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A closed cycle cascade Joule Thomson refrigerator designed to cool Josephson Junction magnetometers to liquid helium temperature is being developed. The refrigerator incorporates 4 stages of cooling using the working fluids CF4 and He. The high pressure gases are provided by a small compressor designed for this purpose. The upper stages have been operated and performance will be described.
An analysis of all the experimental and computation requirements of the HERMES project is presented. The discussion includes the influence of the upper atmosphere composition and possible chemical reactions, the information collected in Orbiter experiments, the possibility of utilizing plasma generators and CF4 in wind tunnel tests, the development of parabolized Navier-Stokes models and solutions, and the computing capacity requirements.
The volume mixing ratios of the six most important halogenated source species (CH3Cl, CF2Cl2, CFCl3, CHF2Cl, CCl4, and CF4) have been retrieved over the 10- to 30-km altitude range from the analysis of 0.01/cm resolution infrared solar occultation spectra recorded near 30 deg N and 47 deg S latitudes with the ATMOS (Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy) instrument, operating from on board Spacelab 3 (April-May 1985). The results reported here, although in satisfactory agreement with recent in situ values obtained from air sampling techniques, are limited in accuracy by the limited absorption representative of most of the species and by uncertainties in the spectroscopic parameters currently available for these gases. They demonstrate, however, the power of the IR remote sensing approach for evaluating on a global scale the total chlorine budget of the atmosphere, and they provide an independent set of simultaneous data acquired for the important source and reservoir halogenated molecular species in the upper atmosphere.
A solid-phase epitaxy has been developed for the growth of CoSi2 films on Si (111) with no observable pinholes (1000/sq cm detection limit). The technique utilizes room-temperature codeposition of Co and Si in stoichiometric ratio, followed by the deposition of an amorphous Si capping layer and subsequent in situ annealing at 550-600 C. CoSi2 films grown without the Si cap are found to have pinhole densities of (1-10) x 10 to the 7th/sq cm when annealed at similar temperatures. A CF4 plasma-etching technique was used to increase the visibility of the pinholes in the silicide layer.
Two scaled models of the Aeroassist Flight Experiment (AFE) vehicle were tested in two air wind tunnels and one CF4 tunnel. The tests were to determine the static longitudinal aerodynamic characteristics, and shock shapes for the configuration in hypersonic continuum flow. The tests were conducted with a range of angle of attack to evaluate the effects of Mach number, Reynolds numbers, and normal shock density ratio.
Three-dimensional sidewall compression scramjet inlets with leading edge sweeps of 30 and 70 degrees have been tested in the Langley Hypersonic CF4 Tunnel at Mach 6 and a ratio of specific heats of 1.2. The effects of cowl position, contraction ratio, and Reynolds number were investigated. The models were instrumented with 42 static pressure orifices distributed on the sidewalls, baseplate, and cowl. Schlieren movies were made of each test for flow visualization of the entrance plane and cowl region. In order to obtain an approximate characterization of the flow field, a modification to two-dimensional inviscid oblique shock theory was derived to accommodate the three-dimensional effects of leading edge sweep. This theory qualitatively predicted the reflected shock structure/sidewall impingement locations and the observed increase in spillage (flow upturning) with increasing leading edge sweep. The primary effect of moving the cowl forward is capturing the flow which would have otherwise spilled out ahead of the cowl. Increasing the contraction ratio (moving the sidewalls closer together) increases the number of internal shock reflections and hence incrementally increases the sidewall pressure distribution. Significant Reynolds number effects were noted over a small range of Reynolds number.
Quenching cross sections, sigma(Q), were measured for A 2Sigma(+) OH for a variety of colliders, using the pressure dependence of time-resolved laser-induced fluorescence to obtain quenching cross sections. The OH radicals, produced in a discharge or by photolysis, were maintained in the excited state at 300 K by an Ar buffer bath. It was found that quenching by CF4 and C2F6 the cross sections are very small. For Kr and Ze, the sigma(Q) values were found to be 8 and 27 sq A, respectively. For O2, sigma(Q) was 18 sq A, and for H2O, sigma(Q) was 80 sq A.
The vertical distribution of carbon dioxide, halocarbons and their sink products, HCl and HF, have become available, mainly by means of balloon measurements. Most measurements were made at northern mid-latutudes, but some constituents were measured at tropical latitudes and in the Southern Hemisphere as well. An attempt is made here to combine the available data for presentation of reference models for CO2, CCl4 CCl3F, CCl2F2, CClF3, CF4, CCl2F-CClF2, CClF2-CClF2, CClF2-CF3, CF3-CF3, CH3Cl, CHClF2, CH3-CCl3, CBrClF2, CBrF3, HCl and HF.
