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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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Pneumatic system for distributing nitrogen and helium to Saturn I /SA-10/ launch vehicle
Inflight stage separation and flight termination system for Saturn I /SA-10/ launch vehicle
Instrumentation and data acquisition system for development testing of liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen M-1 rocket engine
Redundant functional element, together with basic elements of system, constitutes a redundant system with primary and backup capability for performing particular functions with increased reliability. Methodology is applicable to design of a verification system for hypothetical complex communication system.
Planetary systems appear to be one of the crucial links in the chain leading from simple molecules to living systems, particularly complex (intelligent?) living systems. Although there is currently no observational proof of the existence of any planetary system other than our own, techniques are now being developed which will permit a comprehensive search for other planetary systems. The scientific rationale for and methods used in such a search effort are reviewed here.
The paper considers a methodology on the analysis and design of a minimum mean-square error criterion linear system incorporating a tapped delay line (TDL) where all the full-precision multiplications in the TDL are constrained to be powers of two. A linear equalizer based on the dispersive and additive noise channel is presented. This microprocessor implementation with optimized power of two TDL coefficients achieves a system performance comparable to the optimum linear equalization with full-precision multiplications for an input data rate of 300 baud.
The space-time conservation-element and solution-element method is employed to numerically study the near-field axisymmetric screech-tone noise of a typical underexpanded circular jet issuing from a sonic nozzle. For the computed case, corresponding to a fully expanded Mach number of 1.19, the self-sustained feedback loop is established without artificial means. The computed shock-cell structure, acoustic wave length, screech tone frequency, and sound pressure levels are in good agreement with existing experimental results
NASA researchers have demonstrated that qualitative, model-based reasoning can be used for fault detection in a Main Propulsion System (MPS), a complex, continuous system. At the heart of this diagnostic system is Livingstone, a discrete, propositional logic-based inference engine. Livingstone comprises a language for specifying a discrete model of the system and a set of algorithms that use the model to track the system's state. Livingstone uses the model to test assumptions about the state of a component - observations from the system are compared with values predicted by the model. The intent of this paper is to summarize some advantages of Livingstone seen through our modeling experience: for instance, flexibility in modeling, speed and maturity. We also describe some shortcomings we perceived in the implementation of Livingstone, such as modeling continuous dynamics and handling of transients. We list some upcoming enhancements to the next version of Livingstone that may resolve some of the current limitations.
The advances in theory and computing technology over the last decade have led to enormous progress in applying atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) methods to the characterization, prediction, and design of chemical, biological, and material systems,.
A power system architecture for a spacecraft and a method of a power supply for a spacecraft are presented which take advantage of the reduced plasma interaction associated with positive ground high voltage photovoltaic arrays and provide a negative ground power supply for electrical loads of the spacecraft. They efficiently convert and regulate power to the load bus and reduce power system mass and complexity. The system and method ground the positive terminal of the solar arrays to the spacecraft hull, and using a power converter to invert the electric sign, permit a negative ground for the electrical distribution bus and electrical components. A number of variations including a load management system and a battery management system having charging and recharging devices are presented.
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Fractally branching vascular systems are a complex physiological requirement shared by humans with all higher terrestrial life forms, including other vertebrates, insects, and higher land plants. Vascular trees, networks, and tree-network composites are therefore mapped and quantified by the VESsel GENeration Analysis (VESGEN) software according to weighted physiological vascular rules that include vessel connectivity, tapering and bifurcational branching. According to fluid dynamics, successful vascular transport depends upon a complex distributed system of highly regulated laminar flow. VESGEN has elucidated changes in vascular patterning resulting from inflammatory, developmental and other signaling pathways within numerous tissues of major model organisms important for Space Biology, especially for rodents. Important early stage regenerative opportunities have been identified by VESGEN vascular analysis for visual impairments in the human retina, and is currently being used for research into astronaut visual and ocular disorders associated with long duration missions. The VESGEN 2D software is a mature, automated, widely published capability for which beta testing and public release by NASA is planned for the upcoming year. Early-stage capabilities for VESGEN 3D analysis are under development for the rodent retina and intestine as prototype tissues. A prototype VESGEN 2D Bioinformatics software capability has also been developed to associate phenotypic changes in molecular expression with vascular structure and function. By new VESGEN bioinformatic innovations, expression patterns of the genetic, transcriptional, protein and other markers for regulatory molecules such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and their receptors, often indicators of tissue oxygenation status, are co-localized with alterations in vascular pattern. Biomarkers are therefore mapped and quantified as information dimensions directly correlated with the spatial dimensions of a vascular pattern. Further important technology innovations by NASA include substantial image segmentation advances for more automated binary extraction of the grayscale vascular patterns, together with informative associated image quality assessments. Vascular mapping and quantification capabilities for the rodent retina and intestine are illustrated for VESGEN 2D, along with technology status reports on VESGEN 3D and Bioinformatic capabilities. Research partially supported by Ames Center Innovation Awards.
