Vol 14, No 1 (2015)

Possibilities of robotization of an aircraft solar battery orientation system on the basis of a microprocessor are outlined in the paper. Robotization makes it possible to enhance the system’s independence and widen the functionality of its control device. An option of robotization of a solar battery orientation electric drive based on a PIC16F873А microcontroller for small spacecraft is discussed. This implementation of a control device makes possible solar battery orientation to the Sun. It also allows controlling the temperature and illumination of the solar batteries, continuous adjustment of the solar batteries’ capacity at the optimal   point of the current-voltage characteristics, controlling the process of charging and discharging of the battery, controlling voltage stabilization on the power buses and communicating the information about emergencies to the onboard digital computer. Besides, an autonomous mode of operation- a “servo-drive” is implemented in the proposed control system. The results of structural and mathematical modeling of a similar system and its implementation in the form of a physical model are presented. The developed model of a solar battery orientation system makes it possible to analyze the system’s operability in various modes, the integration of its separate elements and units in a laboratory environment and also to make the system operate under the control of a personal computer or off line with a microcontroller program.

An approach to fatigue validation of transport aircraft redesigned structure based on the data of endurance tests of basic aircraft, computational and experimental analyses, ground-based and flight tests of modified aircraft that do not require  building and testing of a full-scale modified airframe is proposed in the paper. An example of a modified aircraft developed at Beriev Aircraft Company is presented. Components of a computational cluster that ensures calculation and postprocessing of models of the required dimensions are chosen. The advantages of using a solid model in commercial production of aircraft are demonstrated. Prospective use of solid-state assembly for damage diagnosis using the criterion of variations in the forms of natural vibration of a structure with cracks in operation is shown. Algorithms and software for the identification of vibration forms and frequencies of aircraft in flight under atmospheric turbulence are developed on the basis of the analysis of the structure’s response to wide-band disturbance using up-to-date digital measuring equipment. Ways of taking into account the damage accumulated in operation not only by operating time (flight hours, number of landings), but also by the equivalent bending moment in the control sections of the airframe are presented. The implementation of the proposed technologies will make it possible to obtain economical effect at all stages of the product life cycle, from design to operation.

The results of experiments carried out both in our country and abroad in 1990s, 2000s to study the impact of radiation on the electronic equipment of space vehicles are presented in the paper. General characteristics of factors of space are given as well as characteristics of ionizing radiation. A concept of constructing a device for the control of the impact of space ionizing radiation on individual elements of spacecraft onboard equipment is proposed. Failures caused by space ionizing radiation in integrated chips are discussed, their classification is given. Radiation monitors such as Radiation Environment Monitor, Standard Radiation Environment Monitor, Cosmic-Ray Effects and Dosimetry, Prisma-3, STEP-F, MIS-dosimeters (RadFET) used in the experiments are discussed. Characteristics of radiation monitors, general principles of measuring characteristics of ionizing radiation are also discussed. The “DH-DMS” complex of equipment for carrying out an experiment to study the impact of space environment factors on samples of optical elements, coverings and electronic components is presented. The “ERI IP” module intended for carrying out an experiment to study the impact of space ionizing radiation on electronic equipment of foreign production is described (commercial off-the-shelf – COTS). Chips of Atmega168PA, STM32F303, AM29F010b, AM24C32 are tested In the experiment.

The concept of constructing an adaptive on-board information and measuring complex of small spacecraft is discussed in the paper. The developed concept of multilevel adaptation of integrated navigation systems of small spacecraft provides the required accuracy and survivability in conditions of influencing factors and emergency situations. Lack of clearly defined information-measuring core inherent in modern integrated navigation systems of different moving objects is a distinctive feature of the proposed concept. Basic information of a navigation system with respect to which correction of other systems is supposed to be carried out is formed in accordance with the situation determined by the level of disturbances and failures taking place, as well as modes of operation of small spacecraft. The concept involves three levels: parametric, information and structural adaptation. The parametric level assumes automatic tuning of the parameters of measuring system sensors to ensure the best mode of operation in terms of accuracy. The information level of adaptation provides the required accuracy of determining the parameters of orientation and navigation through the implementation of an adaptive method of complex processing of navigational information. The structural layer provides the system’s self-organization that consists in providing the control of modes of operation of measuring equipment and information resources to ensure the integrity of navigation information in a contingency situation. Methods of system analysis were used in developing the concept of multi-level adaptation of an adaptive on-board information and measuring complex of small spacecraft.

