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At least 163 records · Page 9

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NASA NTRS2015

On the Recovery Stress of a Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20 High Temperature Shape Memory Alloy

Recovery stress in shape memory alloys (SMAs), also known as blocking stress, is an important property generally obtained during heating under a dimensional constraint as the material undergoes the martensitic phase transformation. This property has been instinctively utilized in most SMA shape-setting procedures, and has been used in numerous applications such as fastening and joining, rock splitting, safety release mechanisms, reinforced composites, medical devices, and many other applications. The stress generation is also relevant to actuator applications where jamming loads (e.g., in case the actuator gets stuck and is impeded from moving) need to be determined for proper hardware sizing. Recovery stresses in many SMA systems have been shown to reach stresses in the order of 800 MPa, achieved via thermo-mechanical training such as pre-straining, heat treatments or other factors. With the advent of high strength, high temperature SMAs, recovery stress data has been rarely probed, and there is no information pertinent to the magnitudes of these stresses. Thus, the purpose of this work is to investigate the recovery stress capability of a precipitation strengthened, Ni50.3Ti29.7Hf20 (at.) high temperature SMA in uniaxial tension and compression. This material has been shown to exhibit outstanding strength and stability during constant-stress, thermal cycling, but no data exists on constant-strain thermal cycling. Several training routines were implemented as part of this work including isothermal pre-straining, isobaric thermal cycling, and isothermal cyclic training routines. Regardless of the training method used, the recovery stress was characterized using constant-strain (strain-controlled condition) thermal cycling between the upper and lower cycle temperatures. Preliminary results indicate recovery stresses in excess of 1.5 GPa were obtained after a specific training routine. This stress magnitude is significantly higher than conventional NiTi stress generation capability.

Recovery Stress↗

NASA NTRS2013

An Airborne Parachute Compartment Test Bed for the Orion Parachute Test Program

The test program developing parachutes for the Orion/MPCV includes drop tests with parachutes deployed from an Orion-like parachute compartment at a wide range of dynamic pressures. Aircraft and altitude constraints precluded the use of an Orion boilerplate capsule for several test points. Therefore, a dart-shaped test vehicle with a hi-fidelity mock-up of the Orion parachute compartment has been developed. The available aircraft options imposed constraints on the test vehicle development and concept of operations. Delivery of this test vehicle to the desired velocity, altitude, and orientation required for the test is a di cult problem involving multiple engineering disciplines. This paper describes the development of the test technique. The engineering challenges include extraction from an aircraft, reposition of the extraction parachute, and mid-air separation of two vehicles, neither of which has an active attitude control system. The desired separation behavior is achieved by precisely controlling the release point using on-board monitoring of the motion. The design of the test vehicle is also described. The trajectory simulations and other analyses used to develop this technique and predict the behavior of the test vehicle are reviewed in detail. The application of the technique on several successful drop tests is summarized.

Moore, James W.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Diffuse gamma radiation

An examination of the intensity, energy spectrum, and spatial distribution of the diffuse gamma-radiation observed by SAS-2 satellite away from the galactic plane in the energy range above 35 MeV has shown that it consists of two components. One component is generally correlated with galactic latitudes, the atomic hydrogen column density was deduced from 21 cm measurements, and the continuum radio emission, believed to be synchrotron emission. It has an energy spectrum similar to that in the plane and joins smoothly to the intense radiation from the plane. It is therefore presumed to be of galactic origin. The other component is apparently isotropic, at least on a coarse scale, and has a steep energy spectrum. No evidence is found for a cosmic ray halo surrounding the galaxy in the shape of a sphere or oblate spheroid with galactic dimensions. Constraints for a halo model with significantly larger dimensions are set on the basis of an upper limit to the gamma-ray anisotropy.

Fichtel, C. E.↗

NASA NTRS1980

Deployable and erectable concepts for large spacecraft

Computerized structural sizing techniques were used to determine structural proportions of minimum mass tetrahedral truss platforms designed for low Earth and geosynchronous orbit. Optimum (minimum mass) deployable and erectable, hexagonal shaped spacecraft are sized to satisfy multiple design requirements and constraints. Strut dimensions characterizing minimum mass designs are found to be significantly more slender than those conventionally used for structural applications. Comparison studies show that mass characteristics of deployable and erectable platforms are approximately equal and that the shuttle flights required by deployable trusses become excessive above certain critical stiffness values. Recent investigations of eractable strut assembly are reviewed. Initial erectable structure assembly experiments show that a pair of astronauts can achieve EVA assembly times of 2-5 min/strut and studies indicate that an automated assembler can achieve times of less than 1 min/strut for around the clock operation.

