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At least 793 records · Page 44

Two hundred passage three-way valve: Fraction collector

This paper describes the design and operation of a fraction collector used to direct flow of separated biological materials from 197 capillary tubes to either a collection tray or to a waste tank. This mechanism uses a 28-volt dc gear motor driving twin cams to force 197 needles through a self-sealing silicone rubber septum, where they inject the material in 197 separate pockets in a collection tray. The position of the collector tray is sensed by two optical limit switches. The time sequences are controlled automatically by an electronics control monitoring module.

Keffer, J. L.↗

An L-band SAR for repeat pass deformation measurements on a UAV platform

We are proposing to develop a miniaturized polarimetric L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) for repeat-pass differential interferometric measurements of deformation for rapidly deforming surfaces of geophysical interest such as volcanoes or earthquakes that is to be flown on a unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or minimally piloted vehicle (MPV). Upon surveying the capabilities and availabilities of such aircraft, the Proteus aircraft and the ALTAIR UAV appear to meet our criteria in terms of payload capabilities, flying altitude, and endurance. To support the repeat pass deformation capability it is necessary to control flight track capability of the aircraft to be within a specified 10 m tube with a goal of 1 m. This requires real-time GPS control of the autopilot to achieve these objectives that has not been demonstrated on these aircraft. Based on the Proteus and ALTAIR's altitude of 13.7 km (45,000 ft), we are designing a fully polarimetric L-band radar with 80 MHz bandwidth and a 16 km range swath. The radar will have an active electronic beam steering antenna to achieve a Doppler centroid stability that is necessary for repeat-pass interferometry. This paper presents some of the trade studies for the platform, instrument and the expected science.

interferometers↗

Status of a UAVSAR designed for repeat pass interferometry for deformation measurements

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is currently implementing a reconfigurable polarimetric L-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR), specifically designed to acquire airborne repeat track interferometric (RTI) SAR data, also known as differential interferometric measurements. Differential interferometry can provide key deformation measurements, important for the scientific studies of Earthquakes and volcanoes. Using precision real-time GPS and a sensor controlled flight management system, the system will be able to fly predefined paths with great precision. The expected performance of the flight control system will constrain the flight path to be within a 10 m diameter tube about the desired flight track. The radar wilI be designed to operate on a UAV (Unpiloted Aria1 Vehicle) but will initially be demonstrated on a minimally piloted vehicle (MPV), such as the Proteus buitt by Scaled Composites or on a NASA Gulfstream III. The radar design is a fully polarimetric with an 80 MHz bandwidth (2 m range resolution) and 16 km range swath. The antenna is an electronically steered along track to assure that the actual antenna pointing can be controlled independent of the wind direction and speed. Other features supported by the antenna include an elevation monopulse option and a pulse-to-pulse resteering capability that will enable some novel modes of operation. The system will nominally operate at 45,000 ft (13800 m). The program began out as an Instrument Incubator Project (IIP) funded by NASA Earth Science and Technology Office (ESTO).

electronically scanned array↗

Simultaneous in situ magnetospheric and ionospheric detection of detached plasmas

On January 19, 1972, in situ measurements by Explorer 45, orbiting in the magnetosphere near the equatorial plane, and ISIS 2, in a circular polar orbit at 1400 km, simultaneously detected patches of enhanced ionization outside the main body of the plasmasphere. The magnetospheric plasma region extended between (geomagnetic latitude) L values 3.4-4.8 and the ionospheric electron density enhancement extended between L values 3.6-4.4. The two plasma features were detected near 22 hours magnetic local time (MLT). Based on a number of observations, it is inferred that the plasma density enhancement persisted for more than 5 hours and extended over at least 2 hours in MLT near L = 5. These results provide experimental evidence that some detached magnetospheric plasma regions are signatures of a flux tube containing enhanced ionization throughout a volume extending from the topside ionosphere out to the equator.

