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At least 505 records · Page 28

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NASA NTRS1975

The effect of initial flow nonuniformity on second-stage fuel injection and combustion in a supersonic duct

The effects of flow nonuniformity on second-stage hydrogen fuel injection and combustion in supersonic flow were evaluated. The first case, second-stage fuel injection into a uniform duct flow, produced data indicating that fuel mixing is considerably slower than estimates based on an empirical mixing correlation. The second-case, two-stage fuel injection (or second-stage fuel injection into a nonuniform duct flow), produced a large interaction between stages with extensive flow separation. For this case the measured wall pressure, heat transfer, and amount of reaction at the duct exit were significantly greater than estimates based on the mixing correlation. Substantially more second-stage fuel burned in the second case than in the first case. Overall effects of unmixedness/chemical kinetics were found not to be significant at the exit for stoichiometric fuel injection.

Russin, W. R.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Flow visualization study of a vortex-wing interaction

A flow visualization study in water was completed on the interaction of a streamwise vortex with a laminar boundary layer on a two-dimensional wing. The vortex was generated at the tip of a finite wing at incidence, mounted perpendicular to the main wing, and having the same chord as the main wing. The Reynolds number based on wing chord was about 5000. Two different visualization techniques were used. One involved the injection of two different colored dyes into the vortex and the boundary layer. The other technique utilized hydrogen bubbles as an indicator. The position of the vortex was varied in a directional normal to the wing. The angle of attack of the main wing was varied from -5 to +12.5 deg. The vortex induced noticeable cross flows in the wing boundary layer from a distance equivalent to 0.75 chords. When very close to the wing, the vortex entrained boundary layer fluid and caused a cross flow separation which resulted in a secondary vortex.

Mehta, R. D.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Validation test of 125 Ah advanced design IPV nickel-hydrogen flight cells

An update of validation test results confirming the advanced design nickel-hydrogen cell is presented. An advanced 125 Ah individual pressure vessel Ni-H cell was designed. The primary function of the advanced cell is to store and deliver energy for long-term LEO spacecraft missions. The new features of this design are: (1) use of 26 percent rather than 31 percent KOH electrolyte; (2) use of a patented catalyzed wall wick; (3) use of serrated-edge separators to facilitate gaseous O and H flow within the cell, while maintaining physical contact with the wall wick for electrolyte management; and (4) use of a floating rather than a fixed stack to accommodate Ni electrode expansion due to charge/discharge cycling. The significant improvements resulting from these innovations are extended cycle life; enhanced thermal, electrolyte, and oxygen management; and accommodation of Ni electrode expansion. Six 125 Ah flight cells based on this design were fabricated; the catalyzed wall wick cells have been cycled for over 19,000 cycles with no cell failures in the continuing test. Two of the noncatalyzed wall wick cells failed (cycles 9588 and 13,900).

Smithrick, John J.↗

NASA NTRS1989

A study of pseudoresonances in the application of the Schwinger variational principle to electron scattering from atomic hydrogen

The Schwinger variational principle is applied to s-wave electron-hydrogen atom scattering. Computationally, consistent with a recent paper by Apagyi et al. (1988), there are pseudoresonances at the static exchange level of approximation, but not at the static level. The T-matrix as well as the K-matrix version of the Schwinger principle is used with a real Slater basis, and the same results are obtained in both. The origin of the pseudoresonances from singularities in the separable potential that is effectively employed in the Lippman-Schwinger equation from which the Schwinger variational principle can be derived. The determination of the pseudoresonance parameters from the separable potential is computationally inexpensive and may be used to predict the pseudoresonance parameters for the scattering calculations so as to avoid them.

Weatherford, Charles A.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Rotational excitation of H2 in collision with H

Rate coefficients for the reactive processes of ortho-para conversion in which the j = 0 rotational level of molecular hydrogen is excited to the j = 1 and j = 3 level by impacts with hydrogen atoms are calculated for temperatures between 30 K and 1000 K using a fully converged complete close-coupled method. Rate coefficients are also obtained for the excitation from the j = 0 to the j = 2 rotational level and from the j = 1 to the j = 3 rotational level. The interference between the direct and reactive channels is taken into account as is the geometric phase resulting from the adiabatic separation of electronic and nuclear motion that generates the potential energy surface. Convenient analytic representations of the rate coefficients are presented.

