Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Shaft Speed”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 307 records · Page 17

Compact artificial hand

A relatively simple, compact artificial hand, is described which includes hooks pivotally mounted on first frame to move together and apart. The first frame is rotatably mounted on a second frame to enable "turning at the wrist" movement without limitation. The second frame is pivotally mounted on a third frame to permit 'flexing at the wrist' movement. A hook-driving motor is fixed to the second frame but has a shaft that drives a speed reducer on the first frame which, in turn, drives the hooks. A second motor mounted on the second frame, turns a gear on the first frame to rotate the first frame and the hooks thereon. A third motor mounted on the third frame, turns a gear on a second frame to pivot it.

Wiker, G. A.↗

Computer Analysis Of High-Speed Roller Bearings

High-speed cylindrical roller-bearing analysis program (CYBEAN) developed to compute behavior of cylindrical rolling-element bearings at high speeds and with misaligned shafts. With program, accurate assessment of geometry-induced roller preload possible for variety of out-ring and housing configurations and loading conditions. Enables detailed examination of bearing performance and permits exploration of causes and consequences of bearing skew. Provides general capability for assessment of designs of bearings supporting main shafts of engines. Written in FORTRAN IV.

Coe, H.↗

Hybrid Hydrostatic/Transient Roller Bearing Assembly

Proposed bearing assembly for shaft of high-speed turbopump includes both hydrostatic and rolling-element bearings. Rolling-element bearing unloaded at high speed by centrifugal expansion of outer race and transient retainer.

Justak, John F.↗

Intensity-Modulated Fiber-Optic Tachometer

Proposed optoelectronic tachometer determines speed of rotation of shaft by measuring fluctuations in intensity of light reflected from notches on shaft. Dual fiber-optic sensor imparts insensitivity to displacements of shaft.

Daniel, James A.↗

An overview of a model rotor icing test in the NASA Lewis Icing Research Tunnel

During two entries in late 1989, a heavily instrumented sub-scale model of a helicopter main rotor was tested in the NASA LeRC Icing Research Tunnel (IRT). The results of this series of tunnel tests were published previously. After studying the results from the 1989 test and comparing them to predictions, it became clear that certain test conditions still needed investigation. Therefore, a re-entry of the Sikorsky Aircraft Powered Force Model (PFM) in the IRT was instituted in order to expand upon the current rotor craft sub-scale model experimental database. The major areas of interest included expansion of the test matrix to include a larger number of points in the FAA AC 29-2 icing envelope, inclusion of a number of high power rotor performance points, close examination of warm temperature operations, operation of the model in constant lift mode, and testing for conditions for icing test points in the full scale helicopter database. The expanded database will allow further and more detailed examination and comparison with analytical models. Participants in the test were NASA LeRC, the U.S. Army Vehicle Propulsion Directorate based at LeRC, and Sikorsky Aircraft. The model rotor was exposed to a range of icing conditions (temperature, liquid water content, median droplet diameter) and was operated over ranges of shaft angle, rotor tip speed, advance ratio, and rotor lift. The data taken included blade strain gage and balance data, as well as still photography, video, ice profile tracings, and ice molds. A discussion of the details of the test is given herein. Also, a brief examination of a subset of the data taken is also given.

Britton, Randall K.↗

Energy Efficient Engine Low Pressure Subsystem Aerodynamic Analysis

The objective of this study was to demonstrate the capability to analyze the aerodynamic performance of the complete low pressure subsystem (LPS) of the Energy Efficient Engine (EEE). Detailed analyses were performed using three- dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical models employing advanced clustered processor computing platforms. The analysis evaluates the impact of steady aerodynamic interaction effects between the components of the LPS at design and off- design operating conditions. Mechanical coupling is provided by adjusting the rotational speed of common shaft-mounted components until a power balance is achieved. The Navier-Stokes modeling of the complete low pressure subsystem provides critical knowledge of component acro/mechanical interactions that previously were unknown to the designer until after hardware testing.

Hall, Edward J.↗

Energy Efficient Engine Low Pressure Subsystem Flow Analysis

The objective of this project is to provide the capability to analyze the aerodynamic performance of the complete low pressure subsystem (LPS) of the Energy Efficient Engine (EEE). The analyses were performed using three-dimensional Navier-Stokes numerical models employing advanced clustered processor computing platforms. The analysis evaluates the impact of steady aerodynamic interaction effects between the components of the LPS at design and off-design operating conditions. Mechanical coupling is provided by adjusting the rotational speed of common shaft-mounted components until a power balance is achieved. The Navier-Stokes modeling of the complete low pressure subsystem provides critical knowledge of component aero/mechanical interactions that previously were unknown to the designer until after hardware testing.

