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At least 937 records · Page 52

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NASA NTRS1992

Supersonic investigation of two dimensional hypersonic exhaust nozzles

An experimental investigation was conducted in the NASA Lewis 10 x 10 ft supersonic Wind Tunnel to determine the performance characteristics of 2D hypersonic exhaust nozzles/afterbodies at low supersonic conditions. Generally, this type of application requires a single expansion ramp nozzle (SERN) that is highly integrated with the airframe of the hypersonic vehicle. At design conditions (hypersonic speeds), the nozzle generally exhibits acceptable performance. At off-design conditions (transonic to mid-supersonic speeds), nozzle performance of a fixed geometry configuration is generally poor. Various 2-D nozzle configurations were tested at off-design conditions from Mach 2.0 to 3.5. Performance data is presented at nozzle pressure ratios from 1 to 35. Jet exhaust was simulated with high-pressure air. To study performance of different geometries, nozzle configurations were varied by interchanging the following model parts: internal upstream contour, expansion ramp, sidewalls, and cowl.

Carboni, Jeanne D.↗

DOE OSTI2011

Pulse pileup statistics for energy discriminating photon counting x-ray detectors

Purpose: Energy discriminating photon counting x-ray detectors can be subject to a wide range of flux rates if applied in clinical settings. Even when the incident rate is a small fraction of the detector's maximum periodic rate N{sub 0}, pulse pileup leads to count rate losses and spectral distortion. Although the deterministic effects can be corrected, the detrimental effect of pileup on image noise is not well understood and may limit the performance of photon counting systems. Therefore, the authors devise a method to determine the detector count statistics and imaging performance. Methods: The detector count statistics are derived analytically for an idealized pileup model with delta pulses of a nonparalyzable detector. These statistics are then used to compute the performance (e.g., contrast-to-noise ratio) for both single material and material decomposition contrast detection tasks via the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) as a function of the detector input count rate. With more realistic unipolar and bipolar pulse pileup models of a nonparalyzable detector, the imaging task performance is determined by Monte Carlo simulations and also approximated by a multinomial method based solely on the mean detected output spectrum. Photon counting performance at different count rates is compared with ideal energy integration, which is unaffected by count rate. Results: The authors found that an ideal photon counting detector with perfect energy resolution outperforms energy integration for our contrast detection tasks, but when the input count rate exceeds 20%N{sub 0}, many of these benefits disappear. The benefit with iodine contrast falls rapidly with increased count rate while water contrast is not as sensitive to count rates. The performance with a delta pulse model is overoptimistic when compared to the more realistic bipolar pulse model. The multinomial approximation predicts imaging performance very close to the prediction from Monte Carlo simulations. The monoenergetic image with maximum contrast-to-noise ratio from dual energy imaging with ideal photon counting is only slightly better than with dual kVp energy integration, and with a bipolar pulse model, energy integration outperforms photon counting for this particular metric because of the count rate losses. However, the material resolving capability of photon counting can be superior to energy integration with dual kVp even in the presence of pileup because of the energy information available to photon counting. Conclusions: A computationally efficient multinomial approximation of the count statistics that is based on the mean output spectrum can accurately predict imaging performance. This enables photon counting system designers to directly relate the effect of pileup to its impact on imaging statistics and how to best take advantage of the benefits of energy discriminating photon counting detectors, such as material separation with spectral imaging.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

NASA NTRS1998

Model Engine Performance Measurement From Force Balance Instrumentation

A large scale model representative of a low-noise, high bypass ratio turbofan engine was tested for acoustics and performance in the NASA Lewis 9- by 15-Foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel. This test was part of NASA's continuing Advanced Subsonic Technology Noise Reduction Program. The low tip speed fan, nacelle, and an un-powered core passage (with core inlet guide vanes) were simulated. The fan blades and hub are mounted on a rotating thrust and torque balance. The nacelle, bypass duct stators, and core passage are attached to a six component force balance. The two balance forces, when corrected for internal pressure tares, measure the total thrust-minus-drag of the engine simulator. Corrected for scaling and other effects, it is basically the same force that the engine supports would feel, operating at similar conditions. A control volume is shown and discussed, identifying the various force components of the engine simulator thrust and definitions of net thrust. Several wind tunnel runs with nearly the same hardware installed are compared, to identify the repeatability of the measured thrust-minus-drag. Other wind tunnel runs, with hardware changes that affected fan performance, are compared to the baseline configuration, and the thrust and torque effects are shown. Finally, a thrust comparison between the force balance and nozzle gross thrust methods is shown, and both yield very similar results.

