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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 361 records · Page 20

Design and Development of Nano-electro Fuel Batteries and Rim-driven Motors for Electrified Aircraft Applications

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project seeks to determine feasibility of emerging technologies in aeronautics. The Aqueous, QUick-Charging Battery Integration For Electric flight Research study pursued the feasibility of nano-electro fuel and rim-driven motor technologies integrated together for aircraft implementation. Development of the NEF technology was in partnership with Influit Energy, LLC (Chicago, Illinois). A rim-driven motor, designed by the project team, sized to represent one of 24 motors in the propulsion system of the tandem electric super-short takeoff and landing aircraft is discussed. The development of this electric super-short takeoff and landing concept was in partnership with The Boeing Company (Chicago, Illinois). The integrated system design of the nano-electro fuel and rim-driven motor technologies within the wing section was in partnership with Empirical Systems Aerospace, Inc. (ESAero) (San Luis Obispo, California). The feasibility benchmark for the nano-electro fuel battery was to attain 100 mA/sq. cm within two years, a 50-fold increase over the demonstrated cell performance before the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Aqueous, QUick-Charging Battery Integration For Electric flight Research activity. The team achieved 85 mA/sq. cm in the nano-electro fuel flow cell at the end of the two years. The Aqueous, QUick-Charging Battery Integration For Electric flight Research project team determined the technology to be both inflammable and nonexplosive (unless multiple, simultaneous system failures occur) which would provide a safer alternative to conventional lithium-ion based battery systems.

Kurt V. Papathakis↗

Preliminary Analysis of Moog SureFly Electric Motor Noise Measurements

The results of acoustics measurements on the installed and unloaded axial-flux electric motor used on the Moog SureFly® vehicle are presented and compared to previous ground run-up measurements for the vehicle. The directivity of the motor was found to be significantly different than that obtained for much smaller 2 – 4 kW radial flux motors tested previously in the Acoustic Test Laboratory at NASA Glenn. Significant radiation occurred at shaft orders between 17 and 20 and at order 30. Peak radiation levels occurred near the highest speeds expected for the vehicle. There was an indication that some of the tones appearing in the spectra obtained in the previous ground run-up test were associated with the motor.

Urban Air Mobility↗

Design Optimization Study of Fault Tolerant and Redundant Motor Drivetrains for Urban Air Mobility Vehicles

Fully electric and hybrid electric aircraft will require extremely lightweight and reliable electric motor drivetrains to meet performance and safety goals. It is likely that to meet reliability targets some form of fault tolerance and/or redundancy will need to be used in the electric motor drivetrain. The use of either redundancy or fault tolerance will result in a reduction in drivetrain performance. In this paper, an example design study is carried out comparing redundant and fault tolerant drivetrains based on an example fault tolerant motor topology for a tilt rotor UAM application. Results show a minimal weight penalty for the incorporation of fault tolerance into drivetrains with the example motor explored here.

Thomas Francis Tallerico↗

Design Optimization Study of Fault Tolerant and Redundant Motor Drivetrains for Urban Air Mobility Vehicles

Fully electric and hybrid electric aircraft will require extremely lightweight and reliable electric motor drivetrains to meet performance and safety goals. It is likely that to meet reliability targets some form of fault tolerance and/or redundancy will need to be used in the electric motor drivetrain. The use of either redundancy or fault tolerance will result in a reduction in drivetrain performance. In this paper, an example design study is carried out comparing redundant and fault tolerant drivetrains based on an example fault tolerant motor topology for a tilt rotor UAM application. Results show a minimal weight penalty for the incorporation of fault tolerance into drivetrains with the example motor explored here.

