Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “H CODES”

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 487 records · Page 27

Conserved white-rot enzymatic mechanism for wood decay in the Basidiomycota genus Pycnoporus

White-rot (WR) fungi are pivotal decomposers of dead organic matter in forest ecosystems and typically use a large array of hydrolytic and oxidative enzymes to deconstruct lignocellulose. However, the extent of lignin and cellulose degradation may vary between species and wood type. Here, we combined comparative genomics, transcriptomics and secretome proteomics to identify conserved enzymatic signatures at the onset of wood-decaying activity within the Basidiomycota genus Pycnoporus. We observed a strong conservation in the genome structures and the repertoires of protein-coding genes across the four Pycnoporus species described to date, despite the species having distinct geographic distributions. We further analysed the early response of P. cinnabarinus, P. coccineus and P. sanguineus to diverse (ligno)-cellulosic substrates. We identified a conserved set of enzymes mobilized by the three species for breaking down cellulose, hemicellulose and pectin. The co-occurrence in the exo-proteomes of H 2 O 2 -producing enzymes with H 2 O 2 -consuming enzymes was a common feature of the three species, although each enzymatic partner displayed independent transcriptional regulation. Finally, cellobiose dehydrogenase-coding genes were systematically co-regulated with at least one AA9 lytic polysaccharide monooxygenase gene, indicative of enzymatic synergy in vivo. This study highlights a conserved core white-rot fungal enzymatic mechanism behind the wood-decaying process.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

The chromospheres of late-type stars. I - Eridani as a test case of multiline modelling

A new model of the lower chromosphere of the dwarf K2 star Epsilon Eridani is derived by matching flux profiles of the Ca IR triplet lines 8498 and 8542 A H-alpha and H-beta lines and the Na D lines (all observed simultaneously at the AAT), and the Ca II K line. The coupled non-LTE equations of statistical equilibrium and radiative transfer are solved under the constraint of hydrostatic equilibrium using the Carlsson (1986) code. Within the framework of the model, the Na D lines are an important photospheric diagnostic, and the Ca IR triplet lines can be used to locate the temperature minimum. The computed H-alpha and H-beta depths are highly sensitive constraints on the transition zone gradients and base pressures allowing us to derive a pressure at the base of the transition zone of 0.9 dyn/cm.

Thatcher, John D.↗

Further modeling of q 95 windows for the suppression of edge localized modes by resonant magnetic perturbations in the DIII-D tokamak

An improved resonant plasma response model that more accurately captures the physics of the interaction between a tokamak plasma and a resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) is developed. The model interpolates between the linear and the nonlinear response regimes and takes into account the fact that the slip-frequency is non-zero in the nonlinear regime. The improved model is incorporated into the extended perturbed equilibrium code (EPEC) toroidal asymptotic matching code. The modified EPEC code is used to investigate RMP-induced edge-localized-mode (ELM) suppression in DIII-D H-mode discharge #145380. Somewhat surprisingly, allowing for a finite slip-frequency (i.e., relaxing the so-called no-slip constraint) is found to only slightly facilitate the locking of driven magnetic island chains to the RMP, and, hence, to only slightly facilitate RMP-induced ELM suppression. This is true despite the fact that the nature of non-locked island solutions is radically different when the no-slip constraint is imposed compared to when it is relaxed (in the first case, the widths of the island chains driven at the rational surfaces pulsate, and in the second case, they remain steady). The previously obtained conclusion that the response of a typical H-mode tokamak plasma to an RMP cannot be accurately modeled by linear theory is confirmed. Here, the previously obtained conclusion that the best agreement between theory and observations is achieved by assuming that the natural frequencies of tearing modes, in the absence of the RMP, are determined by the local equilibrium E × B velocity is also confirmed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Intrinsic Toroidal Rotation Driven by Turbulent and Neoclassical Processes in Tokamak Plasmas from Global Gyrokinetic Simulations

