Quality determination of liquid-solid hydrogen mixtures

Quality determinations of liquid-solid hydrogen mixtures from mass fraction of vapor pumped off in freeze-thaw proces

Preparation and characterization of slush hydrogen and nitrogen gels

Slush hydrogen and nitrogen gels for rocket propellant

A cryocooler for applications requiring low magnetic and mechanical interference

A very low-power, low-interference Stirling cryocooler is being developed based on principles and techniques described in several previous publications over the last four years. It differs in several important details from those built previously. It uses a tapered displacer based upon an analytical optimization procedure. The displacer is driven by an auxiliary piston and cylinder (rather than by mechanical linkage) using some of the working fluid itself to provide the driving force. This provides smooth, vibration-free motion, and, more importantly, allows complete mechanical and spatial separation of the cryostat from the pressure-wave generator. Either of two different pressure-wave generators can be used. One is a non-contaminating, unlubricated ceramic piston and cylinder. The other is a compressed-air-operated rubber diaphragm with motor-driven valves to cycle the pressure between appropriate limits

A computational model for a regenerator

This paper concerns a numerical model of a regenerator running at very low temperatures. The model consists of the usual three equations for a compressible fluid with an additional equation for a matrix temperature. The main difficulty with the model is the very low Mach number (approximately 1.E-3). The divergence of the velocity is not small, the pressure divergence is small, and the pressure fluctuation in time is not small. An asymptotic expansion based on the bounded derivative method of Kreiss is used to give a reduced model which eliminates acoustic waves. The velocity is then determined by a two-point boundary value problem which does not contain a time derivative. The solution obtained from the reduced system is compared with the numerical solution of the original system

Cryogenic Propellant Scavenging

A detailed description of a computer model that has been developed for assessing the feasibility of low g cryogen propellant scavenging from the space shuttle External Tank (ET) is given. Either pump-assisted or pressure-induced propellant transfer may be selected. The program will accept a wide range of input variables, including the fuel to be transferred (LOX or LH2), heat leaks, tank temperatures, and piping and equipment specifications. The model has been parametrically analyzed to determine initial design specification for the system

An approach to optimization of low-power Stirling cryocoolers

A method for optimizing the design (shape of the displacer) of low power Stirling cryocoolers relative to the power required to operate the systems is described. A variational calculation which includes static conduction, shuttle and radiation losses, as well as regenerator inefficiency, was completed for coolers operating in the 300 K to 10 K range. While the calculations apply to tapered displacer machines, comparison of the results with stepped displacer cryocoolers indicates reasonable agreement

Appropriate Design of Parallel Manipulators

International audienceAlthough parallel structures have found a niche market in many applications such as machine tools, telescope positioning or food packaging, they are not as successful as expected. The main reason of this relative lack of success is that the study and hardware of parallel structures have clearly not reached the same level of completeness than the one of serial structures. Among the main issues that have to be addressed, the design problem is crucial. Indeed, the performances that can be expected from a parallel robot are heavily dependent upon the choice of the mechanical structure and even more from its dimensioning. In this chapter, we show that classical design methodologies are not appropriate for such closed-loop mechanism and examine what alternatives are possible

Optimization of measurement configurations for geometrical calibration of industrial robot

The paper is devoted to the geometrical calibration of industrial robots employed in precise manufacturing. To identify geometric parameters, an advanced calibration technique is proposed that is based on the non-linear experiment design theory, which is adopted for this particular application. In contrast to previous works, the calibration experiment quality is evaluated using a concept of the user-defined test-pose. In the frame of this concept, the related optimization problem is formulated and numerical routines are developed, which allow user to generate optimal set of manipulator configurations for a given number of calibration experiments. The efficiency of the developed technique is illustrated by several examples.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1211.610

Measurements of mixed convective heat transfer to low temperature helium in a horizontal channel

A horizontal 2.85 m long, 19 mm i.d. stainless steel heated circular channel was employed to measure coefficients of heat transfer to low temperature helium flow. Experimental parameters range from 6.5 to 15 K, from 0.12 to 0.3 MPa at heat fluxes up to 1000 W/m square and Reynolds numbers from 9,000 to 20,000. A significantly nonuniform distribution of heat transfer coefficients over the tube periphery is observed. Difference between temperatures on the upper and lower surfaces of the stainless steel channel wall was found to reach 9 K. It was noted that the highest temperature on the wall outer surface is displaced from its uppermost point. Measurements of local flow temperatures revealed vortical structure of the flow. The displacement of the point with the highest temperature is attributable to the effect of vortices. The relationships for calculating local and averaged coefficients of heat transfer are proposed

Some heat transfer and hydrodynamic problems associated with superconducting cables (SPTL)

To study some effects of thermogravitation on (CIIK-SPTL) systems, a heated tube experiment was set up at Krzhizhanovsky Power Engineering Institute Moscow, U.S.S.R. Heat transfer data were taken with fluid helium flowing through a 2.85 m, 19 mm diameter uniformly heated horizontal tube. Temperatures were measured on the top and bottom of the tube at six axial locations with three other circumferential measurements made at (X/L) =57. Typical temperature profiles show significant variations both axially and circumferentially. The data are grouped using reduced Nusselt number (NuR) and the bulk expansion parameter for each axial location. The average data for 0.26 less than or equal to X/L less than or equal to 0.76 follow a power law relation with the average expansion parameter. System instabilities are noted and discussed. Future work including heat transfer in coaxial cylinders is discussed