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At least 253 records · Page 14

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1974

Some injector element detail effects on screech in hydrogen-oxygen rockets

An experimental investigation was conducted to learn more about how the specific details of a concentric tube injection element affect the screech characteristics of a hydrogen-oxygen rocket engine. The four variables investigated were (1) impingement angle, (2) oxidizer tube blunt base thickness, (3) oxidizer tube recess and extension, and (4) oxidizer tube-annulus concentricity. Tests were made using a 27.34-cm (10.77-in.) diameter heat sink combustor at nominally 300-psia chamber pressure. All of the test variables were investigated using a 157 element circular pattern injector. Additional oxidizer tube recess tests were made with a 421 element hexagonal pattern injector. Tests were conducted over the oxidant-fuel ratio range of 4 to 6. Stability evaluation for each configuration was made using the hydrogen temperature rating technique. Several element configurations were also cold flow tested using nitrogen and water as simulants. The element detail changes resulted in changes in hydrogen injector pressure drop even though the physical injection area was constant for all similar tests in both hot firing and cold flow tests. These changes in injector pressure drop produced changes in combustion stability. The data were correlated with a modified version of a previously reported injection area ratio correlation. By interpreting changes in injector pressure drop as changes in injector hydrogen flow resistance, the data were compared with a hydrogen flow response stability model and were found to be in agreement.

Hannum, N. P.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Separate Flow Nozzle Test Status Meeting

NASA Glenn, in partnership with US industry, completed an exhaustive experimental study on jet noise reduction from separate flow nozzle exhaust systems. The study developed a data base on various bypass ratio nozzles, screened quietest configurations and acquired pertinent data for predicting the plume behavior and ultimately its corresponding jet noise. Several exhaust system configurations provided over 2.5 EPNdB jet noise reduction at take-off power. These data were disseminated to US aerospace industry in a conference hosted by NASA GRC whose proceedings are shown in this report.

Saiyed, Naseem H.↗

DOE OSTI2018

BOP-301 and BOP-302R: Test Definitions and Analyses

Following the conclusion of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) coordinated research project (CRP) on analysis of two EBR-II tests, Argonne has continued its EBR-II analysis with additional tests from the Shutdown Heat Removal Test (SHRT) series. The tests selected for this follow-up analysis are BOP-301 and BOP-302R, two unprotected loss of heat of sink tests in which the intermediate sodium pump tripped without scramming the control rods or tripping the primary pumps. The IAEA CRP focused on the SHRT-17 and SHRT-45R tests, the most severe protected and unprotected loss of flow tests performed during the SHRT series. With the primary pumps tripping, flow rates decreased to levels where flowmeter uncertainty was very high. Accurately capturing the progressions of the two tests despite this uncertainty was one of the key modeling and simulation challenges during the CRP. BOP-301 and BOP-302R were selected because the primary sodium pumps did not trip for those tests. Primary flow rate measurements are known with greater certainty. Power and temperature discrepancies can be explored without concern that flow predictions match test measurements but not the actual flow rates from the tests. These two tests were performed during the same test window as SHRT-45R and had the same core load configuration. Therefore, core models created for analysis of SHRT-45R were easily adapted for analysis of BOP-301 and BOP-302R. Another reason for analyzing BOP-301 and BOP-302R is to analyze tests in which the core inlet temperature changed significantly, which did not occur during the loss of flow tests. The transient progression of the unprotected SHRT-45R test was driven by a decreasing core flow rate while the core inlet temperature remained relatively constant. For the BOP tests, the transient progression was driven by an increasing core inlet temperature while the core flow rate was stable. This report defines the BOP-301 and BOP-302R tests and provides a selection of measured test data. Initial predictions from SAS4A/SASSYS-1 simulations of these tests are then presented. Following these simulations, additional analysis was performed with the Dakota uncertainty quantification and optimization toolkit to determine which parameters have the greater impact on the transient results and the optimal values of the most important parameters.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

NASA NTRS2007

Statistical Analysis of CFD Solutions from the Third AIAA Drag Prediction Workshop

