Factors affecting the performance of porous structures used as oxygen fuel cell electrodes
Design methods for improving performance of porous structures used as oxygen fuel cell electrodes
Katan, J.↗
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Results for “factorization methods”
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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Factors related to mineral separation in a vacuum
Very high vacuum terrestrial mineral beneficiation methods transferred to vacuum ambient of lunar surface
Fraas, F.↗
A Study of the "toss Factor" in the Impact Testing of Cermets by the Izod Pendulum Test
The test method presented shows that the "toss energy" contributed by the apparatus for brittle materials is negligible. The total toss energy is considered to consist of two components. (a) recovered stored elastic energy and (b) kinetic energy contributed directly by the apparatus. The results were verified by high-speed motion pictures of the test in operation. From these photographs, velocities of tossed specimens were obtained and toss energy computed. In addition, impact energies of some titanium carbide base cermets and high-temperature alloys, as measured by the low-capacity Izod pendulum test, compare well with impact energies measured by the NACA drop test.
ALLOYS, HEAT-RESISTING↗
Weighted graph based ordering techniques for preconditioned conjugate gradient methods
We describe the basis of a matrix ordering heuristic for improving the incomplete factorization used in preconditioned conjugate gradient techniques applied to anisotropic PDE's. Several new matrix ordering techniques, derived from well-known algorithms in combinatorial graph theory, which attempt to implement this heuristic, are described. These ordering techniques are tested against a number of matrices arising from linear anisotropic PDE's, and compared with other matrix ordering techniques. A variation of RCM is shown to generally improve the quality of incomplete factorization preconditioners.
Clift, Simon S.↗
Factors Influencing Progressive Failure Analysis Predictions for Laminated Composite Structure
Progressive failure material modeling methods used for structural analysis including failure initiation and material degradation are presented. Different failure initiation criteria and material degradation models are described that define progressive failure formulations. These progressive failure formulations are implemented in a user-defined material model for use with a nonlinear finite element analysis tool. The failure initiation criteria include the maximum stress criteria, maximum strain criteria, the Tsai-Wu failure polynomial, and the Hashin criteria. The material degradation model is based on the ply-discounting approach where the local material constitutive coefficients are degraded. Applications and extensions of the progressive failure analysis material model address two-dimensional plate and shell finite elements and three-dimensional solid finite elements. Implementation details are described in the present paper. Parametric studies for laminated composite structures are discussed to illustrate the features of the progressive failure modeling methods that have been implemented and to demonstrate their influence on progressive failure analysis predictions.
Knight, Norman F., Jr.↗
Soft-Bake Purification of SWCNTs Produced by Pulsed Laser Vaporization
The "soft-bake" method is a simple and reliable initial purification step first proposed by researchers at Rice University for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) produced by high-pressure carbon mon oxide disproportionation (HiPco). Soft-baking consists of annealing as-produced (raw) SWCNT, at low temperatures in humid air, in order to degrade the heavy graphitic shells that surround metal particle impurities. Once these shells are cracked open by the expansion and slow oxidation of the metal particles, the metal impurities can be digested through treatment with hydrochloric acid. The soft-baking of SWCNT produced by pulsed-laser vaporization (PLV) is not straightforward, because the larger average SWCNT diameters (.1.4 nm) and heavier graphitic shells surrounding metal particles call for increased temperatures during soft-bake. A part of the technology development focused on optimizing the temperature so that effective cracking of the graphitic shells is balanced with maintaining a reasonable yield, which was a critical aspect of this study. Once the ideal temperature was determined, a number of samples of raw SWCNT were purified using the soft-bake method. An important benefit to this process is the reduced time and effort required for soft-bake versus the standard purification route for SWCNT. The total time spent purifying samples by soft-bake is one week per batch, which equates to a factor of three reduction in the time required for purification as compared to the standard acid purification method. Reduction of the number of steps also appears to be an important factor in improving reproducibility of yield and purity of SWCNT, as small deviations are likely to get amplified over the course of a complicated multi-step purification process.
