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At least 1,675 records · Page 93

The Effect of Heat Treatment on Residual Stress and Machining Distortions in Advanced Nickel Base Disk Alloys

This paper describes an extension of NASA's AST and IDPAT Programs which sought to predict the effect of stabilization heat treatments on residual stress and subsequent machining distortions in the advanced disk alloy, ME-209. Simple "pancake" forgings of ME-209 were produced and given four heat treats: 2075F(SUBSOLVUS)/OIL QUENCH/NO AGE; 2075F/OIL QUENCH/1400F@8HR;2075F/OIL QUENCH/1550F@3HR/l400F@8HR; and 2160F(SUPERSOLVUS)/OIL QUENCH/1550F@3HR/ 1400F@8HR. The forgings were then measured to obtain surface profiles in the heat treated condition. A simple machining plan consisting of face cuts from the top surface followed by measurements of the surface profile opposite the cut were made. This data provided warpage maps which were compared with analytical results. The analysis followed the IDPAT methodology and utilized a 2-D axisymmetric, viscoplastic FEA code. The analytical results accurately tracked the experimental data for each of the four heat treatments. The 1550F stabilization heat treatment was found to significantly reduce residual stresses and subsequent machining distortions for fine grain (subsolvus) ME209, while coarse grain (supersolvus) ME209 would require additional time or higher stabilization temperatures to attain the same degree of stress relief.

Gayda, John↗

Circumstellar jets and disk of DL Tau and CW Tau observed with HST/STIS and the GSFC Fabry-Perot imager

The pre-main sequence T Tauri stars DL Tau and CW Tau were observed with Hubble Space Telescope/Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (HST/STIS) and the Goddard Fabry-Perot Imager at the Apache Point 3.5-m telescope in their coronagraphic modes. The STIS observation of DL Tau shows a circumstellar disk with a dark ring, and the jet with structure along the length, and a faint counter-jet. On CW Tau, STIS shows a jet with a bright blob about 4 arcsec away, and the Fabry-Perot shows the jet extended in both directions in [SII] to 60 and 90 arcsec from the star.

Grady, Carol↗

Ceramic Inclusions In Powder Metallurgy Disk Alloys: Characterization and Modeling

Powder metallurgy alloys are increasingly used in gas turbine engines, especially as the material chosen for turbine disks. Although powder metallurgy materials have many advantages over conventionally cast and wrought alloys (higher strength, higher temperature capability, etc.), they suffer from the rare occurrence of ceramic defects (inclusions) that arise from the powder atomization process. These inclusions can have potentially large detrimental effect on the durability of individual components. An inclusion in a high stress location can act as a site for premature crack initiation and thereby considerably reduce the fatigue life. Because these inclusions are exceedingly rare, they usually don't reveal themselves in the process of characterizing the material for a particular application (the cumulative volume of the test bars in a fatigue life characterization is typically on the order of a single actual component). Ceramic inclusions have, however, been found to be the root cause of a number of catastrophic engine failures. To investigate the effect of these inclusions in detail, we have undertaken a study where a known population of ceramic particles, whose composition and morphology are designed to mimic the 'natural' inclusions, are added to the precursor powder. Surface connected inclusions have been found to have a particularly large detrimental effect on fatigue life, therefore the volume of ceramic 'seeds' added is calculated to ensure that a minimum number will occur on the surface of the fatigue test bars. Because the ceramic inclusions are irregularly shaped and have a tendency to break up in the process of extrusion and forging, a method of calculating the probability of occurrence and expected intercepted surface and embedded cross-sectional areas were needed. We have developed a Monte Carlo simulation to determine the distributions of these parameters and have verified the simulated results with observations of ceramic inclusions found in macro slices from extrusions and forgings. The ultimate goal of this study will be to use probabilistic methods to determine the reliability detriment that can be attributed to these ceramic inclusions.

Bonacuse, Pete↗

HST/STIS results on circumstellar disks and jets, future coronography and technology for IR multi-object spectroscopy

Results of studies of circumstellar disks and jets obtained by HST/STIS visible coronagraphy and UV spectroscopy, and by ground-based Fabry-Perot coronagraphy will be presented. Future improvements in coronagraphy will be discussed. The development of microshutter arrays as programmable multi-object selectors for the NGST near IR spectrograph will be described.

