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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 1,495 records · Page 83
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1977

Fundamental Analysis of the Linear Multiple Regression Technique for Quantification of Water Quality Parameters from Remote Sensing Data

Constituents with linear radiance gradients with concentration may be quantified from signals which contain nonlinear atmospheric and surface reflection effects for both homogeneous and non-homogeneous water bodies provided accurate data can be obtained and nonlinearities are constant with wavelength. Statistical parameters must be used which give an indication of bias as well as total squared error to insure that an equation with an optimum combination of bands is selected. It is concluded that the effect of error in upwelled radiance measurements is to reduce the accuracy of the least square fitting process and to increase the number of points required to obtain a satisfactory fit. The problem of obtaining a multiple regression equation that is extremely sensitive to error is discussed.

Whitlock, C. H., III↗
NASA NTRS1977

A fundamental approach to adhesion: Synthesis, surface analysis, thermodynamics and mechanics

The effects of composites as adherends was studied. Several other variables were studied by fractography: aluminum powder adhesive filler, fiber glass cloth scrim or adhesive carrier, new adhesives PPQ-413 and LARC-13, and strength-test temperature. When the new results were juxtaposed with previous work, it appeared that complex interactions between adhesive, adherend, bonding, and testing conditions govern the observed strength and fracture-surface features. The design parameters likely to have a significant effect upon strength-test results are listed.

Dwight, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1977

A fundamental approach to adhesion: Synthesis, surface analysis, thermodynamics and mechanics

The ability of SEM/EDAX to determine the physical and chemical composition of very small areas was used to study several diverse types of samples representative of NASA-LaRC technology. More systematic investigation was carried out on differences in the results of grit-blasting Ti 6-4 adherends and the presence of extraneous elements, primarily silicon, in some polymer/HT-S fiber composites. Initial results were obtained from a fractured (ILS) short-beam shear specimen, and from Ti 6-4 alloy, before and after a proprietary Boeing anodizing surface preparation for adhesive bonding. Photomicrographs and EDAX spectra were also obtained from new, fractured lap shear strength specimens that employed PPQ and LARC-13 adhesives.

Dwight, D. W.↗
NASA NTRS1977

On fundamentally new sources of energy for rockets in the early works of the pioneers of astronautics

The research for more efficient methods of propelling a spacecraft, than can be achieved with chemical energy, was studied. During a time when rockets for space flight had not actually been built pioneers in rocket technology were already concerned with this problem. Alternative sources proposed at that time, were nuclear and solar energy. Basic engineering problems of each source were investigated.

Melkumov, T. M.↗
NASA NTRS1969

Fundamental considerations for future solid lubricants

Properties important to the performance of solid lubricants are discussed. Those properties include shear characteristics, coherence between particles, resistance to cold flow, adherence to the substrate, applicable chemical thermodynamics and kinetics of materials and environments, polymorphism, and rheology. The following generalizations are made: (1) chemical thermodynamics and kinetics are powerful tools for use in determining the useful environments and methods of application for solid film lubricants; (2) the primary requirement for a solid lubricant is low shear strength; (3) the rheology of solid film constituents and formulations is likely to be of vital importance to performance and life; and (4) adherence and mobility of surface films is another primary requirement for long lived solid lubricants.

Johnson, R. L.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Fundamental electronic mechanisms limiting the performance of solar cells

Attention is focused on distortion in the energy band, and carrier recombination and generation rates (lifetimes), as the two dominant mechanisms. Spatial dependences associated with these two mechanisms, in the direction normal to the surface illuminated by the sun and in the direction tangential to that surface, are also emphasized as crucial factors in governing the efficiency of solar cells. Electronic parameters for the set of differential equations characterizing transport, recombination, and generation of carriers, and interband and band-bound transition rates, are studied.

Lindholm, F. A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The uncertainty threshold principle - Some fundamental limitations of optimal decision making under dynamic uncertainty

This note shows that the optimal control of dynamic systems with uncertain parameters has certain limitations. In particular, by means of a simple scalar linear-quadratic optimal control example, it is shown that the infinite horizon solution does not exist if the parameter uncertainty exceeds a certain quantifiable threshold; we call this the uncertainty threshold principle. The philosophical and design implications of this result are discussed.

Athans, M.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Image restoration consequences of the lack of a two variable fundamental theorem of algebra

It has been shown that, at least for one pair of otherwise attractive spaces of images and operators, singular convolution operators do not necessarily have nonsingular neighbors. This result is a nuisance in image restoration. It is suggested that this difficulty might be overcome if the following three conditions are satisfied: (1) a weaker constraint than absolute summability can be identified for useful operators: (2) if the z-transform of an operator has at most a finite number of zeros on the unit torus, then the inverse z-transform formula yields an inverse operator meeting the weaker constraint: and (3) operators whose z-transforms are zero in a set of real, closed curves on the unit torus have neighbors which are zero in only a finite set of points on the unit torus.

Kreznar, J. E.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Fundamental studies of black chrome for solar collector use

The thicknesses of black chrome plated for various times have been measured from electron photomicrographs and correlated with the solar spectrum absorptance and infrared emittance as calculated from spectral reflectance measurements. The maximum absorptance is reached at an average thickness of 0.5 micrometer. The emittance increases only slightly up to 1.0 micrometer but increases rapidly at thickness above 1.0 micrometer.

