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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 OSTI2023

Soft matter roadmap

Soft materials are usually defined as materials made of mesoscopic entities, often self-organised, sensitive to thermal fluctuations and to weak perturbations. Archetypal examples are colloids, polymers, amphiphiles, liquid crystals, foams. The importance of soft materials in everyday commodity products, as well as in technological applications, is enormous, and controlling or improving their properties is the focus of many efforts. From a fundamental perspective, the possibility of manipulating soft material properties, by tuning interactions between constituents and by applying external perturbations, gives rise to an almost unlimited variety in physical properties. Together with the relative ease to observe and characterise them, this renders soft matter systems powerful model systems to investigate statistical physics phenomena, many of them relevant as well to hard condensed matter systems. Understanding the emerging properties from mesoscale constituents still poses enormous challenges, which have stimulated a wealth of new experimental approaches, including the synthesis of new systems with, e.g. tailored self-assembling properties, or novel experimental techniques in imaging, scattering or rheology. Theoretical and numerical methods, and coarse-grained models, have become central to predict physical properties of soft materials, while computational approaches that also use machine learning tools are playing a progressively major role in many investigations. This Roadmap intends to give a broad overview of recent and possible future activities in the field of soft materials, with experts covering various developments and challenges in material synthesis and characterisation, instrumental, simulation and theoretical methods as well as general concepts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Modeling Nondestructive Defect Detection in Additively Manufactured Metallic Structures for Nuclear Applications

The future of quickly, economically produced metallic nuclear reactor parts with minimal supply-chain dependence lies in Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) Additive Manufacturing (AM): a 3D printing method involving laser melting and net shaping stainless steel and Inconel metallic powder into a solid structure. However, intrinsic features in LPBF frequently leads to the formation of materials defects, such as pores, within 3D printed structures. As safe long-term use in energy applications requires knowledge of all relevant defects before deployment in a reactor, we must develop methods for nondestructive detection of these defects. We are investigating Pulsed Thermal Tomography (PTT), which is a non-contact nondestructive imaging method scalable to arbitrary structure size. Thermal tomography (TT) is a computational method for 3D spatial reconstruction of material thermal effusivity from flash or pulsed thermography temperature data cube. Thermography data cube consists of 2D surface temperature measurements at different times. The objective of the present work is to investigate limits on defect detection in AM metallic structures with PTT. To this effect, we modeled PTT with COMSOL heat transfer computer simulations. We developed a layered media COMSOL simulation consisting of a Stainless Steel 316 (SS316) plate with an internal layer of un-sintered SS316 powder. Thermophysical properties of the powder layer were modeled with equivalent volume mixing model. To account for partial sintering at the boundary of the defect, the transition between solid and powder layers was modeled as a Gaussian. Using data from COMSOL simulations, we reconstructed depth-dependent thermal effusivity, which allowed defect visibility estimation. A series of parametric studies determined that at 1mm depth, 50µm is the smallest detectable defect. In addition, classification of the defects which can lead to early fatigue of the metallic structure in a reactor is briefly discussed.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

AMPPED LDRD: Advanced Models of the Physics & Phenomena of Electrical Discharge.

This Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project aimed at addressing an unmet need for physics-based models that enable prediction of electrical breakdown in the presence of high voltage gradients and real-world environments. This project focused on understanding coupled plasma-surface feedback phenomena critical to electrical discharge processes and design of breakdown voltages, breakdown times, and breakdown paths. New secondary electron emission and coupled plasma-surface measurement methods and models were developed. Highly reproducible discharge experiments were developed to provide current-voltage data as a function of time, and methods were developed to condition electrodes for predictable discharge. To assess plasma-surface feedback mechanisms, new surface physics capabilities, including measurement systems for local and global photoemission yield and ion-induced secondary electron emission yield were developed. Discharge models were developed to incorporate these yields for predicting discharge behavior to understand influence of surface physics on discharge current and time evolution, and methods to accelerate these simulations were demonstrated. A key finding was that the initiation process of a non-vacuum discharge appears highly dependent on photoemission at the cathode. Advanced diagnostics were developed, including spatial electrical field imaging, spectroscopy of plasmas, and high-speed imaging of discharge event s in metal and dielectric environments. These diagnostics and improved electrical models are a step toward enabling quantitative design margins, assurance of safety architectures, and implementation of novel materials and technologies for wide ranging energy and electronics applications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

