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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 55 records · Page 3

Architecture for Survivable System Processing (ASSP)

The Architecture for Survivable System Processing (ASSP) Program is a multi-phase effort to implement Department of Defense (DOD) and commercially developed high-tech hardware, software, and architectures for reliable space avionics and ground based systems. System configuration options provide processing capabilities to address Time Dependent Processing (TDP), Object Dependent Processing (ODP), and Mission Dependent Processing (MDP) requirements through Open System Architecture (OSA) alternatives that allow for the enhancement, incorporation, and capitalization of a broad range of development assets. High technology developments in hardware, software, and networking models, address technology challenges of long processor life times, fault tolerance, reliability, throughput, memories, radiation hardening, size, weight, power (SWAP) and security. Hardware and software design, development, and implementation focus on the interconnectivity/interoperability of an open system architecture and is being developed to apply new technology into practical OSA components. To insure for widely acceptable architecture capable of interfacing with various commercial and military components, this program provides for regular interactions with standardization working groups (e.g.) the International Standards Organization (ISO), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE), and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Selection of a viable open architecture is based on the widely accepted standards that implement the ISO/OSI Reference Model.

Wood, Richard J.↗

Geostationary Operational Environmental Statellite(GEOS-N report)

The Advanced Missions Analysis Office (AMAO) of GSFC has completed a study of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES-N) series. The feasibility, risks, schedules, and associated costs of advanced space and ground system concepts responsive to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) requirements were evaluated. The study is the first step in a multi-phased procurement effort that is expected to result in launch ready hardware in the post 2000 time frame. This represents the latest activity of GSFC in translating meteorological requirements of NOAA into viable space systems in geosynchronous earth orbits (GEO). GOES-N represents application of the latest spacecraft, sensor, and instrument technologies to enhance NOAA meteorological capabilities via remote and in-situ sensing from GEO. The GOES-N series, if successfully developed, could become another significant step in NOAA weather forecasting space systems, meeting increasingly complex emerging national needs for that agency's services.

Source record↗

Combustion instability analysis for liquid propellant rocket engines

The multi-dimensional numerical model has been developed to analyze the nonlinear combustion instabilities in liquid-fueled engines. The present pressure-based approach can handle the implicit pressure-velocity coupling in a non-iterative way. The additional scalar conservation equations for the chemical species, the energy, and the turbulent transport quantities can be handled by the same predictor-corrector sequences. This method is time-accurate and it can be applicable to the all-speed, transient, multi-phase, and reacting flows. Special emphasis is given to the acoustic/vaporization interaction which may act as the crucial rate-controlling mechanism in the liquid-fueled rocket engines. The subcritical vaporization is modeled to account for the effects of variable thermophysical properties, non-unitary Lewis number in the gas-film, the Stefan flow effect, and the effect of transient liquid heating. The test cases include the one-dimenisonal fast transient non-reacting and reacting flows, and the multi-dimensional combustion instabilities encountered in the liquid-fueled rocket thrust chamber. The present numerical model successfully demonstrated the capability to simulate the fast transient spray-combusting flows in terms of the limiting-cycle amplitude phenomena, correspondence between combustion and acoustics, and the steep-fronted wave and flame propagation. The investigated parameters include the spray initial conditions, air-fuel mixture ratios, and the engine geometry. Stable and unstable operating conditions are found for the liquid-fueled combustors. Under certain conditions, the limiting cycle behavior of the combusting flowfields is obtained. The numerical results indicate that the spray vaporization processes play an important role in releasing thermal energy and driving the combustion instability.