The first AIAA Drag Prediction Workshop, held in June 2001, evaluated the results from an extensive N-version test of a collection of Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes CFD codes. The code-to-code scatter was more than an order of magnitude larger than desired for design and experimental validation of cruise conditions for a subsonic transport configuration. The second AIAA Drag Prediction Workshop, held in June 2003, emphasized the determination of installed pylon-nacelle drag increments and grid refinement studies. The code-to-code scatter was significantly reduced compared to the first DPW, but still larger than desired. However, grid refinement studies showed no significant improvement in code-to-code scatter with increasing grid refinement. The third Drag Prediction Workshop focused on the determination of installed side-of-body fairing drag increments and grid refinement studies for clean attached flow on wing alone configurations and for separated flow on the DLR-F6 subsonic transport model. This work evaluated the effect of grid refinement on the code-to-code scatter for the clean attached flow test cases and the separated flow test cases.

Statistical analysis↗

NASA NTRS2015

NASA Propulsion Concept Studies and Risk Reduction Activities for Resource Prospector Lander

The Resource Prospector mission is to investigate the Moon's polar regions in search of volatiles. The government-version lander concept for the mission is composed of a braking stage and a liquid-propulsion lander stage. A propulsion trade study concluded with a solid rocket motor for the braking stage while using the 4th-stage Peacekeeper (PK) propulsion components for the lander stage. The mechanical design of the liquid propulsion system was conducted in concert with the lander structure design. A propulsion cold-flow test article was fabricated and integrated into a lander development structure, and a series of cold flow tests were conducted to characterize the fluid transient behavior and to collect data for validating analytical models. In parallel, RS-34 PK thrusters to be used on the lander stage were hot-fire tested in vacuum conditions as part of risk reduction activities.

Trinh, Huu P.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SLS Ignition Overpressure-Sound Suppression System Performance Evaluated Against Historical Configurations

During the start-up of a number of launch vehicles that include solid rocket motor (SRM), the ignition transient and acoustic environments are mitigated by the implementation of a water spray system located immediately below the SRM nozzle exit plane (NEP). For NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), this water system is referred to as the Ignition Overpressure / Sound Suppression (IOP/SS) system. The SLS Induced Environments (IE) technical discipline conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the design and as-tested performance of the IOP/SS water that will operate underneath both Boosters during the Artemis I launch. As part of this evaluation, flow rates and imagery from a number of integrated launch pad / mobile launcher IOP/SS flow tests were studied. Additional insight was leveraged from the Shuttle heritage IOP/SS system that includes data and imagery from a number of Flight Readiness Firings (FRF) and water flow tests. Lastly, the IE study included a qualitive comparison of the Shuttle and SLS systems to the equivalent water flow systems for Titan and Atlas V and determined that the NASA water flow systems are substantially different than those supporting other launch vehicles.

Ignition Overpressure↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SLS Ignition Overpressure-Sound Suppression System Performance Evaluated Against Historical Configurations

Ignition Overpressure↗

NASA NTRS1972

Flowing gas, non-nuclear experiments on the gas core reactor

Flow tests were conducted on models of the gas core (cavity) reactor. Variations in cavity wall and injection configurations were aimed at establishing flow patterns that give a maximum of the nuclear criticality eigenvalue. Correlation with the nuclear effect was made using multigroup diffusion theory normalized by previous benchmark critical experiments. Air was used to simulate the hydrogen propellant in the flow tests, and smoked air, argon, or freon to simulate the central nuclear fuel gas. All tests were run in the down-firing direction so that gravitational effects simulated the acceleration effect of a rocket. Results show that acceptable flow patterns with high volume fraction for the simulated nuclear fuel gas and high flow rate ratios of propellant to fuel can be obtained. Using a point injector for the fuel, good flow patterns are obtained by directing the outer gas at high velocity along the cavity wall, using louvered or oblique-angle-honeycomb injection schemes.

Kunze, J. F.↗

DOE OSTI2011

Statistical Analysis of Low Flow Filter Efficiency Testing Results for Nuclear Material Storage Container Filters

Air filters designed to contain plutonium particulates while allowing hydrogen gas to escape are used in a variety of low flow rate applications in the nuclear industry. Examples include nuclear material storage containers, glove box bag-out bags and waste drums. Filter efficiency testing is essential to ensure filter performance, and yet the low testing flow rates present some challenges because the testing flow rates can be 5 to 6 orders of magnitude lower than those used to test large HEP A filter systems used in facility ventilation systems. Statistical analysis of low flow filter efficiency test results on nuclear material storage container filters has proven to be essential to ensure that the testing processes, test equipment, and filters meet the design requirements. This poster will describe the testing apparatus used to test nuclear material storage container filters and the use of statistical methods to analyze low flow filter efficiency test results.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

DOE OSTI2013

Summary Report on the Testing of Flow Formed 3013 Outer Containers Manufactured by Dynamic Flowform Inc. as a Supplement to SRS Requirement G-ESR-G000035 Item 7, Container Configuration

The following tests were conducted on containers and storage packages produced from components manufactured by Dynamic Flowform Inc. (DFF). 1) Burst, and 2) Drop. All of the tested containers exhibited burst pressures that were well in excess of the minimum specified design pressure. The tested storage packages remained leak-tight after being dropped from a height of nine meters. Test results demonstrate that the outer containers made from components manufactured by DFF are in compliance with requirements specified in DOE STD 3013 and G-ESR-G-00035. These containers are acceptable for use by LANL for the ARIES Oxide Production (OP) project. This report supplements the information submitted by LANL relative to item 7 previously approved in 2007 to meet the requirements outlined in G-ESR-G-00035. The outer containers, addressed by this report, were produced by DFF using a different manufacturing process than described in drawings and specifications in appendix A of G-ESR-G-00035. LANL is submitting this supplemental item 7 for approval to use the DFF containers for ARIES OP. The DFF containers will be limited to use with ARIES OP material meeting the innocuous definition as outlined in LA-UR-11-04417.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2000

A Solution Adaptive Technique Using Tetrahedral Unstructured Grids

An adaptive unstructured grid refinement technique has been developed and successfully applied to several three dimensional inviscid flow test cases. The method is based on a combination of surface mesh subdivision and local remeshing of the volume grid Simple functions of flow quantities are employed to detect dominant features of the flowfield The method is designed for modular coupling with various error/feature analyzers and flow solvers. Several steady-state, inviscid flow test cases are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the method for solving practical three-dimensional problems. In all cases, accurate solutions featuring complex, nonlinear flow phenomena such as shock waves and vortices have been generated automatically and efficiently.

Pirzadeh, Shahyar Z.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Orifice In-flow Efficiency Tests. Volume 1: Test Results. Volume 2: Application to Shuttle Venting During Entry

An investigation was made of the capability for computing internal pressures throughout flight for compartments located within space shuttle vehicles. A test program was conducted at a 6 x 6 foot supersonic wind tunnel to determine orifice efficiencies for the flow of air into a compartment from a flowing external stream. Measurements were made over a Mach number range of 0.7 to 1.9 for varying orifice geometry, vent orientation, vent plate thickness, flat plate boundary layer thickness, and pressure ratio across the vent plate. A computer program developed for outflow venting was modified for use in computing compartment pressures for inflow conditions. Results from both the outflow and inflow computer programs are included. A user's manual and program listing of the inflow venting program are also included.

