Model tests for structural response of Apollo command module to water impact.
Model tests for determination of structural response of Apollo Command Module to water impact
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Model tests for determination of structural response of Apollo Command Module to water impact
The Jobs and Economic Development Impact (JEDI) models (https://www.nrel.gov/analysis/jedi/) are publicly available, user-friendly tools designed to estimate the economic impacts of both construction and operation of power generation and biofuel plants at a local (usually state) level. Based on project-specific and default inputs (from techno-economic analysis data and NREL's expertise), these models estimate the number of jobs and economic benefits to a region that could reasonably be supported by a particular project. Underlying these calculations is an input-output framework that models the local economy as a network of sectors buying and selling to one-another, creating a multiplier effect. Over the last decade, JEDI has been widely used by both the academic and private sectors, serving as the foundations for multiple peer-reviewed publications and impact analysis reports.
NASA Langley, under the Subsonic Rotary Wing Program, recently completed two helicopter tests in support of an in-house effort to study crashworthiness. As part of this effort, work is on-going to investigate model calibration approaches and calibration metrics for impact dynamics models. Model calibration of impact dynamics problems has traditionally assessed model adequacy by comparing time histories from analytical predictions to test at only a few critical locations. Although this approach provides for a direct measure of the model predictive capability, overall system behavior is only qualitatively assessed using full vehicle animations. In order to understand the spatial and temporal relationships of impact loads as they migrate throughout the structure, a more quantitative approach is needed. In this work impact shapes derived from simulated time history data are used to recommend sensor placement and to assess model adequacy using time based metrics and orthogonality multi-dimensional metrics. An approach for model calibration is presented that includes metric definitions, uncertainty bounds, parameter sensitivity, and numerical optimization to estimate parameters to reconcile test with analysis. The process is illustrated using simulated experiment data.
Model tests for determination of structural response of Apollo command module to water impact
A first-order impact crater aging model is presented based on observations of the global crater population of Venus. The total population consists of 879 craters found over the approximately 98 percent of the planet that has been mapped by the Magellan spacecraft during the first three cycles of its mission. The model is based upon three primary aspects of venusian impact craters: (1) extended ejecta deposits (EED's); (2) crater rims and continuous ejecta deposits; and (3) crater interiors and floors.
NASA’s Probabilistic Asteroid Impact Risk (PAIR) assessment model assesses the likelihood of potential damage for asteroid impact scenarios. Fast-running models are used to capture the effects of different hazards. This paper looks specifically at local ground damage hazards, including blast overpressure and thermal radiation damage, for large object impact scenarios. A sensitivity study is conducted to determine which parameters, and over what ranges, cause impact risks to become sensitive to thermal damage. Two additional thermal models with different approaches are used for comparison. The study determined the current thermal model is most sensitive to the luminous efficiency parameter that reflects the model’s uncertainty in the amount of energy contributing to the thermal radiation damage. This sensitivity was most apparent for the highest severity damage levels. Comparisons of the three models showed that in addition to sensitivities within the models, the impact risks are also sensitive to the choice of thermal model. The study results were applied to the 2023 PDC hypothetical asteroid impact scenario and parameter ranges of interest determined. At the serious damage level, luminous efficiencies above 0.006 showed a small chance of thermal playing an important role, while luminous efficiencies above 0.0008 led to thermal playing a significant role at the unsurvivable damage severity level. Study results are used to identify key areas where additional model refinement and better knowledge of asteroid properties may be important for improving damage estimates.
NASA’s Probabilistic Asteroid Impact Risk (PAIR) assessment model assesses the likelihood of potential damage for asteroid impact scenarios. Fast-running models are used to capture the effects of different hazards. This paper looks specifically at local ground damage hazards, including blast overpressure and thermal radiation damage, for large object impact scenarios. A sensitivity study is conducted to determine which parameters, and over what ranges, cause impact risks to become sensitive to thermal damage. Two additional thermal models with different approaches are used for comparison. The study determined the current thermal model is most sensitive to the luminous efficiency parameter that reflects the model’s uncertainty in the amount of energy contributing to the thermal radiation damage. This sensitivity was most apparent for the highest severity damage levels. Comparisons of the three models showed that in addition to sensitivities within the models, the impact risks are also sensitive to the choice of thermal model. The study results were applied to the 2023 Planetary Defense Conference hypothetical asteroid impact scenario and parameter ranges of interest determined. At the serious damage level, luminous efficiencies above 0.006 showed a small chance of thermal playing an important role, while luminous efficiencies above 0.0008 led to thermal playing a significant role at the unsurvivable damage severity level. Study results are used to identify key areas where additional model refinement and better knowledge of asteroid properties may be important for improving damage estimates.
