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At least 217 records · Page 12

Crashworthy airframe design concepts: Fabrication and testing

Crashworthy floor concepts applicable to general aviation aircraft metal airframe structures were investigated. Initially several energy absorbing lower fuselage structure concepts were evaluated. Full scale floor sections representative of a twin engine, general aviation airplane lower fuselage structure were designed and fabricated. The floors featured an upper high strength platform with an energy absorbing, crushable structure underneath. Eighteen floors were fabricated that incorporated five different crushable subfloor concepts. The floors were then evaluated through static and dynamic testing. Computer programs NASTRAN and KRASH were used for the static and dynamic analysis of the floor section designs. Two twin engine airplane fuselages were modified to incorporate the most promising crashworthy floor sections for test evaluation.

Cronkhite, J. D.↗

Initial design concepts for solid boron injection in ITER

As part of ITER’s consideration to change its first wall material from beryllium to tungsten, the ITER Organization has proposed studying the feasibility of real-time solid boron injection (SBI) into the plasma to coat the walls and divertor to supplement glow discharge boronization (GDB). Boron deposits getter oxygen and reduce sputtering of tungsten from plasma facing components (PFCs). Particularly in areas with significant plasma wall interactions, boron coatings are expected to be short-lived under high performance plasma conditions. The proposed SBI system aims to maintain boron layers in these areas to avoid excessive radiation from tungsten in the plasma as a risk mitigation to ensure ITER will be able to reach and sustain Q = 10 conditions. The system will be used sparingly, as redeposition of boron can lead to significant tritium retention, which must be minimized in ITER to comply with nuclear safety concerns. SBI is proposed to limit and precisely control the amount of boron injected in real-time during plasma operation. Here, some of the design requirements and initial concepts for an SBI system in ITER are presented based on previous results carried out with SBI systems on a number of tokamaks and stellarators around the world. Previous results using SBI systems installed by PPPL have injected boron particles from 5 µm–2 mm diameter at calibrated rates of 2–200 mg/s in real-time during plasma operation on AUG, DIII-D, EAST, KSTAR, LHD, TFTR, WEST, and W7-X, leading to improved wall conditions with reduced plasma impurity concentrations and radiated power and improved plasma performance. The boron is ionized in the plasma edge and then deposited on plasma-wetted surfaces. On AUG, EAST and WEST reduced tungsten sputtering sources were observed following several discharges with SBI. Extrapolation of these SBI results are presented to estimate the amount of boron needed for wall conditioning in ITER. Real-time SBI control requirements and plasma operation scenarios for ITER are also described.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Closed-pore Insulation Thermal Protection System Design Concept Development

The development of a unique closed-pore ceramic foam insulation (CPI) produced from low cost fly ash cenospheres is reported for space shuttle external thermal protection. Two basic design approaches were developed: bonded and mechanically fastened. A description of the concepts is presented in addition to fabrication and test results.

Varisco, A.↗

Turbine blade root design concept promises superior alignment

Blade-to-hub mounting concept assures excellent alignment integrity and results in elimination of some welding problems associated with designs. With this design, if rework is required, blade removal and replacement may be readily accomplished without damage to blade positioning media on the wheel hub.

King, O. D.↗

Arrow-wing supersonic cruise aircraft structural design concepts evaluation. Volume 2: Sections 7 through 11

The materials and advanced producibility methods that offer potential structural mass savings in the design of the primary structure for a supersonic cruise aircraft are identified and reported. A summary of the materials and fabrication techniques selected for this analytical effort is presented. Both metallic and composite material systems were selected for application to a near-term start-of-design technology aircraft. Selective reinforcement of the basic metallic structure was considered as the appropriate level of composite application for the near-term design.

Sakata, I. F.↗

Design concept for a second interaction region for the Electron-Ion Collider

In addition to the day-one primary Interaction Region (IR), the design of the Electron Ion Collider (EIC) must support operation of a 2nd IR potentially added later. The 2nd IR is envisioned in an existing experimental hall at RHIC IP8, compatible with the same beam energy combinations as the 1st IR over the full center of mass energy range of ~20 GeV to ~140 GeV. The 2nd IR is designed to be complementary to the 1st IR. In particular, a secondary focus is added in the forward ion direction of the 2nd IR hadron beamline to optimize its capability in detecting particles with magnetic rigidities close to those of the ion beam. We provide the current design status of the 2nd IR in terms of parameters, magnet layout and beam dynamics.

