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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 235 records · Page 13
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Grain size determination in nano-scale polycrystalline aggregates by precession illumination-hollow cone dark field imaging in the transmission electron microscope

Precession illumination hollow cone dark field (PI-HCDF) transmission electron microscopy (TEM) provides high contrast multi-beam dark field images, which are suitable for effective and robust grain size measurements in nano-scale polycrystalline aggregates. Precession illumination with slightly converged electron beam probes and precession angles up to 3 Degree-Sign has been produced using a computer-controlled system using a JEOL JEM 2000FX TEM instrument. Theoretical and practical aspects of the experimental technique are discussed using example precession illumination hollow cone diffraction patterns from single crystalline NiAl and the importance of selecting the appropriate precession angle for PI-HCDF image formation and interpretation is described. Results obtained for precession illumination are compared with those of conventional parallel beam illumination experiments. Nanocrystalline Al has been used to evaluate the influence of the precession angle on PI-HCDF image contrast with a focus on grain size analysis. PI-HCDF imaging has been applied for grain size measurements in regions of a nanocrystalline Al thin film adjacent to the edge of a pulsed laser melted and rapidly solidified region and determined the dimensions of a heat-affected zone. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer New TEM method for grain size measurements combines TEM resolution with obtainability of statistically significant data sets. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We use precession illumination to produce time precession illumination hollow cone diffraction patterns PI-HCDP. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Contrast in dark field images (PI-HCDF) formed from PI-HCDP is easy to interpret as dynamical effects are reduced. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer PI-HCDFs use several time-averaged g-rings simultaneously and contain more information than conventional DF-images. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Easy contrast interpretation and less dark field images required, allows fast, robust and reliable grain size determination.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Commissioning of small field size radiosurgery cones in a 6-MV flattening filter-free beam

This study aimed to describe the commissioning of small field size radiosurgery cones in a 6-MV flattening filter free (FFF) beam and report our measured values. Four radiosurgery cones of diameters 5, 10, 12.5, and 15 mm supplied by Elekta Medical were commissioned in a 6-MV FFF beam from an Elekta Versa linear accelerator. The extraction of a reference signal for measuring small fields in scanning mode is challenging. A transmission chamber was attached to the lower part of the collimators and used for percentage depth dose (PDD) and profile measurements in scanning mode with a stereotactic diode. Tissue-maximum ratios (TMR) and output factors (OF) for all collimators were measured with a stereotactic diode (IBA). TMR and the OF for the largest collimator were also acquired on a polystyrene phantom with a microionization chamber of 0.016 cm{sup 3} volume (PTW Freiburg PinPoint 3D). Measured TMR with diode and PinPoint microionization chamber agreed very well with differences smaller than 1% for depths below 20 cm, except for the smaller collimator, for which differences were always smaller than 2%. Calculated TMR were significantly different (up to 7%) from measured TMR. OF measured with diode and chamber showed a difference of 3.5%. The use of a transmission chamber allowed the measurement of the small-field dosimetric properties with a simple setup. The commissioning of radiosurgery cones in FFF beams has been performed with essentially the same procedures and recommended detectors used with flattened beams. Good agreement was found between TMR measurements acquired with the IBA stereotactic diode and the PinPoint 3D microionization chamber. The transmission chamber overcomes the problem of extracting a reference signal and is of great help for small-field commissioning.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Loss-cone stabilization in rotating mirrors: thresholds and thermodynamics

In the limit of sufficiently fast rotation, rotating mirror traps are known to be stable against the loss-cone modes associated with conventional (non-rotating) mirrors. This paper calculates how quickly a mirror configuration must rotate in order for several of these modes to be stabilized (in particular, the high-frequency convective loss cone, drift cyclotron loss cone and Dory–Guest–Harris modes). Commonalities in the stabilization conditions for these modes then motivate a modified formulation of the Gardner free energy and diffusively accessible free energy to be used for systems in which the important modes have wavevectors that are orthogonal or nearly orthogonal to the magnetic field, as well as a modification to include the effects of a loss region in phase space.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Two-dimensional hexagonal M 3 C 2 (M = Zn, Cd and Hg) monolayers: novel quantum spin Hall insulators and Dirac cone materials

