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At least 37 records · Page 2

Supercharged two-cycle engines employing novel single element reciprocating shuttle inlet valve mechanisms and with a variable compression ratio

This invention relates to novel reciprocating shuttle inlet valves, effective with every type of two-cycle engine, from small high-speed single cylinder model engines, to large low-speed multiple cylinder engines, employing spark or compression ignition. Also permitting the elimination of out-of-phase piston arrangements to control scavenging and supercharging of opposed-piston engines. The reciprocating shuttle inlet valve (32) and its operating mechanism (34) is constructed as a single and simple uncomplicated member, in combination with the lost-motion abutments, (46) and (48), formed in a piston skirt, obviating the need for any complex mechanisms or auxiliary drives, unaffected by heat, friction, wear or inertial forces. The reciprocating shuttle inlet valve retains the simplicity and advantages of two-cycle engines, while permitting an increase in volumetric efficiency and performance, thereby increasing the range of usefulness of two-cycle engines into many areas that are now dominated by the four-cycle engine.

Wiesen, Bernard↗

Preliminary Evaluation of a Turbine/Rotary Combustion Compound Engine for a Subsonic Transport

The fuel consumption of a modern compound engine with that of an advanced high pressure ratio turbofan was compared. The compound engine was derived from a turbofan engine by replacing the combustor with a rotary combustion (RC) engine. A number of boost pressure ratios and compression ratios were examined. Cooling of the RC engine was accomplished by heat exchanging to the fan duct. Performance was estimated with an Otto-cycle for two levels of energy lost to cooling. The effects of added complexity on cost and maintainability were not examined and the comparison was solely in terms of cruise performance and weight. Assuming a 25 percent Otto-cycle cooling loss (representative of current experience), the best compound engine gave a 1.2 percent improvement in cruise. Engine weight increased by 23 percent. For a 10 percent Otto-cycle cooling loss (representing advanced insulation/high temperature materials technology), a compound engine with a boost PR of 10 and a compression ratio of 10 gave an 8.1 percent lower cruise than the reference turbofan.

Civinskas, K. C.↗

Hydrogen-fueled diesel engine without timed ignition

Experiments were carried out to investigate the feasibility of converting a diesel engine to hydrogen-fueled operation without providing a timed ignition system. Use was made of a glow plug and a multiple-strike spark plug. The glow plug was found to provide reliable ignition and smooth engine operation. It caused the hydrogen to ignite almost immediately upon the start of injection. Indicated mean effective pressures were on the order of 1.3 MPa for equivalence ratios between 0.1 and 0.4 at a compression ratio of 18. This is significantly higher than the corresponding result obtained with diesel oil (about 0.6 MPa for equivalence ratios between 0.3 and 0.9). Indicated thermal efficiencies were on the order of 0.4 for hydrogen and 0.20-0.25 for diesel oil. Operation with the multiple-strike spark system yielded similar values for IMEP and efficiency, but gave rise to large cycle-to-cycle variations in the delay between the beginning of injection and ignition. Large ignition delays were associated with large amplitude pressure waves in the combustion chamber. The measured NO(x) concentrations in the exhaust gas were of the order of 50-100 ppm. This is significantly higher than the corresponding results obtained with premixed hydrogen and air at low equivalence ratios. Compression ignition could not be achieved even at a compression ratio of 29.

Homan, H. S.↗

Investigation of High-Performance Fuels in Multicylinder and in Single-Cylinder Engines at High and Cruising Engine Speeds

An investigation was conducted to compare the knock-limited performance of a 20-percent triptane blend in 28-K fuel with that of 28-R and 33-R fuels at high engine speeds, cruising speeds, and two compression ratios in an K-1830-94 multicylinder engine, Data were obtained with the standard compression ratio of 6.7 and with a compression ratio of 3.0, The three fuels were investigated at engine speeds of 1800, 2250, 2600, and 2800 rpm at high and low blower ratios. A carburetor-air temperature of approximate1y 100 deg F was maintained for the multicylinder-engine runs, Data were obtained on a single R-1830-94 cylinder engine as a means of checking the multicylinder data at the higher speeds. A satisfactory correlation between average mixture temperature and knock-limited manifold pressure was obtained by plotting knock-limited manifold pressure against average mixture temperature for the whole range of engine speeds at constant carburetor air temperature and cylinder-head temperature. The single-cylinder knock-limited performance based on charge-air flow matched that of the multicylinder engine within 6 percent under all the conditions except for 28-R fuel at 2800 rpm; these curves differed from each other by 11 percent in the rich region. The knock rating of 33-R fuel was found to be a little higher than that of the 20-percent triptane blend and 26-R fuel at high mixture temperatures (above 210 deg F) and lean mixtures. The 33-R fuel exhibited rich knock limits appreciably lower than the 20-percent triptane blend, Increasing the compression ratio from 6.7 to 8.0 lowered the knock-limited manifold pressure for all fuels approximately 15 to 18 inches of mercury absolute in the cruising range and 20 to 28 inches of mercury absolute at higher engine speeds. Brake specific fuel consumption was reduced 7 to 9 percent by the increase in compression ratio from 6.7 to 8,0,