Gamage, B. R.↗

Design concept for an optimized earth radiation budget sensor

The Earth Radiation Budget Program has the objective to measure and model the terrestrial radiation budget and obtain a better understanding of the climate and its changes. A multisensor, multisatellite system with high and midinclination orbits will be needed for implementing this program. Various approaches for conducting sensing operations have been evaluated. The present investigation considers a method of sampling with a unique multidirectional array mosaic sensor to fulfill the requirements of earth radiation budget measurements. Previous and present generation earth radiation budget (ERB) satellite instruments are discussed, and attention is given to instrument design tradeoffs and the baseline instrument concept.

Carman, S. L.↗

Arrow-wing supersonic cruise aircraft structural design concepts evaluation. Volume 4: Sections 15 through 21

The analyses performed to provide structural mass estimates for the arrow wing supersonic cruise aircraft are presented. To realize the full potential for structural mass reduction, a spectrum of approaches for the wing and fuselage primary structure design were investigated. The objective was: (1) to assess the relative merits of various structural arrangements, concepts, and materials; (2) to select the structural approach best suited for the Mach 2.7 environment; and (3) to provide construction details and structural mass estimates based on in-depth structural design studies. Production costs, propulsion-airframe integration, and advanced technology assessment are included.

Sakata, I. F.↗

An aerodynamic assessment of various supersonic fighter airplanes based on Soviet design concepts

The aerodynamic, stability, and control characteristics of several supersonic fighter airplane concepts were assessed. The configurations include fixed-wing airplanes having delta wings, swept wings, and trapezoidal wings, and variable wing-sweep airplanes. Each concept employs aft tail controls. The concepts vary from lightweight, single engine, air superiority, point interceptor, or ground attack types to larger twin-engine interceptor and reconnaissance designs. Results indicate that careful application of the transonic or supersonic area rule can provide nearly optimum shaping for minimum drag for a specified Mach number requirement. Through the proper location of components and the exploitation of interference flow fields, the concepts provide linear pitching moment characteristics, high control effectiveness, and reasonably small variations in aerodynamic center location with a resulting high potential for maneuvering capability. By careful attention to component shaping and location and through the exploitation of local flow fields, favorable roll-to-yaw ratios may result and a high degree of directional stability can be achieved.

Spearman, M. L.↗

Design concept (milestone 2) for space vehicle entry and landing navigation programs

Detailed specifications and functional flow diagrams for space vehicle entry and landing navigation programs are reported. General design criteria, overall functions, and interfaces between the following three programs are considered: external observations program, noisy observations program, and navigation analysis program.

Diamant, L. S.↗

Design concepts for a high-impedance narrow-band 42 GHz power TWT using a fundamental/forward ladder-based circuit

A low-cost, narrowband, millimeter wave space communications TWT design was studied. Cold test interaction structure scale models were investigated and analyses were undertaken to predict the electrical and thermal response of the hypothetical 200 W TWT at 42 GHz and 21 kV beam voltage. An intentionally narrow instantaneous bandwidth (1%, with the possibility of electronic tuning of the center frequency over several percent) was sought with a highly dispersive, high impedance "forward wave' interaction structure based on a ladder (for economy in fabrication) and nonspace harmonic interaction, for a high gain rate and a short, economically focused tube. The "TunneLadder' interaction structure devised combines ladder properties with accommodation for a pencil beam. Except for the impedance and bandwidth, there is much in common with the millimeter wave helix TWTs which provided the ideal of diamond support rods. The benefits of these are enhanced in the TunneLadder case because of spatial separation of beam interception and RF current heating.

Karp, A.↗

Solid state sandwich concept: Designs, considerations and issues

Progress in analysis and design of solid state approaches to the solar power satellite microwave power transmission system is reviewed with special emphasis on the Sandwich concept and the issues of maintenance of low junction temperatures for amplifiers to assure acceptable lifetime. Ten specific issues or considerations are discussed and their resolution or status is presented.

