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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 703 records · Page 39
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Critical joints in large composite primary aircraft structures. Volume 1: Technical summary

A program was conducted at Douglas Aircraft Company to develop the technology for critical joints in composite wing structure that meets all the design requirements of a 1990 commercial transport aircraft. In fulfilling this objective, analytical procedures for joint design and analysis were developed during Phase 1 of the program. Tests were conducted at the element level to supply the empirical data required for methods development. Large composite multirow joints were tested to verify the selected design concepts and for correlation with analysis predictions. The Phase 2 program included additional tests to provide joint design and analysis data, and culminated with several technology demonstration tests of a major joint area representative of a commercial transport wing. The technology demonstration program of Phase 2 is discussed. The analysis methodology development, structural test program, and correlation between test results and analytical strength predictions are reviewed.

Bunin, Bruce L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Numerical study of multicomponent droplet vaporization at near critical conditions

A comprehensive numerical analysis of multicomponent droplet vaporization at near critical conditions has been carried out. The model is based on the full time-dependent conservation equations and accommodates various important high-pressure phenomena. As an example, the case involving a two-component (n-pentane and n-octane) fuel droplet in nitrogen gas is studied. The influences of transient effects, surface regression, ambient gas solubility, and phase-equilibrium relations on vaporization mechanisms are examined in detail.

Hsieh, Kwang-Chung↗
NASA NTRS1988

Critical exponent for the viscosity of four binary liquids

The viscosity of the following binary mixtures was measured near their consolute points: (1) methanol + cyclohexane, (2) isobutyric acid + water, (3) nitroethane + 3-methylpentane, and (4) 2-butoxyethanol + water. It is shown that the multiplicative hypothesis is valid for these mixtures. It is also found that the concentration closest to critical has the largest viscosity enhancement.

Berg, Robert F.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Prediction Of Critical Crack Sizes In Solar Cells

Report presents theoretical analysis of cracking in Si and GaAs solar photovoltaic cells subjected to bending or twisting. Analysis also extended to predict critical sizes for cracks in Ge substrate coated with thin film of GaAs. Analysis leads to general conclusions. Approach and results of study useful in development of guidelines for acceptance or rejection of slightly flawed cells during manufacture.

Chen, Chern P.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Materials selection for long life in LEO: A critical evaluation of atomic oxygen testing with thermal atom systems

The use of thermal atom test methods as a materials selection and screening technique for low-Earth orbit (LEO) spacecraft is critically evaluated. The chemistry and physics of thermal atom environments are compared with the LEO environment. The relative reactivities of a number of materials determined to be in thermal atom environments are compared to those observed in LEO and in high quality LEO simulations. Reaction efficiencies measured in a new type of thermal atom apparatus are one-hundredth to one-thousandth those observed in LEO, and many materials showing nearly identical reactivities in LEO show relative reactivities differing by as much as a factor of 8 in thermal atom systems. A simple phenomenological kinetic model for the reaction of oxygen atoms with organic materials can be used to explain the differences in reactivity in different environments. Certain specific thermal test environments can be used as reliable materials screening tools. Using thermal atom methods to predict material lifetime in LEO requires direct calibration of the method against LEO data or high quality simulation data for each material.

Koontz, S. L.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Knowledge Based Systems: A Critical Survey of Major Concepts, Issues, and Techniques

This Working Paper Series entry presents a detailed survey of knowledge based systems. After being in a relatively dormant state for many years, only recently is Artificial Intelligence (AI) - that branch of computer science that attempts to have machines emulate intelligent behavior - accomplishing practical results. Most of these results can be attributed to the design and use of Knowledge-Based Systems, KBSs (or ecpert systems) - problem solving computer programs that can reach a level of performance comparable to that of a human expert in some specialized problem domain. These systems can act as a consultant for various requirements like medical diagnosis, military threat analysis, project risk assessment, etc. These systems possess knowledge to enable them to make intelligent desisions. They are, however, not meant to replace the human specialists in any particular domain. A critical survey of recent work in interactive KBSs is reported. A case study (MYCIN) of a KBS, a list of existing KBSs, and an introduction to the Japanese Fifth Generation Computer Project are provided as appendices. Finally, an extensive set of KBS-related references is provided at the end of the report.

