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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 127 records · Page 7
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

Vibration Isolation for Launch of a Space Station Orbital Replacement Unit

Delivery of Orbital Replacement Units (ORUs) to on-orbit destinations such a the International Space Station (ISS) and the Hubble Space Telescope is an important component of the space program. ORUs are integrated on orbit with space assets to maintain and upgrade functionality. For ORUs comprised of sensitive equipment, the dynamic launch environment drives design and testing requirements, and high frequency random vibrations are generally the cause for failure. Vibration isolation can mitigate the structure-borne vibration environment during launch, and hardware has been developed that can provide a reduced environment for current and future launch environments. Random vibration testing of one ORU to equivalent Space Shuttle launch levels revealed that its qualification and acceptance requirements were exceeded. An isolation system was designed to mitigate the structure-borne launch vibration environment. To protect this ORU, the random vibration levels at 50 Hz must be attenuated by a factor of two and those at higher frequencies even more. Design load factors for Shuttle launch are high, so a metallic load path is needed to maintain strength margins. Isolation system design was performed using a finite element model of the ORU on its carrier with representative disturbance inputs. Iterations on the modelled to an optimized design based on flight proven SoftRide MultiFlex isolators. Component testing has been performed on prototype isolators to validate analytical predictions.

Maly, Joseph R.↗
NASA NTRS2012

High Temperature Ultrasonic Transducers : Material Selection and Testing

The task of my two-months internship was to test different materials to be used to build an high temperature transducer, to develop some prototypes and to test their performance, to assess the reliability of commercial product rated for such a temperature, as well as to collaborate in developing the signal processing code to measure the condensed water levels.

health monitoring steam pipes↗
DOE OSTI2024

Novel Instrumentation for Advanced Quantum Chromodynamics Studies with Flavor Sensitivity

The true nature of ordinary matter has always fascinated humankind, whose imagination has been pointed to the right direction since the 5th century BC with the first known atomic theory by Leucippus and Democritus. They described the matter as formed by small, invisible, indivisible, and eternal particles: the atoms. A long investigation followed them, including contributions from several of history?s greatest philosophers and scientists. The progress led to the understanding that atoms have an internal structure consisting of a central nucleus composed of protons and neutrons, surrounded by a cloud of electrons. About 50 years ago, scientists discovered that nucleons also have an internal structure. Through the Deep Inelastic Scattering (DIS) experiments, on which a lepton is scattered off a nucleon, it was possible to access the distribution of partons inside the nucleon along the longitudinal direction defined by the hard-scale probe. It was a crucial step in developing Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), currently the best theory describing the subatomic matter. Ultimately, DIS was recognized as a limited tool to investigate the nucleon structure because it is mainly sensitive to observables at the probe?s energy scale. In recent decades, theoretical developments have allowed defining soft-scale observables by measuring more complex processes. Reactions such as Semi-Inclusive Deep Inelastic Scattering (SIDIS) with single or di-hadron production, can provide information about the momentum of parton inside the nucleon. In particular, polarized SIDIS allows access to the Transverse-Momentum-Dependent (TMD) parton distributions describing the correlations of the quark and gluon degrees of freedom in transverse momentum and spin. This study can provide three-dimensional imaging of nucleon structure and inner dynamics, as long as the hadronic component in the final state can be measured. Identifying the species of the produced particles provides information on the quark flavor and assumes a crucial role in this context. The thesis describes the work carried out by the author in preparing novel instrumentation for particle identification in the final state of DIS experiments, to support modern analysis of the parton dynamics within the basic confined object (nucleon) with flavor sensitivity. The work has been focused on the CLAS12 spectrometer in operation at Jefferson Laboratory (JLab), Newport News, VA, USA, and the ePIC experiment in preparation for the future Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Long Island, NY, USA. CLAS12 is a fixed-target experiment using a 12 GeV beam of polarized electrons scattering off polarized nuclear targets. In 2018 and 2022, two Ring Imaging Cherenkov (RICH) detector modules were installed to improve the ?±/K± separation in the high-momentum region (3÷8 GeV/c) of the experiment. The author contributed to the assembly, installation, and com- missioning of the second RICH module, to the efficiency studies of the first module, and to the first SIDIS analysis with high-momentum kaons identified by the RICH. These studies led to the observation of the first spin asymmetry with high-momentum kaons from the CLAS12 experiment, and an initial assessment of the systematic error associated with the hadron identification. ePIC will be the first experiment at the future EIC, the new collider designed to expand the frontiers of QCD. The author was involved in the development of the dual-radiator Ring Imaging Cherenkov (dRICH). This detector will interpolate the measurements of the Cherenkov angles of photons produced by relativistic particles crossing two different radiators to identify charged hadrons. The author contributed to the studies conducted with the dRICH prototype, developing the reconstruction and analysis software and simulations, characterizing the aerogel radiator samples, and being responsible for the tracking system used during the beam tests. The performance obtained by the prototype has been progressively improved and the results are now comparable with the expectation derived from the simulation and satisfy the requirements of the experiment. In Chapter 1, the SIDIS theory is briefly introduced, outlying the connection with the experimental measurement. Chapter 2 includes the description of the CLAS12 RICH, its assembly and installation, and the efficiency study. In Chapter 3, the analysis of the Beam-Spin Asymmetry associated with SIDIS kaons is described. Chapter 4 describes the contribution to the dRICH for EIC, starting from a description of the ePIC experiment and focusing on the studies performed for the dRICH prototype. The conclusions of this work are summarized at the end.

