Browse Topic: Water
This Aerospace Information Report (AIR) outlines the design considerations and criteria for the control of water carryover from the environmental control system (ECS) with respect to causes and indicated corrective or preventative action. In addition, condensation on structure will be reviewed with possible preventative action described
NASA’s Johnson Space Center is offering an innovative freeze-resistant hydration system for licensing. The technology substantially improves on existing hydration systems because it prevents water from freezing in the tubing, container, and mouthpiece, even in the harshest conditions on Earth
This SAE Aerospace Standard (AS) covers water conditioning agents used to facilitate aqueous wet-method magnetic particle inspection
A research team has developed diamond quantum sensors that can be used to improve resolution in magnetic imaging. In order to test the method, the scientists placed a microchip with microscopic water-filled channels on the diamond quantum sensor. This allowed the researchers to simulate microstructures of a cell. They were able to successfully analyze the diffusion of water molecules within the microstructure
In today's world, there is an increasing emphasis on the responsible use of fiber reinforced materials in the automobile applications, construction of buildings, machinery, and appliances as these materials are effectively reused, recycled, or disposed with minimum impact on the environment. As such, it has become mandatory to incorporate sustainable, environmental friendly and green concepts in the development of new materials and processes. The primary objective of this study is to manufacture composites using fibers obtained from Thespesia Lampas plants, which are known for their soft, long fibers that are commonly used in various domestic products. The composites are made by combining these fibers with a general purpose polyisocyanurate resin, and their potential applications in both domestic and commercial products are explored. To evaluate the properties of these composites, tests are conducted for tensile strength, flexure, and water absorption. The laminates are fabricated
NASA engineers have developed a new approach to mitigating unwanted motion in floating structures. Ideally suited to applications including offshore wind energy platforms and barges, the innovation uses water ballast as a motion damping fluid
NASA instrumentation is at risk for contamination from dusty space environments. Additionally, contamination from water and ice buildup can affect instrumentation function. Researchers at the Goddard Space Flight Center have developed a viable dust, water, and ice mitigation optical coating for space flight, aeronautical, and ground applications. The innovation of the LOTUS coating prevents contamination on sensitive surfaces, like optics, that cannot be cleaned during space missions
Dubbed an “engineered living material,” a new type of material developed at the University of California San Diego could offer a sustainable and eco-friendly solution to clean pollutants from water
Photosynthesis has evolved in plants for millions of years to turn water, carbon dioxide, and the energy from sunlight into plant biomass and the foods we eat. This process, however, is very inefficient, with only about 1 percent of the energy found in sunlight ending up in the plant. Scientists at UC Riverside and the University of Delaware have found a way to bypass the need for biological photosynthesis altogether and create food independent of sunlight by using artificial photosynthesis
A Northwestern University research team has developed a revolutionary transistor that is expected be ideal for lightweight, flexible, high-performance bioelectronics. The electrochemical transistor is compatible with blood and water and can amplify important signals
Personal devices feed our sight and hearing virtually unlimited streams of information while leaving our sense of touch mostly … untouched
Researchers from Northwestern University have collaborated on the implementation of an accurate, low-cost, and easy-to-use test for detecting toxic levels of fluoride in water. The new biosensor device has been field tested in Kenya — proving that testing water for fluoride can be easily accomplished outside of a lab and accurately interpreted by nonexperts
Exploring the possibility of all-weather secure quantum communication using macroscopic quantum states of light. Air Force Research Laboratory, Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development, Tokyo, Japan More than half a century has passed since the birth of quantum signal detection theory, which is the cornerstone of modern quantum communication theory. Quantum stream cipher, the quantum-noise-based direct encryption scheme for optical communications at the center of our research, is based on the foundations of quantum communication theory. For quantum cryptography to progress from a theoretical possibility to a more realistic technology, experimental and theoretical research must be complementary. We have reported several experimental and theoretical studies on the quantum stream cipher connecting two points via optical fibers and also fabricated a prototype based on them. To enhance the usability of a quantum stream cipher, free-space optical communications must be explored in
More than half a century has passed since the birth of quantum signal detection theory, which is the cornerstone of modern quantum communication theory. Quantum stream cipher, the quantum-noise-based direct encryption scheme for optical communications at the center of our research, is based on the foundations of quantum communication theory. For quantum cryptography to progress from a theoretical possibility to a more realistic technology, experimental and theoretical research must be complementary