Maynard, O. E.↗

Design Concepts Studied for the Hydrogen On-Orbit Storage and Supply Experiment

The NASA Lewis Research Center, in conjunction with the Utah State University Space Dynamics Laboratory, studied concepts for the Hydrogen On-Orbit Storage and Supply Experiment (HOSS). HOSS is a space flight experiment whose objectives are (1) to show stable gas supply for solar-thermal thruster designs by using both storage and direct-gain approaches and (2) to evaluate and compare the low-gravity performance of active and passive pressure control via a thermodynamic vent system (TVS) suitable for solar-thermal upper stages. This study showed that the necessary experimental equipment for HOSS can be accommodated in a small hydrogen Dewar (36 to 80 liter). Thermal designs can be achieved that meet the on-orbit storage requirements for these Dewars. Furthermore, ground hold insulation concepts are easily achieved that can store liquid hydrogen in these small Dewars for more than 144 hr without venting.

Chato, David J.↗

Design concepts to improve high performance solar simulator

By improving several important components of the well known off-axis solar simulator system, a considerable step forward was made. The careful mathematical studies on the optics and the thermal side of the problem lead to a highly efficient system with low operational costs and a high reliability. The actual performance of the simulator is significantly better than the specified one, and the efficiency is outstanding. No more than 12 lamps operating at 18 kW are required to obtain one Solar Constant in the 6 m beam. It is now known that by using sophisticated optics, even larger facilities of high performance can be designed without leaving the proven off-axis concept and using a spherical mirror. Using high performance optics is a means of reducing costs at a given size of beam because the number of lamps is one of the most cost driving factors in the construction of a solar simulator.

Juranek, H. J.↗

Experimental evaluation of shape memory alloy actuation technique in adaptive antenna design concepts

Creation of an antenna system that could autonomously adapt contours of reflecting surfaces to compensate for structural loads induced by a variable environment would maximize performance of space-based communication systems. Design of such a system requires the comprehensive development and integration of advanced actuator, sensor, and control technologies. As an initial step in this process, a test has been performed to assess the use of a shape memory alloy as a potential actuation technique. For this test, an existing, offset, cassegrain antenna system was retrofit with a subreflector equipped with shape memory alloy actuators for surface contour control. The impacts that the actuators had on both the subreflector contour and the antenna system patterns were measured. The results of this study indicate the potential for using shape memory alloy actuation techniques to adaptively control antenna performance; both variations in gain and beam steering capabilities were demonstrated. Future development effort is required to evolve this potential into a useful technology for satellite applications.

Kefauver, W. Neill↗

Status and Design Concepts for the Hydrogen On-Orbit Storage and Supply Experiment

This paper studies concepts for the Hydrogen On-Orbit Storage and Supply Experiment (HOSS). HOSS is a space flight experiment whose objectives are: Show stable gas supply for storage and direct gain solar-thermal thruster designs; and evaluate and compare low-g performance of active and passive pressure control via a thermodynamic vent system (TVS) suitable for solar-thermal upper stages. This paper shows that the necessary experimental equipment for HOSS can be accommodated in a small hydrogen dewar of 36 to 80 liter. Thermal designs for these dewars which meet the on-orbit storage requirements can be achieved. Furthermore ground hold insulation and shielding concepts are achieved which enable storing initially subcooled liquid hydrogen in these small dewars without venting in excess of 144 hours.

Chato, David J.↗

Design concepts of high power bipolar rechargeable lithium battery

The present study shows that current bipolar Li/TiS2 batteries using a 0.38 mm thick TiS2 bipolar plate can yield moderate specific power and also high specific energy battery. The computer design studies project that a 100 V, 10 A h bipolar Li/TiS2 battery can achieve 150 W h/kg, 210 W h/l, and 150 W/kg. The unoptimized experimental bipolar Li/TiS2 batteries (3 cells, 90 mA h) exhibited 47 W h/kg, 90 W h/l, and 140 W/kg. Preliminary results on the cycleability of the bipolar batteries are demonstrated. The results also show that enhanced rate capability can be achieved by using pulse discharge and longer rest period between pulses.

Shen, David H.↗