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In optical-fiber temperature sensors of proposed type, phosphorescence and/or fluorescence in temperature-dependent coating layers coupled to photodetectors. Phosphorescent and/or fluorescent behavior(s) of coating material(s) depend on temperature; coating material or mixture of materials selected so one can deduce temperature from known temperature dependence of phosphorescence and/or fluorescence spectrum, and/or characteristic decay of fluorescence. Basic optical configuration same as that of optical-fiber chemical detectors described in "Making Optical-Fiber Chemical Detectors More Sensitive" (LAR-14525).
For spacecraft applications requiring active refrigeration, exported vibrations from a cryocooler can be a concern. One approach to minimizing the vibrations transmitted from cryocoolers to the spacecraft is to mount them on mechanical isolators. Many commercial off-theshelf (COTS) mechanical isolators exist and have been characterized at room temperature for ground applications. However, the space environment presents challenges that complicate the selection process. Mechanical isolators in space must be made of materials that can withstand harsh radiation environments. Future instruments, such as the Mapping Imaging Spectrometer for Europa (MISE) on the Europa Clipper mission, are considering operating cryocoolers with low heat rejection temperatures and mounting them on mechanical isolators. However, the performance of many simple, traditional mechanical isolators at low temperatures is unknown. This paper describes the testing and results of various mechanical isolators able to withstand harsh radiation between 200 K and 300 K. The transmissibility of wire rope type isolators showed very little temperature dependence up to ~500 Hz. On the other hand, the transmissibility of silicone gel was strongly dependent on temperature as the material had an abrupt change in stiffness near its solid-solid phase change. Custom titanium flexures showed the most promise with a maximum transmissibility of 0.04 above 500 Hz and no expected temperature dependence.
The formation of volatile Si-O-H species from silica occurs in water-vapor containing environments such as combustion environments. In this paper the pressure and temperature dependence of known Si-O-H species are surveyed. Trends based on the number of water molecules incorporated in the Si-O-H species are identified. Larger molecules (more OH groups) tend to have a higher pressure dependence and lower temperature dependence. These trends are then used to identify possible unknown species observed in high pressure fuel-rich combustion environments.
Strain rate and temperature dependence of the tensile strength of single-wall carbon nanotubes has been investigated with molecular dynamics simulations. The tensile failure or yield strain is found to be strongly dependent on the temperature and strain rate. A transition state theory based predictive model is developed for the tensile failure of nanotubes. Based on the parameters fitted from high-strain rate and temperature dependent molecular dynamics simulations, the model predicts that a defect free micrometer long single-wall nanotube at 300 K, stretched with a strain rate of 1%/hour, fails at about 9 plus or minus 1% tensile strain. This is in good agreement with recent experimental findings.
Arctic amplification (AA) is simulated by all global climate models, however the spread in the degree of projected warming is large and the underlying mechanisms driving it are poorly understood. The impact of the temperature dependence of immersion freezing on cloud feedbacks and AA is studied using NASA's GEOS-5 model. Parameterizations that exhibit low ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations in the high Arctic during summer are found to weaken the cloud-phase feedback. This allows sunlight to readily melt sea-ice in the summer, which decreases the stability of the lower troposphere, causing a decrease in wintertime cloud fraction over open ocean. Arctic amplification was found to span from ∼1.4 to >2.6, which spans 30% of the spread in AA in the coupled model intercomparison project models, depending on the temperature dependence of immersion freezing. These results suggest that summertime INP concentrations may provide an observational constraint on AA.
Analysis and use of temperature-dependent wind tunnel strain-gage balance calibration data are discussed in the paper. First, three different methods are presented and compared that may be used to process temperature-dependent strain-gage balance data. The first method uses an extended set of independent variables in order to process the data and predict balance loads. The second method applies an extended load iteration equation during the analysis of balance calibration data. The third method uses temperature-dependent sensitivities for the data analysis. Physical interpretations of the most important temperature-dependent regression model terms are provided that relate temperature compensation imperfections and the temperature-dependent nature of the gage factor to sets of regression model terms. Finally, balance calibration recommendations are listed so that temperature-dependent calibration data can be obtained and successfully processed using the reviewed analysis methods.
A dislocation theory of fatigue failure for annealed solid solutions is presented. On the basis of this theory, an equation giving the dependence of the number of cycles for failure on the stress, the temperature, the material parameters, and the frequency is derived for uniformly stressed specimens. The equation is in quantitative agreement with the data. Inasmuch as one material parameter is indicated to be temperature-dependent and its temperature dependence is unknown, it is impossible to predict the temperature dependence of the number of cycles for failure. A predicted quantitative correlation between fatigue and creep was found to exist, which suggests the practical possibility of obtaining fatigue data for annealed solid solutions and elements from steady-state creep-rate data for these materials. As a result of this investigation, a modification of the equation for the steady-state creep rate previously developed on the basis of the dislocation theory is suggested. Additional data are required to verify completely the dislocation theory of fatigue.
