Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “testing facility”

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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2002

High-Strength Composite Fabric Tested at Structural Benchmark Test Facility

Large sheets of ultrahigh strength fabric were put to the test at NASA Glenn Research Center's Structural Benchmark Test Facility. The material was stretched like a snare drum head until the last ounce of strength was reached, when it burst with a cacophonous release of tension. Along the way, the 3-ft square samples were also pulled, warped, tweaked, pinched, and yanked to predict the material's physical reactions to the many loads that it will experience during its proposed use. The material tested was a unique multi-ply composite fabric, reinforced with fibers that had a tensile strength eight times that of common carbon steel. The fiber plies were oriented at 0 and 90 to provide great membrane stiffness, as well as oriented at 45 to provide an unusually high resistance to shear distortion. The fabric's heritage is in astronaut space suits and other NASA programs.

Krause, David L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The NASA JSC Hypervelocity Impact Test Facility (HIT-F)

The NASA Johnson Space Center Hypervelocity Impact Test Facility was created in 1980 to study the hypervelocity impact characteristics of composite materials. The facility consists of the Hypervelocity Impact Laboratory (HIRL) and the Hypervelocity Analysis Laboratory (HAL). The HIRL supports three different-size light-gas gun ranges which provide the capability of launching particle sizes from 100 micron spheres to 12.7 mm cylinders. The HAL performs three functions: (1) the analysis of data collected from shots in the HIRL, (2) numerical and analytical modeling to predict impact response beyond test conditions, and (3) risk and damage assessments for spacecraft exposed to the meteoroid and orbital debris environments.

Crews, Jeanne L.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Hot Corrosion Test Facility at the NASA Lewis Special Projects Laboratory

The Hot Corrosion Test Facility (HCTF) at the NASA Lewis Special Projects Laboratory (SPL) is a high-velocity, pressurized burner rig currently used to evaluate the environmental durability of advanced ceramic materials such as SiC and Si3N4. The HCTF uses laboratory service air which is preheated, mixed with jet fuel, and ignited to simulate the conditions of a gas turbine engine. Air, fuel, and water systems are computer-controlled to maintain test conditions which include maximum air flows of 250 kg/hr (550 lbm/hr), pressures of 100-600 kPa (1-6 atm), and gas temperatures exceeding 1500 C (2732 F). The HCTF provides a relatively inexpensive, yet sophisticated means for researchers to study the high-temperature oxidation of advanced materials, and the injection of a salt solution provides the added capability of conducting hot corrosion studies.

Robinson, Raymond C.↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Refined BISON-Griffin Workflow For Designing Targeted TRISO Transient Experiments In The Transient Reactor Test Facility

U.S. industry is expected to deploy tristructural isotropic (TRISO) particle fuel technologies for commercial reactors within the next decade. In our previous work, we defined a preliminary transient design space for TRISO fuels, identified potential gaps in the available data, and began to develop multiphysics modeling tools that could be applied to design targeted Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT) experiments to fill these gaps. This work builds on that foundation by (1) updating BISON fuel performance and Griffin reactor physics models to reflect the current TREAT experiment tube and capsule designs,(2) coupling the codes to improve the accuracy and usability of the transient design analyses, and (3) demonstrating their use over an expanded design space that includes fuel burnup. The simulated mechanical responses of the TRISO particles were complex functions of fission product accumulation, fission gas release, and irradiation-induced dimensional change in the pyrolytic carbon layers. Predicted tangential stresses in particle silicon carbide layers were least compressive for preheated tests involving fresh fuels but remained compressive throughout the ranges of temperature, heat rate, and burnup considered in this work. Finally, comparisons between the potential TREAT transients and historical test reactor irradiations showed that the TREAT tests would produce significantly lower average energy deposition rates, yielding less severe transients with greater relevance to near-term commercial applications. Use of these predictive capabilities has the potential to increase the value of each test, improving the overall efficiency and cost effectiveness of transient testing for TRISO and other advanced fuels.

