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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 1,765 records · Page 98
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1982

Programmable temperature control system for biological materials

A system was constructed which allows programmable temperature-time control for a 5 cu cm sample volume of arbitrary biological material. The system also measures the parameters necessary for the determination of the sample volume specific heat and thermal conductivity as a function of temperature, and provides a detailed measurement of the temperature during phase change and a means of calculating the heat of the phase change. Steady-state and dynamic temperature control is obtained by supplying heat to the sample volume through resistive elements constructed as an integral part of the sample container. For cooling purposes, this container is totally immersed into a cold heat sink. Using a mixture of dry ice and alcohol at 79 C, the sample volume can be controlled from +40 to -60 C at rates from steady state to + or - 65 C/min. Steady-state temperature precision is better than 0.2 C, while the dynamic capability depends on the temperature rate of change as well as the mass of both the sample and the container.

Anselmo, V. J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Experimental and Numerical Characterization of a Cylindrical Blackbody Cavity

During hypersonic flight, high temperatures and high heat fluxes are generated on the surfaces of vehicles. The Flight Loads Laboratory (FLL) at Dryden Flight Research Center (DFRC) is equipped with a calibration furnace, capable of calibrating heat flux gages up to 1100kW per square meters, and temperature sensors up to 2600 C. One heating configuration of the calibration furnace is a cylindrical blackbody cavity. Throughout the blackbody there are temperature gradients due to various boundary conditions. These boundary conditions include resistance heating, radiant heat transfer, and conduction to water-cooled electrodes. Also, an inert gas is purged through the graphite blackbody to prevent it from oxidizing. Consequently, the various modes of heat transfer present during operation of the blackbody cavity must be well understood in order to produce accurate heat flux gage and temperature sensor calibrations for use in ground testing or flight testing of hypersonic vehicles. The first step towards understanding the heat transfer in the blackbody cavity was to perform experiments at 1100 C, with and without outer surface insulation, while taking detailed temperature measurements inside the blackbody cavity. Steady state thermal models of the blackbody cavity were then developed. These models included detailed thermal analysis using commercial thermal analysis software. Conduction, radiation, and convection were considered in the thermal models for two cases: one with the outside of the blackbody cavity insulated and the second without insulation. This paper describes the experimental and numerical efforts used to characterize the steady state operation of the blackbody cavity. It describes the analysis of the test measurements, the boundary conditions used in the numerical models, and how the models were calibrated to fit the experimental data. Effects of various uncertainties, such as material properties, and convection are discussed.Initial thermal models predicted temperatures in the deepest part of the blackbody cavity within 7 C of the measured value and produced trends comparable to the experimental data, throughout the models. Adjustment of the boundary conditions, which were included in the thermal models, produced good agreement with measured temperatures. Free and forced convection of the purge gas inside the blackbody was found to be insignificant.

Abdelmessih, Amanie N.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Special Test Methods for Batteries

Various methods are described for measuring heat generation in primary and secondary batteries as well as the specific heat of batteries and cell thermal conductance. Problems associated with determining heat generation in large batteries are examined. Special attention is given to monitoring temperature gradients in nickel cadmium cells, the use of auxiliary electrodes for conducting tests on battery charge control, evaluating the linear sweep of current from charge to discharge, and determining zero current voltage. The fast transient behavior of batteries in the microsecond range, and the electrical conductance of nickel sinters in the thickness direction are also considered. Mechanical problems experienced in the vibration of Ni-Cd batteries and tests to simulate cyclic fatigue of the steel table connecting the plates to the comb are considered. Methods of defining the distribution of forces when cells are compressed during battery packaging are also explored.