As rains get heavier and more frequent, flooding, especially in cities, is becoming a serious problem. The traditional way of managing stormwater has been to quickly get it off the road and into the storm sewer system to be sent downstream, said Lauren McPhillips, Assistant Professor of civil and environmental engineering and of agricultural and biological engineering at Penn State. “With the stormwater out of sight, the problem was out of mind.” However, whisking the water away increases risks of extreme flooding downstream
Most of the world is covered in oceans, which are unfortunately highly polluted. One of the strategies to combat the mounds of waste found in these very sensitive ecosystems — especially around coral reefs — is to employ robots to master the cleanup. However, existing underwater robots are mostly bulky with rigid bodies, unable to explore and sample in complex and unstructured environments, and are noisy due to electrical motors or hydraulic pumps. For a more suitable design, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems (MPI-IS) in Stuttgart looked to nature for inspiration
This specification covers a stable, noncorrosive, water-soluble, highly-penetrating, fluorescent solution which may, but need not, be diluted with an appropriate amount of water for use
To support an industry wide response to an EASA proposed Special Condition regarding the threat of in-flight supercooled liquid water icing conditions at altitudes above FL300, Boeing 777 fleet data were used to estimate the frequency and severity of such icing occurrences. The data were from the calendar year 2019 and included ~ 950,000 airline revenue flights from around the world by multiple operators. The unique architecture of the Primary Ice Detection System (PIDS) on that model, in addition to robust meteorological data that was able to be correlated, afforded an opportunity to conservatively estimate the Total Water Exposure (TWE) and thus the Liquid Water Content (LWC) of the icing encounters captured at FL295 and above. This paper will outline the key methods used and present the findings
Threats to aviation safety as a result of super-cooled large drops (SLD) has been addressed by the FAA rules change (14 CFR Part 25) with the additional icing certification requirement. SLD clouds often consist of bi-modal drop size spectra leading to significant problems in simulating and characterizing these conditions in situ and in icing wind tunnels. Legacy instrumentation for measuring drop size distributions and liquid water content are challenged under these conditions. The large size range measurement problem is addressed with the development of the Phase Doppler Interferometer, Flight Probe Dual-Range (PDI FPDR). The method is described in this report along with the measurement capabilities including the dynamic measurement range and overall working size range. The PDI instrument bases drop size measurements on the light wavelength as the measurement length scale. The light wavelength is a much more robust scale, especially as compared to the light scattering intensity
Considerable amounts of water accumulate in aircraft fuel tanks due to condensation of vapor during flight or directly during fueling with contaminated kerosene. This can result in a misreading of the fuel meters. In certain aircraft types, ice blocks resulting from the low temperatures at high altitude flights or in winter time can even interfere with the nozzles of the fuel supply pipes from the tanks to the engines. Therefore, as part of the maintenance operations, water has to be drained in certain intervals ensuring that no remaining ice is present. In the absence of an established method for determining residual ice blocks inside, the aircraft operator has to wait long enough, in some cases too long, to start the draining procedure, leading potentially to an unnecessary long ground time. A promising technology to determine melting ice uses acoustic signals generated and emitted during ice melting. With acoustic emissions, mainly situated in the ultrasonic frequency range, a very
A fundamental understanding of the icing process for aircraft requires a more thorough analysis of the thermodynamics of supercooled droplet impingement. To better study such thermodynamic processes, a novel temperature sensor that functions within supercooled water and ice crystals was developed. The temperature sensor is non-intrusive and provides temperature and phase change information for both liquid water and solid ice. The temperature sensor is an optical sensor based on the luminophore pyranine. The use of pyranine allows for the measurement of spatially and temporally resolved temperature fields for icing applications. The sensitivity of the sensor is -9.2±0.1%/K for temperature measurement in the solid phase and 0.8±0.1%/K for the liquid phase. The performance of the sensor was demonstrated through a calibration process using spectral analysis, the observation of the melting process of a rectangular prism created from the luminescent ice, and the study of the temperature
In the last decades there have been many temporary engine failures, engine-related events and erroneous airspeed indication measurements that occurred by a phenomenon known as Ice Crystal Icing (ICI). This type of icing mainly occurs in high altitudes close to tropical convection in areas with a high concentration of ice crystals. Direct measurements or in-situ pilot observations of ICI that could be used as a warning to other air-traffic are rare to nearly non-existent. To detect those dangerous high Ice Water Content (IWC) areas with already existing airborne measurement instruments, Lufthansa analyzed observed Total Air Temperature (TAT) anomalies and used a self-developed search algorithm, depicting those TAT anomalies that are related to ice crystal icing events. To optimize the flight route for dispatchers several hours before the flight, e.g. for long distance flights through the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), reliable forecasts to identify hazardous high IWC regions are
