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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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Group dynamics, sociological and psychological factors are examined. Crew composition and compatibility are studied. Group dynamics analysis includes: leadership; cohesiveness; conformity; and conflict.
Parallel electric fields can exist in the magnetic mirror geometry of auroral field lines if they conform to the quasineutral equilibrium solutions. Results on quasi-neutral equilibria and on double layer discontinuities were reviewed and the effects on such equilibria due to non-unique solutions, potential barriers and field aligned current flows using as inputs monoenergetic isotropic distribution functions were examined.
Compressible shear flows and drag reduction were examined and three methods are addressed: (1) the analytical and numerical aspects of conformal mapping were summarized and a new method for computation of these maps is presented; (2) the computer code SPECFD for solution of the three dimensional time dependent Navier-Stokes equations for compressible flow on the CYBER 203 computer is described; (3) results of two equation turbulence modeling of turbulent flow over wavy walls are presented. A modified Jones-Launder model is used in two dimensional spectral code for flow in general wavy geometries.
A lubricant is any substance that is used to reduce friction and wear and to provide smooth running and a satisfactory life for machine components. Lubrication fundamentals are discussed and the various lubrication mechanisms are defined. These include: hydrodynamic, elastohydrodynamic, mixed, boundary, and extreme pressure. Before the various lubrication mechanisms are presented, it is desirable to define conformal and nonconformal surfaces.
Starting with the basic fatigue lift formula, an inversion formula is derived. The inversion formula is valid over the entire life range of engineering interest for all materials examined. Conformity between the two equations is extremely close, suitable for all engineering problems. The approach used to invert the life relation is also suitable for the inversion of other formulas involving the sum of two power-law terms.
A fast computer program was developed to eliminate the shocks by slightly altering portions of the contour of a given airfoil in the cascade. The program can be used in two basic modes: (1) An analysis for steady, transonic, potential flow through a given planar cascade of airfoils and (2) a design for converting a given cascade into a shockless transonic cascade. The design mode can automatically be followed by the analysis mode, which confirms that the flow field is shock free. The program generates its own multilevel boundary conforming computational grids and solves a full potential equation in a fully conservative form. The shockless design is performed by implementing Sobieczky's fictitious-gas elliptic continuation concept.
The apparatus makes use of a normally flat, flexible bladder filled with beads or micro-balloons that form a rigid mass when the pressure within the bladder is decreased below ambient through the use of a suction pump so that the bladder can be conformed to the torso of the victim and provide the desired restraint. The bladder is strapped to the victim prior to being rigidified by an arrangement of straps which avoid the stomach area. The bladder is adapted to be secured to a rigid support, i.e., a rescue chair, so as to enable removal of a victim after the bladder has been made rigid. A double sealing connector is used to connect the bladder to the suction pump and a control valve is employed to vary the pressure within the bladder so as to soften and harden the bladder as desired.
A method is described for designing a forebody with cross sections which vary smoothly from an initial prescribed nose shape to a different prescribed base shape in such a way that the cross-section areas conform to a preassigned axial area distribution. It is shown that these conditions can be satisfied with a remaining degree of freedon, which can be used to accomplish a modest amount of geometric or pressure tailoring of the forebody. An example is provided which involves modifying the pressure distribution along a given meridian line of the forebody.
The reliability of one lot of high K multilayer ceramic capacitors was evaluated using accelerated life testing. The degradation in insulation resistance was characterized as a function of voltage and temperature. The times to failure at a voltage-temperature stress conformed to a lognormal distribution with a standard deviation approximately 0.5.
An improvement of addition polyimides wherein an essentially solventless, high viscosity laminating resin is synthesized from low cost liquid monomers is disclosed. The improved process takes advantage of a reactive, liquid plasticizer such as monoethylphthalate (MEP) which is used in lieu of an alcohol solvent, and helps solve a major problem of maintaining good prepreg tack and drape, or the ability of the prepreg to adhere to adjacent plies and conform to a desired shape during the layup process. This improvement results in both longer life of the polymer prepreg and the processing of low void laminate and appears to be applicable to all addition polyimide systems.
The effects of heavy metal stress on leaf reflectance of sugar maple seedlings (Acer saccharum Marsh) are examined. It is found that sugar maple seedlings treated with anomalous amounts of heavy metals in the rooting medium exhibited an increased leaf reflectance over the entire range of investigated wavelengths, from 475 to 1650 nm. These results conform to those of a previous investigation in the wavelengths from 475 to 660nm, but tend to contradict the previous study in the near infrared wavelengths from 1000 to 1650nm. The differences may possible be due to different water regimes in the two investigations.
