Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Polyethylene Moderator”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

6 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1978

Direct nuclear-pumped lasers using the He-3/n,p/H-3 reaction

A description is presented of experimental results concerning a specific class of direct nuclear-pumped lasers classified as 'volumetric nuclear lasers'. In the considered laser system a fissioning gas, He-3, is mixed with the lasing gas to form a homogeneous mixture, resulting in uniform volume excitation. In typical volumetric nuclear lasers a fast-burst reactor is used as a source of neutrons which penetrate a polyethylene moderator. Here the fast neutrons are thermalized. After thermalization, neutrons scatter into the laser cell. Nuclear reactions produce a proton of 0.56 MeV and a tritium ion of 0.19. These ions produce secondary electrons which pump the laser medium creating a population inversion. The results reported demonstrate direct nuclear pumping of He-3-Ar, Xe, Kr, and Cl with the considered system.

Deyoung, R. J.↗
NASA NTRS1999

In-Situ Spectrometry of Neutrons

High energy charged particles of extra-galactic, galactic and solar origin collide with spacecraft structures in Earth orbit outside the atmosphere and in interplanetary travel beyond the Earth's magnetosphere. These primaries create a number of secondary particles inside the structures that can produce a significant ionizing radiation environment. This radiation is a threat to long term inhabitants or travelers for space missions and produces an increased risk of cancer and DNA damage. The primary high energy cosmic rays and trapped protons collide with common spacecraft materials such as aluminum and silicon and create secondary particles inside structures that are mostly protons and neutrons. Charged protons are readily detected and instruments are already in existence for this task. Neutrons are electrically neutral and therefore much more difficult to measure and detect. These neutrons are reported to contribute 30-60% of the dose inside space structures and cannot be ignored. Currently there is no compact, portable and real time neutron detector instrumentation available for use inside spacecraft or on planetary surfaces where astronauts will live and work. We propose to design and build a portable, low power and robust neutron spectrometer that will measure the neutron spectrum from 10 KeV to 500 MeV with at least 10% energy resolution in the various energy intervals. This instrument will monitor the existing neutron environment both inside spacecraft structures and on planetary surfaces to determine the safest living areas, warn of high fluxes associated with solar storms and assist the NSBRI Radiation Effects Team in making an accurate assessment of increased cancer risk and DNA damage to astronauts. The instrument uses a highly efficient proportional counter Helium 3 tube at the lowest energy intervals where .equivalent damage factors for tissue are the highest (10 KeV-2 MeV). The Helium 3 tube may be shielded with a cadmium absorber to eliminate the much less damaging, but more prevalent, thermal and epithermal neutrons and to make the structure of the spectrum more accurate in the 20 KeV-2 MeV range; or a pair of tubes, one shielded and one unshielded, can be combined so that the difference in their counts yields the thermal neutron contribution. The spectrometer also uses a 5mm lithium drifted bulk silicon solid state detector in the medium energy range of 2-20 Mev and two standard silicon surface barrier detectors separated by tens of millimeters behind a I cm thick polyethylene moderator in a stack or telescope arrangement for the high energy neutrons (>20 MeV). In the medium and high energy regions equivalent damage factors are lower but hits from one or a small number of neutrons may prove to be important. The silicon detector systems for medium and high energy neutrons will discriminate against charged particles by using a plastic cesium iodide scintillator of an appropriate geometry monitored by a silicon PIN photodiode.

Maurer, Richard H.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Ground-Based Testing of TiB2 and Al2O3/TiB2 Response to Space Environment

