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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 415 records · Page 23
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Van der Waals metal-semiconductor junction: Weak Fermi level pinning enables effective tuning of Schottky barrier

Two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors have shown great potential for electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, their development is limited by a large Schottky barrier (SB) at the metal-semiconductor junction (MSJ), which is difficult to tune by using conventional metals because of the effect of strong Fermi level pinning (FLP). We show that this problem can be overcome by using 2D metals, which are bounded with 2D semiconductors through van der Waals (vdW) interactions. This success relies on a weak FLP at the vdW MSJ, which is attributed to the suppression of metal-induced gap states. Consequently, the SB becomes tunable and can vanish with proper 2D metals (for example, H-NbS2). This work not only offers new insights into the fundamental properties of heterojunctions but also uncovers the great potential of 2D metals for device applications.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Influence of Dislocation Pinning on the Creep Rate in Aluminum

The influence of the dislocation mobility on the creep rate in aluminum has been estimated. In a steady state of creep, the dislocation mobility is varied by pinning dislocations using impurity atoms during heating. It has been shown that the change in the creep rate is proportional to the fraction of impurity atoms that migrate from the solid solution of deformed aluminum toward the dislocations.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

Strongly Heated Turbulent Flow in a Channel with Pin Fins

Large-eddy simulations (LES) were performed to study the turbulent flow in a channel of height H with a staggered array of pin fins with diameter D = H/2 as a function of heating loads that are relevant to the cooling of turbine blades and vanes. The following three heating loads were investigated—wall-to-coolant temperatures of Tw/Tc = 1.01, 2.0, and 4.0 - where the Reynolds number at the channel inlet was 10,000 and the back pressure at the channel outlet was 1 bar. For the LES, two different subgrid-scale models—the dynamic kinetic energy model (DKEM) and the wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity model (WALE)—were examined and compared. This study was validated by comparing with data from direct numerical simulation and experimental measurements. The results obtained show high heating loads to create wall jets next to all heated surfaces that significantly alter the structure of the turbulent flow. Results generated on effects of heat loads on the mean and fluctuating components of velocity and temperature, turbulent kinetic energy, the anisotropy of the Reynolds stresses, and velocity-temperature correlations can be used to improve existing RANS models.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2011

High Frequency PIN-Diode Switches for Radiometer Applications

Internally calibrated radiometers are needed for ocean topography and other missions. Typically internal calibration is achieved with Dicke switching as one of the techniques. We have developed high frequency single-pole double-throw (SPDT) switches in the form of monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMIC) that can be easily integrated into Dicke switched radiometers that utilize microstrip technology. In particular, the switches we developed can be used for a radiometer such as the one proposed for the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) Satellite Mission whose three channels at 92, 130, and 166 GHz would allow for wet-tropospheric path delay correction near coastal zones and over land. This feat is not possible with the current Jason-class radiometers due to their lower frequency signal measurement and thus lower resolution. The MMIC chips were fabricated at NGST using their InP PIN diode process and measured at JPL using high frequency test equipment. Measurement and simulation results will be presented.

PIN-diode↗
DOE OSTI2016

Solution of the Hot Zero Power BEAVRS Using a Pin-Cell Homogenized Model

The validation of a reactor physics code system is an essential part of the code development process. It allows for the evaluation of the code's ability to predict and model the complex physical processes that take place in a nuclear reactor under various operational conditions. Idaho National Laboratory (INL) has been developing a set of reactor physics analysis tools within the MOOSE framework. MAMMOTH is the main reactor physics application, which integrates other MOOSE applications to solve complex multiphysics problems. Results from this study demonstrate that the MOOSE based reactor physics tools, currently under development at INL, have the flexibility to model with high accuracy the HZP condition for a standard PWR. The DRAGON5-Rattlesnake full core pin-cell homogenized simulation produces eigenvalues and detector signals that are comparable to those generated with OpenMC and nTRACER. However, many improvements are necessary to achieve higher fidelity results.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Assessment of SFR fuel pin performance codes under advanced fuel for minor actinide transmutation

Americium is a strong contributor to the long term radiotoxicity of high activity nuclear waste. Transmutation by irradiation in nuclear reactors of long-lived nuclides like {sup 241}Am is, therefore, an option for the reduction of radiotoxicity and residual power packages as well as the repository area. In the SUPERFACT Experiment four different oxide fuels containing high and low concentrations of {sup 237}Np and {sup 241}Am, representing the homogeneous and heterogeneous in-pile recycling concepts, were irradiated in the PHENIX reactor. The behavior of advanced fuel materials with minor actinide needs to be fully characterized, understood and modeled in order to optimize the design of this kind of fuel elements and to evaluate its performances. This paper assesses the current predictability of fuel performance codes TRANSURANUS and GERMINAL V2 on the basis of post irradiation examinations of the SUPERFACT experiment for pins with low minor actinide content. Their predictions have been compared to measured data in terms of geometrical changes of fuel and cladding, fission gases behavior and actinide and fission product distributions. The results are in good agreement with the experimental results, although improvements are also pointed out for further studies, especially if larger content of minor actinide will be taken into account in the codes. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Diagrammatic state sums for 2D pin-minus TQFTs

