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At least 37 records · Page 2

Pulsed Thermal Tomography Nondestructive Examination of Additively Manufactured Reactor Materials (Second Annual Progress Report)

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging method for cost-efficient fabrication of nuclear reactor parts. AM of metallic structures for nuclear energy applications is currently based on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process, which can introduce internal material flaws, such as pores and anisotropy. Integrity of AM structures needs to be evaluated nondestructively because material flaws could lead to premature failures due to exposure to high temperature, radiation and corrosive environment in a nuclear reactor. Thermal tomography (TT) provides a capability for non-destructive evaluation of sub-surface defects in arbitrary size structures. Thermal tomography is a computational method for heat diffusion-based imaging of solids, which provides 3D visualization of data from flash thermography measurements. We investigate thermal tomography imaging and nondestructive evaluation of stainless steel and nickel super alloy metallic structures produced with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) process. Metallic structures produced with LPBF contain defects, and there are limited capabilities to evaluate these structures non-destructively. Thermal tomography reconstruction of 3D apparent spatial effusivity provides information about AM structure geometry and internal material flaws. We study performance of thermal tomography in imaging of metallic structures through COMSOL computer simulations of transient heat transfer, and through reconstruction of data obtained from experimental measurements. Reconstruction of internal defects is investigated using a stainless steel 316L specimen with flat bottom hole (FBH) indentations, and Inconel 718 plate produced with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) method, which contains imprinted hemispherical shape low density regions containing non-sintered metallic powder. The FBH’s have the same sizes as the imprinted defects in the LPBF specimens, but offer better imaging contrast. Thermal tomography reconstructions provide visualizations of internal defects, and allow for estimation of their sizes and locations. Detection sensitivity of TT is limited by noises. We investigate separation of signal from noise in thermography images using several machine learning (ML) methods, including new spatio-temporal blind source separation (STBSS) and spatio-temporal sparse dictionary learning (STSDL) methods. Performance of the ML methods is benchmarked using thermography data obtained from imaging stainless steel 316L and Inconel 718 specimens produced LPBF method with imprinted calibrated porosity defects. The ML methods are ranked by F-score and execution runtime. Finally, we investigate TT of AM stainless steel 316L specimen with imprinted internal porosity defects using relatively low-cost, small form factor infrared (IR) camera based on uncooled micro bolometer detector. Sparse coding related K-means singular value decomposition (SVD) machine learning, image processing algorithms are developed to improve quality of TT images through removal of Additive white Gaussian noise without blurring the images. Following initial qualification of an AM component for deployment in a nuclear reactor, a compact TT can also be used for in-service nondestructive evaluation (NDE). With capability to perform in-service NDE of the AM component lifecycle, TT data can be used for development of a component digital twin.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

HPCCloud: A Cloud/Web-Based Simulation Environment

Advanced modeling and simulation has enabled the design of a variety of innovative products and the analysis of numerous complex phenomenon. There are significant barriers to widespread adoption of these tools. In particular, advanced modeling and simulation: (1) is considered complex to use, (2) needs in-house expertise, and (3) requires high capital costs. In this paper, we describe the development of an end-to-end, advanced modeling and simulation cloud platform that encapsulates best practices for scientific computing in the cloud, and demonstrate using Hydra-TH as a prototypical application. As an alternative to traditional advanced modeling and simulation workflows, our Web-based approach simplifies the processes, decreases the need for in-house computational science and engineering experts, and lowers the capital investments. In addition to providing significantly improved, intuitive software, the environment offers reproducible workflows where the full lifecycle of data from input to final analyzed results can be saved, shared, and even published.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

CELAVI (Circular Economy Lifecycle Assessment and VIsualization) [SWR-20-87]

A circular economy emphasizes the efficient use of all resources (e.g., materials, land, water). Despite anticipated overall benefits to society, the transition to a circular economy is likely to create regional differences in impacts. Current tools are unable to fully evaluate these potential externalities, which will be important for informing research prioritization and regional decision making. The Circular Economy Lifecycle Assessment and VIsualization (CELAVI) framework allows stakeholders to quantify and visualize potential regional and sectoral transfers of impacts that could result from transitioning to a circular economy, with particular focus on energy materials. The framework uses system dynamics to model material flows for multiple circular economy pathways and decisions are based on learning-by-doing and are implemented via cost and strategic value of different circular economy pathways. It uses network theory to track the spatial and sectoral flow of functional units across a graph and discrete event simulation to to step through time and evaluate lifecycle assessment data at each time step. The framework is designed to be flexible and scalable to accommodate multiple energy materials and multiple energy technologies. The primary goal of CELAVI is to help answer questions about how material flows and environmental and economic impacts of energy systems might change if the circularity of energy systems increases.