Gross, S.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Brush/Fin Thermal Interfaces

Brush/fin thermal interfaces are being developed to increase heat-transfer efficiency and thereby enhance the thermal management of orbital replaceable units (ORUs) of electronic and other equipment aboard the International Space Station. Brush/fin thermal interfaces could also be used to increase heat-transfer efficiency in terrestrial electronic and power systems. In a typical application according to conventional practice, a replaceable heat-generating unit includes a mounting surface with black-anodized metal fins that mesh with the matching fins of a heat sink or radiator on which the unit is mounted. The fins do not contact each other, but transfer heat via radiation exchange. A brush/fin interface also includes intermeshing fins, the difference being that the gaps between the fins are filled with brushes made of carbon or other fibers. The fibers span the gap between intermeshed fins, allowing heat transfer by conduction through the fibers. The fibers are attached to the metal surfaces as velvet-like coats in the manner of the carbon fiber brush heat exchangers described in the preceding article. The fiber brushes provide both mechanical compliance and thermal contact, thereby ensuring low contact thermal resistance. A certain amount of force is required to intermesh the fins due to sliding friction of the brush s fiber tips against the fins. This force increases linearly with penetration distance, reaching ~1 psi (~6.9 kPa) for full 2-in. (5.1 cm) penetration for the conventional radiant fin interface. Removal forces can be greater due to fiber buckling upon reversing the sliding direction. This buckling force can be greatly reduced by biasing the fibers at an angle perpendicularly to the sliding direction. Means of containing potentially harmful carbon fiber debris, which is electrically conductive, have been developed. Small prototype brush/fin thermal interfaces have been tested and found to exhibit temperature drops about onesixth of that of conventional meshing-fin thermal interface, when fabricated as a retrofit. In this case, conduction through the long, thin metal fins themselves becomes a thermal bottleneck. Further improvement could be made by prescribing aluminum fins to be shorter and thicker than those of the conventional meshing-fin thermal interfaces; the choice of height and thickness would be optimized to obtain greater overall thermal conductance, lower weight, and lower cost.

Knowles, Timothy R.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Intrinsic anharmonicity and thermal properties of ultralow thermal conductivity Ba 6 Sn 6 Se 13

Ultralow thermal conductivity materials continue to be of great interest for technologically important applications such as thermal insulators and thermoelectrics. Often, such materials possess constituents with extensive dynamic disorder, or “rattlers,” or structural disorder such as metallic glasses. Nevertheless, targeted crystalline bonding order and anharmonicity can provide effective means for the scattering of the phonons in certain materials. Our combined experimental and theoretical investigation of Ba 6 Sn 6 Se 13 reveals such a material, with ultralow thermal conductivity measured over a large temperature range. Optic phonon modes hybridize with acoustic modes at relatively low energies resulting in strong acoustic-optic scattering and limited phonon lifetimes. Moreover, our investigations reveal various avoided crossings at low energies that contribute to phonon scattering. These are derived from chiral phase symmetries and may result in nontrivial topological behaviors for phonon band crossings in this chiral material. This work contributes to the ongoing research on low thermal conductivity materials and the underlying mechanisms that affect their thermal behaviors. Manipulation of these effects may provide pathways for enhancement of material properties for targeted thermal applications using similar materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1972

Effects of overlaps, stitches, and patches on multilayer insulation.

The effects of spacecraft installation-type discontinuities on aluminized Mylar multilayer insulation have been measured using an electrically heated cylindrical calorimeter. The experimental results have been reproducible within plus or minus 10% or better for identical blankets and less than plus or minus 5% for the same blanket. Good blanket performance can be obtained using short interleaving for joints, eliminating stitched seams, and using small patches, particularly over the hot side of stitches. The heat loss through stitching is excessive but highly localized. Analytical models matched to thermocouple test results are presented. The manner in which radiation and conduction participate in heat transfer adjacent to discontinuities is indicated. High lateral heat transfer is also established as an important phenomenon in the vicinity of a discontinuity.

Stimpson, L. D.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Brush-Type Connectors for Thermoelectric Elements

Wire brushes used to connect positive and negative legs of semiconductor thermoelectric generators to power leads and heat sources and sinks. Brushes are flexible thermal and electrical conductors that readily accommodate expansion and contraction of legs with changing temperature. Thus, direct conductive coupling between heat source and sink allowed, in contrast to older and less efficient method of having to couple radiatively to accommodate thermal expansion.

