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At least 703 records · Page 39

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1975

Research on pressure sensors for biomedical instruments

The development of a piezo-resistive pressure transducer is discussed suitable for recording pressures typically encountered in biomedical applications. The pressure transducer consists of a thin silicon diaphragm containing four strain-sensitive resistors, and is fabricated using silicon monolithic integrated-circuit technology. The pressure transducers can be as small as 0.7 mm outer diameter, and are, as a result, suitable for mounting at the tip of a catheter. Pressure-induced stress in the diaphragm is sensed by the resistors, which are interconnected to form a Wheatstone bridge.

Angell, J. B.↗

NASA NTRS1975

ASRDI oxygen technology survey. Volume 8: Pressure measurement

Pressure transducers and their current uses with gaseous or liquid oxygen are reviewed. All transducer types such as strain gage, capacitance, potentiometric, piezoelectric, etc., are included. Topics covered include: cryogenic pressure measurement; material compatibility with gaseous and liquid oxygen; cleaning procedures; pressure tap connections; transducer types and descriptions; and calibration techniques.

Arvidson, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Digital control of high-intensity acoustic testing

A high intensity acoustic test system is reported that consists of a reverberation room measuring 18 feet wide by 21 feet long by 26 feet high, with an internal volume of 10,900 cubic feet. The room is rectangular in shape. Acoustic energy is supplied through two 50-Hz cutoff exponential horns about 12 feet long. Each of the two horns has two transducers rated at 4000 acoustic watts each. A gaseous nitrogen supply is used to supply the energy. The equalized electrical signal is corrected by a circuit designed to compensate for the transducer nonlinearity, then fed into one channel of a phase linear power amplifier, then into the transducer. The amplifiers have been modified to increase their reliability. The acoustic energy in the room is monitored by six B and K 1/2-inch condenser microphones. The electrical signal from each microphone is fed into a six channel real time averager to give a spatial average of the signals.

Slusser, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1976

A flight instrumentation system for acquisition of atmospheric turbulence data

A flight instrumentation system for the acquisition of atmospheric turbulence data is described. Airflow direction transducers and an impact pressure transducer are the primary instruments for measuring vertical and lateral gust velocity, and a sensitive incremental pressure transducer is used to measure longitudinal gust velocity. Airplane motions, sensed by an inertial platform, are subtracted from the primary measurements during postflight data reduction to yield true gust velocity time histories. Salient engineering features of the instrumentation are discussed, and a complete description of the instrumentation is presented.

Meissner, C. W., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Optimal design and evaluation criteria for acoustic emission pulse signature analysis

Successful pulse recording and evaluation is strongly dependent on the instrumentation system selected and the method of analyzing the pulse signature. The paper studies system design, signal analysis techniques, and interdependences with a view toward defining optimal approaches to pulse signal analysis. For this purpose, the instrumentation system is modeled, and analytical pulses, representative of the types of acoustic emissions to be distinguished are passed through the system. Particular attention is given to comparing frequency spectrum analysis and deconvolution referred to as time domain reconstruction of the pulse or pulse train. The possibility of optimal transducer-filter system parameters is investigated. Deconvolution of a pulse is shown to be a superior approach for transient pulse analysis. Reshaping of a transducer output back to the original input pulse is possible and gives an accurate representation of the generating pulse in the time domain. Any definable transducer and filter system can be used for measurement of pulses by means of the deconvolution method. Selection of design variables for general usage is discussed.

Houghton, J. R.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Application of an ultrasonic phase insensitive receiver to material measurements

The theory of a phase insensitive receiver based on acousto-electric effect is presented along with experimental characteristics of a CdS acousto-electric converter (AEC). Since the AEC is nearly phase insensitive, it is ideal for measurements in inhomogeneous materials and/or materials with irregular flatness and parallelism. Through transmission ultrasonic C-scan data of phantom flaws demonstrates a significant improvement in flaw characterization with an AEC over that of a conventional transducer. In addition, measurements with conventional transducers in anisotropically stressed metal samples are shown to lead to grossly inaccurate results due to phase sensitivity. Various other measurements are presented with data contrasting conventional transducers with an AEC in specific NDE applications.

Heyman, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Instrumentation for propulsion systems development

Various types of instrumentation for the development of propulsion systems are discussed. For the steady-state measurement of local temperature, pressure and flow velocity in gases the devices include: a multielement probe, calibrated thermocouple probes, thermocouple probes designed for low gas velocities, pressure measuring devices for high-speed rotors, and instruments for data pickup from rotating members. For the dynamic measurements of the same factors attention is given to 2-mm diameter pressure transducers, flush-diaphragm transducers, resistance thermometers or thermocouples, and miniature transducers for velocity measurements. Instruments for compressor and turbine-blade instrumentation are described with reference to a pyrometer for mapping turbine-blade surface temperature, a capacitance method for making rotor clearance measurements, and optical detection procedures for blade vibration amplitude.

Warshawsky, I.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Optical signal processing

The article discusses several optical configurations used for signal processing. Electronic-to-optical transducers are outlined, noting fixed window transducers and moving window acousto-optic transducers. Folded spectrum techniques are considered, with reference to wideband RF signal analysis, fetal electroencephalogram analysis, engine vibration analysis, signal buried in noise, and spatial filtering. Various methods for radar signal processing are described, such as phased-array antennas, the optical processing of phased-array data, pulsed Doppler and FM radar systems, a multichannel one-dimensional optical correlator, correlations with long coded waveforms, and Doppler signal processing. Means for noncoherent optical signal processing are noted, including an optical correlator for speech recognition and a noncoherent optical correlator.

