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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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Electronic circuit processes arterial blood pressure waveform to produce discrete signals that coincide with beginning and end of left ventricular ejection. Output signals provide timing signals for computers that monitor cardiovascular systems. Circuit operates reliably for heart rates between 50 and 200 beats per minute.
Development of automated circuit analysis computer program to provide transient analysis of circuits with magnetic cores is discussed. Allowance is made for complications caused by nonlinearity of switching core model and magnetic coupling among loop currents. Computer program is conducted on Univac 1108 computer using FORTRAN IV.
A user's manual for a computer program DALG which generates test patterns for detecting faults in combinational logic circuits containing up to 200 logical gates is presented. The gates may be of logical types AND, OR, NAND, NOR, NOT, or Exclusive OR is presented. The faults may be any one gate or input struck at a fixed value (0 or 1). In addition to test pattern generation DALG will also determine whether or not the given test pattern will detect given faults in a circuit. Sample problems are given along with input data sheets and printed output to illustrate the capabilities of the program.
In Brayton-cycle power systems, the speed decreases rapidly with overload. If the voltage decreases linearly with speed (frequency), the power decreases as the square of the voltage. This makes the system more tolerant of overloads. A volts-per-hertz reference circuit, consisting of a volts-per-hertz sensor and a voltage limiter, was designed and fabricated. This reference circuit was incorporated in an existing voltage regulator to control a turbine-driven alternator. Test results show that the control does function to reduce voltage at speeds below the rated speed and that it performed successfully during transients.
As part of a modular inverter-converter development program, control techniques were developed to provide load sharing among paralleled inverters or converters. An analysis of the requirements of paralleling circuits and a discussion of the circuits developed and their performance are included in this report. The current sharing was within 5.6 percent of rated-load current for the ac modules and 7.4 percent for the dc modules for an initial output voltage unbalance of 5 volts.
The innovations in this updated series of compilations dealing with electronic technology represents a carefully selected collection of items on electronic switches and control circuits. Most of the items are based on well-known circuit design concepts that have been simplified or refined to meet NASA's demanding requirement for reliability, simplicity, fail-safe characteristics, and the capability of withstanding environmental extremes.
The effect of a transient wind on the test-section flow quality of an open-circuit wind tunnel was investigated experimentally. The investigation was restricted to transient wind effects associated with the inlet. A small open-circuit wind tunnel was placed outside in the real wind environment. Test-section speed and angularity as well as wind speed and direction was measured by high-response instrumentation. The inlet configuration was varied with a set of screens, a removable honeycomb, and a removable inlet lip. Acceptable flow was obtained at all wind angles and for wind- to test-section-velocity ratios up to 0.4 with an inlet configuration having five screens, a honeycomb, and a lip. With inlet configurations sensitive to winds, a transient wind parallel to the tunnel axis produced local fluctuations in test-section speed and angularity; however, oscillation of the average test-section speed was not evident. The effect of wind direction was negligible up to wind angles of 45 deg relative to the tunnel axis. At larger wind angles, flow distortions occurred primarily on the windward side of the test section.
Twenty-five cells were used in a five-year test to compare, after each successive one-year storage period, the discharge and charge characteristics of charged cells on open circuit versus that of cells on continuous trickle charge. The test procedure, instrumentation, and results are described. Based on the test results, the following recommendations were made: (1) If the user's purpose will allow a rejuvenation cycle or two after a long storage period, the open circuit regime will likely give slightly greater capacity. (2) If the user's purpose demands immediately available power following a long storage period, the trickle charge method of storage is definitely the regime to use.
Thick film hybrid techniques are used to develop circuitry for a brushless dc motor commutator. The power commutator contains the driving circuit and an amplifier that controls the armature current. A position decoder contains digital integrated circuits which receive the signals from the armature position sensors and generate the driving signals for the power commutator in the proper sequence. These units drive motors with stall currents up to about 400 mA.
A small portable recompression chamber is described that can be used both to treat a diver for decompression sickness or to transport him to a larger chamber complex. The device can be operated in either open circuit or semiclosed circuit atmospheres, permits two way conversation between patient and attendant, and uses an air injector for circulation of the chamber atmosphere.
Continuity through the circuit breaker in the mechanically closed condition was prevented by a foreign substance on the contact surface onboard Apollo 14. It was concluded that this was the only failure of this type in over 3400 units that were flown, and since no circuit breaker is a single-point failure for crew safety or mission success, no corrective action was taken.
The fabrication techniques of integrated vacuum circuits are described in detail. Data obtained from a specially designed test circuit are presented. The data show that the emission observed in reverse biased devices is due to cross-talk between the devices and can be eliminated by electrostatic shielding. The lifetime of the cathodes has been improved by proper activation techniques. None of the cathodes on life test has shown any sign of failure after more than 3500 hours. Life tests of triodes show a decline of anode current by a factor of two to three after a few days. The current recovers when the large positive anode voltage (100 V) has been removed for a few hours. It is suggested that this is due to trapped charges in the sapphire substrate. Evidence of the presence of such charges is given, and a model of the charge distribution is presented consistent with the measurements. Solution of the problem associated with the decay of triode current may require proper treatment of the sapphire surface and/or changes in the deposition technique of the thin metal films.
CIRCAL-2 is a second-generation general-purpose on-line circuit-design program with the following main features: (1) multiple-analysis capability; (2) uniform and general data structures for handling text editing, network representations, and output results, regardless of analysis; (3) special techniques and structures for minimizing and controlling user-program interaction; (4) use of functionals for the description of hysteresis and heat effects; and (5) ability to define optimization procedures that 'replace' the user. The paper discusses the organization of CIRCAL-2, the aforementioned main features, and their consequences, such as a set of network elements and models general enough for most analyses and a set of functions tailored to circuit-design requirements. The presentation is descriptive, concentrating on conceptual rather than on program implementation details.
Silicon controlled rectifier opens circuit with currents flowing up to values of 30 amperes. Switching concept halves both current and voltage in middle of commutating cycle thereby lowering size and weight requirements. Commutating circuit can be turned on or off by command and will remain on in absence of load due to continuous gate.
Unlimited channel capacity multiplexing circuit is hierarchially structured to achieve priority encoding. Circuit could be used for automatic patient monitoring systems and diagnostic test systems in automotive and communications industry.
Cavity-dumped lasers employ electrooptic-effect cell to alternately block and release laser pulse. Cell requires high-speed switching circuit that can apply and remove high voltage. Solid-state circuit employs complementary transistor switches which can switch at rates greater than 5 kHz, eliminate warmup time, provide variable voltage wave-form, and allow polarity reversal.
Circuit was developed to prevent accidental shock through electrodes used to test subjects as part of Skylab program. This circuit is placed between electrical apparatus and electrode that is attached to patient's body. Thus, patient is effectively protected from dangerous electrical shock that might be caused by failure in electrical apparatus.
Circuit was developed which can stretch pulses in 50- to 3200-ns range to make them acceptable for pulse-height analyzers. Circuit uses high-speed wide-band amplifier, does not need excessive frequency compensation, and can handle pulses one-tenth of width normally required by pulse analyzers.