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At least 1,693 records · Page 94

Lightweight Composite Reflectarray That Can Be Flattened, Folded, and Coiled for Compact Stowage

Herein is presented a design for a lightweight 5m 1m radio-frequency (RF) re ector that can be attened, folded, and coiled for compact stowage on board an ESPA-class spacecraft. The re ector is a re ectarray that operates at 3.2GHz. Compared to state- of-the-art technologies for RF re ectors, the presented design has advantages in terms of areal density, sti ness, deployed stability, and scalability. Thermal and structural analysis is presented to demonstrate deployed sti ness and thermoelastic stability of the proposed design. Thermal analysis is used to predict in- space deployed temperatures in an operational condition, and structural nite element analysis is used to predict deployed vibration modes and frequencies, and the thermoelastic deformation of the deployed re ector. Also presented are the fabrication, assembly, and testing of two one-third-scale-length full-scale-width 1:7m 1m test articles. These test articles are used to experimentally demonstrate RF functioning, stowage, deployment, and RF performance after deployment.

Pellegrino, Sergio↗

Performance analysis of a GPS Interferometric attitude determination system for a gravity gradient stabilized spacecraft

The performance of an unaided attitude determination system based on GPS interferometry is examined using linear covariance analysis. The modelled system includes four GPS antennae onboard a gravity gradient stabilized spacecraft, specifically the Air Force's RADCAL satellite. The principal error sources are identified and modelled. The optimal system's sensitivities to these error sources are examined through an error budget and by varying system parameters. The effects of two satellite selection algorithms, Geometric and Attitude Dilution of Precision (GDOP and ADOP, respectively) are examined. The attitude performance of two optimal-suboptimal filters is also presented. Based on this analysis, the limiting factors in attitude accuracy are the knowledge of the relative antenna locations, the electrical path lengths from the antennae to the receiver, and the multipath environment. The performance of the system is found to be fairly insensitive to torque errors, orbital inclination, and the two satellite geometry figures-of-merit tested.

Stoll, John C.↗

Aeroservoelastic Uncertainty Model Identification from Flight Data

Uncertainty modeling is a critical element in the estimation of robust stability margins for stability boundary prediction and robust flight control system development. There has been a serious deficiency to date in aeroservoelastic data analysis with attention to uncertainty modeling. Uncertainty can be estimated from flight data using both parametric and nonparametric identification techniques. The model validation problem addressed in this paper is to identify aeroservoelastic models with associated uncertainty structures from a limited amount of controlled excitation inputs over an extensive flight envelope. The challenge to this problem is to update analytical models from flight data estimates while also deriving non-conservative uncertainty descriptions consistent with the flight data. Multisine control surface command inputs and control system feedbacks are used as signals in a wavelet-based modal parameter estimation procedure for model updates. Transfer function estimates are incorporated in a robust minimax estimation scheme to get input-output parameters and error bounds consistent with the data and model structure. Uncertainty estimates derived from the data in this manner provide an appropriate and relevant representation for model development and robust stability analysis. This model-plus-uncertainty identification procedure is applied to aeroservoelastic flight data from the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center F-18 Systems Research Aircraft.

Brenner, Martin J.↗

Evaluation of Amorphous Oxide Coatings for High-Voltage Li-Ion Battery Applications Using a First-Principles Framework

Cathode surface coatings are widely used industrially as a means to suppress degradation and improve electrochemical performance of lithium-ion batteries. However, developing an optimal coating is challenging, as different coating materials may enhance one aspect of performance while hindering another. Furthermore, to elucidate the fundamental thermodynamic and transport properties of amorphous cathode coating materials, here, we present a framework for calculating and analyzing the Li + and O 2- transport and the stability against delithiation in such materials. Our framework includes systematic workflows of ab-initio molecular dynamics calculations to obtain amorphous structures and diffusion trajectories coupled with an analysis of critical changes of the active-ion local environment during diffusion. Based on these data, we provide an estimate of room-temperature diffusivities, including statistical error bars, and the evaluation of the coating suitability in terms of its ability to facilitate Li + transport while blocking O 2- transport. Finally, we add the thermodynamic stability analysis of the coating chemistry within the operating voltage of common Li-ion cathodes. We apply this framework to two commonly used amorphous coating materials, Al 2 O 3 and ZnO. We find that (1) in general, a higher Li + content increases both Li + and O 2- diffusivities in both Al 2 O 3 and ZnO. Also, Li + and O 2- diffuse much faster in ZnO than in Al 2 O 3 . (2) However, neither Al 2 O 3 nor ZnO is expected to retain a significant concentration of Li + at high charge. (3) ZnO performs much more poorly in terms of O 2- blocking, and hence, Al 2 O 3 is preferred for high-voltage cathode applications. These results will help to quantitatively evaluate amorphous materials, such as metal oxides and fluorides, for different performance metrics and facilitate the development of optimal cathode coatings.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Nonparallel stability of two-dimensional nonuniformly heated boundary-layer flows

