Feasibility Investigation for Performing Fireball Temperature Tests

NASA Johnson Space Center White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) was requested by the Launch Abort Subpanel and the Power Systems Subpanel of the Interagency Nuclear Safety Review Panel to investigate the feasibility of using spectroscopic techniques to measure propellant fireball gas temperatures. This report outlines the modeling and experimental approaches and results of this investigation. Descriptions of the theoretical particle temperature and mass effusion models are presented along with the results of the survivability of small plutonium dioxide (less than or equal to 1000 microns diameter) particles entrained in various propellant fireball scenarios. The experimental test systems used to measure the hydroxide radical, water, and particle graybody spectral emissions and absorptions are discussed. Spectral results along with temperatures extracted by analyzing the spectral features are presented for the flames investigated in the laboratory environment. Methods of implementing spectroscopic measurements for future testing using the WSTF Large-scale Hydrogen/Oxygen Explosion Facility are discussed, and the accuracy expected for these measurements is estimated from laboratory measurements

QNDE Techniques for Measuring the Dimensions of Adhesive and Fiberglass Bonds Securing the Pivots in the Hard Upper Torso of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit or Spacesuit

Methods for evaluating and measuring adhesive bonds in multi-layer anisotropic composite materials are of considerable interest to the aerospace community. Recent quantitative nondestructive evaluation (QNDE) research has concentrated on using obliquely incident ultrasonic waves to determine interfacial degradation in adhesive bonds [1]. For anisotropic materials, this task is more formidable, but the theoretical analysis presented by Balasubramaniam et. al. [2] indicates good prospects for the ultrasonic reflection technique. The primary objective of this experimental investigation was to determine the best QNDE method for measuring the relative thickness of fiberglass/epoxy (Fg/Ep) laminate compared to the adhesive layer bonding a stainless steel pivot in the composite structure of the Hard Upper Torso (HUT). The integrity of the interfacial bonds between the adhesive, the stainless steel pivot, and the composite laminate was also of interest, but of secondary importance to the project.</p

Study Site Standard Operating Procedure SOP: P6 - Study organisation and planning

Methods for evaluating and measuring adhesive bonds in multi-layer anisotropic composite materials are of considerable interest to the aerospace community. Recent quantitative nondestructive evaluation (QNDE) research has concentrated on using obliquely incident ultrasonic waves to determine interfacial degradation in adhesive bonds [1]. For anisotropic materials, this task is more formidable, but the theoretical analysis presented by Balasubramaniam et. al. [2] indicates good prospects for the ultrasonic reflection technique. The primary objective of this experimental investigation was to determine the best QNDE method for measuring the relative thickness of fiberglass/epoxy (Fg/Ep) laminate compared to the adhesive layer bonding a stainless steel pivot in the composite structure of the Hard Upper Torso (HUT). The integrity of the interfacial bonds between the adhesive, the stainless steel pivot, and the composite laminate was also of interest, but of secondary importance to the project