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At least 1,063 records · Page 59

Kinetics of the gas-phase reaction between hydroxyl and carbonyl sulfide over the temperature range 300-517 K

By use of a discharge-flow resonance-fluorescence method the rate constant for the title reaction has been measured at five temperatures in the range 300-520 K. The Arrhenius expression is k(OH + OCS) = (1.3 + or - 0.3) x 10 to the -12th exp/-(2300 + or - 100)/T/ cu cm/s. Mass spectrometry has been used to detect the product HS and to collect some information about its reactivity. This study has carefully avoided the pitfalls associated with possible photolysis of reactants and complications due to H2S impurity in carbonyl sulfide that may have marred previous studies. This study has confirmed that the rate constant for this reaction is so much lower than the value originally used in computer modeling of the upper and lower atmosphere that conclusions about the relative importance of photolysis of OCS and of the reaction OH + OCS in the stratosphere must now be reassessed. The reaction OH + OCS has little significance for atmospheric chemistry.

Leu, M.-T.↗

Toward comparing experiment and theory for corroborative research on hingeless rotor stability in forward flight

For flap lag stability of isolated rotors, experimental and analytical investigations were conducted in hover and forward flight on the adequacy of a linear quasisteady aerodynamics theory with dynamic flow. Forward flight effects on lag regressing mode were emphasized. A soft inplane hingeless rotor with three blades was tested at advance ratios as high as 0.55 and at shaft angles as high as 20 deg. The 1.62 m model rotor was untrimmed with an essentially unrestricted tilt of the tip path plane. In combination with lag natural frequencies, collective pitch settings and flap lag coupling parameters, the data base comprises nearly 1200 test points (damping and frequency) in forward flight and 200 test points in hover. By computerized symbolic manipulation, a linear model was developed in substall to predict stability margins with mode identification. To help explain the correlation between theory and data it also predicted substall and stall regions of the rotor disk from equilibrium values. The correlation showed both the strengths and weaknesses of the theory in substall ((angle of attack) equal to or less than 12 deg).

Gaonkar, G.↗

Behavior of Langmuir Probes in Non-Equilibrium Plasmas

Langmuir probes are diagnostic tools used to determine electron temperature, number density, and plasma potential. Irving Langmuir first used an electrostatic probe in the 1920s to find these characteristics in ionized gases. Single, double, and triple Langmuir probes are commonly used in plasma diagnostics because of their relative simplicity. In the single probe, a swept voltage is applied between the probe tip and circuit common to acquire a waveform showing the collected current as a function of applied voltage. A double Langmuir probe consists of two tips, both inserted into the plasma, with a voltage applied between them. As this voltage is swept, a current-voltage characteristic is measured. In a triple probe three probe tips are electrically coupled to each other with constant non-swept voltages applied between each of the tips. The voltages are selected to represent three points on the single Langmuir probe I-V curve. Elimination of the voltage sweep makes it possible to measure time-varying plasma properties in transient plasmas. Triple Langmuir probe measurements have been widely employed for various types of plasmas, including pulsed and time-varying plasmas such as those seen in pulsed plasma thrusters (PPTs), dense plasma focus devices, plasma flows, and fusion experiments. The typical Langmuir probe analysis for determining electron temperature and number density of the plasma (for a single, double, or triple Langmuir probe) includes an assumption that the plasma is in thermal equilibrium. While the this assumption may be justified for some applications, it is unlikely that it is fully justifiable for pulsed and time-varying plasmas or for the entire time a plasma device is in use. In the present work, we model the responses of Langmuir probes as they are inserted into a range of simple equilibrium and non-equilibrium plasmas. We return to basic governing equations of probe current collection and compute the current to the probes for a distribution function consisting of two Maxwellian distributions with different temperatures (the two-temperature Maxwellian). A variation of this method is also employed, where one of the Maxwellians is offset from zero (in velocity space) to add a suprathermal beam of electrons to the tail of the main Maxwellian distribution (the bump-on-the-tail distribution function). For a range of parameters in these non-Maxwellian distributions, we compute the current collection to the probes. Comparing the distribution function that was assumed a priori with the plasma density and temperature one would infer when applying standard probe theory to analyze the collected currents serves to illustrate the effect a non- Maxwellian plasma would have on results interpreted using the equilibrium probe current collection theory, allowing us to state the magnitudes of these deviations as a function of the assumed distribution function properties.

