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At least 433 records · Page 24
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

Multilayer Architecture Barriers for High Temperature Nuclear Applications

Innovative thin film multilayer metal/ceramic barrier coatings have been developed by Argonne National Laboratory to protect fuel cladding against different phenomena that can be encountered under the harsh operating conditions of advanced nuclear reactors. One phenomenon is Fuel-Cladding Chemical Interaction (FCCI), which can represent a challenge to the performance of steel-clad metallic fuels in sodium-cooled fast reactors (SFRs), especially when operating to high burnups at elevated cladding temperatures, and long fuel residence time. Another phenomenon is the corrosion of zirconium-based cladding under prototypic boiling water reactor (BWR) conditions and associated cladding during off normal conditions, including loss of coolant accidents (LOCA). This work provides details of the development and testing of a thin film (few microns) multilayer metal/ceramic (CrY/Y 2 O 3 ) coatings on steel cladding and its performance against FCCI. The coating architecture evolved through systematic mechanical testing, radiation tolerance assessments, and high-temperature diffusion studies from a preliminary multilayer concept to an optimized high-performance design. The optimized structure leverages stoichiometric Y 2 O 3 for its exceptional radiation stability, chemical inertness, and ultra-low fission product diffusivity (e.g., Ce diffusivity ~10 -20 m 2 /s in irradiated Y 2 O 3 at 650 °C). This is paired with ductile chromium-rich interlayers (Cr 95 Y 5 ), which significantly enhance fracture toughness and mechanical resilience. Design refinements, including increased ceramic layer thickness and optimized Cr–Y interlayer composition, eliminated fracture propagation and preserved coating integrity under extreme mechanical stress (>10× typical reactor conditions) and prolonged radiation exposure (~300 dpa). Those conditions are well beyond expected conditions during normal operations in SFR, and cover some of the transient conditions as well. In addition, the coating deposition was demonstrated to be applied uniformly to the inner surface of steel tubes representing prototypic SFR cladding. Another phenomenon under consideration in this work is the corrosion of zirconium-based cladding under prototypic boiling water reactor (BWR) conditions and associated off normal conditions including loss of coolant accident (LOCA). Another multilayer thin film coating is considered for mitigation of this phenomenon, where a coating of yttrium aluminum and yttrium aluminum ceramic/metal thin film coating. Preliminary results on the coating performance during high temperature thermal cycling (up to 1000 C) have shown promising performance of the coating. On-going optimization of the coating will continue in FY26.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Toward UV models of kinetic mixing and portal matter. VI. A more complex dark matter sector?

Portal matter (PM), having both Standard Model (SM) and dark sector charges, can induce kinetic mixing between the 𝑈⁢(1) 𝐷 dark photon and the SM gauge fields at the 1-loop level offering an attractive mechanism by which light (≲1 GeV) thermal dark matter (DM) can interact with visible matter and obtain its observed relic density. In doing so, if the DM is fermionic, the CMB and other astrophysical observations inform us that it must be Majorana/pseudo-Dirac in nature to avoid velocity/temperature-independent 𝑠-wave annihilation to SM final states. How does this idea fit into a more UV-complete picture also including the SM interactions? There are some reasons to believe that at least a first step along this path may not lie too far away in energy due to the renormalization group equations running of the dark gauge coupling, which for a significant range of parameters, becomes nonperturbative at/before the ∼10’s of TeV energy range. This implies that 𝑈⁢(1) 𝐷 must become embedded in an asymptotically free, non-Abelian group, 𝐺 𝐷 , before this can occur. The breaking of this larger group then produces the masses for the PM and the additional gauge fields associated with 𝐺 𝐷 then can lead to new interactions between the SM and the dark sector. Following several bottom-up approaches, we have examined a set of distinctive and testable phenomenological features associated with this general setup, based upon a number of simplifying assumptions. Clearly, it behooves us to explore the impact of these specific assumptions on these predictions for the array of possible experimental tests of this class of models. In most past analyses it has been assumed that DM is a vectorlike, complex singlet under the group 𝐺 𝐷 . If this assumption is relaxed, the dark sector must be augmented by additional fermion(s) and the associated scalar fields needed to break the gauge symmetries while generating the needed Majorana-like mass terms for the DM. In this paper, we analyze the simplest extension of this kind wherein the DM lies in a vectorlike doublet of 𝐺 𝐷 , which we take to have the structure 𝑆⁢𝑈⁢(2) 𝐼 ×𝑈⁢(1) 𝑌 𝐼 as in earlier work, leading to new phenomenological implications. We find, for example, that given the current LHC search constraints on the masses of heavy gauge bosons, the production of these new dark states with large rates is unlikely to occur at colliders unless they are produced singly in 𝑔⁡𝑔 fusion or their pair production cross sections are resonantly enhanced. Here, we also find that an additional mechanism arises to generate hierarchal neutrino masses in such a setup.

