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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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NASA NTRS1990

LOX vaporization in high-pressure, hydrogen-rich gas

LOX droplet vaporization in high-pressure hydrogen-rich gas is analyzed, with special attention to thermodynamic effects which compel the surface to heat to the critical state and to supercritical vaporization processes on heating to criticality. Subcritical vaporization is modeled using a quasi-steady diffusion-controlled gas-phase transport formulation coupled to an effective-conductivity internal-energy-transport model accounting for circulation effects. It is demonstrated how the droplet surface might heat to the critical state, for ambient pressures slightly greater than the critical pressure of oxygen, such that the bulk of propellant within the droplet remains substantially below the critical mixing temperature.

Litchford, Ron J.↗

NASA NTRS1985

A theoretical study of non-adiabatic surface effects for a model in the NTF cryogenic wind tunnel

A theoretical analysis was made of the severity and effect of nonadiabatic surface conditions for a model in the NTF cryogenic wind tunnel. The nonadiabatic condition arises from heaters that are used to maintain a constant thermal environment for instrumentation internal to the model. The analysis was made for several axi-symmetric representations of a fuselage cavity, using a finite element heat conduction code. Potential flow and boundary layer codes were used to calculate the convection condition for the exterior surface of the model. The results of the steady state analysis show that it is possible to maintain the surface temperature very near the adiabatic value, with the judicious use of insulating material. Even for the most severe nonadiabatic condition studied, the effects on skin friction drag and displacement thickness were only marginally significant. The thermal analysis also provided an estimate of the power required to maintain a specified cavity temperature.

Macha, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS1972

Lunar thermal history revisited.

New information is used to demonstrate that better models for the thermal history of the moon are required. As a first step, account is taken of (1) a nonuniform initial composition in terms of fraction of low melting to high melting phase present, and for variation in the uranium, potassium, and thorium contents as a function of depth, (2) partitioning of the radioactive elements between the melt and the solid phases, and (3) a cutoff value of melt which must be exceeded before magma can move to the surface. The results of several attempts to determine whether reasonable conditions, composition, and thermal properties can be expected to give rise to two separate periods of volcanism are discussed. Two models with somewhat different distributions of radioactive heat sources and different conductivities are examined.

Mcconnell, R. K., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Thermal inertia mapping

A thermal model of the earth's surface has been developed and used to determine the thermal inertia of a test site in the Mojave Desert, California. The model, which includes meteorological heating terms as well as radiation and conduction heating terms, is used with remotely sensed surface temperature data to determine thermal inertia of materials. The thermal inertia is displayed in image form, and can aid in the differentiation of the various lithologic materials in the test site.

Kahle, A. B.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Thermal inertia imaging - A new geologic mapping tool

A thermal model of the earth's surface has been developed and used to determine the thermal inertia of a test site in the Mojave Desert, California. The model, which includes meteorological heating terms as well as radiation and conduction heating terms, is used with remotely sensed surface temperature and reflectance data to determine the thermal inertia of the surface materials at the test site. The thermal inertia is displayed in image form, and can aid in the differentiation of the various lithologic materials in the test site. Since this thermal property is representative of the upper several cm of the surface, it complements visible and reflected near-IR image data.

Kahle, A. B.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Buoyant subduction on Venus: Implications for subduction around coronae

Potentially low lithospheric densities, caused by high Venus surface and perhaps mantle temperatures, could inhibit the development of negative buoyancy-driven subduction and a global system of plate tectonics/crustal recycling on that planet. No evidence for a global plate tectonic system was found so far, however, specific features strongly resembling terrestrial subduction zones in planform and topographic cross-section were described, including trenches around large coronae and chasmata in eastern Aphrodite Terra. The cause for the absence, or an altered expression, of plate tectonics on Venus remains to be found. Slab buoyancy may play a role in this difference, with higher lithospheric temperatures and a tendency toward positive buoyancy acting to oppose the descent of slabs and favoring under thrusting instead. The effect of slab buoyancy on subduction was explored and the conditions which would lead to under thrusting versus those allowing the formation of trenches and self-perpetuating subduction were defined. Applying a finite element code to assess the effects of buoyant forces on slabs subducting into a viscous mantle, it was found that mantle flow induced by horizontal motion of the convergent lithosphere greatly influences subduction angle, while buoyancy forces produce a lesser effect. Induced mantle flow tends to decrease subduction angle to near an under thrusting position when the subducting lithosphere converges on a stationary overriding lithosphere. When the overriding lithosphere is in motion, as in the case of an expanding corona, subduction angles are expected to increase. An initial stage involved estimating the changes in slab buoyancy due to slab healing and pressurization over the course of subduction. Modeling a slab, descending at a fixed angle and heated by conduction, radioactivity, and the heat released in phase changes, slab material density changes due to changing temperature, phase, and pressure were derived.

