Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “observable behavior”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,243 records · Page 69
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1997

Kinetics and Mechanism of the Reaction of Hydoxyl Radicals with Acetonitrile under Atmospheric Conditions

The pulsed laser photolysis-pulsed laser induced fluorescence technique has been employed to determine absolute rate coefficients for the reaction OH + CH3CN (1) and its isotopic variants, OH + CD3CN (2), OD + CH3CN (3), and OD + CD3CN (4). Reactions 1 and 2 were studied as a function of pressure and temperature in N2, N2/O2, and He buffer gases. In the absence of O2 all four reactions displayed well-behaved kinetics with exponential OH decays and pseudo-first rate constants which were proportional to substrate concentration. Data obtained in N2 over the range 50-700 Torr at 298 K are consistent with k(sub 1), showing a small pressure dependence. The Arrhenius expression obtained by averaging data at all pressures in k(sub 1)(T) = (1.1(sup +0.5)/(sub -0.3)) x 10(exp -12) exp[(-1130 +/- 90)/T] cu cm /(molecule s). The kinetics of reaction 2 are found to be pressure dependent with k(sub 2) (298 K) increasing from (1.21 +/- 0.12) x 10(exp -14) to (2.16 +/- 0.11) x 10(exp -14) cm(exp 3)/ (molecule s) over the pressure range 50-700 Torr of N2 at 298 K. Data at pressures greater than 600 Torr give k(sub 2)(T) = (9.4((sup +13.4)(sub -5.0))) x 10(exp -13) exp[(-1180 +/- 250)/T] cu cm/(molecule s). The rates of reactions 3 and 4 are found to be independent of pressure over the range 50-700 Torr of N2 with 298 K rate coefficient given by k(sub 3) =(3.18 +/- 0.40) x 10(exp -14) cu cm/(molecule s) and k(sub 4) = (2.25 +/-0.28) x 10(exp -14) cu cm/(molecule s). In the presence of O2 each reaction shows complex (non-pseudo-first-order) kinetic behavior and/or an apparent decrease in the observed rate constant with increasing [O2], indicating the presence of significant OH or OD regeneration. Observation of regeneration of OH in (2) and OD in (3) is indicative of a reaction channel which proceeds via addition followed by reaction of the adduct, or one of its decomposition products, with O2. The observed OH and OD decay profiles have been modeled by using a simple mechanistic scheme to extract kinetic information about the adduct reations with O2 and branching ratios for OH regeneration. A plausible mechanism for OH regeneration in (2) involves OH addition to the nitrogen atom followed by O2 addition to the cyano carbon atom, isomeriazation and decomposition to D2CO + DOCN + OH. Our results suggest that the OH + CH3CN reaction occurs via a complex mechanism involving both bimolecular and termolecular pathways, analogous to the mechanisms for the the important atmospheric reactions of OH with CO and HNO3.

Hynes, A. J.↗
NASA NTRS1997

The First Multiple Layer Doppler Imaging of an Active Binary

Preliminary results were presented at the Cool Stars, Stellar Systems, and the Sun in Cambridge, MA in July 1997. A copy of the two published papers (in press) is attached. The project has met or exceeded our expectations. The rapid readout data have given us an excellent data set to model in detail the flare behavior. The large number of spectral features observed between the EUVE and HST data have allowed us to compute a mean model atmosphere and compare the results to another well studied system (HR 1099 - Cycle 3 HST observation previously published). I developed a model (anisotropic macroturbulence) that fits the CIV and MgII better than previously achieved. These results have been constrained by the EUVE data. In early studies, 2 gaussians were applied to the profile. The interpretation of these features was unclear. The anisotropic macroturbulence model fits the data better than previously possible and gives a physically reasonable interpretation: there appears to be an asymmetrical distribution between the radial and tangential velocity fields. This is similar to case of the Sun.

