Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “material type”

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.

At least 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1990

Analysis of elastically tailored viscoelastic damping member

For more than two decades, viscoelastic materials have been commonly used as a passive damping source in a variety of structures because of their high material loss factors. In most of the applications, viscoelastic materials are used either in series with or parallel to the structural load path. The latter is also known as the constrained-layer damping treatment. The advantage of the constrained-layer damping treatment is that it can be incorporated without loss in structural integrity, namely, stiffness and strength. However, the disadvantages are that: (1) it is not the most effective use of the viscoelastic material when compared with the series-type application, and (2) weight penalty from the stiff constraining layer requirement can be excessive. To overcome the disadvantages of the constrained-layer damping treatment, a new approach for using viscoelastic material in axial-type structural components, e.g., truss members, was studied in this investigation.

Chen, G.-S.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Semiconductor apparatus utilizing gradient freeze and liquid-solid techniques

Transition metals of Group VIII (Co, Rh and Ir) have been prepared as semiconductor compounds with the general formula TSb.sub.3. The skutterudite-type crystal lattice structure of these semiconductor compounds and their enhanced thermoelectric properties results in semiconductor materials which may be used in the fabrication of thermoelectric elements to substantially improve the efficiency of the resulting thermoelectric device. Semiconductor materials having the desired skutterudite-type crystal lattice structure may be prepared in accordance with the present invention by using vertical gradient freezing techniques and/or liquid phase sintering techniques. Measurements of electrical and thermal transport properties of selected semiconductor materials prepared in accordance with the present invention, demonstrated high Hall mobilities (up to 1200 cm.sup.2.V.sup.-1.s.sup.-1) and good Seebeck coefficients (up to 150 .mu.VK.sup.-1 between 300.degree. C. and 700.degree. C.). Optimizing the transport properties of semiconductor materials prepared from elemental mixtures Co, Rh, Ir and Sb resulted in a substantial increase in the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) at temperatures as high as 400.degree. C. for thermoelectric elements fabricated from such semiconductor materials.

Fleurial, Jean-Pierre↗
NASA NTRS2004

NASA Thermographic Inspection of Advanced Composite Materials

As the use of advanced composite materials continues to increase in the aerospace community, the need for a quantitative, rapid, in situ inspection technology has become a critical concern throughout the industry. In many applications it is necessary to monitor changes in these materials over an extended period of time to determine the effects of various load conditions. Additionally, the detection and characterization of defects such as delaminations, is of great concern. This paper will present the application of infrared thermography to characterize various composite materials and show the advantages of different heat source types. Finally, various analysis methodologies used for quantitative material property characterization will be discussed.

Cramer, K. Elliott↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Bridging the Gap Between Microscale Modeling and Additive Manufacturing for TPS

An overview of the now open-source NASA ARC software PuMA will be provided. On top of the well-documented ability to import and compute material properties from micro-CT images, PuMA has the ability to design microstructures and compute/predict material properties such as: porosity, permeability, tortuosity, thermal and electrical conductivity, tensile strength, etc. Therefore, a whole new range of capabilities is available, and provides users with the ability to build TPS materials (both fibrous and woven types) and optimize their properties based on missions and requirements. This talk will aim to provide a seed to start bridging the gap between microscale modeling of TPS materials and additive manufacturing.

Conductivity↗
NASA NTRS1993

Casting of superconducting composite materials (M-4)

An aluminum-lead-bismuth alloy is a flexible alloy and is promising for easily workable embedded-type, filament-dispersed superconducting wire material. It is difficult to produce homogeneous ingots of this material because it is easily separated into elements when melted on Earth due to the large specific gravity differences. In this experiment, a homogeneous alloy will first be produced in molten state in microgravity. It will then be returned to Earth and processed into a wire or tape form. It will then be dispersed as the second phase in micro texture form into the primary phase of aluminum. Superconducting wire material with high-critical-magnetic-field characteristics will be produced. The texture of the material will be observed, and its performance will be evaluated. In addition to the above alloy, a four-element alloy will be produced from silver, a rare Earth element, barium, and copper. The alloys will be oxidized and drawn into wire after being returned to Earth. The materials are expected to be forerunners in obtaining superconducting wire materials from oxide superconductors.

