Historical Documents
Digital versions of various historical documents related to the Special Projects Laboratory. These include technical reports, newspaper articles, floor plans, correspondence, talks, reports, tutorials, and other documents.
NASA Glenn Research Center
Special Projects Laboratory
JPSL/SPL Descriptions
- JPSL Overview chart (1946)
- JPSL Facility Description (1957)
- JPSL Projects Description (1959)
- SPL Section 106 Review (2012)
Building Drawings and Floor Plans
- SPL Evolution Diagrams
- Floor Plans (1943)
- Elevation Drawing (1943)
- JPSL Blueprints (1945)
- JPSL Elevation Drawing (1952)
- JPSL and SPL Floor Plans (1956-2010)
- Floor Plans (1956)
- Floor Plans (1967)
- Floor Plans (1978)
- Floor Plans (1996)
- Floor Plans (1990s)
- Floor Plans (2010)
NACA and World War II Materials
- Model Research: National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics 1915-1958
- Place of NACA in U.S. Aviation (1943)
- AERL Wartime Research Authorizations (1943)
- General H.H. Arnold Speech to AERL Employees (1944)
Jet Propulsion History
- The Case for Jet Propulsion from Engineer in Charge (1986)
- The Development of the Whittle Turbojet (1997)
- Turbojet Revolution at Lewis Research Center (1984)
- Afterburner Story (1954)
- Status of Liquid-Cooling Technology for Gas Turbines (1979)
- High Speed Research
JPSL Jet Engine Testing
- Tests of Adjustable-Area Exhaust Nozzle for Jet Engines (1945)
- Performance of I-16 Turbojet with XFR-1 Shroud and Tail Pipe (1947)
- Fuel Tests of I-16 Engine at Static Sea Level Conditions
- Thrust Augmentation of a Turbojet by Means of Tail-Pipe Burning (1947)
- Thrust Control by Nozzle Area Modulation (1947)
- Thrust Augmentation of 1600-Pound Turbojet by Injection of Refrigerants (1947)
- Thrust Augmentation of Centrifugal-Flow Jet by Injection of Water/Alcohol (1948)
- Thrust Augmentation of Axial-Flow Turbojet by Injection at Compressor (1948)
- Investigation of Several Clamshell Variable-Area Nozzles (1949)
- Thrust Augmentation of 4000-Pound-Thrust Engine by Bleedoff (1950)
- Thrust Augmentation of Axial- and Centrifugal Engines by Injection (1950)
- Thrust Augmentation of Axial-Flow Turbojet by Interstage Injection (1950)
- Thrust Augmentation by Coolant Injection and Tail-Pipe Burning (1951)
- Thrust Augmentation by Water-Alcohol Injection on Axial-Flow Turbojet (1952)
- Sea-Level Static Investigation of a Short Afterburner (1954)
- Afterburner with Combustion Various Chamber Lengths (1956)
JPSL Turbine Cooling and Materials Testing
- Investigation of Root Designs for Cermet Turbine Blades: Root Design Alterations (1953)
- Investigation of Root Designs for Cermet Turbine Blades: Curved-Root Design (1955)
- Investigation of Cermet Turbine Blades in an Axial-Flow Engine (1957)
- Air-Cooled Turbine in Turbojet at Temps up to 2,500 °F
- I-40 Engine Performance Using External Water-Spray Cooling (1954)
- Low-Pressure-Loss Short Afterburner for Thrust Augmentation (1955)
- Performance of Axial-Flow Engine with Air-Cooled Turbine (1955)
- Investigation of Cooling Air on Two Jet Engines (1956)
Turbojet and Turbine Talks and Papers
- Fuels Research Talk at NACA Inspection (1947)
- Turbine Research Inspection Talk (1947)
- Full-Scale Turbojet Engine Research Inspection Talk (1948)
- NACA Conference on Turbojet Thrust Augmentation Research (1948)
- Turbine Research Inspection Talk (1949)
- Afterburner Story (1954)
- Summary of NACA Research on Afterburners (1956)
- Turbine Cooling Limitations and Future (1970)
SPL Space Projects
- Space Debris Hazard Evaluation (1961)
- Catastrophic Fracturing of Tanks when Impacted by Projectiles (1964)
- Investigation of Pressure Waves Generated by High-Velocity Projectiles (1965)
- Projectile Size and Material Effect on Impact Fracture of Tanks (1966)
- Accelerated Cavitation Damage in Liquid Metals (1966)
- Effect of Temperature and Pressure on Cavitation Damage of Cobalt (1969)
- NASA Research on Resistance of Materials to Cavitation Damage in Liquid Metal (1970)
- Cavitation Test for ASTM Round Robin Tests (1968)
