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NASA NTRS1987

Sulfur in vacuum - Sublimation effects on frozen melts, and applications to Io's surface and torus

Vacuum sublimation effects on solid sulfur yield a form of the element that is white at room temperature, is fluffy in texture, and forms on frozen sulfur in vacuum through differential evaporation of molecular species in the solid. This vacuum sulfur should exist in large quantity on Io, if the solid free sulfur there has solidified from a melt; a sulfur volcanism model for Io is accordingly developed on this basis which implies that the color and spectra of different sulfur regions of Io could indicate their relative crystallization ages and cooling histories. The flux of sublimating hotspot sulfur appears consistent with estimated turnover rates of the Io surface.

Nash, Douglas B.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Studying Turbulence Using Numerical Simulation Databases: Proceedings of the Summer Program - No. 7

The Seventh Summer Program of the Center for Turbulence Research took place in the four-week period, July 5 to July 31, 1998. This was the largest CTR Summer Program to date, involving thirty-six participants from the U. S. and nine other countries. Thirty-one Stanford and NASA-Ames staff members facilitated and contributed to most of the Summer projects. A new feature, and perhaps a preview of the future programs, was that many of the projects were executed on non-NASA computers. These included supercomputers located in Europe as well as those operated by the Departments of Defense and Energy in the United States. In addition, several simulation programs developed by the visiting participants at their home institutions were used. Another new feature was the prevalence of lap-top personal computers which were used by several participants to carry out some of the work that in the past were performed on desk-top workstations. We expect these trends to continue as computing power is enhanced and as more researchers (many of whom CTR alumni) use numerical simulations to study turbulent flows. CTR's main role continues to be in providing a forum for the study of turbulence for engineering analysis and in facilitating intellectual exchange among the leading researchers in the field. Once again the combustion group was the largest. Turbulent combustion has enjoyed remarkable progress in using simulations to address increasingly complex and practically more relevant questions. The combustion group's studies included such challenging topics as fuel evaporation, soot chemistry, and thermonuclear reactions. The latter study was one of three projects related to the Department of Energy's ASCI Program (www.llnl.gov/asci); the other two (rocket propulsion and fire safety) were carried out in the turbulence modeling group. The flow control and acoustics group demonstrated a successful application of the so-called evolution algorithms which actually led to a previously unknown forcing strategy for jets yielding increased spreading rate. A very efficient algorithm for flow in complex geometries with moving boundaries based on the immersed boundary forcing technique was tested with very encouraging results. Also a new strategy for the destruction of aircraft trailing vortices was introduced and tested. The Reynolds Averaged Modeling (RANS) group demonstrated that the elliptic relaxation concept for RANS calculations is also applicable to transonic flows with shocks; however, prediction of laminar/turbulent transition remains an important pacing item. A large fraction of the LES effort was devoted to the development and testing of a new algorithmic procedure (as opposed to phenomenological model) for subgrid scale modeling based on regularized de-filtering of the flow variables. This appears to be a very promising approach, and a significant effort is currently underway to assess its robustness in high Reynolds number flows and in conjunction with numerical methods for complex flows. As part of the Summer Program two review tutorials were given on Turbulent structures in hydrocarbon pool fires (Sheldon Tieszen), and Turbulent combustion modeling: from RANS to LES via DNS (Luc Vervisch); and two seminars entitled Assessment of turbulence models for engineering applications (Paul Durbin) and Subgrid-scale modeling for non-premixed, turbulent reacting flows (James Riley) were presented. A number of colleagues from universities, government agencies, and industry attended the final presentations of the participants on July 31 and participated in the discussions. There are twenty-six papers in this volume grouped in five areas. Each group is preceded with an overview by its coordinator.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2004

Photoevaporating Disks Around Young Stars

Ultraviolet radiation from the central star or from a nearby massive star heats the surfaces of protoplanetary disks and causes the outer, less gravitationally bound part of the disks, to photoevaporate into interstellar space. Photoevaporation is likely the most important dispersal mechanism for the outer regions of disks. We focus in this talk on disks around low-mass stars like the Sun rather than high-mass stars, which we have treated previously. Stars often form in clusters and the ultraviolet flux from the most luminous star in the cluster can have a dramatic effect on the disk orbiting a nearby low-mass star. We apply our theoretical models to the evaporating protoplanetary disks (or "proplyds") in the Trapezium cluster in Orion, to the formation of gas giant planets like Jupiter around Sun-like stars in the Galaxy, and to the formation of Kuiper belts around low mass stars. We discuss recent models of the effects of the radiation from the central low mass star including both the predicted infrared spectra from the heated disks as well as preliminary results on the photoevaporation rates.

