Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Liquid-Metal-Fed Pulsed Plasma Thrusters
A short document proposes liquid- metal- fed pulsed plasma thrusters for small spacecraft. The propellant liquid for such a thruster would be a low- melting- temperature metal that would be stored molten in an unpressurized, heated reservoir and would be pumped to the thruster by a magneto- hydrodynamic...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Attitude Control for a Solar-Sail Spacecraft
A report describes the personal radiation protection system (PRPS), which has been invented for use on the International Space Station and other spacecraft. The PRPS comprises walls that can be erected inside spacecraft, where and when needed, to reduce the amount of radiation to which personnel are...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Estimating Basic Preliminary Design Performances of Aerospace Vehicles
Aerodynamics and Performance Estimation Toolset is a collection of four software programs for rapidly estimating the preliminary design performance of aerospace vehicles represented by doing simplified calculations based on ballistic trajectories, the ideal rocket equation,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The fluid bubble eliminator (FBE) is a device that removes gas bubbles from a flowing liquid. The FBE contains no moving parts and does not require any power input beyond that needed to pump the...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
In response to the loss of seven astronauts in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, large, lightweight, inflatable atmospheric-entry vehicles have been proposed as means of emergency descent...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The upper part of Figure 1 shows a small-scale prototype of a developmental class of lightweight, deployable structures that would support panels in precise alignments. In this case,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Inlet Housing for a Partial-Admission Turbine
An inlet housing for a partial-admission turbine has been designed to cause the inlet airflow to make a smooth transition from an open circular inlet to an inlet slot. The smooth flow is required for purposes of measuring inlet flow characteristics and maximizing the efficiency of the turbine.
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
The figure depicts a miniature cantilever- type anemometer that has been developed as a prototype of compact, relatively nonintrusive anemometers that can function at temperatures up...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Humans have been using tools to make farming easier since the dawn of civilization. Since the turn of the 20th century, the growing use of mechanized power to till and...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A new design for a water-filtering device combines rotating filtration with reverse osmosis to create a rotating reverse- osmosis system. Rotating filtration has been used for separating plasma...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Pasadena, California Special-purpose robot hands (end effectors) now under development are intended to enable robots to traverse cliffs much as human climbers do. Potential applications for robots...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Improved Nutation Damper for a Spin- Stabilized Spacecraft
A document proposes an improved liquid- ring nutation damper for a spin-stabilized spacecraft. The improvement addresses the problem of accommodating thermal expansion of the damping liquid. Heretofore, the problem has been solved by either (1) filling the ring completely with liquid and...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Making Precise Resonators for Mesoscale Vibratory Gyroscopes
An alternative approach to the design and fabrication of vibratory gyroscopes is founded on the use of fabrication techniques that yield best results in the mesoscopic size range, which is characterized by overall device dimensions of the order of a centimeter. This approach stands in...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Two-Stage Solenoid
A proposed design for a solenoid-based electromechanical actuator would provide greater starting force than does a comparable conventional design. As used here, "starting force" signifies the magnetic force exerted by the actuator at one end of its stroke when the gap in its magnetic circuit is the widest. A solenoid of...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
In response to a growing industry trend toward corrosion- and maintenance-free natural-gas valves, Kerotest designed POLYBALL™™ 1/2" to 12" standard- and full-port...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A proposed docking mechanism would form a ball-and-socket joint in the docked condition. The mechanism could tolerate significant initial misalignment because it would include an alignment cone that...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Double-Acting, Locking Carabiners
A proposed design for carabiners (tether hooks used in mountaineering, rock climbing, and rescue) is intended to make it possible to operate these devices even while wearing thick gloves. According to the proposal, the gate of a carabiner would be capable of swinging either toward or away from the hook body,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Flow Straightener for a Rotating-Drum Liquid Separator
A flow straightener has been incorporated into a rotary liquid separator that originally comprised an inlet tube, a shroud plate, an impeller, an inner drum, an outer drum, a housing, a pitot tube, and a hollow shaft motor. As a consequence of the original geometry of the impeller, shroud,...
Briefs: Materials
Figure 1 shows a prototype of a large pressure vessel under development for eventual use as a habitable module for long spaceflight (e.g., for transporting humans to Mars). The vessel is a hybrid that...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A method of reducing the noise generated by a tilt-rotor aircraft during descent involves active control of the blade pitch of the rotors. This method is related to prior such noise-...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
It has been proposed to incorporate piezoelectric vibrational actuators into the structural supports of solar photovoltaic panels, for the purpose of occasionally inducing vibrations in the...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Strain-Gauge Measurement of Weight of Fluid in a Tank
A method of determining the amount of fluid in a tank is based on measurement of strains induced in tank supports by the weight of the fluid. Unlike most prior methods, this method is nonintrusive: there is no need to insert instrumentation in the tank and, hence, no need to run wires,...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An advanced docking system is undergoing development to enable softer, safer docking than was possible when using prior docking systems. This system is intended for original use in...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Columnar-vortex generators (CVG) have been proposed as means to increase the safety of takeoffs and landings of aircraft on aircraft or helicopter carriers and other ships at sea....
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Miniature Robotic Spacecraft for Inspecting Other Spacecraft
A report discusses the Miniature Autonomous Extravehicular Robotic Camera (Mini AERCam) — a compact robotic spacecraft intended to be released from a larger spacecraft for exterior visual inspection of the larger spacecraft. The Mini AERCam is a successor to the AERCam Sprint...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
An experimental miniature peristaltic pump exploits piezoelectrically excited flexural waves that travel around a ring: A fluid is carried in the containers formed in the valleys between the peaks of the...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Wavy-planform rotor blades for helicopters have been investigated for the first time in an effort to reduce noise. Two of the main sources of helicopter noise are blade/vortex interaction (BVI)...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
Expandable Purge Chambers Would Protect Cryogenic Fittings
Expandable ice-prevention and cleanliness-preservation (EIP-CP) chambers have been proposed to prevent the accumulation of ice or airborne particles on quick-disconnect (QD) fittings, or on ducts or tubes that contain cryogenic fluids. In the original application for which the EIP-CP...
Briefs: Mechanical & Fluid Systems
A cylindrical-punch indentation technique has been developed as a means of measuring the nonlinear elastic responses of materials - more specifically, for measuring the moduli of...
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