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34 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2014

Identification of Noise Sources in a Rocket Engine Test Stand using Microphone Phased Array

A new, phased array of microphones, suitable for the harsh environment of a rocket launch, was built and tested during a static firing of a RS-25 engine. It uses 70 piezo-resistive, dynamic pressure sensors, optimally distributed on a 10.5ft diameter open frame dome structure, and has a 200-ft long cable bundle to carry the signals to a weather-protected cabinet containing the data systems. The test stand was imaged using an infra-red camera and a visible wavelength camera, and the beamformed noise maps were superimposed on the photographs. The first-time data from a full-scale engine test stand showed that the plume deflector at the bottom of the engine to be the primary noise source. The openings of the test stand around the nozzle exit were also found to be noise sources particularly at higher frequencies. The final goal is to use the array during NASA’s Artemis-II launch at Kennedy Space Center.

Identification of Noise Source↗
NASA NTRS2001

Characterization of Rhenium Oxides Using ESCA

High melting point and inherent ductility (toughness) over a wide range of temperature has made Rhenium an engineering material of choice for several thrust chambers in propulsion systems. Although the material remains tough at high temperatures, it still can readily transform to several oxides. As many as eight different oxides have been reported in literature. When characterized using ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analyses) these oxides show large shifts in the Re 4f line positions. While this unique property could be used as a tool for oxide characterization, literature indicates that only a few of these oxides have been characterized. Current work focuses on characterizing oxides of Rhenium using ESCA. Spectral line Re 4f have been measured for various oxides and the results have been compared with the Re 4f line positions of real-time oxidation products from space hardware.

Panda, Binayak↗
NASA NTRS2002

Setting up a Rayleigh Scattering Based Flow Measuring System in a Large Nozzle Testing Facility

A molecular Rayleigh scattering based air density measurement system has been built in a large nozzle testing facility at NASA Glenn Research Center. The technique depends on the light scattering by gas molecules present in air; no artificial seeding is required. Light from a single mode, continuous wave laser was transmitted to the nozzle facility by optical fiber, and light scattered by gas molecules, at various points along the laser beam, is collected and measured by photon-counting electronics. By placing the laser beam and collection optics on synchronized traversing units, the point measurement technique is made effective for surveying density variation over a cross-section of the nozzle plume. Various difficulties associated with dust particles, stray light, high noise level and vibration are discussed. Finally, a limited amount of data from an underexpanded jet are presented and compared with expected variations to validate the technique.

Panda, Jayanta↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Microphone Phased Array for Launch Acoustics Application

A new, portable, phased array of microphones is built at NASA Ames Research Center specifically for the harsh environment encountered in launch acoustics applications. It uses 70 rugged, piezo-electric, dynamic pressure sensors optimally distributed on a 10.5ft diameter open frame dome structure. The open frame is light yet robust to sustain the high wind load of typical seaside launch pads, and the blast and acoustic loads from the launch. A 200-ft long cable bundle carries the microphone signals to a weather-protected electronic cabinet containing the data acquisition system, computers, and other equipment. The array is equipped with an infra-red camera and a visible wavelength camera for imaging the launch site. The beamformed noise maps will be superimposed on the video footages collected by the cameras for correct identification of the noise sources. The array is tested with very loud noise sources to determine the beamforming ability. Multiple mathematical models, such as the conventional beamforming, functional beamforming, spectral element method etc. are used to determine the minimum spatial resolution of the sound sources that can be measured at different frequencies. Additionally, the array hardware is being tested for different environmental conditions and electro-magnetic compliance. The immediate goal is to use the array for NASA’s Artemis/SLS vehicle that will be launched from a newly built Mobile Launch platform and a modified launch pad.

microphone phased-array↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Microphone Phased Array for Launch Acoustics Application

