PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF A MAGNETICALLY SPUN D-C ARC OPERATING IN NITROGEN
Performance of d-c arc operating in nitrogen
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Performance of d-c arc operating in nitrogen
Performance and life tests of nonfueled and UO2-fueled cylindrical thermionic converter
The basic processes of a method that performs sizing operations on a baseline aircraft and determines their subsequent effects on aerodynamics, propulsion, weights, and mission performance are described. The input requirements of the associated computer program are defined and its output listings explained. Results obtained by applying the method to an advanced supersonic technology concept are discussed. These results include the effects of wing loading, thrust-to-weight ratio, and technology improvements on range performance, and possible gains in both range and payload capability that become available through growth versions of the baseline aircraft. The results from an in depth contractual study that confirm the range gain predicted for a particular wing loading, thrust-to-weight ratio combination are also included.
The ray-tracing results presented characterize the theoretically achievable EUV performance of the HiRES instrument. The effects of optical system misalignment on spectrograph images, and the laboratory results for two f/15 toroidal diffraction gratings that employ a multianode microchannel array, are also presented. Interferometric studies of toroidal figure accuracy, as well as optical and electron microscopy investigations of surface quality, are discussed. While the current toroidal gratings are noted to furnish good imaging across a wide wavelength range, they exhibit excessive EUV scatter, as well as spectral ghosting.
Timely rejuvenation and restoration of asphalt are essential conservation practices that help preserve and extend the service life of roads, bridges, driveways, and parking lots. The performance of asphalt rejuvenators is often assessed based on their diffusion rates and softening power, yet these metrics alone fail to capture true rejuvenation potential. Here, this study integrates density functional theory (DFT) modeling with experimental analysis to show that rejuvenation effectiveness is primarily governed by molecular interactions with oxidized asphaltene nanoaggregates. DFT results revealed that amide- and unsaturated-chain compounds, such as hexadecanamide, oleic acid, and 9,17-octadecadienal, act cooperatively to disrupt π–π stacking and exfoliate asphaltene layers, reducing binding strength and enhancing dispersion. Unlike bulky, rigid molecules that remain trapped, these components remain mobile and repeatedly interact with multiple aggregation sites. Experimental validation using rheometry and FTIR confirmed that such molecularly compatible rejuvenators restore the binder flexibility and polydispersity, even when diffusion is relatively slow. Building on this mechanistic foundation, six rejuvenators (A2, A5, A7, A8, A9, and A10) were evaluated using a three-metric performance framework encompassing cracking resistance (Glover–Rowe parameter), UV stability, and surface hydrophobicity. Among the six rejuvenators evaluated, A9 exhibited the highest overall performance, reducing the Glover–Rowe cracking parameter by 85% (from 351 kPa to 53 kPa), demonstrating the greatest resistance to UV-induced aging with a stability index of 4.17 h·kPa⁻¹, and increasing surface hydrophobicity to a contact angle of 103.6°. Its superior performance is primarily attributed to its amide- and unsaturated-chain components, which act cooperatively to disrupt π–π stacking interactions and exfoliate asphaltene layers, thereby promoting molecular deagglomeration and enhancing long-term durability. These results shift the criteria for selecting rejuvenators: effective candidates must pair the electronic capability to unlock aged asphaltenes with sufficient structural stability to resist secondary aging and restore hydrophobicity. Restoring hydrophobicity is critical, as aging reduces the asphalt’s water repellency and increases water diffusion, which in turn accelerates moisture-related damage; consequently, a high-performing rejuvenator must effectively restore the binder’s hydrophobic characteristic. Collectively, these findings provide a framework for the rational design of next-generation of bio-based rejuvenators that enhance pavement longevity and promote long-term sustainability.
Line-oriented flight training provides a unique learning experience and an opportunity to look at aspects of performance other types of training did not provide. Areas such as crew coordination, resource management, leadership, and so forth, can be readily evaluated in such a format. While individual performance is of the utmost importance, crew performance deserves equal emphasis, therefore, these areas should be carefully observed by the instructors as an rea for discussion in the same way that individual performane is observed. To be effective, it must be accepted by the crew members, and administered by the instructors as pure training-learning through experience. To keep open minds, to benefit most from the experience, both in the doing and in the follow-on discussion, it is essential that it be entered into with a feeling of freedom, openness, and enthusiasm. Reserve or defensiveness because of concern for failure must be inhibit participation.
