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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 937 records · Page 52

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NASA NTRS1972

Manned space flight nuclear system safety. Volume 4: Space shuttle nuclear system transportation. Part 1: Space shuttle nuclear safety

An analysis of the nuclear safety aspects (design and operational considerations) in the transport of nuclear payloads to and from earth orbit by the space shuttle is presented. Three representative nuclear payloads used in the study were: (1) the zirconium hydride reactor Brayton power module, (2) the large isotope Brayton power system and (3) small isotopic heat sources which can be a part of an upper stage or part of a logistics module. Reference data on the space shuttle and nuclear payloads are presented in an appendix. Safety oriented design and operational requirements were identified to integrate the nuclear payloads in the shuttle mission. Contingency situations were discussed and operations and design features were recommended to minimize the nuclear hazards. The study indicates the safety, design and operational advantages in the use of a nuclear payload transfer module. The transfer module can provide many of the safety related support functions (blast and fragmentation protection, environmental control, payload ejection) minimizing the direct impact on the shuttle.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1974

The unique cosmic-ray history of the Malakal chondrite

Cosmogenic radionuclides, including Na-22, Al-26, and Mn-54, were measured in a sample of the recently-fallen Malakal hypersthene chondrite. The high Al-26 activity, 79 plus or minus 2 dpm/kg, greatly exceeds the levels expected from elemental production rates, shielding considerations, or comparisons with other ordinary chondrites, and can only be explained by exposure to a uniquely high cosmic-ray flux. Calculations including noble gas, H-3, and Mn-53 data from other laboratories require a two-stage irradiation. Malakal's most probable history is: exposure in excess of 4 m.y. to an effective cosmic-ray flux approximately three times that experienced by other chondrites, an orbit change (very possibly caused by a collision), and a final period of about 2 m.y. during which it was exposed to a normal cosmic-ray flux.

Cressy, P. J., Jr.↗

NASA NTRS1974

Performance of solar shields

The loss of the micrometeoroid shield from the Orbital Workshop section of Skylab 1 about 63 seconds after lift-off, was the catalyst for a prodigious effort to develop a substitute for the passive portion of the thermal control system. An intensive effort is described in which numerous potential thermal shield materials were assessed, and during which period ten specific shield designs were developed and carried through various stages of development and test. Thermal shield materials data are discussed, including optical, strength, fatigue, outgassing, tackiness, ultraviolet radiation, and material memory properties. Specifically addressed are thermal shield materials selection criteria and the design, development, and test requirements associated with the successful development of Skylab thermal shields, and specifically the two thermal shields subsequently deployed over the exposed gold foil skin of the Orbital Workshop. Also considered are the general performance and thermal improvements provided by both the parasol design deployed by the Skylab 1 crew, and the sail design deployed by the Skylab 2 crew.

Schwinghamer, R. J.↗

NASA NTRS1976

Performance of 1.15-pressure-ratio fan stage at several rotor blade setting angles with reverse flow

A 51 cm diameter low pressure ratio fan stage was tested in reverse flow. Survey flow data were taken over the range of rotative speed from 50 percent to 100 percent design speed at several rotor blade setting angles through both flat and feather pitch. Normal flow design values of pressure ratio and weight flow were 1.15 and 29.9 kg/sec with a rotor tip speed of 243.8 m/sec. The maximum thrust in reverse flow was 52.5 percent of design thrust in normal flow.

Kovich, G.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Advanced high pressure engine study for mixed-mode vehicle applications

High pressure liquid rocket engine design, performance, weight, envelope, and operational characteristics were evaluated for a variety of candidate engines for use in mixed-mode, single-stage-to-orbit applications. Propellant property and performance data were obtained for candidate Mode 1 fuels which included: RP-1, RJ-5, hydrazine, monomethyl-hydrazine, and methane. The common oxidizer was liquid oxygen. Oxygen, the candidate Mode 1 fuels, and hydrogen were evaluated as thrust chamber coolants. Oxygen, methane, and hydrogen were found to be the most viable cooling candidates. Water, lithium, and sodium-potassium were also evaluated as auxiliary coolant systems. Water proved to be the best of these, but the system was heavier than those systems which cooled with the engine propellants. Engine weight and envelope parametric data were established for candidate Mode 1, Mode 2, and dual-fuel engines. Delivered engine performance data were also calculated for all candidate Mode 1 and dual-fuel engines.

