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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 487 records · Page 27
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

NASA/DOD Aerospace Knowledge Diffusion Research Project. Paper 20: Engineers as information processors: A survey of US aerospace engineering faculty and students

U.S. aerospace engineering faculty and students were surveyed as part of the NASA/DoD Aerospace Knowledge Research Project. Faculty and students were viewed as information processors within a conceptual framework of information seeking behavior. Questionnaires were received from 275 faculty members and 640 students, which were used to determine: (1) use and importance of information sources; (2) use of specific print sources and electronic data bases; (3) use of information technology; and (4) the influence of instruction on the use of information sources and the products of faculty and students. Little evidence was found to support the belief that instruction in library or engineering information use has significant impact either on broadening the frequency or range of information products and sources used by U.S. aerospace engineering students.

Holland, Maurita Peterson↗
NASA NTRS1994

Transport characteristics of a finite-difference dynamics model combined with a spectral transport model of the middle atmosphere

A three-dimensional off-line spectral transport model has been combined with a global, mechanistic, finite-difference dynamics model of the middle atmosphere in order to study transport and photochemistry in the middle atmosphere for specific, observed episodes. In this paper, the basic transport characteristics of the combined models are examined, first using steady, idealized flow fields and second using time-dependent flow fields closely related to observed atmospheric behavior. Transport conducted with the combined models is found to compare favorably with transport conducted on-line in the dynamics model, given appropriate time averaging of the flow fields and suitable choice of artificial diffusion.

Duncan, T.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The Effect of Gravity on the Combustion of Bulk Metals

In recent years, metal combustion studies at the University of Colorado have focused on the effects of gravity (g) on the ignition and burning behavior of bulk metals. The impetus behind this effort is the understanding of the ignition conditions and flammability properties of structural metals found in oxygen (O2) systems for space applications. Since spacecraft are subjected to higher-than-1g loads during launch and reentry and to a zero-gravity environment while in orbit, the study of ignition and combustion of bulk metals at different gravitational accelerations is of great practical concern. From the scientific standpoint, studies conducted under low gravity conditions provide simplified boundary conditions, since buoyancy is removed, and make possible the identification of fundamental ignition and combustion mechanisms. This investigation is intended to provide experimental verification of the influence of natural convection on the burning behavior of metals. In addition, the study offers the first findings of the influence of gravity on ignition of bulk metals and on the combustion mechanism and structure of metal-oxygen, vapor-phase diffusion flames in a buoyancy-free environment. Titanium (Ti) and magnesium (Mg) metals were chosen because of their importance as elements of structural materials and their simple chemical composition-pure metals instead of multicomponent alloys to simplify chemical and spectroscopic analyses. In addition, these elements present the two different combustion modes observed in metals: heterogeneous or surface burning (for Ti) and homogeneous or gas-phase reaction (for Mg). Finally, Mg, Ti, and their oxides exhibit a wide range of thermophysical and chemical properties. Metal surface temperature profiles, critical and ignition temperatures, propagation rates, burning times, and spectroscopic measurements are obtained under normal and reduced gravity. Visual evidence of all phenomena is provided by high-speed photography.

Branch, Melvyn C.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Fissioning Plasma Core Reactor

Institute for Scientific Research, Inc. (ISR) research program consist of: 1.Study core physics by adapting existing codes: MCNP4C - Monte Carlo code; COMBINE/VENTURE - diffusion theory; SCALE4 - Monte Carlo, with many utility codes. 2. Determine feasibility and study major design parameters: fuel selection, temperature and reflector sizing. 3. Study reactor kinetics: develop QCALC1 to model point kinetics; study dynamic behavior of the power release.

Albright, Dennis↗
NASA NTRS2007

Influence of Initial Vorticity Distribution on Axisymmetric Vortex Breakdown and Reconnection

An analytical treatment has been developed to study some of the axisymmetric vortex breakdown and reconnection fluid dynamic processes underlying body-vortex interactions that are frequently manifested in rotorcraft and propeller-driven fixed-wing aircraft wakes. In particular, the presence of negative vorticity in the inner core of a vortex filament (one example of which is examined in this paper) subsequent to "cutting" by a solid body has a profound influence on the vortex reconnection, leading to analog flow behavior similar to vortex breakdown phenomena described in the literature. Initial vorticity distributions (three specific examples which are examined) without an inner core of negative vorticity do not exhibit vortex breakdown and instead manifest diffusion-like properties while undergoing vortex reconnection. Though this work focuses on laminar vortical flow, this work is anticipated to provide valuable insight into rotary-wing aerodynamics as well as other types of vortical flow phenomena.