The intriguing Dirac cones in honeycomb graphene have motivated the search for novel two-dimensional (2D) Dirac materials. Based on density functional theory and the global particle-swarm optimization method, herein, we predict a new family of 2D materials in honeycomb transition-metal carbides M 3 C 2 (M = Zn, Cd and Hg) with intrinsic Dirac cones. The M 3 C 2 monolayer is a kinetically stable state with a linear geometry (C=M=C), which to date has not been observed in other transition-metal-based 2D materials. The intrinsic Dirac cones in the Zn 3 C 2 , Cd 3 C 2 and Hg 3 C 2 monolayers arise from p–d band hybridizations. Importantly, the Hg 3 C 2 monolayer is a room-temperature 2D topological insulator with a sizable energy gap of 44.3 meV. When an external strain is applied, additional phases with node-line semimetal states emerge in the M 3 C 2 monolayer. These novel stable transition-metal–carbon-framework materials hold great promise for 2D electronic device applications.

Material Science↗
DOE OSTI2011

Tuning indirect-drive implosions using cone power balance

We demonstrate indirect-drive implosion symmetry tuning in a vacuum hohlraum 6.6 mm in length and 3.56 mm in diameter with a CH capsule 6.38 {mu}m in thickness and 1414 {mu}m in diameter, scaled roughly 0.7 x from a National ignition facility (NIF) [E. Moses and C. R. Wuest, Fusion Sci. Technol. 47, 314 (2005)] The hohlraums have radiation drives of 117 {+-} 4 eV relevant to conditions for the first {approx}1 ns of ignition experiments. By varying the relative ratio of the energy between inner and outer beam cones illuminating the hohlraum at OMEGA [T. R. Boehly et al., Opt. Commun. 133, 495 (1997)]. the shape of the x-ray self-emission, and hence the shape of the emitting object, can be tuned from prolate to oblate. The second-order Legendre coefficient, used to characterize the shape, changes from a negative to a positive value at the time of peak x-ray emission during the implosion through the variation of the cone power balance. With the appropriate selection of the cone power balance, the implosion can be tuned to produce a spherical implosion. Using capsules with thicker walls, this technique can be extended to measure the drive symmetry at later times as the length of the drive pulse is increased [N. M. Hoffman et al., J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 112, 022075 (2008); N. M. Hoffman et al., Phys. Plasmas 3, 2022 (1996)].

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Dirac cone and double zero materials

Materials with zero permittivity and zero permeability (double zero) possess very interesting wave manipulation characteristics. Systems with Dirac cones in the band structure also possess amazing wave transport properties. These two classes of material are actually related to each other. We show that dielectric photonic crystals can be designed and fabricated which exhibit Dirac cones at k = 0 at a finite frequency. A subset of such materials behave as if they have zero permittivity and zero permeability at the Dirac point, as well as exhibiting properties intrinsic to a Dirac cone.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of defocusing on picosecond laser-coupling into gold cones

Here, we show that defocusing of the laser in the interaction of a picosecond duration, 1.053 μm wavelength, high energy pulse with a cone-wire target does not significantly affect the laser energy coupling efficiency, but does result in a drop in the fast electron effective temperature. This may be beneficial for fast ignition, since not only were more electrons with lower energies seen in the experiment but also the lower prepulse intensity will reduce the amount of preplasma present on arrival of the main pulse, reducing the distance the hot electrons have to travel. We used the Vulcan Petawatt Laser at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and gold cone targets with approximately 1 mm long, 40 μm diameter copper wires attached to their tip. Diagnostics included a quartz crystal imager, a pair of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite crystal spectrometers and a calibrated CCD operating in the single photon counting regime, all of which looked at the copper K{sub α} emission from the wire. A short pulse optical probe, delayed 400 ps relative to the main pulse was employed to diagnose the extent of plasma expansion around the wire. A ray-tracing code modeled the change in intensity on the interior surface of the cone with laser defocusing. Using a model for the wire copper K{sub α} emission coupled to a hybrid Vlasov-Fokker-Planck code, we ran a series of simulations, holding the total energy in electrons constant whilst varying the electron temperature, which support the experimental conclusions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

