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All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

DOE OSTI2024

Deep reinforcement learning for optimal control of induction welding process

Optimizing induction welding (IW) process parameters for the application of joining thermoplastic composites is challenging as it requires achieving complex spatiotemporal thermal characteristics along the weld-line to obtain desired weld quality. We formulate an optimal control problem which captures these requirements and seeks to optimize the IW coil speed using a fast-acting dynamic IW process model. We develop a novel Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) framework to solve this computationally challenging control problem and demonstrate via simulation study that the learned DRL feedback control policy results in better spatiotemporal thermal characteristics as compared to the current state-of-the-art.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

NASA NTRS1977

Evacuated load-bearing high performance insulation study

A light weight, vacuum jacketed, load bearing cryogenic insulation system was developed and tested on a 1.17-m (46-in.) spherical test tank. The vacuum jacket consists of 0.08 mm (0.003 in.) thick 321 stainless steel formed into a wedge design that allows elastic jacket movements as the tank shrinks (cools) or expands (warms up or is pressurized). Hollow glass spheres, approximately 80 micrometers in diameter with a bulk density of 0.069 g/cc (4.3 lb cubic foot), provide the insulating qualities and one atmosphere load bearing capability required. The design, fabrication, and test effort developed the manufacturing methods and engineering data needed to scale the system to other tank sizes, shapes, and applications. The program demonstrated that thin wall jackets can be formed and welded to maintain the required vacuum level of .013 Pa yet flex elastically for multiple reuses. No significant shifting or breakage of the microspheres occurred after 13 simulated Space Tug flight cycles on the test tank and a hundred 1 atmosphere load cycles in a flat plate calorimeter. The test data were then scaled to the Space Tug LO2 and LH2 tanks, and weight, thermal performance, payload performance, and costs were compared with a helium purged multilayer insulation system.

Parmley, R. T.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Monitoring robot actions for error detection and recovery

Reliability is a serious problem in computer controlled robot systems. Although robots serve successfully in relatively simple applications such as painting and spot welding, their potential in areas such as automated assembly is hampered by programming problems. A program for assembling parts may be logically correct, execute correctly on a simulator, and even execute correctly on a robot most of the time, yet still fail unexpectedly in the face of real world uncertainties. Recovery from such errors is far more complicated than recovery from simple controller errors, since even expected errors can often manifest themselves in unexpected ways. Here, a novel approach is presented for improving robot reliability. Instead of anticipating errors, researchers use knowledge-based programming techniques so that the robot can autonomously exploit knowledge about its task and environment to detect and recover from failures. They describe preliminary experiment of a system that they designed and constructed.

Gini, M.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Status of NASA's Space Launch System

NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) continued to make significant progress in 2015 and 2016, completing hardware and testing that brings NASA closer to a new era of deep space exploration. Programmatically, SLS completed Critical Design Review (CDR) in 2015. A team of independent reviewers concluded that the vehicle design is technically and programmatically ready to move to Design Certification Review (DCR) and launch readiness in 2018. Just five years after program start, every major element has amassed development and flight hardware and completed key tests that will lead to an accelerated pace of manufacturing and testing in 2016 and 2017. Key to SLS' rapid progress has been the use of existing technologies adapted to the new launch vehicle. The existing fleet of RS-25 engines is undergoing adaptation tests to prove it can meet SLS requirements and environments with minimal change. The four-segment shuttle-era booster has been modified and updated with a fifth propellant segment, new insulation, and new avionics. The Interim Cryogenic Upper Stage is a modified version of an existing upper stage. The first Block I SLS configuration will launch a minimum of 70 metric tons (t) of payload to low Earth orbit (LEO). The vehicle architecture has a clear evolutionary path to more than 100t and, ultimately, to 130t. Among the program's major 2015-2016 accomplishments were two booster qualification hotfire tests, a series of RS-25 adaptation hotfire tests, manufacturing of most of the major components for both core stage test articles and first flight tank, delivery of the Pegasus core stage barge, and the upper stage simulator. Renovations to the B-2 test stand for stage green run testing was completed at NASA Stennis Space Center. This year will see the completion of welding for all qualification and flight EM-1 core stage components and testing of flight avionics, completion of core stage structural test stands, casting of the EM-1 solid rocket motors, additional testing of RS-25 engines and flight engine controllers This paper will discuss these and other technical and programmatic successes and challenges over the past year and provide a preview of work ahead before the first flight of this new capability.

