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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 379 records · Page 21

An installed nacelle design code using a multiblock Euler solver. Volume 1: Theory document

An efficient multiblock Euler design code was developed for designing a nacelle installed on geometrically complex airplane configurations. This approach employed a design driver based on a direct iterative surface curvature method developed at LaRC. A general multiblock Euler flow solver was used for computing flow around complex geometries. The flow solver used a finite-volume formulation with explicit time-stepping to solve the Euler Equations. It used a multiblock version of the multigrid method to accelerate the convergence of the calculations. The design driver successively updated the surface geometry to reduce the difference between the computed and target pressure distributions. In the flow solver, the change in surface geometry was simulated by applying surface transpiration boundary conditions to avoid repeated grid generation during design iterations. Smoothness of the designed surface was ensured by alternate application of streamwise and circumferential smoothings. The capability and efficiency of the code was demonstrated through the design of both an isolated nacelle and an installed nacelle at various flow conditions. Information on the execution of the computer program is provided in volume 2.

Chen, H. C.↗

An installed nacelle design method using multiblock Euler solver

An efficient multiblock Euler design method was developed for designing a nacelle installed on geometrically complex airplane configurations. This approach employed a design module based on a direct iterative surface curvature method developed at NASA-Langley. A multiblock Euler flow solver was used for computing flow around complex geometries. The flow solver used a finite-volume formulation with explicit time-stepping to solve the Euler equations. It used a multiblock version of the multigrid method to accelerate the convergence of the calculations. The design module successively updated the surface geometry to reduce the difference between the computed and target pressure distributions. In the flow solver, the change in surface geometry was simulated by applying surface transpiration boundary conditions to avoid repeated grid generation during design iterations. Smoothness of the designed surface was ensured by alternate application of streamwise and circumferential smoothings.

Chen, H. C.↗

Aerospace Engineering Systems and the Advanced Design Technologies Testbed Experience

Continuous improvement of aerospace product development processes is a driving requirement across much of the aerospace community. As up to 90% of the cost of an aerospace product is committed during the first 10% of the development cycle, there is a strong emphasis on capturing, creating, and communicating better information (both requirements and performance) early in the product development process. The community has responded by pursuing the development of computer-based systems designed to enhance the decision-making capabilities of product development individuals and teams. Recently, the historical foci on sharing the geometrical representation and on configuration management are being augmented: 1) Physics-based analysis tools for filling the design space database; 2) Distributed computational resources to reduce response time and cost; 3) Web-based technologies to relieve machine-dependence; and 4) Artificial intelligence technologies to accelerate processes and reduce process variability. The Advanced Design Technologies Testbed (ADTT) activity at NASA Ames Research Center was initiated to study the strengths and weaknesses of the technologies supporting each of these trends, as well as the overall impact of the combination of these trends on a product development event. Lessons learned and recommendations for future activities are reported.

VanDalsem, William R.↗

Analytical determination of space station response to crew motion and design of suspension system for microgravity experiments

The objective of this investigation is to make analytical determination of the acceleration produced by crew motion in an orbiting space station and define design parameters for the suspension system of microgravity experiments. A simple structural model for simulation of the IOC space station is proposed. Mathematical formulation of this model provides the engineers a simple and direct tool for designing an effective suspension system.

Liu, F. C.↗

Analytical determination of space station response to crew motion and design of suspension system for microgravity experiments

The objective of this investigation is to make analytical determination of the acceleration produced by crew motion in an orbiting space station and define design parameters for the suspension system of microgravity experiments. A simple structural model for simulation of the IOC space station is proposed. Mathematical formulation of this model provides the engineers a simple and direct tool for designing an effective suspension system.