Extensions of Higgs sector↗
NASA NTRS2014

Development of Cryogenic Filter Wheels for the HERSCHEL Photodetector Array Camera & Spectrometer (PACS)

This paper describes the two PACS Filter Wheels that are direct-drive rotational mechanisms operated at a temperature below 5K inside the PACS focal plane unit of the Herschel Satellite. The purpose of the mechanisms is to switch between filters. The rotation axis is pivoted to the support structure via a slightly preloaded pair of ball bearings and driven by a Cryotorquer. Position sensing is realized by a pair of Hall effect sensors. Powerless positioning at the filter positions is achieved by a magnetic ratchet system. The key technologies are the Cryotorquer design and the magnetic ratchet design in the low temperature range. Furthermore, we will report on lessons learned during the development and qualification of the mechanism and the paint.

Koerner, Christian↗
DOE OSTI2023

Toward a Photomagnetic Mechanism for f-element separations (Final Technical Report)

The intent behind this proposal was to evaluate magnetic field effects of rare-earth ions on radical pairs. Rare-earth ions are notoriously challenging to separate based on similar thermodynamic characteristics (e.g. solubility) or ion radius, whereas magnetism varies starkly from rare-earth to rare-earth, even when ions are immediately adjacent on the periodic table. Magnetism could be a useful property then for separations, but a mechanism that is effective and selective for magnetic characteristics must be produced. A reactive mechanism for separations could likewise be interesting for selective separations, if a magnetic handle for such a separation could be defined. This proposal sought to understand a specific reactive, magnetic handle for a reactive separations scheme by creating proof of concept model complexes that place rare earths in proximity to photochemically active functional groups.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2024

Activation of polycystin-1 signaling by binding of stalk-derived peptide agonists

Polycystin-1 (PC1) is the protein product of thePKD1gene whose mutation causes autosomal dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD). PC1 is an atypical G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) with an autocatalytic GAIN domain that cleaves PC1 into extracellular N-terminal and membrane-embedded C-terminal (CTF) fragments. Recently, activation of PC1 CTF signaling was shown to be regulated by a stalk tethered agonist (TA), resembling the mechanism observed for adhesion GPCRs. Here, synthetic peptides of the first 9- (p9), 17- (p17), and 21-residues (p21) of the PC1 stalk TA were shown to re-activate signaling by a stalkless CTF mutant in human cell culture assays. Novel Peptide Gaussian accelerated molecular dynamics (Pep-GaMD) simulations elucidated binding conformations of p9, p17, and p21 and revealed multiple specific binding regions to the stalkless CTF. Peptide agonists binding to the TOP domain of PC1 induced close TOP-putative pore loop interactions, a characteristic feature of stalk TA-mediated PC1 CTF activation. Additional sequence coevolution analyses showed the peptide binding regions were consistent with covarying residue pairs identified between the TOP domain and the stalk TA. These insights into the structural dynamic mechanism of PC1 activation by TA peptide agonists provide an in-depth understanding that will facilitate the development of therapeutics targeting PC1 for ADPKD treatment.

