Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Lab Capabilities”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 469 records · Page 26

Hands-On, Heads-Up: Blending Cyber T&E with Data Science-Driven Training in Jupyter Notebooks

In an era of increasingly sophisticated threats to critical infrastructure, cybersecurity professionals must be more than just aware; they must be immersed, agile, and equipped to operate in environments where failure is not an option. Nowhere is this truer than in the nuclear sector, where cyber-physical systems, regulatory scrutiny, and insider threat potential demand a new generation of hands-on, technically fluent defenders. This paper presents a unified training approach that integrates Cybersecurity Test and Evaluation (T&E) with data science techniques using Jupyter Notebooks as the interactive lab environment. The program centers on a modular, scenario-driven curriculum designed to build not just knowledge but practical capability in the assessment and defense of radiation detection systems, firmware interfaces, and operational security postures.

98 - NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL↗

Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) Space Science's Past, Present, and Future on the International Space Station (ISS)

The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) is a double rack facility designed for microgravity investigation handling aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The unique design of the facility allows it to accommodate science and technology investigations in a "workbench" type environment. MSG facility provides an enclosed working area for investigation manipulation and observation in the ISS. Provides two levels of containment via physical barrier, negative pressure, and air filtration. The MSG team and facilities provide quick access to space for exploratory and National Lab type investigations to gain an understanding of the role of gravity in the physics associated research areas. The MSG is a very versatile and capable research facility on the ISS. The Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG) on the International Space Station (ISS) has been used for a large body or research in material science, heat transfer, crystal growth, life sciences, smoke detection, combustion, plant growth, human health, and technology demonstration. MSG is an ideal platform for gravity-dependent phenomena related research. Moreover, the MSG provides engineers and scientists a platform for research in an environment similar to the one that spacecraft and crew members will actually experience during space travel and exploration. The MSG facility is ideally suited to provide quick, relatively inexpensive access to space for National Lab type investigations.

Spivey, Reggie A.↗

Casing Annulus Monitoring of CO 2 Injection Using Wireless Autonomous Distributed Sensor Networks

Effective and secure carbon subsurface storage, involving the deep underground injection of CO 2 into geological formations where it is permanently trapped, is paramount to mitigating CO 2 emissions (Figure I). Ensuring the integrity of these storage sites and detecting potential leakage through the casing annulus necessitates robust monitoring. This work provides the first integrated demonstration of a wireless casing-annulus monitoring architecture that can operate in highly attenuating cement-brine environments relevant to CO 2 storage. This project focused on developing and validating a novel sensor system for integration with autonomous monitoring near the cement reservoir interface. The goal was a fully integrated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4/5 field validation of a distributed wireless intelligent sensor system providing real-time, direct subsurface formation measurements to enhance fluid movement monitoring in the cemented casing annulus. Achieving this objective required the development and integration of 1) wireless autonomous microsensor technology by California Institute of Technology (Caltech); 2) sensor packaging and emplacement technology by Research Triangle Institute (RTI); and 3) smart well completions using wireless active casing collars and NOV pipe by the Sandia National Lab (SNL). The collaboration with the Caltech team in this project aimed to develop millimeter-scale radio frequency identification (RFID) sensors capable of detecting CO 2 , pH, and/or methane levels. These sensors are engineered to be impervious to fluids, allowing them to be mixed with cement and installed within the casing annulus. They operate using RFID protocols at frequencies of 902–928 MHz for both power and communication. A Sandia National Laboratories’ team engaged their expertise in the development of a Smart Collar system designed for the wireless data collection from these RFID sensors embedded in the cement annulus and transmission of this information to the ground surface via IntelliPipe/IntelliServ NOV drill pipe. This is accomplished through inductive coupling at the collar, which facilitates data transfer through each segment of the pipe. Because the system cannot transmit a direct current signal to power the Smart Collar, both power and communication were implemented using alternating current and electromagnetic signals at varying frequencies. Furthermore, the developed microsensor technology had to be demonstrated and validated in comparison with reference transducer measurements in a field test site at The University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). Although the full sensor suite did not reach field-deployment readiness, the system-level integration achieved in this project establishes a validated pathway for future incorporation of advanced microsensors.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Nanoscale Surface Plasmonics Sensor With Nanofluidic Control

