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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 37 records · Page 2
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

How High to Fly? Mapping Evapotranspiration from Remotely Piloted Aircrafts at Different Elevations

Recent advancements in remotely piloted aircrafts (RPAs) have made frequent, low-flying imagery collection more economical and feasible than ever before. The goal of this work was to create, compare, and quantify uncertainty associated with evapotranspiration (ET) maps generated from different conditions and image capture elevations. We collected optical and thermal data from a commercially irrigated potato (Solanum tuberosum) field in the Wisconsin Central Sands using a quadcopter RPA system and combined multispectral/thermal camera. We conducted eight mission sets (24 total missions) during the 2019 growing season. Each mission set included flights at 90, 60, and 30 m above ground level. Ground reference measurements of surface temperature and soil moisture were collected throughout the domain within 15 min of each RPA mission set. Evapotranspiration values were modeled from the flight data using the High-Resolution Mapping of Evapotranspiration (HRMET) model. We compared HRMET-derived ET estimates to an Eddy Covariance system within the flight domain. Additionally, we assessed uncertainty for each flight using a Monte Carlo approach. Results indicate that the primary source of uncertainty in ET estimates was the optical and thermal data. Despite some additional detectable features at low elevation, we conclude that the tradeoff in resources and computation does not currently justify low elevation flights for annual vegetable crop management in the Midwest USA.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Coincidence ion imaging with a fast frame camera

A new time- and position-sensitive particle detection system based on a fast frame CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductors) camera is developed for coincidence ion imaging. The system is composed of four major components: a conventional microchannel plate/phosphor screen ion imager, a fast frame CMOS camera, a single anode photomultiplier tube (PMT), and a high-speed digitizer. The system collects the positional information of ions from a fast frame camera through real-time centroiding while the arrival times are obtained from the timing signal of a PMT processed by a high-speed digitizer. Multi-hit capability is achieved by correlating the intensity of ion spots on each camera frame with the peak heights on the corresponding time-of-flight spectrum of a PMT. Efficient computer algorithms are developed to process camera frames and digitizer traces in real-time at 1 kHz laser repetition rate. We demonstrate the capability of this system by detecting a momentum-matched co-fragments pair (methyl and iodine cations) produced from strong field dissociative double ionization of methyl iodide.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Magnetostrictive Ultrasonic Waveguide Transducer for In-Pile Thermometry

Real-time and reliable temperature measurement on nuclear fuels is crucial for the safe operation of existing pressurized-water reactors and future advanced nuclear reactors. Magnetostrictive materials deform when subjected to a magnetic field or exhibit magnetization variation when stressed. Here, based on these properties, this study prototyped an ultrasonic thermometer (UT) consisting of a magnetostrictive waveguide, a dc coil providing appropriate magnetic biasing, and an ac coil generating an acoustic impulse and detecting the resulting acoustic echoes. By tracking the time of flight between the excitation pulse and the echoes, the UT can potentially detect nuclear fuel cladding temperature from a long distance. In this study, magnetostrictive iron–gallium alloys, or Galfenol, were selected as the waveguide due to their large magnetostriction, superior temperature survivability, excellent radiation resilience, and high mechanical robustness. A multiphysics finite-element model considering electrical, magnetic, and mechanical dynamics in the magnetostrictive UT was then developed. The model exhibited an error of 0.24% in time-of-flight simulation and, therefore, enabled computer-aided design and guided signal processing. Between room temperature and 120 °C, the new Galfenol-based UT exhibits a linear sensitivity of 162.8×10 ₋6 °C ₋1 , which is 51.7% higher than a previous magnetostrictive UT based on iron–cobalt–vanadium alloys.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2018

Parameter distribution mapping in a gas turbine engine

A profile map of parameter values in a region is determined based on average values along linear paths through the region. In one example, a temperature map of a region of a gas turbine engine is created based on time-of-flight measurements from acoustic transceiver pairs arranged circumferentially around the region. A speed of sound for each transceiver pair is determined based on the time-of-flight measurements. An average temperature along each path is estimated from the time of flight, and the profile map is computed from the average temperatures. The profile map may be computed using a polynomial approximation technique, a grid optimization technique or a basis function technique.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Monte Carlo modeling of electron density in hypersonic rarefied gas flows