Kim, Y. M.↗

A two-phase restricted equilibrium model for combustion of metalized solid propellants

An Eulerian-Lagrangian two-phase approach was adopted to model the multi-phase reacting internal flow in a solid rocket with a metalized propellant. An Eulerian description was used to analyze the motion of the continuous phase which includes the gas as well as the small (micron-sized) particulates, while a Lagrangian description is used for the analysis of the discrete phase which consists of the larger particulates in the motor chamber. The particulates consist of Al and Al2O3 such that the particulate composition is 100 percent Al at injection from the propellant surface with Al2O3 fraction increasing due to combustion along the particle trajectory. An empirical model is used to compute the combustion rate for agglomerates while the continuous phase chemistry is treated using chemical equilibrium. The computer code was used to simulate the reacting flow in a solid rocket motor with an AP/HTPB/Al propellant. The computed results show the existence of an extended combustion zone in the chamber rather than a thin reaction region. The presence of the extended combustion zone results in the chamber flow field and chemical being far from isothermal (as would be predicted by a surface combustion assumption). The temperature in the chamber increases from about 2600 K at the propellant surface to about 3350 K in the core. Similarly the chemical composition and the density of the propellant gas also show spatially non-uniform distribution in the chamber. The analysis developed under the present effort provides a more sophisticated tool for solid rocket internal flow predictions than is presently available, and can be useful in studying apparent anomalies and improving the simple correlations currently in use. The code can be used in the analysis of combustion efficiency, thermal load in the internal insulation, plume radiation, etc.

Sabnis, J. S.↗

Micromechanics of metal matrix composites using the Generalized Method of Cells model (GMC) user's guide

A user's guide for the program gmc.f is presented. The program is based on the generalized method of cells model (GMC) which is capable via a micromechanical analysis, of predicting the overall, inelastic behavior of unidirectional, multi-phase composites from the knowledge of the properties of the viscoplastic constituents. In particular, the program is sufficiently general to predict the response of unidirectional composites having variable fiber shapes and arrays.

Aboudi, Jacob↗

Effect of vaporization on cryogenic spray dropsize measurement

The fluid mechanics of multi-phase flow breakup of liquid nitrogen, LN2, jets injected into sonic velocity nitrogen gasflow, was experimentally investigated. A scattered-light scanning instrument was used to measure the characteristic dropsize, D(sub v.5), of LN2 sprays and to determine the effect of droplet vaporization on experimental dropsize measurements. Under sonic gas-velocity conditions, liquid-jet breakup occurred in the regime of aerodynamic stripping. As a result, the following correlation of volume-median drop diameter, D(sub v.5), with atomizing gas flowrate, W(sub g), was derived for two-fluid atomizers; with atomizing gas flowrate, W(sub g), was derived for two-fluid atomizers; (D(sub v.5))(exp -1) = k(sub c)(W(sub g))(sup n), where proportionally constant k(sub c) and exponent n are functions of droplet vaporization rate. Partially vaporized sprays were investigated and it was found that n = 1.11, which is considerably less than the value of 1.33 that is predicted by atomization theory. This was attributed to the evaporative loss of very small droplets. As a result, the following expression was obtained experimentally: (D(sub v.5e))(exp -1) = 301(W(sub g))(sup 1.11). Values of D(sub v.5), that existed prior to partial vaporization of the LN2 sprays, were calculated and the following expression was derived for originally unvaporized LN2 sprays: (D(sub v.5))(exp -1) = 285(W(sub g))(sup 1.33). This expression agrees well with atomization theory that predicts n = 1.33, for liquid jet breakup in high-velocity gasflow.

Ingebo, Robert D.↗

Reliable and Efficient Parallel Processing Algorithms and Architectures for Modern Signal Processing

Least-squares (LS) estimations and spectral decomposition algorithms constitute the heart of modern signal processing and communication problems. Implementations of recursive LS and spectral decomposition algorithms onto parallel processing architectures such as systolic arrays with efficient fault-tolerant schemes are the major concerns of this dissertation. There are four major results in this dissertation. First, we propose the systolic block Householder transformation with application to the recursive least-squares minimization. It is successfully implemented on a systolic array with a two-level pipelined implementation at the vector level as well as at the word level. Second, a real-time algorithm-based concurrent error detection scheme based on the residual method is proposed for the QRD RLS systolic array. The fault diagnosis, order degraded reconfiguration, and performance analysis are also considered. Third, the dynamic range, stability, error detection capability under finite-precision implementation, order degraded performance, and residual estimation under faulty situations for the QRD RLS systolic array are studied in details. Finally, we propose the use of multi-phase systolic algorithms for spectral decomposition based on the QR algorithm. Two systolic architectures, one based on triangular array and another based on rectangular array, are presented for the multiphase operations with fault-tolerant considerations. Eigenvectors and singular vectors can be easily obtained by using the multi-pase operations. Performance issues are also considered.