Sun, Y.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Gaseous abundances and methane supersaturation in Titan's troposphere

Various properties of Titan's troposphere are inferred from an analysis of Voyager I infrared spectrometer (IRIS) data between 200 and 600/ cm. Two homogeneous spectral averages acquired at widely separated emission angles are chosen for the analysis. Both data sets are associated with northern low latitudes very close to that of the radio science ingress occultation point. Solutions require simultaneous nonlinear least-squares fits to the two IRIS data sets, coupled with iteration of the radio occultation refractivity data. Values and associated 1-sigma uncertainties of several parameters are inferred from our analysis. These include mole fractions for molecular hydrogen (approx. 0.0011), argon (small), and methane near the surface ( approx. 0.057). Solutions are also obtained for the hydrogen parafraction (close to equilibrium, with considerable uncertainty), air temperature near the surface ( approx. 93 K), surface surface temperature discontinuity (approx. 1 K), and maximum degree of methane supersaturation in the upper troposphere (approx. 1.5). Actual values for the above-mentioned parameters depend on the amount of ethane cloud near the tropopause. There is no evidence for methane clouds in the upper troposphere, nor is their presence compatible with large degrees of supersaturation. A wave number dependence for the stratospheric haze opacity is inferred similar to that found for a polymeric residue created in laboratory discharge experiments. This haze appears to be uniformly distributed with latitude between altitudes of 40 and 160 km, provided those nighttime data at southern high latitudes that are discounted.

Samuelson, Robert E.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Two-Phase Convection Heat Transfer Correlations for Liquid Hydrogen Pipe Chilldown

Recently, heat transfer correlations based on liquid nitrogen (LN2) and liquid hydrogen (LH2) pipe quenching data were developed to improve the predictive accuracy of lumped node codes like SINDA/FLUINT and the Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP). After implementing these correlations into both programs, updated model runs showed strong improvement in LN2 pipe chilldown modeling but only modest improvement in LH2 modeling. Due to large differences in thermal and fluid properties between the two fluids, results indicated a need to develop a separate set of LH2-only correlations to improve the accuracy of the simulations. This paper presents a new set of two-phase convection heat transfer correlations based on LH2 pipe quenching data. A correlation to predict the bulk vapor temperature was developed after analysis showed that high amounts of thermal nonequilibrium of the liquid and vapor phases occurred during film boiling of LH2. Implemented in a numerical model, the new correlations achieve a mean absolute error of 19.5 K in the predicted wall temperature when compared to recent LH2 pipe chilldown data, an improvement of 40% over recent GFSSP predictions. This correlation set can be implemented in simulations of the transient LH2 chilldown process. Such simulations are useful for predicting the chilldown time and boil-off mass of LH2 for applications such as the transfer of LH2 from a ground storage tank to the rocket vehicle propellant tank, or through a rocket engine feedline during engine startup.

critical heat flux↗

NASA NTRS1995

Computational Study of Flow Establishment in a Ram Accelerator

The temporal evolution of the combustion process established during projectile transition from the launch tube into the ram accelerator section containing an explosive hydrogen-oxygen-argon gas mixture is studied. The Navier-Stokes equations for chemically reacting flow are solved in a fully coupled manner, using an implicit, time accurate algorithm. The solution procedure is based on a spatially second order total variation diminishing scheme and a temporally second order, variable-step, backward differentiation formula method. The hydrogen-oxygen chemistry is modeled with a 9-species, 19-step mechanism. The accuracy of the solution method is first demonstrated by several benchmark calculations. Numerical simulations of two ram accelerator configurations are then presented. In particular, the temporal developments of shock-induced combustion and thrust forces are followed. Positive thrust is established in both cases; however, in one of the ram accelerator configurations studied, combustion in the boundary layer enhances its separation, ultimately resulting in unstart.

