Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Electrical signals”

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 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Electrical Detection of Spin-Hall-Induced Auto-oscillations in Lithium Aluminate Ferrite Thin Films

Ferrimagnetic insulators with ultralow damping are of great interest for their potential applications in energy-efficient computing devices. Here, we report the direct electrical detection of magnetic auto-oscillations in unpatterned ultralow damping ferrimagnetic insulator epitaxial Li 0.5 Al 0.5 Fe 2 O 4 thin films, driven by a current in a proximal Pt nanowire. Auto-oscillations occur for only one current polarity, consistent with the spin-Hall effect inducing the oscillation state. Micromagnetic modeling shows good agreement with the experimental frequency and field dispersions, showing only one dominant oscillation mode, in contrast to the multiple modes typically observed in transition-metal nanowire-type spin-Hall nanooscillators. This study illustrates a new material system for neuromorphic computing and magnonics, a simple material platform with the direct-current generation of high-frequency (~10 GHz) signals and their electrical detection.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1982

The optical and radiation field signatures produced by lightning return strokes

Typical examples of the signals that are produced by first and subsequent return strokes in cloud-to-ground lightning on a microsecond time scale are presented. Statistics on the structure of the waveforms and the radiance of the channels are given. The relationship between the light signals and the associated electric field signatures is discussed. It is shown that the initial light signal from a return stroke tends to be linear for about 15 microsec and then rises more slowly to a peak that is delayed by approximately 60 microsec from the electric field peak. It is thought that the transition between the fast linear portion and the slower rise may be due to the return stroke entering the cloud base. A small percentage of the records suggest that two different branches of the same stepped leader can initiate separate return strokes. The light pulses from cloud discharges tend to be smaller and to vary more slowly than those from return strokes.

Guo, C.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Battery Electric Vehicle Eco-Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control in the Vicinity of Signalized Intersections

This study develops a connected eco-driving controller for battery electric vehicles (BEVs), the BEV Eco-Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control at Intersections (Eco-CACC-I). The developed controller can assist BEVs while traversing signalized intersections with minimal energy consumption. The calculation of the optimal vehicle trajectory is formulated as an optimization problem under the constraints of (1) vehicle acceleration/deceleration behavior, defined by a vehicle dynamics model; (2) vehicle energy consumption behavior, defined by a BEV energy consumption model; and (3) the relationship between vehicle speed, location, and signal timing, defined by vehicle characteristics and signal phase and timing (SPaT) data shared under a connected vehicle environment. The optimal speed trajectory is computed in real-time by the proposed BEV eco-CACC-I controller, so that a BEV can follow the optimal speed while negotiating a signalized intersection. The proposed BEV controller was tested in a case study to investigate its performance under various speed limits, roadway grades, and signal timings. In addition, a comparison of the optimal speed trajectories for BEVs and internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) was conducted to investigate the impact of vehicle engine types on eco-driving solutions. Lastly, the proposed controller was implemented in microscopic traffic simulation software to test its networkwide performance. The test results from an arterial corridor with three signalized intersections demonstrate that the proposed controller can effectively reduce stop-and-go traffic in the vicinity of signalized intersections and that the BEV Eco-CACC-I controller produces average savings of 9.3% in energy consumption and 3.9% in vehicle delays.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

SMR Containment Cable and Electrical Penetration Assembly System

GAIN Project CRADA Number NFE-21-08839, entitled “SMR Containment Cable and EPA System” was initiated by the partnership of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Engineered Solutions Group (ESG) to test an ESG-designed Electrical Penetration Assembly and Containment Cabling System Qualified for not only SMR technologies, but also Advanced Reactors design. An Electrical Penetration Assembly (EPA) is a component used to allow electrical power and signal conductors as well as optical fiber through the nuclear reactor’s containment structure while maintaining a pressure barrier. The EPA ensures the containment's integrity both during the normal operation and also accident conditions by providing a sealed passage for power and signals. This project was undertaken to fill the equipment gap of EPA and Cabling Systems that require much more severe environmental requirements than legacy plant applications present due to their smaller containment volumes that result in high energy densities compared to legacy designs. This high energy density results in severe accident environments and also more severe normal operating conditions.This document describes cost effective approaches to qualify a unique EPA for Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technologies as legacy LWR EPA technologies will likely have inherent material performance insufficiencies. The DBA profiles for SMRs (and some Advanced Reactor Technologies) are more severe than the legacy qualification requirements making the design of the qualification testing system challenging as the temperatures and pressures can approach the limits permitted by ASME Pressure Vessel Code, as well as accident temperatures exceeding the capability of polymeric gaskets and dielectrics. Small Modular Reactors are designed to have, as the name suggests, modularity which implies sized for factory fabrication and subsequent assembly at the power plant site. SMR containment is much smaller than a legacy Light Water Reactor containment. The containment walls are likely to be comprised of stainless steel. Qualifying Electrical Penetration Assemblies (EPAs) through these steel vessels are of interest in this work. Methods are presented here that discuss critical safety and cost effectiveness for these SMR EPA’s test systems.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Assessments of data centers for provision of frequency regulation

