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At least 595 records · Page 33
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1989

Measurements of print-through in graphite fiber epoxy composites

High-reflectance accurate-contour mirrors are needed for solar dynamic space power systems. Graphite fiber epoxy composites are attractive candidates for such applications owing to their high modulus, near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion, and low mass. However, mirrors prepared from graphite fiber epoxy composite substrates often exhibit print-through, a distortion of the surface, which causes a loss in solar specular reflectance. Efforts to develop mirror substrates without print-through distortion require a means of quantifying print-through. Methods have been developed to quantify the degree of print-through in graphite fiber epoxy composite specimens using surface profilometry.

Jaworske, Donald A.↗
NASA NTRS1934

Effect of the Surface Condition of a Wing on the Aerodynamic Characteristics of an Airplane

In order to determine the effect of the surface conditions of a wing on the aerodynamic characteristics of an airplane, tests were conducted in the N.A.C.A. full-scale wind tunnel on the Fairchild F-22 airplane first with normal commercial finish of wing surface and later with the same wing polished. Comparison of the characteristics of the airplane with the two surface conditions shows that the polish caused a negligible change in the lift curve, but reduced the minimum drag coefficient by 0.001. This reduction in drag if applied to an airplane with a given speed of 200 miles per hour and a minimum drag coefficient of 0.025 would increase the speed only 2.9 miles per hour, but if the speed remained the same, the power would be reduced 4 percent.

AIRPLANES - FAIRCHILD 22 (Amer ) WIND TUNNEL TEST↗
NASA NTRS1956

An analysis of air-turborocket engine performance including effects of component changes

An analytical study of the air-turborocket engine is presented, showing both full-power operation over a range of flight speeds and part-power operation at several supersonic speeds. Engine weight, drag, and area variations are calculated in addition to the internal thrust coefficient and specific impulse. Tehe effects of changes in the component designs and efficiencies are indicated. Maximum specific impulse (including nacelle drag and using gasoline - nitric acid propellants) at Mach 2.3 is 1500 lb/(lb/sec). The performance is compared with that of a typical turbojet engine.

Luidens, Roger W↗
NASA NTRS1994

Dynamic force response of spherical hydrostatic journal bearing for cryogenic applications

Hydrostatic Journal Bearings (HJB's) are reliable and resilient fluid film rotor support elements ideal to replace roller bearings in cryogenic turbomachinery. HJB' will be used for primary space-power applications due to their long lifetime, low friction and wear, large load capacity, large direct stiffness, and damping force coefficients. An analysis for the performance characteristics of turbulent flow, orifice compensated, spherical hydrostatic journal bearings (HJB's) is presented. Spherical bearings allow tolerance for shaft misalignment without force performance degradation and have also the ability to support axial loads. The spherical HJB combines these advantages to provide a bearing design which could be used efficiently on high performance turbomachinery. The motion of a barotropic liquid on the thin film bearing lands is described by bulk-flow mass and momentum equations. These equations are solved numerically using an efficient CFD method. Numerical predictions of load capacity and force coefficients for a 6 recess, spherical HJB in a LO2 environment are presented. Fluid film axial forces and force coefficients of a magnitude about 20% of the radial load capacity are predicted for the case analyzed. Fluid inertia effects, advective and centrifugal, are found to affect greatly the static and dynamic force performance of the bearing studied.

Sanandres, Luis↗
NASA NTRS1993

Experimental performance of a ventral nozzle with pitch and yaw vectoring capability for SSTOVL aircraft

Aircraft with supersonic, short takeoff and vertical landing capability have been proposed to replace some of the current high-performance aircraft. Several of these configurations use a ventral nozzle in the lower fuselage, aft of the center of gravity, for lift or pitch control. Internal vanes canted at 20 deg were added to a swivel-type ventral nozzle and tested at tailpipe to ambient pressure ratios up to 5.0 on the Powered Lift Facility at NASA Lewis Research Center. The addition of sets of four or seven vanes decreased the discharge coefficient of the nozzle by at least 6 percent and did not effect the thrust coefficient. Side force produced by the nozzle with vanes was 14 percent or more of the vertical force. In addition, this side force caused only a smalll loss in vertical force in comparison to the nozzle without vanes. The net thrust force was 8 deg from the vertical for four vanes and 10.5 deg for seven.

