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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 343 records · Page 19
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Development of a 100 kV pulse generator for driving an electron scanner used in proton beam profile measurements

The Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) utilizes an electron scanner in the accumulator ring for nondestructive transverse profiling of the proton beam. The electron scanner consists of a high voltage pulse generator driving an electron gun, a medium voltage ramp generator, and a CCD camera. A new high voltage pulse generator that provides negative 100 kV pulses with rise times of less than 200 ns, +/-0.5% flattop of greater than 100 ns has been designed, delivered, and undergone extensive testing. The pulse generator has been operationally verified with the existing control system and simulated loads. Full system testing with the actual electron scanner is planned. This paper details the requirements, design, setup, and test results of the high voltage pulse generator.

Morris, B↗
DOE OSTI2012

Full Life Wind Turbine Gearbox Lubricating Fluids

Industrial gear box lubricants typically are hydrocarbon based mineral oils with considerable amounts of additives to overcome the lack of base fluid properties like wear protection, oxidation stability, load carrying capacity, low temperature solidification and drop of viscosity at higher temperatures. For today's wind turbine gearboxes, the requirements are more severe and synthetic hydrocarbon oils are used to improve on this, but all such hydrocarbon based lubricants require significant amounts of Extreme Pressure (EP) additives to meet performance requirements. Perfluoropolyether (PFPE) fluids provide load carrying capacity as an inherent property. During the course of the project with the main tasks of 'Establish a Benchmark', 'Lubricant Evaluation', 'Full Scale Gearbox Trial' and 'Economic Evaluation', the PAO Reference oil exhibited significant changes after laboratory gear testing, in service operation in the field and full scale gearbox trial. Four hydrocarbon base oils were selected for comparison in the benchmarking exercise and showed variation with respect to meeting the requirements for the laboratory micro-pitting tests, while the PFPE fluid exceeded the requirements even with the material taken after the full scale gear box trial. This is remarkable for a lubricant without EP additives. Laboratory bearing tests performed on the PFPE fluids before and after the full scale gear box trial showed the results met requirements for the industry standard. The PFPE fluid successfully completed the full scale gear box test program which included baseline and progressive staged load testing. The evaluation of gears showed no micro-pitting or objectionable wear. By the final stage, lubricant film thickness had been reduced to just 21% of its original value, this was by design and resulted in a lambda ratio of well below 1.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

An Accelerated Creep Testing (ACT) Program for Advanced Creep Resistant Alloys for High Temperature Fossil Energy (FE) Applications (Final Report)

The research objective of this study is to develop an accelerated creep testing (ACT) program for advanced creep resistant alloys for high temperature FE applications. This research produced a new ACT for metallic materials based on Time-Temperature-Stress Superposition (TTSSP). In TTSSP, there exists a fundamental relationship between creep resistance, time, temperature, and stress that can be manipulated to reduce test durations. In our study, the stepped isostress method was employed where step increases of load during creep testing accelerated the time-to-rupture. Well-posed constitutive models including sin-hyperbolic and Wilshire-Cano-Stewart where calibrated using the SSM data and employed to predict the conventional creep response of the material. In our best experiments, <100-hour tests on lnconel 718 at 750 deg C produced over a 64x acceleration of data when compared to conventional data from Japan's National Institute of Materials Science. The ACTs enable the rapid screening of candidate materials, where a small test matrix of short duration tests can be employed to determine the creep resistance (minimum-creep-strain-rate, stress-rupture, and creep deformation) of a material across decades.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2025

VSR SRF HOM load and waveguide

Under the expired ICRADA JSA2012S015 mod 5, JLab collaborated with HZB to design and prototype the high power HOM load for HZB VSR upgrade 1.5GHz cavities and bERLinpro cavities, as well as the optimization of the HOM waveguide thermal design. The scope of work to be contracted with this ICRADA includes: finalize the HZB VSR HOM load design for production; fabricate, test and deliver 30 HOM loads to HZB; design and prototype the HZB VSR HOM waveguide assembly.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Commissioning of Robotic Inspection and Automated Analysis System for Assay of Gas Diffusion Piping - 19500

