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At least 1,531 records · Page 85
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1992

Fusion energy from the Moon for the twenty-first century

It is shown in this paper that the D-He-3 fusion fuel cycle is not only credible from a physics standpoint, but that its breakeven and ignition characteristics could be developed on roughly the same time schedule as the DT cycle. It was also shown that the extremely low fraction of power in neutrons, the lack of significant radioactivity in the reactants, and the potential for very high conversion efficiencies, can result in definite advantages for the D-He-3 cycle with respect to DT fusion and fission reactors in the twenty-first century. More specifically, the D-He-3 cycle can accomplish the following: (1) eliminate the need for deep geologic waste burial facilities and the wastes can qualify for Class A, near-surface land burial; (2) allow 'inherently safe' reactors to be built that, under the worst conceivable accident, cannot cause a civilian fatality or result in a significant (greater than 100 mrem) exposure to a member of the public; (3) reduce the radiation damage levels to a point where no scheduled replacement of reactor structural components is required, i.e., full reactor lifetimes (approximately 30 FPY) can be credibly claimed; (4) increase the reliability and availability of fusion reactors compared to DT systems because of the greatly reduced radioactivity, the low neutron damage, and the elimination of T breeding; and (5) greatly reduce the capital costs of fusion power plants (compared to DT systems) by as much as 50 percent and present the potential for a significant reduction on the COE. The concepts presented in this paper tie together two of the most ambitious high-technology endeavors of the twentieth century: the development of controlled thermonuclear fusion for civilian power applications and the utilization of outer space for the benefit of mankind on Earth.

Kulcinski, G. L.↗
NASA NTRS2011

Early Oscillation Detection Technique for Hybrid DC/DC Converters

Oscillation or instability is a situation that must be avoided for reliable hybrid DC/DC converters. A real-time electronics measurement technique was developed to detect catastrophic oscillations at early stages for hybrid DC/DC converters. It is capable of identifying low-level oscillation and determining the degree of the oscillation at a unique frequency for every individual model of the converters without disturbing their normal operations. This technique is specially developed for space-used hybrid DC/DC converters, but it is also suitable for most of commercial and military switching-mode power supplies. This is a weak-electronic-signal detection technique to detect hybrid DC/DC converter oscillation presented as a specific noise signal at power input pins. It is based on principles of feedback control loop oscillation and RF signal modulations, and is realized by using signal power spectral analysis. On the power spectrum, a channel power amplitude at characteristic frequency (CPcf) and a channel power amplitude at switching frequency (CPsw) are chosen as oscillation level indicators. If the converter is stable, the CPcf is a very small pulse and the CPsw is a larger, clear, single pulse. At early stage of oscillation, the CPcf increases to a certain level and the CPsw shows a small pair of sideband pulses around it. If the converter oscillates, the CPcf reaches to a higher level and the CPsw shows more high-level sideband pulses. A comprehensive stability index (CSI) is adopted as a quantitative measure to accurately assign a degree of stability to a specific DC/DC converter. The CSI is a ratio of normal and abnormal power spectral density, and can be calculated using specified and measured CPcf and CPsw data. The novel and unique feature of this technique is the use of power channel amplitudes at characteristic frequency and switching frequency to evaluate stability and identify oscillations at an early stage without interfering with a DC/DC converter s normal operation. This technique eliminates the probing problem of a gain/phase margin method by connecting the power input to a spectral analyzer. Therefore, it is able to evaluate stability for all kinds of hybrid DC/DC converters with or without remote sense pins, and is suitable for real-time and in-circuit testing. This frequency-domain technique is more sensitive to detect oscillation at early stage than the time-domain method using an oscilloscope.