An Engineering Approach for Weld Creep Lifetime Assessment Based on Local Property Measurement

The localized creep failure in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of Grade 91 steel weldments has been identified as one of the most important factors causing significantly shortened service lifetime and structural integrity issues of welded components in advanced fossil and nuclear power plants. To conduct a reliable creep lifetime assessment, a new engineering assessment approach has been developed by incorporating the experimentally determined local properties of the heterogeneous HAZ. By creep testing a purposely simulated HAZ specimen with in situ digital image correlation (DIC) technique, the highly gradient creep properties across the HAZ of Grade 91 steel was quantitatively measured. A physical creep cavitation constitutive model was proposed to investigate the local creep deformation and damage accumulation within the heterogeneous HAZ, which takes into account the nucleation of creep cavities and their growth by both grain boundary diffusion and creep deformation. The relationship among the local material property, creep strain accumulation, and evolution characteristic of creep cavities was established. The approach was then utilized to investigate the creep response and subsequent life for an ex-service 9% Cr steel weldment by incorporating the effects of pre-existing damages which developed and accumulated during long-term services. The predicted results exhibited quantitative agreement with the DIC measurement in terms of both nominal/local creep deformation as well as the subsequent life under the test conditions at 650 and 80 MPa.

Zhang, Wei↗
NASA NTRS1993

Use of Spectralon as a diffuse reflectance standard for in-flight calibration of earth-orbiting sensors

Spectralon, a commercially available diffuse reflectance material made from polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), is being evaluated for the multiangle imaging spectroradiometer (MISR), currently under development for the Earth Observing System. Results of a series of environmental exposure tests indicate that no degradation of the optical properties was apparent following proton bombardment, and stability through UV illumination was satisfactory, provided simple cleaning and handling procedures were implemented. A buildup of several thousand volts of static charge was found to develop while simulating a rare pass through an auroral storm.

Bruegge, Carol J.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Experimental Results from the Thermal Energy Storage-2 (TES-2) Flight Experiment

Thermal Energy Storage-2 (TES-2) is a flight experiment that flew on the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-72), in January 1996. TES-2 originally flew with TES-1 as part of the OAST-2 Hitchhiker payload on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-62) in early 1994. The two experiments, TES-1 and TES-2 were identical except for the fluoride salts to be characterized. TES-1 provided data on lithium fluoride (LiF), TES-2 provided data on a fluoride eutectic (LiF/CaF2). Each experiment was a complex autonomous payload in a Get-Away-Special payload canister. TES-1 operated flawlessly for 22 hr. Results were reported in a paper entitled, Effect of Microgravity on Materials Undergoing Melting and Freezing-The TES Experiment, by David Namkoong et al. A software failure in TES-2 caused its shutdown after 4 sec of operation. TES-1 and 2 were the first experiments in a four experiment suite designed to provide data for understanding the long duration microgravity behavior of thermal energy storage salts that undergo repeated melting and freezing. Such data have never been obtained before and have direct application for the development of space-based solar dynamic (SD) power systems. These power systems will store energy in a thermal energy salt such as lithium fluoride or a eutectic of lithium fluoride/calcium difluoride. The stored energy is extracted during the shade portion of the orbit. This enables the solar dynamic power system to provide constant electrical power over the entire orbit. Analytical computer codes were developed for predicting performance of a space-based solar dynamic power system. Experimental verification of the analytical predictions were needed prior to using the analytical results for future space power design applications. The four TES flight experiments were to be used to obtain the needed experimental data. This paper will address the flight results from the first and second experiments, TES-1 and 2, in comparison to the predicted results from the Thermal Energy Storage Simulation (TESSIM) analytical computer code. An analysis of the TES-2 data was conducted by Cleveland State University Professor, Mounir Ibrahim. TESSIM validation was based on two types of results; temperature history of various points on the containment vessel and TES material distribution within the vessel upon return from flight. The TESSIM prediction showed close comparison with the flight data. Distribution of the TES material within the vessel was obtained by a tomography imaging process. The frozen TES material was concentrated toward the colder end of the canister. The TESSIM prediction indicated a similar pattern. With agreement between TESSIM and the flight data, a computerized representation was produced to show the movement and behavior of the void during the entire melting and freezing cycles.

