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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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Analysis and computer program (TELSGE) predict variations of dynamic load and surface temperature and lubricant film thickness along contacting path of pair of involute spur gears. Analysis of dynamic load includes effect of gear inertia, effect of load sharing of adjacent teeth, and effect of variable tooth stiffness obtained by element method. TELSGE written in FORTRAN IV.
Phase change temperatures and phase change enthalpies of seventeen salt hydrates, three double salts, and four eutectics were measured thermodynamically and the results reported herein. Good results were obtained, especially for congruently melting salt hydrates. Incongruently melting salt hydrates appear less suitable for heat storage applications. The influence of the second phase - water, acid and hydroxide - to the latent heat is described. From these results, basic values of the working temperatures and storage capabilities of various storage media compositions may be derived.
Under the direction of NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Technology (OAST), the NASA Lewis Research Center has initiated an in-house thermal energy storage program to identify combinations of phase change thermal energy storage media for use with a Brayton and Stirling Advanced Solar Dynamic (ASD) space power system operating between 1070 and 1400 K. A study has been initiated to determine suitable combinations of thermal energy storage (TES) phase change materials (PCM) that result in the smallest and lightest weight ASD power system possible. To date the heats of fusion of several fluoride salt mixtures with melting points greater than 1025 K have been verified experimentally. The study has indicated that these salt systems produce large ASD systems because of their inherent low thermal conductivity and low density. It is desirable to have PCMs with high densities and high thermal conductivities. Therefore, alternate phase change materials based on metallic alloy systems are also being considered as possible TES candidates for future ASD space power systems.
The two-temperature criterion for quasi-spherical (ion-pressure supported) accretion onto a black hole, including the effects of electron-positron pair production is studied. For an interesting range of accretion rates, Coulomb interactions between protons and pairs can cool the innermost regions of the accretion flow. The cooled plasma, assumed to possess some angular momentum, will collapse onto the equatorial plane, forming an optically thick annulus. Hysteresis effects involved in the cooling criterion are expected to lead to bistability or time dependence, which may be associated with variability in certain classes of active galactic nuclei (AGNs). Radiation from the annulus may be responsible for the EUV/soft X-ray excess observed in some AGNs.
Under the direction of NASA's Office of Aeronautics and Technology (OAST), the NASA Lewis Research Center has initiated an in-house thermal energy storage program to identify combinations of phase change thermal energy storage media for use with a Brayton and Stirling Advanced Solar Dynamic (ASD) space power system operating between 1070 and 1400 K. A study has been initiated to determine suitable combinations of thermal energy storage (TES) phase change materials (PCM) that result in the smallest and lightest weight ASD power system possible. To date the heats of fusion of several fluoride salt mixtures with melting points greater than 1025 K have been verified experimentally. The study has indicated that these salt systems produce large ASD systems because of their inherent low thermal conductivity and low density. It is desirable to have PCMs with high densities and high thermal conductivities. Therefore, alternate phase change materials based on metallic alloy systems are also being considered as possible TES candidates for future ASD space power systems.
The slow crack growth parameters of a hot-pressed silicon nitride were determined at 1200 and 1300 C in air by statically, dynamically and cyclicly loading bend specimens. The fatigue parameters were estimated using the recently developed CARES/Life computer code. Good agreement exists between the flexural results. However, fatigue susceptibility under static uniaxial tensile loading, reported elsewhere, was greater than in flexure. Cyclic flexural loading resulted in the lowest apparent flexural fatigue susceptibility.
A-286 stainless steel screws were tested to determine the tensile load capability and failure mode of various screw sizes and types at both cryogenic and room temperature. Additionally, five fastener retention systems were tested by using A-286 screws with specimens made from the primary metallic alloys that are currently used for cryogenic models. The locking system effectiveness was examined by simple no-load cycling to cryogenic temperatures (-275 F) as well as by dynamic and static loading at cryogenic temperatures. In general, most systems were found to be effective retention devices. There are some differences between the various devices with respect to ease of application, cleanup, and reuse. Results of tests at -275 F imply that the cold temperatures act to improve screw retention. The improved retention is probably the result of differential thermal contraction and/or increased friction (thread-binding effects). The data provided are useful in selecting screw sizes, types, and locking devices for model systems to be tested in cryogenic wind tunnels.