Wang, Bright L.↗
NASA NTRS2016

ICAROUS: Integrated Configurable Architecture for Unmanned Systems

NASA's Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) project aims at enabling near-term, safe operations of small UAS vehicles in uncontrolled airspace, i.e., Class G airspace. A far-term goal of UTM research and development is to accommodate the expected rise in small UAS traffic density throughout the National Airspace System (NAS) at low altitudes for beyond visual line-of-sight operations. This video describes a new capability referred to as ICAROUS (Integrated Configurable Algorithms for Reliable Operations of Unmanned Systems), which is being developed under the auspices of the UTM project. ICAROUS is a software architecture comprised of highly assured algorithms for building safety-centric, autonomous, unmanned aircraft applications. Central to the development of the ICAROUS algorithms is the use of well-established formal methods to guarantee higher levels of safety assurance by monitoring and bounding the behavior of autonomous systems. The core autonomy-enabling capabilities in ICAROUS include constraint conformance monitoring and autonomous detect and avoid functions. ICAROUS also provides a highly configurable user interface that enables the modular integration of mission-specific software components.

Consiglio, Maria C.↗
NASA NTRS2018

NEPP Evaluation of Automotive Grade Tantalum Chip Capacitors

Automotive grade tantalum (Ta) chip capacitors are available at lower cost with smaller physical size and higher volumetric efficiency compared to military/space grade capacitors. Designers of high reliability aerospace and military systems would like to take advantage of these attributes while maintaining the high standards for long-term reliable operation they are accustomed to when selecting military-qualified established reliability tantalum chip capacitors (e.g., MIL-PRF-55365). The objective for this evaluation was to assess the long-term performance of off-the-shelf automotive grade Ta chip capacitors (i.e., manufacturer self-qualified per AEC Q-200). Two (2) lots of case size D manganese dioxide (MnO2) cathode Ta chip capacitors from 1 manufacturer were evaluated. The evaluation consisted of construction analysis, basic electrical parameter characterization, extended long-term (2000 hours) life testing and some accelerated stress testing. Tests and acceptance criteria were based upon manufacturer datasheets and the Automotive Electronics Council's AEC Q-200 qualification specification for passive electronic components. As-received a few capacitors were marginally above the specified tolerance for capacitance and ESR. X-ray inspection found that the anodes for some devices may not be properly aligned within the molded encapsulation leaving less than 1 mil thickness of the encapsulation. This evaluation found that the long-term life performance of automotive grade Ta chip capacitors is generally within specification limits suggesting these capacitors may be suitable for some space applications.

Automotive↗
NASA NTRS2022

Trajectory Specification Applied to Terminal Airspace

Despite major efforts to automate air traffic control (ATC), it is still performed by humans today. The complexity and safety-criticality of ATC makes it very difficult to safely automate, but it must be automated to increase airspace capacity (the density of traffic that can be safely managed) and airport throughput (the number of arrivals and departures that an airport can safely handle in a given period of time) beyond what is possible with human controllers. This paper presents the Trajectory Specification (TS) concept, which can help to safely automate ATC. TS is a method of specifying aircraft trajectories such that the position at any given time in flight is restricted to a precisely defined bounding space, removing all ambiguity as to where the flight is allowed to be. The bounding space or volume is determined by tolerances relative to a reference trajectory (position as a function of time). The tolerances are dynamic and are based on the aircraft navigation capabilities and the traffic situation. The tolerances can be a piecewise linear function of time or distance along the route, allowing the tolerances to vary as needed, typically increasing with time for departures and decreasing for arrivals. A Trajectory Specification Language (TSL) is proposed for communicating trajectories from aircraft to ATC as requests and from ATC to aircraft as assignments. The TS concept requires a new generation of airborne Flight Management Systems (FMS) that understand the TSL and can fly the assigned trajectories, but this paper focuses on the ATC functions and the prototype ATC algorithms and software that were developed to test the TS concept. Assuming conformance, TS can guarantee safe separation for an arbitrary length of time even in the event of an ATC system or communication outage. It can help to achieve the high level of safety and reliability needed for ATC automation, and it can also reduce the reliance on ATC backup systems for tactical conflict detection and resolution during normal operation. TS can be applied to any controlled airspace, including enroute, terminal, and urban airspace, but this paper presents algorithms and software for arrival spacing and conflict detection and resolution in the terminal airspace serving a major airport. In a fast-time simulation of a full day of traffic in a major terminal airspace, all conflicts were resolved in near real time, demonstrating the computational feasibility and the preliminary operational feasibility of the TS concept. This paper is a compilation of previous papers, and it adds significant information that was omitted from those papers due to length limitations. It also updates some of the results of those earlier papers due to algorithm refinements and corrections of minor software errors.

