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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 451 records · Page 25
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2013

Planar and nonplanar ion acoustic shock waves in relativistic degenerate astrophysical electron-positron-ion plasmas

We have studied the propagation of ion acoustic shock waves involving planar and non-planar geometries in an unmagnetized plasma, whose constituents are non-degenerate ultra-cold ions, relativistically degenerate electrons, and positrons. By using the reductive perturbation technique, Korteweg-deVries Burger and modified Korteweg-deVries Burger equations are derived. It is shown that only compressive shock waves can propagate in such a plasma system. The effects of geometry, the ion kinematic viscosity, and the positron concentration are examined on the ion acoustic shock potential and electric field profiles. It is found that the properties of ion acoustic shock waves in a non-planar geometry significantly differ from those in planar geometry. The present study has relevance to the dense plasmas, produced in laboratory (e.g., super-intense laser-dense matter experiments) and in dense astrophysical objects.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Ion-acoustic super rogue waves in ultracold neutral plasmas with nonthermal electrons

The ion-acoustic rogue waves in ultracold neutral plasmas consisting of ion fluid and nonthermal electrons are reported. A reductive perturbation method is used to obtain a nonlinear Schrödinger equation for describing the system and the modulation instability of the ion-acoustic wave is analyzed. The critical wave number k{sub c}, which indicates where the modulational instability sets in, has been determined. Moreover, the possible region for the ion-acoustic rogue waves to exist is defined precisely. The effects of the nonthermal parameter β and the ions effective temperature ratio σ{sub *} on the critical wave number k{sub c} are studied. It is found that there are two critical wave numbers in our plasma system. For low wave number, increasing β would lead to cringe k{sub c} until β approaches to its critical value β{sub c}, then further increase of β beyond β{sub c} would enhance the values of k{sub c}. For large wave numbers, the increase of β would lead to a decrease of k{sub c}. However, increasing σ{sub *} would lead to the reduction of k{sub c} for all values of the wave number. The dependence of the rogue waves profile on the plasma parameters is numerically examined. It is found that the rogue wave amplitudes have complex behavior with increasing β. Furthermore, the enhancement of σ{sub *} and the carrier wave number k reduces the rogue wave amplitude. It is noticed that near to the critical wave number, the rogue wave amplitude becomes high, but it shrinks whenever we stepped away from k{sub c}. The implications of our results in laboratory ultracold neutral plasma experiments are briefly discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Modification of the formation of high-Mach number electrostatic shock-like structures by the ion acoustic instability

The formation of unmagnetized electrostatic shock-like structures with a high Mach number is examined with one- and two-dimensional particle-in-cell (PIC) simulations. The structures are generated through the collision of two identical plasma clouds, which consist of equally hot electrons and ions with a mass ratio of 250. The Mach number of the collision speed with respect to the initial ion acoustic speed of the plasma is set to 4.6. This high Mach number delays the formation of such structures by tens of inverse ion plasma frequencies. A pair of stable shock-like structures is observed after this time in the 1D simulation, which gradually evolves into electrostatic shocks. The ion acoustic instability, which can develop in the 2D simulation but not in the 1D one, competes with the nonlinear process that gives rise to these structures. The oblique ion acoustic waves fragment their electric field. The transition layer, across which the bulk of the ions change their speed, widens and their speed change is reduced. Double layer-shock hybrid structures develop.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Oblique propagation of ion acoustic soliton-cnoidal waves in a magnetized electron-positron-ion plasma with superthermal electrons

The oblique propagation of ion-acoustic soliton-cnoidal waves in a magnetized electron-positron-ion plasma with superthermal electrons is studied. Linear dispersion relations of the fast and slow ion-acoustic modes are discussed under the weak and strong magnetic field situations. By means of the reductive perturbation approach, Korteweg-de Vries equations governing ion-acoustic waves of fast and slow modes are derived, respectively. Explicit interacting soliton-cnoidal wave solutions are obtained by the generalized truncated Painlevé expansion. It is found that every peak of a cnoidal wave elastically interacts with a usual soliton except for some phase shifts. The influence of the electron superthermality, positron concentration, and magnetic field obliqueness on the soliton-cnoidal wave are investigated in detail.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Particle manipulation by a non-resonant acoustic levitator

We present the analysis of a non-resonant acoustic levitator, formed by an ultrasonic transducer and a concave reflector. In contrast to traditional levitators, the geometry presented herein does not require the separation distance between the transducer and the reflector to be a multiple of half wavelength. The levitator behavior is numerically predicted by applying a numerical model to calculate the acoustic pressure distribution and the Gor'kov theory to obtain the potential of the acoustic radiation force that acts on a levitated particle. We also demonstrate that levitating particles can be manipulated by controlling the reflector position while maintaining the transducer in a fixed position.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Time-fractional Gardner equation for ion-acoustic waves in negative-ion-beam plasma with negative ions and nonthermal nonextensive electrons