Thomas Tallerico↗

Rapid motor learning in the translational vestibulo-ocular reflex

Motor learning was induced in the translational vestibulo-ocular reflex (TVOR) when monkeys were repeatedly subjected to a brief (0.5 sec) head translation while they tried to maintain binocular fixation on a visual target for juice rewards. If the target was world-fixed, the initial eye speed of the TVOR gradually increased; if the target was head-fixed, the initial eye speed of the TVOR gradually decreased. The rate of learning acquisition was very rapid, with a time constant of approximately 100 trials, which was equivalent to <1 min of accumulated stimulation. These learned changes were consolidated over >or=1 d without any reinforcement, indicating induction of long-term synaptic plasticity. Although the learning generalized to targets with different viewing distances and to head translations with different accelerations, it was highly specific for the particular combination of head motion and evoked eye movement associated with the training. For example, it was specific to the modality of the stimulus (translation vs rotation) and the direction of the evoked eye movement in the training. Furthermore, when one eye was aligned with the heading direction so that it remained motionless during training, learning was not expressed in this eye, but only in the other nonaligned eye. These specificities show that the learning sites are neither in the sensory nor the motor limb of the reflex but in the sensory-motor transformation stage of the reflex. The dependence of the learning on both head motion and evoked eye movement suggests that Hebbian learning may be one of the underlying cellular mechanisms.

Non-NASA Center↗

Experience-dependent development of spinal motor neurons

Locomotor activity in many species undergoes pronounced alterations in early postnatal life, and environmental cues may be responsible for modifying this process. To determine how these events are reflected in the nervous system, we studied rats reared under two different conditions-the presence or absence of gravity-in which the performance of motor operations differed. We found a significant effect of rearing environment on the size and complexity of dendritic architecture of spinal motor neurons, particularly those that are likely to participate in postural control. These results provide evidence that neurons subserving motor function undergo activity-dependent maturation in early postnatal life in a manner analogous to sensory systems.

STS-90 Shuttle Project↗

Toward an agreement on terminology of nuclear and subnuclear divisions of the motor thalamus

The nomenclature most commonly applied to the motor-related nuclei of the human thalamus differs substantially from that applied to the thalamus of other primates, from which most knowledge of input-output connections is derived. Knowledge of these connections in the human is a prerequisite for stereotactic neurosurgical approaches designed to alleviate movement disorders by the placement of lesions in specific nuclei. Transfer to humans of connectional information derived from experimental studies in nonhuman primates requires agreement about the equivalence of nuclei in the different species, and dialogue between experimentalists and neurosurgeons would be facilitated by the use of a common nomenclature. In this review, the authors compare the different nomenclatures and review the cyto- and chemoarchitecture of the nuclei in the anterolateral aspect of the ventral nuclear mass in humans and monkeys, suggest which nuclei are equivalent, and propose a common terminology. On this basis, it is possible to identify the nuclei of the human motor thalamus that transfer information from the substantia nigra, globus pallidus, cerebellum, and proprioceptive components of the medial lemniscus to prefrontal, premotor, motor, and somatosensory areas of the cerebral cortex. It also becomes possible to suggest the principal functional systems involved in stereotactically guided thalamotomies and the functional basis of the symptoms observed following ischemic lesions in different parts of the human thalamus.

Non-NASA Center↗

Toward an agreement on terminology of nuclear and subnuclear divisions of the motor thalamus

The nomenclature most commonly applied to the motor-related nuclei of the human thalamus differs substantially from that applied to the thalamus of other primates, from which most knowledge of input-output connections is derived. Knowledge of these connections in the human is a prerequisite for stereotactic neurosurgical approaches designed to alleviate movement disorders by the placement of lesions in specific nuclei. Transfer to humans of connectional information derived from experimental studies in nonhuman primates requires agreement about the equivalence of nuclei in the different species, and dialogue between experimentalists and neurosurgeons would be facilitated by the use of a common nomenclature. In this review, the authors compare the different nomenclatures and review the cyto- and chemoarchitecture of the nuclei in the anterolateral aspect of the ventral nuclear mass in humans and monkeys, suggest which nuclei are equivalent, and propose a common terminology. On this basis, it is possible to identify the nuclei of the human motor thalamus that transfer information from the substantia nigra, globus pallidus, cerebellum, and proprioceptive components of the medial lemniscus to prefrontal, premotor, motor, and somatosensory areas of the cerebral cortex. It also becomes possible to suggest the principal functional systems involved in stereotactically guided thalamotomies and the functional basis of the symptoms observed following ischemic lesions in different parts of the human thalamus.

