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The material known as 75ST is a new high strength aluminum alloy that can be used in certain aircraft structural applications to effect a saving in weight or an increase in strength or both over designs using other alloys. However, the structural engineer should be well acquainted with the advantages and limitations of this material before utilizing it in design.

In recent years there has been increasing interest in quantifying the emissions from aircraft in order to generate inventories of emissions for climate models, technology and scenario studies, and inventories of emissions for airline fleets typically presented in environmental reports. The preferred method for calculating aircraft engine emissions of NOx, HC, and CO is the proprietary “P3T3” method. This method relies on proprietary airplane and engine performance models along with proprietary engine emissions characterizations. In response and in order to provide a transparent method for calculating aircraft engine emissions non proprietary fuel flow based methods 1,2,3 have been developed. This paper presents derivation, updates, and clarifications of the fuel flow method methodology known as “Fuel Flow Method 2”.

During several ISS missions, there were false alarms at both US and Russian smoke detectors. High local airborne particulate concentrations and interior deposits are considered the causes for such anomalies. Alternatives are proposed to replace or complement these faulty smoke detectors. The entrained zeolite particles may play a role in causing problems with check valves and air save pumps in CDRA and Vozdukh. Another incidence has been the dispersion of particulates out of Metox regeneration oven. Particulate matters with aerodynamic diameter of 15 microns and above, which normally settle down on earth, stay airborne under micro-gravity and thereby cause the above-mentioned nuisances. The motion of such a particle along a gas stream with an initial velocity can be expressed by theoretical equations. Stokes' Law leads to the descriptions of inertial precipitation of aerosols that are important in solving the issues.

The paper summarizes the experience gained on the ISS water management system during the missions of ISS-1 through ISS-16 (since November 2 2000, through December 31, 2007). The water supply sources and structure, consumption and supply balance at various phases of space station operation are reviewed. The performance data of the system for water recovery from humidity condensate SRV-K and urine feed and pretreatment system SPK-U in the Russian orbital segment are presented. The key role of water recovery on a board the ISS and the need to supplement the station's water supply hardware with a system for water reclamation from urine, water from a carbon dioxide reduction system and hygiene water is shown.

In a 2-year program sponsored by SJAC, an aqueous electroplating process using alkaline Zn-Ni with trivalent chromium post treatment is under evaluation for high strength steel for aircraft application as an alternative to cadmium. Commercial Zn-15%Ni rack/barrel plating solutions are basis for plating aircraft parts or fasteners. Brightener was reduced from the original formula to form porous plating that enables bake-out of hydrogen to avoid hydrogen embrittlement condition. Properties of the deposit, such as appearance, adhesion, un-scribed corrosion resistance, and galvanic corrosion resistance in contact with Al alloy, were evaluated. Coefficient of friction was compared with Cd plating by torque-tension measurements. Evaluation of the plating for scribed corrosion resistance, primer adhesion, etc. will continue in FY2007.

A zirconia electroysis cell is an all-solid state (mainly ceramic) device consisting of two electrodes separated by a dense zirconia electrolyte. The cell electrochemically reduces carbon dioxide to oxygen and carbon monoxide at elevated temperatures (800 to 1000°C). The zirconia electrolysis cell provides a simple, lightweight, low-volume system for Mars In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) applications. This paper describes the fabrication process and discusses the electrochemical performance and other properties of zirconia electrolysis cells made by the tape calendering method. Electrolytes produced by this method are very thin (micrometer-thick); the thin electrolyte reduces ohmic losses in the cell, permitting efficient operation at temperatures of 800°C or below.

This paper describes the ZENITH Nano-Satellite cum planetary atmospheric entry vehicle, called CanSat, the first Nano-Satellite project that has been developed by Delhi Technological University (Formerly Delhi College of Engineering), India. The satellite will function for monitoring the concentrations of various gases in the atmosphere. For this, the satellite consists of arduino microcontroller interfaced with the various Micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) gas sensors for measuring the concentrations of various gases such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, methane, nitrous oxides, ozone, etc. The data obtained from the CanSat will be transmitted to the ground station where all the data will be stored and also the locations will be stored using GPS sensor. The academic goal of this project is to recruit students to the field of space science and technology.

The Reflection Grating Spectrometer experiment (RGS) on the ESA corner stone X-Ray Multi-Mirror Mission (XMM) uses charge coupled devices (CCD) as detectors. Thermal requirements are the main driver for the layout of the detector housing. Parasitic heat inputs stem primarily from radiative coupling and from conduction over the structural support. Improvements in the design of the electro optical model (EOM) over the bread board model (BBM) resulted in a system that guarantees a CCD temperature of -130 °C at the end of the mission while not precluding the possibility to heat the detectors as high as +130°C which might be useful for annealing the CCDs.

THE X-ray spectrum readily adapts itself to problems in chemical analysis and crystal formation. It is effective on very minute particles which otherwise cannot be segregated. A permanent record is made, and the specimens may be used over and over again, as the X-ray is non-destructive. As a means of inspection, X-ray clearly shows the interior of objects such as weldings castings, forgings, cold-worked metals, and so on. Inhomogeneities that are very slight in width and a fraction of one per cent in thickness are seen easily on a radiograph. Defects thus found may be eliminated summarily by checking various steps in production.