Nonlinear propagation of ion-acoustic waves is investigated in a one-dimensional, unmagnetized plasma consisting of positive ions, negative ions, and nonthermal electrons featuring Tsallis distribution that is penetrated by a negative-ion-beam. The classical Gardner equation is derived to describe nonlinear behavior of ion-acoustic waves in the considered plasma system via reductive perturbation technique. We convert the classical Gardner equation into the time-fractional Gardner equation by Agrawal's method, where the time-fractional term is under the sense of Riesz fractional derivative. Employing variational iteration method, we construct solitary wave solutions of the time-fractional Gardner equation with initial condition which depends on the nonlinear and dispersion coefficients. The effect of the plasma parameters on the compressive and rarefactive ion-acoustic solitary waves is also discussed in detail.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

The deformation and acoustic emission of aluminum-magnesium alloy under non-isothermal thermo-mechanical loading

The following study investigates the deformation behavior and acoustic emission in aluminum-magnesium alloy under conditions of non-isothermal thermo-mechanical loading. The accumulation of deformation in the alloy, in conditions of change from room temperature to 500°C, occurs in two temperature intervals (I, II), characterized by different rates of deformation. The rate of deformation accumulation is correlated with acoustic emission. With load increasing in cycles from 40 to 200 MPa, the value of the boundary temperature (T{sub b}) between intervals I and II changes non-monotonically. In cycles with load up to 90 MPa, the T{sub b} value increases, while an increase up to 200 MPa makes T{sub b} shift toward lower temperatures. This suggests that the shift of boundaries in the region of low temperatures and the appearance of high-amplitude pulses of acoustic emission characterize the decrease of the magnitude of thermal fluctuations with increasing mechanical load, leading to the rupture of interatomic bonds in an elementary deformation act.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Numerical modelling of nonlinear full-wave acoustic propagation

The various model equations of nonlinear acoustics are arrived at by making assumptions which permit the observation of the interaction with propagation of either single or joint effects. We present here a form of the conservation equations of fluid dynamics which are deduced using slightly less restrictive hypothesis than those necessary to obtain the well known Westervelt equation. This formulation accounts for full wave diffraction, nonlinearity, and thermoviscous dissipative effects. A two-dimensional, finite-volume method using Roe’s linearisation has been implemented to obtain numerically the solution of the proposed equations. This code, which has been written for parallel execution on a GPU, can be used to describe moderate nonlinear phenomena, at low Mach numbers, in domains as large as 100 wave lengths. Applications range from models of diagnostic and therapeutic HIFU, to parametric acoustic arrays and nonlinear propagation in acoustic waveguides. Examples related to these applications are shown and discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Annular spherically focused ring transducers for improved single-beam acoustical tweezers

The use of ultrasonic transducers with a central hollow is suggested for improved single-beam acoustical tweezers applications. Within the framework of the Fresnel-Kirchhoff parabolic approximation, a closed-form partial-wave series expansion (PWSE) for the incident velocity potential (or pressure) field is derived for an annular spherically focused ring (asfr) with uniform vibration across its surface in spherical coordinates. The Rayleigh-Sommerfeld diffraction integral and the addition theorems for the Legendre and spherical wave functions are used to obtain the PWSE assuming a weakly focused beam (with a focusing angle α ≤ 20°). The PWSE allows evaluating the incident field from the finite asfr in 3D. Moreover, the obtained solution allows computing efficiently the acoustic scattering and radiation force on a sphere centered on the beam's axis of wave propagation. The analytical solution is valid for wavelengths largely exceeding the radius of the asfr and when the viscosity of the surrounding fluid can be neglected. Numerical predictions for the beam-forming, scattering, and axial time-averaged radiation force are performed with particular emphasis on the asfr thickness, the axial distance separating the sphere from the center of the transducer, the (non-dimensional) size of the transducer, as well as the sphere's elastic properties without restriction to the long- (i.e., Rayleigh) or the short-wavelength (i.e., ray acoustics) regimes. Potential applications of the present solution are in beam-forming design, particle tweezing, and manipulation due to negative forces using ultrasonic asfr transducers.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Enhancement of acoustical performance of hollow tube sound absorber

