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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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At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

An investigation of a wall-injected scramjet using a shock tunnel

Experimental results are presented for several wall-injected, constant-area scramjet experiments, performed in the T4 free-piston-driven shock tunnel. Stagnation enthalpies range from 5.7 to 10.1 MJ/kg, corresponding to flight Mach numbers of Mach 9.7 to Mach 13. Hydrogen fuel is injected from the rear of a step into a supersonic air stream, with combustion-chamber Mach numbers of 3.6 and 4.4, and static pressures of 40 kPa. The experimental results are compared to numerical predictions obtained from a two-dimensional, parabolic Navier-Stokes code, which modeled turbulence with a compressibility modified k-epsilon model, and used multi-reaction, finite-rate chemistry. The numerical and experimental results show reasonable agreement and indicate that the scramjet flows studied are predominantly mixing limited.

Brescianini, C. P.↗
NASA NTRS1993

SWIRL as a means of liquid management in low gravity

Swirling of a liquid in a container may prove to be a more desirable method of managing liquids in low gravity (space) environments than by rotating the entire container. By injecting a relatively high velocity liquid tangentially into the body of the fluid, swirl can best be started rapidly, however an estimate of the quantity and velocity of jetflow, or mechanical power of a pump impeller required to maintain a given radial acceleration (G force) is needed to assess the feasibility of such a method. While the key aspect of the problem is determining the rate of rotational energy dissipation by wall friction in the container, there are other considerations, and the present study investigates the possible additional effects of axial variation of tangential velocity and secondary (radial and axial) flow components within the rotating fluid.

Steward, W. Gene↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Deep Neural Network Based Unsteady Flamelet Progress Variable Approach in a Supersonic Combustor

Higher dimensional flamelet manifolds are essential in capturing the coupled effects of pressure gradients and unsteady chemical kinetics observed in supersonic combustion applications. Previous studies have validated the feasibility of using deep neural networks as an alternative to computation-ally intensive multidimensional flamelet table storage and lookup. This approach has demonstrated a significant reduction in memory footprint and enabled the use of larger dimensional tabulated manifolds for supersonic combustion in canonical problems. In this study, the Unsteady Flamelet Progress Variable (UFPV)-ANN model implemented in the VULCAN-CFD code is validated by the Burrows-Kurkov supersonic mixing/combustion configuration. The well characterized experimental problem consists of hydrogen injection into a supersonic vitiated crossflow that results in a lifted flame structure. The initial model consists of a 4-dimensional table where the independent variables Z, C, Xst, P are tabulated using an unsteady flamelet code with boundary conditions corresponding to the vitiated air conditions. The results show the development of a lifted flame structure and over-all acceptable agreement with finite-rate chemistry (FRC) simulation and the experimental data. Moreover, direct mapping between the independent variables and the flamelet table is replaced by a deep neural network for significant memory reduction. The results indicate that the UFPV-ANN approach can retrieve the same solution as the memory intensive lookup table approach.

Flamelet↗
NASA NTRS2021

A Uniform Search for Nearby Planetary Companions to Hot Jupiters in TESS Data Reveals Hot Jupiters Are Still Lonely

We present the results of a uniform search for additional planets around all stars with confirmed hot Jupiters observed by the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) in its Cycle 1 survey of the southern ecliptic hemisphere. Our search comprises 184 total planetary systems with confirmed hot Jupiters with Rp > 8 R⊕ and orbital period <10 days. The Transit Least Squares algorithm was utilized to search for periodic signals that may have been missed by other planet search pipelines. While we recovered 169 of these confirmed hot Jupiters, our search yielded no new statistically validated planetary candidates in the parameter space searched (P < 14 days). A lack of planet candidates nearby hot Jupiters in the TESS data supports results from previous transit searches of each individual system, now down to the photometric precision of TESS. This is consistent with expectations from a high-eccentricity migration formation scenario, but additional formation indicators are needed for definitive confirmation. We injected transit signals into the light curves of the hot Jupiter sample to probe the pipeline's sensitivity to the target parameter space, finding a dependence proportional to ${R}_{p}^{2.32}{P}^{-0.88}$ for planets within 0.3 ≤ Rp ≤ 4 R⊕ and 1 ≤ P ≤ 14 days. A statistical analysis accounting for this sensitivity provides a median and 90% confidence interval of ${7.3}_{-7.3}^{+15.2} \% $ for the rate of hot Jupiters with nearby companions in this target parameter space. This study demonstrates how TESS uniquely enables comprehensive searches for nearby planetary companions to nearly all the known hot Jupiters.

