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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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At least 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2012

Highlights from a Mach 4 Experimental Demonstration of Inlet Mode Transition for Turbine-Based Combined Cycle Hypersonic Propulsion

NASA is focused on technologies for combined cycle, air-breathing propulsion systems to enable reusable launch systems for access to space. Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) propulsion systems offer specific impulse (Isp) improvements over rocket-based propulsion systems in the subsonic takeoff and return mission segments along with improved safety. Among the most critical TBCC enabling technologies are: 1) mode transition from the low speed propulsion system to the high speed propulsion system, 2) high Mach turbine engine development and 3) innovative turbine based combined cycle integration. To address these challenges, NASA initiated an experimental mode transition task including analytical methods to assess the state-of-the-art of propulsion system performance and design codes. One effort has been the Combined-Cycle Engine Large Scale Inlet Mode Transition Experiment (CCE-LIMX) which is a fully integrated TBCC propulsion system with flowpath sizing consistent with previous NASA and DoD proposed Hypersonic experimental flight test plans. This experiment was tested in the NASA GRC 10 by 10-Foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel (SWT) Facility. The goal of this activity is to address key hypersonic combined-cycle engine issues including: (1) dual integrated inlet operability and performance issues-unstart constraints, distortion constraints, bleed requirements, and controls, (2) mode-transition sequence elements caused by switching between the turbine and the ramjet/scramjet flowpaths (imposed variable geometry requirements), and (3) turbine engine transients (and associated time scales) during transition. Testing of the initial inlet and dynamic characterization phases were completed and smooth mode transition was demonstrated. A database focused on a Mach 4 transition speed with limited off-design elements was developed and will serve to guide future TBCC system studies and to validate higher level analyses.

Foster, Lancert E.↗
NASA NTRS1990

A reduced-dynamic technique for precise orbit determination

Observations of the Global Positioning System (GPS) will enable a reduced-dynamic technique for achieving subdecimeter orbit determination of earth-orbiting satellites. With this technique, information on the transition between satellite states at different observing times is furnished by both a formal dynamic model and observed satellite positional change (which is inferred kinematically from continuous GPS carrier-phase data). The relative weighting of dynamic and kinematic information can be freely varied. Covariance studies show that in situations where observing geometry is poor and the dynamic model is good, the model dominates determination of the state transition; where the dynamic model is poor and the geometry strong, carrier phase governs the determination of the transition. When neither kinematic nor dynamic information is clearly superior, the reduced-dynamic combination of the two can substantially improve the orbit-determination solution. Guidelines are given here for selecting a near-optimal weighting for the reduced-dynamic solution, and sensitivity of solution accuracy to this weighting is examined.

Wu, S. C.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Dynamic Testing of the NASA Hypersonic Project Combined Cycle Engine Testbed for Mode Transition Experiments

NASA is interested in developing technology that leads to more routine, safe, and affordable access to space. Access to space using airbreathing propulsion systems has potential to meet these objectives based on Airbreathing Access to Space (AAS) system studies. To this end, the NASA Fundamental Aeronautics Program (FAP) Hypersonic Project is conducting fundamental research on a Turbine Based Combined Cycle (TBCC) propulsion system. The TBCC being studied considers a dual flow-path inlet system. One flow-path includes variable geometry to regulate airflow to a turbine engine cycle. The turbine cycle provides propulsion from take-off to supersonic flight. The second flow-path supports a dual-mode scramjet (DMSJ) cycle which would be initiated at supersonic speed to further accelerate the vehicle to hypersonic speed. For a TBCC propulsion system to accelerate a vehicle from supersonic to hypersonic speed, a critical enabling technology is the ability to safely and effectively transition from the turbine to the DMSJ-referred to as mode transition. To experimentally test methods of mode transition, a Combined Cycle Engine (CCE) Large-scale Inlet testbed was designed with two flow paths-a low speed flow-path sized for a turbine cycle and a high speed flow-path designed for a DMSJ. This testbed system is identified as the CCE Large-Scale Inlet for Mode Transition studies (CCE-LIMX). The test plan for the CCE-LIMX in the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) 10- by 10-ft Supersonic Wind Tunnel (10x10 SWT) is segmented into multiple phases. The first phase is a matrix of inlet characterization (IC) tests to evaluate the inlet performance and establish the mode transition schedule. The second phase is a matrix of dynamic system identification (SysID) experiments designed to support closed-loop control development at mode transition schedule operating points for the CCE-LIMX. The third phase includes a direct demonstration of controlled mode transition using a closed loop control system developed with the data obtained from the first two phases. Plans for a fourth phase include mode transition experiments with a turbine engine. This paper, focusing on the first two phases of experiments, presents developed operational and analysis tools for streamlined testing and data reduction procedures.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2015