Conventional quantitative protein assays of bodily fluids typically involve multiple steps to obtain desired measurements. Such methods are not well suited for fast and accurate assay measurements in austere environments such as spaceflight and in the aftermath of disasters. Consequently, there is a need for a protein assay technology capable of routinely monitoring proteins in austere environments. For example, there is an immediate need for a urine protein assay to assess astronaut renal health during spaceflight. The disclosed nanoscale surface plasmonics sensor provides a core detection method that can be integrated to a lab-on-chip device that satisfies the unmet need for such a protein assay technology. Assays based upon combinations of nanoholes, nanorings, and nanoslits with transmission surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are used for assays requiring extreme sensitivity, and are capable of detecting specific analytes at concentrations as low as picomole to femtomole level in well-controlled environments. The device operates in a transmission mode configuration in which light is directed at one planar surface of the array, which functions as an optical aperture. The incident light induces surface plasmon light transmission from the opposite surface of the array. The presence of a target analyte is detected by changes in the spectrum of light transmitted by the array when a target analyte induces a change in the refractive index of the fluid within the nanochannels. This occurs, for example, when a target analyte binds to a receptor fixed to the walls of the nanochannels in the array. Independent fluid handling capability for individual nanoarrays on a nanofluidic chip containing a plurality of nanochannel arrays allows each array to be used to sense a different target analyte and/or for paired arrays to analyze control and test samples simultaneously in parallel. The present invention incorporates transmission mode nanoplasmonics and nanofluidics into a single, microfluidically controlled device. The device comprises one or more arrays of aligned nanochannels that are in fluid communication with inflowing and outflowing fluid handling manifolds that control the flow of fluid through the arrays. The array acts as an aperture in a plasmonic sensor. Fluid, in the form of a liquid or a gas and comprising a sample for analysis, is moved from an inlet manifold through the nanochannel array, and out through an exit manifold. The fluid may also contain a reagent used to modify the interior surfaces of the nanochannels, and/or a reagent required for the detection of an analyte.

Wei, Jianjun↗

A New Light for Berkeley Lab—the Advanced Light Source Upgrade

The Advanced Light Source Upgrade Project (ALS-U) will leverage multibend achromat technology to endow the ALS with revolutionary soft X-ray capabilities, and has recently received formal approval to proceed to the preliminary design phase. Soft X-rays are a critical diagnostic tool for enabling the understanding and control of heterogeneous, hierarchical functional materials and chemical synthesis platforms since they can reveal chemical, electronic, and magnetic properties with very high sensitivity. Although the ALS has a strong track record in soft X-ray science over the last 25 years, it, like most other existing storage-ring-based X-ray light sources, lacks the simultaneous combination of nanometer spatial resolution, diverse spectroscopic contrast, and broad temporal sensitivity required to image the location of molecules, ions, and electrons, and to measure how their components migrate and interact to support efficient function. The high coherent flux of the upgraded ALS willenable a suite of tools that encompass 3D nanoscale imaging with high spectral sensitivity over broad space and time scales, dramatically amplifying the already high impact of ALS soft X-ray spectroscopies. Relative to many other synchrotron light source upgrade projects or new facilities being built today, the upgraded ALS will operate at a low electron-beam energy of 2 GeV and a high current of 500 mA, and is optimized for soft X-rays. Its soft X-ray coherent flux will be orders of magnitude higher than that of the existing ALS and beyond the coherent flux of any storage-ring-based light source operating, under construction, or currently planned. In total, the upgraded facility will provide an unprecedented combination of high stability, quasi-continuous radiation, and the highest possible coherent soft X-ray flux.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Design of the Multi-Ion Injector Linac for the JLAB EIC (JLEIC)

An Electron Ion Collider (EIC) is the highest priority for future U.S. accelerator-based nuclear physics facility following the completion of the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB). Two laboratories are competing to host the future EIC: Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL) and Jefferson Lab. (JLab). The baseline design of JLab's Electron Ion Collider (JLEIC) ion complex comprises a pulsed superconducting (SC) linac injector capable of accelerating all ions from protons to lead, where proton and light ion beams can be polarized. After reviewing the design requirements for the injector linac, important design choices such as the room-temperature (RT) section design, the transition energy between the RT and SC sections and the stripping energy for heavy ions will be discussed. The design of the different linac sections will be presented as well as the results of end-to-end beam dynamics simulations for polarized deuterons and unpolarized lead ions.

