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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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Electron self-injection in the proton-driven-plasma-wakefield acceleration

The self-injection process of plasma electrons in the proton-driven-plasma-wakefield acceleration scheme is investigated using a two-dimensional, electromagnetic particle-in-cell method. Plasma electrons are self-injected into the back of the first acceleration bucket during the initial bubble formation period, where the wake phase velocity is low enough to trap sufficient electrons. Most of the self-injected electrons are initially located within a distance of the skin depth c/ω{sub pe} to the beam axis. A decrease (or increase) in the beam radius (or length) leads to a significant reduction in the total charges of self-injected electron bunch. Compared to the uniform plasma, the energy spread, emittance and total charges of the self-injected bunch are reduced in the plasma channel case, due to a reduced injection of plasma electrons that initially located further away from the beam axis.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electron acceleration by Z-mode and whistler-mode waves

We carried out a series of particle simulations to study electron acceleration by Z-mode and whistler-mode waves generated by an electron ring distribution. The electron ring distribution leads to excitations of X-mode waves mainly in the perpendicular direction, Z-mode waves in the perpendicular and parallel directions, and whistler-mode waves mainly in the parallel direction. The parallel Z- and whistler-mode waves can lead to an effective acceleration of ring electrons. The electron acceleration is mainly determined by the wave amplitude and phase velocity, which in turn is affected by the ratio of electron plasma to cyclotron frequencies. For the initial kinetic energy ranging from 100 to 500 keV, the peak energy of the accelerated electrons is found to reach 2–8 times the initial kinetic energy. We further study the acceleration process by test-particle calculations in which electrons interact with one, two, or four waves. The electron trajectories in the one-wave case are simple diffusion curves. In the multi-wave cases, electrons are accelerated simultaneously by counter-propagating waves and can have a higher final energy.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

A staggered-grid finite-difference scheme optimized in the time–space domain for modeling scalar-wave propagation in geophysical problems

For modeling scalar-wave propagation in geophysical problems using finite-difference schemes, optimizing the coefficients of the finite-difference operators can reduce numerical dispersion. Most optimized finite-difference schemes for modeling seismic-wave propagation suppress only spatial but not temporal dispersion errors. We develop a novel optimized finite-difference scheme for numerical scalar-wave modeling to control dispersion errors not only in space but also in time. Our optimized scheme is based on a new stencil that contains a few more grid points than the standard stencil. We design an objective function for minimizing relative errors of phase velocities of waves propagating in all directions within a given range of wavenumbers. Dispersion analysis and numerical examples demonstrate that our optimized finite-difference scheme is computationally up to 2.5 times faster than the optimized schemes using the standard stencil to achieve the similar modeling accuracy for a given 2D or 3D problem. Compared with the high-order finite-difference scheme using the same new stencil, our optimized scheme reduces 50 percent of the computational cost to achieve the similar modeling accuracy. This new optimized finite-difference scheme is particularly useful for large-scale 3D scalar-wave modeling and inversion.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

Non-diffusive resonant acceleration of electrons in the radiation belts

We describe a mechanism of resonant electron acceleration by oblique high-amplitude whistler waves under conditions typical for the Earth radiation belts. We use statistics of spacecraft observations of whistlers in the Earth radiation belts to obtain the dependence of the angle {theta} between the wave-normal and the background magnetic field on magnetic latitude {lambda}. According to this statistics, the angle {theta} already approaches the resonance cone at {lambda}{approx}15 Degree-Sign and remains close to it up to {lambda}{approx}30 Degree-Sign -40 Degree-Sign on the dayside. The parallel component of the electrostatic field of whistler waves often increases around {lambda}{approx}15 Degree-Sign up to one hundred of mV/m. We show that due to this increase of the electric field, the whistler waves can trap electrons into the potential well via wave particle resonant interaction corresponding to Landau resonance. Trapped electrons then move with the wave to higher latitudes where they escape from the resonance. Strong acceleration is favored by adiabatic invariance along the increasing magnetic field, which continuously transfers the parallel energy gained to perpendicular energy, allowing resonance to be reached and maintained. The concomitant increase of the wave phase velocity allows for even stronger relative acceleration at low energy <50keV. Each trapping-escape event of electrons of {approx}10keV to 100 keV results in an energy gain of up to 100 keV in the inhomogeneous magnetic field of the Earth dipole. For electrons with initial energy below 100 keV, such rapid acceleration should hasten their drop into the loss-cone and their precipitation into the atmosphere. We discuss the role of the considered mechanism in the eventual formation of a trapped distribution of relativistic electrons for initial energies larger than 100 keV and in microbursts precipitations of lower energy particles.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coupled ion acoustic and drift waves in magnetized superthermal electron-positron-ion plasmas