Young, Larry A.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Descending Layer Variability Over Arecibo

Descending layers of ionization over Arecibo exhibit very diverse behavior from night to night that does not appear to be strongly correlated to geomagnetic activity, solar forcing, or average semidiurnal tidal winds. On some nights, three or more distinct layers are observed to form near 170 km over timescales of approx. 2 hours. Rather than descending smoothly over periods of several hours, these layers stall, abruptly disappear, or even reverse direction in the midst of their descent. The time scales for their disappearance are examined and compared to loss rates arising from diffusion and recombination. Diffusion alone is found to be too slow to account for the observations, but recombination is fast enough provided that the convergent wind shear that forms the layer is relatively weak coincident with their disappearance. The continuity equation is solved in conjunction with a time sequence of radar profiles to estimate the vertical drift and horizontal neutral wind consistent with the observed behavior. The resultant wind field is northward, has an average speed of approx. 80 m/ s, and varies significantly near the altitude where the layers are observed. These inferred winds are consistent with the presence of the observed layers, and their magnitudes as obtained from the classical continuity and momentum equations are reasonable for this altitude range.

Earle, G. D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Electrochemical behavior of niobium triselenide cathode in lithium secondary cells

Niobium triselenide cathodes in Li ambient-temperature rechargeable batteries for space applications undergo a topotactic reaction, with three equivalents of Li at high positive potential furnishing high energy density. It also yields good electronic conductivity, a long life cycle, and high diffusivity for Li. An attempt is presently made to characterize the intercalation mechanism between Li and NbSe3 by means of an ac impedance study conducted at various charge stages in the process of SbSe3 reduction. An effort is also made to predict the charge state of NbSe3 nondestructively, on the basis of the impedance parameters.

Ratnakumar, B. V.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Heat and extension at mid- and lower crustal levels of the Rio Grande rift

The process by which large amounts (50 to 200 percent) of crustal extension are produced was concisely described by W. Hamilton in 1982 and 1983. More recently, England, Sawyer, P. Morgan and others have moved toward quantifying models of lithospheric thinning by incorporating laboratory and theoretical data on rock rheology as a function of composition, temperature, and strain rate. Hamilton's description identifies three main crustal layers, each with a distinctive mechanical behavior; brittle fracturing and rotation in the upper crust, discontinuous ductile flow in the middle crust and laminar ductile flow in the lower crust. The temperature and composition dependent brittle-ductile transition essentially defines the diffuse boundary between upper and middle crust. It was concluded that the heat responsible for the highly ductile nature of the lower crust and the lensoidal and magma body structures at mid-crustal depths in the rift was infused into the crust by relatively modest ( 10 percent by mass) magmatic upwelling (feeder dikes) from Moho levels. Seismic velocity-versus-depth data, supported by gravity modeling and the fact that volumes of rift related volcanics are relatively modest ( 6000 cubic km) for the Rio Grande system, all imply velocities and densities too small to be consistent with a massive, composite, mafic intrusion in the lower crust.

Olsen, K. H.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Dynamics of Bridgman-Stockbarger growth of non-dilute binary alloys

The coupling between heat and mass transfer in the Bridgman-Stockbarger growth of nondilute crystals induces growth rate transients that are longer than those caused by heat transfer alone. The dynamics of the diffusion-controlled growth for thermophysical properties representative of Pb(1-x)Sn(x)Te and Hg(1-x)Cd(x)Te are computed from a one-dimensional solidification model which includes melt-crystal phase behavior. Results show that the growth rate response to a step change in pull rate for both systems differs from the exponential decay observed for dilute alloys and that growth rates cannot be inferred from axial segregation data in nondilute systems due to the dependence of the segregation coefficient on composition.

