SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Power Flow Control”

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.

SourceResearch connectionFrom yearThrough year

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 685 records · Page 38

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2012

Software to Control and Monitor Gas Streams

This software package interfaces with various gas stream devices such as pressure transducers, flow meters, flow controllers, valves, and analyzers such as a mass spectrometer. The software provides excellent user interfacing with various windows that provide time-domain graphs, valve state buttons, priority- colored messages, and warning icons. The user can configure the software to save as much or as little data as needed to a comma-delimited file. The software also includes an intuitive scripting language for automated processing. The configuration allows for the assignment of measured values or calibration so that raw signals can be viewed as usable pressures, flows, or concentrations in real time. The software is based on those used in two safety systems for shuttle processing and one volcanic gas analysis system. Mass analyzers typically have very unique applications and vary from job to job. As such, software available on the market is usually inadequate or targeted on a specific application (such as EPA methods). The goal was to develop powerful software that could be used with prototype systems. The key problem was to generalize the software to be easily and quickly reconfigurable. At Kennedy Space Center (KSC), the prior art consists of two primary methods. The first method was to utilize Lab- VIEW and a commercial data acquisition system. This method required rewriting code for each different application and only provided raw data. To obtain data in engineering units, manual calculations were required. The second method was to utilize one of the embedded computer systems developed for another system. This second method had the benefit of providing data in engineering units, but was limited in the number of control parameters.

Arkin, C.↗

NASA NTRS1981

High power densities from high-temperature materials interactions

Thermionic energy converters and metallic-fluid heat pipes are well suited to serve together synergistically. The two operating cycles appear as simple and isolated as their material problems seem forebodingly deceptive and complicated. Simplified equations verify material properties and interactions as primary influences on the operational effectiveness of both. Each experiences flow limitations in thermal emission and vaporization because of temperature restrictions redounding from thermophysicochemical stability considerations. Topics discussed include: (1) successful limitation of alkali-metal corrosion; (2) protection against external hot corrosive gases; (3) coping with external and internal vaporization; (4) controlling interfacial reactions and diffusion; and (5) meeting other thermophysical challenges; expansion matches and creep.

Morris, J. F.↗

NASA NTRS1993

An extended supersonic combustion model for the dynamic analysis of hypersonic vehicles

The development of an advanced dynamic model for aeroelastic hypersonic vehicles powered by air breathing engines requires an adequate engine model. This report provides a discussion of some of the more important features of supersonic combustion and their relevance to the analysis and design of supersonic ramjet engines. Of particular interest are those aspects of combustion that impact the control of the process. Furthermore, the report summarizes efforts to enhance the aeropropulsive/aeroelastic dynamic model developed at the Aerospace Research Center of Arizona State University by focusing on combustion and improved modeling of this flow. The expanded supersonic combustor model described here has the capability to model the effects of friction, area change, and mass addition, in addition to the heat addition process. A comparison is made of the results from four cases: (1) heat addition only; (2) heat addition plus friction; (3) heat addition, friction, and area reduction, and (4) heat addition, friction, area reduction, and mass addition. The relative impact of these effects on the Mach number, static temperature, and static pressure distributions within the combustor are then shown. Finally, the effects of frozen versus equilibrium flow conditions within the exhaust plume is discussed.

Bossard, J. A.↗

NASA NTRS1997

Rain Fade Compensation for Ka-Band Communications Satellites

This report provides a review and evaluation of rain fade measurement and compensation techniques for Ka-band satellite systems. This report includes a description of and cost estimates for performing three rain fade measurement and compensation experiments. The first experiment deals with rain fade measurement techniques while the second one covers the rain fade compensation techniques. The third experiment addresses a feedback flow control technique for the ABR service (for ATM-based traffic). The following conclusions were observed in this report; a sufficient system signal margin should be allocated for all carriers in a network, that is a fixed clear-sky margin should be typically in the range of 4-5 dB and should be more like 15 dB in the up link for moderate and heavy rain zones; to obtain a higher system margin it is desirable to combine the uplink power control technique with the technique that implements the source information rate and FEC code rate changes resulting in a 4-5 dB increase in the dynamic part of the system margin. The experiments would assess the feasibility of the fade measurements and compensation techniques, and ABR feedback control technique.