The objective of this program was to develop the technology and construct a number of tubes conforming to the chosen configuration. A total of ten starts were made and ten tubes went through to test. Of the ten tubes three were CsI on LiF, six were CsTe on MgF2 and one was KNaCsSb on SiO2. All three faceplate crystals sealed successfully using indium as the sealant. In addition, a number of test seals were made and two photocathode sample runs were made. The tasks E-field, faceplate, anti-corona and electron optical analysis were actively pursued and the results integrated into the BASD HRS project.
Accomplishments in vortex flap research are summarized. A singular feature of the vortex flap is that, throughout the range of angle of attack range, the flow type remains qualitatively unchanged. Accordingly, no large or sudden change in the aerodynamic characteristics, as happens when forcibly maintained attached flow suddenly reverts to separation, will occur with the vortex flap. Typical wind tunnel test data are presented which show the drag reduction potential of the vortex flap concept applied to a supersonic cruise airplane configuration. The new technology offers a means of aerodynamically augmenting roll-control effectiveness on slender wings at higher angles of attack by manipulating the vortex flow generated from leading edge separation. The proposed manipulator takes the form of a flap hinged at or close to the leading edge, normally retracted flush with the wing upper surface to conform to the airfoil shape.
The machine-readable version of the N30 catalog available on magnetic tape from the Astronomical Data Center is described. Numerical representations of some data fields on the original catalog were changed to conform more closely to formats being used for star-catalog data, plus all records having asterisks indicating footnotes in the published catalog now have corresponding remarks entries in a second tape file; i.e. the footnotes in the published catalog were computerized and are contained in a second file of the tape.
The paper presents data on the accumulated V-band orbital phase curves of polarization in Cygnus X-1 which disagree with the analysis of Simmons, Aspin, and Brown (1980). No curves which conform to the canonical model were observed, and a noncanonical structure is indicated by F tests on third, fourth, and fifth harmonics, which have a probability of 0.85 as a group. The fifth harmonic has a probability of 0.99; in contrast, the fundamental harmonic has a probability of only 0.6, which is below the detection threshold. Therefore, major conclusions of Simmons et al based on a nonsymmetrical canonical model assuming that fundamental harmonics are present, but harmonics with n greater than 2 are absent, are unacceptable. Analysis of the author's data by Simmons et al is criticized on the grounds that he did not take into account the cumulative aspects of the data and did not recognize the need to average out the random noise generated by Cygnus X-1 over many orbital cycles.
The use of silicone materials as thin conformal coatings for the protection of photovoltaic cells is investigated. Five silicone materials ranging from soft elastomers to high modulus resins were evaluated after exposure to UV radiation, outdoor weathering, thermal cycling at high humidity and temperature cycling from -40 C to 90 C. The effects of these tests were monitored by periodically measuring the output of two-cell circuit strings encapsulated with the various materials, and one exceptional silicone coating for which no significant changes in cell output were noted after 300 days was chosen as the best of the candidates. Because only a thin coating of the substance is needed, material costs 60% lower than those of previous encapsulants are now possible.
Previous models of microwave limb brightening have omitted the alignment of spicules along supergranule boundaries, have neglected the high temperature sheath around spicules, and have assumed an interspicular medium which was averaged over chromospheric network and nonnetwork regions. A model is presented here which includes these factors. Constraining the model to conform to results from earlier UV and optical studies in effect leaves two free parameters: the temperature at the core of the spicules and (at solar minimum) the interspicular chromospheric network density model of the lower transition zone. The absence of limb brightening at the short millimeter wavelengths implies a temperature at the core of the spicules less than approximately 6000 K. Differences between the model and certain deconvolved observations near 9 mm are expected as a consequence of an extension of emission beyond the optical limb, predicted by the model, which affects the accuracy of the deconvolution technique. Unlike models which assume homogeneous spicules in a random distribution, the model presented here does not require an abnormally high spicule area.
A technique is presented for constructing a boundary-conforming grid throughout a general three-dimensional flow region as a composite of subregion grids. Each subregion grid is generated numerically by solving a nonlinear system of elliptic equations. The boundary values represent nodal points in a quasi-two-dimensional grid that covers the curved surface bounding the subregion, and are generated numerically by a modified elliptic system. A primary feature of the technique is that the composite three-dimensional grid remains both continuous and smooth across the surface of juncture between any two adjoining subregions. Sample results are given for a wing-body combination.