Mcdonald, G.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Fundamental Aspects of the Aerodynamics of Turbojet Engine Combustors

Aerodynamic considerations in the design of high performance combustors for turbojet engines are discussed. Aerodynamic problems concerning the preparation of the fuel-air mixture, the recirculation zone where primary combustion occurs, the secondary combustion zone, and the dilution zone were examined. An aerodynamic analysis of the entire primary chamber ensemble was carried out to determine the pressure drop between entry and exit. The aerodynamics of afterburn chambers are discussed. A model which can be used to investigate the evolution of temperature, pressure, and rate and efficiency of combustion the length of the chamber was developed.

Barrere, M.↗
NASA NTRS1978

A fundamental approach to adhesion: Synthesis, surface analysis, thermodynamics and mechanics

Various surface preparations for titanium 6-4 alloy were studied. An anodizing method was investigated, and compared with the results of other chemical treatments, namely, phosphate/fluoride, Pasa-Jell and Turco. The relative durability of the different surface treatments was assessed by monitoring changes in surface chemistry and morphology occasioned by aging at 505 K (450 F). Basic electron spectroscopic data were collected for polyimide and polyphenylquinoxaline adhesives and synthetic precursors. Fractographic studies were completed for several combinations of adherend, adhesive, and testing conditions.

Chen, W.↗
NASA NTRS1978

Gamma-ray lines from neutron stars as probes of fundamental physics

The detection of gamma-ray lines produced at the surface of neutron stars will serve to test both the strong and gravitational interactions under conditions unavailable in terrestrial laboratories. Observation of a single redshifted gamma-ray line, combined with an estimate of the mass of the star will serve as a strong constraint on allowable equations of state of matter at supernuclear densities. Detection of two redshifted lines arising from different physical processes at the neutron star surface can provide a test of the strong principle of equivalence. Expected fluxes of nuclear gamma-ray lines from accreting neutron stars were calculated, including threshold, radiative transfer and redshift effects. The most promising probes of neutron star structure are the deuterium formation line and the positron annihilation line. Detection of sharp redshifted gamma-ray lines from X-ray sources such as Cyg X-1 would argue strongly in favor of a neutron star rather than black hole identification for the object.

Brecher, K.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Preliminary development of a fundamental analysis model for crack growth in a fiber reinforced composite material

A mathematical model for the strength of fiber reinforced composites containing specific flaws is described. The approach is to embed a local heterogeneous region surrounding the crack tip in an anisotropic elastic continuum. By consideration of the individual failure events activated near the flaw tip, a strength prediction can be made from basic properties of the composite constituents. Computations for arbitrary flaw size and orientation have been performed for unidirectional composites with linear elastic-brittle constituent behavior. The mechanical properties were those of graphite epoxy. With the rupture properties arbitrarily varied to test the capability of the model to reflect real fracture modes in fiber composites, it is shown that fiber breakage, matrix crazing, crack bridging, matrix-fiber debonding, and axial splitting all can occur during gradually increasing load prior to catastrophic fracture. Qualitative comparisons with experimental results on edge-notched unidirectional graphite epoxy specimens have also been made.

Kanninen, M. F.↗
NASA NTRS1977

The use of analytical surface tools in the fundamental study of wear

This paper reviews the various techniques and surface tools available for the study of the atomic nature of the wear of materials. These include chemical etching, X-ray diffraction, electron diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, Auger emission spectroscopy analysis, electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis, field ion microscopy, and the atom probe. Properties of the surface and wear surface regions which effect wear such as surface energy, crystal structure, crystallographic orientation, mode of dislocation behavior, and cohesive binding are discussed. A number of mechanisms involved in the generation of wear particles are identified with the aid of the aforementioned tools.

Buckley, D. H.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Some fundamental aspects of the fatigue and fracture response of composite materials

A simple analytical model, based on the concept that the constraining plies surrounding cracks through the thickness of a given ply or plies control the spacing of those cracks by controlling the surrounding stress state, appears to agree well with experimental data. Such a model can be used to evaluate critically various constraint situations including the prediction of the ability of a given constraint layer to arrest flaw development. The analytical model, which uses an equilibrium element approach in the present case, is sensitive to lamina and laminate elastic properties, flaw size, stacking sequence, and an interlaminar stress transfer distance which is estimated from experimental observations. The analysis is easily extended to study flaw growth and plastic region formation.

Reifsnider, K. L.↗
NASA NTRS1978

On the fundamental structure of Galois switching functions

In connection with investigations conducted by Menger (1969), Benjauthrit and Reed (1976), and Pradhan (1978) two methods have been reported for deriving a unique Galois switching function from a given truth table description of the function. However, neither of the two methods appears satisfactory. One method often contains many redundant terms in its formulation, whereas the second method requires a great number of multiplications and additions. By some algebraic manipulations, an expanded formula is obtained which combines the best features of both methods. This formula makes it possible to compute the coefficients of the desired function more directly and probably with less effort. The conduction of calculations by means of the new formula is illustrated with the aid of examples.

Benjauthrit, B.↗