Mustapha, B.↗

Development of the Barrel Calorimeter Reconstruction and Measurement of the Beam Asymmetry (S) for Photoproduced π 0 and η Mesons with the GlueX Experiment

The GlueX experiment is located in Hall D at Jefferson Lab with the primary goal of mapping out the spectrum of hybrid mesons. GlueX features a nearly-4π hermetic detector capable of measuring neutral and charged particles produced by a 9 GeV linearly polarized photon beam incident on a liquid hydrogen target. A description of the detector is presented to give an overview of the experiment. A lot of effort has been put forth into analyzing the data recorded by the detector. Here I discuss improving the performance of the Barrel Calorimeter subdetector by calibrating the gains and improving the reconstruction software. The immediate physics goal of GlueX is to measure observables of known particles, especially those that are expected to be decay particles of hybrid mesons, such as π 0 and η. To understand the photoproduction mechanism of these two particles the beam asymmetry (S) observable is measured. The measurements of Σ are obtained as a function of the four-momentum transfer squared, -t, in the photon energy range of 8.2 GeV to 8.8 GeV in the three dominant decay modes of the η meson and in the dominant decay mode of the π 0 meson. These are the first results for the η meson at this beam energy in multiple decay modes. The results agree with previously published GlueX results for η and π 0 and are made with significantly higher statistical precision. There is also agreement between theory predictions and the results which indicates that the resonance production mechanisms of the π 0 and η mesons are dominated by natural parity exchange.

McGinley, William Edmund↗

EVs@Scale High Power Charging Pillar

Slide deck assesses a portfolio of EVs, EVSEs, and Fleets that are expected to utilize High Power Charging (>200kW) to understand charging rates, grid impacts, and asset utilization. Provide DOE, project partners, stakeholders, and the public with analysis on the capability of HPC performance of today's charging infrastructure.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Channel simulator upgrade to use field propagation data

The JPL Channel Simulator lab was modified to allow full duplex links and to allow the use of field propagation data for link fading. This capability will be used to test equipment for the joint AUSSAT/NASA mobile satellite experiment in July 1989.

Berner, Jeff B.↗

From Extremophiles to Star Trek, The Use of Synthetic Biology in Astrobiology

Synthetic biology – the design and construction of new biological parts and systems and the redesign of existing ones for useful purposes – has the potential to transform fields from pharmaceuticals to fuels. Our lab has focused on the potential of synthetic biology to revolutionize all three major parts of astrobiology: Where do we come from? Where are we going? and Are we alone? For the first and third, synthetic biology is allowing us to answer whether the evolutionary narrative that has played out on planet earth is likely to have been unique or universal. For example, in our lab we are re-evolving biotic functions using only the most thermodynamically stable amino acids in order to understand potential capabilities of an early organism with a limited repertoire of amino acids. In the future synthetic biology will play an increasing role in human activities both on earth, in fields as diverse as bio-mining, human health and the industrial production of novel bio-composites. Beyond earth, we will rely increasingly on biologically-provided life support, as we have throughout our evolutionary history. In order to do this, the field will build on two of the great contributions of astrobiology: studies of the origin of life and life in extreme environments.

Life in Extreme Environments↗

Liquid-based gating mechanism with tunable multiphase selectivity and antifouling behaviour

Living organisms make extensive use of micro- and nanometre-sized pores as gatekeepers for controlling the movement of fluids, vapours and solids between complex environments. The ability of such pores to coordinate multiphase transport, in a highly selective and subtly triggered fashion and without clogging, has inspired interest in synthetic gated pores for applications ranging from fluid processing to 3D printing and lab-on-chip systems(1-10). But although specific gating and transport behaviours have been realized by precisely tailoring pore surface chemistries and pore geometries(6,11-17), a single system capable of controlling complex, selective multiphase transport has remained a distant prospect, and fouling is nearly inevitable(11,12). Here we introduce a gating mechanism that uses a capillary-stabilized liquid as a reversible, reconfigurable gate that fills and seals pores in the closed state, and creates a non-fouling, liquid-lined pore in the open state. Theoretical modelling and experiments demonstrate that for each transport substance, the gating threshold-the pressure needed to open the pores-can be rationally tuned over a wide pressure range. This enables us to realize in one system differential response profiles for a variety of liquids and gases, even letting liquids flow through the pore while preventing gas from escaping. These capabilities allow us to dynamically modulate gas-liquid sorting in a microfluidic flow and to separate a three-phase air-water-oil mixture, with the liquid lining ensuring sustained antifouling behaviour. Because the liquid gating strategy enables efficient long-term operation and can be applied to a variety of pore structures and membrane materials, and to micro- as well as macroscale fluid systems, we expect it to prove useful in a wide range of applications.