Hollenbach, David↗

NASA NTRS2016

Thermal Ablation Modeling for Silicate Materials

A thermal ablation model for silicates is proposed. The model includes the mass losses through the balance between evaporation and condensation, and through the moving molten layer driven by surface shear force and pressure gradient. This model can be applied in ablation simulations of the meteoroid or glassy Thermal Protection Systems for spacecraft. Time-dependent axi-symmetric computations are performed by coupling the fluid dynamics code, Data-Parallel Line Relaxation program, with the material response code, Two-dimensional Implicit Thermal Ablation simulation program, to predict the mass lost rates and shape change. For model validation, the surface recession of fused amorphous quartz rod is computed, and the recession predictions reasonably agree with available data. The present parametric studies for two groups of meteoroid earth entry conditions indicate that the mass loss through moving molten layer is negligibly small for heat-flux conditions at around 1 MW/cm(exp. 2).

Ablators↗

NASA NTRS1984

Chromium silicide formation by ion mixing

The formation of CrSi2 by ion mixing was studied as a function of temperature, silicide thickness and irradiated interface. Samples were prepared by annealing evaporated couples of Cr on Si and Si on Cr at 450 C for short times to form Si/CrSi2/Cr sandwiches. Xenon beams with energies up to 300 keV and fluences up to 8 x 10 to the 15th per sq cm were used for mixing at temperatures between 20 and 300 C. Penetrating only the Cr/CrSi2 interface at temperatures above 150 C induces further growth of the silicide as a uniform stoichiometric layer. The growth rate does not depend on the thickness of the initially formed silicide at least up to a thickness of 150 nm. The amount of growth depends linearly on the density of energy deposited at the interface. The growth is temperature dependent with an apparent activation energy of 0.2 eV. Irradiating only through the Si/CrSi2 interface does not induce silicide growth. It is concluded that the formation of CrSi2 by ion beam mixing is an interface-limited process and that the limiting reaction occurs at the Cr/CrSi2 interface.

Shreter, U.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Ignition and Combustion of Bulk Metals in a Microgravity Environment

This annual report summarizes the latest results obtained in a NASA-supported project to investigate the effect of gravity on the ignition and combustion of bulk metals. The experimental arrangement used for this purpose consists of a 1000-W xenon lamp that irradiates the top surface of cylindrical titanium and magnesium specimens, 4 mm in diameter and 4 mm in height, in a quiescent, pure-oxygen environment at 1 atm. Reduced gravity is obtained from the NASA LeRC DC-9 aircraft flying parabolic trajectories. Values of critical and ignition temperatures are obtained from thermocouple records. Qualitative observations and propagation rates are extracted from high-speed cinematography. Emission spectra of gas-phase reactions are obtained with an imaging spectrograph/diode array system. It was found that high applied heating rates and large internal conduction losses generate critical and ignition temperatures that are several hundred degrees above the values obtained from isothermal experiments. Because of high conduction and radiation heat losses, no appreciable effect on ignition temperatures with reduced convection in low gravity is detected. Lower propagation rates of the molten interface on titanium and of ignition waves on magnesium are obtained at reduced gravity. These rates are compared to theoretical results from heat conduction analyses with a diffusion/convection controlled reaction. The close agreement found between experimental and theoretical values indicates the importance of the influence of natural convection-enhanced oxygen transport on combustion rates. Lower oxygen flux and lack of oxide product removal in the absence of convective currents appear to be responsible for longer burning times of magnesium diffusion flames at reduced gravity. The accumulation of condensed oxide particles in the flame front at low gravity produces a previously unreported unsteady explosion phenomenon in bulk magnesium flames. This spherically symmetric explosion phenomenon seems to be driven by increased radiation heat transfer from the flame front to an evaporating metal core covered by a porous, flexible oxide coating. These important results have revealed the significant role of gravity on the burning of metals, and are now being used as the database for future experiments to be conducted with different metals at various pressures, oxygen concentrations and gravity levels.