An analysis is presented for the linear stability of water boundary-layer flows over nonuniformly flat plates. Included in the analysis are disturbances due to velocity, pressure, temperatures, density, and transport properties as well as variations of the liquid properties with temperature. The method of multiple scales is used to account for the nonparallelism of the mean flow. In contrast with previous analyses, the nonsimilarity of the mean flow is taken into account. No analysis agrees, even qualitatively, with the experimental data when similar profiles are used. However, both the parallel and nonparallel results qualitatively agree with the experimental results of Strazisar and Reshotko when nonsimilar profiles are used.

Nayfeh, A. H.↗

Transitioning the NASA SLR Network to Event Timing Mode for Reduced Systematics, Improved Stability and Data Precision

NASA's legacy Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) network produces about one-third of the global SLR data to support spacegeodesy. This network of globally distributed stations has been using Time Interval Units (TIU) for range measurements for thelast 25 + years. To improve the reliability of the SLR network and satisfy the need for stable millimeter precision data, a phasedreplacement of the TIUs in the network with picosecond-precise Event Timer Modules was initiated in 2015. This schemeallowed the time of flight and laser transmit epoch measurement to one picosecond resolution. For a network with globalscientific impact, transitioning to a new data generation metrological scheme requires significant data scrutiny and long-termscience data validation. Any long-term testing/measurement has the potential to interrupt the station's daily operational dataflow to the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) as the station under test will have to put its test data into quarantine.We have demonstrated a very effective way to test and implement the new device without removing the old hardware andwithout the need for the orbit analysis. This operationally noninvasive scheme performed concurrent test measurements enablinguninterrupted operational data flow to the users, while allowing simultaneous test data capture for short- and long-termsystematics and stability analysis. Extensive analysis of the test data was performed by the NASA SLR engineering team andthe ILRS Analysis Standing Committee, to uncover biases and any dependencies on the satellite ranges (for nonlinear scaleissues). Multi-ETM comparison was also performed at two of the SLR stations through the interchange of hardware to establishthe inter-device range biases and stability. Such benchmarked hardware was subsequently sent to the remaining stationsto allow traceability and normalize the network performance. The range bias intercomparison performed using the multiyearSLR data analysis agreed well with the engineering changes, thus validating the approach to flush out station-specific rangingsystematics affecting precise orbit determination. Such an improvement and rebalancing of the current network will allowan orderly transition of the current NASA SLR network operating at a maximum rate of 10 Hz to the NASA next generationSpace Geodesy Satellite Laser Ranging (SGSLR) network operating at 2 kHz (McGarry et al. in J Geod, 2018. https ://doi.org/10.1007/s0019 0-018-1191-6; Merkowitz et al. in J Geod, 2018. https ://doi.org/10.1007/s0019 0-018-1204-5).