Yowell, Leonard↗
Numerical Procedures for Inlet/Diffuser/Nozzle Flows
Two primitive variable, pressure based, flux-split, RNS/NS solution procedures for viscous flows are presented. Both methods are uniformly valid across the full Mach number range, Le., from the incompressible limit to high supersonic speeds. The first method is an 'optimized' version of a previously developed global pressure relaxation RNS procedure. Considerable reduction in the number of relatively expensive matrix inversion, and thereby in the computational time, has been achieved with this procedure. CPU times are reduced by a factor of 15 for predominantly elliptic flows (incompressible and low subsonic). The second method is a time-marching, 'linearized' convection RNS/NS procedure. The key to the efficiency of this procedure is the reduction to a single LU inversion at the inflow cross-plane. The remainder of the algorithm simply requires back-substitution with this LU and the corresponding residual vector at any cross-plane location. This method is not time-consistent, but has a convective-type CFL stability limitation. Both formulations are robust and provide accurate solutions for a variety of internal viscous flows to be provided herein.
Rubin, Stanley G.↗
Space Research Project Management Can Benefit from Engineering Technology Selection Methods
Many engineering methods have been developed to help management select technology for a system design or further research. The simplest way to compare technologies is to use a checklist containing all the more or less important selection criteria, so that nothing is overlooked. The criteria usually include cost, safety, reliability and maintainability, and potential problems such as noise generation and microgravity sensitivity. The next step typically is to weight and score all the criteria. The process of weighting and scoring is helpful in bringing out different priorities and reaching a shared point of view. Group technology selection methods are designed to highlight initial disagreements and produce a shared consensus. Often a frank discussion led by management rather than decision analysts can be more effective. The final selection depends on management and engineering judgment and may include programmatic and organizational factors that are beyond the engineering checklist. The objective of engineering technology selection methods is to provide engineering information to assist management in making sound decisions. Project management and technology selection are assumed to use rational engineering analytic methods, but they often do not. The reason is that human insight, intuition, and “gut feel,” rather than logic, more frequently determine our decisions. Project selection and management are strongly influenced by nonrational psychological influences, which can produce unjustified confidence and determination. Nevertheless, there is a strong need for space projects to do rational project analysis and selection. Demonstrating a rational spirit is necessary for a scientific and technical organization. Professional ethics at its best requires an open, honest, and fair process, without damaging politics. Rational analysis can help improve good projects and avoid selecting bad ones. A sanity check using rational analysis guided by a checklist can help avoid egregious and damaging errors.
Jones, Harry W.↗
Implicit solution methods in computational fluid dynamics
A class of implicit finite difference schemes of the Beam and Warming approximate factorization type will be addressed. The development and analysis of various aspects of this class of schemes will be given along with the motivations behind many of the choices. Various acceleration and efficiency modifications such as matrix reduction, diagonalization and flux split schemes will be presented. The methods are demonstrated in fully vectorized codes for a CRAY type architecture. The emphasis will be on the Euler equations in generalized coordinates.
Pulliam, Thomas H.↗
Insulin-like growth factor-I extends in vitro replicative life span of skeletal muscle satellite cells by enhancing G1/S cell cycle progression via the activation of phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase/Akt signaling pathway
Interest is growing in methods to extend replicative life span of non-immortalized stem cells. Using the insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I) transgenic mouse in which the IGF-I transgene is expressed during skeletal muscle development and maturation prior to isolation and during culture of satellite cells (the myogenic stem cells of mature skeletal muscle fibers) as a model system, we elucidated the underlying molecular mechanisms of IGF-I-mediated enhancement of proliferative potential of these cells. Satellite cells from IGF-I transgenic muscles achieved at least five additional population doublings above the maximum that was attained by wild type satellite cells. This IGF-I-induced increase in proliferative potential was mediated via activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase/Akt pathway, independent of mitogen-activated protein kinase activity, facilitating G(1)/S cell cycle progression via a down-regulation of p27(Kip1). Adenovirally mediated ectopic overexpression of p27(Kip1) in exponentially growing IGF-I transgenic satellite cells reversed the increase in cyclin E-cdk2 kinase activity, pRb phosphorylation, and cyclin A protein abundance, thereby implicating an important role for p27(Kip1) in promoting satellite cell senescence. These observations provide a more complete dissection of molecular events by which increased local expression of a growth factor in mature skeletal muscle fibers extends replicative life span of primary stem cells than previously known.