High-energy-density electron jet generation from an opening gold cone filled with near-critical-density plasma

By using two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations, we propose a scheme for strong coupling of a petawatt laser with an opening gold cone filled with near-critical-density plasmas. When relevant parameters are properly chosen, most laser energy can be fully deposited inside the cone with only 10% leaving the tip opening. Due to the asymmetric ponderomotive acceleration by the strongly decayed laser pulse, high-energy-density electrons with net laser energy gain are accumulated inside the cone, which then stream out of the tip opening continuously, like a jet. The jet electrons are fully relativistic, with speeds around 0.98−0.998 c and densities at 10{sup 20}/cm{sup 3} level. The jet can keep for a long time over 200 fs, which may have diverse applications in practice.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Enhanced laser-radiation-pressure-driven proton acceleration by moving focusing electric-fields in a foil-in-cone target

A foil-in-cone target is proposed to enhance stable laser-radiation-pressure-driven proton acceleration by avoiding the beam degradation in whole stage of acceleration. Two and three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations demonstrate that the guiding cone can substantially improve the spectral and spatial properties of the ion beam and lead to better preservation of the beam quality. This can be attributed to the focusing effect of the radial sheath electric fields formed on the inner walls of the cone, which co-move with the accelerated foil and effectively suppress the undesirable transverse explosion of the foil. It is shown that, by using a transversely Gaussian laser pulse with intensity of ∼2.74 × 10{sup 22 }W∕cm{sup 2}, a quasi-monoenergetic proton beam with a peak energy of ∼1.5 GeV/u, density ∼10n{sub c}, and transverse size ∼1λ{sub 0} can be obtained.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

A simple method to prevent hard X-ray-induced preheating effects inside the cone tip in indirect-drive fast ignition implosions

During fast-ignition implosions, preheating of inside the cone tip caused by hard X-rays can strongly affect the generation and transport of hot electrons in the cone. Although indirect-drive implosions have a higher implosion symmetry, they cause stronger preheating effects than direct-drive implosions. To control the preheating of the cone tip, we propose the use of indirect-drive fast-ignition targets with thicker tips. Experiments carried out at the ShenGuang-III prototype laser facility confirmed that thicker tips are effective for controlling preheating. Moreover, these results were consistent with those of 1D radiation hydrodynamic simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

A bright attosecond x-ray pulse train generation in a double-laser-driven cone target

By using full three-dimensional particle-in-cell and Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the generation of a high-brightness attosecond x-ray pulse train in a double-laser-driven cone target. The scheme makes use of two lasers: the first high-intensity laser with a laser peak intensity 1.37 × 10{sup 20 }W/cm{sup 2} irradiates the cone and produces overdense attosecond electron bunches; the second counterpropagating weakly relativistic laser with a laser peak intensity 4.932 × 10{sup 17 }W/cm{sup 2} interacts with the produced electron bunches and a bright x-ray pulse train is generated by Thomson backscattering of the second laser off the attosecond electron bunches. It is shown that the photon flux rises by 5 times using the cone target as compared with a normal channel. Meanwhile, the x-ray peak brightness increases significantly from 1.4 × 10{sup 21}/(s mm{sup 2} mrad{sup 2} 0.1 keV) to 6.0 × 10{sup 21}/(s mm{sup 2} mrad{sup 2} 0.1 keV), which is much higher than that of the Thomson x-ray source generated from traditional accelerators. We also discuss the influence of the laser and target parameters on the x-ray pulse properties. This compact bright x-ray source may have diverse applications, e.g., the study of electric dynamics and harmonics emission in the atomic scale.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

