Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “manifold”

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 343 records · Page 19

Method of injecting fluid propellants into a rocket combustion chamber

A rocket injector is provided with multiple sets of manifolds for supplying propellants to injector elements. Sensors transmit the temperatures of the propellants to a suitable controller which is operably connected to valves between these manifolds and propellant storage tanks. Additional valves are opened to furnish propellants to more of the manifolds when cryogenic propellant temperatures are sensed. Only a portion of the valves are opened to furnish propellants to some of the manifolds when lower temperatures are sensed.

Schneider, Steven J.↗

Biofilm monitoring coupon system and method of use

An apparatus and method is disclosed for biofilm monitoring of a water distribution system which includes the mounting of at least one fitting in a wall port of a manifold in the water distribution system with a passage through the fitting in communication. The insertion of a biofilm sampling member is through the fitting with planar sampling surfaces of different surface treatment provided on linearly arrayed sample coupons of the sampling member disposed in the flow stream in edge-on parallel relation to the direction of the flow stream of the manifold under fluid-tight sealed conditions. The sampling member is adapted to be aseptically removed from or inserted in the fitting and manifold under a positive pressure condition and the fitting passage sealed immediately thereafter by appropriate closure means so as to preclude contamination of the water distribution system through the fitting. The apparatus includes means for clamping the sampling member and for establishing electrical continuity between the sampling surfaces and the system for minimizing electropotential effects. The apparatus may also include a plurality of fittings and sampling members mounted on the manifold to permit extraction of the sampling members in a timed sequence throughout the monitoring period.

Sauer, Richard L.↗

Extended temperature range rocket injector

A rocket injector is provided with multiple sets of manifolds for supplying propellants to injector elements. Sensors transmit the temperatures of the propellants to a suitable controller which is operably connnected to valves between these manifolds and propellant storage tanks. When cryogenic propellant temperatures are sensed, only a portion of the valves are opened to furnish propellants to some of the manifolds. When lower temperatures are sensed, additional valves are opened to furnish propellants to more of the manifolds.

Schneider, Steven J.↗

Optimization of Insertion Cost for Transfer Trajectories to Libration Point Orbits

The objective of this work is the development of efficient techniques to optimize the cost associated with transfer trajectories to libration point orbits in the Sun-Earth-Moon four body problem, that may include lunar gravity assists. Initially, dynamical systems theory is used to determine invariant manifolds associated with the desired libration point orbit. These manifolds are employed to produce an initial approximation to the transfer trajectory. Specific trajectory requirements such as, transfer injection constraints, inclusion of phasing loops, and targeting of a specified state on the manifold are then incorporated into the design of the transfer trajectory. A two level differential corrections process is used to produce a fully continuous trajectory that satisfies the design constraints, and includes appropriate lunar and solar gravitational models. Based on this methodology, and using the manifold structure from dynamical systems theory, a technique is presented to optimize the cost associated with insertion onto a specified libration point orbit.

Howell, K. C.↗

Capillary condenser/evaporator

A heat transfer device is disclosed for transferring heat to or from a fluid that is undergoing a phase change. The heat transfer device includes a liquid-vapor manifold in fluid communication with a capillary structure thermally connected to a heat transfer interface, all of which are disposed in a housing to contain the vapor. The liquid-vapor manifold transports liquid in a first direction and conducts vapor in a second, opposite direction. The manifold provides a distributed supply of fluid (vapor or liquid) over the surface of the capillary structure. In one embodiment, the manifold has a fractal structure including one or more layers, each layer having one or more conduits for transporting liquid and one or more openings for conducting vapor. Adjacent layers have an increasing number of openings with decreasing area, and an increasing number of conduits with decreasing cross-sectional area, moving in a direction toward the capillary structure.