Dempsey, Robert C.↗
NASA NTRS1995

High and Low Energy Proton Radiation Damage in p/n InP MOCVD Solar Cells

InP p(+)/n/n(+) solar cells, fabricated by metal organic chemical vapor deposition, (MOCVD) were irradiated with 0.2 MeV and 10 MeV protons to a fluence of 10(exp 13)/sq cm. The power output degradation, IV behavior, carrier concentration and defect concentration were observed at intermediate points throughout the irradiations. The 0.2 MeV proton-irradiated solar cells suffered much greater and more rapid degradation in power output than those irradiated with 10 MeV protons. The efficiency losses were accompanied by larger increases in the recombination currents in the 0.2 MeV proton-irradiated solar cells. The low energy proton irradiations also had a larger impact on the series resistance of the solar cells. Despite the radiation induced damage, the carrier concentration in the base of the solar cells showed no reduction after 10 MeV or 0.2 MeV proton irradiations and even increased during irradiation with 0.2 MeV protons. In a deep level transient spectroscopy (DLTS) study of the irradiated samples, the minority carrier defects H4 and H5 at E(sub v) + 0.33 and E(sub v) + 0.52 eV and the majority carrier defects E7 and El0 at E(sub c) - 0.39 and E(sub c) - 0.74 eV, were observed. The defect introduction rates for the 0.2 MeV proton irradiations were about 20 times higher than for the 10 MeV proton irradiations. The defect El0, observed here after irradiation, has been shown to act as a donor in irradiated n-type InP and may be responsible for obscuring carrier removal. The results of this study are consistent with the much greater damage produced by low energy protons whose limited range causes them to stop in the active region of the solar cell.

Rybicki, George↗
NASA NTRS1997

Surface States and Effective Surface Area on Photoluminescent P-Type Porous Silicon

The present study is motivated by the possibility of utilizing porous silicon for spectral sensors. Pulse measurements on the porous-Si/electrolyte system are employed to determine the surface effective area and the surface-state density at various stages of the anodization process used to produce the porous material. Such measurements were combined with studies of the photoluminescence spectra. These spectra were found to shift progressively to the blue as a function of anodization time. The luminescence intensity increases initially with anodization time, reaches a maximum and then decreases with further anodization. The surface state density, on the other hand, increases with anodization time from an initial value of about 2 x 10(exp 12)/sq cm surface to about 1013 sq cm for the anodized surface. This value is attained already after -2 min anodization and upon further anodization remains fairly constant. In parallel, the effective surface area increases by a factor of 10-30. This behavior is markedly different from the one observed previously for n-type porous Si.

Weisz, S. Z.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Effects of Spaceflight and Hindlimb Suspension on the Posture and Gait of Rats

Instability of posture and gait in astronauts following spaceflight (SF) is thought to result from muscle atrophy and from changes in sensory-motor integration in the CNS (central nervous system) that occur during adaptation to microgravity (micro-G). Individuals are thought to have developed, during SF, adaptive changes for the processing of proprioceptive, vestibular and visual sensory inputs with reduced weighting of gravity-based signals and increased weighting of visual and tactile cues. This sensory-motor rearrangement in the CNS apparently occurs to optimize neuromuscular system function for effective movement and postural control in micro-G. However, these adaptive changes are inappropriate for the 1 g environment and lead to disruptions in posture and gait on return to Earth. Few reports are available on the effects of SF on the motor behavior of animals. Rats studied following 18.5 - 19.5 days of SF in the COSMOS program were described as being ..'inert, apathetic, slow'.. and generally unstable. The hindlimbs of these rats were ..'thrust out from the body with fingers pulled apart and the shin unnaturally pronated'. On the 6th postflight day motor behavior was described as similar to that observed in preflight observations. Improved understanding of the mechanisms leading to these changes can be obtained in animal models through detailed analysis of neural and molecular mechanisms related to gait. To begin this process the posture and gait of rats were examined following exposure to either SF or hindlimb suspension (HLS), and during recovery from these conditions.

