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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 1,099 records · Page 61

Three Dimensional Surface Redefinition Method for Computational Ice Accretion Solvers

Computational tools have been increasing in maturity and are thus commonly used in the engineering design process. Advancements in NASA’s current state of the art computational ice accretion tool are required to tackle the icing challenges of tomorrow. GlennICE, a next generation ice accretion solver, is under development at NASA to tackle these challenges. One of the elements of this migration is transitioning from a quasi-three dimensional strip theory based ice accretion methodology to a fully three dimensional methodology. This requires construction of a method to redefine or extrude a discretized or tessellated surface geometry based on the predicted volumetric ice growth for each tessellated surface triangle. This paper describes the methodology that is employed in the GlennICE software, and assesses the performance of the method in replicating a well defined analytical test case.

Computational↗

Three Dimensional Surface Redefinition Method for Computational Ice Accretion Solvers

Computational tools have been increasing in maturity and are thus commonly used in the engineering design process. Advancements in NASA’s current state of the art computational ice accretion tool are required to tackle the icing challenges of tomorrow. GlennICE, a next generation ice accretion solver, is under development at NASA to tackle these challenges. One of the elements of this migration is transitioning from a quasi-three dimensional strip theory based ice accretion methodology to a fully three dimensional methodology. This requires construction of a method to redefine or extrude a discretized or tessellated surface geometry based on the predicted volumetric ice growth for each tessellated surface triangle. This paper describes the methodology that is employed in the GlennICE software, and assesses the performance of the method in replicating a well definied analytical test case.

Computational↗

Implementing distributed operations : a comparison of two Deep Space Missions

Two very different deep space exploration missions—Mars Exploration Rover and Cassini—have made use of distributed operations for their science teams. In the case of MER, the distributed operations capability was implemented only after the prime mission was completed, as the rovers continued to operate well in excess of their expected mission lifetimes; Cassini, designed for a prime mission of four years, had planned for distributed operations from its inception. The rapid command turnaround timeline of MER, as well as many of the operations features implemented to support it, have proven to be conducive to distributed operations. These features include: a single science team leader during the tactical operations timeline, highly integrated science and engineering teams, processes and file structures designed to permit multiple team members to work in parallel to deliver sequencing products, web-based spacecraft status and planning reports for team-wide access, and near-elimination of paper products from the operations process.

Larsen, Barbara↗

A Web Based Collaborative Design Environment for Spacecraft

In this era of shrinking federal budgets in the USA we need to dramatically improve our efficiency in the spacecraft engineering design process. We have come up with a method which captures much of the experts's expertise in a dataflow design graph.

collaborative↗

Utilization of Machine Learning Techniques for Managing the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite Constellation

