Experimental evaluation of heat transfer on a 1030:1 area ratio rocket nozzle

A 1030:1 carbon steel, heat-sink nozzle was tested. The test conditions included a nominal chamber pressure of 2413 kN/sq m and a mixture ratio range of 2.78 to 5.49. The propellants were gaseous oxygen and gaseous hydrogen. Outer wall temperature measurements were used to calculate the inner wall temperature and the heat flux and heat rate to the nozzle at specified axial locations. The experimental heat fluxes were compared to those predicted by the Two-Dimensional Kinetics (TDK) computer model analysis program. When laminar boundary layer flow was assumed in the analysis, the predicted values were within 15% of the experimental values for the area ratios of 20 to 975. However, when turbulent boundary layer conditions were assumed, the predicted values were approximately 120% higher than the experimental values. A study was performed to determine if the conditions within the nozzle could sustain a laminar boundary layer. Using the flow properties predicted by TDK, the momentum-thickness Reynolds number was calculated, and the point of transition to turbulent flow was predicted. The predicted transition point was within 0.5 inches of the nozzle throat. Calculations of the acceleration parameter were then made to determine if the flow conditions could produce relaminarization of the boundary layer. It was determined that if the boundary layer flow was inclined to transition to turbulent, the acceleration conditions within the nozzle would tend to suppress turbulence and keep the flow laminar-like

Comparison of theoretical and experimental thrust performance of a 1030:1 area ratio rocket nozzle at a chamber pressure of 2413 kN/m2 (350 psia)

The joint Army. Navy, NASA. Air Force (JANNAF) rocket engine peformnace prediction procedure is based on the use of various reference computer programs. One of the reference programs for nozzle analysis is the Two-Dimensional Kinetics (TDK) Program. The purpose of this report is to calibrate the JANNAF procedure incorporated into the December l984 version of the TDK program for the high-area-ratio rocket engine regime. The calibration was accomplished by modeling the performance of a 1030:1 rocket nozzle tested at NASA Lewis Research Center. A detailed description of the experimental test conditions and TDK input parameters is given. The results show that the computer code predicts delivered vacuum specific impulse to within 0.12 to 1.9 percent of the experimental data. Vacuum thrust coefficient predictions were within + or - 1.3 percent of experimental results. Predictions of wall static pressure were within approximately + or - 5 percent of the measured values. An experimental value for inviscid thrust was obtained for the nozzle extension between area ratios of 427.5 and 1030 by using an integration of the measured wall static pressures. Subtracting the measured thrust gain produced by the nozzle between area ratios of 427.5 and 1030 from the inviscid thrust gain yielded experimental drag decrements of 10.85 and 27.00 N (2.44 and 6.07 lb) for mixture ratios of 3.04 and 4.29, respectively. These values correspond to 0.45 and 1.11 percent of the total vacuum thrust. At a mixture ratio of 4.29, the TDK predicted drag decrement was 16.59 N (3.73 lb), or 0.71 percent of the predicted total vacuum thrust

The Changing Financial Structure of the U.S. Farm Sector

Agricultural Finance,

Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, a multitherapy antenatal education programme to reduce routine interventions in labour

Objective: To assess whether the multitherapy antenatal education ‘CTLB’ (Complementary Therapies for Labour and Birth) Study programme leads to net cost savings. Design: Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, using analysis of outcomes and hospital funding data. Methods: We take a payer perspective and use Australian Refined Diagnosis-Related Group (AR-DRG) cost data to estimate the potential savings per woman to the payer (government or private insurer). We consider scenarios in which the intervention cost is either borne by the woman or by the payer. Savings are computed as the difference in total cost between the control group and the study group. Results: If the cost of the intervention is not borne by the payer, the average saving to the payer was calculated to be $A808 per woman. If the payer covers the cost of the programme, this figure reduces to$A659 since the average cost of delivering the programme was $A149 per woman. All these findings are significant at the 95Conclusion: The CTLB antenatal education programme leads to significant savings to payers that come from reduced use of hospital resources. Depending on which perspective is considered, and who is responsible for covering the cost of the programme, the net savings vary from$A659 to $A808 per woman. Compared with the average cost of birth in the control group, we conclude that the programme could lead to a reduction in birth-related healthcare costs of approximately 9%. Trial registration number: ACTRN12611001126909