Polzin, Kurt A.↗

Development of a Model and Computer Code to Describe Solar Grade Silicon Production Processes

Mathematical models and computer codes based on these models, which allow prediction of the product distribution in chemical reactors for converting gaseous silicon compounds to condensed-phase silicon were developed. The following tasks were accomplished: (1) formulation of a model for silicon vapor separation/collection from the developing turbulent flow stream within reactors of the Westinghouse (2) modification of an available general parabolic code to achieve solutions to the governing partial differential equations (boundary layer type) which describe migration of the vapor to the reactor walls, (3) a parametric study using the boundary layer code to optimize the performance characteristics of the Westinghouse reactor, (4) calculations relating to the collection efficiency of the new AeroChem reactor, and (5) final testing of the modified LAPP code for use as a method of predicting Si(1) droplet sizes in these reactors.

Srivastava, R.↗

Electron temperature measurements using a 12-channel array probe

The most common technique for determining the mean kinetic energy of electrons in low-temperature plasmas utilizes the so-called Langmuir probe. The present investigation is concerned with the study of the electron temperature in a pulsed high-beta plasma as a function of time by means of a miniature array of 12 planar Langmuir probes. By using a probe with many individually collecting surfaces, each biased at a different fixed voltage, an approximation to the true probe characteristic is obtained when monitoring the collected currents for each independent subprobe. The employed method, by using many points, provides enough information to reconstruct the entire I-V curve. Attention is given to the principle of operation of the new probe, calibration, accuracy, time resolution, and applications of the new method. By employing two probes it is possible to perform correlation measurements to study heat flow and temperature fluctuations.

Wild, N.↗

Apollo 17 KREEPy basalts - Evidence for nonuniformity of KREEP

Breccia 72275 contains pristine KREEPy basalt clasts that are not found among other samples collected at Apollo 17. These basalts occur as discrete clasts and as clasts enclosed within basaltic microbreccias. Mineral and whole-rock chemical analyses reveal that the microbreccias are compositionally indistinguishable from the basalt clasts. Samples of the 72275 matrix also have the same compositions as the basalts and the basaltic microbreccias. 72275 was assembled in situ from a single flow or series of closely related flows of Apollo 17 KREEPy basalt before it was transported to the Apollo 17 site. As a rock type, Apollo 17 KREEPy basalts are distinct from Apollo 15 KREEP basalts. The Apollo 17 samples have lower REE concentrations, steeper negative slopes of the HREE, and are less magnesian than the Apollo 15 samples. The two basalt types cannot be related by fractional crystallization, partial melting, or assimilation. This is evidence for the compositional nonuniformity of KREEP as a function of geography.

Salpas, Peter A.↗

Nonlinear feedbacks between stratocumulus and synoptic-scale systems

The research progress for FY-91 is presented. Wintertime and springtime stratocumulus observations for a number of 5-day periods were collected. Close correlations between the mean 850 and 500 mb trough positions and cloud cover over marine areas were found. A linear study of the radiatively-driven interaction between stratocumulus and synoptic-scale waves was completed. Shallow surface-bound traveling waves are created that are strongly dependent on the phase relation between cloud and low-level flow. A nonlinear model is now under development that will permit a more detailed investigation of these interactions. Finally, a nonlinear study of the modifications of the background flow by boundary layer roll vortices was revised for submission for publication. The research plans for FY-92 are included.

