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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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At least 1,063 records · Page 59

Fast-airflow tumble clothes dryer with small thermoelectric heat pump: Experimental evaluation

Residential clothes drying accounts for about 5% of the total residential-sector energy consumption in the United States. Most dryers use electric resistance heaters to dry clothes and have low efficiencies. Higher-efficiency dryers that use vapor compression heat pumps are expensive and complex and have not gained a large market share in the United States. A novel tumble clothes dryer using a small thermoelectric heat pump with faster airflow than typical dryers is presented in this work. The benchtop performance of the thermoelectric heat pump and high-speed blower are presented, and the development of the prototype dryer is described. The dryer was tested for efficiency and dry time for a range of airflow rates and applied currents to the thermoelectric heat pump. The combined efficiency factor was 5.09–6.29 lb BDW /kWh (specific moisture extraction rate of 1.23–1.53 kg w /kWh) with 100–138 min dry times for these tests. The measured efficiency was 36 %–68 % greater than the minimum efficiency standard in the United States, and compared with vapor compression heat pump–based clothes dryers, the prototype dryer had less expensive, less complex components and did not use refrigerants. Finally, the performance of this small thermoelectric heat pump clothes dryer is also compared with previous iterations of the thermoelectric tumble clothes dryer described in the literature.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

The International Space Station Assembly on Schedule

As engineers continue to prepare the International Space Station (ISS) for in-orbit assembly in the year 2002, ANSYS software has proven instrumental in resolving a structural problem in the project's two primary station modules -- Nodes 1 and 2. Proof pressure tests performed in May revealed "low temperature, post-yield creep" in some of the Nodes' gussets, which were designed to reinforce ports for loads from station keeping and reboost motion of the entire space station. An extensive effort was undertaken to characterize the creep behavior of the 2219-T851 aluminum forging material from which the gussets were made. Engineers at Sverdrup Technology, Inc. (Huntsville, AL) were responsible for conducting a combined elastic-plastic-creep analysis of the gussets to determine the amount of residual compressive stress which existed in the gussets following the proof pressure tests, and to determine the stress-strain history in the gussets while on-orbit. Boeing, NASA's Space Station prime contractor, supplied the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) model geometry and developed the creep equations from the experimental data taken by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and Langley Research Center. The goal of this effort was to implement the uniaxial creep equations into a three dimensional finite element program, and to determine analytically whether or not the creep was something that the space station program could live with. The objective was to show analytically that either the creep rate was at an acceptable level, or that the node module had to be modified to lower the stress levels to where creep did not occur. The elastic-plastic-creep analysis was performed using the ANSYS finite element program of ANSYS, Inc. (Houston, PA). The analysis revealed that the gussets encountered a compressive stress of approximately 30,000 pounds per square inch (psi) when unloaded. This compressive residual stress significantly lowered the maximum tension stress in the gussets which decreased the creep strain rate. The analysis also showed that the gussets would not experience a great deal of creep from future pressure tests if braces or struts proposed by Boeing were installed to redistribute stress away from them. Subsequent analysis of on-orbit station keeping and reboost loads convinced Boeing that the gussets should be removed altogether.

Source record↗

An investigation of shock/turbulent boundary layer bleed interactions

A numerical investigation was conducted to determine the effect of bleed on oblique shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions. The numerical solution to the compressible Navier-Stokes equations reveal the flow details throughout the interaction zone and inside the normal bleed slot. Results are presented for an incident oblique shock of sufficient strength to cause boundary layer separation in the absence of bleed. Bleed is applied across the shock impingement location over a range of bleed mass flow rates corresponding to different values of plenum pressures. The results indicate a complex flow structure with large variations in both normal and tangential flow velocities across the bleed slot. The flow entrainment into the slot is accompanied by an expansion-compression wave system with a bow shock originating inside the bleed slot. Increasing the bleed mass flow by decreasing the plenum pressure caused an initial decrease then a later increase in the boundary layer momentum and displacement thickness downstream of the interaction.

Hamed, A.↗

Adaptive variable-length coding for efficient compression of spacecraft television data.

