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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 433 records · Page 24

System identification requirements for high-bandwidth rotorcraft flight control system design

The application of system identification methods to high-bandwidth rotorcraft flight control system design is examined. Flight test and modeling requirements are illustrated using flight test data from a BO-105 hingeless rotor helicopter. The proposed approach involves the identification of nonparametric (transfer function and state space) model identification. Results for the BO-105 show the need for including coupled body/rotor flapping and lead-lag dynamics in the identification model structure to allow the accurate prediction of control ssytem bandwidth limitations.

Tischler, Mark B.↗

EOS SAR: A new approach

Viewgraphs on Earth Observing System (EOS) Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) are presented. The goal of the EOS is to develop the modeling and observational capabilities to predict and/or monitor atmospheric, terrestrial, and oceanic processes that are either causing global change or resulting from global change. The EOS SAR goal is to provide important geophysical products to the EOS data set to improve our understanding of the state and functioning of the Earth system. The EOS SAR strategy is to define the instrument requirements based on required input to geophysical algorithms, to provide the processing capability and algorithms to generate such products on the required spatial (global) and temporal (3-5 days) scales, and to provide the spaceborne instrumentation with international partnerships.

Way, Jobea↗

Stress and Damage in Polymer Matrix Composite Materials Due to Material Degradation at High Temperatures

This report describes analytical methods for calculating stresses and damage caused by degradation of the matrix constituent in polymer matrix composite materials. Laminate geometry, material properties, and matrix degradation states are specified as functions of position and time. Matrix shrinkage and property changes are modeled as functions of the degradation states. The model is incorporated into an existing composite mechanics computer code. Stresses, strains, and deformations at the laminate, ply, and micro levels are calculated, and from these calculations it is determined if there is failure of any kind. The rationale for the model (based on published experimental work) is presented, its integration into the laminate analysis code is outlined, and example results are given, with comparisons to existing material and structural data. The mechanisms behind the changes in properties and in surface cracking during long-term aging of polyimide matrix composites are clarified. High-temperature-material test methods are also evaluated.

McManus, Hugh L.↗

Behavior of 2-Cell CPV Ni-H2 Battery During Pulse Discharge

A study was carried out to determine the transient voltage behavior of the 2-cell CPV nickel-hydrogen battery with the objective of using the results as a basis for mathematical modeling. The 2-cell CPV battery which is manufactured by Eagle Picher, Inc. for the GOES program yields 18.5 Ah at C/2 rate of discharge at 10 C with a mid-discharge voltage of 2.514 V. The capacity increased with decrease of temperature and a maximum capacity of 22 Ah was obtained at -5 C. The pulse tests consisted of obtaining the voltage profile in the first 20 milliseconds of the one minute pulse discharge at 37 A and pulse discharge was repeated as a function of state- of- charge. The pulse test at 10 C and 20 C provided voltage profiles with the expected decrease in voltage as the pulse was applied. The end of pulse voltage decreased with the state-of-charge. The battery voltage was above 2V at the end of the one-minute pulse at 8 % state-of-charge at 10 C. The voltage profile during the 37 A pulse discharge consists of an initial drop in voltage which was independent of the state of charge. The invariability in the value for the initial drop in voltage with state of charge is a very important observation. The results show that towards the end of discharge the dominant resistance is not ohmic in nature. It could be hypothesized from the nature of the voltage transients that the dominant mechanism towards the end of discharge is proton diffusion. The study also shows that the dominant resistance in the voltage plateau during discharge is activation polarization.

Vaidyanathan, Hari↗

Thermodynamic Data to 20,000 K For Monatomic Gases

This report contains standard-state thermodynamic functions for 50 gaseous atomic elements plus deuterium and electron gas, 51 singly ionized positive ions, and 36 singly ionized negative ions. The data were generated by the NASA Lewis computer program PAC97, a modified version of PAC91 reported in McBride and Gordon. This report is being published primarily to document part of the data currently being used in several NASA Lewis computer programs. The data are presented in tabular and graphical format and are also represented in the form of least-squares coefficients. The tables give the following data as functions of temperature : heat capacity, enthalpy, entropy Gibbs energy, enthalpy of formation, and equilibrium constant. A brief discussion and a comparison of calculated results are given for several models for calculating ideal thermodynamic data for monatomic gases.

Gordon, Sanford↗

Aging Effects in Polymer Composites

Simulation of composites degradation due to aging are described. Laminate geometry, material properties, and matrix degradation states are specified as functions of position and time. Matrix shrinkage and property changes are modeled as functions of the degradation states. Aging effects at the laminate, ply, and micro levels are evaluated, to determine failure of any kind. The results obtained show substantial ply stress built up as a result of aging accompanied by comparable laminate strength degradation in matrix dominated composite strengths.