A new, portable, phased array of microphones is built at NASA Ames Research Center specifically for the harsh environment encountered in launch pads of rocket vehicles. It uses 70 piezoresistive, dynamic pressure sensors, optimally distributed on a 10.5ft diameter open frame dome structure. The open frame is light yet robust to sustain the high wind load of typical seaside launch pads, and the blast and acoustic loads from the launch. A 200-ft long cable bundle carries the microphone signals to a weather-protected cabinet containing the data systems, and allows for the placement of the array tall structures. The array is equipped with an infra-red camera and a visible wavelength camera for imaging the launch pad. The beamformed noise maps will be superimposed on the video footages collected by the cameras for correct identification of the noise sources. The array is tested with very loud speaker sources to determine the beamforming ability using different schemes, such as the conventional beamforming, orthogonal-functional beamforming, and spectral element methods. A comparative study was conducted to determine the minimum attainable spatial resolution. Data from a validation test in an outdoor setup, where the array was placed on a Telehandler at several different heights and distances from either a single or a pair of speakers, is presented in this paper. The final goal is to use the array during NASA’s Artemis-II launch to determine the distribution of noise sources on the Mobile Launcher.

Acoustics↗
NASA NTRS2009

Modern Material Analysis Instruments Add a New Dimension to Materials Characterization and Failure Analysis

Modern analytical tools can yield invaluable results during materials characterization and failure analysis. Scanning electron microscopes (SEMs) provide significant analytical capabilities, including angstrom-level resolution. These systems can be equipped with a silicon drift detector (SDD) for very fast yet precise analytical mapping of phases, as well as electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD) units to map grain orientations, chambers that admit large samples, variable pressure for wet samples, and quantitative analysis software to examine phases. Advanced solid-state electronics have also improved surface and bulk analysis instruments: Secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) can quantitatively determine and map light elements such as hydrogen, lithium, and boron - with their isotopes. Its high sensitivity detects impurities at parts per billion (ppb) levels. X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS) can determine oxidation states of elements, as well as identifying polymers and measuring film thicknesses on coated composites. This technique is also known as electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). Scanning Auger electron spectroscopy (SAM) combines surface sensitivity, spatial lateral resolution (10 nm), and depth profiling capabilities to describe elemental compositions of near and below surface regions down to the chemical state of an atom.

Panda, Binayak↗
NASA NTRS2010

Preliminary Human-in-the-Loop Assessment of Procedures for Very-Closely-Spaced Parallel Runways

Demand in the future air transportation system concept is expected to double or triple by 2025 [1]. Increasing airport arrival rates will help meet the growing demand that could be met with additional runways but the expansion airports is met with environmental challenges for the surrounding communities when using current standards and procedures. Therefore, changes to airport operations can improve airport capacity without adding runways. Building additional runways between current ones, or moving them closer, is a potential solution to meeting the increasing demand, as addressed by the Terminal Area Capacity Enhancing Concept (TACEC). TACEC requires robust technologies and procedures that need to be tested such that operations are not compromised under instrument meteorological conditions. The reduction of runway spacing for independent simultaneous operations dramatically exacerbates the criticality of wake vortex incursion and the calculation of a safe and proper breakout maneuver. The study presented here developed guidelines for such operations by performing a real-time, human-in-the-loop simulation using precision navigation, autopilot-flown approaches, with the pilot monitoring aircraft spacing and the wake vortex safe zone during the approach.

Verma, Savita↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Effect of Electronic Shot Noise on Dynamic Measurements using Optical Techniques: Examples from Rayleigh Scattering and Unsteady PSP

Electronic shot noise is an unavoidable reality in all optical techniques that depend on measuring light intensity. For steady-state, time-averaged measurements the impact of shot noise can be easily reduced by increasing the exposure time, or by averaging over multiple-exposures. That is not the case for unsteady measurements, where time histories of light intensity variations need to be created either by high-speed photography (unsteady PSP) or via photoelectron counting (spectrally resolved Rayleigh scattering) over short time durations using a photo-multiplier tube (PMT) and photon counting electronics. Electronic shot noise introduces a fixed amount of random error, which can overwhelm the light intensity variation caused by turbulent fluctuations. Spectrum computed from such time series shows a fixed noise floor that is independent of the number of data points in the time series. For a fixed optical system, where the collected power of the luminescent light (uPSP), or the scattered light (Rayleigh) is fixed, one needs to resort to special techniques to obtain enough signal-to noise ratio (SNR). For the uPSP application it is shown that averaging of the adjacent pixels improves SNR; although this may lead to a sacrifice of spatial resolution. A second means is to increase the exposure time, which leads to a lowering of the frequency range. For the Rayleigh application, improvements of SNR can be achieved via two different cross-correlation based approaches. The first involves measuring the light intensity using two PMTs using short, contiguous gates; thereby, creating two time-series of data. The second one involves collecting one long time-series of data using one set of measurement device, followed by an odd-even splitting into two time series. When the two time-series are cross-correlated, and a power spectrum is calculated, a significant reduction in the shot noise floor can be achieved. Examples from measurements of density and velocity fluctuations spectra from two different Rayleigh setup are presented to demonstrate the process.

