Structural basis for reduced ribosomal A-site fidelity in response to P-site codon–anticodon mismatches
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37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
SEARCH · Engineering Papers
Results for “structural response”
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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Unprecedented electrical performance of friction-extruded copper-graphene composites
Copper-graphene composites show remarkable electrical performance surpassing traditional copper conductors albeit at a micron scale; there are several challenges in demonstrating similar performance at the bulk scale. In this study, we used shear extrusion to synthesize macro-scale copper-graphene composites with a simultaneously lower temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) and improved electrical conductivity over copper-only samples. We showed that the addition of 18 ppm of graphene decreased the TCR of C11000 alloy by nearly 11%. A suite of characterization tools involving scanning and transmission electron microscopy along with atom probe tomography were used to characterize the grain size, crystallographic orientation, structure, and composition of copper grains and graphene additives in the feedstock and processed samples. We posit that the shear extrusion process may have transformed some of the feedstock graphene additives into higher defect-density agglomerates while retaining the structure of others as mono-to-trilete flakes with lower defect density. The combination of these additives with heterogeneous structures may have been responsible for the simultaneous decrease in TCR and enhanced electrical conductivity of the copper-graphene ShAPE composites.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Property optimized energy absorber for automotive bumpers utilizing multi-material and structural design strategies
This study proposes a novel design for automotive bumper using optimized lattice structures and multi-materials to balance low-speed collision and high-speed pedestrian impact performance. Different blends of 20 % carbon fiber-reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene with thermoplastic polyurethane were used to tailor material properties. The energy absorber features lattice structures with customized mechanical responses, created by varying the incline angle θ from 0 to 180°. We conducted 576 finite element simulations on a half-scale model to optimize energy absorption and stiffness, leading to 66 optimized designs that met both low-speed and high-speed impact criteria. Two sub-scale optimized energy absorbers with different peak forces—both meeting low-speed impact requirements—were 3D printed and validated through drop-weight testing. The one with lower peak stress demonstrated a more compliant response, exhibiting approximately 90 % lower initial peak force and an increase in energy absorption of around 33 % (from 24 J to 32 J). Compared to the baseline triangular lattice, the optimized absorber increased energy absorption by 68 % from (19 J to 32 J) and reduced peak stress by 70 %. It also showed near-complete recovery with minimal fractures, making it suitable for repeated use. This design improves safety while offering a lightweight, durable, and cost-effective bumper system.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
OC6 phase I: Improvements to the OpenFAST predictions of nonlinear, low-frequency responses of a floating offshore wind turbine platform
We report in the OC5 and OC6 projects, the authors observed a persistent underprediction of the nonlinear, low-frequency responses of an offshore wind semisubmersible with many mid-fidelity engineering models, including the OpenFAST tool developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Both the low-frequency wave excitation in surge and pitch and the resulting resonance motions were severely underpredicted. In response, we developed several modifications to the OpenFAST model from the OC5/6 projects to improve the predictions of the low-frequency wave loads and responses. All modifications are in the modeling of the viscous drag forces. Efforts were made to provide physical justifications to the changes and to limit the number of additional parameters requiring tuning, so that the modified model can be applied to other floating wind systems. With the proposed modifications, the predictions of the low-frequency surge and pitch wave loads on a fixed floater and the resonance responses of a floating structure are both significantly improved with a single set of model coefficients, which leads to good agreement with the measurements from the OC6 wave-basin experimental campaign.