Life Sciences & Biomedicine - Other Topics↗
DOE OSTI2024

Defining Reactivity–Deconstructability Relationships for Copolymerizations Involving Cleavable Comonomer Additives

The incorporation of cleavable comonomers as additives into polymers can imbue traditional polymers with controlled deconstructability and expanded end-of-life options. The efficiency with which cleavable comonomer additives (CCAs) can enable deconstruction is sensitive to their local distribution within a copolymer backbone, which is dictated by their copolymerization behavior. While qualitative heuristics exist that describe deconstructability, comprehensive quantitative connections between CCA loadings, reactivity ratios, polymerization mechanisms, and deconstruction reactions on the deconstruction efficiency of copolymers containing CCAs have not been established. Here, in this work, we broadly define these relationships using stochastic simulations characterizing various polymerization mechanisms (e.g., controlled/living, free-radical, and reversible ring-opening polymerizations), reactivity ratio pairs (spanning 2 orders of magnitude between 0.01 and 100), CCA loadings (2.5% to 20%), and deconstruction reactions (e.g., comonomer sequence-dependent deconstruction behavior). We show general agreement between simulated and experimentally observed deconstruction fragment sizes from the literature, demonstrating the predictive power of the methods used herein. These results will guide the development of more efficient CCAs and inform the formulation of deconstructable materials.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Framework-Topology-Controlled Singlet Fission in Metal–Organic Frameworks

Singlet fission (SF) has been explored as a viable route to improve photovoltaic performance by producing more excitons. Efficient SF is achieved through a high degree of interchromophoric coupling that facilitates electron super exchange to generate triplet pairs. However, strongly coupled chromophores often form excimers that can serve as an SF intermediate or a low-energy trap site. The succeeding decoherence process, however, requires an optimum electronic coupling to facilitate the isolation of triplet production from the initially prepared correlated triplet pair. Conformational flexibility and dielectric modulation can provide a means to tune the SF mechanism and efficiency by modulating the interchromophoric electronic interaction. Such a strategy cannot be easily adopted in densely stacked traditional organic solids. Here, we show that the assembly of the SF-active chromophores around well-defined pores of solution-stable metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) can be a great platform for a modular SF process. A series of three new MOFs, built out from 9,10-bis(ethynylenephenyl)anthracene-derived struts, show a topology-defined packing density and conformational flexibility of the anthracene core to dictate the SF mechanism. Various steady-state and transient spectroscopic data suggest that the initially prepared singlet population can prefer either an excimer-mediated SF or a direct SF (both through a virtual charge-transfer (CT) state). Finally, these solution-stable frameworks offer the tunability of the dielectric environment to facilitate the SF process by stabilizing the CT state. Given that MOFs are a great platform for various photophysical and photochemical developments, generating a large population of long-lived triplets can expand their utilities in various photon energy conversion schemes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1980

Jet decay rate effects on hover jet-induced loads

The paper explains the mechanisms for observed jet decay rate effects on jet-induced loads on a flat plate for cross-flow and hover configurations. Examples are presented for the influence of the decay rate on integrated loads on a flat plate induced by the jet issuing at a right angle from the plate into still air; knowledge of these jet-induced loadings is of particular importance for VTOL aircraft design because they produce an effective loss in the lift force available in hover. The apparent inconsistency between existing lift loss vs jet decay rate trends is explained in light of the different mechanism which determine the jet mixing and trajectory, i.e., entrainment, blockage, and the vortex pair associated with a jet in crossflow.

Kuhlman, J. M.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Nematic Cells for Digital Light Deflection

Smectic A (SmA) materials can be used in non-mechanical, digital beam deflectors (DBDs) as fillers for passive birefringent prisms based on decoupled pairs of electrically controlled, liquid crystalline polarization rotators, like twisted nematic (TN) cells and passive deflectors. DBDs are used in free-space laser communications, optical fiber communications, optical switches, scanners, and in-situ wavefront correction.