Burt, J. D.↗

NASA NTRS1998

An Integrated Tool for the Coupled Thermal and Mechanical Analysis of Pyrolyzing Heatshield Materials

Materials that pyrolyze at elevated temperature have been commonly used as thermal protection materials in hypersonic flight, and advanced pyrolyzing materials for this purpose continue to be developed. Because of the large temperature gradients that can arise in thermal protection materials, significant thermal stresses can develop. Advanced applications of pyrolytic materials are calling for more complex heatshield configurations, making accurate thermal stress analysis more important, and more challenging. For non-pyrolyzing materials, many finite element codes are available and capable of performing coupled thermal-mechanical analyses. These codes do not, however, have a built-in capability to perform analyses that include pyrolysis effects. When a pyrolyzing material is heated, one or more components of the original virgin material pyrolyze and create a gas. This gas flows away from the pyrolysis zone to the surface, resulting in a reduction in surface heating. A porous residue, referred to as char, remains in place of the virgin material. While the processes involved can be complex, it has been found that a simple physical model in which virgin material reacts to form char and pyrolysis gas, will yield satisfactory analytical results. Specifically, the effects that must be modeled include: (1) Variation of thermal properties (density, specific heat, thermal conductivity) as the material composition changes; (2) Energy released or absorbed by the pyrolysis reactions; (3) Energy convected by the flow of pyrolysis gas from the interior to the surface; (4) The reduction in surface heating due to surface blowing; and (5) Chemical and mass diffusion effects at the surface between the pyrolysis gas and edge gas Computational tools for the one-dimensional thermal analysis these materials exist and have proven to be reliable design tools. The objective of the present work is to extend the analysis capabilities of pyrolyzing materials to axisymmetric configurations, and to couple thermal and mechanical analyses so that thermal stresses may be efficiently and accurately calculated.

Pronchick, Stephen W.↗

NASA NTRS1977

A study of filament transition sheath from radio observations

An H-alpha dark filament has been observed at 8, 15 and 22 GHz, and its radio spectrum derived. It is suggested that the filament may be optically thick at radio frequencies and that the observed spectrum may be due to the presence of a transition sheath surrounding the filament. A model is developed for the transition sheath in which the energy radiated away is balanced by the conduction of heat from the corona; the radio observations indicate that little or no thermal energy is conducted into the main body of the filament. The model is compared with ultraviolet observations of filaments.

Rao, A. P.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Modeling of high-latitude currents in a substorm

The currents and electric fields in the area covered by the poleward set of field-aligned currents are computed by means of a quantitative model, in which the high-latitude band considered carries most of the poleward electrojet, and lies poleward of the region covering the inner magnetosphere and corresponding ionosphere. The Birkeland current and aurorally enhanced conductivity are assumed to be uniformly distributed across the band. The time-dependent conductivity model used is based on electron fluxes and mean energies measured from the S3-2 satellite. Joule heating of the upper atmosphere was found to be about 2 x 10 to the 11th W during the substorm period. Model values for the strength of the electrojet and the amount of Joule heating agree to within about 20% with results based on a simple Cowling conductivity band.

Karty, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS2015

Restoration of the Apollo Heat Flow Experiments Metadata

Geothermal heat flow probes were deployed on the Apollo 15 and 17 missions as part of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). At each landing site, the astronauts drilled 2 holes, 10-m apart, and installed a probe in each. The holes were 1- and 1.5-m deep at the Apollo 15 site and 2.5-m deep at the Apollo 17 sites. The probes monitored surface temperature and subsurface temperatures at different depths. At the Apollo 15 site, the monitoring continued from July 1971 to January 1977. At the Apollo 17 site, it did from December 1972 to September 1977. Based on the observations made through December 1974, Marcus Langseth, the principal investigator of the heat flow experiments (HFE), determined the thermal conductivity of the lunar regolith by mathematically modeling how the seasonal temperature fluctuation propagated down through the regolith. He also determined the temperature unaffected by diurnal and seasonal thermal waves of the regolith at different depths, which yielded the geothermal gradient. By multiplying the thermal gradient and the thermal conductivity, Langseth obtained the endogenic heat flow of the Moon as 21 mW/m(exp 2) at Site 15 and 16 mW/m(exp 2) at Site 17.