Impact cratering models are discussed which were derived from: (1) laboratory hypervelocity experiments in cohesive materials; (2) laboratory impact experiments in noncohesive materials such as sand; and (3) terrestrial meteorite impact craters (specifically the Ries Crater, the largest well-preserved terrestrial meteorite crater). Salient features of these three categories of models are compared in order to point out unresolved controversies and inconsistencies. Arguments and evidence are presented to support the conclusions that (1) penetrations of secondary impacts are insignificant and are not likely to stir up much local material, (2) the laboratory hypervelocity experiments are perhaps the best model for lunar glass-lined microcraters, (3) laboratory impact experiments in noncohesive materials such as sand are the best model for impacts in lunar regolith, and (4) the Ries is considered the best model for large lunar impact craters. From analogy with the Ries, it appears that lateral and low-angle transport of ejecta and accelerated lateral growth are important in formation of large impact craters.
Asteroid threat assessment requires the quantification of both the impact likelihood and resulting consequence across the range of possible events. This paper presents a probabilistic asteroid impact risk (PAIR) assessment model developed for this purpose. The model incorporates published impact frequency rates with state-of-the-art consequence assessment tools, applied within a Monte Carlo framework that generates sets of impact scenarios from uncertain parameter distributions. Explicit treatment of atmospheric entry is included to produce energy deposition rates that account for the effects of thermal ablation and object fragmentation. These energy deposition rates are used to model the resulting ground damage, and affected populations are computed for the sampled impact locations. The results for each scenario are aggregated into a distribution of potential outcomes that reflect the range of uncertain impact parameters, population densities, and strike probabilities. As an illustration of the utility of the PAIR model, the results are used to address the question of what minimum size asteroid constitutes a threat to the population. To answer this question, complete distributions of results are combined with a hypothetical risk tolerance posture to provide the minimum size, given sets of initial assumptions. Model outputs demonstrate how such questions can be answered and provide a means for interpreting the effect that input assumptions and uncertainty can have on final risk-based decisions. Model results can be used to prioritize investments to gain knowledge in critical areas or, conversely, to identify areas where additional data has little effect on the metrics of interest.
This paper presents a mechanistically consistent model of impact damage based on elastic failures due to tensile and shear overloading. An elastic axisymmetric finite element model is used to determine the dynamic stresses generated by a single particle impact. Local failures in a finite element are assumed to occur when the primary/secondary principal stresses or the maximum shear stress reach critical tensile or shear stresses, respectively. The succession of failed elements thus models macrocrack growth. Sliding motions of cracks, which closed during unloading, are resisted by friction and the unrecovered deformation represents the 'plastic deformation' reported in the literature. The predicted ring cracks on the contact surface, as well as the cone cracks, median cracks, radial cracks, lateral cracks, and damage-induced porous zones in the interior of hot-pressed silicon nitride plates, matched those observed experimentally. The finite element model also predicted the uplifting of the free surface surrounding the impact site.
Functional models are used to identify possible faults and system-level fault consequences. A risk factor is calculated to evaluate mitigation. The risk factor from different radiation-induced faults is compared with system telemetry from on-orbit data.
A macro level finite element-based model has been developed to simulate the mechanical and impact response of triaxially-braided polymer matrix composites. In the analytical model, the triaxial braid architecture is simulated by using four parallel shell elements, each of which is modeled as a laminated composite. For the current analytical approach, each shell element is considered to be a smeared homogeneous material. The commercial transient dynamic finite element code LS-DYNA is used to conduct the simulations, and a continuum damage mechanics model internal to LS-DYNA is used as the material constitutive model. The constitutive model requires stiffness and strength properties of an equivalent unidirectional composite. Simplified micromechanics methods are used to determine the equivalent stiffness properties, and results from coupon level tests on the braided composite are utilized to back out the required strength properties. Simulations of quasi-static coupon tests of several representative braided composites are conducted to demonstrate the correlation of the model. Impact simulations of a represented braided composites are conducted to demonstrate the capability of the model to predict the penetration velocity and damage patterns obtained experimentally.
Abstract Co-firing rice husk (RH) and coal with carbon capture using oxy-combustion presents a net carbon negative energy production opportunity. In addition, the high fusion temperature of the non-sticky, silica rich, RH can mitigate ash deposition as well as promote shedding of deposits. To identify the optimum operating conditions, fuel particle sizes, and blend ratios that minimize ash deposition, a Computational Fluid Dynamic methodology with add-on ash deposition and shedding models were employed to predict outer ash deposition and shedding rates during co-combustion of coal/RH in AIR and O 2 /CO 2 (70/30 vol%, OXY70) oxidizer compositions. After ensuring that the fly-ash particle size distributions and particle Stokes numbers near the deposition surface were accurately represented (to model impaction), appropriate models for coal ash and RH ash viscosities that were accurate in the temperature region (1200–1300 K) of interest in this study were identified. A particle viscosity and kinetic energy (PKE) based capture criterion was enforced to model the ash capture. An erosion/shedding criterion that takes the deposit melt fraction and the energy consumed during particle impact into account was also implemented. Deposition rate predictions as well as the deposition rate enhancement (OXY70/AIR) were in good agreement with measured values. While the OXY70 scenario was associated with a significant reduction (60%–70%) in flue gas velocities, it also resulted in larger fly-ash particles. As a result, the PKE distributions of the erosive RH ash were similar in both scenarios and resulted in similar shedding rates.
