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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 1,333 records · Page 74
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Liquid propulsion turbomachinery model testing

For the past few years an extensive experimental program to understand the fluid dynamics of the Space Shuttle Main Engine hot gas manifold has been in progress. This program includes models of the Phase II and II+ manifolds for each of the air and water flow facilities, as well as two different turbine flow paths and two simulated power levels for each manifold. All models are full-scale (geometric). The water models are constructed partially of acrylic to allow flow visualization. The intent of this paper is to discuss the concept, including the test objectives, facilities, and models, and to summarize the data for an example configuration, including static pressure data, flow visualization, and the solution of a specific flow problem.

Mcdaniels, David M.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A Spatial Analysis and Modeling System (SAMS) for environment management

This is a proposal to develop a uniform global environmental data gathering and distribution system to support the calibration and validation of remotely sensed data. SAMS is based on an enhanced version of FEMA's Integrated Emergency Management Information Systems and the Department of Defense's Air land Battlefield Environment Software Systems. This system consists of state-of-the-art graphics and visualization techniques, simulation models, database management and expert systems for conducting environmental and disaster preparedness studies. This software package will be integrated into various Landsat and UNEP-GRID stations which are planned to become direct readout stations during the EOS (Earth Observing System) timeframe. This system would be implemented as a pilot program to support the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM). This will be a joint NASA-FEMA-University-Industry project.

Stetina, Fran↗
NASA NTRS2000

Stress Counter-Response Training Via Physiological Self-Regulation During Flight Simulation

This study provided the first evaluation of a new training concept and technology aimed at training pilots to maintain physiological equilibrium during circumstances in an airplane cockpit. Thirty healthy subjects (16 males and 14 females) between the ages of 18 and 35 were randomized into two study groups, A and B. Subjects participated individually in a sequence of four study sessions. In the first visit, subjects were taught to operate a desktop fighter jet flight simulation program. In the three sessions that followed, subjects in group A were trained to minimize their autonomic deviation from baseline values while operating the desktop flight simulation. This was done by making their skin conductance and hand temperature deviations from baseline impair the functionality of the aircraft controls. Subjects also received auditory and visual cues about their autonomic deviation, and were instructed to keep these within pre-set limits to retain full control of the aircraft. Subjects in group B were subjected to periods of impaired aircraft functionality independent of their physiologic activity, and thus served as a control group. No statistically significant group differences were found in the flight performance scores from the three training sessions, and post-training flight performance scores of the two groups were not different. We conclude that this study did not provide clear support for this training methodology in optimizing pilot performance. However, a number of shortcomings in the current status of this training methodology may account for the lack of demonstrable training benefit to the experimental group. Suggested future modifications for research on this training methodology include: Limiting the amount of instrument impairment resulting from physiological deviations; conducting a greater number of physiological training sessions per subject; using pre-post training performance tests which invoke a greater amount of stress in subjects; and developing a more detailed performance scoring system.

Palsson, Olafur S.↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Development of the Multi-Center Traffic Management Advisor (MCTMA): Traffic Flow Management Research in a Multi-Facility Environment

The Traffic Management Advisor (TMA) is a decision-support tool for traffic managers and air traffic controllers that provides traffic flow visualization and other flow management tools. TMA creates an efficiently sequenced and safely spaced schedule for arrival traffic that meets but does not exceed specified airspace system constraints. TMA is being deployed at selected facilities throughout the National Airspace System in the US as part of the FAA's Free Flight Phase 1 program. TMA development and testing, and its current deployment, focuses on managing the arrival capacity for single major airports within single terminal areas and single en route centers. The next phase of development for this technology is the expansion of the TMA capability to complex facilities in which a terminal area or airport is fed by multiple en route centers, thus creating a multicenter TMA functionality. The focus of the multi-center TMA (McTMA) development is on the busy facilities in the Northeast comdor of the US. This paper describes the planning and development of McTMA and the challenges associated with adapting a successful traffic flow management tool for a very complex airspace.