Benjamin J Hord↗
NASA NTRS1973

Calculation of eddy viscosity in a compressible turbulent boundary layer with mass injection and chemical reaction, volume 2

As described in Vol. 1, the eddy viscosity is calculated through the turbulent kinetic energy, in order to include the history of the flow and the effect of chemical reaction on boundary layer characteristics. Calculations can be performed for two different cooling concepts; that is, transpiration and regeneratively cooled wall cases. For the regenerative cooling option, coolant and gas side wall temperature and coolant bulk temperature in a rocket engine can be computed along the nozzle axis. Thus, this computer program is useful in designing coolant flow rate and cooling tube geometry, including the tube wall thickness as well as in predicting the effects of boundary layers along the gas side wall on thrust performances.

Omori, S.↗
NASA NTRS1955

Injection Principles from Combustion Studies in a 200-Pound-Thrust Rocket Engine Using Liquid Oxygen and Heptane

The importance of atomizing and mixing liquid oxygen and heptane was studied in a 200-pound-thrust rocket engine. Ten injector elements were used with both steel and transparent chambers. Characteristic velocity was measured over a range of mixture ratios. Combustion gas-flow and luminosity patterns within the chamber were obtained by photographic methods. The results show that, for efficient combustion, the propellants should be both atomized and mixed. Heptane atomization controlled the combustion rate to a much larger extent than oxygen atomization. Induced mixing, however, was required to complete combustion in the smallest volume. For stable, high-efficiency combustion and smooth engine starts, mixing after atomization was most promising.

Heidmann, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Preliminary Development and Testing of a Self-Injecting Gallium MPD Thruster

Discharge current and terminal voltage measurements were performed on a gallium electromagnetic thruster at discharge currents in the range of 20-54 kA. It was found that the arc impedance has a value of 6-7 m(Omega) at peak current. The absence of high-frequency oscillations in the terminal voltage trace indicates lack of the "onset" condition often seen in MPD arcs, suggesting that a sufficient number of charge carriers are present for current conduction. The mass ablated per pulse was not measured experimentally; however the mass flow rate was calculated using an ion current assumption and an anode power balance. Measurement of arc impedance predicts a temperature of 3.5 eV which from Saha equilibrium corresponds to Z = 2.0 - 3.5, and assuming Z = 2 yields an Isp of 3000 s and thrust efficiency of 50%.

Thomas, Robert E.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Human parathyroid hormone-(1-38) restores cancellous bone to the immobilized, osteopenic proximal tibial metaphysis in rats

The purpose of this study was to determine if human parathyroid hormone-(1-38) (hPTH(1-38)) can restore cancellous bone mass to the established osteopenic, immobilized proximal tibial metaphyses of female rats. The right hindlimbs of 6-month-old female Sprague-Dawley rats were immobilized by bandaging the right hindlimbs to the abdomen. After 30 days of right hindlimb immobilization, the rats were subcutaneously injected with 200 micrograms hPTH(1-38)/kg/day for 15 days (short-term treatment) or 75 days (longer-term treatment). Static bone histomorphometry was performed on the primary spongiosa, and both static and dynamic histomorphometry were performed on the secondary spongiosa of the right proximal tibial metaphyses. Immobilization for 30 days without treatment decreased trabecular bone area, number, and thickness in both primary and secondary spongiosa, and induced an increase in eroded perimeter and a decrease in tissue referent-bone formation rate in the secondary spongiosa. These changes reached a new steady state thereafter. Treatment with 200 micrograms hPTH(1-38)/kg/day for 15 days, beginning 30 days after immobilization, significantly increased trabecular bone area, thickness, and number in both primary and secondary spongiosa despite continuous immobilization when compared with controls. The short-term PTH treatment (15 days) significantly increased labeling perimeter, mineral apposition rate, and tissue referent-bone formation rate in the secondary spongiosa and stimulated longitudinal bone growth as compared with the controls. Longer PTH treatment (75 days) further increased trabecular bone area, thickness, and number as compared with controls and groups given short-term PTH treatment (15 days). The bone formation indices in the secondary spongiosa of the longer-term treated rats were lower than those of the short-term treated group, but they were still higher than those of controls. Our findings indicate that PTH treatment stimulates cancellous bone formation, and restores and adds extra cancellous bone to the established, disuse-osteopenic proximal tibial metaphysis of female rats with continuously immobilized right hindlimbs. These results suggest that PTH may be useful in treating disuse-induced osteoporosis in humans.