In support of the Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology (RAMPT) project, samples made of polybismaleimide (BMI) resin were made and tested under cryogenic conditions. Neat resin samples were tested for multiple cycles, from high temperature (300°C) to cryogenic temperature (-150°C), to replicate the conditions a rocket engine assembly would experience in a test campaign and in operation. To increase the glass transition temperature (and thus mechanical stability), samples were exposed to different post-cure temperatures and were tested using a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) instrument. Consistent with expectations, the BMI samples post-cured at higher temperatures generally resulted in higher storage modulus under high temperature test conditions but at the expense of storage modulus values at low temperature test conditions.
An experimental investigation of the combustion dynamic characteristics of two advanced multi-cup lean direct injectors (LDI) under simulated gas turbine combustor conditions was conducted. The objective was to gain a better understanding of the physical phenomena inside a pressurized flame tube combustion chamber and study the effects of injector flow number on combustion dynamics. The injectors are known as Three-zone Injectors one and two or 3ZI-1 and 3ZI-2, respectively. The injectors were experimentally evaluated at inlet pressures up to 1.724 MPa, non-vitiated air temperatures up to 828K, and adiabatic flame temperatures up to 1975K. Dynamic pressure measurements were taken upstream of the injectors and in the combustion zone. The combustion dynamic behavior of the two injectors was measured over a range of inlet pressures, inlet temperatures, fuel air ratios, and fuel flow splits.
An effort to apply the reduced basis method to nonlinear transient thermal analysis is described. The method combines the classical Rayleigh-Ritz and modal superposition techniques with contemporary finite element methods to retain modeling versatility as the degrees of freedom in a problem are reduced. The essence of the method is to use a few thermal modes from eigenvalue analyses as basis vectors to represent the temperature response for a given thermal problem similar to the use of vibration modes to represent displacements in a dynamic response problem. Approximate temperature distributions were obtained using the reduced basis method for a small section of the Shuttle Orbiter lower wing undergoing reentry heating. Good agreement was obtained between the reduced basis method solutions and full system solutions with reductions in the degrees of freedom of up to a factor of four. The good agreement indicates the reduced basis method has the potential for significant reduction in computing effort for thermal analysis; however, considerable work remains to determine techniques for selecting the type and number of basis vectors needed for approximate solutions to more complex transient thermal problems.
A numerical study based on the use of a variational assimilation technique of Gal-Chen (1983, 1986) was conducted to assess the impact of incorporating temperature data from the VISSR Atmospheric Sounder (VAS) into a regional-scale numerical model. A comparison with the results of a control forecast using only conventional data indicated that the assimilation technique successfully combines actual VAS temperature observations with the dynamically balanced model fields without destabilizing the model during the assimilation cycle. Moreover, increasing the temporal frequency of VAS temperature insertions during the assimilation cycle was shown to enhance the impact on the model forecast through successively longer forecast periods. The incorporation of a nudging technique, whereby the model temperature field is constrained toward the VAS 'updated' values during the assimilation cycle, further enhances the impact of the VAS temperature data.
A new nonlinear 14-coefficient spectral model of two-dimensional shallow Boussinesq flow is developed and used to investigate the onset and development of both dynamically and convectively forced boundary-layer rolls. The model is developed to accept arbitrary basic-state wind profiles as dynamic forcing, using an Ekman profile to provide a means for easy comparison with other studies. The results are qualitatively compared with those of previous theoretical and observational investigations. The rolls are shown to significantly alter the initial wind profile in the sense found by Faller and Kaylor (1967) and Brown (1970), but via a mechanism independent of the Coriolis force.
A supersonic combustion burner has been probed by coherent anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy and the results compared with computational fluid dynamics. Simultaneous measurement of temperature, nitrogen number density and oxygen number density have been acquired throughout the external combustion region. Preliminary calculations have been made on this system to estimate the burner performance. Comparisons of these techniques are included.
