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At least 451 records · Page 25

Control of flexible structures and the research community

The Control of Flexible Structures II (CPFS) program is a complex and ambitious undertaking which addresses several critical technology areas. Among them are modeling, structural dynamics, control, and ground testing issues, which are also applicable to other large space structure programs being contemplated. This effort requires early integration of controls and structural dynamic considerations. Several technological advances must be achieved in the areas of system modeling, control synthesis and methodology, sensor/actuator development, and ground testing techniques for system evaluation and on-orbit performance prediction and verification. This program offers an opportunity for the integration of several disciplines to produce technology advances which will benefit many future programs.

Keckler, Claude R.↗

Synthesis of Silane and Silicon in a Non-equilibrium Plasma Jet

The original objective of this program was to determine the feasibility of high volume, low-cost production of high purity silane or solar cell grade silicon using a non equilibrium plasma jet. The emphasis was changed near the end of the program to determine the feasibility of preparing photovoltaic amorphous silicon films directly using this method. The non equilibrium plasma jet should be further evaluated as a technique for producing high efficiency photovoltaic amorphous silicon films.

Calcote, H. F.↗

Automated Synthesis of Long Communication Delays for Testing

Planetary-Ohio Network Emulator (p- ONE) is a computer program for local laboratory testing of high bandwidth data-communication systems subject to long delays in propagation over interplanetary distances. p-ONE is installed on a personal computer connected to two bidirectional Ethernet interfaces, denoted A and B, that represent local-area networks at opposite ends of a long propagation path. Traffic that is to be passed between A and B is encapsulated in IP (Internet Protocol) packets (e.g., User Data Protocol, UDP). Intercepting this traffic between A and B in both directions, p-ONE time-tags each packet and stores it in memory or on the hard disk of the computer for a user-specified interval that equals the propagation delay to be synthesized. At the expiration of its storage time, each such packet is sent to its destination (that is, if it was received from A, it is sent to B, or vice versa). The accuracy of the p-ONE software is very high, with zero packet loss through the system and negligible latency. Optionally, p-ONE can be configured to delay all network traffic to and from all network addresses on each Ethernet interface or to selectively delay traffic between specific addresses or traffic of specific types. p-ONE works well with Linux and is also designed to be compatible with other operating systems.

Seibert, Marc↗

Growth Optimization and Device Integration of Narrow‐Bandgap Graphene Nanoribbons

Abstract The electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) can be engineered by controlling their edge structure and width with atomic precision through bottom‐up fabrication based on molecular precursors. This approach offers a unique platform for all‐carbon electronic devices but requires careful optimization of the growth conditions to match structural requirements for successful device integration, with GNR length being the most critical parameter. In this work, the growth, characterization, and device integration of 5‐atom wide armchair GNRs (5‐AGNRs) are studied, which are expected to have an optimal bandgap as active material in switching devices. 5‐AGNRs are obtained via on‐surface synthesis under ultrahigh vacuum conditions from Br‐ and I‐substituted precursors. It is shown that the use of I‐substituted precursors and the optimization of the initial precursor coverage quintupled the average 5‐AGNR length. This significant length increase allowed the integration of 5‐AGNRs into devices and the realization of the first field‐effect transistor based on narrow bandgap AGNRs that shows switching behavior at room temperature. The study highlights that the optimized growth protocols can successfully bridge between the sub‐nanometer scale, where atomic precision is needed to control the electronic properties, and the scale of tens of nanometers relevant for successful device integration of GNRs.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Facile synthesis of high surface area molybdenum nitride and carbide

The synthesis of high surface area γ-Mo{sub 2}N and α-Mo{sub 2}C is reported (116 and 120 m{sup 2}/g) without the temperature programmed reduction of MoO{sub 3}. γ-Mo{sub 2}N was prepared in an NH{sub 3}-free synthesis using forming gas (7 at% H{sub 2}, N{sub 2}-balance) as the reactive atmosphere. Three precursors were studied ((NH{sub 4}){sub 6}Mo{sub 7}O{sub 24}·4H{sub 2}O, (NH{sub 4}){sub 2} Mg(MoO{sub 4}){sub 2}, and MgMoO{sub 4}) along with the sacrificial support method (SSM) as a means of reducing the particle size of Mo{sub 2}N and Mo{sub 2}C. In situ X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were carried out to identify reaction intermediates, the temperature at which various intermediates form, and the average domain size of the Mo{sub 2}N products. Materials were synthesized in bulk and further characterized by XRD, HRTEM, XPS, and BET. - Highlights: • Facile synthesis of γ-Mo2N and α-Mo2C with surface area exceeding 100 m{sup 2}/g. • Sacrificial support method was used to achieve these high surface areas. • Materials can serve as catalysts or supports in (electro)chemical processes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Marcus Theory of Ion-Pairing