Gyrokinetic tokamak plasmas can exhibit intrinsic toroidal rotation driven by the residual stress. While most studies have attributed the residual stress to the parallel-momentum flux from the turbulent E × B motion, the parallel-momentum flux from the drift-orbit motion (denoted $Π^D_\parallel$) and the E × B-momentum flux from the E × B motion (denoted $Π_{E×B}$) are often neglected. Here, we use the global total-f gyrokinetic code XGC to study the residual stress in the core and the edge of a DIII-D H-mode plasma. Numerical results show that both $Π^D_\parallel$ and $Π_{E×B}$ make up a significant portion of the residual stress. In particular, $Π^D_\parallel$ in the core is higher than the collisional neoclassical level in the presence of turbulence, while in the edge it represents an outflux of countercurrent momentum even without turbulence. Using a recently developed “orbit-flux” formulation, we show that the higher-than-neoclassical-level $Π^D_\parallel$ in the core is driven by turbulence, while the outflux of countercurrent momentum from the edge is mainly due to collisional ion orbit loss. In conclusion, these results suggest that $Π^D_\parallel$ and $Π_{E×B}$ can be important for the study of intrinsic toroidal rotation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Advanced modeling of field enhanced thermionic emission

Shaped emitters are of interest to a broad range of applications in vacuum electronic devices. In particular, thermionic energy converters (TECs) take advantage of shaped emitters to increase the local surface field, thereby extracting more current for a given cathode temperature and applied voltage. However, modeling these devices is challenging; Warp [J.-L. Vay, D. P. Grote, R. H. Cohen, and A. Friedman, Comput. Sci. Discov. 5, 014019 (2012)] is a fully 3D particle-in-cell code capable of handling a wide range of physics problems and is well suited to modeling TECs. Additionally, recent improvements to Warp have enabled the accurate modeling of emitters with arbitrary curved surfaces. Specifically, the inclusion of subgrid resolution for computing the electrostatic potential and the ability to apply mesh refinement for specific areas of interest allow for a more accurate solution to the fields on these surfaces. These improvements coupled with Warp’s ability to handle variable particle weights make it an ideal candidate for simulating these complex devices. In this paper, the authors study the applicability of different subgrid configurations for simulating shaped emission surfaces and field convergence for different mesh-refinement techniques. They then implement a custom weighting algorithm that allows for uniform sampling of emission surfaces with a large variation in the surface electric field. They then use this algorithm to study emission for curved emitters in both the field-enhancement regime and the space-charge regime.

Edelen, Jonathan P. (ORCID:0000000215180652)↗

Fast Ionized X-Ray Absorbers in AGNs

We investigate the physics of the X-ray ionized absorbers often identified as warm absorbers (WAs) and ultra-fast outflows (UFOs) in Seyfert AGNs from spectroscopic studies in the context of magnetically-driven accretion-disk wind scenario. Launched and accelerated by the action of a global magnetic field anchored to an underlying accretion disk around a black hole, outflowing plasma is irradiated and ionized by an AGN radiation field characterized by its spectral energy density (SED). By numerically solving the Grad-Shafranov equation in the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) framework, the physical property of the magnetized disk-wind is determined by a wind parameter set, which is then incorporated into radiative transfer calculations with xstar photoionization code under heating-cooling equilibrium state to compute the absorber's properties such as column density N(sub H), line-of-sight (LoS) velocity v, ionization parameter xi, among others. Assuming that the wind density scales as n varies as r(exp. -1), we calculate theoretical absorption measure distribution (AMD) for various ions seen in AGNs as well as line spectra especially for the Fe K alpha absorption feature by focusing on a bright quasar PG 1211+143 as a case study and show the model's plausibility. In this note we demonstrate that the proposed MHD-driven disk-wind scenario is not only consistent with the observed X-ray data, but also help better constrain the underlying nature of the AGN environment in a close proximity to a central engine.

accretion↗

An Integrated Approach to Swept Wing Icing Simulation

This paper describes the various elements of a simulation approach used to develop a database of ice shape geometries and the resulting aerodynamic performance data for a representative commercial transport wing model exposed to a variety of icing conditions. This effort included testing in the NASA Icing Research Tunnel, the Wichita State University Walter H. Beech Wind Tunnel, and the ONERA F1 Subsonic Wind Tunnel as well as the use of ice accretion codes, an inviscid design code, and computational fluid dynamics codes. Additionally, methods for capturing full three-dimensional ice shape geometries, geometry interpolation along the span of the wing, and creation of artificial ice shapes based upon that geometric data were developed for this effort. The icing conditions used for this effort were representative of actual ice shape encounter scenarios and run the gamut from ice roughness to full three-dimensional scalloped ice shapes. The effort is still underway so this paper is a status report of work accomplished to date and a description of the remaining elements of the effort.