Honeycutt, John↗

DOE OSTI2024

Advanced Coating Compositions and Microstructures to Improve Uptime and Operational Flexibility in Cyclic, Low-Load Thermal Utility Plants

GE, the University of Tennessee, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory collaborated from 2020 to 2023 developing two key technologies for improving the viability of fuel switching and load following in thermal utility plants: a) cost-effective weld overlay compositions for boiler tubing b) cathodic arc coatings that deliver improvements in both erosion resistance and oxidation resistance in high temperature steam for HP turbine blades The team worked through a robust, logical project map to de-risk these two technologies and advance them from TRL 3 to TRL 6. For the cost-effective weld overlay, the team developed a ferritic filler material which was fabricated at a vendor for 18% the average market cost of Inconel 625 wire, had a corrosion rate 3x lower in conditions simulating a biomass-fired superheater and 10x lower in conditions simulating a coal-fired superheater, and was fabricated into prototype overlaid tubing that passed ASME requirements including transverse bending, dye penetrant inspection, and ASTM G-76 evaluation. For the cathodic arc coatings applied to steam turbine blades, the team developed a novel composition that was successfully transferred to a qualified vendor. The vendor was able to produce coated prototypes with 4x the as-deposited erosion resistance and 10.4x the post-steam-exposure erosion resistance of the TiN coating the vendor currently applies on GE steam turbine components, without significantly increasing process cost. These coated prototypes also passed a GE inspection and showed favorable performance in high temperature erosion, nanoindentation, sliding wear, scratch adhesion, and high cycle fatigue testing. If successfully deployed by GE, it is anticipated that the technologies will enable the following: • 25%-50% increase in time between outages for both boilers and HP turbines. • 50% decrease in cost for weld overlay on a per foot basis relative to todays NiCr alloys. • Adequate oxidation resistance and erosion for HP turbine inlet steam at >620°C and >220 bar. • No need for changes in component supply chain or any notable Capital Expenditures. 5 Decreasing component cost, increasing performance, and extending time between outages represent direct value propositions to GE and their customers. For the American consumer, these objectives translate into increased grid reliability (fewer unexpected outages), decreased Levelized Cost of Electricity, and improved environmental health (low-loading/load following to accelerate penetration of renewables). The results also have implications for wear resistant tooling, wire arc additive manufacturing, more durable components for syngas cleanup, and deployment of more efficient thermochemical pathways for carbon negative fuel production

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

NASA NTRS1984

Fatigue induced cracking in aluminum LN-2 shroud of 39 foot vacuum chamber

Fourteen years after completion of Ford's 39-foot space simulation chamber, leaks began to appear in its LN2 shroud. Although the shroud had been tight since its acceptance, cracks appeared in 1983 in some of the field welds of the one inch tubes which interconnect the LN2 panels. The resulting leaks were large enough to prevent pump down to high vacuum and could be heard easily when the chamber was at ambient conditions. New cracks appeared during each thermal cycle making it impossible to utilize the chamber for thermal vacuum testing. The analysis presented here implies that many, if not all, of the aluminum LN2 shrouds now in use may be in various stages of fatigue failure. The probability is high that fatigue cracks are working through the aluminum tubing in heat-affected zones of some field welds. The cracks may not be apparent yet, but after the shroud has experienced a certain number of thermal cycles these cracks will work through the material and become serious leaks. Fortunately, appropriate planning, analysis, and checking can, with a relatively small expenditure of money, help to avoid large and unexpected shroud failures and keep the chamber operational as long as it is needed.

