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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Radio Frequency Field Programable Gate Array Implementation of Reflectometry Cable Monitoring

PNNL has developed an innovative cable testing system that leverages the Xilinx RF System-on-Chip (RFSoC) technology to create a more flexible and capable measurement tool than traditional approaches. The architecture is designed on the ZCU111 development board and takes advantage of the high-speed digital to analog converters (DAC) and analog to digital converters (ADC) to generate and capture digitally synthesized waveforms. The platform allows engineers to easily adjust power, frequency, duration and modulation on the fly rather than being locked into fixed hardware configurations

Tedeschi, Jonathan [Pacific Northwest National Lab↗
DOE OSTI2022

Los Alamos National Laboratory Floodplain Assessment for the West Road Post and Cable Fencing Project

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous agency within the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is proposing to take action at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to install post and cable or in-kind barriers along West Road at selected locations near the Los Alamos County ice-skating rink in Los Alamos Canyon (Figure 1). The proposed project is intended to improve vehicular and pedestrian safety on West Road by reducing traffic hazards associated with unsafe roadside parking and reduce wildland fire hazards associated with vehicles driving and parking on vegetation. West Road crosses approximately 0.35 miles (mi.) (1,900 feet (ft.)) of the Los Alamos Canyon floodplain at the bottom of Los Alamos Canyon. Project activities within the floodplain include blocking access to the informal roadside parking along either side of West Road in Los Alamos Canyon.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Modeling of Bi-2212 strand and Rutherford cable in a dipole coil insert

The U.S. Magnet Development Program (US-MDP) explores high-field accelerator magnets compatible with op- erational conditions beyond the limits of Nb3Sn technology. The ongoing R&D High-Temperature Superconductors (HTS) suggests using Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8−x (Bi-2212) as superconducting element. Bi-2212 Rutherford cables maintain a high critical current (IC ) when exposed to a large external magnetic field. However, Bi-2122 exhibits an oversensitive stress-strain response when subject to large Lorentz forces. This paper reports on the magnetic and mechanical analysis of the Bi-2212 cosine-theta insert being developed at Fermilab for a hybrid magnet composed of 2 external layers of Nb3Sn and 2 internal layers of Bi-2212. We performed a FEM analysis of the insert to estimate the HTS stress state in the coil s strands under magnetic and mechanical loads.

D'Agliano, A.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Cost-effective Conductor, Cable, and Coils for High Field Rotating Electric Machines

The purpose of the DOE-AMMTO-funded project was to significantly reduce industrial energy intensity through manufacturing innovations. The project focused on superconducting technology for industrial motors to dramatically increase efficiency. The bottleneck in deploying high temperature superconducting (HTS) motors was high cost and low yield of the conductor manufacturing process. The process yield is low because of the defects in the conductor, forcing the manufacturers to cut off defective sections after characterizing each millimeter. Additionally, the piece lengths tend to be low because of the defects. The project tackled the low-yield manufacturing process challenge by devising an innovative method to use defective conductors in bundled cables without losing performance by engineering current sharing among the conductors. The innovation not only lowers the cost of the conductor but also enhances the reliability of HTS motors and other devices to mitigate the defects that might form during the fabrication and operation of the device. With the increasing interest in REBa2Cu3O7-x (REBCO)-coated conductors for various power, energy, and magnet applications, ensuring the reliability of HTS devices is of significant interest. The EERE funding allowed us to make significant progress in understanding the defects in manufactured conductors and the implications of the defects in superconducting electric motors and other superconducting power and energy applications.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2026

Super Conducting REBCO Cable Wrapper

Future upgrades to CERN particle accelerator magnets require flat, high-temperature superconducting cables, created by wrapping brittle REBCO tape around a Rutherford copper core. Because current manual wrapping processes are time-consuming and prone to damaging the delicate ceramic tape, our team was tasked with automating the fabrication. We developed a modular, wrapping machine featuring adjustment for repeatable 10°to 45° wrap angles and a precise magnetic tensioning mechanism. While full-scale testing is pending final machined parts, our 3D-printed prototype successfully validates the system’s motion and sets the stage for future testing.

Gillen, Kameron [Northern Illinois U.]↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dynamic Modeling, Trajectory Optimization, and Linear Control of Cable-Driven Parallel Robots for Automated Panelized Building Retrofits

The construction industry faces a growing need for automation to reduce costs, improve accuracy and productivity, and address labor shortages. One area that stands to benefit significantly from automation is panelized prefabricated building envelope retrofits, which can improve a building’s energy efficiency in heating and cooling interior spaces. In this paper, we propose using cable-driven parallel robots (CDPRs), which can effectively lift and handle large objects, to install these panels. However, implementing CDPRs presents significant challenges because of their nonlinear dynamics, complex trajectory planning, and precise control requirements. To tackle these challenges, this work focuses on a new application of established control and trajectory optimization theories in a CDPR simulation of a building envelope retrofit under real-world conditions. We first model the dynamics of CDPRs, highlighting the critical role of damping in system behavior. Building on this dynamic model, we formulate a trajectory optimization problem to generate feasible and efficient motion plans for the robot under operational and environmental constraints. Given the high precision required in the construction industry, accurately tracking the optimized trajectory is essential. However, challenges such as partial observability and external vibrations complicate this task. To address these issues, a Linear Quadratic Gaussian control framework is applied, enabling the robot to track the optimized trajectories with precision. Simulation results show that the proposed controller enables precise end effector positioning with errors under 4 mm, even in the presence of external wind disturbances. Through comprehensive simulations, our approach allows for an in-depth exploration of the system’s nonlinear dynamics, trajectory optimization, and control strategies under controlled yet highly realistic conditions. The results demonstrate the feasibility of CDPRs for automating panel installation and provide insights into their practical deployment.

