SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
The striking clarity and high contrast of the mouths of tracks etched in CR-39 plastic detectors allow automatic measurement of track parameters to be made with simple image-recognition equipment. Using a commercially available Vidicon camera system with a microprocessor-controlled digitizer, resolution for normally incident C-12 and N-14 ions at 32 MeV/amu equivalent to a 14sigma separation of adjacent charges was demonstrated.
The present situation and the future development of the functional membrane are discussed. It is expected that functional membranes will play increasingly greater roles in the chemical industry of the coming decade. These membranes are formed from polymer films, liquid membranes or bilayer membranes. The two most important technologies based on the polymeric membrane are reverse osmosis and ion exchange. The liquid membrane is used for separation of ionic species; an extension of the solvent extraction process. By using appropriate ligands and ionophores, highly selective separations are realized. The active transport is made possible if the physical and chemical potentials are applied to the transport process. More advanced functional membranes may be designed on the basis of the synthetic bilayer membrane.
An investigation of thermal plasma behavior in the vicinity of the plasmasphere during periods of quieting magnetic activity was conducted by combining thermal ion observations made with the plasma composition experiment on ISEE 1 with plasma density profiles obtained from plasma frequency measurements made with the same satellite's plasma wave experiment. During periods in which the magnetic activity quiets, the two regions characterized by H(+):He(+):O(+) (isotropic) and H(+):O(+):He(+) (field-aligned) ion species distributions (in order of dominance) are separated by a new region in which low-energy H(+) and He(+) are found flowing along the magnetic field lines. At other times, following quieting magnetic activity, distributions having peak fluxes at 90 deg pitch angle are observed in this region.
Thin, adherent sputtered MoS2 and ion plated metallic (Au, Ag, Pb) lubricating films are primarily used in precision contacting triboelement surfaces where wear debris formation is critical and high reliability requirements have to be satisfied. Detailed structural and compositional characterization of solid film lubricants is of prime importance. It is this information from the nano-micro-macro level which is needed to interpret and improve the frictional behavior and assure long endurance lives. The purpose of this paper is to summarize in a concise review the solid lubricant film structure and morphology and their effects on the tribological properties of the lubricant systems. The tribological performance of thin lubricating films has significantly advanced through progressive understanding of the film parameters such as adhesion, cohesion, interface formation, nucleation and microstructural growth, critical film thickness and substrate finish, and temperature. Sputtered MoS2 and ion plated Au, Ag, and Pb films are separately discussed and evaluated in terms of the above film parameters to establish the most desirable film structures and thicknesses in order to achieve effective lubrication.
The CELSS (controlled ecological life support system) resource recovery system, which is a waste processing system, uses aerobic and anaerobic bioreactors to recover plants nutrients and secondary foods from the inedible biomass. The anaerobic degradation of the inedible biomass by means of culture of rumen bacteria,generates organic compounds such as volatile fatty acids (acetic, propionic, butyric, VFA) and ammonia. The presence of VFA in the bioreactor medium at fairly low concentrations decreases the microbial population's metabolic reactions due to end-product inhibition. Technologies to remove VFA continuously from the bioreactor are of high interest. Several candidate technologies were analyzed, such as organic solvent liquid-liquid extraction, adsorption and/or ion exchange, dialysis, electrodialysis, and pressure driven membrane separation processes. The proposed technique for the on-line removal of VFA from the anaerobic bioreactor was a nanofiltration membrane recycle bioreactor. In order to establish the nanofiltration process performance variables before coupling it to the bioreactor, a series of experiments were carried out using a 10,000 MWCO tubular ceramic membrane module. The variables studied were the bioreactor slurry permeation characteristics, such as, the permeate flux, VFA and the nutrient removal rates as a function of applied transmembrane pressure, fluid recirculation velocity, suspended matter concentration, and process operating time. Results indicate that the permeate flux, VFA and nutrients removal rates are directly proportional to the fluid recirculation velocity in the range between 0.6 to 1.0 m/s, applied pressure when these are low than 1.5 bar, and inversely proportional to the total suspended solids concentration in the range between 23,466 to 34,880. At applied pressure higher than 1.5 bar the flux is not more linearly dependent due to concentration polarization and fouling effects over the membrange surface. It was also found that the permeate flux declines rapidly during the first 5 to 8 hours, and then levels off with a diminishing rate of flux decay.