The electron density distribution around a vehicle employed in the RAM-C II flight test is calculated with the DSMC method. To resolve the mole fraction of electrons which is several orders lower than those of the primary species in the free stream, an algorithm named as trace species separation (TSS) is utilized. The TSS algorithm solves the primary and trace species separately, which is similar to the DSMC overlay techniques; however it generates new simulated molecules of trace species, such as ions and electrons in each cell, basing on the ionization and recombination rates directly, which differs from the DSMC overlay techniques based on probabilistic models. The electron density distributions computed by TSS agree well with the flight data measured in the RAM-C II test along a decent trajectory at three altitudes 81km, 76km, and 71km.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

Key issues of ultraviolet radiation of OH at high altitudes

Ultraviolet (UV) emissions radiated by hydroxyl (OH) is one of the fundamental elements in the prediction of radiation signature of high-altitude and high-speed vehicle. In this work, the OH A{sup 2}Σ{sup +}→X{sup 2}Π ultraviolet emission band behind the bow shock is computed under the experimental condition of the second bow-shock ultraviolet flight (BSUV-2). Four related key issues are discussed, namely, the source of hydrogen element in the high-altitude atmosphere, the formation mechanism of OH species, efficient computational algorithm of trace species in rarefied flows, and accurate calculation of OH emission spectra. Firstly, by analyzing the typical atmospheric model, the vertical distributions of the number densities of different species containing hydrogen element are given. According to the different dominating species containing hydrogen element, the atmosphere is divided into three zones, and the formation mechanism of OH species is analyzed in the different zones. The direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method and the Navier-Stokes equations are employed to compute the number densities of the different OH electronically and vibrationally excited states. Different to the previous work, the trace species separation (TSS) algorithm is applied twice in order to accurately calculate the densities of OH species and its excited states. Using a non-equilibrium radiation model, the OH ultraviolet emission spectra and intensity at different altitudes are computed, and good agreement is obtained with the flight measured data.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

A system to detect cerebral aneurysms in multimodality angiographic data sets

Purpose: The early detection of cerebral aneurysms plays a major role in preventing subarachnoid hemorrhage. The authors present a system to automatically detect cerebral aneurysms in multimodal 3D angiographic data sets. The authors’ system is parametrizable for contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance angiography (CE-MRA), time-of-flight magnetic resonance angiography (TOF-MRA), and computed tomography angiography (CTA). Methods: Initial volumes of interest are found by applying a multiscale sphere-enhancing filter. Several features are combined in a linear discriminant function (LDF) to distinguish between true aneurysms and false positives. The features include shape information, spatial information, and probability information. The LDF can either be parametrized by domain experts or automatically by training. Vessel segmentation is avoided as it could heavily influence the detection algorithm. Results: The authors tested their method with 151 clinical angiographic data sets containing 112 aneurysms. The authors reach a sensitivity of 95% with CE-MRA data sets at an average false positive rate per data set (FP{sub DS}) of 8.2. For TOF-MRA, we achieve 95% sensitivity at 11.3 FP{sub DS}. For CTA, we reach a sensitivity of 95% at 22.8 FP{sub DS}. For all modalities, the expert parametrization led to similar or better results than the trained parametrization eliminating the need for training. 93% of aneurysms that were smaller than 5 mm were found. The authors also showed that their algorithm is capable of detecting aneurysms that were previously overlooked by radiologists. Conclusions: The authors present an automatic system to detect cerebral aneurysms in multimodal angiographic data sets. The system proved as a suitable computer-aided detection tool to help radiologists find cerebral aneurysms.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Systems and methods for improved aircraft safety

Methods and system for improved aircraft safety are described herein. A machine learning model may be trained using historical flight data for a number of previously flown flights where an automation function autonomously disengaged. The trained machine learning model may be used to generate probabilistic alert rules. The probabilistic alert rules may be used by a computing device onboard an aircraft to provide contextual information to flight crew relating to engagement status for one or more automation functions of the aircraft.