Bush, H. G.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Investigation of aerodynamic design issues with regions of separated flow

Existing aerodynamic design methods have generally concentrated on the optimization of airfoil or wing shapes to produce a minimum drag while satisfying some basic constraints such as lift, pitching moment, or thickness. Since the minimization of drag almost always precludes the existence of separated flow, the evaluation and validation of these design methods for their robustness and accuracy when separated flow is present has not been aggressively pursued. However, two new applications for these design tools may be expected to include separated flow and the issues of aerodynamic design with this feature must be addressed. The first application of the aerodynamic design tools is the design of airfoils or wings to provide an optimal performance over a wide range of flight conditions (multipoint design). While the definition of 'optimal performance' in the multipoint setting is currently being hashed out, it is recognized that given a wide range of flight conditions, it will not be possible to ensure a minimum drag constraint at all conditions, and in fact some amount of separated flow (presumably small) may have to be allowed at the more demanding flight conditions. Thus a multipoint design method must be tolerant of the existence of separated flow and may include some controls upon its extent. The second application is in the design of wings with extended high speed buffet boundaries of their flight envelopes. Buffet occurs on a wing when regions of flow separation have grown to the extent that their time varying pressures induce possible destructive effects upon the wing structure or adversely effect either the aircraft controllability or passenger comfort. A conservative approach to the expansion of the buffet flight boundary is to simply expand the flight envelope of nonseparated flow under the assumption that buffet will also thus be alleviated. However, having the ability to design a wing with separated flow and thus to control the location, extent and severity of the separated flow regions may allow aircraft manufacturers to gain an advantage in the early design stages of an aircraft, when configuration changes are relatively inexpensive to make. The goal of the summer research at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) was twofold: first, to investigate a particular airfoil design problem observed under conditions of strong shock induced flow separation on the upper surface of an airfoil at transonic conditions; and second, to suggest and investigate design methodologies for the prediction (or detection) and control of flow separation. The context of both investigations was to use an existing two dimensional Navier-Stokes flow solver and the constrained direct/iterative surface curvature (CDISC) design algorithm developed at LaRC. As a lead in to the primary task, it was necessary to gain a familiarity with both the design method and the computational analysis and to perform the FORTRAN coding needed to couple them together.

Gally, Tom↗

NASA NTRS1993

MARIKA - A model revision system using qualitative analysis of simulations

This paper describes portions of a novel system called MARIKA (Model Analysis and Revision of Implicit Key Assumptions) to automatically revise a model of the normal human orientation system. The revision is based on analysis of discrepancies between experimental results and computer simulations. The discrepancies are calculated from qualitative analysis of quantitative simulations. The experimental and simulated time series are first discretized in time segments. Each segment is then approximated by linear combinations of simple shapes. The domain theory and knowledge are represented as a constraint network. Incompatibilities detected during constraint propagation within the network yield both parameter and structural model alterations. Interestingly, MARIKA diagnosed a data set from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Vestibular Laboratory as abnormal though the data was tagged as normal. Published results from other laboratories confirmed the finding. These encouraging results could lead to a useful clinical vestibular tool and to a scientific discovery system for space vestibular adaptation.

Groleau, Nicolas↗

NASA NTRS1999

Core Angular Momentum and the IERS Sub-Centers Activity for Monitoring Global Geophysical Fluids: Core Angular Momentum and Earth Rotation - Part 1

The part of the grant was to use recordings of seismic waves travelling through the earth's core (PKP waves) to study the inner core rotation and constraints on possible density anomalies in the fluid core. The shapes and relative arrival times of such waves associated with a common source were used to reduce the uncertainties in source location and excitation and the effect of unknown mantle structure. The major effort of the project is to assemble historical seismograms with long observing base lines. We have found original paper records of SSI earthquakes at COL between 1951 and 1966 in a warehouse of the U.S. Geological Survey office in Golden, Colorado, extending the previous measurements at COL by Song and Richards [1996] further back 15 years. Also in Alaska, the University of Alaska, Fairbanks Geophysical Institute (UAFGI) has been operating the Alaskan Seismic Network with over 100 stations since the late 1960s. Virtually complete archives of seismograms are still available at UAFGI. Unfortunately, most of the archives are in microchip form (develocorders), for which the use of waveforms is impossible. Paper seismograms (helicorders) are available for a limited number of stations, and digital recordings of analog signals started around 1989. Of the paper records obtained, stations at Gilmore Dome (GLM, very close to COL), Yukon (FYU), McKinley (MCK), and Sheep Creek Mountain (SCM) have the most complete continuous recordings.

