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At least 37 records · Page 2

Analysis of single-mode Richtmyer–Meshkov instability using high-order incompressible vorticity-streamfunction and shock-capturing simulations

In this study, two- and three-dimensional simulation results obtained using a new high-order incompressible, variable-density vorticity–streamfunction (VS) method and data from previous ninth-order weighted essentially nonoscillatory (WENO) shock-capturing simulations are used to investigate the nonlinear dynamics of single-mode Richtmyer–Meshkov instability using a model of a Mach 1.3 air(acetone)/SF6 shock tube experiment. A comparison of the density fields from both simulations with the experimental images demonstrates very good agreement in the large-scale structure with both methods but differences in the small-scale structure. The WENO method captures the small-scale disordered structure observed in the experiment, while the VS method partially captures such structure and yields a strong rotating core. The perturbation amplitude growth from the simulations generally agrees well with the experiment. The simulation bubble and spike amplitudes agree well at early times. At later times, the WENO bubble amplitude is smaller than the VS amplitude and vice versa for the spike amplitude. The predictions of nonlinear single-mode instability growth models are shown to agree with the simulation amplitudes at early-to-intermediate times but underpredict the amplitudes at later times in the nonlinear regime. Visualizations of the mass fraction and enstrophy isosurfaces, velocity and vorticity fields, and baroclinic vorticity production and vortex stretching terms from the three-dimensional simulations indicate that, with the exception of the small-scale structure within the rollups, the VS and WENO results are in good agreement.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Translation and rotation equivariant normalizing flow (TRENF) for optimal cosmological analysis

ABSTRACT Our Universe is homogeneous and isotropic, and its perturbations obey translation and rotation symmetry. In this work, we develop translation and rotation equivariant normalizing flow (TRENF), a generative normalizing flow (NF) model which explicitly incorporates these symmetries, defining the data likelihood via a sequence of Fourier space-based convolutions and pixel-wise non-linear transforms. TRENF gives direct access to the high dimensional data likelihood p(x|y) as a function of the labels y, such as cosmological parameters. In contrast to traditional analyses based on summary statistics, the NF approach has no loss of information since it preserves the full dimensionality of the data. On Gaussian random fields, the TRENF likelihood agrees well with the analytical expression and saturates the Fisher information content in the labels y. On non-linear cosmological overdensity fields from N-body simulations, TRENF leads to significant improvements in constraining power over the standard power spectrum summary statistic. TRENF is also a generative model of the data, and we show that TRENF samples agree well with the N-body simulations it trained on, and that the inverse mapping of the data agrees well with a Gaussian white noise both visually and on various summary statistics: when this is perfectly achieved the resulting p(x|y) likelihood analysis becomes optimal. Finally, we develop a generalization of this model that can handle effects that break the symmetry of the data, such as the survey mask, which enables likelihood analysis on data without periodic boundaries.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Deuteron-α scattering: Separable versus nonseparable Faddeev approach

Deuteron-induced reactions are widely used to probe nuclear structure and astrophysical information. Those (d,p) reactions may be viewed as three-body reactions and described with Faddeev techniques. Faddeev-AGS equations in momentum space have a long tradition of utilizing separable interactions in order to arrive at sets of coupled integral equations in one variable. However, it needs to be demonstrated that observables calculated based on separable interactions agree exactly with those based on nonseparable forces. Momentum space AGS equations are solved with separable and nonseparable forces as coupled integral equations. Deuteron-α scattering is calculated via momentum space AGS equations using the CD-Bonn neutron-proton force and a Woods-Saxon type neutron(proton)- 4 He force, for which the Pauli-forbidden S-wave bound state is projected out. Elastic as well as breakup observables are calculated and compared to results in which the interactions in the two-body sub-systems are represented by separable interactions derived in the Ernst-Shakin-Thaler (EST) framework. We find that the calculations based on the separable representation of the interactions and the original interactions give results that are in excellent agreement. Specifically, integrated cross sections and angular distributions for elastic scattering agree within ≈ 1 %, which is well below typical experimental errors. In addition, the fivefold differential cross sections corresponding to breakup of the deuteron agree extremely well.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Neural network emulation of spontaneous fission