Dominick, Wayne D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Knowledge based systems: A critical survey of major concepts, issues and techniques. Visuals

This Working Paper Series entry represents a collection of presentation visuals associated with the companion report entitled, Knowledge Based Systems: A Critical Survey of Major Concepts, Issues, and Techniques, USL/DBMS NASA/RECON Working Paper Series report number DBMS.NASA/RECON-9. The objectives of the report are to: examine various techniques used to build the KBS; to examine at least one KBS in detail, i.e., a case study; to list and identify limitations and problems with the KBS; to suggest future areas of research; and to provide extensive reference materials.

Dominick, Wayne D.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Automatic programming for critical applications

The important phases of a software life cycle include verification and maintenance. Usually, the execution performance is an expected requirement in a software development process. Unfortunately, the verification and the maintenance of programs are the time consuming and the frustrating aspects of software engineering. The verification cannot be waived for the programs used for critical applications such as, military, space, and nuclear plants. As a consequence, synthesis of programs from specifications, an alternative way of developing correct programs, is becoming popular. The definition, or what is understood by automatic programming, has been changed with our expectations. At present, the goal of automatic programming is the automation of programming process. Specifically, it means the application of artificial intelligence to software engineering in order to define techniques and create environments that help in the creation of high level programs. The automatic programming process may be divided into two phases: the problem acquisition phase and the program synthesis phase. In the problem acquisition phase, an informal specification of the problem is transformed into an unambiguous specification while in the program synthesis phase such a specification is further transformed into a concrete, executable program.

Loganantharaj, Raj L.↗
NASA NTRS1988

A critical assessment of wind tunnel results for the NACA 0012 airfoil

A large body of experimental results, obtained in more than 40 wind tunnels on a single, well known two-dimensional configuration, was critically examined and correlated. An assessment of some of the possible sources of error was made for each facility, and data which are suspect were identified. It was found that no single experiment provided a complete set of reliable data, although an investigation stands out as superior in many respects. However, from the aggregate of data the representative properties of the NACA 0012 airfoil can be identified with reasonable confidence over wide range of Mach numbers, Reynolds number, and angles of attack. This synthesized information can now be used to assess and validate existing and future wind tunnel results and to evaluate advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics codes.

Mccroskey, W. J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The electromagnetic effect on the critical ionization velocity process

Electromagnetic effects on the critical ionization velocity (CIV) process become important when the neutral gas velocity V(n) exceeds the local Alfven speed V(A). The electron heating due to unstable lower hybrid waves necessary for CIV still occurs, but the efficiency of the electron heating is significantly reduced when the electromagnetic effect comes into play. This is verified by a series of simulation runs using two-dimensional electromagnetic particle code combined with PANIC. The significance of the electromagnetic effects for the occurrence of CIV in the comet-solar wind interaction and other space phenomena is briefly discussed. It is found that the comet environment is marginal for the excitation of CIV.

Machida, S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Recent observations of cosmic ray antiprotons and a critical assessment of the theories of their origin

The models proposed to explain the observed spectrum of cosmic ray antiprotons are reexamined in light of recent results from balloon-borne experiments. It is found that the prediction of modified closed galaxy model fits the observed data very well. Models in which secondary antiprotons are produced in the sources, could be made consistent with the data provided the secondary particles do not suffer considerable adiabatic deceleration. It has been shown that there cannot be any significant contribution to the observed antiprotons, from the evaporation of mini black holes or from the annihilation of dark matter like photinos. The role of extragalactic cosmic rays has been examined critically in the context of the recent data, and they are not the source of cosmic ray antiprotons. However, determination of the energy spectrum of antiprotons at least up to a few tens of GeV would be valuable to provide information on the possible existence of supersymmetric particles and on the modulation of extragalactic cosmic rays while entering the Galaxy.