Lee, Katharine K.↗
NASA NTRS2001

Optical Diagnosis of Gas Turbine Combustors Being Conducted

Researchers at the NASA Glenn Research Center, in collaboration with industry, are reducing gas turbine engine emissions by studying visually the air-fuel interactions and combustion processes in combustors. This is especially critical for next generation engines that, in order to be more fuel-efficient, operate at higher temperatures and pressures than the current fleet engines. Optically based experiments were conducted in support of the Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology program in Glenn's unique, world-class, advanced subsonic combustion rig (ASCR) facility. The ASCR can supply air and jet fuel at the flow rates, temperatures, and pressures that simulate the conditions expected in the combustors of high-performance, civilian aircraft engines. In addition, this facility is large enough to support true sectors ("pie" slices of a full annular combustor). Sectors enable one to test true shapes rather than rectangular approximations of the actual hardware. Therefore, there is no compromise to actual engine geometry. A schematic drawing of the sector test stand is shown. The test hardware is mounted just upstream of the instrumentation section. The test stand can accommodate hardware up to 0.76-m diameter by 1.2-m long; thus sectors or small full annular combustors can be examined in this facility. Planar (two-dimensional) imaging using laser-induced fluorescence and Mie scattering, chemiluminescence, and video imagery were obtained for a variety of engine cycle conditions. The hardware tested was a double annular sector (two adjacent fuel injectors aligned radially) representing approximately 15 of a full annular combustor. An example of the two-dimensional data obtained for this configuration is also shown. The fluorescence data show the location of fuel and hydroxyl radical (OH) along the centerline of the fuel injectors. The chemiluminescence data show C2 within the total observable volume. The top row of this figure shows images obtained at an engine low-power condition, and the bottom row shows data from a higher power operating point. The data show distinctly the differences in flame structure between low-power and high-power engine conditions, in both location and amount of species produced (OH, C2) or consumed (fuel). The unique capability of the facility coupled with its optical accessibility helps to eliminate the need for high-pressure performance extrapolations. Tests such as described here have been used successfully to assess the performance of fuel-injection concepts and to modify those designs, if needed.

Hicks, Yolanda R.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Use of Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) for Teaching and Performing Senior Design Projects at the Educational Institutions

This paper describes the experience of the authors in using the Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP) in teaching Design of Thermal Systems class at University of Alabama in Huntsville. GFSSP is a finite volume based thermo-fluid system network analysis code, developed at NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center, and is extensively used in NASA, Department of Defense, and aerospace industries for propulsion system design, analysis, and performance evaluation. The educational version of GFSSP is freely available to all US higher education institutions. The main purpose of the paper is to illustrate the utilization of this user-friendly code for the thermal systems design and fluid engineering courses and to encourage the instructors to utilize the code for the class assignments as well as senior design projects. The need for a generalized computer program for thermofluid analysis in a flow network has been felt for a long time in aerospace industries. Designers of thermofluid systems often need to know pressures, temperatures, flow rates, concentrations, and heat transfer rates at different parts of a flow circuit for steady state or transient conditions. Such applications occur in propulsion systems for tank pressurization, internal flow analysis of rocket engine turbopumps, chilldown of cryogenic tanks and transfer lines, and many other applications of gas-liquid systems involving fluid transients and conjugate heat and mass transfer. Computer resource requirements to perform time-dependent, three-dimensional Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis of such systems are prohibitive and therefore are not practical. Available commercial codes are generally suitable for steady state, single-phase incompressible flow. Because of the proprietary nature of such codes, it is not possible to extend their capability to satisfy the above-mentioned needs. Therefore, the Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program (GFSSP1) has been developed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) as a general fluid flow system solver capable of handling phase changes, compressibility, mixture thermodynamics and transient operations. It also includes the capability to model external body forces such as gravity and centrifugal effects in a complex flow network. The objectives of GFSSP development are: a) to develop a robust and efficient numerical algorithm to solve a system of equations describing a flow network containing phase changes, mixing, and rotation; and b) to implement the algorithm in a structured, easy-to-use computer program. The analysis of thermofluid dynamics in a complex network requires resolution of the system into fluid nodes and branches, and solid nodes and conductors as shown in Figure 1. Figure 1 shows a schematic and GFSSP flow circuit of a counter-flow heat exchanger. Hot nitrogen gas is flowing through a pipe, colder nitrogen is flowing counter to the hot stream in the annulus pipe and heat transfer occurs through metal tubes. The problem considered is to calculate flowrates and temperature distributions in both streams. GFSSP has a unique data structure, as shown in Figure 2, that allows constructing all possible arrangements of a flow network with no limit on the number of elements. The elements of a flow network are boundary nodes where pressure and temperature are specified, internal nodes where pressure and temperature are calculated, and branches where flowrates are calculated. For conjugate heat transfer problems, there are three additional elements: solid node, ambient node, and conductor. The solid and fluid nodes are connected with solid-fluid conductors. GFSSP solves the conservation equations of mass and energy, and equation of state in internal nodes to calculate pressure, temperature and resident mass. The momentum conservation equation is solved in branches to calculate flowrate. It also solves for energy conservation equations to calculate temperatures of solid nodes. The equations are coupled and nonlinear; therefore, they are solved by an iterative numerical scheme. GFSSP employs a unique numerical scheme known as simultaneous adjustment with successive substitution (SASS), which is a combination of Newton-Raphson and successive substitution methods. The mass and momentum conservation equations and the equation of state are solved by the Newton-Raphson method while the conservation of energy and species are solved by the successive substitution method. GFSSP is linked with two thermodynamic property programs, GASP2 and WASP3 and GASPAK4, that provide thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of selected fluids. Both programs cover a range of pressure and temperature that allows fluid properties to be evaluated for liquid, liquid-vapor (saturation), and vapor region. GASP and WASP provide properties of 12 fluids. GASPAK includes a library of 36 fluids. GFSSP has three major parts. The first part is the graphical user interface (GUI), visual thermofluid analyzer of systems and components (VTASC). VTASC allows users to create a flow circuit by a 'point and click' paradigm. It creates the GFSSP input file after the completion of the model building process. GFSSP's GUI provides the users a platform to build and run their models. It also allows post-processing of results. The network flow circuit is first built using three basic elements: boundary node, internal node, and branch.