Pishnyak, Oleg↗
NASA NTRS2006

Optically Driven Deformable Mirrors

Optically driven deformable mirrors may eventually supplant electrically driven deformable mirrors in some adaptive-optics and active-optics applications. Traditionally, the mirror facets in electrically driven deformable mirrors are actuated, variously, by means of piezoelectric, electrostrictive, microelectromechanical, liquid-crystal, or thermal devices. At least one such device must be dedicated to each facet, and there must be at least one wire carrying a control or drive signal to the device. If a deformable mirror comprises many (e.g., thousands) of facets, then wiring becomes a major problem for design, and the problem is compounded in cases of piezoelectric or other actuators for which high drive voltages are required. In contrast, in optically driven mirrors, the wiring problem is eliminated. The basic principle of actuation of an optically driven deformable mirror is to use a laser beam to actuate a material. For example, a laser beam can be used to heat a material to make the material thermally expand to displace a mirror facet. In an experiment to demonstrate this principle, the actuator was a Golay cell having a diameter of approximately equal to 6 mm and a length of approximately equal to 10 mm. The beam from a laser diode was aimed at an absorber in the cell, thereby heating the gas in the cell. A mirror mounted on a 12.5-micron-thick polyethylene terephthalate diaphragm at one end of the cell became displaced as the gas expanded against the diaphragm. In one representative pair of experiments at a laser beam power of 0.23 W, the beam was mechanically chopped at frequencies of 1 and 5 Hz. The mirror exhibited corresponding oscillating displacements having amplitudes of 373 and 83 micron, respectively

Hemmati, Hamid↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Multiscale Prediction of Yarn Pullout Failure Mode in Unreinforced Textile Fabrics

Unreinforced woven fabrics have been implemented in a variety of high performance applications, including body armor, deployable structures, and as the reinforcement material in composites. Multiscale modeling techniques have significantly improved the capabilities of simulation-based tools to capture fabric mechanics efficiently and accurately, but often lack in their prediction of failure and require pairing with finite element analysis (FEA) software, limiting their application to the design of ‘fit-for-purpose’ materials. NASA’s Multiscale Analysis Tool (NASMAT) is a standalone multiscale program that has been traditionally used in the analysis of reinforced composites materials. More recently, it has been amended to simulate unreinforced fabric behavior by allowing the geometric state of the tows to change with applied loading due to the lack of a reinforcement material, such as the matrix seen in composites. Previous work has shown the ability of NASMAT to capture nonlinear macroscale behavior by predicting geometric changes in the state of each subcell as a function of the applied loading and allowing each subcell in the analysis to rotate according to these predicted changes, as well as predict nonlinear behavior due to the fiber breakage failure mode. In this work, the capability of predicting the onset and propagation of failure in plain woven fabrics in NASMAT is presented for the yarn pullout failure mode, which occurs when a fabric is loaded at an off-axis angle relative to the warp of weft tow direction. Yarn pullout behavior is initiated by determining the applied load in which the shear resistance of the contact area between yarn families is overcome. When failure is initiated, yarn pullout is determined to have occurred when the applied displacement, calculated from global strain, exceeds the deformed position of a given contact points between yarn families, determined from pin-joint kinematics. Contact points where pullout has occurred contribute to a global damage parameter used to modify the homogenized stiffness of the fabric, resulting in nonlinear behavior observed at the macroscale. The off-axis loading behavior and yarn pullout failure theory have been developed and implemented into NASMAT such that users can simulate off-axis tensile behavior of fabrics in a single, standalone multiscale tool. Simulations are compared to uniaxial tensile tests at various off-axis angles to demonstrate the capability of the tool in its prediction of both the onset of failure at each off-axis angles and the stress-strain behavior as failure progresses.