Yungster, S.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Yield and Failure Behavior Investigated for Cross-Linked Phenolic Resins Using Molecular Dynamics

Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to fundamentally evaluate the yield and failure behavior of cross-linked phenolic resins at temperatures below the glass transition. Yield stress was investigated at various temperatures, strain rates, and degrees of cross-linking. The onset of non-linear behavior in the cross-linked phenolic structures was caused by localized irreversible molecular rearrangements through the rotation of methylene linkers followed by the formation or annihilation of neighboring hydrogen bonds. The yield stress results, with respect to temperature and strain rate, could be fit by existing models used to describe yield behavior of amorphous glasses. The degree of cross-linking only indirectly influences the maximum yield stress through its influence on glass transition temperature (Tg), however there is a strong relationship between the degree of cross-linking and the failure mechanism. Low cross-linked samples were able to separate through void formation, whereas the highly cross-linked structures exhibited bond scission.

Molecular dynamics↗

NASA NTRS2014

Hydrogen (H) Isotope Composition of Type II Kerogen Extracted by Pyrolysis-GC-MS-IRMS: Terrestrial Shale Deposits as Martian Analogs

Described here is a technique for H isotope analysis of organic compounds pyrolyzed from kerogens isolated from gas‐ and liquids‐rich shales. Application of this technique will progress the understanding of the use of H isotopes not only in potential kerogen occurrences on Mars, but also in terrestrial oil and gas resource plays. H isotope extraction and analyses were carried out utilizing a CDS 5000 Pyroprobe connected to a Thermo Trace GC interfaced with a Thermo MAT 253 IRMS. Also, a split of GC‐separated products was sent to a DSQ II quadrupole MS to make qualitative and semi‐quantitative compositional measurements of these products. Kerogen samples from five different basins (type II and II‐S) were dehydrated (heated to 80 C overnight under vacuum) and analyzed for their H isotope compositions by Pyrolysis‐GC‐MS‐TC‐IRMS. This technique takes pyrolysis products separated via GC and reacts them in a high temperature conversion furnace (1450 C), which quantitatively forms H2. Samples ranging from ~0.5 to 1.0mg in size, were pyrolyzed at 800 C for 30s. and separated on a Poraplot Q GC column. H isotope data from all kerogen samples typically show enrichment in D from low to high molecular weight. H2O average delta D = ‐215.2 per mille (V‐SMOW), ranging from ‐ 271.8 per mille for the Marcellus Shale to ‐51.9 per mille for a Polish shale. Higher molecular weight compounds like toluene (C7H8) have an average delta D of ‐89.7 per mille, ranging from ‐156.0 per mille for the Barnett Shale to ‐50.0 per mille for the Monterey Shale. We interpret these data as representative of potential H isotope exchange between hydrocarbons and sediment pore water during basin formation. Since hydrocarbon H isotopes readily exchange with water, these data may provide some useful information on gas‐water or oil‐water interaction in resource plays, and further as a possible indicator of paleoenvironmental conditions. Alternatively, our data may be an indication of H isotope exchange with water and/or acid during the kerogen isolation process. Either of these interpretations will prove useful when deciphering H isotope data derived from kerogen analyses. Understanding the role that these H‐bearing compounds play in terrestrial shale paleo‐environmental reconstruction may also prove useful as analogs for understanding the interactions of water and potential kerogen/organic compounds on the planet Mars.

Socki, Richard A.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Application of advanced technology to future long-range aircraft

An assessment is presented of three separate programs that have incorporated advanced technology into the design of long-range passenger and cargo aircraft. The first technology centers around the use of a span-loaded cargo aircraft with the payload distributed along the wing. The second technology is the application of laminar flow control to the aircraft to reduce the aerodynamic drag. The last program evaluates the production of alternate aircraft fuels from coal and the use of liquid hydrogen as an aircraft fuel.