Hall, Edward J.↗

Blood Pump Bearing System

An apparatus is provided for a blood pump bearing system within a pump housing to support long-term highspeed rotation of a rotor with an impeller blade having a plurality of individual magnets disposed thereon to provide a small radial air gap between the magnets and a stator of less than 0.025 inches. The bearing system may be mounted within a flow straightener, diffuser, or other pump element to support the shaft of a pump rotor. The bearing system includes a zirconia shaft having a radiused end. The radiused end has a first radius selected to be about three times greater than the radius of the zirconia shaft. The radiused end of the zirconia shaft engages a flat sapphire endstone. Due to the relative hardness of these materials a flat is quickly produced during break-in on the zirconia radiused end of precisely the size necessary to support thrust loads whereupon wear substantially ceases. Due to the selection of the first radius, the change in shaft end-play during pump break-in is limited to a total desired end-play of less than about 0.010 inches. Radial loads are supported by an olive hole ring jewel that makes near line contact around the circumference of the Ir shaft to support big speed rotation with little friction. The width of olive hole ring jewel is small to allow heat to conduct through to thereby prevent heat build-up in the bearing. A void defined by the bearing elements may fill with blood that then coagulates within the void. The coagulated blood is then conformed to the shape of the bearing surfaces.

Aber, Gregory S.↗

Performance and Analysis of Perfluoropolyalkyl Ether Grease Used on Space Shuttle Actuators--A Case Study

Actuators used on the United States space shuttle fleet are lubricated with unspecified amounts of Braycote 601 (Castrol Braycote) grease consisting of a perfluoropolyalkyl ether (PFPAE) base oil thickened with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filler. Each shuttle has four body flap actuators (BFAs) (two on each wing) on a common segmented shaft and four rudder speed brake (RSB) actuators. The actuators were designed to operate for 10 years and 100 flights without periodic relubrication. Visible inspection of two partially disassembled RSB actuators in continuous use for 19 years raised concerns over possible grease degradation due to discoloration of the grease on several places on the surfaces of the gears. Inspection revealed fretting, micropitting, wear and corrosion of the bearings and gears. A small amount of oil dripped from the disassembled actuators. Whereas new grease is beige in appearance, the discolored grease consisted of both grey and reddish colors. Grease samples taken from the actuators together with representative off-the-shelf new and unused grease samples were analyzed by gravimetry for oil content; by inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy (ICP) for metals content; Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for base oil decomposition; and by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) for determination of the molecular weight distributions of the grease oil. The Braycote 601 grease was stable after 19 years of continuous use in the sealed RSB actuators and was fit for its intended purpose. There were no significant chemical differences between the used grease samples and new and unused samples. Base oil separation was not significant within the sealed actuators. No corrosive effect in the form of iron fluoride was detected. The grey color of grease samples was due to metallic iron. The red color was due to oxidation of the metallic wear particles from the gears and the bearings comprising the actuators.

Morales, Wilfredo↗

Design and Development of Sequential Rotary Valve

Valves are used to regulate the flow of fluids through systems. This rotary valve's main purpose is to fill, pressurize, empty, and vent three smaller tanks with the supply of one larger tank. Many different designs are being taken into consideration, which are each at different stages of development. The furthest along uses three ball valves on a common shaft to open and close their respective ports as the shaft completes one full rotation or cycle. We were tasked with advancing this design to its first test as a plastic model for flow verification, as well as sizing and ordering the necessary O-rings and fasteners. A motor will also be sized to satisfy the torque requirements, and will then be programmed using a Raspberry Pi to rotate the shaft at the calculated speed and dwelling times needed to fill each tank equally. In addition, we have also been advancing designs that use a camshaft and poppets. These are earlier on in their development, currently being sized to replicate the expected flow patterns of the rotary ball valve. Expected outcomes of this valve include bi-directionality, successful sealing under pressure, and accurate cycling.

D’Orsi, Nicholas↗

Full-field Deformation Measurement Techniques for a Rotating Composite Shaft

Test methods were developed to view global and local deformation in a composite tube during a test in which the tube is rotating at speeds and torques relevant to rotorcraft shafts. Digital image correlation (DIC) was used to provide quantitative displacement measurements during the tests. High speed cameras were used for the DIC measurements in order to capture images at sufficient frame rates and with sufficient resolution while the tube was rotating at speeds up to 5,000 rpm. Surface displacement data was resolved into cylindrical coordinates in order to measure rigid body rotation and global deformation of the tube. Tests were performed on both undamaged and impact damaged tubes in order to evaluate the capability to detect local deformation near an impact damaged site. Measurement of radial displacement clearly indicated a local buckling deformation near the impacted site in both dynamic and static tests. X-ray computed tomography (CT) was used to investigate variations in fiber architecture within the composite tube and to detect impact damage. No growth in the impact damage area was observed by DIC during dynamic testing or by x-ray CT in post test inspection of the composite tube.