NASA Discipline Musculoskeletal↗
A Photometric Machine-Learning Method to Infer Stellar Metallicity
Following its formation, a star's metal content is one of the few factors that can significantly alter its evolution. Measurements of stellar metallicity ([Fe/H]) typically require a spectrum, but spectroscopic surveys are limited to a few x 10(exp 6) targets; photometric surveys, on the other hand, have detected > 10(exp 9) stars. I present a new machine-learning method to predict [Fe/H] from photometric colors measured by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). The training set consists of approx. 120,000 stars with SDSS photometry and reliable [Fe/H] measurements from the SEGUE Stellar Parameters Pipeline (SSPP). For bright stars (g' < or = 18 mag), with 4500 K < or = Teff < or = 7000 K, corresponding to those with the most reliable SSPP estimates, I find that the model predicts [Fe/H] values with a root-mean-squared-error (RMSE) of approx.0.27 dex. The RMSE from this machine-learning method is similar to the scatter in [Fe/H] measurements from low-resolution spectra..
machine learning↗
Pilot/Controller Coordinated Decision Making in the Next Generation Air Transportation System
Introduction: NextGen technologies promise to provide considerable benefits in terms of enhancing operations and improving safety. However, there needs to be a thorough human factors evaluation of the way these systems will change the way in which pilot and controllers share information. The likely impact of these new technologies on pilot/controller coordinated decision making is considered in this paper using the "operational, informational and evaluative disconnect" framework. Method: Five participant focus groups were held. Participants were four experts in human factors, between x and x research students and a technical expert. The participant focus group evaluated five key NextGen technologies to identify issues that made different disconnects more or less likely. Results: Issues that were identified were: Decision Making will not necessarily improve because pilots and controllers possess the same information; Having a common information source does not mean pilots and controllers are looking at the same information; High levels of automation may lead to disconnects between the technology and pilots/controllers; Common information sources may become the definitive source for information; Overconfidence in the automation may lead to situations where appropriate breakdowns are not initiated. Discussion: The issues that were identified lead to recommendations that need to be considered in the development of NextGen technologies. The current state of development of these technologies provides a good opportunity to utilize recommendations at an early stage so that NextGen technologies do not lead to difficulties in resolving breakdowns in coordinated decision making.
Bearman, Chris↗
Configuration factors between a small plane and a large sphere.
Diffuse configuration factors between small plane and large sphere by unit sphere method, presenting limiting cases
Heinisch, R. P.↗
A generalized technique for spectral analysis
Generalized spectral analysis method implementing orthogonal transformations through Kronecker product representation and matrix factorization
Andrews, H. C.↗
Environment sanitation handbook
The environmental Sanitation handbook provides guidance in the implementation of the basic provisions of occupational medicine and environmental health programs to environmental sanitation. It presents methods and procedures useful for the control of those sanitation factors which could create discomfort and illness in man or do harm to his environment. The provisions of this handbook are applicable to all organizational elements of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC),NASA, and to its associated contractors located at KSC in accordance with the terms of their respective contracts.
Source record↗
Assessment of an analytical procedure for predicting supersonic ejector nozzle performance
The ability of analysis to predict ejector nozzle characteristics over a wide range of conditions and to study the relation between design parameters and performance is assessed. The analytical method investigated provided an accurate and economical method for predicting the performance of supersonic ejector nozzles. The factors which had the greatest influence over ejector nozzle behavior were those which influenced the initial expansion and recompression process.
Anderson, B. H.↗
Study of the detail content of Apollo orbital photography
The development and application of image evaluation methods for assessing the detail content of Apollo orbital photography was demonstrated. Edge analysis using shadow to sunlight edges interior to craters was successfully used to evaluate the fine detail content of Apollo 15, 16, and 17 imagery. A method for evaluating tone quality was developed using a gain factor as a function of object contrast and average exposure level that can be related to object detectability.
Kinzly, R. E.↗
Calculation of the radiative heat exchange in a conical cavity of complex configuration with an absorptive medium
The generalized zonal method is used to calculate the distribution of the temperature factor on the lateral surface of a conical cavity of complex configuration (a Laval nozzle) containing an absorptive medium. The highest values of the radiation density occur on the converging part of the lateral surface of the complex conical cavity (Laval nozzle).
Surinov, Y. A.↗