air traffic control, trajectory↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

New Phase Change Materials for Active Photonics

Phase change materials or PCMs are truly remarkable compounds whose unique switchable properties have fueled an explosion of emerging applications in electronics and photonics. Nonetheless, if we discount their use in optical discs, PCMs’ immense application potential in photonics beyond data recording has only begun to unfold in the past decade. While the material requirements for optical or electronic data storage have been succinctly summarized as five key elements “writability, archival storage, erasability, readability, and cyclability” decades ago, these requirements are not universally relevant to the diverse set of photonic applications now being explored. It also comes as no surprise that existing PCMs, which have been heavily vetted for data storage, are not necessarily the optimal compositions for different use cases in optics and photonics. PCMs with their attributes custom-tailored for specific applications are therefore in demand as phase-change photonics continue to expand. Here we discuss the PCM selection and design strategies specifically for photonic applications as well as our recent work developing active integrated photonic devices and metasurface optics based on new PCMs tailored for photonics.

phase change materials↗
NASA NTRS1999

Adaptive Mesh Refinement for Microelectronic Device Design

Finite element and finite volume methods are used in a variety of design simulations when it is necessary to compute fields throughout regions that contain varying materials or geometry. Convergence of the simulation can be assessed by uniformly increasing the mesh density until an observable quantity stabilizes. Depending on the electrical size of the problem, uniform refinement of the mesh may be computationally infeasible due to memory limitations. Similarly, depending on the geometric complexity of the object being modeled, uniform refinement can be inefficient since regions that do not need refinement add to the computational expense. In either case, convergence to the correct (measured) solution is not guaranteed. Adaptive mesh refinement methods attempt to selectively refine the region of the mesh that is estimated to contain proportionally higher solution errors. The refinement may be obtained by decreasing the element size (h-refinement), by increasing the order of the element (p-refinement) or by a combination of the two (h-p refinement). A successful adaptive strategy refines the mesh to produce an accurate solution measured against the correct fields without undue computational expense. This is accomplished by the use of a) reliable a posteriori error estimates, b) hierarchal elements, and c) automatic adaptive mesh generation. Adaptive methods are also useful when problems with multi-scale field variations are encountered. These occur in active electronic devices that have thin doped layers and also when mixed physics is used in the calculation. The mesh needs to be fine at and near the thin layer to capture rapid field or charge variations, but can coarsen away from these layers where field variations smoothen and charge densities are uniform. This poster will present an adaptive mesh refinement package that runs on parallel computers and is applied to specific microelectronic device simulations. Passive sensors that operate in the infrared portion of the spectrum as well as active device simulations that model charge transport and Maxwell's equations will be presented.