Linear and nonlinear coupled drift-ion acoustic waves are investigated in a nonuniform magnetoplasma having kappa distributed electrons and positrons. In the linear regime, the role of kappa distribution and positron content on the dispersion relation has been highlighted; it is found that strong superthermality (low value of κ) and addition of positrons lowers the phase velocity via decreasing the fundamental scalelengths of the plasmas. In the nonlinear regime, first, coherent nonlinear structure in the form of dipoles and monopoles are obtained and the boundary conditions (boundedness) in the context of superthermality and positron concentrations are discussed. Second, in case of scalar nonlinearity, a Korteweg–de Vries-type equation is obtained, which admit solitary wave solution. It is found that both compressive and rarefactive solitons are formed in the present model. The present work may be useful to understand the low frequency electrostatic modes in inhomogeneous electron positron ion plasmas, which exist in astrophysical plasma situations such as those found in the pulsar magnetosphere.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Waveguide modes of 1D photonic crystals in a transverse magnetic field

We analyze waveguide modes in 1D photonic crystals containing layers magnetized in the plane. It is shown that the magnetooptical nonreciprocity effect emerges in such structures during the propagation of waveguide modes along the layers and perpendicularly to the magnetization. This effect involves a change in the phase velocity of the mode upon reversal of the direction of magnetization. Comparison of the effects in a nonmagnetic photonic crystal with an additional magnetic layer and in a photonic crystal with magnetic layers shows that the magnitude of this effect is several times larger in the former case in spite of the fact that the electromagnetic field of the modes in the latter case is localized in magnetic regions more strongly. This is associated with asymmetry of the dielectric layers contacting with the magnetic layer in the former case. This effect is important for controlling waveguide structure modes with the help of an external magnetic field.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2013

Dust acoustic solitary waves in a magnetized electron depleted superthermal dusty plasma

A theoretical investigation has been made on the oblique propagation of arbitrary dust-acoustic solitary waves in an electron depleted magnetized dusty plasma which consists of kappa distributed ions and negatively charged warm dust fluid. The electron number density is assumed to be sufficiently depleted owing to the electron attachment during the dust charging process, i.e., n{sub e} Much-Less-Than n{sub i}. The propagation properties of two possible modes (in the linear regime) are investigated. It is found that deviation of ions from thermodynamic equilibrium leads to a decrease of the phase velocity of both modes. A nonlinear pseudopotential approach is employed to derive an energy-like equation which admits to investigate the occurrence of stationary solitary wave solution for the propagation of arbitrary amplitude. The effects of superthermality, obliqueness, and external magnetic field on the existence domain and nature of these solitary waves are discussed. Only negative polarity of solitary waves is found to exist. It is shown that an increase of ion superthermality leads to the appearance of the solitary waves with smaller Mach numbers. The influence of dust temperature on the existence domain of solitary structures is increase of the permitted Mach number. It is also found that the superthermality supports the solitary structures with larger amplitude.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

A thermodynamical analysis of rf current drive with fast electrons

The problem of rf current drive (CD) by pushing fast electrons with high-parallel-phase-velocity waves, such as lower-hybrid (LH) or electron-cyclotron (EC) waves, is revisited using the first and second laws, the former to retrieve the well-known one-dimensional (1D) steady-state CD efficiency, and the latter to calculate a lower bound for the rate of entropy production when approaching steady state. The laws of thermodynamics are written in a form that explicitly takes care of frictional dissipation and are thus applied to a population of fast electrons evolving under the influence of a dc electric field, rf waves, and collisions while in contact with a thermal, Maxwellian reservoir with a well-defined temperature. Besides the laws of macroscopic thermodynamics, there is recourse to basic elements of kinetic theory only, being assumed a residual dc electric field and a strong rf drive, capable of sustaining in the resonant region, where waves interact with electrons, a raised fast-electron tail distribution, which becomes an essentially flat plateau in the case of the 1D theory for LHCD. Within the 1D model, particularly suited for LHCD as it solely retains fast-electron dynamics in velocity space parallel to the ambient magnetic field, an H theorem for rf CD is also derived, which is written in different forms, and additional physics is recovered, such as the synergy between the dc and rf power sources, including the rf-induced hot conductivity, as well as the equation for electron-bulk heating. As much as possible 1D results are extended to 2D, to account for ECCD by also considering fast-electron velocity-space dynamics in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field, which leads to a detailed discussion on how the definition of an rf-induced conductivity may depend on whether one works at constant rf current or power. Moreover, working out the collisional dissipated power and entropy-production rate written in terms of the fast-electron distribution, it is shown that the well-known formula for the steady-state CD efficiency, usually obtained from the first law in the form of power balance between the external sources and collisional losses, emerges as a lower bound for that CD figure of merit, in what can be interpreted as an instance of the second law.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Electrostatic wave structures in a magnetized superthermal plasma with two-temperature electrons