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The transition from the current air traffic system to the next generation air traffic system will require the introduction of new automated systems, including transferring some functions from air traffic controllers to on-board automation. This report describes a new design verification and validation (V&V) methodology for assessing aviation safety. The approach involves a detailed computer simulation of work practices that includes people interacting with flight-critical systems. The research is part of an effort to develop new modeling and verification methodologies that can assess the safety of flight-critical systems, system configurations, and operational concepts. The 2002 Ueberlingen mid-air collision was chosen for analysis and modeling because one of the main causes of the accident was one crew's response to a conflict between the instructions of the air traffic controller and the instructions of TCAS, an automated Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System on-board warning system. It thus furnishes an example of the problem of authority versus autonomy. It provides a starting point for exploring authority/autonomy conflict in the larger system of organization, tools, and practices in which the participants' moment-by-moment actions take place. We have developed a general air traffic system model (not a specific simulation of Überlingen events), called the Brahms Generalized Ueberlingen Model (Brahms-GUeM). Brahms is a multi-agent simulation system that models people, tools, facilities/vehicles, and geography to simulate the current air transportation system as a collection of distributed, interactive subsystems (e.g., airports, air-traffic control towers and personnel, aircraft, automated flight systems and air-traffic tools, instruments, crew). Brahms-GUeM can be configured in different ways, called scenarios, such that anomalous events that contributed to the Überlingen accident can be modeled as functioning according to requirements or in an anomalous condition, as occurred during the accident. Brahms-GUeM thus implicitly defines a class of scenarios, which include as an instance what occurred at Überlingen. Brahms-GUeM is a modeling framework enabling "what if" analysis of alternative work system configurations and thus facilitating design of alternative operations concepts. It enables subsequent adaption (reusing simulation components) for modeling and simulating NextGen scenarios. This project demonstrates that BRAHMS provides the capacity to model the complexity of air transportation systems, going beyond idealized and simple flights to include for example the interaction of pilots and ATCOs. The research shows clearly that verification and validation must include the entire work system, on the one hand to check that mechanisms exist to handle failures of communication and alerting subsystems and/or failures of people to notice, comprehend, or communicate problematic (unsafe) situations; but also to understand how people must use their own judgment in relating fallible systems like TCAS to other sources of information and thus to evaluate how the unreliability of automation affects system safety. The simulation shows in particular that distributed agents (people and automated systems) acting without knowledge of each others' actions can create a complex, dynamic system whose interactive behavior is unexpected and is changing too quickly to comprehend and control.
Advancements in nuclear system designs with automated control features provide many benefits, but can lead to complex coupled systems and dynamic failure scenarios. This is especially true for microreactor designs where components are not expected to be replaced during the reactor’s lifetime. Hence, the life of the system, in addition to the safety, needs to be evaluated. Modeling these sequences of time-dependent events requires addressing cyclical processes and changing failure rates in ways that represent the actual system dynamics in contrast to a single sampling for a component’s time to failure. This research presents two distinct analytical methods for several failure distributions that evaluate a final time to failure used for different scenarios where the time to failure must be sampled multiple times. The first method is used when evaluating a component whose failure rate increases due to an outside event after the initial sampling but before the initially sampled time to failure. The second method is used when evaluating multiple identical components or a component that has been replaced with a new identical version before the second sampling. The two methods were implemented in a few representative case studies developed in the dynamic probabilistic risk assessment tool Event Modeling Risk Assessment using Linked Diagrams. Overall, this paper provides guidelines on how these approaches give a more realistic and accurate dynamic probabilistic risk assessment of complex systems.
The 50/60 Hz alternating current (AC) electric power has been the standard and most flexible energy source powering our modern societies for one and a half centuries since the war of the currents: AC versus direct current (DC). A reactive power concept that was introduced at the beginning of the AC power was very useful for circuit/system analysis, design, control, optimization, and ultimately for more efficient and stable generation, transmission, distribution, and consumption. The initial reactive power theory was based on single-phase sinusoidal AC power to capture inductive and capacitive power that yields to net-zero average power over one fundamental cycle. Soon it was expanded to non-sinusoidal AC power and finally to instantaneous three-phase AC power. However, these reactive power theories remain separate and limited to special cases and have never been consolidated and made valid to all cases. Today, more widespread adoption of power electronics and renewable energy is bringing back DC power into the electric grids. The reactive power concept has never been applied to DC power systems. There is no reactive power in DC power systems according to the existing reactive power theories. Do DC power systems really have no reactive power? Capacitors and inductors are widely used in DC just like in AC power systems. Are they not reactive power components? Why are they different from their AC counterparts? Furthermore, are batteries active or reactive power components? What about active devices like power converters (or inverters) with AC (or DC) on one side and DC (or AC) on the other? Do they generate or consume reactive power? Finally, what about AC and DC hybrid power systems? How to define reactive power in such a complex power system that has a multitude of loads, buses, and sources? Is there reactive power between any two loads, any two buses, or any two sources in a power system and what is the total reactive power in such a complex power system as a whole? As the motivation and goal of this paper to answer the above basic questions, to unify the existing AC reactive power theories and to ultimately provide theoretical and insightful guidance for system analysis, design, control, efficiency, optimization, and operation of complex power systems, a concept of spacetime (both spatial and temporal) active and reactive power (pq) theory—the spatiotemporal aspect of active and reactive power—is developed for both AC and DC power systems. The theoretical definitions and physical meanings of the spacetime reactive power will be developed, and real applications and thought experiments/cases/exercises will be explored and discussed. The developed mathematics to define the active (or real) and reactive (or imaginary) power— p and q respectively by dot (scalar) and cross (vector) products of multi-dimension spacetime vectors and time-space mapping principle/law can have some fundamental implications as well.
Systems health management, and in particular fault diagnosis, is important for ensuring safe, correct, and efficient operation of complex engineering systems. The performance of an online health monitoring system depends critically on the available sensors of the system. However, the set of selected sensors is subject to many constraints, such as cost and weight, and hence, these sensors must be selected judiciously. This paper presents an offline design-time sensor placement approach for complex systems. Our diagnosis method is built upon the analysis of model-based residuals, which are computed using structural model decomposition. Sensor placement in this framework manifests as a residual selection problem, and we aim to find the set of residuals that achieves single-fault diagnosability of the system, uses the minimum number of sensors, and corresponds to the best model decomposition for the best distribution of the diagnosis system. We present a set of algorithms for solving this problem and compare their performance in terms of computational complexity and optimality of solutions. We demonstrate the approach using a benchmark multi-tank system.