Robotic, in-pipe, nondestructive assay (NDA) is a revolutionary and important means for measuring, analyzing, and reporting radioactive holdup deposits in enrichment piping. This innovation promises vast advantages for efficiency, safety, and cost savings. Payoff, however, lies in utilization much more than innovation. Crossing that threshold from a technical capability to an everyday tool occurs only after rigorous commissioning, adoption, and infusion. This must meet the highest standard, and there can be no compromise. Certification of a new NDA technology must meet the highest standards for quality, safety, and efficacy. Prior to this work, there was no precedent of procedure and method for certification of a robotic methodology for this purpose. The best of robotics had not certified NDA. The best of NDA had not certified robotics. Hence, a great deal of discovery, resourcefulness, and collaboration contributed to this success. This paper chronicles the first-of-kind chartering, co-development, testing, documentation, and site integration that certified this trailblazing in-pipe, robotic NDA. Commissioning had to demonstrate and certify end-to-end NDA automation from robot traversal to computer analysis to report generation of contaminated process piping at the Portsmouth, Ohio gaseous diffusion facility. This was a rigorous campaign of tests, evaluations, and documentation. Highlights included multiple tests in four elevated pipes exercised the gamut of NDA and robotic capabilities. Each of the four test pipes presented a unique loading of U-235. The tests demonstrated operations in both 30- inch and 42-inch diameter pipes with varying lengths and terminated by a variety of valves and fittings. Tests in a fifth pipe at floor level demonstrated deployment and applicability for pipes at this ground height and robot recognition of another fitting type. All operations, calibration, deployment, auto-reporting, and analysis were handled by Portsmouth site personnel. These tests concluded a series of component-level acceptance tests which certified all constituent technologies and operational features. Test metrics included comparison of reported to ground truth results and assessment of data quality from quality assurance and replicate measurement comparison. Beyond the radiometry associated with any NDA method, this unique commissioning path exercised and evaluated all the robotic features that are intrinsic to automation. These include odometry, geometric modeling, autonomy, remote launch and recovery, and end-to-end data flow. Each of these required verification and certification. These evaluations were first-of-kind for the decommissioning community, requiring innovation and resourcefulness in their own right. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2016

High power s-band vacuum load

Through a combination of experimentation and calculation the components of a novel room temperature dry load were successfully fabricated. These components included lossy ceramic cylinders of various lengths, thicknesses, and percent of silicon carbide (SiC). The cylinders were then assembled into stainless steel compression rings by differential heating of the parts and a special fixture. Post machining of this assembly provided a means for a final weld. The ring assemblies were then measured for S-parameters, individually and in pairs using a low-cost TE10 rectangular to TE01 circular waveguide adapter specially designed to be part of the final load assembly. Matched pairs of rings were measured for assembly into the final load, and a sliding short designed and fabricated to assist in determining the desired short location in the final assembly. The plan for the project was for Muons, Inc. to produce prototype loads for long-term testing at SLAC. The STTR funds for SLAC were to upgrade and operate their test station to ensure that the loads would satisfy their requirements. Phase III was to be the sale to SLAC of loads that Muons, Inc. would manufacture. However, an alternate solution that involved a rebuild of the old loads, reduced SLAC budget projections, and a relaxed time for the replacement of all loads meant that in-house labor will be used to do the upgrade without the need for the loads developed in this project. Consequently, the project was terminated before the long term testing was initiated. However, SLAC can use the upgraded test stand to compare the long-term performance of the ones produced in this project with their rebuilt loads when they are available.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2024

Coupled Aero-Hydro-Mechanical Hybrid Simulation Testing of Offshore Wind Turbines Subjected to Operational and Extreme Loading Conditions

Understanding the response of the Offshore Wind Turbine (OWT) subjected to realistic applied loads requires modeling the whole structure including its soil-foundation system. This requires unique and innovative testing facilities. OWT systems experience cyclic and dynamic loading due to wind, wave, current, rotor vibrations (i.e., 1P load) and vibrations caused by the blade shadowing effects (2P/3P loads). These loads are complicated in nature and have varying amplitudes, frequencies, and directions. Investigating the response of the entire OWT system including the soil-foundation system under these complex loading conditions, requires: (1) full understanding of the loading characteristics including: the power take-off mechanical load (1P and 3P), and areo- and hydrodynamic loads that the OWT system is subjected to; (2) testing facility with unique multidirectional loading capabilities that allows for simultaneous application of realistic wind, wave and machine loads, axial gravity loads, and induced overturning moments; and (3) unique and cost-effective testing techniques that allow for accurate analysis of the overall response of the OWT system under realistic conditions such as: Real-Time Hybrid Simulation (RTHS).