Large-scale computations of fission properties are an important ingredient for nuclear reaction network calculations simulating rapid neutron-capture process (the 𝑟 process) nucleosynthesis. Due to the large number of fissioning nuclei potentially contributing to the 𝑟 process, a microscopic description of fission based on nuclear density functional theory (DFT) is computationally challenging. Here, we explore the use of neural networks (NNs) to construct DFT emulators capable of predicting potential energy surfaces and collective inertia tensors across the whole nuclear chart, starting from a minimal set of DFT calculations. We use constrained Hartree-Fock-Bogoliubov (HFB) calculations to predict the potential energy and collective inertia tensor in the axial quadrupole and octupole collective coordinates, for a set of nuclei in the 𝑟-process region. We then employ NNs to emulate the HFB energy and collective inertia tensor across the considered region of the nuclear chart. Least-action pathways characterizing spontaneous fission half-lives and fragment yields are then obtained by means of the nudged elastic band method. The potential energy predicted by NNs agrees with the DFT value to within a root-mean-square error of 500 keV, and the collective inertia components agree to within an order of magnitude. These results are largely independent of the NN architecture. The exit points on the outer turning line are found to be well emulated. For the spontaneous fission half-lives the NN emulation provides values that are found to agree with the DFT predictions within a factor of 10 3 across more than 70 orders of magnitude. Neural networks are able to emulate the potential energy and collective inertia well enough to reasonably predict physical observables. Future directions of study, such as the inclusion of additional collective degrees of freedom and active learning, will improve the predictive power of microscopic theory and further enable large-scale fission studies.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Neutronics and thermal-hydraulics simulation of generic pebble-bed fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (gFHR)

The fluoride-salt-cooled high-temperature reactor (FHR) is one type of the advanced reactors and has been attracting great interest from the research institutes and commercial companies in the recent years. However, currently the technology is relatively immature. To facilitate the design and safety analysis of FHRs, Kairos Power published the generic FHR (gFHR) benchmark. In this paper, a hybrid method combining the stochastic code and deterministic code is developed to simulate the gFHR benchmark. Serpent 2 is employed as a few-group cross section generator and the cross sections are applied to the finite difference neutron diffusion code AGREE. A good consistency with the gFHR benchmark is achieved. The agreement between the Serpent 2 results and the AGREE results shows that the hybrid method is applicable to FHRs. The thermal-hydraulics are coupled to neutronics for the steady-state calculations and good agreement between AGREE and SAM is achieved. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Assessment of the Griffin Reactor Multiphysics Application Using the Empire Micro Reactor Design Concept

