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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
NASA NTRS1996

Interaction of Particles and Turbulence in the Solar Nebula

The most widely accepted theories for the formation of the Solar system claim that small solid particles continue to settle into a thin layer at the midplane of the Solar nebula until it becomes gravitationally unstable and collapses directly into km-sized planetesimals. This scenario has been challenged on at least two grounds: (1) due to turbulence, the particles may not settle into a thin layer, and (2) a thin layer may not be unstable. The Solar nebula contains at least three sources of turbulence: radial shear, vertical shear, and thermal convection. The first of these is small and probably negligible, while the last is poorly understood. However, the second contribution is likely to be substantial. The particle-rich layer rotates at nearly the Keplerian speed, but the surrounding gaseous nebula rotates slower because it is partly supported by pressure. The resulting shear generates a turbulent boundary layer which stirs the particles away from the midplane, and forestalls gravitational instability. Our previous work used a 'zero-equation' (Prandtl) model to predict the intensity of shear-generated turbulence, and enabled us to demonstrate numerically that settling of particles to the midplane is self-limiting. However, we neglected the possibility that mass loading by particles might damp the turbulence. To explore this, we have developed a more sophisticated 'one-equation' model which incorporates local generation, transport, and dissipation of turbulence, as well as explicit damping of turbulence by particles. We also include a background level of global turbulence to represent other sources. Our results indicate that damping flattens the distribution of particles somewhat, but that background turbulence thickens the particle layer.

Dacles-Mariani, Jennifer S.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Turbulent Flow Field Measurements of Separate Flow Round and Chevron Nozzles with Pylon Interaction Using Particle Image Velocimetry

Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements for six separate flow bypass ratio five nozzle configurations have recently been obtained in the NASA Langley Jet Noise Laboratory. The six configurations include a baseline configuration with round core and fan nozzles, an eight-chevron core nozzle at two different clocking positions, and repeats of these configurations with a pylon included. One run condition representative of takeoff was investigated for all cases with the core nozzle pressure ratio set to 1.56 and the total temperature to 828 K. The fan nozzle pressure ratio was set to 1.75 with a total temperature of 350 K, and the freestream Mach number was M = 0.28. The unsteady flow field measurements provided by PIV complement recent computational, acoustic, and mean flow field studies performed at NASA Langley for the same nozzle configurations and run condition. The PIV baseline configuration measurements show good agreement with mean flow field data as well as existing PIV data acquired at NASA Glenn. Nonetheless, the baseline configuration turbulence profile indicates an asymmetric flow field, despite careful attention to concentricity. The presence of the pylon increases the upper shear layer turbulence levels while simultaneously decreasing the turbulence levels in the lower shear layer. In addition, a slightly shorter potential core length is observed with the addition of the pylon. Finally, comparisons of computational results with PIV measurements are favorable for mean flow, slightly over-predicted for Reynolds shear stress, and underpredicted for Reynolds normal stress components.

Doty, Michael J.↗
NASA NTRS2014

The Messy Aerosol Submodel MADE3 (v2.0b): Description and a Box Model Test

We introduce MADE3 (Modal Aerosol Dynamics model for Europe, adapted for global applications, 3rd generation), an aerosol dynamics submodel for application within the MESSy framework (Modular Earth Submodel System). MADE3 builds on the predecessor aerosol submodels MADE and MADE-in. Its main new features are the explicit representation of coarse particle interactions both with other particles and with condensable gases, and the inclusion of hydrochloric acid (HCl)chloride (Cl) partitioning between the gas and condensed phases. The aerosol size distribution is represented in the new submodel as a superposition of nine lognormal modes: one for fully soluble particles, one for insoluble particles, and one for mixed particles in each of three size ranges (Aitken, accumulation, and coarse mode size ranges). In order to assess the performance of MADE3 we compare it to its predecessor MADE and to the much more detailed particle-resolved aerosol model PartMC-MOSAIC in a box model simulation of an idealized marine boundary layer test case. MADE3 and MADE results are very similar, except in the coarse mode, where the aerosol is dominated by sea spray particles. Cl is reduced in MADE3 with respect to MADE due to the HClCl partitioning that leads to Cl removal from the sea spray aerosol in our test case. Additionally, aerosol nitrate concentration is higher in MADE3 due to the condensation of nitric acid on coarse particles. MADE3 and PartMC- MOSAIC show substantial differences in the fine particle size distributions (sizes about 2 micrometers) that could be relevant when simulating climate effects on a global scale. Nevertheless, the agreement between MADE3 and PartMC-MOSAIC is very good when it comes to coarse particle size distribution, and also in terms of aerosol composition. Considering these results and the well-established ability of MADE in reproducing observed aerosol loadings and composition, MADE3 seems suitable for application within a global model.