Vallarino, Simone↗
NASA NTRS1981

Concepts for on-board satellite image registration. Volume 2: IAS prototype performance evaluation standard definition

Problems encountered in testing onboard signal processing hardware designed to achieve radiometric and geometric correction of satellite imaging data are considered. These include obtaining representative image and ancillary data for simulation and the transfer and storage of a large quantity of image data at very high speed. The high resolution, high speed preprocessing of LANDSAT-D imagery is considered.

Daluge, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Second Generation Prototype Design and Testing for a High Altitude Venus Balloon

This paper describes the development of a second generation prototype balloon intended for flight in the upper atmosphere of Venus. The design of this new prototype incorporates lessons learned from the construction and testing of the first generation prototype, including finite element analyses of the balloon stresses and deformations, measured leak performance after handling and packaging, permeability and optical property measurements on material samples, and sulfuric acid testing. An improved design for the second generation prototype was formulated based on these results, although the spherical shape and 5.5 m diameter size were retained. The resulting balloon has a volume of 87 cubic meters and is capable of carrying a 45 kg payload at a 55 km altitude at Venus. The design and fabrication of the new prototype is described, along with test data for inflation and leakage performance.

mobility↗
NASA NTRS1974

Performance testing of thermoelectric generators at JPL

Results of life tests of thermoelectric generators ranging in output power from 800 microwatts to 170 watts. Emphasis is placed on the results obtained from tests of three advanced prototypes - a high-performance generator, a transit-type generator, and a ring converter. In addition, the results of life tests of a number of generators representing Nimbus, Pioneer, and Viking technology are presented.

Rouklove, P.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Demonstration Trials of AI/ML Edge+Cloud Suite (CRADA Final Report)

PACE AI and LBNL partnered under this CRADA to test and evaluate the PACE5 edge node prototype, an AI/ML edge and cloud-based suite, at FLEXLAB.The objective of the test was to evaluate the PACE5 edge node prototype's ability to perform demand shed and take to dynamic price signals, and to demonstrate advanced fault detection and microgrid monitoring capabilities.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1984

ASTROS - A sub-arcsec CCD star tracker

The design and application of ASTROS (Advanced Star and Target Reference Optical Sensor) are described, with emphasis on performance test results acquired with a prototype system. The ASTROS tracker provides extremely precise measurements of star image coordinates as inputs to the Image Motion Compensation (IMC) system used to stabilize the science instrument focal planes. Performance levels achieved are dramatic improvements over the levels achieved with image dissector designs with comparable fields of view.