In late 2019, INL and ANL agreed to jointly develop the reactor physics code named Griffin based on the integration of the two code suites, MAMMOTH/Rattlesnake (INL) and MC2 - 3/PROTEUS (ANL). Griffin is being developed based on the MOOSE framework and MOOSE quality assurance procedures. This decision was made to be able to allow DOE-NE to efficiently invest funding to this area and to provide effective and timely support for existing and potential users; the latter includes industry and government organizations who are developing various types of advanced reactors in the near and long term. Since MAMMOTH/Rattlesnake has been developed based on the MOOSE framework, the INL/ANL Griffin development team agreed to build Griffin beginning with a merger of MAMMOTH and Rattlesnake into a single code and moving forward by implementing capabilities from the PROTEUS suite into Griffin. Moving forward, both ANL and INL efforts are equally invested in the Griffin project, with management support, to provide an advanced reactor multiphysics tool to assist in reactor design, optimization, and safety analysis. Much work remains in moving Griffin forward to migrate PROTEUS capabilities and to optimize performance to meet user needs. The main objective of this work is to assess the current status of Griffin capabilities in terms of performance and accuracy, to determine priorities for PROTEUS migration, and to identify capabilities and features to improve for supporting the code integration effort. For this assessment, the Empire micro reactor problem that was developed in the ARPA-E MEITNER program was selected as an advance reactor concept of interest to the technical community. The Empire reactor problem was expanded from its original incomplete specification to be a small heat-pipe-cooled micro reactor core with ~113 cm radius and 70 cm in height, composed of 18 fuel assemblies, 12 control drums, and beryllium radial and axial reflectors. In the current model, using 5 cm axial reflectors specified in the original Empire assembly model, more than 10% of neutrons leak axially and through the empty center safety hole, as well as through heat pipe channels in fuel assembly elements that extend through the top reflector region. Several calculation models of the core were defined for systematic assessment, including 2-D and 3-D fuel assemblies and whole cores with cylindrical boundaries. Cross sections were generated using Serpent 2, and meshes were produced using the Argonne mesh tool or the INL neutronics meshing tools combined with CUBIT. Cross sections and meshes were converted to the ISOXML and Exodus formats, respectively, so that Griffin and PROTEUS could use consistent data for solving the reactor problems. With the prepared cross sections and meshes, PROTEUS was run first to ensure that all input data were correctly generated and input options in terms of angle, mesh, and energy group were accurately determined. Comparisons against Serpent 2 solutions were made in terms of eigenvalue and pin power. The same calculations and comparisons were then conducted using Griffin. For the fuel assembly and whole core problems, the PROTEUS eigenvalues agreed well with reference Serpent 2 solutions within 100 and 30 pcm, respectively, and pin power differences relative to Serpent 2 were overall less than 2.2% and RMS 0.8% for the whole core models. This indicated that all input data were properly prepared. Using the same data, Griffin was run selecting the SAAF-CFEM SN solver with Legendre-Gaussian quadrature and NDA and DSA for acceleration. It was found that the SAAF-CFEM solver of Griffin required finer meshes to achieve eigenvalue and pin power solutions in good agreement with Serpent 2, consequently requiring more memory requirement and longer computation time. On the other hand, the SPH-Diffusion 2-D core calculations performed using Griffin were able to recover the exact eigenvalue from the reference Serpent 2 solutions, resulting in a pin-power distribution with an RMS of 0.6% and maximum absolute difference of less than 1.4%. The runtimes for SPH-Diffusion for the 2-D core were less than 3 minutes on 40 cores. During this evolution of this evaluation, many updates were made in Griffin by the Griffin development team of INL (focusing on software updates) and ANL (reviewing and supporting software updates) to complete this assessment. Observations from the code assessment are presented in the conclusion section of this report, followed by a discussion of recommendations for future work.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Total kinetic energy release in the fast neutron induced fission of actinide nuclei

The total kinetic energy release and fission mass distributions for the fast neutron (En = 3–100 MeV) induced fission of 232 Th, 233 U, 235 U, 237 Np, 239 Pu, 240 Pu, and 242 Pu have been measured using the LANSCE facility. The neutron energies were deduced from time-of- flight measurements. The fission fragments were detected using Si PIN diode detectors, giving us the fragment energies. The actinide targets were made by vapor deposition leading to high-quality targets, that were thin and uniform with reduced impurities. Corrections were made to the data for pulse height defect and the fragment energy loss in the target and its backing. The TKE distributions were Gaussian in shape and their mean value as a function of incoming neutron energy could be fitted with second order polynomials. In the case of 233 U and 235 U, our measurements agree with prior work. Our measurements for 232 Th are unique. Our data agree with Viola scaling. The constant position of the heavy mass peak is interpreted as being due to the influence of the N = 88 and Z = 50 shells. The GEF model predictions agree with the data in general as do the CGMF model predictions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

First Principle Investigation of Electronic, Transport, and Bulk Properties of Zinc-Blende Magnesium Sulfide

We have studied electronic, structural, and transport properties of zinc-blende magnesium sulfide (zb-MgS). We employed a local density approximation (LDA) potential and the linear combination of atomic orbitals (LCAO) method. Our computational method is able to reach the ground state of a material, as dictated by the second theorem of density functional theory (DFT). Consequently, our findings have the physical content of DFT and agree with available, corresponding experimental ones. The calculated band gap of zb-MgS, a direct gap equal to 4.43 eV, obtained at the experimental lattice constant of 5.620 Å, completely agrees with the experimental band gap of 4.45 ± 0.2 eV. We also report total (DOS) and partial (pDOS) densities of states, electron and hole effective masses, the equilibrium lattice constant, and the bulk modulus. The calculated pDOS also agree with the experiment for the description of the states at the top and the bottom of the valence and conduction bands, respectively.