Valenzuela, Javier A.↗

Improved Cryostat for Cooling a Wide Panel

An improved cryostat has been developed for cooling a wide panel evenly over its surface to a temperature of -423 F (approximately equal to -253 C) by use of liquid helium. Originally, the cryostat was to be used in measuring apparent strains in wide aluminum/lithium panels as functions of temperature in order to develop data for temperature compensation of the readings of strain gauges on a tank containing liquid hydrogen. Relative to the cryostat used previously for this purpose, the improved cryostat can be prepared for a test in less time, and it loses less helium during each test. Each wide panel to be tested is instrumented with thermocouples in preparation for a test. The previous cryostat was made of two aluminum halves that, for each test, were sandwiched together and sealed around the instrumented wide panel to be tested. The panel was thus enclosed in a plenum. The cryostat and adjacent panel areas protruding from the cryostat were then coated with a thermally insulating foam. During a test, liquid helium was made to flow into the plenum through a port on the bottom. The helium vaporized and expanded, filling the plenum with cold helium gas, which eventually flowed out of the plenum through a port on the top. The nature of the flow was such that a significant portion of the helium did not come into contact with the wide panel; hence, cooling was less efficient than it might otherwise have been. After completion of each test, the foam and the cryostat were separated from the panel. The cryostat was cleaned and prepared for installation on another instrumented wide panel for the next test. It took 28 hours to install the cryostat onto the instrumented panel, apply the foam, and perform ancillary operations in preparation for a test. The volume of liquid helium consumed during each test was 750 liters. The improved cryostat (see figure) includes an upper section and a lower section, both of which include permanent housings made of a thermally insulating foam 2-in. (approximately equal to 5-cm) thick. A liquid-helium- injection manifold is attached to the inside of the top section. The bottom section includes an outlet for helium gas. The manifold contains slots that, when the cryostat is installed on the panel, are located approximately 1 in. (approximately equal to 2.5 cm) from the wide panel. The array of slots spans a substantial portion of the area of the panel. The top and bottom sections of the cryostat are sealed to the panel by use of polytetrafluoroethylene cord and aluminum tape. Liquid helium is fed into the manifold from the top. The helium leaves the manifold through the slots and thus impinges directly on the panel. Hence, all the helium entering the cryostat must come into contact with the panel before leaving the cryostat. After a test, the cryostat is removed from the panel and reinstalled onto another panel for the next test. Installation of the cryostat on an instrumented panel takes a negligible amount of time, in comparison with the 28 hours associated with the previous cryostat. The amount of liquid helium consumed during a test in the improved cryostat is 500 liters - 250 liters less than before.

Clifton, W. B.↗

Modeling of Supersonic Film Cooling on the J-2X Nozzle Extension

Supersonic film cooling (SSFC) of nozzles has been used in several liquid rocket engine designs, and is being applied to the nozzle extension (NE) of the J-2X upper stage engine currently under development. Turbine exhaust gas (TEG) is injected tangentially from a manifold along the NE, and provides a thermal barrier from the core nozzle flow for the NE. As the TEG stream mixes with the nozzle flow, the effectiveness of the thermal barrier is reduced. This paper documents computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis work performed by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) to model the flow of the TEG through the manifold, into the nozzle, and the subsequent mixing of the TEG stream with the core flow. The geometry and grid of the TEG manifold, structural support ribs, and the NE wall will be shown, and the CFD boundary conditions described. The Loci-CHEM CFD code used in this work will also be briefly described. A unique approach to modeling the combined TEG manifold/thrust chamber assembly (TCA) was employed, as it was not practical to model the entire 360 circumferential range in one simulation. Prior CFD validation work modeling Calspan SSFC experiments in the early 1990s, documented in a previous AIAA paper, will also be briefly discussed. The fluid dynamics of the TEG flow through the manifold, into and between the structural support ribs, and into the nozzlette that feeds the TCA will be described. Significant swirl and non-uniformities are present, which along with the wakes from the ribs, act to degrade the film cooling effectiveness compared to idealized injection of TEG gas. The effect of these flow characteristics on the adiabatic wall temperature profile on the NE will be discussed.

Ruf, Joseph H.↗

Multipoint Fuel Injection Arrangements

A multipoint fuel injection system includes a plurality of fuel manifolds. Each manifold is in fluid communication with a plurality of injectors arranged circumferentially about a longitudinal axis for multipoint fuel injection. The injectors of separate respective manifolds are spaced radially apart from one another for separate radial staging of fuel flow to each respective manifold.