uPSP↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

A Microphone Phased Array for Launch Acoustics Application

A new, portable, phased array of microphones is built at NASA Ames Research Center specifically for the harsh environment encountered in launch pads of rocket vehicles. It uses 70 rugged, piezo-electric, dynamic pressure sensors optimally distributed on a 10.5ft diameter open frame dome structure. The open frame is light yet robust to sustain the high wind load of typical seaside launch pads, and the blast and acoustic loads from the launch. A 200-ft long cable bundle carries the microphone signals to a weather-protected electronic cabinet containing the data acquisition system, computers, and other equipment. The array is equipped with an infra-red camera and a visible wavelength camera for imaging the launch site. The beamformed noise maps will be superimposed on the video footages collected by the cameras for correct identification of the noise sources. The array is tested with very loud noise sources to determine the beamforming ability. Multiple mathematical models, such as the conventional beamforming, orthogonal-functional beamforming, spectral element method etc. are used to determine the minimum spatial resolution of the sound sources that can be measured at different frequencies. Additionally, the array hardware is being tested for different environmental conditions and electro-magnetic compliance. The goal is to use the array for NASA’s Artemis/SLS vehicle that will be launched from a newly built Mobile Launch platform and a modified launch pad. Data from a couple of validation tests will be presented in this paper. The first test involves an outdoor setup where the array was placed on a crane at several different heights and distances from a pair of very loud noise sources. The second test from the static firing of the RS25 engines in an outdoor test stand.

Acoustics↗
NASA NTRS2016

Investigation of Unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint (uPSP) and a Dynamic Loads Balance to Predict Launch Vehicle Buffet Environments

This NESC assessment examined the accuracy of estimating buffet loads on in-line launch vehicles without booster attachments using sparse unsteady pressure measurements. The buffet loads computed using sparse sensor data were compared with estimates derived using measurements with much higher spatial resolution. The current method for estimating launch vehicle buffet loads is through wind tunnel testing of models with approximately 400 unsteady pressure transducers. Even with this relatively large number of sensors, the coverage can be insufficient to provide reliable integrated unsteady loads on vehicles. In general, sparse sensor spacing requires the use of coherence-length-based corrections in the azimuthal and axial directions to integrate the unsteady pressures and obtain reasonable estimates of the buffet loads. Coherence corrections have been used to estimate buffet loads for a variety of launch vehicles with the assumption methodology results in reasonably conservative loads. For the Space Launch System (SLS), the first estimates of buffet loads exceeded the limits of the vehicle structure, so additional tests with higher sensor density were conducted to better define the buffet loads and possibly avoid expensive modifications to the vehicle design. Without the additional tests and improvements to the coherence-length analysis methods, there would have been significant impacts to the vehicle weight, cost, and schedule. If the load estimates turn out to be too low, there is significant risk of structural failure of the vehicle. This assessment used a combination of unsteady pressure-sensitive paint (uPSP), unsteady pressure transducers, and a dynamic force and moment balance to investigate the integration schemes used with limited unsteady pressure data by comparing them with direct integration of extremely dense fluctuating pressure measurements. An outfall of the assessment was to evaluate the potential of using the emerging uPSP technique in a production test environment for future launch vehicles. The results show that modifications to the current technique can improve the accuracy of buffet estimates. More importantly, the uPSP worked remarkably well and, with improvements to the frequency response, sensitivity, and productivity, will provide an enhanced method for measuring wind tunnel buffet forcing functions (BFFs).

