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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 1,639 records · Page 91

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NASA NTRS2001

Turbine Blade Alloy

The High Speed Research Airfoil Alloy Program developed a fourth-generation alloy with up to an +85 F increase in creep rupture capability over current production airfoil alloys. Since improved strength is typically obtained when the limits of microstructural stability are exceeded slightly, it is not surprising that this alloy has a tendency to exhibit microstructural instabilities after high temperature exposures. This presentation will discuss recent results obtained on coated fourth-generation alloys for subsonic turbine blade applications under the NASA Ultra-Efficient Engine Technology (UEET) Program. Progress made in reducing microstructural instabilities in these alloys will be presented. In addition, plans will be presented for advanced alloy development and for computational modeling, which will aid future alloy development efforts.

MacKay, Rebecca↗

NASA NTRS2005

Turbofan Noise Reduction Associated With Increased Bypass Nozzle Flow

An advanced 22-in. scale model turbofan, typical of a current-generation aircraft engine design by GE Aircraft Engines, was tested in NASA Glenn Research Center s 9- by 15- Foot Low-Speed Wind Tunnel to explore the far-field acoustic effects of an increased bypass nozzle area at simulated aircraft speeds of takeoff, approach, and landing. The wind-tunnel-scale model consisted of the bypass stage fan, stators, and nacelle (including the fan exit nozzle) of a typical turbofan. This fan-stage test was part of the NASA Glenn Fan Broadband Source Diagnostic Test, second entry, which acquired aeroacoustic results over a range of test conditions. A baseline nozzle was selected, and the nozzle area was chosen for maximum performance at sea-level conditions. Two additional nozzles were also tested--one with a 5.4-percent increase in nozzle area over the baseline nozzle (sized for design point conditions), corresponding to a 5-percent increase in fan weight flow, and another nozzle with a 10.9-percent increase in nozzle area over the baseline nozzle (sized for maximum weight flow at sea-level conditions), corresponding to a 7.5 percent increase in fan weight flow. Measured acoustic benefits with increased nozzle area were very encouraging, showing overall sound power level reductions of 2 dB or more (left graph) while the stage adiabatic efficiency (right graph) and thrust (final graph) actually increased by several percentage points. These noise-reduction benefits were seen to include both rotor-interaction tones and broadband noise, and were evident throughout the range of measured sideline angles.

Woodward, Richard P.↗

NASA NTRS2007

SpaceFibre Discussion

This viewgraph presentation discusses the future use of SpaceFibre, a high speed optical extension to the SpaceWire, for NASA and DOD missions. NASA, and US industries would like to work with the European developers currently working on this standard.

Rakow, Glenn↗

NASA NTRS2008

First On-Wafer Power Characterization of MMIC Amplifiers at Sub-Millimeter Wave Frequencies

Recent developments in semiconductor technology have enabled advanced submillimeter wave (300 GHz) transistors and circuits. These new high speed components have required new test methods to be developed for characterizing performance, and to provide data for device modeling to improve designs. Current efforts in progressing high frequency testing have resulted in on-wafer-parameter measurements up to approximately 340 GHz and swept frequency vector network analyzer waveguide measurements to 508 GHz. On-wafer noise figure measurements in the 270-340 GHz band have been demonstrated. In this letter we report on on-wafer power measurements at 330 GHz of a three stage amplifier that resulted in a maximum measured output power of 1.78mW and maximum gain of 7.1 dB. The method utilized demonstrates the extension of traditional power measurement techniques to submillimeter wave frequencies, and is suitable for automated testing without packaging for production screening of submillimeter wave circuits.

monolithic microwave integrated circircuit↗

NASA NTRS2012

Implementation of a Non-Metallic Barrier in an Electric Motor

Electric motors that run in pure oxygen must be sealed, or "canned," for safety reasons to prevent the oxygen from entering into the electrical portion of the motor. The current canning process involves designing a metallic barrier around the rotor to provide the separation. This metallic barrier reduces the motor efficiency as speed is increased. In higher-speed electric motors, efficiency is greatly improved if a very thin, nonmetallic barrier can be utilized. The barrier thickness needs to be approximately 0.025-in. (.0.6-mm) thick and can be made of a brittle material such as glass. The motors, however, designed for space applications are typically subject to high-vibration environments. A fragile, non-metallic barrier can be utilized in a motor assembly if held in place by a set of standard rubber O-ring seals. The O-rings provide the necessary sealing to keep oxygen away from the electrical portion of the motor and also isolate the fragile barrier from the harsh motor vibration environment. The compliance of the rubber O-rings gently constrains the fragile barrier and isolates it from the harsh external motor environment. The use of a non-metallic barrier greatly improves motor performance, especially at higher speeds, while isolating the electronics from the working fluid with an inert liner.