National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) operates a constellation of ten geosynchronous Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). The TDRS constellation consists of multiple geosynchronous communication relay satellites located around the equator so they can provide continual coverage of any mission in low earth orbit. The TDRS are located primarily in three oceanic regions around the earth. NASA’s White Sands Complex provides the ground communication support for TDRS located over the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Another TDRS ground station in Guam supports the TDRS over the Indian Ocean. With these satellites the TDRS network can provide continuous coverage of satellites in low-earth orbit. The NASA Space Network (SN) project office at GSFC manages the constellation of spacecraft. Major customers of the TDRS constellation include, but are not limited to, the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope. The TDRS constellation has three generations of satellites and has been active for over 30 years providing reliable communication links between customer satellites and corresponding ground stations. However, one of the major concerns for TDRS, and in any space mission, is to ensure the health and safety of the spacecraft. Generally, engineers use telemetry data to monitor and analyze the performance and state of health of the spacecraft. Telemetry data contains hundreds of parameters that monitor each important component in the spacecraft, which can be utilized to recognize and characterize the behavior of the spacecraft. Each parameter contains considerable information to represent time-dependent properties of each spacecraft subsystem and component. During the entire life of a TDRS spacecraft, thousands of gigabytes of telemetry data are transmitted in real-time from the spacecraft to the ground station at the White Sands Complex in Las Cruces, New Mexico, and recorded as historical data sets for engineers to process and analyze the events that occurred on-orbit. These parameters contain the function of multiple spacecraft subsystems, such as the attitude control system (ACS), Thermal, Electrical Power Subsystem (EPS), etc. . The first and second generations have exceeded their required lifetime and NASA is keen to manage these spacecrafts carefully in order to maximize the remaining life using the spacecraft telemetry. The challenge is to know when the risk of losing a spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit exceeds the benefit of continued operations for customer support. In the TDRS fleet, the EPS is the most critical subsystem related to spacecraft operations. Failure of the EPS would strand a spacecraft in geosynchronous orbit. Since EPS provides power to the spacecraft, component failures ultimately lead to the inability to support the spacecraft loads and the communications payload. For instance, TDRS-8 has several anomalies in EPS including the Bus Voltage Limiter (BVL) shunt current, solar array loss of circuits, and failed battery cells. Any of these anomalies can cause critical issues to the spacecraft. Therefore, developing a system to analyze and perform early detection of a potential anomaly is an important issue in telemetry data analysis. In recent years, Telemetry Mining (TM) has been proposed to process telemetry data by using Data Mining (DM) techniques such as classification, clustering, regression and anomaly detection. Anomaly detection, also known as outlier detection, has been widely used in many data mining areas such as remote sensing, medical data processing and digital image processing. The goal of anomaly detection is to detect abnormal data, which contains a relatively low probability of occurrence among the entire data set. Early detection of anomalies is one of the most significant issues in managing the spacecraft configuration. If anomalies can be detected early enough, then the redundant resources can be used to extend the life of the operational spacecraft. We present an unsupervised anomaly detection method to process the EPS data extracted from TDRS-8. This is different from traditional analytical methods, which use telemetry data to illustrate behavior and physical meaning of each spacecraft component. TM connects multiple parameters as a vector and then conducts data analysis on this high dimension telemetry vector. This method is looking at the properties of a high dimensional vector that is able to consider the relationship between different parameters in the anomaly detection problem. This kind of method performs much better than the traditional limit checking method. In addition, we propose a new approach of real-time anomaly detection to process telemetry data in real-time, which can then be applied to spacecraft monitoring with high reliability, low cost and high accuracy.

Machine Learning (ML)↗

The Webb Space Telescope - An Engineering Marvel Story

This presentation will provide an overview of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and its engineering development process. JWST has succeeded the Hubble Space Telescope in our quest for the first galaxies formed out of the darkness of the early universe. Since its launch in December 2021, JWST has helped us understand how these galaxies evolved over billions of years, how stars and planetary systems form, what exoplanets look like and if they can harbor life. JWST uses a ~6.5-m-diameter primary mirror to collect infrared light, which is sent to four scientific instruments. It operates at the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point and has a five-layer sunshield to be able to operate at cryogenic temperatures. JWST is an international effort of NASA and the European and Canadian Space Agencies.

James Webb Space Telescope↗

Manufacturing, Characterization and Terrestrial Passive Radiative Cooling Performance of Nanofibrous PTFR-PEO Composite Thermal Coatings

Passive heat management is desirable in many applications since it can reduce the energy expended for cooling, for example, in buildings and automobiles. Specifically, materials with wavelength-dependent reflectance and emittance can manage incident solar fluxes while enabling passive radiative cooling by thermal emission. This study demonstrates the use of polymeric nanofibers, specifically polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) composite, as thermal coatings for passive temperature control. Employing the electrospinning fabrication process, we engineer nano and micro-scale fibrous structures, studying the influence of fabrication parameters, such as precursor material concentration and rotating collector speed, on fiber geometry and optical properties. To understand the role of material and fiber geometry on optical performance, we characterize various samples' spectral reflectance, absorptance, and transmittance using spectrophotometers interfaced with integrating spheres. The results show the potential of nanofabricated PTFE-PEO coatings as promising candidates for passive thermal control. We highlight their competitive edge by comparing their solar reflectance and emittance values to existing passive radiative thermal control materials. In essence, this study contributes to advancing passive heat management technologies, offering insights into optimizing material composition and fabrication techniques for enhanced performance in various applications.