Togano, Kazumasa↗
NASA NTRS1975

Classifying and monitoring water quality by use of satellite imagery

A technique in which LANDSAT measurements from very clear lakes are subtracted from measurements from other lakes in order to remove atmospheric and surface noise effects to obtain a residual signal dependent only on the material suspended in the water is described. This residual signal is used by the Multispectral Data Analysis System as a basis for producing color categorized imagery showing lakes by type and concentration of suspended material. Several hundred lakes in the Madison and Spooner, Wisconsin area were categorized for tannin or non-tannin waters and for the degree of algae, silt, weeds, and bottom effects.

Scherz, J. P.↗
NASA NTRS2015

The OSIRIS-REx Contamination Control and Witness Strategy

The OSIRIS-REx mission (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security Regolith Explorer) is the third NASA New Frontiers mission. It is scheduled for launch in 2016. The primary objective of the mission is to return at least 60 g of "pristine" material from the B-type near- Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu, which is spectrally similar to organic-rich CI or CM meteorites [1]. The study of these samples will advance our understanding of materials available for the origin of life on Earth or elsewhere. The spacecraft will rendezvous with Bennu in 2018 and spend at least a year characterizing the asteroid before executing a maneuver to recover a sample of regolith in the touch-and-go sample acquisition mechanism (TAGSAM). The TAGSAM and sample is stowed in the sample return capsule (SRC) and returned to Earth in 2023.

New Frontiers mission↗
NASA NTRS2024

Carbon and Nitrogen Abundance, Distribution, and Isotopic Composition in Samples of Asteroid (101955) Bennu

Material from the B-type carbonaceous asteroid (101955) Bennu was returned on September 24, 2023, by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission. The mission brought back the largest sample of pristine primordial asteroidal material, largely free from the challenges of terrestrial contamination that are common in meteorite studies. The Bennu sample thus provides a unique source of material to investigate the abundance and isotopic signatures of C and N. The specific hypotheses tested by these analyses are whether Bennu contains macromolecular material and/or presolar grains similar to the populations found in CI and CM chondrites and recently returned samples from Ryugu.

M. M. Grady↗
NASA NTRS2004

Results From a Parametric Acoustic Liner Experiment Using P and W GEN1 HSR Mixer/Ejector Model

This report documents the results of an acoustic liner test performed using a Gen 1 HSR mixer/ejector model installed on the Jet Exit Rig in the Nozzle Acoustic Test Rig in the Aeroacoustic Propulsion Laboratory or NASA Glenn Research Center. Acoustic liner effectiveness and single-component thrust performance results are discussed. Results from 26 different types of single-degree-of-freedom and bulk material liners are compared with each other and against a hardwall baseline. Design parameters involving all aspects of the facesheet, the backing cavity, and the type of bulk material were varied in order to study the effects of these design features on the acoustic impedance, acoustic effectiveness and on nozzle thrust performance. Overall, the bulk absorber liners are more effective at reducing the jet noise than the single-degree-of-freedom liners. Many of the design parameters had little effect on acoustic effectiveness, such as facesheeet hole diameter and honeycomb cell size. A relatively large variation in the impedance of the bulk absorber in a bulk liner is required to have a significant impact on the noise reduction. The thrust results exhibit a number of consistent trends, supporting the validity of this new addition to the facility. In general, the thrust results indicate that thrust performance benefits from increased facesheet thickness and decreased facesheet porosity.

Boyd, Kathleen C.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Acoustic field positioning for containerless processing

The non-contact positioning of materials in a space processing chamber is accomplished using a new type of acoustic levitator. Liquid and solid materials are positioned using a single source of sound. Fine control of position may be obtained by motion of an acoustical reflector. Electrical power required is usually less than 100 watts. The system operates satisfactorily at high and low temperatures and is adaptable as an add-on feature to existing space experiments. Containerless melting and solidification can be performed and a freely suspended liquid can be shaped to the contour of the sound field. Experiments are described in which aluminum, glass and plastic materials are melted and solidified in the containerless state. The system has applications to containerless crystal growth, melting and related processes.