Tolbert, Carol↗
NASA NTRS2013

Spinoff 2012

Topics covered include: Water Treatment Technologies Inspire Healthy Beverages; Dietary Formulas Fortify Antioxidant Supplements; Rovers Pave the Way for Hospital Robots; Dry Electrodes Facilitate Remote Health Monitoring; Telescope Innovations Improve Speed, Accuracy of Eye Surgery; Superconductors Enable Lower Cost MRI Systems; Anti-Icing Formulas Prevent Train Delays; Shuttle Repair Tools Automate Vehicle Maintenance; Pressure-Sensitive Paints Advance Rotorcraft Design Testing; Speech Recognition Interfaces Improve Flight Safety; Polymers Advance Heat Management Materials for Vehicles; Wireless Sensors Pinpoint Rotorcraft Troubles; Ultrasonic Detectors Safely Identify Dangerous, Costly Leaks; Detectors Ensure Function, Safety of Aircraft Wiring; Emergency Systems Save Tens of Thousands of Lives; Oxygen Assessments Ensure Safer Medical Devices; Collaborative Platforms Aid Emergency Decision Making; Space-Inspired Trailers Encourage Exploration on Earth; Ultra-Thin Coatings Beautify Art; Spacesuit Materials Add Comfort to Undergarments; Gigapixel Images Connect Sports Teams with Fans; Satellite Maps Deliver More Realistic Gaming; Elemental Scanning Devices Authenticate Works of Art; Microradiometers Reveal Ocean Health, Climate Change; Sensors Enable Plants to Text Message Farmers; Efficient Cells Cut the Cost of Solar Power; Shuttle Topography Data Inform Solar Power Analysis; Photocatalytic Solutions Create Self-Cleaning Surfaces; Concentrators Enhance Solar Power Systems; Innovative Coatings Potentially Lower Facility Maintenance Costs; Simulation Packages Expand Aircraft Design Options; Web Solutions Inspire Cloud Computing Software; Behavior Prediction Tools Strengthen Nanoelectronics; Power Converters Secure Electronics in Harsh Environments; Diagnostics Tools Identify Faults Prior to Failure; Archiving Innovations Preserve Essential Historical Records; Meter Designs Reduce Operation Costs for Industry; Commercial Platforms Allow Affordable Space Research; Fiber Optics Deliver Real-Time Structural Monitoring; Camera Systems Rapidly Scan Large Structures; Terahertz Lasers Reveal Information for 3D Images; Thin Films Protect Electronics from Heat and Radiation; Interferometers Sharpen Measurements for Better Telescopes; and Vision Systems Illuminate Industrial Processes.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1998

Finite Element Modeling of Transient Thermography Inspection of Composite Materials

Several finite element models of defects such as debond and void have been developed for composite panels subjected to transient thermography inspection. Since the exact nature of the heat generated from the flash lamps is unknown, direct comparison between FEA and experimental results is not possible. However, some similarity of the results has been observed. The shape of the time curve that simulates the heat flux from the flash lamps has minimal effect on the temperature profiles. Double the number of flash lamps could increase the contrast of thermal image and define the shape of defect better.

Chu, Tsuchin Philip↗
DOE OSTI2024

Li-ion battery design through microstructural optimization using generative AI

Lithium-ion batteries are used across various applications, necessitating tailored cell designs to enhance performance. Optimizing electrode manufacturing parameters is a key route to achieving this, as these parameters directly influence the microstructure and performance of the cells. However, linking process parameters to performance is complex, and experimental or modeling campaigns are often slow and expensive. This study introduces a fast computational optimization framework for electrode manufacturing parameters. A generative model, trained on a small dataset of microstructural images associated with different manufacturing parameters, efficiently generates representative microstructures for new parameters. This model is integrated into a Bayesian optimization loop that includes microstructure generation, characterization, and simulation, aiming to find optimal manufacturing parameters for a particular application. Significant improvement in the energy density of a 4680 cell is achieved through bespoke cell design, highlighting the importance of cell-scale normalization. The framework’s modularity allows its application to various advanced materials manufacturing scenarios.

batteries↗
DOE OSTI2020

On the redistribution of charge in La 0.7 Sr 0.3 CrO 3 /La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 multilayer thin films

