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At least 289 records · Page 16
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Data management for community research projects: A JGOFS case study

Since the mid 1980s, much of the marine science research effort in the United Kingdom has been focused into large scale collaborative projects involving public sector laboratories and university departments, termed Community Research Projects. Two of these, the Biogeochemical Ocean Flux Study (BOFS) and the North Sea Project incorporated large scale data collection to underpin multidisciplinary modeling efforts. The challenge of providing project data sets to support the science was met by a small team within the British Oceanographic Data Centre (BODC) operating as a topical data center. The role of the data center was to both work up the data from the ship's sensors and to combine these data with sample measurements into online databases. The working up of the data was achieved by a unique symbiosis between data center staff and project scientists. The project management, programming and data processing skills of the data center were combined with the oceanographic experience of the project communities to develop a system which has produced quality controlled, calibrated data sets from 49 research cruises in 3.5 years of operation. The data center resources required to achieve this were modest and far outweighed by the time liberated in the scientific community by the removal of the data processing burden. Two online project databases have been assembled containing a very high proportion of the data collected. As these are under the control of BODC their long term availability as part of the UK national data archive is assured. The success of the topical data center model for UK Community Research Project data management has been founded upon the strong working relationships forged between the data center and project scientists. These can only be established by frequent personal contact and hence the relatively small size of the UK has been a critical factor. However, projects covering a larger, even international scale could be successfully supported by a network of topical data centers managing online databases which are interconnected by object oriented distributed data management systems over wide area networks.

Lowry, Roy K.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The continuous plankton recorder survey: A long-term, basin-scale oceanic time series

In the 1920s, before the advent of echo sounders, fishery biologists were greatly concerned with assisting the fisherman to locate schools of pelagic fish. One of the approaches they developed was to relate the distribution of the planktonic food organisms to the presence of the schools of predators such as herring (Clupea harengus). The British planktologist, Alister Hardy, who had already carried out extensive studies on the feeding preferences of herring (Hardy, 1926a), initiated a program to examine the fishermen's contention that herring schools avoided 'green', i.e., phytoplankton-rich, water but could be correlated with high concentrations of zooplankton. This practical program was centered on the use of a specially developed instrument, the 'Plankton Indicator', designed to be used by the fisherman to assist in the search for suitable waters. It had limited success in its main aim but, as a collecting device, it embodied several profoundly important features. It was a simple instrument which was robust enough to be deployed and recovered by the crew of commercial vessels (in this case fishing vessels) while they were underway. The Indicator however, was no more than a high speed net which integrated the plankton over the area of sampling, but Hardy had also become interested in describing the patchiness of planktonic populations. He thus developed the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) where he substituted the fixed filter screen of the Indicator by a continually moving length of silk mesh. The screen traversed at constant speed across the path of the incoming water and the trapped organisms were retained in place by sandwiching beneath an additional second mesh screen. Thus, knowing the speed of the towing vessel and the shooting and hauling positions, the spatial patterns of the plankton could be determined. Hardy took the first CPR to the Antarctic where he used it in the Southern Atlantic (Hardy, 1926b) and later deployed it in the North Sea to make some of the earliest contiguous records of plankton patchiness.

Gamble, John C.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Strv1-b Flight Experiment

The Space Technology Research Vehicle (STRV-1b) is discussed. The STRV-1b is a small (100 watt) satellite flown by the British Defense Research Agency (DRA). The mission goal is to fly new and emerging space technologies at a more reasonable cost in a short-term timeframe. The STRV-1b's orbit can be described as a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) with a perigee of 200 km, an apogee of 36,000 km (geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO)), and a period of 10.5 hours. The Phillips Laboratory plans to use the STRV-1b to test up to 20 advanced experimental photovoltaic cells. The discussion is presented in vugraph form.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1991

Characterization of multiaxial warp knit composites

The objectives were to characterize the mechanical behavior and damage tolerance of two multiaxial warp knit fabrics to determine the acceptability of these fabrics for high performance composite applications. The tests performed included compression, tension, open hole compression, compression after impact and compression-compression fatigue. Tests were performed on as-fabricated fabrics and on multi-layer fabrics that were stitched together with either carbon or Kevlar stitching yarn. Results of processing studies for vacuum impregnation with Hercules 3501-6 epoxy resin and pressure impregnation with Dow Tactix 138/H41 epoxy resin and British Petroleum BP E905L epoxy resin are presented.