Majumdar, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS2022

Flow Visualization to Complement Modern Wing Tunnel Testing

In recent times, wind tunnel testing at the NASA Ames Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel (UPWT) seeks to validate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools. To that end, we find that now more than ever, flow visualization is a powerful capability that provides context to the experimental results bringing real-time insight to the researcher. It enables us to answer questions like: “Why does this drag polar look different?” or “What is the source of this tone in the microphone data?”. Flow visualization can verify that assumptions made in the CFD model are correct, addressing questions like: “Are our trip dots the correct size and location?” or “Does the position of this shock match our prediction?”. Techniques such as infrared flow visualization and schlieren / shadowgraph are powerful capabilities that when taken together can provide results as to the nature of the fluid structure interaction at a test condition in a format that pairs well with computational results. When properly integrated these measurements can be taken with no impact on the productivity of the test program, supplementing traditional measurements and often discovering something unforeseen, helping the researcher to answer those slippery aerodynamic questions and ultimately build confidence in the accuracy of a model.

wind tunnel↗
NASA NTRS2010

Modeling Flight: The Role of Dynamically Scaled Free-Flight Models in Support of NASA's Aerospace Programs

The state of the art in aeronautical engineering has been continually accelerated by the development of advanced analysis and design tools. Used in the early design stages for aircraft and spacecraft, these methods have provided a fundamental understanding of physical phenomena and enabled designers to predict and analyze critical characteristics of new vehicles, including the capability to control or modify unsatisfactory behavior. For example, the relatively recent emergence and routine use of extremely powerful digital computer hardware and software has had a major impact on design capabilities and procedures. Sophisticated new airflow measurement and visualization systems permit the analyst to conduct micro- and macro-studies of properties within flow fields on and off the surfaces of models in advanced wind tunnels. Trade studies of the most efficient geometrical shapes for aircraft can be conducted with blazing speed within a broad scope of integrated technical disciplines, and the use of sophisticated piloted simulators in the vehicle development process permits the most important segment of operations the human pilot to make early assessments of the acceptability of the vehicle for its intended mission. Knowledgeable applications of these tools of the trade dramatically reduce risk and redesign, and increase the marketability and safety of new aerospace vehicles. Arguably, one of the more viable and valuable design tools since the advent of flight has been testing of subscale models. As used herein, the term "model" refers to a physical article used in experimental analyses of a larger full-scale vehicle. The reader is probably aware that many other forms of mathematical and computer-based models are also used in aerospace design; however, such topics are beyond the intended scope of this document. Model aircraft have always been a source of fascination, inspiration, and recreation for humans since the earliest days of flight. Within the scientific community, Leonardo da Vinci, George Cayley, and the Wright brothers are examples of early aviation pioneers who frequently used models during their scientific efforts to understand and develop flying machines. Progress in the technology associated with model testing in worldwide applications has firmly established model aircraft as a key element in new aerospace research and development programs. Models are now routinely used in many applications and roles, including aerodynamic data gathering in wind tunnel investigations for the analysis of full-scale aircraft designs, proof-of-concept demonstrators for radical aeronautical concepts, and problem-solving exercises for vehicles already in production. The most critical contributions of aerospace models are to provide confidence and risk reduction for new designs and to enhance the safety and efficiency of existing configurations.