Eberle, Annika↗

CELAVI (Circular Economy Lifecycle Assessment and VIsualization) v.1.3.1 9/30/2022 [SWR-20-87]

A circular economy emphasizes the efficient use of all resources (e.g., materials, land, water). Despite anticipated overall benefits to society, the transition to a circular economy is likely to create regional differences in impacts. Current tools are unable to fully evaluate these potential externalities, which will be important for informing research prioritization and regional decision making. The Circular Economy Lifecycle Assessment and VIsualization (CELAVI) framework allows stakeholders to quantify and visualize potential regional and sectoral transfers of impacts that could result from transitioning to a circular economy, with particular focus on energy materials. The framework uses system dynamics to model material flows for multiple circular economy pathways and decisions are based on learning-by-doing and are implemented via cost and strategic value of different circular economy pathways. It uses network theory to track the spatial and sectoral flow of functional units across a graph and discrete event simulation to to step through time and evaluate lifecycle assessment data at each time step. The framework is designed to be flexible and scalable to accommodate multiple energy materials and multiple energy technologies. The primary goal of CELAVI is to help answer questions about how material flows and environmental and economic impacts of energy systems might change if the circularity of energy systems increases.

Eberle, Annika↗

ACTIVE

The Automated Control Testbed for Integration, Verification, and Emulation (ACTIVE) framework is a software platform designed to support the optimized operation and management of a wide range of building types. It enables the development, testing, and validation of diverse control strategies, including AI-based, rule-based, and model-based approaches. The platform facilitates a seamless transition from simulation-based evaluation of control strategies to real-world field validation and deployment. ACTIVE supports the full building management lifecycle, encompassing data acquisition and management, system monitoring, optimized control, adaptive learning services, device dispatch and coordination, as well as advanced analytics and visualization. Together, these capabilities provide an integrated environment for improving building performance, operational efficiency, reducing energy cost, and reliability.

Smith, Robert [Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL↗

Development of Thermal Tomography Imaging System for In-Service Nondestructive Evaluation of Additively Manufactured Components

Additive manufacturing (AM) is an emerging method for cost-efficient fabrication of nuclear reactor parts. AM of metallic structures for nuclear energy applications is currently based on laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) process, which can introduce internal material flaws, such as pores and anisotropy. Integrity of AM structures needs to be evaluated nondestructively because material flaws could lead to premature failures due to exposure to high temperature, radiation and corrosive environment in a nuclear reactor. Thermal tomography (TT) provides a capability for non-destructive evaluation of sub-surface defects in arbitrary size structures. We investigate TT of AM stainless steel 316L specimen with imprinted internal porosity defects using relatively low-cost, small form factor infrared (IR) camera based on uncooled micro bolometer detector. Sparse coding related K-means singular value decomposition (SVD) machine learning, image processing algorithms are developed to improve quality of TT images through removal of Additive white Gaussian noise without blurring the images. Following initial qualification of an AM component for deployment in a nuclear reactor, a compact TT can also be used for in-service nondestructive evaluation (NDE). With capability to perform in-service NDE of the AM component lifecycle, TT data can be used for development of a component digital twin. MIT research reactor (MITR) has been identified as a representative environment to perform investigation of feasibility of in-service NDE during shutdown. Preliminary study of radiation level in the MITR viewport, with geometric parameters potentially compatible with compact TT system, has been conducted.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Unique Building Identifier (UBID): Public Sector Implementation Guide