Fox, R. A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

On the Dynamics of Computing a Chemically Relaxed Nonequilibrium Flow

In order to gain insights into the strong dependence of numerical solutions on initial data for finite time steps, a set of nonlinear test problems rich enough to capture the behavior of difference schemes were recently identified and the numerical basins of attraction for these problems were computed using commonly used time discretizations in CFD. Our study revealed a wealth of surprisingly nonlinear behavior of numerical schemes that were not observed before, in particular for the implicit time discretizations that are commonly used in CFD. The goal of this work is to apply these tools to study a practical model from non-equilibrium flowfield relaxation. This type of problem arises in chemically nonequilibrium hypersonic flows such as in a shock tube experiment or an expanding nozzle. Here we consider a reacting mixture of (N2, N) for an inviscid one-dimensional steady model. Preliminary numerical results indicate that, aside from the possibility of spurious numerical solutions being introduced by the time discretizations, limitations on the model for physical or accurate solutions may also play a part in the dynamics observed.

Sweby, P. K.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Timing the Millisecond X-ray Pulsar with RXTE

The science from this program was published in a paper entitled 'The Erratic Luminosity Behavior of SAX J1808.4-3658 During Its 2000 Outburst'. This paper discussed the unusual outburst lightcurve of this source in early 2000, and contrasted its behavior with the more typical outburst lightcurves observed in other soft X-ray transients. After this grant had expired, some of the data products generated in this program were also mentioned in two more recent papers entitled 'Nuclear-Powered Millisecond Pulsars and the Maximum Spin Frequency of Neutron Stars' and 'Kilohertz Quasi-Periodic X-Ray Brightness Fluctuations from an Accreting Millisecond Pulsar'.

Chakrabarty, Deepto↗
NASA NTRS2000

Phase Lag and Coherence Function of X-Ray Emission from Black Hole Candidate XTE J1550-564

We report the results from measuring the phase lag and coherence function of X-ray emission from black hole candidate XTE J1550-564. These temporal X-ray properties have been recognized to be increasingly important in providing important diagnostics of the dynamics of accretion flows around black holes. For XTE J1550-564, we found significant hard lag-the X-ray variability in high-energy bands lags behind that in low-energy bands-associated both with broadband variability and quasi-periodic oscillation (QPO) . However, the situation is more complicated for the QPO: while hard lag was measured for the first harmonic of the signal, the fundamental component showed significant soft lag. Such behavior is remarkably similar to what was observed of microquasar GRS 1915+105. The phase lag evolved during the initial rising phase of the 1998 outburst. The magnitude of both the soft and hard lags of the QPO increases with X-ray flux, while the Fourier spectrum of the broadband lag varies significantly in shape. The coherence function is relatively high and roughly constant at low frequencies and begins to drop almost right after the first harmonic of the QPO. It is near unity at the beginning and decreases rapidly during the rising phase. Also observed is that the more widely separated the two energy bands are, the less the coherence function between the two. It is interesting that the coherence function increases significantly at the frequencies of the QPO and its harmonics. We discuss the implications of the results on the models proposed for black hole candidates.

Cui, Wei↗
NASA NTRS2004

Two-Pulsed Technique for Ablative Laser Propulsion: Force Measurement in Vacuum

This is a continuation of studies using a two-pulsed technique for Ablative Laser Propulsion (ALP) extended to force measurements in vacuum. Aluminum samples were ablated using pairs of laser pulses, each of 100 ps width, 532 nm wavelength and 5 mJ energy. The pulses were temporally separated in the 0 - 0.67 ns range. The force imparted on Al targets was measured in situ by means of a piezoelectric force gauge. The preliminary results confirm the previously reported oscillatory behavior of ion velocity and number density observed by means of a time-of-flight energy analyzer. The uncertainties of presented measurements and future directions for the study are discussed.