NASA Program Space Physiology and Countermeasures↗
NASA NTRS1987

Three-dimensional numerical predictions of the flow behind a rearward-facing-step in a supersonic combustor

A CFD code was developed to compute the mixing and combustion of hydrogen fuel in the turbulent flow fields of scramjets. The code is based on the complete Reynold's time-averaged three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations, and chemical species equations. The code includes a global finite rate hydrogen-air chemical reaction model and the Baldwin-Lomax (1978) turbulence model. The validity of this CFD code was demonstrated by comparing computed results from the code with existing data for three configurations, each containing an important feature of the scramjet combustor flow. The code was then applied to the reacting flow field in a complex combustor model in which hydrogen fuel was injected transversely into a supersonic hot airstream through several fuel injectors.

Uenishi, K.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Review of the PDWA Concept for Combustion Enhancement in a Supersonic Air-Breathing Combustor Environment

This paper reviews the design of the Pulsed Detonation Wave Augmentor (PDWA) concept and the preliminary computational fluid dynamics studies that supported it. The PDWA relies on the rapid generation of detonation waves in a small tube, which are then injected into the supersonic stream of the main combustor. The blast waves thus generated are used to stimulate the mixing and combustion inside the main combustor. The mixing enhancement relies on various forms of the baroclinic interaction, where misaligned pressure and density gradients combine to produce vortical flow. By using unsteady shock waves, the concept also uses the Richtmyer-Meshkov effect to further increase the rate of mixing. By carefully designing the respective configurations of the combustor and the detonation tubes, one can also increase the penetration of the fuel into the supersonic air stream. The unsteady shocks produce lower stagnation pressure losses than steady shocks. Combustion enhancement can also be obtained through the transient shock-heating of the fuel-air interface, and the lowering of the ignition delay in these regions. The numerical simulations identify these processes, and show which configurations give the best results. Engineering considerations are also presented, and discuss the feasibility of the concept. Of primary importance are the enhancements in performance, the design simplicity, the minimization of the power, cost, and weight, and the methods to achieve very rapid cycling.

Canbier, Jean-Luc↗
NASA NTRS2019

Mars Ascent Vehicle Hybrid Propulsion Development

Hybrid propulsion is being investigated as a propulsion method for a possible Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) application. MAV is part of a proposed larger Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign plan to bring samples from Mars to earth for examination. The Mars Ascent Vehicle would launch Mars surface samples found and packaged by the Mars 2020 mission to orbit around Mars. This version of hybrid propulsion is based on a wax based solid fuel, called SP7A, and a Mixed Oxides of Nitrogen oxidizer, MON-25. SP7 is a new fuel formulation developed by Space Propulsion Group and was modified for this application to be resistant to Mars temperature extremes and modified again to lower the regression rate to become SP7A. MON-25 was chosen for its low freezing temperature. Due to cost constraints, MON-3 was the oxidizer used during testing through 2018. In 2019, full scale hybrid testing with MON-25 commenced in Mojave, CA by Whittinghill Aerospace. One flight motor will be subjected to thermal cycling in a vacuum and later fired in a vacuum to demonstrate the proposed Liquid Injection Thrust Vector Control system performance at White Sands Test Facility (WSTF). In addition, there will be MON-25 characterization work done at Purdue University and WSTF. Additional testing of subscale and full scale motors will be conducted with MON-3 with fuel grain stress, fuel grain support and case design test objectives by Space Propulsion Group Inc. of Butte, MT. This paper documents some of the testing, issues and accomplishments with the MAV hybrid propulsion option that is being considered (along with a two-stage solid propulsion option).