We present a theory for ion pair dissociation and association, motivated by the concepts of the Marcus theory of electron transfer. Despite the extensive research on ion-pairing in many chemical and biological processes, much can be learned from the exploration of collective reaction coordinates. To this end, we explore two reaction coordinates, ion pair distance and coordination number. The study of the correlation between these reaction coordinates provides a new insight into the mechanism and kinetics of ion pair dissociation and association in water. The potential of mean force on these 2D-surfaces computed from molecular dynamics simulations of different monovalent ion pairs reveal a Marcus-like mechanism for ion-pairing: Water molecules rearrange forming an activated coordination state prior to ion pair dissociation or association, followed by relaxation of the coordination state due to further water rearrangement. Like Marcus theory, we find the existence of an inverted region where the transition rates are slower with increasing exergonicity. This study provides a new perspective for the future investigations of ion-pairing and transport. SR, CJM, and GKS were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences. MDB was supported by MS3 (Materials Synthesis and Simulation Across Scales) Initiative, a Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). The research was performed using PNNL Institutional Computing. PNNL is a multi-program national laboratory operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Roy, Santanu↗

Reaction Rate Theory in Coordination Number Space: An Application to Ion Solvation

Understanding reaction mechanisms in many chemical and biological processes require application of rare event theories. In these theories, an effective choice of a reaction coordinate to describe a reaction pathway is essential. To this end, we study ion solvation in water using molecular dynamics simulations and explore the utility of coordination number (n = number of water molecules in the first solvation shell) as the reaction coordinate. Here we compute the potential of mean force (W(n)) using umbrella sampling, predicting multiple metastable n-states for both cations and anions. We find with increasing ionic size, these states become more stable and structured for cations when compared to anions. We have extended transition state theory (TST) to calculate transition rates between n-states. TST overestimates the rate constant due to solvent-induced barrier recrossings that are not accounted for. We correct the TST rates by calculating transmission coefficients using the reactive flux method. This approach enables a new way of understanding rare events involving coordination complexes. We gratefully acknowledge Liem Dang and Panos Stinis for useful discussion. This research used resources of the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science User Facility supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. SR, CJM, and GKS were supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences. MDB was supported by MS3 (Materials Synthesis and Simulation Across Scales) Initiative, a Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is a multiprogram national laboratory operated by Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy.

Roy, Santanu↗

FEW questions, many answers: using machine learning to assess how students connect food–energy–water (FEW) concepts

There is growing support and interest in postsecondary interdisciplinary environmental education which integrate concepts and disciplines in addition to providing varied perspectives. There is a need to assess student learning in these programs as well as rigorous evaluation of educational practices, especially of complex synthesis concepts. This work tests a text classification machine learning model as a tool to assess student systems thinking capabilities using two questions anchored by the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus phenomena by answering two questions (1) Can machine learning models be used to identify instructor-determined important concepts in student responses? (2) What do college students know about the interconnections between food, energy and water, and how have students assimilated systems thinking into their constructed responses about FEW? Reported here are a broad range of model performances across 26 text classification models associated with two different assessment items, with model accuracy ranging from 0.755 to 0.992. Expert-like responses were infrequent in our dataset compared to responses providing simpler, incomplete explanations of the systems presented in the question. For those students moving from describing individual effects to multiple effects, their reasoning about the mechanism behind the system indicates advanced systems thinking ability. Specifically, students exhibit higher expertise for explaining changing water usage than discussing tradeoffs for such changing usage. This research represents one of the first attempts to assess the links between foundational, discipline-specific concepts and systems thinking ability. These text classification approaches to scoring student FEW Nexus Constructed Responses (CR) indicate how these approaches can be used, in addition to several future research priorities for interdisciplinary, practice-based education research. Development of further complex question items using machine learning would allow evaluation of the relationship between foundational concept understanding and integration of those concepts as well as more nuanced understanding of student comprehension of complex interdisciplinary concepts.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Development of methods for the analysis and evaluation of CCV aircraft

The development of an advanced, computerized method for the analysis and evaluation of the aeroelastic stability and control parameters of controls fixed and controls free flight vehicles is presented. Specifically, the Level 2.01 FLEXSTAB computer program system is described. Technical areas in aerodynamics, dynamics, and control system synthesis are defined in which further research and development are planned to extend the analysis capability of the system for future CCV applications.