Edwards, A. A.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Model Assisted Probability of Detection for NASA Space Missions

Model assisted probability of detection (MAPOD) uses data from simulations to improve a traditional probability of detection (POD) study. This could include extending the parameter space to reduce uncertainty or substituting experimental data with simulated data to reduce the time and cost of a POD study. In the past MAPOD was difficult due to limited computational resources, but recent innovations in simulation tools and high-performance computing have made this type of high-degree-of-freedom modelling possible, and complex structures have made it necessary. This presentation will summarize the work done by the computational nondestructive evaluation (CNDE) group at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to complete a MAPOD study for phased array ultrasound testing (PAUT) of a friction stir welding (FSW) method to be used on Space Launch System (SLS) structures. The three critical needs for a MAPOD study are a validated and verified model of the inspection technique for the structure being inspected, some experimental POD data, and an uncertainty model for both the model and the experimental data. PAUT was simulated using Extende CIVA’s UT module. The model was validated using laboratory inspection data from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for a Hit/Miss POD for FSW in 2219-T87 aluminum panels representative of those used in the SLS. This model was then used to simulate flaw sizes that were originally omitted from the original POD study. The results of this new MAPOD study will be presented along with a discussion of the methods and processes used to analyze the original data, selected simulation parameters, and development of the uncertainty model used for the statistical analysis. The goal of this effort is not just to improve the POD study but to demonstrate the value of MAPOD and provide a roadmap for application of MAPOD on future projects.

Elizabeth Gregory↗

DOE OSTI2021

Benchmarking of Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Models in Grizzly

In 2020, as part of contract/task order 31310019N0006/31310020F0060, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission tasked Idaho National Laboratory (INL) with benchmarking the MOOSE/GRIZZLY code against the NRC’s Fracture Analysis of Vessels - Oak Ridge (FAVOR), version 16.1 code. Both codes can predict large light-water reactor vessel integrity deterministically and probabilistically. In fact, such predictions are the primary purpose of the FAVOR code, and are a main focus of the GRIZZLY code, although GRIZZLY is capable of modeling a wider range of geometries and problems. The vessel integrity modeling capabilities of the GRIZZLY code are still under development and being gradually expanded, and the capability to model vessel fracture by crack growth has not yet been integrated into GRIZZLY (although it does exist in pre-release versions). Thus, the present benchmark study focused on comparing predictions for the conditional probability of crack growth initiation (CPI) between GRIZZLY and FAVOR v16.1. The present benchmarking study expands on a previous study completed in 2020, which focused on single plate regions, various flaw types, and full vessel studies. The previous study was limited in scope and revealed some relatively large discrepancies, particularly in the case of weld regions. In the present study, detailed investigations into the sources of discrepancies between GRIZZLY and FAVOR were performed, with a focus on weld regions.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Pressure Spike in The LBNF Absorber Core s Gun Drilled Cooling Channel from an Accident Beam Pulse

The LBNF Absorber consists of thirteen 6061-T6 aluminum core blocks. The core blocks are water cooled with de-ionized (DI) water which becomes radioactive during beam operations. The cooling water flows through gun-drilled channels in the core blocks. The cooling water is supplied by the LBNF Absorber Radioactive Water (RAW) cooling system which is designed as per ASME B31.3 Normal Fluid Service [1]. An uninhibited beam accident pulse striking the water channels was identified as a credible accident scenario. In this study, it is assumed that the beam pulse hits the Absorber directly without interacting with any of the other upstream beamline components. The beam parameters used for the LBNF beam are 120 GeV, 2.4 MW with a 1.2 s cycle time. The accident pulse lasts for 10 μs. The maximum energy is deposited in the 3rd aluminum core block. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the accident pulse strikes the 1 in. ID water channel directly. The analysis here simulates the pressure rise in the water during and after the beam pulse and its effects on the aluminum piping components that deliver water to the core blocks. The weld strengths as determined by the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRDF) and the Allowable Strength Design (ASD) are compared to the forces generated in the weld owing to the pressure spike. A transient structural analysis was used to determine the equivalent membrane, peak, and bending stresses and they were com-pared to allowable limits.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Pressure Spike in The LBNF Absorber Core s Gun Drilled Cooling Channel from an Accident Beam Pulse