Luscher, W. P.↗

NASA NTRS1975

Rb-Sr ages and initial Sr-87/Sr-86 for Apollo 17 basalts and KREEP basalt 15386

The Rb-Sr data reported for Apollo 17 mare basalts and for KREEP basalt 15386 is used to determine mineral isochrons. The weighted average age of four Apollo 17 basalts is 3.76 + or - 0.06 AE, while the age determined for 15386 is 3.94 + or - 0.04 AE. The isotopic data for the Apollo 17 basalts are discussed in the context of Sm and Eu data for the same samples. The Sr-isotopic data are fit best by a three-stage model evolution involving evolution of Sr-87/Sr-86 in an environment with Rb/Sr greater than in the basalts, production of mare basalt source regions of lower but variable Rb/Sr sometime in the interval 4.6 to 3.75 AE ago, and extraction of lavas from these sources 3.75 AE ago. Other possibilities are considered.

Nyquist, L. E.↗

NASA NTRS1979

A review of satellite time transfer technology - Accomplishments and future applications

A brief review of the research accomplishments by NASA in meeting the needs of the space program for precise time in satellite tracking is presented. As a major user of precise time signals for clock synchronization of NASA's worldwide satellite tracking networks, the agency provided much of the necessary impetus for the development of stable frequency sources and time synchronization technology. The precision in time required for both satellite tracking and space science experiments has increased at a rate of about 1 order of magnitude per decade from 1 ms in the 1950's to 100 microsec during the Apollo era in the 1960's to 10 microsec in the 1970's. In the 1980's, when the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) comes into operation, satellite timing requirements will be extended to 1 microsec and below. These requirements are needed for spacecraft autonomy and data packeting which are now in active planning stages.

Cooper, R. S.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Ensuring the relocatability of programs in the operational system DOS YeS

Specific modifications in the Disk Operational System Unified Series to insure the relocatability of programs stored permanently in the core image library is described. A self-relocating method for loading programs into the working memory with re-editing all the programs recorded in the core image library is presented. The modified linkage editor can be included in a relocation dictionary containing data about each address constant at the assembly stage at the request of the programmer. The relocation dictionary increases the dimension of the RL-phase in comparison with the dimension of this same phase when edited by the standard method, making possible the creation of multiphase program complexes. Generation and use of the modified system using Assembly language is described. An example of the use of the system is given, and limitations of the use of the relocatable programs in the modified system are outlined.

Novoseltsev, S. K.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Interactive computer graphic surface modeling of three-dimensional solid domains for boundary element analysis

The establishment of the boundary element method (BEM) as a valid tool for solving problems in structural mechanics and in other fields of applied physics is discussed. The development of an integrated interactive computer graphic system for the application of the BEM to three dimensional problems in elastostatics is described. The integration of interactive computer graphic techniques and the BEM takes place at the preprocessing and postprocessing stages of the analysis process, when, respectively, the data base is generated and the results are interpreted. The interactive computer graphic modeling techniques used for generating and discretizing the boundary surfaces of a solid domain are outlined.

Perucchio, R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Variation objective analyses for cyclone studies

The objectives were to: (1) develop an objective analysis technique that will maximize the information content of data available from diverse sources, with particular emphasis on the incorporation of observations from satellites with those from more traditional immersion techniques; and (2) to develop a diagnosis of the state of the synoptic scale atmosphere on a much finer scale over a much broader region than is presently possible to permit studies of the interactions and energy transfers between global, synoptic and regional scale atmospheric processes. The variational objective analysis model consists of the two horizontal momentum equations, the hydrostatic equation, and the integrated continuity equation for a dry hydrostatic atmosphere. Preliminary tests of the model with the SESMAE I data set are underway for 12 GMT 10 April 1979. At this stage of purpose of the analysis is not the diagnosis of atmospheric structures but rather the validation of the model. Model runs for rawinsonde data and with the precision modulus weights set to force most of the adjustment of the wind field to the mass field have produced 90 to 95 percent reductions in the imbalance of the initial data after only 4-cycles through the Euler-Lagrange equations. Sensitivity tests for linear stability of the 11 Euler-Lagrange equations that make up the VASP Model 1 indicate that there will be a lower limit to the scales of motion that can be resolved by this method. Linear stability criteria are violated where there is large horizontal wind shear near the upper tropospheric jet.