Esker, Barbara S.↗
NASA NTRS1996

ACTS (Advanced Communications Technology Satellite) Propagation Experiment: Preprocessing Software User's Manual

The preprocessing software manual describes the Actspp program originally developed to observe and diagnose Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) propagation terminal/receiver problems. However, it has been quite useful for automating the preprocessing functions needed to convert the terminal output to useful attenuation estimates. Prior to having data acceptable for archival functions, the individual receiver system must be calibrated and the power level shifts caused by ranging tone modulation must be received. Actspp provides three output files: the daylog, the diurnal coefficient file, and the file that contains calibration information.

Crane, Robert K.↗
NASA NTRS2013

20 K Helium Refrigeration System for NASA-JSC Chamber-A

A new 20 K helium refrigerator installed at NASA Johnson Space Center's Space Environment Simulation Laboratory (SESL) was successfully commissioned and tested in 2012. The refrigerator is used to create a deep space environment within SESL s Chamber A to perform ground testing of the James Webb Space Telescope. The chamber previously and currently still has helium cryopumping panels (CPP) and LN2 shrouds used to create Low Earth Orbit environments. Now with the new refrigerator and new helium shrouds (45 x 65 ) the chamber can create a deep space environment. The process design, system analysis, specification development, and commissioning oversight were performed by the cryogenics department at Jefferson Labs, while the contracts and system installation was performed by the ESC group at JSC. Commissioning data indicate a inverse coefficient of performance better than 70 W/W for a 18 KW load at 20 K (accounting for liquid nitrogen precooling power) that remains essentially constant down to 1/3 of this load. Even at 10 percent of the maximum capacity, the performance is better than 140 W/W at 20K. The refrigerator exceeded all design goals and demonstrated the ability to support a wide load range from 10kW at 15 K to 100 kW at 100K. The refrigerator is capable of operating at any load temperature from 15K to ambient with tight temperature stability. The new shroud (36 tons of aluminum) can be cooled from room temperature to 20 K in 24 hours. This paper will outline the process design and commissioning results.

Homan, J.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Stiffness and Damping Coefficient Estimation of Compliant Surface Gas Bearings for Oil-Free Turbomachinery

Foil gas bearings are a key technology in many commercial and emerging Oil-Free turbomachinery systems. These bearings are non-linear and have been difficult to analytically model in terms of performance characteristics such as load capacity, power loss, stiffness and damping. Previous investigations led to an empirically derived method, a rule-of-thumb, to estimate load capacity. This method has been a valuable tool in system development. The current paper extends this tool concept to include rules for stiffness and damping coefficient estimation. It is expected that these rules will further accelerate the development and deployment of advanced Oil-Free machines operating on foil gas bearings

DellaCorte, Christopher↗
NASA NTRS1988

Rarefied-flow pitching moment coefficient measurements of the Shuttle Orbiter

An overview of the process for obtaining the Shuttle Orbiter rarefied-flow pitching moment from flight gyro data is presented. The extraction technique involves differentiation of the output of the pitch gyro after accounting for nonaerodynamic torques, such as those produced by gravity gradient and the Orbiter's auxiliary power unit and adjusting for drift biases. The overview of the extraction technique includes examples of results from each of the steps involved in the process, using the STS-32 mission as a typical sample case. The total pitching moment and moment coefficient (Cm) for that flight are calculated and compared with preflight predictions. The flight results show the anticipated decrease in Cm with increasing altitude. However, the total moment coefficient is less than predicted using preflight estimates.

Blanchard, R. C.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Low-speed power effects on advanced fighter configurations with two-dimensional deflected thrust

Wind-tunnel studies at the Langley Research Center have shown that significant increases in maximum lift coefficient and stability and decreases in drag due to lift are obtained when two-dimensional vectored thrust is used in conjuction with a close-coupled canard. The configuration tested was somewhat above the theoretical minimum drag due to lift because of the sharp leading edge on the biconvex airfoil used on the wing and canard. An effort to design a new configuration which will approach the minimum drag due to lift while maintaining high-lift configurations was completed. The resulting model will incorporate a realistic planform, airfoil section, and twist for a transonic maneuvering configuration.