he LBNF absorber consists of thirteen 6061-T6 aluminum core blocks. The core blocks are water cooled with de-ionized (DI) water which becomes radioactive during beam operations. The cooling water flows through gun-drilled channels in the core blocks. The cooling water is supplied by the LBNF absorber radioactive water (RAW) cooling system which is designed as per ASME B31.3 normal fluid service. An uninhibited beam accident pulse striking the water channels was identified as a credible accident scenario. In this study, it is assumed that the beam pulse hits the absorber directly without interacting with any of the other upstream beamline components. The beam parameters used for the LBNF beam are 120 GeV, 2.4 MW with a 1.2 s cycle time. The accident pulse lasts for 10 µs. The maximum energy is deposited in the 3rd aluminum core block. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the accident pulse strikes the 1 in. ID water channel directly. The analysis here simulates the pressure rise in the water during and after the beam pulse and its effects on the aluminum piping components that deliver water to the core blocks. The weld strengths as determined by the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRDF) and the Allowable Strength Design (ASD) are compared to the forces generated in the weld owing to the pressure spike. A transient structural analysis was used to determine the equivalent membrane, peak, and bending stresses and they were compared to allowable limits.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

NASA NTRS1985

Demonstrated results of welded and soldered interconnections

Solar cell modules with welded and soldered interconnections were constructed using a flexible substrate material. These modules were thermally cycled between approx. 80 deg C at rates 100 cycles/day to demonstrate survivability under simulated low Earth orbit (LEO) temperature conditions. The modules, cycled in an inert atmosphere, show durability for 36,000 cycles.

Hart, R. E., Jr.↗

DOE OSTI2023

Synchrotron X-ray diffraction analysis of constituent phases in transition joint between nickel alloy 738LC and a MnFeCoNiCu alloy

Synchrotron x-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis was performed on transition joints between a single-phase MnFeCoNiCu alloy and Ni-base Alloy 738LC to efficiently identify the constituent phases across the interface, with different levels of material intermixing generated by laser-welding with variable power. Here, the intermixing extent was quantified by postmortem energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy mapping. Diffraction-based analyses on complex composition spaces with limited prior data present significant challenges because elemental substitution in both disordered and ordered phases is more extensive than in conventional alloy spaces, which may effectuate relatively large shifts in the observed lattice parameters that convolute the analysis. Therefore, thermodynamic simulations and crystallographic literature data were employed to construct a system-specific diffraction library of twelve prospective phases for the composition space investigated. Subsequently, for predicted disordered cubic phases, statistical hard-sphere models were established to estimate the lattice parameters and predict diffraction peak positions for inclusion in the library. The library was then employed to analyze diffraction profiles measured from the variably intermixed transition joints, with focus on accounting for both high and low-intensity peaks. 99.0 % of diffraction peaks with relative intensity greater than 0.001 were assigned to phases from the system-specific library, exemplifying rigorous peak accounting and indicating that no unexpected phases were present. Up to six of the twelve library phases were experimentally found in the transition joints. The lattice parameters predicted by the statistical hard-sphere model based upon thermodynamic simulations agree reasonably well with the measured values for the disordered FCC matrix phase.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2021

Removing Rotational Variations from Shoulder Thermocouples in Friction Stir Welding

Thick plate and lower temperature friction stir welding results in good post-weld properties by welding at very low tool rotational speeds. Low speeds cause large variations in the measured shoulder temperature, making temperature control difficult. This paper describes a computationally light method to correct for oscillating measured temperatures. Data is collected over the previous two revolutions and used to build a compensation table and calculate a derivative. In simulation, measured temperature variations are reduced by a factor of five to ten. Temperature data is preserved and not cornered, nor is any time delay induced by this method, unlike with filtering methods.