Liu, Kuojuey Ray↗

Global water cycle

This research is the MSFC component of a joint MSFC/Pennsylvania State University Eos Interdisciplinary Investigation on the global water cycle extension across the earth sciences. The primary long-term objective of this investigation is to determine the scope and interactions of the global water cycle with all components of the Earth system and to understand how it stimulates and regulates change on both global and regional scales. Significant accomplishments in the past year are presented and include the following: (1) water vapor variability; (2) multi-phase water analysis; (3) global modeling; and (4) optimal precipitation and stream flow analysis and hydrologic processes.

Robertson, Franklin↗

Subsonic High-Lift Flight Research on the NASA Transport System Research Vehicle (TSRV)

Flight tests are being conducted on the Transport Systems Research Vehicle (B737-100 aircraft) at the NASA Langley Research Center as part of a multi-phased research program to obtain detailed flow characteristics on a multi-element, high-lift flap system. Recent test results obtained for a full-chord wing section including the slat, main-wing, and flap elements are presented. In addition, program status and future plans are discussed. Pressure distributions were obtained using pressure belts over the slat, main-wing, and flap elements at one spanwise station. Test conditions included a range of flap deflections, chord Reynolds numbers (10 to 21 million), and Mach numbers (0.16 to 0.40). In addition to the pressure distributions, Preston-tube measurements on the slat upper surface indicated relaminarization of turbulent flows which were introduced by the pressure belt on the slat leading-edge surface. Comparisons of the in-flight pressure measurements with predictions from a two-dimensional, viscous multi-element method modified by simple-sweep theory showed reasonable agreement; however, the overprediction of pressures on the flap elements shows a need for better modeling of confluent boundary layers and inclusion of three-dimensional effects.

Flight Testing↗

Effect of vaporization on cryogenic spray dropsize measurement

The fluid mechanics of multi-phase flow breakup of liquid nitrogen, LN2, jets injected into sonic velocity nitrogen gasflow, was experimentally investigated. A scattered-light scanning instrument was used to measure the characteristic dropsize, D(sub v.5), of LN2 sprays and to determine the effect of droplet vaporization on experimental dropsize measurements. Under sonic gas-velocity conditions, liquid-jet breakup occurred in the regime of aerodynamic stripping. As a result, the following correlation of volume-median drop diameter, D(sub v.5), with atomizing gas flowrate, W(sub g), was derived for two-fluid atomizers: (D(sub v.5)) (exp -1) = k(sub c) (W(sub g)) (sup n), where proportionally constant k(sub c) and exponent n are functions of droplet vaporization rate. Partially vaporized sprays were investigated and it was found that n = 1.11, which is considerably less than the value of 1.33 that is predicted by atomization theory. This was attributed to the evaporative loss of very small droplets. As a result, the following expression was obtained experimentally: (D(sub v.5e)) (exp -1) = 301 (W(sub g)) (sub 1.11). Values of D(sub v.5), that existed prior to partial vaporization of the LN2 sprays, were calculated and the following expression was derived for originally unvaporized LN2 sprays: (D(sub v.5)) (exp -1) = 285 (W(sub g)) (sub 1.33). This expression agrees well with atomization theory that predicts n = 1.33, for liquid jet breakup in high-velocity gasflow.