Review, Tutorial↗

NASA's X-57 High Lift Motor Controller: Detailed Design, Test Results, and Outcomes

NASA's X-57 all-electric aircraft was a research project aimed at investigating lightweight and efficient electric propulsion components. The general approach was to utilize a distributed electric propulsion (DEP) design. An essential component of this design was the High Lift Motor Controller (HLMC), a motor drive which provided power to the High Lift Motors (HLMs) and High Lift Propellers (HLPs) responsible for providing additional thrust for take-off and landing. This paper presents the detailed design, test results, and outcomes from the development of the HLMC, a 14 kW, 1kg, 98.3% efficient, outer mold line (OML) cooled, silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET-based inverter and controller.

Electric Aircraft↗

NASA's X-57 High Lift Motor Controller: Detailed Design, Test Results, and Outcomes

NASA's X-57 all-electric aircraft was a research project aimed at investigating lightweight and efficient electric propulsion components. The general approach was to utilize a distributed electric propulsion (DEP) design. An essential component of this design was the High Lift Motor Controller (HLMC), a motor drive which provided power to the High Lift Motors (HLMs) and High Lift Propellers (HLPs) responsible for providing additional thrust for take-off and landing. This paper presents the detailed design, test results, and outcomes from the development of the HLMC, a 14 kW, 1kg, 98.3% efficient, outer mold line (OML) cooled, silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET-based inverter and controller.

Electric Aircraft↗

Role of heat shock protein Hsp25 in the response of the orofacial nuclei motor system to physiological stress

Although expression of the small heat shock protein family member Hsp25 has been previously observed in the central nervous system (CNS), both constitutively and upon induction, its function in the CNS remains far from clear. In the present study we have characterized the spatial pattern of expression of Hsp25 in the normal adult mouse brain as well as the changes in expression patterns induced by subjecting mice to experimental hyperthermia or hypoxia. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed a surprisingly restricted pattern of constitutive expression of Hsp25 in the brain, limited to the facial, trigeminal, ambiguus, hypoglossal and vagal motor nuclei of the brainstem. After hyperthermia or hypoxia treatment, significant increases in the levels of Hsp25 were observed in these same areas and also in fibers of the facial and trigeminal nerve tracts. Immunoblot analysis of protein lysates from brainstem also showed the same pattern of induction of Hsp25. Surprisingly, no other area in the brain showed expression of Hsp25, in either control or stressed animals. The highly restricted expression of Hsp25 implies that this protein may have a specific physiological role in the orofacial motor nuclei, which govern precise coordination between muscles of mastication and the pharynx, larynx, and face. Its rapid induction after stress further suggests that Hsp25 may serve as a specific molecular chaperone in the lower cholinergic motor neurons and along their fibers under conditions of stress or injury. Copyright 1998 Elsevier Science B.V.

Non-NASA Center↗

A Hydraulic Motor-Alternator System for Ocean-Submersible Vehicles

An ocean-submersible vehicle has been developed at JPL that moves back and forth between sea level and a depth of a few hundred meters. A liquid volumetric change at a pressure of 70 bars is created by means of thermal phase change. During vehicle ascent, the phase-change material (PCM) is melted by the circulation of warm water and thus pressure is increased. During vehicle descent, the PCM is cooled resulting in reduced pressure. This pressure change is used to generate electric power by means of a hydraulic pump that drives a permanent magnet (PM) alternator. The output energy of the alternator is stored in a rechargeable battery that powers an on-board computer, instrumentation and other peripherals.The focus of this paper is the performance evaluation of a specific hydraulic motor-alternator system. Experimental and theoretical efficiency data of the hydraulic motor and the alternator are presented. The results are used to evaluate the optimization of the hydraulic motor-alternator system. The integrated submersible vehicle was successfully operated in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii. A brief overview of the actual test results is presented.