M?Sadoques, George↗

NASA NTRS2014

Flight Tests of a Supersonic Natural Laminar Flow Airfoil

IR thermography was used to characterize the transition front on a S-NLF test article at chord Reynolds numbers in excess of 30 million Changes in transition due to Mach number, Reynolds number, and surface roughness were investigated - Regions of laminar flow in excess of 80% chord at chord Reynolds numbers greater than 14 million IR thermography clearly showed the transition front and other flow features such as shock waves impinging upon the surface A series of parallel oblique shocks, of yet unknown origin, were found to cause premature transition at higher Reynolds numbers. NASA has a current goal to eliminate barriers to the development of practical supersonic transport aircraft Drag reduction through the use of supersonic natural laminar flow (S-NLF) is currently being explored as a means of increasing aerodynamic efficiency - Tradeoffs work best for business jet class at M<2 Conventional high-speed designs minimize inviscid drag at the expense of viscous drag - Existence of strong spanwise pressure gradient leads to crossflow (CF) while adverse chordwise pressure gradients amplifies and Tollmien-Schlichting (TS) instabilities Aerion Corporation has patented a S-NLF wing design (US Patent No. 5322242) - Low sweep to control CF - dp/dx < 0 on both wing surfaces to stabilize TS - Thin wing with sharp leading edge to minimize wave drag increase due to reduction in sweep NASA and Aerion have partnered to study S-NLF since 1999 Series of S-NLF experiments flown on the NASA F-15B research test bed airplane Infrared (IR) thermography used to characterize transition - Non-intrusive, global, good spatial resolution - Captures significant flow features well

laminar flow↗

NASA NTRS2019

High Efficiency Megawatt Machine Rotating Cryocooler Conceptual Design

Some of the challenges associated with developing electric aircraft propulsion systems include developing powertrain components that are both efficient and light-weight. In particular, electric motors must simultaneously achieve high efficiency by minimizing electrical and mechanical losses while also achieving high specific power by increasing the torque and/or speed. Normally increasing torque or speed will increase electrical and mechanical losses. The High Efficiency Megawatt Machine (HEMM) minimizes electrical losses by incorporating a superconductor to enable increased current on the rotor. And the rotor spins in a vacuum to minimize thermal and mechanical losses. Some organizations have been developing superconducting rotors for similar reasons using either cryogenic fluid transfer systems, fully immersed cryogenic cooling, and in a few cases utilized built-in cryogenic cooling on the rotor using a Brayton or Stirling system but the implementation was too large or inefficient for effective motor integration. Instead, a new approach for cryogenically cooling the superconducting rotor coil with an embedded rotating cryocooler is presented that fits completely within the rotating shaft.

Dyson, Rodger W.↗

NASA NTRS2019

High Efficiency Megawatt Machine Rotating Cryocooler Conceptual Design

Dyson, Rodger W.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Microwave Photoelasticity: A Resonant Wavelength Approach Applied to PEEK Polymer

Every nondestructive testing (NDT) technique has its unique set of advantages and limitations. Currently, the only existing noncontact NDT method capable of measuring sub-surface stresses, in optically opaque materials, at near-real-time speeds and over large areas is Microwave Photoelasticity (MP). This paper presents a new MP approach, which correlates changes in resonant wavelengths to changes in stress. In addition to a theoretical outline of the approach, the design and operation of an instrument capable of conducting these measurements is described. Finally, the technique is demonstrated by conducting measurements on polyetheretherketone, commonly known as PEEK, polymer. Between the W-Band frequencies of 105 to 115 GHz, PEEK’s stress-optic-coefficient was determined to be of 𝐶𝐶 = −0.20 ± 0.02 1/GPa.

