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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Pulsed plasmoid electric propulsion

A method of electric propulsion is explored where plasmoids such as spheromaks and field reversed configurations (FRC) are formed and then allowed to expand down a diverging conducting shell. The plasmoids contain a toroidal electric current that provides both heating and a confining magnetic field. They are free to translate because there are no externally supplied magnetic fields that would restrict motion. Image currents in the diverging conducting shell keep the plasmoids from contacting the wall. Because these currents translate relative to the wall, losses due to magnetic flux diffusion into the wall are minimized. During the expansion of the plasma in the diverging cone, both the inductive and thermal plasma energy are converted to directed kinetic energy producing thrust. Specific impulses can be in the 4000 to 20000 sec range with thrusts from 0.1 to 1000 Newtons, depending on available power.

Bourque, Robert F.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Impact of Ring Current Ions on Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Wave Dispersion Relation

Effect of the ring current ions in the real part of electromagnetic ion Cyclotron wave dispersion relation is studied on global scale. Recent Cluster observations by Engebretson et al. showed that although the temperature anisotropy of is energetic (> 10 keV) ring current protons was high during the entire 22 November 2003 perigee pass, electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves were observed only in conjunction with intensification of the ion fluxes below 1 keV by over an order of magnitude. To study the effect of the ring current ions on the wave dispersive properties and the corresponding global wave redistribution, we use a self-consistent model of interacting ring current and electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves, and simulate the May 1998 storm. The main findings of our simulation can be summarized as follows: First, the plasma density enhancement in the night MLT sector during the main and recovery storm phases is mostly caused by injection of suprathermal plasma sheet H + (approximately < 1 keV), which dominate the thermal plasma density. Second, during the recovery storm phases, the ring current modification of the wave dispersion relation leads to a qualitative change of the wave patterns in the postmidnight-dawn sector for L > 4.75. This "new" wave activity is well organized by outward edges of dense suprathermal ring current spots, and the waves are not observed if the ring current ions are not included in the real part of dispersion relation. Third, the most intense wave-induced ring current precipitation is located in the night MLT sector and caused by modification of the wave dispersion relation. The strongest precipitating fluxes of about 8 X 10(exp 6)/ (cm(exp 2) - s X st) are found near L=5.75, MLT=2 during the early recovery phase on 4 May. Finally, the nightside precipitation is more intense than the dayside fluxes, even if there are less intense waves, because the convection field moves ring current ions into the loss cone on the nightside, but drives them out of the loss cone on the dayside. So convection and wave scattering reinforce each other in the nightside, but interfere in the dayside sector.

Khazanov, G. V.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Electric Field Observations of Plasma Convection, Shear, Alfven Waves, and other Phenomena Observed on Sounding Rockets in the Cusp and Boundary Layer

On December 14,2002, a NASA Black Brant X sounding rocket was launched equatorward from Ny Alesund, Spitzbergen (79 N) into the dayside cusp and subsequently cut across the open/closed field line boundary, reaching an apogee of771 km. The launch occurred during Bz negative conditions with strong By negative that was changing during the flight. SuperDarn (CUTLASS) radar and subsequent model patterns reveal a strong westward/poleward convection, indicating that the rocket traversed a rotational reversal in the afternoon merging cell. The payload returned DC electric and magnetic fields, plasma waves, energetic particle, suprathermal electron and ion, and thermal plasma data. We provide an overview of the main observations and focus on the DC electric field results, comparing the measured E x B plasma drifts in detail with the CUTLASS radar observations of plasma drifts gathered simultaneously in the same volume. The in situ DC electric fields reveal steady poleward flows within the cusp with strong shears at the interface of the closed/open field lines and within the boundary layer. We use the observations to discuss ionospheric signatures of the open/closed character of the cusp/low latitude boundary layer as a function of the IMF. The electric field and plasma density data also reveal the presence of very strong plasma irregularities with a large range of scales (10 m to 10 km) that exist within the open field line cusp region yet disappear when the payload was equatorward of the cusp on closed field lines. These intense low frequency wave observations are consistent with strong scintillations observed on the ground at Ny Alesund during the flight. We present detailed wave characteristics and discuss them in terms of Alfven waves and static irregularities that pervade the cusp region at all altitudes.

Pfaff, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Thermal ion heating in the vicinity of the plasmapause

The response of ion thermal structure to geomagnetic activity and its relationship to thermal plasma density structure, was studied. Investigations include: response of plasmaspheric thermal structure to geomagnetic activity; response of the plasmapause temperature gradient to geomagnetic activity; correspondence between ionospheric electron temperatures and plasmaspheric ion temperatures; structure of the plasma pause density gradient; and heating near the equatorial plasmapause.

