SEARCH · Engineering Papers
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.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
This study presents the impact of plant siting on the performance and economics of coal-fired utility scale power plants based on indirect sCO2 power cycles with carbon capture and storage (CCS). Presentation of paper made at the 2021 ASME Turbo Expo, GT2021-58867.
Conference paper for the ASME 2022 Turbomachinery Technical Conference & ExpositionJune 13-17, 2022, Rotterdam, The Netherlands<br>
Design of vessels for external pressure currently requires a chart-based solution or analytical approaches which are not necessarily intuitive. In this paper, we propose simple formulas for the external pressure evaluation of pipes and other cylindrical pressure vessels. We present a conceptual comparison between the elastic and elastic-plastic stability of structural columns and that of cylindrical vessels of long, intermediate, and short length. Their common features allow an accurate and straightforward approach for external pressure design. The approach is also extended to spherical caps, conical vessels, and formed heads.We compare the method presented to the current acceptance criteria from various design codes, including the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code Section VIII, Code Case 2286, and EN 13445-3, as well as codes for steel and aluminum structures. In further discussion, the simplified method is compared against the results of more than 500 experiments on the buckling of cylindrical and spherical vessels published over the past two centuries.This simple but accurate approximation is conceptually intuitive, analytically straightforward, and shows potential utility in pressure vessel design codes, as well as piping design codes such as B31 that currently reference ASME VIII for external pressure design.
The printed circuit heat exchanger (PCHE) has small channels with high surface area, making them an efficient solution for next-generation nuclear plants (NGNPs). These PCHEs are fabricated through a diffusion bonding process. This fabrication step changes the microstructure of wrought metal plates. The current ASME design code does not support the PCHE design for NGNPs due to a lack of test data. Hence, there has been initiative towards elevated temperature mechanical property characterization of the diffusion bonded material. One of the most common channel shapes is a semicircular channel with sharp corners. These corners act as a stress riser at the diffusion bonding interface. Evaluating elevated temperature mechanical performance of diffusion bonded material in the presence of stress risers is an essential step towards the ASME code development of PCHE design. This study selected two specimen geometries: the first is a PCHE bar specimen for tensile loading with three rows and three columns of channels, and the second is a lab-scaled PCHE with six rows and eight columns of channels. A set of elevated temperature monotonic and cyclic tests were conducted on the PCHE bar specimen to evaluate the mechanical performance under axial tensile loadings to study the failure mechanism. The lab-scaled PCHE specimens were tested under overpressure loads at room temperature, and pressure creep and pressure creep-fatigue loadings to mimic the realistic loading conditions observed in typical NGNPs. The X-ray scans of channeled specimens show interesting observations. The test results and observations are presented in the paper.
This paper discusses a revised solution verification procedure for computational fluid dynamics simulations to estimate the uncertainties in the quantities of interest based on discretization error models. This proposed procedure builds upon current procedures described in ASME V&V 20 but provides more guidance in determining the necessary number of mesh levels to build reliable discretization error models. Such guidance is particularly useful for practicing engineers without prior experience in solution verification. The key features of this proposed solution verification procedure are the ability to determine the need for additional mesh levels iteratively and the seamless treatment for underdetermined, exact, and overdetermined solutions of the power series approximation to the discretization error models. This study applies the proposed procedure to a set of synthetic examples to demonstrate the revised procedure’s clarity in determining the number of mesh solutions required for a reliable estimate of the discretization error in computational fluid dynamics settings. Additionally, this proposed procedure prevents a potential pathway in the current procedure in ASME V&V 20 that may lead to unreasonably small discretization errors.
Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are implantable pumps that act as a life support therapy for patients with severe heart failure. Despite improving the survival rate, LVAD therapy can carry major complications. Particularly, the flow distortion introduced by the LVAD in the left ventricle (LV) may induce thrombus formation. While previous works have used numerical models to study the impact of multiple variables in the intra-LV stagnation regions, a comprehensive validation analysis has never been executed. The main goal of this work is to present a model of the LV-LVAD system and to design and follow a verification, validation and uncertainty quantification (VVUQ) plan based on the ASME V&V40 and V&V20 standards to ensure credible predictions. The experiment used to validate the simulation is the SDSU cardiac simulator, a bench mock-up of the cardiovascular system that allows mimicking multiple operation conditions for the heart-LVAD system. The numerical model is based on Alya, the BSC’s in-house platform for numerical modelling. Alya solves the Navier-Stokes equation with an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation in a deformable ventricle and includes pressure-driven valves, a 0D Windkessel model for the arterial output and a LVAD boundary condition modeled through a dynamic pressure-flow performance curve. The designed VVUQ plan involves: (a) a risk analysis and the associated credibility goals; (b) a verification stage to ensure correctness in the numerical solution procedure; (c) a sensitivity analysis to quantify the impact of the inputs on the four quantities of interest (QoIs) (average aortic root flow $Q^{avg}_{Ao}$, maximum aortic root flow $Q^{max}_{Ao}$, average LVAD flow $Q^{avg}_{VAD}$, and maximum LVAD flow $Q^{max}_{VAD}$; (d) an uncertainty quantification using six validation experiments that include extreme operating conditions. Numerical code verification tests ensured correctness of the solution procedure and numerical calculation verification showed a grid convergence index (GCI)95% <3.3%. The total Sobol indices obtained during the sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the ejection fraction, the heart rate, and the pump performance curve coefficients are the most impactful inputs for the analysed QoIs. The Minkowski norm is used as validation metric for the uncertainty quantification. It shows that the midpoint cases have more accurate results when compared to the extreme cases. The total computational cost of the simulations was above 100 [core-years] executed in around three weeks time span in Marenostrum IV supercomputer. This work details a novel numerical model for the LV-LVAD system, that is supported by the design and execution of a VVUQ plan created following recognised international standards. We present a methodology demonstrating that stringent VVUQ according to ASME standards is feasible but computationally expensive.
This report describes a new primary load design method to supplement the current design-by-elastic-analysis rules in Section III, Division 5, Subsection HB, Subpart B of the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, covering the design and construction of Class A high temperature nuclear structural components. The main objectives for the new design method are to provide a procedure that can be applied to components with complicated geometries and to simplify the primary load design process by providing rules more compatible with modern finite element analysis. The report includes a complete set of design rules, presented as a draft ASME Code Case, as well as a commentary on the rules and a set of verification problems. The verification design problems demonstrate the new primary load design rules produce safe, efficient components when compared to the current Division 5 approach, while greatly simplifying the design analysis process.
This report describes progress on a Alloy 617 inelastic constitutive model slated for inclusion in the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code in Code Case N-898 “Use of Alloy 617 (UNS N06617) for Class A Elevated Temperature Construction, Section III, Division 5” as part of an appendix on inelastic modeling. This appendix will provide a reference material model for A617 for use in conjunction with the ASME design by inelastic analysis criteria. This report focuses on the implementation and evaluation of an existing Alloy 617 model developed to represent the data collected at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as part of the Alloy 617 Code Case experimental campaign. While the model accurately captures the cyclic stress/strain behavior of Alloy 617, it fails to capture the long-term creep and lower temperature tensile data. In addition, the model form is complicated and has over 50 configurable parameters. As such, we recommend the development of a simplified model, incorporating key features of the ORNL model but reducing the model complexity.
The report provides the initial description of a new creep-fatigue design method for structural components in high temperature nuclear service. The new method is based on an integrated elastic-perfectly plastic (EPP) analysis and Simplified Model Test (SMT) approach that reduces over conservatism, improves the treatment of elastic follow up, and simplifies the design procedure, when compared with the current creep-fatigue design methods in ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. Developing the design charts for the EPP-SMT design method requires extrapolating SMT test data as a function of hold time and follow up factor. The report develops the preliminary design charts for Alloy 617 at temperatures between 800°C and 950°C by combining two extrapolation approaches developed in a previous work. The report also presents a comparative analysis between the EPP-SMT design method and the current ASME creep-fatigue design methods by evaluating design life of two sample geometries under different loading conditions. Results from the comparative analysis verify the EPP-SMT design charts but suggest the requirement of additional test data in the low strain range regime for improving the extrapolation procedure that will further reduce the over conservatism in the creep-fatigue damage evaluation. The report also concludes that the EPP-SMT design procedure can account for effect of primary load on creep-fatigue life by using a fixed, bounding value of follow up in constructing the design charts. The conclusions to this report describe the future work required to complete this new design method so it can be codified through a nuclear Code Case.