Schemmel, Peter J.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Implementation of a Six Degree of Freedom Precision Lunar Landing Algorithm Using Dual Quaternion Representation

In this study, a powered descent guidance algorithm using a unit dual quaternion represen- tation of the vehicle dynamics is implemented in a high-fidelity simulation and on representative flight hardware. This Dual-Quaternion Guidance (DQG) algorithm is applied to the precision lunar landing problem which levies complex constraints upon the trajectory, including state triggered attitude constraints to enable terrain-relative navigation and hazard detection as well as real-time requirements for landing site re-designation. The investigation explores DQG’s usefulness as a mission design tool as well as a real-time guidance algorithm and defines real-time performance requirements for the hazard detection and avoidance (HDA) re-targeting phase of precision lunar landing. The experiment is presented in two parts. First, DQG is implemented within a high-fidelity Monte Carlo simulation to tune the algorithm’s parameters for the simulated vehicle, to refine the mission design, and to develop guidance update timing requirements to perform the HDA maneuver. DQG generates trajectories online for the divert which are tracked by the vehicle’s inner-loop controllers to the targeted landing site. Second, DQG is run on representative hardware to demonstrate real-time operation through a divert maneuver. These results allow for rapid, flexible, optimal mission design satisfying complex constraints, and for the definition of real-time performance requirements for the HDA operations inherent in precision lunar landing. The HDA divert maneuver is found to require guidance trajectory updates in less than three seconds. DQG is found to be too slow to meet this update timing on the descent and landing computer (DLC) in its current implementation. DQG running on alternative hardware can meet the update rate requirement. Algorithm implementation improvements are also recommended which are expected to speed up computation sufficiently to meet requirements on the DLC.

GN&C↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Design of Electrostatic Dust Lofting Suborbital Flight Experiment Examining Photoionization under Lunar Gravity

Dust on the lunar surface electrostatically charges due to the plasma environment surrounding the Moon, causing grains to become lofted and adhere to nearby surfaces including landers and astronauts. Studying the behaviors of these charged particles in the lunar environment is essential to plan around the deleterious effects of dust to future Moon missions. Models attempt to predict the amount of dust loading that can be expected in many of these scenarios, but they require experimental validation to be predictive. This physics cannot be fully studied on Earth due to the six times larger gravitational force obscuring the electrostatic interactions, so it is necessary to run experiments in a more relevant environment, including vacuum and near-lunar gravitational effects. An experiment has been designed to fly on the Lunar Gravity Acceleration (LGA) mission aboard the Blue Origin New Shepard suborbital rocket. This experiment will perform photoionization charging of lunar regolith simulant grains under the illumination of an ultraviolet (UV) source. As a result, the charged grains will then electrostatically repel one another and loft in the reduced gravity environment; their trajectories will be imaged via a high-speed camera. Preliminary laboratory results influencing the design of this experiment will be presented, including characterization of several UV sources, measurements of photoionization currents under various vacuum conditions, and examination of lunar simulant dust lofting under terrestrial gravity. Results from this flight will be compared with ground-based testing and the laboratory results outlined above to examine the dependence on gravity and will be fed into the dust charging and lofting models currently under development.

electrostatics↗

DOE OSTI2014

Two-dimensional electron gases in strained quantum wells for AlN/GaN/AlN double heterostructure field-effect transistors on AlN

Double heterostructures of strained GaN quantum wells (QWs) sandwiched between relaxed AlN layers provide a platform to investigate the quantum-confined electronic and optical properties of the wells. The growth of AlN/GaN/AlN heterostructures with varying GaN quantum well thicknesses on AlN by plasma molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is reported. Photoluminescence spectra provide the optical signature of the thin GaN QWs. Reciprocal space mapping in X-ray diffraction shows that a GaN layer as thick as ∼28 nm is compressively strained to the AlN layer underneath. The density of the polarization-induced two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) in the undoped heterostructures increases with the GaN QW thickness, reaching ∼2.5 × 10{sup 13}/cm{sup 2}. This provides a way to tune the 2DEG channel density without changing the thickness of the top barrier layer. Electron mobilities less than ∼400 cm{sup 2}/Vs are observed, leaving ample room for improvement. Nevertheless, owing to the high 2DEG density, strained GaN QW field-effect transistors with MBE regrown ohmic contacts exhibit an on-current density ∼1.4 A/mm, a transconductance ∼280 mS/mm, and a cut off frequency f{sub T}∼104 GHz for a 100-nm-gate-length device. These observations indicate high potential for high-speed radio frequency and high voltage applications that stand to benefit from the extreme-bandgap and high thermal conductivity of AlN.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2023