ELECTRON CYCLOTRON MASER INSTABILITY IN SPACE PLASMAS WITH KAPPA LOSS-CONE DISTRIBUTION

It is well known that non-thermal electrons, often modeled by the kappa distribution, are ubiquitously observed in space. Kappa-type distributions have been widely discussed in various plasma environments. On the other hand, when these non-thermal electrons are trapped by magnetic fields in space they frequently have a loss-cone distribution in velocity space. In this paper, we investigated the growth rates of electron cyclotron maser (ECM) instability in space plasmas by using a kappa loss-cone distribution. Based on the cold plasma assumption and weakly relativistic approximation, the results show that non-thermal electrons with such a distribution can excite ECM emission efficiently. The growth rates of O1 and X2 modes both increase with the kappa spectral index ({kappa}) but the growth rate of X2 mode increases slightly more rapidly than that of O1 mode. The present analysis also shows that the growth rates increase rapidly with the loss-cone index {sigma} for {sigma} < 10 but increase comparatively slowly for larger {sigma} values.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Light-cone averaging in cosmology: formalism and applications

We present a general gauge invariant formalism for defining cosmological averages that are relevant for observations based on light-like signals. Such averages involve either null hypersurfaces corresponding to a family of past light-cones or compact surfaces given by their intersection with timelike hypersurfaces. Generalized Buchert-Ehlers commutation rules for derivatives of these light-cone averages are given. After introducing some adapted ''geodesic light-cone'' coordinates, we give explicit expressions for averaging the redshift to luminosity-distance relation and the so-called ''redshift drift'' in a generic inhomogeneous Universe.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Tunable Multiple Layered Dirac Cones in Optical Lattices

We show that multiple layered Dirac cones can emerge in the band structure of properly addressed multicomponent cold fermionic gases in optical lattices. The layered Dirac cones contain multiple copies of massless spin-1/2 Dirac fermions at the same location in momentum space, whose different Fermi velocity can be tuned at will. On-site microwave Raman transitions can further be used to mix the different Dirac species, resulting in either splitting of or preserving the Dirac point (depending on the symmetry of the on-site term). The tunability of the multiple layered Dirac cones allows us to simulate a number of fundamental phenomena in modern physics, such as neutrino oscillations and exotic particle dispersions with E{approx}p{sup N} for arbitrary integer N.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Growth of microscopic cones on titanium cathodes of sputter-ion pumps driven by sorption of large argon quantities

Microscopic cones have been observed on titanium cathodes of sputter-ion pumps (SIPs) after pump operation. The cones were studied by means of scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. Size and morphology of these cones are clearly correlated with the nature and the relative amount of each gas species pumped by each SIP during its working life. In particular, their growth was found to be fed by sputtering mechanisms, mostly during Ar pumping, and to be driven by the electromagnetic field applied to the Penning cells of each SIP. Experimental findings suggest that the formation and extent of such conic structures on cathode surfaces might play a leading role in the onset of phenomena typically related to the functioning of SIPs, e.g., the so-called argon instability.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-556: A Potential Real Time AQA for Cyberknife Cones and MLC Based Treatments