The atomic and electronic structures of La 0.7 Sr 0.3 MnO 3 (LSMO)/La 0.7 Sr 0.3 CrO 3 (LSCO) multilayer thin films are investigated using aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) imaging and spectroscopy. Atomic resolution high angle annular dark-field reveals that LSMO layers have an expanded out-of-plane lattice parameter compared to compressed LSCO layers, contrasting with x-ray diffraction measurements. The expansion is found to result from preferential oxygen vacancy formation in LSMO during STEM sample preparation as determined by electron energy-loss spectroscopy. The La/Sr atom column intensity is also found to oscillate by about 4% between the LSMO and LSCO layers, indicative of La/Sr concentration variation. Using energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy in combination with image simulations, we confirm the La/Sr inhomogeneity and elucidate the origin of charge redistribution within the multilayer. These results illuminate the sensitivity of the technique to subtle structural, chemical, and electronic features that can arise to compensate charge imbalances in complex oxide heterostructures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Identification of localized radiation damage in power MOSFETs using EBIC imaging

The rapidly increasing use of electronics in high-radiation environments and the continued evolution in transistor architectures and materials demand improved methods to characterize the potential damaging effects of radiation on device performance. Here, electron-beam-induced current is used to map hot-carrier transport in model metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors irradiated with a 300 KeV focused He + beam as a localized line spanning across the gate and bulk Si. By correlating the damage to the electronic properties and combining these results with simulations, the contribution of spatially localized radiation damage on the device characteristics is obtained. Furthermore, this identified damage, caused by the He + beam, is attributed to localized interfacial P b centers and delocalized positive fixed-charges, as surmised from simulations. Comprehension of the long-term interaction and mobility of radiation-induced damage are key for future design of rad-hard devices.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dimorphos’s Material Properties and Estimates of Crater Size from the DART Impact

On 2022 September 26, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft intentionally collided with Dimorphos, the moon of the binary asteroid system 65803 Didymos. This collision provided the first full-scale test of a kinetic impactor for planetary defense. Images from DART’s DRACO camera revealed Dimorphos to be an oblate spheroid covered in boulders of varying sizes and shapes. Very little was known about Dimorphos prior to DART’s impact, including its shape, structure, and material properties. Approach observations and those following the DART impact have provided crucial knowledge that narrows the parameter space relevant to modeling the impact into Dimorphos. Here we present the results of a suite of hydrocode simulations of the DART impact on Dimorphos. Despite remaining uncertainties, initial models of DART’s kinetic impact provide important information about the results of DART (e.g., potential crater size and morphology, ejecta mass) and the properties of Dimorphos. Simulations here suggest that Dimorphos has near-surface strength ranging from a few Pascals to tens of kPa, which corresponds to crater sizes of ~40–60 m. Simulated crater sizes provide a crucial comparison metric for the European Space Agency Hera mission when it arrives at the Didymos system. Hera’s measurement of crater size in combination with measurement of Dimorphos’s mass will allow us to assess our simulations and provide the information needed to make the DART impact experiment both the first test of a planetary defense mitigation mission and the first full-scale planetary defense simulation validation exercise.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Ground Testing of the MISSE-16 Materials

The harsh space environment imposes very stringent requirements upon spacecraft materials, especially those located on exterior surfaces of space objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). As humankind moves from space exploration to space commercialization, these materials may have to last for 15–20 years without considerable degradation of their optical, electrical, mechanical, and thermal properties. Operational requirements dictate that these materials continue to function according to expectations. Hence, we must understand the effects of the space environment on materials currently in use as well as on untested materials. For the years, the Materials International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) have flown many different materials to investigate the effect of LEO space weather exposure on the performance and durability of materials and devices. The MISSE-16 scientific team members plan to launch fifteen different novel and well-characterized spacecraft-relevant materials to the LEO environment for a duration of six months during the MISSE-16 mission. Changes in spectral reflectivity will be measured throughout the mission as the samples are exposed to the space environment. The same chemical damage the produces changes in optical reflectance also causes changes in numerous other physical properties such as electrical conductivity, mechanical strength, and chemical reactivity. Correlation of the changes in each of these properties as a function of radiation type, flux, and fluence allows various material properties to be inferred from one experimentally tractable measurement: color change. Flying identical test fixtures on the ram, zenith, and wake positions of the MISSE-FF, collecting spectrally resolved images of the materials, and concomitantly measuring the ambient space environment allows deconvolution of the material effects which occur as a result of exposure to neutral atomic oxygen (AO), unfiltered solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and electrons. The flight experiment will function as a ground truth reference for our team’s ongoing laboratory-based space weather-material interactions experiments. Comparison of the MISSE-16 data with extensive testing of “flight-duplicate” samples under simulated space weather conditions will enable development of chemical models for prediction of material degradation. This paper discusses preliminary results from the ground test campaign including measurements of UV/VIS/IR reflectance spectra, bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF), surface potential decay, and surface morphology under electron and AO exposure.