Dynamic Surface Tension Behaviour in a Photoresponsive Surfactant System

We report on the surface properties of a photoresponsive surfactant that incorporates the light-sensitive azobenzene group into its tail. Cis-trans photo-isomerization of this group alters the ability of the surfactant to pack into adsorbed monolayers at an air-water interface or into aggregates in solution, causing a significant variation in bulk and surface properties upon changes in the illumination conditions. NMR studies indicate that a solution left in the dark for an extended period of time contains trans isomer almost exclusively, while samples exposed to light of fixed wavelength eventually reach a photostationary equilibrium with significant amounts of both isomers present. Dynamic surface tension studies performed on this system under different illumination conditions (dark, UV light, visible light) show profoundly different approaches to equilibrium. At concentrations well above the CMC, the same equilibrium tension is reached in all three cases, presumably corresponding to a surface saturated with the trans (more surface active) isomer. The dark sample shows a simple, single-step relaxation in surface tension after creation of a fresh interface, while the UV and visible samples exhibit a more rapid initial decrease in tension, followed by a plateau of nearly constant tension, and end with a final relaxation to equilibrium. It is hypothesized that this behavior of the UV and visible samples is caused by competitive adsorption between the cis and trans isomers present in these mixtures. Presumably the cis surfactant reaches the interface more quickly, leading to a cis-dominated interface having a tension value corresponding to the intermediate plateau, but is ultimately displaced by the trans isomer. Diffusional time scale arguments which consider the extremes of possible micellar dissolution rates are used to analyze the relaxation data of the dark sample, and the results indicate that micellar dissolution in these samples is slow.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Effect of Piglet Birth Weight and Weaning Weight on Nursery Off-Test Weight

Management of lightweight pigs is a challenge that many swine producers face. The number and actual weight of lightweight market hogs can directly impact production and marketing decisions as well as disrupt pig flow on a time-sensitive management system. Pigs that have lower birth weights frequently have lower weaning weights and remain a problem through the grow/finish phases of production. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of piglet birth weight and weaning weight on nursery off-test weight and to evaluate the linearity of these relationships. These data could be used by commercial producers to determine if it is effective to maintain lightweight piglets at birth or whether euthanasia might be a better option for pigs with low birth weights

Multigrid solution of internal flows using unstructured solution adaptive meshes

This is the final report of the NASA Lewis SBIR Phase 2 Contract Number NAS3-25785, Multigrid Solution of Internal Flows Using Unstructured Solution Adaptive Meshes. The objective of this project, as described in the Statement of Work, is to develop and deliver to NASA a general three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code using unstructured solution-adaptive meshes for accuracy and multigrid techniques for convergence acceleration. The code will primarily be applied, but not necessarily limited, to high speed internal flows in turbomachinery

Bubble Behavior in a Taylor Vortex

We present an experimental study on the behavior of bubbles captured in a Taylor vortex. The gap between a rotating inner cylinder and a stationary outer cylinder is filled with a Newtonian mineral oil. Beyond a critical rotation speed (ω[subscript c]), Taylor vortices appear in this system. Small air bubbles are introduced into the gap through a needle connected to a syringe pump. These are then captured in the cores of the vortices (core bubble) and in the outflow regions along the inner cylinder (wall bubble). The flow field is measured with a two-dimensional particle imaging velocimetry (PIV) system. The motion of the bubbles is monitored by using a high speed video camera. It has been found that, if the core bubbles are all of the same size, a bubble ring forms at the center of the vortex such that bubbles are azimuthally uniformly distributed. There is a saturation number (N[subscript s]) of bubbles in the ring, such that the addition of one more bubble leads eventually to a coalescence and a subsequent complicated evolution. Ns increases with increasing rotation speed and decreasing bubble size. For bubbles of non-uniform size, small bubbles and large bubbles in nearly the same orbit can be observed to cross due to their different circulating speeds. The wall bubbles, however, do not become uniformly distributed, but instead form short bubble-chains which might eventually evolve into large bubbles. The motion of droplets and particles in a Taylor vortex was also investigated. As with bubbles, droplets and particles align into a ring structure at low rotation speeds, but the saturation number is much smaller. Moreover, at high rotation speeds, droplets and particles exhibit a characteristic periodic oscillation in the axial, radial and tangential directions due to their inertia. In addition, experiments with non-spherical particles show that they behave rather similarly. This study provides a better understanding of particulate behavior in vortex flow structures.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA