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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 1,531 records · Page 85
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1949

Flight Test of the Aerojet 7KS-6000 T-27 Jato Rocket Motor

A flight test of the Aero jet Engineering Corporation's 7KS-6000 T-27 Jato rocket motor was conducted at the Langley Pilotless Aircraft Research Station at Wallops Island, Va, to determine the flight performance characteristics of the motor. The flight test imposed an absolute longitudinal acceleration of 9.8 g upon the rocket motor at 2.8 seconds after launching. The total impulse developed by the motor was 43,400 pound-seconds, and the thrusting time was 7.58 seconds. The maximum thrust was 7200 pounds and occurred at 4.8 seconds after launching. No thrust irregularities attributable to effects of the flight longitudinal acceleration were observed. Certain small thrust irregularities occurred in the flight test which appear to correspond to irregularities observed in static tests conducted elsewhere. A hypothesis regarding the origin of these small irregularities is presented.

Bond, Aleck C.↗
NASA NTRS2009

Status and Mission Applicability of NASA's In-Space Propulsion Technology Project

The In-Space Propulsion Technology (ISPT) project develops propulsion technologies that will enable or enhance NASA robotic science missions. Since 2001, the ISPT project developed and delivered products to assist technology infusion and quantify mission applicability and benefits through mission analysis and tools. These in-space propulsion technologies are applicable, and potentially enabling for flagship destinations currently under evaluation, as well as having broad applicability to future Discovery and New Frontiers mission solicitations. This paper provides status of the technology development, near-term mission benefits, applicability, and availability of in-space propulsion technologies in the areas of advanced chemical thrusters, electric propulsion, aerocapture, and systems analysis tools. The current chemical propulsion investment is on the high-temperature Advanced Material Bipropellant Rocket (AMBR) engine providing higher performance for lower cost. Investments in electric propulsion technologies focused on completing NASA's Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) ion propulsion system, a 0.6-7 kW throttle-able gridded ion system, and the High Voltage Hall Accelerator (HiVHAC) thruster, which is a mid-term product specifically designed for a low-cost electric propulsion option. Aerocapture investments developed a family of thermal protections system materials and structures; guidance, navigation, and control models of blunt-body rigid aeroshells; atmospheric models for Earth, Titan, Mars and Venus; and models for aerothermal effects. In 2009 ISPT started the development of propulsion technologies that would enable future sample return missions. The paper describes the ISPT project's future focus on propulsion for sample return missions. The future technology development areas for ISPT is: Planetary Ascent Vehicles (PAV), with a Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) being the initial development focus; multi-mission technologies for Earth Entry Vehicles (MMEEV) needed for sample return missions from many different destinations; propulsion for Earth Return Vehicles (ERV), transfer stages to the destination, and Electric Propulsion for sample return and low cost missions; and Systems/Mission Analysis focused on sample return propulsion. The ISPT project is funded by NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD).

Anderson, David J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Force Reconstruction Using the Inverse of the Mode-Shape Matrix [Book Chapter]

A new technique for force reconstruction is developed. To estimate the externally applied force, this technique sums the weight-scaled acceleration signals, and is referred to as the Sum of Weighted Accelerations Technique (SWAT). To obtain the scalar weights the inverse of the mode shape matrix is used. Application of this technique is illustrated with both numerical calculations using a mass-spring model and experimental data from a structure impacting a rigid barrier.

055001 -- Nuclear Fuels-- Safeguards, Inspection, ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Engineering improved ethylene production: Leveraging systems biology and adaptive laboratory evolution

Ethylene is a small hydrocarbon gas widely used in the chemical industry. Annual worldwide production currently exceeds 150 million tons, producing considerable amounts of CO 2 contributing to climate change. The need for a sustainable alternative is therefore imperative. Ethylene is natively produced by several different microorganisms, including Pseudomonas syringae pv. phaseolicola via a process catalyzed by the ethylene forming enzyme (EFE), subsequent heterologous expression of EFE has led to ethylene production in non-native bacterial hosts including E. coli and cyanobacteria. However, solubility of EFE and substrate availability remain rate limiting steps in biological ethylene production. We employed a combination of genome scale metabolic modelling, continuous fermentation, and protein evolution to enable the accelerated development of a high efficiency ethylene producing E. coli strain, yielding a 49-fold increase in production, the most significant improvement reported to date. Furthermore, we have clearly demonstrated that this increased yield resulted from metabolic adaptations that were uniquely linked to the EFE enzyme (WT vs mutant). Our findings provide a novel solution to deregulate metabolic bottlenecks in key pathways, which can be readily applied to address other engineering challenges.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2018