Elena A. Plis↗
DOE OSTI2025

Experimental data for damage mechanics simulation challenge

While there are many computational approaches for simulating damage in rock and other materials, few have been ground truth tested with either known experimental data or with blind data sets. Here, in this work, we present a bench-mark laboratory data set for a damage mechanics challenge to compare computational approaches on damage evolution in brittle-ductile materials. The samples were fabricated through additive manufacturing to produce repeatable specimens designed to fail in controlled ways. The failure was induced in the samples using a 3-point bending test to produce different Modes such as Mode I and mixed Modes including I-II, I-III and I-II-III Modes to generate a calibration data set and a blind challenge data set. Data collected included spatial and temporal measurements from traditional digital load–displacement sensors, 2D digital image correlation measurement to map surface deformations, 3D X-ray microscopy to ground-truth the crack-failure geometry, and laser profilometry to capture surface roughness. The data sets are available, on a data repository, to the community to advance computational models to improve our ability to predict damage in brittle-ductile materials.

3-point bending↗
NASA NTRS1989

Aeolian processes on Venus

This review assesses the potential aeolian regime on Venus as derived from spacecraft observations, laboratory simulations, and theoretical considerations. The two requirements for aeolian processes (a supply of small, loose particles and winds of sufficient strength to move them) appear to be met on Venus. Venera 9, 10, 13, and 14 images show particles considered to be sand and silt size on the surface. In addition, dust spurts (grains 5 to 50 microns in diameter) observed via lander images and inferred from the Pioneer-Venus nephalometer experiments suggest that the particles are loose and subject to movement. Although data on near surface winds are limited, measurements of 0.3 to 1.2 m/sec from the Venera lander and Pioneer-Venus probes appear to be well within the range required for sand and dust entrainment. Aeolian activity involves the interaction of the atmosphere, lithosphere, and loose particles. Thus, there is the potential for various physical and chemical weathering processes that can effect not only rates of erosion, but changes in the composition of all three components. The Venus Simulator is an apparatus used to simulate weathering under venusian conditions at full pressure (to 112 bars) and temperature (to 800 K). In one series of tests, the physical modifications of windblown particles and rock targets were assessed and it was shown that particles become abraded even when moved by gentle winds. However, little abrasion occurs on the target faces. Thus, compositional signatures for target rocks may be more indicative of the windblown particles than of the bedrock. From these and other considerations, aeolian modifications of the venusian surface may be expected to occur as weathering, erosion, transportation, and deposition of surficial materials. Depending upon global and local wind regimes, there may be distinctive sources and sinks of windblown materials. Radar imaging, especially as potentially supplied via the Magellan mission, may enable the identification of such areas on Venus.

Greeley, Ronald↗
DOE OSTI2022

Detecting missing struts in metallic micro-lattices using high speed melt pool thermal monitoring

Metal lattices are an important class of cellular materials that offer great advantages by providing high-strength and lightweight structures as compared to bulk materials. Progress in additive manufacturing techniques has led to increased complexity in design and shape of produced objects and is greatly beneficial for the development of metallic lattice structures. However additive manufacturing of lattices suffers from unpredictable defect creation that can compromise its mechanical integrity. Although post-build inspection techniques can provide quality assurance of the process, accurate assessment can be technically challenging, time consuming and costly. In this work, we investigate the use of high-speed measurements of thermal emission from the melt pool to identify defective individual struts formed with a missing bottom half in an otherwise fully built lattice structure produced with laser powder bed fusion. Surprisingly, results indicate lower photodiode signal, suggesting colder melt pool surface temperature, when printing struts with missing bottom half as compared to nominal struts. Additional thermographic imaging and multi-physics simulations reveal that the low photodiode signal is accompanied by presence of hot spatters carrying heat away from detection and continuous avalanche of powder on the melt pool. Based on these observations, a method was developed to identify defective individual struts with missing bottom half in full built lattices. This prediction approach provides valuable insights about part quality which are important for process qualification and illustrates the utility of melt pool thermal emission monitoring for identifying specific defects introduced by laser powder bed fusion.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1999