The two dimensional state sum models of Barrett and Tavares are extended to unoriented spacetimes. The input to the construction is an algebraic structure dubbed half twist algebras, a class of examples of which is real separable superalgebras with a continuous parameter. The construction generates pin-minus TQFTs, including the root invertible theory with partition function the Arf-Brown-Kervaire invariant. Decomposability, the stacking law, and Morita invariance of the construction are discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Flux Pinning-Induced Stress in a Long Hollow Cylindrical Superconductor Restricted by a Metal Tube

The tensile stress in a hollow cylindrical superconductor completely restricted by a metal tube in a parallel magnetic field is investigated. Using the plane strain approach, analytical expressions for the stress distribution of the superconductor and the contact stress between the metal tube and the superconductor are obtained and show that both the ratio of Young’s modulus and thickness ratio of the high-temperature superconductors and the metal tube significantly affect the stress distribution in the superconductor explicitly. In addition, the flux pinning-induced stress in the above-mentioned superconductor is systematically studied by the exponential critical state model during the field cooling process. The results indicate that the metal tube can reduce effectively the tensile stress in the hollow cylindrical superconductor during the magnetization process. The findings suggest that the appropriate selection of material parameters and size of the metal tube can improve superconductor performance efficiently.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2019

The study of quantum efficiency in PIN photodiodes in terms of temperature and capacitive effects under non-uniform illumination conditions

In this article the impacts of quantum efficiency and bandwidth of PIN photodiodes under non-uniform illumination conditions are investigated. An absorption region is divided into the number of arbitrary layers and the continuity equations for each layer are solved with assuming that the carrier’s drift velocity is constant in each layer. Also the impact of transit time and capacitive effects of bandwidth were studied with considering the bias voltage, width of absorption region and temperature. The results show that with considering the capacitive effects, the bandwidth is increased by increase in temperature and bias voltage. We observe the effect of incident optical radiation from two n and p sides and also its impact on bandwidth and quantum efficiency. The results show more impact of radiation from n region compared to p region.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Guided skyrmion motion along pinning array interfaces

We examine ac driven skyrmions interacting with the interface between two different obstacle array structures. We consider drive amplitudes at which skyrmions in a bulk obstacle lattice undergo only localized motion and show that when an obstacle lattice interface is introduced, directed skyrmion transport can occur along the interface. The skyrmions can be guided by a straight interface and can also turn corners to follow the interface. For a square obstacle lattice embedded in a square pinning array with a different obstacle radius, we find that skyrmions can undergo transport in all four primary symmetry directions under the same fixed ac drive. We map where localized or translating motion occurs as a function of the ac driving parameters. Our results suggest a new method for controlling skyrmion motion based on transport along obstacle lattice interfaces.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Short communication on Kinetics of grain growth and particle pinning in U-10 wt.% Mo

Samples of a U-10Mo alloy was annealed at temperatures ranging from 700 °C to 900°C for periods lasting up to 24 hours. Annealed microstructures were examined using Electron Backscattered Diffraction (EBSD) to obtain average grain sizes and grain size distributions. From the temporal evolution of the average grain size, the activation energy of grain growth was determined to be 172.4 ± 0.961 kJ/mol. Grain growth over the annealing period stagnated after a period of 1 to 4 hours. This stagnation is apparently caused by the pinning effect of second-phase particles in the materials. In conclusion, back-scattered electron imaging (BSE) was used to confirm that these particles do not appreciably coarsen or dissolve during annealing at the aforementioned temperatures.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Experimental studies on eutectic formation between metallic fuel and HT-9M cladding in a single-pin core structure of a sodium-cooled fast reactor

Metallic fuel relocation experiments were conducted in which molten uranium was dropped into the cladding of a single fuel pin where eutectic interaction between fuel and cladding led to the release of eutectic fuel mixture into a narrow sodium channel. The thermal hydraulic relocation behavior of the molten uranium was analyzed in a previous study. Here, the extent of the eutectic formation was evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). The SEM/EDS analysis confirmed that cladding failure was caused by eutectic penetration. The eutectic penetration initiated around the boundary between cladding and uranium fuel, progressed into the cladding, and caused the cladding failure. Near the cladding failure region, the original cladding shape was unrecognizable, and many cracks, breakthroughs, and partial losses of the cladding were observed. The main components of the cladding failure region were UFe2 and U6Fe, which are the key components in the eutectic penetration

Eutectic Penetration↗
DOE OSTI2021

25-Pin metallic fuel performance benchmark case based on the EBR-II X430 experiments series