Wood, C.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Material Characterization and Modeling of Room Temperature Vulcanizing Silicone

Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone (RTV) is a high-temperature adhesive that has successfully been used as a gap-filler between Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles for heatshields on numerous missions. It is also used to bond instrumentation plugs such as temperature and pressure sensors into the heatshields. While RTV has been traditionally assumed to be a non-porous and non-ablating material, numerous experiments have shown that RTV pyrolyzes and becomes highly porous as it is heated. Heating RTV has also shown swelling, or intumescence, which can pose unique problems that lead to roughness induced boundary-layer transition, surface oxide formation and contamination of heat shield sensors. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and model the intumescence phenomenon of RTV. As data for RTV material properties is limited, the first step in modeling RTV is to collect material properties such as pyrolysis mass-loss, microstructure change, virgin and char porosity, etc. which was performed in our initial study. Additionally, thermomechanical properties such as Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio are required for modeling the intumescence of RTV, which were taken from literature and the coefficient of thermal expansion was collected using in-situ heating and Micro Computed Tomography (µ-CT) in previous studies. Finally, numerous other properties such as pyrolysis gas properties, virgin and char thermal conductivity and specific heat were compiled from previous experiments and literature into a material database that can be used for simulations. In Porous Material Analysis Toolbox based on OpenFOAM (PATO) [4], structural mechanics coupled with material response was used for simulating the intumescence of RTV as it is heated. However, since the permeability of the material is very low, the pyrolysis gas creates an internal pressure build-up as the material is being heated, significantly contributing to the deformation of the material. To correctly characterize this phenomenon, additional physics models were implemented into PATO's stress analysis solver, and results were compared with RTV dilatometry test data as a preliminary verification case. Future work will include experiments of RTV at the Plasmatron X facility and the in-situ heating cell with µ-CT, and improvement of simulation tools to more accurately model RTV intumescence.

TPS↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Material Properties and Modeling of Room Temperature Vulcanizing Silicone

Room Temperature Vulcanizing silicone (RTV) is a high-temperature adhesive that has successfully been used as a gap-filler between Thermal Protection System (TPS) tiles for heatshields on numerous missions. It is also used to bond instrumentation plugs such as temperature and pressure sensors into the heatshields. While RTV has been traditionally assumed to be a non-porous and non-ablating material, numerous experiments have shown that RTV pyrolyzes and becomes highly porous as it is heated. Heating RTV has also shown swelling, or intumescence, which can pose unique problems that lead to roughness induced boundary-layer transition, surface oxide formation and contamination of heat shield sensors. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and model the intumescence phenomenon of RTV. As data for RTV material properties is limited, the first step in modeling RTV is to collect material properties such as pyrolysis mass-loss, microstructure change, virgin and char porosity, etc. which was performed in our initial study. Additionally, thermomechanical properties such as Young’s modulus and Poisson ratio are required for modeling the intumescence of RTV, which were taken from literature and the coefficient of thermal expansion was collected using in-situ heating and Micro Computed Tomography (µ-CT) in previous studies. Finally, numerous other properties such as pyrolysis gas properties, virgin and char thermal conductivity and specific heat were compiled from previous experiments and literature into a material database that can be used for simulations. In Porous Material Analysis Toolbox based on OpenFOAM (PATO) [4], structural mechanics coupled with material response was used for simulating the intumescence of RTV as it is heated. However, since the permeability of the material is very low, the pyrolysis gas creates an internal pressure build-up as the material is being heated, significantly contributing to the deformation of the material. To correctly characterize this phenomenon, additional physics models were implemented into PATO's stress analysis solver, and results were compared with RTV dilatometry test data as a preliminary verification case. Future work will include experiments of RTV at the Plasmatron X facility and the in-situ heating cell with µ-CT, and improvement of simulation tools to more accurately model RTV intumescence.

