MEASUREMENTS AND CALCULATIONS OF THE EFFECTS OF DISTORTIONS IN THE COLLECTOR SURFACE ON EFFICIENCIES OF UMBRELLA-TYPE SOLAR COLLECTORS

Abstract

The meridional tensions along the ribs in a Mylar-covered umbrella-type solar collector produce a distortion in the reflecting surface that is detrimental to the image in the focal plane. Investigation was made to obtain measured and calculated geometric efficiencies of umbrella-type collectors as affected by these surface distortions. These studies show that if the tension transverse to the ribs is increased relative to the meridional tensions, the distortion is reduced and higher efficiencies can be attained, and if the transverse tension is small, the number of ribs in the collector must be increased for higher efficiencies. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 1961
Accession Number
AD0261701

Entities

People

  • Victor R. Bond

Organizations

  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Accumulators
  • Distortion
  • Efficiency
  • Focal Planes
  • Measurement
  • Solar Collectors
  • Transverse

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerospace Propulsion Engineering.
  • Geodesy
  • Reinforced Composite Materials