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At least 1,441 records · Page 80
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Enabling In-Situ Exploration of the Ice Giants Using Aerocapture

Investigation of the Ice Giants, especially Uranus, via orbiter and atmospheric probes, is required to answer pressing science questions that have been raised in the latest Decadal Survey. As the Ice Giants are the farthest planets from Earth, traditional fully-propulsive orbit insertion missions have transit times to the planetary bodies nearing 13- 15 years and require a large amount of propellant, leaving less mass for the scientific payload and a planetary probe (dry mass percentages of around 30- 40%). Aerocapture uses aerodynamic forces generated by flight within a planetary atmosphere to decelerate and achieve orbit insertion. Although, aerocapture has not been used in the past, recent developments in thermal protection systems (TPS), guidance and control, and interplanetary navigation capabilities enable the use of rigid, heritage entry vehicle configurations already flown at other planetary bodies for Ice Giants aerocapture. Aerocapture can robustly deliver spacecraft to Ice Giant orbits, while substantially increasing on-orbit payload mass (more than 40%) that can be used for a robust atmospheric entry probe. Additionally, the aerocapture maneuver would reduce the interplanetary transit time by 2-5 years (15-30%) relative to fully-propulsive orbit insertion.

S Dutta↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Considering Turbofan Operability in Hybrid Electric Aircraft Propulsion System Design

This paper explores the design of a hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system that uses a turbofan to power an electric system. In such a system, the gas turbine will experience a loss of power generation as altitude increases, however the electric system will not. This difference results in designs that may over size the electric system at high altitude or under size at low altitude. Two studies are performed within this paper. The first looks at extracting power from the engine for use with electric aircraft propulsion at cruise and the second reviews a design of an engine that uses thrust assist for takeoff. Both studies look at the effects of changing altitude on the amount of power extraction or insertion that can be taken from the turbofan as dictated by operability limits. Results of the paper show that low-pressure compressor surge margin and high-pressure compressor speed can be pushed to unaccepted limits with large scale power extraction or insertion, however these issues can be mitigated by adding power extraction or insertion at off design operating points to compensate. Additionally, the benefits of thrust assist are quantified for this configuration demonstrating a reduction in thrust specific fuel consumption at cruise of over 5%.

Gas Turbine↗
NASA NTRS2023

Considering Turbofan Operability in Hybrid Electric Aircraft Propulsion System Design

This paper explores the design of a hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system that uses a turbofan to power an electric system. In such a system, the gas turbine will experience a loss of power generation as altitude increases, however the electric system will not. This difference results in designs that may over size the electric system at high altitude or under size at low altitude. Two studies are performed within this paper. The first looks at extracting power from the engine for use with electric aircraft propulsion at cruise and the second reviews a design of an engine that uses thrust assist for takeoff. Both studies look at the effects of changing altitude on the amount of power extraction or insertion that can be taken from the turbofan as dictated by operability limits. Results of the paper show that low-pressure compressor surge margin and high-pressure compressor speed can be pushed to unaccepted limits with large scale power extraction or insertion, however these issues can be mitigated by adding power extraction or insertion at off design operating points to compensate. Additionally, the benefits of thrust assist are quantified for this configuration demonstrating a reduction in thrust specific fuel consumption at cruise of over 5%.

Gas turbine↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Considering Turbofan Operability in Hybrid Electric Aircraft Propulsion System Design

This paper explores the design of a hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system that uses a turbofan to power an electric system. In such a system, the gas turbine will experience a loss of power generation as altitude increases, however the electric system will not. This difference results in designs that may over size the electric system at high altitude or under size at low altitude. Two studies are performed within this paper. The first looks at extracting power from the engine for use with electric aircraft propulsion at cruise and the second reviews a design of an engine that uses thrust assist for takeoff. Both studies look at the effects of changing altitude on the amount of power extraction or insertion that can be taken from the turbofan as dictated by operability limits. Results of the paper show that low-pressure compressor surge margin and high-pressure compressor speed can be pushed to unaccepted limits with large scale power extraction or insertion, however these issues can be mitigated by adding power extraction or insertion at off design operating points to compensate. Additionally, the benefits of thrust assist are quantified for this configuration demonstrating a reduction in thrust specific fuel consumption at cruise of over 5%.