alternator↗

High Efficiency Megawatt Motor Conceptual Design

The High Efficiency Megawatt Motor (HEMM) is being designed to meet the needs of Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP). The key objective of this work is to establish a motor technology which simultaneously attains high specific power (>16kW/kg ratio to electromagnetic weight) and high efficiency (>98%) by judicious application of high temperature superconducting wire and integrated thermal management. Another important feature is to achieve the performance goals with an eye to aircraft integration constraints. An electromagnetic analysis was performed which shows that the proposed HEMM design meets the performance objectives if key current capability and mechanical constraints are achieved. Sensitivity of motor power and performance to those parameters is illustrated. The HEMM technology could be applied to a range of aircraft types that require megawatt level electrical power.

Superconducting↗

Rotary Ultrasonic Motors Actuated by Traveling Flexural Waves

Ultrasonic rotary motors are being developed as acutators for miniature spacecraft insturments and subsystems. The technology that has emerged in commercial products requires rigorous analytical tools for effective design of such motors. An analytical model was developed to examine the excitation of flexural plate wave traveling in rotary piezoelectrically actuated motor.

Piezoelectric↗

Surface Vibration Measurement and Analysis for UAM/UAS Electric Motor Noise

Urban Air Mobility vehicles are an emerging class of vertical lift vehicles using electric motors to drive multiple rotors for lift. The outrunner electric motors that are commonly used, may be capable of generating noise that could contribute to the vehicle’s overall noise profile and could generate cabin noise. Understanding and predicting the noise requires more knowledge of the rotor vibrations and eventually a model to predict the frequencies of those vibrations. This work presents a measurement of the rotor vibrations of two different small-scale motors. Two techniques to measure the surface vibration were used. The displacement spectra are compared with acoustic measurements. A finite element analysis model is used to predict the rotor resonance frequencies. The predicted frequencies are in fair agreement with the experimentally observed vibration frequencies, but requires further work to understand discrepancies.

Electric Motor Noise↗

NASA Ames Research Center Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel Fall 2018 Outage - Motor 1 Activity: Stator Shift

The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel consists of the 11 x 11- Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel and the 9 x 7 foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The four 65,000hp electric motors that drive the wind tunnel compressors require periodic maintenance. In order to inspect the motors without the removal of drive shaft components, the stator must be shifted away from the motor. This process is referred to as "Stator Shift". Video is mp4 formatted with runtime of 2 mins 54 secs.

Wind Tunnel↗

An Initial Vibro-Acoustic Model for Predicting Electric Motor Noise

A system-level tool to predict electric motor noise, suitable for trade studies of eVTOL and UAM aircraft, does not exist. This work describes the ongoing effort to develop such a tool. It utilizes a 3 phase prediction routine that models the electro-magnetic interactions of the electric motor, the resulting structural vibrations of the motor rotor, and finally the acoustic propagation generated by those structural vibrations.

Electric Motor Noise↗

The Dynamics of Solid Propellant Rocket Motors

From the point of view of dynamics, a solid propellant rocket motor is a unique structure in that it is composed of a substantial mass of propellant material case-bonded to a relatively massless, thin-walled cylinder. The mechanical properties of the propellant are such that it contributes little to the stiffness of the composite structure but it does contribute to the dynamic characteristics of the structure because of its mass. Furthermore, due to the viscoelastic character of the propellant, it can be expected to provide considerable damping to the system. At this point in the development of the art of design of solid propellant rocket motors there are no clear-cut or well-founded methods to evaluate quantitatively the contributions of the propellant to the dynamic responses of the composite structure. It is clear that unless such methods are devised, it will be difficult to arrive at accurate missile designs. In this paper a survey of the dynamic problems of solid propellant rocket motors is presented starting from the simplest model thereof and proceeding, step-by-step, to the consideration of more sophisticated and realistic models. The consideration is restricted to infinitesimal deformations of propellant grains with linear mechanical properties. Substantial progress has been achieved towards the solution of many important dynamical problems. We shall attempt to summarize the pertinent developments and indicate along which lines we feel future study should proceed. A few illustrative solutions are included in areas wherein progress has been substantial.

DYNAMIC RESPONSE↗