Miller, N. J.↗

Theoretical study of the dissociation energy and the red and violet band systems of CN

The dissociation energy (D sub O) of CN is determined to be 7.65 + or - 0.06 eV. This corresponds to delta H sub f (CN) = 105.3 + or - 1.5 kcal/mole, in excellent agreement with Engleman and Rouse (1975), but considerably larger than the recent value deduced from shock-tube studies by Colket (1984). The result is obtained not only from extensive ab initio MRCI calculations using a very large Gaussian basis set, but also from extrapolation of the directly computed value by comparison of computed and experimental results fo NO, C2, and N2. As an additional calibration of the methods, the D sub O value for CN was computed from the corresponding value for CN(-) using the experimental electron affinity data. The lifetime of the nu prime = 0 level of the violet (B 2 sigma + yields X 2 sigma +) system was computed to be 62.4 ns, in good agreement with both experiment and previous calculations. Lifetimes for the red (A 2 pi yields X 2 sigma +) system decrease with increasing nu prime, which is consistent both with the recent experiment and calculations. While the computed lifetimes are significantly longer that those obtained from the experiment, they are shorter than those deduced from an analysis of the solar spectrum. However the D sub O and f (sub OO) are consistent with Lambert's model for the solar spectrum.

Bauschlicher, Charles W., Jr.↗

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Air Radiation in Superorbital Expanding Flow

To investigate air radiation in expanding flows and provide experimental data for validating associated computational models, experiments were conducted in the X2 expansion tunnel facility at the Centre for Hypersonics of the University of Queensland. A 54 turning angle wedge model was employed to generate steady expanding flows with in flow total enthalpies of 50.7, 63.4 and 75.4 MJkg. VUV spectra from 118 to 180 nm were acquired across the wedge at three equispaced distances away from the top of the model, as well as through its top surface. High speed filtered images were also obtained by coupling a Shimadzu 1 MHz high speed camera to a bandpass filter to obtain calibrated images of the 777 nm oxygen triplet. Both the across-wedge VUV spectra and filtered images of the 777 nm atomic oxygen were compared with NEQAIR simulations, which were performed using flow field data from two-dimensional CFD simulations with two-temperature 11-species air chemistry utilizing the in-house Navier-Stokes flow solver Eilmer3. Data extracted from consecutive frames of the filtered high speed images confirmed up to 8 s of available test time for the flow conditions tested. For the strongly radiating 149 and 174 nm atomic nitrogen lines, large disagreement between experimental data and NEQAIR predictions can be observed from the start of the expansion fan where the electron-ion recombination process commences. The spatial extent, or spans of the radiance profiles of the 149 and 174 nm N lines are significantly under predicted by NEQAIR, and are very close to those of N, N+ and electron number density profiles, which follow that of flow density. The electron-ion recombination process is proposed as the main reason for these discrepancies. The comparisons between NEQAIR simulations and filtered images of the 777 nm oxygen triplet show good agreement in the post-shock compression region and the start of the expansion fan for the 63.4 MJkg condition, but with up to a factor of three over prediction by NEQAIR further downstream, which is attributed to electron-impact excitation. Similar trends are found with the 75.4 MJkg condition, with reduced level of agreement in the compression region, which can be due to uncertainties in inflow condition.

Earth entry↗

High sensitivity high resolution double scatter 1-30 MeV gamma ray telescope

The design and performance of the double-scatter 1-30-MeV gamma-ray telescope developed at the University of California for balloon-borne observations are reported and illustrated with drawings, diagrams, and graphs. The telescope comprises an upper array of 16 6.03 x 6.03 x 100-cm plastic scintillator bars viewed by photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) at both ends, a lower array (at 100-cm distance) of 16 4.83 x 4.83 x 100-cm NaI(Tl) bars viewed at both ends by PMTs, and four 122 x 122 x 0.64-cm plastic sheets viewed by four PMTs each as charged-particle anticoincidence shielding. The operating principle of the telescope, the tests conducted on the NaI(Tl) bars, the on-board data-processing electronics, and the overall performance are characterized. Performance parameters include area 1 sq m, field of view pi sr, 4-sigma sensitivity above 1 MeV 0.00004 gamma/sq cm sec over 25 h, angular resolution about 3.5 deg FWHM, and energy resolution 10 percent at 1 MeV and 6 percent at 6 MeV.