Chamis, Chistos C.↗

A Debugger for Computational Grid Applications

The p2d2 project at NAS has built a debugger for applications running on heterogeneous computational grids. It employs a client-server architecture to simplify the implementation. Its user interface has been designed to provide process control and state examination functions on a computation containing a large number of processes. It can find processes participating in distributed computations even when those processes were not created under debugger control. These process identification techniques work both on conventional distributed executions as well as those on a computational grid.

Hood, Robert↗

NiH2 Cycle Life Study

Cycle life studies have been performed at Eagle Picher Technologies (EPT), on HST Mantech design cells with various pedigrees of slurry and dry sinter processed electrodes, to evaluate peak load voltage performance during generic load profile testing. These tests provide information for determining voltage and capacity fade (degradation) mechanisms, and their impact on nickel hydrogen cell cycle life. Comparison of peak load voltage fade, as a function of State of Charge and cycle life, with capacity data from HST indicates that the cycle life limiting mechanism is due to impedance growth, and formation of a second discharge plateau. With a second plateau on discharge, capacity from the cell is still available, but at an unacceptable low voltage of 0.8 V per cell (17.6 V battery). Data shows that cell impedance increases with cycle number and depth of discharge, as expected.

Hollandsworth, Roger P.↗

(abstract) The EOS SAR Mission: A New Approach

The goal of the Earth Orbiting System Synthetic Aperture Radar (EOS SAR) program is to help develop the modeling and observational capabilities to predict and monitor terrestrial and oceanic processes that are either causing global change or resulting from global change. Specifically, the EOS SAR will provide important geophysical products to the EOS data set to improve our understanding of the state and functioning of the Earth system. The strategy for the EOS SAR program is to define the instrument requirements based on required input to geophysical algorithms, provide the processing capability and algorithms to generate such products on the required spatial (global) and temporal (3-5 days) scales, and to provide the spaceborne instrumentation with international partnerships. Initially this partnership has been with Germany; currently we are exploring broader international partnerships. A MultiSAR approach to the EOS SAR which includes a number of SARs provided by Japan, ESA, Germany, Canada, and the US in synergistic orbits could be used to attain a truly global monitoring capability using multifrequency polarimetric signatures. These concepts and several options for mission scenarios will be presented.

Earth Observing System radar imaging international↗

Black Holes across the Mass Spectrum-from Stellar Mass BH to ULXs and AGN

I will discuss the observational characteristics of black holes and how they compare across the 10^8 range in mass and as a function of luminosity and apparent Eddington ratio. I will concentrate on the broad band spectrum, the timing signatures and the energy budget of these objects. In particular I will stress the similarities and differences in the x-ray spectra and power density spectra of AGN, ultraluminous x-ray sources and galactic black holes as a function of 'state'. I will also discuss the nature of the Fe K line and other diagnostics of the regions near the event horizon.

Mushotzky, Richard↗

Realistic Covariance Prediction for the Earth Science Constellation

Routine satellite operations for the Earth Science Constellation (ESC) include collision risk assessment between members of the constellation and other orbiting space objects. One component of the risk assessment process is computing the collision probability between two space objects. The collision probability is computed using Monte Carlo techniques as well as by numerically integrating relative state probability density functions. Each algorithm takes as inputs state vector and state vector uncertainty information for both objects. The state vector uncertainty information is expressed in terms of a covariance matrix. The collision probability computation is only as good as the inputs. Therefore, to obtain a collision calculation that is a useful decision-making metric, realistic covariance matrices must be used as inputs to the calculation. This paper describes the process used by the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center's Earth Science Mission Operations Project to generate realistic covariance predictions for three of the Earth Science Constellation satellites: Aqua, Aura and Terra.

Duncan, Matthew↗

Integrated Lunar Information Architecture for Decision Support Version 3.0 (ILIADS 3.0)

ILIADS 3.0 provides the data management capabilities to access CxP-vetted lunar data sets from the LMMP-provided Data Portal and the LMMP-provided On-Moon lunar data product server. (LMMP stands for Lunar Mapping and Modeling Project.) It also provides specific quantitative analysis functions to meet the stated LMMP Level 3 functional and performance requirements specifications that were approved by the CxP. The purpose of ILIADS 3.0 is to provide an integrated, rich client lunar GIS software application

Talabac, Stephen↗

Cellular Statistical Models of Broken Cloud Fields. Part IV: Effects of Pixel Size on Idealized Satellite Observations