Schuster, David M.↗
NASA NTRS2019

X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

The interaction of photon and the electron goes back to the early part of 19th century emanating from the photo-electric effect depicted by none other than Albert Einstein (Ref 1) described in 1905, and the redistribution of kinetic energy resulting from the interaction of x-ray and solids reported during early part of the century (Ref.2). The spectrum resolutions obtained at that time was not sufficient to observe distinct peaks in spectra for materials. Thus, these phenomena hardly attracted any attention for many years following these discoveries. The modern X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) has been possible by the extensive and significant contribution from Kai Siegbahn and others (Ref.3, 4) of Uppsala University. Siegbahn developed and employed a high-resolution electron spectrometer that revealed electron peaks in a spectrum emerging from the interaction of x-rays and solids. Eventually, Kai Siegbahn received Nobel Prize in 1981 for his contributions to XPS. Around 1958, shifts in elemental peaks were realized in compounds when the same elements are bound to other but different elements. This discovery resulted in the chemical state identification in various chemicals as well as the oxidation states of atoms in compounds. Because of these useful physical effects, the Uppsala group named XPS with a synonymous name of ESCA (Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis) used widely today and will be used here alternatively. Therefore, XPS or ESCA not only identifies the element, but also the compound these elements form, from their chemical shifts. Compared to other micro-analytical techniques such as Energy Dispersive (EDS) or Wavelength Dispersive (WDS) techniques, XPS analyzes only few atomic layers present on the surface. This was discovered early in 1966 (Ref. 5). While this has awarded a merit to the analytical technique to analyze very thin layers such as films and coatings, it often analyzes the adsorbed superficial gases and contaminations on a sample introduced to its analytical chamber. This necessitates the surface is cleaned and the underlying material, material of interest, is exposed in a clean environment such that the material of interest is analyzed. The cleaning is accomplished by a scanning ion gun within the analytical chamber of the instrument. Ion gun uses an argon gas and is commonly attached in most modern machines. Reliable and efficient vacuum systems employed in modern machines does not allow adsorbed layers to rebuild after the surface is cleaned. Development of efficient and reliable vacuum pumps over these developmental years is yet another important step in the commercialization of XPS machines. Vacuum levels of better than 10-7 torr are essential to increase the mean free path of electrons released from the sample surface. Thus, modern machines are equipped with high capacity ion, turbo or cryogenic pumps in their analytical chambers. Today, XPS has advanced from an applied physics laboratory to industry for use in quality control as well as analysis of contaminants and has taken a dominant role in microanalysis. Its uniqueness arises from the fact that it is considered non-destructive compared to other common micro-analytical techniques using the electron and ion excitation sources. Polymers and plastics could be analyzed since the binding energies of saturated and unsaturated bonds in atoms could be separated. Extremely thin layers could be analyzed including materials with layered structures. The technique, though did not advance for many years, has now opened a new window for research as well as applications in industry due to its ability to separate and measure the chemical shifts in bound elements. Principles

Panda, Binayak↗
NASA NTRS2006

Development of Virtual Airspace Simulation Technology - Real-Time (VAST-RT) Capability 2 and Experimental Plans

The Virtual Airspace Simulation Technology - Real-Time (VAST-RT) Project, an element cf NASA's Virtual Airspace Modeling and Simulation (VAMS) Project, has been developing a distributed simulation capability that supports an extensible and expandable real-time, human-in-the-loop airspace simulation environment. The VAST-RT system architecture is based on DoD High Level Architecture (HLA) and the VAST-RT HLA Toolbox, a common interface implementation that incorporates a number of novel design features. The scope of the initial VAST-RT integration activity (Capability 1) included the high-fidelity human-in-the-loop simulation facilities located at NASA/Ames Research Center and medium fidelity pseudo-piloted target generators, such as the Airspace Traffic Generator (ATG) being developed as part of VAST-RT, as well as other real-time tools. This capability has been demonstrated in a gate-to-gate simulation. VAST-RT's (Capability 2A) has been recently completed, and this paper will discuss the improved integration of the real-time assets into VAST-RT, including the development of tools to integrate data collected across the simulation environment into a single data set for the researcher. Current plans for the completion of the VAST-RT distributed simulation environment (Capability 2B) and its use to evaluate future airspace capacity enhancing concepts being developed by VAMS will be discussed. Additionally, the simulation environment's application to other airspace and airport research projects is addressed.