Gas turbine↗
NASA NTRS2023

Considering Turbofan Operability in Hybrid Electric Aircraft Propulsion System Design

This paper explores the design of a hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system that uses a turbofan to power an electric system. In such a system, the gas turbine will experience a loss of power generation as altitude increases, however the electric system will not. This difference results in designs that may over size the electric system at high altitude or under size at low altitude. Two studies are performed within this paper. The first looks at extracting power from the engine for use with electric aircraft propulsion at cruise and the second reviews a design of an engine that uses thrust assist for takeoff. Both studies look at the effects of changing altitude on the amount of power extraction or insertion that can be taken from the turbofan as dictated by operability limits. Results of the paper show that low-pressure compressor surge margin and high-pressure compressor speed can be pushed to unaccepted limits with large scale power extraction or insertion, however these issues can be mitigated by adding power extraction or insertion at off design operating points to compensate. Additionally, the benefits of thrust assist are quantified for this configuration demonstrating a reduction in thrust specific fuel consumption at cruise of over 5%.

Gas Turbine↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Overview of the Lunar Transit Trajectory Performed by the Power and Propulsion Element of NASA’s Gateway

NASA has committed to returning to the moon, landing the first woman and the next man on its surface. To support a sustained lunar presence, NASA is designing an orbital platform to be assembled in an orbit near the moon called the Near Rectilinear Halo Orbit (NRHO). This platform is known as the Gateway and its purpose it to support missions primarily to the lunar south pole. As NASA continues to study ways to reduce the cost of lunar exploration, a simplification implemented in 2020combinedthe first two elements of the Gateway, the Power and Propulsion Element (PPE) and NASA’s Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), onto a single commercial launch vehicle (CLV). When launched together, the PPE and HALO make up the first two elements of NASA’s Gateway and exceed the performance capacity of commercially available launch vehicles to deliver directly to the moon. The delivery of the Gateway is enabled by and takes advantage of the high efficiency of the PPEs high-power Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP) system to transfer a significant starting mass from an initial Earth orbit to final insertion into the NRHO. The PPE is a 50-kW class high power solar electric propulsion stage comprised of two different types of electric thruster strings. The SEP system is operated in two different modes, a high thrust and high Isp (specific impulse), to both maximize the final delivered mass and attempt to minimize the time spent in the Van Allen Belts early in the transit trajectory. Additionally, this SEP system brings the capability to the assembled Gateway for transfer between orbits in cislunar space. This paper captures the preliminary low thrust lunar transfer reference trajectory to be flown by the PPE it delivers itself and HALO via a spiral trajectory from launch vehicle insertion to insertion into the NRHO as well as a preliminary reference round trip transfer of the Gateway from the NRHO to a Distant Retrograde Orbit (DRO) using the PPE. Once in its final NRHO, the Gateway is being designed to enable long duration human and robotic exploration of the lunar south pole as a precursor to Mars. The Gateway’s low thrust lunar transit trajectory is envisioned to prove out the application of and flight of a high-power SEP system as a demonstration of technologies applicable to the enabling of future human space exploration.

human exploration↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Performance Analysis of Magnetohydrodynamic Drag Modulation for Actively Controlled Aerocapture at Neptune