Mixing state↗
NASA NTRS1994

Exobiology experiments for Earth-orbital platforms

Low-gravity (microgravity) studies relevant to prebiotic evolution and the history of the biogenic elements (C, H, N, O, P, S) are particularly suited to orbital platforms. Relevant to these topics are phenomena such as gas-particle interactions (e.g., formation of organic aerosols via photolytic reactions) including nucleation, condensation, evaporation, adsorption, and catalytic reactions on surfaces; and, small-particle or grain interactions (e.g., growth of interstellar dust particles and planetesimals) including processes such as aggregation (or coagulation), scavenging, and collisions. Both gas-particle and grain (i.e., dust, crystals, organic aerosols, etc.) interactions studies can benefit from microgravity and are pertinent to studies in the areas of chemical evolution in the solar nebula, the interstellar medium, and planetary atmospheres; growth of planetesimals; and prebiotic evolution. In general, the microgravity environment allows for long duration and controlled simulations of processes occurring in exobiologically significant systems such as Titan's atmosphere, interstellar dust clouds, and the solar nebula in which gas-particle or particle-particle interactions play a significant role.

Huntington, J. L.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Direct numerical simulations of agglomeration of circular colloidal particles in two-dimensional shear flow

Colloidal agglomeration of nanoparticles in shear flow is investigated by solving the fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions in a 2D system. We use an extended finite element method in which the dynamics of the particles is solved in a fully coupled manner with the flow, allowing an accurate description of the fluid-particle interfaces without the need of boundary-fitted meshes or of empirical correlations to account for the hydrodynamic interactions between the particles. Adaptive local mesh refinement using a grid deformation method is incorporated with the fluid-structure interaction algorithm, and the particle-particle interaction at the microscopic level is modeled using the Lennard-Jones potential. Motivated by the process used in fabricating fuel cell catalysts from a colloidal ink, the model is applied to investigate agglomeration of colloidal particles under external shear flow in a sliding bi-periodic Lees-Edwards frame with varying shear rates and particle fraction ratios. Both external shear and particle fraction are found to have a crucial impact on the structure formation of colloidal particles in a suspension. Segregation intensity and graph theory are used to analyze the underlying agglomeration patterns and structures, and three agglomeration regimes are identified.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Kinetic effect of toroidal rotation on the geodesic acoustic mode

Kinetic effects of the toroidal rotation on the geodesic acoustic mode are theoretically investigated. It is found that when the toroidal rotation increases, the damping rate increases in the weak rotation regime due to the rotation enhancement of wave-particle interaction, and it decreases in the strong rotation regime due to the reduction of the number of resonant particles. Theoretical results are consistent with the behaviors of the geodesic acoustic mode recently observed in DIII-D and ASDEX-Upgrade. The kinetic damping effect of the rotation on the geodesic acoustic mode may shed light on the regulation of turbulence through the controlling the toroidal rotation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Galvano-rotational effect induced by electroweak interactions in pulsars

We study electroweakly interacting particles in rotating matter. The existence of the electric current along the axis of the matter rotation is predicted in this system. This new galvano-rotational effect is caused by the parity violating interaction between massless charged particles in the rotating matter. We start with the exact solution of the Dirac equation for a fermion involved in the electroweak interaction in the rotating frame. This equation includes the noninertial effects. Then, using the obtained solution, we derive the induced electric current which turns out to flow along the rotation axis. We study the possibility of the appearance of the galvano-rotational effect in dense matter of compact astrophysical objects. The particular example of neutron and hypothetical quark stars is discussed. It is shown that, using this effect, one can expect the generation of toroidal magnetic fields comparable with poloidal ones in old millisecond pulsars. We also briefly discuss the generation of the magnetic helicity in these stars. Finally we analyze the possibility to apply the galvano-rotational effect for the description of the asymmetric neutrino emission from a neutron star to explain pulsars kicks.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Susceptibility Critical Exponent of a 1D Ising Ring-Type Ferromagnetic