The linear and nonlinear excitation of arbitrary amplitude ion-acoustic (IA) solitary waves in a magnetized plasma comprising two-temperature electrons and cold ions are studied. The oblique propagation properties of two possible modes (in the linear regime) are investigated. It is found that the electron superthermality reduces the phase velocities of both modes, whereas obliqueness leads to an increase in the separation between two modes. In the nonlinear regime, an energy-like equation describes the evolution of IA solitary waves in the present model. The combined effects of the electron superthermality, magnitude of magnetic field, obliqueness and electron population are incorporated in the study of the existence domain of solitary waves and the soliton characteristics. It is shown that the small values of the hot electron population shift the permitted interval of Mach number to the lower values. Both compressive and rarefactive solitary structures are found to exist in the presence of two temperature electrons. The present investigation contributes to the physics of electrostatic wave structures in Saturn's magnetosphere in which two temperature electrons with kappa distribution exist.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

WE-D-210-04: Radiation-Induced Polymerization of Ultrasound Contrast Agents in View of Non-Invasive Dosimetry in External Beam Radiation Therapy

Purpose: Ultrasound contrast agents (UCA’s) based on gas-filled microbubbles encapsulated by an amphiphilic shell are well established as safe and effective echo-enhancers in diagnostic imaging. In view of an alternative application of UCA’s, we investigated the use of targeted microbubbles as radiation sensors for external beam radiation therapy. As radiation induces permanent changes in the microbubble’s physico-chemical properties, a robust measure of these changes can provide a direct or indirect estimate of the applied radiation dose. For instance, by analyzing the ultrasonic dispersion characteristics of microbubble distributions before and after radiation treatment, an estimate of the radiation dose at the location of the irradiated volume can be made. To increase the radiation sensitivity of microbubbles, polymerizable diacetylene molecules can be incorporated into the shell. This study focuses on characterizing the acoustic response and quantifying the chemical modifications as a function of radiation dose. Methods: Lipid/diacetylene microbubbles were irradiated with a 6 MV photon beam using dose levels in the range of 0–150 Gy. The acoustic response of the microbubbles was monitored by ultrasonic through-transmission measurements in the range of 500 kHz to 20 MHz, thereby providing the dispersion relations of the phase velocity, attenuation and nonlinear coefficient. In addition, the radiation-induced chemical modifications were quantified using UV-VIS spectroscopy. Results: UV-VIS spectroscopy measurements indicate that ionizing radiation induces the polymerization of diacetylenes incorporated in the microbubble shell. The polymer yield strongly depends on the shell composition and the radiation-dose. The acoustic response is inherently related to the visco-elastic properties of the shell and is strongly influenced by the shell composition and the physico-chemical changes in the environment. Conclusion: Diacetylene-containing microbubbles are polymerizable under influence of ionizing radiation and are a promising design concept within the development of a novel non-invasive in-vivo radiation dosimeter for external beam radiation therapy. This work was funded by the Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO)

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Long wavelength gradient drift instability in Hall plasma devices. II. Applications

Hall plasma devices with electron E × B drift are subject to a class of long wavelength instabilities driven by the electron current, gradients of plasma density, temperature, and magnetic field. In the first companion paper [Frias et al., Phys. Plasmas 19, 072112 (2012)], the theory of these modes was revisited. In this paper, we apply analytical theory to show that modern Hall thrusters exhibit azimuthal and axial oscillations in the frequency spectrum from tens KHz to few MHz, often observed in experiments. The azimuthal phase velocity of these modes is typically one order of magnitude lower than the E × B drift velocity. The growth rate of these modes scales inversely with the square root of the ion mass, ∼1/√(m){sub i}. It is shown that several different thruster configurations share the same common feature: the gradient drift instabilities are localized in two separate regions, near the anode and in the plume region, and absent in the acceleration region. Our analytical results show complex interaction of plasma and magnetic field gradients and the E × B drift flow as the sources of the instability. The special role of plasma density gradient is revealed and it is shown that the previous theory is not applicable in the region where the ion flux density is not uniform. This is particularly important for near anode region due to ionization and in the plume region due to diverging ion flux.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Penetration of lower hybrid current drive waves in tokamaks

