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NASA NTRS1982

Crystallographic texture in oxide-dispersion-strengthened alloys

Crystallographic and elastic moduli data are presented which document the degree of texture in several oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) nickel-base alloys. The existence of strong crystallographic textures in such multicrystalline alloys is considered important, since the small angle grain boundaries may be partially responsible for creep threshold stresses. Gleiter (1979) has shown that ideal, low energy boundaries will act as vacancy sources only when the applied stress is greater than a threshold stress, while large angle grain boundaries will emit vacancies at all stress levels. The continued operation of a net vacancy in an ODS alloy must be avoided, since it will lead to a localized disruption of the microstructure.

Whittenberger, J. D.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Effects of simulated lightning on composite and metallic joints

The effects of simulated lightning strikes and currents on aircraft bonded joints and access/inspection panels were investigated. Both metallic and composite specimens were tested. Tests on metal fuel feed through elbows in graphite/epoxy structures were evaluated. Sparking threshold and residual strength of single lap bonded joints and sparking threshold of access/inspection panels and metal fuel feed through elbows are reported.

Howell, W. E.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Reliability analysis and fault-tolerant system development for a redundant strapdown inertial measurement unit

A methodology is developed and applied for quantitatively analyzing the reliability of a dual, fail-operational redundant strapdown inertial measurement unit (RSDIMU). A Markov evaluation model is defined in terms of the operational states of the RSDIMU to predict system reliability. A 27 state model is defined based upon a candidate redundancy management system which can detect and isolate a spectrum of failure magnitudes. The results of parametric studies are presented which show the effect on reliability of the gyro failure rate, both the gyro and accelerometer failure rates together, false alarms, probability of failure detection, probability of failure isolation, and probability of damage effects and mission time. A technique is developed and evaluated for generating dynamic thresholds for detecting and isolating failures of the dual, separated IMU. Special emphasis is given to the detection of multiple, nonconcurrent failures. Digital simulation time histories are presented which show the thresholds obtained and their effectiveness in detecting and isolating sensor failures.

Motyka, P.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Thematic mapper protoflight model preshipment review data package. Volume 4: Appendix. Part A: Multiplexer data book 2

Final performance test data for the thematic mapper flight model multiplexer are presented in tables. Aspects covered include A/D thresholds for bands 5, 6, and 7; cross talk; the thermistor; bilevel commands signal parameters; A/D threshold ambient, voltage margin low bus; serial data and bit clock parameters; and the wire check. Tests were conducted at ambient temperature.

Source record↗

NASA NTRS1983

Aircraft body-axis rotation measurement system

A two gyro four gimbal attitude sensing system having gimbal lock avoidance is provided with continuous azimuth information, rather than roll information, relative to the magnetic cardinal headings while in near vertical attitudes to allow recovery from vertical on a desired heading. The system is comprised of a means for stabilizing an outer roll gimbal that is common to a vertical gyro and a directional gyro with respect to the aircraft platform which is being angularly displaced about an axis substantially parallel to the outer roll gyro axis. A means is also provided for producing a signal indicative of the magnitude of such displacement as an indication of aircraft heading. Additional means are provided to cause stabilization of the outer roll gimbal whenever the pitch angle of the aircraft passes through a threshold prior to entering vertical flight and destabilization of the outer roll gimbal upon passing through the threshold when departing vertical flight.

Cowdin, K. T.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Density drift instabilities and weak collisions

A model is developed which describes the effects of weak collisions on the linear kinetic theory of electrostatic density drift instabilities. A dispersion equation valid at all frequencies and wave numbers is derived using the assumptions of a weak, uniform density gradient; a uniform magnetic field; and the BGK collision operator with a modification of the local approximation. The properties of the universal and collisional density drift instabilities at maximum growth rates are examined in detail. The thresholds of the instabilities are examined for an ionospheric model which includes ion-neutral, electron-neutral, and electron-ion collisions, and are compared with the threshold of the lower hybrid density drift instability. It is concluded that the k to the -5th short wavelength density power spectra observed above 280 km in the PLUMEX experiment are due to the effects of the universal density drift instability.