Prociw, Lev Alexander↗

Reachability Subspace Exploration Using Continuation Methods

Reachability manifold computation suffers from the curse of dimensionality and for large state spaces is computationally intractable. This paper examines the use of continuation methods to address this issue by formulating the reachability sub-space manifold calculation into a number of initial valued problems. As a result of computing the reachability manifold for a subspace of interest, an exponential improvement in computational cost occurs. This concept is applied to a position subspace reachability problem of a spacecraft in a Keplerian orbit under maximum thrust constraints. Future work includes a comparison of the proposed method with computing reachability manifolds using viscosity solutions of the Hamilton Jacobi Bellman partial differential equation.

orbital mechanics↗

Europa Lander Trajectory Design Using Lissajous Staging Orbits

Lissajous orbits and approximation of their invariant manifolds are used to generate landing trajectories to the surface of Europa. Each lissajous is discretized into individual revolutions that each resemble a periodic orbit. The unstable manifolds of each individual revolution propagated forward in time generate more surface coverage than manifolds of simple libration point orbits such as halo or Lyapunov orbits. The stable manifolds propagated backwards in time from the individual lissajous revolutions provide direct connections to the last phase of a moon tour. The strategy developed produces ballistic landing trajectories with a wide surface coverage, and allows for the decoupling of the landing and moon tour phase by using the lissajous as an intermediate staging orbit. The multiple revolutions of the lissajous, multiple departure times along each revolution, multiple quasi periodic options at each energy, and multiple energies of the lissajous family provide many degrees of freedom in the design process.

McElarth, Timothy P.↗

Using GPUs and the Parameterization Method for Rapid Search and Refinement of Connections between Tori in Periodically Perturbed Planar Circular Restricted 3-Body Problems

When the planar circular restricted 3-body problem is periodically perturbed, most unstable periodic orbits become invariant tori. However, 2D Poincare ́ sections no longer work to find their manifolds’ intersections; new methods are needed. In this study, we first review a method of restricting the intersection search to only certain manifold subsets. We then implement this search using Julia and OpenCL, representing the manifolds as triangular meshes and gaining a 30x speedup using GPUs. We finally show how to use manifold parametrizations to refine the ap- proximate connections found in the mesh search. We demonstrate the tools on the planar elliptic RTBP.

de la Llave, Rafael↗

Counter-flow ceramic heat exchanger assembly and method

A heat exchanger assembly embodiment includes a plurality of laminated ceramic tape layers having at least one hole surrounded by at least one tape remainder portion. The plurality of layers is arranged in a build direction defined parallel to a counter-flow plane. Each laminated ceramic tape layer is stacked and sintered to define a ceramic core section integrally formed with a first ceramic manifold and a second ceramic manifold. The ceramic core section of the assembly includes a plurality of spaced apart counter-flow plates stacked along a stacking direction normal to the counter-flow plane and the build direction, defining a plurality of flow passages parallel to the counter-flow plane. Each flow passage is in communication with the first manifold and the second manifold. A plurality of counter-flow fins is disposed in at least one of the plurality of flow passages, between adjacent ones of the plurality of counter-flow plates.

Ranjan, Ram↗

System for rebalancing a pressure differential in an anode exhaust system of a fuel cell with a relational water seal

A fuel cell system includes at least one fuel cell module and at least one relational water seal configured to limit a magnitude of a pressure differential in the fuel cell system in an anode under-pressurization situation in which the second pressure exceeds the first pressure by at least a first predetermined amount. The fuel cell module includes a fuel cell assembly having one or more fuel cells arranged in a stack configuration, an anode inlet manifold, an anode outlet manifold having a first pressure, a cathode inlet manifold having a second pressure, and a cathode outlet manifold.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗

Turbocharger system with turbine bypass circuit to reduce emissions during engine cold start

An engine system includes an engine having first and second exhaust manifolds each having outlet ports and a bypass runner. A first turbocharger is in fluid communication with the outlet port of the first manifold, and a second turbocharger in fluid communication with the outlet port of the second manifold. An exhaust aftertreatment device is in fluid communication with the first and second turbochargers. A turbocharger bypass circuit includes a valve assembly having an inlet side connected in fluid communication with the bypass runners of the first and second manifolds, an outlet side in fluid communication with the aftertreatment device, and a valve having an open position in which the inlet and outlet sides are in fluid communication and a closed position in which the inlet and outlet sides are not in fluid communication.

