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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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Mechanism automatically applies a braking action on a moving item, in either direction of motion, immediately upon removal of the driving force and with no human operator involvement. This device would be useful wherever free movement is undesirable after an object has been guided into a precise position.
Portable instrument relieves hematomas beneath fingernails and toenails without surgery. This device simplifies the operative procedure with an instant variable heating tip, adjustable depth settings and interchangeable tip sizes for cauterizing small areas and relieving pressurized clots.
Flash blindness indoctrination and training device for pilots operating in nuclear combat zones
Induction plasma device of continuous operation to simulate NASA designed gas core space propulsion reactor
Feasibility of operating gallium arsenide devices in high temperature microelectronic circuits
High performance silicon carbide backward diode, discussing device design and operational characteristics
Induction plasma device of continuous operation to simulate NASA designed gas core space propulsion reactor
Threshold extension device for improving operating performance of frequency modulatioin demodulators by eliminating click-type noise impulses
Vise with stationary vee-shaped jaw and segmented notched jaw for holding irregular shaped objects is described. Operation of the device and specific application to holding bones are explained. Diagram of equipment is provided.
The SNS junctions were limited to having gold (n) layers of less than 3000 A in order to avoid having the tin (S) films become normal under the influence of the signal current in the gold. The gold layer was alloyed with 10 wt% copper to shorten its electronic mean free path, increasing the tin layer critical current while decreasing the Josephson critical current. It was also found that a previously reported anomalous voltage shift in the presence of I2 is caused by the tin being driven normal. After deposition, the samples were transferred to a conventional cryostat to provide better thermal contact to the films. This reduction of heating in the films produced more linear I-V characteristics and a change in the constant voltage current gain. In order to achieve power gain the SNS device must be operated at lower temperatures were the effects of fluctuations are less and be constructed such that the input resistance is much reduced and the dynamic output resistance increased. A geometry is proposed using a more sophisticated evaporator.
A small portable recompression chamber is described that can be used both to treat a diver for decompression sickness or to transport him to a larger chamber complex. The device can be operated in either open circuit or semiclosed circuit atmospheres, permits two way conversation between patient and attendant, and uses an air injector for circulation of the chamber atmosphere.
An account is given of the construction and operation of a device which allows an Instron universal testing machine to produce a continuous autographic record of thickness or contour of specimens and small parts. This device has proven useful in the nondestructive measurement of irregular cross sections.
The experimental results with a working model of the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) heat pipe are presented along with descriptions of the experimental device and its operation. Conclusions reached are: (1) EHD flow structures can be used to provide liquid communication between the condenser and evaporator of a heat pipe. (2) The voltage provides a remote electrical servo linkage of possible use in certain thermal control applications. (3) At least one hybrid flow structure, utilizing capillary and electrohydrodynamic forces, has been found functional. Proposed further experiments are discussed.
A waveguide carbon dioxide laser is reported that is characterized by a very narrow capillary which contains the laser mix. The small capillary allows the device to be operated at pressures as high as 500 torr; pressure broadening of the molecular line is used for tuning. The capillary is placed between two reflectors which provide feedback for the laser oscillation.
Spectroscopic measurements were carried out on the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus experiment in which a steady state ion heating method based on the modified Penning discharge is applied in a bumpy torus confinement geometry. Electron temperatures in pure helium are measured from the ratio of spectral line intensities. Measured electron temperatures range from 10 to 100 eV. Relative electron densities are also measured over the range of operating conditions. Radial profiles of temperature and relative density are measured in the two basic modes of operation of the device called the low and high pressure modes. The electron temperatures are used to estimate particle confinement times based on a steady state particle balance.
Spectroscopic measurements have been carried out on the NASA Lewis Bumpy Torus experiment in which a steady state ion heating method based on the modified Penning discharge is applied in a bumpy torus confinement geometry. Electron temperatures in pure helium are measured from the ratio of spectral line intensities. Measured electron temperatures range from 10 to 100 eV. Relative electron densities are also measured over the range of operating conditions. Radial profiles of temperature and relative density are measured in the two basic modes of operation of the device called the low and high pressure modes. The electron temperatures are used to estimate particle confinement times based on a steady state particle balance.
The principal limitation on the accuracy of the hydrogen maser as a primary frequency standard has been the irreproducibility of the frequency shift caused by collisions of the radiating atoms with the walls of the vessel containing them. The flexible bulb-large storage box hydrogen maser allows correction for this wall shift within a single device, sidestepping the reproducibility problem, and reducing the frequency error from the wall shift to the level imposed by the device's stability. The principles of the device are discussed including the flexible bulb technique and the complications caused by a multiple region storage bulb. The stability of the device is discussed including a comparison with an ordinary hydrogen maser. Data is presented from a working flexible bulb-large storage box hydrogen maser demonstrating the feasibility of the device and showing some of its operating characteristics. The flexibility of the device is demonstrated by showing how the device's added degrees of freedom allow measurement of parameters unmeasurable in an ordinary hydrogen maser.
A cesium filled diode--laser plasmadynamic converter was built to investigate the feasibility of converting laser energy to electrical energy at large power levels. Experiments were performed with a pulsed ruby laser to determine the quantity of electrons and cesium ions generated per pulse of laser beam and to determine the output voltage. A current density as high as 200 amp/sq cm from a spot of approximately 1 sq mm area and an open circuit voltage as high as 1.5 volts were recorded. A qualitative theory was developed to explain these results. In the operation of the device, the laser beam evaporates some of the cesium and ionizes the cesium gas. A dense cesium plasma is formed to absorb further the laser energy. Results suggest that the simultaneous absorption of two ruby laser photons by the cesium atoms plays an important role in the initial ionization of cesium. Inverse bremsstrahlung absorption appears to be the dominant mechanism in subsequent processes. Recombinations of electrons and cesium ions appear to compete favorably with the simultaneous absorption of two photons.