Liu, Frank C.↗

Design of Electrostatic Dust Lofting Suborbital Flight Experiment Examining Photoionization under Lunar Gravity

Dust on the lunar surface electrostatically charges due to the plasma environment surrounding the Moon, causing grains to become lofted and adhere to nearby surfaces including landers and astronauts. Studying the behaviors of these charged particles in the lunar environment is essential to plan around the deleterious effects of dust to future Moon missions. Models attempt to predict the amount of dust loading that can be expected in many of these scenarios, but they require experimental validation to be predictive. This physics cannot be fully studied on Earth due to the six times larger gravitational force obscuring the electrostatic interactions, so it is necessary to run experiments in a more relevant environment, including vacuum and near-lunar gravitational effects. An experiment has been designed to fly on the Lunar Gravity Acceleration (LGA) mission aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital rocket. This experiment will perform photoionization charging of lunar regolith simulant grains under the illumination of an ultraviolet (UV) source. As a result, the charged grains will then electrostatically repel one another and loft in the reduced gravity environment; their trajectories will be imaged via a high-speed camera. Preliminary laboratory results influencing the design of this experiment will be presented, including characterization of several UV sources, measurements of photoionization currents under various vacuum conditions, and examination of lunar simulant dust lofting under terrestrial gravity. Results from this flight will be compared with ground-based testing and the laboratory results outlined above to examine the dependence on gravity and will be fed into the dust charging and lofting models currently under development.

electrostatics↗

A prediction model of the depth-of-discharge effect on the cycle life of a storage cell

Cycle life requirements are very high for batteries used in aerospace applications in low Earth orbit. The data base required to establish confidence in a particular cell design is thus both extensive and expensive. Reliable accelerated cycle life testing and performance decay modeling represent attractive alternatives to real-time tests of cycle life. In light of certain long-term cycle life test results, this paper examines a very simple performance decay model developed earlier. Application of that model to available data demonstrates a rigid relationship between a battery's expected cycle life and the depth of discharge of cycling. Further, modeling analysis of the data suggests that a significantly improved cycle life can be obtained with advanced components, materials, and designs; and that cycle life can be reliably predicted from the results of accelerated testing.

Thaller, Lawrence H.↗

A prediction model of the depth-of-discharge effect on the cycle life of a storge cell

Cycle life requirements are very high for batteries used in aerospace applications in low earth orbit. The data base required to establish confidence in a particular cell design is thus both extensive and expensive. Reliable accelerated cycle life testing and performance decay modeling represent attractive alternatives to real-time tests of cycle life. In light of certain long-term cycle life test results, this paper examines a very simple performance decay model developed earlier. Application of that model to available data demonstrates a rigid relationship between a battery's expected cycle life and the depth of discharge of cycling. Further, modeling analysis of the data suggests that a significantly improved cycle life can be obtained with advanced components, materials, and designs; and that cycle life can be reliably predicted from the results of accelerated testing.

Thaller, Lawrence H.↗

Active vibration absorber for CSI evolutionary model: Design and experimental results

The development of control of large flexible structures technology must include practical demonstration to aid in the understanding and characterization of controlled structures in space. To support this effort, a testbed facility was developed to study practical implementation of new control technologies under realistic conditions. The design is discussed of a second order, acceleration feedback controller which acts as an active vibration absorber. This controller provides guaranteed stability margins for collocated sensor/actuator pairs in the absence of sensor/actuator dynamics and computational time delay. The primary performance objective considered is damping augmentation of the first nine structural modes. Comparison of experimental and predicted closed loop damping is presented, including test and simulation time histories for open and closed loop cases. Although the simulation and test results are not in full agreement, robustness of this design under model uncertainty is demonstrated. The basic advantage of this second order controller design is that the stability of the controller is model independent.

Bruner, Anne M.↗

Design and development of a passive propellant management system

This paper describes the passive propellant management system program being conducted for the NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center. The objectives of this program are to design and develop a hydrazine propellant acquisition system which will acquire propellant in low- or zero-g environments and also retain this propellant under high axially directed accelerations that may be experienced during launch and orbit-to-orbit transfer. The system design requirements were established to satisfy requirements for a large number of potential NASA and military applications, such as orbit-to-orbit shuttles and satellite vehicles. The resulting concept is a multicompartmented tank with independent surface-tension acquisition channels in each compartment. The tank is designed to provide greater than 98% expulsion efficiency when subjected to the simultaneous requirements of acceleration, vibration, and outflow usage. The system design has the unique capability to demonstrate low-g performance in a one-g test environment, and the test program has been structured around this capability.