Song, Xia-Dong↗

NASA NTRS2003

A New Fitting Procedure for the Blended He I 1083 nm Multiplet

The He I 1083 nm multiplet is a powerful tool for observing the outer solar atmosphere but is difficult to analyze because the lines are weak, highly variable, and spectrally blended, both internally and with other neighboring solar and telluric lines. After separation from nearby spectral features, two components of the He I multiplet are resolved. Fitting these lines with two unconstrained Gaussian profiles always gives a ratio of major to minor component of less than half the value which would be expected for optically thin lines. One possibility for explaining the discrepancy between the weakness of the lines and the ratio of the spectral components is to assume that the line formation regions are concentrated in laterally unresolved, optically thick structures with small filling factor. However, we present here a least-squares fitting technique using cubic splines with fixed breakpoints with the constraint that the blend is the sum of three identically shaped profiles shifted in wavelength according to the atomic structure of the blend and weighted by the corresponding statistics weights, in agreement with optically thin line formation. The basis functions for the fitting procedure have no built-in spectral symmetry or shape. The resulting underlying profiles tend to be asymmetric with excess absorption to the blue, consistent with formation by "hot" and "cool" spatial elements within the observed volume, with the hotter regions having differential motion toward the observer. The results agree well with NASA/XSO Spectromagnetograph observations in quiet sun and coronal holes. Partial funding of this research was provided through the NASA Sun-Earth Connection SR&T program.

Jones, H. P.↗

NASA NTRS2003

Interaction Between Flames and Electric Fields Studied

The interaction between flames and electric fields has long been an interesting research subject that has theoretical importance as well as practical significance. Many of the reactions in a flame follow an ionic pathway: that is, positive and negative ions are formed during the intermediate steps of the reaction. When an external electric field is applied, the ions move according to the electric force (the Coulomb force) exerted on them. The motion of the ions modifies the chemistry because the reacting species are altered, it changes the velocity field of the flame, and it alters the electric field distribution. As a result, the flame will change its shape and location to meet all thermal, chemical, and electrical constraints. In normal gravity, the strong buoyant effect often makes the flame multidimensional and, thus, hinders the detailed study of the problem.

Yuan, Zeng-Guang↗

NASA NTRS2004

Dust aerosol retrieval results from MISR (multi-angle imaging spectro-radiometer)

Satellite measurements provide important tools for understanding the effect of mineral dust aerosols on past and present climate and climate predictions. Multi-angle instruments such as Multi-angle Imaging Spectro- Radiometer (MISR) provide independent constraints on aerosol properties based on their sensitivity to the shape of aerosol scattering phase functions. The current MISR operational retrieval algorithm (version 16 and higher) was modified by incorporating new non-spherical dust models that account for naturally occurring dust shapes and compositions. We present selected examples of MISR version 16 retrievals over AERONET sunphotometer land and ocean sites during the passage of dust fronts. Our analysis shows that during such events MISR retrieves Angstrom exponents characteristic of large particles, having little spectral variation in extinction over the MISR wavelength range (442, 550, 672 and 866 nm channels), as expected. The retrieved fraction of non-spherical particles is also very high. This quantity is not retrieved by satellite instruments having only nadir-viewing cameras. Our comparison of current (version 16) MISR-retrieved aerosol optical thickness (AOT) with AERONET instantaneous AOT shows better coverage and stronger correlations than when making identical comparisons with previous AOT retrievals (version 15). The MISR algorithm successful mixtures include a non-spherical dust component with high frequency in retrievals over dark water and slightly lower frequency over land. Selection frequencies of non-spherical dust models also decrease in dusty regions affected by pollution.

Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR)↗

NASA NTRS2007

Trajectory Design and Orbit Determination for the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS)

The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) was competitively selected by the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) as a low-cost (< $80M) 1000 kg secondary payload to be launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) in October of 2008. LCROSS is a lunar impactor mission that will investigate the presence or absence of water in a permanently shadowed crater. Following launch, trans-lunar injection (TLI) and separation from LRO, LCROSS will remain attached to the launch vehicle's approximately 2300 kg spent Earth Departure Upper Stage (EDUS) and will guide it toward an impact of a permanently shadowed crater at the lunar South Pole. Hours prior to impact, LCROSS will separate from the EDUS and perform a braking maneuver that will allow the spacecraft to take measurements of the resulting EDUS impact ejecta cloud for several minutes, before impacting the crater as well. As a cost-capped secondary mission that must accommodate specific LRO launch dates, LCROSS faces unique challenges and constraints that must be carefully reconciled in order to satisfy an ambitious set of science observation requirements. This paper examines driving mission requirements and constraints and describes the trajectory design and navigation strategy that shape the LCROSS mission.

Galal, Ken↗

NASA NTRS2009

Updating the Finite Element Model of the Aerostructures Test Wing using Ground Vibration Test Data

Improved and/or accelerated decision making is a crucial step during flutter certification processes. Unfortunately, most finite element structural dynamics models have uncertainties associated with model validity. Tuning the finite element model using measured data to minimize the model uncertainties is a challenging task in the area of structural dynamics. The model tuning process requires not only satisfactory correlations between analytical and experimental results, but also the retention of the mass and stiffness properties of the structures. Minimizing the difference between analytical and experimental results is a type of optimization problem. By utilizing the multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization (MDAO) tool in order to optimize the objective function and constraints; the mass properties, the natural frequencies, and the mode shapes can be matched to the target data to retain the mass matrix orthogonality. This approach has been applied to minimize the model uncertainties for the structural dynamics model of the Aerostructures Test Wing (ATW), which was designed and tested at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) (Edwards, California). This study has shown that natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes from the updated finite element model have excellent agreement with corresponding measured data.

Lung, Shun-fat↗

NASA NTRS2009

Updating the Finite Element Model of the Aerostructures Test Wing Using Ground Vibration Test Data

Improved and/or accelerated decision making is a crucial step during flutter certification processes. Unfortunately, most finite element structural dynamics models have uncertainties associated with model validity. Tuning the finite element model using measured data to minimize the model uncertainties is a challenging task in the area of structural dynamics. The model tuning process requires not only satisfactory correlations between analytical and experimental results, but also the retention of the mass and stiffness properties of the structures. Minimizing the difference between analytical and experimental results is a type of optimization problem. By utilizing the multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization (MDAO) tool in order to optimize the objective function and constraints; the mass properties, the natural frequencies, and the mode shapes can be matched to the target data to retain the mass matrix orthogonality. This approach has been applied to minimize the model uncertainties for the structural dynamics model of the aerostructures test wing (ATW), which was designed and tested at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center (Edwards, California). This study has shown that natural frequencies and corresponding mode shapes from the updated finite element model have excellent agreement with corresponding measured data.

Lung, Shun-Fat↗

NASA NTRS2010

Reduced Uncertainties in the Flutter Analysis of the Aerostructures Test Wing

Tuning the finite element model using measured data to minimize the model uncertainties is a challenging task in the area of structural dynamics. A test validated finite element model can provide a reliable flutter analysis to define the flutter placard speed to which the aircraft can be flown prior to flight flutter testing. Minimizing the difference between numerical and experimental results is a type of optimization problem. Through the use of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center s (Edwards, California, USA) multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization tool to optimize the objective function and constraints; the mass properties, the natural frequencies, and the mode shapes are matched to the target data and the mass matrix orthogonality is retained. The approach in this study has been applied to minimize the model uncertainties for the structural dynamic model of the aerostructures test wing, which was designed, built, and tested at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center. A 25-percent change in flutter speed has been shown after reducing the uncertainties

Pak, Chan-gi↗

NASA NTRS2011

Reduced Uncertainties in the Flutter Analysis of the Aerostructures Test Wing

Tuning the finite element model using measured data to minimize the model uncertainties is a challenging task in the area of structural dynamics. A test validated finite element model can provide a reliable flutter analysis to define the flutter placard speed to which the aircraft can be flown prior to flight flutter testing. Minimizing the difference between numerical and experimental results is a type of optimization problem. Through the use of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center's (Edwards, California) multidisciplinary design, analysis, and optimization tool to optimize the objective function and constraints; the mass properties, the natural frequencies, and the mode shapes are matched to the target data, and the mass matrix orthogonality is retained. The approach in this study has been applied to minimize the model uncertainties for the structural dynamic model of the aerostructures test wing, which was designed, built, and tested at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dryden Flight Research Center. A 25 percent change in flutter speed has been shown after reducing the uncertainties.