Achtemeier, G. L.↗

NASA NTRS1988

The effects of turbulence and stator/rotor interactions on turbine heat transfer. I - Design operating conditions

A combined experimental and analytical program was conducted to examine the effects of inlet turbulence, stator-rotor axial spacing, and relative circumferential spacing of first and second stators on turbine airfoil heat transfer. The experimental portion of the study was conducted in a large-scale (approximately 5X engine), ambient temperature, stage-and-a-half rotating turbine model. The data indicate that while turbine inlet turbulence can have a very strong impact on the first stator heat transfer, its impact in downstream rows is minimal. The effects on heat transfer produced by relatively large changes in stator/rotor spacing or by changing the relative row-to-row circumferential positions of stators were very small. Analytical results consist of airfoil heat transfer distributions computed with a finite-difference boundary layer code.

Blair, M. F.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Measurements of the interaction of wave groups with shorter wind-generated waves

Fields of statistically steady wind-generated waves produced in a wind wave facility were perturbed by the injection of groups of longer, mechanically generated waves with various slopes. The time histories of the surface displacements were measured at four fetches in ensembles consisting of 100 realizations of each set of experimental conditions; the data were stored and analyzed digitally. Four distinct stages in the overall interaction are identified and characterized. The properties of the wave energy front are documented, and a preliminary discussion is given of the dynamic processes involved in its formation.

Chu, Jacob S.↗

NASA NTRS1993

A study of multiscalar mixing

A model for passive mixing of multiple scalars in homogeneous turbulence is developed. This model is based on the time-evolving mapping closure methodology. Calculations from the model are compared against heat conduction simulations (HCS) data. The agreement is excellent at the early stages of mixing and at the later stages it is fair.

Girimaji, Sharath S.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Deep near-infrared survey of the Southern Sky (DENIS)

DENIS (Deep Near-Infrared Survey of the Southern Sky) will be the first complete census of astronomical sources in the near-infrared spectral range. The challenges of this novel survey are both scientific and technical. Phenomena radiating in the near-infrared range from brown dwarfs to galaxies in the early stages of cosmological evolution, the scientific exploitation of data relevant over such a wide range requires pooling expertise from several of the leading European astronomical centers. The technical challenges of a project which will provide an order of magnitude more sources than given by the IRAS space mission, and which will involve advanced data-handling and image-processing techniques, likewise require pooling of hardware and software resources, as well as of human expertise. The DENIS project team is composed of some 40 scientists, computer specialists, and engineers located in 5 European Community countries (France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Spain), with important contributions from specialists in Australia, Brazil, Chile, and Hungary. DENIS will survey the entire southern sky in 3 colors, namely in the I band at a wavelength of 0.8 micron, in the 1.25 micron J band, and in the 2.15 micron K' band. The sensitivity limits will be 18th magnitude in the I band, 16th in the J band, and 14.5th in the K' band. The angular resolution achieved will be 1 arcsecond in the I band, and 3.0 arcseconds in the J and K' bands. The European Southern Observatory 1 m telescope on La Silla will be dedicated to survey use during operations expected to last four years, commencing in late 1993. DENIS aims to provide the astronomical community with complete digitized infrared images of the full southern sky and a catalogue of extracted objects, both of the best quality and in readily accessible form. This will be achieved through dedicated software packages and specialized catalogues, and with assistance from the Leiden and Paris Data Analysis Centers. The data will be mailed on DAT tapes from La Silla to the two Data Analysis Centers for further processing. Two centers are necessary because of the shear quantity of data and because of the complementary roles the Centers will develop, each exploiting its own particular expertise. The Leiden Data Analysis Center (LDAC) will extract objects, establish their parameters, and archive them into a source catalogue. The LDAC will collaborate with the Groningen Space Research group that has gained experience in infrared image handling from the IRAS satellite. The Paris Data Analysis Center (PDAC) will be responsible for archiving and preprocessing the raw data to provide a homogeneous set of data suitable for further reduction in both the Leiden and Paris data analysis streams. The PDAC will also extract and archive images for the sources flagged by the LDAC as extended, and create a catalogue of galaxies. In exploiting the DENIS data we foresee the collaboration with other data analysis centers, such as the Observatoire de Lyon where the relevant DENIS catalogue of galaxies can be incorporated into their extragalactic database. The Point Sources and the Small Extended Sources catalogues could be incorporated in the Late Type Star database at Montpellier, and in the SIMBAD database as CDS. At Groningen the IRAS Point Source catalogue and/or image data can be merged with the DENIS catalogues. At Meudon algorithms and software will be developed with main goal assessing the limits reachable for the homogeneity and intrinsic consistency between the ensemble of the images in the data base (flat-fielding, relative positioning of the fields, bootstrapped flux calibration) but also for the data analysis.

