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At least 487 records · Page 27

Key Degradation Products in Nitroplasticizer Thermal Aging

Upon thermal aging, nitroplasticizer (NP) can thermally degrade and release numerous degradation products depending on aging conditions. In this report, we summarize our recent findings, a library of key degradation products in the NP thermal aging is provided. The library contains 25 identified species with their corresponding MS/MS spectrum and intensity profiles, which are derived from our 44-month thermal aging experiment of NP conducted in air, nitrogen, and water at room temperature (RT), 38, 45, 55, and 64°C. To provide a comprehensive yet simplified overview of NP degradation, we summarized the proposed mechanisms of HONO elimination and decomposition, acid generation, PBNA nitrosation and nitration, acid-catalyzed hydrolyses of NP and polynitrated PBNAs, as well as the formation of NP degradants. As the last part of a series of publications and reports on the investigation of NP degradation mechanisms, this work further unfolds complex chemistry that occurs in the entire aging process of NP.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

CO Oxidation Catalyzed by Au Dispersed on SBA-15 Modified with TiO2 Films Grown via Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD)

It has been established that gold, when in nanoparticle (NP) form and in contact with reducible oxides, can promote oxidation reactions under mild conditions. Here, we report results from our exploration of the catalytic oxidation of carbon monoxide using catalysts where Au NPs were combined with thin titanium oxide films deposited on SBA-15 using atomic layer deposition (ALD). Both orders of deposition, with TiO2 added either before or after Au dispersion, were tested for two titania film thicknesses amounting to about half and full TiO2 monolayers. The resulting catalysts were characterized using various techniques, mainly electron microscopy and N2 adsorption–desorption isotherms, and the kinetics of the oxidation of CO with O2 were followed using infrared absorption spectroscopy. A synergy between the Au and TiO2 phases as it relates to the bonding and conversion of CO was identified, the tuning of which could be controlled by varying the synthetic parameters. The ALD of TiO2 films proved to be an effective way to maximize the Au-TiO2 interface sites, and with that help with the activation of molecular oxygen.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Gaseous exhaust emissions from a J-58 engine at simulated supersonic flight conditions

Emissions of total oxides of nitrogen, unburned hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide from a J-58 engine at simulated flight conditions of Mach 2.0, 2.4, and 2.8 at 19.8 km altitude are reported. For each flight condition, measurements were made for four engine power levels from maximum power without afterburning through maximum afterburning. These measurements were made 7 cm downstream of the engine primary nozzle using a single point traversing gas sample probe. Results show that emissions vary with flight speed, engine power level, and with radial position across the exhaust.

Holdeman, J. D.↗

Emission calibration of a J-58 afterburning turbojet engine at simulated supersonic stratospheric flight conditions

Emissions of total oxides of nitrogen, unburned hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide from a J-58 engine at simulated flight conditions of Mach 2.0, 2.4, and 2.8 at 19.8 km altitude are reported. For each flight condition, measurements were made for four engine power levels from maximum power without afterburning through maximum afterburning. These measurements were made 7 cm downstream of the engine primary nozzle using a single point traversing gas sample probe. Results show that emissions vary with flight speed, engine power level, and with radial position across the exhaust.

Holdeman, J. D.↗

Emission calibration of a J-58 afterburning turbojet engine at simulated supersonic, stratospheric flight conditions

Emissions of total oxides of nitrogen, unburned hydrocarbons, and carbon monoxide from a J-58 engine at simulated flight conditions of Mach 2.0, 2.4, and 2.8 at 19.8 km altitude are reported. For each flight condition, measurements were made for four engine power levels from maximum power without afterburning through maximum afterburning. These measurements were made 7 cm downstream of the engine primary nozzle using a single point traversing gas sample probe. Results show that emissions vary with flight speed, engine power level, and with radial position across the exhaust.

Holdeman, J. D.↗

Optimal insensitive-controller synthesis

Proof of two theorems is included in report: local sufficiency condition for existence of insensitive controllers in the case of sufficiently small parameter variations; and necessary condition for optimal controller corresponding to point in boundary of domain of admissible parameter variations to be optimal insensitive controller.

Harvey, C. A.↗

Development of a solar-powered residential air conditioner. Program review

Progress in the effort to develop a residential solar-powered air conditioning system is reported. The topics covered include the objectives, scope and status of the program. The results of state-of-art, design, and economic studies and component and system data are also presented.

Source record↗

Modified Evacuated-Tube Collector Tested in Solar Simulator

According to report, particular commercial evacuated-tube solar collector performs slightly more efficiently with larger manifold. Tests were performed with Marshall Space Flight Center solar simulator. Report describes test conditions and procedures, provides analysis of results, and presents tables and graphs of data, both measured and calculated.