ice accretion↗

Model-Invariant Hybrid RANS-LES Computations on Unstructured Meshes

Hybrid RANS-LES computations combine the bene ts of RANS and LES so that LES is used in regions where the accuracy of RANS deteriorates. The numerous hybrid approaches are limited by the speci cation of the LES-RANS interface, which can cause nonphysical results such as log-layer mismatch and low shear stress. The hybrid RANS-LES approach based on the concept of model invariance, mitigates these problems, enabling seamless blending of the RANS and LES regions while forming the basis for interpreting the results in the interface region. This hybrid formulation was implemented in the NASA FUN3D unstructured code and computations for ow in a channel at Reynolds number of 3300 (based on the channel half width h and the bulk in ow velocity u(infinity) were carried out. An isotropic stochastic turbulence generator was implemented to generate in ow turbulence. The present approach was able to eliminate the log-layer mismatch and predict the shear stress fairly well. Thus, the model-invariant hybrid formulation coupled with the isotropic turbulence in ow generation serves as a physically meaningful way of performing hybrid RANS-LES computations.

Sreekanth, R.↗

INTEGRAL reloaded: Spacecraft, instruments and ground system

The European Space Agency’s INTErnational Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Laboratory (ESA/INTEGRAL) was launched aboard a Proton-DM2 rocket on 17 October 2002 at 06:41 CEST, from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. Since then, INTEGRAL has been providing long, uninterrupted observations (up to about 47 h, or 170 ksec, per satellite orbit of 2.7 days) with a large field-of-view (FOV, fully coded: 100 deg), millisecond time resolution, keV energy resolution, polarization measurements, as well as additional wavelength coverage at optical wavelengths. This is realized by two main instruments in the 15 keV to 10 MeV energy range, the spectrometer SPI (spectral resolution 3 keV at 1.8 MeV) and the imager IBIS (angular resolution: 12 arcmin FWHM), complemented by X-ray (JEM-X; 3–35 keV) and optical (OMC; Johnson V-band) monitor instruments. All instruments are co-aligned to simultaneously observe the target region. A particle radiation monitor (IREM) measures charged particle fluxes near the spacecraft. The Anti-coincidence subsystems of the main instruments, built to reduce the background, are also very efficient all-sky γ-ray detectors, which provide virtually omni-directional monitoring above ~75 keV. Besides the long, scheduled observations, INTEGRAL can rapidly (within a couple of hours) re-point and conduct Target of Opportunity (ToO) observations on a large variety of sources. INTEGRAL observations and their scientific results have been building an impressive legacy: The discovery of currently more than 600 new high-energy sources; the first-ever direct detection of (56)Ni and (56)Co radio-active decay lines from a Type Ia supernova; spectroscopy of isotopes from galactic nucleo-synthesis sources; new insights on enigmatic positron annihilation in the Galactic bulge and disk; and pioneering gamma-ray polarization studies. INTEGRAL is also a successful actor in the new multi-messenger astronomy introduced by non-electromagnetic signals from gravitational waves and from neutrinos: INTEGRAL found the first prompt electromagnetic radiation in coincidence with a binary neutron star merger. Up to now more than 1750 scientific papers based on INTEGRAL data have been published in refereed journals. In this paper, we will give a comprehensive update of the satellite status after more than 18 years of operations in a harsh space environment, and an account of the successful Ground Segment.

Erik Kuulkers↗

Minimum Hamiltonian Ascent Trajectory Evaluation (MASTRE) program (update to automatic flight trajectory design, performance prediction, and vehicle sizing for support of Shuttle and Shuttle derived vehicles) engineering manual