Stanton, R. H.↗
NASA NTRS2019

The Kilopower Space Nuclear Fission Power Reactor

Nuclear fission power offers an attractive alternative to solar electric or radioisotope power systems for certain applications on the Moon, Mars, and deep space science missions. The advantages of independence from solar irradiance, high energy density, and abundance of fuel allow fission power systems to enable novel, high power mission architectures. While NASA has had numerous fission power programs throughout its history, few have gone far beyond the design phase. The recent test campaign called the Kilopower Reactor Using Stirling Technology project (KRUSTY) focused on a low power, kilowatt-scale design for simplicity and reduced cost, with the driving motivation to perform a full nuclear hardware prototype test. Following the successful completion of the KRUSTY nuclear hardware test in March of 2018, NASA has begun the formulation process for a Technology Demonstration Mission (TDM) using the Kilopower reactor technology. In support of NASA's lunar surface initiatives, the Kilopower TDM will target a 1-3 kW fission electric power system that can survive the lunar night and operate for one year. The system will be heavily influenced by the KRUSTY reactor design, using a solid Uranium metal core with high temperature heat pipes and Stirling engine power conversion. During this formulation phase, continued engineering efforts are ongoing to improve heat transfer efficiency in the system, examine fission radiation damage effects, and begin to address the thermal and structural requirements of a Kilopower flight system.

Chaiken, Max↗
NASA NTRS1975

Experimental feasibility study of the application of magnetic suspension techniques to large-scale aerodynamic test facilities

Based on the premises that magnetic suspension techniques can play a useful role in large scale aerodynamic testing, and that superconductor technology offers the only practical hope for building large scale magnetic suspensions, an all-superconductor 3-component magnetic suspension and balance facility was built as a prototype and tested sucessfully. Quantitative extrapolations of design and performance characteristics of this prototype system to larger systems compatible with existing and planned high Reynolds number facilities at Langley Research Center were made and show that this experimental technique should be particularly attractive when used in conjunction with large cryogenic wind tunnels.

Zapata, R. N.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Benchmark Exercise Report for Experimental Study of Bubble Scrubbing in Water Coolant Pool

Mechanistic assessments of radionuclide release during postulated accidents are expected to be included in advanced reactor license applications. The mechanistic source term (MST) provides an opportunity for vendors to realistically evaluate the radiological consequences of an incident, and may aid in justifying reduced emergency planning zones and plant sites. However, the development of MSTs for advanced nuclear reactors is challenging because there are numerous phenomena that can affect the transport and retention of radionuclides. As part of a trial MST assessment for a metal-fueled, pool-type sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR), led by Argonne National Laboratory, a simplified radionuclide transport code (SRT code) was developed, which includes models to estimate the quantity of fission product aerosols scrubbed in the sodium pool during postulated accident scenarios. In a pool-type SFR, when fission products are released into the coolant pool due to failure of fuel pins, most of the radionuclides are scrubbed by the coolant pool, but some have the potential to migrate to the cover gas region through entrainment within gas bubbles. The SRT code contains a model that evaluates this scrubbing behavior and calculates the fraction of fission product aerosols that reach the cover gas. Due to a lack of available validation data for sodium pool scrubbing, the U.S. Department of Energy funded an experiment at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to measure aerosol scrubbing by injecting air bubbles containing aerosol into a coolant pool. Prior to performing an experiment with liquid sodium, a water loop experiment was performed. Their experiment evaluated the effect of changing the aerosol size, aerosol density, aerosol concentration, bubble size, and pool depth on the aerosol scrubbing efficiency of the pool. In this benchmark experiment, the base tests were conducted by repeated tests of isolated bubbles. Afterwards, more prototypic tests with bubble swarms were performed to evaluate the interactions between the bubbles. The bubble swarm test was able to confirm that a larger amount of aerosol scrubbing occurred than the single bubble test. It was also confirmed that as the bubble size, aerosol density, and pool height increase, the extent of pool scrubbing also increases and does not change with the aerosol concentration. In addition, since the degree of scrubbing is the lowest at aerosol sizes between 0.01 and 1 μm, that is, the largest amount of aerosol is emitted, it was confirmed that the analysis of this size in MST is the most important. This benchmark experiment informs the direction of future sodium experiments.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Designing a Flight Test of a Flight Path Management System for Advanced Air Mobility Research

