control system. The filter aims to reduce the magnitude and introduce phase lead of the disturbance transfer function over the TVSE sensitive frequency range while maintaining adequate stability margins of the actuator control system. A prefilter is also designed to improve command tracking performance. The filter and prefilter resulting from this method are usually of low order and can be included to an existing actuator controller if the controller is programmable. This method was demonstrated for a hydraulic Simplex actuator model. Its applications to the Space Launch System (SLS) Block 1 and Block 2 TVC actuator are also described. The Block 2 actuator controller was modified based on the results of this method. The tradeoff between TVSE stability and the servo-loop stability can be balanced by adjusting the amount of phase lead introduced by the TVSE filter. This method provides a useful way to solve the TVSE instability issue without costly and time-consuming hardware solutions. This method is based on the basic control principles of loop shaping and disturbance rejection and has been proven to be effective under proper circumstances.

Thrust vector control↗
NASA NTRS2022

The Psyche Planning Software Subsystem: Creating a Robust Toolset for a Discovery-class Mission

Psyche is a Discovery-class mission to the small metal-rich asteroid (16) Psyche, and is slated to launch in 2022. Psyche, like many missions, requires low-cost activity planning and sequence generation that serves as the backbone to overall uplink design. Such tools must be maintainable over long periods of operations, and powerful enough to solve complex issues that deep-space one-off missions encounter. In this paper we introduce cost-effective solutions that leverage inner- and open-source principles to meet a variety of common and novel use cases.The uplink process that was designed to meet these challenges is presented, as well as the data-flow through the high-level architecture of the planning software subsystem. The user-facing planning tools are described, particularly the Science Opportunity Analyzer, the Plan Editor, Psyche’s planning automation in the Blackbird framework, and Psyche Simulation Reports. All these applications are either new or have been substantially revamped to meet Psyche’s concept of operations. In particular, ensuring the entire toolchain can correctly process epoch-relative activities is discussed. Underlying the main applications are a common set of dependencies developed and maintained by a new cross-mission association of planning developers. In this way, Psyche can inherit well-tested functionality which saves effort and ensures its developers can focus on solving domain challenges. Quality control of the applications and libraries is ensured with a code-review and unit-test based novel ‘CM lite’ process. Collaboration with international industry and academia using the open-source modules is already occurring.The planning and scheduling software is designed to maximize operator awareness of the integrated plan at every step of the process and use common interfaces and file formats to easily transfer information. Design choices plus the team’s test-driven development process enables more expansive capabilities compared to the decentralized planning and sequence generation functions typical of Discovery-class orbiters without significant development cost increases. Benefits and drawbacks of Psyche’s approach are discussed, including comparison to other missions and tools where appropriate.

Ramanathan, Keshav↗
NASA NTRS1993

Octave: A MARSYAS post-processor for computer-aideed control system design

MARSYAS is a computer-aided control system analysis package for the simulation and analysis of dynamic systems. In the summer of 1991 MARSYAS was updated to allow for the analysis of sampled-data systems in terms of frequency response, stability, etc. This update was continued during the summer of 1992 in order to extend further MARSYAS commands to the study of sampled data systems. Further work was done to examine the computation of openat transfer functions, root-locii and omega-plane frequency response plots. At the conclusion of the summer of 1992 work, it was proposed that control-system design capability be incorporated into the MARSYAS package. It was decided at that time to develop a separate 'stand-alone' computer-aided control system design (CACSD) package. This report is a brief description of such a package.

Hodel, A. Scottedward↗
NASA NTRS2004

Electrical Transfer Function and Poling Mechanisms for Nonlinear Optical Polymer Modulators

Electro-Optic Polymers hold great promise in increased electro-optic coefficients as compared to their inorganic corollaries. Many researchers have focused on quantum chemistry to describe how the dipoles respond to temperature and electric fields. Much work has also been done for single layer films to confirm these results. For optical applications, waveguide structures are utilized to guide the optical waves in 3 layer stacks. Electrode poling is the only practical poling method for these structures. This research takes an electrical engineering approach to develop poling models and electrical and optical transfer functions of the waveguide structure. The key aspect of the poling model is the large boundary charge density deposited during the poling process. The boundary charge density also has a large effect on the electrical transfer function which is used to explain the transient response of the system. These models are experimentally verified. Exploratory experiment design is used to study poling parameters including time, temperature, and voltage. These studies verify the poling conditions for CLDX/APC and CLDZ/APEC guest host electro optic polymer films in waveguide stacks predicted by the theoretical developments.

Watson, Michael Dale↗
NASA NTRS1985

Multi-hundred kilowatt roll ring assembly

A program was completed to develop an evaluation unit of a high power rotary transfer device for potential application in a space environment. This device was configured around a Roll Ring concept which performs the same function as a slip ring/brush assembly with a rolling instead of sliding interface. An eight circuit Evaluation Unit (EU) and a portable Test Fixture (TF) were designed and fabricated. The EU was designed to transfer currents to 200 amperes at a potential of as high as 500 volts for an ultimate 100 kW/circuit transfer capability. The EU was evaluated in vacuum at dc transfer currents of 50 to 200 amperes at voltages to 10 volts and at 500 volts at 2 amperes. Power transfer to levels of 2 kW through each of the eight circuits was completed. Power transfer in vacuum at levels and efficiencies not previously achieved was demonstrated. The terminal-to-terminal resistance was measured to be greater than 0.42 milliohms which translates to an efficiency at 100 kW of 99.98 percent. The EU and TF have been delivered to the Lewis Research Center and are being prepared tor testing at increased power levels and for life testing, which will include both dc and ac power.

Jacobson, Peter E.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Optimal Experiment Design for Thermal Characterization of Functionally Graded Materials

The purpose of the project was to investigate methods to accurately verify that designed , materials meet thermal specifications. The project involved heat transfer calculations and optimization studies, and no laboratory experiments were performed. One part of the research involved study of materials in which conduction heat transfer predominates. Results include techniques to choose among several experimental designs, and protocols for determining the optimum experimental conditions for determination of thermal properties. Metal foam materials were also studied in which both conduction and radiation heat transfer are present. Results of this work include procedures to optimize the design of experiments to accurately measure both conductive and radiative thermal properties. Detailed results in the form of three journal papers have been appended to this report.

Cole, Kevin D.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Robust Control Design via Linear Programming

This paper deals with the problem of synthesizing or designing a feedback controller of fixed dynamic order. The closed loop specifications considered here are given in terms of a target performance vector representing a desired set of closed loop transfer functions connecting various signals. In general these point targets are unattainable with a fixed order controller. By enlarging the target from a fixed point set to an interval set the solvability conditions with a fixed order controller are relaxed and a solution is more easily enabled. Results from the parametric robust control literature can be used to design the interval target family so that the performance deterioration is acceptable, even when plant uncertainty is present. It is shown that it is possible to devise a computationally simple linear programming approach that attempts to meet the desired closed loop specifications.

Keel, L. H.↗