NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator EU2 Anomaly InvestigationThe Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) Engineering Unit 2 (EU2) is the highest fidelity electrically-heated Stirling radioisotope generator built to date. NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) completed the assembly of the ASRG EU2 in September, 2014 using hardware from the now cancelled ASRG flight development project. The ASRG EU2 integrated the first pair of Sunpower's ASC-E3 Stirling convertors (ASC-E3 #1 and #2) in an aluminum generator housing with Lockheed Martin's Engineering Development Unit (EDU) 4 controller. After just 179 hours of EU2 generator operation, the first power fluctuation occurred on ASC-E3 #1. The first power fluctuation occurred 175 hours later on ASC-E3 #2. Over time, the power fluctuations became more frequent on both convertors and larger in magnitude. Eventually the EU2 was shut down in January, 2015. An anomaly investigation was chartered to determine root cause of the power fluctuations and other anomalous observations. A team with members from GRC, Sunpower, and Lockheed Martin conducted a thorough investigation of the EU2 anomalies. Findings from the EU2 disassembly identified proximate causes of the anomalous observations. Discussion of the team's assessment of the primary possible failure theories, root cause, and conclusions is provided. Recommendations are made for future Stirling generator development to address the findings from the anomaly investigation. Additional findings from the investigation are also discussed.
Document ID
20170011303
Acquisition Source
Glenn Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Lewandowski, Edward J. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Dobbs, Michael W. (Vantage Partners, LLC Cleveland, OH, United States)
Oriti, Salvatore M. (NASA Glenn Research Center Cleveland, OH, United States)
Date Acquired
November 28, 2017
Publication Date
July 25, 2016
Subject Category
Electronics And Electrical Engineering
Report/Patent Number
GRC-E-DAA-TN33069
Meeting Information
Meeting: AIAA Propulsion and Energy Conference
Location: Salt Lake City, UT
Country: United States
Start Date: July 25, 2016
End Date: July 27, 2016
Sponsors: American Inst. of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 138494.04.18.01.01.01
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNC12BA01B
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available