Zych, A. D.↗

Characteristics of hypervelocity impact craters on LDEF experiment S1003 and implications of small particle impacts on reflective surfaces

The Ion Beam Textured and Coated Surfaces Experiment (IBEX) was designated S1003 on the Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) at a location of 98 degrees relative to the ram direction. Thirty-six diverse materials were exposed to the micrometeoroid (and some debris) environment for 5.8 years. Optical property measurements indicated no changes for almost all of the materials except S-13G, Kapton, and Kapton-coated surfaces, and these changes can be explained by other environmental effects. From the predicted micrometeoroid flux of NASA SP-8013, no changes in optical properties of the surfaces due to micrometeoroids were expected. However, there were hypervelocity impacts on the various diverse materials flown on IBEX. The characteristics of these craters were documented using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and are presented. Interest in placing large solar concentrator/solar dynamic systems in space for power generation has again brought up a concern for maintaining the integrity of the optical properties of highly specular reflecting surfaces in the near-Earth space environment. It has been shown that highly reflective polished metals and thin film coatings degrade when exposed to simulated micrometeoroids in the laboratory. At LeRC, a shock tube was used to simulate the phenomenon of micrometeoroid optical properties of surfaces exposed to this impact were then evaluated. A calibrated sensor, 2000 A Al/stainless steel, was developed to not only detect the small size micrometeoroid environment, but also to evaluate the degradation of the optical properties of thin aluminum films in space. This sensor was flown on LDEF experiment S1003 and also on the OSO 3 and SERT 2 satellites that were launched in 1967 and 1970, respectively. No changes in the optical properties of the highly reflective surface sensor on SERT 2 were measured during 20 years in space. The results, as determined by the accuracy of the sensor, indicate that a highly reflective surface should lose less than 1 percent of its specular reflectance in near-Earth orbit during 20 years.