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Investigation of Bearing Axial Cracking: Benchtop and Full-Scale Test Results

The most common failure mode in wind turbine gearboxes is axial cracking in intermediate and high-speed-stage bearings, also commonly called white-etching cracks (WECs). Although these types of cracks have been reported for over a decade, the conditions leading to WECs, the process by which this failure culminates, and the reasons for their apparent prevalence in wind turbine gearboxes are all highly debated. This paper summarizes the state of a multipronged research effort to examine the causes of WECs in wind turbine gearbox bearings. Recent efforts have recreated WECs on a benchtop test rig in highly loaded sliding conditions, wherein it was found that the formation of a dark etching microstructure precedes the formation of a crack, and a crack precedes the formation of white-etching microstructure. A cumulative frictional sliding energy criterion has been postulated to predict the presence of WECs. Bearing loads have also been measured and predicted in steady state and transient drivetrain operations in dynamometer testing. In addition, both loads and sliding at full scale will be measured in planned uptower drivetrain testing. If the cumulative frictional sliding energy is the dominant mechanism that causes WECs, understanding the amount of frictional sliding energy that wind turbine bearings are subjected to in typical operations is the next step in the investigation. If highly loaded sliding conditions are found uptower, similar to the examined benchtop levels, appropriate mitigation solutions can be examined, ranging from new bearing coatings and improved lubricants to changes in gearbox designs and turbine operations.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

FOCAL Campaign I: Advanced Wind Turbine Control Strategies

Campaign I of the Floating Offshore-wind Controls Advanced Laboratory Experimental Program (FOCAL) aims to generate a dataset enabling the validation of aerodynamic performance of a scaled turbine mounted on a rigid tower in a fixed condition. The turbine considered in the FOCAL testing campaigns is the IEA-Wind 15MW Reference Wind Turbine. This scaled model is capable of simulating advanced blade-pitch control strategies in a high-quality wind field. The turbine is fully instrumented to record a variety of parameters in real time such as structural loads and dynamics. The test data considered was generated at the University of Maine's Harold Alfond Wind and Wave (W2) testing facility. The Load Cases (LC) considered in this testing campaign are as follows: LC 1.X - Constant wind and blade-pitch with varying rotor speeds LC 2.X - Constant wind and rotor speed with varying blade-pitch LC 3.X - Varying wind with active closed-loop control Detailed properties on the modeled system are found in the following reference: Lenfest E., Floating Offshore-wind Controls Advanced Laboratory (FOCAL) Experimental Program - Campaign I: 1:70 Model-scale Testing of the IEA-Wind 15MW Reference Turbine. UMaine ASCC Report Number 23-40-1183. Details on the results of the verification and validation are found in the following reference: Mendoza, Nicole et al., "Verification and Validation of Model-Scale Turbine Performance and Control for the IEA Wind 15 MW Reference Wind Turbine," Energies, vol. 15, no. 20, 2022, https://doi.org/10.3390/en15207649.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Empirically Derived Strength of Residential Roof Structures for Solar Installations

Engineering certification for the installation of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules on wood roofs is often denied because existing wood roofs do not meet structural design codes. This work is intended to show that many roofs are actually sufficiently strong given the conservatism in codes, documented allowable strengths, roof structure system effects, and beam composite action produced by joist-sheathing interaction. This report provides results from a testing program to provide actual load carrying capacity of residential rooftops. The results reveal that the actual load carrying capacity of structural members and systems tested are significantly stronger than allowable loads provided by the International Residential Code (IRC 2009) and the national structural code found in Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures (ASCE 7-10). Engineering analysis of residential rooftops typically ignores the system affects and beam composite action in determining rooftop stresses given a potential PV installation. This extreme conservatism combined with conservatism in codes and published allowable stress values for roof building materials (NDS 2012) lead to the perception that well built homes may not have adequate load bearing capacity to enable a rooftop PV installation. However, based on the test results presented in this report of residential rooftop structural systems, the actual load bearing capacity is several times higher than published values (NDS 2012).