Using the Monte Carlo method, critical behavior of the one-dimensional ferromagnetic Ising model has been investigated with allowance for the interaction of the second and third neighbors and four-particle interaction. The obtained results on the critical temperature were compared with the critical temperature of the quasi-one-dimensional Ising magnetic [(CH{sub 3}){sub 3}NH] · FeCl{sub 3} · 2H{sub 2}O and with the magnitude of the exchange interaction J/k{sub B} = 17.4 K. Within the scope of the finite-dimensional scaling theory, the critical susceptibility exponent has been calculated. It has been shown that values of the susceptibility exponent for the one-dimensional Ising model with periodic boundary conditions are considerably less than the known values of the exponents for three-dimensional systems. The critical susceptibility exponent strongly depends on energy parameters; namely, it decreases with an increase in them.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Benefits of MeV-scale reconstruction capabilities in large liquid argon time projection chambers

Using truth-level Monte Carlo simulations of particle interactions in a large volume of liquid argon, we demonstrate physics capabilities enabled by reconstruction of topologically compact and isolated low-energy features, or “blips,” in large liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) events. These features are mostly produced by electron products of photon interactions depositing ionization energy. The blip identification capability of the LArTPC is enabled by its unique combination of size, position resolution precision, and low energy thresholds. Here, we show that consideration of reconstructed blips in LArTPC physics analyses can result in substantial improvements in calorimetry for neutrino and new physics interactions and for final-state particles ranging in energy from the MeV to the GeV scale. Blip activity analysis is also shown to enable discrimination between interaction channels and final-state particle types. In addition to demonstrating these gains in calorimetry and discrimination, some limitations of blip reconstruction capabilities and physics outcomes are also discussed.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Novel Signatures Beyond the Standard Model: From Extreme Environments to Precision Measurements

Most of our universe is dark. It is dark literally—visible matter makes up only 5% of the energy density—and conceptually, as many outstanding questions remain unsolved. The discovery of particle dark matter would shed light on our dark universe and throw open a window on the highest energy scales. This research made progress toward dark matter and new particle searches in three ways. Extreme compact objects, such as black holes, neutron stars, and stellar cores, can parametrically increase the production rates of feebly interacting particles and yield observable signatures. Specifically, a process known as superradiance leads to exponential growth of the number of ultralight particles gravitationally bound to rotating black holes, and turns astrophysical black holes into particle detectors. This research broadened the scope of applicability of superradiance studies to particles with a wide range of interactions and masses, predicting multi messenger signals. When ultralight particles are produced as dark matter in the early universe, they can be detected directly in laboratory experiments. However, these feebly interacting particles lead to small signals that are inevitably difficult to tease out from backgrounds; their detection requires the theoretical development of unique signatures that can be searched for in low-noise experiments. Some dark matter particles could be detectable with thin film metamaterials combined with low noise single-photon detectors. This research develop the theoretical framework and supported experimental efforts for ambitious searches for a wider class of ultralight particles. Overall, the outcome of this theoretical particle physics program developed novel signatures of new dark matter particles, and thereby expanded the particle parameter space which can be explored with astrophysical observations and precision experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Deep and shallow inelastic scattering

In this session we focused on the higher energy deep and shallow inelastic particle interactions, DIS and SIS. DIS interactions occur when the energy of the incident particle beam is so large that the beam is able to penetrate the nucleons inside of the target nuclei. These interactions occur at the smallest level possible, that of the quark-gluon, or parton, level. SIS interactions occur in an intermediate energy range, just below the energy required for DIS interactions. The DIS cross section formula contains structure functions that describe our understanding of the underlying parton structure of nature. The full description of DIS interactions requires three structure functions: two may be measured in charged lepton or neutrino scattering, but one can only be extracted from neutrino DIS data. There are reasons to expect that the impact of nuclear effects could be different for neutrinos engaging in the DIS interaction, vs those felt by leptons. In fact, fits by the nCTEQ collaboration have found that the neutrino-Fe structure functions appear to differ from those extracted from lepton scattering data [1]. To better understand the global picture of DIS and SIS, we chose a three-pronged attack that examined recent experimental results, data fits, and latest theory predictions. Experimental results from neutrino and lepton scattering, as well as collider experiments, were presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