Mirtich, Michael J.↗

Laboratory Investigation of the Effect of Venusian Weathering on Mineral Spectra

Introduction: The recent selection of two missions to Venus has renewed the importance of deter-mining weathering reactions between minerals and the Venusian atmosphere, and the spectral signatures of minerals before, during, and after these reactions. The rate at which weathering reactions progress also constrain show long unstable minerals will be present on the surface (e.g., [1]), and enables the use of mineralogy as a constraint on surface age(e.g., [2-3]).In order to gain an understanding of how mineral compositions and spectra change with weathering, we have begun conducting experiments in a 1 atm experimental setup at Wesleyan University. This setup exposes minerals to the temperature and most abundant gases of the Venus atmosphere (CO2, SO2, N2).We conducted initial experiments using biotite, calcite, and montmorillonite in order to test our methodology with minerals that may be relevant to recording the history of water on Venus. Methods: Experiments were conducted in Thermo Fisher Scientific Lindberg/Blue M Mini-Mite horizontal tube furnaces at Wesleyan University. Experiments used natural mineral chips and powders, and were conducted at 1 atmosphere and 460 °C under pre-mixed gases provided by Air Gas(Table 1). The furnaces are set up in a flow through configuration so that solid samples are exposed to a fixed gas composition, and quartz glass process tubes were used in all experiments (1/4” diameter for experiment V4, ½” diameter for all others). These conditions were maintained for the du-rations listed in Table 1, at which point the furnace was turned off with gas flowing until the sample was cool enough to extract under N2and be placed in a desiccator for storage. Run products were carbon coated and examined using a Hitachi SU5000 Field Emission Gun Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) equipped with an EDAX Octane Pro EDS detector located at Wesley-an University. Visible-Near Infrared Spectroscopy (VNIR) analysis was performed on powdered samples under a nitrogen atmosphere using an ASD Fieldspec Proover the 350-2500 nm range. Powdered mineral samples were milled to a particle size of < 45μm and were spiked with an internal standard (Al2O3, corundum) to obtain quantitative mineralogy. Samples were analyzed using a Panalytical X’Pert pro X-ray Diffractometer (XRD), with an X’Celerator high speed detector and Co Kα radiation, with data collected at a step size of 0.02 ̊/minute step counting rate from 2 to 80 degrees 2θ at 45 mA/40kV in the X-ray Diffraction Laboratory located at NASA Johnson Space Center. Materials Data Inc (MDI) software suite, JadeTMv9 was used for Rietveld refinement to determine phase abundances and mineral identification by comparing XRD patterns to International Center for Diffraction Data (ICDD) database patterns. Table 1: Experimental matrix. Experiment Name Duration (Days)Gas Com-position (trace gas)MineralsV487SO2/N2(1.4%)Montmorillonite, biotiteV519SO2/N2(1.4%)CalciteV619CO2/SO2/N2(1.4% SO2, 2.1% N2)Montmorillonite, biotiteV828SO2/N2(1.4%)Biotite, calcite Results: Calcite. In both experiments, calcite was exposed to the SO2/N2gas mixture, and in both experimental run products, XRD analysis detected anhydrite, which is consistent with EDS measurements conducted in the SEM. The XRD analyses show greater amounts of anhydrite present after 28 days than 19, suggesting the calcite reaction progressed further given longer duration. Grain surface morphology as seen in the SEM also shows secondary mineral growth (Fig. 1). VNIR spectra show no change, as expected since anhydrite lacks spectral features in this wavelength range. Montmorillonite. Montmorillonite was exposed to two different gas mixtures, the SO2/N2mix and CO2/SO2/N2mix over different durations (87 and 19 days, respectively). VNIR analyses of both run products show a reduction in the 1441and1910 nm water features as well as a shift of the 1411 and 2011 nm features to shorter wavelengths that may indicate re-structuring in the crystal lattice and the production of amorphous phases [4]. XRD results are consistent with this, showing a shift of the 001 peak from 15Åto 10Åin both run products. The amount of X-ray amorphous material in the montmorillonite run products was greater than that present in the unreacted clay, being the greatest in the 87 day V4 experiment. No other secondary phases were detected in the run products, however sulfur was present in EDS analyses of powder samples.

A R Santos↗

Deposit formation in hydrocarbon rocket fuels with an evaluation of a propane heat transfer correlation

A high pressure fuel coking testing apparatus was designed and developed and was used to evaluate thermal decomposition limits and carbon decomposition rates in heated copper tubes for hydrocarbon fuels. A commercial propane (90% grade) and chemically pure (CP) propane were tested. Heat transfer to supercritical propane was evaluated at 136 atm, bulk fluid velocities of 6 to 30 m/s, and tube wall temperatures in the range of 422 to 811 K. A forced convection heat transfer correlation developed in a previous test effort verified a prediction of most of the experimental data within a + or - 30% range, with good agreement for the CP propane data. No significant differences were apparent in the predictions derived from the correlation when the carbon resistance was included with the film resistance. A post-test scanning electron microprobe analysis indicated occurrences of migration and interdiffusion of copper into the carbon deposit.

Masters, P. A.↗

The Impact of Geometrical Constraints on Collisionless Magnetic Reconnection

One of the most often cited features associated with collisionless magnetic reconnection is a Hall-type magnetic field, which leads, in antiparallel geometries, to a quadrupolar magnetic field signature. The combination of this out of plane magnetic field with the reconnection in-plane magnetic field leads to angling of magnetic flux tubes out of the plane defined by the incoming magnetic flux. Because it is propagated by Whistler waves, the quadrupolar field can extend over large distances in relatively short amounts of time - in fact, it will extend to the boundary of any modeling domain. In reality, however, the surrounding plasma and magnetic field geometry, defined, for example, by the overall solar wind flow, will in practice limit the extend over which a flux tube can be angled out of the main plain. This poses the question to what extent geometric constraints limit or control the reconnection process and this is the question investigated in this presentation. The investigation will involve a comparison of calculations, where open boundary conditions are set up to mimic either free or constrained geometries. We will compare momentum transport, the geometry of the reconnection regions, and the acceleration if ions and electrons to provide the current sheet in the outflow jet.