Cwik, Tom↗
NASA NTRS2004

Analysis of Orientation-dependence of Martian Gullies

The recent discovery of small Martian gullies has stimulated debate about the role that water plays on the Martian surface under current or recent conditions. Of critical importance in evaluating various gully hypotheses is reliable morphometric and orientation data. The former centers on such questions as whether the water (or another fluid) emanated from a surface or sub-surface source and the duration of flow. The latter ties into whether solar insolation has an important effect on formation of the initial water source and subsequent mobilization. Initial studies of gullies indicated a poleward orientation dependence, an observation which has recently been challenged. Herein we investigate the orientation of Martian gullies and the dependence of various parameters on the orientation. Whereas previous studies have been global or through most of the southern hemisphere, we focus on several specific regions. This approach offers some advantages in that regional variations are factored out, such that of lithology, ground water table depth (if any), surface thermal properties, and other parameters are more or less the same in a given region. Differences in gully attributes as a function of orientation within a region can more easily be attributable to solar insolation effects than is the case for global statistics. We use the orientation to constrain several classes of gully formation hypotheses. 1) A favored orientation toward the pole across all regions could indicate a process dominated by melting of cold trapped ice, snow, or condensed volatiles from incident sunlight during summer under current conditions. 2) Variations among all regions would be more consistent with mechanisms less strongly tied to current solar insolation, such as geothermal heating of ice. 3) Favored orientations within specific regions, but differing among regions, could indicate a preference for poleward ices and melting, with orientation being a function of age and dependent on variations in obliquity and precision. We find that the gullies fall into either categories 2 or 3, but not 1, indicating the recent melting of cold trapped condensates is unlikely the sole formation mechanism.

Mohan, S.↗
NASA NTRS2017

An Overview of Communications Technology and Development Efforts for 2015 SBIR Phase I

This report highlights innovative SBIR 2015 Phase I projects specifically addressing areas in Communications Technology and Development which is one of six core competencies at NASA Glenn Research Center. There are fifteen technologies featured with emphasis on a wide spectrum of applications such as novel solid state lasers for space-based water vapor dial; wide temperature, high voltage and energy density capacitors for aerospace exploration; instrument for airborne measurement of carbonyl sulfide; high-power tunable seed laser for methane Lidar transmitter; ROC-rib deployable ka-band antenna for nanosatellites; a SIC-based microcontroller for high-temperature in-situ instruments and systems; improved yield, performance and reliability of high-actuator-count deformable mirrors; embedded multifunctional optical sensor system; switching electronics for space-based telescopes with advanced AO systems; integrated miniature DBR laser module for Lidar instruments; and much more. Each article in this booklet describes an innovation, technical objective, and highlights NASA commercial and industrial applications. space-based water vapor dial; wide temperature, high voltage and energy density capacitors foraerospace exploration; instrument for airborne measurement of carbonyl sulfide; high-power tunable seed laser formethane Lidar transmitter; ROC-rib deployable ka-band antenna for nanosatellites.

space-based water vapor dial; wide temperature↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design, Formalization, and Verification of Decision Making for Intelligent Systems

The development of autonomous systems requires a rigorous process that can guarantee a system’s reliability in critical applications. At its core, an autonomous system bases its behavior on a well-defined decision making system. In this paper, we present a methodological basis for the design, formalization and formal verification of Decision Making systems for autonomous agents. The approach is generally applicable to operational objectives that can be functionally decomposed and subsequently represented as Hierarchical Finite State Machines. As a case study, we present the application of this method to implement a Decision Making model in Simulink. Furthermore, we present how we use NASA’s FRET tool to write requirements in structured natural language and generate formal specifications that can be automatically digested by NASA’s CoCoSim tool. Finally, we present how, by leveraging CoCoSim, we perform formal verification against the Simulink model and present analysis results.

Model-based development↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design, Formalization, and Verification of Decision Making for Intelligent Systems

The development of autonomous systems requires a rigorous process that can guarantee a system’s reliability in critical applications. At its core, an autonomous system bases its behavior on a well-defined decision making system. In this paper, we present a methodological basis for the design, formalization and formal verification of Decision Making systems for autonomous agents. The approach is generally applicable to operational objectives that can be functionally decomposed and subsequently represented as Hierarchical Finite State Machines. As a case study, we present the application of this method to implement a Decision Making model in Simulink. Furthermore, we present how we use NASA’s FRET tool to write requirements in structured natural language and generate formal specifications that can be automatically digested by NASA’s CoCoSim tool. Finally, we present how, by leveraging CoCoSim, we perform formal verification against the Simulink model and present analysis results.