Sherry, Lance↗
DOE OSTI2014

Computational study of collisions between O({sup 3}P) and NO({sup 2}Π) at temperatures relevant to the hypersonic flight regime

Reactions involving N and O atoms dominate the energetics of the reactive air flow around spacecraft when reentering the atmosphere in the hypersonic flight regime. For this reason, the thermal rate coefficients for reactive processes involving O({sup 3}P) and NO({sup 2}Π) are relevant over a wide range of temperatures. For this purpose, a potential energy surface (PES) for the ground state of the NO{sub 2} molecule is constructed based on high-level ab initio calculations. These ab initio energies are represented using the reproducible kernel Hilbert space method and Legendre polynomials. The global PES of NO{sub 2} in the ground state is constructed by smoothly connecting the surfaces of the grids of various channels around the equilibrium NO{sub 2} geometry by a distance-dependent weighting function. The rate coefficients were calculated using Monte Carlo integration. The results indicate that at high temperatures only the lowest A-symmetry PES is relevant. At the highest temperatures investigated (20 000 K), the rate coefficient for the “O1O2+N” channel becomes comparable (to within a factor of around three) to the rate coefficient of the oxygen exchange reaction. A state resolved analysis shows that the smaller the vibrational quantum number of NO in the reactants, the higher the relative translational energy required to open it and conversely with higher vibrational quantum number, less translational energy is required. This is in accordance with Polanyi's rules. However, the oxygen exchange channel (NO2+O1) is accessible at any collision energy. Finally, this work introduces an efficient computational protocol for the investigation of three-atom collisions in general.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Global Sensitivity Analysis and Estimation of Model Error, Toward Uncertainty Quantification in Scramjet Computations

The development of scramjet engines is an important research area for advancing hypersonic and orbital flights. Progress toward optimal engine designs requires accurate flow simulations together with uncertainty quantification. However, performing uncertainty quantification for scramjet simulations is challenging due to the large number of uncertain parameters involved and the high computational cost of flow simulations. These difficulties are addressed in this paper by developing practical uncertainty quantification algorithms and computational methods, and deploying them in the current study to large-eddy simulations of a jet in crossflow inside a simplified HIFiRE Direct Connect Rig scramjet combustor. First, global sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify influential uncertain input parameters, which can help reduce the system’s stochastic dimension. Second, because models of different fidelity are used in the overall uncertainty quantification assessment, a framework for quantifying and propagating the uncertainty due to model error is presented. In conclusion, these methods are demonstrated on a nonreacting jet-in-crossflow test problem in a simplified scramjet geometry, with parameter space up to 24 dimensions, using static and dynamic treatments of the turbulence subgrid model, and with two-dimensional and three-dimensional geometries.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2015

An algorithm for charge-integration, pulse-shape discrimination and estimation of neutron/photon misclassification in organic scintillators

Organic scintillators are frequently used for measurements that require sensitivity to both photons and fast neutrons because of their pulse shape discrimination capabilities. In these measurement scenarios, particle identification is commonly handled using the charge-integration pulse shape discrimination method. This method works particularly well for high-energy depositions, but is prone to misclassification for relatively low-energy depositions. A novel algorithm has been developed for automatically performing charge-integration pulse shape discrimination in a consistent and repeatable manner. The algorithm is able to estimate the photon and neutron misclassification corresponding to the calculated discrimination parameters, and is capable of doing so using only the information measured by a single organic scintillator. This paper describes the algorithm and assesses its performance by comparing algorithm-estimated misclassification to values computed via a more traditional time-of-flight estimation. A single data set was processed using four different low-energy thresholds: 40, 60, 90, and 120 keVee. Overall, the results compared well between the two methods; in most cases, the algorithm-estimated values fell within the uncertainties of the TOF-estimated values.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Chemical imaging of individual stratospheric particles sampled over North America