Varghese, Thomas↗

CO 2 -selective membranes containing amino acid salts for CO 2 /N 2 separation

In this paper, facilitated transport membranes comprising polyvinylamine (PVAm) as fixed carrier and different amino acid salts (AAS) as mobile carriers were synthesized for post-combustion capture. The AAS carriers were prepared by deprotonating alanine (Ala), lysine (Lys), and proline (Pro) with 2-(1-piperazinyl)ethylamine (PZEA). CO 2 separation performances of the membranes with these AAS carriers were compared, and the AAS effectiveness to facilitate transport of CO 2 was in the order of PZEA-Pro > PZEA-Lys > PZEA-Ala. Here, the membrane comprising 35 wt.% PVAm and 65 wt.% PZEA-Pro at 57 °C rendered a promising CO 2 permeance of 936 GPU and a CO 2 /N 2 mixed gas selectivity of 193. When the PVAm was reduced to 15 wt.%, i.e., its 20 wt.% was replaced by the mobile carrier of PZEA-Sar (sarcosinate), the permeance further improved to 947 GPU with a remarkable CO 2 /N 2 selectivity of 210. Moreover, thermal gravimetric analysis showed a good thermal stability of the membrane, and membrane stability testing also gave stable transport performance. Furthermore, spectroscopic ellipsometry analysis exhibited a uniform membrane selective layer and an excellent agreement on the membrane thickness of ca. 170 nm measured independently by SEM. In addition, the membranes presented in this paper surpassed both the Robeson upper bound and the modified upper bound, indicating a great potential for CO 2 capture.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Effects of g-jitter and cross-diffusion on the onset of convection in doubly diffusive systems

The effects of a modulated gravity field in doubly diffusive layers with and without cross-diffusion are studied. Attention is focused on the determination of linear stability criteria for such systems. Floquet theory is used to establish the stability criteria by a systematic analysis of the topology of the neutral curves from which stability boundaries can be constructed. Convective stability boundaries for gravity-modulated doubly cross-diffusive systems are presented for the cases of dynamically free and rigid boundaries. Two physically different forms of layer stratification are considered: (1) imposed independent gradients of two components and (2) a solute gradient induced by a fixed temperature gradient.

Terrones, Guillermo↗

Semigroup approximation and robust stabilization of distributed parameter systems

Theoretical results that enable rigorous statements of convergence and exponential stability of Galerkin approximations of LQR controls for infinite dimensional, or distributed parameter, systems have proliferated over the past ten years. In addition, extensive progress has been made over the same time period in the derivation of robust control design strategies for finite dimensional systems. However, the study of the convergence of robust finite dimensional controllers to robust controllers for infinite dimensional systems remains an active area of research. We consider a class of soft-constrained differential games evolving in a Hilbert space. Under certain conditions, a saddle point control can be given in feedback form in terms of a solution to a Riccati equation. By considering a related LQR problem, we can show a convergence result for finite dimensional approximations of this differential game. This yields a computational algorithm for the feedback gain that can be derived from similar strategies employed in infinite dimensional LQR control design problems. The approach described in this paper also inherits the additional properties of stability robustness common to game theoretic methods in finite dimensional analysis. These theoretical convergence and stability results are verified in several numerical experiments.

Kurdila, A. J.↗

Flight-Test Evaluation of the Longitudinal Stability and Control Characteristics of 0.5-Scale Models of the Fairchild Lark Pilotless-Aircraft Configuration. Static Longitudinal Stability of Models with Wing Flap Deflections of 0 Deg and 15 Deg, TED No. NACA 2387

From flight tests of 0.5-scale models of the Fairchild Lark pilotless aircraft conducted at the flight test station of the Pilotless Aircraft Research Division at Wallops Island, Va., some evaluations of the static longitudinal stability were obtained by analysis of the short-period oscillations induced by the abrupt movement of the rudder elevators. The analysis shows that for the Lark configuration with wing flap deflections of 0 degrees and 15 degrees the static longitudinal stability decreases slightly up to the critical Mach number and than as the Mach number increases further the stability increases greatly.

Stone, David G.↗

An averaging analysis of discrete-time indirect adaptive control

An averaging analysis of indirect, discrete-time, adaptive control systems is presented. The analysis results in a signal-dependent stability condition and accounts for unmodeled plant dynamics as well as exogenous disturbances. This analysis is applied to two discrete-time adaptive algorithms: an unnormalized gradient algorithm and a recursive least-squares (RLS) algorithm with resetting. Since linearization and averaging are used for the gradient analysis, a local stability result valid for small adaptation gains is found. For RLS with resetting, the assumption is that there is a long time between resets. The results for the two algorithms are virtually identical, emphasizing their similarities in adaptive control.