Herren, Kenneth A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Viscoplastic Constitutive Theory Demonstrated for Monolithic Ceramic Materials

Development of accurate three-dimensional (multiaxial) inelastic stress-strain models is critical in utilizing advanced ceramics for challenging 21st century high-temperature structural applications. The current state of the art uses elastic stress fields as a basis for both subcritical crack growth and creep life prediction efforts aimed at predicting the time dependent reliability response of ceramic components subjected to elevated service temperatures. However, to successfully design components that will meet tomorrow's challenging requirements, design engineers must recognize that elastic predictions are inaccurate for these materials when subjected to high-temperature service conditions such as those encountered in advanced heat engine components. Analytical life prediction methodologies developed for advanced ceramics and other brittle materials must employ accurate constitutive models that capture the inelastic response exhibited by these materials at elevated service temperatures. A constitutive model recently developed at the NASA Lewis Research Center helps address this issue by accounting for the time-dependent (inelastic) material deformation phenomena (e.g., creep, rate sensitivity, and stress relaxation) exhibited by monolithic ceramics exposed to high-temperature service conditions. In addition, the proposed formulation is based on a threshold function that is sensitive to hydrostatic stress and allows different behavior in tension and compression, reflecting experimental observations obtained for these material systems.

Janosik, Lesley A.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Highly Structured Wind in Vela X-1

We present an in-depth analysis of the spectral and temporal behavior of a long almost uninterrupted INTEGRAL observation of Vela X-1 in Nov/Dec 2003. In addition to an already high activity level, Vela X-1 exhibited several very intense flares with a maximum intensity of more than 5 Crab in the 20 40 keV band. Furthermore Vela X-1 exhibited several off states where the source became undetectable with ISGRI. We interpret flares and off states as being due to the strongly structured wind of the optical companion: when Vela X-1 encounters a cavity in the wind with strongly reduced density, the flux will drop, thus potentially triggering the onset of the propeller effect which inhibits further accretion, thus giving rise to the off states. The required drop in density to trigger the propeller effect in Vela X-1 is of the same order as predicted by theoretical papers for the densities in the OB star winds. The same structured wind can give rise to the giant flares when Vela X-1 encounters a dense blob in the wind. Further temporal analysis revealed that a short lived QPO with a period of 6800 sec is present. The part of the light curve during which the QPO is present is very close to the off states and just following a high intensity state, thus showing that all these phenomena are related.

Kreykenbohm, Ingo↗
NASA NTRS2010

Integrity Monitoring of Mercury Discharge Lamps

Mercury discharge lamps are critical in many trapped ion frequency standard applications. An integrity monitoring system can be implemented using end-of-life signatures observed in operational mercury discharge lamps, making it possible to forecast imminent failure and to take action to mitigate the consequences (such as switching to a redundant system). Mercury lamps are used as a source of 194-nm ultraviolet radiation for optical pumping and state selection of mercury trapped ion frequency standards. Lamps are typically fabricated using 202Hg distilled into high-purity quartz, or other 194-nm transmitting material (e.g., sapphire). A buffer gas is also placed into the bulb, typically a noble gas such as argon, neon, or krypton. The bulbs are driven by strong RF fields oscillating at .200 MHz. The lamp output may age over time by two internal mechanisms: (1) the darkening of the bulb that attenuates light transmission and (2) the loss of mercury due to migration or chemical interactions with the bulb surface. During fabrication, excess mercury is placed into a bulb, so that the loss rate is compensated with new mercury emanating from a cool tip or adjacent reservoir. The light output is nearly constant or varies slightly at a constant rate for many months/years until the mercury source is depleted. At this point, the vapor pressure abruptly falls and the total light output and atomic clock SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) decrease. After several days to weeks, the light levels decrease to a point where the atomic clock SNR is no longer sufficient to stay in lock, or the lamp self-extinguishes. This signature has been observed in four separate end-of-life lamp failures while operating in the Deep Space Network (DSN). A simple integrator circuit can observe and document steady-state lamp behavior. When the light levels drop over a predetermined time interval by a specified amount (e.g., 20 percent), an alarm is set. For critical operational applications, such as the DSN or in space flight, this warning provides notice that a failure may be imminent, and for operators or control algorithm to take action.