Schwanz, R. C.↗

Radiation hardened microprocessor for small payloads

The RH-3000 program is developing a rad-hard space qualified 32-bit MIPS R-3000 RISC processor under the Naval Research Lab sponsorship. In addition, under IR&D Harris is developing RHC-3000 for embedded control applications where low cost and radiation tolerance are primary concerns. The development program leverages heavily from commercial development of the MIPS R-3000. The commercial R-3000 has a large installed user base and several foundry partners are currently producing a wide variety of R-3000 derivative products. One of the MIPS derivative products, the LR33000 from LSI Logic, was used as the basis for the design of the RH-3000 chipset. The RH-3000 chipset consists of three core chips and two support chips. The core chips include the CPU, which is the R-3000 integer unit and the FPA/MD chip pair, which performs the R-3010 floating point functions. The two support whips contain all the support functions required for fault tolerance support, real-time support, memory management, timers, and other functions. The Harris development effort had first passed silicon success in June, 1992 with the first rad-hard 32-bit RH-3000 CPU chip. The CPU device is 30 kgates, has a 508 mil by 503 mil die size and is fabricated at Harris Semiconductor on the rad-hard CMOS Silicon on Sapphire (SOS) process. The CPU device successfully passed tesing against 600,000 test vectors derived directly on the LSI/MIPS test suite and has been operational as a single board computer running C code for the past year. In addition, the RH-3000 program has developed the methodology for converting commercially developed designs utilizing logic synthesis techniques based on a combination of VHDK and schematic data bases.

Shah, Ravi↗

Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health Newsletter

Welcome to the April 2024 issue of the Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) Newsletter. In this issue, we celebrate LSAH lead, Dr. Mary Wear’s retirement, inform you of the Apollo Records Synthesis Project (ARSP), and recap information shared at the 2024 Human Research Program (HRP) Investigators’ Workshop (IWS) by our LSAH Epidemiologists and NASA HRP team.

Anna C. Morgenthaler-Cejka↗

Accelerated Charged Particle Tracking with Graph Neural Networks on FPGAs

We develop and study FPGA implementations of algorithms for charged particle tracking based on graph neural networks. The two complementary FPGA designs are based on OpenCL, a framework for writing programs that execute across heterogeneous platforms, and hls4ml, a high-level-synthesis-based compiler for neural network to firmware conversion. We evaluate and compare the resource usage, latency, and tracking performance of our implementations based on a benchmark dataset. We find a considerable speedup over CPU-based execution is possible, potentially enabling such algorithms to be used effectively in future computing workflows and the FPGA-based Level-1 trigger at the CERN Large Hadron Collider.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

An H-Infinity Approach to Control Synthesis with Load Minimization for the F/A-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing

The F/A-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing research aircraft will demonstrate technologies related to aeroservoelastic effects such as wing twist and load minimization. This program presents several challenges for control design that are often not considered for traditional aircraft. This paper presents a control design based on H-infinity synthesis that simultaneously considers the multiple objectives associated with handling qualities, actuator limitations, and loads. A point design is presented to demonstrate a controller and the resulting closed-loop properties.

Lind, Rick↗

An H-infinity Approach to Control Synthesis with Load Minimization for the F/A-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing

The F/A-18 Active Aeroelastic Wing research aircraft will demonstrate technologies related to aeroservoelastic effects such as wing twist and load minimization. This program presents several challenges for control design that are often not considered for traditional aircraft. This paper presents a control design based on H(sub infinity) synthesis that simultaneously considers the multiple objectives associated with handling qualities, actuator limitations, and loads. A point design is presented to demonstrate a controller and the resulting closed-loop properties.

Lind, Rick↗

Elementary Steps of Faujasite Formation Followed by in Situ Spectroscopy

Ex situ and in situ spectroscopy was used to identify the kinetics of processes during the formation of the faujasite (FAU) zeolite lattice from a hydrous gel. Using solid-state 27Al MAS NMR, the autocatalytic transformation from the amorphous gel into the crystalline material was monitored. Al-XANES shows that most Al already adopts a tetrahedral coordination in the X-ray-amorphous aluminosilicate at the beginning of the induction period, which hardly changes throughout the rest of the synthesis. Using 23Na NMR spectroscopy, environments in the growing zeolite crystal were identified and used to define the processes in the stepwise formation of the zeolite lattice. The end of the induction period was accompanied by a narrowing of the 27Al and 23Na MAS NMR peak widths, indicating the increased long-range order. The experiments show conclusively that the formation of faujasite occurs via the continuous formation and subsequent condensation of intermediary sodalite-like units that constitute the key building block of the zeolite. Acknowledgement The authors thank T. Huthwelker for assistance with XAFS experiment setup at the Swiss Light Source (PSI, Switzerland). Further, we would like to acknowledge V. Shutthanandan and B.W. Arey for performing Helium ion microscopy as well as Z. Zhao, N.R. Jaeger, M. Weng, C. Wan and M. Hu for aiding in the NMR experimental procedure. T. Varga is acknowledged for his help with the capillary XRD. A.V., D.M.C., J.H., J.L.F and J.A.L. were supported by the US Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences. S.P. and M.A.D. acknowledge support by the Materials Synthesis and Simulation Across Scales (MS3 Initiative) conducted under Laboratory Directed Research & Development Program at PNNL. The in situ NMR experiments were supported by the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Chemical Sciences, Biosciences and Geosciences. Part of the research described in this paper was performed in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory (EMSL), a national scientific user facility sponsored by the DOE’s Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). PNNL is operated for the US DOE by Battelle.

faujasite↗