Chieloka Ibekwe↗

Implementation of an Integrated Information Management System for the US DOE Hanford Tank Farms Project

In its role as the Tank Operations Contractor at the U.S. Department of Energy's site in Hanford, WA, Washington River Protection Solutions, LLC is implementing an integrated document control and configuration management system. This system will combine equipment data with technical document data that currently resides in separate disconnected databases. The new system will provide integrated information, enabling users to more readily identify the documents that relate to a structure, system, or component and vice-versa. Additionally, the new system will automate engineering work processes through electronic workflows, and where practical and feasible provide integration with design authoring tools. Implementation of this system will improve configuration management of the technical baseline, increase work process efficiencies, support the efficient design of future large projects, and provide a platform for the efficient future turnover of technical baseline data and information.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Tuning and synthesis of metallic nanostructures by mechanical compression

The present invention provides a pressure-induced phase transformation process to engineer metal nanoparticle architectures and to fabricate new nanostructured materials. The reversible changes of the nanoparticle unit cell dimension under pressure allow precise control over interparticle separation in 2D or 3D nanoparticle assemblies, offering unique robustness for interrogation of both quantum and classic coupling interactions. Irreversible changes above a threshold pressure of about 8 GPa enables new nanostructures, such as nanorods, nanowires, or nanosheets.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Evaluating Accuracy of the Sunnova Pro Platform Shade Measurement

Sunnova's new solar energy design platform, Sunnova Pro, automatically generates a 3D model of a building and surrounding shading objects. The product is designed to automate the process of engineering a system, sizing batteries and preparing sales proposals.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

DeepPDF: A Deep Learning Approach to Extracting Text from PDFs

Scientific publications contain a plethora of important information, not only for researchers but also for their managers and institutions. Many researchers try to collect and extract this information in large enough quantities that it requires machine automation, but because publications were historically intended for print and not machine consumption, the digital document formats used today (primarily PDF) have created many hurdles for text extraction. Primarily, tools have relied on trying to convert PDF's to plain text documents for machine processing by reverse engineering the PDF standard. A complex process because once a PDF is created it is more closely related to an image file than a document markup language. In this paper we explore the feasibility of treating these PDF documents as images as opposed to a proprietary markup language. We believe that by using deep learning and image analysis we can create more accurate PDF to text extraction tools than those that currently exist. \\ \newline \Keywords{deep learning, text extraction, information extraction, PDF extraction, scholarly publications.

Stahl, Christopher↗

Machine Learning Tools Set for Natural Gas Fuel Cell System Design

This study is focusing on leveraging the system design tools set for the next-generation solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) based natural gas fuel cell (NGFC) system. Conventionally, system design and optimization of NGFC systems rely heavily on traditional reduced order model (ROM) techniques and designers’ experience level. For overcoming the technical barriers of system design, multiple multi-physics models and machine learning (ML) tools have been utilized to automate the conceptual design process and enhance the reliability of solutions for the NGFC system. The proposed tools set includes a physics-informed ML tool for automated ROM construction that leverages advances in deep neural networks to significantly reduce ROM prediction error for the NGFC power island compared to traditional approaches. The constructed physics-informed ML ROM can be used in system design, and optimization tools set Institute for the Design of Advanced Energy Systems (IDAES) Process Systems Engineering (PSE) framework. The tools set also provides a user-friendly graphic user interface built within Jupyter Notebooks, and the complete tools set is open-source public available.

Wang, Dewei↗