CDPR↗
DOE OSTI2021

Self-field measurements of an HTS twisted stacked-tape cable conductor

For a twisted stacked-tape cable (TSTC) conductor composed of REBCO tapes, self-field measurements were conducted with Hall sensors. In the measurements, a 650 mm diameter single turn coil wound with the TSTC conductor, which was made with 48 REBCO tapes whose width was 6 mm, was utilized as a test sample. Based on the measurement results, the current distribution of the TSTC conductor was investigated with analytical models. The analytical results indicate the current distribution of the TSTC is uniform under the condition that the operating current is 10 kA and the sample temperature is approximately 30 K. On the other hand, the current distribution is not uniform at the excitation and the degauss of the TSTC conductor with the ramp rate of 50 A/s.

Obana, T.↗
DOE OSTI2020

CITRC Cable Info

Working on a DOE project with university sub-contractors to build power grid simulations. We need the cable size and spacing to build accurate models. Other related documents on the physical set up and electrical components have been released, INL/MIS-20-59900 and INL/MIS-20-60003.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-density fabric systems interconnected with multi-port aggregated cables

A multi-port aggregated cable includes: a plurality of duplex optical fibers, each duplex optical fiber having a first end and a second end; a first optical interface attached to each of the duplex optical fibers at the first end thereof and defining multiple ports, one for each of the duplex optical fibers, the first optical interface aggregating the duplex optical fibers at the first end thereof; and a second optical interface attached to each of the duplex optical fibers at the second end thereof and defining multiple ports, one for each of the duplex optical fibers, the second optical interface aggregating the duplex optical fibers at the second end thereof.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Series-connected superconducting magnet cables

A superconducting device includes a superconducting cable having a plurality of superconducting tapes in a plurality of phases, including a first phase, and at least one further phase. One or more superconducting tapes of the first phase is in electrical contact with one or more superconducting tapes of the at least one further phase through at least one resistive barrier that prevents current from passing between the first phase and the at least one further phase in the absence of a voltage between one or more of the superconducting tapes of the first phase or the at least one further phase. The first phase is electrically connected in series to at least one further phase.

Van Der Laan, Daniel Cornelis↗
DOE OSTI2023

Distributed Coaxial Cable Sensors for In-Situ Condition Based Monitoring of Coal-Fired Boiler Tubes

The increasing contributions of renewable energy sources present new challenges to the operation and maintenance of the existing coal-fired power plants. One of the major operational risks is the unexpected failure of superheater boiler tubes, leading to the most unplanned power plant outrages. The boiler tube failure is difficult to predict due to the harsh operating environments. Therefore, condition-based monitoring (CBM) with a reliable high temperature sensor becomes necessary to produce a meaningful assessment of the health condition of boiler tubes and their remaining lifetime. In this work, the stainless-steel and quartz coaxial cable sensor (SSQ-CCS) is proposed for in-situ distributed monitoring of the boiler tube temperatures in existing coal-fired power plants. Comprehensive tests have been conducted with an in-house testing facility at Clemson University to study and evaluate the sensors’ performance in the temperature range of 100℃ to 600℃. The results indicated that the measurement resolution of the SSQ-CCS sensor is better than 1℃, and the drift is less than 2% over long-period testing. Meanwhile, multi-physics finite element analysis has been conducted to optimize the design and evaluate the safety of the SSQ-CCS temperature sensor under various operational conditions. Based on the performance obtained in the laboratory-scale testing, a field test has been implemented at a power plant. Four SSQ-CCS temperature sensors were installed for in-situ monitoring of the temperatures of a power plant’s superheat tube assembles. The data acquisition system has been successfully set up and collected sensing signals for more than three months. The sensing signals have been post-processed, and the monitored temperature history through the SSQ-CCS temperature sensor has been validated and compared with the conventional high temperature thermal couple data.

Jiao, Xinyu↗
DOE OSTI2026

Hygrothermal aging effects on polyimide and acrylate-based adhesive materials in high-performance flat-flex cable assemblies

Flat-flex assemblies are widely used across a diverse range of technologies, including consumer electronics, automotive systems, aerospace and defense applications, and medical devices, due to their compact form factor and flexibility. However, environmental stressors like temperature and humidity are known to degrade performance over time, though the main mechanisms for degradation remain unknown. Here, in this work, we examined the aging behavior of copper/polyimide/adhesive laminate systems under varying temperature and humidity conditions, focusing on material degradation and its effects on mechanical and dielectric properties. Results show that peel strength and breakdown voltage decrease with exposure time, temperature, and humidity; spectroscopic characterization revealed that the adhesive, and not the polyimide, is the weak link in the material stack-up. The adhesive, identified as a butyl acrylate-acrylonitrile (BA-AN) copolymer, exhibited age-related spectral changes that correlated with exposure severity and duration. Hydrolysis at BA ester and AN nitrile groups was identified as the primary degradation mechanism, producing amides, acids, and alcohols. We developed a mechanistic model that connects kinetic parameters for BA-AN spectral band decay to peel strength and breakdown voltage, and implicates hydrolysis at the AN moiety, not BA, in performance decrements. Modeling predictions at ambient conditions indicate faster decline in peel strength than dielectric strength at early times, followed by plateauing of both properties at longer times. These findings provide critical insights into laminate aging mechanisms and highlight the importance of addressing BA-AN degradation to improve the long-term reliability of these systems in high-humidity environments.

organic↗