Comfort, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Wave and plasma observations during a compressional Pc 5 wave event August 10, 1982

Magnetometer and thermal plasma instruments on the polar-orbiting Dynamics Explorer 1 satellite observed a small-amplitude ultralow frequency pulsation event at the outer edge of the plasmapause near the geomagnetic equator in the midafternoon sector on August 10, 1982, during the recovery phase of a magnetic storm. Transverse pulsations of 30-50 s period were observed throughout the event, and a 270-s period, purely compressional Pc 5 pulsation with several shifts in phase occurred within + or - 5 deg of the geomagnetic equator. Electric fields and the motion of thermal ions appeared to be in quadrature with pulsations in magnetic field magnitude throughout the event. This suggests that the net Poynting flux for the compressional waves was zero, consistent with their being standing waves. Large fluxes of trapped 90 deg pitch angle 10-eV protons, also symmetric about the geomagnetic equator, were observed in conjunction with the waves. These may serve as a source of free energy for the pulsations. These observations lend support to recent studies suggesting that many dayside compressional wave events are related to localized field line resonance near plasmapauselike boundaries, but also include features that cannot be explained by existing theories.

Engebretson, M. J.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Quarkonium transport in weakly and strongly coupled plasmas

We report on progress in the nonperturbative understanding of quarkonium dynamics inside a thermal plasma. The time evolution of small-size quarkonium is governed by two-point correlation functions of chromoelectric fields dressed with an adjoint Wilson line, known in this context as generalized gluon distributions (GGDs). The GGDs have been calculated in both weakly and strongly coupled plasmas by using perturbative and holographic methods. Strikingly, the results of our calculations for a strongly coupled plasma indicate that the quarkonium dissociation and recombination rates vanish in the transport descriptions that assume quarkonium undergoes Markovian dynamics. However, this does not imply that the dynamics is trivial. As a starting point to explore the phenomenological consequences of the result at strong coupling, we show a calculation of the Y(1 S ) formation probability in time-dependent perturbation theory. This is a first step towards the development of a transport formalism that includes non-Markovian effects, which, depending on how close the as of yet undetermined nonperturbative QCD result of the GGDs is to the strongly coupled N = 4 SYM result, could very well dominate over the Markovian ones in quark-gluon plasma produced at RHIC and the LHC.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Magnetospheric space plasma investigations

Topics and investigations covering this period of this semiannual report period (August 1994 - January 1995) are as follows: (1) Generalized SemiKinetic (GSK) modeling of the synergistic interaction of transverse heating of ionospheric ions and magnetospheric plasma-driven electric potentials on the auroral plasma transport. Also, presentations of GSK modeling of auroral electron precipitation effects on ionospheric plasma outflows, of ExB effects on such outflow, and on warm plasma thermalization and other effects during refilling with pre-existing warm plasmas; (2) Referees' reports received on the statistical study of the latitudinal distributions of core plasmas along the L = 4.6 field line using DE-1/RIMS data. Other work is concerned in the same field, field-aligned flows and trapped ion distributions; and (3) A short study has been carried out on heating processes in low density flux tubes in the outer plasmasphere. The purpose was to determine whether the high ion temperatures observed in these flux tubes were due to heat sources operating through the thermal electrons or directly to the ions. Other investigations center along the same area of plasmasphere-ionosphere coupling. The empirical techniques and model, the listing of hardware calibrated, and/or tested, and a description of notable meetings attended is included in this report, along with a list of all present publication in submission or accepted and those reference papers that have resulted from this work thus far.

Comfort, Richard H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Induced gyroresonant emission of extraordinary mode radiation

Induced amplification of extraordinary-mode electromagnetic waves in a magnetized plasma is investigated. The analysis is performed for a plasma which consists of two components: a relatively dense species of thermal plasma and a diffuse population of suprathermal electrons characterized by a loss cone-type distribution. The excitation mechanism is primarily due to the interaction of the electromagnetic waves with the energetic electrons via the relativistic cyclotron resonance which arises because of the momentum dependence of the gyrofrequency. The present study is particularly concerned with waves propagating perpendicularly and nearly perpendicularly with respect to the external magnetic field, since it is expected that for these cases the cyclotron damping due to thermal electrons is vanishingly small and the growth rates are maximum. The results indicate that excitation occurs primarily for frequencies near the first two gyroharmonics.