Clark, John H. E.↗

Fuel Cell Model Validation with Power Module Test Data

The AES Modular Power Systems (AMPS) Fuel Cell team at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) has created a Microsoft Excel model of a regenerative fuel cell (RFC) system for potential lunar and Martian applications. Due to some limitations of this model, including the ability to predict transient effects in the thermal and fluidic performance of the system, a system-level transient thermal/fluids model was desired. GT-SUITE is a transient multi-physics simulation tool that is popular in the automotive industry and has a built-in template for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, terrestrial fuel cells used in the automotive industry vary significantly from aerospace fuel cells. A validation effort was undertaken to compare GT SUITE model results to actual data collected during the 2015 AMPS (Advanced Exploration Systems (AES) Modular Power Systems) Power Module Demonstration in which the AMPS team used a PEM fuel cell system to power a 478 kilogram rover assembly at the Dunes test site located at GRC. The purpose of the model was to evaluate the efficacy of using GT SUITE to model a non-flow through PEM fuel cell system. The validation effort examined electrochemical performance including fuel cell stack voltage and power supplied, the thermal performance of the stack namely stack temperature and heat rejection rates, and the fluidic performance of the system including pressures, reactant consumption, and water production rates.

Model Validation↗

Power spectral signatures of interplanetary corotating and transient flows

Studies of the time behavior of the galactic cosmic ray intensity have concluded that long term decreases in the intensity are generally associated with systems of interplanetary flows that contain flare generated shock waves, magnetic clouds and other transient phenomena. The magnetic field power spectral signatures of such flow systems are compared to power spectra obtained during times when the solar wind is dominated by stable corotating streams that do not usually produce long-lived reduction in the cosmic ray intensity. The spectral signatures of these two types of regimes (transient and corotating) are distinct. However, the distinguishing features are not the same throughout the heliosphere. In data collected beyond 1 AU the primary differences are in the power spectra of the magnitude of the magnetic field rather than in the power in the field components. Consequently, decreases in cosmic ray intensity are very likely due to magnetic mirror forces and gradient drifts rather than to small angle scattering due to cyclotron wave-particle interactions.

Goldstein, M. L.↗

Power spectral signatures of interplanetary corotating and transient flows

Studies of the time behavior of the galactic cosmic ray intensity have concluded that long term decreases in the intensity are generally associated with systems of interplanetary flows that contain flare generated shock waves, magnetic clouds and other transient phenomena. The magnetic field power spectral signatures of such flow systems are compared to power spectra obtained during times when the solar wind is dominated by stable corotating streams that do not usually produce long-lived reduction in the cosmic ray intensity. The spectral signatures of these two types of regimes (transient and corotating) are distinct. However, the distinguishing features are not the same throughout the heliosphere. In data collected beyond 1 AU the primary differences are in the power spectra of the magnitude of the magnetic field rather than in the power in the field components. Consequently, decreases in cosmic ray intensity are very likely due to magnetic mirror forces and gradient drifts rather than to small angle scattering due to cyclotron wave-particle interactions. Previously announced in STAR as N84-18131

Goldstein, M. L.↗

Hi-C Observations of an Active Region Corona, and Investigation of the Underlying Magnetic Structure

Hi-C: first observational evidence of field line braiding in the AR corona; NLFFF extrapolations support. Flux emergence and/or cancellation in the coronal braided region generate large stresses and tension in the coronal field loops which is released as heat in the corona. The field in these sub-regions are highly sheared and have apparent high speed plasma flows, therefore, the contribution from shearing flows to power the coronal and transition region heating can not be ruled out! The spatial resolution of Hi-­C is five times better than AIA. The cadence of Hi-C is 2.5 - 6 times better than AIA. The 193 Å was selected because of the strong emission line of Fe XII (peak formation temperature of 1.5 MK). Hi-­C collected data for 345 s @ 5.4 s cadence. The Hi-C target region was NOAA AR 11520; 11 July 2012, 18:51-18:57 UT. NLFFF extrapolation confirms the braided structure, and free magnetic energy estimates in the given volume.