Paulson, J. W., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Multipole moments of stellar oscillation modes

The oscillating mass 2(exp l)-pole moment, M(sub nl), of a star in a given (normalized) oscillation mode determines the energy that can be absorbed by the mode in a tidal interaction and the power radiated by the mode in gravitational waves, both of which are proportional to (absolute value of M(sub nl))(exp 2). The coefficients in the expansion of the vector fields del(r(exp l)Y(sub lm)(theta, phi)) in terms of the displacement fields of modes of given l and m are proportional to M(sub nl). This expansion leads to a sum rule sum over n(absolute value of M(sub nl))(exp 2) = constant. For stars of weak to moderate central condensation (such as neutron stars), the f-mode is well approximated by the vector field being expanded, and therefore it takes the lion's share of the sum. Thus the multipole moments of all other modes must be small. In there numerical evaluation, it is necessary to know the shape of the eigenfunctions quite precisly, since a small f-mode contamination can significantly increase the obtained values. This contamination occurs in some `hybrid' numerical computations of neutron star oscillations with relativistic equilibrium stars and Newtonian dynamics (e.g., McDermott et al. 1988). In this case, it is due to a slight inconsistency in the models and leads to a large overestimate of the power radiated in gravitational waves by modes other than the f-mode, although their oscillation periods are nearly unaffected.

Reisenegger, Andreas↗
NASA NTRS1993

Nonlinear aerodynamic modeling using multivariate orthogonal functions

A technique was developed for global modeling of nonlinear aerodynamic coefficients using multivariate orthogonal functions based on the data. Each orthogonal function retained in the model was decomposed into an expansion of ordinary polynomials in the independent variables, so that the final model could be interpreted as selectively retained terms from a multivariable power series expansion. A predicted squared-error metric was used to determine the orthogonal functions to be retained in the model; analytical derivatives were easily computed. The approach was demonstrated on the Z-body axis aerodynamic force coefficient (Cz) wind tunnel data for an F-18 research vehicle which came from a tabular wind tunnel and covered the entire subsonic flight envelope. For a realistic case, the analytical model predicted experimental values of Cz very well. The modeling technique is shown to be capable of generating a compact, global analytical representation of nonlinear aerodynamics. The polynomial model has good predictive capability, global validity, and analytical differentiability.

Morelli, Eugene A.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Evaluating the Performance of Hybrid Vehicles between LEO, Cislunar Space, and Mars

Nuclear power and electric propulsion technologies can enable a broad range of existing and future space mission concepts. This paper evaluates how these two technology classes, when combined into systems with various performance levels (and paired with a chemical propulsion system) affect vehicle sizing and mission feasibility for round-trip, opposition-class, crewed missions to Mars. The technology trade-space evaluated in this paper encompasses: various nuclear power system mass-efficiency levels (or power-specific mass), a range of output power levels available to the electric propulsion system, two electric propulsion thruster technologies (Hall and Magnetoplasmadynamic) at various characteristic specific impulse levels, and a range of propellant tank mass sizing coefficient. Each combination of the technologies is evaluated for the 2039 and the 2042 Mars mission opportunities for a range of imposed total mission duration constraints. The results show that synergies between technology performance levels exist and that increasing the performance of some parameters might have undesired consequences for the trajectory and vehicle. It was found that increasing the mass-efficiency of the nuclear power system is broadly beneficial, resulting in lower vehicle masses and enabling shorter mission durations. However, increasing the specific impulse of a thruster or increasing the available power level do not always yield a net benefit to the vehicle or mission; since increasing the specific impulse or power level (holding power system mass-efficiency constant) tends to decrease the vehicle thrust-to-mass ratio. Furthermore, the results show that mission feasibility is highly dependent on the mission duration; the required technology performance level to enable a mission is relaxed as the mission duration increases. Given the optimally sized vehicles resulting from the trade-space for a crewed mission to Mars, this paper also evaluates the impact of aggregating the Mars mission vehicle in Low-Earth Orbit and transferring it to the Mars mission departure node (using the on-board power and propulsion systems). The trade-space for this portion of the analysis includes the option of in-space vehicle refueling at the Mars mission departure node. The results show that on-orbit refueling can relax the required technology performance levels to achieve lower launch masses and orbit-raising durations at the cost of increased architecture complexity and risk.