Dexter, H. Benson↗
NASA NTRS1992

Chemical transport during formation and alteration of Martian impact and volcanic deposits

Much of the surface of Mars, including volcanic and cratered terrains, probably experienced alteration and degassing processes. These processes may have depleted or enriched many important elements in surface materials, including bedrock, dust, and soils. The composition of the martian soil may represent the best estimate, for some elements, of the average composition of the martian crust, similar to the composition of loess created by glacial action on the Earth. The martian soil may represent the only convenient, globally or regionally averaged sample of the martian crust. In order to understand the composition of the source material for the soil, however, we need to understand the contributions of volcanic vs. impact sources for this material and the chemical fractionations involved in its production. The processes to be addressed include degassing of volcanic deposits, as observed in the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes at Katmai, Alaska, and degassing of meltbearing impact ejecta as inferred for suevite ejecta sheets at the Ries Crater, and alteration or palagonitization of volcanic deposits, as documented for volcanos in British Columbia and many other volcanic terrains, and impact crater deposits. The process of palagonitization has been the subject of several studies with reference to Mars, and palagonite is a good analogue for the spectroscopic properties of the martian dust. The role of impact in cratering has not been as well studied, although other researchers have established that both degassing and alteration are common features of impact crater deposits. Other relevant sources of experimental data include the extensive literature on the corrosion of nuclear waste glass and leaching of shocked materials.

Newsom, H. E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE)

The International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) was launched into a geosynchronous orbit on 26 January 1978. It is equipped with a 45-cm mirror and spectrographs operating in the far-ultraviolet (1150-2000 A) and the midultraviolet (1900-3200 A) wavelength regions. In a low-dispersion mode, the spectral resolution is some 6-7 A. In a high-dispersion echelle mode, the resolution is about 0.1 Aat the shortest wavelength and about 0.3 A at the longest. It is a collaborative program among NASA, ESA, and the British SERC. The IUE is operated in real time 16 hours a day from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center near Washington, D.C. and 8 hours daily from ESA's Villafranca groundstation near Madrid, Spain. By the end of 1989, 1870 papers, using IUE observations, have been published in referred journals. During the same period, over 1700 different astronomers from all over the world used the IUE for their research.

Kondo, Yoji↗
NASA NTRS1992

Calorimetric thermal-vacuum performance characterization of the BAe 80 K space cryocooler

A comprehensive characterization program is underway at JPL to generate test data on long-life, miniature Stirling-cycle cryocoolers for space application. The key focus of this paper is on the thermal performance of the British Aerospace (BAe) 80 K split-Stirling-cycle cryocooler as measured in a unique calorimetric thermal-vacuum test chamber that accurately simulates the heat-transfer interfaces of space. Two separate cooling fluid loops provide precise individual control of the compressor and displacer heatsink temperatures. In addition, heatflow transducers enable calorimetric measurements of the heat rejected separately by the compressor and displacer. Cooler thermal performance has been mapped for coldtip temperatures ranging from below 45 K to above 150 K, for heatsink temperatures ranging from 280 K to 320 K, and for a wide variety of operational variables including compressor-displacer phase, compressor-displacer stroke, drive frequency, and piston-displacer dc offset.

Kotsubo, V. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Cold-tip off-state conduction loss of miniature Stirling cycle cryocoolers

For redundant miniature Stirling-cycle cryocoolers in space applications, the off-state heat conduction down the coldfinger of one cooler is a parasitic heat load on the other coolers. At JPL, a heat flow transducer specifically designed to measure this load has been developed, and measurements have been performed on the coldfinger of a British Aerospace 80 K Stirling cooler with the tip temperature ranging between 40 and 170 K. Measurements have also been made using a transient warmup technique, where the warmup rates of the coldtip under various applied heat loads are used to determine the static conduction load. There is a difference between the results of these two methods, and these differences are discussed with regard to the applicability of the transient warmup method to a nonoperating coldfinger.