Bell, Arthur H.↗

Performance of a Discrete Wavelet Transform for Compressing Plasma Count Data and its Application to the Fast Plasma Investigation on NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission

Plasma measurements in space are becoming increasingly faster, higher resolution, and distributed over multiple instruments. As raw data generation rates can exceed available data transfer bandwidth, data compression is becoming a critical design component. Data compression has been a staple of imaging instruments for years, but only recently have plasma measurement designers become interested in high performance data compression. Missions will often use a simple lossless compression technique yielding compression ratios of approximately 2:1, however future missions may require compression ratios upwards of 10:1. This study aims to explore how a Discrete Wavelet Transform combined with a Bit Plane Encoder (DWT/BPE), implemented via a CCSDS standard, can be used effectively to compress count information common to plasma measurements to high compression ratios while maintaining little or no compression error. The compression ASIC used for the Fast Plasma Investigation (FPI) on board the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission (MMS) is used for this study. Plasma count data from multiple sources is examined: resampled data from previous missions, randomly generated data from distribution functions, and simulations of expected regimes. These are run through the compression routines with various parameters to yield the greatest possible compression ratio while maintaining little or no error, the latter indicates that fully lossless compression is obtained. Finally, recommendations are made for future missions as to what can be achieved when compressing plasma count data and how best to do so.

Particles↗

An image assessment study of image acceptability of the Galileo low gain antenna mission

This paper describes a study conducted by NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) in collaboration with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California on the image acceptability of the Galileo Low Gain Antenna mission. The primary objective of the study is to determine the impact of the Integer Cosine Transform (ICT) compression algorithm on Galilean images of atmospheric bodies, moons, asteroids and Jupiter's rings. The approach involved fifteen volunteer subjects representing twelve institutions involved with the Galileo Solid State Imaging (SSI) experiment. Four different experiment specific quantization tables (q-table) and various compression stepsizes (q-factor) to achieve different compression ratios were used. It then determined the acceptability of the compressed monochromatic astronomical images as evaluated by Galileo SSI mission scientists. Fourteen different images were evaluated. Each observer viewed two versions of the same image side by side on a high resolution monitor, each was compressed using a different quantization stepsize. They were requested to select which image had the highest overall quality to support them in carrying out their visual evaluations of image content. Then they rated both images using a scale from one to five on its judged degree of usefulness. Up to four pre-selected types of images were presented with and without noise to each subject based upon results of a previously administered survey of their image preferences. Fourteen different images in seven image groups were studied. The results showed that: (1) acceptable compression ratios vary widely with the type of images; (2) noisy images detract greatly from image acceptability and acceptable compression ratios; and (3) atmospheric images of Jupiter seem to have higher compression ratios of 4 to 5 times that of some clear surface satellite images.

Chuang, S. L.↗

The influence of engine technology advancements on aircraft economics

A technology advancement in a new powerplant has both favorable and unfavorable effects. Increased bypass ratio and compression ratio, coupled with high turbine temperatures, improve performance but also increase engine price and maintenance cost. The factors that should be evaluated in choosing an engine for airline use are discussed. These factors are compared for two engines that might be considered for future 150 to 200 passenger airplanes: an all-new turbofan and a quiet derivative of an existing first generation turbofan. The results of the performance and cost evaluations of the example engines are reduced to common units so they can be combined.

Witherspoon, J. W.↗

Engine Performance and Knock Rating of Fuels for High-output Aircraft Engines

Data are presented to show the effects of inlet-air pressure, inlet-air temperature, and compression ratio on the maximum permissible performance obtained on a single-cylinder test engine with aircraft-engine fuels varying from a fuel of 87 octane number to one 100 octane number plus 1 ml of tetraethyl lead per gallon. The data were obtained on a 5-inch by 5.75-inch liquid-cooled engine operating at 2,500 r.p.m. The compression ratio was varied from 6.50 to 8.75. The inlet-air temperature was varied from 120 to 280 F. and the inlet-air pressure from 30 inches of mercury absolute to the highest permissible. The limiting factors for the increase in compression ratio and in inlet-air pressure was the occurrence of either audible or incipient knock. The data are correlated to show that, for any one fuel,there is a definite relationship between the limiting conditions of inlet-air temperature and density at any compression ratio. This relationship is dependent on the combustion-gas temperature and density relationship that causes knock. The report presents a suggested method of rating aircraft-engine fuels based on this relationship. It is concluded that aircraft-engine fuels cannot be satisfactorily rated by any single factor, such as octane number, highest useful compression ratio, or allowable boost pressure. The fuels should be rated by a curve that expresses the limitations of the fuel over a variety of engine conditions.