Lehmer, R.↗
NASA NTRS2014

Aeroacoustics of Space Vehicles

While for airplanes the subject of aeroacoustics is associated with community noise, for space vehicles it is associated with vibro-acoustics and structural dynamics. Surface pressure fluctuations encountered during launch and travel through lower part of the atmosphere create intense vibro-acoustics environment for the payload, electronics, navigational equipment, and a large number of subsystems. All of these components have to be designed and tested for flight-certification. This presentation will cover all three major sources encountered in manned and unmanned space vehicles: launch acoustics, ascent acoustics and abort acoustics. Launch pads employ elaborate acoustic suppression systems to mitigate the ignition pressure waves and rocket plume generated noise during the early part of the liftoff. Recently we have used large microphone arrays to identify the noise sources during liftoff and found that the standard model by Eldred and Jones (NASA SP-8072) to be grossly inadequate. As the vehicle speeds up and reaches transonic speed in relatively denser part of the atmosphere, various shock waves and flow separation events create unsteady pressure fluctuations that can lead to high vibration environment, and occasional coupling with the structural modes, which may lead to buffet. Examples of wind tunnel tests and computational simulations to optimize the outer mold line to quantify and reduce the surface pressure fluctuations will be presented. Finally, a manned space vehicle needs to be designed for crew safety during malfunctioning of the primary rocket vehicle. This brings the subject of acoustic environment during abort. For NASAs Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), abort will be performed by lighting rocket motors atop the crew module. The severe aeroacoustics environments during various abort scenarios were measured for the first time by using hot helium to simulate rocket plumes in the Ames unitary plan wind tunnels. Various considerations used for the helium simulation and the final confirmation from a flight test will be presented.

launch vehicle↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Comparison of Surface Pressure Fluctuations from Flight and Wind Tunnel Tests on the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle

Transonic and supersonic wind-tunnel test of scaled-models are used to predict the surface pressure fluctuations on aerospace vehicles. An outstanding question is how good are such tests? The present paper attempts to answer this question for the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle by comparing data from the Ascent Abort-2 (AA2) flight test with those measured in two different scaled-model wind tunnel tests (WTT) 51AS and 134AS. A sensor by sensor and a Mach by Mach comparisons of spectra of surface pressure fluctuations are presented for nominal ascent part of flight. Spectra measured over a large part of the vehicle surface were found to be dominated by the wake vortices shed from the four Abort Motor nozzles situated on the upper part of the Launch Abort System. It was found that the shapes of the scaled-up spectra from WTTs were very close to those measured in the flight, but the levels, for the most part, were found to be lower than the flight data. The highest differences were from the regions of complex flows where wakes from the adjacent nozzles interacted with the free-stream flow. There the WTT predicted levels were consistently 2dB to 6dB lower than the flight data, across all spectral bands. Another region of significant under-prediction was the local separated flow region at the Fillet-Ogive junction. The accuracy of the sharp spectral peaks from regions along a nozzle axis was found to be dependent on the fidelity of the model. The model in the 51AS WTT used a simplified contour, which resulted in a large under prediction of the spectral peak by 1dB to 10dB. A limited number of data from 134AS, where the model accurately captured all features of the nozzles of the flight vehicle, however; showed that the under prediction was lower: 1-2dB. The fluctuation spectra on the large protuberance of the Umbilical Cover was found to be reasonably well-predicted by 134AS WTT, which meticulously reproduced a scaled-down shape of this protuberance. Such information will help to determine the margins to be applied to wind-tunnel data to create flight environments.

