Thermal/vacuum testing of laser corner-cube retroreflectors
Test procedure for optimum cube design records beam-return patterns photographically.
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Test procedure for optimum cube design records beam-return patterns photographically.
Methods of interpreting response measurements which could be amenable to flight flutter testing procedures were studied analytically and in the wind tunnel. One suggested scheme, which requires evaluation, is an iterative technique in which derivatives obtained from subcritical response data are used to indicate the approach to flutter. A simplification of this procedure was considered by examining the manner in which a single characteristic of the subcritical response behaves in relation to variations of the density or dynamic pressure in the approach to flutter. The use of this single parameter scheme was examined for random excitation as well as for sinusoidal forcing. The feasibility of the method is illustrated by several examples and the relative merits of random and sinusoidal excitation are discussed.
As part of a special international effort, three nozzles were designed and tested on single nacelle models in wind tunnels of several nations belonging to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. All three of these nozzles were investigated in the Langley 16-foot transonic wind tunnel at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Langley Research Center. Langley Research Center also contributed theoretical calculations of the jet plume boundary and afterbody pressures. The calculations were obtained using an iterative solution which combined the inviscid Douglas Neumann method for the external flow with the method of characteristics for the flow in the jet plume. For the investigation, the nozzles were mounted on a single nacelle model 15.24 centimeters in diameter and 162.56 centimeters long. Tests were made at free stream Mach number from 0.4 to 1.2, and at Reynolds numbers per meter from 7.38 million to 13.78 million depending on the Mach number. Four types of data were recorded: afterbody pressure data, afterbody force data, model boundary layer data, and tunnel wall pressure data. The ratio of jet total pressure to free stream static pressure ranged up to 8.5. A description of the wind tunnel, model, and test procedure is included.
A compilation is presented of papers reported at the 1975 Ride Quality Symposium held in Williamsburg, Virginia, August 11-12, 1975. The symposium, jointly sponsored by NASA and the United States Department of Transportation, was held to provide a forum for determining the current state of the art relative to the technology base of ride quality information applicable to current and proposed transportation systems. Emphasis focused on passenger reactions to ride environment and on implications of these reactions to the design and operation of air, land, and water transportation systems acceptable to the traveling public. Papers are grouped in the following five categories: needs and uses for ride quality technology, vehicle environments and dynamics, investigative approaches and testing procedures, experimental ride quality studies, and ride quality modeling and criteria.
A literature survey is presented covering nondestructive methods of electrical characterization of semiconductors. A synopsis of each technique deals with the applicability of the techniques to various device parameters and to potential in-flight use before, during, and after growth experiments on space flights. It is concluded that the very recent surge in the commercial production of large scale integrated circuitry and other semiconductor arrays requiring uniformity on the scale of a few microns, involves nondestructive test procedures which could well be useful to NASA for in-flight use in space processing.
As a result of the investigation following the January 1967 fire, which took the lives of three astronauts, materials were developed, flight hardware was modified, and test procedures were rewritten in order to establish the framework within which a more effective rescue concept could be developed. Topics discussed include breathing units, improved life support equipment, miniresuscitators, and hazardous tasks during space shuttle launch and landing operations.
Various parameters were evaluated such as bias, scale factor, scale factor sensitivity to supply voltage and external temperature, and turn-on trends. Photographs and descriptions of test equipment are given, and test procedures are outlined. A systems description (electronic equipment, block diagrams), performance characteristics, and equipment specifications of the laser gyro model are given. Also considered are the laser beam optics (laser mode locking). Results are reported for the various parameters examined, and recommendations given.
A definition of solar grade silicon was determined by investigating the singular and the combined effect of the impurities usually found in metallurgical grade silicon on solar cell device performance. The impurity matrix was defined by Jet Propulsion Laboratory Technical Direction Memorandum. The initial work was focussed on standardizing the solar cell process and test procedure, growing baseline crystals, growing crystals contaminated with carbon, iron, nickel, zirconium, aluminum and vanadium, solar blank preparation, and material characterization.
A status report and review of wind tunnel model experimental techniques that have been developed to study and validate the use of active control technology for the minimization of aeroelastic response are presented. Modeling techniques, test procedures, and data analysis methods used in three model studies are described. The studies include flutter mode suppression on a delta-wing model, flutter mode suppression and ride quality control on a 1/30-size model of the B-52 CCV airplane, and an active lift distribution control system on a 1/22 size C-5A model.
