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Articles 1 - 5 of 5
Full-Text Articles in Nuclear Engineering
Full Volume 13, Issue 1, Seyma Tufan
Enhancements To Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Rockets, Kimberly Gonzalez
Enhancements To Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Rockets, Kimberly Gonzalez
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
Nuclear thermal rocket propulsion has been proposed as a highly efficient technology for space vehicles traveling from earth orbit to the moon, Mars, and other locations in the solar system. With twice the performance of a chemical rocket, nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) uses the thrust produced by heating hydrogen gas within a thermal nuclear reactor where the exhaust is then passed through a de Laval nozzle to produce supersonic flow. NTP engines were the subject ofthe NERVA experiments at the Nevada Test Site in the 1970’s, and they produced a specific impulse of up to 900 seconds which is almost …
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 …
Viability Of Energy And Fuel Sources For Interstellar Travel; Design And Feasibility Of The Construction Of Manned Interstellar Space Shuttles, Lukas Mittelman
Viability Of Energy And Fuel Sources For Interstellar Travel; Design And Feasibility Of The Construction Of Manned Interstellar Space Shuttles, Lukas Mittelman
UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones
The importance of proving the viability of interstellar transport and addressing its potential hazards and pitfalls is immense. If we do not look toward the future and examine what could be waiting for us, we are doing our children, our children’s children, and so on, a disservice. Here we must attempt to lay the groundwork for our future scientists, engineers, and adventurers. Asking and answering questions like, which propulsion and energy systems must we incorporate to send us through the cosmos? Will we utilize technologies known today, such as fossil fuel rockets, fission or fusion rockets, and antimatter drives (pion …
Performance Degradation Based On Importance Change And Application In Dissimilar Redundancy Actuation System, Yadong Zhang, Chao Zhang, Shaoping Wang, Rentong Chen, Mileta M. Tomovic
Performance Degradation Based On Importance Change And Application In Dissimilar Redundancy Actuation System, Yadong Zhang, Chao Zhang, Shaoping Wang, Rentong Chen, Mileta M. Tomovic
Engineering Technology Faculty Publications
The importance measure is a crucial method to identify and evaluate the system weak link. It is widely used in the optimization design and maintenance decision of aviation, aerospace, nuclear energy and other systems. The dissimilar redundancy actuation system (DRAS) is a key aircraft control subsystem which performs aircraft attitude and flight trajectory control. Its performance and reliability directly affect the aircraft flight quality and flight safety. This paper considers the influence of the Birnbaum importance measure (BIM) and integrated importance measure (IIM) on the reliability changes of key components in DRAS. The differences of physical fault characteristics of different …