Plagens, Keith Michael↗

Multi-channel pulsed valve inlet system and method

A multichannel inlet system for a mass spectrometer includes a plurality of valve assemblies coupled to a manifold, and a pulsed valve driver. The manifold is configured to be connected in fluid connection with an ion trap of the mass spectrometer. Each valve assembly includes a valve and an injection port operably coupled to receive the reagent. The valve has an actuated state in which the valve provides fluid communication between the injection port and the manifold, and an unactuated state in which the valve substantially prevents fluid communication between the injection port and the manifold. The pulsed valve driver is operably connected to receive a pulse signal sequence from a processor, and is configured to generate pulsed valve drive signals for one or more of the valves based on the pulse signal sequence to cause a corresponding one of the valves to be in the actuated state.

Kenttamaa, Hilkka↗

A nonlinear data-driven reduced order model for computational homogenization with physics/pattern-guided sampling

Developing an accurate nonlinear reduced order model from simulation data has been an outstanding research topic for many years. For many physical systems, data collection is very expensive and the optimal data distribution is not known in advance. Thus, maximizing the information gain remains a grand challenge. In a recent paper, Bhattacharjee and Matouš (2016) proposed a manifold-based nonlinear reduced order model for multiscale problems in mechanics of materials. Expanding this work here, we develop a novel sampling strategy based on the physics/pattern-guided data distribution. Our adaptive sampling strategy relies on enrichment of sub-manifolds based on the principal stretches and rotational sensitivity analysis. This novel sampling strategy substantially decreases the number of snapshots needed for accurate reduced order model construction (i.e., ~5 x reduction of snapshots over Bhattacharjee and Matouš (2016)). Moreover, we build the nonlinear manifold using the displacement rather than deformation gradient data. We provide rigorous verification and error assessment. We demonstrate both localization and homogenization of the multiscale solution on a large particulate composite unit cell.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Polynomial chaos expansions on principal geodesic Grassmannian submanifolds for surrogate modeling and uncertainty quantification

In this work we introduce a manifold learning-based surrogate modeling framework for uncertainty quantification in high-dimensional stochastic systems. Our first goal is to perform data mining on the available simulation data to identify a set of low-dimensional (latent) descriptors that efficiently parameterize the response of the high-dimensional computational model. To this end, we employ Principal Geodesic Analysis on the Grassmann manifold of the response to identify a set of disjoint principal geodesic submanifolds, of possibly different dimension, that captures the variation in the data. Since operations on the Grassmann require the data to be concentrated, we propose an adaptive algorithm based on Riemannian K-means and the minimization of the sample Fréchet variance on the Grassmann manifold to identify “local” principal geodesic submanifolds that represent different system behavior across the parameter space. Polynomial chaos expansion is then used to construct a mapping between the random input parameters and the projection of the response on these local principal geodesic submanifolds. Here, the method is demonstrated on four test cases, a toy-example that involves points on a hypersphere, a Lotka-Volterra dynamical system, a continuous-flow stirred-tank chemical reactor system, and a two-dimensional Rayleigh-Bénard convection problem.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Tri-Sectional Approximation of the Shortest Path to Long-Term Voltage Stability Boundary with Distributed Energy Resources

Ensuring long-term voltage stability is critical for reliable operations of power grids. High share of distributed energy resources (DERs) can create complicated system operation modes that may invalidate the traditional long-term voltage stability analysis based on typical operation modes. To address this challenge, this paper investigates how to compute the shortest path to the voltage stability boundary in the DER aggregated load space with large dispersion. Instead of working in the Euclidean space, we establish the analysis and computations on the algebraic power flow manifold to better capture the curvature change of the shortest path along the direction of losing stability. A modified optimal control framework is presented for obtaining the ground-truth of the smooth shortest path on the manifold. To efficiently and accurately solve for the shortest path, we further leverage the geometric features of the power flow manifold and propose a tri-sectional approximation model that is scalable for large-scale systems. Several numerical examples, up to the 1354-bus system, with different DER penetration levels and high dimensional renewable power injection variations are evaluated. The simulation results demonstrate that the tri-sectional approximation achieves high accuracy and efficiency to approximate the shortest path to the voltage stability boundary.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