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At least 73 records · Page 4

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS1995

Static Flow Characteristics of a Mass Flow Injecting Valve

A sleeve valve is under development for ground-based forced response testing of air compression systems. This valve will be used to inject air and to impart momentum to the flow inside the first stage of a multi-stage compressor. The valve was designed to deliver a maximum mass flow of 0.22 lbm/s (0.1 kg/s) with a maximum valve throat area of 0.12 sq. in (80 sq. mm), a 100 psid (689 KPA) pressure difference across the valve and a 68 F, (20 C) air supply. It was assumed that the valve mass flow rate would be proportional to the valve orifice area. A static flow calibration revealed a nonlinear valve orifice area to mass flow relationship which limits the maximum flow rate that the valve can deliver. This nonlinearity was found to be caused by multiple choking points in the flow path. A simple model was used to explain this nonlinearity and the model was compared to the static flow calibration data. Only steady flow data is presented here. In this report, the static flow characteristics of a proportionally controlled sleeve valve are modelled and validated against experimental data.

Mattern, Duane↗

NASA NTRS2009

Thermostatic Valves Containing Silicone-Oil Actuators

Flow-splitting and flow-mixing thermally actuated spool valves have been developed for controlling flows of a heat-transfer fluid in a temperature-regulation system aboard the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover. Valves like these could also be useful in terrestrial temperature-regulation systems, including automobile air-conditioning systems and general refrigeration systems. These valves are required to provide smoother actuation over a wider temperature range than the flow-splitting, thermally actuated spool valves used in the Mars Explorer Rover (MER). Also, whereas the MER valves are unstable (tending to oscillate) in certain transition temperature ranges, these valves are required not to oscillate. The MER valves are actuated by thermal expansion of a wax against spring-loaded piston rods (as in common automotive thermostats). The MSL valves contain similar actuators that utilize thermal expansion of a silicone oil, because silicone-oil actuators were found to afford greater and more nearly linear displacements, needed for smoother actuation, over the required wider temperature range. The MSL valves also feature improved spool designs that reflect greater understanding of fluid dynamics, consideration of pressure drops in valves, and a requirement for balancing of pressures in different flow branches.

Bhandari, Pradeep↗

NASA NTRS2014

Aperture Valve for the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA)

NASA's participation in the multi-nation ExoMars 2018 Rover mission includes a critical astrobiology Mass Spectrometer Instrument on the Rover called the Mars Organic Molecule Analyzer (MOMA). The Aperture Valve is a critical electromechanical valve used by the Mass Spectrometer to facilitate the transfer of ions from Martian soil to the Mass Spectrometer for analysis. The MOMA Aperture Valve development program will be discussed in terms of the initial valve design and subsequent improvements that resulted from prototype testing. The initial Aperture Valve concept seemed promising, based on calculations and perceived merits. However, performance results of this design were disappointing, due to delamination of TiN and DLC coatings applied to the titanium base metals, causing debris from the coatings to seize the valve. While peer reviews and design trade studies are important forums to vet a concept design, results from testing should not be underestimated. Despite the lack of development progress to meet requirements, valuable information from weakness discovered in the initial Valve design was used to develop a second, more robust Aperture Valve. Based on a check-ball design, the ETU / flight valve design resulted in significantly less surface area to create the seal. Moreover, PVD coatings were eliminated in favor of hardened, non-magnetic corrosion resistant alloys. Test results were impressive, with the valve achieving five orders of magnitude better sealing leak rate over end of life requirements. Cycle life was equally impressive, achieving 280,000 cycles without failure.