Hou, X↗

New High-Energy & Safe Battery Technology with Extreme Fast Charging Capability for Automotive Applications (Final Technical Report)

Being able to refill a cars gas tank when low on fuel is incredibly convenient and is a lacking feature for battery elective vehicles. New High-Energy & Safe Battery Technology with Extreme Fast Charging Capability for Automotive Applications was a research project designed to help correct this lacking feature by developing automotive sized Li-ion battery cells and demonstrating their ability to charge in under 10-minutes. To address the technical challenges Microvast, a cell manufacturer, was joined by Argonne National Labs, battery technology innovator, and BMW, a renown OEM, worked together to define and validate materials and cells for this project. By projects end, Microvast had successfully built and demonstrated a 240 Wh/kg, 35 Ah pouch cell that was capable of over 800 10-minute charge, full discharge cycles. From the outset of the project the plan was to use large amp-hour cells (ie automotive relevant sizes) to ensure the project findings and outcomes were most relevant for electric vehicle applications. The manufacture of cells was done using test manufacturing lines at Microvast and BMW that closely resemble the procedures of a Li-ion battery cell factory.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

Next Generation Exercise Device (NGED): Advancing Exercise Capabilities for Future Space Missions Through Biomechanical Modeling

BACKGROUND As space exploration extends to long-duration missions on the Moon and Mars, maintaining astronaut health and fitness becomes increasingly critical. The Next Generation Exercise Device (NGED), developed and tested by the HumanWorks Lab in NASA Johnson Space Center's (JSC) Software, Robotics, and Simulation Division, aims to address this challenge through innovative approaches. This study presents the development and evaluation of an NGED system, focusing on its adaptability to various mission scenarios, including prospective use in a Lunar Pressurized Rover (LPR). Central to this project is the application of biomechanical modeling to optimize exercise efficacy and safety in microgravity and partial gravity environments. The project is a collaborative effort with the Human Health and Performance group at Johnson Space Center, ensuring a comprehensive approach to astronaut well-being that integrates biomechanical principles with practical exercise solutions. The NGED represents the next generation of exercise capabilities for missions in space, on the Moon and Mars, with a specific focus on applications such as the LPR. METHODS AND RESULTS Data collection for NGED development was conducted with two motor-driven Beyond Power Voltra I [1] systems and a custom test structure to allow placement of the cable-based devices on the ground, at shoulder height, and overhead. The collection was performed in JSC’s Prototype Immersive Technology (PIT) Lab, utilizing an OptiTrack motion capture system and AMTI force platform, to enable detailed biomechanical analysis via OpenSim [2,3]. Motion capture data were collected for three subjects representing different body types and statures. The marker set used was an enhanced version of the full-body Plug-in Gait marker set [4], with additional markers strategically placed for the primary objective of informing exercise volume requirements. Subjects performed a series of 17 exercises, carefully selected to engage various muscle groups, including novel spaceflight exercises such as skiing (ergometer style), lateral pulldowns, wood chops, triceps extensions, and flies, with load variations ranging from 10 to 90 pounds to maintain kinematic form. This comprehensive approach allowed for a thorough evaluation of the NGED's performance across a wide range of motions and loads. The biomechanical modeling and analysis were conducted using a modified OpenSim Full Body Rajagopal Model [4,5] and also scaled to the maximum and minimum anthropometry provided in NASA-STD-3001 [6]. Volumetric convex hulls were generated based on model marker trajectories and aggregated into geometric assemblies. These can be placed in models of vehicle designs to assess fit to protect for exercise as well as to adapt NGED exercise to fit available space. Preliminary findings from the collection indicate that the NGED prototype demonstrates significant adaptability across varying user anthropometrics and exercise types. The device showed consistent performance in load-bearing exercises, with subjects able to perform exercises effectively while maintaining proper biomechanical form. CONCLUSION NGED represents a forward-looking advancement in exercise capabilities for future space missions. In the future, this system can be used to capture valuable metrics (e.g., isometric mid-thigh pull for force output measurements, assessments of postural muscle strength, overall isometric strength). Its versatility in accommodating various exercises and user physiques, coupled with the ability to provide targeted biomechanical loading, makes it a promising approach for maintaining astronaut health during long-duration missions to the Moon and Mars. Future work will focus on refining the NGED based on initial biomechanical findings, leveraging the detailed insights provided by motion capture and analysis techniques. Particular emphasis will be placed on optimizing its use within the confined spaces of a LPR and other space habitats. This work contributes significantly to NASA's goals of supporting human health and performance in deep space exploration, paving the way for sustainable long-term presence beyond Low Earth Orbit through advanced, biomechanically-informed exercise solutions.

