CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF A MODULAR TEST LOOP TO STUDY TWO-PHASE FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER IN LOW AND HIGH ACCELERATIONS

DESIGN OF THE TWO-PHASE FLOW SYSTEMS WHICH ARE ANTICIPATED TO BE UTILIZED IN THE FUTURE SPACECRAFT THERMAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS REQUIRE A KNOWLEDGE OF THE TWO-PHASE FLOW AND HEAT TRANSFER PARAMETERS IN LOW AND HIGH ACCELERATIONS. THE PROPOSED PROGRAM IS AIMES AT IDENTIFYING THE PARAMETERS OF IMMEDIATE IMPORTANCE AND DEVELOPING THE CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF AN INNOVATIVE MODULAR FLIGHT TEST BED. THIS LOOP WILL GENERATE THE REQUIRED DATA AND ALSO ALLOW EVALUATION OF SEVERAL SYSTEM/COMPONENT CONCEPTS IN A MINIMUM NUMBER OF FLIGHTS. IN ADDITION TO MODULARITY, THE UNIQUE FEATURES OF THIS DESIGN INCLUDE ADAPTABILITY TO AIRPLANE TRAJECTORY TESTING AND CAPABILITY OF PERFORMING WITH ADIABATIC TWO-PHASE FLOW. THE PROJECT OBJECTIVES WILL BE ACHIEVED BY (1) IDENTIFYING AND CATEGORIZING THE PARAMETERS AND CRITERIA THAT REQUIRE FURTHER DATA; (2) EVALUATION OF THE STATE OF RESEARCH AND APPLICABLE DATA; (3) DEVELOPMENT OF A BASELINE DESIGN WHICH WOULD PROVIDE DATA FOR THE MAJOR PARAMETERS; (4) CONCEPTUAL DESIGN OF THE MODULATOR TEST BED; AND (5) SPECIFICATION OF GROUND-BASED CONFIRMATION TESTS.