Materials↗
DOE OSTI2020

Lone-Electron-Pair Micelles Strengthen Bond Anharmonicity in MnPb16Sb14S38 Complex Sulfosalt Leading to Ultra-Low Thermal Conductivity

Designing crystalline solids in which intrinsic extremely low lattice thermal conductivity mainly arises from its unique bonding nature rather than structure complexity and/or atomic disorder could promote thermal energy manipulation and utilization for applications ranging from thermoelectric energy conversion to thermal barrier coatings. Here, we report an extremely low lattice thermal conductivity of ~0.34 W m-1 K-1 at 300 K in the new complex sulfosalt MnPb16Sb14S38. We attribute the ultra-low lattice thermal conductivity to a synergistic combination of scattering mechanisms involving (1) strong bond anharmonicity in various structural building units, owing to the presence of stereoactive lone-electron-pair (LEP) micelles, and (2) phonon scattering at the interfaces between building units of increasing size and complexity. Remarkably, low-temperature heat capacity measurement revealed a Cp value of 0.206 J g-1 K-1 at T > 300 K, which is 22% lower than the Dulong-Petit value (0.274 J g-1 K-1). Further analysis of the Cp data and sound velocity (ν = 1834 m/s) measurement yielded Debye temperature values of 161 K and 187 K, respectively. Here, the resulting Grüneisen parameter, γ = 1.65, further supports strong bond anharmonicity as the dominant mechanism responsible for the observed extremely low lattice thermal conductivity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Optimizing Bendability and Hardness of Age-Hardenable Aluminum Sheets through Local Thermo-Mechanical Processing

This paper introduces a novel thermo-mechanical process to modify the local mechanical properties of 6xxx aluminum (Al-Mg-Si-Cu) alloy sheets. In this process, two pairs of rollers travel along the length of a sheet while locally bending and unbending it so that the final shape and thickness of the sheet remains unchanged. Room temperature bending/unbending (B/U) produces a deformation gradient through thickness and local hardening in both T4 and T6 sheets (with 41% and 18% greater Vickers hardness, respectively). High temperature bending/unbending performed at ~ 500°C via induction heating, produces significant improvements in local formability as measured by bend testing. Formability levels equivalent to the as-received T4 temper are achieved within the processed zones of T6 sheets with bend angles of ~ 150°, without disturbing the T6 temper in the remainder of the sheet. Finite element simulations and characterization explained the mechanical property improvements and the heterogenous microstructure with weakened Cube texture. Due to its similarity with the roller hemming process, and its compact dimensions, the apparatus developed for B/U has the potential for seamless integration with roller hemming robots to selectively process high strength aluminum sheet materials within mass-production settings.

Efe, Mert [BATTELLE (PACIFIC NW LAB)]↗
DOE OSTI2023

Macroscale Fabrication of Lightweight and Strong Porous Carbon Foams through Template-Coating Pair Design

Manufacturing of low-density-high-strength carbon foams can benefit the construction, transportation, and packaging industries. One successful route to lightweight and mechanically strong carbon foams involves pyrolysis of polymeric architectures, which is inevitably accompanied by drastic volumetric shrinkage (usually >98%). As such, a challenge of these materials lies in maintaining bulk dimensions of building struts that span orders of magnitude difference in length scale from centimeters to nanometers. Here, this work demonstrates fabrication of macroscale low-density-high-strength carbon foams that feature exceptional dimensional stability through pyrolysis of robust template-coating pairs. The template serves as the architectural blueprint and contains strength-imparting properties (e.g., high node density and small strut dimensions); it is composed of a low char-yielding porous polystyrene backbone with a high carbonization-onset temperature. The coating serves to imprint and transcribe the template architecture into pyrolytic carbon; it is composed of a high char-yielding conjugated polymer with a relatively low carbonization-onset temperature. The designed carbonization mismatch enables structural inheritance, while the decomposition mismatch affords hollow struts, minimizing density. The carbons synthesized through this new framework exhibit remarkable dimensional stability (≈80% dimension retention; ≈50% volume retention) and some of the highest specific strengths (≈0.13 GPa g -1 cm 3 ) among reported carbon foams derived from porous polymer templates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Unexpected inverse correlations and cooperativity in ion-pair phase transfer