Regnier, W. W.↗

Composite Bus Structure for the SMEX/WIRE Satellite

In an effort to reduce the weight and optimize the structural design of the Small Explorer (SMEX) Wide-Field Infrared Explorer (WIRE) spacecraft, it has become desirable to change the material and construction from mechanically fastened aluminum structure to a fully bonded fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) structure. GSFC has developed the WIRE spacecraft structural bus design concept, including the instrument and launch vehicle requirements. The WIRE Satellite is the fifth of a series of SMEX satellites to be launched once per year. GSFC has chosen Composite Optics Inc. (COI) as the prime contractor for the development and procurement of the WIRE composite structure. The detailed design of the fully bonded FRC structure is based on COI's Short Notice Accelerated Production SATellite ("SNAPSAT") approach. SNAPSAT is a state of the art design and manufacturing technology for advanced composite materials which utilizes flat-stock detail parts bonded together to produce a final structural assembly. The structural design approach adopted for the WIRE structure provides a very viable alternative to both traditional aluminum construction as well as high tech. molded type composite structures. This approach to composite structure design is much less costly than molded or honeycomb sandwich type composite construction, but may cost slightly more than conventional aluminum construction on the subsystem level. However on the overall program level the weight saving achieved is very cost effective, since the primary objective is to allocate more mass for science payloads.

Rosanova, Giulio G.↗

Development of and flight results from the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS)

Described here is the development of and the flight results from the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) flight units used in the Orbiter middeck, Spacelab module, and the Orbitercargo bay. The SAMS units are general purpose microgravity accelerometers designed to support a variety of science experiments with microgravity acceleration measurements. A total of six flight units have been fabricated; four for use in the Orbiter middeck and Spacelab module, and two for use in the Orbiter cargo bay. The design of the units is briefly described. The initial two flights of SAMS units on STS-40 (June 1991) and STS-43 (August 1991) resulted in 371 megabytes and 2.6 gigabytes of data respectively. Analytical techniques developed to examine this quantity of acceleration data are described and sample plots of analyzed data are illustrated. Future missions for the SAMS units are listed.

Delombard, Richard↗

Suppression of Transient Events by Levitation (STABLE): Results From the USML-2 Mission

Microgravity science payloads can be extremely sensitive to vibrations from machinery, acoustics, ventilation, and crew activity. Suppression of Transient Acceleration by Levitation (STABLE) is an active vibration isolation system designed to protect payloads from these disturbances. This paper gives an account of results from the flight demonstration of the STABLE microgravity isolation system, which was developed and successfully flight tested in orbit during USML-2, with the participation of Astronaut Fred Leslie. Following a very brief description of the operational principles, the hardware and software design, and performance criteria, results of the analysis of measured flight data are presented to provide an evaluation of system performance parameters, including acceleration attenuation, assessment of sway space, system power consumption, and other factors critical to the performance of an isolation system. Lessons learned and potential design improvements and evolutions are discussed. Data reduction by Robert Boucher of McDonnell Douglas Aerospace (MDA) was substantially assisted by Kenneth Hrovat of Tal-Cut, Inc., under support from National Aeronautics and Space Administration/Lewis Research Center (LeRC), Cleveland, OH.

Nurre, Gerald S.↗

Dual-mass vibratory rate gyroscope with suppressed translational acceleration response and quadrature-error correction capability

A microfabricated vibratory rate gyroscope to measure rotation includes two proof-masses mounted in a suspension system anchored to a substrate. The suspension has two principal modes of compliance, one of which is driven into oscillation. The driven oscillation combined with rotation of the substrate about an axis perpendicular to the substrate results in Coriolis acceleration along the other mode of compliance, the sense-mode. The sense-mode is designed to respond to Coriolis accelerationwhile suppressing the response to translational acceleration. This is accomplished using one or more rigid levers connecting the two proof-masses. The lever allows the proof-masses to move in opposite directions in response to Coriolis acceleration. The invention includes a means for canceling errors, termed quadrature error, due to imperfections in implementation of the sensor. Quadrature-error cancellation utilizes electrostatic forces to cancel out undesired sense-axis motion in phase with drive-mode position.