Whymark, R. R.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Acoustic field positioning for containerless processing

The noncontact positioning of materials in a space processing chamber is accomplished using a new type of acoustic levitator. Liquid and solid materials are positioned using a single source of sound. Fine control of position may be obtained by motion of an acoustical reflector. The electrical power required is usually less than 100 watts. The system operates satisfactorily at high and low temperatures and is adaptable as an 'add-on' feature to existing space experiments. Containerless melting and solidification can be performed and a freely suspended liquid can be shaped to the contour of the sound field. Experiments are described in which aluminum, glass and plastic materials are melted and solidified in the containerless state. The system has applications to containerless crystal growth, melting and related processes.

Whymark, R. R.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Assessing the Formation of Ungrouped Achondrite Northwest Africa 8186: Residue, Crystallization Product, or Recrystallized Chondrite?

The recent discoveries of primitive achondrites, metachondrites, and type 7 chondrites challenge the long held idea that all chondrites and achondrites form on separate parent bodies. These meteorites have experienced metamorphic temperatures above petrologic type 6 and have partially melted to various degrees. However, because of their isotopic and compositional similarities to both undifferentiated and differentiated groups, the provenance of these 'type 6+' meteorites remains largely unknown. CK and CV chondrites have recently been linked to a few achondrites due to their strong compositional, mineralogical, and isotopic similarities], suggesting a common origin between these meteorites. Although CVs have generally undergone low degrees of alteration near petrologic type 3, CKs have experienced a wide range of thermal alteration from petrologic type 3 to 6. Thermal evolution models on early accreting bodies predict that an early forming body can partially differentiate due to radiogenic heating, and, as a result, form radial layers of material increasing in thermal grade (types 3 to 6+) from the unmelted chondritic surface towards the differentiated core.Northwest Africa (NWA) 8186 is an ungrouped achondrite that provides compelling evidence for higher degrees of thermal processing and/or melting and differentiation on some CK/CV parent bodies. NWA 8186 plots on the CCAM line on a 3-oxygen isotope diagram directly with CK and CV chondrites and also plots with the CKs in regards to Cr isotopes. This meteorite is dominated by Nickel(II)Oxygen-rich olivine (less than 80%), lacks iron metal, and contains four oxide phases, indicating a high fOxygen (above FMQ) similar to the CKs. Additionally, NWA 8186 does not contain chondrules. We have further investigated the origins of NWA 8186 by examining and comparing the bulk composition of this CK-like achondrite with CK and CV chondrites, allowing us to assess the various scenarios in which NWA 8186 may have formed from CK/CV precursor material.

Srinivasan, P.↗
NASA NTRS2010

The Formation of Graphite Whiskers in the Primitive Solar Nebula

It has been suggested that carbonaceous grains are efficiently destroyed in the interstellar medium and must either reform in situ at very low pressures and temperatures or in an alternative environment more conducive to grain growth. Graphite whiskers have been discovered associated with high-temperature phases in meteorites such as calcium aluminum inclusions and chondrules, and it has been suggested that the expulsion of such material from proto stellar nebulae could significantly affect the optical properties of the average interstellar grain population. We have experimentally studied the potential for Fischer-Tropsch and Haber-Bosch type reactions to produce organic materials in protostellar systems from the abundant H2, CO, and N2 reacting on the surfaces of available silicate grains. When graphite grains are repeatedly exposed to H2, CO, and N2 at 875 K abundant graphite whiskers are observed to form on or from the surfaces of the graphite grains. In a dense, turbulent nebula, such extended whiskers are very likely to be broken off, and fragments could be ejected either in polar jets or by photon pressure after transport to the outer reaches of the nebula.

Nuth, Joseph A., III↗
NASA NTRS1983

Thermal inertia mapping - A promising new tool for mineral exploration

The Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM) is a NASA-sponsored program designed to acquire day visible and day and night thermal IR imagery from a satellite launched on April 26, 1978 into a near polar orbit at 620 km altitude. The data are used to produce temperature difference (12 or 36 hour interval) and apparent thermal inertia (ATI) images or numerical data sets for selected areas within much of North America, Europe, North Africa, and Australia. These data are being applied to rock type discrimination, soil moisture detection, assessment of vegetation states, thermal current monitoring in water bodies, urban heat island analysis and other multidisciplinary studies. Key geological results include (1) groups of dissimilar rock materials and some individual rock types can be separated and sometimes identified by their satellite-determined thermal inertias (dependent on their albedos, densities, and conductivities), (2) large lineaments (including some faults) are often recognized by their thermal signatures (may relate to moisture content and/or reduced bulk density), and (3) visually striking expressions of geomorphic units (types) at a regional scale are especially enhanced in the night IR imagery.

