• Title/Summary/Keyword: Micro Gravity

Search Result 96, Processing Time 0.024 seconds

Dynamics of Extra-Vehicular Activities in Low-Gravity Surface Environments

  • Spencer, David A.;Gast, Matthew A.
    • International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
    • /
    • v.14 no.1
    • /
    • pp.11-18
    • /
    • 2013
  • Human spaceflight experience in extra-vehicular activity (EVA) is limited to two regimes: the micro-gravity environment of Earth orbit, and the lunar surface environment at one-sixth of Earth's gravity. Future human missions to low-gravity bodies, including asteroids, comets, and the moons of Mars, will require EVA techniques that are beyond the current experience base. In order to develop robust approaches for exploring these small bodies, the dynamics associated with human exploration on low-gravity surface must be characterized. This paper examines the translational and rotational motion of an astronaut on the surface of a small body, and it is shown that the low-gravity environment will pose challenges to the surface mobility of an astronaut, unless new tools and EVA techniques are developed. Possibilities for addressing these challenges are explored, and utilization of the International Space Station to test operational concepts and hardware in preparation for a low-gravity surface EVA is discussed.

Normal and Micro Gravity Experiments on Propagation Speed of Tribrachial Flame of Propane in Laminar Jets (정상 및 미소중력장에서 프로판 층류 제트 삼지 화염의 전파속도에 관한 실험적 연구)

  • Lee, J.;Won, S.H.;Jin, S.H.;Fujita, O.;Ito, K.;Chung, S.H.
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
    • /
    • v.7 no.3
    • /
    • pp.47-54
    • /
    • 2002
  • The propagation speed of tribrachial flame in laminar propane jets has been investigated experimentally under normal and micro gravity conditions. The displacement speed was found to vary nonlinearly with axial distance because flow velocity along stoichiometric contour was comparable to the propagation speed of tribrachial flame for the present experiment. Approximate solutions for velocity and concentration accounting density difference and virtual origins have been used in determining the propagation speeds of tribrachial flame. Under micro gravity condition, the results showed that propagation speed of tribrachial flame is largely affected by the mixture fraction gradients, in agreement with previous studies. The limiting maximum value. of propagation speeds under micro gravity conditions are in good agreement with the theoretical prediction, that is, the ratio of maximum propagation speed to the stoichiometric laminar burning velocity is proportional to the square root of the density ratio of unburned to burnt mixture.

  • PDF

Crack Analysis of Concrete Gravity Dam Using Surface Integral Method (표면적분법을 이용한 콘크리트 댐의 균열 해석)

  • 진치섭;이영호;손기석
    • Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
    • /
    • v.12 no.3
    • /
    • pp.31-37
    • /
    • 2000
  • When a crack is produced in a concrete structure, a micro crack zone of fracture process zone (FPZ) appears at the crack tip. To investigate the behaviour of this the micro crack zone, nonlinear fracture mechanics (NLFM) must be applied. However, when a massive concrete structure such as a concrete gravity dam is considered, the micro crack zone can be neglected and the structure can be assumed to have linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM) behaviour. This study is divided into two main topics : (1) Calculating stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack tip by surface integral method and (2) Investigating the propagation of the initial crack. If the initial crack propagates, the angle of the propagation is calculated by using maximum circumferential tensile strength theory. This study, also, contains the effects of body forces and water pressures on the crack face.

Micro-Gravity Research on the Atomization Mechanism of Near-Critical Mixing Surface Jet

  • Tsukiji, Hiroyuki;Umemura, Akira;Hisida, Manabu
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
    • /
    • 2004.03a
    • /
    • pp.774-778
    • /
    • 2004
  • The atomization process of a circular $SF_{6}$ liquid jet issued into an otherwise quiescent, high-pressure $N_2$ gas was observed to explore the breakup mechanism of liquid ligaments involved in turbulent atomization. Both liquid and gas temperatures were fixed at a room temperature but the gas pressure was elevated to more than twice the critical pressure of $SF_{6}$. Therefore, the liquid surface was in a thermodynamic state close to a critical mixing condition with suppressed vaporization. Since the surface tension and the surface gas density approach zero and the surface liquid density, respectively, phenomena equivalent to those which would appear when a very high speed laminar flow of water were injected into the atmospheric-pressure air can be observed by issuing $SF_{6}$ liquid at low speeds in micro-gravity environment which avoid disturbances due to gravity forces. The instability ob near-critical mixing surface jet was quantitatively characterized using a newly developed device, which could issue a very small amount of $SF_{6}$ liquid at small constant velocity into a very high-pressure $N_2$ gas.

  • PDF

Effect of gravity on a micropolar thermoelastic medium with voids under three-phase-lag model

  • Alharbi, Amnah M.;Othman, Mohamed I.A.;Al-Autabi, Al-Anoud M.Kh.
    • Structural Engineering and Mechanics
    • /
    • v.76 no.5
    • /
    • pp.579-590
    • /
    • 2020
  • This paper's objective is to investigate the effect of gravity on a micropolar thermoelastic medium with voids. The problem is assessed according to the three-phase-lag model. An analysis of the resulting non-dimensional displacement, temperature variation, and internal stress of the study material is carried out and presented graphically. The non-dimensional displacement, temperature, micro-rotation, the change in the volume fraction field and stress of the material are obtained and illustrated graphically. Comparisons are made with the results predicted by different theories for different values of gravity, the phase-lag of the heat flux and the phase-lag of the temperature gradient. The numerical results reveal that gravity and relaxation times have a significant influence on the distribution of the field quantities. Some notable insights of interest are deduced from the investigation.