Woodgate, Bruce E.↗

The Effect of Stabilization Heat Treatments on the Tensile and Creep Behavior of an Advanced Nickel-Based Disk Alloy

As part of NASA s Advanced Subsonic Technology Program, a study of stabilization heat treatment options for an advanced nickel-base disk alloy, ME 209, was performed. Using a simple, physically based approach, the effect of stabilization heat treatments on tensile and creep properties was analyzed in this paper. Solutions temperature, solution cooling rate, and stabilization temperature/time were found to have a significant impact on tensile and creep properties. These effects were readily quantified using the following methodology. First, the effect of solution cooling rate was assessed to determine its impact on a given property. The as-cooled property was then modified by using two multiplicative factors which assess the impact of solution temperature and stabilization parameters. Comparison of experimental data with predicted values showed this physically based analysis produced good results that rivaled the statistical analysis employed, which required numerous changes in the form of the regression equation depending on the property and temperature in question. As this physically based analysis uses the data for input, it should be noted that predictions which attempt to extrapolate beyond the bounds of the data must be viewed with skepticism. Future work aimed at expanding the range of the stabilization/aging parameters explored in this study would be highly desirable, especially at the higher solution cooling rates.

Gayda, John↗

Wind Tunnel Testing of Various Disk-Gap-Band Parachutes

Two Disk-Gap-Band model parachute designs were tested in the NASA Langley Transonic Dynamics Tunnel. The purposes of these tests were to determine the drag and static stability coefficients of these two model parachutes at various subsonic Mach numbers in support of the Mars Exploration Rover mission. The two model parachute designs were designated 1.6 Viking and MPF. These model parachute designs were chosen to investigate the tradeoff between drag and static stability. Each of the parachute designs was tested with models fabricated from MIL-C-7020 Type III or F-111 fabric. The reason for testing model parachutes fabricated with different fabrics was to evaluate the effect of fabric permeability on the drag and static stability coefficients. Several improvements over the Viking-era wind tunnel tests were implemented in the testing procedures and data analyses. Among these improvements were corrections for test fixture drag interference and blockage effects, and use of an improved test fixture for measuring static stability coefficients. The 1.6 Viking model parachutes had drag coefficients from 0.440 to 0.539, while the MPF model parachutes had drag coefficients from 0.363 to 0.428. The 1.6 Viking model parachutes had drag coefficients 18 to 22 percent higher than the MPF model parachute for equivalent fabric materials and test conditions. Model parachutes of the same design tested at the same conditions had drag coefficients approximately 11 to 15 percent higher when manufactured from F-111 fabric as compared to those fabricated from MIL-C-7020 Type III fabric. The lower fabric permeability of the F-111 fabric was the source of this difference. The MPF model parachutes had smaller absolute statically stable trim angles of attack as compared to the 1.6 Viking model parachutes for equivalent fabric materials and test conditions. This was attributed to the MPF model parachutes larger band height to nominal diameter ratio. For both designs, model parachutes fabricated from F-111 fabric had significantly greater statically stable absolute trim angles of attack at equivalent test conditions as compared to those fabricated from MILC-7020 Type III fabric. This reduction in static stability exhibited by model parachutes fabricated from F-111 fabric was attributed to the lower permeability of the F-111 fabric. The drag and static stability coefficient results were interpolated to obtain their values at Mars flight conditions using total porosity as the interpolating parameter.

Cruz, Juan R.↗

Opening Loads Analyses for Various Disk-Gap-Band Parachutes

Detailed opening loads data is presented for 18 tests of Disk-Gap-Band (DGB) parachutes of varying geometry with nominal diameters ranging from 43.2 to 50.1 ft. All of the test parachutes were deployed from a mortar. Six of these tests were conducted via drop testing with drop test vehicles weighing approximately 3,000 or 8,000 lb. Twelve tests were conducted in the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex 80- by 120-foot wind tunnel at the NASA Ames Research Center. The purpose of these tests was to structurally qualify the parachute for the Mars Exploration Rover mission. A key requirement of all tests was that peak parachute load had to be reached at full inflation to more closely simulate the load profile encountered during operation at Mars. Peak loads measured during the tests were in the range from 12,889 to 30,027 lb. Of the two test methods, the wind tunnel tests yielded more accurate and repeatable data. Application of an apparent mass model to the opening loads data yielded insights into the nature of these loads. Although the apparent mass model could reconstruct specific tests with reasonable accuracy, the use of this model for predictive analyses was not accurate enough to set test conditions for either the drop or wind tunnel tests. A simpler empirical model was found to be suitable for predicting opening loads for the wind tunnel tests to a satisfactory level of accuracy. However, this simple empirical model is not applicable to the drop tests.