C Wang↗

Production of high density molecular beams with wide velocity scanning

We describe modifications of a pulsed rotating supersonic beam source that improve performance, particularly increasing the beam density and sharpening the pulse profiles. As well as providing the familiar virtues of a supersonic molecular beam (high intensity, narrowed velocity distribution, and drastic cooling of rotation and vibration), the rotating source enables scanning the translational velocity over a wide range. Thereby, beams of any atom or molecule available as a gas can be slowed or speeded. Using Xe beams in the slowing mode, we have obtained lab speeds down to about 40 ± 5 m/s with density near 10{sup 11} cm{sup −3} and in the speeding mode lab speeds up to about 660 m/s and density near 10{sup 14} cm{sup −3}. We discuss some congenial applications. Providing low lab speeds can markedly enhance experiments using electric or magnetic fields to deflect, steer, or further slow polar or paramagnetic molecules. The capability to scan molecular speeds facilitates merging velocities with a codirectional partner beam, enabling study of collisions at very low relative kinetic energies, without requiring either beam to be slow.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Transfer of autocollimator calibration for use with scanning gantry profilometers for accurate determination of surface slope and curvature of state-of-the-art x-ray mirrors

X-ray optics, desired for beamlines at free-electron-laser and diffraction-limited-storage-ring x-ray light sources, must have almost perfect surfaces, capable of delivering light to experiments without significant degradation of brightness and coherence. To accurately characterize such optics at an optical metrology lab, two basic types of surface slope profilometers are used: The long trace profilers (LTPs) and nanometer optical measuring (NOM) like angular deflectometers, based on electronic autocollimator (AC) ELCOMAT-3000. The inherent systematic errors of the instrument's optical sensors set the principle limit to their measuring performance. Where autocollimator of a NOM-like profiler may be calibrated at a unique dedicated facility, this is for a particular configuration of distance, aperture size, and angular range that does not always match the exact use in a scanning measurement with the profiler. Here we discuss the developed methodology, experimental set-up, and numerical methods of transferring the calibration of one reference AC to the scanning AC of the Optical Surface Measuring System (OSMS), recently brought to operation at the ALS Xray Optics Laboratory. We show that precision calibration of the OSMS performed in three steps, allows us to provide high confidence and accuracy low-spatial-frequency metrology and not â€print into' measurements the inherent systematic error of tool in use. Here, with the examples of the OSMS measurements with a state-of-The-Art x-ray aspherical mirror, available from one of the most advanced vendors of X-ray optics, we demonstrate the high efficacy of the developed calibration procedure. The results of our work are important for obtaining high reliability data, needed for sophisticated numerical simulations of beamline performance and optimization of beamline usage of the optics. This work was supported by the U. S. Department of Energy under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

η decay program at GlueX

The GlueX detector in the experimental Hall D at Jefferson Lab was designed to search for gluonic excitations in the spectra of light mesons using photon beams. The detector provides a unique capability to perform a precision measurement of the eta -> gamma gamma decay width via the Primakoff effect (PrimEx D experiment) and study rare decays of eta mesons. Measurement of the eta decay width is essential for the determination of fundamental properties such as the ratios of the light quark masses and the eta - eta' mixing angle, and will provide an important test of chiral symmetry breaking in QCD. The physics of rare eta decays spans from critical tests of chiral perturbation theory to the search for lepto-phobic dark matter candidates. I will give an overview of the ongoing PrimEx D experiment and the physics program of rare eta decays, and discuss GlueX plans for the future.

Somov, A.↗

2016 CSSE L3 Milestone: Deliver In Situ to XTD End Users

This report summarizes the activities in FY16 toward satisfying the CSSE 2016 L3 milestone to deliver in situ to XTD end users of EAP codes. The Milestone was accomplished with ongoing work to ensure the capability is maintained and developed. Two XTD end users used the in situ capability in Rage. A production ParaView capability was created in the HPC and Desktop environment. Two new capabilities were added to ParaView in support of an EAP in situ workflow. We also worked with various support groups at the lab to deploy a production ParaView in the LANL environment for both desktop and HPC systems. . In addition, for this milestone, we moved two VTK based filters from research objects into the production ParaView code to support a variety of standard visualization pipelines for our EAP codes.

"In Situ" production↗

MC-15 Users Manual

The current iteration of field -capable neutron multiplicity counters is the Multiplicity Counter 15 tube detector (MC-15) shown in Figure 1. This was a tri-lab effort between Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Sandia National Laboratories (SNL). The MC-15 incorporates significant improvements over previous man-portable neutron multiplicity counters of the LANL NPOD and the Ortec Fission Meter™. These improvements include finer time resolution of 100 ns, more advanced on-board computing power for near-real-time onboard analysis, a sunlight readable color touchscreen for ease of use, a USB 2.0 interface for data transfer, and hot-swappable rechargeable batteries that provide 14 hours of run time.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