Jeracki, Robert J.↗

NASA NTRS1980

High-performance, multiroller traction drive

Fixed-speed-ratio traction drive (NASVYTRAC) has been developed that can transmit high power across large speed ratio using compact cluster of rollers. Traction drive transmits power without gear teeth, through shear forces on thin lubricant film that separates drive rollers. Automatic loading mechanism regulates normal load between rollers so sufficient normal load is present to transmit required torque without slip or overloading.

Lowenthal, S.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Effect of Swirl on Noise from a High Aspect Ratio Rectangular Nozzle

Based on extensive work performed by Dr. Thomas H. Sobota (Advanced Projects Research Incorporated (APRI)) on swirling flows in circular-to-rectangular transition sections, a model assembly was designed and fabricated in support of a Phase 1 Small Business Innovation Research Contract between the NASA-Langley Research Center and APRI. This assembly was acoustically tested as part of this Phase 1 effort, the goal being to determine whether the controlled introduction of axial vorticity could affect the various noise generation mechanisms present in an underexpanded supersonic rectangular jet.

Ponton, M. K.↗

DOE OSTI2014

Compact, Inexpensive Micro-Reformer for Distributed GTL Systems (Final Scientific/Technical Report)

This award allowed MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center, in collaboration with the Departments of Chemical and Mechanical Engineering, to demonstrate the feasibility of using an engine as the reformer for a gas-to-liquids plants. Engine reformation in cylinder has been used in the past for limited production of hydrogen rich gas. However, the performance was limited, and for syngas generation as part of a chemical plant, the output was inadequate. The focus of the ARPA-E seed project was to demonstrate, in oxygen or in air, the production of hydrogen rich gas with good conversion and selectivity. The goal was equivalence ratios ~ 3 in oxygen, or highly enriched air. The accomplishment performance was equivalence ratios ~ 2 with air.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Examining Ohmic Losses in Fuel-Cell Catalyst Layers with Different Pt/C Ratios

A model of a fuel-cell cathode with distinct proton conductivities at the agglomerate and electrode scales was used to simulate polarization curves under conditions with facile oxygen transport. Here, the model was applied to electrodes containing agglomerates with different ratios of platinum to carbon in order to examine the hypothesis that intra-agglomerate proton conductivity is substantially lower than ionomer conductivity. The model predicts decreasing performance and increasing sensitivity to Pt/C ratio as intra-agglomerate conductivity declines relative to a constant through-electrode conductivity. Experiments on catalyst layers with Vulcan supports do not show the predicted trend indicating that mesoscale intra-agglomerate conductivity is not orders of magnitude lower than bulk ionomer conductivity.

08 HYDROGEN↗

NASA NTRS1937

Effect of Nozzle Design on Fuel Spray and Flame Formation in a High-Speed Compression-Ignition Engine

Fuel was injected from different type of injection nozzles into the combustion chamber of the NACA combustion apparatus, operated as a compression-ignition engine. High speed motion pictures were taken of the fuel sprays and combustion. Single-orifice nozzles of 0.008, 0.020, and 0.040 inch diameter, and multiorifice nozzles having 2, 6, and 16 orifices were tested. Nozzles having impinging jets and slit orifices were also included. The photographs indicate that the rate of vapor diffusion from the spray is comparatively slow and that this slow rate of diffusion for combustion chambers with little or no air flow prevents the compression-ignition engine from giving the high performance inherent in the high compression ratios. The sprays from the multiorifice nozzles destroyed the air movement to a greater extent than did those from single orifice nozzles. It is concluded that high performance cannot be realized until the methods of distributing the fuel are improved by means of the injection-nozzle design, air flow, or both.

Rothrock, A M↗

NASA NTRS2005

Fan Noise Source Diagnostic Test: Rotor Alone Aerodynamic Performance Results

The aerodynamic performance of an isolated fan or rotor alone model was measured in the NASA Glenn Research Center 9- by 15- Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel as part of the Fan Broadband Source Diagnostic Test conducted at NASA Glenn. The Source Diagnostic Test was conducted to identify the noise sources within a wind tunnel scale model of a turbofan engine and quantify their contribution to the overall system noise level. The fan was part of a 1/5th scale model representation of the bypass stage of a current technology turbofan engine. For the rotor alone testing, the fan and nacelle, including the inlet, external cowl, and fixed area fan exit nozzle, were modeled in the test hardware; the internal outlet guide vanes located behind the fan were removed. Without the outlet guide vanes, the velocity at the nozzle exit changes significantly, thereby affecting the fan performance. As part of the investigation, variations in the fan nozzle area were tested in order to match as closely as possible the rotor alone performance with the fan performance obtained with the outlet guide vanes installed. The fan operating performance was determined using fixed pressure/temperature combination rakes and the corrected weight flow. The performance results indicate that a suitable nozzle exit was achieved to be able to closely match the rotor alone and fan/outlet guide vane configuration performance on the sea level operating line. A small shift in the slope of the sea level operating line was measured, which resulted in a slightly higher rotor alone fan pressure ratio at take-off conditions, matched fan performance at cutback conditions, and a slightly lower rotor alone fan pressure ratio at approach conditions. However, the small differences in fan performance at all fan conditions were considered too small to affect the fan acoustic performance.