Mitchell, W. Carl↗

NASA NTRS2004

NASA Tech Briefs, April 2004

Topics covered include: Analysis of SSEM Sensor Data Using BEAM; Hairlike Percutaneous Photochemical Sensors; Video Guidance Sensors Using Remotely Activated Targets; Simulating Remote Sensing Systems; EHW Approach to Temperature Compensation of Electronics; Polymorphic Electronic Circuits; Micro-Tubular Fuel Cells; Whispering-Gallery-Mode Tunable Narrow-Band-Pass Filter; PVM Wrapper; Simulation of Hyperspectral Images; Algorithm for Controlling a Centrifugal Compressor; Hybrid Inflatable Pressure Vessel; Double-Acting, Locking Carabiners; Position Sensor Integral with a Linear Actuator; Improved Electromagnetic Brake; Flow Straightener for a Rotating-Drum Liquid Separator; Sensory-Feedback Exoskeletal Arm Controller; Active Suppression of Instabilities in Engine Combustors; Fabrication of Robust, Flat, Thinned, UV-Imaging CCDs; Chemical Thinning Process for Fabricating UV-Imaging CCDs; Pseudoslit Spectrometer; Waste-Heat-Driven Cooling Using Complex Compound Sorbents; Improved Refractometer for Measuring Temperatures of Drops; Semiconductor Lasers Containing Quantum Wells in Junctions; Phytoplankton-Fluorescence-Lifetime Vertical Profiler; Hexagonal Pixels and Indexing Scheme for Binary Images; Finding Minimum-Power Broadcast Trees for Wireless Networks; and Automation of Design Engineering Processes.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS2011

Optical Sensors for Monitoring Gamma and Neutron Radiation

For safety and efficiency, nuclear reactors must be carefully monitored to provide feedback that enables the fission rate to be held at a constant target level via adjustments in the position of neutron-absorbing rods and moderating coolant flow rates. For automated reactor control, the monitoring system should provide calibrated analog or digital output. The sensors must survive and produce reliable output with minimal drift for at least one to two years, for replacement only during refueling. Small sensor size is preferred to enable more sensors to be placed in the core for more detailed characterization of the local fission rate and fuel consumption, since local deviations from the norm tend to amplify themselves. Currently, reactors are monitored by local power range meters (LPRMs) based on the neutron flux or gamma thermometers based on the gamma flux. LPRMs tend to be bulky, while gamma thermometers are subject to unwanted drift. Both electronic reactor sensors are plagued by electrical noise induced by ionizing radiation near the reactor core. A fiber optic sensor system was developed that is capable of tracking thermal neutron fluence and gamma flux in order to monitor nuclear reactor fission rates. The system provides near-real-time feedback from small- profile probes that are not sensitive to electromagnetic noise. The key novel feature is the practical design of fiber optic radiation sensors. The use of an actinoid element to monitor neutron flux in fiber optic EFPI (extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometric) sensors is a new use of material. The materials and structure used in the sensor construction can be adjusted to result in a sensor that is sensitive to just thermal, gamma, or neutron stimulus, or any combination of the three. The tested design showed low sensitivity to thermal and gamma stimuli and high sensitivity to neutrons, with a fast response time.

Boyd, Clark D.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Unsteady vortex lattice techniques applied to wake formation and performance of the statically thrusting propeller

The application is considered of vortex lattice techniques to the problem of describing the aerodynamics and performance of statically thrusting propellers. A numerical lifting surface theory to predict the aerodynamic forces and power is performed. The chordwise and spanwise loading is modelled by bound vortices fixed to a twisted flat plate surface. In order to eliminate any apriori assumptions regarding the wake shape, it is assumed the propeller starts from rest. The wake is generated in time and allowed to deform under its own self-induced velocity field as the motion of the propeller progresses. The bound circulation distribution is then determined with time by applying the flow tangency boundary condition at certain selected control points on the blades. The aerodynamics of the infinite wing and finite wing are also considered. The details of wake formation and roll-up are investigated, particularly the localized induction effect. It is concluded that proper wake roll-up and roll-up rates can be established by considering the details of motion at the instant of start.

Hall, G. F.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Optimum Shape Design Using Automatic Differentiation in Reverse Mode

This paper shows how to use automatic differentiation in reverse mode as a powerful tool in optimization procedures. It is also shown that for aerodynamic applications the gradients have to be as accurate as possible. In particular, the effect of having the exact gradient of he first or second order spatial discretization schemes is presented. We show that the loss of precision in the gradient affects not only the convergence, but also the final shape. Both two and three dimensional configurations of transonic and supersonic flows have been investigated. These cases involve up to several thousand control parameters.