Environmental fatigue modeling is a complex problem due to multiple failure modes and their intermixing. The failure modes are function of various underlying causes in addition to the corrosive effect of reactor coolant environment. Some of the major causes are time-dependence of material associated with cyclic loading, load sequence effect associated with random/variable amplitude loading, effect of strain amplitude and rates, effect of varying temperature (along both temporal and spatial directions) and the effect of mean strain and stress. The nonlinear intermixing of failure modes associated with above mentioned causing parameters makes the environmental fatigue modeling is a challenging task. Because of this challenge, fatigue is traditionally being modeled based on experimental data. However, test based empirical approach often requires hundreds of fatigue tests to model the above-mentioned intermixing failure causes even for a single material system. The problem is further exaggerated for reactor component made from multi-material systems such as made from both carbon and stainless-steel base metals and their similar and dissimilar metal welds. With the difficulty of conducting hundreds of fatigue tests to capture the above-mentioned intermixing failure causes, fatigue modeling approaches often depends on empirical models based on limited available test data such as available through ASME code and NUREG 6909. However, these limited test-data-based models may not be enough to accurately predict the life of reactor components. Accurate prediction of life of reactor component would become a necessity, particularly when the license of the reactors to be extended for long-term-operation (LTO) that is for well beyond its original design life of 40 years. The requirement of extending the license of reactor under LTO requires hundreds of fatigue tests to be conducted to understand the mechanism associated with the above-mentioned interdependent failure causes. However, conducting large number of fatigue tests is not a feasibility due to the cost involved. To address this issues Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) with the sponsorship of DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) program trying to develop a hybrid predictive modeling approach. This is based on limited experiment-data, Artificial-intelligence (AI) – Machine-Learning (ML) - Deep-Learning (DL) based techniques and Multiphysics-computational-mechanics based modeling tools. The hybrid approach not-only can improve the accuracy of the existing stress analysis and fatigue modeling approach but also can reduce the over-dependency on test-based approach. Towards this goal following are some of the major contributions based on ANL’s FY-20 environmental fatigue modeling activities: 1) A cyclic plasticity material model database for 82/182 dissimilar metal weld, which can be readily shared with US nuclear industry and regulatory agency on request. 2) A well validated analytical modeling methodology to perform cycle-by-cycle stress prediction under both constant amplitude fatigue loading and variable amplitude fatigue loading (with load-sequence effect). 3) An AI/ML/DL based methodology to predict unmeasurable cyclic strain based on other available sensor signals. This type of approach can be used for estimating strain in real reactor components from other sensor readings. 4) An AI/ML based approach to improve the US capability on environmental fatigue testing. This is by improving ANL’s existing environmental fatigue testing capacity to conduct ASME required strain-controlled tests (by controlling strain amplitudes and its rate), while not measuring the strain (due to the difficulty of placing an extensometer in a narrow autoclave in a PWR-water-test system). 5) A simulation and experiment based probabilistic modeling methodology for time-series fatigue state and life estimation of reactor metal such as dissimilar metal weld.
