Open AccessEngineering design aspects of the heat-pipe power system
Author(s) -
Brent Capell,
Michael G. Houts,
David I. Poston,
Mark Berte
Publication year - 1997
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Reports
DOI - 10.2172/663582
Subject(s) - modular design , variety (cybernetics) , computer science , simple (philosophy) , space (punctuation) , systems engineering , power (physics) , nuclear power , mechanical engineering , engineering , operating system , ecology , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , biology
The Heat-pipe Power System (HPS) is a near-term, low-cost space power system designed at Los Alamos that can provide up to 1,000 kWt for many space nuclear applications. The design of the reactor is simple, modular, and adaptable. The basic design allows for the use of a variety of power conversion systems and reactor materials (including the fuel, clad, and heat pipes). This paper describes a project that was undertaken to develop a database supporting many engineering aspects of the HPS design. The specific tasks discussed in this paper are: the development of an HPS materials database, the creation of finite element models that will allow a wide variety of investigations, and the verification of past calculations