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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 217 records · Page 12

Steady-State Ultrasonic Non-Destructive Evaluation for Aerospace & Additive Manufacturing Applications [Slides]

How does ultrasonic inspection work? Rich phenomenology of interactions between ultrasonic waves and features in plate-like structures. Hidden defects/discontinuities create measurable changes in the surface wavefield. Based on these measurements, we can build tools that detect the presence of different kinds of defects and estimate structural/material properties (e.g. local thickness).

42 ENGINEERING↗

Involute Working Group – Validation of CFD Turbulence Models for Steady-State Safety Analysis of Corner Geometry

Worldwide, three research reactors have fuel plates curved as a circle-involute (a spiral generated around a circle): Oak Ridge National Laboratory High Flux Isotope Reactor located in Tennessee, U.S.A. [1], Institut Laue-Langevin High Flux Reactor located in Grenoble, France [2], and Technical University of Munich Research Neutron Source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz located in Garching, Germany [3]. All three reactors are currently using highly enriched uranium ( 235 U/U ≥ 20 wt%) as fuel, and all three are actively engaged in activities to convert to low-enriched uranium ( 235 U/U < 20 wt%) fuel.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

FY26 Progress on Demonstration of a Multiphysics Steady State Capability for Modeling Core Radial Expansion in SFRs

Under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) Program, an integrated multiphysics approach is being developed to model the core bowing phenomena important to liquid metal-cooled fast reactors. Core bowing is an important passive safety mechanism in liquid metal-cooled fast reactors and involves multiphysics effects including radiation transport, fluid flow, heat transfer, and mechanical response to temperature and flux gradients. This report summarizes recent progress on developing a multiphysics, MOOSE-based workflow to predict core bowing and associated reactivity feedback. Significant new capabilities in the reactor physics code Griffin - sodium backfill and pin power reconstruction for deformed geometries - were applied in this effort. This year’s work included verification, code comparisons, sensitivity studies, and coupled demonstrations that advance the state of MOOSE-based core bowing workflow. Griffin’s sodium backfill capability was verified by demonstrating that its automated treatment of geometry expansion and material-density updates reproduces manual calculations exactly, confirming solid mass conservation and proper coolant backfilling in expanded geometries. Reconstructed pin powers were compared for Griffin’s ductheterogeneous and ring-heterogeneous treatments in single-, seven-, and nineteen-assembly cases, with best agreement observed in lower-leakage configurations and the duct-heterogeneous approach offering substantially lower computational cost. Thermal-hydraulic sensitivity sensitivities showed that MOOSE SCM, SAM, and CFD are expected to produce similar deformation predictions despite variances in their temperature predictions, and that explicit treatment of inter-assembly flow becomes increasingly important as gap flow rate increases. Finally, coupled demonstrations on small multi-assembly configurations using Griffin, MOOSE Solid Mechanics, MOOSE SCM, and Heat Conduction produced physically consistent reactivity feedback from thermal expansion and bowing. The coupled demonstrations simulated grid plate expansion as well as resultant core bowing at full power conditions. Simplifications were made in current workflow, namely the assumption of instantaneous full power conditions following hot zero power, and pre-expanding the Griffin geometry axially due to lack of an axial fuel pin expansion model and temperature feedback to Griffin.

Wozniak, Nicholas↗

On the Mechanism of the Steady-State Gamma Radiolysis-Induced Scissions of the Phenyl-Vinyl Polyester-Based Resins

The major societal problem of polymeric waste necessitates new approaches to break down especially challenging discarded waste streams. Gamma radiation was utilized in conjunction with varying solvent environments in an attempt to discern the efficacy of radiolysis as a tool for the deliberate degradation of model network polyesters. Our EPR results demonstrated that gamma radiolysis of neat resin and in the presence of four widely used solvents induces glycosidic scissions on the backbone of the polyester chains. EPR results clearly show the formation of alkoxy radicals and C-centered radicals as primary intermediate radiolytic products. Despite the protective role of the phenyl groups on the backbone of the radiation-induced polyester chains, the radiolytic-glycosidic scissions predominate. Among the following three solvents used in this study (water, isopropyl alcohol, and dichloromethane), the highest radiolytic yield of glycosidic scission was achieved using water. The •OH radicals produced in the radiolysis of phenyl unsaturated polyester aqueous suspensions very rapidly abstract H atoms from the methylene group, which is followed by a very rapid glycosidic scission. The lowest glycosidic yield was found in the dichloromethane solutions of these polyester resins due to scavenging by the fast electron capture reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Fueling method for small, steady-state, aneutronic FRC fusion reactors

A system and method for fueling a fusion reactor. The system includes a reactor chamber containing a stable plasma including a fusion fuel; a heating system configured to heat the plasma and increase an ion energy of the plasma to a level sufficient for producing net power from fusion reactions in the stable plasma; a plurality of magnets coaxial to the reactor chamber, the plurality of magnets producing a magnetic field sufficient to confine the stable plasma and promote rapid loss of fusion products into a scrape off layer; and a neutral beam injection system configured to inject additional quantities of the fusion fuel to sustain the power output of the fusion reaction.

Cohen, Samuel A.↗