Missions to the Ice Giants are a top priority for flagship missions this coming decade. However, a fully propulsive orbital insertion into these planets requires an immense amount of fuel, taking a significant portion of the spacecraft mass and restricting the scientific payload. To mitigate this, aerocapture has been heavily investigated. Although simulations have shown that aerodynamically controlled aerocapture can successfully insert into an orbit around both Ice Giants, the deep atmospheric pass required necessitates a complex, mass expensive, and sometimes prohibitive thermal protection system. Magnetohydrodynamic drag modulation serves as a potential alternative control method for aerocapture which could not only save propellant mass compared to fully propulsive orbital insertion, but also save thermal protection system mass compared to conventional aerocapture methods. Both aerodynamically controlled and magnetohydrodynamically controlled aerocapture methodologies were simulated in NASA Langley’s high-fidelity six degree-of-freedom flight dynamics code, the Program to Optimize Simulated Trajectories II. Each method was simulated to identical missions to Neptune using a numerical predictor-corrector algorithm to optimize the control towards the target orbit. The results concluded that magnetohydrodynamic drag modulation can successfully capture and performs on par with aerodynamic drag modulation while significantly reducing the heatflux and aeroshell complexity.

Danny N Nguyen↗
DOE OSTI2011

Design Features of a Planar Hybrid/Permanent Magnet Strong Focusing Undulator for Free Electron Laser (FEL) And Synchrotron Radiation (SR) Applications

Insertion devices for Angstrom-wavelength Free Electron Laser (FEL) amplifiers driven by multi-GeV electron beams generally require distributed focusing substantially stronger than their own natural focusing fields. Over the last several years a wide variety of focusing schemes and configurations have been proposed for undulators of this class, ranging from conventional current-driven quadrupoles external to the undulator magnets to permanent magnet (PM) lattices inserted into the insertion device gap. In this paper we present design studies of a flexible high-field hybrid/PM undulator with strong superimposed planar PM focusing proposed for a 1.5 Angstrom Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) driven by an electron beam with a 1 mm-mr normalized emittance. Attainable field parameters, tuning modes, and potential applications of the proposed structure are discussed.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Performance Evaluation of K-DEMO Cable-in-conduit Conductors Using the Florida Electro-Mechanical Cable Model

The United States ITER Project Office (USIPO) is responsible for design of the Toroidal Field (TF) insert coil, which will allow validation of the performance of significant lengths of the conductors to be used in the full scale TF coils in relevant conditions of field, current density and mechanical strain. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) will build the TF insert which will be tested at the Central Solenoid Model Coil (CSMC) Test facility at JAEA, Naka, Japan. Three dimensional mathematical model of TF Insert was created based on the initial design geometry data, and included the following features: orthotropic material properties of superconductor material and insulation; external magnetic field from CSMC, temperature dependent properties of the materials; pre-compression and plastic deformation in lap joint. Major geometrical characteristics of the design were preserved including cable jacket and insulation shape, mandrel outline, and support clamps and spacers. The model is capable of performing coupled structural, thermal, and electromagnetic analysis using ANSYS. Numerical simulations were performed for room temperature conditions; cool down to 4K, and the operating regime with 68kA current at 11.8 Tesla background field. Numerical simulations led to the final design of the coil producing the required strain levels on the cable, while simultaneously satisfying the ITER magnet structural design criteria.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Apparatus and method for magnetically processing a specimen

An apparatus for magnetically processing a specimen that couples high field strength magnetic fields with the magnetocaloric effect includes a high field strength magnet capable of generating a magnetic field of at least 1 Tesla and a magnetocaloric insert disposed within a bore of the high field strength magnet. A method for magnetically processing a specimen includes positioning a specimen adjacent to a magnetocaloric insert within a bore of a magnet and applying a high field strength magnetic field of at least 1 Tesla to the specimen and to the magnetocaloric insert. The temperature of the specimen changes during the application of the high field strength magnetic field due to the magnetocaloric effect.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2014

Rigid spine reinforced polymer microelectrode array probe and method of fabrication

A rigid spine-reinforced microelectrode array probe and fabrication method. The probe includes a flexible elongated probe body with conductive lines enclosed within a polymeric material. The conductive lines connect microelectrodes found near an insertion end of the probe to respective leads at a connector end of the probe. The probe also includes a rigid spine, such as made from titanium, fixedly attached to the probe body to structurally reinforce the probe body and enable the typically flexible probe body to penetrate and be inserted into tissue, such as neural tissue. By attaching or otherwise fabricating the rigid spine to connect to only an insertion section of the probe body, an integrally connected cable section of the probe body may remain flexible.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2016

