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At least 361 records · Page 20

Sandia National Laboratories Early Career University Faculty Mentoring Program in International Safeguards

Recent years have seen a significantly increased focus in the areas of knowledge retention and mentoring of junior staff within the U.S. national laboratory complex. In order to involve the university community in this process, as well, an international safeguards mentoring program was established by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) for early career university faculty. After a successful experience during 2019, the program continued into 2020 to include two new faculty members who were paired with SNL subject matter experts based on the topic of their individual projects: one to work on advanced laboratory work for physics, technology, and policy of nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation, and the other to look at machine learning applied to international safeguards and nonproliferation. There is a two-pronged purpose to the program: fostering the development of educational resources available for international safeguards and exploring new research topics stemming from the exchange of mentor and mentee. Further, the program as a whole allows for junior faculty members to establish and expand a relationship network within international safeguards. In addition, programs such as this build stronger connections between the academic and the national laboratory community. Thanks to the junior faculty members that now have new connections into the laboratory community and potential for collaboration projects with the laboratories in the future, safeguards knowledge can actually increase far beyond just individually engaging students using this new and efficient avenue.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Sandia's Research in Support of COVID-19 Pandemic Response: Materials Science

Sandia Materials Science Investment Area contributed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 disease which represent the most significant pandemic threat in over 100 years. We completed a series of 7, short duration projects to provide innovative materials science research and development in analytical techniques to aid the neutralization of COVID-19 on multiple surfaces, approaches to rapidly decontaminate personal protective equipment, and pareto assessment of construction materials for manufacturing personal protective equipment. The developed capabilities and processes through this research can help US medical personnel, government installations and assets, first responders, state and local governments, and multiple federal agencies address the COVID-19 Pandemic.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Sandia's Twistact Technology: Decarbonization of the Energy Sector in the 2030 Time Frame.\

As of 2018, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar have the lowest unsubsidized levelized cost of energy, and grid-scale storage solutions are being aggressively developed and deployed. However, for a carbon-free energy generation paradigm to be realistic, any impediments to scalability must be addressed. In the wind industry, dependence on rare-earth (RE) magnets in direct-drive generators represents a significant roadblock to widespread technology proliferation. Sandia’s Twistact technology is a fundamentally new rotary electrical contact with only rolling metal-to- metal contact that eliminates the need for RE magnets by enabling a wire-wound generator architecture with no efficiency or cost penalties. This report summarizes work funded by an LDRD in FY16—18, in which we advanced the technology readiness level (TRL) of Twistact technology to TRL 5 and proved the viability of a Twistact-based generator for utility-scale, direct-drive wind turbines. We conducted coupon-level tests of rolling metallic contacts and developed a tribological model that predicts operation in either a low-wear or high-wear regime. We also built device-level testing apparatuses and observed operation of full-scale Twistact devices, which corroborated the predictions of the tribological model and demonstrated over 50 million rotation cycles (30-year lifetime in a direct-drive generator). Indeed, the present work demonstrated that Twistact technology has potential to be an enabling technology that eliminates RE magnet dependence in the wind industry. The next logical step is commercialization of Twistact technology (currently at TRL 5) in partnership with a generator original equipment manufacturer that already has an established presence in the wind power industry.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Building Fire Consequence Index at Sandia National Laboratories

The intent of the Building Fire Consequence Index (BFCI) at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) is to provide a method to rank buildings based on the consequence of a fire in that building. This indexing tool will be used to determine the frequency a building's fire protection assessment (FPA) will be performed. Per DOE O 420.1C Chg. 1, Facility Safety, a FPA must be conducted annually (for facilities with a replacement value in excess of $100 million, facilities considered a high hazard, or those in which vital programs are involved), every three years (for remaining low and ordinary hazard facilities), or at a frequency with appropriate justification approved by the Depaitinent of Energy (DOE) head of field element. The BFCI provides a method for a graded approach utilizing a scoring criteria for various categories such as replacement plant value, building content value, hazards, mission dependency index, etc. when assigning FPA frequencies1.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Human Readiness Levels in the Systems Engineering Process at Sandia National Laboratories