17 WIND ENERGY↗
Bayesian-based response expansion and uncertainty quantification using sparse measurement sets
Systems subjected to dynamic loads often require monitoring of their vibrational response, but limitations on the total number and placement of the measurement sensors can hinder the data-collection process. Here, we present an indirect approach to estimate a system’s full-field dynamic response, including all uninstrumented locations, using response measurements from sensors sparsely located on the system. This approach relies on Bayesian inference that utilizes a system model to estimate the full-field response and quantify the uncertainty in these estimates. By casting the estimation problem in the frequency domain, this approach utilizes the modal frequency response functions as a natural, frequency-dependent weighting scheme for the system mode shapes to perform the expansion. This frequency-dependent weighting scheme enables an accurate expansion, even with highly correlated mode shapes that may arise from spatial aliasing due to the limited number of sensors, provided these correlated modes do not have natural frequencies that are closely spaced. Furthermore, the inherent regularization mechanism that arises in this Bayesian-based procedure enables the utilization of the full set of system mode shapes for the expansion, rather than any reduced subset. This approach can produce estimates when considering a single realization of the measured responses, and with some modification, it can also produce estimates for power spectral density matrices measured from many realizations of the responses from statistically stationary random processes. A simply supported beam provides an initial numerical validation, and a cylindrical test article excited by acoustic loads in a reverberation chamber provides experimental validation.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Remote Floating-Gate Field-Effect Transistor with 2-Dimensional Reduced Graphene Oxide Sensing Layer for Reliable Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Proteins
Despite intensive research of nanomaterials-based field-effect transistors (FETs) as a rapid diagnostic tool, it remains to be seen for FET sensors to be used for clinical applications due to a lack of stability, reliability, reproducibility, and scalability for mass production. In this work, we propose a remote floating-gate (RFG) FET configuration to eliminate device-to-device variations of two-dimensional reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sensing surfaces and most of the instability at the solution interface. Also, critical mechanistic factors behind the electrochemical instability of rGO such as severe drift and hysteresis were identified through extensive studies on rGO–solution interfaces varied by rGO thickness, coverage, and reduction temperature. rGO surfaces in our RFGFET structure displayed a Nernstian response of 54 mV/pH (from pH 2 to 11) with a 90% yield (9 samples out of total 10), coefficient of variation (CV) < 3%, and a low drift rate of 2%, all of which were calculated from the absolute measurement values. As proof-of-concept, we demonstrated highly reliable, reproducible, and label-free detection of spike proteins of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in a saliva-relevant media with concentrations ranging from 500 fg/mL to 5 μg/mL, with an R 2 value of 0.984 and CV < 3%, and a guaranteed limit of detection at a few pg/mL. Taken together, this new platform may have an immense effect on positioning FET bioelectronics in a clinical setting for detecting SARS-CoV-2.
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
Acoustic cavities in 2D heterostructures
Two-dimensional (2D) materials offer unique opportunities in engineering the ultrafast spatiotemporal response of composite nanomechanical structures. In this work, we report on high frequency, high quality factor ( Q ) 2D acoustic cavities operating in the 50–600 GHz frequency ( f ) range with f × Q up to 1 × 10 14 . Monolayer steps and material interfaces expand cavity functionality, as demonstrated by building adjacent cavities that are isolated or strongly-coupled, as well as a frequency comb generator in MoS 2 /h-BN systems. Energy dissipation measurements in 2D cavities are compared with attenuation derived from phonon-phonon scattering rates calculated using a fully microscopic ab initio approach. Phonon lifetime calculations extended to low frequencies (<1 THz) and combined with sound propagation analysis in ultrathin plates provide a framework for designing acoustic cavities that approach their fundamental performance limit. These results provide a pathway for developing platforms employing phonon-based signal processing and for exploring the quantum nature of phonons.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Nanoscale lattice dynamics in hexagonal boron nitride moiré superlattices
Twisted two-dimensional van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures have unlocked a new means for manipulating the properties of quantum materials. The resulting mesoscopic moiré superlattices are accessible to a wide variety of scanning probes. To date, spatially-resolved techniques have prioritized electronic structure visualization, with lattice response experiments only in their infancy. Here, we therefore investigate lattice dynamics in twisted layers of hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), formed by a minute twist angle between two hBN monolayers assembled on a graphite substrate. Nano-infrared (nano-IR) spectroscopy reveals systematic variations of the in-plane optical phonon frequencies amongst the triangular domains and domain walls in the hBN moiré superlattices. Our first-principles calculations unveil a local and stacking-dependent interaction with the underlying graphite, prompting symmetry-breaking between the otherwise identical neighboring moiré domains of twisted hBN.
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
Customizable wave tailoring nonlinear materials enabled by bilevel inverse design
Abstract Passive wave transformation via nonlinearity is ubiquitous in settings from acoustics to optics and electromagnetics. It is well known that different nonlinearities yield different effects on propagating signals, which raises the question of “what precise nonlinearity is the best for a given wave tailoring application?” In this work, considering a one-dimensional spring-mass chain connected by polynomial springs (a variant of the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou system), we introduce a bilevel inverse design method which couples the shape optimization of structures for tailored constitutive responses with reduced-order nonlinear dynamical inverse design. We apply it to two qualitatively distinct problems—minimization of peak transmitted kinetic energy from impact, and pulse shape transformation—demonstrating our method’s breadth of applicability. For the impact problem, we obtain two fundamental insights. First, small differences in nonlinearity can drastically change the dynamic response of the system, from severely under- to outperforming a comparative linear system. Second, the oft-used strategy of impact mitigation via “energy locking” bistability can be significantly outperformed by our optimal nonlinearity. We validate this case with impact experiments and find excellent agreement. This study establishes a framework for broader passive nonlinear mechanical wave tailoring material design, with applications to computing, signal processing, shock mitigation, and autonomous materials.