MPCV↗
NASA NTRS2011

Use of Heated Helium to Simulate Surface Pressure Fluctuations on the Launch Abort Vehicle During Abort Motor Firing

The solid-rocket plumes from the Abort motor of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV, also know as Orion) were simulated using hot, high pressure, Helium gas to determine the surface pressure fluctuations on the vehicle in the event of an abort. About 80 different abort situations over a wide Mach number range, (0.3< or =M< or =1.2) and vehicle attitudes (+/-15deg) were simulated inside the NASA Ames Unitary Plan, 11-Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel. For each abort case, typically two different Helium plume and wind tunnel conditions were used to bracket different flow matching critera. This unique, yet cost-effective test used a custom-built hot Helium delivery system, and a 6% scale model of a part of the MPCV, known as the Launch Abort Vehicle. The test confirmed the very high level of pressure fluctuations on the surface of the vehicle expected during an abort. In general, the fluctuations were found to be dominated by the very near-field hydrodynamic fluctuations present in the plume shear-layer. The plumes were found to grow in size for aborts occurring at higher flight Mach number and altitude conditions. This led to an increase in the extent of impingement on the vehicle surfaces; however, unlike some initial expectations, the general trend was a decrease in the level of pressure fluctuations with increasing impingement. In general, the highest levels of fluctuations were found when the outer edges of the plume shear layers grazed the vehicle surface. At non-zero vehicle attitudes the surface pressure distributions were found to become very asymmetric. The data from these wind-tunnel simulations were compared against data collected from the recent Pad Abort 1 flight test. In spite of various differences between the transient flight situation and the steady-state wind tunnel simulations, the hot-Helium data were found to replicate the PA1 data fairly reasonably. The data gathered from this one-of-a-kind wind-tunnel test fills a gap in the manned-space programs, and will be used to establish the acoustic environment for vibro-acoustic qualification testing of the MPCV.

Panda, Jayanta↗
NASA NTRS2017

Wavenumber-frequency Spectra of Pressure Fluctuations on a Generic Space Vehicle Measured via Unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint

Time histories of pressure fluctuations on a generic, hammerhead space vehicle model were measured using unsteady Pressure-Sensitive Paint (uPSP). The test was conducted in the 11-foot transonic wind tunnel of NASA Ames Research Center over a Mach number range of 0.6 M 1.2, and angles of attack of -4 4. The model was coated with a porous binder and PtTFPP-based porous polymer paint. An elaborate system of four high-speed cameras, and forty LED lamps was used for image acquisition. Various steps for image registration, reduction of shot noise, photogrammetry procedure to map images from the four cameras on a grid for the model, and finally a calibration procedure to convert the measured fluctuations in light intensity to fluctuating pressure, are discussed in the paper. The calibration process using a set of unsteady pressure sensors mounted on the model, was found to overcome some of the inherent problems of the fast response paint, such as rapid photo-degradation, non-linearity in pressure response, and significant temperature sensitivity. Comparison of spectra of pressure fluctuations between UPSP and pressure sensors demonstrated the ability of the paint to faithfully follow fluctuations up to 10 kHz, the maximum attempted. It was also found that the camera bit-depth and the illumination level limited the lowest measurable levels of pressure fluctuations to around 140dB. The large data set exposed various critical transonic flow physics not seen before, such as a coupling of the shock motion on the Payload Fairing (PF) with the separated flow region on the upper stage of the launch vehicle, and upstream convection of pressure fluctuation on PF at certain Mach numbers. The data also confirmed the expectation of a general lowering of the coefficient of pressure fluctuation with Mach number. The availability of the data set on a dense, regularly-spaced, surface grid allowed for the calculation of wavenumber-frequency (k-) spectra via straightforward applications of Fourier transform. The k- spectra were compared for the separated flow regions on the Second Stage, and the shock-boundary layer interactions on PF. The former showed self-similarity with Mach number while the latter was distinctly different, and confirmed the upstream propagation of pressure fluctuations. The k- spectra were dominated by the convected fluctuations; the acoustic domain was not discernable. These data, valuable for the vibro-acoustics analysis of aerospace vehicles, are believed to be the first obtained for the transonic flight regime, and pave the path for application on production models of aerospace vehicles.

buffet↗