Model-based development↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Validation of a Two-Phase CFD Model for Autogenous Pressurization and Expulsion

This paper presents a two-phase computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model for simulating autogenous pressurization and expulsion in a cryogenic liquid hydrogen storage tank, utilizing a volume-of-fluid (VOF) approach combined with the kinetics-based Schrage equation to accurately capture the phase boundary and interfacial heat, mass, and momentum transfer between liquid and vapor phases. The model is validated against experimental data from NASA's K-site tank facility, specifically experimental case 225, which involved pressurization and controlled expulsion of liquid hydrogen. Various turbulence models are evaluated to assess their influence on model accuracy. The CFD simulations successfully replicate key thermodynamic behaviors observed during the experiments, including pressure evolution, temperature profiles, and phase-change dynamics at the vapor-liquid interface. The predicted tank pressures, temperatures, and pressurant requirements agree with experimental data, with pressurant mass predictions within 16\% of observed values. This study highlights the importance of selecting appropriate turbulence models to accurately simulate complex flow and heat transfer phenomena during tank pressurization and expulsion. By enhancing the accuracy and reliability of CFD models for liquid hydrogen under cryogenic conditions, this research contributes to developing efficient cryogenic propellant management strategies for future space missions.

Computational Fluid Dynamics↗
NASA NTRS1977

Design of space-type electronic power transformers

Both open and encapsulated varieties of high reliability, low weight, and high efficiency moderate and high voltage transformers were investigated to determine the advantages and limitations of their construction in the ranges of power and voltage required for operation in the hard vacuum environment of space. Topics covered include: (1) selection of the core material; (2) preliminary calculation of core dimensions; (3) selection of insulating materials including magnet wire insulation, coil forms, and layer and interwinding insulation; (4) coil design; (5) calculation of copper losses, core losses and efficiency; (6) calculation of temperature rise; and (7) optimization of design with changes in core selection or coil design as required to meet specifications.

Ahearn, J. F.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Numerical Simulation of Dual-Mode Scramjet Combustors

Results of a numerical investigation of a three-dimensional dual-mode scramjet isolator-combustor flow-field are presented. Specifically, the effect of wall cooling on upstream interaction and flow-structure is examined for a case assuming jet-to-jet symmetry within the combustor. Comparisons are made with available experimental wall pressures. The full half-duct for the isolator-combustor is then modeled in order to study the influence of side-walls. Large scale three-dimensionality is observed in the flow with massive separation forward on the side-walls of the duct. A brief review of convergence-acceleration techniques useful in dual-mode simulations is presented, followed by recommendations regarding the development of a reliable and unambiguous experimental data base for guiding CFD code assessments in this area.

Rodriguez, C. G.↗
NASA NTRS2016

A 30+ Year AVHRR LAI and FAPAR Climate Data Record: Algorithm Description, Validation, and Case Study

In- land surface models, which are used to evaluate the role of vegetation in the context ofglobal climate change and variability, LAI and FAPAR play a key role, specifically with respect to thecarbon and water cycles. The AVHRR-based LAIFAPAR dataset offers daily temporal resolution,an improvement over previous products. This climate data record is based on a carefully calibratedand corrected land surface reflectance dataset to provide a high-quality, consistent time-series suitablefor climate studies. It spans from mid-1981 to the present. Further, this operational dataset is availablein near real-time allowing use for monitoring purposes. The algorithm relies on artificial neuralnetworks calibrated using the MODIS LAI/FAPAR dataset. Evaluation based on cross-comparisonwith MODIS products and in situ data show the dataset is consistent and reliable with overalluncertainties of 1.03 and 0.15 for LAI and FAPAR, respectively. However, a clear saturation effect isobserved in the broadleaf forest biomes with high LAI (greater than 4.5) and FAPAR (greater than 0.8) values.

