Detection of regolith buried water stream channels on Mars with the help of synthetic aperture radar

A major theme in the study of Mars is the search for evidence that water was present in the past or is present today, either at or below the surface. Biological life is connected to water. Hence much research is focused on the detection of water stream channels, which in the past flowed on Mars. In these areas, the petrified remains of the former life on Mars may be found. These channels may be under the regolith layer; however, the radio wave penetrating ability allows for the detection of these channels under the regolith.     

The water cycle in closed ecological systems: Perspectives from the Biosphere 2 and Laboratory Biosphere systems

To achieve sustainable, healthy closed ecological systems requires solutions to challenges of closing the water cycle – recycling wastewater/irrigation water/soil medium leachate and evaporated water and supplying water of required quality as needed for different needs within the facility. Engineering Biosphere 2, the first multi-biome closed ecological system within a total airtight footprint of 12,700 m² with a combined volume of 200,000 m³ with a total water capacity of some 6 × 10⁶ L of water was especially challenging because it included human inhabitants, their agricultural and technical systems, as well as five analogue ecosystems ranging from rainforest to desert, freshwater ecologies to saltwater systems like mangrove and mini-ocean coral reef ecosystems. By contrast, the Laboratory Biosphere – a small (40 m³ volume) soil-based plant growth facility with a footprint of 15 m² – is a very simplified system, but with similar challenges re salinity management and provision of water quality suitable for plant growth. In Biosphere 2, water needs included supplying potable water for people and domestic animals, irrigation water for a wide variety of food crops, and recycling and recovering soil nutrients from wastewater. In the wilderness biomes, providing adequately low salinity freshwater terrestrial ecosystems and maintaining appropriate salinity and pH in aquatic/marine ecosystems were challenges. The largest reservoirs in Biosphere 2 were the ocean/marsh with some 4 × 10⁶ L, soil with 1 to 2 × 10⁶ l, primary storage tank with 0 to 8 × 10⁵ L and storage tanks for condensate and soil leachate collection and mixing tanks with a capacity of 1.6 × 10⁵ L to supply irrigation for farm and wilderness ecosystems. Other reservoirs were far smaller – humidity in the atmosphere (2 × 10³ L), streams in the rainforest and savannah, and seasonal pools in the desert were orders of magnitude smaller (8 × 10⁴ L). Key technologies included condensation from humidity in the air handlers and from the glass space frame to produce high quality freshwater, wastewater treatment with constructed wetlands and desalination through reverse osmosis and flash evaporation were key to recycling water with appropriate quality throughout the Biosphere 2 facility. Wastewater from all human uses and the domestic animals in Biosphere 2 was treated and recycled through a series of constructed wetlands, which had hydraulic loading of 0.9–1.1 m³ day⁻¹ (240–290 gal d⁻¹). Plant production in the wetland treatment system produced 1210 kg dry weight of emergent and floating aquatic plant wetland which was used as fodder for the domestic animals while remaining nutrients/water was reused as part of the agricultural irrigation supply. There were pools of water with recycling times of days to weeks and others with far longer cycling times within Biosphere 2. By contrast, the Laboratory Biosphere with a total water reservoir of less than 500 L has far quicker cycling rapidity: for example, atmospheric residence time for water vapor was 5–20 min in the Laboratory Biosphere vs. 1–4 h in Biosphere 2, as compared with 9 days in the Earth’s biosphere. Just as in Biosphere 2, humidity in the Laboratory Biosphere amounts to a very small reservoir of water. The amount of water passing through the air in the course of a 12-h operational day is two orders of magnitude greater than the amount stored in the air. Thus, evaporation and condensation collection are vital parts of the recycle system just as in Biosphere 2. The water cycle and sustainable water recycling in closed ecological systems presents problems requiring further research – such as how to control buildup of salinity in materially closed ecosystems and effective ways to retain nutrients in optimal quantity and useable form for plant growth. These issues are common to all closed ecological systems of whatever size, including planet Earth’s biosphere and are relevant to a global environment facing increasing water shortages while maintaining water quality for human and ecosystem health. Modular biospheres offer a test bed where technical methods of resolving these problems can be tested for feasibility.     

Design and Simulation of Electro-hydrostatic Actuator with a Built-in Power Regulator

The electro-hydrostatic actuator (EHA) is a kind of power-by-wire (PBW) actuator that converts the electrical power into localized hydraulic power for flight control. By removing the central hydraulic power supply together with hydraulic pipes, an EHA's reliability and efficiency are greatly improved but its frequency width and stiffness decreased. To overcome the drawback, this article proposes a novel structure of EHA associated with a power regulator. Composed of a high-pressure accumulator and a proportional valve, it can store and harness the hydraulic power flexibly according to the changing control requirements. The concept of transferred volume is put forward to estimate the capability of the power regulator. The actuator output position can be kept fixed with a hydraulic lock. The compounded control is specially developed to ensure the actuator system to operate in a correct manner. The simulation results indicate that the new-brand actuator results in efficient expanding of the system frequency width with an optimal power supply.     