Pak, Chan-Gi↗

NASA NTRS2008

Episodic Aging and End States of Comets

It is known that comets are aging very rapidly on cosmic scales, because they rapidly shed mass. The processes involved are (i) normal activity - sublimation of ices and expulsion of dust from discrete emission sources on and/or below the surface of a comet's nucleus, and (ii) nuclear fragmentation. Both modes are episodic in nature, the latter includes major steps in the comet's life cycle. The role and history of dynamical techniques used are described and results on mass losses due to sublimation and dust expulsion are reviewed. Studies of split comets, Holmes-like exploding comets, and cataclysmically fragmenting comets show that masses of 10 to 100 million tons are involved in the fragmentation process. This and other information is used to investigate the nature of comets' episodic aging. Based on recent advances in understanding the surface morphology of cometary nuclei by close-up imaging, a possible mechanism for large-scale fragmentation events is proposed and shown to be consistent with evidence available from observations. Strongly flattened pancake-like shapes appear to be required for comet fragments by conceptual constraints. Possible end states are briefly examined.

fragmentation↗

NASA NTRS2022

Canadian and Alaskan Wildfire Smoke Particle Properties, Their Evolution and Controlling Factors, From Satellite Observations

The optical and chemical properties of biomass burning (BB) smoke particles greatly affect the impact that wildfires have on climate and air quality. Previous work has demonstrated some links between smoke properties and factors such as fuel type and meteorology. However, the factors controlling BB particle speciation at emission are not adequately understood nor are the factors driving particle aging during atmospheric transport. As such, modeling wildfire smoke impacts on climate and air quality remains challenging. The potential to provide robust, statistical characterizations of BB particles based on ecosystem type and ambient environmental conditions with remote sensing data is investigated here. Space-based Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) observations, combined with the MISR Research Aerosol (RA) algorithm and the MISR Interactive Explorer (MINX) tool, are used to retrieve smoke plume aerosol optical depth (AOD) and to provide constraints on plume vertical extent; smoke age; and particle size, shape, light-absorption properties, and absorption spectral dependence. These tools are applied to numerous wildfire plumes in Canada and Alaska, across a range of conditions, to create a regional inventory of BB particle-type temporal and spatial distribution. We then statistically compare these results with satellite measurements of fire radiative power (FRP) and land cover characteristics, as well as short-term climate, meteorological, and drought information from the Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA-2) reanalysis and the North American Drought Monitor. We find statistically significant differences in the retrieved smoke properties based on land cover type, with fires in forests producing the thickest plumes containing the largest, brightest particles and fires in savannas and grasslands exhibiting the opposite. Additionally, the inferred dominant aging mechanisms and the timescales over which they occur vary systematically between land types. This work demonstrates the potential of remote sensing to constrain BB particle properties and the mechanisms governing their evolution over entire ecosystems. It also begins to realize this potential, as a means of improving regional and global climate and air quality modeling in a rapidly changing world.

Katherine T. Junghenn Noyes↗

NASA NTRS1986

Design of a multivariable flutter control/gust load alleviation system

This paper discusses the use of eigenspace techniques for the design of an active flutter control/gust load alleviation system for a hypothetical research drone. One leading edge and two trailing edge aerodynamic surfaces are available for control. Full state control laws are designed for two combinations of control surfaces by selecting feedback gains which place closed loop eigenvalues and shape closed loop eigenvectors so as to stabilize wing flutter and reduce gust loads at the wing root while yielding acceptable robustness and satisfying constraints on rms control surface activity. These controllers are realized by state estimators designed using an eigenvalue placement/eigenvector shaping technique which results in recovery of the loop transfer characteristics of the full state feedback systems. The resulting feedback compensators are shown to perform almost as well as the full state designs. They also exhibit acceptable performance in situations in which the failure of an actuator is simulated.

Liebst, B. S.↗