Consideration of the dynamics of a two-dimensional guiding center plasma, recently shown by Taylor and McNamara (1971) to be identical to the dynamics of the discrete vortex model of Onsager (1949). A semirigorous application of the methods of equilibrium statistical mechanics to the guiding center plasma (or equivalently, the line vortex system) is presented. An adaptation of the apparatus of the theory of probability is attempted, in the form given by Khinchin (1949) to obtain ensemble-average predictions for the states of the guiding center plasma. Interest focuses primarily on the regime in which the interaction energy is high enough to be above the Onsager 'negative temperature' threshold.
The melting curve of iron, the primary constituent of earth's core, has been measured to pressures of 250 gigapascals with a combination of static and dynamic techniques. The melting temperature of iron at the pressure of the core-mantle boundary (136 GPa) is 4800 + or - 200 K, whereas at the inner core-outer core boundary (330 GPa), it is 7600 + or - 500 K. A melting temperature for iron-rich alloy of 6600 K at the inner core-outer core boundary and a maximum temperature of 6900 K at earth's center are inferred. This latter value is the first experimental upper bound on the temperature at earth's center, and these results imply that the temperature of the lower mantle is significantly less than that of the outer core.
The SUMER (Solar Ultraviolet Measurement of Emitted Radiation) instrumentation that will be mounted on the SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) spacecraft is in development. It has some capability of improving the solar angular resolution and the spectral resolution already obtained in the far UV to the extreme UV, corresponding to the temperature range between 10,000 and a few 1,000,000 K. Some insights into the SUMER spectrometer, developed to study the dynamics and to infer temperatures and densities of the low corona and the chromosphere-corona transition zone in using the 50 to 160 nm wavelength range, are given. The SUMER scientific goals and the techniques used are outlined. The instrumentation and the expected performances are described. The way the observations can be conducted is emphasized and the operation of SUMER in coordination with other SOHO instrumentations and in cooperation with ground based observations is explained.
An observationally based, mechanistic dynamical model is used to simulate the decline of total ozone during September and October for the years 1979 through 1986. Vertical velocities derived from observed stratospheric temperature changes and computed radiative heating rates are used to advect an ozone mixing ratio profile during the Antarctic spring period. An early August 1982 Syowa balloonsonde ozone profile is used to initialize the computations. The model reasonably simulates the September and October changes in total ozone, considering the uncertainties in the observed data and the radiative heating. The simulated decline is found to be very sensitive to the choice of initial ozone profile and to small changes in the radiative heating. The results of this study suggest that the dynamical hypothesis of the Antarctic ozone depletion is both quantitatively credible and consistent with the observed temperature changes.
A growing multispectral database plus recent Galileo descent measurements are being used to construct a self-consistent picture of the Jupiter thermosphere/ionosphere system. The proper characterization of Jupiter s upper atmosphere, embedded ionosphere, and auroral features requires the examination of underlying processes, including the feedbacks of energetics, neutral-ion dynamics, composition, and magnetospheric coupling. A fully 3-D Jupiter Thermospheric General Circulation Model (JTGCM) has been developed and exercised to address global temperatures, three-component neutral winds, and neutral-ion species distributions. The domain of this JTGCM extends from 20-microbar (capturing hydrocarbon cooling) to 1.0 x 10(exp -4) nbar (including aurora/Joule heating processes). The resulting JTGCM has been fully spun-up and integrated for greater than or equal to40 Jupiter rotations. Results from three JTGCM cases incorporating moderate auroral heating, ion drag, and moderate to strong Joule heating processes are presented. The neutral horizontal winds at ionospheric heights vary from 0.5 km/s to 1.2 km/s, atomic hydrogen is transported equatorward, and auroral exospheric temperatures range from approx.1200-1300 K to above 3000 K, depending on the magnitude of Joule heating. The equatorial temperature profiles from the JTGCM are compared with the measured temperature structure from the Galileo AS1 data set. The best fit to the Galileo data implies that the major energy source for maintaining the equatorial temperatures is due to dynamical heating induced by the low-latitude convergence of the high-latitude-driven thermospheric circulation. Overall, the Jupiter thermosphere/ionosphere system is highly variable and is shown to be strongly dependent on magnetospheric coupling which regulates Joule heating.