Bourret, E. D.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Natural Air-Sea Flux of CO2 in Simulations of the NASA-GISS Climate Model: Sensitivity to the Physical Ocean Model Formulation

Results from twin control simulations of the preindustrial CO2 gas exchange (natural flux of CO2) between the ocean and the atmosphere are presented here using the NASA-GISS climate model, in which the same atmospheric component (modelE2) is coupled to two different ocean models, the Russell ocean model and HYCOM. Both incarnations of the GISS climate model are also coupled to the same ocean biogeochemistry module (NOBM) which estimates prognostic distributions for biotic and abiotic fields that influence the air-sea flux of CO2. Model intercomparison is carried out at equilibrium conditions and model differences are contrasted with biases from present day climatologies. Although the models agree on the spatial patterns of the air-sea flux of CO2, they disagree on the strength of the North Atlantic and Southern Ocean sinks mainly because of kinematic (winds) and chemistry (pCO2) differences rather than thermodynamic (SST) ones. Biology/chemistry dissimilarities in the models stem from the different parameterizations of advective and diffusive processes, such as overturning, mixing and horizontal tracer advection and to a lesser degree from parameterizations of biogeochemical processes such as gravitational settling and sinking. The global meridional overturning circulation illustrates much of the different behavior of the biological pump in the two models, together with differences in mixed layer depth which are responsible for different SST, DIC and nutrient distributions in the two models and consequently different atmospheric feedbacks (in the wind, net heat and freshwater fluxes into the ocean).

Gas exchange↗
NASA NTRS1966

Propellant saturation test, 2 February - 3 May 1966

The objective of this test program was to determine the behavior of gas-saturated water and nitrogen tetroxide under various flow and pressure drop conditions. A second part of the test program is to be conducted at a later time to determine the rate of gas diffusion into propellants. The test program was conducted by the Fluid Systems Test Section of the Thermochemical Test Branch for the Auxiliary Propulsion and Pyrotechnics Branch, Propulsion and Power Division. Testing was accomplished at the Fluid Systems Test Facility during the period from February 2, 1966, to May 3, 1966.

Nitrogen compound↗
NASA NTRS1977

Experimental studies of the Space Shuttle payload acoustic environment

Two series of experiments were conducted to reduce the uncertainties concerning the Space Shuttle payload bay acoustic environment. Tests using a one-fifth scale model showed large changes in level below 125 Hz with the introduction of typical payloads. The changes were associated with particular acoustic modal behavior and were sensitive to the type of acoustic excitation. Another series of experiments evaluated the noise reduction of the first orbiter vehicle (OV-101). The results showed consistently greater noise reduction for grazing excitation than for diffuse excitation. The results were extrapolated to OV-102 using mass law relations and acceleration measurements.

Piersol, A. G.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Experimental studies in vortex pair motion coincident with a liquid reaction

An experimental examination of the coincidence of a liquid reaction (acid/base) with the formation of a vortex pair structure is described in which emphasis is placed on the evolution of the strained diffusion layer and reacted core structures. Flow visualization of the reaction process is achieved via the technique of chemically sensitive LIF. The observed growth of reacted core structures associated with each vortex is compared with theoretically predicted behavior (Marble, 1983; Karagozian and Marble, 1986). Vortex pair separation is also compared with theoretical correlations, and the relevance of the analogy between a fast liquid reaction and a gaseous reaction is discussed.

Karagozian, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS1991

1200 and 1300 K slow plastic compression properties of Ni-50Al composites

XD synthesis, powder blending, and hot pressing techniques have been utilized to produce NiAl composites containing 4, 7.5, 15, and 25 vol pct alumina whiskers and hybrid composite materials with 15 vol pct Al2O3 + 10 or 20 vol pct, nominally 1 micron TiB2 particles. The resistance to slow plastic flow was determined at 1200 and 1300 K via compression testing in air under constant velocity conditions. The stress-strain behavior of the intermetallic composites depended on the fraction of second phases where the 4 and 7.5 percent Al2O3 materials flowed at a nominally constant stress after about 2 percent deformation, while all the other composites exhibited diffuse yielding followed by strain softening. The flow stress-strain rate properties increased with volume fraction of Al2O3 whiskers except for the 4 and 7.5 percent materials, which had similar strengths. The hybrid composite NiAl + 15Al2O3 + 10TiB2 was substantially stronger than the materials simply containing alumina. Deformation in these composites can be described by the Kelly and Street model of creep in perfectly bonded, rigid, discontinuous fiber materials.