Stephens, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Simulation study of the ionizing front in the critical ionization velocity phenomenon

The simulation of the critical ionization velocity for a neutral gas cloud moving across the static magnetic field is presented. A low-beta plasma is studied, using a two and a half-dimensional electrostatic code linked with the Plasma and Neutral Interaction Code (Goertz and Machida, 1987). The physics of the ionizing front and the instabilities which occur there are discussed. Results are presented from four numerical runs designed so that the effects of the charge separation field can be distinguished from the wave heating.

Machida, S.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Life sciences - On the critical path for missions of exploration

Life sciences are important and critical to the safety and success of manned and long-duration space missions. The life science issues covered include gravitational physiology, space radiation, medical care delivery, environmental maintenance, bioregenerative systems, crew and human factors within and outside the spacecraft. The history of the role of life sciences in the space program is traced from the Apollo era, through the Skylab era to the Space Shuttle era. The life science issues of the space station program and manned missions to the moon and Mars are covered.

Sulzman, Frank M.↗
NASA NTRS1988

The critical densities for some emission lines

The critical densities for some emission lines of astronomical interest, especially in the UV range, are calculated on the basis of recent atomic data. Many lines can be used to estimate the densities between 100,000-100 million/cu cm. It is suggested that the intensity ratios of forbidden ArIV 2869/2854 A and forbidden NeIV 2425/2422 A line pairs are good density indicators.

Zheng, Wei↗
NASA NTRS1990

A critical evaluation of two-equation models for near wall turbulence

A variety of two-equation turbulence models,including several versions of the K-epsilon model as well as the K-omega model, are analyzed critically for near wall turbulent flows from a theoretical and computational standpoint. It is shown that the K-epsilon model has two major problems associated with it: the lack of natural boundary conditions for the dissipation rate and the appearance of higher-order correlations in the balance of terms for the dissipation rate at the wall. In so far as the former problem is concerned, either physically inconsistent boundary conditions have been used or the boundary conditions for the dissipation rate have been tied to higher-order derivatives of the turbulent kinetic energy which leads to numerical stiffness. The K-omega model can alleviate these problems since the asymptotic behavior of omega is known in more detail and since its near wall balance involves only exact viscous terms. However, the modeled form of the omega equation that is used in the literature is incomplete-an exact viscous term is missing which causes the model to behave in an asymptotically inconsistent manner. By including this viscous term and by introducing new wall damping functions with improved asymptotic behavior, a new K-tau model (where tau is identical with 1/omega is turbulent time scale) is developed. It is demonstrated that this new model is computationally robust and yields improved predictions for turbulent boundary layers.

Speziale, Charles G.↗
NASA NTRS1989

The critical role of aerodynamic heating effects in the design of hypersonic vehicles

Hypersonic vehicles operate in a hostile aerothermal environment, which has a significant impact on their aerothermostructural performance. Significant coupling occurs between the aerodynamic flow field, structural heat transfer, and structural response, creating a multidisciplinary interaction. The critical role of aerodynamic heating effects in the design of hypersonic vehicles is identified with an example of high localized heating on an engine-cowl leading edge. Recent advances is integrated fluid-thermal-structural finite-element analyses are presented.

Wieting, Allan R.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Review of critical velocity experiments in the ionosphere

Observations relevant to Alfven's Critical Velocity Effect, of the several shaped-charge releases in the ionosphere are compared with three generations of a macroscopic model of these releases. Good agreement is found with experiments which have reported a low ion yield, but major discrepancies remain with the Porcupine experiment which has the largest yield yet reported.

Torbert, R. B.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Critical ionization velocity interaction in the CRIT I rocket experiment

In the rocket experiment CRIT I, launched from Wallops Island on May 13, 1986, two identical Barium-shaped charges were fired from distances of 1.3 km and 3.6 km towards the main experiment payload, which was separated from a sub-payload by a couple of km along the magnetic field. The relevance of earlier proposed mechanisms for electron heating in ionospheric critical velocity experiments is investigated in the light of the CRIT I results. It is concluded that both the 'homogeneous' and the 'ionizing front' models can be applied, in different parts of the stream. It is also possible that a third, entirely different, mechanism may contribute to the electron heating. This mechanism involves direct energization of electrons in the magnetic-field-aligned component of the dc electric field.

Brenning, N.↗