Tech Briefs

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A comprehensive library of technical briefs from engineering experts at NASA and major government, university, and commercial laboratories covering all aspects of innovations in electronics, software, photonics, imaging, motion control, automation, sensors, test, materials, manufacturing, mechanical, and mechatronics.

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Briefs: Test & Measurement

A technique for thermomechanical fatigue testing of thin-walled tubular specimens involves the application of cyclic axial (tension/compression) and torsional (shear) strains,...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,680,557, "Natural Computing System and Environment") describes an invention that allows people to do computations by using time-tested and trusted ways of representing data and...

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Briefs: Materials

Materials based on β-Zn4Sb3have been found to exhibit unusually high values of the dimensionless thermoelectric figure of merit at temperatures between 200...

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Briefs: Software
Software for Developing Autopilots for Launch Rockets

Three integrated software products are being developed for use in the further development of autopilot systems for reusable launch vehicles (RLVs). The need for these products arises because of the unique nature of RLVs:

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A novel cathode ray tube (CRT), using a single electron gun and a movable screen, has been developed that now enables miniaturization of a full-color CRT with the same...

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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Optoelectronic Liquid-Level Gauges for Aircraft Fuel Tanks

Gauges that would measure liquid levels optically have been proposed for use in aircraft fuel tanks. These gauges would contain no moving parts (no floats) and no wiring inside the tanks. Their overall function could be characterized as that of permanently immersed, self-reading...

Briefs: Motion Control

A surface-micromachining process has been devised for use in fabricating microscopic polycrystalline diamond structures (e.g., bridges and cantilevers) as integral...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Prolonging the Lives of Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Cells

Several modifications of the design and operation of lithium-ion rechargeable electrochemical cells have been proposed to prolong the cycle lives of the cells. As explained below, overdischarge can result in dissolution of a metal current collector in the anode of a cell, with consequent...

Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A prototype mixer designed for operation at input frequencies near 2.5 THz incorporates a planar Schottky-barrier diode and a radio-frequency (RF) filter that are parts of an integrated...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Reflective flat-panel color display devices based on surface plasmons are undergoing development. Heretofore, no reflective flat-panel color display devices have been available. The active...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

Surface-plasmon tunable filters (SPTFs) have been proposed for use in generating scrolling colors on the faces of liquid-crystal display (LCD) devices. In comparison with a...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

The Desktop Satellite Data Processor (DSDP) is a prototype computer system for processing telemetry data received from, and command data to be transmitted to, a spacecraft in orbit around the...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

The Boeing Company has developed an overhead camera system that can automatically spot small pieces of debris on a work surface that might otherwise go unnoticed. The system automatically analyzes inputs...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems

A prototype Stirling-engine regenerator containing a matrix made of carbon-fiber-based composite materials has been developed. The concept underlying this development effort is one of...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A class of developmental photonic temperature-measuring systems is based on the use of miniature, fiber-optic-coupled Fabry-Perot interferometers as temperature transducers. These systems are...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers
Luneberg Lenses Made of Open-Cell Polyurethane Foams

A Luneberg lens is a microwave lens consisting of a series of concentric shells of differing dielectric constants. The highest dielectric constant, or refractive index, resides at the core and the lowest, at the outer shell. Microwaves passing through this arrangement of shells are focused in...

Briefs: Software
Program Simulates Performance of a Hybrid Automobile

The Hybrid Electric Vehicle Analysis (HEVA) computer program numerically simulates the performance of an automotive vehicle -- especially a hybrid vehicle. A vehicle is said to be hybrid if (1) it contains an energy-storage device (a battery, flywheel, or ultra-capacitor) that is charged with...

Briefs: Physical Sciences
Experiments on Flow in a Model Compressor Drum

A report discusses experiments on the flow of water along the interior of a transparent rotating cylindrical drum, the interior of which was partitioned into five cavities by disks with central holes and outer edges attached to the cylindrical drum wall. This water-flow model was designed to provide...

Briefs: Materials

An alloy of 88Cu/8Cr/4Nb (numbers indicate atomic percentages) has been proposed for use in fabricating rocket-engine combustion chambers by vacuum plasma spraying (VPS). Relative...

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Briefs: Physical Sciences
Electrostrictive Thermal Break Between Superfluid Reservoirs

A proposed technique would make it possible to maintain two reservoirs of superfluid helium at the same pressure but at different temperatures. Heretofore, a fountain effect (described below) has made this impossible. The proposed technique could be useful for low-temperature...

Briefs: Physical Sciences
In Situ Chemical Analysis via Acoustic-Emission Spectra

A method of in situ chemical analysis by use of small, simple, robust sensors has been proposed. The basis for the proposal is the discovery that chemical reactions emit acoustic waves, and that characteristic frequency spectra are associated with specific reactions. The acoustic...

Briefs: Medical

A noninvasive medical-imaging system produces false-color images that show regions of ischemia (reduced oxygenated blood flow) in organs and tissues. The system operates in real time, providing immediate...

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Briefs: Photonics/Optics

The Boeing Company has developed wavelet-based image compression software that offers state-of-the-art compression of still imagery, providing superior image quality at compression ratios ranging from...

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Briefs: Electronics & Computers

A concept for obtaining high energy-conversion efficiency in a solar photovoltaic system involves (1) concentration and spectral dispersion of sunlight and (2) use of several types of solar...

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Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Improved Mufflers for General Aviation

Innovative designs of mufflers for engines of small airplanes have been investigated in an effort to satisfy conflicting demands to maximize the reduction of exhaust noise while minimizing back pressure, size, and weight. Automotive-type muffler designs are not suitable for this purpose because they entail...

Briefs: Photonics/Optics

In a filing before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the Boeing Company has disclosed a post-processing method for dielectric combiner elements that may reduce the cost of grading dual combiner sets by...

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Briefs: Materials
Etching Solution for Removal of Silver Plating From Polymers

An etching solution has been developed for use in removal of silver plating from polymer-based (including composite-material) structural components, the surfaces of which are intended to serve as mirrors and waveguide structures. Such structures are often plated with aluminum, copper,...

Briefs: Robotics, Automation & Control
Performance of an Arc-Jet Thruster

A report discusses the design and testing of a laboratory-model arc-jet thruster designed to operate at a nominal power level of 300 W. This thruster is an intermediate product of continuing efforts to develop smaller, lower-power, higher-specific-impulse thrusters for use in a forthcoming generation of small...

Briefs: Sensors/Data Acquisition

Integrated electrochemical sensors are being developed for use in measuring concentrations of sulfur dioxide in gas mixtures. These sensors are based on the electrochemical oxidation of...

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