Hesse, Michael↗

Refractory Carbides for Hydrogen Erosion Resistance in Carbon Tubes for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

As crewed travel becomes more common to the Moon and beyond, space nuclear propulsion-based craft offer reduced travel times and double the specific impulse compared to conventional chemical rockets. The nuclear core and its integral hydrogen propellant channels will require advanced refractory carbide coatings over a carbon/carbon substrate for hydrogen resistance. Using ab initio and other computational techniques, we studied select (Zr/Ta/Nb)C mixed carbide systems for erosion resistance and hydrogen diffusion using realistic levels of carbon vacancies and experimentally obtainable stoichiometries. Various contributions to the formation and hydrogen erosion free energies were calculated, including configurational, electronic, and vibrational terms. Our calculations indicate that ZrC is less likely to lose carbon than NbC or TaC, providing an explanation for heritage NERVA data on ZrC and NbC mass loss performance. Additionally, binary mixtures show compositions that are more stable than their end-member counterparts. Hydrogen diffusion in stoichiometric ZrC was found to be slightly higher than previously theorized, with the caveat that hydrogen saturation of carbon vacancies will hinder further hydrogen diffusion through the bulk, while hydrogen diffusion in ZrNbC is slightly enhanced over ZrC. And finally, we show that as carbon is depleted, the deformation mechanism of ZrC changes from brittle to ductile. Though many questions still remain as to the bulk performance of these materials, these trends and results are important in terms of materials selection efforts for hydrogen-resistant coatings on carbon/carbon substrates.

William C Tucker↗

Refractory Carbides for Hydrogen Erosion Resistance in Carbon Tubes for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

As crewed travel becomes more common to the Moon and beyond, space nuclear propulsion-based craft offer reduced travel times and double the specific impulse compared to conventional chemical rockets. The nuclear core and its integral hydrogen propellant channels will require advanced refractory carbide coatings over a carbon/carbon substrate for hydrogen resistance. Using ab initio and other computational techniques, we studied select (Zr/Ta/Nb)C mixed carbide systems for erosion resistance and hydrogen diffusion using realistic levels of carbon vacancies and experimentally obtainable stoichiometries. Various contributions to the formation and hydrogen erosion free energies were calculated, including configurational, electronic, and vibrational terms. Our calculations indicate that ZrC is less likely to lose carbon than NbC or TaC, providing an explanation for heritage NERVA data on ZrC and NbC mass loss performance. Additionally, binary mixtures show compositions that are more stable than their end-member counterparts. Hydrogen diffusion in stoichiometric ZrC was found to be slightly higher than previously theorized, with the caveat that hydrogen saturation of carbon vacancies will hinder further hydrogen diffusion through the bulk, while hydrogen diffusion in ZrNbC is slightly enhanced over ZrC. And finally, we show that as carbon is depleted, the deformation mechanism of ZrC changes from brittle to ductile. Though many questions still remain as to the bulk performance of these materials, these trends and results are important in terms of materials selection efforts for hydrogen-resistant coatings on carbon/carbon substrates.

William C Tucker↗

Refractory Carbides for Hydrogen Erosion Resistance in Carbon Tubes for Nuclear Thermal Propulsion