Cruz, J. R.↗

Beta Pic-like Circumstellar Gas Disk Around 2 And

This grant was awarded to support the data analysis and publication of results from our project entitled P Pic-like Circumstellar Gas Disk Around 2 And . We proposed to obtain FUSE observations of 2 And and study the characteristics and origin of its circumstellar gas. We observed 2 Andromedae with FUSE on 3-4 July 2001 in 11 exposures with a total exposure time of 21,289 seconds through the LWRS aperture. Our data were calibrated with Version 1.8.7 of the CALFUSE pipeline processing software. We corrected the wavelength scale for the heliocentric velocity error in this version of the CALFUSE software. The relative accuracy of the calibrated wavelength scale is +/- 9 km/s . We produced a co-added spectrum in the LiF 1B and LiF 2A channels (covering the 1100 to 1180 A region) by cross-correlating the 11 individual exposures and doing an exposure-time weighted average flux. The final co-added spectra have a signal-to-noise ratio in the stellar continuum near 1150 A of about 20. To obtain an absolute wavelength calibration, we cross-correlated our observed spectra with a model spectrum to obtain the best fit for the photospheric C I lines. Because the photospheric lines are very broad, this yields an absolute accuracy for the wavelength scale of approx.+/- 15 km/s. We then rebinned 5 original pixels to yield the optimal sampling of .033 A for each new pixel, because the calibrated spectra oversample the spectral resolution for FUSE+LWRS (R = 20,000 +/- 2,000).

Cheng, Patricia↗

Molecular Hydrogen in the Quiescent Disk of SW UMA

The FUSE observation has been reduced and a paper is in progress. The analysis has been slow because of the very noisy quality of the data. We anticipate submitting a paper in 2 or 3 months. The primary result is that there is no H_2 fluorescent emission. However, there seems to be no accretion disk. The upper limit to the continuum level is well below that observed by IUE, and while O VI lines are present, they are extremely faint and much narrower that the published and archival H alpha profiles. It appears that the accretion has essentially shut off entirely, leaving only very faint O VI and C III emission from the white dwarf. We are considering a magnetic model analogous to that for AE Aqr.

Raymond, John C.↗

The Interaction of Hot and Cold Gas in the Disk and Halo of Galaxies

Most of the thermal energy in the Galaxy and perhaps most of the baryons in the Universe are found in hot (log T approximately 5.5 - 7) gas. Hot gas is detected in the local interstellar medium, in supernova remnants (SNR), the Galactic halo, galaxy clusters and the intergalactic medium (IGM). In our own Galaxy, hot gas exists in large superbubbles up to several hundred pc in diameter that locally dominate the interstellar medium (ISM) and determine its thermal and dynamic evolution. While X-ray observations using ROSAT, Chandra and XMM have allowed us to make dramatic progress in mapping out the morphology of the hot gas and in understanding some of its spectral characteristics, there remain fundamental questions that are unanswered. Chief among these questions is the way that hot gas interacts with cooler phase gas and the effects these interactions have on hot gas energetics. The theoretical investigations we proposed in this grant aim to explore these interactions and to develop observational diagnostics that will allow us to gain much improved information on the evolution of hot gas in the disk and halo of galaxies. The first of the series of investigations that we proposed was a thorough exploration of turbulent mixing layers and cloud evaporation. We proposed to employ a multi-dimensional hydrodynamical code that includes non-equilibrium ionization (NEI), radiative cooling and thermal conduction. These models are to be applied to high velocity clouds in our galactic halo that are seen to have O VI by FUSE (Sembach et ai. 2000) and other clouds for which sufficient constraining observations exist.

