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At least 505 records · Page 28

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1990

The experimental evaluation and application of high-temperature solid lubricants

A research program is described which developes an understanding of high-temperature solid lubrication and experimental techniques through the development of a composite lubricant coating system. The knowledge gained through this research was then applied to a specific engineering challenge, the tribology of a sliding seal for hypersonic flight vehicles. The solid lubricant coating is a chromium carbide based composite combined with silver, which acts as a low temperature lubricant, and barium fluoride/calcium fluoride eutectic, which acts as a high-temperature lubricant. This composite coating provides good wear resistance and low friction for sliding contacts from room temperature to over 900 C in reducing or oxidative environments. The specific research on this coating included a composition screening using a foil gas bearing test rig and the use of thin silver films to reduce initial wear using a pin-on-disk test rig. The chemical stability of the materials used was also addressed. This research indicated that soft metallic films and materials which become soft at elevated temperatures are potentially good lubricants. The general results from the experiments with the model solid lubricant coating were then applied to a sliding seal design concept. This seal design requires that a braided ceramic fabric slide against a variety of metal counterface materials at temperatures from 25 to 850 C in an oxidative environment. A pin-on-disk tribometer was used to evaluate the tribological properties of these materials and to develop lubrication techniques. The results indicate that these seal materials must be lubricated to prevent wear and reduce friction. Thin films of silver, gold and calcium fluoride provided lubrication to the sliding materials.

Dellacorte, Christopher↗

NASA NTRS1990

Liquid Transfer Cryogenic Test Facility: Initial hydrogen and nitrogen no-vent fill data

The Liquid Transfer Cryogenic Test Facility is a versatile testbed for ground-based cryogenic fluid storage, handling, and transfer experimentation. The test rig contains two well instrumented tanks, and a third interchangeable tank, designed to accommodate liquid nitrogen or liquid hydrogen testing. The internal tank volumes are approx. 18, 5, and 1.2 cu. ft. Tank pressures can be varied from 2 to 30 psia. Preliminary no vent fill tests with nitrogen and hydrogen were successfully completed with the test rig. Initial results indicate that no vent fills of nitrogen above 90 percent full are achievable using this test configuration, in a 1-g environment, and with inlet liquid temperatures as high as 143 R, and an average tank wall temperature of nearly 300 R. This inlet temperature corresponds to a saturation pressure of 19 psia for nitrogen. Hydrogen proved considerably more difficult to transfer between tanks without venting. The highest temperature conditions resulting in a fill level greater than 90 percent were with an inlet liquid temperature of 34 R, and an estimated tank wall temperature of slightly more than 100 R. Saturation pressure for hydrogen at this inlet temperature is 10 psia. All preliminary no vent fill tests were performed with a top mounted full cone nozzle for liquid injection. The nozzle produces a 120 degree conical droplet spray at a differential pressure of 10 psi. Pressure in the receiving tank was held to less than 30 psia for all tests.

Moran, Matthew E.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Energy Efficient Engine: Combustor component performance program

The results of the Combustor Component Performance analysis as developed under the Energy Efficient Engine (EEE) program are presented. This study was conducted to demonstrate the aerothermal and environmental goals established for the EEE program and to identify areas where refinements might be made to meet future combustor requirements. In this study, a full annular combustor test rig was used to establish emission levels and combustor performance for comparison with those indicated by the supporting technology program. In addition, a combustor sector test rig was employed to examine differences in emissions and liner temperatures obtained during the full annular performance and supporting technology tests.

Dubiel, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Vacuum application of thermal barrier plasma coatings

Coatings are presently applied to Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) turbine blades for protection against the harsh environment realized in the engine during lift off-to-orbit. High performance nickel, chromium, aluminum, and yttrium (NiCrAlY) alloy coatings, which are applied by atmospheric plasma spraying, crack and spall off because of the severe thermal shock experienced during start-up and shut-down of the engine. Ceramic coatings of yttria stabilized zirconia (ZrO2-Y2O3) were applied initially as a thermal barrier over coating to the NiCrAlY but were removed because of even greater spalling. Utilizing a vacuum plasma spraying process, bond coatings of NiCrAlY were applied in a low pressure atmosphere of argon/helium, producing significantly improved coating-to-blade bonding. The improved coatings showed no spalling after 40 MSFC burner rig thermal shock cycles, cycling between 1700 and -423 F. The current atmospheric plasma NiCrAlY coatings spalled during 25 test cycles. Subsequently, a process was developed for applying a durable thermal barrier coating of ZrO2-Y2O3 to the turbine blades of first stage high-pressure fuel turbopumps utilizing the vacuum plasma process. The improved thermal barrier coating has successfully passed 40 burner rig thermal shock cycles without spalling. Hot firing in an SSME turbine engine is scheduled for the blades. Tooling was installed in preparation for vacuum plasma spray coating other SSME hardware, e.g., the titanium main fuel valve housing (MFVH) and the fuel turbopump nozzle/stator.