Engler, Charles↗

DOE OSTI2022

Debris tolerant valve

A valve includes a valve body, a sleeve within the valve body and a rotatable valve element that has one portion within the sleeve to control flow of media through the valve and another portion extending from the valve body and coupled to an actuator that rotates the valve element. The valve element is rotatable to a first position to flow media to one port and to a second position to flow media to another port. The sleeve has a pair of side openings. Each side opening has an angled perimetrical edge and is aligned with a corresponding port member. A half dovetail shaped groove is formed by the angled perimetrical edge of each side opening, the corresponding port and the valve body. A seal is lodged within each groove to form a seal that exhibits reduced unswept volume and which wipes debris off the valve element as it rotates.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS1980

Pressure control valve

A control valve is provided which is adapted to be connected between a pressure source, such as a vacuum pump, and a pressure vessel so as to control the pressure in the vessel. The valve comprises a housing having a longitudinal bore which is connected between the pump and vessel, and a transversely movable valve body which controls the air flow through an air inlet in the housing. The valve body includes cylindrical and conical shaped portions which cooperate with reciprocally shaped portions of the housing to provide flow control. A filter in the air inlet removes foreign matter from the air. The bottom end of the valve body is screwed into the valve housing control knob formed integrally with the valve body and controls translation of the valve body, and the opening and closing of the valve.

Lambson, K. H.↗

NASA NTRS2005

Analyses Of Transient Events In Complex Valve and Feed Systems

Valve systems in rocket propulsion systems and testing facilities are constantly subject to dynamic events resulting from the timing of valve motion leading to unsteady fluctuations in pressure and mass flow. Such events can also be accompanied by cavitation, resonance, system vibration leading to catastrophic failure. High-fidelity dynamic computational simulations of valve operation can yield important information of valve response to varying flow conditions. Prediction of transient behavior related to valve motion can serve as guidelines for valve scheduling, which is of crucial importance in engine operation and testing. In this paper, we present simulations of the diverse unsteady phenomena related to valve and feed systems that include valve stall, valve timing studies as well as cavitation instabilities in components utilized in the test loop.

Ahuja, Vineet↗

NASA NTRS2017

Shape Memory Actuated Normally Open Permanent Isolation Valve

A valve assembly for an in-space propulsion system includes an inlet tube, an outlet tube, a valve body coupling the inlet tube to the outlet tube and defining a propellant flow path, a valve stem assembly disposed within the valve body, an actuator body coupled to the valve body, the valve stem assembly extending from an interior of the valve body to an interior of the actuator body, and an actuator assembly disposed within the actuator body and coupled to the valve stem assembly, the actuator assembly including a shape memory actuator member that when heated to a transition temperature is configured to enable the valve stem assembly to engage the outlet tube and seal the propellant flow path.

Ramspacher, Daniel J.↗

NASA NTRS2019

Helium Balloon Valve Improvement

The NASA Balloon Program Office (BPO), located at Wallops Flight Facility asked the Mechanical Systems Branch (Code 548) to improve the design of their balloon valve. BPO uses two main types of balloons, Zero Pressure Balloon (ZPB) and Super Pressure Balloon (SPB), which both use the valve. It is used for termination of the ZPB, and inflation and termination of the SPB. During launch campaigns the valve showed signs of helium leakage which lead the BPO to ask for an improvement. As part of a Professional Readiness Engineering Program (PREP), research and review of the current valve was conducted and a new design was prepared. The current custom designed valve consists of a "pie" plate that is actuated up and down via a gear rack that is driven by a globe motor. When closed the knife edge of the pie plate bites into a silicone gasket to seal the structure. Unfortunately, the gasket material permanently deforms after being compressed and the plate itself bends under the force induced by the motor, introducing two possible helium leak paths. The new custom designed valve utilizes o-rings instead of one gasket to reduce the possibility of leakage from permanent deformation. One o-ring seals the valve structure to its mating surface and a spring energized o-ring is used in a piston design to seal the valve once it's closed. The design also utilizes different materials to increase stiffness and strength so that it is less likely to bend under the force from the motor. Currently the new valve has finished the design and analysis phases and is proceeding towards manufacturing and testing.