Buildings generate data throughout their lifecycle – about ownership & taxation, usage, zoning, code compliance, energy use, and retrofits. State and local governments collect this data after it flows through growing networks of people and systems. But collecting data is only half the battle; what’s really needed is information – the actionable insights that lead to successful policy outcomes.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Business Case Analysis for Digital Safety-Related Instrumentation & Control System Modernizations

This LWRS research seeks to assist in breaking the impasse which has precluded digital safety system upgrades by generating and demonstrating a process and related business case tool to enable a Business Case Analysis (BCA). The purpose of a BCA is to show such upgrades can be economically justified. This BCA methodology first systematically establishes a forecast of expected lifecycle costs for I&C identified for upgrade by: • Definitively bounding the scope of current I&C systems envisioned for upgrade. • Collecting historical labor and material usage data that bound cost contributors related to the systems to be upgraded. • Synthesizing and analyzing the data to establish lifecycle cost forecasts for the current systems. In collaboration with engineers familiar with the attributes of the digital equipment to be used in the upgrade and how it is envisioned to be applied, cost savings categories and expected savings in those categories are then identified and applied using the analysis tools developed for this purpose. The result is an estimate NPV of savings enabled by the upgrade. This includes both direct cost savings (e.g., surveillance labor costs) as well as cost avoidance items (e.g., inventory carrying costs). Finally, when utility-provided digital upgrade costs estimates are included, the resultant BCA provides an NPV for the upgrade project. Development of a useful BCA methodology requires a real-world basis. With the cooperation of Exelon Generation (“Owner”), an Exelon-owned 2-Unit BWR Station (“Station”) was used as the foundation for this research. Exelon is pursuing a digital upgrade of current, first-echelon, safety-related I&C systems at these units, including the following: • Reactor Protection System (RPS) • Nuclear Steam Supply Shutoff System (N4S) • Emergency Core Cooling Systems (ECCS) • Anticipated Transient Without Scram (ATWS) Mitigation System

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

WholeTraveler Anonymized Data Phase 1

Phase 1 of the WholeTraveler Study data collection consisted of an online-only survey. This survey captured data on three categories of observable variation in the population relevant to transportation decisions. First, the survey collected traditional demographic data such as age, gender, income, and education level. Second, it collected data across personality, psychological, and preference categories. This included: 1. The "Big Five" inventory personality traits: openness to new experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism; 2. Risk and time preferences; and 3. Environmental preferences. Third, the survey collected data on historical behavior patterns including: 1. Adoption of (as well as interest in) new technologies or innovations (e.g., smartphones, PEVs, solar panels, adaptive cruise control [ACC]); 2. Car ownership history and current car ownership status; 3. Recent mode use across different time scales (e.g., previous week, previous month, previous year); and 4. Timing of major life events such as starting a family as well as overall lifecycle trajectory patterns. Data from Phase 1 and Phase 2 are linked by a unique respondent identifier. Anonymized versions of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 data are both available on Livewire.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

A Novel Concentrating Solar Weathering Apparatus for Experimental Validation of Multi-Modal Degradation Models

High-performance coatings for Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) receivers are subjected to remarkable environmental stressors during normal operations. Applied to the receiver tubes, these coatings serve to maximize the solar absorptivity of the receiver, transferring as much heat as possible from the solar collectors into the heat-transfer fluid (HTF). The lifecycle of these coatings is not well-defined, and the harsh operational conditions make them difficult to test. NREL has designed, built, and tested an apparatus to expose these samples to design levels of environmental stress and well beyond, into accelerated and destructive conditions. The chamber is actively cooled, monitored, and has the capability to supply humidification for cycling tests, allowing us to test multi-modal degradation and failure conditions at high temperature, high flux, and high humidity conditions. These conditions can catalyze high-temperature oxidation, mechanical degradation, and other modes of absorptivity loss seen in selective solar receiver coatings. The experimental data can feed lifecycle models for expensive and necessarily resilient materials, offering insights to aid maintenance schedules, technoeconomic analysis, and material industry performance benchmarks. This presentation will demonstrate the apparatus design and performance, as well as initial results for aging on a selective receiver coating.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Metadata Schemas and Ontologies for Building Energy Applications: A Critical Review and Use Case Analysis