Gary, S. P.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Photodissociation of NH3 at 106-200 nm

The absorption and fluorescence cross sections for NH3 are measured in the 106-200 nm region using synchrotron radiation as the light source. The threshold wavelengths for the production of the NH (b to X) and NH (c to a) emissions from NH3 dissociation are measured and compared with previous measurements. The heat of formation of NH determined from these thresholds agrees well with the value determined from thermochemical data. The process of dissociation of NH3 into NH2(2AL) and H2(S) has a significant quantum yield whose maximum at 134 nm is about twice the NH(c) production yield. All the vibronic levels of the B and C states produce the NH2(2A1) emission, contrary to previous theoretical interpretations.

Suto, M.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Excitation of an electrostatic wave by a cold electron current sheet of finite thickness

Calculations for the threshold of current-driven instabilities and the growth rates of ion acoustic and electrostatic ion cyclotron instabilities in a magnetized plasma driven a current sheet with a finite width are presented. Maxwellian equations are employed to model the velocity distributions of electrons and ions in a direction perpendicular to the sheet. A dispersion relation is defined for the regions of instability, and boundary conditions are characterized in order to obtain a set of eigenvalue equations. Thresholds are delineated for various regions, including ducted mode solutions where only ion-acoustic waves are excited in areas where the frequency range significantly exceeds the ion cyclotron frequency. When a constant electron drift velocity is present, a thick current sheet is more unstable than a thin one. Fewer modes become unstable with a thinner sheet.

Hwang, K. S.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Evaluation of human exposure to the noise from large wind turbine generators

The human perception of a nuisance level of noise was quantified in tests and attempts were made to define criteria for acceptable sound levels from wind turbines. Comparisons were made between the sound necessary to cause building vibration, which occurred near the Mod-1 wind turbine, and human perception thresholds for building noise and building vibration. Thresholds were measured for both broadband and impulsive noise, with the finding that noise in the 500-2000 Hz region, and impulses with a 1 Hz fundamental, were most noticeable. Curves were developed for matching a receiver location with expected acoustic output from a machine to determine if the sound levels were offensive. In any case, further data from operating machines are required before definitive criteria can be established.

Shepherd, K. P.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Amplitude distributions of the spider heartpulse in response to gravitational stimuli

The arachnid Nuctenea sclopetaria (Clerck) which possesses a neurogenic heart, measuring the heartbeat is under efferent control through a dorsal nerve arising from a brain center is discussed. It was shown that the heartrate of this spider is also modulated by an afferent input associated with small increments of gravity. A compressive force on the order of 40 micron is sufficient to elicit a threshold change in heart rate for a typical (100mg) spider. This obtains in a hyper-Gz field less than 1.001. The functional relationship between gravity and heartrate is logarithmic between the absolute threshold and at least 1.5 Gz. A model was proposed in which equilibrium and movement are maintained by changes in blood pressure. It is concluded that the arachnid equilibrium system is like a weight detector which employs a hydraulic compensatory mechanism.

Finck, A.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Lead salt diode lasers and development of tunable solid state lasers for remote sensing

Extensive studies of the output characteristics of single quantum well lead-telluride lasers developed at the General Motors Research Laboratories were carried out. Threshold currents, output powers and line structures were measured as a function of temperature. Very low-current lasing thresholds, record high operating temperatures and over 30% tuning ranges were achieved. Excellent reproducibilities, good far-field patterns and reasonable linewidths (approx. 500 kHz) were found.

Freed, C.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Fault-tolerant system considerations for a redundant strapdown inertial measurement unit

The development and evaluation of a fault-tolerant system for the Redundant Strapdown Inertial Measurement Unit (RSDIMU) being developed and evaluated by the NASA Langley Research Center was continued. The RSDIMU consists of four two-degree-of-freedom gyros and accelerometers mounted on the faces of a semi-octahedron which can be separated into two halves for damage protection. Compensated and uncompensated fault-tolerant system failure decision algorithms were compared. An algorithm to compensate for sensor noise effects in the fault-tolerant system thresholds was evaluated via simulation. The effects of sensor location and magnitude of the vehicle structural modes on system performance were assessed. A threshold generation algorithm, which incorporates noise compensation and filtered parity equation residuals for structural mode compensation, was evaluated. The effects of the fault-tolerant system on navigational accuracy were also considered. A sensor error parametric study was performed in an attempt to improve the soft failure detection capability without obtaining false alarms. Also examined was an FDI system strategy based on the pairwise comparison of sensor measurements. This strategy has the specific advantage of, in many instances, successfully detecting and isolating up to two simultaneously occurring failures.