V-SUIT Model Validation Using PLSS 1.0 Test Results

The dynamic portable life support system (PLSS) simulation software Virtual Space Suit (V-SUIT) has been under development at the Technische Universitat Munchen since 2011 as a spin-off from the Virtual Habitat (V-HAB) project. The MATLAB(trademark)-based V-SUIT simulates space suit portable life support systems and their interaction with a detailed and also dynamic human model, as well as the dynamic external environment of a space suit moving on a planetary surface. To demonstrate the feasibility of a large, system level simulation like V-SUIT, a model of NASA's PLSS 1.0 prototype was created. This prototype was run through an extensive series of tests in 2011. Since the test setup was heavily instrumented, it produced a wealth of data making it ideal for model validation. The implemented model includes all components of the PLSS in both the ventilation and thermal loops. The major components are modeled in greater detail, while smaller and ancillary components are low fidelity black box models. The major components include the Rapid Cycle Amine (RCA) CO2 removal system, the Primary and Secondary Oxygen Assembly (POS/SOA), the Pressure Garment System Volume Simulator (PGSVS), the Human Metabolic Simulator (HMS), the heat exchanger between the ventilation and thermal loops, the Space Suit Water Membrane Evaporator (SWME) and finally the Liquid Cooling Garment Simulator (LCGS). Using the created model, dynamic simulations were performed using same test points also used during PLSS 1.0 testing. The results of the simulation were then compared to the test data with special focus on absolute values during the steady state phases and dynamic behavior during the transition between test points. Quantified simulation results are presented that demonstrate which areas of the V-SUIT model are in need of further refinement and those that are sufficiently close to the test results. Finally, lessons learned from the modelling and validation process are given in combination with implications for the future development of other PLSS models in V-SUIT.

Olthoff, Claas↗
NASA NTRS1992

The effects of Venusian mantle convection with multiple phase transitions

Recently there was a flurry of activities in studying the effects of phase transitions in the Earth's mantle. From petrological and geophysical considerations, phase-transitions would also play an important role in venusian dynamics. The basic differences between the two planets are the surface boundary conditions, both thermally and mechanically. In this vein we have studied time-dependent mantle convection with multiple phase transitions and depth-dependent thermal expansivity (alpha is approximately rho(exp -6)), based on high-pressure and temperature measurements. Both the olivine-spinel and spinel-perovskite transitions were simulated by introducing an effective thermal expansivity, as described. Used together with the extended Boussinesq Approximation this method serves as a powerful tool to examine the effects of phase transitions on convection at relatively low computational costs.

Steinbach, V.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Dynamics of the universe and spontaneous symmetry breaking

It is shown that the presence of a phase transition early in the history of the universe, associated with spontaneous symmetry breaking (believed to take place at very high temperatures at which the various fundamental interactions unify), significantly modifies its dynamics and evolution. This is due to the energy 'pumping' during the phase transition from the vacuum to the substance, rather than the gravitating effects of the vacuum. The expansion law of the universe then differs substantially from the relation considered so far for the very early time expansion. In particular it is shown that under certain conditions this expansion law is exponential. It is further argued that under reasonable assumptions for the mass of the associated Higgs boson this expansion stage could last long enough to potentially account for the observed isotropy of the universe.

Kazanas, D.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Domain wall formation in late-time phase transitions

We examine domain wall formulation in late time phase transitions. We find that in the invisible axion domain wall phenomenon, thermal effects alone are insufficient to drive different parts of the disconnected vacuum manifold. This suggests that domain walls do not form unless either there is some supplemental (but perhaps not unreasonable) dynamics to localize the scalar field responsible for the phase transition to the low temperature maximum (to an extraordinary precision) before the onset of the phase transition, or there is some non-thermal mechanism to produce large fluctuations in the scalar field. The fact that domain wall production is not a robust prediction of late time transitions may suggest future directions in model building.