Story, G. T.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Application of CFD to aerothermal heating problems

Numerical solutions of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations by an alternating direction implicit scheme, applied to two experimental investigations are presented. The first is cooling by injection of a gas jet through the nose of an ogive-cone, and the second is the aerothermal environment in the gap formed by the wing and elevon section of a test model of the space shuttle. The simulations demonstrate that accurate pressure calculations are easily obtained on a coarse grid, while convergence is obtained after the residual reduces by four orders of magnitude. Accurate heating rates, however, require a fine grid solution, with convergence requiring at least a reduction of six orders of magnitude in the residual. The effect of artificial dissipation on numerical results is also assessed.

Macaraeg, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Role of carbonic anhydrase in bone - Plasma acetazolamide concentrations associated with inhibition of bone loss

The effects of acetazolamide and benzolamide on bone formation are examined. Solutions of acetazolamide and benzolamide with 1 M THAM/tris(hydromethyl)aminoethane/ or without 1 M THAM were injected subcutaneous with a minipump and into the food of Sprague-Dawley rats. The data reveal that for 8-day and 12-day infusions only acetazolamide combined with 1 M THAM caused any reduction in bone loss and there were no changes in body weights, food consumption and plasma calcium and phosphorus values. Following 8 days of infusion of acetazolamide with 1 M THAM at infusion rates of 0.5, 5.0, and 50 micrograms/hr, no reduction was detected at 0.5 microgram/hr, a 30 percent reduction occurred at 5.0 micrograms/hr and a 49 percent decrease at 50 micrograms/hr. In the benzolamide experiment it was observed that 0.5 percent of the solution in the food caused no reduction in bone loss; however, infusions with benzolamide plus 1 M THAM resulted in a bone loss reduction of 30 percent at 5.0 micrograms/hr, and a 49 percent decrease at 50 micrograms/hr. Acetazolamide levels in the plasma at 50 micrograms/hr doses are calculated as ranging from 99 ng/ml-223 ng/ml and as 46 ng/ml at 5 micrograms/hr doses.

Kenny, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Numerical models of two complex hypersonic flowfields

Numerical solutions of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations assuming a perfect gas and laminar flow are applied to two hypersonic experiments conducted at NASA Langley Research Center. The first is cooling by injection of a gas jet through the nose of an ogive-cone, and the second is the aerothermal environment in the gap formed by the wing and elevon section of a test model of the Space Shuttle. The simulations demonstrate that the model predicts accurate pressures and shock stand-off for the gas jet and accurate pressures for the wing-elevon cove. Experimental heating rates for the gas jet indicate turbulent mixing to be occurring, an effect not modeled in the numerical solution.

Macaraeg, M. G.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Effect of Inductive Coil Geometry on the Operating Characteristics of a Pulsed Inductive Plasma Accelerator

Operational characteristics of two separate inductive thrusters with coils of different cone angles are explored through thrust stand measurements and time-integrated, un- filtered photography. Trends in impulse bit measurements indicate that, in the present experimental configuration, the thruster with the inductive coil possessing a smaller cone angle produced larger values of thrust, in apparent contradiction to results of a previous thruster acceleration model. Areas of greater light intensity in photographs of thruster operation are assumed to qualitatively represent locations of increased current density. Light intensity is generally greater in images of the thruster with the smaller cone angle when compared to those of the thruster with the larger half cone angle for the same operating conditions. The intensity generally decreases in both thrusters for decreasing mass ow rate and capacitor voltage. The location of brightest light intensity shifts upstream for decreasing mass ow rate of propellant and downstream for decreasing applied voltage. Recognizing that there typically exists an optimum ratio of applied electric field to gas pressure with respect to breakdown efficiency, this result may indicate that the optimum ratio was not achieved uniformly over the coil face, leading to non-uniform and incomplete current sheet formation in violation of the model assumption of immediate formation where all the injected propellant is contained in a magnetically-impermeable current sheet.