Holmes, R. R.↗

NASA NTRS1988

Ceramic matrix composites in simulated SSME environments

Future Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME)-type rocket engines can benefit from the use of fiber-reinforced ceramix matrix composites (FRCMC). Ceramics reinforced with long continuous fibers exhibit improved tolerance to severe thermomechanical and environmental exposures. An in-house NASA-Lewis program to evaluate the durability of FRCMC in simulated SSME environments is described. Primary tests involve multiple (one second) exposures of FRCMC specimens in a hydrogen/oxygen rocket test rig. This rig generates surface heating rates of 1000 to 2500 C/second. The FRCMC durability evaluation involves measurement of retained strength as a function of thermal shock severity and number of upshock cycles. Preliminary test results for monolithic silicon nitride (Si3N4) and silicon carbide (SiC), and one type of silicon based FRCMC, are presented. The test data are examined in terms of simple thermal shock theory.

Herbell, Thomas P.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Vibration dampers for cryogenic turbomachinery

This paper describes the development of effective and reliable minimum-weight and minimum-envelope vibration dampers for cryogenic turbines. To meet this objective, a high speed test rig was designed and fabricated, which is currently used to test a curved beam type damper. The operation, capacity, structural characteristics, measurement system, and safety features of the cryogenic damper test rig are discussed.

Palazzolo, Alan B.↗

NASA NTRS1990

One- and two-dimensional Stirling machine simulation using experimentally generated flow turbulence models

Investigations of one- and two-dimensional (1- or 2-D) simulations of Stirling machines centered around experimental data generated by the U. of Minnesota Mechanical Engineering Test Rig (METR) are covered. This rig was used to investigate oscillating flows about a zero mean with emphasis on laminar/turbulent flow transitions in tubes. The Space Power Demonstrator Engine (SPDE) and in particular, its heater, were the subjects of the simulations. The heater was treated as a 1- or 2-D entity in an otherwise 1-D system. The 2-D flow effects impacted the transient flow predictions in the heater itself but did not have a major impact on overall system performance. Information propagation effects may be a significant issue in the simulation (if not the performance) of high-frequency, high-pressure Stirling machines. This was investigated further by comparing a simulation against an experimentally validated analytic solution for the fluid dynamics of a transmission line. The applicability of the pressure-linking algorithm for compressible flows may be limited by characteristic number (defined as flow path information traverses per cycle); this warrants further study. Lastly the METR was simulated in 1- and 2-D. A two-parameter k-w foldback function turbulence model was developed and tested against a limited set of METR experimental data.

Goldberg, Louis F.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Analytical and experimental study of vibrations in a gear transmission

An analytical simulation of the dynamics of a gear transmission system is presented and compared to experimental results from a gear noise test rig at the NASA Lewis Research Center. The analytical procedure developed couples the dynamic behaviors of the rotor-bearing-gear system with the response of the gearbox structure. The modal synthesis method is used in solving the overall dynamics of the system. Locally each rotor-gear stage is modeled as an individual rotor-bearing system using the matrix transfer technique. The dynamics of each individual rotor are coupled with other rotor stages through the nonlinear gear mesh forces and with the gearbox structure through bearing support systems. The modal characteristics of the gearbox structure are evaluated using the finite element procedure. A variable time steping integration routine is used to calculate the overall time transient behavior of the system in modal coordinates. The global dynamic behavior of the system is expressed in a generalized coordinate system. Transient and steady state vibrations of the gearbox system are presented in the time and frequency domains. The vibration characteristics of a simple single mesh gear noise test rig is modeled. The numerical simulations are compared to experimental data measured under typical operating conditions. The comparison of system natural frequencies, peak vibration amplitudes, and gear mesh frequencies are generally in good agreement.

Choy, F. K.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Isothermal thermogravimetric data acquisition analysis system

The description of an Isothermal Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) Data Acquisition System is presented. The system consists of software and hardware to perform a wide variety of TGA experiments. The software is written in ANSI C using Borland's Turbo C++. The hardware consists of a 486/25 MHz machine with a Capital Equipment Corp. IEEE488 interface card. The interface is to a Hewlett Packard 3497A data acquisition system using two analog input cards and a digital actuator card. The system provides for 16 TGA rigs with weight and temperature measurements from each rig. Data collection is conducted in three phases. Acquisition is done at a rapid rate during initial startup, at a slower rate during extended data collection periods, and finally at a fast rate during shutdown. Parameters controlling the rate and duration of each phase are user programmable. Furnace control (raising and lowering) is also programmable. Provision is made for automatic restart in the event of power failure or other abnormal terminations. Initial trial runs were conducted to show system stability.