The existing Class A metallic materials qualified in the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code Section III, Division 5 rules for high temperature nuclear reactors are not ideally suited for long term molten salt corrosion resistance in high temperature molten salt reactors. Potentially, corrosion or corrosion driven environmentally assisted cracking could limit the design life of structural components in molten salt reactors. A solution to this limitation is the use of cladded components – overlay the Class A material with a thin layer of some non-qualified, corrosion-resistant material. However, this necessitates the development of design methods for cladded components that do not require long-term testing of clad materials in order to support the near-term deployment of molten salt reactors. This report develops such a methodology along with a complete set of rules presented in a format compatible with an ASME nuclear Code Case. These design rules are for 316H Class A components cladded with either nickel or tungsten. The report also discusses the development of a set of general criteria for selecting clad materials beyond the specific 316H/tungsten and 316H/nickel systems and general acceptance tests for checking the mechanical integrity of the clad/base metal interface. Finally, the report includes a set of fully-documented sample problems detailing the application of the rules to high temperature cladded components
Creep-fatigue deformation is an important consideration for a thermal receiver in Concentrating Solar Power systems due to the constant static stress or pressure, diurnal cycling, and elevated service temperatures required for efficient operation. An accurate description of the creep-fatigue behavior, not available for five of the six candidate materials, is important for assessment of preliminary designs. This project has provided a detailed analysis of the creep-fatigue behavior and damage accumulation of Alloy 740H, a candidate structural material for a CSP solar thermal receiver to address a critical knowledge barrier for receiver designs identified in the CSP Gen3 Demonstration Roadmap. This project was divided in to three tasks, split between two general categories: Experimental and design methodology. Tasks 1 and 3, relating to the collection of data on Alloy 740H plate and sheet forms, respectively, were performed at the Idaho National Laboratory and used as input to Task 2, the development of design methodology performed at Argonne National Laboratory. Experimental work covered limited tensile and creep testing to fill gaps in available data that is currently available and to demonstrate how the plate of Alloy 740H tested in this work compared to historical data. A more substantial testing program for fatigue and creep-fatigue was performed, with particular emphasis on creep-fatigue as there is little available data and it is necessary to understand the creep-fatigue interaction and develop related design models. This effort includes the development of rules for the design of solar receiver components against high temperature creep-fatigue and ratcheting failure modes. The ASME Code rules for high temperature nuclear components was used to the basis of the method but adjustments will be made to reflect the generally shorter, diurnal operating cycles of thermal receivers and the relative consequences of failure, comparing nuclear to solar components. This work has provided guidance for the design of components for concentrating power facilities operating at high temperatures and undergoing high, secondary thermal stresses relative to the applied primary pressure stress. The design rules were developed for the design of Generation 3 CSP tubular receivers manufactured from Alloy 740H, but are generally applicable to a wide range of component types undergoing similar loads. Procedural design rules for components to be used in conjunction with the 2019 edition of the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code and the corresponding design data for Alloy 740H have been developed. A commentary describing the rationale behind the design rules and the data underlying the design material properties, as well as an extensive set of worked sample problems detailing the application of the rules to CSP components were developed as a part of this project, with a separate report covering these aspects in detail and included in the Appendix of this report.
The report describes an improved new creep-fatigue design method for structural components in high temperature nuclear service. The new method uses an integrated elastic-perfectly plastic (EPP) analysis and Simplified Model Test (SMT) approach that greatly simplifies the design process by avoiding the separate evaluation of creep and fatigue damages and eliminating the requirement of stress classification. The report includes draft design rules, presented in a format compatible with an ASME nuclear Code Case, as well as a commentary on the rules and the validation of the rules using pressurized SMT (p-SMT) test data. Areas of potential improvement have been identified for further evaluation. The report also develops EPP+SMT design charts for Alloy 617 at temperatures between 800°C and 950°C by extrapolating high strain range, short hold test data to low strain range and long hold times, typical for structural components in high temperature nuclear service. The design charts are currently limited to 10,000 cycles to avoid excessive extrapolation outside the test database. More robust alternate extrapolation procedures will be considered in future work. The report includes several verification problems comparing the new EPP+SMT design method with current ASME creep-fatigue design methods. The comparison demonstrates that the EPP+SMT method significantly reduces the over-conservatism in current methods. Finally, the report includes a fully-documented sample problem with multiple load cases detailing the application of proposed EPP+SMT design rules.