The paper describes a tools’ suite able of analyzing numerically 3D ice-accretion problems of aeronautical interest. The methodology consists of linking different modules each of them performing a specific function inside the ice-simulation chain. It has been specifically designed from the beginning with multi-step capability in mind. Such a feature plays a key role when studying the dynamic evolution of the icing process. Indeed, the latter has the character of a multi-physic and time-dependent phenomenon which foresees a strong interaction of the air- and water fields with the wall thermodynamics. Our multi-layer approach assumes that the physical problem can be discretized by a series of pseudo-steady conditions. The simulation process starts with the automatic generation of a Cartesian three-dimensional mesh which represents the input for the immersed boundary (IB) RANS solver. Once obtained, the air-phase is used by the Eulerian tool to solve the transport of the water-phase on
Ice and snow accretion on aircraft surfaces imposes operational and safety challenges, severely impacting aerodynamic performance of critical aircraft structures and equipment. For optimized location-based ice sensing and integrated ‘smart’ de-icing systems of the future, microwave resonant-based planar sensors are presented for their high sensitivity and versatility in implementation and integration. Here, a conformal, planar complementary split ring resonator (CSRR) based microwave sensor is presented for robust detection of localized ice and snow accretion. The sensor has a modified thick aluminum-plate design and is coated with epoxy for greater durability. The fabricated sensor operates at a resonant frequency of 1.18 GHz and a resonant amplitude of -33 dB. Monitoring the resonant frequency response of the sensor, the freezing and thawing process of a 0.1 ml droplet of water is monitored, and a 60 MHz downshift is observed for the frozen droplet. Using an artificial snow chamber
Products for nautical applications face an unusual set of design challenges. The corrosiveness of salt water can cause premature degradation, and the impact of fast-moving vessels bouncing up against forceful ocean waves can also damage equipment
The prevailing mission-based paradigm for ocean color remote sensing typically involves high-cost satellite platforms launched and operated by government agencies such as NASA, NOAA, ESA, and JAXA. These platforms host state-of-the-art ocean-viewing radiometers with design and sensitivity specifications appropriate for delineating a comparatively weak water-leaving radiance from the total radiant signal detected at the top of the atmosphere. The current suite of such operational ocean color sensors includes NASA’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradi-ometer (MODIS; Aqua satellite), NOAA’s VIIRS (SNPP and NOAA-20 satellites), the Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI; Sentinel-3 A/B satellites), and the Second-Generation Global Imager (SGLI) onboard the GCOM-C satellite. All of these sensors provide multi-spectral band sets (visible, near-infrared (NIR), and shortwave infrared (SWIR)) with daily coverage at approximately kilometer-scale spatial resolution. However, even kilometer
More than five million people in the United States live with some form of paralysis and may encounter difficulties completing everyday tasks, like grabbing a glass of water or putting on clothes. New research from Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute (RI) aims to increase autonomy for individuals with such motor impairments by introducing a head-worn device that will help them control a mobile manipulator
An automotive door latch that functions manually or electronically is a vital component of a door closure system. It primarily aims to provide security of the occupants by securing the door system by ensuring timely locking and unlocking of the doors. A wide range of factors like safety, ergonomics, and security influence the development of these latches to eliminate safety. With the growing trend and advancements, automotive electronics is becoming more complex and prevalent. Hence, any exposure of electrical/electronic components to water make them susceptible to short circuits, corrosion etc., thereby may make it the functionality of systems and increasing the chances of failure in these devices. Intrusion of water possible into the latch system can be disastrous depending on the climatic conditions. Stringent safety criteria have given rise to unconventional test methods that are time-consuming and hence necessitate virtual validation techniques. Virtual validation becomes a viable
A team of researchers at University of California, Riverside, has moved a step closer to finding a use for the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic waste produced every year that often winds up clogging streams and rivers and polluting our oceans
Advanced driver assistance systems rely on external sensors that encompass the vehicle. The reliability of such systems can be compromised by adverse weather, with performance hindered by both direct impingement on sensors and spray suspended between the vehicle and potential obstacles. The transportation of road spray is known to be an unsteady phenomenon, driven by the turbulent structures that characterise automotive flow fields. Further understanding of this unsteadiness is a key aspect in the development of robust sensor implementations. This paper outlines an experimental method used to analyse the spray ejected by an automotive body, presented through a study of a simplified vehicle model with interchangeable rear-end geometries. Particles are illuminated by laser light sheets as they pass through measurement planes downstream of the vehicle, facilitating imaging of the instantaneous structure of the spray. The tested configurations produce minor changes to the flow field, the
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