With the increasing digitalization of processes throughout the lifecycle of buildings, data exchanged between stakeholders and between building systems has grown significantly. However, a lack of semantic interoperability between data in different systems is still prevalent, hindering the development of applications that can be reused across buildings and limiting the scalability of innovative solutions. Semantics refers to the description of the meaning of the data in a way that can be consistently understood by applications. Recently, several competing initiatives have been developing metadata schemas and ontologies to express this semantic information for different applications in the building domain. This paper systematically reviews these schemas and conducts an analysis of five of them to evaluate their applicability to three high-value use cases for building operations: energy audits, automated fault detection and diagnostics and optimal control. The survey finds 40 schemas published in the last 10 years but but their actual use in industry is difficult to estimate. Among the five selected ontologies, several gaps are highlighted in relation to the three use cases. Recommendations for the future include better harmonization of these initiatives, more centralized repositories and search engines for these schemas as well as better industry engagement to facilitate their adoption.

Smart Building, Sematic, Metadata, Ontology, Data ↗

The Role of the Digital Thread for Security, Resilience, and Adaptability in Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector is dramatically evolving with recent technical and digital advances. Among these, the digital thread is revolutionizing manufacturing operations well beyond the historic downloading of programs to computer numerically controlled (CNC) machine tools and the uploading of edited programs from CNC controllers. The digital thread is “the communication framework that enables a connected data flow and integrated view of the asset’s data throughout its lifecycle across traditionally siloed functional perspectives” (Leiva 2016). It is pervasive around the world and has changed the way society operates; for example, map apps are used to provide time-optimal directions to destinations using real-time traffic feedback. The digital thread makes it possible to digitally verify products, ensure that the latest technologies are deployed across the entire manufacturing ecosystem, and strengthen the workforce by making each individual more efficient and effective. These three foundational advanced manufacturing concepts will ensure a next-generation secure, resilient, and adaptable manufacturing ecosystem and sustainably support current and future needs of society (Lynn et al. 2020).

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Predictive Phenomics Initiative Project Dataset Catalog Collection

The Predictive Phenomics Science & Technology Initiative (PPI) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are tackling the grand challenge of understanding and predicting phenotype by identifying the molecular basis of function and enable function-driven design and control of biological systems. Research projects within this initiative are divided into three Thrust Areas (TAs): TA1) Enhancing Multi-Scale Phenomics Measurements, TA2) Identifying Molecular Patterns of Biological Function, and TA3) Computational Methods - Phenotypic Signatures. In efforts to enable discovery, reproducibility, and reuse of PPI-funded digital research data generated or used through the course of the proposed research-funded lifecycles, all corresponding digital data assets conducted under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at PNNL are linked to this PPI dataset catalog collection.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Predictive Phenomics Initiative Project Dataset Catalog Collection

The Predictive Phenomics Science & Technology Initiative (PPI) at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are tackling the grand challenge of understanding and predicting phenotype by identifying the molecular basis of function and enable function-driven design and control of biological systems. Research projects within this initiative are divided into three Thrust Areas (TAs): TA1) Enhancing Multi-Scale Phenomics Measurements, TA2) Identifying Molecular Patterns of Biological Function, and TA3) Computational Methods - Phenotypic Signatures. In efforts to enable discovery, reproducibility, and reuse of PPI-funded digital research data generated or used through the course of the proposed research-funded lifecycles, all corresponding digital data assets conducted under the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at PNNL are linked to this PPI dataset catalog collection.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Integration of Rucio Metadata in Belle II

Rucio is a Data Management software that has become a de-facto standard in the HEP community and beyond. It allows the management of large volumes of data over their full lifecycle. The Belle II experiment located at KEK (Japan) recently moved to Rucio to manage its data over the coming decade (O(10) PB/year). In addition to its Data Management functionalities, Rucio also provides support for storing generic metadata. Rucio metadata already provides accurate accounting of the data stored all over the sites serving Belle II. Annotating files with generic metadata opens up possibilities for finer-grained metadata query support. We will first introduce some of the new developments aimed at providing good performance that were done to cover Belle II use-cases like bulk insert methods, metadata inheritance, etc. We will then describe the various tests performed to validate Rucio generic metadata at Belle II scale (O(100M) files), detailing the import and performance tests that were made.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