System and method for smoothing a salient rotor in electrical machines

An electrical machine exhibiting reduced friction and windage losses is disclosed. The electrical machine includes a stator and a rotor assembly configured to rotate relative to the stator, wherein the rotor assembly comprises a rotor core including a plurality of salient rotor poles that are spaced apart from one another around an inner hub such that an interpolar gap is formed between each adjacent pair of salient rotor poles, with an opening being defined by the rotor core in each interpolar gap. Electrically non-conductive and non-magnetic inserts are positioned in the gaps formed between the salient rotor poles, with each of the inserts including a mating feature formed an axially inner edge thereof that is configured to mate with a respective opening being defined by the rotor core, so as to secure the insert to the rotor core against centrifugal force experienced during rotation of the rotor assembly.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

FIRST BEAM TESTS OF THE APS MBA UPGRADE ORBIT FEEDBACK CONTROLLER

The new orbit feedback system required for the APS multi-bend acromat (MBA) ring must meet challenging beam stability requirements. The AC stability requirement is to correct rms beam motion to 10 % the rms beam size at the insertion device source points from 0.01 to 1000 Hz. The vertical plane represents the biggest challenge for AC stability which is required to be 400 nm rms for a 4 micron vertical beam size. In addition long term drift over a period of 7 days is required to be 1 micron or less at insertion de- vice BPMs and 2 microns for arc bpms. We present test re- sults of theMBA prototype orbit feedback controller (FBC) in the APS storage ring. In this test, four insertion device BPMs were configured to send data to the FBC for process- ing into four fast corrector setpoints. The configuration of four bpms and four fast correctors creates a 4-bump and the configuration of fast correctors is similar to what will be implemented in the MBA ring. We report on performance benefits of increasing the sampling rate by a factor of 15 to 22.6 kHz over the existing APS orbit feedback system, lim- itations due to existing storage ring hardware and extrapo- lation to theMBA orbit feedback design. FBC architecture, signal flow and processing design will also be discussed.

Sereno, N. S.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Apparatus and method for maintaining an article at a temperature that is less than the temperature of the ambient air

An apparatus for maintaining the temperature of an article at a temperature that is below the ambient air temperature includes an enclosure having an outer wall that defines an interior chamber for holding a volume of sealed air. An insert is disposed inside of the chamber and has a body that is made of a porous graphite foam material. A vacuum pump penetrates the outer wall and fluidly connects the sealed air in the interior chamber with the ambient air outside of the enclosure. The temperatures of the insert and article is maintained at temperatures that are below the ambient air temperature when a volume of a liquid is wicked into the pores of the porous insert and the vacuum pump is activated to reduce the pressure of a volume of sealed air within the interior chamber to a pressure that is below the vapor pressure of the liquid.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