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has completed a flight test to evaluate the performance of an onboard prototype automation system operating in future high density urban airspace. The test was part of a research investigation of the Urban Air Mobility (UAM) concept, with a focus on a future environment having hundreds of simultaneous operations over a metropolitan area. The complexity of this future UAM airspace may require automation capable of replanning an aircraft’s path in the presence of traffic and other changing constraints. A live-virtual-constructive (LVC) approach was used to conduct the test. Prototype automation technology was integrated into one of the two live aircraft, which were combined with virtual traffic to create a mixed reality environment at the target airspace density. In-flight evaluation enabled verification of the automation’s functions and discovery of any unexpected behaviors resulting from its operation in an actual flight environment. The in-flight evaluation also provided data for validation of air traffic simulations. This paper discusses the design, methodology, and challenges overcome to conduct a successful flight test. Remaining challenges, future work, and recommendations to improve the flight test capability are also discussed.

Advanced Air Mobility↗
DOE OSTI2021

Insulation Coordination Design for Grid-Connected Solid-State Transformers

The deployment of solid-state transformers (SSTs) in medium-voltage (MV) distribution systems is facing various challenges, especially the challenge of insulation coordination design against grid-originated lightning impulses. In this article, two challenges in existing insulation coordination designs for grid-connected SSTs are identified. One challenge is the mismatch between metal-oxide varistor (MOV) protective levels and SST insulation strength, the other challenge is the incompatibility of standard impulse test on SST protective structures. To address the MOV selection challenge, a novel lightning protection scheme is designed to protect a single-stage SST where the semiconductor modules are directly exposed to external lightning impulses. Here, the in-lab lightning impulse tests are performed to verify the overvoltage attenuation performance of the prototyped lightning protection scheme. To address the impulse test challenge, the surge withstand capability of the protected SST is comprehensively evaluated with a complete set of insulation coordination design procedures beyond the basic insulation level (BIL) test. After these two challenges are addressed, a discussion is presented on substituting conventional transformers with the protected SSTs into insulation-coordinated distribution systems to facilitate the field deployment of SSTs.

solid-state transformer (SST)↗
NASA NTRS1974

Experimental feasibility study of the application of magnetic suspension techniques to large-scale aerodynamic test facilities

Based on the premises that (1) magnetic suspension techniques can play a useful role in large-scale aerodynamic testing and (2) superconductor technology offers the only practical hope for building large-scale magnetic suspensions, an all-superconductor three-component magnetic suspension and balance facility was built as a prototype and was tested successfully. Quantitative extrapolations of design and performance characteristics of this prototype system to larger systems compatible with existing and planned high Reynolds number facilities have been made and show that this experimental technique should be particularly attractive when used in conjunction with large cryogenic wind tunnels.

Zapata, R. N.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Design, Fabrication and On-Sun Performance Evaluation of SiC Receiver Feature Specimens for CST Applications Using Additively Manufactured SiC Materials