11 - NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1981

Lewis Research Center's coal-fired, pressurized, fluidized-bed reactor test facility

A 200-kilowatt-thermal, pressurized, fluidized-bed (PFB) reactor, research test facility was designed, constructed, and operated as part of a NASA-funded project to assess and evaluate the effect of PFB hot-gas effluent on aircraft turbine engine materials that might have applications in stationary-power-plant turbogenerators. Some of the techniques and components developed for this PFB system are described. One of the more important items was the development of a two-in-one, gas-solids separator that removed 95+ percent of the solids in 1600 F to 1900 F gases. Another was a coal and sorbent feed and mixing system for injecting the fuel into the pressurized combustor. Also important were the controls and data-acquisition systems that enabled one person to operate the entire facility. The solid, liquid, and gas sub-systems all had problems that were solved over the 2-year operating time of the facility, which culminated in a 400-hour, hot-gas, turbine test.

Kobak, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS2009

The Mars Science Laboratory Touchdown Test Facility

In the Touchdown Test Program for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission, a facility was developed to use a full-scale rover vehicle and an overhead winch system to replicate the Skycrane landing event.

White, Christopher↗
DOE OSTI2026

Hawaiian Hoary Bat Report for Sandia National Laboratories, Kauai Test Facility

The Hawaiian Hoary Bat Report for Sandia National Laboratories, Kauai Test Facility (SNL/KTF) provides data and analysis of Hawaiian hoary bat occupancy of the SNL/KTF site. The monitoring period was from 2023-2025 and used passive acoustic detection at three locations to determine whether the Hawaiian hoary bat occurs at the site and if they roost and pup in the vegetation of the site. Bats were detected at all three locations, however, given the vegetation type at SNL/KTF, it is very unlikely

Jones, Amanda Kaye [Sandia National Laboratories (↗
NASA NTRS1976

A high-pressure, high-temperature combustor and turbine-cooling test facility

NASA-Lewis Research Center is presently constructing a new test facility for developing turbine-cooling and combustor technology for future generation aircraft gas turbine engines. Prototype engine hardware will be investigated in this new facility at gas stream conditions up to 2480 K average turbine inlet temperature and 4,140,000 N per sq m turbine inlet pressure. The facility will have the unique feature of fully-automated control and data acquisition through the use of an integrated system of minicomputers and programmable controllers, which will result in more effective use of operating time, will limit the number of operators required, and will provide a built-in self-protection safety system. The paper describes the facility and the planning and design considerations involved.

Cochran, R. P.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Thermal Testing Facilities and Efforts at Dryden Flight Research Center

This presentation provides the thermal testing panel discussion with an overview of the thermal test facilities at the Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) as well as highlights from the thermal test efforts of the past year. This presentation is a little more in-depth than the corresponding material in the center overview presentation.

Holguin, Andrew↗
DOE OSTI2024

Intracore Natural Circulation Study in the High Temperature Test Facility

The development of the Modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor is a significant milestone in advanced nuclear reactor technology. One of the concerns for the reactor’s safe operation is the effects of a loss-of-flow accident (LOFA) where the coolant circulators are tripped, and forced coolant flow through the core is lost. Depending on the steam generator placement, loop or intracore natural circulation develops to help transfer heat from the core to the reactor cavity, cooling system. This paper investigates the fundamental physical phenomena associated with intracore coolant natural circulation flow in a one-sixth Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model of the Oregon State University High Temperature Test Facility (OSU HTTF) following a loss-of-flow accident transient. This study employs conjugate heat transfer and steady-state flow along with an SST k-ω turbulence model to characterize the phenomenon of core channel-to-channel natural convection. Previous studies have revealed the importance of complex flow distribution in the inlet and outlet plenums with the potential to generate hot coolant jets. For this reason, complete upper and lower plenum volumes are included in the analyzed computational domain. CFD results also include parametric studies performed for a mesh sensitivity analysis, generated using the STAR-CCM+ software. The resulting channel axial velocities and flow directions support the test facility scaling analysis and similarity group distortions calculation.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS1990

The test facility requirements for the thermal vacuum thermal balance test of the Cosmic Background Explorer Observatory