As crewed travel becomes more common to the Moon and beyond, space nuclear propulsion-based craft offer reduced travel times and double the specific impulse compared to conventional chemical rockets. The nuclear core and its integral hydrogen propellant channels will require advanced refractory carbide coatings over a carbon/carbon substrate for hydrogen resistance. Using \textit{ab initio} and other computational techniques, we studied select (Zr/Ta/Nb)C mixed carbide systems for erosion resistance and hydrogen diffusion using realistic levels of carbon vacancies and experimentally obtainable stoichiometries. Various contributions to the formation and hydrogen erosion free energies were calculated, including configurational, electronic, and vibrational terms. Our calculations indicate that ZrC is less likely to lose carbon than NbC or TaC, providing an explanation for heritage NERVA data on ZrC and NbC mass loss performance. Additionally, binary mixtures show compositions that are more stable than their end-member counterparts. Hydrogen diffusion in stoichiometric ZrC was found to be slightly higher than previously theorized, with the caveat that hydrogen saturation of carbon vacancies will hinder further hydrogen diffusion through the bulk, while hydrogen diffusion in ZrNbC is slightly enhanced over ZrC. And finally, we show that as carbon is depleted, the deformation mechanism of ZrC changes from brittle to ductile. Though many questions still remain as to the bulk performance of these materials, these trends and results are important in terms of materials selection efforts for hydrogen-resistant coatings on carbon/carbon substrates.

William C. Tucker↗

Shock tube measurements of the optical absorption of triatomic carbon, C3

The spectral absorption of C3 has been measured in a shock tube using a test gas mixture of acetylene diluted with argon. The absorption of a pulsed xenon light source was measured by means of eight photomultiplier channels to a spectrograph and an accompanying drum camera. The postshock test gas temperature and pressure were varied over the range 3300-4300 K and 0.36 to 2.13 atmospheres, respectively. The results showed appreciable absorption from C3 for the wavelength range 300 to 540 nanometers. The computed electronic oscillator strength varied from 0.12 to 0.06 as a function of temperature.

Jones, J. J.↗

Moisture content and gas sampling device

An apparatus is described for measuring minute quantities of moisture and other contaminants within sealed enclosures such as electronic assemblies which may be subject to large external atmospheric pressure variations. An array of vacuum quality valves is arranged to permit cleansing of the test apparatus of residual atmospheric components from a vacuum source. This purging operation evacuates a gas sample bottle, which is then connected by valve settings to provide the drive for withdrawing a gas sample from the sealed enclosure under test into the sample bottle through a colometric detector tube (Drager tube) which indicates moisture content. The sample bottle may be disconnected and its contents (drawn from the test enclosure) separately subjected to mass spectrograph analysis.

Krieg, H. C., Jr.↗

Radiation Modeling with Direct Simulation Monte Carlo

Improvements in the modeling of radiation in low density shock waves with direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) are the subject of this study. A new scheme to determine the relaxation collision numbers for excitation of electronic states is proposed. This scheme attempts to move the DSMC programs toward a more detailed modeling of the physics and more reliance on available rate data. The new method is compared with the current modeling technique and both techniques are compared with available experimental data. The differences in the results are evaluated. The test case is based on experimental measurements from the AVCO-Everett Research Laboratory electric arc-driven shock tube of a normal shock wave in air at 10 km/s and .1 Torr. The new method agrees with the available data as well as the results from the earlier scheme and is more easily extrapolated to di erent ow conditions.

Carlson, Ann B.↗

Experimental Measurements of the High-Temperature Oxidation of Carbon Fibers

We carried out laboratory experiments to study the decomposition of carbon fibers at high temperature and studied the material used in charring carbon phenolic ablators for planetary probe heatshields. Porous plug samples were exposed to controlled rates of molecular oxygen, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide at furnace-heated flow-tube reactor temperatures between 700 and 1500 K and pressures between 2000 and 6200 Pa. We used calibrated mass spectroscopy to make time-resolved quantitative measurements of decomposition products of the gases downstream of the test sample. Absolute and differential pressure measurements were used to determine the high-temperature permeability of the material and to monitor changes during material decomposition, and we characterized the microstructure of the porous sample using scanning electron microscopy. We found substantial carbon fiber oxidation for O2 flows, resulting in increasing CO/CO2 production ratios with increasing temperature. The CO2 was shown to react with carbon fibers following a Boudouard reaction at temperatures above 1200 K.

Francesco Panerai↗