Nuclear Electric Propulsion↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Feasibility Study for Simultaneous Measurements of Water Vapor and Precipitation Parameters using a Three-frequency Radar

The radar return powers from a three-frequency radar, with center frequency at 22.235 GHz and upper and lower frequencies chosen with equal water vapor absorption coefficients, can be used to estimate water vapor density and parameters of the precipitation. A linear combination of differential measurements between the center and lower frequencies on one hand and the upper and lower frequencies on the other provide an estimate of differential water vapor absorption. The coupling between the precipitation and water vapor estimates is generally weak but increases with bandwidth and the amount of non-Rayleigh scattering of the hydrometeors. The coupling leads to biases in the estimates of water vapor absorption that are related primarily to the phase state and the median mass diameter of the hydrometeors. For a down-looking radar, path-averaged estimates of water vapor absorption are possible under rain-free as well as raining conditions by using the surface returns at the three frequencies. Simulations of the water vapor attenuation retrieval show that the largest source of error typically arises from the variance in the measured radar return powers. Although the error can be mitigated by a combination of a high pulse repetition frequency, pulse compression, and averaging in range and time, the radar receiver must be stable over the averaging period. For fractional bandwidths of 20% or less, the potential exists for simultaneous measurements at the three frequencies with a single antenna and transceiver, thereby significantly reducing the cost and mass of the system.

Meneghini, R.↗
NASA NTRS1969

Testing the Fraunhofer line discriminator by sensing fluorescent dye

The experimental Fraunhofer Line Discriminator (FLD) has detected increments of Rhodamine WT dye as small as 1 ppb in 1/2 meter depths. It can be inferred that increments considerably smaller than 1 ppb will be detectable in depths considerably greater than 1/2 meter. Turbidity of the water drastically reduces luminescence or even completely blocks the transmission of detectable luminescence to the FLD. Attenuation of light within the water by turbidity and by the dye itself are the major factors to be considered in interpreting FLD records and in relating luminescence coefficient to dye concentration. An airborne test in an H-19 helicopter established feasibility of operating the FLD from the aircraft power supply, and established that the rotor blades do not visibly affect the monitoring of incident solar radiation.

Stoertz, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1972

Measurements of O(1 D) quenching rates in the F-region

In-situ determinations of the quenching of O(1 D) atoms by N2 and O2 molecules were made from observations of 6300 A nightglow intensity enhancements produced by the Platteville 1.6 MW transmitter. The heating of F-region electrons near the point of reflection of the RF wave leads to electron impact excitation of oxygen atoms to the O(1 D) state. It is shown that the resulting region of enhance 6300 A emission is localized to the region of electron energy absorption for heating at the lower altitudes. At 225 km the measured time constants for intensity buildup following transmitter turn-on and for intensity decay following turn-off are identical and equal to (13 plus or minus 1) sec. Time constants varying from 30 to 80 sec are found for the altitude range 260 to 300 km. The inferred quenching coefficient for the whole altitude range, 225 to 300 km, is 4.4 + 2 or - 1 x 10 to the minus 11th power cu cm/sec at 950 K, in good agreement with laboratory data. The quenching frequency obtained at 225 km, when referred to the altitude 120 km, is equal to (21 plus or minus 2)/sec, in agreement with less direct ionospheric determinations.

Sipler, D. P.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A description and some measured acoustic characteristics of the Langley 220 cubic meter reverberation chamber

An initial acoustic calibration was performed for the NASA Langley Research Center reverberation chamber located on the aircraft Noise Reduction Laboratory. The physical characteristics of the chamber and measured data for the ambient acoustic levels, reverberation times, reflection coefficients, the spatial uniformity of acoustic energy as measured in the 1/3-octave bands from 40 Hz to 10 KHz and acoustic power levels of a standard source are described. Measured power levels compared very well with those published for the ILG standard source. The measured data indicate that for broadband noise fields, the reverberation room has acceptable acoustic performance in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 8 KHz.

Mueller, A. W.↗
NASA NTRS1975

A quantitative magnetospheric model derived from spacecraft magnetometer data

The model is derived by making least squares fits to magnetic field measurements from four Imp satellites. It includes four sets of coefficients, representing different degrees of magnetic disturbance as determined by the range of Kp values. The data are fit to a power series expansion in the solar magnetic coordinates and the solar wind-dipole tilt angle, and thus the effects of seasonal north-south asymmetries are contained. The expansion is divergence-free, but unlike the usual scalar potential expansion, the model contains a nonzero curl representing currents distributed within the magnetosphere. The latitude at the earth separating open polar cap field lines from field lines closing on the day side is about 5 deg lower than that determined by previous theoretically derived models. At times of high Kp, additional high-latitude field lines extend back into the tail. Near solstice, the separation latitude can be as low as 75 deg in the winter hemisphere. The average northward component of the external field is much smaller than that predicted by theoretical models; this finding indicates the important effects of distributed currents in the magnetosphere.

Mead, G. D.↗