Two materials, titanium diboride and an alumina/titanium diboride composite, exhibit characteristics favorable for use in multiple space applications. These characteristics include low mass (4.52 gm/cc), high strain rate impact resistance, high temperature use (3000oC M.P.), thermal and electrical conductivity, thermal shock resistance, and high visible-range reflectivity. Additionally, the presence of boron in these materials gives them the potential to shield against neutron radiation as well as charged radiation. These materials are flying on MISSE 6 to assess material changes resulting from exposure to the space environment. This study provides a preliminary, ground-based examination of these materials' interactions with individual components of the space environment, in particular atomic oxygen (AO) and neutron radiation, in order to better predict and understand post-flight results. Individual specimens are exposed to ground state AO and surface oxidation is measured. Equivalent exposures of up to 13 months show no rapid oxidation, however evidence indicates some surface oxidation occurring. Other samples are placed near a polyethylene moderated, one Ci Am/Be neutron source to determine their shielding capability. Comparisons between exposed and shielded indium foil, which is activated by transmitted neutrons, measure each material's ability to shield neutrons. Preliminary results indicate a significant shielding benefit provided by both materials.

Jefferies, Sharon A.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Uranium plasma emission at gas-core reaction conditions

The results of uranium plasma emission produced by two methods are reported. For the first method a ruby laser was focused on the surface of a pure U-238 sample to create a plasma plume with a peak plasma density of about 10 to the 20th power/cu cm and a temperature of about 38,600 K. The absolute intensity of the emitted radiation, covering the range from 300 to 7000 A was measured. For the second method, the uranium plasma was produced in a 20 kilovolt, 25 kilojoule plasma-focus device. The 2.5 MeV neutrons from the D-D reaction in the plasma focus are moderated by polyethylene and induce fissions in the U-235. Spectra of both uranium plasmas were obtained over the range from 30 to 9000 A. Because of the low fission yield the energy input due to fissions is very small compared to the total energy in the plasma.

Williams, M. D.↗
NASA NTRS1974

Production of fissioning uranium plasma to approximate gas-core reactor conditions

The intense burst of neutrons from the d-d reaction in a plasma-focus apparatus is exploited to produce a fissioning uranium plasma. The plasma-focus apparatus consists of a pair of coaxial electrodes and is energized by a 25 kJ capacitor bank. A 15-g rod of 93% enriched U-235 is placed in the end of the center electrode where an intense electron beam impinges during the plasma-focus formation. The resulting uranium plasma is heated to about 5 eV. Fission reactions are induced in the uranium plasma by neutrons from the d-d reaction which were moderated by the polyethylene walls. The fission yield is determined by evaluating the gamma peaks of I-134, Cs-138, and other fission products, and it is found that more than 1,000,000 fissions are induced in the uranium for each focus formation, with at least 1% of these occurring in the uranium plasma.

Lee, J. H.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Testing of ACC-6 Carbon-Carbon at High Strain Rates and High Temperatures

Some materials, such as steel, titanium, and tungsten, have a yield stress that depends on the strain rate, and actually are stronger at high rates of load or deformation. The increase in strength is relevant; and if not taken into account, the computer models will not match the experimental behavior observed in typical shock loading, ordnance, or ballistic tests. For higher velocity (hypervelocity impacts), an equation of state that accounts for non-linearities and temperature in the pressure-volume relation, may also be needed. This rate-dependent behavior of the strength has also been observed in some composite materials. Southwest Research Institute® (SwRI®) has started an internal research effort to measure and better model the behavior of materials, in particular carbon/carbon composites like ACC-6, at ultra-high temperatures for both static and high rates of deformation. The ultimate objective is to obtain reliable computer models of carbon/carbon material under hypersonic flight conditions, hypervelocity impacts, shock-loading situations such as booster-vehicle separation, and munition operation events. SwRI® has successfully modeled in the past ballistic impact on other composites, namely S-2 glass/epoxy, Kevlar/resin, polyethylene fibers/resin, and carbon fiber composites. This presentation will show test results relevant to the strength properties of the ACC-6 C/C material which were measured at quasistatic, medium, and the moderately high strain rates (~103 s—1) achievable in a conventional Split Hopkinson bar apparatus. Some of the tests were performed at both high-rates and high temperatures typical of hypersonic flight, something that, to the authors’ knowledge, has never been published in the past for this particular material. The test method will be presented, as well as the comparison of the stress-strain curves for the different temperatures and strain-rates of interest. A discussion of how the results can be used in the typical hydrocodes of interest will be included.

carbon/carbon↗