Source record↗

Seasat SMMR observations of ocean surface temperature and wind speed in the North Pacific

The Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (SMMR), aboard both the SEASAT and Nimbus-7 satellites, was designed primarily to determine global sea surface temperatures and wind speeds over an extended range of atmospheric conditions. The Seasat mission lasted approximately three months from July to October 1978, during which time sufficient data was acquired to enable an assessment of SMMR measurement capabilities under a variety of conditions. This paper reports some results of initial Seasat SMMR assessments in the North Pacific area. A brief description is given of retrieval techniques used to derive the geophysical parameters. SMMR-derived sea surface temperatures and winds are compared with surface truth point measurements from XBT's and buoys, and with surface truth fields derived from point measurements. Accuracies of approximately 1.5 C and 2.5 m/s rms are obtained in these comparisons.

Njoku, E. G.↗

Fault-tolerant computer architecture based on INMOS transputer processor

Redundant processing was used for several years in mission flight systems. In these systems, more than one processor performs the same task at the same time but only one processor is actually in real use. A fault-tolerance computer architecture based on the features provided by INMOS Transputers is presented. The Transputer architecture provides several communication links that allow data and command communication with other Transputers without the use of a bus. Additionally the Transputer allows the use of parallel processing to increase the system speed considerably. The processor architecture consists of three processors working in parallel keeping all the processors at the same operational level but only one processor is in real control of the process. The design allows each Transputer to perform a test to the other two Transputers and report the operating condition of the neighboring processors. A graphic display was developed to facilitate the identification of any problem by the user.

Ortiz, Jorge L.↗

Advances in contact algorithms and their application to tires

Currently used techniques for tire contact analysis are reviewed. Discussion focuses on the different techniques used in modeling frictional forces and the treatment of contact conditions. A status report is presented on a new computational strategy for the modeling and analysis of tires, including the solution of the contact problem. The key elements of the proposed strategy are: (1) use of semianalytic mixed finite elements in which the shell variables are represented by Fourier series in the circumferential direction and piecewise polynomials in the meridional direction; (2) use of perturbed Lagrangian formulation for the determination of the contact area and pressure; and (3) application of multilevel iterative procedures and reduction techniques to generate the response of the tire. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of a proposed procedure for generating the tire response associated with different Fourier harmonics.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗

Spatial analysis of IRAS observations of nearby spirals

The unbiased survey of the infrared sky carried out by the Infrared Astronomy Satellite (IRAS) satellite has greatly accelerated advances in understanding the dust component of our own and external galaxies. However, most extragalactic studies to date have been based on the IRAS Point Source Catalog (PSC), which has two serious limitations. First, in sources where a significant fraction of the flux is extended, significant errors may result from using PSC fluxes in comparative studies, and these errors could be systematic if the tendency to be non-pointlike depends on physical properties of the galaxy. Additionally, use of PSC fluxes rules out any direct investigation of the spatial distribution of the IRAS emission from disks in external galaxies. Since work on the Galactic IRAS results has shown that very different physical processes can make varying contributions to the observed flux, it is important to look at a wide sample of galaxies with some spatial resolution to study the relative dominance of these processes under a variety of conditions. Here, researchers report on work they are doing to carry out this program for many nearby spirals, using an analysis package that was developed for this purpose. Researchers carried out analysis for a sample of 121 nearby spirals. The fraction of the flux contained in a point source varies from 0 to 1 across the sample, all of which are well resolved at their nominal optical diameters. There is no evidence that the galaxies of smaller angular size are less likely to be resolved by IRAS at this level. The program gives results which are quite repeatable from scan to scan; the fraction f (point source flux over total flux) at 60 microns has typical errors of 0.03 when different scans are combined. Approximately two-thirds of the sample have more flux in the extended than in the nuclear component. There is a tendency for earlier-type spirals to be less centrally concentrated, but this effect is slight and the degree of variation is large for all types. Barred spirals are also found across the spectrum of f, but are much more likely to have little or no nuclear emission.

Ball, Roger↗

A recent case study in system identification

Results of a recent study of a ten-bay truss structure at the NASA Langley Research Center are reported. First, the conditioning of complex eigenvectors derived by the ERA method is discussed. Results of parameter estimation using the SSID (Structural System Identification) code are then presented. Based on the results of the study, it is concluded that (1) parameter estimation based on modal data should include eigenvectors as well as eigenvalues; (2) the eigenvectors should be orthogonalized when orthogonality is poor due to closely spaced modes; and (3) the parameters used in the estimation should enable the model to match the data.