Seo, Lindsey↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Space Suit Portable Life Support System Thermal Control Valve Ball Design

A Thermal Control Valve (TCV) has been in development for the Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit Portable Life Support System (xEMU PLSS). The xEMU PLSS TCV controls flow going to the liquid cooling and ventilation garment that the crew member wears during extra-vehicular activity to expel waste heat. A pervious TCV version with a linear actuator and diverter valve has been tested extensively to attempt to control the flow accurately. The previous TCV diverter valve has a non-linear flow response relative to valve position and has struggled to accurately meet the setpoints desired for precision thermal control. While many diverter valve design variations have been attempted, previous designs have all had difficulty in meeting set points. Additionally, high precision machining is required for these diverter valves to create a metal-on-metal seal which has its own drawbacks and doesn’t always meet requirements for internal leakage. This metal compression seal also requires stalling the linear actuator to load the seal in compression or tension which has demonstrated valve sticking failures when stalled. The xEMU PLSS TCV implements a new approach and design for a TCV which uses a rotational ball to control flow and has demonstrated a much more precise and linear flow control. The design functions like a two-way ball valve with two Teflon seats that cradle and compress the ball for sealing. A new geometric design modification to the ball outlet can create a set-able orifice like hole which is more predictable at controlling flow than using an annulus with the previous diverter valve. Additionally, the Teflon seat performs much better for preventing internal leakage than the metal seal and prevents sticking by having a large range in which it is sealed without having to stall the actuator. This paper will review a new proposed xEMU PLSS TCV ball design and compare it with previous iterations of the design.

Ryan Ogilvie↗

DOE OSTI2023

Pilot-pressure-controlled flow valve and fluid system containing same

In a thermal fluid system, a control valve includes a flow valve and a solenoid pilot valve. The flow valve has an inlet and an outlet; a control chamber for receiving a pilot pressure; and a valve member operable by the pilot pressure to selectively open and close a fluid path from the inlet to the outlet. The pilot pressure acts in a closing direction of the flow valve. The pilot valve provides the pilot pressure to the control chamber and is a 3/2 way valve with a first port in fluid communication with the control chamber, a second port to be connected to a pressure source, and a third port. The pilot valve has a first position connecting the first port with the second port and a second position connecting the first port with the third port.

Chowdhury, Sourav↗

NASA NTRS2000

Intraoperative echocardiographic detection of regurgitant jets after valve replacement

BACKGROUND: Paravalvular jets, documented by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography, have prompted immediate valve explantation by others, yet the significance of these jets is unknown. METHODS: Twenty-seven patients had intraoperative transesophageal two-dimensional color Doppler echocardiography, performed to assess the number and area of regurgitant jets after valve replacement, before and after protamine. Patients were grouped by first time versus redo operation, valve position and type. RESULTS: Before protamine, 55 jets were identified (2.04+/-1.4 per patient) versus 29 jets after (1.07+/-1.2 per patient, p = 0.0002). Total jet area improved from 2.0+/-2.2 cm2 to 0.86+/-1.7 cm2 with protamine (p<0.0001). In all patients jet area decreased (average decrease, 70.7%+/-27.0%). First time and redo operations had similar improvements in jet number and area (both p>0.6). Furthermore, mitral and mechanical valves each had more jets and overall greater jet area when compared to aortic and tissue valves, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Following valve replacement, multiple jets are detected by intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography. They are more common and larger in the mitral position and with mechanical valves. Improvement occurs with reversal of anticoagulation.

Non-NASA Center↗

DOE OSTI2021

Metal Bellows Valve Reliability Testing - Copper Stem Tip Testing

SRNL was funded in Mid-Year FY20 by NNSA NA-231 to continue evaluation of alternate valves for use in tritium service to support domestic Mo-99 production. The focus of the effort was to identify valve cycle life as a function of actuator size and stem tip material. Using the minimum size actuator to reliability open and close valves can reduce glovebox size and thus support domestic companies to “come to market” faster in supplying Mo-99 to the US market. This report serves as a continuation to the FY19 report and summarizes the task activities completed in FY20 after authorization to start work was obtained on May 5 th , 2020. Copper stem tips were tested on the Swagelok 1C and 5C actuated metal bellows valves. With ambitions to cycle each set 150,000 times, both 1C and 5C valves were met with high failure rates. The smaller 1C actuated valves required additional closing pressure to form a seal with the Cu stem tips installed however, excessive stem tip deformation may be the root cause of the majority of the valves failing before 500 cycles. The larger 5C actuated valves were cycled 150,000 times but still resulted in 80% failure rate, suspected of metal fatigue in the bellows due to high cycling frequencies.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