Hughes, Christopher E.↗

NASA NTRS1930

The Effect of Supercharger Capacity on Engine and Airplane Performance

This report presents the results of an investigation to determine the effect of different supercharger capacities on the performance of an airplane and its engine . The tests were conducted on a DH4-M2 airplane powered with a Liberty 12 engine. In this investigation four supercharger capacities, obtained by driving a roots type supercharger at 1.615, 1.957, 2.4, and 3 time engine speed, were used to maintain sea-level pressure at the carburetor to altitudes of 7,000, 11,500, 17,000, and 22,000 feet, respectively. The performance of the airplane in climb and in level flight was determined for each of the four supercharger drive ratios and for the unsupercharged condition. The engine power was measured during these tests by means of a calibrated propeller. It was found that very little sacrifice in sea-level performance was experienced with the larger supercharger drive ratios as compared with performance obtained when using the smaller drive ratios. The results indicate that further increase in supercharger capacity over that obtained when using 3:1 drive ratio would give a slight increase in ceiling and in high-altitude performance but would considerably impair the performance for an appreciable distance below the critical altitude. As the supercharger capacity was increased, the height at which sea-level high speeds could be equaled or improved became a larger percentage of the maximum height of operation of the airplane.

Schey, O W↗

NASA NTRS1952

Preliminary Air-Flow and Thrust Calibrations of Several Conical Cooling-Air Ejectors with a Primary to Secondary Temperature Ratio of 1.0: Diameter Ratios of 1.06 and 1.40 - 2

An investigation was made of the performance of nine conical cooling-air ejectors at primary jet pressure ratios from 1 to 10, secondary pressure ratios to 4.0, and a temperature ratio of unity. This phase of the investigation was limited to conical ejectors having shroud exit to primary nozzle exit diameter ratios of 1.06 and 1.40, with several spacing ratios for each. The experimental results indicated that the pumping range and amount of cooling-air flow obtained with a 1.06 diameter ratio ejector were relatively small for cooling purposes but that the maximum possible thrust loss, which occurred with no secondary flow, was only 7 percent of convergent nozzle thrust. The 1.40 diameter ratio ejector produced a large cooling air flow and showed a possible thrust loss of 29.5 percent with no cooling air flow. Thrust gains were attained with ejectors of both diameter ratios at secondary pressure ratios greater than 1.0. The limiting primary pressure ratio below which an ejector can operate at a specific secondary pressure ratio (cut-off point) may be estimated for various flight conditions from data contained herein.

Greathouse, W. K.↗

DOE OSTI2017

Steady-State Subchannel Thermalhydraulic Assessment of Thorium-Based Fuel Concepts for Use in Pressure Tube Heavy Water Reactors

Thorium is an abundant alternative fertile nuclear fuel that could potentially be implemented in pressure tube heavy water reactors (PT-HWR) in the near future. One of the key stages in developing the thorium-based fuels for PT-HWRs is the reactor core concept, which requires the collaboration of different disciplines, such as neutron physics, thermal-hydraulics, materials, chemistry, safety, and others. Currently there are numerous core concepts under investigation at the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories that involve several types of thorium-based fuels, and that could be implemented in a 700-MWe-class PT-HWR. Four fuel bundle concepts are considered, including i) the reference (or nominal) 37-element bundle; ii) a 37-element modified bundle, with the center element using a different fuel material; iii) a 35-element bundle design, and iv) an 18-element internally cooled annular fuel (ICAF-18) fuel bundle. This study presents preliminary results of the steady-state thermalhydraulic subchannel analyses of the hot channels of different PT-HWR core concepts using thorium-augmented or thorium-based fuels. A follow up study will be initiated to improve the assessment of the proposed cores and associated fuel bundle concepts for thorium-augmented and thorium-based fuels. The computational model will be revisited to include; - Expanding the analysis to cover different power profiles at different burnup stages of the bundle. - Expand the analysis to cover 28.5 kg/s. - Reduce the eccentricity of the 35-element fuel bundle. - Assess the effect of the phenomena not yet included in the subchannel model (such as the effect of cold wall, and gamma heat). - Expand the analysis to include the effect of spacers and junctions. - Compare bundle concepts using other performance indicators (such as burnup, breeding ratio), as optimizing the fuel bundle geometry is a multidisciplinary problem.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