ATF Transient Prescription Tests in TREAT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Transient Reactor Test facility (TREAT) was constructed in the late 1950’s and provided thousands of transient irradiations before being placed in standby mode in 1994. In 2017, it resumed operation in order to reclaim its crucial role in nuclear-heated safety research. TREAT is a transient reactor where inherently-safe core physics, a nimble transient rod drive system, and a philosophy of continual facility improvement work together to enable flexible power maneuvers for fuel safety research. While the facility’s flexible design and multi-mission nature saw historic experiments for numerous transient types, TREAT was not specifically adapted to optimize or demonstrate its full performance capability for Light Water Reactor (LWR) postulated accidents including Hot Zero Power Reactivity Initiated Accidents (HZP-RIA) and Loss of Coolant Accidents (LOCA). The physics of HZP-RIA drive very brief pulses with fairly large energy excursions. TREAT is currently capable of approaching HZP-RIA pulse widths through transients initiated on a large step insertion of reactivity and terminated shortly thereafter by rapid re-insertion of the transient rods (“clipping”). LOCAs are postulated to occur quite differently, starting from normal power operations followed by a long period of lower power decay heat. TREAT is able to simulate LOCA events with an initial flattop transient for tens of seconds, followed by a sizeable power reduction, to a longer segment where specimen fission heating represents internal decay heat generation. Two reactor physics testing campaigns were undertaken to address the HZP-RIA type transients, neither of which had been performed in any great measure historically to address data gaps in the timing, repeatability of clipping and effect of dynamic transient rod motions on core-to-specimen fission power coupling. The first campaign, referred to as the Accident Tolerant Fuel (ATF) transient prescription tests, employed dosimeters in the core to characterize the effect of rod motions on specimen power coupling for clipped, unclipped, and low-level steady state operations each with approximately the same moderate core energy release. This campaign was accompanied by efforts to measure dosimetry and compare results to analytic predictions. The other HZP-RIA campaign, referred to as Narrow Pulse Width (NPW) transient prescriptions, employed higher step insertions with increased core energy release to demonstrate TREAT’s capability in achieving the narrowest-possible pulse width. Additionally, a series of LOCA transient prescriptions were also performed to demonstrate how well TREAT could perform long-duration shaped transients. Both NPW and LOCA transient prescriptions did not include dosimeters but used existing plant power instrumentation to produce transient power data. All three transient prescription campaigns were successfully carried out in TREAT. The ATF-3 transient prescriptions showed that TREAT can perform clipped transients with remarkable repeatability. Measurement and modeling both showed that the power coupling in small, fissile dosimeters does not change by more than 8% between clipped, unclipped, and steady state runs while uncertainty sources in both the modeling and measurement methods were identified and found to be on the order of 20% in total. Overall, the ATF-3 transient prescription tests were successful in determining repeatability and consistency of dosimeter power coupling, developing processes for modeling and measuring this crucial parameter, and demonstrating the need for continued efforts in transient prescription work at TREAT in support of future experiment design and post test data interpretation. The NPW and LOCA transient prescriptions were also successfully performed to exhibit TREAT’s capability for these important LWR accident categories. The NPW transients showed pulse widths of ~90 ms, which were the narrowest ever achieved in TREAT to date and relevant for the upper end range of HZP-RIA simulation. This effort provided crucial data for calibrating kinetic models to be used in enhanced pulse-narrowing strategies in upcoming irradiations. Similarly, The LOCA transient prescriptions showed that TREAT can simulate the needed nuclear heating and event time scales for LOCA fuel safety research and provided essential data for future experiment design.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2019

X-ray imaging and chemical analysis of plant roots

A linear x-ray tube having one or more x-ray sources is configured for insertion into the soil in proximity to a root system of a plant for emission of an x-ray beam detected by a linear array of one or more x-ray detectors. The linear x-ray tube and detector array may be inserted into rhizotrons previously inserted into the soil. Various combinations of multiple x-ray tubes and/or detector arrays may be utilized to customize the x-ray imaging of the root system.

Kumar, Nalin↗
DOE OSTI2021

Data shuffling with hierarchical tuple spaces

Methods and systems for shuffling data to generate a dataset are described. A first map module may generate first pair data, and a second map module may generate second pair data, from source data. The first map module may insert the first pair data into a first local tuple space accessible to the first map module. The second map module may insert the second pair data into a second local tuple space accessible to the second map module. A shuffle module may request pair data that includes a particular key. The first and second pair data may be inserted into a global tuple space accessible by the first and second map modules. The shuffle module may identify the requested pair data in the global tuple space, and may fetch the identified pair data from a memory. The shuffle module may shuffle the fetched pair data to generate the dataset.

Kayi, Abdullah↗
DOE OSTI2022

Piezoelectric-triboelectric heel charger to generate electricity from locomotion using level mechanism and mechanical SSHI boosting circuit

The disclosure provides an electricity generating insert for a piece of footwear, the insert can be removably placed in the heel portion, e.g. under the insole. The insert comprises a multilayer piezoelectric stack that alternatively flexes under the compression-decompression that occurs during locomotion, which flexing causes friction in the stack to generate electricity capable of charging electronic devices and the like, e.g. via a port on the footwear.

Wang, Ya↗