Casasent, D.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Application of an ultrasonic phase insensitive receiver to material measurements

Heyman, J. S.↗

NASA NTRS1980

High-temperature high-pressure magnetic pickup

Magnetic-pickup transducers operate at temperature as high as 1,100 C and pressures in excess of 2.5 kilobars. Transducers obtain simulated seismic data in laboratory experiments at high temperatures and pressure. They also have potential applications in industrial instrumentation for measurements under similarly difficult conditions. Transducers use high-temperature cement to bond parts together and high-temperature-insulated copper or aluminum wire for windings.

Ahlberg, L. A.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Coupling apparatus for ultrasonic medical diagnostic system

An apparatus for the ultrasonic scanning of a breast or other tissue is reported that contains a cavity for receiving the breast, a vacuum for drawing the breast into intimate contact with the walls of the cavity, and transducers coupled through a fluid to the cavity to transmit sound waves through the breast. Each transducer lies at the end of a tapered chamber which has flexible walls and which is filled with fluid, so that the transducer can be moved in a raster pattern while the chamber walls flex accordingly, with sound transmission always occurring through the fluid.

Frazer, R. E.↗

NASA NTRS1977

In-vivo bone strain telemetry in monkeys /M. nemestrina/

A new method for collecting in-vivo bone strain data in monkeys has been developed and tested. The method includes a system which consists of a new design of implantable strain transducer and its companion telemetry package. The transducer fits into a hole drilled in a monkey tibia and is threaded for subsequent bone ingrowth. The transducers and telemetry package are biocompatible for over 503 days. The telemetry package uses Pulse Interval Ratio Modulation (PIRM) to transmit strain information to receiving equipment located outside the animal housing cage.

Young, D. R.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Measuring unsteady pressure on rotating compressor blades

The capability for accurate measurement of unsteady pressure on the surface of compressor and fan blades during engine operation was established. Tests were run on miniature semiconductor strain gage pressure transducers mounted in several arrangements. Both surface mountings and recessed flush mountings were tested. Test parameters included mounting arrangement, blade material, temperature, local strain in the blade, acceleration normal to the transducer diaphragm, centripetal acceleration, and pressure. Test results showed no failures of transducers or mountings and indicated an uncertainty of unsteady pressure measurement of approximately + or - 6%, plus 0.1 kPa for a typical application.

Englund, D. R.↗

NASA NTRS1980

A generalized formulation of minimum shift keying modulation

The modulator structure consisting of a single-input two-output sequential transducer whose output sequences control the modulated signal in the manner s(t) = x(i)p(t) + y(i)q(t) is considered. Here, iT is less than or equal to t, which is less than iT + T, where T is the modulation bit duration and where x(i) and y(i) take values in /+1, -1, 0/. The behavior of a sequential transducer is characterized by means of a 'trellis'. It is shown that, provided only that the 'carriers' p(t) and q(t) have the same energy in every bit interval, the optimum demodulator for the additive white Gaussian noise channel need process the received signal over only two bit intervals in making each data bit decision. It is demonstrated that particular choices of the sequential transducer yield differential minimum shift keying and differential staggered quadriphase shift keying. Possible generalizations of this approach are discussed.

Massey, J. L.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Measuring Contours of Coal-Seam Cuts

Angle transducers measure angle between track sections as longwall shearer proceeds along coal face. Distance transducer functions in conjunction with angle transducers to obtain relative angles at known positions. When cut is complete, accumulated data are stored on cassette tape, and track profile is computed and displayed. Micro-processor-based instrument integrates small changes in angle and distance.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1982

Pressure suit joint analyzer

A measurement system for simultaneously measuring torque and angular flexure in a pressure suit joint is described. One end of a joint under test is held rigid. A torque transducer is pivotably supported on the other movable end of a joint. A potentiometer is attached to the transducer by an arm. The wiper shaft of the potentiometer is gripped by a reference arm that rotates the wiper shaft the same angle as the flexure of joint. A signal is generated by the potentiometer which is representative of the joint flexure. A compensation circuit converts the output of the transducer to a signal representative of joint torque.

Vykukal, H. C.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Development of a simple, self-contained flight test data acquisition system

The system concepts and the flight test program results for a NASA designed in-flight data acquisition system are described. The system draws power from a rechargeable battery pack and intrudes on the aircraft systems only with a total pressure probe, a static pressure probe, and control position transducers, which are simply taped to the frame. A 4000 byte microcomputer forms the heart of the data recording system for cassette tape storage, and is expansion coupled to an eight-bit interactive microcomputer which interfaces with a transducer package for 16-channel demultiplexing. The transducers, ranges, and accuracies are listed, and a five/sec data acquisition rate minimum requirement is noted, although a 10/sec rate is used. The system components are detailed, along with the control and data processing procedures, and the results of dynamic flight testing are presented.

Renz, R. R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Determining the Orientation of Anisotropic Materials

Ultrasonics probe direction of tile fibers. Hand-held acoustic transducer determines fiber orientation of heat resistant tiles. Transducers head placed on outer surface of painted tile. Signals from receiving transducers displayed on two-channel oscilloscope. Application suggests extending technique to inspection of other anisotropic materials. Plywood and fiber/epoxy composites examined to determine fiber direction; ultrasonics used to find direction of roll in sheet metal and other rolled products.

Sugg, F. E.↗