Over the past two decades, various models of “worst case” solar energetic particle event (SPE) spectra have been proposed in order to place an upper bound on the likely doses to critical body organs of astronauts on missions outside Earth’s geomagnetic field. In this work, direct comparisons of organ dose estimates for various models of “worst case” SPE spectra are made by using the same transport code (BRYNTRN) and the same human geometry model (Computerized Anatomical Man). The calculations are made assuming nominal thicknesses of spacecraft aluminum shielding. Discussions of possible acute exposure responses from these exposures are presented.

This paper documents the development of the capability to test MAVs (Micro Air Vehicles) in the University of Florida’s wind tunnel facility. The main goal of this work was to obtain, with a reliable procedure, good quality experimental data from wind tunnel tests of air vehicles at low Reynolds numbers, in the order of 100,000. An overview of the instrumentation and data analysis techniques will be presented, followed by some samples of results from tests on specific aircraft. A standard aerodynamic characterization test was developed to perform a “quick” System Identification (SID) characterization of an air vehicle. The requirements for those tests were established by the modeling and control portion of the project. The test procedure was aimed to find the main aerodynamic derivatives that will be used to model the aircraft and design the flight control system. Three distinctly different vehicles ranging in size from 60 cm to 15 cm wingspan are discussed.

V/STOL wind tunnel testing performed over the past several years has been guided largely by the well established practices of conventional low speed wind tunnel testing. Since this approach has not always been satisfactory, a recent investigation was made to determine the adequacy of current V/STOL testing methods. The study was particularly relevant to tests of a four-propeller tilt-wing airplane configuration, but the knowledge gained from this study is also applicable to other types of V/STOL airplanes. The principal result of the investigation was finding that some testing practices for conventional models are not adequate for V/STOL models. The key factors that separate conventional and V/STOL testing were found to be the balance interference tares, model power, and angle-of-attack range.

Instrumentation that has been used for characterization of mixed-phase and glaciated conditions in the past, like the OAP probes, are subject to errors caused by variations in diffraction on the images away from the object plane and by the discrete nature of their particle detection and sizing. Correction methods are necessary to consider their measurements adequate for high ice water content (IWC) environments judged to represent a significant safety hazard to propellers and turbofan engine operability and performance. For this reason, within the frame of EU FP7 HAIC project, instrumentation characterization and validation is considered a major element need for successful execution of flight tests campaigns. Clearly, instrumentation must be sufficiently reliable to assess the reproducibility of artificial clouds with high ice water content generated in icing tunnels.

100 kHz magnetization properties of sample transverse magnetically annealed, cobalt-based amorphous and iron-based nanocrystalline tape wound magnetic cores are presented over the temperature range of −150 C to 150 C, at selected values of Bpeak. Frequency resolved characteristics are given over the range of 50 kHz to 1 MHz, but at Bpeak =0.1 T and 50 C only. Basic exciting winding current and induced voltage data were taken on bare toroidal cores, in a standard type measurement setup. A linear permeability model, which represents the core by a parallel L-R circuit, is used to interpret and present the magnetization characteristics and several figures of merit applicable to inductor materials are reviewed.. The 100 kHz permeability thus derived decreases with increasing temperature for the Fe-based, nanocrystalline material, but increases roughly linearly with temperature for the two Co-based materials, as long as Bpeak is sufficiently low to avoid saturation effects.

100 kHz core loss properties of sample transverse magnetically annealed, cobalt-based amorphous and iron-based nanocrystalline tape wound magnetic cores are presented over the temperature range of -150 C to 150 C, at selected values of Bpeak. For B-fields not close to saturation, the core loss is not sensitive to temperature in this range and is as low as seen in the best MnZn power ferrites at their optimum temperatures. Frequency resolved characteristics are given over the range of 50 kHz to 1 MHz, but at Bpeak = 0.1 T and 50 C only. For example, the 100 kHz specific core loss ranged from 50 mW/cm3 to 70 mW/cm3 for the 3 materials, when measured at 0.1 T and 50 C. This very low high frequency core loss, together with near zero saturation magnetostriction and insensitivity to rough handling, makes these amorphous ribbons strong candidates for power magnetics applications in wide temperature aerospace environments

The microstructure characterization of tubular wicks is discussed using an image analysis method, mercury intrusion porosimetry and Arquimedes method. The central objective of this work is to determine the wide convenience of the image analysis technique for wick characterization. It is demonstrate that the image analysis technique is an appropriate tool to determine correlation function, total porosity and pore size distribution in two-dimensional (2-D) binary images of microstructures. The correlation function is used to simulate the 3-D reconstruction of porous structure. The images were obtained from a set of wick samples made of sintered nickel, through scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). A computer program (Imago) was developed and used in the work. The mercury intrusion porosimetry is also used to provide information about the breakthrough diameter of porous material. Results show porosity of about 60% and effective pore size less than 4 μm.

This paper demonstrates the results of the analysis of the current practical situation in product reliability and durability as well as accelerated stress testing development. High stress testing is now the basic source for obtaining initial information to provide a prediction of a product's reliability and durability. This paper shows that this testing cannot offer information for the accurate prediction of reliability and durability, because the product degradation process during the testing differs from the product degradation process during the actual field situation. As a result, the time to failures also differs.

The application of a production-oriented high-power CO2 laser system for the welding of auto underbody components is reported. Sheet metal sections, varying in thickness from 0.060-0.135 in, are welded at speeds up to 500 in/min at 6 kW. An overview of recent developments in laser welding is presented along with a discussion of the laser deep-penetration weld phenomenon. A comparison is made between laser and electron-beam welding performance.