Dwyer, Stephen F.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Gearbox Reliability Collaborative Phase 3 Gearbox 3 Test Plan

This document describes the Phase 3 test plan for the Gearbox Reliability Collaborative Gearbox #3. The primary test objective is to measure the planetary load sharing characteristics in the same conditions as the original gearbox design. If the measured load-sharing characteristics are close to the design model, the projected three-times improvement in planetary section predicted fatigue life and the efficacy of preloaded tapered roller bearings in mitigating the planetary bearing fatigue failure mode will have been demonstrated.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Strain-rate hardening enhances fatigue resistance of AlSi10Mg alloy at 350°C

The high cycle fatigue behavior of laser powder bed fusion processed AlSi10Mg has been investigated at 350 °C (T/T m ∼ 0.7). The alloy exhibited a fatigue strength of 30 MPa defined by runout after 10 7 cycles at a conventional loading frequency of 20 Hz, corresponding to a notable fatigue strength to ultimate tensile strength ratio of 0.73. The surprising fatigue resistance was attributed to the strain-rate hardening effect at high fatigue loading frequency relative to tensile loading rates at 350 °C. The strain-rate hardening effect was validated by performing ultrasonic fatigue tests (20 kHz loading frequency) with three orders of magnitude higher strain-rates than those at conventional loading frequency. The higher strain-rates in ultrasonic fatigue increased the magnitude of strain-rate hardening resulting in longer AlSi10Mg fatigue lives compared to fatigue at conventional frequency, thus confirming the strain-rate hardening effect. The fatigue crack initiation mechanism was strain-rate dependent. Post-mortem microstructural examination revealed intergranular cavitation inside clusters of fine equiaxed grains. The cavities interlinked with each other to initiate near-surface fatigue cracks at conventional frequency. Cavitation occurred to a lesser extent at the ultrasonic frequency. As a result, fatigue cracks initiated at pre-existing processing defects near the surface in ultrasonic fatigue samples. Finally, this investigation underscores the role of fine grain clusters in promoting high-temperature fatigue crack initiation and indicates a possible trade-off between printability via grain refinement and high-temperature fatigue resistance of additively manufactured alloys.

Additive manufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2014

Development of a versatile hybrid testing system for seismic experimentation

The hybrid testing method for earthquake engineering was developed to evaluate the seismic performance of civil structural systems. During hybrid testing, part of the structure, called physical substructure, is physically tested using hydraulic loading equipment while the rest of the structure, named numerical substructure, is numerically simulated with a computer model. Thus, hybrid testing allows a complex physical substructure being tested experimentally, while the relatively simple part of the structure is numerically simulated to economically obtain the full structural response. Recently, a versatile hybrid testing system was built at Western Michigan University consisting of a shake table, an actuator/reaction system, and an advanced hybrid testing controller. Such a testing system is capable of conducting various seismic experiments such as displacement-based pseudodynamic substructure testing as well as force-based real time dynamic hybrid testing. Because of its versatility and easy operation at the benchmark scale, the developed testing system is particularly suitable for the development of advanced hybrid testing techniques and, earthquake engineering education/outreach activities. The development of the testing system is described in this article focusing on the hardware and software integrations. A three story shake table hybrid test is presented as an example to demonstrate the system’s capability and feasibility.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Lateral capacity assessment of offshore wind suction bucket foundation in clay via centrifuge modelling