Friction Stir Welding, Temperature↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Model Assisted Probability of Detection for NASA Space Missions

Model assisted probability of detection (MAPOD) uses data from simulations to improve a traditional probability of detection (POD) study. This could include extending the parameter space to reduce uncertainty or substituting experimental data with simulated data to reduce the time and cost of a POD study. In the past MAPOD was difficult due to limited computational resources, but recent innovations in simulation tools and high-performance computing have made this type of high-degree-of-freedom modeling possible, and complex structures have made it necessary. This presentation will summarize the work done by the computational nondestructive evaluation (CNDE) specialists within the Nondestructive Evaluation Sciences branch at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to complete a MAPOD study for phased array ultrasound testing (PAUT) of a friction stir welding (FSW) method to be used on Space Launch System (SLS) structures. The three critical needs for a MAPOD study are a validated and verified model of the inspection technique for the structure being inspected, some experimental POD data, and an uncertainty model for both the model and the experimental data. PAUT was simulated using Extende CIVA’s UT module. The model was validated using laboratory inspection data from NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) for a Hit/Miss POD for FSW in 2219-T87 aluminum panels representative of those used in the SLS. This model was then used to simulate flaw sizes that were originally omitted from the original POD study. The results of this new MAPOD study will be presented along with a discussion of the methods and processes used to analyze the original data, selected simulation parameters, and development of the uncertainty model used for the statistical analysis. The goal of this effort is not just to improve the POD study but to demonstrate the value of MAPOD and provide a roadmap for application of MAPOD on future projects.

Elizabeth Gregory↗

NASA NTRS1990

Probabilistic high cycle fatigue failure analysis with application to liquid propellant rocket engines

A probabilistic high cycle fatigue (HCF) failure analysis of a welded duct in a rocket engine of the Space Shuttle main engine class is described. A state-of-the-art HCF failure prediction method was used in a Monte Carlo simulation to generate a distribution of failure lives. A stochastic stress/life model is used for material characterization, and a composite stress history is generated for accurately deriving the stress cycles for the fatigue-damage calculations. The HCF failure model expresses fatigue life as a function of stochastic parameters including environment, loads, material properties, geometry, and model specification errors. A series of HCF failure life analyses were performed to study the impact of a fixed parameter and to assess the importance of each stochastic input parameter through marginal analyses.

Sutharshana, S.↗

DOE OSTI2026

Infrared triggered dwell and active cooling thermal control effects on microstructural uniformity in DED

Directed Energy Deposition (DED) offers rapid large scale fabrication, but difficulty in delivering consistent microstructures and properties hinders the use of DED fabricated components in safety or performance critical applications. Variability stems from the complex thermal cycles generated by the toolpath used to print the required geometry. Several practical methods have become established in DED to regulate overheating, such as active cooling of the baseplate structure or the use of an infrared camera to inject interlayer pauses to ensure the top layer of the component cools to a set temperature, which have been shown to affect microstructure. However, no critical assessment has been performed as to how effective these controls are in promoting microstructural uniformity in the context of complex layer timing commonly generated by non-prismatic geometries. Here we show how controls influence the thermal field, phase transformations, and dynamic annealing of a low-temperature transformation steel using infrared imaging and operando neutron diffraction. Counterintuitively, common thermal homogenization process controls can reduce microstructural uniformity because these approaches stabilize peak temperature while overlooking temperatures near the solid-state phase transformation fronts. Instead, the cyclic reheating induces spatially-variant dynamically annealed regions which can be modulated via control parameters. We show that these controls have spatially linked effects centimeters away from the active weld, which implies that microstructure control must co-optimize thermal input across many subsequent layers. In conclusion, our results demonstrate the pressing need for higher order controls that integrate predictive elements of simulation data to stabilize printed properties for future qualification of DED components.

Directed energy deposition↗

DOE OSTI2026

A Fast and Accurate Reduced-Order Model for High-Intensity Transferred Arc Discharges

Arc discharges are widely used in welding, plasma smelting, and other industrial processes, where variations in operating conditions strongly affect arc stability, temperature distribution, and energy transfer. Accurate modeling of these phenomena typically requires computationally expensive high-fidelity simulations. This study presents a hierarchy of three arc discharge models with progressively reduced physical fidelity. The high-fidelity model provides a fully physics-resolved reference, the reduced-order model reproduces the dominant thermal and flow characteristics of the arc with reasonable accuracy, and the Elenbaas-Heller model captures key trends in a simplified, rapid formulation. This hierarchy demonstrates that reduced-order model can effectively balance predictive fidelity and computational efficiency, providing practical tools for arc simulation and parametric studies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