Gradient Field Imploding Liner Fusion Propulsion System: NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Phase I Final Report

The advancement of human deep space exploration requires the continued development of energetic in-space propulsion systems, from current chemical engines to nuclear thermal rockets to future high energy concepts such as nuclear fusion. As NASA embarks on a program to develop near-term nuclear thermal propulsion, this NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase I activity was funded to investigate the feasibility of an innovative approach toward highly energetic pulsed fusion propulsion. Previous concept studies have proposed the conversion of fusion energy for in-space propulsion, ranging from laser-ignited fusion systems such as Gevaltig and VISTA, to the British Interplanetary Society's Daedalus concept and its more recent incarnation under Project Icarus, to steady-state spherical torus fusion systems. Recent NIAC studies have also evaluated several innovative fusion concepts, including the acceleration and compression of field reversed configuration plasmas in time-changing magnetic fields, magnetically driven liners imploding onto plasma targets, and high current z-pinch compression of material liners onto fission-fusion fuel targets. While each of these studies firmly established the potential benefits of fusion systems for interplanetary travel, they also identified significant challenges in successfully engineering such systems for spacecraft propulsion. The concept outlined in this Technical Publication (TP) builds on the lessons learned from these prior activities, approaching the quest for fusion-powered propulsion through an innovative variation of magneto-inertial fusion concepts developed for terrestrial power applications.

Lapointe, M. R.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Characterization of precipitation in gradient Inconel 718 superalloy

Inconel 718 (IN718) superalloy is a well-established material for the application of aircraft engine and power generator due to its excellent performance at high temperatures. The outstanding mechanical properties of IN718 are largely determined by the precipitates. Here, we investigated the precipitation behaviors and the corresponding mechanical properties of the heat-treated gradient IN718 alloy. The microscopy studies reveal that high-density hexagonal η phase with chemistry of Ni 3 (Al,Ti,Nb) formed in the nanograined IN718 alloy after annealing at 700 °C. Additionally, the compressive stress introduced during severe plastic deformation may have prohibited the formation of γ” phase while accelerated the precipitation of γ’ phase, consequently favoring the precipitation of η phase. The corresponding evolution of mechanical behavior of gradient IN718 alloy is investigated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

A study of adhesive bonding in metal–metal, metal–CFRP, and CFRP–CFRP material combinations under shear deformation: Fracture morphologies and damage mechanisms

Safe design of adhesive joining in multi-materials in engineered structures requires the accumulation of numerous experimental data on the failure behavior of various adhesively-bonded material combinations under different loading conditions. The deep understanding of mechanical performance, fracturing morphologies, and main damage mechanisms is also quintessential for accelerating the development of proper physics-based and multi-scale models for assisting the design. Towards this goal, this work presents a comprehensive characterization of the failure behavior of adhesively-bonded metal–metal, metal–CFRP, and CFRP–CFRP material combinations under global shear deformation via single lap shear testing. Thanks to a synergistic combination of measurement methods by using Digital Imaging Correlation (DIC) and 3D optical profilometry, adhesive features on the adherend after failure were quantified and the main progressive damage mechanisms were identified. The characterization performed in this work provides quantitative data that contributes to a better understanding of shear failure in adhesive bonding across different bi-material combinations. Finally, the obtained results have practical implications, including the potential to enhance adhesive bonding design, identify failure causes in adhesive joints, and develop or validate computational models capable of capturing the observed behavior in various adhesively-bonded materials under global shear deformation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Proton-regulated alcohol oxidation for high-capacity ketone-based flow battery anolyte

Redox flow batteries have a unique architecture that potentially enables cost-effective long-duration energy storage to address the intermittency introduced by increased renewable integration for the decarbonization of the electric power sector. Targeted molecular engineering has demonstrated electrochemical reversibility in natively redox-inactive ketone molecules in aqueous electrolytes. Yet, the kinetics of fluorenone-based flow batteries continue to be limited by slow alcohol oxidation. We show how strategically designed proton regulators can accelerate alcohol oxidation and thus enhance battery kinetics. Fluorenone-based flow batteries with the organic additive ß-cyclodextrin demonstrate enhanced rate capability, high capacity, and long cycling. This study opens a new avenue to improve the kinetics of aqueous organic flow batteries by modulating the reaction pathway with a homogeneous catalyst.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Prospect of Thermal Shock Induced Healing of Lithium Dendrite