Liquid/liquid extraction is one of the most widely used separation and purification methods, where a forefront of research is the study of transport mechanisms for solute partitioning and the relationships that these have to solution structure at the phase boundary. To date, organized surface features that include protrusions, water-fingers, and molecular hinges have been reported. Many of these equilibrium studies have focused upon small-molecule transport – yet the extent to which the complexity of the solute, and the competition between different solutes, influence transport mechanisms have not been explored. Here we report molecular dynamics simulations that demonstrate that a metal salt (LiNO 3 ) can be transported via a protrusion mechanism that is remarkably similar to that reported for H 2 O by tri-butyl phosphate (TBP), a process that involves dimeric assemblies. Yet the LiNO 3 out-competes H 2 O for a bridging position between the extracting TBP dimer, which in-turn changes the preferred transport pathway of H 2 O. Examining the electrolyte concentration dependence on ion-pair transport unexpectedly reveals an inverse correlation with the extracting surfactant concentration. As [LiNO 3 ] increases, surface adsorbed TBP becomes a limiting reactant in correlation with an increased negative surface charge induced by excess interfacial NO 3 – , however the rate of transport is enhanced. Within the highly dynamic interfacial environment, we hypothesize that this unique cooperative effect may be due to perturbed surface organization that either decreases the energy of formation of transporting protrusion motifs or makes it easier for these self-assembled species to disengage from the surface.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
NASA NTRS1998

Development of a mirror pointing mechanism for an atmospheric gas measurement instrument

Development of the Open Path Tunable Infrared Monitor of the Atmosphere (OPTIMA) instrument involved designing a pair of motion systems that could maintain a precise alignment and spatial distance between two mirrors installed on the NASA DC-8 research laboratory aircraft. This is the first airborne optical instrument that allows direct measurement of the gases in the freestream airflow on the exterior of the aircraft. One mirror is mounted within a specially constructed open port cavity in the cabin of the aircraft and the second is mounted 6 meters away on top of the inboard port side (number 2) engine pylon. Three co-aligned laser beams are reflected between the two mirrors 64 times in a Herriott pattern. The resulting sample path length of 384 meters is used to perform a spectral absorption analysis of the airflow between the mirrors. To compensate for normal wing movement and engine oscillations both mirrors were designed as continuously driven mechanisms to maintain alignment within allowable limits. The motion systems of the two mirror assemblies provide five degrees of freedom and are designed to maintain a pointing accuracy within seven arc-sec with a response frequency in excess of 10 Hz. The pylon motion system incorporates controlled pitch and yaw movement. The fuselage motion system compensates for pitch variation as well as linear translation for focal length and vertical aiming of the laser beam via a controlled beam guidance mechanism.

Graham, Michael↗
NASA NTRS1998

Development of a Mirror Pointing Mechanism for an Atmospheric Gas Measurement Instrument

Development of the Open Path Tunable Infrared Monitor of the Atmosphere (OPTIMA) instrument involved designing a pair of motion systems that could maintain a precise alignment and spatial distance between two mirrors installed on the NASA DC-8 research laboratory aircraft. This is the first airborne optical instrument that allows direct measurement of the gases in the freestream airflow on the exterior of the aircraft. One mirror is mounted within a specially constructed open port cavity in the cabin of the aircraft and the second is mounted 6 meters away on top of the inboard port side (number 2) engine pylon. Three co-aligned laser beams are reflected between the two mirrors 64 times in a Herriott pattern. The resulting sample path length of 384 meters is used to perform a spectral absorption analysis of the airflow between the mirrors. To compensate for normal wing movement and engine oscillations both mirrors were designed as continuously driven mechanisms to maintain alignment within allowable limits. The motion systems of the two mirror assemblies provide five degrees of freedom and are designed to maintain a pointing accuracy within seven arc-sec with a response frequency in 6xcess of 10 Hz. The pylon motion system incorporates controlled pitch and yaw movement. The fuselage motion system compensates for pitch variation as well as linear translation for focal length and vertical aiming of the laser beam via a controlled beam guidance mechanism.

Graham, Michael↗