The lateral bearing behaviors of suction bucket foundations for offshore wind turbines are investigated by centrifuge modelling in this paper. The centrifuge tests were performed in lightly over-consolidated clay and heavily over-consolidated clay, and three bucket foundation models with aspect ratios of 0.38, 0.5, and 1.3 were tested. The tests were force-controlled, and both static loads and cyclic loads were applied. In static tests, ultimate bearing capacities of suction bucket foundations were extracted from load-displacement curves as the first method, and the results were reinforced by stiffness-displacement curves. The displacement rates were calculated to find critical bearing capacities and ultimate bearing capacities of the foundations as the second method. The cyclic tests include cyclic loads with uniform and increased amplitudes. The accumulated lateral displacements and secant stiffnesses were discussed, and their variations with cycle numbers were studied.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

EDS V26 Containment Vessel Explosive Qualification Test Report

The objective of the test was to qualify the vessel for its intended use by subjecting it to a 1.25 times overtest. The criteria for success are that the measured strains do not exceed the calculated strains from the vessel analysis, there is no significant additional plastic strain on subsequent tests at the rated design load (shakedown), and there is no significant damage to the vessel and attached hardware that affect form, fit, or function. Testing of the V25 Vessel in 2011 established a precedent for testing V26 [2]. As with V25, two tests were performed to satisfy this objective. The first test used 9 pounds of Composition C-4 (11.25 lbs. TNT-equivalent), which is 125 percent of the design basis load. The second test used 7.2 pounds of Composition C-4 (9 lbs. TNT-equivalent) which is 100 percent of the design basis load. The first test provided the required overtest while the second test served to demonstrate shakedown and the absence of additional plastic deformation. Unlike the V25 vessel, which was mounted in a shipping cradle during testing, the V26 vessel was mounted on the EDS P2U3 trailer prior to testing. Visual inspections of the EDS vessel, surroundings, and diagnostics were completed before and after each test event. This visual inspection included analyzing the seals, fittings, and interior surfaces of the EDS vessel and documenting any abnormalities or damages. Photographs were used to visually document vessel conditions and findings before and after each test event.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

DE-SC0004913: The role of microstructural neighborhoods in forming and evolving slip localization in polycrystalline metals during cyclic plasticity (Final Report)

During this grant we processed and analyzed data from High Energy X-ray Diffraction (HEXD). We conducted a study of the evolution of an aggregate of commercially pure copper crystals subjected to cyclic loading conditions consistent with low cycle fatigue (LCF); each fatigue cycle contains macroscopically elastic-plastic deformation. The uniaxial test specimen initially loads elastically and yields in tension, then unloads elastically and re– yields in compression. The macroscopic cyclic stress-strain curve forms characteristic hysteresis loops that change in size (typically increase) with each cycle reflecting the plasticity-induced material evolution that is taking place within each crystal. It has been hypothesized that at some point, the to-and-fro plastic slip within one crystal or a group of crystals initiates a fatigue crack. Using HE x-ray diffraction we studied the cyclic plasticity within every deforming crystal by measuring how the lattice misorientation changes as the sample is loaded around the hysteresis loop.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Application of Strain Gages in a Highly Advective Environment for Measurement of Fluid-Structure Interactions

A multi-year experimental program has been conducted to develop a program for applying strain gages to prototypic, plate-type fuel for high performance research reactors for use during flow testing. Plate strain measurements were intended to support the qualification of new fuel materials for use in high performance research reactors under the Materials Management and Minimization (MMM) Fuels Qualification Program (FQP). A survey of currently available strain gaging materials and processes was undertaken with a focus on applications towards thin, wide aspect ratio flow channels and fuel plates exposed to high velocity flows. Special consideration was taken to minimize the effect of the strain gage installations on the flow field. This test program has resulted in the selection of appropriate strain gage construction, adhesives, protective coatings, and assembly techniques to allow the real-time acquisition of plate strain during flow testing of the Generic Test Plate Assembly (GTPA) within the Oregon State University (OSU) Hydro-Mechanical Fuel Test Facility (HMFTF). All processes have been documented in procedures developed and utilized within the ASME NQA-1 compliant quality assurance program under which the HMFTF operates. Matrix testing has been completed using the results of this work with successful measurement of plate deformation due to hydraulic loading during flow testing.

Weiss, Aaron↗