Branch, M. C.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Thermal Ablation Modeling for Silicate Materials

A general thermal ablation model for silicates is proposed. The model includes the mass losses through the balance between evaporation and condensation, and through the moving molten layer driven by surface shear force and pressure gradient. This model can be applied in the ablation simulation of the meteoroid and the glassy ablator for spacecraft Thermal Protection Systems. Time-dependent axisymmetric computations are performed by coupling the fluid dynamics code, Data-Parallel Line Relaxation program, with the material response code, Two-dimensional Implicit Thermal Ablation simulation program, to predict the mass lost rates and shape change. The predicted mass loss rates will be compared with available data for model validation, and parametric studies will also be performed for meteoroid earth entry conditions.

Ablation↗

NASA NTRS2006

Life Test Approach for Refractory Metal/Sodium Heat Pipes

Heat pipe life tests described in the literature have seldom been conducted on a systematic basis. Typically one or more heat pipes are built and tested for an extended period at a single temperature with simple condenser loading. This paper describes an approach to generate carefully controlled data that can conclusively establish heat pipe operating life with material-fluid combinations capable of extended operation. Approximately 10 years of operational life might be compressed into 3 years of laboratory testing through a combination of increased temperature and mass fluence. Two specific test series have been identified and include: investigation of long term corrosion rates based on the guidelines contained in ASTM G-68-80 (using 7 heat pipes); and investigation of corrosion trends in a cross correlation sequence at various temperatures and mass fluences based on a central composite test design (using 9 heat pipes). The heat pipes selected for demonstration purposes are fabricated from a Mo-44.5%Re alloy with a length of 0.3 meters and a diameter of 1.59 cm(to conserve material) with a condenser to evaporator length ratio of approximately 3. The wick is a crescent annular design formed from 400-mesh Mo-Re alloy material hot isostatically pressed to produce a final wick core of 20 microns or less.

Martin, James J.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Upwelling at the ice edge - A mechanism for deep water formation?

This study sets forward a hypothesis which anticipates deep water formation due to ice edge upwelling. The upwelling can raise thermocline waters (the lower Arctic Intermediate Water) to the surface or near it, where the water is exposed to cooling, evaporation, mixing, and oxygenation. Thus, upwelling can act as a preconditioning mechanism for deep convection. The conjecture would also explain the salinity range of the Greenland Sea Deep Water if the upper and lower Arctic Intermediate Water masses are mixed so that the latter has at least an 80-percent contribution. It is also anticipated that the convection events induced by ice edge upwelling during winter season could give rise to a new deep water annual production rate consistent with observations.

Hakkinen, Sirpa↗

NASA NTRS2003

Global Changes of the Water Cycle Intensity

In this study, we evaluate numerical simulations of the twentieth century climate, focusing on the changes in the intensity of the global water cycle. A new diagnostic of atmospheric water vapor cycling rate is developed and employed, that relies on constituent tracers predicted at the model time step. This diagnostic is compared to a simplified traditional calculation of cycling rate, based on monthly averages of precipitation and total water content. The mean sensitivity of both diagnostics to variations in climate forcing is comparable. However, the new diagnostic produces systematically larger values and more variability than the traditional average approach. Climate simulations were performed using SSTs of the early (1902-1921) and late (1979- 1998) twentieth century along with the appropriate C02 forcing. In general, the increase of global precipitation with the increases in SST that occurred between the early and late twentieth century is small. However, an increase of atmospheric temperature leads to a systematic increase in total precipitable water. As a result, the residence time of water in the atmosphere increased, indicating a reduction of the global cycling rate. This result was explored further using a number of 50-year climate simulations from different models forced with observed SST. The anomalies and trends in the cycling rate and hydrologic variables of different GCMs are remarkably similar. The global annual anomalies of precipitation show a significant upward trend related to the upward trend of surface temperature, during the latter half of the twentieth century. While this implies an increase in the hydrologic cycle intensity, a concomitant increase of total precipitable water again leads to a decrease in the calculated global cycling rate. An analysis of the land/sea differences shows that the simulated precipitation over land has a decreasing trend while the oceanic precipitation has an upward trend consistent with previous studies and the available observations. The decreasing continental trend in precipitation is located primarily over tropical land regions, with some other regions, such as North America experiencing an increasing trend. Precipitation trends are diagnosed further using the water tracers to delineate the precipitation that occurs because of continental evaporation, as opposed to oceanic evaporation. These diagnostics show that over global land areas, the recycling of continental moisture is decreasing in time. However, the recycling changes are not spatially uniform so that some regions, most notably over the United States, experience continental recycling of water that increases in time.