Schrader, O. E.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Autoignition of hydrogen injected transverse to a supersonic airstream

A parametric study of autoignition characteristics of transverse fuel injector patterns for a hydrogen-fueled, supersonic-combustion ramjet was conducted in direct-connect tests over a range of simulated hypersonic flight conditions. Autoignition limits, defined directly by visual observations and indirectly by measured wall pressure and temperature, are compared with a semi-empirical ignition limit model which accounts for first order effects on autoignition. It is shown that to initiate combustion in the immediate region of the fuel injector, ignition must occur in the separation region ahead of the fuel jet. Autoignition within this separation zone exhibits strong dependence on flow pressure and temperature, injector diameter, local boundary layer energy thickness, wall temperature, and on fluid dynamic interactions with adjacent downstream facing steps (such as inlet isolation steps). Secondary effects are also discussed. The empirical model is used to define limits of test temperature, pressure, and scale required for autoignition in a current subscale engine test program.

Mcclinton, C. R.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Yield and Failure Behavior Investigated for Cross-linked Phenolic Resins Using Molecular Dynamics

Molecular dynamics simulations were conducted to fundamentally evaluate the yield and failure behavior of cross-linked phenolic resins at temperatures below the glass transition. Yield stress was investigated at various temperatures, strain rates, and degrees of cross-linking. The onset of non-linear behavior in the cross-linked phenolic structures was caused by localized irreversible molecular rearrangements through the rotation of methylene linkers followed by the formation or annihilation of neighboring hydrogen bonds. The yield stress results, with respect to temperature and strain rate, could be fit by existing models used to describe yield behavior of amorphous glasses. The degree of cross-linking only indirectly influences the maximum yield stress through its influence on the glass transition temperature (Tg), however there is a strong relationship between the degree of cross-linking and the failure mechanism. Low cross-linked samples were able to separate through void formation, whereas the highly cross-linked structures exhibited bond scission.

Stress-strain curves↗

NASA NTRS2022

A Primordial Atmospheric Origin of Hydrospheric Deuterium Enrichment on Mars

The deuterium-to-hydrogen (D/H or 2H/1H) ratio of Martian atmospheric water (~6× standard mean ocean water, SMOW) is higher than that of known sources, requiring planetary enrichment. A recent measurement by NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity of Hesperian-era (>3 Ga) clays yields a D/H ratio ~3×SMOW, demonstrating that most of the enrichment occurs early in Mars’s history, reinforcing the conclusions of Martian meteorite studies. As on Venus, Mars’s D/H enrichment is widely thought to reflect preferential loss to space of 1H (protium) relative to 2H (deuterium), but both the cause and the global environmental context of large and early hydrogen losses remain to be determined. Here, we apply a recent model of primordial atmosphere evolution to Mars, link the magma ocean of the accretion epoch with a subsequent water-ocean epoch, and calculate the behavior of deuterium for comparison with the observed record. In contrast to earlier works that consider Martian D/H fractionation in atmospheres in which hydrogen reservoirs are present exclusively as H2O or H2, here we consider 2-component (H2O-H2) outgassed atmospheres in which both condensed (H2O) and escaping (H2) components – and their interaction – are explicitly calculated. We find that a a ≈2-3× hydrospheric deuterium-enrichment is produced rapidly if the Martian magma ocean is chemically reducing at last equilibration with the primordial atmosphere, making H2 and CO the initially dominant species, with minor abundances of H2O and CO2. Reducing gases – in particular H2 – can cause substantial greenhouse warming and prevent a water ocean from freezing immediately after the magma ocean epoch. We find that greenhouse warming due to plausible H2 inventories (pH2=1-102 bars) yields surface temperatures high enough (Ts=290-560 K) to stabilize a water ocean and produce an early hydrological cycle through which surface water can be circulated. Moreover, the pressure-temperature conditions are high enough to produce ocean-atmosphere H2O-H2 isotopic equilibrium through gas-phase deuterium exchange such that surface H2O strongly concentrates deuterium relative to H2, which preferentially takes up protium and escapes from the primordial atmosphere. The efficient physical separation of deuterium-rich (H2O) and deuterium-poor (H2) species via condensation permits equilibrium isotopic partitioning and early atmospheric escape to be recorded in modern crustal reservoirs. The proposed scenario of primordial H2-CO-rich outgassing and escape suggests significant durations (>Myr) of chemical conditions on the Martian surface conducive to prebiotic chemistry immediately following magma ocean crystallization.