There are numerous opportunities for data centers to participate in demand response programs considering their large energy capacities, flexible working environments and workloads, redundant design and operation, etc. As a type of demand response, frequency regulation requires fast response, and its potential is not fully explored by data centers yet. This paper proposes a synergistic control strategy for data center frequency regulation which uses both IT and cooling systems. It combines power management techniques at the server level with control of the chilled water supply temperature to track the regulation signal from the electrical market. A frequency regulation flexibility factor is also proposed to increase the IT capacity for frequency regulation. The performance of the control strategy is studied through numerical simulations using an equation based object-oriented Modelica platform designed for data centers. Simulation results show that with well-tuned control parameters, data centers can provide frequency regulation service in both regulation up and down. The performance of data centers in providing frequency regulation service is largely influenced by the regulation capacity bid, frequency regulation flexibility factor, workload condition, and cooling mode of the cooling system, and not significantly influenced by the time constant of chillers. In addition, compared with a server-only control strategy, the proposed synergistic control strategy can provide an extra regulation capacity of 3% of the design power when chillers are activated. Here, when chillers are deactivated, both strategies have a similar regulation capacity.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
NASA NTRS1968

Pyrotechnic-actuated cable release

Remote, unattended means has been designed and reduced to practice that retains and then releases an attached load by means of a restrained cable. The cable is released by an electrical impulse on signal.

Hanson, R. W.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Part 1: Classical laser. Part 2: The effect of velocity changing collisions on the output of a gas laser

A classical model for laser action is discussed, in which an active medium consisting of anharmonic oscillators interacts with an electromagnetic field in a resonant cavity. Comparison with the case of a medium consisting of harmonic oscillators shows the significance of nonlinearities for producing self-sustained oscillations in the radiation field. A theoretical model is presented for the pressure dependence of the intensity of a gas laser, in which only velocity-changing collisions with foreign gas atoms are included. A collision model for hard sphere, repulsive interactions was derived. Collision theory was applied to a third-order expansion of the polarization in powers of the cavity electric field (weak signal theory).

Borenstein, M.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Loudness of steady sounds - A new theory

A new mathematical theory for calculating the loudness of steady sounds from power summation and frequency interaction, based on psychoacoustic and physiological information, assuems that loudness is a subjective measure of the electrical energy transmitted along the auditory nerve to the central nervous system. The auditory system consists of the mechanical part modeled by a bandpass filter with a transfer function dependent on the sound pressure, and the electrical part where the signal is transformed into a half-wave reproduction represented by the electrical power in impulsive discharges transmitted along neurons comprising the auditory nerve. In the electrical part the neurons are distributed among artificial parallel channels with frequency bandwidths equal to 'critical bandwidths for loudness', within which loudness is constant for constant sound pressure. The total energy transmitted to the central nervous system is the sum of the energy transmitted in all channels, and the loudness is proportional to the square root of the total filtered sound energy distributed over all channels. The theory explains many psychoacoustic phenomena such as audible beats resulting from closely spaced tones, interaction of sound stimuli which affect the same neurons affecting loudness, and of individually subliminal sounds becoming audible if they lie within the same critical band.

Howes, W. L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Doppler radar echoes of lightning and precipitation at vertical incidence

Digital time series data at 16 heights within two storms were collected at vertical incidence with a 10-cm Doppler radar. On several occasions during data collection, lightning echoes were observed as increased reflectivity on an oscilloscope display. Simultaneously, lightning signals from nearby electric field change antennas were recorded on an analog recorder together with the radar echoes. Reflectivity, mean velocity, and Doppler spectra were examined by means of time series analysis for times during and after lightning discharges. Spectra from locations where lightning occurred show peaks, due to the motion of the lightning channel at the air speed. These peaks are considerably narrower than the ones due to precipitation. Besides indicating the vertical air velocity that can then be used to estimate hydrometeor-size distribution, the lightning spectra provide a convenient means to estimate the radar cross section of the channel. Subsequent to one discharge, we deduce that a rapid change in the orientation of hydrometeors occurred within the resolution volume.

Zrnic, D. S.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Slip ring experience in long duration space applications

Ball Aerospace experience with slip rings in space extends back to 1962. Over 40 multi-ring assemblies have been flown and continuous operating lifetimes greater than 8 years at up to 60 rpm have been demonstrated. Slip rings provide multi-channel transfer of electrical power and signals in assemblies that are small in size and weight, and low in cost. By use of multiple brushes and sufficient copper within the assembly, power transfer efficiency better than 99.95 percent for high voltage circuits can be achieved. A low slip ring failure rate based on actual space operation totalling billions of ring revolutions has been established. Well qualified suppliers who have been making slip rings for space use for over 25 years are available. It is hoped that the suspected problem in SEASAT will not be allowed to prejudice space system designer against these very useful mechanisms.

