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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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At least 685 records · Page 38

Orbiter thermal pressure drop characteristics for shuttle orbiter thermal protection system components: High density tile, low density tile, densified low density tile, and strain isolation pad

Pressure drop tests were conducted on available samples of low and high density tile, densified low density tile, and strain isolation pads. The results are presented in terms of pressure drop, material thickness and volume flow rate. Although the test apparatus was only capable of a small part of the range of conditions to be encountered in a Shuttle Orbiter flight, the data serve to determine the type of flow characteristics to be expected for each material type tested; the measured quantities also should serve as input for initial venting and flow through analysis.

Lawing, P. L.↗

Hard turbulent thermal convection and thermal evolution of the mantle

Hard turbulent convection is investigated using laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. In Newtonian mantle convection, the appearance of disconnected plumes marks the transition from soft to hard turbulence. For non-Newtonian rheology, the transition to hard turbulence takes place at much lower Nusselt numbers than it does for Newtonian rheology. This has important ramifications for the mantle. Large curvatures are developed in the trajectories of non-Newtonian plumes in the hard turbulent regime, in contrast to the trajectories of Newtonian plumes. When phase transitions are considered, mantle convection tends to become more layered with increasing Rayleigh numbers. The manner of mantle convection might have changed with time from a layered to a more whole mantle type of flow. Superplume events could have been caused by catastrophic overturns associated with strong gravitational instabilities in the transition zone.

Yuen, D. A.↗

Investigation of Thermal Creep and Thermal Stress Effects in Microgravity Physical Vapor Transport

Reported here are the results of our numerical investigation into the mechanisms which affect the transport and growth processes in physical vapor transport (PVT) crystal growth ampoules. The first part of the report consists of a brief summary of the major accomplishments and conclusions of our work. The second part consists of two manuscripts, submitted to the Journal of Crystal Growth, which provided a detailed description of the findings in our investigation.

Mackowski, D. W.↗

Thermal Assessment of Swift BAT Instrument Thermal Control System in Flight

THE BAT is the primary instrument on the Swift spacecraft. The Swift mission is part of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Medium-Size Explorer (MIDEX) Program, and is managed by Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). It is designed to detect gamma ray burst over a broad region of the sky in a low Earth orbit of 600-km altitude and quickly align the telescopes on the spacecraft to the gamma ray source. It was successfully launched into orbit on November 20, 2004. The Swift mission is a first of its kind of multi-wavelength transient observatory for gamma ray burst astronomy. Its mission life is 2 years. The inclination is 22 deg maximum. The spacecraft bus voltage to the instruments is in the 24 V to 35 V range. The instruments will be turned off when the voltage is below 27 V. The BAT is mounted to the optical bench through five titanium flexures. The BAT has been developed at GSFC. Its telescope assembly consists of 256 Detector Modules (DMs) in the Detector Array. There are 16 Detector Array Blocks. Each Block holds 16 DMs, 3 Block Voltage Regulator (BVR) units and 3 Block Command & Data Handling (BCDH) units. The power dissipation of each Block has been measured to be 13 W. Therefore the total power dissipation of the 16 Blocks is 208 W. The DAP is 1.3 m (4.3 ft) x 1 m (3.3 ft), accommodates all the 16 Blocks. It also provides the mounting surface and the positional stability for the Blocks. The DMs are located at the top (+X side) of the DAP and is enclosed by graded-Z shields on the sides and a coded mask at the top. The BVRs and BCDHs are located at the bottom (-X side) of the DAP. Eight Blocks are located at the front (-Z side or radiator side) of the DAP, and eight are located at the rear (+Z side) of the DAP. The DMs and top of DAP are insulated with a 7-layer multi-layer insulation (MLI). There is a 5.08 cm (2 in) x 5.08 cm (2 in) MLI cutout over each Block heater controller so that heat radiates from the heater controller to the mask. The exterior of the mask, graded-Z shields and bottom of DAP is insulated with a 15-layer MLI.

Choi, Michael K.↗