Kolb, Edward W.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Cryogenic Design of the Liquid Helium Experiment "Critical Dynamics in Microgravity"

Although many well controlled experiments have been conducted to measure the static properties of systems near criticality, few experiments have explored the transport properties in systems driven far away from equilibrium as a phase transition occurs. The cryogenic design of an experiment to study the dynamic aspect of critical phenomena is reported here. Measurements of the thermal gradient across the superfluid (He II)Юormal fluid (He I) interface in helium under microgravity conditions will be performed as a heat flux holds the system away from equilibrium. New technologies are under development for this experiment, which is in the definition phase for a space shuttle flight.

superfluid↗
NASA NTRS1982

Computer simulation analysis of the behavior of renal-regulating hormones during hypogravic stress

A computer simulation of a mathematical circulation model is used to study the alterations of body fluids and their electrolyte composition that occur in weightlessness. The behavior of the renal-regulating hormones which control these alterations is compared in simulations of several one-g analogs of weightlessness and space flight. It is shown that the renal-regulating hormones represent a tightly coupled system that responds acutely to volume disturbances and chronically to electrolyte disturbances. During hypogravic conditions these responses lead to an initial suppression of hormone levels and a long-term effect which varies depending on metabolic factors that can alter the plasma electrolytes. In addition, it is found that if pressure effects normalize rapidly, a transition phase may exist which leads to a dynamic multiphasic endocrine response.

Leonard, J. I.↗
NASA NTRS1998

The Dynamics of Disorder-Order Transition in Hard Sphere Colloidal Dispersions

The Physics of Hard Spheres Experiment (PHaSE) seeks a complete understanding of the entropically driven disorder-order transition in hard sphere colloidal dispersions. The light scattering instrument designed for flight collects Bragg and low angle light scattering in the forward direction via a CCD camera and performs conventional static and dynamic light scattering at 10-160 deg. through fiber optic cables. Here we report on the kinetics of nucleation and growth extracted from time-resolved Bragg images and measurements of the elastic modulus of crystalline phases obtained by monitoring resonant responses to sinusoidal forcing through dynamic light scattering. Preliminary analysis of the former indicates a significant difference from measurements on the ground, while the latter confirms nicely laboratory experiments with the same instrument and predictions from computer simulations.

Chaikin, Paul M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Reduced-dynamic technique for precise orbit determination of low earth satellites

A reduced-dynamic technique for precise orbit determination of low earth satellites is described. This technique optimally combines the conventional dynamic technique with the nondynamic technique which uses differential GPS continuous carrier phase to define the state transition. A Kalman filter formulation for this reduced-dynamic technique is given. A covariance analysis shows that when neither the dynamic nor the nondynamic technique is clearly superior, the reduced-dynamic technique appreciably improves the orbit accuracy. Guidelines for selecting a near-optimum weighting for the combination are given. Sensitivity to suboptimal weighting is assessed.

Wu, Sien-Chong↗
NASA NTRS1989

The formation of topological defects in phase transitions

It was argued, and fought through numerical work that the results of non-dynamical Monte Carlo computer simulations cannot be applied to describe the formation of topological defects when the correlation length at the Ginzburg temperature is significantly smaller than the horizon size. To test the current hypothesis that infinite strings at formation are essentially described by Brownian walks of size the correlation length at the Ginzburg temperature, fields at the Ginzburg temperature were equilibrated. Infinite structure do not exist in equilibrium for reasonable definitions of the Ginzburg temperature, and horizons must be included in a proper treatment. A phase transition, from small-scale to large-scale string or domain wall structure, is found to occur very close to the Ginzburg temperature, in agreement with recent work. The formation process of domain walls and global strings were investigated through the breaking of initially ordered states. To mimic conditions in the early Universe, cooling times are chosen so that horizons exist in the sample volume when topological structure formation occurs. The classical fields are evolved in real-time by the numerical solution of Langevin equations of motion on a three dimensional spatial lattice. The results indicate that it is possible for most of the string energy to be in small loops, rather than in long strings, at formation.

Hodges, Hardy M.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Unmasking secondary vegetation dynamics in the Brazilian Amazon

Secondary vegetation (SV) from land abandonment is a common transition phase between agricultural uses following tropical deforestation. The impact of SV on carbon sequestration and habitat fragmentation across tropical forest frontiers therefore depends on SV dynamics and demographics. Here, we used time series of annual MapBiomas land cover data to generate the first estimates of SV extent, age, and net carbon uptake in the Brazilian Amazon between 1985 and 2017. SV increased over time, totaling 12 Mha in 2017, 44% of which was ≤5 years old. Between 1988 and 2017, 19.6 Mha of SV was cleared, adding 45.5% to the area of primary deforestation detected by the Brazilian monitoring system (PRODES). Rates of SV loss have exceeded PRODES deforestation since 2011. Based on the age and extent of gains and losses, SV was a small net carbon sink during this period (8.9 Tg C/yr). As SV is not formally protected by national environmental legislation or monitored by PRODES, long-term benefits from SV in the Brazilian Amazon remain uncertain.