Hasselman, T. K.↗

Experimental study of performance degradation of a rotating system in the NASA Lewis RC icing tunnel

The Helicopter Icing Consortium (HIC) conducted one of the first U.S. tests of a heavily instrumented model in the controlled environment of a refrigerated tunnel. In the Icing Research Tunnel (IRT) at NASA LeRC, ice was accreted on the main rotor blade of the BMTR-1 Sikorsky model helicopter under a variety of environmental conditions, such that liquid water content (LWC) and volume mean droplet diameter (VMD) ranges reflected the Federal Aviation Agency and Department of Defence icing condition envelopes. This report gives the correlated results of the data provided by NASA LeRC. The method of statistical analysis is discussed. Lift, thrust, and torque coefficients are presented as a function of icing time, as correlated with changes in ambient temperature, LWC, and VMD. The physical significance of these forces is discussed.

Korkan, Kenneth↗

Mars surface-based factory: Computer control of a water treatment system to support a space colony on Mars

In a continued effort to design a surface-based factory on Mars for the production of oxygen and water, the Design Group at Prairie View A&M University made a preliminary study of the surface and atmospheric composition on Mars and determined the mass densities of the various gases in the martian atmosphere. Based on the initial studies, the design group determined oxygen and water to be the two products that could be produced economically under the martian conditions. Studies were also made on present production techniques to obtain water and oxygen. Analyses were made to evaluate the current methods of production that were adaptable to the martian conditions. The detailed report was contained in an Interim Report submitted to NASA/USRA in Aug. of 1986. Even though the initial effort was the production of oxygen and water, we found it necessary to produce some diluted gases that can be mixed with oxygen to constitute 'breathable' air. In Phase 2--Task 1A, the Prairie View A&M University team completed the conceptual design of a breathable-air manufacturing system, a means of drilling for underground water, and storage of water for future use. The design objective of the team for the 1987-1988 academic year was the conceptual design of an integrated system for the supply of quality water for biological consumption, farming, and residential and industrial use. The design has also been completed. Phase 2--Task 1C is the present task for the Prairie View Design Team. This is a continuation of the previous task, and the continuation of this effort is the investigation into the extraction of water from beneath the surface and an alternative method of extraction from ice formations on the surface of Mars if accessible. In addition to investigation of water extraction, a system for computer control of extraction and treatment was developed with emphasis on fully automated control with robotic repair and maintenance. It is expected that oxygen- and water-producing plants on Mars will be limited in the amount of human control that will be available to operate large and/or isolated plants. Therefore, it is imperative that computers be integrated into plant operation with the capability to maintain life support systems and analyze and replace defective parts or systems with no human interface.

Brice, R.↗

Are tropical cirrus brighter than mid-latitude cirrus?

Recent measurements during FIRE II, in the tropics and elsewhere, support an emerging hypothesis about the role of stratospheric mixing in determining the microphysical and radiative properties of cirrus clouds. This is only a working hypothesis, and may change as new measurements become available. This report reviews the conditions under which certain types of ice crystals form.

Mitchell, David L.↗

Results of the examination of LDEF polyurethane thermal control coatings

This report summarizes the condition of polyurethane thermal control coatings subjected to 69 months of low earth orbit (LEO) exposure on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) mission. Specimens representing all environmental aspects obtainable by LDEF were analyzed. Widely varying changes in the thermo-optical and mechanical properties of these materials were observed, depending on atomic oxygen and ultraviolet radiation fluences. High atomic oxygen fluences, regardless of ultraviolet radiation exposure levels, resulted in near original optical properties for these coatings but with a degradation in their mechanical condition. A trend in solar absorptance increase with ultraviolet radiation fluence was observed. Contamination, though observed, exhibited minimal effects.

Golden, Johnny L.↗

Characterization of microgravity effects on bone structure and strength using fractal analysis

The effect of micro-gravity on the musculoskeletal system has been well studied. Significant changes in bone and muscle have been shown after long term space flight. Similar changes have been demonstrated due to bed rest. Bone demineralization is particularly profound in weight bearing bones. Much of the current techniques to monitor bone condition use bone mass measurements. However, bone mass measurements are not reliable to distinguish Osteoporotic and Normal subjects. It has been shown that the overlap between normals and osteoporosis is found for all of the bone mass measurement technologies: single and dual photon absorptiometry, quantitative computed tomography and direct measurement of bone area/volume on biopsy as well as radiogrammetry. A similar discordance is noted in the fact that it has not been regularly possible to find the expected correlation between severity of osteoporosis and degree of bone loss. Structural parameters such as trabecular connectivity have been proposed as features for assessing bone conditions. In this report, we use fractal analysis to characterize bone structure. We show that the fractal dimension computed with MRI images and X-Ray images of the patella are the same. Preliminary experimental results show that the fractal dimension computed from MRI images of vertebrae of human subjects before bedrest is higher than during bedrest.

Acharya, Raj S.↗