HFE metadata↗

NASA NTRS1991

The response of the chromosphere during a stellar flare

A set of chromospheric models was developed, having a coronal loop geometry, energy balance through the entire loop from photosphere to corona, and a rigorous treatment of the radiative transfer in the important, optically thick, chromospheric emission lines. The models show that the soft X-ray emission and thermal conduction from a long lived hot corona are effective heating agents in the lower atmosphere during the gradual phase of stellar flares. The model predictions show the correct order of magnitude for the emission lines produced during the gradual phase of the flare with a reasonable coronal temperature evolution.

Hawley, Suzanne L.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Unsteady spot heating of a drop in a microgravity environment

The unsteady localized spot heating of a liquid drop under zero-g conditions is examined theoretically. This pertains to space experiments to measure thermal properties of materials and the purpose here is to predict the thermal behavior of such systems. Spot heating can be achieved by a laser beam focused on a small region of the drop surface. The present theoretical model deals with situations of weak Marangoni flows, whereby the thermal transport is conduction dominated. The heat flow in the drop is treated as unsteady while the surrounding gaseous region is considered to be quasisteady. The ensuing thermally driven flow is analyzed in the Stokes regime.

Sadhal, Satwindar Singh↗

NASA NTRS1978

A phenomenological model of solar flares

The energy of solar flares is derived from the magnetic energy of fields convected to the sun's surface and subsequently converted to heat and energetic particles within the chromosphere. The circumstances of this conversion in most current models is magnetic flux annihilation at a neutral sheet. An analysis is conducted of the constraints of flux annihilation. It is shown that the present evidence of solar cosmic rays, X-rays, gamma-rays, and total energy suggests a choice of annihilation not at a neutral point, but by an enhanced dissipation of a field-aligned current. The field configuration is related both to its origin and to the extensive theory and laboratory experiments concerned with this configuration in magnetic fusion. The magnetic field model is applied to the August 4 flare. It is shown how the plasma heating in the annihilation region balanced by thermal conduction leads to a plasma temperature of about 20 million deg K.

Colgate, S. A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

A thermal model for the seasonal nitrogen cycle on Triton

The seasonal N2-cycle model presently used to characterize such observed phenomena on Triton as atmospheric pressure and surface albedo features at the time of the Voyager encounter incorporates diurnal and seasonal subsurface heat conduction, and can account for the heat capacity of N2 frost deposits. The results obtained by this model differ from those of previous studies in that they do not predict the seasonal freezing-out of the Triton atmosphere; even for a wide range of input parameters, the bright southern polar cap is seen as rather unlikely to be N2. The results support the microphysical arguments for the presence of either dark or smooth translucent N2 frosts on the Triton surface.

Hansen, Candice J.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Model calculations of the dayside ionosphere of Venus - Energetics

A model of the energy balance of the dayside ionosphere of Venus is presented. Calculations of the dayside electron and ion temperature profiles are carried out and compared with data from experiments on the Pioneer Venus orbiter. The coupled heat conduction equations for electrons and ions are solved for several values of the solar zenith angle. It is shown that thermal conductivities are inhibited by the presence of a horizontal magnetic field. A realistic model of the magnetic field that includes fluctuations is employed in deriving an appropriate expression for the thermal conductivity. The contributions of photoelectrons, ion chemistry, Joule heating, and solar wind heating to the energy balance of the ionosphere are considered.