Haukohl, J.↗

DOE OSTI2019

EGS Collab Experiment 1: Microseismic Monitoring

The U.S. Department of Energy's Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) Collab project aims to improve our understanding of hydraulic stimulations in crystalline rock for enhanced geothermal energy production through execution of intensely monitored meso-scale experiments. The first experiment is being performed at the 4850 ft level of the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), approximately 1.5 km below the surface at Lead, South Dakota. Here we report on microseismic monitoring of repeated stimulation experiments and subsequent flow tests between two boreholes in the Poorman Formation. Stimulations were performed at several locations in the designated injection borehole at flow rates from 0.1 to 5 L/min over temporal durations from minutes to hours. Microseismic monitoring was performed using a dense 3D sensor array including two cemented hydrophone strings with 12 sensors at 1.75 m spacing accompanied by 18 3-C accelerometers, deployed in 6 monitoring boreholes, completely surrounding the stimulation region. Continuous records were obtained over a two-month period using a novel dual recording system consisting of a conventional 96 channel exploration seismograph and a high-performance 64 channel digitizer sampling sensors at 4 and 100 kHz respectively. Using a standard STA/LTA triggering algorithm, we detected thousands of microseismic events with recorded energy in a frequency range generally above 3 kHz and up to 40 kHz. The locations of these events are consistent with creation of a hydraulic fracture and additional reactivation of pre-existing structures. Using manual pick refinement and double-difference relocation we are able to track the fracture growth to high precision. We estimate the times and locations of the fracture intersecting a monitoring and the production borehole using microseismic events. They are in excellent agreement with independent measurements using distributed temperature sensing, in-situ strain observations and measurements of conductivity changes. This submission includes a microearthquake catalog, raw event files, a subset of the continuous microseismic monitoring data collected during stimulations and flow test activity on 05/22/2018, 05/23/2018, 05/24/2018, 05/25/2018, 06/25/2018, 07/19/2018, 07/20/2018, 12/7/2018, 12/20/2018, and 12/21/2018 (in binary format), and a binary file interpreter to read the continuous microseismic monitoring data. A Stanford Geothermal Workshop paper is also included to describe microseismic monitoring activities at SURF during these periods.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS2016

Passive Rocket Diffuser Testing: Reacting Flow Performance of Four Second-Throat Geometries

Second-throat diffusers serve to isolate rocket engines from the effects of ambient back pressure. As one of the nation's largest rocket testing facilities, the performance and design limitations of diffusers are of great interest to NASA's Stennis Space Center. This paper describes a series of tests conducted on four diffuser configurations to better understand the effects of inlet geometry and throat area on starting behavior and boundary layer separation. The diffusers were tested for a duration of five seconds with a 1455-pound thrust, LO2/GH2 thruster to ensure they each reached aerodynamic steady state. The effects of a water spray ring at the diffuser exits and a water-cooled deflector plate were also evaluated. Static pressure and temperature measurements were taken at multiple axial locations along the diffusers, and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were used as a tool to aid in the interpretation of data. The hot combustion products were confirmed to enable the diffuser start condition with tighter second throats than predicted by historical cold-flow data or the theoretical normal shock method. Both aerodynamic performance and heat transfer were found to increase with smaller diffuser throats. Spray ring and deflector cooling water had negligible impacts on diffuser boundary layer separation. CFD was found to accurately capture diffuser shock structures and full-flowing diffuser wall pressures, and the qualitative behavior of heat transfer. However, the ability to predict boundary layer separated flows was not consistent.

Jones, Daniel R.↗

DOE OSTI2020

A high-pressure flow through test vessel for neutron imaging and neutron diffraction-based strain measurement of geological materials

Neutron scattering and neutron imaging have emerged as powerful methods for experimentally investigating material deformation and fluid flow in the interior of otherwise inaccessible or opaque structures. This paper describes the design and provides example uses of a pressure cell developed for investigating such behaviors within geological materials. The cell can accommodate cylindrical samples with diameters up to 38.1 mm and lengths up to 154 mm. Additionally, ports in the cell and a pressure isolating sleeve around the sample allow the independent application of confining pressure up to 69 MPa and axial pressure up to 34.5 MPa. Furthermore, two material versions of the cell have been manufactured and used to date. An aluminum version is typically used for temperatures below 40 °C, because of its relative transparency to neutrons, while a titanium version, which is comparatively more neutron attenuating, is used for experiments requiring triaxial pressurization under conditions up to 350 °C. The pressure cells were commissioned at the VULCAN engineering diffractometer at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Spallation Neutron Source, and have since been used at the ORNL high flux isotope reactor CG1-D imaging beamline, National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) BT-2, and NIST NG6 imaging beamlines.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS2011

Characterization of Deficiencies in the Frequency Domain Forced Response Analysis Technique for Supersonic Turbine Bladed Disks