Regulations to establish operational and performance requirements for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) are being developed by a consortium of government, industry and academic institutions (RTCA, 2013). Those requirements will apply to the new detect-and-avoid (DAA) systems and other equipment necessary to integrate UAS with the United States (U.S) National Airspace System (NAS) and will be determined according to their contribution to the overall safety case. That safety case requires demonstration that DAA-equipped UAS collectively operating in the NAS meet an airspace safety threshold (AST). Several key gaps must be closed in order to link equipment requirements to an airspace safety case. Foremost among these is calculation of the systems risk ratio, the degree to which a particular system mitigates violation of an aircraft separation standard (FAA, 2013). The risk ratio of a DAA system, in combination with risk ratios of other collision mitigation mechanisms, will determine the overall safety of the airspace measured in terms of the number of collisions per flight hour. It is not known what the effectiveness is of a pilot-in-the-loop DAA system or even what parameters of the DAA system most improve the pilots ability to maintain separation. The relationship between the DAA system design and the overall effectiveness of the DAA system that includes the pilot, expressed as a risk ratio, must be determined before DAA operational and performance requirements can be finalized. Much research has been devoted to integrating UAS into non-segregated airspace (Dalamagkidis, 2009, Ostwald, 2007, Gillian, 2012, Hesselink, 2011, Santiago, 2015, Rorie 2015 and 2016). Several traffic displays intended for use as part of a DAA system have gone through human-in-the-loop simulation and flight-testing. Most of these evaluations were part of development programs to produce a deployable system, so it is unclear how to generalize particular aspects of those designs to general requirements for future traffic displays (Calhoun, 2014). Other displays have undergone testing to collect data that may generalize to new displays, but have not been evaluated in the context of the development of an overall safety case for UAS equipped with DAA systems in the NAS (Bell, 2012). Other research efforts focus on DAA surveillance performance and separation standards. Together with this work, they are expected to facilitate validation of the airspace safety case (Park, 2014 and Johnson, 2015). The contribution of the present work is to quantify the effectiveness of the pilot-automation system to remain well clear as a function of display features and surveillance sensor error. This quantification will help enable selection of a minimum set of DAA design features that meets the AST, a set that may not be unique for all UAS platforms. A second objective is to collect and analyze pilot performance parameters that will improve the modeling of overall DAA system performance in non-human-in-the-loop simulations. Simulating the DAA-equipped UAS in such batch experiments will allow investigation of a much larger number of encounters than is possible in human simulations. This capability is necessary to demonstrate that a particular set of DAA requirements meets the AST under all foreseeable operational conditions.
Parallel Component Performance Benchmarks is a computer program developed to aid the evaluation of the Common Component Architecture (CCA) - a software architecture, based on a component model, that was conceived to foster high-performance computing, including parallel computing. More specifically, this program compares the performances (principally by measuring computing times) of componentized versus conventional versions of the Parallel Pyramid 2D Adaptive Mesh Refinement library - a software library that is used to generate computational meshes for solving physical problems and that is typical of software libraries in use at NASA s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
The paper deals with the models, techniques, and evaluation methods that were successfully used to test the performance of the SIFT degradable computing system. The performance of the computer plus its air transport mission environment is modeled as a random variable, taking values in a set of 'accomplishment level'. The levels are defined in terms of four attributes of total system (computer plus environment) behavior, namely safety, no change in mission profile, no operational penalties, and no economic penalties. The base model of the total system is a stochastic process, whose states describe the internal structure of SIFT and the relevant conditions of its computational environment. Base model state trajectories are related to accomplishment levels via a special function, and solution methods are then used to determine the performability of the total system for various parameters of the computer and environment.
A hot solar heating and hot water system's operational performance from June 1979 through April 1980 is evaluated. Solar energy satisfied 42 percent of the total measure load (hot water plus space heating), which was somewhat higher than the solar fraction of 32 percent. When system losses into the heating space from duct leaks and storage are included, the heating solar fraction increases from 42 to 64 percent. Net electrical energy savings were 5.47 million BTUs.
A solar space heating and hot water system's operational performance from April 1979 through March 1980 is evaluated. Solar energy satisfied 15 percent of the total measured load (hot water plus space heating). Net savings were approximately 21 million BTUs.