Tjoelker, Robert L.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Measurement of Phased Array Point Spread Functions for Use with Beamforming

Microphone arrays can be used to localize and estimate the strengths of acoustic sources present in a region of interest. However, the array measurement of a region, or beam map, is not an accurate representation of the acoustic field in that region. The true acoustic field is convolved with the array s sampling response, or point spread function (PSF). Many techniques exist to remove the PSF's effect on the beam map via deconvolution. Currently these methods use a theoretical estimate of the array point spread function and perhaps account for installation offsets via determination of the microphone locations. This methodology fails to account for any reflections or scattering in the measurement setup and still requires both microphone magnitude and phase calibration, as well as a separate shear layer correction in an open-jet facility. The research presented seeks to investigate direct measurement of the array's PSF using a non-intrusive acoustic point source generated by a pulsed laser system. Experimental PSFs of the array are computed for different conditions to evaluate features such as shift-invariance, shear layers and model presence. Results show that experimental measurements trend with theory with regard to source offset. The source shows expected behavior due to shear layer refraction when observed in a flow, and application of a measured PSF to NACA 0012 aeroacoustic trailing-edge noise data shows a promising alternative to a classic shear layer correction method.

Bahr, Chris↗
NASA NTRS2012

Comparison of Intralaminar and Interlaminar Mode-I Fracture Toughness of Unidirectional IM7/8552 Graphite/Epoxy Composite

The intralaminar and interlaminar mode-I fracture-toughness of a unidirectional IM7/8552 graphite/epoxy composite were measured using compact tension (CT) and double cantilever beam (DCB) test specimens, respectively. Two starter crack geometries were considered for both the CT and DCB specimen configurations. In the first case, starter cracks were produced by 12.5 micron thick, Teflon film inserts. In the second case, considerably sharper starter cracks were produced by fatigue precracking. For each specimen configuration, use of the Teflon film starter cracks resulted in initially unstable crack growth and artificially high initiation fracture-toughness values. Conversely, specimens with fatigue precracks exhibited stable growth onset and lower initiation fracture toughness. For CT and DCB specimens with fatigue precracks, the intralaminar and interlaminar initiation fracture toughnesses were approximately equal. However, during propagation, the CT specimens exhibited more extensive fiber bridging, and rapidly increasing R-curve behavior as compared to the DCB specimens. Observations of initiation and propagation of intralaminar and interlaminar fracture, and the measurements of fracture toughness, were supported by fractographic analysis using scanning electron microscopy.

Czabaj, Michael W.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Heteroclinic, Homoclinic Connections Between the Sun-Earth Triangular Points and Quasi-Satellite Orbits for Solar Observations

Investigation of new orbit geometries exhibits a very attractive behavior for a spacecraft to monitor space weather coming from the Sun. Several orbit transfer mechanisms are analyzed as potential alternatives to monitor solar activity such as a sub-solar orbit or quasi-satellite orbit and short and long heteroclinic and homoclinic connections between the triangular points L(sub 4) and L(sub 5) and the collinear point L(sub 3) of the Circular Restricted Three-Body Problem (CRTBP) in the Sun-Earth system.

Moon↗
NASA NTRS2015

R2U2: Monitoring and Diagnosis of Security Threats for Unmanned Aerial Systems

We present R2U2, a novel framework for runtime monitoring of security properties and diagnosing of security threats on-board Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). R2U2, implemented in FPGA hardware, is a real-time, REALIZABLE, RESPONSIVE, UNOBTRUSIVE Unit for security threat detection. R2U2 is designed to continuously monitor inputs from the GPS and the ground control station, sensor readings, actuator outputs, and flight software status. By simultaneously monitoring and performing statistical reasoning, attack patterns and post-attack discrepancies in the UAS behavior can be detected. R2U2 uses runtime observer pairs for linear and metric temporal logics for property monitoring and Bayesian networks for diagnosis of security threats. We discuss the design and implementation that now enables R2U2 to handle security threats and present simulation results of several attack scenarios on the NASA DragonEye UAS.