Effects of Counterflow Burner Diameter on the Characteristics of Flame Extinction in C-curve (C-곡선상의 화염 소화 특성에 있어서 대향류 버너직경 효과)

  • Park, Dae-Geun;Park, Jeong;Yun, Jin-Han;Kee, Sang-In
    • Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
    • /
    • v.33 no.7
    • /
    • pp.535-540
    • /
    • 2009
  • Experiments are conducted to elucidate effects of counterflow burner diameter on flame extinction behaviors in C-curve. Present experimental results with burner diameters of 18, 26, and 50 mm in normal-gravity are compared with the numerical result of Oppdif code as well as the previous experimental results in micro-gravity. The turning point migrates to a higher global strain rate as burner diameter decreases. It is shown that the C-curve with the burner diameter of 50mm is best-fitted to the numerical result of Oppdif code and the previous micro-gravity results also excurse to the numerical result. This suggests that the precise C-curve can be obtained only with an appreciably large burner. The main reason why these differences appear is shown to be attributed to the transition of shrinking flame disk to flame hole due to strong effects of radial conduction heat loss, which is the typical extinction characteristics of low strain rate flames with a finite burner diameter in a counterflow diffusion flame.

Sloshing of liquids in partially filled tanks - a review of experimental investigations

  • Eswaran, M.;Saha, Ujjwal K.
    • Ocean Systems Engineering
    • /
    • v.1 no.2
    • /
    • pp.131-155
    • /
    • 2011
  • Liquid sloshing constitutes a broad class of problems of great practical importance with regard to the safety of liquid transportation systems, such as tank trucks on highways, liquid tank carriages on rail roads, ocean going vessels and propellant tanks in liquid rocket engines. The present work attempts to give a review of some selected experimental investigations carried out during the last couple of decades. This paper highlights the various parameters attributed to the cause of sloshing followed by effects of baffles, tank inclination, magnetic field, tuned liquid dampers, electric field etc. Further, recent developments in the study of sloshing in micro and zero gravity fields have also been reported. In view of this, fifteen research articles have been carefully chosen, and the work reported therein has been addressed and discussed. The key issues and findings have been compared, tabulated and summarized.

Dual-phase-lag model on microstretch thermoelastic medium with diffusion under the influence of gravity and laser pulse

  • Othman, Mohamed I.A.;Abd-Elaziz, Elsayed M.;Mohamed, Ibrahim E.A.
    • Structural Engineering and Mechanics
    • /
    • v.75 no.2
    • /
    • pp.133-144
    • /
    • 2020
  • This investigation is to study the effect of gravitational field and diffusion on a microstretch thermoelastic medium heating by a non-Gaussian laser beam. The problem was studied in the context of the dual-phase-lag model. The normal mode analysis is used to solve the problem to obtain the exact expressions for the non-dimensional displacement components, the micro-rotation, the stresses, and the temperature distribution. The effect of time parameter, heat flux parameter and gravity response of three theories of thermoelasticity i.e. dual-phase-lag model (DPL), Lord and Shulman theory (L-S) and coupled theory (CT) on these quantities have been depicted graphically for a particular model.

Combustion Characteristics of the Miao-Gravity Condition (미소중력장에서의 연소특성 연구)

  • Lee, Keun-Oh;Lee, Kyeong-Ook
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
    • /
    • v.17 no.4
    • /
    • pp.66-70
    • /
    • 2002
  • The transient soot distributions within the region bounded by the droplet surface and the flame were measured using a full-filed light extinction technique and subsequent tomographic inversion using Abel transforms. The soot volume fraction results for n-heptane droplets represent the first quantitative assessment of the degree of sooting for isolated droplets burning under microgravity condition. The absence of buoyancy(which produces longer residence times) and the effects of thermophoresis produce a situation in which a significant concentration of soot is produced and accumulated into a soot-cloud. Results indicate that indeed the soot concentration within the microgravity droplet flames(with maximum soot volume fractions as high as ~60ppm) are significantly higher than corresponding values that are reports for normal-gravity flames. This increase in likely due to longer residence times and thermophoretic effects that manifested under microgravity conditions.

Flow Measurement in Xylem Vessels of a Bamboo Leaf Using Synchrotron X-ray Micro Imaging (Synchrotron X-ray 미세영상기법을 이용한 식물 목질부 내부 수액 유동의 계측)

  • Kim Yang Min;Lee Sang-Joon
    • 한국가시화정보학회:학술대회논문집
    • /
    • 2003.11a
    • /
    • pp.83-86
    • /
    • 2003
  • Synchrotron X-ray micro imaging technique was employed to non-invasively monitor the water flow inside xylem vessels in a bamboo leaf. The phase contrast X-ray images clearly visualized plant anatomy and the rise of a water front inside the vessels. Consecutive X-ray images taken for 60 seconds revealed water rise kinetics against gravity in the xylem of a cut dry leaf taken from a bamboo tree. For the first time, traces of water rise, variation of contact angle between water and xylem wall as well as the internal structure of xylem were obtained. In xylem vessels, a repeating flow pattern has a typical flow velocity of $30.7{\mu}m/s$ and faster flow is established intermittently. It is concluded that the transmission type of X-ray micro imaging can be used as a powerful tool to investigate the ascent of sap in the xylem vessels at a resolution higher than that of MRI.

  • PDF