NASA NTRS2014

Application of Model-based Prognostics to a Pneumatic Valves Testbed

Pneumatic-actuated valves play an important role in many applications, including cryogenic propellant loading for space operations. Model-based prognostics emphasizes the importance of a model that describes the nominal and faulty behavior of a system, and how faulty behavior progresses in time, causing the end of useful life of the system. We describe the construction of a testbed consisting of a pneumatic valve that allows the injection of faulty behavior and controllable fault progression. The valve opens discretely, and is controlled through a solenoid valve. Controllable leaks of pneumatic gas in the testbed are introduced through proportional valves, allowing the testing and validation of prognostics algorithms for pneumatic valves. A new valve prognostics approach is developed that estimates fault progression and predicts remaining life based only on valve timing measurements. Simulation experiments demonstrate and validate the approach.

prediction↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Low Leakage Valves for Long Duration Missions

This paper presents a status update on the low leakage cryogenic test valves currently under development at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. These valves consist of a 3-inch isolation valve, a 3-inch relief valve, and an 8-inch pre-valve. Each of these valves contain a self-aligning seat and poppet design to significantly reduce the quantity of propellant flowing past the seat when the valve is in its closed state (internal leakage). This self-aligning design utilizes a metallic poppet head with five degrees of freedom and is intended to allow a valve to be more tolerant of the imperfect contacts and misalignments that are commonly found between sealing surfaces. This paper covers the test articles, facilities, objectives, and preliminary results.

Cryogenic Fluid Management↗

NASA NTRS2023

Low Leakage Valves for Long Duration Missions

Cryogenic Fluid Management↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advancements in Low Leakage Valves for Long Duration Missions

This paper reports on the advancements in the development of low-leakage valve technology for cryogenic environments, currently under development at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. These valves consist of a 3-inch isolation valve, a 3-inch relief valve, and an 8-inch pre-valve. Each of these valves contain a self-aligning seat and poppet design to significantly reduce the quantity of propellant flowing past the seat when the valve is in its closed state (internal leakage). This self-aligning design utilizes a metallic poppet head with five degrees of freedom and is intended to allow a valve to be more tolerant of the imperfect contacts and misalignments that are commonly found between sealing surfaces. This paper covers the test articles, facilities, objectives, and test results.

Cryogenic Fluid Management↗

NASA NTRS1975

Geometry of aortic heart valves

Photogrammetric measurements of the surface topography of the aortic valves obtained from silicon rubber molds of freshly excised human aortic valves are presented. The data are part of an investigation into the design of a new prosthetic valve which will be a central-flow device, like the real valve and unlike previous central-occluding prostheses. Since the maximum stress on the heart valve is induced when the valve is closed and subject to diastolic back-pressure, it was decided to determine the valve geometry during diastole. That is, the molds were formed by pouring the rubber down the excised aortas, causing the valves to close. The molds were made under different pressures (20-120 torr); photogrammetry served as a vehicle for the assessment of the mold topography through the following outputs: digital models, surface profiles, and contour maps.

Karara, H. M.↗

NASA NTRS1939

Intermittent-flow coefficients of a poppet valve

Flow coefficients were determined for the inlet valve of a modern air-cooled cylinder during operation of the valve. The cylinder head with valves was mounted on a large tank that could be evacuated. Operating the valve with a rotating cam allowed air to flow through the valve into the evacuated tank. The change of pressure in the tank was a measure of the amount of air flowing though the valve in a given number of cycles. The flow coefficients were determined from the pressure across the valve, the quantity of air flowing, and the valve-lift curve. Coefficients were measured with lifts of 0.1 to 0.6 inch and speeds of 130 to 1,200 r.p.m. The results obtained with intermittent flow were compared with the results of tests made with steady flow through this cylinder head. This comparison indicated that steady-flow coefficients can be used for intermittent flow.

Waldron, C D↗