Science & Technology - Other Topics↗
High-temperature analysis of optical coupling using AlGaAs/GaAs LEDs for high-density integrated power modules
A low-temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC)-based optocoupler design is demonstrated as a possible solution for optical isolation in high-density integrated power modules. The design and fabrication of LTCC based package are discussed. Commercially available aluminum gallium arsenide/gallium arsenide (AlGaAs/GaAs) double heterostructure is used both as emitter and photodetector in the proposed optocoupler. A detailed study on the electroluminescence and spectral response of the AlGaAs/GaAs structure is conducted at elevated temperatures. The material figure of merit parameter, D*, is calculated in the temperature range 77–800 K. The fabricated optocoupler is tested at elevated temperatures, and the results are presented.
42 ENGINEERING↗
Correlative chemical and elemental nano-imaging of morphology and disorder at the nacre-prismatic region interface in Pinctada margaritifera
Abstract Understanding biomineralization relies on imaging chemically heterogeneous organic–inorganic interfaces across a hierarchy of spatial scales. Further, organic minority phases are often responsible for emergent inorganic structures from the atomic arrangement of different polymorphs, to nano- and micrometer crystal dimensions, up to meter size mollusk shells. The desired simultaneous chemical and elemental imaging to identify sparse organic moieties across a large field-of-view with nanometer spatial resolution has not yet been achieved. Here, we combine nanoscale secondary ion mass spectroscopy (NanoSIMS) with spectroscopic IR s -SNOM imaging for simultaneous chemical, molecular, and elemental nanoimaging. At the example of Pinctada margaritifera mollusk shells we identify and resolve ~ 50 nm interlamellar protein sheets periodically arranged in regular ~ 600 nm intervals. The striations typically appear ~ 15 µm from the nacre-prism boundary at the interface between disordered neonacre to mature nacre. Using the polymorph distinctive IR-vibrational carbonate resonance, the nacre and prismatic regions are consistently identified as aragonite ( $${\overline{\nu }}_{a}=860$$ ν ¯ a = 860 cm −1 ) and calcite ( $${\overline{\nu }}_{c}=880$$ ν ¯ c = 880 cm −1 ), respectively. We observe previously unreported morphological features including aragonite subdomains encapsulated in extensions of the prism-covering organic membrane and regions of irregular nacre tablet formation coincident with dispersed organics. We also identify a ~ 200 nm region in the incipient nacre region with less well-defined crystal structure and integrated organics. These results show with the identification of the interlamellar protein layer how correlative nano-IR chemical and NanoSIMS elemental imaging can help distinguish different models proposed for shell growth in particular, and how organic function may relate to inorganic structure in other biomineralized systems in general.
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
SAM: A Modern System Code for Advanced Non-LWR Safety Analysis
The System Analysis Module (SAM), developed at Argonne National Laboratory and by collaborators at other organizations, is for advanced non–light water reactor safety analysis. SAM aims to provide fast-running, modest-fidelity, whole-plant transient analysis capabilities that are essential for fast-turnaround design scoping and engineering analyses of advanced reactor concepts. To facilitate code development, SAM utilizes the MOOSE object-oriented application framework, its underlying finite element library, and linear and nonlinear solvers to leverage modern advanced software environments and numerical methods. SAM aims to solve tightly coupled physical phenomena, including fission reaction, heat transfer, fluid dynamics, and thermal-mechanical responses in advanced reactor structures, systems, and components with high accuracy and efficiency. Finally, this paper gives an overview of the SAM code development, including goals and functional requirements, physical models, current capabilities, verification and validation, software quality assurance, and examples of simulations for advanced nuclear reactor applications.