This paper presents acoustical performance of hollow structures utilizing the recycled lollipop sticks as acoustic absorbers. The hollow cross section of the structures is arranged facing the sound incidence. The effects of different length of the sticks and air gap on the acoustical performance are studied. The absorption coefficient was measured using impedance tube method. Here it is found that improvement on the sound absorption performance is achieved by introducing natural kapok fiber inserted into the void between the hollow structures. Results reveal that by inserting the kapok fibers, both the absorption bandwidth and the absorption coefficient increase. For test sample backed by a rigid surface, best performance of sound absorption is obtained for fibers inserted at the front and back sides of the absorber. And for the case of test sample with air gap, this is achieved for fibers introduced only at the back side of the absorber.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2023

Acoustic properties, elasticity, and equation of state of glycerol under pressure

Herein we employed high-pressure Brillouin scattering to study the pressure dependencies of acoustic modes of glycerol up to 14 GPa at 300 K. We observed longitudinal acoustic velocities and transverse acoustic velocities for the first time from 5 to 14 GPa. The results allow the determination of a complete set of elastic properties and an accurate determination of the pressure–volume (P–V) equation of state (EOS). EOS parameters, K 0 = 14.9 ± 1.8 GPa and K' 0 = 5.6 ± 0.5, were determined from fits to the data from ambient pressure to 14 GPa. Direct volume measurements of the P–V EOS are consistent with those determined by Brillouin scattering. A deviation from a Cauchy-like relationship for elastic properties was observed, and the pressure dependencies of the photoelastic constants and relaxation times were documented from 5 to 14 GPa. These results have broad implications for glass-forming liquids, viscoelastic theory, and mode coupling theory.

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

Acoustic signal investigation in the ice melting under high-power laser irradiation at a wavelength of 2940 nm

We have measured acoustic signals emerging in the melting of a thin (about 2 μm) ice layer, which is sandwiched between two substrates, under high-power laser irradiation at a wavelength of 2940 nm. A negative-pressure acoustic signal arising from the difference in the specific volumes of water and ice was found to occur in the ice melting. The amplitude of this signal was comparable to the amplitude of the positive-pressure signal produced under laser irradiation of the same layer of water. The shapes of acoustic signals were measured for different energy densities of the incident radiation. The variation of negative-pressure pulse shape with increasing radiation energy density was interpreted as a continuity break of the medium. The temperature and pressure in the layer were estimated in the heating of water and the melting of ice. (interaction of laser radiation with matter)

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Real-Time In-Pile Acoustic Measurement Infrastructure at the Advanced Test Reactor

The core of any nuclear reactor presents a particularly harsh environment for sensors and instrumentation. The reactor core also imposes challenging constraints on signal transmission from inside the reactor core to outside of the reactor vessel. In this paper, an acoustic measurement infrastructure installed at the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), located at Idaho National Laboratory, is presented. The measurement infrastructure consists of ATR in-pile structural components, coolant, acoustic receivers, primary coolant pumps (PCPs), a data acquisition system, and signal-processing algorithms. Intrinsic and cyclic acoustic signals generated by the operation of the PCPs are collected and processed. Finally, the characteristics of the intrinsic signal can indicate the process state of the ATR (such as reactor startup, reactor criticality, reactor attaining maximum power, and reactor shutdown) during operation (i.e., real-time measurement).

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2012

MEASURING BARYON ACOUSTIC OSCILLATIONS ON 21 cm INTENSITY FLUCTUATIONS AT MODERATE REDSHIFTS

After reionization, emission in the 21 cm hyperfine transition provides a direct probe of neutral hydrogen distributed in galaxies. Different from galaxy redshift surveys, observation of baryon acoustic oscillations in the cumulative 21 cm emission may offer an attractive method for constraining dark energy properties at moderate redshifts. Keys to this program are techniques to extract the faint cosmological signal from various contaminants, such as detector noise and continuum foregrounds. In this paper, we investigate the possible systematic and statistical errors in the acoustic scale estimates using ground-based radio interferometers. Based on the simulated 21 cm interferometric measurements, we analyze the performance of a Fourier-space, light-of-sight algorithm in subtracting foregrounds, and further study the observing strategy as a function of instrumental configurations. Measurement uncertainties are presented from a suite of simulations with a variety of parameters, in order to have an estimate of what behaviors will be accessible in the future generation of hydrogen surveys. We find that 10 separate interferometers, each of which contains {approx}300 dishes, observing an independent patch of the sky and producing an instantaneous field of view (FOV) of {approx}100 deg{sup 2}, can be used to make a significant detection of acoustic features over a period of a few years. Compared to optical surveys, the broad bandwidth, wide FOV, and multi-beam observation are all unprecedented capabilities of low-frequency radio experiments.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ion acoustic solitons in dense magnetized plasmas with nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic degenerate electrons and positrons