Rothbrock, A M↗

A tabulation of pipe length to diameter ratios as a function of Mach number and pressure ratios for compressible flow

Computer programs and resulting tabulations are presented of pipeline length-to-diameter ratios as a function of Mach number and pressure ratios for compressible flow. The tabulations are applicable to air, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen for compressible isothermal flow with friction and compressible adiabatic flow with friction. Also included are equations for the determination of weight flow. The tabulations presented cover a wider range of Mach numbers for choked, adiabatic flow than available from commonly used engineering literature. Additional information presented, but which is not available from this literature, is unchoked, adiabatic flow over a wide range of Mach numbers, and choked and unchoked, isothermal flow for a wide range of Mach numbers.

Dixon, G. V.↗

Impact of lossy compression on diagnostic accuracy of radiographs for periapical lesions

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the lossy Joint Photographic Experts Group compression for endodontic pretreatment digital radiographs. STUDY DESIGN: Fifty clinical charge-coupled device-based, digital radiographs depicting periapical areas were selected. Each image was compressed at 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48, and 64 compression ratios. One root per image was marked for examination. Images were randomized and viewed by four clinical observers under standardized viewing conditions. Each observer read the image set three times, with at least two weeks between each reading. Three pre-selected sites per image (mesial, distal, apical) were scored on a five-scale score confidence scale. A panel of three examiners scored the uncompressed images, with a consensus score for each site. The consensus score was used as the baseline for assessing the impact of lossy compression on the diagnostic values of images. The mean absolute error between consensus and observer scores was computed for each observer, site, and reading session. RESULTS: Balanced one-way analysis of variance for all observers indicated that for compression ratios 48 and 64, there was significant difference between mean absolute error of uncompressed and compressed images (P <.05). After converting the five-scale score to two-level diagnostic values, the diagnostic accuracy was strongly correlated (R (2) = 0.91) with the compression ratio. CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that high compression ratios can have a severe impact on the diagnostic quality of the digital radiographs for detection of periapical lesions.

NASA Discipline Space Human Factors↗

Fuels for high-compression engines

From theoretical considerations one would expect an increase in power and thermal efficiency to result from increasing the compression ratio of an internal combustion engine. In reality it is upon the expansion ratio that the power and thermal efficiency depend, but since in conventional engines this is equal to the compression ratio, it is generally understood that a change in one ratio is accompanied by an equal change in the other. Tests over a wide range of compression ratios (extending to ratios as high as 14.1) have shown that ordinarily an increase in power and thermal efficiency is obtained as expected provided serious detonation or preignition does not result from the increase in ratio.

Sparrow, Stanwood W↗

On-board image compression

Image data compression schemes are discussed with regard to achieving maximum compression ratio. It is demonstrated that the compression ratio must be traded-off against the allowable residual distortion in the reconstructed image.

Lynch, T. J.↗

ITOS VHRR on-board data compression study

Data compression methods for ITOS VHRR data were studied for a tape recorder record-and playback application. A playback period of 9 minutes was assumed with a nominal 18 minute record period for a 2-to-1 compression ratio. Both analog and digital methods were considered with the conclusion that digital methods should be used. Two system designs were prepared. One is a PCM system and the other is an entropy-coded predictive-quantization, sometimes called entropy-coded DPCM or just DPCM, system. Both systems use data management principles to transmit only the necessary data. Both systems use a medium capacity standard tape recorder from specifications provided by the technical officer. The 10 to the 9th power bit capacity of the recorder is the basic limitation on the compression ratio. Both systems achieve the minimum desired 2 to 1 compression ratio. A slower playback rate can be used with the DPCM system due to a higher compression factor for better link performance at a given CNR in terms of bandwidth utilization and error rate. The report is divided into two parts. The first part summarizes the theoretical conclusions of the second part and presents the system diagrams. The second part is a detailed analysis based upon an empirically derived random process model arrived at from specifications and measured data provided by the technical officer.

Gray, R. M.↗

A test of the Hall-MHD model: Application to low-frequency upstream waves at Venus

Early studies suggested that in the range of parameter space where the wave angular frequency is less than the proton gyrofrequency and the plasma beta, the ratio of the thermal to magnetic pressure, is less than 1 magnetohydrodynamics provides an adequate description of the propagating modes in a plasma. However, recently, Lacombe et al. (1992) have reported significant differences between basic wave characteristics of the specific propagation modes derived from linear Vlasov and Hall-magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theories even when the waves are only weakly damped. In this paper we compare the magnetic polarization and normalization magnetic compression ratio of ultra low frequency (ULF) upstream waves at Venus with magnetic polarization and normalized magnetic compression ratio derived from both theories. We find that while the 'kinetic' approach gives magnetic polarization and normalized magnetic compression ratio consistent with the data in the analyzed range of beta (0.5 less than beta less than 5) for the fast magnetosonic mode, the same wave characteristics derived from the Hall-MHD model strongly depend on beta and are consistent with the data only at low beta for the fast mode and at high beta for the intermediate mode.

Orlowski, D. S.↗