22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
Optical stark effect on CdSe nanoplatelets with mid-infrared excitation for large amplitude ultrafast modulation
The optical Stark effect is a universal response of the electronic structure to incident light. In semiconductors, particularly nanomaterials, the optical Stark effect achieved with sub-band gap photons can drive large, narrowband, and potentially ultrafast changes in the absorption or reflection at the band gap through excitation of virtual excitons. Rapid optical modulation using the optical Stark effect is ultimately constrained, however, by the generation of long-lived excitons through multiphoton absorption. This work compares the modulation achievable using the optical Stark effect on CdSe nanoplatelets with several different pump photon energies, from the visible to mid-infrared. Despite expected lower efficiencies for spectrally-remote pump energies, infrared pump pulses can ultimately drive larger sub-picosecond optical Stark shifts of virtual excitons without creation of real excitons. Importantly, the CdSe nanoplatelets show subpicosecond shifts of the lowest excitonic resonance of up to 22 meV, resulting in change in absorption as large as 0.32 OD (49% increase in transmission), with a long-lived offset from real excitons less than 1% of the peak signal.
77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
Experimental observation of short-range magnetic correlations in amorphous Nb 2 O 5 and Ta 2 O 5 thin films
We use muon spin rotation/relaxation/resonance ( μ SR ) to investigate the magnetic properties of niobium pentoxide ( Nb 2 O 5 ) and tantalum pentoxide ( Ta 2 O 5 ) thin films. In both oxides, we observe a magnetic response at the lowest available temperature of 2.8 K. This response appears to be structurally dependent: thermally oxidized Ta 2 O 5 with low crystallinity demonstrates suppressed magnetism, while fully amorphous Ta 2 O 5 demonstrates local static magnetism. In contrast, amorphous Nb 2 O 5 is dominated by magnetic fluctuations and is strongly magnetically disordered compared to Ta 2 O 5 . Our results suggest that these fundamental differences in the magnetism of Ta and Nb oxides could explain the performance limitations in superconducting qubits and resonators.
Krasnikova, Y. V. [Fermilab] (ORCID:00000002893659↗
Tunable magneto-optical properties in MoS 2 via defect-induced exciton transitions
The presence of chalcogen vacancies in monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) leads to excitons with mixed localized-delocalized character and to reduced valley selectivity. Recent experimental advances in defect design in TMDs allow for a close examination of such mixed exciton states as a function of their degree of circular polarization under external magnetic fields, revealing strongly varying defect-induced magnetic properties. A theoretical understanding of these observations and their physical origins demands a predictive, structure-sensitive theory. In this work, we study the effect of chalcogen vacancies on the exciton magnetic properties in monolayer MoS 2 . Using many-body perturbation theory, we show how the complex excitonic picture associated with the presence of defects—with reduced valley and spin selectivity due to hybridized electron-hole transitions—leads to a structurally controllable exciton magnetic response. We find a variety of $\textit{g}$-factors with changing magnitudes and sign depending on the exciton energy and character. Further, our findings suggest a pathway to tune the nature of the excitons—and by that their magneto-optical properties—through defect architecture.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
Two-step electronic response to magnetic ordering in a van der Waals ferromagnet
The two-dimensional material Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 is a member of the class of insulating van der Waals (vdW) magnets. Here, using high resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy in a detailed temperature dependence study, we identify a clear response of the electronic structure to a dimensional crossover in the form of two distinct temperature scales marking onsets of modifications in the electronic structure. Specifically, we observe Te 𝑝-orbital-dominated bands to undergo changes at the Curie transition temperature 𝑇 𝐶 while the Cr 𝑑-orbital-dominated bands begin evolving at a higher temperature scale. Combined with neutron scattering, density functional theory calculations, and Monte Carlo simulations, we find that the electronic system can be consistently understood to respond sequentially to the distinct temperatures at which in-plane and out-of-plane spin correlations exceed a characteristic length scale. Finally, our findings reveal the sensitivity of the orbital-selective electronic structure for probing the dynamical evolution of local moment correlations in vdW insulating magnets.
75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
Mechanochemical topological defects in an active nematic
We propose a reaction-diffusion system that converts topological information of an active nematic into chemical signals. We show that a curvature-activated reaction dipole is sufficient for creating a system that dynamically senses topology by producing a concentration field possessing local extrema coinciding with ±$\frac{1}{2}$ defects. The enabling term is analogous to polarization charge density seen in dielectric materials. We demonstrate the ability of this system to identify defects in both passive and active nematics. Our results illustrate that a relatively simple feedback scheme, expressed as a system of partial differential equations, is capable of producing chemical signals in response to inherently nonlocal structures in anisotropic media. Here, we posit that such coarse-grained systems can help generate testable hypotheses for regulated processes in biological systems, such as morphogenesis, and motivate the creation of bio-inspired materials that utilize dynamic coupling between nematic structure and biochemistry.
42 ENGINEERING↗