Dendritic growth plagues the development of rechargeable lithium metal anodes. Recently, it has been reported that self-heating of the cell provides a mitigation strategy for suppressing dendrites. In order to study this phenomenon, we extend our recently developed nonlinear phase-field model to incorporate an energy balance equation allowing a full thermally coupled electrodeposition model using the open-source software package MOOSE. In this study, we consider the interplay between ionic transport and electrochemical reaction rate as a function of temperature and explore the possibility of using thermal shock induced dendrite suppression. We discover that, depending on the electrochemical reaction barrier and ionic diffusion barrier, self-heating could accelerate (larger reaction barrier) or decelerate (larger diffusion barrier) dendrite formation. Given that the electrolyte constituents can be used to tune both barriers, this study could provide an important avenue to exploit the self-heating effect favorably through electrolyte engineering.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2016

In Situ Methods, Infrastructures, and Applications on High Performance Computing Platforms, a State-of-the-art (STAR) Report

The considerable interest in the high performance computing (HPC) community regarding analyzing and visualization data without first writing to disk, i.e., in situ processing, is due to several factors. First is an I/O cost savings, where data is analyzed /visualized while being generated, without first storing to a filesystem. Second is the potential for increased accuracy, where fine temporal sampling of transient analysis might expose some complex behavior missed in coarse temporal sampling. Third is the ability to use all available resources, CPU’s and accelerators, in the computation of analysis products. This STAR paper brings together researchers, developers and practitioners using in situ methods in extreme-scale HPC with the goal to present existing methods, infrastructures, and a range of computational science and engineering applications using in situ analysis and visualization.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Integrated Direct Air Capture and H₂-Free CO₂ Valorization

This project advances fundamental understanding of a novel integrated direct air capture (DAC) and CO₂ conversion process that valorizes atmospheric CO₂ without external H₂. The research encompasses four critical components: (1) design of task-specific ionic liquids for efficient CO₂ capture under ambient conditions, (2) development of H₂-free tandem catalytic systems using ethane as a reductant, (3) advanced operando characterization to elucidate capture and conversion mechanisms, and (4) data science-driven predictive computation to accelerate material discovery. Over the project period, we developed five high-performance DAC sorbent systems—including CaO/superbase ionic liquid composites, Ni-MOF/Ionic Liquid (IL) hybrids, fluorinated covalent organic frameworks with ion-pair functional groups, defect-engineered UiO-66, and a validated kinetic model for humid-condition operation, achieving CO₂ capacities up to 1.86 mmol/g at 400 ppm with excellent cycling stability. For H₂-free conversion, we constructed atomically synergistic Zn–O–Cr binuclear catalytic sites that achieve 100% ethylene selectivity, ~9.6% ethane conversion, and 99% CO₂ utilization in equimolar co-conversion of ethane and CO₂. We further demonstrated downstream valorization pathways converting CO and C₂H₄ into polyketones and C₃ chemicals. These advances strengthen the scientific foundation for producing value-added materials from ambient CO₂.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Relating Oxidative Protein Damage to Antioxidant Status in Health and Disease (Full Technical Report for 24-LW-026)

This two-year project evaluated how dietary antioxidants influence oxidative damage in cancer using complementary analytical and in-vivo approaches. We initially developed a protein oxidation labeling workflow and a parallel accelerator and molecular mass spectrometry (PAMMS) quantification method, but ultimately discontinued the labeling strategy due to unresolved separation challenges; PAMMS was instead leveraged to quantify radiolabeled catechol in rat plasma as a methodological benchmark. The biological study used a genetically engineered murine model (GEMM) for breast cancer (n = 40; four groups of 10: cancer/high antioxidant diet, cancer/normal diet, healthy/high-antioxidant diet, healthy/normal diet). In lieu of the abandoned labeling assay, untargeted metabolomics profiled plasma across groups, revealing widespread treatment-dependent changes in metabolites.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1979

Measuring unsteady pressure on rotating compressor blades

The capability for accurate measurement of unsteady pressure on the surface of compressor and fan blades during engine operation was established. Tests were run on miniature semiconductor strain gage pressure transducers mounted in several arrangements. Both surface mountings and recessed flush mountings were tested. Test parameters included mounting arrangement, blade material, temperature, local strain in the blade, acceleration normal to the transducer diaphragm, centripetal acceleration, and pressure. Test results showed no failures of transducers or mountings and indicated an uncertainty of unsteady pressure measurement of approximately + or - 6%, plus 0.1 kPa for a typical application.