The Cosmic Background Explorer Observatory (COBE) underwent a thermal vacuum thermal balance test in the Space Environment Simulator (SES). This was the largest and most complex test ever conducted at this facility. The 4 x 4 m (13 x 13 ft) spacecraft weighed approx. 2223 kg (4900 lbs) for the test. The test set up included simulator panels for the inboard solar array panels, simulator panels for the flight cowlings, Sun and Earth Sensor stimuli, Thermal Radio Frequency Shield heater stimuli and a cryopanel for thermal control in the Attitude Control System Shunt Dissipator area. The fixturing also included a unique 4.3 m (14 ft) diameter Gaseous Helium Cryopanel which provided a 20 K environment for the calibration of one of the spacecraft's instruments, the Differential Microwave Radiometer. This cryogenic panel caused extra contamination concerns and a special method was developed and written into the test procedure to prevent the high buildup of condensibles on the panel which could have led to backstreaming of the thermal vacuum chamber. The test was completed with a high quality simulated space environment provided to the spacecraft. The test requirements, test set up, and special fixturing are described.

Milam, Laura J.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Test facility requirements for the thermal vacuum thermal balance test of the Cosmic Background Explorer Observatory

The Cosmic Background Explorer Observatory (COBE) underwant a thermal vacuum thermal balance test in the Space Environment Simulator (SES). This was the largest and most complex test ever conducted at this facility. The 4 x 4 m (13 x 13 ft) spacecraft weighed approx. 2223 kg (4900 lbs) for the test. The test set up included simulator panels for the inboard solar array panels, simulator panels for the flight cowlings, Sun and Earth Sensor stimuli, Thermal Radio Frequency Shield heater stimuli and a cryopanel for thermal control in the Attitude Control System Shunt Dissipator area. The fixturing also included a unique 4.3 m (14 ft) diameter Gaseous Helium Cryopanel which provided a 20 K environment for the calibration of one of the spacecraft's instruments, the Differential Microwave Radiometer. This cryogenic panel caused extra contamination concerns and a special method was developed and written into the test procedure to prevent the high buildup of condensibles on the panel which could have led to backstreaming of the thermal vacuum chamber. The test was completed with a high quality simulated space environment provided to the spacecraft. The test requirements, test set up, and special fixturing are described.

Milam, Laura J.↗
NASA NTRS1976

The Langley thermal protection system test facility: A description including design operating boundaries

A description of the Langley thermal protection system test facility is presented. This facility was designed to provide realistic environments and times for testing thermal protection systems proposed for use on high speed vehicles such as the space shuttle. Products from the combustion of methane-air-oxygen mixtures, having a maximum total enthalpy of 10.3 MJ/kg, are used as a test medium. Test panels with maximum dimensions of 61 cm x 91.4 cm are mounted in the side wall of the test region. Static pressures in the test region can range from .005 to .1 atm and calculated equilibrium temperatures of test panels range from 700 K to 1700 K. Test times can be as long as 1800 sec. Some experimental data obtained while using combustion products of methane-air mixtures are compared with theory, and calibration of the facility is being continued to verify calculated values of parameters which are within the design operating boundaries.

Klich, G. F.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Technical analysis of filter testing at the U.S. Department of Energy Filter Test Facility

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) technical standard DOE-STD-3020-2015 requires verification testing at the Filter Test Facility (FTF) of high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters to be installed in nuclear facility (Hazard Category 1, 2, 3, and radiological facilities) confinement ventilation systems, or to be installed in habitability systems (e.g., filters for protection of workers required to act for the control and mitigation of emergency situations). Filters in these applications perform a safety function in accident situations, are designated as important to safety, or are necessary for habitability systems. Different FTFs have operated for decades, and results of tests are available to examine the need for and benefits of continued execution of 100 percent QA verification testing. The objective of this study and resulting report was to assess the need for 100 percent QA testing at the current FTF in Maryland, based on an examination of a database of test results from 2013 to August 2020. Filters that require independent testing per DOE-STD-3020-2015 to be installed in nuclear facilities are sent to the FTF before being shipped to the facilities. The FTF examines the documentation (e.g., certificates of compliance, results of particle penetration and airflow resistance testing by the manufacturers, labels affixed to filters and packages, and other requirements specified in purchase orders by the nuclear facility operators), implements visual inspections of the physical state of the filters, and checks the dimensions of frames. Filters that meet the documentation and visual inspection requirements are subjected to particle penetration and airflow resistance testing. In case of rejections, the filters are shipped back to the manufacturers, at the cost of the manufacturers, for replacement. Filters that pass all tests are shipped to the nuclear facilities.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