Formal Methods↗
NASA NTRS2016

The Influence of Volcanic Eruptions on the Climate of Tropical South America During the Last Millennium in an Isotope-Enabled General Circulation Model

Currently, little is known on how volcanic eruptions impact large-scale climate phenomena such as South American paleo-intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) position and summer monsoon behavior. In this paper, an analysis of observations and model simulations is employed to assess the influence of large volcanic eruptions on the climate of tropical South America. This problem is first considered for historically recent volcanic episodes for which more observations are available but where fewer events exist and the confounding effects of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) lead to inconclusive interpretation of the impact of volcanic eruptions at the continental scale. Therefore, we also examine a greater number of reconstructed volcanic events for the period 850 CE to present that are incorporated into the NASA GISS ModelE2-R simulation of the last millennium. An advantage of this model is its ability to explicitly track water isotopologues throughout the hydrologic cycle and simulating the isotopic imprint following a large eruption. This effectively removes a degree of uncertainty associated with error-prone conversion of isotopic signals into climate variables, and allows for a direct comparison between GISS simulations and paleoclimate proxy records. Our analysis reveals that both precipitation and oxygen isotope variability respond with a distinct seasonal and spatial structure across tropical South America following an eruption. During austral winter, the heavy oxygen isotope in precipitation is enriched, likely due to reduced moisture convergence in the ITCZ domain and reduced rainfall over northern South America. During austral summer, however, more negative values of the precipitation isotopic composition are simulated over Amazonia, despite reductions in rainfall, suggesting that the isotopic response is not a simple function of the "amount effect". During the South American monsoon season, the amplitude of the temperature response to volcanic forcing is larger than the rather weak and spatially less coherent precipitation signal, complicating the isotopic response to changes in the hydrologic cycle.

Colose, Christopher M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Supplement of: The Influence of Volcanic Eruptions on the Climate of Tropical South America During the Last Millennium in an Isotope-Enabled General Circulation Model

Currently, little is known on how volcanic eruptions impact large-scale climate phenomena such as South American paleo-intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) position and summer monsoon behavior. In this paper, an analysis of observations and model simulations is employed to assess the influence of large volcanic eruptions on the climate of tropical South America. This problem is first considered for historically recent volcanic episodes for which more observations are available but where fewer events exist and the confounding effects of El NioSouthern Oscillation (ENSO) lead to inconclusive interpretation of the impact of volcanic eruptions at the continental scale. Therefore, we also examine a greater number of reconstructed volcanic events for the period 850CE to present that are incorporated into the NASA GISS ModelE2-R simulation of the last millennium.An advantage of this model is its ability to explicitly track water isotopologues throughout the hydrologic cycle and simulating the isotopic imprint following a large eruption. This effectively removes a degree of uncertainty associated with error-prone conversion of isotopic signals into climate variables, and allows for a direct comparison between GISS simulations and paleoclimate proxy records.Our analysis reveals that both precipitation and oxygen isotope variability respond with a distinct seasonal and spatial structure across tropical South America following an eruption. During austral winter, the heavy oxygen isotope in precipitation is enriched, likely due to reduced moisture convergence in the ITCZ domain and reduced rainfall over northern South America. During austral summer, however, more negative values of the precipitation isotopic composition are simulated over Amazonia, despite reductions in rainfall, suggesting that the isotopic response is not a simple function of the amount effect. During the South American monsoon season, the amplitude of the temperature response to volcanic forcing is larger than the rather weak and spatially less coherent precipitation signal, complicating the isotopic response to changes in the hydrologic cycle.

Colose, Christopher↗