Mars↗

NASA NTRS1973

Feasibility study of full-reactor gas core demonstration test

Separate studies of nuclear criticality, flow patterns, and thermodynamics for the gas core reactor concept have all given positive indications of its feasibility. However, before serious design for a full scale gas core application can be made, feasibility must be shown for operation with full interaction of the nuclear, thermal, and hydraulic effects. A minimum sized, and hence minimum expense, test arrangement is considered for a full gas core configuration. It is shown that the hydrogen coolant scattering effects dominate the nuclear considerations at elevated temperatures. A cavity diameter of somewhat larger than 4 ft (122 cm) will be needed if temperatures high enough to vaporize uranium are to be achieved.

Kunze, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis system development

Solid polymer electrolyte technology used in a water electrolysis system (WES) to generate oxygen and hydrogen for manned space station applications was investigated. A four-man rated, low pressure breadboard water electrolysis system with the necessary instrumentation and controls was fabricated and tested. A six man rated, high pressure, high temperature, advanced preprototype WES was developed. This configuration included the design and development of an advanced water electrolysis module, capable of operation at 400 psig and 200 F, and a dynamic phase separator/pump in place of a passive phase separator design. Evaluation of this system demonstrated the goal of safe, unattended automated operation at high pressure and high temperature with an accumulated gas generation time of over 1000 hours.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1981

Preliminary investigation of acoustic oscillations in an H2-O2 fired Hall generator

Burner pressure oscillations and interelectrode voltage oscillations measured in an open-cycle supersonic flow Hall generator are presented. The ionized gas for the channel was supplied by seeding the approximately 1 lb/sec of hydrogen-oxygen combustion products with cesium. Since both the burner and the channel were located within magnetic fields exceeding 4 Tesla during operation, an infinite probe pressure measurement technique was used to measure burner pressure oscillations. Calibration of the burner pressure transducer using a resonance tube technique is presented. Evidence is presented for the existence of the first longitudinal mode of oscillations (5000 Hz) within the burner. Interelectrode voltage oscillations were simultaneously measured at two separate axial stations. The magnitude change and the phase shift between the two signals was interpreted as a decaying magnetoacoustic wave driven by the burner that propagates at local gas plus sonic velocities. The amplitude of the electrical voltage oscillations at the start of the power producing region of the channel varied with the magnetic field. This variation is compared with the results of a simple perturbation analysis. Arguments are presented for using an unsteady model for analyzing wave processes in channels.

Phillips, B.↗

NASA NTRS1989

A review of atomic clock technology, the performance capability of present spaceborne and terrestrial atomic clocks, and a look toward the future

Clocks have played a strong role in the development of general relativity. The concept of the proper clock is presently best realized by atomic clocks, whose development as precision instruments has evolved very rapidly in the last decades. To put a historical prospective on this progress since the year AD 1000, the time stability of various clocks expressed in terms of seconds of time error over one day of operation is shown. This stability of operation must not be confused with accuracy. Stability refers to the constancy of a clock operation as compared to that of some other clocks that serve as time references. Accuracy, on the other hand, is the ability to reproduce a previously defined frequency. The issues are outlined that must be considered when accuracy and stability of clocks and oscillators are studied. In general, the most widely used resonances result from the hyperfine interaction of the nuclear magnetic dipole moment and that of the outermost electron, which is characteristic of hydrogen and the alkali atoms. During the past decade hyperfine resonances of ions have also been used. The principal reason for both the accuracy and the stability of atomic clocks is the ability of obtaining very narrow hyperfine transition resonances by isolating the atom in some way so that only the applied stimulating microwave magnetic field is a significant source of perturbation. It is also important to make resonance transitions among hyperfine magnetic sublevels where separation is independent, at least to first order, of the magnetic field. In the case of ions stored in traps operating at high magnetic fields, one selects the trapping field to be consistent with a field-independent transition of the trapped atoms.

Vessot, Robert F. C.↗