Alloy 709 is a candidate construction material for the Sodium Fast Reactor (SFR). As part of the Alloy 709 ASME Code Case development team under the Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) Program, this work covers the development of the technical basis for weld fabrication and weld qualification of Alloy 709. This report summarizes the research conducted in FY 2021 and relevant results from previous reporting periods, aimed at welding commercial heat of Alloy 709 plates of relatively high phosphorous (P) level in support of ASME code case data package. Welding, code qualification tests, and associated microstructure characterization were carried out in determining the effect of P levels of weld wire on the weldability of the high P commercial heat of Alloy 709. The Alloy 709 weld creep strength was evaluated though preliminary creep testing.
The society’s highly competitive Bronze Medal—only two were awarded—recognizes ASM members who are in early-career positions for their significant contributions in the field of materials science and engineering through technical content and service to ASM and the materials science profession.
The most common aluminum alloys utilized in the aerospace industry are 7075 and 2024 due to their high strength-to-weight ratio compared to advanced high strength steels and other aluminum alloys. Despite excellent performance, these aluminum alloys have seen limited use outside of the aerospace industry due in part to high cost. If high-performance aluminum extrusions could be made more cost effectively by eliminating energy intensive process steps typical of conventional extrusion, then numerous opportunities exist for more widespread adoption. A key reason for the high cost of 7075 and 2024 extrusions (25-75% higher than 6061) is their slow extrusion speed. 7075 and 2024 are limited to 2 m/min and 3.5 m/min respectively, in contrast to 6061 which can be extruded at 20–80 m/min. In addition to slow speed, aluminum alloys require numerous thermal treatments throughout the extrusion process including homogenization and pre-heating prior to extrusion, and solution heat treating and artificial aging after extrusion. Each of these steps contribute to the total energy consumed during manufacturing of extruded components. This project investigates the use of ShAPE to improve extrusion speed and reduce, or even eliminate, the typical thermal treatments for high strength aluminum alloys, all while improving material performance. The overarching goal of this project was to demonstrate that Shear Assisted Processing and Extrusion (ShAPE) can manufacture high-performance aluminum alloy tubing with lower manufacturing energy and improved mechanical properties compared to conventional extrusion. Unlike conventional extrusion where the billet is rammed against a stationary die using a strictly linear motion, the ShAPE process superimposes a rotational shear force by spinning the die while the billet is plunged. Compared to conventional linear extrusion, the ShAPE process imparts significantly more strain into the feedstock material, which enables the formation of novel microstructures. These microstructures manifest an array of property and process improvements for extrusion of high-performance aluminum alloys. The following accomplishments were achieved for this project: Extrusion of 7075 at 12.2 meters/min compared to 2 meters/min for conventional extrusion; Elimination of 7075 billet homogenization (430 °C for 20 hours) which is required prior to conventional extrusion; Elimination of 7075 billet pre-heating (400 °C for 1 hour) in a separate furnace which is required prior to conventional extrusion; Achieved 7075-T6with yield strength = 595 MPa, ultimate tensile strength = 531MPa, and elongation = 17.4% for extrusions made from unhomogenized billets. Exceeds the ASTM and ASM standard, and typical industry values; Achieved 7075-T5 (i.e., no solution heat treatment) with yield strength = 588 MPa, ultimate tensile strength = 535 MPa, and elongation = 14.8% for extrusions made from homogenized billets; Extrusion of 2024 at 7.4 meters/min compared to 3.5 meters/min for conventional extrusion; Achieved 2024-T8510 yield strength = 522 MPa, ultimate strength = 510MPa, and elongation = 7.1% for extrusions made from wrought billets. Exceeds the ASTM and ASM standard, and typical industry values; Extrusion of Al-12.4TM high-performance aluminum powder directly into tubing, in a single step, which eliminates process steps typical of powder metallurgy extrusion.
Design rules for impulsively loaded vessels (ILVs) have been incorporated in Section VIII, Division 3 of the ASME Code since 2019, based upon earlier development of ASME Code Case 2564. These rules are particularly applicable to explosive containment vessels (ECVs) used to fully or partially contain the combustion products of explosives. Uses of these ECVs include containment of suspect luggage at airports, bomb disposal, containment of experiments on explosive devices, and destruction of chemical munitions.
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.