The Systems Analysis & Decision Support group (2150) at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) led a study from 2015 to 2017 to investigate the utility of various options to achieve systematic and comprehensive incorporation of the human component of a system throughout the product lifecycle. Although technology readiness levels (TRL) are widely used in the systems engineering process to address technical maturity throughout design and development, a comparable technique to estimate the readiness of a technology for human operator use is lacking at SNL. The present study was designed to investigate the utility of a human readiness levels (HRL) scale to complement the TRL scale for the types of nuclear deterrence work conducted at SNL. The study team conducted 24 interviews with 26 individuals to (1) understand the extent to which current baseline design and development approaches at SNL incorporate the human dimension and (2) estimate the utility of various options to fully incorporate the human element in SNL work. Results confirmed that current processes do not manage the human component of a system systematically or comprehensively across programs. Although multiple options were seen to have some utility to address this shortcoming, an approach combining human readiness assessments within the existing TRL scale was perceived as relatively more useful for SNL. The study team created a proposed path forward to progress from the current ad hoc, reactive approach to a systematic, comprehensive, and rigorous approach characterized by full consideration of the human component of a system within and across programs and throughout the entire product lifecycle.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Sandia National Laboratories Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASC) Appraisal Method for the Implementation of the ASC Software Quality Engineering Practices (V.2.0)

This document provides a guide to the process of conducting software appraisals under the Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) ASC Program. The goal of this document is to describe a common methodology for planning, conducting, and reporting results of software appraisals thereby enabling: 1) Identification of improvements in implementation of the software quality engineering (SQE) practices identified in the ASC Software Quality Plan across the ASC Program against objective baselines. 2) Feedback from project teams on SQE opportunities for improvement. 3) Identification of strengths and opportunities for improvement for individual project teams. 4) Guidance to the ASC Program on the focus of future SQE activities. Document contents include process descriptions, templates to promote consistent conduct of appraisals, and an explanation of the relationship of this procedure to the SNL ASC software program. The activities described by this document are under the oversight of SNL ASC Program Director and SNL ASC Program Manager.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Sandia National Laboratories Early Career University Faculty Mentoring Program in International Safeguards

An international safeguards mentoring program was established by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) for early career university faculty. The inaugural year of the program focused on course material development and connecting faculty to experts at national laboratories. Two faculty members were selected for participation; one developed a safeguards-by-design course, and the other created lecture material related to unmanned robotic systems in safeguards for integration in existing courses. Faculty members were paired with SNL subject matter experts based on the topic of their individual projects. The program also included a two week visit to SNL. The structure of this program not only supported the development of new course material, but also provided junior faculty members with an opportunity to make connections and build collaborations in the field of international safeguards. Programs like this are important for professional development of faculty members and to help strengthen connections between universities and the national laboratories.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

Sandia National Laboratories Ecosystem for Open Science: Metadata Schema v0.2 Description.

The Ecosystem for Open Science (eOS) initiative was established in 2019. Its objective is improving openness and sharing of data and information across Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation (DNN) Research and Development (R&D) activities. To support this initiative, the eOS team at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) developed metadata and data standards and proposed a machine-readable metadata schema. The nuclear explosion monitoring field was selected as a focus area due to its the wide range of pertinent phenomenologies.We developed the DCAT-eOS-AP metadata schema extending the Data Catalog Vocabulary version 2 (DCATv2) standard using an application profile (AP), to fit the needs of multi-disciplinary NA-22 projects. The DCAT-eOS-AP metadata schema describes data at different levels of granularity ranging from general descriptions to more domain-specific granular metadata. Its implementation and serialization is flexible with the ability to include new file or data types. Thus, it will scale with the ever-increasing data management needs of government research. Due to the multitude of phenomenologies represented in the DCAT-eOS-AP schema, we anticipate that it will be easily extensible to various projects across many DOE mission areas. This document describes data management challenges faced within the DNN R&D portfolio and provides insight on how metadata and data standards/guidelines combined with a comprehensive metadata schema can add value to programs throughout the Department of Energy (DOE). It reviews the importance of metadata standards, FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) data principles, and metadata schemas. Additionally, it summarizes input from subject matter experts (SME) at SNL and other National Laboratories that resulted in metadata and data standards/guidelines encompassing domains relevant to NA-22 projects. Finally, we discuss the DCAT-eOS-AP metadata development. Implementation recommendations and future development directions are included for those keen on adopting the DCAT-eOS-AP metadata schema.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Accomplishments of Sandia and Kitware CMake/CTest/CDash Contract for (FY2017-2020)