The ClO dimer was prepared by photolysis (wavelength greater than 300 nm) of Cl2/Cl2O or Cl2/O3 mixtures or by photolysis of Cl2O alone. Temperatures were in the range 195-217 K, and experiments were carried out both in the gas phase and in the cryogenic solvents CF4, CO2, and N2O. Dimer cross sections in the range 190-400 nm are reported both in the gas phase and in the solvents. Results indicate that ClOOCl is the only dimer structure formed as a stable product. Upper limits of 1 x 10 to the -19th and 1 x 10 to the -20th cu cm/s are placed on the reactions of ClOOCl with O3 and with itself, respectively.
The aerodynamic cofficients and trim angle for an aerobrake at Mach 9.2 and 11.8 were found using a combination of experiment and computation. Free-flight tests were performed at NASA Ames Research Center's Hypervelocity Free-Flight Aerodynamic Facility, and the forebody pressure distribution was calculated using a three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code with an effective specific heat ratio. Using the computed drag, lift, and moments to prescribe the number of terms in the aerodynamic coefficient expansions and to specify the values of the higher order terms, the experimental aerodynamic coefficients and trim angle were found using a six-degree-of-freedom, weighted, least-squares analysis. The experimental and computed aerodynamic coefficients and trim angles are in good agreement. The trim angle obtained from the free-flight tests, 14.7 deg, differs from the design trim angle, 17 deg, and from the Langley wind tunnel results, 12 deg in air and 17 deg in CF4. These differences are attributable to real-gas effects.
The general objective of this research is to obtain, via remote sensing, simultaneous measurements of the vertical distributions of stratospheric temperature, ozone, and trace constituents that participate in the catalytic destruction of ozone (NO(sub y): NO, NO2, NO3, HNO3, ClONO2, N2O5, HNO4; Cl(sub x): HOCl), and the source gases for the catalytic cycles (H2O, CH4, N2O, CF2Cl2, CFCl3, CCl4, CH3Cl, CHF2Cl, etc.). Data are collected during a complete diurnal cycle in order to test our present understanding of ozone chemistry and its associate catalytic cycles. The instrumentation employed is an emission-mode, balloon-borne, liquid-nitrogen-cooled Michelson interferometer-spectrometer (SIRIS), covering the mid-infrared range with a spectral resolution of 0.020 cm(exp -1). Cryogenic cooling combined with the use of extrinsic silicon photoconductor detectors allows the detection of weak emission features of stratospheric gaseous species. Vertical distributions of these species are inferred from scans of the thermal emission of the limb in a sequence of elevation angles. The fourth SIRIS balloon flight was carried out from Palestine, Texas on September 15-16, 1986 with 9 hours of nighttime data (40 km). High quality data with spectral resolution 0.022 cm(exp -1), were obtained for numerous limb sequences. Fifteen stratospheric species have been identified to date from this flight: five species from the NO(sub y) family (HNO3, NO2, NO, ClONO2, N2O5), plus CO2, O3, H2O, N2O, CH4, CCl3F, CCl2F2, CHF2Cl, CF4, and CCl4. The nighttime values of N2O5, ClONO2, and total odd nitrogen have been measured for the first time, and compared to model results. Analysis of the diurnal variation of N2O5 within the 1984 and 1986 data sets, and of the 1984 ClONO2 measurements, were presented in the literature. The demonstrated ability of SIRIS to measure all the major NO(sub y) species, and therefore to determine the partitioning of the nitrogen family over a continuous diurnal cycle, is a powerful tool in the verification and improvement of photochemical modeling.
Plasma etching is found to be a superior metallographic technique for evaluating the microstructure of a ceramic matrix composite. The ceramic composite studied is composed of silicon carbide whiskers (SiC(sub W)) in a matrix of silicon nitride (Si3N4), glass, and pores. All four constituents are important in evaluating the microstructure of the composite. Conventionally prepared samples, both as-polished or polished and etched with molten salt, do not allow all four constituents to be observed in one specimen. As-polished specimens allow examination of the glass phase and porosity, while molten salt etching reveals the Si3N4 grain size by removing the glass phase. However, the latter obscures the porosity. Neither technique allows the SiC(sub W) to be distinguished from the Si3N4. Plasma etching with CF4 + 4 percent O2 selectively attacks the Si3N4 grains, leaving SiC(sub W) and glass in relief, while not disturbing the pores. An artifact of the plasma etching reaction is the deposition of a thin layer of carbon on Si3N4, allowing Si3N4 grains to be distinguished from SiC(sub W) by back scattered electron imaging.