Ingebo, Robert D.↗

Software reliability through fault-avoidance and fault-tolerance

Strategies and tools for the testing, risk assessment and risk control of dependable software-based systems were developed. Part of this project consists of studies to enable the transfer of technology to industry, for example the risk management techniques for safety-concious systems. Theoretical investigations of Boolean and Relational Operator (BRO) testing strategy were conducted for condition-based testing. The Basic Graph Generation and Analysis tool (BGG) was extended to fully incorporate several variants of the BRO metric. Single- and multi-phase risk, coverage and time-based models are being developed to provide additional theoretical and empirical basis for estimation of the reliability and availability of large, highly dependable software. A model for software process and risk management was developed. The use of cause-effect graphing for software specification and validation was investigated. Lastly, advanced software fault-tolerance models were studied to provide alternatives and improvements in situations where simple software fault-tolerance strategies break down.

Vouk, Mladen A.↗

The dregs of crystallization in Zagami

The Zagami shergottite is a basaltic meteorite which formed when a phenocryst-bearing lava flow was emplaced at or near the surface of Mars. Recently, a cm-sized olivine-rich lithology has been identified in Zagami by Mossbauer spectroscopy. Olivine is extremely rare in shergottites, particularly in Zagami and Shergotty, where it occurs only as minute grains. We report petrologic and microprobe studies of this olivine-rich lithology. This material represents the last few percent of melt and is highly enriched in phosphates, opaques and mesostases, all of which are late-stage crystallization products. Phosphates replaced augite as a phenocryst phase when the magma became saturated in P. This late stage melt also includes a fayalite-bearing, multi-phase intergrowth which crystallized after the melt became too rich in iron to crystallize pigeonite. We can now reconstruct the entire crystallization history of the Zagami shergottite from a deep-seated magma chamber to crystallization of the final few percent of melt in a near-surface dike or thick flow. Small pockets (tens of microns) of late-stage melt pockets are ubiquitous but volumetrically minor in Zagami. We do not know the physical relationship between these areas and the cm-sized olivine-rich material described here. It is possible that these small pockets were mobile, forming larger areas. Perhaps inspection of the entire hand specimen of Zagami would clarify this relationship.

Mccoy, T. J.↗

A coupled implicit solution method for turbulent spray combustion in propulsion systems

Many reacting flows in propulsion devices cannot be efficiently calculated by modern compressible flow CFD algorithms. Most low-speed reacting flow codes based on TEACH-type technologies are inefficient and lack robustness for complex flows. Tremendous progress has been made in high-speed compressible flow CFD in the past two decades; extending its application range to low-speed regimes is highly desirable. The objectives of this document is to present an efficient and robust algorithm for multi-phase chemically reacting flows at all speeds, with emphasis on low Mach number flows, and to calculate turbulent spray combustion flow in a gas turbine combustor.

Chen, K.-H.↗

Open Source Service Agent (OSSA) in the intelligence community's Open Source Architecture

The Community Open Source Program Office (COSPO) has developed an architecture for the intelligence community's new Open Source Information System (OSIS). The architecture is a multi-phased program featuring connectivity, interoperability, and functionality. OSIS is based on a distributed architecture concept. The system is designed to function as a virtual entity. OSIS will be a restricted (non-public), user configured network employing Internet communications. Privacy and authentication will be provided through firewall protection. Connection to OSIS can be made through any server on the Internet or through dial-up modems provided the appropriate firewall authentication system is installed on the client.

Fiene, Bruce F.↗

Computational simulation of liquid fuel rocket injectors

A major component of any liquid propellant rocket is the propellant injection system. Issues of interest include the degree of liquid vaporization and its impact on the combustion process, the pressure and temperature fields in the combustion chamber, and the cooling of the injector face and chamber walls. The Finite Difference Navier-Stokes (FDNS) code is a primary computational tool used in the MSFC Computational Fluid Dynamics Branch. The branch has dedicated a significant amount of resources to development of this code for prediction of both liquid and solid fuel rocket performance. The FDNS code is currently being upgraded to include the capability to model liquid/gas multi-phase flows for fuel injection simulation. An important aspect of this effort is benchmarking the code capabilities to predict existing experimental injection data. The objective of this MSFC/ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship term was to evaluate the capabilities of the modified FDNS code to predict flow fields with liquid injection. Comparisons were made between code predictions and existing experimental data. A significant portion of the effort included a search for appropriate validation data. Also, code simulation deficiencies were identified.