An adaptive variable length coding system is presented. Although developed primarily for the proposed Grand Tour missions, many features of this system clearly indicate a much wider applicability. Using sample to sample prediction, the coding system produces output rates within 0.25 bit/picture element (pixel) of the one-dimensional difference entropy for entropy values ranging from 0 to 8 bit/pixel. This is accomplished without the necessity of storing any code words. Performance improvements of 0.5 bit/pixel can be simply achieved by utilizing previous line correlation. A Basic Compressor, using concatenated codes, adapts to rapid changes in source statistics by automatically selecting one of three codes to use for each block of 21 pixels. The system adapts to less frequent, but more dramatic, changes in source statistics by adjusting the mode in which the Basic Compressor operates on a line-to-line basis. Furthermore, the compression system is independent of the quantization requirements of the pulse-code modulation system.

Rice, R. F.↗

Bandwidth characteristics of multimedia data traffic on a local area network

Limited spacecraft communication links call for users to investigate the potential use of video compression and multimedia technologies to optimize bandwidth allocations. The objective was to determine the transmission characteristics of multimedia data - motion video, text or bitmap graphics, and files transmitted independently and simultaneously over an ethernet local area network. Commercial desktop video teleconferencing hardware and software and Intel's proprietary Digital Video Interactive (DVI) video compression algorithm were used, and typical task scenarios were selected. The transmission time, packet size, number of packets, and network utilization of the data were recorded. Each data type - compressed motion video, text and/or bitmapped graphics, and a compressed image file - was first transmitted independently and its characteristics recorded. The results showed that an average bandwidth of 7.4 kilobits per second (kbps) was used to transmit graphics; an average bandwidth of 86.8 kbps was used to transmit an 18.9-kilobyte (kB) image file; a bandwidth of 728.9 kbps was used to transmit compressed motion video at 15 frames per second (fps); and a bandwidth of 75.9 kbps was used to transmit compressed motion video at 1.5 fps. Average packet sizes were 933 bytes for graphics, 498.5 bytes for the image file, 345.8 bytes for motion video at 15 fps, and 341.9 bytes for motion video at 1.5 fps. Simultaneous transmission of multimedia data types was also characterized. The multimedia packets used transmission bandwidths of 341.4 kbps and 105.8kbps. Bandwidth utilization varied according to the frame rate (frames per second) setting for the transmission of motion video. Packet size did not vary significantly between the data types. When these characteristics are applied to Space Station Freedom (SSF), the packet sizes fall within the maximum specified by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). The uplink of imagery to SSF may be performed at minimal frame rates and/or within seconds of delay, depending on the user's allocated bandwidth. Further research to identify the acceptable delay interval and its impact on human performance is required. Additional studies in network performance using various video compression algorithms and integrated multimedia techniques are needed to determine the optimal design approach for utilizing SSF's data communications system.

Chuang, Shery L.↗

Relating Texture and Thermomechanical Processing Variables in Mg–Zn–Ca Alloys

It is well known that the strong basal texture commonly produced in magnesium alloy sheets leads to poor formability at room temperature. A sizable body of work has explored how changing the alloy composition and rolling conditions can yield more desirable textures; however important thermomechanical variables, such as the feed rate during rolling, are often not included in the literature, making it difficult to correlate how changes in processing affect the final crystallographic texture. This work explores the texture evolution and grain refinement in Mg-Zn-Ca alloys during plane strain compression (PSC) using a Gleeble thermomechanical simulator. This instrument allows for precise control and capture of the thermomechanical history of the sample. The texture and grain morphology of the compressed samples were characterized using Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD). The texture results will be used to identify which alloys and processing conditions should be scaled up for future rolling studies.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Crack nucleation and growth during dynamic indentation of chemically-strengthened glass

Dynamic point impact loading is a primary cause of fracture of glass screens on mobile devices. An improved understanding of crack initiation and evolution under high-speed indentation could contribute to the development of materials with better performance, but experimental observations are challenging due to the short timescales and limited depth-of-field of optical microscopy. To address this need, we have observed fracture of a chemically-strengthened glass during dynamic indentation using in situ x-ray phase-contrast imaging (XPCI). Median cracks initiate below the surface of the glass, at a depth approximately corresponding to the depth at which the surface residual compressive stress diminishes to zero. These cracks initially propagate at ~10ms –1 , rapidly accelerating to > 100ms –1 . We also observe some evidence for rate-dependent behavior, in that indentation at the lowest rates studied here (below about ~0.15ms –1 ) fails to initiate cracks regardless of the depth of the indentation (up to 18μm), while indentation at higher rates produces median cracks that either arrest or cause complete fracture, depending on the depth of indentation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A lightweight, user-configurable detector ASIC digital architecture with on-chip data compression for MHz X-ray coherent diffraction imaging