Lower hybrid (LH) ray propagation in toroidal plasma is shown to be controlled by combination of the azimuthal spectrum launched by the antenna, the poloidal variation of the magnetic field, and the scattering of the waves by the drift wave fluctuations. The width of the poloidal and radial radio frequency wave spectrum increases rapidly as the rays penetrate into higher density and scatter from the drift waves. The electron temperature gradient (ETG) spectrum is particularly effective in scattering the LH waves due to its comparable wavelengths and phase velocities. ETG turbulence is also driven by the radial gradient of the electron current profile giving rise to an anomalous viscosity spreading the LH driven plasma currents. The LH wave scattering is derived from a Fokker-Planck equation for the distribution of the ray trajectories with diffusivities derived from the drift wave fluctuations. The condition for chaotic diffusion for the rays is derived. The evolution of the poloidal and radial mode number spectrum of the lower hybrid waves are both on the antenna spectrum and the spectrum of the drift waves. Antennas launching higher poloidal mode number spectra drive off-axis current density profiles producing negative central shear [RS] plasmas with improved thermal confinement from ETG transport. Core plasma current drive requires antennas with low azimuthal mode spectra peaked at m = 0 azimuthal mode numbers.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Quasi-Rayleigh waves in butt-welded thick steel plate

This paper discusses theoretical and experimental analyses of weld guided surface acoustic waves (SAW) through the guided wave propagation (GWP) analyses. The GWP analyses have been carried out by utilizing piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) for in situ structural inspection of a thick steel plate with butt weld as the weld bead is ground flush. Ultrasonic techniques are commonly used for validation of welded structures in many in-situ monitoring applications, e.g. in off-shore structures, in nuclear and pressure vessel industries and in a range of naval applications. PWAS is recently employed in such ultrasonic applications as a resonator as well as a transducer. Quasi-Rayleigh waves a.k.a. SAW can be generated in relatively thick isotropic elastic plate having the same phase velocity as Rayleigh waves whereas Rayleigh waves are a high frequency approximation of the first symmetric (S0) and anti-symmetric (A0) Lamb wave modes. As the frequency becomes very high the S0 and the A0 wave speeds coalesce, and both have the same value. This value is exactly the Rayleigh wave speed and becomes constant along the frequency i.e. Rayleigh waves are non-dispersive guided surface acoustic waves. The study is followed with weld-GWP tests through the pitch-catch method along the butt weld line. The tuning curves of quasi-Rayleigh wave are determined to show the tuning and trapping effect of the weld bead that has higher thickness than the adjacent plates on producing a dominant quasi-Rayleigh wave mode. The significant usage of the weld tuned and guided quasi-Rayleigh wave mode is essentially discussed for the applications in the in-situ inspection of relatively thick structures with butt weld such as naval offshore structures. The paper ends with summary, conclusions and suggestions for future work.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

ON THE ORIGIN AND PHYSICS OF GAMMA FLARES IN CRAB NEBULA

We consider parametric generation of electrostatic waves in the magnetosphere of the pulsar PSR0531. The suggested mechanism allows us to convert the pulsar rotational energy into the energy of Langmuir waves. The maximum growth rate is achieved in the “superluminal” area, where the phase velocity of perturbations exceeds the speed of light. Therefore, electromagnetic waves do not damp on particles. Instead, they create plasmon condensate, which is carried out outside of the pulsar magnetosphere and reaches the Crab Nebula. It is shown that the transfer of the energy of the plasmon condensate from the light cylinder to the active region of the nebula happens practically without losses. Unlike the plasma of the magnetosphere, the one of the nebula contains ions, i.e., it may sustain modulation instability, that leads to the collapse of the Langmuir condensate. Langmuir wave collapse, in turn, leads to the acceleration of the distribution function particles. Furthermore, the processes that lead to self-trapping of the synchrotron radiation are discussed. The self-trapping results in the growth of the radiation intensity, which manifests itself observationally as a flare. The condition for the self-trapping onset is derived, showing that if the phenomenon takes place at 100 MeV, then it does not happen at lower (or higher) energies. This specific kind of higher-/lower-energy cutoff could explain why when we observe the flare at 100 MeV that no enhanced emission is observed at lower/higher energies!.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Calculations of single crystal elastic constants for yttria partially stabilised zirconia from powder diffraction data