Turbine blades in rocket and jet engine turbomachinery experience enormous harmonic loading conditions. These loads result from the integer number of upstream and downstream stator vanes as well as the other turbine stages. Assessing the blade structural integrity is a complex task requiring an initial characterization of whether resonance is possible and then performing a forced response analysis if that condition is met. The standard technique for forced response analysis in rocket engines is to decompose a CFD-generated flow field into its harmonic components, and to then perform a frequency response analysis at the problematic natural frequencies. Recent CFD analysis and water-flow testing at NASA/MSFC, though, indicates that this technique may miss substantial harmonic and non-harmonic excitation sources that become present in complex flows. A substantial effort has been made to account for this denser spatial Fourier content in frequency response analysis (described in another paper by the author), but the question still remains whether the frequency response analysis itself is capable of capturing the excitation content sufficiently. Two studies comparing frequency response analysis with transient response analysis, therefore, of bladed-disks undergoing this complex flow environment have been performed. The first is of a bladed disk with each blade modeled by simple beam elements. Six loading cases were generated by varying a baseline harmonic excitation in different ways based upon cold-flow testing from Heritage Fuel Air Turbine Test. It was hypothesized that the randomness and other variation from the standard harmonic excitation would reduce the blade structural response, but the results showed little reduction. The second study was of a realistic model of a bladed-disk excited by the same CFD used in the J2X engine program. It was hypothesized that enforcing periodicity in the CFD (inherent in the frequency response technique) would overestimate the response. The results instead showed that the transient analysis results were up to 10% higher for "clean" nodal diameter excitations and six times larger for "messy" excitations, where substantial Fourier content around the main harmonic exists. Because the bulk of resonance problems are due to the "clean" excitations, a 10% underprediction is not necessarily a problem, especially since the average response in the transient is similar to the frequency response result, and so in a realistic finite life calculation, the life would be same. However, in the rare cases when the "messy" excitations harmonics are identified as the source of potential resonance concerns, this research does indicate that frequency response analysis is inadequate for accurate characterization of blade structural capability.

Brown, Andrew M.↗

DOE OSTI2011

Use of Melt Flow Rate Test in Reliability Study of Thermoplastic Encapsulation Materials in Photovoltaic Modules

Use of thermoplastic materials as encapsulants in photovoltaic (PV) modules presents a potential concern in terms of high temperature creep, which should be evaluated before thermoplastics are qualified for use in the field. Historically, the issue of creep has been avoided by using thermosetting polymers as encapsulants, such as crosslinked ethylene-co-vinyl acetate (EVA). Because they lackcrosslinked networks, however, thermoplastics may be subject to phase transitions and visco-elastic flow at the temperatures and mechanical stresses encountered by modules in the field, creating the potential for a number of reliability and safety issues. Thermoplastic materials investigated in this study include PV-grade uncured-EVA (without curing agents and therefore not crosslinked);polyvinyl butyral (PVB); thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU); and three polyolefins (PO), which have been proposed for use as PV encapsulation. Two approaches were used to evaluate the performance of these materials as encapsulants: module-level testing and a material-level testing.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DOE OSTI2019

Application of Strain Gages in a Highly Advective Environment for Measurement of Fluid-Structure Interactions

A multi-year experimental program has been conducted to develop a program for applying strain gages to prototypic, plate-type fuel for high performance research reactors for use during flow testing. Plate strain measurements were intended to support the qualification of new fuel materials for use in high performance research reactors under the Materials Management and Minimization (MMM) Fuels Qualification Program (FQP). A survey of currently available strain gaging materials and processes was undertaken with a focus on applications towards thin, wide aspect ratio flow channels and fuel plates exposed to high velocity flows. Special consideration was taken to minimize the effect of the strain gage installations on the flow field. This test program has resulted in the selection of appropriate strain gage construction, adhesives, protective coatings, and assembly techniques to allow the real-time acquisition of plate strain during flow testing of the Generic Test Plate Assembly (GTPA) within the Oregon State University (OSU) Hydro-Mechanical Fuel Test Facility (HMFTF). All processes have been documented in procedures developed and utilized within the ASME NQA-1 compliant quality assurance program under which the HMFTF operates. Matrix testing has been completed using the results of this work with successful measurement of plate deformation due to hydraulic loading during flow testing.

Weiss, Aaron↗