Bosilovich, Michael G.↗

NASA NTRS2012

Dissolution of Olivine, Siderite, and Basalt at 80 Deg C in 0.1 M H2SO4 in a Flow Through Process: Insights into Acidic Weathering on Mars

The occurrence of jarosite, other sulfates (e.g., Mg-and Ca-sulfates), and hematite along with silicic-lastic materials in outcrops of sedimentary materials at Meridiani Planum (MP) and detection of silica rich deposits in Gusev crater, Mars, are strong indicators of local acidic aqueous processes [1,2,3,4,5]. The formation of sediments at Meridiani Planum may have involved the evaporation of fluids derived from acid weathering of Martian basalts and subsequent diagenesis [6,7]. Also, our previous work on acid weathering of basaltic materials in a closed hydro-thermal system was focused on the mineralogy of the acid weathering products including the formation of jarosite and gray hematite spherules [8,9,10]. The object of this re-search is to extend our earlier qualitative work on acidic weathering of rocks to determine acidic dissolution rates of Mars analog basaltic materials at 80 C using a flow-thru reactor. We also characterized residual phases, including poorly crystalline or amorphous phases and precipitates, that remained after the treatments of olivine, siderite, and basalt which represent likely MP source rocks. This study is a stepping stone for a future simulation of the formation of MP rocks under a range of T and P.

Golden, D. C.↗

NASA NTRS2016

MEMS Reaction Control and Maneuvering for Picosat Beyond LEO

The MEMS Reaction Control and Maneuvering for Picosat Beyond LEO project will further develop a multi-functional small satellite technology for low-power attitude control, or orientation, of picosatellites beyond low Earth orbit (LEO). The Film-Evaporation MEMS Tunable Array (FEMTA) concept initially developed in 2013, is a thermal valving system which utilizes capillary forces in a microchannel to offset internal pressures in a bulk fluid. The local vapor pressure is increased by resistive film heating until it exceeds meniscus strength in a nozzle which induces vacuum boiling and provides a stagnation pressure equal to vapor pressure at that point which is used for propulsion. Interplanetary CubeSats can utilize FEMTA for high slew rate attitude corrections in addition to desaturating reaction wheels. The FEMTA in cooling mode can be used for thermal control during high-power communication events, which are likely to accompany the attitude correction. Current small satellite propulsion options are limited to orbit correction whereas picosatellites are lacking attitude control thrusters. The available attitude control systems are either quickly saturated reaction wheels or movable high drag surfaces with long response times.

Low-power attitude control↗

NASA NTRS1995

Intercomparison of hydrologic processes in global climate models

In this report, we address the intercomparison of precipitation (P), evaporation (E), and surface hydrologic forcing (P-E) for 23 Atmospheric Model Intercomparison Project (AMIP) general circulation models (GCM's) including relevant observations, over a variety of spatial and temporal scales. The intercomparison includes global and hemispheric means, latitudinal profiles, selected area means for the tropics and extratropics, ocean and land, respectively. In addition, we have computed anomaly pattern correlations among models and observations for different seasons, harmonic analysis for annual and semiannual cycles, and rain-rate frequency distribution. We also compare the joint influence of temperature and precipitation on local climate using the Koeppen climate classification scheme.

Lau, W. K.-M.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Efficient solar cells by space processing

Thin films of electron beam evaporated silicon were deposited on molybdenum, tantalum, tungsten and molybdenum disilicide under ultrahigh vacuum conditions. Mass spectra from a quadrapole residual gas analyzer were used to determine the partial pressure of 13 residual gases during each processing step. Surface contamination and interdiffusion were monitored by in situ Auger electron spectrometry. The presence of phosphorus in the silicon was responsible for attaining elevated temperatures with silicide formations. Heteroepitaxial silicon growth was sensitive to the presence of oxygen during deposition, the rate and length of deposition as well as the substrate orientation.

Schmidt, F. A.↗

NASA NTRS1993

What is new about the new Comet Yanaka (1988r)?

A deficiency in the observed abundances of C2 and CN in Comet Yanaka (1988r) is explained in terms of the properties of its organic refractory dust component and the fact that it is a new comet. Because the major fraction of the carbon in comets is in a mixture of complex organic molecules which earlier explained the 'missing' carbon mystery it is shown that substantial carbon depletions are impossible. The low C2 and CN production rates may be understood as consequences of Yanaka (1988r) being a new comet in combination with the small central area of coma observed. The surface of new comets resulting from cosmic-ray processing in the Oort cloud gives rise to dust which is relatively nonfragile and which remains relatively large and cool within the limits of a small diaphragm making the comet appear to be dust poor. This dust yields smaller abundances of carbon-rich species by evaporation than customary for the smaller and hotter fragmented particles further out in the coma.