Cravens, T. E.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Simulation of cryogenic turbopump annular seals

San Andres employed the NBS software package MIPROPS to account for density's dependence on pressure in the simulation of liquid annular seals. His example on a LH2 seal showed a significant change in the mass coefficient compared to a constant density model. San Andres, Yang, and Childs extended this analysis by including the pressure and temperature dependence of density, specific heat, viscosity, volumetric expansion, and thermal conductivity in a coupled solution of the energy, momentum, and continuity equations. Their example showed very significant changes in stiffness and inertia for a high speed (38,000 rpm), large L/D ratio (0.5) LOX seal, as compared to their constant temperature results. The current research rederived the San Andres-Yang-Childs (SYC) analysis and extended it to include not only the Moody friction model of SYC but also the Hir's friction model. The derivation begins with obtaining the local differential equations of continuity, momentum, and energy conservation in the seal. These equations are averaged across the film thickness to obtain the resulting 'bulk flow' differential equations. Shear stress and convective heat loss through the stator (seal) and rotor are related to the Moody and Hir's friction factor model. The Holman analogy is employed to relate heat conduction in or out of the fluid film's boundary layer to the friction induced shear stress.

Palazzolo, Alan B.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Time and Space Resolved Heat Transfer Measurements Under Nucleate Bubbles with Constant Heat Flux Boundary Conditions

Investigations into single bubble pool boiling phenomena are often complicated by the difficulties in obtaining time and space resolved information in the bubble region. This usually occurs because the heaters and diagnostics used to measure heat transfer data are often on the order of, or larger than, the bubble characteristic length or region of influence. This has contributed to the development of many different and sometimes contradictory models of pool boiling phenomena and dominant heat transfer mechanisms. Recent investigations by Yaddanapyddi and Kim and Demiray and Kim have obtained time and space resolved heat transfer information at the bubble/heater interface under constant temperature conditions using a novel micro-heater array (10x10 array, each heater 100 microns on a side) that is semi-transparent and doubles as a measurement sensor. By using active feedback to maintain a state of constant temperature at the heater surface, they showed that the area of influence of bubbles generated in FC-72 was much smaller than predicted by standard models and that micro-conduction/micro-convection due to re-wetting dominated heat transfer effects. This study seeks to expand on the previous work by making time and space resolved measurements under bubbles nucleating on a micro-heater array operated under constant heat flux conditions. In the planned investigation, wall temperature measurements made under a single bubble nucleation site will be synchronized with high-speed video to allow analysis of the bubble energy removal from the wall.

Myers, Jerry G.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Simulation of Oxygen Disintegration and Mixing With Hydrogen or Helium at Supercritical Pressure

The simulation of high-pressure turbulent flows, where the pressure, p, is larger than the critical value, p(sub c), for the species under consideration, is relevant to a wide array of propulsion systems, e.g. gas turbine, diesel, and liquid rocket engines. Most turbulence models, however, have been developed for atmospheric-p turbulent flows. The difference between atmospheric-p and supercritical-p turbulence is that, in the former situation, the coupling between dynamics and thermodynamics is moderate to negligible, but for the latter it is very significant, and can dominate the flow characteristics. The reason for this stems from the mathematical form of the equation of state (EOS), which is the perfect-gas EOS in the former case, and the real-gas EOS in the latter case. For flows at supercritical pressure, p, the large eddy simulation (LES) equations consist of the differential conservation equations coupled with a real-gas EOS. The equations use transport properties that depend on the thermodynamic variables. Compared to previous LES models, the differential equations contain not only the subgrid scale (SGS) fluxes, but also new SGS terms, each denoted as a correction. These additional terms, typically assumed null for atmospheric pressure flows, stem from filtering the differential governing equations, and represent differences between a filtered term and the same term computed as a function of the filtered flow field. In particular, the energy equation contains a heat-flux correction (q-correction) that is the difference between the filtered divergence of the heat flux and the divergence of the heat flux computed as a function of the filtered flow field. In a previous study, there was only partial success in modeling the q-correction term, but in this innovation, success has been achieved by using a different modeling approach. This analysis, based on a temporal mixing layer Direct Numerical Simulation database, shows that the focus in modeling the q-correction should be on reconstructing the primitive variable gradients rather than their coefficients, and proposes the approximate deconvolution model (ADM) as an effective means of flow field reconstruction for LES heat flux calculation. Further, results for a study conducted for temporal mixing layers initially containing oxygen in the lower stream, and hydrogen or helium in the upper stream, show that, for any LES, including SGS-flux models (constant-coefficient Gradient or Scale-Similarity models, dynamic-coefficient Smagorinsky/Yoshizawa or mixed Smagorinsky/Yoshizawa/Gradient models), the inclusion of the q-correction in the LES leads to the theoretical maximum reduction of the SGS heat-flux difference. The remaining error in modeling this new subgrid term is thus irreducible.

Bellan, Josette↗