The MSP 2001 Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA)

A chemical analysis of soil-water mixtures and the first microscopic images of martian soil will be among the results to be returned by the Mars Environmental Compatibility Assessment (MECA) payload on the Mars Surveyor Program 2001 Lander. Sponsored by the Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) enterprise, MECA's primary goal is to evaluate potential geochemical and environmental hazards that may confront future martian explorers, and to guide HEDS scientists in the development of high fidelity Mars soil simulants. As a survey of soil properties, the MECA data set will also be rich in information relevant to basic geology, paleoclimate, and exobiology. The integrated MECA payload contains a wet-chemistry laboratory, a microscopy station, an electrometer to characterize the electrostatics of the soil and its environment, and arrays of material patches to study the abrasive and adhesive properties of soil grains. MECA is allocated a mass of 10 kg and a peak power usage of 15 W within an enclosure of 35 x 25 x 15 cm. The Wet Chemistry Laboratory (WCL) consists of four identical cells that will accept samples from surface and subsurface regions accessible to the Lander's robotic arm, mix them with water, and perform extensive analysis of the solution. Ion-selective electrodes and related sensors will evaluate total dissolved solids, redox potential, pH, and the concentration of many soluble ions and gases. Cyclic voltammetry will address oxidants, and anodic stripping voltammetry will probe potentially hazardous trace metals. MECA's microscopy station combines optical and atomic-force microscopy (AFM) in a controlled illumination environment to image dust and soil particles from millimeters to nanometers in size. Careful selection of substrates and an abrasion tool allows experimental study of size distribution, adhesion, abrasion, hardness, color, shape, aggregation, magnetic and other properties. Mounted on the end of the robot arm, MECA's electrometer consists of four types of sensors: an electric field meter, several triboelectricity monitors, an ion gauge, and a thermometer. Tempered only by ultra-violet- light-induced ions and a low-voltage break-down threshold, the dry, cold, dusty martian environment presents an imposing electrostatic hazard to both robots and humans. In addition, the electrostatic environment is key to transport of dust and, consequently, martian meteorology. MECA will also observe natural dust accumulation on engineering materials. Viewed with the robot arm camera, the abrasion and adhesion plates are strategically placed to allow direct observation of the inter-action between materials and soils on a macroscopic scale. Materials of graded hardness are placed directly under the robot arm scoop to sense wear and soil hardness. A second array, placed on the lander deck, is deployed after the dust plume of landing has settled. It can be manipulated in a primitive fashion by the arm, first having dirt deposited on it from the scoop and subsequently shaken clean. Dust accumulation as a function of conductivity, magnetic field strength, and other parameters will be explored. The MECA instruments described above will assess potential hazards that the Martian soil might present to human explorers and their equipment. In addition, MECA will provide information on the composition of ancient surface water environments, observing microscopic evidence of geological (and biological?) processes, inferring soil and dust transport, comminution and weathering mechanisms, and characterizing soil horizons that might be encountered during excavation. Additional information is contained in the original extended abstract.

Hecht, M. H.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Laser‐Powder Melt Pool Solidification Dynamics and Microstructural Engineering of Ti‐5553 Microlattices

The fine geometric and topological control afforded by additive manufacturing technologies has enabled the manufacture of architected materials across length scales, and enabling tunable mechanical performance as a function of local and global design. Progress has been made to tune the mechanical response of architected materials through geometry, but understanding how the geometry and processing conditions will inform the microstructure remains a challenge due to the rapid solidification in laser powder bed fusion. This study uses in situ X-ray imaging and electron backscatter diffraction microscopy to demonstrate that the melt pool size, microstructure morphology, and elastic strain distribution is influenced by a combination of lattice geometry and laser processing conditions. These results indicate that within larger melt pools the local thermal gradients are sufficient to enable a columnar-to-equiaxed transition across the melt pool. Furthermore, the solidification mechanisms producing these microstructures are examined across the first 5 ms of melting and solidification, described via in situ high-speed X-ray imaging and mirrored via multiphysics simulation.

additive manufacturing↗