42 ENGINEERING↗

The Santa Barbara Binary-disk Code Comparison

We have performed numerical calculations of a binary interacting with a gas disk, using 11 different numerical methods and a standard binary-disk setup. The goal of this study is to determine whether all codes agree on a numerically converged solution and to determine the necessary resolution for convergence and the number of binary orbits that must be computed to reach an agreed-upon relaxed state of the binary-disk system. We find that all codes can agree on a converged solution (depending on the diagnostic being measured). The zone spacing required for most codes to reach a converged measurement of the torques applied to the binary by the disk is roughly 1% of the binary separation in the vicinity of the binary components. For our disk model to reach a relaxed state, codes must be run for at least 200 binary orbits, corresponding to about a viscous time for our parameters, 0.2(a 2 Ω B /v) is the kinematic viscosity. The largest discrepancies between codes resulted from the dimensionality of the setup (3D vs. 2D disks). We find good agreement in the total torque on the binary between codes, although the partition of this torque between the gravitational torque, orbital accretion torque, and spin accretion torque depends sensitively on the sink prescriptions employed. In agreement with previous studies, we find a modest difference in torques and accretion variability between 2D and 3D disk models. We find cavity precession rates to be appreciably faster in 3D than in 2D.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Photon scattering cross sections of H2 and He measured with synchrotron radiation

Total (elastic + inelastic) differential photon scattering cross sections have been measured for H2 gas and He, using an X-ray beam. Absolute measured cross sections agree with theory within the probable errors. Relative cross sections (normalized to theory at large S) agree to better than one percent with theoretical values calculated from wave functions that include the effect of electron-electron Coulomb correlation, but the data deviate significantly from theoretical independent-particle (e.g., Hartree-Fock) results. The ratios of measured absolute He cross sections to those of H2, at any given S, also agree to better than one percent with theoretical He-to-H2 cross-section ratios computed from correlated wave functions. It appears that photon scattering constitutes a very promising tool for probing electron correlation in light atoms and molecules.

Ice, G. E.↗

Photon-scattering cross sections of H2 and He measured with synchrotron radiation

Total (elastic + inelastic) differential photon-scattering cross sections have been measured for H2 gas and for He, using an X-ray beam. Absolute measured cross sections agree with theory within the probable errors. Relative cross sections (normalized to theory at large S) agree to better than 1% with theoretical values calculated from wave functions that include the effect of electron-electron Coulomb correlation, but the data deviate significantly from theoretical independent-particle (e.g., Hartree-Fock) results. The ratios of measured absolute He cross sections to those of H2, at any given S, also agree to better than 1% with theoretical He-to-H2 cross-section ratios computed from correlated wave functions. It appears that photon scattering constitutes a very promising tool for probing electron correlation in light atoms and molecules. The degree of polarization of the synchrotron radiation beam has been measured by rotating the scattering plane about the beam axis; results are compared with theory.

Ice, G. E.↗

On inhomogeneous scattering models of Titan's atmosphere

Podolak and Danielson (1977) discussed the homogeneous model of Titan's atmosphere with the dust and gas uniformly mixed. They were able to reproduce the equivalent widths of the CH4 bands at 4680 and 5430 A but failed to agree with the observations in the near infrared. The present paper develops an inhomogeneous model which has the dust and gas essentially separated; this model agrees fairly well with the near-IR data of Younkin (1974) but does not agree with the data of Lutz et al. (1976) for the 4860-A band and it must be adjusted to match their data for the 5430-A band.