Phinney, Damon D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Mapping of auroral kilometric radiation sources to the aurora

Auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) and optical auroral emissions are observed simultaneously using plasma wave instrumentation and auroral imaging photometers carried on the DE 1 spacecraft. The DE 1 plasma wave instrument measures the relative phase of signals from orthogonal electric dipole antennas, and from these measurements, apparent source directions can be determined with a high degree of precision. Wave data are analyzed for several strong AKR events, and source directions are determined for several emission frequencies. By assuming that the AKR originates at cyclotron resonant altitudes, a candidate source field line is identified. When the selected source field line is traced down to auroral altitudes on the concurrent DE 1 auroral image, a striking correspondece between the AKR source field line and localized auroral features is produced. The magnetic mapping study provides strong evidence that AKR sources occur on field lines associated with discrete auroral arcs, and it provides confirmation that AKR is generated near the electron cyclotron frequency.

Huff, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Specification list and function structure for a full-body dynamometer to be used aboard Space Station Freedom

NASA has a need for a machine which can be used as an exercise device and as an instrument to measure an astronaut's muscle performance. The purpose of the exercise device is to work various muscle groups of the astronaut to prevent muscle atrophy, the loss of muscle strength and mass from prolonged exposure to a microgravity environment. The measurement part of the machine will be used to collect data on the strength and power of the astronaut's muscle groups to be used in studies examining the effects of prolonged space inhabitation. The principle device used in this machine to both exercise and measure muscle performance is the dynamometer. The dynamometer converts electrical energy to mechanical energy and mechanical energy to electrical energy or signals. The task of the designer will be to incorporate a dynamometer into a device which can meet all of the needs discussed above. This memorandum has two sections which clarify the design task of producing a full-body dynamometer. The first section is a specification list. The specification list provides the requirements that the designer must meet in his/her design. The second part is a function structure. The function structure shows graphically the flow of material, energy, and information through the machine. These two items will be used by the designer in the design process for the full-body dynamometer.

Mcmahan, Robert↗
NASA NTRS1995

Metal clad aramid fibers for aerospace wire and cable

High strength light weight metal clad aramid fibers can provide significant weight savings when used to replace conventional metal wire in aerospace cable. An overview of metal clad aramid fiber materials and information on performance and use in braided electrical shielding and signal conductors is provided.

Tokarsky, Edward W.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Radio Emissions Observed by Galileo near Io

The Galileo spacecraft observed spin modulation of radio wave emissions near Io in the frequency range from about 600 kHz to about 1.2 MHz. Assuming transverse EM radiation, we have used the modulation of the high-frequency sweep-frequency receiver signals of the electric dipole antenna over many spins to estimate the plane through the source. The emission has a range of frequencies close to the local upper hybrid frequency of the plasma near Io. We conclude that the emission may be associated with either the plasma torus or magnetic flux tubes in the wake of Io (the Alfven current system). We postulate this emission may be associated with a free-energy source such as density gradients, energetic plasma beams and/or an electron distribution with a temperature anisotropy. All of these free-energy sources are observed or expected in the torus near Io. The observations are the first in the hectometric frequency range that have a source associated with Io or in the Io torus.

Menietti, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Sonoluminescence Bubble Measurements using Vision-Based Algorithms

Vision-based measurement methods were used to measure bubble sizes in this sonoluminescence experiment. Bubble imaging was accomplished by placing the bubble between a bright light source and a microscope-CCD camera system. A collimated light-emitting diode was operated in a pulsed model with an adjustable time delay with respect to the piezo-electric transducer drive signal. The light-emitting diode produced a bubble shadowgraph consisting of a multiple exposure made by numerous light pulses imaged onto a charge-couple device camera. Each image was transferred from the camera to a computer-controlled machine vision system via a frame grabber. The frame grabber was equipped with on-board memory to accomodate sequential image buffering while images were transferred to the host processor and analyzed. This configuration allowed the host computer to perform diameter measurements, centroid position measurements and shape estimation in "real-time" as the next image was being acquired. Bubble size measurement accuracy with an uncertainty of 3 microns was achieved using standard lenses and machine vision algorithms. Bubble centroid position accuracy was also within the 3 micron tolerance of the vision system. This uncertainty estimation accounted for the optical spatial resolution, digitization errors and the edge detection algorithm accuracy. The vision algorithms include camera calibration, thresholding, edge detection, edge position determination, distance between two edges computations and centroid position computations.

Hall, Nancy R.↗