PATO↗
NASA NTRS1989

The effects of Reynolds number, rotor incidence angle, and surface roughness on the heat transfer distribution in a large-scale turbine rotor passage

A combined experimental and computational program was conducted to examine the heat transfer distribution in a turbine rotor passage geometrically similiar to the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) High Pressure Fuel Turbopump (HPFTP). Heat transfer was measured and computed for both the full-span suction and pressure surfaces of the rotor airfoil as well as for the hub endwall surface. The primary objective of the program was to provide a benchmark-quality data base for the assessment of rotor passage heat transfer computational procedures. The experimental portion of the study was conducted in a large-scale, ambient temperature, rotating turbine model. Heat transfer data were obtained using thermocouple and liquid-crystal techniques to measure temperature distributions on the thin, electrically-heated skin of the rotor passage model. Test data were obtained for various combinations of Reynolds number, rotor incidence angle and model surface roughness. The data are reported in the form of contour maps of Stanton number. These heat distribution maps revealed numerous local effects produced by the three-dimensional flows within the rotor passage. Of particular importance were regions of local enhancement produced on the airfoil suction surface by the main-passage and tip-leakage vortices and on the hub endwall by the leading-edge horseshoe vortex system. The computational portion consisted of the application of a well-posed parabolized Navier-Stokes analysis to the calculation of the three-dimensional viscous flow through ducts simulating the a gas turbine passage. These cases include a 90 deg turning duct, a gas turbine cascade simulating a stator passage, and a gas turbine rotor passage including Coriolis forces. The calculated results were evaluated using experimental data of the three-dimensional velocity fields, wall static pressures, and wall heat transfer on the suction surface of the turbine airfoil and on the end wall. Particular attention was paid to an accurate modeling of the passage vortex and to the development of the wall boundary layers including crossflow.

Blair, Michael F.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Gap heating with pressure gradients

The heating rate distribution and temperature response on the gap walls of insulating tiles is analyzed to determine significant phenomena and parameters in flows where there is an external surface pressure gradient. Convective heating due to gap flow, modeled as fully developed pipe flow, is coupled with a two-dimensional thermal model of the tiles that includes conduction and radiative heat transfer. To account for geometry and important environmental parameters, scale factors are obtained by curve-fitting measured temperatures to analytical solutions. These scale factors are then used to predict the time-dependent gap heat flux and temperature response of tile gaps on the Space Shuttle Orbiter during entry.

Scott, C. D.↗
NASA NTRS2005

Thin-Film Resistance Heat-Flux Sensors

Thin-film heat-flux sensors of a proposed type would offer advantages over currently available thin-film heat flux sensors. Like a currently available thin-film heat-flux sensor, a sensor according to the proposal would be based on measurement of voltages related to the temperatures of thin metal films on the hotter and colder faces of a layer of an electrically insulating and moderately thermally conductive material. The heat flux through such a device is proportional to the difference between the temperatures and to the thermal conductivity of the layer. The advantages of the proposed sensors over the commercial ones would arise from the manner in which the temperature-related voltages would be generated and measured.

Fralick, Gustave C.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Semi-Annual Report for Horizontal Compact High Temperature Gas Reactor (HC-HTGR) Development during Performance Period April 2023 – September 2023

Horizontal Compact High Temperature Gas Reactor (HC-HTGR) is being designed by a multi-disciplinary team of nuclear, mechanical, and structural engineers under the support of a DOE-NE Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program’s Advanced Reactor Concepts-20 (ARC-20) award. The objective of this ARC-20 project is to deliver a conceptual design for the proposed HC-HTGR in 3 years and support its commercialization as a safe, low-cost HTGR. Argonne National Laboratory (Argonne) is responsible for the design and analysis of the reactor cavity cooling system (RCCS) as a safety system for passive decay heat removal of the reactor concept. Additionally, Argonne is providing analysis of the primary coolant system to ensure temperatures within the core remain below safety margins during steady-state and potential accident scenarios. This fourth semi-annual report summarized the progress made at Argonne on the two tasks during the second half of FY23. As a part of the RCCS design task, recent efforts have been made to complete a conceptual design of the RCCS for the HC-HTGR, including the design update of the water panel and system configuration favorable in point of view of fabrication and system operation. Design calculations were conducted under various heat load conditions to validate the system design. Transient simulations using RELAP5-3D were conducted to investigate system dynamics under transients of interest and to evaluate the system performance in the design condition. The results demonstrated the overall system feasibility that the RCCS design maintains structures temperatures lower than maximum allowable temperature with sufficient system inventory without any active heat sink. In the primary system thermal hydraulics task, the preliminary analysis was performed for a long term pressurized conduction cooldown (PCC) transient. This analysis used a combination of a fully resolved and coarse homogenized mesh to predict the temperature distribution for the steady-state initial condition and the PCC transient. The steady-state initial condition was determined using a fully resolved full core model with 3D solid to 1D fluid coupling. The fully resolved mesh was also used to model the first 20 seconds of the PCC. The temperature difference between fuel pins and the graphite matrix becomes minimal and the dominant heat transfer shifts to a larger scale radially towards the RCCS. After 20 seconds, a homogenized coarse mesh is used, greatly reducing the computational costs of the model. These results demonstrate that the core is designed to passively remove enough decay heat in a protected loss of primary coolant flow to prevent an unsafe rise of core temperatures.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Mechanism of chlorine-induced stress corrosion cracking of two 304 SS heats in simulated marine environment through in situ X-ray tomography and diffraction: Role of deformation induced martensite and crack branching