DOE OSTI2024

Failure Analysis for Molten Salt Thermal Energy Storage Tanks for In-Service CSP Plants

Thermal Energy Storage (TES) is a fundamental component in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants to increase the plant's dispatchability, capacity factor, while reducing the levelized cost of electricity. In central receivers CSP plants, nitrate molten salts have been used for several years for operation temperatures of up to 565 degrees C. Despite many efforts to advance nitrate salt to higher operation temperatures (even considering a replacement with molten chloride salts) to achieve higher energy conversion efficiencies, the 565 degrees C temperature is currently considered the state-of-the art. Although molten salt tanks have been broadly deployed in commercial CSP plants worldwide, several failures have been reported in these tanks after a few months or years of operation, causing significant economic loss and mistrust in CSP technologies. Most of these failures are associated with the infancy of the technology and multiple issues related to tank design, fabrication, commissioning, and aggressive operation. A technical standard dedicated to the design and fabrication of molten nitrate TES tanks does not exist today. Current in-service molten salt tanks have been generally designed based on the American Petroleum Institute's (API) 650 and ASME Section II standards. The API 650 code provides guidelines for dimensions and fabrication for oil storage tanks up to 260 degrees C. The ASME standard provides allowable stress values for various materials at a range of temperatures and conditions. Both standards seem to be limited for molten salt TES tanks where high temperatures, thermal cycling, and transient conditions are expected. In 2020, NREL released the Concentrating Solar Power Best Practices Study (NREL/TP-5500-75763) that summarized multiple issues in CSP plants, along with potential alternatives and recommendations to address those issues based on information collected from participants representing about 80% of operating CSP plants in the world. One of the recommendations from this study was the development of accurate and validated models to evaluate the plant's transient operation, capable of capturing the effect of short-term clouds and operator response, while being flexible in being adapted to various spatial and temporal resource data. The "Failure Analysis for Molten Salt Thermal Energy Tanks for In-Service CSP Plants" project was inspired on this recommendation and was focused on (1) the development and validation of a physics-based model for a representative, commercial-scale molten salt tank, (2) performing simulations to evaluate the behavior of the tank as a function of typical plant operation conditions, (3) understanding tank failures mechanisms, (4) determining the residual stress and distortion in the tank floor after welding fabrication and evaluating their impact in the stresses developed in the tank during operation, (5) assessing the impact of key operation parameters on the temperature and stress distribution, (6) conduct a preliminary evaluation of design features to reduce stress and improve tank's reliability, and (7) estimate the tank's service life based on the stress developed under diverse operation scenarios. From the analysis conducted in the project and presented in this report, it was found that maximum stresses surpassing the yield strength point of the stainless steel (SS) 347H are developed on the tank floor near the perimeter. These large stresses are strongly influenced by the initial residual stresses and distortion of the tank floor after welding fabrication. During operation, large stresses are developed in the tank floor at high operation temperatures with large salt inventory levels during transient operation. High stresses are also related to elevated temperature gradients in the tank floor that could be attributed to insufficient mixing within the salt inflow and the salt inventory. Based on the analysis, creep is the predominant failure mechanism. However, the large stress levels could favor the plastic deformation into buckles, and crack formation due to stress relaxation cracking during cycle operation. A lifetime below 3 years was estimated for the typical plant operation conditions and a specific initial residual stress and deformation distribution of the tank floor. The estimated life agrees with the service time to failure reported in several commercial molten salt tanks. Desing and operation guidelines can be extracted from the analysis presented in this report, which could be adopted by tank manufacturers and CSP operators to advance toward an ultimate solution for tank failures by reducing residual and operational stresses to achieve a tank service life of more than 30 years. Addressing failures in molten salt TES tanks is fundamental for the CSP industry's survivability, but it is also important for other industrial and power generation applications using this technology, including nuclear and concentrating solar thermal.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