In the mid-1990s, to protect rebar from corrosion, NASA developed an electromigration technique that sends corrosion-inhibiting ions into rebar to prevent rust, corrosion, and separation from the surrounding concrete. Kennedy Space Center worked with Surtreat Holding LLC, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a company that had developed a chemical option to fight structural corrosion, combining Surtreat's TPS-II anti-corrosive solution and electromigration. Kennedy's materials scientists reviewed the applicability of the chemical treatment to the electromigration process and determined that it was an effective and environmentally friendly match. Ten years later, NASA is still using this approach to fight concrete corrosion, and it has also developed a new technology that will further advance these efforts-a liquid galvanic coating applied to the outer surface of reinforced concrete to protect the embedded rebar from corrosion. Surtreat licensed this new coating technology and put it to use at the U.S. Army Naha Port, in Okinawa, Japan. The new coating prevents corrosion of steel in concrete in several applications, including highway and bridge infrastructures, piers and docks, concrete balconies and ceilings, parking garages, cooling towers, and pipelines. A natural compliment to the new coating, Surtreat's Total Performance System provides diagnostic testing and site analysis to identify the scope of problems for each project, manufactures and prescribes site-specific solutions, controls material application, and verifies performance through follow-up testing and analysis.
Topics covered include: COTS MEMS Flow-Measurement Probes; Measurement of an Evaporating Drop on a Reflective Substrate; Airplane Ice Detector Based on a Microwave Transmission Line; Microwave/Sonic Apparatus Measures Flow and Density in Pipe; Reducing Errors by Use of Redundancy in Gravity Measurements; Membrane-Based Water Evaporator for a Space Suit; Compact Microscope Imaging System with Intelligent Controls; Chirped-Superlattice, Blocked-Intersubband QWIP; Charge-Dissipative Electrical Cables; Deep-Sea Video Cameras Without Pressure Housings; RFID and Memory Devices Fabricated Integrally on Substrates; Analyzing Dynamics of Cooperating Spacecraft; Spacecraft Attitude Maneuver Planning Using Genetic Algorithms; Forensic Analysis of Compromised Computers; Document Concurrence System; Managing an Archive of Images; MPT Prediction of Aircraft-Engine Fan Noise; Improving Control of Two Motor Controllers; Electro-deionization Using Micro-separated Bipolar Membranes; Safer Electrolytes for Lithium-Ion Cells; Rotating Reverse-Osmosis for Water Purification; Making Precise Resonators for Mesoscale Vibratory Gyroscopes; Robotic End Effectors for Hard-Rock Climbing; Improved Nutation Damper for a Spin-Stabilized Spacecraft; Exhaust Nozzle for a Multitube Detonative Combustion Engine; Arc-Second Pointer for Balloon-Borne Astronomical Instrument; Compact, Automated Centrifugal Slide-Staining System; Two-Armed, Mobile, Sensate Research Robot; Compensating for Effects of Humidity on Electronic Noses; Brush/Fin Thermal Interfaces; Multispectral Scanner for Monitoring Plants; Coding for Communication Channels with Dead-Time Constraints; System for Better Spacing of Airplanes En Route; Algorithm for Training a Recurrent Multilayer Perceptron; Orbiter Interface Unit and Early Communication System; White-Light Nulling Interferometers for Detecting Planets; and Development of Methodology for Programming Autonomous Agents.
Methods, compositions, devices and kits are provided herein for separating, scavenging, capturing or identifying a metal from a target using a medium or scaffold with a selenium-containing functional group. The medium or the scaffold including the selenium-containing functional group has affinity and specificity to metal ions or compounds having one or more metals, and efficiently separates, recovers, and scavenges of the metals from a target such as a sample, solution, suspension, or mixture.