Phillips, Stephen M.↗

Failure analysis of solid oxide fuel cells nickel-yttria stabilized zirconia anode under siloxane contamination

In this study, the failure process of the solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) Ni-yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) anode is investigated with D4 siloxane (octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane) contamination. In order to evaluate the influence of the electrochemical reaction on the siloxane deposition process, the SOFC experiments were operated at open circuit voltage (OCV) and 50 mA cm -2 conditions at 800°C. During the failure process, electrochemical, morphology and exhaust gas component analysis testing are conducted at the critical points. An equivalent circuit model and corresponding microstructure parameter calculations for separated physicochemical processes were utilized for the quantitative analysis of the failure process. Further, the results confirm the siloxane chemical adsorption deposition mechanism proposed in previous work. As a result, the failure of the anode was attributed to the gas diffusion blockage by dense silicon dioxide layer formation. The anode failure process with siloxane contamination is faster when the anode is operated under polarization.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Interphase Stabilization of LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 Cathode for 5 V–Class All–Solid–State Batteries

Employing high voltage cobalt-free spinel LiNi 0.5 Mn 1.5 O 4 (LNMO) as a cathode is promising for high energy density and cost-effectiveness, but it has challenges in all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). Here, it is revealed that the limitation of lithium argyrodite sulfide solid electrolyte (Li 6 PS 5 Cl) with the LNMO cathode is due to the intrinsic chemical incompatibility and poor oxidative stability. Through a careful analysis of the interphase of LNMO, it is elucidated that even the halide solid electrolyte (Li 3 InCl 6 ) with high oxidative stability can be decomposed to form resistive interphase layers with LNMO in ASSBs. Interestingly, with Fe-doping and a Li 3 PO 4 protective layer coating, LNMO with Li 3 InCl 6 displays stable cycle performance with a stabilized interphase at a high voltage (≈4.7 V) in ASSBs. The enhanced interfacial stability with the extended electrochemical stability window through doping and coating enables high electrochemical stability with LNMO in ASSBs. Furthermore, this work provides guidance for employing high-voltage cathodes in ASSBs and highlights the importance of stable interphases to enable stable cycling in ASSBs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Aeroelastic stability analyses of two counter rotating propfan designs for a cruise missile model

A modal aeroelastic analysis combining structural and aerodynamic models is applied to counterrotating propfans to evaluate their structural integrity for wind-tunnel testing. The aeroelastic analysis code is an extension of the 2D analysis code called the Aeroelastic Stability and Response of Propulsion Systems. Rotational speed and freestream Mach number are the parameters for calculating the stability of the two blade designs with a modal method combining a finite-element structural model with 2D steady and unsteady cascade aerodynamic models. The model demonstrates convergence to the least stable aeroelastic mode, describes the effects of a nonuniform inflow, and permits the modification of geometry and rotation. The analysis shows that the propfan designs are suitable for the wind-tunnel test and confirms that the propfans should be flutter-free under the range of conditions of the testing.

Mahajan, Aparajit J.↗

Analysis and Mitigation of Cascading Outages Using an Interaction Graph Addressing Transient Stability

Cascading outages of power systems pose great threats to system security and reliability, potentially leading to large-scale blackouts. For analysis and mitigation of cascading outages, this paper proposes a transient stability-incorporated interaction graph. This graph statistically quantifies the interactions among line outages and instabilities of generators, which can model propagation paths and patterns of cascading outages. Compared with an interaction graph that only models line outages, this new interaction graph provides important insights on how transient instability occurs along with cascading outages. It also offers more effective strategies for mitigating outage propagation. The proposed interaction graph can be constructed from datasets of historical or simulated cascading events. It is demonstrated on an NPCC 140-bus system with mitigation strategies.

Guo, Zhenping↗

Development of a preliminary high-angle-of-attack nose-down pitch control requirement for high-performance aircraft

The requirements for high-angle-of-attack nose-down pitch control for advanced high-performance aircraft are discussed. Background information on fundamental factors that influence and, to a large extent, determine the high angle-of-attack nose-down control requirement is briefly reviewed. Guidelines currently proposed by other sources which attempt to define these requirements are discussed. A requirement based on NASA analysis of the characteristics of existing relaxed static stability (RSS) aircraft is presented. This analysis could provide the basis for a preliminary design guide.

Nguyen, Luat T.↗