IPC-Fusion (Infrastructure Perception and Control (IPC): Multisensor Data Fusion Software) [SWR-25-153]

As part of the National Laboratory of the Rockies' (NLR’s) Infrastructure Perception and Control Laboratory, the IPC-Fusion toolkit provides a probabilistic, scalable, multi-sensor fusion framework that integrates (late-stage fusion) heterogeneous object detection data from traffic sensors to enable robust, real-time tracking of roadway occupants. The algorithmic design of the toolkit is motivated by the need for creating a digital twin of traffic at the edge in a scalable and affordable manner. The software operates by combining object-level measurements (such as position and velocity) from a suite of sensors (such as radar, lidar, camera) using Kalman filtering and probabilistic data association techniques to overcome individual sensor limitations and achieve superior tracking performance in complex traffic zones. The framework addresses key challenges including heterogeneous measurement uncertainties, asynchronous data streams, varying spatiotemporal data resolutions, robust data association, and adaptive object lifecycle management. Validated on real-world traffic intersection data including vehicles and pedestrians, IPC-Fusion demonstrates enhanced tracking reliability across scenarios involving occlusions, sensor failures, and varying traffic densities, supporting the broader IPC initiative's goal of transforming transportation infrastructure through advanced perception capabilities for intelligent transportation systems, traffic safety applications, and autonomous vehicle support.

Sandhu, Rimple [National Laboratory of the Rockies↗

Solar Bankability Data to Advance Transactions and Access (SB-DATA) Final Technical Report

The DOE project “Solar Bankability Data to Advance Transactions and Access”, known in the solar industry and referred to in this report as “Orange Button”, had project objectives of convening key stakeholder participants in the solar project lifecycle to develop a data taxonomy that meets to the solar industry’s needs for standardized data types for use in solar projects. Additional Orange Button deliverables included the development of an online data exchange to act as a clearinghouse of data that conformed to the data standard and additional solar industry data, and a Solar Data Translation Platform that could transform legacy solar project data to conform to the Orange Button data standard. All of these objectives were achieved. The Smart Electric Power Alliance (SEPA) provided program management, industry participant recruiting and convening, worked with the solar industry to define the scope of the Orange Button data taxonomy, and documented and delivered the taxonomy data requirements to funded project partners to develop both the taxonomy and the data conversion tools. Further efforts included performing extensive industry outreach and awareness to encourage adoption of the Orange Button taxonomy by the solar industry by enumerating the cost saving benefits of using the taxonomy and the public benefit of the increased use of solar energy due to increased bankability and viability of solar development projects. Solar PV panel and component prices have fallen in the last decade, while soft costs have remained stubbornly high and can account for as much as 64% of the total cost of a new solar system. Part of the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative, Orange Button enabled the creation and adoption of industry-led open data standards for rapid and seamless information exchange across the solar value chain, from origination to decommissioning. Standardizing data will reduce soft costs by making it easier to share solar data and speeding up processes. The taxonomy is a product of solar industry participants convening to identify the pain points caused by incompatible data, and to agree on and standardize data types to be used by the actors in the solar project lifecycle. This report focuses on the SEPA led first phase of Orange Button project that included industry outreach and recruiting participants for five industry working groups, widespread industry outreach to increase awareness and encourage eventual adoption of the taxonomy, and the definition of the scope, use cases, and supporting data types of the Orange Button taxonomy. The solar industry has been receptive of the completed Orange Button taxonomy. In SEPA’s work, 401 solar industry participants facilitated by SEPA defined the scope, use cases, and requirements for the taxonomy leading to over 150 taxonomy early adopters incorporating the taxonomy into their software products serving the solar industry, and several large investors and banks have started projects to enable them to utilize the taxonomy to gain back-office efficiencies. Moving forward, as the solar industry more widely embraces the Orange Button taxonomy and begins realizing the tangible benefits of adoption at scale, we expect further pressure on solar soft costs and increases in the bankability of solar projects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