The increasing size, severity, and frequency of wildfires have led to dramatic increases in particulate matter concentrations in the troposphere. Severe wildfires can generate intense convective systems capable of transporting large quantities of biomass burning organic aerosols (BBOA) to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). Chemically complex organic matter and light-absorbing carbonaceous material is introduced into stratospheric regions that were historically isolated from direct surface emissions. In this study, stratospheric particles were sampled over North America during the Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere (DCOTSS) campaign, an aircraft-based research project designed to characterize convective perturbation in the UTLS. Particle samples collected from six research flights during summer 2022 were analyzed using Computer-Controlled Scanning Electron Microscopy and Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy to investigate particle size distributions, morphology, chemical composition, and mixing state of stratospheric particles along transects across the continental United States and adjacent Pacific Ocean airspace. Analysis revealed that all sampled particles contained detectable levels of carbon, with most exhibiting organic volume fractions of 0.37 ± 0.20. Notably, about 5% of the particles also contained soot inclusions, which indicates the presence of refractory black carbon transported to stratospheric altitudes and provides direct evidence of wildfire-derived black carbon reaching the UTLS. Typical particle morphology exhibits organic shells over soot and inorganic cores and suggests secondary processing and aging of BBOA during transport to and within the UTLS. These findings provide compelling evidence that wildfire emissions play a critical role in affecting the long-term composition and radiative properties of stratospheric particles.

Sharpe, Steven [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (↗
DOE OSTI2019

Optimization of pumping performance in the EAST upgraded divertor

The pumping performance of the EAST tokamak upgraded divertor has been optimized by varying the height and width of the duct that connects the plasma and plenum volumes. The optimization is enacted using a semi-analytic model which predicts the molecular pressure in the plenum given the plasma facing component geometry and plasma parameters along the divertor, specifically electron temperature, electron density, and the ion particle flux. The model is semi-analytic as the plasma parameters can come from experimental data (or plasma transport simulations), and uses a first-flight approximation for neutral transport. This model is computationally inexpensive, allowing for several geometries and sets of plasma parameters to be rapidly evaluated. A duct geometry is discovered that performs well for different plasma equilibria and strike point positions. The semi-analytic model results are compared to two dimensional plasma and neutral transport simulations using the SOLPS-ITER code, suggesting that charge-exchange is a significant contributor to the plenum pressure at low electron temperature. An extension to the semi-analytic model improves the comparison over a broader range of temperature. The conservative prediction of the model and the broad maximum in the pressure contours imply that the inclusion of charge-exchange is not required in the optimization procedure, but that quantitative estimates should be provided with a high-fidelity model such as SOLPS-ITER.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

A computational approach for hypersonic nonequilibrium radiation utilizing space partition algorithm and Gauss quadrature

An efficient computational capability for nonequilibrium radiation simulation via the ray tracing technique has been accomplished. The radiative rate equation is iteratively coupled with the aerodynamic conservation laws including nonequilibrium chemical and chemical–physical kinetic models. The spectral properties along tracing rays are determined by a space partition algorithm of the nearest neighbor search process, and the numerical accuracy is further enhanced by a local resolution refinement using the Gauss–Lobatto polynomial. The interdisciplinary governing equations are solved by an implicit delta formulation through the diminishing residual approach. The axisymmetric radiating flow fields over the reentry RAM-CII probe have been simulated and verified with flight data and previous solutions by traditional methods. A computational efficiency gain nearly forty times is realized over that of the existing simulation procedures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Exploring the fragmentation efficiency of proteins analyzed by MALDI-TOF-TOF tandem mass spectrometry using computational and statistical analyses

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight-time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF-TOF) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) is a rapid technique for identifying intact proteins from unfractionated mixtures by top-down proteomic analysis. MS/MS allows isolation of specific intact protein ions prior to fragmentation, allowing fragment ion attribution to a specific precursor ion. However, the fragmentation efficiency of mature, intact protein ions by MS/MS post-source decay (PSD) varies widely, and the biochemical and structural factors of the protein that contribute to it are poorly understood. With the advent of protein structure prediction algorithms such as Alphafold2, we have wider access to protein structures for which no crystal structure exists. In this work, we use a statistical approach to explore the properties of bacterial proteins that can affect their gas phase dissociation via PSD. We extract various protein properties from Alphafold2 predictions and analyze their effect on fragmentation efficiency. Our results show that the fragmentation efficiency from cleavage of the polypeptide backbone on the C-terminal side of glutamic acid (E) and asparagine (N) residues were nearly equal. In addition, we found that the rearrangement and cleavage on the C-terminal side of aspartic acid (D) residues that result from the aspartic acid effect (AAE) were higher than for E- and N-residues. From residue interaction network analysis, we identified several local centrality measures and discussed their implications regarding the AAE. We also confirmed the selective cleavage of the backbone at D-proline bonds in proteins and further extend it to N-proline bonds. Finally, we note an enhancement of the AAE mechanism when the residue on the C-terminal side of D-, E- and N-residues is glycine. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of this phenomenon. Our study demonstrates the value of using statistical analyses of protein sequences and their predicted structures to better understand the fragmentation of the intact protein ions in the gas phase.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Aircraft Icing Severity Evaluation

