Experimental Investigation of Modified Cast-cored Blades Having Hollow Tip Sections
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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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This article describes how ELMs (emulsion liquid membranes) can be used for extraction. The article addresses the disadvantages of ELM extraction in a stirred contactor, and the advantages of SELMs (supported emulsion liquid membranes). The introduction of the article provides background information on liquid-liquid solvent extraction and dispersion-free solvent extraction.
Hot-section components of spacecraft engines are exposed to severe thermal-structural loading conditions, especially during the startup and shutdown portions of the engine cycle. For instance, the thermal transient during startup within the space shuttle main engine (SSME) can lead to a gas temperatures in excess of 3000 C, affecting the operating life of key components, such as the turbine blades. To improve the durability of these components and in particular the turbine blade, single crystal superalloys have been considered. PWA-1480, a nickel-base superalloy, has been used as the turbine blade material for the Alternate Turbopump Development (ATD) program for the SSME.
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The successful performance of the NSTAR ion thruster in Deep Space 1 mission, coupled with the recently completed 30,032 hour life test of the flight spare thruster, has accelerated with the implementation of electric propulsion in NASA missions.
This paper summarizes the development of reservoir cathodes for the 20 kWe NEXIS ion thruster. It includes results of performance testing, thermal characterization and preliminary wear testing.
In order to understand the cathode and keeper wear observed during the Extended Life Test (ELT) of the DS1 flight spare NSTAR thruster and provide benchmarking data for a 2D cathode/cathode-plume model, a basic understanding of the plasma and neutral gas parameters in the cathode orifice and keeper region of the cathode plume must be obtained. The JPL cathode facility is instrumented with an array of Langmuir probe diagnostics along with an optical diagnostic to measure line intensity of xenon neutrals. In order to make direct comparisons with the present model, a flat plate anode arrangement was installed for these tests. Neutral density is deduced from the scanning probe data of the plasma parameters and the measured xenon line intensity in the optical regime. The Langmuir probes are scanned both axially, out to 7.0 cm downstream of the keeper, and radially to obtain 2D profile of the plasma parameters. The optical fiber is housed in a collimating stainless steel tube, and is scanned to view across the cathode plume along cuts in front of the keeper with a resolution of 1.5 mm. The radial intensities are unfolded using the Abel inversion technique that produces radial profiles of local neutral density. In this paper, detailed measurements of the plasma parameters and the local neutral densities will be presented in the cathode/keeper plume region for a 1.5 cm diameter NEXIS cathode at 25A of discharge current at several different strengths of applied magnetic field.
A method of constructing a nozzle having cooling channels comprises a shell and a liner which are formed into a body of revolution having an axis of revolution. Helical welds are formed to hold the liner and shell to each other with a channel position being defined between each pair of helical welds. Pressurized fluid which may be a gas or a liquid, is introduced between the weld pairs to outwardly bulge the material of at least one of the liner and shell to define the channels.
The spacesuit water membrane evaporator (SWME) is being developed to perform thermal control for advanced spacesuits and to take advantage of recent advances in micropore membrane technology. This results in a robust heat-rejection device that is potentially less sensitive to contamination than is the sublimator. The current design was based on a previous design that grouped the fiber layers into stacks, which were separated by small spaces and packaged into a cylindrical shape. This was developed into a full-scale prototype consisting of 14,300 tube bundled into 30 stacks, each of which is formed into a chevron shape and separated by spacers and organized into three sectors of 10 nested stacks. The new design replaced metal components with plastic ones, eliminated the spacers, and has a custom built flight like backpressure valve mounted on the side of the SWME housing to reduce backpressure when fully open. A number of tests were performed in order to improve the strength of the polyurethane header that holds the fibers in place while the system is pressurized. Vacuum chamber testing showed similar heat rejection as a function of inlet water temperature and water vapor backpressure was similar to the previous design. Other tests pushed the limits of tolerance to freezing and showed suitability to reject heat in a Mars pressure environment with and without a sweep gas. Tolerance to contamination by constituents expected to be found in potable water produced by distillation processes was tested in a conventional way by allowing constituents to accumulate in the coolant as evaporation occurs. For this purpose, the SWME cartridge has endured an equivalent of 30 EVAs exposure and demonstrated acceptable performance decline.
We present preliminary results in the development of a miniaturized gas correlation radiometer (GCR) for column trace gas measurements in the Martian atmosphere. The GCR is designed as an orbiting instrument capable of mapping multiple trace gases and identifying active regions on the Mars surface.
Bioreactor research is mostly limited to continuous stirred-tank reactors (CSTRs) which are not an option for microgravity (g) applications due to the lack of a gravity gradient to drive aeration as described by the Archimedes principle. Bioreactors and filtration systems for treating wastewater in g could avoid the need for harsh pretreatment chemicals and improve overall water recovery. Solution: Membrane Aerated Bioreactors (MABRs) for g applications, including possible use for wastewater treatment systems for the International Space Station (ISS).
Swaged cathode heaters whose design was successfully demonstrated under a prior flight project are to be provided by the NASA Glenn Research Center for the NEXT-C ion thruster being fabricated by Aerojet Rocketdyne. Extensive requalification activities were performed to validate process controls that had to be re-established or revised because systemic changes prevented reuse of the past approaches. A development batch of heaters was successfully fabricated based on the new process controls. Acceptance and cyclic life testing of multiple discharge and neutralizer sized heaters extracted from the development batch was initiated in August, 2016, with the last heater completing testing in April, 2017. Cyclic life testing results substantially exceeded the NEXT-C thruster requirement as well as all past experience for GRC-fabricated units. The heaters demonstrated ultimate cyclic life capability of 19050 to 33500 cycles. A qualification batch of heaters is now being fabricated using the finalized process controls. A set of six heaters will be acceptance and cyclic tested to verify conformance to the behavior observed with the development heaters. The heaters for flight use will be then be provided to the contractor from the remainder of the qualification batch. This paper summarizes the fabrication process control activities and the acceptance and life testing of the development heater units.
A fuel injector component includes a body, an elongate void and a plurality of bores. The body has a first surface and a second surface. The elongate void is enclosed by the body and is integrally formed between portions of the body defining the first surface and the second surface. The plurality of bores extends into the second surface to intersect the elongate void. A process for making a fuel injector component includes building an injector component body having a void and a plurality of ports connected to the void using an additive manufacturing process that utilizes a powdered building material, and removing residual powdered building material from void through the plurality of ports.
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