- Effect of Ultrasonic Vibration on Hardening of Steels and Superalloys (1969)
- Meteoroid Damage Assessment (1970)
- Historical Review of Brayton and Stirling Power Conversion Technologies (2007)
- Performance Characteristics of Three Brayton Rotating Units (1970)
- Performance of a Brayton Power System with Radiator in SPF (1974)
SPL 1970s Testing
- J85-13 Heat Transfer Characteristics for a Cylindrical Ejector (1968)
- Cost Reduction on Turbine Engines for General Aviation (1971)
- Experience with Low Cost Engines (1973)
- J85-13 Experimental Fuel Control Test (1973)
- Low-Cost Expendable Turbojet Engine–Design and Fabrication (1976)
- Low-Cost Expendable Turbojet Engine–Performance (1976)
- Infrared Suppressor Effect on T-63 Turboshaft Engine Performance (1978)
- Exhaust Nozzles for Propulsion Systems on Supersonic Cruise Aircraft (1990)
- Evaluation of Laminated Wood Wind Turbine Blade (1981)
- Wind Turbine Wood-Epoxy Blade Test (1978)
- Evaluation of Laminated Wood Blades on the Mod-OA Wind Turbine (1983)
- Properties of Laminated Douglas Fir/Epoxy Composite (1990)
SPL Materials Research
- Hot Salt Stress Corrosion of a Titanium Alloy (1969)
- Furnace Testing of Aluminide-Coated Cobalt Super-Alloy WI-52 (1970)
- Cyclic Furnace Oxidation of Clad WI-52 Systems (1972)
- Oxidation and Thermal Fatigue Cracking of Nickel- and Cobalt-Base Alloys (1969)
- Burner Rig Cyclic Oxidation Evaluation (1973)
- High Velocity Oxidation and Hot Corrosion Testing of OSD Nickel-Base Alloys (1975)
- Two-layer Thermal Barrier Coating–Furnace and Burner Rig Tests (1976)
- High Velocity Burner Rig Oxidation and Thermal Fatigue of SiC Base Ceramics (1978)
- Response of Thermal Barrier Coating to Sodium Combustion Gases (1979)
- Hot Corrosion Behavior of Thermal Barrier Coatings (1980)
- Replaceable Blade Turbine and Stationary Specimen Corrosion Testing Facility (1985)
- Hot Corrosion Test Facility at Special Projects Laboratory (1994)
- Lewis’ Lean-, Rich-Burn Materials Test Burner Rig (1994)
- High Pressure Burner Rig Facility and Materials Test Capabilities (1999)
- Conductivity of Thermal Barrier Coatings under High Heat Flux (1999)
- SiC and Si3N4 Recession Due to Volatility Under Combustor Conditions (1999)
- SiC/SiC Leading Edge Turbine Airfoil Test (1999)
- Cyclic Oxidation Data Base for Materials Tested at NASA Glenn (2003)
- Development of Environmental Barrier Coatings Using High Heat-Flux (2003)
- Thermal Conductivity by a Steady-state Laser Heat-Flux Approach (2004)
Materials Research Overviews
- Turbine Engine Hot Section Technology (HOST) Workshop (1982)
- HOST Life Modeling Summary (1989)
- Enabling Propulsion Materials for High-Speed Civil Transport (1992)
- Cyclic Oxidation Testing and Modeling: A NASA Lewis Perspective (2000)
- History of Thermal Barrier Coatings for Gas Turbine Engines (2009)
- Revisiting the Birth of 7YSZ Thermal Barrier Coatings: Steve Stecura (2017)
Glenn Propulsion Tutorials
- Axial-flow Compressor Tutorial
- Centrifugal Compressor Tutorial
- Compressors Tutorial
- Afterburner Tutorial
- light gas gun
- man-made objects
- facilities
NASA History
Return to Main Page
Return to the Special Projects Laboratory (SPL) main page to find additional information on the facility and its history.
Learn More
This 1946 test of an I-40 Ramjet engine at the NASA’s Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland measured the exhaust gases being discharged from a special burner. Engineers record the test with a motion picture camera.
Glenn History and Mitigation
Glenn Historic Facilities
This collection of webpages documents some of the historic facilities formerly located at NASA's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
Glenn Historic Preservation
NASA Glenn has worked with the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office to mitigate the loss of some of its historic facilities.
Glenn History Office
The NASA Glenn History Office documents the research, facilities, and people who have contributed to the center’s extensive history and manages the Glenn History Collection.