Today, most X-ray pixel detectors used at light sources transmit raw pixel data off the detector ASIC. With the availability of more advanced ASIC technology nodes for scientific application, more digital functionalities from the computing domains (e.g., compression) can be integrated directly into a detector ASIC to increase data velocity. In this paper, we describe a lightweight, user-configurable detector ASIC digital architecture with on-chip compression which can be implemented in 130 nm technologies in a reasonable area on the ASIC periphery. In addition, we present a design to efficiently handle the variable data from the stream of parallel compressors. The architecture includes user-selectable lossy and lossless compression blocks. The impact of lossy compression algorithms is evaluated on simulated and experimental X-ray ptychography datasets. This architecture is a practical approach to increase pixel detector frame rates towards the continuous 1 MHz regime for not only coherent imaging techniques such as ptychography, but also for other diffraction techniques at X-ray light sources.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Dynamics of Laterally Propagating Flames in X-Ray Bursts. II. Realistic Burning and Rotation

In this work, we continue to investigate two-dimensional laterally propagating flames in type I X-ray bursts using fully compressible hydrodynamics simulations. In the current study we relax previous approximations where we artificially boosted the flames. We now use more physically realistic reaction rates, thermal conductivities, and rotation rates, exploring the effects of neutron star rotation rate and thermal structure on the flame. We find that at lower rotation rates the flame becomes harder to ignite, whereas at higher rotation rates the nuclear burning is enhanced by increased confinement from the Coriolis force and the flame propagates steadily. At higher crustal temperatures, the flame moves more quickly and accelerates as it propagates through the atmosphere. If the temperature is too high, instead of a flame propagating across the surface the entire atmosphere burns uniformly. Our findings could have implications for the relationship between observed burst rise times and neutron star rotation and accretion rates. All of the software used for these simulations is freely available.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Site dependent factors affecting the economic feasibility of solar powered absorption cooling

A procedure was developed to evaluate the cost effectiveness of combining an absorption cycle chiller with a solar energy system. A basic assumption of the procedure is that a solar energy system exists for meeting the heating load of the building, and that the building must be cooled. The decision to be made is to either cool the building with a conventional vapor compression cycle chiller or to use the existing solar energy system to provide a heat input to the absorption chiller. Two methods of meeting the cooling load not supplied by solar energy were considered. In the first method, heat is supplied to the absorption chiller by a boiler using fossil fuel. In the second method, the load not met by solar energy is net by a conventional vapor compression chiller. In addition, the procedure can consider waste heat as another form of auxiliary energy. Commercial applications of solar cooling with an absorption chiller were found to be more cost effective than the residential applications. In general, it was found that the larger the chiller, the more economically feasible it would be. Also, it was found that a conventional vapor compression chiller is a viable alternative for the auxiliary cooling source, especially for the larger chillers. The results of the analysis gives a relative rating of the sites considered as to their economic feasibility of solar cooling.

Bartlett, J. C.↗

Pulse-shaping circuit for laser excitation

Narrower, impedence-matched pulses initiate stabler electric discharges for gas lasers. Discharges are more efficient, more compact, capable of high repetition rate, and less expensive than conventional electron-beam apparatus, but gas tends to break down and form localized arcs. Pulse-shaping circuit compresses width of high-voltage pulses from relatively-slow rise-time voltage generator and gradually grades circuit impedance from inherent high impedance of generator to low impedence of gas.

Laudenslager, J. B.↗

Performance of a quantitative study of instability-related delamination growth

An experimental program was conducted to quantify instability-induced imbedded delamination growth. Static tests on double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens yielded the critical mode 1 strain energy release rate (G sub 1 C) for T300/5208 graphite/epoxy. Static tests on mixed mode cracked lap shear (CLS) specimens, and a nonlinear finite element analysis (NFEA) of the CLS specimen to separate mode 1 and mode 2 effects, yielded the critical mode 2 strain energy release rate (G sub 2 C) for T300/5208. Constant amplitude fatigue tests on DCB and CLS specimens, along with the NFEA results on CLS specimens, quantified mode 1 and mode 2 contributions to delamination growth rate. Fatigue tests were conducted at a frequency (omega) of 10 Hertz, maintaining the minimum to maximum cyclic load ratio (R) at 0.05. Static compression and constant amplitude compression fatigue tests were also conducted on specimens with imbedded through the width (ITTW) delaminations. Kapton imbeddments were located below 3, 4 or 6 plies in a 64-ply laminate, during layup, to simulate ITTW delaminations.