Kohlman, Lee W.↗

Sliding Mode Transient Scaling Controller for Gas Turbine Engine Emulation on an Electric Machine

The testing of hybrid-electric aircraft propulsion system components and control strategies has dictated the need for a low-cost gas turbine engine (GTE) emulation testbed. Within that testbed, electric machines (EMs) are used to emulate the dynamics of a GTE. GTE mathematical models are used to provide control torque commands to EMs. Most GTEs operate at much higher power levels than commercially available EMs. Therefore, the transient shaft dynamics of the GTE must be scaled appropriately. The sliding mode controller being presented here aims to deliver a control torque to an electric machine with a fixed inertia that will allow it to mimic the response of a GTE with a different inertia. This solution provides an easily scalable and tunable transient emulation method without having to scale the GTE mathematical model and/or add inertia to the physical EM shaft. This controller has been proven in simulation to produce nearly identical transient rotational speed response to a reference GTE shaft model which has a large difference in rotational inertia compared to the motor. Also, the inherent robustness of the sliding mode control scheme results in negligible changes in performance for large amounts of parameter uncertainty while minimizing high frequency fluctuations in the control signal.

sliding mode↗

Flow Straightener for a Rotating-Drum Liquid Separator

A flow straightener has been incorporated into a rotary liquid separator that originally comprised an inlet tube, a shroud plate, an impeller, an inner drum, an outer drum, a housing, a pitot tube, and a hollow shaft motor. As a consequence of the original geometry of the impeller, shroud, inner drum, and hollow shaft, swirl was created in the airflow inside the hollow shaft during operation. The swirl speed was large enough to cause a significant pressure drop. The flow straightener consists of vanes on the back side of the shroud plate. These vanes compartmentalize the inside of the inner drum in such a way as to break up the flow path and thereby stop the air from swirling; as a result, the air enters the hollow shaft with a predominantly axial velocity instead of a swirl. Tests of the rotary liquid separator at an airflow rate of 10 cu ft/min (0.0047 cu m/s) revealed that the dynamic pressure drop was 8 in. of water (approx.=2 kPa) in the absence of the flow straightener and was reduced to 1 in. of water (approx.=0.25 kPa) in the presence of the flow straightener.

O'Coin, James R.↗

Experimental results concerning centrifugal impeller excitations

The effect of working fluid on the dynamics of an impeller with radial vanes was investigated. The impeller was supported vertically from a very flexible quill shaft in order to produce a low critical speed, and to allow the fluid dynamic effects on the impeller to predominate. The shaft was supported from ball bearings, so that there was no possibility of oil whip from fluid film bearings as a destabilizing influence. The impeller was run both in the atmosphere, and submerged in working fluids contained in a cylindrical housing, open at the top. Variable speed was obtained with a dc gearmotor drive unit. The speed was measured with a proximity probe pulse tachometer and electronic digital counter.

Vance, J. M.↗

Experimental evaluation of multiplane-multispeed rotor balancing through multiple critical speeds

The experimentally proven range of application of the influence-coefficient balancing method, especially the least-squares procedure, is extended to include the case of multiple bending critical speeds within the operating range of a test rotor. Tests were conducted on a laboratory quality machine capable of speeds up to 18,000 rpm in order to investigate several distinct practical aspects of flexible-rotor balancing. These include: (1) balancing for operation through four bending critical speeds, (2) balancing of rotors mounted in both rigid and flexible bearing supports, (3) balancing of rotors with various amounts of measured vibration-response data and different numbers of correction planes, and (4) balancing of rotors with different arbitrary initial-unbalance configurations. The results show that a lightly damped, flexible rotor can be balanced systematically and efficiently through four bending critical speeds. It is concluded that the influence-coefficient method should be equally applicable to rotors or shafts having more than four bending critical speeds in their operating-speed ranges.

Tessarzik, J. M.↗

Dynamics of short eccentric plain seals with high axial Reynolds number

Plain seals with high axial flow rates produce large stiffness and damping coefficients that can help stabilize high-speed rotating machinery. When the shaft is eccentric in the seal, a Bernoulli effect low-pressure region occurs on the large-clearance side of the shaft. A fluid-restoring force tends to center the shaft and reduce vibrations. This work extends the previous theory for short plain centered seals to large eccentricities using a perturbation analysis. Surface roughness effects are also included. An analysis of seals used in the Space Shuttle main engine hydrogen fuel turbopump indicates the desirability of plain seals over the labyrinth type. Experimental results confirm this.

Allaire, P. E.↗

Microwave Sensor Measures Turbopump Speed

Sensor does not perturb flow and immune to cavitation. Reflected microwave signal is amplitude-modulated by passing reflective facets of nut on rotating shaft. Modulation frequency measured to find rotational speed. Device measures rotational speed of turbopump without obstructing flow.

Maram, J. M.↗