Short, N. M.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Optical Studies on Antimonide Superlattice Infrared Detector Material

In this study the material quality and optical properties of type II InAs/GaSb superlattices are investigated using transmission and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The influence of the material quality on the intensity of the luminescence and on the electrical properties of the detectors is studied and a good correlation between the photodetector current-voltage (IV) characteristics and the PL intensity is observed. Studies of the temperature dependence of the PL reveal that Shockley-Read-Hall processes are limiting the minority carrier lifetime in both the mid-IR wavelength and the long-IR wavelength detector material studied. These results demonstrate that PL spectroscopy is a valuable tool for optimization of infrared detectors.

heterostructure↗
NASA NTRS1993

An initial perspective of S-asteroid subtypes within asteroid families

Many main belt asteroids cluster around certain values of semi-major axis (a), inclination (i), and eccentricity (e). Hirayama was the first to notice these concentrations which he interpreted as evidence of disruptions of larger parent bodies. He called these clusters 'asteroid families'. The term 'families' is increasingly reserved for genetic associations to distinguish them from clusters of unknown or purely dynamical origin (e.g. the Phocaea cluster). Members of a genetic asteroid family represent fragments derived from various depths within the original parent planetesimal. Thus, family members offer the potential for direct examination of the interiors of parent bodies which have undergone metamorphism and differentiation similar to that occurring in the inaccessible interiors of terrestrial planets. The differentiation similar to that occurring in the inaccessible interiors of terrestrial planets. The condition that genetic family members represent the fragments of a parent object provides a critical test of whether an association (cluster in proper element space) is a genetic family. Compositions (types and relative abundances of materials) of family members must permit the reconstruction of a compositionally plausible parent body. The compositions of proposed family members can be utilized to test the genetic reality of the family and to determine the type and degree of internal differentiation within the parent planetesimal. The interpretation of the S-class mineralogy provides a preliminary evaluation of family memberships. Detailed mineralogical and petrological analysis was done based on the reflectance spectra of 39 S-type asteroids. The result is a division of the S-asteroid class into seven subtypes based on compositional differences. These subtypes, designated S(I) to S(VII), correspond to surface silicate assemblages ranging from monomineralic olivine (dunites) through olivine-pyroxene mixtures to pure pyroxene or pyroxene-feldspar mixtures (basalts). The most general conclusion is that the S-asteroids cannot be treated as a single group of objects without greatly oversimplifying their properties. Each S-subtype needs to be treated as an independent group with a distinct evolutionary history.

Kelley, M. S.↗
NASA NTRS1971

Distribution of Apollo 15 lunar samples: News release

More than 2200 Apollo 15 samples and polished thin sections weighing a total of about three kilograms will be distributed to 201 principal investigators for study during the next year. The scientific investigations will provide detailed information on the samples' mineralogy, petrology, chemistry, age, and history and on the effects of micrometeorite impacts, solar radiation, and cosmic ray bombardment. Preliminary examination of samples show the Apollo 15 material to be of three types: dark colored iron-rich basalts associated with mare and rille formation; a few basalts enriched in feldspar collected near the Apennine front; and light colored fragmental rocks or breccias consisting of soil-like materials which were cemented together or of rock fragments which were welded together by partial remelting.

Dick, L.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Fireball end heights - A diagnostic for the structure of meteoric material

An earlier analysis of Prairie Network fireball trajectory data failed to discriminate between the varieties of meteoric materials that are thought to be present. The Lost City meteorite event offers another calibration of the fireball data and prompts a reanalysis intended to distinguish between ordinary chondritic meteorites and the more fragile early-type carbonaceous chondrites. The carbonaceous material is expected to ablate more readily and have shorter trajectories or higher end heights. Observational error and natural dispersion in the structures produce severe smoothing effects, and the end-height diagnostic is, in itself, not entirely convincing. However, after making a tentative division of the data, one can discern differences in orbits and beginning heights among the three end-height groups. These are consistent with expectations of the behavior of chondritic stones (group I), weak carbonaceous chondrites (group II), and still more fragile cometary material (group III). It is concluded that if the carbonaceous material occurs in reasonable abundance among the fireballs, it has been properly identified by this analysis.

Ceplecha, Z.↗