Hallock, Ashley K.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Effect of Inductive Coil Geometry on the Operating Characteristics of an Inductive Pulsed Plasma Thruster

Operational characteristics of two separate inductive thrusters with conical theta pinch coils of different cone angles are explored through thrust stand measurements and time- integrated, unfiltered photography. Trends in impulse bit measurements indicate that, in the present experimental configuration, the thruster with the inductive coil possessing a smaller cone angle produced larger values of thrust, in apparent contradiction to results of a previous thruster acceleration model. Areas of greater light intensity in photographs of thruster operation are assumed to qualitatively represent locations of increased current density. Light intensity is generally greater in images of the thruster with the smaller cone angle when compared to those of the thruster with the larger half cone angle for the same operating conditions. The intensity generally decreases in both thrusters for decreasing mass flow rate and capacitor voltage. The location of brightest light intensity shifts upstream for decreasing mass flow rate of propellant and downstream for decreasing applied voltage. Recognizing that there typically exists an optimum ratio of applied electric field to gas pressure with respect to breakdown efficiency, this result may indicate that the optimum ratio was not achieved uniformly over the coil face, leading to non-uniform and incomplete current sheet formation in violation of the model assumption of immediate formation where all the injected propellant is contained in a magnetically-impermeable current sheet.

Hallock, Ashley K.↗
NASA NTRS2021

Characterization Study of TestBed Infrastructure Performance in a Distributed Simulation Environment: Baseline Analysis

Characterization of the performance of Air Traffic Management Exploration (ATM-X) TestBed integration environment has been investigated and documented for one system configuration for progressively increasing traffic. Several statistical parameters were used to assess the performance of the TestBed distributed system such as mean, standard deviation, skewness, and kurtosis of latency, and update rate for aircraft state messages that are transmitted through the simulated system under investigation. It is necessary to assess the performance characteristics of distributed systems in terms of the indicated statistical parameters mentioned above. It is critical to verify the system performance with respect to a researcher’s required system performance. Computer host specifications are documented in terms of Central Processing Unit (CPU) clock speed and core count. Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) message protocol was used for data transmission. The system network topology also contributes to the latency and update rate variations from the one imposed by the data source. The motivation for selecting the TestBed infrastructure as the focus of this study can be attributed to the number of services and capabilities it provides that help simplify the process of preparing and conducting a simulation. These capabilities include an easy to use GUI for simulation configuration, access to TestBed library by the end-user of other simulation software components, a modular adapter paradigm that allows simple connectivity of external software to TestBed, connectivity with other simulation laboratories, and a Software Development Kit (SDK) for quicker development. Two types of traffic generators, Air Traffic Generator (ATG) and Multi Aircraft Control System (MACS) were used to generate messages that were injected into the TestBed distributed environment. Eight different air traffic scenarios with progressively increasing loads were generated for each air traffic simulator. The corresponding air traffic loads between the two simulators had an identical number of aircraft per scenario, but different flight plans. It was observed that the performance of MACS degraded for air traffic scenarios containing more than 200 aircraft (37.5 KB/s nominal throughput). However, ATG performed adequately under all tested air traffic loads up to 1200 aircraft (225. KB/s nominal throughput). The tests show that MACS exhibits better latency performance with smaller aircraft loads when compared to ATG. The tests also show that the TestBed infrastructure successfully transmits 1200 aircraft without significant degradation of its performance. From the latency trends for both MACS and ATG, it is clear that as aircraft load increases, the latency in the system increases as well as its standard deviation. Likewise, the trends for the update data rate for both MACS and ATG show that as the aircraft load increases, so does the standard deviation and mean of the update rates which can be attributed to the performance of MACS and ATG applications. The analysis of the results of this study have proven that the overall system performance is dependent on the individual performance of each system component that is connected to TestBed, which subsequently propagates into the system. All TestBed characterization tests were conducted in SimLabs at NASA Ames Research Center in November 2019. This study addresses the need for a baseline TestBed characterization, and the results will serve as a reference for more complex simulation systems.

Air Traffic Management simulations↗
NASA NTRS1986

Application of CFD to aerothermal heating problems

Numerical solutions of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations by an Alternating Direction Implicit scheme, applied to two experimental investigations at NASA Langley Research Center are presented. The first is cooling by injection of a gas jet through the nose of an ogive-cone, and the second is the aerothermal environment in the gap formed by the wing and elevon section of a test model of the Space Shuttle. The simulations demonstrate that accurate pressure calculations are easily obtained on a coarse grid, witih convergence being obtained after the residual reduces by four orders of magnitude. However, accurate heating rates require a fine grid solution, with convergence requiring at least a reduction of six orders of magnitude in the residual. The effect of artificial dissipation on numerical results is also assessed.

Macaraeg, M. G.↗