Earlier P2020 SEE data are compared and expanded to a recent die revision, significantly increasing samples tested by protons by five devices, and by heavy ions by five devices. Earlier tested SEE types are found to be fairly similar in register, L1 cache, L2 cache, and CPU crashes. New test methods give SEE performance for the flash memory controller, watchdog circuit, and a built-in Ethernet port on the P2020 processor. Results from heavy ion and proton tests are presented, with data separated over a large number of specific error types and test programs.
Erosion characteristics on the cover of the inner front pole in a 12.5 kW Hall thruster were measured over a wide range of operating conditions in tests of 6 to 14 hours duration using an accelerated test method and a very sensitive radioactive tracer-based erosion diagnostic. The operating points included the nominal 300 - 600 V conditions on a constant 20.8 A throttle curve, but included additional conditions at other currents spanning the throttling envelope and measurements at varying magnetic eld strength, facility pressure, and discharge voltage oscillation amplitude. The results show that the 300 V condition produces the highest wear rates on the 20.8 A throttle curve, but that rates actually increase with decreasing current. The wear rate was insensitive to discharge voltage ripple, but increased monotonically with magnetic eld strength, particularly near the inner radius of the pole cover. The inner region was also sensitive to facility pressure, showing lower rates at a higher pressure level. Separate experiments in which the energy distributions of ions generated by the hollow cathode were measured suggest that the cathode plume may be a source of energetic ions responsible for some of the erosion trends, in addition to ions originating in the thruster plume. The Hall thruster simulation code Hall2De is able to reproduce the erosion characteristics observed at 600 V, 20.8 A, but cannot currently match the rates measured at lower voltages and currents.
Using multipoint Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) observations in an unusual string-of-pearls configuration, we examine in detail observations of the reformation of a fast magnetosonic shock observed on the upstream edge of a foreshock transient structure upstream of Earth’s bow shock. The four MMS spacecraft were separated by several hundred km, comparable to suprathermal ion gyro-radius scales or several ion inertial lengths. At least half of the shock reformation cycle was observed, with a new shock ramp rising up out of the “foot” region of the original shock ramp. Using the multipoint observations, we convert the observed time-series data into distance along the shock normal in the shock’s rest frame. That conversion allows for a unique study of the relative spatial scales of the shock’s various features, including the shock’s growth rate, and how they evolve during the reformation cycle. Analysis indicates that: the growth rate increases during reformation, electron-scale physics play an important role in the shock reformation, and energy conversion processes also undergo the same cyclical periodicity as reformation. Strong, thin electron-kinetic-scale current sheets and large-amplitude electrostatic and electromagnetic waves are reported. Evidence is also presented of nonlinear wave decay from electromagnetic whistler-mode “lion roars” to electrostatic solitary waves in the downstream plasma regime. Results highlight the critical cross-scale coupling between electron-kinetic-and ion-kinetic-scale processes and details of the nature of nonstationarity, shock-front reformation at collisionless, fast magnetosonic shocks.
The Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) is one of the premier scientific user facilities for nuclear science with radioactive beams, capable of producing most (approximately 80%) of the isotopes expected to exist, from oxygen to uranium, at energies up to 200 MeV/u. With the increase in beam power from the present 10 kW to the planned 400 kW, FRIB experiments are about to enter a new era. An unprecedented rate capability as well as stable performance of all the planned instrumentation intended for beam diagnostics and beam tuning is required at the expected high beam intensities (> 1 MHz). A summary of aging phenomena at high heavy-ion beam rates observed in the Advanced Rare Isotope Separator (ARIS) detectors for beam diagnostics, including Parallel Plate Avalanche Counters (PPAC) and plastic scintillation for time-of-flight measurements, is discussed. Current research and development project to mitigate rate-induced aging are presented.
The chiral magnetic effect and the chiral vortical effect induce a correlation between baryon and electric currents. Here we show that this correlation can be detected using a new observable: a mixed baryon-electric charge correlator. This correlator is proportional to the baryon asymmetry, suggesting a novel way to separate the chiral effects from the background in heavy-ion collisions.
