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Articles 1 - 4 of 4
Full-Text Articles in Aerospace Engineering
Fabrication, Thermophysical, And Mechanical Properties Of Cermet And Cercer Fuel Composites For Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, Neal D. Gaffin
Fabrication, Thermophysical, And Mechanical Properties Of Cermet And Cercer Fuel Composites For Nuclear Thermal Propulsion, Neal D. Gaffin
Doctoral Dissertations
Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) utilizes nuclear fission to double the efficiency of
in-space propulsion systems compared with traditional combustion rocket systems.
NTP systems are limited primarily by the fuel material choice, due to the extreme
conditions they will need to endure, including temperatures up to 3000 K, multiple
thermal cycles with rapid heating and cooling, exposure to hot flowing hydrogen,
large thermal gradients, and high neutron flux. Particle based fuels, namely ceramic-
metallic (cermet) and ceramic-ceramic (cercer) composites are both promising fuel
element material candidates for NTP. Given the high temperature nature, these
materials are difficult to fabricate and very …
Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engine Control Autonomy Via Embedded Decision, David Sikorski
Nuclear Thermal Rocket Engine Control Autonomy Via Embedded Decision, David Sikorski
Doctoral Dissertations
This doctoral dissertation presents an investigation of embedded decision capabilities as a means for developing nuclear reactor autonomous control. Nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) is identified as a high priority technology for development, and is the focus of this research. First, a background investigation is presented on the state of the art in nuclear thermal rocket (NTR) engine control and modeling practices, resulting in the development of a low order NTR engine dynamic model based on the literature. The engine model was used to perform the following investigation, and is intended to serve as a research platform for the future development …
A Numerical Optimization Study Of A Novel Electrospray Emitter Design, Joshua H. Howell
A Numerical Optimization Study Of A Novel Electrospray Emitter Design, Joshua H. Howell
Masters Theses
The low thrust and high specific impulse of electric propulsion has been brought to the forefront for CubeSat and small spacecraft applications. Electrospray thrusters, which operate via electrostatic principles, have seen much research, development, and application in recent years. The small sizes of the spacecraft that utilize electrospray thrusters has focused development into the miniaturization of this technology to the micro-scale. Miniaturization introduces design challenges that must be addressed, including power supply mass and footprint requirements. This consequence requires investigation into the effects of design choices on the thruster onset voltage, defined as the voltage at which ion emission begins. …
Quasi-One-Dimensional Flow Method For Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Simulator Design, Ethan M. Long
Quasi-One-Dimensional Flow Method For Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Simulator Design, Ethan M. Long
Masters Theses
Quasi-One-Dimensional flow methods are commonly used to solve flow situations that have multiple driving influences, i.e. heat transfer, area change, and friction. They hold advantages over other computational fluid dynamics methods due to their much lower computational costs and overall simplicity. Typically, these methods are limited in their ability to solve flows due to the simplifying assumptions used. In this model, a simple heat transfer calculation is combined with NASA’s Chemical Equilibrium with Applications to constantly update chemical properties within the simulation. In this thesis, a quasi-one-dimensional model including these additions is developed and applied to a NTP simulator design …