Aircraft icing refers to the ice buildup on the surface of an aircraft flying in icing conditions. The ice accretion on the aircraft alters the original aerodynamic configuration and degrades the aerodynamic performances and may lead to unsafe flight conditions. Evaluating the flow structure, icing mechanism and consequences is of great importance to the development of an anti/deicing technique. Studies have shown computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and machine learning (ML) to be effective in predicting the ice shape and icing severity under different flight conditions. CFD solves a set of partial differential equations to obtain the air flow fields, water droplets trajectories and ice shape. ML is a branch of artificial intelligence and, based on the data, the self-improved computer algorithms can be effective in finding the nonlinear mapping relationship between the input flight conditions and the output aircraft icing severity features.

Li, Sibo (ORCID:000000021705844X)↗
DOE OSTI2014

Development of position-sensitive time-of-flight spectrometer for fission fragment research

A position-sensitive, high-resolution time-of-flight detector for fission fragments has been developed. The SPectrometer for Ion DEtermination in fission Research (SPIDER) is a 2E–2v spectrometer designed to measure the mass of light fission fragments to a single mass unit. The time pick-off detector pairs to be used in SPIDER have been tested with α-particles from 229Th and its decay chain and α-particles and spontaneous fission fragments from 252Cf. Each detector module is comprised of thin electron conversion foil, electrostatic mirror, microchannel plates, and delay-line anodes. Particle trajectories on the order of 700 mm are determined accurately to within 0.7 mm. Flight times were measured with 250 ps resolution FWHM. Computed particle velocities are accurate to within 0.06 mm/ns corresponding to a precision of 0.5%. As a result, an ionization chamber capable of 400 keV energy resolution coupled with the velocity measurements described here will pave the way for modestly efficient measurements of light fission fragments with unit mass resolution.

2E-2v↗
DOE OSTI2017

Extreme scale unstructured adaptive CFD for aerodynamic flow control

Understanding the flow of fluid, either liquid or gas, through and around solid bodies has challenged man since the dawn of scientific inquiry. Many of the great minds of science and mathematics have progressively built up a hierarchy of fluid models since fluid flow impacts our lives in so many fundamental ways - from the early days of flow of water in viaducts to cities, to today's flight of planes. This chapter is concerned with the computational modeling of turbulent flow around aerodynamic bodies such as planes and wind turbines. In this case, viscous effects near the solid bodies create very thin boundary layers that yield highly anisotropic (gradients normal to the surface may be 10 6 larger than gradients along the surface) solutions to the governing non-linear partial differential equations (PDE); the Navier-Stokes equations. Furthermore, turbulent flows develop extremely broad ranges of length and time scales motivating the use of discretization methods capable of employing adaptivity and implicit time integration. The combination of these features - non-linear, anisotropy, adaptivity, and implicit - dramatically raise the complexity of the discretization, posing large challenges to efficient scalable parallel implementation. However, through careful design, the more complex algorithms can provide great reductions in computational cost relative to simpler methods (e.g., Cartesian grids with explicit time integration) that are easier to mate efficiently to hardware. In this chapter, we not only describe our approach but we also address the fact that while complex algorithms may never be as efficient flop-for-flop as simple methods, in the important measure of science-per-core-hour, they can still win big by making complex features like adaptivity and implicit methods as efficient and scalable as possible.

42 ENGINEERING↗