Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “design considerations”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 397 records · Page 22

Design considerations of manipulator and feel system characteristics in roll tracking

A fixed-base simulation was performed to identify and quantify interactions between the pilot's hand/arm neuromuscular subsystem and such control system features of typical modern fighter aircraft roll rate command mechanizations as: (1) force versus displacement sensing side-stick type manipulator, (2) feel force/displacement gradient, (3) feel system versus command prefilter dynamic lag, and (4) flight control system effective time delay. The experiment encompassed some 48 manipulator/filter/aircraft configurations. Displacement side-stick experiment results are given and compared with the previous force sidestick experiment results. Attention is focused on control bandwidth, excitement (peaking) of the neuromuscular mode, feel force/displacement gradient effects, time delay effects, etc. Section 5 is devoted to experiments with a center-stick in which force versus displacement sensing, feel system lag, and command prefilter lag influences on tracking performance and pilot preference are investigated.

Johnston, Donald E.↗

Design considerations for soft X-ray television imaging detectors

Television sensors for X-rays can be coupled to converters and image intensifiers to obtain active areas, high flux capabilities, quantum efficiency, high time resolution, or ease of construction and operation that may not be obtained with a directly illuminated sensor. A general purpose system which makes use of these capabilities for a number of applications is decribed. Some of the performance characteristics of this type of system are examined, and the expected future developments for such systems are briefly addressed.

Kalata, Kenneth↗

White cell design considerations

The White cell is a unit-magnification image relay system consisting of three noncoaxial spherical mirrors of equal curvature. The cell is used to provide a long optical path in a relatively small physical space. Multiple reflections are used, in a manner similar to a unstable laser resonator. A particular application is an optical delay line on the input of a streak camera to allow for the finite triggering time of the sweep start. This paper addresses the first- and third-order properties of the White cell. A displacement sensitivity analysis is included.

Hannan, Paul↗

Clutter filter design considerations for Airborne Doppler radar detection of windshear

The problem of clutter rejection when processing down-looking Doppler radar returns from a low altitude airborne platform is a paramount problem. With radar as a remote sensor for detecting and predicting windshear in the vicinity of an urban airport, dynamic range requirements can exceed 50 dB because of high clutter to signal ratios. This presentation describes signal processing considerations in the presence of distributed and/or discrete clutter interference. Previous analyses have considered conventional range cell processing of radar returns from a rigidly mounted radar platform using either the Fourier or the pulse-pair method to estimate average windspeed and windspeed variation within a cell. Clutter rejection has been based largely upon analyzing a particular environment in the vicinity of the radar and employing a variety of techniques to reduce interference effects including notch filtering, Fourier domain line editing, and use of clutter maps. For the airborne environment the clutter characteristics may be somewhat different. Conventional clutter rejection methods may have to be changed and new methods will probably be required to provide useful signal to noise ratios. Various considerations are described. A major thrust has been to evaluate the effect of clutter rejection filtering upon the ability to derive useful information from the post-filter radar data. This analysis software is briefly described. Finally, some ideas for future analysis are considered including the use of adaptive filtering for clutter rejection and the estimation of windspeed spatial gradient directly from radar returns as a means of reducing the effects of clutter on the determination of a windshear hazard.

Baxa, Ernest G., Jr.↗

Design considerations for very long baseline fringe-tracking interferometers

Phase measurements made with the Mark III interferometer at Mt. Wilson using baselines up to 32 m show excellent agreement with the standard Kolmogorov theory, and give no evidence of an atmospheric outer scale smaller than 1 km. Thus, very long baseline interferometers (100's of m) can expect rms path length fluctuations to continue to grow nearly linearly with baseline length. With a wideband fringe tracker, atmospheric dispersion will cause significant reductions in fringe visibility for large instantaneous path length errors. A solution to this problem using an active dispersion tracker is presented. In addition, the problem of diffraction of the propagated beam, and the constraints it presents on the choice of beam diameter are discussed.

Colavita, M. Mark↗

Practical design considerations and performance characteristics of high numerical aperture holographic lenses

The diffraction efficiency of interferometrically formed holographic lenses is influenced by the recording geometry and properties of the recording material. Variations in efficiency increase when attempting to make high numerical aperture elements. The factors which influence the diffraction efficiency of high numerical aperture holographic lenses are examined.

Kostuk, Raymond K.↗

Design considerations for a Mars solar energy system

The supply, collection and demand for solar power needed for a ten person base on Mars are examined. A detailed discussion is presented for the estimation of the amount of usable solar energy than can reach the surface of Mars. The irradiance is determined for high, middle and low latitudes. In general it was found that the variation of dust in the Martian atmosphere affected the optimal choice for solar power collection mechanisms. Sun tracking systems worked best under clearer conditions and basic horizontal collectors performed best under cloud/hazy conditions.

Atkinson, David H.↗

Optical design considerations for next-generation space and lunar telescopes

The paper discusses the optical requirements for future large space or lunar telescopes and their influence upon the fundamental system parameters. Two telescope concepts, a four-reflection three-mirror telescope, and a spherical-primary four-mirror telescope are introduced. Both have the potential for extreme high performance, and both use four reflections to accomplish this. Considering the present available coating capabilities, the reflectivity loss in the lower UV region due to the additional reflections, compared to a two-mirror system, seriously affects the utility of four-mirror telescopes for this part of the spectrum. Separate telescopes for the UV and for longer wavelengths may therefore be a practical solution, unless significant advances in coating technology are made in the foreseeable future.

Korsch, Dietrich↗

Length minimization design considerations in photonic integrated circuits incorporating directional couplers

Because directional couplers involve channel waveguides which are very close to one another, transition regions to regions where channel waveguides are widely separated are utilized. The total length of a directional coupler and transition regions can be minimized for a particular degree of field confinement. Calculations presented for LiNbO3-, GaAlAs-, and SiO2/Si-based optical channel waveguides demonstrate the presence of a minimum total length corresponding to a particular degree of field confinement. The overall length at the minimum is shown to be significantly lower than for other values of field confinement allowing single-mode operation. This implies that either more devices can be integrated on a substrate or that less material is needed for an integrated optical circuit.

Boyd, Joseph T.↗

Mission design considerations for nuclear risk mitigation

Strategies for the mitigation of the nuclear risk associated with two specific mission operations are discussed. These operations are the safe return of nuclear thermal propulsion reactors to earth orbit and the disposal of lunar/Mars spacecraft reactors.

Stancati, Mike↗

Design considerations for ultra-precision magnetic bearing supported slides

Development plans for a prototype servocontrolled machine with 1 angstrom resolution of linear motion and 50 mm range of travel are described. Two such devices could then be combined to produce a two dimensional machine for probing large planar objects with atomic resolution, the Angstrom Resolution Measuring Machine (ARMM).

Slocum, Alexander H.↗

Design considerations for a Space Shuttle Main Engine turbine blade made of single crystal material

Nonlinear finite-element structural analyses were performed on the first stage high-pressure fuel turbopump blade of the Space Shuttle Main Engine. The analyses examined the structural response and the dynamic characteristics at typical operating conditions. Single crystal material PWA-1480 was considered for the analyses. Structural response and the blade natural frequencies with respect to the crystal orientation were investigated. The analyses were conducted based on typical test stand engine cycle. Influence of combined thermal, aerodynamic, and centrifugal loadings was considered. Results obtained showed that the single crystal secondary orientation effects on the maximum principal stresses are not highly significant.

Abdul-Aziz, A.↗