Purpose: To investigate the potential use of the Raven™ (LAP of America Laser Applications) for real time AQA of Cyberknife™ with InCise2 MLC (Accuray™ Medical). Methods: At setup, the Raven was rotated 45° on which an Accuray™ AQA cube was positioned. Three different AQA plans for fixed cone, InCise2MLC, and a modified MLC plan were delivered repeatedly ten times. The additional shapes in modified AQA plan enable additional reproducibility checks for all the MLC pairs. During the test, the cube was aligned by imbedded fiducials and irradiated. The two angled radiation beams aimed center tungsten ball of the cube and projected 45° to phosphor screen and registered by a CCD camera of the Raven device. The centricity of the metal ball in the irradiated field was then analyzed using Matlab codes. Results: For AP images, the average offsets of X, Y, and radial directions are 0.24 ± 0.04 mm, 0.25 ± 0.02 mm and 0.35 ±± 0.03 mm respectively for the cone; 0.34 ± 0.02 mm, 0.49 ± 0.04 mm and 0.60 ± 0.04 mm respectively for the MLC. For lateral images, they are 0.63 ± 0.05 mm, 0.11 ± 0.02 mm and 0.64 ± 0.04 mm respectively for the cone, 0.79 ± 0.08 mm, −0.23 ± 0.06 mm and 0.82 ± 0.09 mm respectively for the MLC. No inconsistent MLC shapes were found in the modified AQA group. Conclusion: The results are consistent with clinically acceptable values (≤1mm from baseline). The results suggest the potential of replacement of the standard AQA test with the novel real-time Raven device for Cyberknife daily QA. The modified MLC based AQA provides a more comprehensive MLC daily QA capability. Further improvements in its resolution and automatic analyzing capability are warranted.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS2018

Conceptual Aerodynamic Design of a Tail-Cone Thruster System Under Axi-Symmetric Inlet Distortion

This paper presents a conceptual design of a tail-cone thruster system which is operating under an axisymmetric inlet distortion. An effort to realize the targeted fuel burn saving that was proposed in NASA's STARC_ABL aircraft design is made through a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)-based design approach. This method employs three iterative steps to exploit the CFD tools until the design requirements are met: a quasi-2D through-flow model to design the fan/EGV (Exit Guide Vane), a 3-D RANS (Reynolds Averaging Navier-Stokes) simulation of the single blade row to account for the inlet/fan and the EGV/nozzle interaction, and a 3-D RANS simulation of the airframe with a propulsor installed - propulsion airframe integration (PAI). The design requirements which include the thrust, and shaft power of the propulsor are matched throughout the evaluations coming from two CFD domains, i.e., the turbo-machinery and the PAI. During the switch between these different computational domains, the inlet and exit profiles are matched via the correction factors of the body-force model. The present tail-cone thruster (TCT) aerodynamic design leverages a low-pressure ratio fan (FPR=1.2 to approximately 1.25) of which the camber-line angles are predicted by a quasi-2D through-flow model. The quasi-2D model is derived to analyze the radially distorted flow resulting from the ingested boundary layer at the inlet. It also estimates the appropriate velocity vectors of the metal angles of the fan and EGV which is subjected to different types of vortex at the fan exit. The baseline geometry is revisited and its internal flow-path and exhaust cone are redesigned to illustrate the strong correlation among the components of the propulsor in the PAI domain. The peak efficiency point of the fan/EGV with respect to the blade counts, also known as solidity, and rotational speed is chosen for the cruise condition via parametric studies. The corresponding performance maps are presented. The resulting performance metrics of the new conceptual design of the BLI (Boundary Layer Ingestion) propulsor are analyzed and compared with these of the baseline in the PAI aspect. Finally, ideas of the CFD based design of a BLI propulsor are discussed based on the observations drawn from the numerical results.

Inlet↗
DOE OSTI2019

Analytic analysis of load alignment for coning extreme‐scale rotors

Abstract Extreme‐scale wind turbines (rated powers greater than 10 MW) with large rotor diameters and conventional upwind designs must resist extreme downwind and gravity loads. This can lead to significant structural design challenges and high blade masses that can impede the reduction of levelized cost of wind energy. Herein, the theoretical basis for downwind load alignment is developed. This alignment can be addressed with active downwind coning to reduce/eliminate flapwise bending loads by balancing the transverse components of thrust, centrifugal, and gravitational force. Equations are developed herein that estimates the optimal coning angle that reduces flapwise loads by a specified amount. This analysis is then applied to a 13.2‐MW scale with 100‐m‐level wind turbine blades, where it is found that a load alignment coning schedule can substantially reduce the root flapwise bending moments. This moment reduction in this example can allow the rotor mass to be decreased significantly when compared with a conventional upwind three‐bladed rotor while maintaining structural performance and annual energy output.

Noyes, Carlos↗