NASA NTRS1982

Recent tests on the Carter small reciprocating steam engines

The Jay Carter Enterprises (JCE) Paratransit Vehicle steam engine was tested over a range of conditions which might be experienced by the power converter subsystem of the Small Community Solar Thermal Power Experiment. Some difficulties were encountered getting the engine ready for testing. These difficulties were related to the five year dormancy of the entire system and to incomplete development work that had been going on at the time of cessation of steam engine work at JCE. Other difficulties were related to the fact that the particular expander being tested never ran before and possessed some manufacturing defects. Nevertheless, the engine was operated successfully and results of testing do verify results of computer simulations of the engine in regard to the effect of temperature and power level variations. Engine efficiency was good but generally lower than expected and performance dropped as testing continued. The effect of change in expansion ratio was not demonstrated because of deterioration in engine performance. Post-test inspection revealed numerous correctable defects.

Kiceniuk, T.↗

NASA NTRS1990

High energy-density liquid rocket fuel performance

A fuel performance database of liquid hydrocarbons and aluminum-hydrocarbon fuels was compiled using engine parametrics from the Space Transportation Engine Program as a baseline. Propellant performance parameters are introduced. General hydrocarbon fuel performance trends are discussed with respect to hydrogen-to-carbon ratio and heat of formation. Aluminum-hydrocarbon fuel performance is discussed with respect to aluminum metal loading. Hydrocarbon and aluminum-hydrocarbon fuel performance is presented with respect to fuel density, specific impulse, and propellant density specific impulse.

Rapp, Douglas C.↗

NASA NTRS1990

High energy-density liquid rocket fuel performance

Rapp, Douglas C.↗

DOE OSTI2018

Sub-diffractional waveguiding by mid-infrared plasmonic resonators in semiconductor nanowires

Chains of nanoscale plasmonic resonators are capable of sub-diffractional waveguiding and have applications in nanophotonics and thermal radiation transport. Practical uses have largely been limited, however, due to high optical losses or low group velocities. In this work, we predict the waveguide performance of a material structure capable of overcoming these limitations: plasmonic resonators embedded in highdielectric nanowires. Due to the enhanced near-field coupling between resonators, we find that the group velocities and propagation lengths for doped Si plasmonic resonators in intrinsic Si nanowires can be increased by up to an order of magnitude compared to the case of isotropic vacuum surroundings. We investigate the impact of resonator aspect ratio, doping, and spacing on waveguide performance, and we find that propagation lengths are maximized for large aspect ratios and high dopant concentrations at small spacings. To study these complex anisotropic systems, we develop a new analytical “absorption spectra” method to extract waveguide information from simple far-field absorption experiments (or simulations) of only two coupled resonators.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS1977

Limiter-discriminator detection performance of Manchester and NRZ coded FSK

The theory of limiter-discriminator detection of a frequency shift keyed (FSK) carrier is reviewed and this theory is used to predict the bit error probability performance of Manchester coded and nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) coded data. A major result of the study is that the predetection time bandwidth product BT and the deviation ratio h needed to give optimum performance for Manchester coding are seen to be larger than optimum NRZ FSK. Specifically, BT of about 2 and h of about 1 will result in Manchester performance about 2 dB worse than optimum NRZ.

Cartier, D. E.↗

NASA NTRS1954

Investigation of Thrust and Drag Characteristics of a Plug-type Exhaust Nozzle

An investigation was conducted in the 8- by 6-foot supersonic wind tunnel on the external and internal characteristics of a plug-type exhaust nozzle. Two positions of the center plug, one simulating a convergent nozzle and the other a convergent-divergent nozzle, were investigated. Data were obtained at free-stream Mach numbers of 0.1, 0.6, 1.6, and 2.0 over a pressure-ratio range of 1 to 20 and angles of attack of zero and 8 degrees. Results of this investigation indicated that the plug nozzle had thrust-minus-drag performance over the entire pressure-ratio range comparable with equivalent conventional nozzles. The effect of the exhaust jet on the external aerodynamics was similar to results observed for conventional nozzles. In addition, the thrust characteristics were generally insensitive to external flow and good agreement was noted with data obtained on comparable plug nozzles in quiescent air.

Hearth, Donald P↗