Kotsubo, V.↗
NASA NTRS1921

Absolute Coefficients and the Graphical Representation of Airfoil Characteristics

It is argued that there should be an agreement as to what conventions to use in determining absolute coefficients used in aeronautics and in how to plot those coefficients. Of particular importance are the absolute coefficients of lift and drag. The author argues for the use of the German method over the kind in common use in the United States and England, and for the Continental over the usual American and British method of graphically representing the characteristics of an airfoil. The author notes that, on the whole, it appears that the use of natural absolute coefficients in a polar diagram is the logical method for presentation of airfoil characteristics, and that serious consideration should be given to the advisability of adopting this method in all countries, in order to advance uniformity and accuracy in the science of aeronautics.

Munk, Max↗
NASA NTRS1926

Propeller design I : practical application of the blade element theory

This report is the first of a series of four on propeller design and contains a description of the blade elements or modified Drzewiecke theory as used in the Bureau of Aeronautics, U.S. Navy Department. Blade interference corrections are used which were taken from R.& M. NO. 639 of the British Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. The airfoil characteristics used were obtained from tests of model propellers, not from tests of model wings.

Weick, Fred E↗
NASA NTRS1923

Aerial photography : obtaining a true perspective

A demonstration was given within the last few days at the British Museum by Mr. J. W. Gordon, author of "Generalized Linear Perspective" (Constable and Co.), a work describing a newly-worked-out system by which photographs can be made available for the purpose of exactly recording the dimensions of the objects photographed even when the objects themselves are presented foreshortened in the photograph.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1953

A comparison of typical national gas turbine establishment and NACA axial-flow compressor blade sections in cascade at low speed

Comparative cascade tests of the NGTE (National Gas Turbine Establishment of Great Britain) 10C4/30C50 and NACA 65-(12)10 axial flow compressor blade sections were conducted in a 5-inch low-speed cascade tunnel at the Langley Laboratory at air-inlet angles of 30 degrees, 45 degrees, and 60 degrees and a solidity of 1.0 by using the porous-wall technique. These NACA data for the NGTE 10C4/30C50 section were also compared with data from NGTE design charts for the same section. British and NACA incompressible cascade force-analysis equations are included.

CASCADES, EXPERIMENT↗
NASA NTRS1926

The Avro "Avian" Airplane : 65 HP. Armstrong-Siddeley "Genet" engine

The Avro Avian, designed by Mr. Chadwick of A.V. Roe & Co., Ltd. has a very low structural weight (estimated at 750 lbs. empty) but with sufficient structural integrity to be eligible of an "Aerobatics" certificate from the British Air Ministry. It can be configured as a monoplane, or a biplane with seaplane floats. It is designed for economical production.

AIRPLANES-AVRO AVIAN (BRIT )↗
NASA NTRS1926

The Supermarine "Southampton" seaplane : observation or bomber

Purchased for the British Air Ministry, the Southampton seaplane uses 2 Napier Lion engines and has a boat hull with outriggers mounted on the wings. It was designed as a military aircraft and can be easily converted to a bomber.

AIRPLANES - SUPERMARINE SOUTHAMPTON (BRIT )↗
NASA NTRS1930

Joint Report on Standardization Tests on N.P.L. R.A.F 15 Airfoil Model

This report contains the wind-tunnel test data obtained in the United States on a 36 by 6 inch R.A.F. 15 airfoil model prepared by the British Aeronautical Research Committee for International Trials. Tests were made in cooperation with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics at the Bureau of Standards, Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and McCook field. In addition to brief descriptions of the various wind tunnels and methods of testing, the report contains an analysis of the test data. It is shown that while in general the agreement is quite satisfactory there are two cases in which it is unsatisfactory. Since the lack of agreement in the latter is probably explained by errors known to be inherent in the methods of determining and applying corrections in these particular tests, it is concluded that the agreement obtained is more a matter of technique than a wind tunnel characteristic. (author)