Tiwari, Sanjiv K.↗

High-Resolution OH and CH2O Visualization in a Premixed Cavity-Anchored Ethylene-Air Flame in a M = 0.6 Flowfield

OH and CH2O were imaged in a premixed, cavity-anchored, ethylene-air turbulent flame using a high resolution planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) system. The electrically-heated, continuous flow facility (UVa Supersonic Combustion Facility, Configuration E) consisted of a Mach 2 nozzle, an isolator with fuel injectors, a test section with a cavity flame holder and optical access, and an extender. Standard test conditions comprised total temperature 1200 K, total pressure 300 kPa, local equivalence ratio near 0.4, and local Mach number near 0.6. OH PLIF data was also collected for a case with reduced total temperature and another with reduced equivalence ratio. OH and CH2O were excited in separate experiments with light sheets at 283.55 nm and 352.48 nm, respectively. A light sheet of approximate thickness 25 ?m illuminated the stream-wise midplane. This plane was imaged for 120 mm downstream of the backward-facing step. The intensified camera system imaged OH with magnification 1.97, a square 6.67 mm field of view, and in-plane resolution of 39 ?m. The smallest observed OH structures observed were approximately 100 ?m wide. The CH2O PLIF image signal was much weaker; the smallest observed structures were approximately 200 ?m wide. Composite fluorescence images were computed for the observed area.

Geipel, Clayton M.↗

High Ice Water Concentrations in the 19 August 2015 Coastal Mesoconvective System

During August 2015, NASA's DC-8 research aircraft was flown into High Ice Water Content (HIWC) events as part of a three-week campaign to collect airborne radar data and to obtain measurements from microphysical probes. Goals for this flight campaign included improved characterization of HIWC events, especially from an airborne radar perspective. This paper focuses on one of the flight days, in which a coastal mesoscale convective system (MCS) was investigated for HIWC conditions. The system appears to have been maintained by bands of convection flowing in from the Gulf of Mexico. These convective bands were capped by a large cloud canopy, which masks the underlying structure if viewed from an infrared sensing satellite. The DC-8 was equipped with an IsoKinetic Probe that measured ice concentrations of up to 2.3 g m(exp -3) within the cloud canopy of this system. Sustained measurements of ice crystals with concentrations exceeding 1 g m(exp -3) were encountered for up to ten minutes of flight time. Airborne Radar reflectivity factors were found to be weak within these regions of high ice water concentrations, suggesting that Radar detection of HIWC would be a challenging endeavor. This case is then investigated using a three-dimensional numerical cloud model. Profiles of ice water concentrations and radar reflectivity factor demonstrate similar magnitudes and scales between the flight measurements and model simulation. Also discussed are recent modifications to the numerical model's ice-microphysics that are based on measurements during the flight campaign. The numerical model and its updated ice-microphysics are further validated with a simulation of a well-known case of a supercell hailstorm measured during the Cooperative Convective Precipitation Experiment. Differences in HIWC between the continental supercell and the coastal MCS are discussed.

Proctor, Fred H.↗

Investigation of the stability of the tip vortex generated by hovering propellers and rotors.

The objective of this experimental and theoretical investigation was to determine what factors and mechanisms are involved in vortex interaction and instability and how these phenomena manifest themselves. To answer these questions, the schlieren method of flow visualization was used to observe the wakes generated by two- and four-bladed model propellers and rotors. A concurrent free-wake analysis was conducted for comparative purposes. Schlieren pictures showing wake asymmetry, interaction, and instability are presented. Various factors and mechanisms believed to be responsible for these are discussed along with the effects produced by the number of blades, collective pitch, and tip speed. Free-wake calculations that qualitatively confirm those factors responsible for wake asymmetry and interaction are also presented.