The performance of the land mobile satellite system (LMSS) was evaluated by using two trellis coded modulation (TCM) schemes under multipath fading and interference. The results were also compared with uncoded QPSK. The trellis coding formats included a trellis code designed for optimum performance on the fading channel that typifies satellite to mobile communications, as well as one designed for optimum performance in the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. The results show that, in Rayleigh fading, the TCM code designed for optimum performance in such an environment performs 4 dB better than the TCM code designed for optimum performance in AWGN, and 10 dB better than the uncoded format, at a bit error rate (BER) of 10 exp -4. Additional results on the performance degradation due to the nonlinearities in the satellite transponder and the adjacent and cochannel interference show that the TCM system is more sensitive than the uncoded system to the phase distortion caused by these impairments.
The performance of epoxy sealants used in the refurbishment of double-shell tank (DST) systems requires balancing processability, thermomechanical stability, and adhesion to cementitious substrates. This study incorporates Heloxy 8 as a reactive diluent into Westlake 862 epoxy to tailor workability and cured-state properties. Rheological time-sweep analysis demonstrates that increasing the diluent content significantly reduces complex viscosity and extends workability, thereby improving pumpability and flow for large-area applications. However, the targeted 2-hour processing window is not fully achieved. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) confirms that all formulations cure at room temperature to glass transition temperatures ( T g ) at least 20 °C above the maximum DST operating temperature (27 °C), thereby ensuring service in the glassy regime. Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) reveals formulation-dependent reductions in tan delta and increases in storage modulus, indicating increasingly elastic and mechanically stable networks with diluent incorporation. Pull-off adhesion testing shows that modified formulations (70–90% Westlake epoxy) exhibit significantly higher adhesion strengths than the unmodified system. Grout cohesive failure indicates that interfacial bonding exceeds substrate strength. Collectively, these results demonstrate that controlled reactive diluent incorporation enables optimization of processing behavior, interfacial adhesion, and thermomechanical performance, supporting the suitability of the modified epoxy systems as durable sealant layers for cementitious barrier applications in hazardous waste containment infrastructure.
Atlas Centaur 16 flight performance in injecting OAO-2 into nearly circular earth orbit
The study of solar reflector performance reported is related to a project in which solar collectors are to be provided for the solar heating and cooling system of an office building at NASA's Langley Research Center. The solar collector makes use of a liquid consisting of 50% ethylene glycol and 50% water. A conventional air-liquid heat exchanger is employed. Collector performance and solar insolation data are recorded along with air temperature, wind speed and direction, and relative humidity.
Report presents procedures and results of thermal performance tests on single-covered liquid solar collector under simulated comditions. Test conditions and data are given in tables and graphs for stagnation tests and thermal performance test. In addition, time-constant test and incident-angle modifier test were conducted to determine transient effect and incident-angle effect. Results of collector load tests are also given.
The operational and thermal performance of the Decade 80 solar energy system is described. The system was designed by Cooper Development Association, Inc. with space heating and space cooling to a one-story, single family residence located in Tucson, Arizona. The Decade 80 House was designed and built in the mid-70's to be a showplace/workshop for solar energy utilization. Superior construction techniques, the use of quality materials and a full time maintenance staff have served to make the entire system an outstanding example of the application of solar energy for residential purposes. The luxury of a full time, on-site maintenance person is perhaps the single most important aspect of this program. While most installations cannot support this level of maintenance, it was very useful in keeping all subsystems operating in top form and allowing for a full season data collection to be obtained. Several conclusions were drawn from the long term monitoring effort, among which are: (1) flat plate collectors will support cooling; (2) definite energy savings can be realized; and (3) more frequent periodic maintenance may be required on solar energy systems that are not custom built.
The operational and thermal performance of the solar energy system, Sims Prototype System 1A, is described. The system was designed by IBM to provide 50 to 60 percent of the space heating and domestic hot water preheating load to a 2,000 square foot floor space single family residence in the Huntsville area. The load design temperature inside the building was to be maintained at 70 degrees fahrenheit with auxiliary energy for heating supplied by an electric heat pump assisted by an electric resistance strip heater. In general the disappointing operation of this system is attributed to the manner in which it was used. The system was designed for residential application and used to satisfy the demands of an office environment. The differences were: (1) inside temperature was not maintained at 70 F as expected; and (2) hot water usage was much lower than expected. The conclusion is that the solar energy system must be designed for the type of application in which it is used. Misapplication usually will have an adverse affect on system performance.