Implementation of a High-Speed Multichannel Data Acquisition System for Magnetic Diagnostics and Plasma Centroid Position Control in ISTTOK

In tokamak and other fusion devices, magnetic control is the main tool that allows to regulate the plasma current, position and shape; it is in charge of actuating the desired plasma current waveform, steering the plasma position to a given set point and maintain the plasma shape close to a prescribed plasma equilibrium. This work describes the application of several physics concepts and computational tools in order to obtain a novel optimal controller for the plasma centroid position, which has been implemented and tested in the real-time plasma control system at the ISTTOK tokamak. A key point for the development of the new control system was the installation of a recently upgraded hardware, that numerically integrates in real-time the magnetic probes signals.

poloidal field coils↗

DOE OSTI2016

The propagation of particulate gravity currents in a V-shaped triangular cross section channel: Lock-release experiments and shallow-water numerical simulations

In this study, we investigate the motion of particulate gravity currents in a horizontal V-shaped channel. The particulate currents consisted of particles whose size varied between 0 and 100 μm but whose mean size increased. Particles were poorly sorted as the variance of the grain size distributions varied between 50 and 200. While the phases of propagation of homogeneous currents in such a geometry have been studied in the literature, this study considers the effects of the grain size on the propagation. The distance of propagation and front velocity of full-depth high-Reynolds-number lock-release experiments and shallow-water equation simulations were analyzed as the mean grain size of the initial particle distributions, defined by mass, was increased from 19 to 58 μm. Similar to the homogeneous currents, three consecutive phases of the front velocity could be identified but their characteristics and extent depend on the particle size. The initial phase, in particular, depends on a dimensionless settling number β that is defined as the ratio of two characteristic time scales, the propagation time x{sub 0}/U, where U is the scale for the front speed and x{sub 0} the lock length, and the settling time h{sub 0}/v{sub s}, where v{sub s} is the scale for the settling velocity and h{sub 0} the initial height of the current. For dimensionless settling numbers less than 0.001, the initial phase is characterized by a constant velocity for over about 6-7 lock lengths that is alike the initial slumping phase of perfectly constant velocity of the homogeneous currents. For dimensionless settling numbers greater than 0.001 and less than 0.015, the initial phase is no longer characterized by a constant velocity but an almost constant velocity for over about a similar 6-7 lock lengths. For dimensionless settling numbers greater than 0.015, however, as such, this phase is no longer seen. This initial phase is followed by a continuous decrease of the front advance, which results from the sedimentation of the particles. Unlike the homogeneous currents, this phase is a non-self-similar propagation. This phase is ended by a viscosity-dominated phase appearing to vary as ∼t{sup 1/7}. The good agreement between the front advance of the experiments and shallow-water equation simulations demonstrates that the mean size by mass is a fairly good proxy of poorly sorted particles.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2023

Enhanced Configurational Sampling Approaches to Alchemical Ligand Binding Free Energy Simulations: Current Status and Challenges

In this study, ligand binding free energy simulations (LB-FES) have been routine tasks in modern drug discovery campaign. A long-standing challenge for LB-FES is the difficulty in adequately sampling nontrivial environmental reorganizations in response to ligand binding. Therefore, various enhanced configurational sampling (ECS) approaches were devised to speed up fluctuations of relevant slow degrees of freedom (SDOF) and ensure simulation convergence. However, in contrast to the achievements in parametrization, software performance, and workflow automation, efficient ECS methodology suitable for high throughput screening remains in an early stage of development. Here, a review of ECS developments with LB-FES is presented, revisiting current approaches and underlining the major technical pitfalls and challenges. This Perspective focuses on alchemical LB-FES on account of their predominant role in high throughput drug screening as well as the established partnership with ECS. The critical aspects of designing ECS approaches, from both theoretical and applied perspectives, are described. This work is intended to provide a contemporary review of the scientific, technical, and practical issues associated with the accelerating convergence of alchemical LBFES.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