Brazilian Amazon↗
NASA NTRS2003

Low Stretch Solid-Fuel Flame Transient Response to a Step Change in Gravity

The effect of a step change in gravity level on the stability of low stretch diffusion flames over a solid fuel is studied both numerically and experimentally. Drop tower experiments have been conducted in NASA Glenn Research Center's 5.2 Zero Gravity Facility. In the experiments burning PMMA cylinders, a dynamic transition is observed when the steadily burning 1g flame is dropped and becomes a 0g flame. To understand the physics behind this dynamic transition, a transient stagnation point model has been developed which includes gas-phase radiation and solid phase coupling to describe this dynamic process. In this paper, the experimental results are compared with the model predictions. Both model and experiment show that the interior of the solid phase does not have time to change significantly in the few seconds of drop time, so the experimental results are pseudo-steady in the gas-phase, but the solid is inherently unsteady over long time scales. The model is also used to examine the importance of fractional heat losses on extinction, which clearly demonstrates that as the feedback from the flame decreases, the importance of the ongoing heat losses becomes greater, and extinction is observed when these losses represent 80% or more of the flame feedback.

Armstrong, J. B.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Damage Instability and Transition From Quasi-Static to Dynamic Fracture

In a typical mechanical test, the loading phase is intended to be a quasi-static process, while the failure and collapse is usually a dynamic event. The structural strength and modes of damage can seldom be predicted without accounting for these two aspects of the response. For a proper prediction, it is therefore essential to use tools and methodologies that are capable of addressing both aspects of responses. In some cases, implicit quasi-static models have been shown to be able to predict the entire response of a structure, including the unstable path that leads to fracture. However, is it acceptable to ignore the effect of inertial forces in the formation of damage? In this presentation we examine aspects of the damage processes that must be simulated for an accurate prediction of structural strength and modes of failure.

Davila, Carlos G.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Physics and Chemistry of Te and HgTe-based Ternary Melts

Historically, the theoretical treatment of the liquid phases has always been more difficult and complicated than that for solid and gas phases. A liquid has no lattice structure as crystalline solids and the atoms/molecules in the liquid can migrate through it relatively rapidly. On the other hand, it is also interacting with many other atoms/molecules so that the simplifications of the kinetic theory of gases cannot be employed. For more complicated liquids, such as the liquids of high ionicity and those containing hydrogen bonds and electric dipoles, the understanding is far from complete. At the same time, accurate information on the physics and chemistry of semiconductor melts is needed for the quantitative descriptions of the process of crystal growth from melt. The pre-crystallization phenomena in the liquid phase are critical because the properties of the grown crystals depend on the state and structure of the melt as well as the thermal history of the melt during solidification process. However, the data on the liquid phase, such as thermophysical properties of semiconductor melts are scarce, especially for the HgTe-based II-VI ternary compound semiconductors because of their high vapor pressure and extreme toxicity. Analysis of the thermophysical properties of the melt can provide information about structural transitions of the melt during the solidification process. From a broader point of view, the structure of liquids is much more complicated than the crystalline solids, especially the relaxation behavior through different thermal histories. The theory of hetero-phase fluctuations of liquids is applicable to any many-body systems including condensed-matter physics, field theory, physics of nuclear-matter, cosmology, biology and even sociology. This book summarizes the physics and chemistry from the experimental measurements and theoretical analyses of phase diagram, thermodynamic properties, density, thermal conductivity, viscosity, and electrical conductivity on the binary, pseudo-binary and ternary melts of the most advanced IR-detector material systems of HgCdTe and HgZnTe as well as the analyses of these results. The main objectives of this study are: (1) to provide the phase diagrams and thermodynamic properties of Hg-Cd-Te and Hg-Zn-Te systems through quantitatively fitting the experimental data by assuming an associated solution model for the liquid phase, (2) to experimentally measure the thermophysical properties of the Hg-Cd-Te and Hg-Zn-Te melts, including density, viscosity, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity as functions of temperature and composition and (3) to enhance the fundamental knowledge of hetero-phase fluctuations and relaxation phenomena in the melts and extend our understanding of the solidification process in order to interpret the experimental results of crystal growth so as to improve the melt growth processes of the compound semiconductor. The physics and chemistry of Te and HgTe-based ternary melts were explored through the studies of the structural transformation during melting, the supercooling during solidification, the relaxation phenomena after rapid cooling of the melts and the metal-semiconductor transition in the melts through the analyses of electrical conductivity and Lorenz number. An in-depth study on the thermophysical properties and their time-dependent structural dynamic processes taking place in the vicinity of the solid-liquid phase transition of the narrow homogeneity range HgTe-based ternary semiconductors as well as the analysis of the homogenization process in the melt will also be presented.

Thermophysical properties↗