Slavin, Jonathan↗

When Push Comes to Shove: Gap-opening, Disk Clearing and the In Situ Formation of Giant Planets

Here we investigate a scenario in which cores as small as a few Earth masses stall in the terrestrial planet region, but continue to grow as a result of the Type I migration of other Earth sized objects, taking place in a timescale approx. 10(exp 6) years similar to the disk clearing timescale (such migration may thus significantly reduce the accretion efficiency, particularly in the terrestrial planet region). Since the core may intercept such inwardly migrating objects (possibly by altering the surface density to the point that the object stalls within the core's feeding zone) or coalesce with neighboring cores, its growth may continue until it reaches a CCM. The question then arises whether such a core can accrete enough gas to become a Jovian-sized giant planet. In the limit of low opacity (such that the protoplanet s tidal torque fails to clear gas from its feeding zone in time to prevent its accretion), the final mass of the planet is given by the gaseous isolation mass (provided alpha is < or approx. = 10(exp -4) and that the gas component dominates the planet's mass).

Mosqueira, I.↗

An Effective Initial Mass Function for Galactic Disks

We derive a semi-empirical effective galactic initial mass function (IMF), which represents the IMF averaged over the age of the galactic disk, from observational constraints. We assume that the star formation rate in a galaxy can be expressed as the product of the IMF,psi(m), which is a smooth function of mass m (in units of solar mass), and a time and space dependent rate zeta(sub *1). The mass dependence of the proposed IMF is determined by four parameters: the low-mass slope gamma, the high-mass slope -Gamma, the characteristic mass m(sub ch) at which the IMF turns over, and the upper limit on the mass, m(sub u).

Hollenbach, David↗

Fine-Tuning the Accretion Disk Clock in Hercules X-1

RXTE ASM count rates from the X-ray pulsar Her X-1 began falling consistently during the late months of 2003. The source is undergoing another state transition similar to the anomalous low state of 1999. This new event has triggered observations from both space and ground-based observatories. In order to aid data interpretation and telescope scheduling, and to facilitate the phase-connection of cycles before and after the state transition, we have re-calculated the precession ephemeris using cycles over the last 3.5 years. We report that the source has displayed a different precession period since the last anomalous event. Additional archival data from CGRO suggests that each low state is accompanied by a change in precession period and that the subsequent period is correlated with accretion flux. Consequently our analysis reveals long-term accretion disk behaviour which is predicted by theoretical models of radiation-driven warping.

Still, M.↗

Iron K Lines from Accretion Disks: Models for Line Production and Spectroscopic Constraints

Measured profiles of the iron K lines provide important dynamical information about emitting matrial in compact objects. However, much of the modeling work which has been used to infer the location and origin of line observed from AGN and galactic black hole sources is based on highly simplified assumptions about the microphysics of K line emission. In particular, many of the intrinsic line energies, widths and emissivities are based on central-field atomic calculations. We present the results of new calculations of the quantities for the entire iron isonuclear sequence, and demonstrate that the intrinsic K line spectra contain considerably more complexity than has been previously considered. We also present calculations of iron K emission and absorption spectra which include the new data, including the local spectrum radiated from an X-ray illuminated accretion disk. The implications for the interpretation of observed iron K lines from black hole sources will be discussed.

Kallman, Timothy↗

Flight Reconstruction of the Mars Pathfinder Disk-Gap-Band Parachute Drag Coefficient

On July 4, 1997, the Mars Pathfinder (MPF) mission successfully landed on Mars. The entry, descent, and landing (EDL) scenario employed the use of a Disk-Gap-Band parachute design to decelerate the Lander. Flight reconstruction of the entry using MPF flight accelerometer data revealed that the MPF parachute decelerated faster than predicted. In the summer of 2003, the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) mission will send two Landers to the surface of Mars arriving in January 2004. The MER mission utilizes a similar EDL scenario and parachute design as that employed by MPF. As a result, characterizing the degree of underperformance of the MPF parachute system is critical for the MER EDL trajectory design. This paper provides an overview of the methodology utilized to estimate the MPF parachute drag coefficient as experienced on Mars.

Desai, Prasun↗

An Efficient End-Pumped Ho:Tm:YLF Disk Amplifier

An efficient diode-pumped, room temperature Ho:Tm:YLF disk amplifier was realized by end-pump configuration. Compared to side pump configuration, about a factor three improvement in system efficiency has been demonstrated.

Yu, Ji-Rong↗