The unanticipated discovery of recent ultra-high-resolution ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) measurements revealing that isotopomers-compounds that differ only in the isotopic substitution sites-can be separated has raised questions as to the physical basis for their separation. A study comparing IMS separations for two isotopomer sets in conjunction with theory and simulations accounting for ion rotational effects provides the first-ever prediction of rotation-mediated shifts. The simulations produce observable mobility shifts due to differences in gas–ion collision frequency and translational-to-rotational energy transfer. These differences can be attributed to distinct changes in the moment of inertia and center of mass between isotopomers. The simulations are in broad agreement with the observed experiments and consistent with relative mobility differences between isotopomers. These results provide a basis for refining IMS theory and a new foundation to obtain additional structural insights through IMS.
As fossil fuels remain a major source of energy throughout the world, developing efficient negative emission technologies, such as direct air capture (DAC), which remove carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the air, becomes critical for mitigating climate change. Although all DAC processes involve CO 2 transport from air into a sorbent/solvent, through an air–solid or air–liquid interface, the fundamental roles the interfaces play in DAC remain poorly understood. In this work, we study the interfacial behavior of amino acid (AA) solvents used in DAC through a combination of vibrational sum frequency generation spectroscopy and molecular dynamics simulations. This study revealed that the absorption of atmospheric CO 2 has antagonistic effects on subsequent capture events that are driven by changes in bulk pH and specific ion effects that feedback on surface organization and interactions. Among the three AAs (leucine, valine, and phenylalanine) studied, we identify and separate behaviors from CO 2 loading, chemical changes, variations in pH, and specific ion effects that tune structural and chemical degrees of freedom at the air–aqueous interface. The fundamental mechanistic findings described here are anticipated to enable new approaches to DAC based on exploiting interfaces as a tool to address climate change.
A modularized ion thruster system was developed for space-propulsion applications. Separate discharge chamber modules (DCMs) were optimized for operation at the thrust levels of T = 0.5 mlb and T = 2 mlb to accommodate the extended thrust range. These optimizations included modifications in the discharge-chamber components and the incorporation of ion machined accelerators in the beam-extraction systems. Performance of the optimized modules are summarized.
Methods and systems for the separation of hydrogen isotopes from one another are described. Methods include utilization of a hydrogen isotope selective separation membrane that includes a hydrogen isotope selective layer (e.g., graphene) and a hydrogen ion conductive supporting layer. An electronic driving force encourages passage of isotopes selectively across the membrane at an elevated separation temperature to enrich the product in a selected hydrogen isotope.
Serum albumin is the most abundant protein in blood plasma, and it is involved in multiple biological processes. Serum albumin has recently been adapted for improving biomaterial integration with bone tissue, and studies have shown the importance of this protein in bone repair and regeneration. However, the mechanism of action is not yet clear. In stark contrast, other studies have demonstrated that albumin blocks cell adhesion to surfaces, which is seen as a limitation to its bone healing role. These apparent contradictions suggest that the conformation of albumin facilitates its bioactivity, leading to enhanced bone repair. Serum albumin is known to play a major role in maintaining the calcium ion concentration in blood plasma. Due to the prevalence of calcium at bone repair and regeneration sites, it has been hypothesized that calcium binding to serum albumin triggers a conformational change, leading to bioactivity. In the current study, molecular modeling approaches including molecular docking, atomic molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, and coarse-grained MD simulation were used to test this hypothesis by investigating the conformational changes induced in bovine serum albumin by interaction with calcium ions. The computational results were qualitatively validated with experimental Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy analysis. We find that free calcium ions in solution transiently bind with the three major loops in albumin, triggering a conformational change where N-terminal and C-terminal domains separate from each other in a partial unfolding process. The separation distance between these domains was found to correlate with the calcium ion concentration. The experimental data support the simulation results showing that albumin has enhanced conformational heterogeneity upon exposure to intermediate levels of calcium, without any significant secondary structure changes.