We describe the accomplishments jointly achieved by Kitware and Sandia over the fiscal years 2016 through 2020 to benefit the Advanced Scientific Computed (ASC) Advanced Technology Development and Mitigation (ATDM) project. As a result of our collaboration, we have improved the Trilinos and ATDM application developer experience by decreasing the time to build, making it easier to identify and resolve build and test defects, and addressing other issues . We have also reduced the turnaround time for continuous integration (CI) results. For example, the combined improvements likely cut the wall clock time to run automated builds of Trilinos posting to CDash by approximately 6x or more in many cases. We primarily achieved these benefits by contributing changes to the Kitware CMake/CTest/CDash suite of open source software development support tools. As a result, ASC developers can now spend more time improving code and less time chasing bugs. And, without this work, one can argue that the stabilization of Trilinos for the ATDM platforms would not have been feasible which would have had a large negative impact on an important internal FY20 L1 milestone.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Particle Curtain Experiments at Sandia

Efforts at Sandia National Laboratories have focused on fundamental experiments to understand the dispersal of dense particle distributions in high-speed compressible flow. The experiments are conducted in shock tube facilities where the flow conditions and the initial conditions of the particle distributions are well controlled and well characterized. An additional advantage of the shock tube is that it is more readily able to accommodate advanced measurement diagnostics in comparison to explosive field tests.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

ParaView Deployment at Sandia [Slides]

ParaView has been deployed as a visualization tool at Sandia for almost 20 years. ParaView of the talk title refers to a collection of software.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Sandia National Laboratories FY20 Progress Report

The Energetic Neutrons campaign led by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) had a successful year testing electronic devices and printed circuit boards (PCBs) under 14 MeV neutron irradiation at OMEGA. During FY20 the Energetic Neutrons campaign increased the number and complexity of experiments, continued collaborations with external organizations, and generated knowledge that supports SNL’s National Security mission. In FY20 the Energetic Neutrons campaign was executed by an early career team led by a new PI. The SNL team members were trained to take over new responsibilities during the shot day to increase the number and complexity of experiments in the campaigns. Also, in FY20 for the first time the Energetic Neutrons campaign had a graduate student contributing with pre and post-irradiation characterizations at SNL of the semiconductor devices irradiated at OMEGA. In FY20 SNL collaborated with the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) and supported experiments related to radiation effects in semiconductor devices. SNL also gave the opportunity to ride along to Los Alamos National Laboratory and multiple scientists from MIT and LLE. SNL continued using the last two generations of the Neutron Effects Diagnostics (NEDs) to field active and passive experiments but also redesigned the latest generation of the NEDs to accommodate larger components and improve the vacuum sealing as shown in figure 1a. The redesigned NEDs allowed SNL to perform active tests of a high voltage (HV) PCB for the first time at OMEGA; where signals before, during and after the irradiation were recorded. The HV PCB installed in one of the SNL NEDs is shown in figure 1b where a 3D-printed nosecone was used to check for mechanical and electrical interference. Passive irradiations of multiple components were followed up with leakage current, gain measurements and radiation-induced defect characterization.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Sandia NRT Blade-0 Laboratory Modal Survey

Modal testing was performed on the Sandia NRT Blade-0 in building A-60 at NREL/NWTC. Modal testing was intended to identify the fundamental frequencies of the blade. The blade was cantilevered to the A-60 test stand. Fundamental frequencies were identified using impact modal testing. Additional tests included free-decay testing to quantify damping at small displacements. Small-displacement modal testing aims to minimize the influence of aerodynamic damping; roaming accelerometer impact testing with the development of a dynamic frame model enabled visualization of mode shapes.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC Technical Assistance With Energy Cloud (Final CTAP Report)

Sandia provided technical assistance to Energy Cloud to support the assessment of Energy Cloud’s technology for air filtration of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Energy Cloud system was developed to filter the SARS-CoV-2 virus from commercial HVAC systems, ducts, and enclosed rooms without generating ozone. The project included a 3-week experimental series with aerosolized SARS-CoV-2 virus at the University of Southern California’s biosafety level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory. USC provided the facility as well as experimentally derived measurements and assessment of the Energy Cloud system efficacy for SARSCoV-2 filtration from air handling systems.