In the fourth part of our “Cellular Statistical Models of Broken Cloud Fields” series we use the binary Markov processes framework for quantitative investigation of the effects of low resolution of idealized satellite observations on the statistics of the retrieved cloud masks. We assume that the cloud fields are Markovian and are characterized by the “actual” cloud fraction (CF) and scale length. We use two different models of observations: a simple discrete-point sampling and a more realistic “pixel” protocol. The latter is characterized by a state attribution function (SAF) which has the meaning of the probability that the pixel with a certain CF is declared cloudy in the observed cloud mask. The stochasticity of the SAF means that the cloud/clear attribution is not ideal and can be affected by external or unknown factors. We show that the observed cloud masks can be accurately described as Markov chains of pixels and use the master-matrix formalism (introduced in Part III of the series) for analytical computation of their parameters: the “observed” CF and scale length. This procedure allows us to establish a quantitative relationship (which is pixel-size dependent) between the actual and the observed cloud-field statistics. The feasibility of restoring the former from the latter is considered. The adequacy of our analytical approach to idealized observations is evaluated using numerical simulations. Comparison of the observed parameters of the simulated datasets with their theoretical expectations showed an agreement within 0.005 for the CF, while for the scale length it is within 1% in the sampling case and within 4% in the pixel case.

Mikhail D. Alexandrov↗

Noninvasive Breath Analysis Using NASA E-Nose Technology for Health Assessment

Clinical breath analysis is based on the fact that many important metabolites and biomarker molecules are present at detectable levels in exhaled breath, and many of these molecules correlate with human disease or correlate with physiological states that could lead to a decline in health. Presented is a technology that utilizes an array of chemical sensors combined with humidity, temperature and pressure for real time breath analysis to correlate the chemical information in the breath with the state and functioning of different human organs. For example, a marker for pulmonary inflammation processes of the lower respiratory tract, e.g. asthma, is the increase of the nitrogen oxide (NO) concentration in breath. Other volatile biomarkers may correlate with infectious process, metabolic conditions and inflammatory diseases, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI). This technology is also called "electronic nose" (E-Nose) in the sense that the device can mimic human nose to smell odors using a pattern recognition technique to analyze the sensor array data. Breath sampling is non-invasive and can be analyzed in real-time.

Li, Jing↗

Function-based Taxonomy Implementation

Function-based taxonomies are relational mapping tools used to clearly illustrate how an organization delivers Critical Functions by using various people, processes, technologies, information, and infrastructure (PPTII). Critical Functions are the actions or activities that make up the organization’s primary purpose. Enabling Functions are the combination of PPTII used by the organization to deliver their Critical Functions. A function-based taxonomy provides a framework to categorize information and related artifacts that document an organization’s unique implementation of PPTII for Critical Function delivery. The ideal state of a function-based taxonomy is to organize the existing knowledge the organization already has throughout their numerous systems, policies, people, procedures, and configurations. A well-organized taxonomy helps organizations to effectively leverage their knowledge by clearly identifying dependencies and connections. This document is the result of combined engineering and analytical experience and describes a repeatable method for producing function-based taxonomies.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A directional microcrack damage theory for brittle solids based on continuous hyperplasticity

We present a novel microcrack-damage theory for brittle solids under compression. Instead of using internal variables like zeroth, second or fourth rank damage tensors, the state of material damage is represented by an internal function that encapsulates the information of direction, density and size of microcracks. Just like other internal variables, the evolution of this state function must obey the second law of thermodynamics for arbitrary loading paths. This is done by casting the model in the framework of continuous hyperplasticity and enforcing a non-negative dissipation rate functional. The proposed framework offers predictions on the continuous evolution of microcrack density and the induced material anisotropy along with the macroscopic stress-strain curves. The use of continuous damage function grants the model significantly enhanced resolution in characterizing the direction-dependent response of cracked solids compared to classical models that are based on damage tensors. Two scenarios are considered in developing the theory, one assumes frictionless cracks and the other incorporates friction between crack surfaces. The results highlight that inelasticity, pressure dependence, and loading-unloading hysteresis exhibited by brittle solids are natural consequences of frictional microcracks. The proposed theory offers a generic and versatile framework to upscale micromechanical processes operating at individual crack scale to explain the macroscopic behavior of cracked solids.

Materials Science↗

Polymer connectivity governs electrophotocatalytic activity in the solid state

The reductive functionalization of inert substrates such as chloroarenes is a critical yet challenging transformation relevant to both environmental remediation and organic synthesis. Combining electricity and light is an emerging strategy to access the deeply reducing potentials required for single electron transfer to chloroarenes, yet this approach is limited by poor stability and mechanistic ambiguity. Here, in this work, we demonstrate heterogeneous electrophotocatalysis using redox-active rylene diimide polymers for the reduction of chloroarenes. We find that the electrophotocatalytic activity varies dramatically as a function of the rylene diimide and the redox-inactive polymer backbone. In particular, a flexible, non-conjugated perylenediimide polymer outperforms all other tested electrophotocatalysts. Transient absorption spectroscopy reveals that precomplexation between the doubly reduced perylenediimide and the haloarene substrate is key to productive catalysis. Overall, this work highlights heterogeneous electrophotocatalysis using insoluble redox-active organic materials and provides critical structure–property insights into solid-state electrophotocatalytic activity, informing the development of next-generation materials for sustainable synthesis.

electrocatalysis↗