Hafez, M.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Turbulent Output-Based Anisotropic Adaptation

Controlling discretization error is a remaining challenge for computational fluid dynamics simulation. Grid adaptation is applied to reduce estimated discretization error in drag or pressure integral output functions. To enable application to high O(10(exp 7)) Reynolds number turbulent flows, a hybrid approach is utilized that freezes the near-wall boundary layer grids and adapts the grid away from the no slip boundaries. The hybrid approach is not applicable to problems with under resolved initial boundary layer grids, but is a powerful technique for problems with important off-body anisotropic features. Supersonic nozzle plume, turbulent flat plate, and shock-boundary layer interaction examples are presented with comparisons to experimental measurements of pressure and velocity. Adapted grids are produced that resolve off-body features in locations that are not known a priori.

Park, Michael A.↗

NASA NTRS1998

Cooling device featuring thermoelectric and diamond materials for temperature control of heat-dissipating devices

A cooling device for lowering the temperature of a heat-dissipating device. The cooling device includes a heat-conducting substrate (composed, e.g., of diamond or another high thermal conductivity material) disposed in thermal contact with the heat-dissipating device. During operation, heat flows from the heat-dissipating device into the heat-conducting substrate, where it is spread out over a relatively large area. A thermoelectric cooling material (e.g., a Bi.sub.2 Te.sub.3 -based film or other thermoelectric material) is placed in thermal contact with the heat-conducting substrate. Application of electrical power to the thermoelectric material drives the thermoelectric material to pump heat into a second heat-conducting substrate which, in turn, is attached to a heat sink.

Vandersande, Ian W.↗

NASA NTRS1995

The 3D widgets for exploratory scientific visualization

Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques are used to simulate flows of fluids like air or water around such objects as airplanes and automobiles. These techniques usually generate very large amounts of numerical data which are difficult to understand without using graphical scientific visualization techniques. There are a number of commercial scientific visualization applications available today which allow scientists to control visualization tools via textual and/or 2D user interfaces. However, these user interfaces are often difficult to use. We believe that 3D direct-manipulation techniques for interactively controlling visualization tools will provide opportunities for powerful and useful interfaces with which scientists can more effectively explore their datasets. A few systems have been developed which use these techniques. In this paper, we will present a variety of 3D interaction techniques for manipulating parameters of visualization tools used to explore CFD datasets, and discuss in detail various techniques for positioning tools in a 3D scene.

Herndon, Kenneth P.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Assessment of diastolic function by tissue Doppler echocardiography: comparison with standard transmitral and pulmonary venous flow

The objective of this study was to determine the utility of Doppler tissue echocardiography in the evaluation of diastolic filling and in discriminating between normal subjects and those with various stages of diastolic dysfunction. We measured myocardial velocities in 51 patients with various stages of diastolic dysfunction and in 27 normal volunteers. The discriminating power of each of the standard Doppler indexes of left ventricular filling, pulmonary venous flow, and myocardial velocities was determined with the use of Spearman rank correlation and analysis of variance F statistics. Early diastolic myocardial velocity (E(m)) was higher in normal subjects (16.0 +/- 3.8 cm/s) than in patients with either delayed relaxation (n = 15, 7.5 +/- 2.2 cm/s), pseudonormal filling (n = 26, 7.6 +/- 2.3 cm/s), or restrictive filling (n = 10, 7.4 +/- 2.4 cm/s, P <.0001). E(m ) was the best single discriminator between control subjects and patients with diastolic dysfunction (P =.7, F = 64.5). Myocardial velocities assessed by Doppler tissue echocardiography are useful in differentiating patients with normal from those with abnormal diastolic function. Myocardial velocity remains reduced even in those stages of diastolic dysfunction characterized by increased preload compensation.

NASA Discipline Regulatory Physiology↗

NASA NTRS2008

Intelligent Engine Systems: Adaptive Control

We have studied the application of the baseline Model Predictive Control (MPC) algorithm to the control of main fuel flow rate (WF36), variable bleed valve (AE24) and variable stator vane (STP25) control of a simulated high-bypass turbofan engine. Using reference trajectories for thrust and turbine inlet temperature (T41) generated by a simulated new engine, we have examined MPC for tracking these two reference outputs while controlling a deteriorated engine. We have examined the results of MPC control for six different transients: two idle-to-takeoff transients at sea level static (SLS) conditions, one takeoff-to-idle transient at SLS, a Bode power command and reverse Bode power command at 20,000 ft/Mach 0.5, and a reverse Bode transient at 35,000 ft/Mach 0.84. For all cases, our primary focus was on the computational effort required by MPC for varying MPC update rates, control horizons, and prediction horizons. We have also considered the effects of these MPC parameters on the performance of the control, with special emphasis on the thrust tracking error, the peak T41, and the sizes of violations of the constraints on the problem, primarily the booster stall margin limit, which for most cases is the lone constraint that is violated with any frequency.