Tangler, J. L.↗

The Mechanics of Atmospheric Systems Derived Through Vertical and Horizontal Analysis of Parametric Data

For 36 hours during April 1975, an atmospheric variability experiment was conducted. This research effort supported an observational program in which rawinsonde data, radar data, and satellite data were collected from a network of 42 stations east of the Rocky Mountains at intervals of 3 hours. This program presents data with a high degree of time resolution over a spatially and temporally extensive network. Reduction of the experiment data is intended primarily as a documentation of the checking and processing of the data and should be useful to prospective users. Various flow diagrams of the data processing procedures are described, and a complete summary of the formulas used in the data processing is provided. A wind computation scheme designed to extract as much detailed wind information as possible from the unique experiment data set is discussed. The accuracy of the thermodynamic and wind data were estimated. Errors in the thermodynamic and wind data are given.

Turner, R. E.↗

Operational performance of vapor-screen systems for in-flight visualization of leading-edge vortices on the F-106B aircraft

A flight research program was undertaken at the NASA Langley Research Center to apply the vapor-screen technique, widely used in wind tunnels, to an aircraft. The purpose was to obtain qualitative and quantitative information about near-field vortex flows above the wings of fighter aircraft and ascertain the effects of Reynolds and Mach numbers over the angle-of-attack range. The hardware for the systems required for flight application of the vapor-screen technique was successfully developed and integrated. Details of each system, its operational performance on the F-106B aircraft, and pertinent aircraft and environmental data collected are presented.

Lamar, John E.↗

Twin engine afterbody model

This test was originally conducted to determine the effects of several empennage and afterbody parameters on the aft-end aerodynamic characteristics of a twin-engine fighter-type configuration. Model variables were as follows: horizontal tail axial location and incidence, vertical tail axial location and configuration (twin-vs single-tail arrangements), tail booms, and nozzle power setting. Jet propulsion was simulated by exhausting high-pressure, cold-flow air from the nozzles. Following a successful test conducted on a single engine nacelle model to validate a CFD code, this model was chosen to be instrumented with pressure taps on the afterbody and nozzles and used as a follow-on test, providing a more complex geometry for the CFD code validation. A more limited test matrix was run to collect the pressure data, employing only the twin-tail configuration and varying only the horizontal and vertical tail locations. Mach number was varied from 0.6 to 1.2. Nozzle pressure ratio was varied from jet-off to 8. Angle-of-attack varied from 0 to 8 deg.

Wing, David J.↗

Information Requirements for Supervisory Air Traffic Controllers in Support of a Wake Vortex Departure System

Closely Space Parallel Runway (CSPR) configurations are capacity limited for departures due to the requirement to apply wake vortex separation standards from traffic departing on the adjacent parallel runway. To mitigate the effects of this constraint, a concept focusing on wind dependent departure operations has been developed, known as the Wake Turbulence Mitigation for Departures (WTMD). This concept takes advantage of the fact that crosswinds of sufficient velocity blow wakes generated by aircraft departing from the downwind runway away from the upwind runway. Consequently, under certain conditions, wake separations on the upwind runway would not be required based on wakes generated by aircraft on the downwind runway, as is currently the case. It follows that information requirements, and sources for this information, would need to be determined for airport traffic control tower (ATCT) supervisory personnel who would be charged with decisions regarding use of the procedure. To determine the information requirements, data were collected from ATCT supervisors and controller-in-charge qualified individuals at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport (STL) and George Bush Houston Intercontinental Airport (IAH). STL and IAH were chosen as data collection sites based on the implementation of a WTMD prototype system, operating in shadow mode, at these locations. The 17 total subjects (STL: 5, IAH: 12) represented a broad-base of air traffic experience. Results indicated that the following information was required to support the conduct of WTMD operations: current and forecast weather information, current and forecast traffic demand and traffic flow restrictions, and WTMD System status information and alerting. Subjects further indicated that the requisite information is currently available in the tower cab with the exception of the WTMD status and alerting. Subjects were given a demonstration of a display supporting the prototype systems and unanimously stated that the WTMD status information they felt important was represented. Overwhelmingly, subjects felt that approving, monitoring and terminating the WTMD procedure could be integrated into their supervisory workload.

Lohr, Gary W.↗