MODIS↗
NASA NTRS1999

Human Reliability Analysis: An Overview

Human/process error is potentially a large contributor to failures of aerospace systems. For some systems, such as the space shuttle main engine, large amounts of data are available, and accurate failure rates can be determined empirically. For such systems, the human error is implicit in the empirical failure rate and does not need to be quantified separately. However, for other systems, such as the solid rocket boosters, large amounts of data are not available and the failure rates must be determined by more theoretical means. When empirical data is lacking, structural models and engineering judgment must be employed. In this case, the human/process error must be modeled explicitly. An extensive literature review was performed to determine what methods already exist for modeling human error for aerospace systems. No methods that apply directly were found, although there are a number of methods that have been developed specifically for the nuclear power industry that could probably be modified for space applications. The results of the literature review are presented, as well as recommendations for future research.

Navard, Sharon E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Thermal modeling of a Ni-H2 battery cell

The nickel-hydrogen secondary battery has many desirable features which make it attractive for satellite power systems. It can provide a significant improvement over the energy density of present spacecraft nickel-cadnium batteries, combined with longer life, tolerance to overcharge and possibility of state-of-charge indication. However, to realize these advantages, accurate thermal modeling of nickel-hydrogen cells is required in order to properly design the battery pack so that it operates within a specified temperature range during the operation. Maintenance of a low operating temperature and a uniform temperature profile within the cell will yield better reliability, improved cycle life and better charge/discharge efficiencies. This research has the objective of developing and testing a thermal model which can be used to characterize battery operation. Primarily, temperature distribution with the heat generation rates as a function of position and time will be evaluated for a Ni-H2 cell in the three operating modes: (1) charge cycle, (2) discharge cycle, and (3) overcharge condition, if applicable. Variables to be examined include charging current, discharge rates, state of charge, pressure and temperature. Once the thermal model has been developed, this resulting model will predict the actual operating temperature and temperature gradient for the specific cell geometry to be used.

Ryu, Si-Ok↗
NASA NTRS2005

Long-duration Operation of 2-micron Coherent Doppler Lidar in Space

The reliability and lifetime of laser remote sensing systems that can operate autonomously over a sufficiently long period are mainly constrained by the laser diode arrays (LDAs) used for pumping their laser transmitters. The lifetime of a 2-micron coherent lidar operating in space is particularly of concern in lieu of required pump pulse duration of Thulium and Holmium solid state lasers (approx. 1msec) that are considerably longer than those of more widely used 1-micron lasers (< 0.2 msec). A factor of 5 to 10 times longer pulse duration can easily translate to over an order of magnitude shorter lifetime for a typical commercially available high-power 2-D array. Therefore, it is imperative to address the lifetime and reliability of LDAs for pumping 2-micron lasers by exploring all the potential options that significantly prolong their life meeting the required operational lifetime of space-based coherent Doppler lidars. The leading causes of sudden failure and premature degradation of LDAs are intrinsic semiconductor defects, optical facet breakdown resulting from excessive localized heating, and thermo-mechanical stresses due to the extreme thermal cycling of the laser active regions1-2. Long pulse operation grossly amplifies the impact of these failure/degradation causes, particularly the thermo-mechanical stresses due to pulse-to-pulse thermal cycling. Therefore, several experimental setups have been developed to investigate each of the failure mechanisms and causes of premature degradation in order to evaluate various package designs, define the best operating parameters, and to guide the technology advancement, leading to highly reliable and very long lifetime LDAs5. Several areas of improvement in the packaging and fabrication process of laser diodes have already been identified and efforts towards implementing these improvements are well underway. These efforts include the use of advanced high thermal conductivity materials for packaging of laser diode arrays and new fabrication techniques for mechanically attaching laser diode bars and submounts. But even using the existing LDAs, it may be possible to increase the lifetime by careful selection of the package type, number of bars per package and their pitch, operational temperature, and operating parameters such repetition rate, pulsewidth, and applied current. Obviously, the LDA specification and operational parameters will involve a system level trade analysis to ensure that the lidar instrument meets its performance objectives. One goal of this work is to enable such trade analysis by evaluating LDAs from different suppliers in different package types and quantifying their performance as a function of their operational parameters.

Amzajerdian, Farzin↗