Whittenberger, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Study of the effects of implantation on the high Fe-Ni-Cr and Ni-Cr-Al alloys

A theoretical study of the effects of implantation on the corrosion resistance of Fe-Ni-Cr and Ni-Cr-Al alloys was undertaken. The purpose was to elucidate the process by which corrosion scales form on alloy surfaces. The experiments dealt with Ni implanted with Al, exposed to S at high temperatures, and then analyzed using scanning electron microscopy, scanning Auger spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. Pair bonding and tight-binding models were developed to study the compositions of the alloys and as a result, a new surface ordering effect was found which may exist in certain real alloys. With these models, the behavior of alloy constituents in the presence of surface concentrations of O or S was also studied. Improvements of the models to take into account the important effects of long- and short-range ordering were considered. The diffusion kinetics of implant profiles at various temperatures were investigated, and it was found that significant non-equilibrium changes in the profiles can take place which may affect the implants' performance in the presence of surface contaminants.

Ribarsky, M. W.↗
NASA NTRS1991

A new finite element formulation for computational fluid dynamics. IX - Fourier analysis of space-time Galerkin/least-squares algorithms

A Fourier stability and accuracy analysis of the space-time Galerkin/least-squares method as applied to a time-dependent advective-diffusive model problem is presented. Two time discretizations are studied: a constant-in-time approximation and a linear-in-time approximation. Corresponding space-time predictor multi-corrector algorithms are also derived and studied. The behavior of the space-time algorithms is compared to algorithms based on semidiscrete formulations.

Shakib, Farzin↗
NASA NTRS1994

The effect of wave-particle interactions on the polar wind: Preliminary results

A Monte Carlo simulation was developed in order to study the effects of wave-particle interactions (WPI) on the plasma outflow in the polar wind. The simulation also considered the other mechanisms included in the `classical' polar wind studies such as gravity, the polarization electrostatic field, and the divergence of geomagnetic field lines. Although the plasma consisted of electrons, H(+) and O(+) ions, we emphasized the behavior of H(+) in this preliminary study. The ion distribution function, as well as the profiles of its moments (density, drift velocity, temperatures, etc.) were found for different levels of WPI, that is, for different values of normalized diffusion rates in the velocity space (normalized D(sub perpendicular) H(+)). We found that as the WPI strength increases: (1) the ion drift velocity increases and its density decreases; (2) the perpendicular temperature T(sub perpendicular) (H(+)) increases; (3) the parallel temperature T(sub parallel) (H(+)) first decreases and then increases due to the balance between the parallel adiabatic cooling and the transfer of the energy from the perpendicular to the parallel direction; and (4) the temperature anisotropy ((T(sub parallel) (H(+))/T(sub perpendicular) (H(+)) is reduced and even reversed in some cases. For strong WPI (normalized D(sub perpendicular) (H(+) much greater than 1), the ion distribution function shows weak conic features at high altitudes.

Barakat, A. R.↗
NASA NTRS2003

[Results of Simulation Studies]

Lattice Monte Carlo and off-lattice molecular dynamics simulations of h(sub 1)t(sub 4) and h(sub 4)t(sub l) (head/tail) amphiphile solutions have been performed as a function of surfactant concentration and temperature. The lattice and off-lattice systems exhibit quite different self-assembly behavior at equivalent thermodynamic conditions. We found that in the weakly aggregating regime (no preferred-size micelles), all models yield similar micelle size distributions at the same average aggregation number, albeit at different thermodynamic conditions (temperatures). In the strongly aggregating regime, this mapping between models (through temperature adjustment) fails, and the models exhibit qualitatively different micellization behavior. Incipient micellization in a model self-associating telechelic polymer solution results in a network with a transient elastic response that decays by a two-step relaxation: the first is due to a heterogeneous jump-diffusion process involving entrapment of end-groups within well-defined clusters and this is followed by rapid diffusion to neighboring clusters and a decay (terminal relaxation) due to cluster disintegration. The viscoelastic response of the solution manifests characteristics of a glass transition and entangled polymer network.

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