There are many reported experiments and theoretical calculations for the combination of methyl free radicals diluted in a non-reactive 'deactivator. At high pressure the ethane (C2H6) combination product is the sole product; with decreasing pressure the chemically activated C2H6 will decompose. The falloff in the observed rate coefficient is the result of the competition between collisional stabilization of the chemically activated CA and unimolecular decomposition. The dependence of the rate coefficient on pressure, temperature and collision properties is complex and can not be calculated from first principles. The understanding of this system is not only of fundamental importance but is relevant to the recent detection of methyl free radicals in the atmospheres of Saturn - and Neptune. The temperatures of these outer planet atmospheres are in the 140-200 K region with total pressures (predominately H2 and He) less than 0.2 Torr. Experimentally determined rate coefficients have been reported for this reaction at T = 296-906 K and T = 200-408 K mostly with argon as the deactivator. At T = 200 K only the high pressure rate coefficient has been determined. Complete falloff curves over a wide temperature range (200-1600 K) with a variety of weak collider models used to simulate argon as the deactivator have also been reported by Klippenstein and Harding (KH). More recently we have reported the experimental rate coefficients in the falloff region with helium as the deactivator at 200 and 298 K. In this paper we have used the calculated falloff curves reported by KH for argon to determine the average energy transferred per collision for helium in our recently reported experiments. Collision rates were converted using Lennard Jones parameters; the temperature dependence of this conversion factor is noted. The helium experiments were consistent with a down of approximately 100 cm (exp-1); the temperature dependence was slight. The magnitude of down and its temperature dependence will be compared to other systems with similar substrate complexity and reaction energetics.
New absorption cells designed specifically to achieve stable temperatures down to 66 K inside the sample compartment of an evacuated Bruker IFS-125HR Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) were developed at Connecticut College and tested at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The temperature stabilized cryogenic cells with path lengths of 24.29 and 20.38 cm were constructed of oxygen free high conductivity (OFHC) copper and fitted with wedged ZnSe windows using vacuum tight indium seals. In operation, the temperature-controlled cooling by a closed-cycle helium refrigerator achieved stability of 0.01 K. The unwanted absorption features arising from cryodeposits on the cell windows at low temperatures were eliminated by building an internal vacuum shroud box around the cell which significantly minimized the growth of cryodeposits. The effects of vibrations from the closed-cycle helium refrigerator on the FTS spectra were characterized. Using this set up, several high-resolution spectra of methane isotopologues broadened with nitrogen were recorded in the 1200-1800 per centimeter spectral region at various sample temperatures between 79.5 and 296 K. Such data are needed to characterize the temperature dependence of spectral line shapes at low temperatures for remote sensing of outer planets and their moons. Initial analysis of a limited number of spectra in the region of the R(2) manifold of the v4 fundamental band of 13CH4 indicated that an empirical power law used for the temperature dependence of the N2-broadened line widths would fail to fit the observed data in the entire temperature range from 80 to 296 K; instead, it follows a temperature-dependence similar to that reported by Mondelain et al. [17,18]. The initial test was very successful proving that a high precision Fourier transform spectrometer with a completely evacuated optical path can be configured for spectroscopic studies at low temperatures relevant to the planetary atmospheres.
The isothermal kinetics of H2, H2S, and O2 chemisorption onto epitaxially grown (III) oriented Fe films were studied. The measurements were made using the techniques of chemisorption induced resistance change and Auger electron spectroscopy (for adsorbed sulfur and oxygen). Also the origin of the chemisorption induced resistance change for these systems and its applicability to kinetic measurements were established. The chemisorption kinetics were interpreted as dissociative chemisorption via an adsorbed molecular species. The applicable rate constants were established. In none of the studies were the rate constants observed to be coverage dependent. By comparing the temperature dependence of the rate constants with absolute rate theory, the binding energies and activation energies of all the kinetic processes were obtained for the H2/Fe system. The initial sticking coefficient was pressure dependent for both the H2/Fe and H2S/Fe systems. This results from the step between the adsorbed molecular state and the dissociated chemisorbed state being the rate limiting step for absorption at certain pressures and temperatures. Estimates were obtained for the temperature dependence of the rate constants for the O2/Fe system.
Microcalorimeter pulse shape characteristics, such as pulse height, decay time and rise time, are dependent on the detector temperature and bias as well as the photon energy and flux. We examine the nature of the temperature dependency by illuminating the ASTRO-E2 X-ray Spectrometer (XRS) microcalorimeter array with X-rays generated by electron impact on a range of foil targets. The resulting pulses are collected for a range of detector temperatures. We observe and model the temperature dependence of the pulse shape characteristics by fitting the data with non-linear pulse models. Our aim is to determine a robust method for correcting the energy scale obtained in ground calibration for slight differences in the operating conditions while in orbit.