Thermodynamic models and mass-balance arguments are used to constrain the chemistry of lunar volcanic gases. The results predict that lunar gases were dominated by reduced C and S gases such as CO, COS, CS2, S2. The more oxidized gases CO2 and SO2 were also important, but only in limited temperature ranges. Gases such as Cl2, CCl4, and CF4 were more abundant than HF and HCl, which were the two major H compounds in the lunar gases. Chlorides and fluorides were important species for transporting many volatile and ore-forming metals, and the implications for fractionating and concentrating metals into lunar ore-deposits merit further study.
Results are presented of an investigation of the Cl and F inventories derived from the concentrations of eleven Cl- and F-bearing organic and inorganic species throughout the atmosphere, based on observations with the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy instrument aboard the Space Shuttle during the Spacelab 3 mission of April 29 to May 6, 1985. It was found that, in April-May 1985, near 30 deg N, the mean total stratospheric concentrations of Cl and F were 2.58 +/-0.10 ppbv and 1.15 +/-0.12 ppbv, respectively. Partitioning among the source, sink, and reservoir species was consistent with the conservation of the F and Cl budgets throughout the stratosphere. It is shown that the budgets of Cl and F above about 45 km altitude can be determined accurately by measuring only HCl, HF, and CF4 and provide a straightforward timely reference point for future inventories and trends evaluations.
The Langley 15-Inch Mach 6 High Temperature Tunnel was recently converted from the former Mach 10 Hypersonic Flow Apparatus. This conversion was made primarily to provide the capability of testing in Mach 6 air at higher reservoir temperatures than previously possible at Langley. These elevated temperatures allow the matching of the Mach number, Reynolds number, and ratio of wall-to-adiabatic-wall temperatures (Tw/Taw) between this facility and the Langley 20-Inch Mach 6 CF4 Tunnel; Tw/Taw is also matched for Langley's 31-Inch Mach 10 Tunnel. A brief history and general description of this facility are presented along with a discussion of the recently completed modifications and upgrades.
The effects of the decrease in the ratio of specific heats have been investigated in generic 3D sidewall compression scramjet inlets with leading-edge sweep angles of 30 and 70 degrees. The effects of a decrease in ratio of specific heats were seen by comparing data from two facilities in two test gases: in the Langley Mach 6 CF4 Tunnel in tetrafluoromethane and in the Langley 15-Inch Mach 6 Air Tunnel in perfect gas air. In addition to the simulated real gas effects, the parametric effects of cowl position, contraction ratio, leading-edge sweep, and Reynolds number were investigated in the 15-Inch Mach 6 Air Tunnel. The models were instrumented with a total of 45 static pressure orifices distributed on the sidewalls and baseplate. Surface streamline patterns were examined via oil flow, and schlieren videos were made of the external flow field. The results of these tests have significant implications to ground based testing of inlets in facilities which do not operate at flight enthalpies.
Wet etching, CF4 and SF6 reactive ion etching (RIE), RIE/wet hybrid etching, Cl-based RIE, ion milling, and liftoff techniques have been investigated for use in superconductive Nb/Al-Al2O3/Nb fabrication processes. High-quality superconductor-insulator-superconductor (SIS) junctions have been fabricated using a variety of these etching methods; however, each technique offers distinct tradeoffs for a given process an wafer design. In particular, it was shown that SF6 provides an excellent RIE chemistry for low-voltage anisotropic etching of Nb with high selectivity to Al. The SF6 tool has greatly improved the trilevel resist junction insulation process. Excellent repeatability, selectivity with respect to quartz, and submicron resolution make Cl2 + BCl3 + CHCl3 RIE a very attractive process for trilayer patterning.
Three-dimensional sidewall-compression scramjet inlets with leading-edge sweeps of 30 deg and 70 deg were tested in the Langley Hypersonic CF4 Tunnel at Mach 6 and with a ratio of specific heats of 1.2. The parametric effects of leading-edge sweep, cowl position, contraction ratio, and Reynolds number were investigated. The models were instrumented with 42 static pressure orifices that were distributed on the sidewalls, base plate, and cowl. Schlieren movies were made of each test for flow visualization of the effects of the internal flow spillage on the external flow field. To obtain an approximate characterization of the flow field, a modification to two-dimensional, inviscid, oblique shock theory was derived to accommodate the three-dimensional effects of leading-edge sweep. This theory qualitatively predicted the reflected shock structure (i.e., sidewall impingement locations) and the observed increase in spillage with increasing leading-edge sweep. The primary effect of moving the cowl forward was capturing the flow that would have otherwise spilled out ahead of the cowl. Increasing the contraction ratio increases the number of internal shock reflections and hence incrementally increases the sidewall pressure distribution. Significant Reynolds number effects were noted over a small range of Reynolds number.