Ramkumar, R. L.↗

Stability of a laminar premixed supersonic free shear layer with chemical reactions

The stability of a two-dimensional compressible supersonic flow in the wake of a flat plate is discussed. The fluid is a multi-species mixture which is undergoing finite rate chemical reactions. The spatial stability of an infinitesimal disturbance in the fluid is considered. Numerical solutions of the eigenvalue stability equations for both reactive and nonreactive supersonic flows are presented and discussed. The chemical reactions have significant influence on the stability behavior. For instance, a neutral eigenvalue is observed near the freestream Mach number of 2.375 for the nonreactive case, but disappears when the reaction is turned on. For reactive flows, the eigenvalues are not very dependent on the free stream Mach number.

Menon, S.↗

Thermal Shock-Resistant Composite Crucible

Heating rates of 350 degrees F per minute have not caused cracking. Surrounding inner crucible is annulus of loosely packed alumina powder, which serves as compressible insulating material. Second annulus consisting of section of fused-quartz tubing surrounds and retains alumina powder. Quartz tube held in place by refractory cement helps to contain alumina powder. Small holes in upper ring of cement allow alumina powder to outgas during operation in vacuum. Originally intended for use in Chill Block Melt Spinning (CBMS) apparatus, crucible adaptable to other operations involving rapid self-induction heating of metallic charges.

Geringer, H. J.↗

A parametric study of bleed in shock boundary layer interactions

A numerical investigation was conducted to study the effect of bleed configuration on oblique-shock wave/turbulent boundary-layer interactions. Bleed is applied through a normal slot across the shock impingement location. The numerical solution to the compressible Navier-Stokes equations is obtained for the turbulent flow throughout the interaction zone and inside the bleed slot for bleed mass flow rates up to 57 percent of the boundary layer mass flow upstream of the interaction. The results indicate that the bleed slot performance improves as the slot width decreases and the length to width ratio increases. This is reflected as an increase in the bleed discharge coefficient and total pressure, and a reduction in the boundary layer momentum and displacement thickness downstream.

Hamed, A.↗

Spray Penetration with a Simple Fuel Injection Nozzle

The purpose of the tests covered by this report was to obtain specific information on the rate of penetration of the spray from a simple injection nozzle, having a single orifice with a diameter of 0.015 inch when injecting into compressed gases. The results have shown that the effects of both chamber and fuel pressures on penetration are so marked that the study of sprays by means of high-speed photography or its equivalent is necessary if the effects are to be appreciated sufficiently to enable rational analysis. It was found for these tests that the negative acceleration of the spray tip is approximately proportional to the 1.5 power of the instantaneous velocity of the spray tip.

Miller, Harold E↗

Elevated Temperature Deformation of Fe-39.8Al and Fe-15.6Mn-39.4Al

The elevated temperature compressive properties of binary Fe-39.8 at % Al and Fe-15.6Mn-39.4Al have been measured between 1000 and 1300 K at strain rates between 10(exp 7) and 10(exp 3)/ s. Although the Mn addition to iron aluminide did not change the basic deformation characteristics, the Mn-modified alloy was slightly weaker. In the regime where deformation of FeAl occurs by a high stress exponent mechanism (n = 6), strength increases as the grain size decreases at least for diameters between approx. 200 and approx. 10 microns. Due to the limitation in the grain size-flow stress-temperature-strain rate database, the influence of further reductions of the grain size on strength is uncertain. Based on the appearance of subgrains in deformed iron aluminide, the comparison of grain diameters to expected subgrain sizes, and the grain size exponent and stress exponent calculated from deformation experiments, it is believed that grain size strengthening is the result of an artificial limitation on subgrain size as proposed by Sherby, Klundt and Miller.

Whittenberger, J. Daniel↗