In this work, In-situ synchrotron x-ray tomography and diffraction experiments were conducted on two heats of 304SS undergoing chlorine-induced stress-corrosion-cracking (CISCC) in a simulated marine environment. The role of deformation induced martensite on CISCC was investigated through diffraction analysis where no significant amount of martensite was found to form during CISCC, indicating that it may not play a significant role in affecting the process. Tomography combined with stress-intensity analysis revealed the influence of stress-intensity on branching types with single crack growth, micro-branching, and macro-branching. Post experimental electron microscopy characterization revealed the presence of FeCl 2 , CrCl 2 , and NiCl 2 ·6H 2 O compounds at the crack, which infers a dissolution mechanism during the experiment. A dissolution mechanism highlighting the synergy between stress and corrosion was proposed to explain chlorine-induced stress-corrosion-cracking and crack branching.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Validation of a lightning protection system for a fusion-welded thermoplastic composite wind turbine blade tip

Fusion welding for thermoplastic composite wind turbine blades is being investigated as a replacement for adhesives in bond lines to reduce manufacturing time and cost and to promote ease of recyclability. Resistance welding uses an electrically conductive material, such as carbon fiber, embedded in the bond line to heat the joining surfaces and fuse them together under pressure. One main challenge with fusion joining for large wind blades is the ability to use this conductive heating element in the bond line while still protecting the blade from the catastrophic effects of a lightning strike. This paper outlines the design and manufacturing of a lightning protection system for a 5-m-long thermally welded blade tip. The outcomes of high voltage and high current lightning testing applied to the 5 m blade tip show that the proposed design was able to protect the fusion welded bond lines from significant lightning damage.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1975

Flush-mounted hot-wire gage for skin friction and separation detection measurements

A heated-element skin-friction gage employing a very low thermal-conductivity support is described. It is shown that the effective dimension of the gage in the stream direction is only 0.06 mm, including the effects of heat conduction in the supporting material. Because of its small size, the calibration of the gage is independent of the kind of boundary-layer flow (whether laminar or turbulent) and is insensitive to pressure gradients. Construction tolerances can be maintained so that a single universal calibration can be applied. Multiple gages, sufficiently closely spaced so as to interfere with each other, are shown to provide accurate determinations of the location of the points of boundary-layer separation and reattachment.

Rubesin, M. W.↗
NASA NTRS1988

High temperature thermal conductivity measurements on lanthanum sulfides using the flash method

In the past, high temperature specific heat and hence thermal conductivity measurements, using the flash method have not been very accurate. This is due to the difficulty of exactly determining the amount of heat deposited on the front face of a sample during each flash. This problem has now been solved by sputtering a thin layer of graphite on the standard reference and test samples. Data taken shows that the amount of heat deposited can now be determined to within about 2 percent resulting in more accurate thermal conductivity data. The results of measurements on several lanthanum sulfides with stoichiometries between LaS(1.35) and LaS(1.48) are reported and show a minimum in the lattice thermal conductivity at a composition of around LaS(1.41). This is believed to be due to the scattering of low-frequency phonons by large defects, i.e., second phase material (beta-phase) and pores.

Vandersande, J. W.↗