42 ENGINEERING↗

United States Department of Energy Sandia Natinoal Laboratories, California Arroyo Seco Improvement Program (Annual Report for 2021)

The Arroyo Seco Improvement Program (ASIP) is intended to provide active channel improvements and stream zone management activities that will reduce current flood and erosion risk while providing additional and improved habitat for critical species that may use the Arroyo Seco at the United States Department of Energy (DOE), Sandia National Laboratories, California (SNL/CA) location. The objectives of the ASIP are: correct existing channel stability problems associated with existing arroyo structures (i.e. bridges, security grates, utility crossings, and drain structures), correct bank erosion and provide protection against future erosion, reduce the risk of future flooding, and provide habitat improvement and creation of a mitigation credit for site development and management activities.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Assessment of Sandia's 2021 Pilot Program for Research Traineeships to Broaden and Diversify Fusion Energy Science: Development and Rapid Screening of Refractory Multi-Principal Elemental Composites for Plasma Facing Components

The Fusion Energy Sciences office supported “A Pilot Program for Research Traineeships to Broaden and Diversify Fusion Energy Sciences” at Sandia National Laboratories during the summer of 2021. This pilot project was motivated in part by the Fusion Energy Sciences Advisory Committee report observation that “The multidisciplinary workforce needed for fusion energy and plasma science requires that the community commit to the creation and maintenance of a healthy climate of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which will benefit the community as a whole and the mission of FES”. The pilot project was designed to work with North Carolina A&T (NCAT) University and leverage SNL efforts in FES to engage underrepresented students in developing and accessing advanced material solutions for plasma facing components in fusion systems. The intent was to create an environment conducive to the development of a sense of belonging amongst participants, foster a strong sense of physics identity among the participants, and provide financial support to enable students to advance academically while earning money. The purpose of this assessment is to review what worked well and lessons that can be learned. We reviewed implementation and execution of the pilot, describe successes and areas for improvement and propose a no-cost extension of the pilot project to apply these lessons and continue engagement activities in the summer of 2022.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Calibrating the SPECTACULAR constitutive model using legacy Sandia data for two filled epoxy systems: 828/CTBN/DEA/GMB and 828/DEA/GMB

The SPECTACULAR model is a development extension of the Simplified Potential Energy Clock (SPEC) model. Both models are nonlinear viscoelastic constitutive models used to predict a wide range of time-dependent behaviors in epoxies and other glass-forming materials. This report documents the procedures used to generate SPECTACULAR calibrations for two particulate-filled epoxy systems, 828/CTBN/DEA/GMB and 828/DEA/GMB. No previous SPECTACULAR or SPEC calibration exists for 828/CTBN/DEA/GMB, while a legacy SPEC calibration exists for 828/DEA/GMB. To generate the SPECTACULAR calibrations, a step-by-step procedure was executed to determine parameters in groups with minimal coupling between parameter groups. This procedure has often been deployed to calibrate SPEC, therefore the resulting SPECTACULAR calibration is backwards compatible with SPEC (i.e. none of the extensions specific to SPECTACULAR are used). The calibration procedure used legacy Sandia experimental data stored on the Polymer Properties Database website. The experiments used for calibration included shear master curves, isofrequency temperature sweeps under oscillatory shear, the bulk modulus at room temperature, the thermal strain during a temperature sweep, and compression through yield at multiple temperatures below the glass transition temperature. Overall, the calibrated models fit the experimental data remarkably well. However, the glassy shear modulus varies depending on the experiment used to calibrate it. For instance, the shear master curve, isofrequency temperature sweep under oscillatory shear, and the Young's modulus in glassy compression yield values for the glassy shear modulus at the reference temperature that vary by as much as 15 %. Also, for 828/CTBN/DEA/GMB, the temperature dependence of the glassy shear modulus when fit to the Young's modulus at different temperatures is approximately four times larger than when it is determined from the isofrequency temperature sweep under oscillatory shear. For 828/DEA/GMB, the temperature dependence of the shear modulus determined from the isofrequency temperature sweep under oscillatory shear accurately predicts the Young's modulus at different temperatures. When choosing values for the shear modulus, fitting the glassy compression data was prioritized. The new and legacy calibrations for 828/DEA/GMB are similar and appear to have been calibrated from the same data. However, the new calibration improves the fit to the thermal strain data. In addition to the standard calibrations, development calibrations were produced that take advantage of development features of SPECTACULAR , including an updated equilibrium Helmholtz free energy that eliminates undesirable behavior found in previous work. In addition to the previously mentioned experimental data, the development calibrations require data for the heat capacity during a stress-free temperature sweep to calibrate thermal terms.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Structural Analysis Report for Sandia High Altitude Aerosol Research (SHAAR) Payloads

Sandia National Laboratories has interest in mounting enclosures to gather scientific data aboard NASA scientific balloons. This report documents the structural integrity of three separate payloads considered ‘piggybacks.’ To date, there are no design criteria for piggybacks, therefore each piggyback shall follow the same design requirements set by NASA per the Gondola Structural Design Requirements. This analysis report shall describe how each payload meets the design requirements laid out in the Gondola Design Requirements.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