Cooper, Kenneth, Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Analytical and experimental study of vibrations in a gear transmission

An analytical simulation of the dynamics of a gear transmission system is presented and compared to experimental results from a gear noise test rig at NASA Lewis. The analytical procedure developed couples the dynamic behaviors of the rotor-bearing-gear system with the response of the gearbox structure. Transient and steady-state vibrations of the gearbox system are presented in the time and frequency domains. The vibration characteristics of a simple single-mesh-gear noise test rig are modeled. The numerical simulations are compared to experimental data measured under typical operating conditions. The system natural frequencies, peak vibration amplitudes, and gear mesh frequencies are generally in good agreement.

Choy, F. K.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Velocity and pressure characteristics of a model SSME high pressure fuel turbopump

Under the present effort an experiment rig has been constructed, an instrumentation package developed and a series of mean and rms velocity and pressure measurements made in a turbopump which modelled the first stage of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) High Pressure Fuel Turbopump. The rig was designed so as to allow initial experiments with a single configuration consisting of a bell-mouth inlet, a flight impeller, a vaneless diffuser and a volute. Allowance was made for components such as inlet guide vanes, exit guide vanes, downstream pumps, etc. to be added in future experiments. This flexibility will provide a clear baseline set of experiments and allow evaluation in later experiments of the effect of adding specific components upon the pump performance properties. The rotational speed of the impeller was varied between 4260 and 7680 rpm which covered the range of scaled SSME rotation speeds when due allowance is made for the differing stagnation temperature, model to full scale. The results at the inlet obtained with rotational speeds of 4260, 6084 and 7680 rpm showed that the axial velocity at the bell-mouth inlet remained roughly constant at 2.2 of the bulk velocity at the exit of the turbopump near the center of the inlet, but it decreased rapidly with increasing radius at all three speeds. Reverse flow occurred at a radius greater than 0.9 R for all three speeds and the maximum negative velocity reduced from 1.3 of the bulk velocity at the exit of the turbopump at 4260 rpm to 0.35 at 7680 rpm, suggesting that operating at a speed closer to the design condition of 8700 rpm improved the inlet characteristics. The reverse flow caused positive prerotation at the impeller inlet which was negligibly small near the center but reached 0.7 of the impeller speed at the outer annulus. The results in the diffuser and the volute obtained at 7680 rpm show that the hub and shroud walls of the diffuser were characterized by regions of transient reverse flow with negative revolution-averaged velocity of 8 percent of the maximum forward revolution-averaged velocity at the center of the diffuser passage near the shroud wall.

Tse, D. G-N.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Performance tests of a cryogenic hybrid magnetic bearing for turbopumps

Experiments were performed on a Hybrid Magnetic Bearing designed for cryogenic applications such as turbopumps. This bearing is considerably smaller and lighter than conventional magnetic bearings and is more efficient because it uses a permanent magnet to provide a bias flux. The tests were performed in a test rig that used liquid nitrogen to simulate cryogenic turbopump temperatures. The bearing was tested at room temperature and at liquid nitrogen temperature (-320 F). The maximum speed for the test rig was 14000 rpm. For a magnetic bearing stiffness of 20000 lb/in, the flexible rotor had two critical speeds. A static (nonrotating) bearing stiffness of 85000 lb/in was achieved. Magnetic bearing stiffness, permanent magnet stiffness, actuator gain, and actuator force interaction between two axes were evaluated, and controller/power amplifier characteristics were determined. The tests revealed that it is feasible to use this bearing in the cryogenic environment and to control the rotor dynamics of flexible rotors when passing through bending critical speeds. The tests also revealed that more effort should be placed on enhancing the controller to achieve higher bearing stiffness and on developing displacement sensors that reduce drift caused by temperature and reduce sensor electrical noise.

Dirusso, Eliseo↗

NASA NTRS1991

Progress of simulations for reacting shear layers

An attempt was made to develop a high speed, chemically reactive shear layer test rig. The purpose of the experiment was to study the mixing of oxidizer and fuel streams in reacting shear layers for various density, velocity, and Mach number. The primary goal was to understand the effects of the compressibility upon mixing and combustion in a fundamental way. Therefore, a two-dimensional shear layer is highly desirable for its simplicity to quantify the compressibility effects. The RPLUS 2D code is used to calculate the flow fields of different sections of the test rig. The emphasis was on the supersonic nozzle design, the vitiation process for the hot air stream and the overall thermodynamic conditions of the test matrix. The k-epsilon turbulence model with wall function was successfully implemented in the RPLUS code. The k and epsilon equations are solved simultaneously and the LU scheme is used to make it compatible with the flow solver.