A metallic fuel benchmark case was developed for the fuel performance code BISON based on 25 uranium-zirconium and uranium-plutonium-zirconium pins of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II X430 experiment series. Results of the benchmarks were compared with measurements and calculations made at the time of the experiment as well as subsequent measurements reported in 2019. The comparisons were used to quantify the accuracy of the BISON predictions and to identify patterns in the BISON differences.BISON predicted burnup, plenum pressure, and fission gas release fractions accurately. BISON temperature predictions were somewhat cooler than the temperatures determined at the time of the experiment but appeared to be reasonably accurate considering uncertainties in the legacy temperature calculations, uncertainties in the legacy linear heat rate calculations, and the high sensitivities of the BISON-predicted temperatures to BISON inputs. Fuel axial elongation predictions had errors correlated to fuel composition; BISON tended to underpredict the elongation of binary fuels and overpredict the elongation of ternary fuels. BISON cladding radial dilation predictions were also significantly lower than legacy PIE measurements.Recommendations were made to improve the BISON fuel gaseous swelling model to account for fuel composition, to add additional capabilities to the coolant channel temperature model to ease benchmark development, and to continue developing benchmark cases based on a wide range of experiments in several reactors. Once a wide array of benchmarks is developed, an attempt can be made to enhance or calibrate BISON models to improve the cladding dilation predictions.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Experimental studies on metallic fuel relocation in a single-pin core structure of a sodium-cooled fast reactor

Experiments dropping molten uranium into test sections of single fuel pin geometry filled with sodium were conducted to investigate relocation behavior of metallic fuel in the core structures of sodium-cooled fast reactors during a hypothetical core disruptive accident. Metallic uranium was used as a fuel material and HT-9M was used as a fuel cladding material in the experiment in order to accurately mock-up the thermo-physical behavior of the relocation. The fuel cladding failed due to eutectic formation between the uranium and HT-9M for all experiments. The extent of the eutectic formation increased with increasing molten uranium temperature. Voids in the relocated fuel were observed for all experiments and were likely formed by sodium boiling in contact with the fuel. In one experiment, numerous fragments of the relocated fuel were found. In conclusion, it could be concluded that the injected metallic uranium fuel was fragmented and dispersed in the narrow coolant channel by sodium boiling

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Comparison of experimental and simulation results on interior subchannels of a 61-pin wire-wrapped hexagonal fuel bundle

As part of a joint U.S. Department of Energy project, Framatome, Argonne National Laboratory, Terrapower, and Texas A&M University have collaborated to produce experimental data and computational results to characterize the flow behavior of a 61-pin wire-wrapped hexagonal fuel bundle. Here, comparisons are made between Texas A&M’s experimental particle image velocimetry velocity field measurements and Argonne National Laboratory’s large-eddy simulation results in an interior subchannel for a Reynolds number of 19,000. It can be concluded that the shape and magnitude of the mean vertical velocity component is in excellent agreement for the selected horizontal line plots. Maximum relative errors are less than 10% until the subchannel walls are approached. Finally, the shape and, to a lesser extent, magnitude of the mean horizontal velocity component is in satisfactory agreement between the particle image velocimetry and large-eddy simulation results.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Feasibility of full-core pin resolved CFD simulations of small modular reactor with momentum sources

Complex flow structure interactions and heat transfer processes take place in nuclear reactor cores. Given the extreme pressure/temperature and radioactive conditions inside the core, numerical simulations offer an attractive and sometimes more feasible approach to study the related flow and heat transfer phenomena in addition to the experiments. Under the Exascale Computing Project, the full-core simulation of a small modular reactor (SMR) has been pursued coupling Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and neutronics. A key aspect of the modeling of SMR fuel assemblies is the presence of spacer grids and the mixing promoted by mixing vanes or the equivalent. A reduced order methodology is adopted based on momentum sources to mimic the mixing of the vanes. The momentum sources have been carefully calibrated with detailed Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of spacer grids performed with Nek5000. Modeling the spacer grid and mixing vanes (SGMV) effect without body-fitted computational grid avoids the excessive costs in resolving the local geometric details, and thus supports the simulation to be scaled up to the full core. Besides the progress on momentum source modeling, this paper also features the first full-core pin resolved CFD simulation ever performed to the authors' knowledge. This represents a significant advancement in capability for the CFD of nuclear reactors, which will hopefully serve as an inspiration for further integrating high-fidelity numerical simulations in actual engineering designs.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Molecular Junctions: Control of the Energy Gap Achieved by a Pinning Effect

Single-molecule junctions are the constitutive components of molecular electronics circuits. For any potential application, the energy gap in the junction, i.e., the accumulated energy difference between the electrode Fermi level and the two frontier energy levels of the molecule, is a key property. In this study, using the nonequilibrium Green’s function coupled to the density functional theory framework (NEGF-DFT) method, we show that the gap of the molecule inserted between electrodes can differ largely from the gap of the same molecule, at the isolated level. It can be widely compressed by tuning the alignment mechanism at each metal/molecule interface. In the context of molecular rectification, we show that this mechanism relates to the pinning effect. We discuss the different parameters affecting the compression of the gap and its efficiency. Interestingly, we find that the structure both of the molecule and of the anchoring group plays an important role. Finally, we investigate the evolution of these features out-of-equilibrium.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