Englund, D. R.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Flight tests and preliminary aerodynamic parameter extraction of an externally piloted vehicle aircraft model

Model aircraft flight test investigations have been undertaken to develop a low cost flight data acquisition system and to evaluate aerodynamic parameter estimation techniques. The externally piloted vehicles (EPVs) used are instrumented with sensors measuring acceleration, angular rates, angles of attack and sideslip, flight path velocity, and control deflections. Measured state variables are downlink telemetered to a ground-based real time flight data acquisition system; the data thus recorded are used by flight test engineers and EPV pilots to monitor conditions and aid in piloting tasks. Attention is given to comparisons of F-16 EPV data with wind tunnel data.

White, E. R.↗
NASA NTRS1993

A Navier-Stokes solver for turbomachinery applications

A computer code for solving the Reynolds-averaged full Navier-Stokes equations has been developed and applied using H- and C-type grids. The Baldwin-Lomax eddy-viscosity model is used for turbulence closure. The integration in time is based on an explicit four-stage Runge-Kutta scheme. Local time stepping, variable coefficient implicit residual smoothing, and a full multigrid method have been implemented to accelerate steady-state calculations. A grid independence analysis is presented for a transonic rotor blade. Comparisons with experimental data show that the code is an accurate viscous solver and can give very good blade-to-blade predictions for engineering applications.

Arnone, A.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Laboratory electron exposure of TSS-1 thermal control coating

RM400, a conductive thermal control coating, was developed for use on the exterior shell of the tethered satellite. Testing was performed by the Engineering Physics Division to quantify effects of the space environment on this coating and its conductive and optical properties. Included in this testing was exposure of RM400 to electrons with energies ranging from 0.1 to 1 keV, to simulate electrons accelerated from the ambient space plasma when the tethered satellite is fully deployed. During this testing, the coating was found to luminesce, and a prolonged exposure of the coating to high-energy electrons caused the coating to darken. This report describes the tests done to quantify the degradation of the thermal control properties caused by electron exposure and to measure the luminescence as a function of electron energy and current density to the satellite.

Vaughn, J. A.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Measuring Astronaut Performance in Microgravity: Loads and Modeling

Quantitative analysis of human performance in microgravity is important for both scientific investigations and spacecraft engineering design. By collecting and evaluating the kinematics and kinetics data of astronauts in space, it becomes possible to characterize human motor strategies, postural behavior in weightlessness, improve the design of orbital modules, help maintain a quiescent microgravity for acceleration-sensitive material science and life science experiments (NASA JSC, 1996), and optimize the human operative capabilities during long-duration space missions. Hence, there is a need for a precise measurement of the forces and moments exerted by the astronauts on the space station and their postures and movements.

Newman, D.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SLS Payload Launch Loads Analysis Using the NTRC Method

Norton-Thevenin Receptance Coupling (NTRC), as described in several NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) papers shows promise in enabling loads development for payloads with less computational cost and analyst time as compared to a full integrated vehicle coupled loads analysis (CLA). NTRC allows the free vehicle responses and impedance (accelerance) at the payload to vehicle interface (derived from integrated vehicle CLA) to be used with a payload model in a payload CLA. Due to the NTRC damping differing from the full integrated vehicle damping, results are slightly different, so coverage factors were developed to ensure NTRC results enveloped results from a traditional CLA. NTRC results with coverage factors were very close to full CLA results. The Space Launch System (SLS) coupled loads team has developed an implementation of the NTRC method to enable support of co-manifested payloads with analysis needs that do not fit the primary SLS load cycle schedule. The NTRC method was successfully used to support the European System Providing Refueling, Infrastructure, and Communications (ESPRIT) module for Gateway planned to fly on Artemis V and has been adopted as the SLS approach for supporting payload CLA requests that do not align with vehicle load cycles.

SLS↗