Clark, William A.↗

Overview of the Research Aircraft for eVTOL Enabling techNologies (RAVEN) Activity

The Research Aircraft for eVTOL Enabling techNologies (RAVEN) activity is a collaboration between Georgia Tech and NASA to design and develop a 1,000 lb gross weight class eVTOL research aircraft. The vision for RAVEN is that the aircraft will serve as a “flying laboratory” for enduring research and technology development applications across the realm of eVTOL technologies. A major goal of RAVEN is to disseminate the aircraft design geometry and data from flight tests for the benefit of the broader aeronautics community. Initial research applications will include flight dynamics, controls, acoustics, and automation/autonomy. The aircraft is based on the airframe of a fixed-wing experimental homebuilt airplane that will be modified to incorporate a distributed propulsion system, battery system, fly-by-wire flight control system, and avionics to enable remotely piloted operation. The aircraft is being designed to use commercial off-the-shelf components to the maximum extent practicable to save costs and to accelerate the development schedule without compromising the goal of publishing design geometry and test data. The RAVEN activity is also focused on workforce development by training the next generation of aerospace engineers in eVTOL technologies.

eVTOL↗

Development of and flight results from the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS)

This paper describes the development of and flight results from the Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) flight units used in the Orbiter middeck, Spacelab module and the Orbiter cargo bay. The SAMS units are general purpose microgravity accelerometers designed to support a variety of science experiments with microgravity acceleration measurements. A total of six flight units have been fabricated; four for use in the Orbiter middeck and Spacelab module, and two for use in the Orbiter cargo bay. The design of the units is briefly described. The initial two flights of SAMS units on STS-40 (June 1991) and STS-43 (August 1991) resulted in 371 megabytes and 2.6 gigabytes of data, respectively. Analytical techniques developed to examine this quantity of acceleration data are described and sample plots of analyzed data are illustrated. Future missions for the SAMS units are listed.

Delombard, Richard↗

STS-87 Mission Highlights Resources Tape

The STS-87 mission the flight crew, Commander Kevin R. Kregel, Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Mission Specialists Winston E. Scott, Kalpana Chawla, and Takao Doi, and Payload Specialist Leonid K. Kadenyuk present an overview of there mission. STS-87 will fly the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-4), the Spartan-201, the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE), the EVA Demonstration Flight Test 5 (EDFT-05). The objective of the observations are to investigate the mechanisms causing the heating of the solar corona and the acceleration of the solar wind which originates in the corona. While flying separately in the cargo bay, the Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE) is an integral part of USMP-04. It is a highly sensitive instrument designed to acquire and record data of low-level aerodynamic acceleration along the orbiter's principal axes in the free-molecular flow regime at orbital altitudes and in the transition regime during re-entry. OARE data will support advances in space materials processing by providing measurements of the low-level, low frequency disturbance environment affecting various microgravity experiments. OARE data will also support advances in orbital drag prediction technology by increasing the understanding of the fundamental flow phenomena in the upper atmosphere.

Source record↗

Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS) Flight Configuration Verification and Status

The Microgravity Acceleration Measurement System (MAMS) is a precision spaceflight instrument designed to measure and characterize the microgravity environment existing in the US Lab Module of the International Space Station. Both vibratory and quasi-steady triaxial acceleration data are acquired and provided to an Ethernet data link. The MAMS Double Mid-Deck Locker (DMDL) EXPRESS Rack payload meets all the ISS IDD and ICD interface requirements as discussed in the paper which also presents flight configuration illustrations. The overall MAMS sensor and data acquisition performance and verification data are presented in addition to a discussion of the Command and Data Handling features implemented via the ISS, downlink and the GRC Telescience Center displays.

Wagar, William↗