The article presents the results of analyzing the accuracy of spacecraft autonomous navigation the orbital mission of which takes place in conditions of perturbations of space. Flight altitude is taken as a parameter to be measured. An adaptive altimeter, capable of performing the reconfiguration of its structure in the event of disturbing factors is chosen as a means of dealing with the disturbing influence. Covariance matrices of errors in determining the parameters of the spacecraft center of mass are obtained analytically. Analytical evaluation of the accuracy of the adaptive altimeter is based on the theory of analytical evaluation of navigation systems using celestial radio engineering measuring devices. Expressions used for calculating the estimates of spacecraft navigation error covariance matrix elements by measuring the altitude obtained in the process of certain investigations in the absence of perturbations are a special case of the results presented in the paper. Tasks that emerge at the stage of justification of the navigation system design, for example, the task of specifying requirements for errors of airborne altimeters, can be solved with the help of the analytical estimates obtained. Such estimates are functions of dispersions of altimeters mounted on board the spacecraft.

The problem of aircraft gas turbine engine computer-aided design is dealt with in the article. An expert system for the selection of materials, coatings and other kinds of preparing surfaces of the main components and assembly units of the aircraft gas turbine engine flow section at the design stage developed on the basis of thermogasdynamic simulation modeling of DVIGw aviation engines is described.  The system performs thermal gas calculation of the engine and its main components, develops the most likely structure of the main parts, estimates the thermal state of air-gas channel elements, makes an approximate strength prediction of the main elements and assembly units, analyzes the applicability of the materials from the developed database, generates the list of the most applicable materials, offers possible variants of coatings and heat treatment conditions. A topological model of two-spool mixed flow turbofan with an afterburner chamber for military high-maneuverability aircraft in the developed expert system is presented in the article. Some results of modeling and choosing materials for the main engine parts are presented. It is shown that the expert system can analyze both metallic and composite materials. For composite materials a unidirectional orthotropic composite material is designed on the basis of the composite materials database and its properties at the existing flow temperatures are predicted. The main advantage of using this method is time and labor saving in the process of designing new aircraft engines and their main parts.

Ensuring the longitudinal stability and quality of regulation of a liquid-propellant launch vehicle is very important in its development and operation. It is known that the use of gas dampers installed in the feed line is one of the effective ways to provide longitudinal stability of a launch vehicle. Correct choice of damper characteristics makes it possible to eliminate the possibility of coinciding of the natural frequencies of oscillations of pressure of the liquid in the feed line and in the launch vehicle body and thus to ensure the longitudinal stability. Methods of mathematical and numerical simulation are applied for the analysis of gas damper characteristics using the software package MatLab/Simulink and AMESim. The paper presents a mathematical model of the gas damper, its transient and frequency responses are analyzed. The acoustic conductance of the gas damper is calculated as its generalized dynamic characteristics. Variations of volume are plotted as a function of liquid pressure at the damper inlet in case of harmonic oscillations. The developed model of the gas damper can be used in analyzing the frequency response of the fuel feed line in the framework of solving the problem of ensuring the longitudinal stability of a launch vehicle.

The results of studying the burnout of diffusion jets flowing into stationary atmosphere in laminar, transitional and turbulent flows with the direction of the initial pulse in the range of angles α from 0° to 360° relative to the vertical are presented in the paper. Experimental data on the values of relative curvilinear flame length, its projections on the axes Ox, Oy, the coordinates of the flame stabilization point in the range of Reynolds numbers from = 500 to Re = 15000 as functions of angle α are obtained. The experimental data are presented in the form of characteristic curves and summarized as criteria equations that take into account the effect of free convection in the framework of the theory of jet torch burning on the position of the flame front, the geometry and volume of the combustion zone The results of photographing the process of jet combustion are presented. Recommendations on how to improve the combustion efficiency and the choice of optimal primary, geometrical and thermal parameters of the jet (Re number, Fr number, the relative length of the jet, the initial diameter of the jet, the position of the flame stabilization point, the angle relative to vertical) are given, and the thermophysical characteristics of diffusion reacting gas jet formation with account of free convection are shown.

The results of investigation of heat transfer from an intensive swirling flow of gas to the lateral side of the vortex tube energy separation chamber are presented in the paper. The distribution of the heat transfer coefficient along the energy separation chamber is specified taking into account the effect of damping of the circumferential velocity component and the effect of heating of a potential peripheral whirl.  Numerical calculations, the results of which are presented in this paper show the presence of a paraxial precessing vortex core and large-scale vortex structures - toroidal vortices periodically arranged on the periphery along the axis in the energy separation chamber. The dependence of the heat transfer coefficient on the value of the ratio of expansion of gas in the vortex tube, as well as changes in the temperature efficiency caused by increasing the energy separation chamber diameter is presented. It is shown that non-adiabacy has a greater effect on the thermodynamic efficiency of small-scale vortex tubes due to the increase of the relative fraction of the energy rejected from the lateral side in the form of heat.