Deul, E.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Parallel implicit unstructured grid Euler solvers

A mesh-vertex finite volume scheme for solving the Euler equations on triangular unstructured meshes is implemented on an MIMD (multiple instruction/multiple data stream) parallel computer. An explicit four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme is used to solve two-dimensional flow problems. A family of implicit schemes is also developed to solve these problems, where the linear system that arises at each time step is solved by a preconditioned GMRES algorithm. Two partitioning strategies are employed, one that partitions triangles and the other that partitions vertices. The choice of the preconditioner in a distributed memory setting is discussed. All the methods are compared both in terms of elapsed times and convergence rates. It is shown that the implicit schemes offer adequate parallelism at the expense of minimal sequential overhead. The use of a global coarse grid to further minimize this overhead is also investigated. The schemes are implemented on a distributed memory parallel computer, the iPSC/860.

Venkatakrishnan, V.↗

NASA NTRS1996

Combustion Processes in Hybrid Rocket Engines

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the development of hybrid rocket engines for advanced launch vehicle applications. Hybrid propulsion systems use a solid fuel such as hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) along with a gaseous/liquid oxidizer. The performance of hybrid combustors depends on the convective and radiative heat fluxes to the fuel surface, the rate of pyrolysis in the solid phase, and the turbulent combustion processes in the gaseous phases. These processes in combination specify the regression rates of the fuel surface and thereby the utilization efficiency of the fuel. In this paper, we employ computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques in order to gain a quantitative understanding of the physical trends in hybrid rocket combustors. The computational modeling is tailored to ongoing experiments at Penn State that employ a two dimensional slab burner configuration. The coordinated computational/experimental effort enables model validation while providing an understanding of the experimental observations. Computations to date have included the full length geometry with and with the aft nozzle section as well as shorter length domains for extensive parametric characterization. HTPB is sed as the fuel with 1,3 butadiene being taken as the gaseous product of the pyrolysis. Pure gaseous oxygen is taken as the oxidizer. The fuel regression rate is specified using an Arrhenius rate reaction, which the fuel surface temperature is given by an energy balance involving gas-phase convection and radiation as well as thermal conduction in the solid-phase. For the gas-phase combustion, a two step global reaction is used. The standard kappa - epsilon model is used for turbulence closure. Radiation is presently treated using a simple diffusion approximation which is valid for large optical path lengths, representative of radiation from soot particles. Computational results are obtained to determine the trends in the fuel burning or regression rates as a function of the head-end oxidizer mass flux, G=rho(e)U(e), and the chamber pressure. Furthermore, computation of the full slab burner configuration has also been obtained for various stages of the burn. Comparisons with available experimental data from small scale tests conducted by General Dynamics-Thiokol-Rocketdyne suggest reasonable agreement in the predicted regression rates. Future work will include: (1) a model for soot generation in the flame for more quantitative radiative transfer modelling, (2) a parametric study of combustion efficiency, and (3) transient calculations to help determine the possible mechanisms responsible for combustion instability in hybrid rocket motors.

Venkateswaran,S.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Optical Evaluation of an As-Manufactured Compound Secondary Concentrator

Secondary concentrators are needed in solar thermal propulsion to further concentrate the energy collected by large lightweight primary concentrators. Although the physics of secondary concentrators has been worked out in detail and the manufacturing has been successfully completed for a ground demonstration, there is a need to quantify the specific performance of as-manufactured concentrators. This paper summarizes the properties of a secondary concentrator manufactured for the Integrated Solar Upper Stage engine ground demonstration in 1997 and presents data obtained from the optic that describe the performance of the as-manufactured component.

Jaworske, Donald A.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Optical Evaluation of an As-Manufactured Compound Secondary Concentrator

Jaworske, Donald A.↗