Diehl, Walter S↗
NASA NTRS1989

A second-generation supersonic transport

Ever since the advent of commercial flight vehicles, one goal of designers has been to develop aircraft that can fly faster and carry more passengers than before. After the development of practical supersonic military aircraft, this desire was naturally manifested in a search for a practical supersonic commercial aircraft. The first and, to date, only supersonic civil transport is the Concorde, manufactured by a consortium of British and French aerospace companies. Unfortunately, due to a number of factors, including low passenger capacity and limited range, the Concorde has not been an economic success. It is for this reason that there is considerable interest in developing a design for a supersonic civil transport that addresses some of the inadequacies of the Concorde. For the design of such an aircraft to be feasible in the near term, certain guidelines must be established at the outset. Based upon the experience with the Concorde, whose 100- passenger capacity is not large enough for profitable operation, a minimum capacity of 250 passengers is desired. Second, to date, because of the limited range of the Concorde, supersonic commercial flight has been restricted to trans-Atlantic routes. In order to broaden the potential market, any new design must have the capability of trans-Pacific flight. A summary of the potential markets involved is presented in Fig. 1. Also, because of both the cost and complexity involved with actively cooling an entire aircraft, an additional design constraint is that the aircraft as a whole be passively cooled. One additional design constraint is somewhat less quantitative in nature but of great importance nonetheless. Any time a new design is attempted, the tendency is to assume great strides in technology that serve as the basis for actual realization of the design. While it is not always possible to avoid this dependence on "enabling technology," since this design is desired for the near term, it is prudent, wherever possible, to rely on already existing technology. This is of particular importance with respect to support technology such as airport terminals and runways. Based on the above introductory remarks, a possible approach to the design of a second-generation supersonic civil transport is presented below. The design Mach number for this aircraft is 3.5. This value was chosen as it represents the limiting Mach number in the absence of active cooling. The ensuing design attempts to deal with the particular problems that are the most demanding, while relying on proven technology where it is adequate. The report clearly does not solve, or even deal with, every aspect of the aircraft design. Rather, a general direction is suggested and supported with initial, approximate calculations.

W. Humphrey↗
NASA NTRS1993

Performance and rotor loads measurements of the Lynx XZ170 helicopter with rectangular blades

This report presents the results of a series of flight tests on the Lynx XZ170 helicopter with rectangular blades. The test objectives were to explore the flight envelope and to measure the performance and structural loads of the Lynx main-rotor system. The tests were conducted as part of the British Experimental Rotor Program (BERP) under a contract with the Ministry of Defense in England. Data were acquired for steady-level flights at five weight coefficients. Some flight conditions were tested at beyond the retreating-blade stall boundary, which was defined by a predetermined limit on the pitchlink vibratory load. In addition to documenting the flight conditions and data, this report describes the aircraft, particularly the rotor system, in detail.

Lau, Benton H.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Fatigue resistance of unnotched and post impact(+/- 30 deg/0 deg) 3-D braided composites

The fatigue resistance of a multiaxial braided (3-D) graphite/expoxy composite in both unnotched and post impacted conditions has been evaluated. The material tested is a (+/- 30/0 deg) multiaxial braid constructed from AS4/12K tow graphite fibers and British Petroleum E905L epoxy resin. These materials were braided as dry preforms and the epoxy was added using a resin transfer molding process (RTM). The unnotched and post-impact specimens were tested in compression-compression fatigue at 10 Hz with a stress ratio of R=10. The unnotched tension-tension fatigue specimens were tested at S Hz with a stress ration of R=0.1. Damage initiation and growth was documented through the application of radiography and ultrasonic through transmission (C-scans). Visible inspection of surface and edge damage was also noted to describe the initiation and progression of damage in these materials. The mechanisms leading to damage initiation were established and failure modes were determined. Stiffness and strength degradation were measured as a function of applied cycles. These 3-D braided composite results were compared to strain levels currently used to design primary structure in commercial aircraft composite components made from prepreg tape and autoclave cured.

Portanova, Marc A.↗