The methodology used to predict full scale space shuttle solid rocket booster (SRB) water impact loads from scale model test data is described. Tests conducted included 12.5 inch and 120 inch diameter models of the SRB. Geometry and mass characteristics of the models were varied in each test series to reflect the current SRB baseline configuration. Nose first and tail first water entry modes were investigated with full-scale initial impact vertical velocities of 40 to 120 ft/sec, horizontal velocities of 0 to 60 ft/sec., and off-vertical angles of 0 to plus or minus 30 degrees. The test program included a series of tests with scaled atmospheric pressure.
Events which meet certain criteria from star-tracker images on board the Juno spacecraft have been proposed to be due to interplanetary dust particle impacts on its solar arrays. These events have been suggested to be caused by particles with diameters larger than 10 μm. Here, we compare the reported event rates to expected dust-impact rates using dynamical meteoroid models for the four most abundant meteoroid/dust populations in the inner solar system. We find that the dust-impact rates predicted by dynamical meteoroid models are not compatible with either the Juno observations in terms of the number of star-tracker events per day, or with the variations of dust flux on Juno's solar panels with time and position in the solar system. For example, the rate of star-tracker events on Juno's antisunward surfaces is the largest during a period in which Juno is expected to experience the peak impact fluxes on the opposite, sunward hemisphere. We also investigate the hypothesis of dust leaving the Martian Hill sphere originating either from the surface of Mars itself or from one of its moons. We do not find such a hypothetical source to be able to reproduce the star-tracker event-rate variations observed by Juno. We conclude that the star-tracker events observed by Juno are unlikely to be the result of instantaneous impacts from the zodiacal cloud.
Although geochemical and mineralogical evidence indicate that a major accretionary event occurred at the K-T boundary, no impact crater of suitable size and age was recognized. The 35 km Manson Structure, Iowa, was suggested recently as a possibility and Ar-40/Ar-39 determinations indicate that its formation age is indistinguishable from that of the K-T boundary. In order to test a possible association between Manson and the K-T boundary clay, the geochemistry and mineralogy of the K-T boundary clays at the Scollard Canyon section, Alberta and the Starkville South section, Colorado are compared with three dominant lithologies affected by the Manson impact: Proterozoic red clastics, underlying late-state granites, and gneisses. The chemical and mineralogical makeup of the Scollard Canyon boundary clay and its clastic constituents are presented, commenting on the implications for impact models. An impact into crystalline material of continental affinity appears to be required to explain the mineralogy and chemistry of the Scollard Canyon (and other Western N. American K-T sections). The low REE abundances of some K-T boundary layers are unusual but perhaps attempts should be made to understand the contributions of individual crustal components (e.g., carbonates, arkoses) as well as the potential for alteration involving these and other elements during and after impact-induced vaporization, before mantle excavation is invoked. If further studies confirm the results of published studies of marine boundary clays that indicate an oceanic target, attention must be paid to the possibility that multiple impacts occurred at the K-T boundary - one or more on the continents and one or more in the ocean.
Two simplified impact models which could be used in conjunction with finite element modeling of impacted structures are considered. The two methods are: a previously developed localized finite element impulse-momentum procedure for nondissipative impacts, and a simple gap element consisting of a parallel linear spring and damper useful in dissipative impacts. Results are presented for axial impact of an initially stationary rod. Impulse-momentum theory used in conjunction with finite element modeling was found to result in energy variations unrelated to physical behavior; these variations are reduced as the finite element model is refined.
Here, this paper presents a modified ADM1 (mADM1) model for use in assessing the influence of active dissolved H 2 extraction on biogas production from anaerobic fermentation reactors, specifically in the context of high-strength brewery wastewater as the feed. The modified model adds regulation factors to account for the varying product stoichiometry of glucose degradation reactions as a function of H 2 concentration in anaerobic digestion, and incorporates the use of both lactate and ethanol as intermediates. The changes to the model are expected to better predict the effects of H 2 removal on the production of H 2 in fermentation processes. Both ADM1 and mADM1 were calibrated against experimental data from a fluidized-bed reactor containing encapsulated acidogenic-acetogenic microbial communities treating real brewery wastewater. The calibrated models were validated against another fluidized-bed reactor identical to the calibration reactor, with the addition of a hollow-fiber membrane module that was used to reduce dissolved H 2 concentrations in the validation reactor. It was found that ADM1 over-estimated the H 2 production rates of the validation reactor (117 mL/day simulated vs. 16.48 mL/day experimental), whereas mADM1 was able to successfully predict fermentation, and specifically the H 2 production rate (17 mL/day). The presented model is a first step towards a model that can predict the effects of dissolved H 2 removal on fermentation processes.