Gibson, Nathan↗

NASA NTRS1982

An engine trade study for a supersonic STOVL fighter-attack aircraft, volume 1

The best main engine for an advanced STOVL aircraft flight demonstrator was studied. The STOVL aircraft uses ejectors powered by engine bypass flow together with vectored core exhaust to achieve vertical thrust capability. Bypass flow and core flow are exhausted through separate nozzles during wingborne flight. Six near term turbofan engines were examined for suitability for this aircraft concept. Fan pressure ratio, thrust split between bypass and core flow, and total thrust level were used to compare engines. One of the six candidate engines was selected for the flight demonstrator configuration. Propulsion related to this aircraft concept was studied. A preliminary candidate for the aircraft reaction control system for hover attitude control was selected. A mathematical model of transfer of bypass thrust from ejectors to aft directed nozzle during the transition to wingborne flight was developed. An equation to predict ejector secondary air flow rate and ram drag is derived. Additional topics discussed include: nozzle area control, ejector to engine inlet reingestion, bypass/core thrust split variation, and gyroscopic behavior during hover.

Beard, B. B.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Transient engine performance with water ingestion

The immediate effects on the transient performance of a generic, high bypass ratio jet engine on account of water ingestion are discussed. The air compression subsystem has been analyzed with respect to four aerothermodynamic and mechanical processes associated with two-phase fluid flow and the engine simulation has been carried out under three limiting cases of interest in practice, one pertaining to draining of water at the end of compression and the other two, to partial evaporation at two different locations in the burner. General observations are made on engine operability as a function of engine and control design under various engine and (control input) sensor operating conditions, with various mass fractions of water in the air-water mixture entering the engine, during various pilot-initiated power demand changes.

Haykin, T.↗

NASA NTRS1995

The VOrtex Ring Transit EXperiment (VORTEX) GAS project

Get Away Special (GAS) payload G-093, also called VORTEX (VOrtex Ring Transit EXperiment), is an investigation of the propagation of a vortex ring through a liquid-gas interface in microgravity. This process results in the formation of one or more liquid droplets similar to earth based liquid atomization systems. In the absence of gravity, surface tension effects dominate the drop formation process. The Shuttle's microgravity environment allows the study of the same fluid atomization processes as using a larger drop size than is possible on Earth. This enables detailed experimental studies of the complex flow processes encountered in liquid atomization systems. With VORTEX, deformations in both the vortex ring and the fluid surface will be measured closely for the first time in a parameters range that accurately resembles liquid atomization. The experimental apparatus will record images of the interactions for analysis after the payload has been returned to earth. The current design of the VORTEX payload consists of a fluid test cell with a vortex ring generator, digital imaging system, laser illumination system, computer based controller, batteries for payload power, and an array of housekeeping and payload monitoring sensors. It is a self-contained experiment and will be flown on board the Space Shuttle in a 5 cubic feet GAS canister. The VORTEX Project is entirely run by students at the University of Michigan but is overseen by a faculty advisor acting as the payload customer and the contact person with NASA. This paper summarizes both the technical and programmatic aspects of the VORTEX Project.

Bilen, Sven G.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Reactor Simulator Testing

As part of the Nuclear Systems Office Fission Surface Power Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) project, a reactor simulator test loop (RxSim) was design & built to perform integrated testing of the TDU components. In particular, the objectives of RxSim testing was to verify the operation of the core simulator, the instrumentation and control system, and the ground support gas and vacuum test equipment. In addition, it was decided to include a thermal test of a cold trap purification design and a pump performance test at pump voltages up to 150 V since the targeted mass flow rate of 1.75 kg/s was not obtained in the RxSim at the originally constrained voltage of 120 V. This paper summarizes RxSim testing. The gas and vacuum ground support test equipment performed effectively in NaK fill, loop pressurization, and NaK drain operations. The instrumentation and control system effectively controlled loop temperature and flow rates or pump voltage to targeted settings. The cold trap design was able to obtain the targeted cold temperature of 480 K. An outlet temperature of 636 K was obtained which was lower than the predicted 750 K but 156 K higher than the cold temperature indicating the design provided some heat regeneration. The annular linear induction pump (ALIP) tested was able to produce a maximum flow rate of 1.53 kg/s at 800 K when operated at 150 V and 53 Hz.

Schoenfeld, Michael P.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Reactor Simulator Testing

Schoenfeld, Michael P.↗