Increasing operating temperatures of solar receivers is paramount to the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal (CST) and solar power (CSP) systems. Successful development of CST systems to generate heat for industrial applications requires significant increase in temperature capability and techno-economically viability of the receiver systems. Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office (SETO), US Department of Energy (DOE), GE Aerospace Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc and Sandia National Lab, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR) enabled by additive manufacturing. The program objective is to demonstrate SiC receiver with air exit temperatures up to 1100 oC and high thermal efficiencies. We report design, fabrication and on-sun test results of SiC components of a prototype 50kW (thermal) HOTSSTAR module. The receiver module architecture is based on a radial airflow design and consists of a series of radial SiC receiver sectors organized around a SiC center absorber. The SiC components are fabricated using binder-jet printed SiC followed by melt-infiltration reaction bonding process. To enhance the reliability and to minimize the risk of cracking damage of SiC test articles in thermal gradient and thermal shock environment of the application, the components were laminated with GE’s MI SiC-SiC CMC. Following extensive design and lab test analyses, selected SiC component designs are tested at Heliogen Lancaster Solar field under highly concentrated solar fluxes around 2000 suns to assess the thermal performance characteristics under realistic field conditions. We report on the test results and compare the thermal performances of different HOTSSTAR SiC absorbers. Finally, we discuss fabrication and initial assembly of a 50kW prototype test module in preparation of on-sun field tests to assess the performance of our final design.

CST, CSP, high temperature, air receiver, SiC, add↗
NASA NTRS1991

A high-temperature furnace for applications in microgravity

Technology in the area of material processing and crystal growth has been greatly furthered by research in microgravity environments. The role of efficient, lightweight furnaces with reliable performance is crucial in these experiments. A need exists for the development of a readily duplicated, high-temperature furnace satisfying stringent weight, volume, and power constraints. A furnace was designed and is referred to as the UAH SHIELD. Stringent physical and operating characteristics for the system were specified, including a maximum weight of 20 kg, a maximum power requirement of 60 W, and a volume of the furnace assembly, excluding the batteries, limited to half a Get-Away-Special canister. The UAH SHIELD furnace uses radiation shield and vacuum technology applied in the form of a series of concentric cylinders enclosed on either end with disks. Thermal testing of a furnace prototype was performed in addition to some thermal and structural analysis. Results indicate the need for spacing of the shields to accommodate the thermal expansion during furnace operation. In addition, a power dissipation of approximately 100 W and system weight of approximately 30 kg was found for the current design.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1993

Rover imaging system for the Mars rover/sample return mission

In the past year, the conceptual design of a panoramic imager for the Mars Environmental Survey (MESUR) Pathfinder was finished. A prototype camera was built and its performace in the laboratory was tested. The performance of this camera was excellent. Based on this work, we have recently proposed a small, lightweight, rugged, and highly capable Mars Surface Imager (MSI) instrument for the MESUR Pathfinder mission. A key aspect of our approach to optimization of the MSI design is that we treat image gathering, coding, and restoration as a whole, rather than as separate and independent tasks. Our approach leads to higher image quality, especially in the representation of fine detail with good contrast and clarity, without increasing either the complexity of the camera or the amount of data transmission. We have made significant progress over the past year in both the overall MSI system design and in the detailed design of the MSI optics. We have taken a simple panoramic camera and have upgraded it substantially to become a prototype of the MSI flight instrument. The most recent version of the camera utilizes miniature wide-angle optics that image directly onto a 3-color, 2096-element CCD line array. There are several data-taking modes, providing resolution as high as 0.3 mrad/pixel. Analysis tasks that were performed or that are underway with the test data from the prototype camera include the following: construction of 3-D models of imaged scenes from stereo data, first for controlled scenes and later for field scenes; and checks on geometric fidelity, including alignment errors, mast vibration, and oscillation in the drive system. We have outlined a number of tasks planned for Fiscal Year '93 in order to prepare us for submission of a flight instrument proposal for MESUR Pathfinder.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2005

Lyophilization for Water Recovery III, System Design

Mixed liquid/solid wastes, including feces, water processor effluents, and food waste, can be lyophilized (freeze-dried) to recover the water they contain and stabilize the solids that remain. Our previous research has demonstrated the potential benefits of using thermoelectric heat pumps to build a lyophilizer for processing waste in microgravity. These results were used to build a working prototype suitable for ground- based human testing. This paper describes the prototype design and presents results of functional and performance tests.

Litwiller, Eric↗