Chambers, Joseph↗
NASA NTRS1974

A full-scale fire program to evaluate new furnishings and textile materials developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

A program of experimental fires was carried out to establish the advantages offered by new materials for improved fire safety. Four full-scale bedrooms, differing only in the materials used to furnish them, were built and burned to provide comparative data on the fire hazards produced. Cost and availability differences were not considered. The visual evidence provided by TV and photographic coverage of the four experimental room fires showed clearly that the rooms responded very differently to a common ignition condition. Resistance to the ignition and spread of fire was substantially improved in the rooms furnished completely or partially with the new materials.

Hillenbrand, L. J.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Inflight data collection for ride quality and atmospheric turbulence research

A flight test program to investigate the effects of atmospheric turbulence on passenger ride quality in large, wide-body commercial aircraft was conducted. Data were collected on a series of flight on a Boeing 747 aircraft. Atmospheric and aircraft performance data were obtained from special sensors, as well as conventional instruments and avionics systems normally available. Visual observations of meteorlogical conditions encountered were manually recorded during the flights.

Kadlec, P. W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

V/STOL aircraft simulation - Requirements and capabilities at Ames Research Center

Ground-based flight simulation contributes greatly to the development of new aircraft and flight management systems and will be especially important in improving the performance, safety, and environmental characteristics of future civil and military V/STOL aircraft. This paper describes existing simulation facilities at Ames Research Center and discusses their capabilities and limitations for V/STOL aircraft investigations. Simulation requirements for NASA research and support of DOD programs are also discussed, including technology development for advanced rotorcraft and civil and military V/STOL aircraft. Current efforts and future plans are described for the upgrading of Ames simulation facilities to meet those requirements. Recent advances in equipment technology and operational methodology are shown to provide significantly improved simulation fidelity through better motion and visual cues and faster system response to pilot inputs.

Wilcox, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Long-term weathering effects on the thermal performance of the Lennox/Honeywell (liquid) solar collector

The test procedures used and the results obtained during the evaluation test program of the Lennox/Honeywell double covered liquid solar collector. The tests were performed under simulated conditions, following long-term exposure to natural weathering conditions. The Lennox/Honeywell collector is a flat-plate solar collector. The absorber plate is steel with copper tubes bonded on the upper surface, and is coated with black chrome. Visual inspection of the collector indicated slight discoloration of the absorber plate. Results indicate that performance degradation had occurred. Absorptivity and/or transmissivity decreased as a result of the weathering.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1979

Wide-field electrographic cameras for imagery and spectrography at visual and middle-UV wavelengths

The use of a Kron electrographic detector for wide-field, narrow-band imagery of faint emission nebulosity in the near-UV and visual (3100-6000 A) wavelength interval is described. As an example of the photometric quality of the imagery and of the sensitivity of the instrumentation to diffuse, low-contrast objects, imagery of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant in the high excitation forbidden line of Ne V 3426 A is presented. In addition, a program to develop electrographic detectors which use cesium telluride photocathodes for broad-band imagery and spectrography in the middle-UV (1650-3100 A) wavelength range is described.

Heckathorn, H. M.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Development and usage of a false color display technique for presenting Seasat-A scatterometer data

A computer generated false color program which creates digital multicolor graphics to display geophysical surface parameters measured by the Seasat-A satellite scatterometer (SASS) is described. The data is incrementally scaled over the range of acceptable values and each increment and its data points are assigned a color. The advantage of the false color display is that it visually infers cool or weak data versus hot or intense data by using the rainbow of colors. For example, with wind speeds, levels of yellow and red could be used to imply high winds while green and blue could imply calmer air. The SASS data is sorted into geographic regions and the final false color images are projected onto various world maps with superimposed land/water boundaries.