Motyka, P.↗

NASA NTRS1983

Influence of unbalance on the nonlinear dynamical response and stability of flexible rotor-bearing systems

In this paper, some of the effects of unbalance on the nonlinear response and stability of flexible rotor-bearing systems is presented from both a theoretical and experimental standpoint. In a linear system, operating above its stability threshold, the amplitude of motion grows exponentially with time and the orbits become unbounded. In an actual system, this is not necessarily the case. The actual amplitudes of motion may be bounded due to various nonlinear effects in the system. These nonlinear effects cause limit cycles of motion. Nonlinear effects are inherent in fluid film bearings and seals. Other contributors to nonlinear effects are shafts, couplings and foundations. In addition to affecting the threshold of stability, the nonlinear effects can cause jump phenomena to occur at not only the critical speeds, but also at stability onset or restabilization speeds.

Gunter, E. J.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Boolean difference equations. I - Formulation and dynamic behavior

In many biological and physical systems, feedback mechanisms depend on a set of thresholds associated with the state variables. Each feedback has a characteristic time scale. It is suggested that delay-difference equations for Boolean-valued variables are an appropriate mathematical framework for such situations: the feedback thresholds result in the discrete, on-off character of the variables, and the interaction time scales of the feedbacks are expressed as delays. The initial-value problem for Boolean delay equations (B-Delta-Es) is formulated, and shown to have unique solutions for all times. Examples of periodic and aperiodic solutions are given. Aperiodic solutions have increasing complexity which depends on time t roughly as t to the l-1 power, l being the number of delays. Stability of solutions is defined, and some examples of stability analysis are given; additional stability questions are raised. The present formulation of (B-Delta-Es) is compared with related work and generalizations are suggested.

Dee, D.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Study of the sulphur-containing molecules in the EUV region. IV - The dissociation processes of SO2 in the 760 A region

The fluoresence throughout the VUV and violet regions has been observed from photoexcitation of SO2, and the absolute fluorescence cross sections of the VUV emissions have been measured at selected atomic emission lines and in the synchrotron radiation continuum from 550 to 760 A. Emissions from the O I 1304 A and several S I lines account for the fluorescence observed in the VUV region, while the fluorescence observed in the UV and violet regions is due to excited SO and, also, possibly to excited SO2(+) and SO(+). Structure in the VUV fluorescence excitation function is attributed to predissociation of Rydberg states. The VUV fluorescence resulting from an O2 elimination process, SO2 + h times nu yielding metastable S + O2, has been observed in the present work although the threshold for this process has not been determined. The threshold corresponding to the total dissociation process, SO2 + h times nu yielding metastable S + 2O, has been measured and found to agree reasonably with the expected value calculated from thermochemical data. The processes for the formation of S(+) are also discussed.

Wu, C. Y. R.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Demodulation of PPM for Reed-Solomon coded optical space channel

The paper proposes a delta-max demodulator for Reed-Solomon coded M-ary PPM modulation over optical (laser) channels including satellite-to-satellite and deep-space-vehicle-to-relay-satellite communications. This demodulator is compared with the threshold demodulator currently in use, and the two demodulators are shown to have identical performance in the absence of background noise. The delta-max demodulator is found to outperform the threshold demodulator as the intensity of background noise increases.

Divsalar, D.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Chaotic ion motion in magnetosonic plasma waves

The motion of test ions in a magnetosonic plasma wave is considered, and the 'stochasticity threshold' of the wave's amplitude for the onset of chaotic motion is estimated. It is shown that for wave amplitudes above the stochasticity threshold, the evolution of an ion distribution can be described by a diffusion equation with a diffusion coefficient D approximately equal to 1/v. Possible applications of this process to ion acceleration in flares and ion beam thermalization are discussed.

Varvoglis, H.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Mass discrimination during prolonged weightlessness

Thresholds for mass discrimination under zero gravity in flight were found to be higher by a factor of about 1.8 than those for weight discrimination before flight. This suggests that humans are not as sensitive to inertial mass as they are to weight, and that adaptation can only partially compensate for loss of gravity. Weight discrimination thresholds were raised for 2 or 3 days after flight, suggesting an aftereffect of adaptation to weightlessness.

Ross, H.↗