Mechanisms of charging microparticles in the area of the electrostatic injector needle are analyzed in the paper. The main attention is paid to the process of charging the conductive particles due to the emission of electrons from its surface under the influence of strong electrostatic field. A mathematical model of contact and contactless charging of particles is described. The results of solving a system of equations describing the dynamics of charging and the motion of the microparticle in the area of the injector charge needle are presented. The values of the relationship between the microparticle’s charge and its mass at the outlet of the electrostatic injector for different diameters of the charging needle and sizes of microparticles are calculated. A comparative analysis of the results of calculating the values of the relationship between the charge of a microparticle and its weight depending on the charging mechanisms and parameters of the microparticles and the charging needle is carried out. The results of calculating the maximum possible values of the relationship between the charge received by the microparticle in the injector and its mass depending on the charging mechanism are presented. The dependence of the values of the relationship between the charge of a particle and its mass on the distance from the needle at the beginning of autoelectronic emission from the particle surface is shown. The values of the relationship between the microparticle’s charge and its mass at the outlet of the electrostatic injector for real initial values of the particle velocities and charges in the charging chamber are calculated.

In this paper we investigate analytically and numerically sharp focusing of uniformly polarized laser Gaussian beams with a vortex phase along the axis of an anisotropic crystal. Two models are used for the analysis: geometrical optics, implemented in the software product ZEMAX, and wave optics based on the expansion in plane waves. An analytical expression is obtained in the frame of nonparaxial wave optics for a complex amplitude in focusing a vortex Gaussian beam in an anisotropic medium. It is shown that when focusing is weak ordinary and extraordinary beams are mixed and the beam formed has a mixed "spiral" type of polarization. In case of sharp focusing two focuses corresponding to the ordinary and extraordinary beams are formed along the crystal axis. If a first-order vortex phase is present in an incident beam with circular polarization cylindrical vector distributions with azimuthal polarization for the ordinary beam and those with radial polarization for the extraordinary beam occur in these focuses. Analytical calculations are illustrated by the results of numerical simulation. Both the intensity distribution for components of the generated laser fields and their polarization states are shown in detail. The studies completed are useful for the development of devices that perform polarization conversion.

The article attempts to identify the features of the state science and technology policy of the Soviet Republic in the pre-war period. The main purpose of the science and technology policy is strengthening of defense capability of the country. Attention is given to the main areas of activity of the Soviet government: involvement of pre-revolutionary professionals and scientists in solving the most important scientific and technical problems, preservation and development of scientific and technical potential, training of new scientific and engineering manpower, creating  links between science and production, providing scientists and engineering workers with special scientific technical literature, opening new research institutes, design bureaus and universities in accordance with the development of new industries of the national economy: aviation, chemical, electrical engineering, mechanical engineering. The role of technical and scientific societies and inventions in the acceleration of scientific technical progress is revealed. The main contradictions of accomplishing engineering tasks in conditions of the formation of the totalitarian system when the creative initiative of scientists and specialists was dictated by the authorities are shown. The strengthening of the role of People’s Commissariat of Internal Affairs in technical modernization of the country is also discussed in the paper.

The author considers the matter of technology essence within the frame of the semiotic approach. By a technology is meant a projective way of  the work of consciousness with signs which consists in the reversion of reception and leads to the creation of new “meanings” while realizing semantic, syntactic  and pragmatic rules at each level of cognition, whether it is sense perception, understanding (Verstand) or reason (Vernunft). Technical consciousness is considered within three levels. On the first level it is treated as “tradition” and technology is defined as unconscious activity complying with certain rules and providing survival in the natural environment. On the second level it is treated as “the second nature” and technology is defined as the process of creation of something new, which is possible in case of control over matter. It replaces the natural environment with an artificial one.  On the third level it is treated as “the third nature” and technology is a means of control over reflection. Technical consciousness described as projective semiosis shows the evolution of an individual from tradition to neomankind.  Having been born, a human masters the skills transmitted by cultural memory, which provides survival in natural habitat. Fantasy, fiction and metaphysical conception generated by astonishment, aesthetic experience or a practical problem provoke processes of self-comprehension and make it possible (indirectly) to see the reflexive character of practical activity. The ability to embody fictional objects in material substrates generates the second nature which replaces natural objects of perception and presentation. The ability to modify rules of reflection leads to deliberate  and controlled self-evolution of a human being by means of creation of “the third nature”, where a human being becomes a neohuman being who is capable of changing the quality of one’s existence as a reflexive creature.