Yttria Stabilised Zirconia (YSZ) is a tough, phase-transforming ceramic that finds use in a wide range of commercial applications from dental prostheses to thermal barrier coatings. Micromechanical modelling of phase transformation can deliver reliable predictions in terms of the influence of temperature and stress. However, models must rely on the accurate knowledge of single crystal elastic stiffness constants. Some techniques for elastic stiffness determination are well-established. The most popular of these involve exploiting frequency shifts and phase velocities of acoustic waves. However, the application of these techniques to YSZ can be problematic due to the micro-twinning observed in larger crystals. Here, we propose an alternative approach based on selective elastic strain sampling (e.g., by diffraction) of grain ensembles sharing certain orientation, and the prediction of the same quantities by polycrystalline modelling, for example, the Reuss or Voigt average. The inverse problem arises consisting of adjusting the single crystal stiffness matrix to match the polycrystal predictions to observations. In the present model-matching study, we sought to determine the single crystal stiffness matrix of tetragonal YSZ using the results of time-of-flight neutron diffraction obtained from an in situ compression experiment and Finite Element modelling of the deformation of polycrystalline tetragonal YSZ. The best match between the model predictions and observations was obtained for the optimized stiffness values of C11 = 451, C33 = 302, C44 = 39, C66 = 82, C12 = 240, and C13 = 50 (units: GPa). Considering the significant amount of scatter in the published literature data, our result appears reasonably consistent.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Sub- and super-luminar propagation of structures satisfying Poynting-like theorem for incompressible generalized hydrodynamic fluid model depicting strongly coupled dusty plasma medium

The strongly coupled dusty plasma has often been modelled by the Generalized Hydrodynamic (GHD) model used for representing visco-elastic fluid systems. The incompressible limit of the model which supports transverse shear wave mode is studied in detail. In particular, dipole structures are observed to emit transverse shear waves in both the limits of sub- and super-luminar propagation, where the structures move slower and faster than the phase velocity of the shear waves, respectively. In the sub-luminar limit the dipole gets engulfed within the shear waves emitted by itself, which then backreacts on it and ultimately the identity of the structure is lost. However, in the super-luminar limit the emission appears like a wake from the tail region of the dipole. The dipole, however, keeps propagating forward with little damping but minimal distortion in its form. A Poynting-like conservation law with radiative, convective, and dissipative terms being responsible for the evolution of W, which is similar to “enstrophy” like quantity in normal hydrodynamic fluid systems, has also been constructed for the incompressible GHD equations. The conservation law is shown to be satisfied in all the cases of evolution and collision amidst the nonlinear structures to a great accuracy. It is shown that monopole structures which do not move at all but merely radiate shear waves, the radiative term, and dissipative losses solely contribute to the evolution of W. The dipolar structures, on the other hand, propagate in the medium and hence convection also plays an important role in the evolution of W.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1984

SAR imagery of ocean-wave swell traveling in an arbitrary direction

The intensity wave like patterns observed in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) are known to be caused by two mechanisms: the microwave radar cross sectional amplitude modulation due to tilt and hydrodynamic interaction of the long ocean waves, and intensity modulation due to the motion of the long ocean waves. Two dimensional closed form expressions of intensity wave patterns based on ocean wave swell are developed. They illustrate the relative importance of the amplitude and motion modulations; they also show that velocity bunching and a distortion due to the phase velocity of the ocean wave field are independent of the focus adjustment, provided that the second order temporal effects are neglected. Second order effects are small only over a limited range of ocean/radar parameters.

Rufenach, C. L.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Instability of elliptic jets

This paper presents a detailed account of the hydrodynamic stability characteristics of the initial mixing region of an elliptic jet. A realistic mean velocity profile is used. Calculations of growth rates, phase velocities and eigenfunctions are presented. The growth rates of all modes in the initial mixing region scale with the minimum momentum thickness. Pressure fluctuations are found to be greatest for all modes close to the major axis. An irregular normal mode is found at larger eccentricities. The flapping mode about the major axis becomes the least stable as the momentum thickness of the mixing layer increases.

Morris, P. J.↗