Podolak, M.↗

Investigation of the feasibility of CARS measurements in scramjet combustion

Results are presented of analytical and experimental investigations to determine the feasibility of using coherent anti-Stokes Raman Spectroscopy (CARS) to measure temperature and species concentration in supersonic combustion experiments. The CARS spectra of H2O, O2 and H2 were measured in laboratory flames. Computer code calculated spectra agree very well with the measured spectra. Temperature, and O2 and H2 concentration profiles have been determined from CARS spectra in a laboratory H2 air flat diffusion flame. Temperature measurements agree with radiation corrected thermocouple measurements within 5 to 10 percent, depending on species concentration. The feasibility of measuring O2 concentrations up to 10 percent, from the spectral shape was demonstrated. H2 concentrations determined from CARS intensities agree with spontaneous Raman measurements within a factor of two. Finally, a conceptual design was formulated for diagnostics in the Langley Research Center scramjet combustion facility.

Shirley, J. A.↗

Stagnation-point ablation of carbonaceous flat disks. II Experiment

Six flat-disk models made of carbon-carbon and carbon-phenolic materials were launched in an argon-filled track-range facility to test ablation characteristics in a radiation-dominated, massive-blowing environment. The shock standoff distances deduced from the shadowgraphs agree with theoretical predictions during the earlier portion of the flight, while the wall temperatures determined by the image-converter photographs agree with predictions during the later portion. The measured surface recessions exceed the calculated values by about 60 percent for carbon-phenolic and 30 percent for carbon-carbon. The discrepancies are attributed to spallation. The measured char thicknesses agree with theoretical predictions.

Park, C.↗

Missions/Planning Panel

A panel discussion was held to develop a viewpoint of space power technology needs and state of readiness for future mission scenarios. Among the points made in the discussion, it was agreed that missions, particularly the far term ones, do serve to drive technology; however, as the missions become nearer term, issues of schedule and cost severely limit the willingness to accept risk. There are, in fact, no rewards to a mission manager for introducing new technology. Mission downscaling is the usual response to technology limitations. All panelists agreed that there exists a serious gap between when technologists feel their job is done and what mission managers need for decision. Typically a two to three year engineering development gap exists. It is essential to take technologies to the engineering model level and conduct a flight demonstration to close this gap. All agreed that increased effort should be made to achieve stronger interactions between planners and technologists and that workshops like the present one are a step in the right direction. Technologists need mission credibility and vice versa.

Fordyce, J. S.↗

Models of transition regions in hybrid stars

Models for the transition regions of six hybrid stars, four bright giants and two supergiants, are calculated. The models include mass loss and prescribe Alfven waves as the source of mechanical energy. The momentum and energy deposition rates required at each level of the atmosphere are evaluated. The final models for all six stars have mass loss rates lying below the current VLA upper limits by factors of two to ten, and have densities which agree with those derived by density-sensitive line ratios. The density vs. temperature structure in Alpha TrA agree well with that derived by Hartmann et al. (1985). Wave amplitudes and magnetic field strengths are derived as functions of height, and the amplitudes are found to agree well with the observed line widths in Alpha TrA.

Brosius, J. W.↗

Estimation of soil hydraulic properties with microwave techniques

Useful quantitative information about soil properties may be obtained by calibrating energy and moisture balance models with remotely sensed data. A soil physics model solves heat and moisture flux equations in the soil profile and is driven by the surface energy balance. Model generated surface temperature and soil moisture and temperature profiles are then used in a microwave emission model to predict the soil brightness temperature. The model hydraulic parameters are varied until the predicted temperatures agree with the remotely sensed values. This method is used to estimate values for saturated hydraulic conductivity, saturated matrix potential, and a soil texture parameter. The conductivity agreed well with a value measured with an infiltration ring and the other parameters agreed with values in the literature.

Oneill, P. E.↗

The Cepheid mass problem and Cepheid binaries

Existing mass determinations for Cepheids with different periods are examined. Wesselink masses are independent of the adopted distance scale. For short periods (less than 6 days) they follow the sequence of evolutionary masses. For periods longer than 10 days they are lower by up to a factor of 2. The lower mass branch joins up with the bump masses. The new pulsational masses agree with the Wesselink masses for periods longer than 6 days. Cepheid masses determined by means of their giant companions also agree with the Wesselink masses and the new pulsational masses. While the error bars are large, the derived dynamical masses determined for S Mus and V636 Sco also agree with the low Wesselink and giant companion masses.

Bohm-Vitense, E.↗