Greenberg, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS2000

Development of a Battery-Free Solar Refrigerator

Recent technology developments and a systems engineering design approach have led to the development of a practical battery-free solar refrigerator as a spin-off of NASA's aerospace refrigeration research. Off-grid refrigeration is a good application of solar photovoltaic (PV) power if thermal storage is incorporated and a direct connection is made between the cooling system and the PV panel. This was accomplished by integrating water as a phase-change material into a well insulated refrigerator cabinet and by developing a microprocessor based control system that allows direct connection of a PV panel to a variable speed compressor. This second innovation also allowed peak power-point tracking from the PV panel and elimination of batteries from the system. First a laboratory unit was developed to prove the concept and then a commercial unit was produced and deployed in a field test. The laboratory unit was used to test many different configurations including thermoelectric, Stirling and vapor compression cooling systems. The final configuration used a vapor compression cooling cycle, vacuum insulation, a passive condenser, an integral evaporator/ thermal storage tank, two 77 watt PV panels and the novel controller mentioned above. The system's only moving part was the variable speed BD35 compressor made by Danfoss. The 365 liter cabinet stayed cold with as little as 274 watt-hours per day average PV power. Battery-free testing was conducted for several months with very good results. The amount of thermal storage, size of compressor and power of PV panels connected can all be adjusted to optimize the design for a given application and climate. In the commercial unit, the high cost of the vacuum insulated refrigerator cabinet and the stainless steel thermal storage tank were addressed in an effort to make the technology commercially viable. This unit started with a 142 liter, mass-produced chest freezer cabinet that had the evaporator integrated into its inner walls. Its compressor was replaced with a Danfoss DC compressor slightly larger than the one used in the laboratory unit. The control system was integrated onto a single electronics card and packaged with its starting capacitors. The water for thermal storage was placed behind a liner that was made to fit inside the original factory liner. The original condenser was also augmented with additional surface area to improve performance. PV panels with a total rated power of 180 watts were used. The unit was tested with very successful results in an outside ambient environment, demonstrating its potential for widespread use in many off-grid applications for solar refrigeration.

Ewert, Michael K.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Acid dew and the role of chemistry in the dry deposition of reactive gases to wetted surfaces

A formalism is developed to describe the dry deposition of soluble reactive gases to wetted surfaces in terms of the relevant meteorological conditions, the surface roughness, the total amount of liquid water present on the surface, the rate of accumulation of this water, and the species' solubility and reactivity in the surface water. This formulation is then incorporated into a model designed to simulate the generation of acidic dew from the deposition of HNO3, SO2, S(IV) oxidants, H2O2, and O3. Similar to the observations of dew in the continental U.S., the model generates a dewdrop pH of about 4 by the end of the night; the pH can rapidly fall to toxic levels due to rapid evaporation after sunrise. Relatively low deposition velocities are predicted for the SO2 and O3 because of their lower solubilities and hence larger surface resistances than those of the other oxidants. Because the chemical lifetime of the SO2 in the dew is influenced by the atmospheric levels of H2O2, O3, and SO2, the SO2 deposition velocity is a strong function of these species' atmospheric abundances.

Chameides, William L.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Photoevaporation of Disks Around Young Stars

Young massive stars produce sufficient Lyman continuum luminosity phi to have a significant effect on the structure and evolution of the accretion disks surrounding diem. We show that inside a critical disk radius r(sub g), an isothermal 10(exp 4) K atmosphere forms with a scale height that increases with r(sup3/2) for r less than or equal to r(sub g). For r less than or equal to r(sub g), the diffuse field caused by hydrogen recombinations to the ground state in the atmosphere produces a steadily evaporating disk. The mass loss from this outer region of the disk is of order 10(exp -5) Mo/yr phi(sub 49)1/2, where phi(sub 49) is defined as phi/10(exp 49) photons/s. The mass loss has two important consequences. First, the slow (10-50 km/s) wind that results may explain the long life of unresolved ultracompact HII regions. Secondly, the dependence on phi implies that accretion through the disk onto the star will be quenched once the photoevaporation rate exceeds the accretion rate. This may act to limit the mass of the forming star.

Hollenbach, David↗