Landrum, D. Brian↗

Stochastic decision analysis

Small space flight project design at NASA Langley Research Center goes through a multi-phase process from preliminary analysis to flight operations. The process insures that each system achieves its technical objectives with demonstrated quality and within planned budgets and schedules. A key technical component of early phases is decision analysis, which is a structure procedure for determining the best of a number of feasible concepts based upon project objectives. Feasible system concepts are generated by the designers and analyzed for schedule, cost, risk, and technical measures. Each performance measure value is normalized between the best and worst values and a weighted average score of all measures is calculated for each concept. The concept(s) with the highest scores are retained, while others are eliminated from further analysis. This project automated and enhanced the decision analysis process. Automation of the decision analysis process was done by creating a user-friendly, menu-driven, spreadsheet macro based decision analysis software program. The program contains data entry dialog boxes, automated data and output report generation, and automated output chart generation. The enhancements to the decision analysis process permit stochastic data entry and analysis. Rather than enter single measure values, the designers enter the range and most likely value for each measure and concept. The data can be entered at the system or subsystem level. System level data can be calculated as either sum, maximum, or product functions of the subsystem data. For each concept, the probability distributions are approximated for each measure and the total score for each concept as either constant, triangular, normal, or log-normal distributions. Based on these distributions, formulas are derived for the probability that the concept meets any given constraint, the probability that the concept meets all constraints, and the probability that the concept is within a given amount of the best score. Formulas are also derived for the probability that one concept's total score is within a given amount of a second concept's total score. These probabilistic calculations provide more realistic data entry and output information for designers, enabling designers to better determine which concepts to eliminate and which concepts to retain at the decision points of each design phase.

Lacksonen, Thomas A.↗

Modeling of Bulk Evaporation and Condensation

This report describes the modeling and mathematical formulation of the bulk evaporation and condensation involved in liquid-vapor phase change processes. An internal energy formulation, for these phase change processes that occur under the constraint of constant volume, was studied. Compared to the enthalpy formulation, the internal energy formulation has a more concise and compact form. The velocity and time scales of the interface movement were obtained through scaling analysis and verified by performing detailed numerical experiments. The convection effect induced by the density change was analyzed and found to be negligible compared to the conduction effect. Two iterative methods for updating the value of the vapor phase fraction, the energy based (E-based) and temperature based (T-based) methods, were investigated. Numerical experiments revealed that for the evaporation and condensation problems the E-based method is superior to the T-based method in terms of computational efficiency. The internal energy formulation and the E-based method were used to compute the bulk evaporation and condensation processes under different conditions. The evolution of the phase change processes was investigated. This work provided a basis for the modeling of thermal performance of multi-phase nuclear fuel elements under variable gravity conditions, in which the buoyancy convection due to gravity effects and internal heating are involved.

Anghaie, S.↗

Choked flow effects in the NSI driven pin puller

This paper presents an analysis for pyrotechnic combustion and pin motion in the NASA Standard Initiator (NSI) actuated pin puller. The conservation principles and constitutive relations for a multi-phase system are posed and reduced to a set of eight ordinary differential equations which are solved to predict the system performance. The model tracks the interactions of the unreacted, incompressible solid pyrotechnic, incompressible condensed phase combustion products, and gas phase combustion products. The model accounts for multiple pyrotechnic grains, variable burn surface area, and combustion product mass flow rates through an orifice located within the device. Pressure-time predictions compare favorably with experimental data. Results showing model sensitivity to changes in the cross-sectional area of the orifice are presented.

Gonthier, Keith A.↗