Yu, Sheng-Tao↗

NASA NTRS1992

Thermal mechanical analysis of sprag clutches

Work done at Case Western Reserve University on the Thermal Mechanical analysis of sprag helicopter clutches is reported. The report is presented in two parts. The first part is a description of a test rig for the measurement of the heat generated by high speed sprag clutch assemblies during cyclic torsional loading. The second part describes a finite element modeling procedure for sliding contact. The test rig provides a cyclic torsional load of 756 inch-pounds at 5000 rpm using a four-square arrangement. The sprag clutch test unit was placed between the high speed pinions of the circulating power loop. The test unit was designed to have replaceable inner ad outer races, which contain the instrumentation to monitor the sprag clutch. The torque loading device was chosen to be a water cooled magnetic clutch, which is controlled either manually or through a computer. In the second part, a Generalized Eulerian-Lagrangian formulation for non-linear dynamic problems is developed for solid materials. This formulation is derived from the basic laws and axioms of continuum mechanics. The novel aspect of this method is that we are able to investigate the physics in the spatial region of interest as material flows through it without having to follow material points. A finite element approximation to the governing equations is developed. Iterative Methods for the solution of the discrete finite element equations are explored. A FORTRAN program to implement this formulation is developed and a number of solutions to problems of sliding contact are presented.

Mullen, Robert L.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Magnetic Actuators and Suspension for Space Vibration Control

The research on microgravity vibration isolation performed at the University of Virginia is summarized. This research on microgravity vibration isolation was focused in three areas: (1) the development of new actuators for use in microgravity isolation; (2) the design of controllers for multiple-degree-of-freedom active isolation; and (3) the construction of a single-degree-of-freedom test rig with umbilicals. Described are the design and testing of a large stroke linear actuator; the conceptual design and analysis of a redundant coarse-fine six-degree-of-freedom actuator; an investigation of the control issues of active microgravity isolation; a methodology for the design of multiple-degree-of-freedom isolation control systems using modern control theory; and the design and testing of a single-degree-of-freedom test rig with umbilicals.

Knospe, Carl R.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Vibration and noise analysis of a gear transmission system

This paper presents a comprehensive procedure to predict both the vibration and noise generated by a gear transmission system under normal operating conditions. The gearbox vibrations were obtained from both numerical simulation and experimental studies using a gear noise test rig. In addition, the noise generated by the gearbox vibrations was recorded during the experimental testing. A numerical method was used to develop linear relationships between the gearbox vibration and the generated noise. The hypercoherence function is introduced to correlate the nonlinear relationship between the fundamental noise frequency and its harmonics. A numerical procedure was developed using both the linear and nonlinear relationships generated from the experimental data to predict noise resulting from the gearbox vibrations. The application of this methodology is demonstrated by comparing the numerical and experimental results from the gear noise test rig.

Choy, F. K.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Vibration and noise analysis of a gear transmission system

Choy, F. K.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Navy GTE seal development activity

Under the auspices of the Integrated High Performance Turbine Engine Technology Initiative, the Naval Air Warfare Center conducts advanced development programs for demonstration in the next generation of air-breathing propulsion systems. Among the target technologies are gas path and lube oil seals. Two development efforts currently being managed by NAWCAD are the High Performance Compressor Discharge Film-Riding Face Seal and the Subsonic Core High Speed Air/Oil Seal. The High Performance Compressor Discharge Film-Riding Face Seal Program aims at reducing parasitic leakage through application of a film-riding face sea concept to the compressor discharge location of a Phase 2 IHPTET engine. An order-of-magnitude leakage reduction relative to current labyrinth seal configurations is expected. Performance goals for these seals are (1) 1200 F air temperature, (2) 800 feet-per-second surface velocity, and (3) 600 SPI differential pressure. The two designs chosen for fabrication and rig test are a spiral groove and a Rayleigh step seal. Rig testing is currently underway. The Subsonic Core High Speed Air/Oil Seal Program is developing shaft-to-ground seals for next-generation propulsion systems that will minimize leakage and provide full life. Significantly higher rotor speeds and temperatures will be experienced. Technologies being exploited include, hydrodynamic lift assist features, ultra light weight designs, and improved cooling schemes. Parametric testing has been completed; a final seal design is entering the endurance test phase.

Grala, Carl P.↗