Jackson, C. B.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Human Research Program Grant Lifecycle & Data Integration Schedule: Infographic

The Human Research Program (HRP) Grant Lifecycle process can be described using information from several government authoritative sources with overlapping generalizations. It is the responsibility of the HRP Program Planning & Control (PP&C) Office and the Data Management Integration Office (DMIO)to interpret this information into a cohesive process that can be communicated to the human research organization. PP&C and DMIO have been exploring training opportunities to facilitate understanding through the form of infographics. This communication tool combines eye-catching visuals and text making complex information and data more digestible and shareable. The infographic poster tells a short story about a federally awarded grant and is intended to help both the new and experienced HRP workforce understand the timeline for a research procurement and where their specific tasks fall within the 4 phases of the grant lifecycle. The Pre-Award, Award, Post-Award, and Closeout phases are overlayed with business swimlanes so HRP stakeholders can see where they fit into the timeline rather than working in an isolated part. This includes the Chief Scientist Office (CSO), PP&C, the Data Management Integration Office (DMIO), the Principal Investigator (PI), the Element stakeholders, the LSDA Archivists, and the Research & Operations Integration (ROI) team along with the stakeholders in the Human Health and Performance Directorate. Additionally, the poster introduces (1) the HRP Data Integration Schedule identified in the HRP Data Management Plan HRP-48047, Table 8-2 and (2) a Smartsheet Solution to automate the grants tracking business process. Emphasis is given to the Data Integration Schedule which is the basis for the milestone tasks that are to be completed during the Post-Award phase in the grant lifecycle. The poster is also an opportunity to present the Smartsheet Solution, a software collaboration and work management tool used to assign tasks and track project progress. This PP&C FY24 effort will facilitate an end-to-end solution to track grants and provide insight to the health of HRP grant research procurements using metrics, reports, and dashboards.

J Peace↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

The Transition of RGB Imagery Applied to Fog and Low Clouds from NASA Capabilities within the GOES Proving Ground to the Present Era

A wide range of RGB Imagery products are now available from the GOES ABI instrument, but less than a decade earlier, these false-color imagery products were only seen over Europe and Africa within the suite of the EUMETSAT SEVIRI geostationary instrument. The issue of fog and low clouds as applied to aviation and ground transportation hazards has been a long-standing challenge where satellite imagery provides notable value to visually inspect large spatial areas vs relying on in situ point observations. A legacy channel difference product was the standard satellite imagery tool, but the Nighttime Microphysics RGB would soon be introduced with GOES-R and -S where users had no interpretation experience. As part of the GOES Proving Ground efforts, the SPoRT program utilized existing NASA LEO satellites to demonstrate the future ABI capabilities. Operational users were able to test and adopt the RGBs from NASA LEO instruments prior to the GOES-R launch in order to be ready for the wealth of new channels available from ABI. The transition experience and methods from these proxy RGBs to the start of the GOES-R ABI era to the present day provides insights to the value of these new qualitative products in operations and to how the transition method of such products can be successfully implemented as well as future needs in the RGB Imagery area.

Kevin Fuell↗
NASA NTRS1987

Focus of attention in systems for visual monitoring of experiments

The problem of designing a computerized experiment monitoring system for use in a space station or elsewhere is examined. It is shown that the essential challenge of such a system - attaining a reasonable expected running time - can be attacked using the concept of focus of attention and by exploiting parallelism. The use of the Contract Net Protocol for the latter purpose is discussed. The use of ideas from information science to help focus a programs's efforts on those computations likely to bring results is addressed, and the incorporation of those ideas into a design in order to aid the system in deciding upon the best course of action is considered.

Blank, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS2015

TankSIM: A Cryogenic Tank Performance Prediction Program

Developed for predicting the behavior of cryogenic liquids inside propellant tanks under various environmental and operating conditions. Provides a multi-node analysis of pressurization, ullage venting and thermodynamic venting systems (TVS) pressure control using axial jet or spray bar TVS. Allows user to combine several different phases for predicting the liquid behavior for the entire flight mission timeline or part of it. Is a NASA in-house code, based on FORTRAN 90-95 and Intel Visual FORTRAN compiler, but can be used on any other platform (Unix-Linux, Compaq Visual FORTRAN, etc.). The last Version 7, released on December 2014, included detailed User's Manual. Includes the use of several RefPROP subroutines for calculating fluid properties.

Bolshinskiy, L. G.↗