NASA NTRS1995

Magnetic observations during the recent declining phase of solar activity

Changes in the heliospheric magnetic field during the recent declining phase in solar activity are reviewed and compared with observations during past sunspot cycles. The study is based principally on data obtained by IMP-8 and Ulysses. The field magnitude is found to have increased during the declining phase until it reached a maximum value of 11.5nT in approximately 1991.5, approximately two years after sunspot maximum. The field of the sun's south pole became negative after a reversal in early 1990. The sector structure disappeared at Ulysses in April 1993 when the latitude of the spacecraft was -30 deg revealing a low inclination of the heliospheric current sheet. A large outburst of solar activity in March 1991 caused four Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and numerious shocks at the location of Ulysses. Following a delay of more than a year, a series of recurrent high speed streams and Corotating Interaction Regions commenced in July 1992 which were observed by IMP-8, Ulysses and Voyager 2. In all these respects, the behavior of the magnetic field mimics that seen in the two earlier sunspot cycles. The comprehensive data set suggests a correlation between the absolute value of B and sunspot number. The major solar cycle variations in the radial component (and magnitude) of the field have been successfully reproduced by a recent model consisting of a tilted solar dipole, whose strength and tilt undergo characteristic changes over the sunspot cycle, and the heliospheric current sheet. The large outbursts of activity in mid-1972, mid-1982 and the first quarter of 1991 may represent a characteristic last 'gasp' of solar activity before the sun evolves to a different state. The recurrent high speed streams in 1973, 1984 and 1992 accompany the developemnt of large asymetrical polar coronal holes and the growth in intensity of the polar cap fields. After they endure for about one year, the polar coronal holes recede and the high speed streams are replaced by weaker streams more characteristic of solar minimum.

Smith, E. J.↗

NASA NTRS2003

The Plasmoid Thruster Experiment (PTX)

A plasmoid is a compact plasma structure with an integral magnetic field. They have been studied extensively in controlled fusion research and are categorized according to the relative strength of the poloidal and toroidal magnetic field (B(phi), and B(tau), respectively). An object with B(phi)/B(tau) >> 1 is classified as a Field Reverse Configuration (FRC); if B(phi) = B(tau), it is called a Spheromak. There are a number of possible advantages to using accelerated plasmoids for in-space propulsion. A thruster based on this concept would operate by repetitively producing plasmoids and ejecting them from the device at high velocity. The plasmoid is formed inside of a single turn conical theta-pinch coil; as this process is inductive, there are no life-limiting electrodes. Similar experiments have yielded plasmoid velocities of at least 50 km/s (l), and calculations indicate that velocities in excess of 100 km/s are possible. A thruster based on this concept would be capable of producing an I(sp) in the range of 5,000 - 10,OOO s, with thrust densities of order 10(exp 5) N/m(exp 2). The current experiment is designed to produce jet powers in the range of 5-10 kW, although the concept should be scalable to higher power. The purpose of this experiment is to determine the feasibility of this plasma propulsion concept. To accomplish this, it will be necessary to determine: a.) specific impulse and thrust, b.) efficiency and mass utilization, c.) which type of plasmoid (FRC-like or Spheromak-like) gives the best performance, and d.) the characteristics required of actual thruster components (i.e., switch and capacitor technology). The plasmoid mass and velocity will be measured with a variety of diagnostics, including internal and external B-dot probes, flux loops, Langmuir probes, high-speed cameras, and an interferometer. Simulations of the plasmoid thruster using MOQUI, a time dependent MHD code, will be carried out concurrently with experimental testing. The PTX device is currently undergoing initial testing and preliminary experimental results are presented.

Eskridge, Richard↗

NASA NTRS2005

Cerebellum Augmented Rover Development

Bio-Inspired Technologies and Systems (BITS) are a very natural result of thinking about Nature's way of solving problems. Knowledge of animal behaviors an be used in developing robotic behaviors intended for planetary exploration. This is the expertise of the JFL BITS Group and has served as a philosophical model for NMSU RioRobolab. Navigation is a vital function for any autonomous system. Systems must have the ability to determine a safe path between their current location and some target location. The MER mission, as well as other JPL rover missions, uses a method known as dead-reckoning to determine position information. Dead-reckoning uses wheel encoders to sense the wheel's rotation. In a sandy environment such as Mars, this method is highly inaccurate because the wheels will slip in the sand. Improving positioning error will allow the speed of an autonomous navigating rover to be greatly increased. Therefore, local navigation based upon landmark tracking is desirable in planetary exploration. The BITS Group is developing navigation technology based upon landmark tracking. Integration of the current rover architecture with a cerebellar neural network tracking algorithm will demonstrate that this approach to navigation is feasible and should be implemented in future rover and spacecraft missions.

King, Matthew↗