Freund, H. P.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Chandra Observations of a Young Embedded Magnetic B Star in the p Ophiuchus Cloud

This paper reports the analysis of two Chandra X-ray observations of the young magnetic B star rho Ophiuchus S1. X-ray emission from the star was detected in both observations. The average flux is almost the same in both, but during each observation the flux shows significant time variations by a factor of two on timescales of 20-40 ksec. Each spectrum can be fit by either an absorbed power law model with a photon index of approx. -3 or a thin-thermal plasma model with a temperature of approx. 2 keV and an extremely low metal abundance (approx. less than 0.1 solar). The spectrum of the first observation has an apparent line feature at about 6.8 keV, which likely corresponds to highly ionized iron K alpha. In contrast, the spectrum of the second observation shows an anomalous edge absorption component at E approx. 1 keV. The continuum emission and log (L(sub X)/L(sub bol)) approx. -6 are similar to those of young intermediate-mass stars (Herbig Ae/Be stars) although the presence of the magnetic field inferred from the detection of non-thermal radio emission has drawn an analogy between rho Ophiuchus S1 and magnetic chemically peculiar (MCP) stars. If the X-ray emission is thermal, the highest plasma temperature observed is too high to be explained by the conventional theories of magnetic stars, and favors some kind of magnetic dynamo activity, while if the emission is nonthermal, it might be related to mass infall. The 6.8 keV line and 4 keV edge features are marginal but they give important information near the stellar body if they are real. Their physical interpretation is discussed.

Hamaguchi, Kenji↗
NASA NTRS1986

Chromospheric explosions

Three issues relative to chromospheric explosions were debated. (1) Resolved: The blue-shifted components of x-ray spectral lines are signatures of chromospheric evaporation. It was concluded that the plasma rising with the corona is indeed the primary source of thermal plasma observed in the corona during flares. (2) Resolved: The excess line broading of UV and X-ray lines is accounted for by a convective velocity distribution in evaporation. It is concluded that the hypothesis that convective evaporation produces the observed X-ray line widths in flares is no more than a hypothesis. It is not supported by any self-consistent physical theory. (3) Resolved: Most chromospheric heating is driven by electron beams. Although it is possible to cast doubt on many lines of evidence for electron beams in the chromosphere, a balanced view that debaters on both sides of the question might agree to is that electron beams probably heat the low corona and upper chromosphere, but their direct impact on evaporating the chromosphere is energetically unimportant when compared to conduction. This represents a major departure from the thick-target flare models that were popular before the Workshop.

Doschek, G. A.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Outer planets; Proceedings of Symposium 4 and the Topical Meeting of the 27th COSPAR Plenary Meeting, Espoo, Finland, July 18-29, 1988

Various papers on the magnetospheres, atmospheres, satellites, and rings of the outer planets are presented. Individual topics addressed include: thermal plasma in outer planet magnetospheres, neutral gas-plasma interaction in the Io plasma torus, satellite-plasma interactions, comparison of planetary magnetic fields, energization process of trapped particles in outer planets, remote sensing of planetary plasma, comparison of the deep atmospheres of the giant planets, seasonal thermal structure of giant planet atmospheres, CCD imaging of Neptune at methane-band wavelengths, physical parameters for the Uranus atmosphere, Uranus photochemistry, Uranus electroglow production, vibrationally excited H2 in Saturn's upper atmosphere, Titan, origin of outer planet satellite systems, microphysical modeling of Titan's aerosols, tectonics of icy satellites, geological evolution of Ganymede, photometric techniques for atmosphereless solar system bodies, the new rings, narrow rings, and time variability of the Jovian system.

Johnson, T. V.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Decomposition of methane diluted with inert gas in an RF discharge cell

Decomposition of methane using non-thermal plasmas is an attractive route for producing hydrogen-rich gases and valuable carbon nanomaterials. Understanding how plasma discharge modes influence methane decomposition in optimizing plasma-assisted chemical conversion remains unexplored. This study explores the coupling between the discharge structure and product selectivity in RF capacitively coupled discharges operating in methane/inert gas mixtures in the pressure range of 2–3 torr. Under our experimental conditions the discharge exhibits mode transitions from uniform to striated in Ar and Kr and from diffuse to contracted in Ar and Kr with <5% CH 4 . The discharges in He and Ne remained uniform under our operating conditions, and their mixtures with CH 4 remained diffuse. A 0-d model for Ar/CH 4 discharge established a threshold for contraction while also asserting the importance of Ar$^{*}_{\textrm{m}}$ in the dissociation and ionization processes. The highest degree of methane decomposition, >99.7% with the main products of acetylene and graphitized solid carbon was achieved in the contracted discharge mode for both Kr or Ar with ⩽5% CH 4 . We demonstrate that contraction can play a crucial role in the effective decomposition of methane with value-added products and that both the electronic and thermal properties of plasma gas are responsible for this effect.

