SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
Potential contamination of equipment by primate passenger during 30-day earth orbit, studying skin, body particulate matter and indigenous microflora
Galactic radiation hazards in passenger travel of supersonic transport
Subjective response to far field noise characteristics of V/STOL aircraft sized to carry 60 passengers over 500 mile range
Performance potential of liquid hydrogen fueled hypersonic commercial transport, considering economics, mission analysis and passenger appeal
Crew and passenger transportation to and from space station orbits, discussing cost reduction possibilities with current or future technology
Two stage to orbit reusable spacecraft system for use in transporting cargo and passengers to and from earth orbital space stations
Logistics of feeding Boeing 707 and 747 aircraft passengers
Reusable space shuttle employing two stages resembling subsonic aircraft for carrying passengers and cargo between earth surface and orbit
Space rescue operations in orbit during heavy traffic of spacecraft with large passenger loadings, noting role of space shuttles and tugs
Economic analysis of intercity short-haul business passenger travel
Short haul air transportation technological factors for VTOL, STOL, CTOL and light aircraft, considering operating costs, passenger service and environment impact
Economical reusable space shuttle development for cargo and passenger transportation to and from orbit
Nickel-zinc batteries for use in hybrid heat engine/electric systems of low pollutant passenger cars, increasing service life by aerospace technology
Simplified dynamic models were applied in a study of vibration in a high-speed railroad car. The mathematical models used were a four-degree-of-freedom model for vertical responses to vertical rail inputs and a ten-degree-of-freedom model for lateral response to lateral or rolling (cross-level) inputs from the rails. Elastic properties of the passenger car body were represented by bending and torsion of a uniform beam. Rail-to-car (truck) suspensions were modeled as spring-mass-dashpot oscillators. Lateral spring nonlinearities approximating certain complicated truck mechanisms were introduced. The models were excited by displacement and, in some cases, velocity inputs from the rails by both deterministic (including sinusoidal) and random input functions. Results were obtained both in the frequency and time domains. Solutions in the time domain for the lateral model were obtained for a wide variety of transient and random inputs generated on-line by an analog computer. Variations in one of the damping properties of the lateral car suspension gave large fluctuations in response over a range of car speeds for a given input. This damping coefficient was significant in reducing lateral car responses that were higher for nonlinear springs for three different inputs.
The nine-county San Francisco Bay area is examined in two time periods (1975-1980 and 1985-1990) as a scenario for analyzing the characteristics of an intraurban, commuter-oriented aircraft transportation system. Aircraft have dominated the long-haul passenger market for some time, but efforts to penetrate the very-short-haul intraurban market have met with only token success. Yet, the characteristics of an aircraft transportation system-speed and flexibility-are very much needed to solve the transportation ills of our major urban areas. This study attempts to determine if the aircraft can contribute toward solving the transportation problems of major metropolitan areas and be economically viable in such an environment.
The problem of ameliorating the discomfort of passengers on a large air transport subject to flight disturbances is examined. The longitudinal dynamics of the aircraft, including effects of body flexing, are developed in terms of linear, constant coefficient differential equations in state variables. A cost functional, penalizing the rigid body displacements and flexure accelerations over the surface of the aircraft is formulated as a quadratic form. The resulting control problem, to minimize the cost subject to the state equation constraints, is of a class whose solutions are well known. The feedback gains for the optimal controller are calculated digitally, and the resulting autopilot is simulated on an analog computer and its performance evaluated.
The development of fire retardant foams and intumescent paints for protection of commercial aircraft passengers in the event of fire is discussed. Recommended materials and methods for evaluating the effectiveness of the materials are presented. Typical problems resulting from aircraft fires and the basic protective mechanisms to cope with these problems are examined.