The propagation of electrostatic waves in a dense magnetized electron-positron-ion (EPI) plasma with nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic degenerate electrons and positrons is investigated. The linear dispersion relation is obtained for slow and fast electrostatic waves in the EPI plasma. The limiting cases for ion acoustic wave (slow) and ion cyclotron wave (fast) are also discussed. Using the reductive perturbation method, two-dimensional propagation of ion acoustic solitons is found for both the nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic degenerate electrons and positrons. The effects of positron concentration, magnetic field, and mass of ions on ion acoustic solitons are shown in numerical plots. The proper form of Fermi temperature for nonrelativistic and ultrarelativistic degenerate electrons and positrons is employed, which has not been used in earlier published work. The present investigation is useful for the understanding of linear and nonlinear electrostatic wave propagation in the dense magnetized EPI plasma of compact stars. For illustration purposes, we have applied our results to a pulsar magnetosphere.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Lattice chain theories for dynamics of acoustic flexural phonons in nonpolar nanomaterials

Knowledge of lattice dynamics of acoustic flexural phonons is critically important in understanding the mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties of nanomaterials. However, the general nature of acoustic flexural phonons for the span of possible nanomaterials and the dependence of these on microscopic material properties remain unclear. Therefore, we develop general lattice chain theories to understand acoustic flexural vibrations in covalent and van der Waals lattices. Furthermore, the analytic theories suggest that the flexure branch has quadratic dispersion for low dimensional lattices in the long-wavelength limit, quite different from linear branches in bulk van der Waals bonded lattices like graphite. Surprisingly, interlayer van der Waals interactions in multilayer lattices do not determine the behavior of the flexural dispersion. The bonds of covalent interactions in multilayer and buckled monolayer lattices play different roles in determining the flexural dispersion with those in flat monolayer lattices, e.g., graphene. Further, based on the correspondence between microscopic and continuum dynamics, we provide a universal and effective approach to characterize the intrinsic bending rigidity of low dimensional nanomaterials using dispersion data.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2023

A New Miniaturized Acoustic Transmitter for Marine Animal Tracking

Most marine renewable energy (MRE) technologies are still in their infancy. Many uncertainties remain regarding MRE systems’ impacts on the marine environment and species where they are deployed, which is one of the major hurdles for these systems to be widely adopted at a commercial scale. Currently, the primary technologies to monitor marine animals’ behavior around existing or potential MRE deployment sites are optical and acoustic imaging. However, these methods cannot identify individual animals and thus are less useful in identifying protected species and studying their behavior. Implantable acoustic transmitters with unique identification codes could serve as a complementary technology. To minimize potential bias introduced to the study results, the implanted transmitters must be sufficiently small and light to not affect the animals’ behavior while still having acceptable signal strengths and service life. Recently, we developed a new miniaturized acoustic transmitter that offers a significantly improved signal strength and service life (140 days [projected value] at a 5-s transmission interval) in a smaller and lighter package (0.45 g in the air), compared to the existing technologies. The detection range and detection efficiency of the new transmitter were tested in an actual marine environment and demonstrated a detection range of up to 330 m, a 65% improvement over the existing commercial counterparts operating at similar frequencies. Here, we report the design principles, performance, and manufacturing procedure of the transmitter. Finally, theoretical estimates of the detection range, the actual range, and detection efficiency results from the field testing are presented.

acoustic telemetry↗
DOE OSTI2016

PREDICTIVE MODELING OF ACOUSTIC SIGNALS FROM THERMOACOUSTIC POWER SENSORS (TAPS)

Thermoacoustic Power Sensor (TAPS) technology offers the potential for self-powered, wireless measurement of nuclear reactor core operating conditions. TAPS are based on thermoacoustic engines, which harness thermal energy from fission reactions to generate acoustic waves by virtue of gas motion through a porous stack of thermally nonconductive material. TAPS can be placed in the core, where they generate acoustic waves whose frequency and amplitude are proportional to the local temperature and radiation flux, respectively. TAPS acoustic signals are not measured directly at the TAPS; rather, they propagate wirelessly from an individual TAPS through the reactor, and ultimately to a low-power receiver network on the vessel’s exterior. In order to rely on TAPS as primary instrumentation, reactor-specific models which account for geometric/acoustic complexities in the signal propagation environment must be used to predict the amplitude and frequency of TAPS signals at receiver locations. The reactor state may then be derived by comparing receiver signals to the reference levels established by predictive modeling. In this paper, we develop and experimentally benchmark a methodology for predictive modeling of the signals generated by a TAPS system, with the intent of subsequently extending these efforts to modeling of TAPS in a liquid sodium environmen

thermoacoustics, wireless in-core radiation detect↗