The development of X-ray grid collimators at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory is considered with attention given to grid design (patterns and artwork for masters, materials, layout of grid patterns), mounting techniques (index housings, L-bar and T-bar housings, U-housings, rectangular housings). Alignment techniques (adjustable frames and alignment telescope, adjustable frames and on-axis and off-axis telescopes) are considered along with test procedures (plane parallel X-ray beam, convolved response).
Package, in page assembly, is subjected to low-frequency vibration, and noise generated by particle impacts is picked up by transducer. Test procedure calls for three transverse shocks to be applied to page to dislodge any trapped particles.
The four bladed pitch stirring rotor model was used in a rotor dynamic wake survey at zero advance ratio, covering 2 deg, 5 deg and 8 deg collective pitch settings. Dynamic wake data were taken in planes .12 and .20 radii below the rotor disk and are to be compared with analytical wake data with parameters to be identified from pitch stirring transients. The model was modified to perform such transients. The instrumentation developed for this purpose is described together with the method of data acquisition and with the test procedures. The hardware and software for several data handling systems are discussed. These systems extract from pitch stirring transients the parameters of analytical dynamic rotor wake models.
Design and acceptance certification test procedures and results are presented for a high pressure oxygen filter developed to protect the sealing surfaces in emergency oxygen systems. Equipment specifications are included.
Test procedures, history, and plotted coefficient data are presented for an aero-loads investigation on the updated configuration-5 space shuttle launch vehicle at Mach numbers from 0.600 to 1.205. Six-component vehicle forces and moments, base and sting-cavity pressures, elevon hinge moments, wing-root bending and torsion moments, and normal shear force data were obtained. Full simulation of updated vehicle protuberances and attach hardware was employed.
Improvements in 15 cm diameter, SERT II, mercury ion thruster performance effected by the use of SHAG optics at 33 V discharge voltage were discussed. At a 200 eV/ion discharge power, 90 percent propellant utilization and 660 mA beam current condition a doubly-to-singly charged ion current ratio of about 4 percent was measured. Performance of the 15 cm multipole mercury thruster (optimized for length and the point of electron injection) was compared to that of divergent (SERT II) and cusped field designs and found to be comparable. The need for a magnetic baffle in the multipole thruster was identified and the preferred point of electron injection was at the upstream end of the discharge chamber. Results of preliminary tests on the effects of discharge voltage and total accelerating voltage on perveance and beam divergence characteristics of two grid ion optics were examined. Experimental data showing the effect of target temperature on sputtering rates in a mercury discharge environment were presented and a deficiency in the tests procedure was identified.
The analytical capability of the helicopter stability program is discussed. The parameters which are found to be critical to the air resonance characteristics of the soft in-plane hingeless rotor systems are detailed. A summary of two model test programs, a 1/13.8 Froude-scaled BO-105 model and a 1.67 meter (5.5 foot) diameter Froude-scaled YUH-61A model, are presented with emphasis on the selection of the final parameters which were incorporated in the full scale YUH-61A helicopter. Model test data for this configuration are shown. The actual test results of the YUH-61A air resonance in-flight shake test stability are presented. Included are a concise description of the test setup, which employs the Grumman Automated Telemetry System (ATS), the test technique for recording in-flight stability, and the test procedure used to demonstrate favorable stability characteristics with no in-plane damping augmentation (lag damper removed). The data illustrating the stability trend of air resonance with forward speed and the stability trend of ground resonance for percent airborne are presented.
The processing of time in the Orbiter System Services software and the associated facilities provided to the user community are described. The descriptions are directed toward showing the functional intent of the design rather than the actual implementation. Simplified flow diagrams are included. Based upon detailed analysis of a preliminary review copy of the Approach and Landing Test (ALT) System Software Detailed Design Specification and the Program Listings for Version 17 Prime, the processing of time has the potential for error free operations. The processing of time is not expected to change between ALT and the Operational Flight Test (OFT) other than differences in value of some constants for control and limit checking. Due to the dynamic nature of onboard time processing and its criticality to the successful operation of the orbiter, it is recommended that a comprehensive list of external variables, their locations, initial values, and a 'where used' listing be produced, as a by-product of the link edit process, for all non-HAL coding. In addition, a careful review of the verification test procedures for the System Services time-related software is recommended.
Test flights to remotely measure nonurban carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations by gas filter correlation radiometry are discussed. The inferred CO concentrations obtained through use of the Gas Filter Correlation Radiometer (GFCR) agreed with independent measurements obtained by gas chromatography air sample bottle analysis to within 20 percent. The equipment flown on board the aircraft, the flight test procedure, the gas chromatograph direct air sampling procedure, and the GFCR data analysis procedure are reported.