RF plasma↗
NASA NTRS1980

Pioneer Venus Orbiter planar retarding potential analyzer plasma experiment

The retarding potential analyzer (RPA) on the Pioneer Venus Orbiter Mission measures most of the thermal plasma parameters within and near the Venusian ionosphere. Parameters include total ion concentration, concentrations of the more abundant ions, ion temperatures, ion drift velocity, electron temperature, and low-energy (0-50 eV) electron distribution function. Several functions not previously used in RPA's were developed and incorporated into this instrument to accomplish these measurements on a spinning spacecraft with a small bit rate. The more significant functions include automatic electrometer ranging with background current compensation; digital, quadratic retarding potential step generation for the ion and low-energy electron scans; a current sampling interval of 2 ms throughout all scans; digital logic inflection point detection and data selection; and automatic ram direction detection.

Knudsen, W. C.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Effects of arc current on the life in burner rig thermal cycling of plasma sprayed ZrOsub2-Ysub2Osub3

An analysis of thermal cycle life data for four sets of eight thermal barrier coated specimens representing arc currents (plasma gun power) of 525, 600, 800, or 950 amps is presented. The ZrO2-8Y2O3/NiCrAlY plasma spray coated Rene 41 rods were thermal cycled to 1040 C in a Mach 0.3-Jet A/air burner flame. The experimental results indicate the existance of a minimum or threshold power level which coating life expectancy is less than 500 cycles. Above the threshold power level, coating life expectancy more than doubles and increases with arc current.

Hendricks, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Plasma-dominated magnetic field configurations for the magnetosphere of Uranus

There is significant indirect evidence that the planet Uranus possesses a magnetic field. This evidence is based on the observation of hydrogen Lyman alpha emission from Uranus with the aid of the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) spacecraft. The detection of water ice on the Uranian moons led Cheng (1984) to suggest that charged particle sputtering of the icy satellites could provide a significant internal source of oxygen ions and protons to the Uranian magnetosphere. Cheng concluded that this mechanism would predict aurorae around both magnetic poles of Uranus. Cheng's idea of the presence of a continuous internal plasma supply to the Uranian magnetosphere is further pursued in the present investigation. Questions are considered regarding the evolution of Uranus' magnetosphere from a vacuum configuration toward a plasma pressure dominated equilibrium configuration, taking into account the amount of the thermal plasma pressure as a free parameter.

Ip, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Excitation of linearly stable waves in a multispecies plasma

Excitation of electrostatic modes as a result of the injection of an argon beam into a multispecies plasma is investigated. It is shown that the injection of a warm artificial beam into a thermal plasma may excite waves of significant amplitude with a range of phase velocities which are linearly stable. These waves appear as a result of the correlation between motions of an individual particle in a Vlasov fluid. When the free energy is derived from a warm beam and the linear instability diminishes due to the large temperature of the beam, the competing mechanism of thermal fluctuations is responsible for the main excitation of waves. This mechanism is valid for the various modes in a multispecies plasma, with a higher enhancement at the lower-hybrid than at the ion-ion-hybrid modes.

Roth, Ilan↗
DOE OSTI2024

The Orbitron: A crossed-field device for co-confinement of high energy ions and electrons

To explore the confinement of high-energy ions above the space charge limit, we have developed a hybrid magnetic and electrostatic confinement device called an Orbitron. The Orbitron is a crossed-field device combining aspects of magnetic mirrors, magnetrons, and orbital ion traps. Ions are confined in orbits around a high-voltage cathode with co-rotating electrons confined by a relatively weak magnetic field. Experimental and computational investigations focus on reaching ion densities above the space charge limit through the co-confinement of electrons. The experimental apparatus and suite of diagnostics are being developed to measure the critical parameters, such as plasma density, particle energy, and fusion rate for high-energy, non-thermal plasma conditions in the Orbitron. Initial results from experimental and computational efforts have revealed the need for cathode voltages on the order of 100–300 kV, leading to the development of a custom high voltage, ultra-high vacuum bushing rated for 300 kV.

Materials Science↗
NASA NTRS1975

Collisionless shock waves in space - A very high beta structure

Measurements from six OGO-5 particle and field experiments are used to examine the structure of the earth's bow shock during a period of extremely high beta (the ratio of plasma thermal to magnetic energy density), as determined from simultaneous measurements of the upstream plasma on board the HEOS satellite. Even though the interplanetary field is nearly perpendicular to the shock normal, the shock is extremely turbulent. Large field increases are observed up to a factor of 20 above the upstream values. Ahead of these large enhancements, smaller magnetic effects accompanied by electrostatic noise, electron heating, and ion deflection are observed for several minutes. These observations suggest that a steady-state shock may not be able to form at very high beta. Further, they show that while the magnetic energy density may be relatively unimportant in the upstream flow, it can become very significant within the shock structure, and hence the magnetic field should not be ignored in theoretical treatments of very high beta shocks.

Formisano, V.↗