硅酸盐无机胶粘剂的研究

论述了一种硅酸盐胶粘剂，它具有强度高、耐水性和抗热震性好及固化温度低的特点。实验发现，金属Ａｌ粉的加入，可以有效地改善胶粘剂的强度和抗热震性，但使得用温度有所下降。而防水剂则可以有效抑制体系中碱金属离子的游离。     

圆柱体落水过程多相流体动力特性数值分析

针对圆柱体大角度落水过程多相流动问题,采用VOF多相流模型和重叠网格技术分析了低弗劳德数条件下圆柱体落水过程空泡演化、水动力特性以及尺度效应的影响。结果表明:不同直径的圆柱体落水空泡均发生拉断闭合,且空泡闭合时间随弗劳德数增加而线性增大。除落水抨击和空泡闭合阶段外,升力系数在空泡闭合前的平均增长率比空泡闭合后快。阻力系数从落水撞击至空泡闭合阶段变化一致,但是在空泡闭合后出现分化现象。     

热水火箭发动机实验研究

为了解热水火箭发动机的内弹道性能,分别在不同初始压强、不同啧喉直径、不同加水量的情况下进行了实验.获得了不同情况下发动机工作的数据.通过数据的分析,总结提出了发动机工作的四个阶段:初始段、过渡段、近似线性段和拖尾段;得出初始压强、喷喉直径、加水量对发动机内弹道性能的影响规律,同时发现了在发动机工作工程中,其压强曲线都是经历一个先急剧下降后缓慢下降的过程,但是当初始压强较低时,压强曲线在过渡段会出现一个短暂的先升后降的波动.分析得出:热水火箭发动机的比冲受初始压强值的影响较大,而与喷喉直径或者加水质量无关;常规火箭发动机的推力计算公式并不适用于热水火箭发动机.     

雨水对飞机发动机的影响

雨水对飞机发动机影响较大,当飞机在大雨中降落时,可能会引发发动机熄火,但在飞机起飞时,能起到喷水加力的效应.为了对发动机防吞雨水停车和喷水增大推力研究提供参考,综述了CFM56-3型发动机投入使用后出现的一些吞雨停车故障,并总结了在发动机设计中采取的尽量减少雨水流入内涵的4点措施,介绍了喷水增大推力的机理和其在一些军、民用飞机发动机上的应用情况.     

关于非均匀网格高精度格式的误差分析方法

以三次样条重构有限体积方法为例,研究非均匀网格上截断误差的分析方法。通过推导得到了分析非均匀网格上截断误差的基本准则,即在非均匀网格的截断误差分析中,要保证不显式或者隐含地改变数值方法对应的模板点——当不满足这一准则时,误差分析会得到不自洽的结果;而满足这一准则时,可保证分析结果的正确性。利用正确的误差分析结果,可发展进一步提高计算精度的措施。据此发展了扩散项在非均匀网格上达到三阶精度计算方法,从而可以使对流项和扩散项的计算达到一致三阶精度。     

液态水含量对防冰表面水膜流动换热的影响

为了研究液态水含量对防冰表面水膜流动换热的影响,基于机翼防冰表面水膜及空气相互作用机理,并考虑水膜表面传热传质过程,建立了水膜与空气的流动换热模型,得到溢流水膜及空气边界层流动换热的积分控制方程,通过对比文献试验结果验证了模型的准确性.在此基础上,比较了不同液态水含量条件下防冰表面水膜厚度及主要热流量的分布情况.结果表明:液态水含量对水膜沿表面厚度分布有明显影响,而对换热过程中各项热流的影响主要集中在水滴撞击区域,加热热流与散热热流随液态水含量的增加呈现相反的变化趋势.     

联合地基GNSS及空基GNSS掩星探测水汽三维分布

研究了联合地基GNSS和空基GNSS掩星观测的大气水汽探测方法。首先,利用COSMIC(气象、电离层、气候星座观测系统)和GRACE(重力恢复与气候实验)无线电掩星产品对对流层层析成像的几个关键技术进行了优化,标定了对流层干延迟模型,建立了新的大气加权平均温度模型,提出了一种新方法用于确定水汽层层顶(即对流层层析模型的顶部边界)。选择香港地区12个连续GNSS气象监测站2017年6月份的数据反演计算了水汽的三维分布,以探空测站的水汽密度为真值,统计层析反演结果与真值之间的偏差为:偏差平均值优于1.36g/m~3,RMS值优于1.70g/m~3。