The Minimum Hamiltonian Ascent Trajectory Evaluation (MASTRE) program and its predecessors, the ROBOT and the RAGMOP programs, have had a long history of supporting MSFC in the simulation of space boosters for the purpose of performance evaluation. The ROBOT program was used in the simulation of the Saturn 1B and Saturn 5 vehicles in the 1960's and provided the first utilization of the minimum Hamiltonian (or min-H) methodology and the steepest ascent technique to solve the optimum trajectory problem. The advent of the Space Shuttle in the 1970's and its complex airplane design required a redesign of the trajectory simulation code since aerodynamic flight and controllability were required for proper simulation. The RAGMOP program was the first attempt to incorporate the complex equations of the Space Shuttle into an optimization tool by using an optimization method based on steepest ascent techniques (but without the min-H methodology). Development of the complex partial derivatives associated with the Space Shuttle configuration and using techniques from the RAGMOP program, the ROBOT program was redesigned to incorporate these additional complexities. This redesign created the MASTRE program, which was referred to as the Minimum Hamiltonian Ascent Shuttle TRajectory Evaluation program at that time. Unique to this program were first-stage (or booster) nonlinear aerodynamics, upper-stage linear aerodynamics, engine control via moment balance, liquid and solid thrust forces, variable liquid throttling to maintain constant acceleration limits, and a total upgrade of the equations used in the forward and backward integration segments of the program. This modification of the MASTRE code has been used to simulate the new space vehicles associated with the National Launch Systems (NLS). Although not as complicated as the Space Shuttle, the simulation and analysis of the NLS vehicles required additional modifications to the MASTRE program in the areas of providing additional flexibility in the use of the program, allowing additional optimization options, and providing special options for the NLS configuration.

Lyons, J. T.↗

Thermal Aging Effects on the Yield and Tensile Strength of 9Cr-1Mo-V (Grade 91)

The long-term exposure of 9Cr-1Mo-V (Grade 91) steel to elevated temperature can have a significant effect on reducing its yield and tensile strength. The yield and tensile strength changes, in turn, have potential implications to the assurance of the integrity of components constructed with this material over their design or intended lifetime. The ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code (BPVC), Section III, Division 5 (III-5, high temperature reactors) provides tabulated reduction factors for Grade 91 yield and tensile strength as a function of exposure temperature and time up to 300,000 h. ASME BPVC III-5 s intent to extend these factors to an exposure duration of 500,000 h, the lack of available historic information to support the existing factors, and the recent development of a physics-based prediction model for ASME BPVC application are prime motivation for this study. This work describes results of the conventional time-temperature Hollomon–Jaffe parameter, strength reduction ratio prediction method using an updated, extensive Grade 91 unaged and related aged material strength database. The method, previously used by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in its evaluation of Grade 91 and likely used in development of the existing BPVC III-5 reduction factors, provides strength reduction ratio predictions useful for general component fitness-for-service assessments and for computing BPVC III-5 reduction factors as defined. Specific reduction factors to 500,000 h at 650 °C applicable to ASME BPVC III-5 are computed from the strength reduction ratios.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Modeling a divertor with mid-leg pumping for high-power H-mode scenarios in DIII-D considering E x B drift flows

Edge-plasma simulations of a baffled, long-legged divertor in DIII-D, performed using the multi-fluid code UEDGE, indicate that the position of the detachment front is constrained to the location of the pump duct along the low-field side (LFS) baffle. Simulations including magnetic and E x B drifts were performed for 12.5 MW deuterium plasmas including intrinsic carbon and seeded neon to assess the optimal location of the LFS divertor pump to create a stable detachment front between the target and the X-point. The radiation front position in the simulations, taken to be indicative of the detachment front, can be controlled between the pump and X-point in the favorable magnetic field direction for H-mode access by moving the pump duct location upstream of the target along the LFS baffle. In the unfavorable magnetic field direction, the radial E θ x B drift flows are directed towards the pumping surface, efficiently removing the injected deuterium gas and limiting the sensitivity of the radiation front location to the gas injection rate. The role of pumping rate and drift direction on the pumping efficiency are also found to affect the divertor plasma conditions and detachment front location in UEDGE simulations.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

CG-Kit: Code Generation Toolkit for performant and maintainable variants of source code applied to Flash-X hydrodynamics simulations

CG-Kit is a new Code Generation tool-Kit that we have developed as a part of the solution for portability and maintainability for multiphysics computing applications. The development of CG-Kit is rooted in the urgent need created by the shifting landscape of high-performance computing platforms and the algorithmic complexities of a particular large-scale multiphysics application: Flash-X. To efficiently use computing resources on a heterogeneous node, an application must have a map of computation to resources and a mechanism to move the data and computation to the resources according to the map. Most existing performance portability solutions are focussed on abstracting the expression of computations so that a unified source code can be specialized to run on different resources. However, such an approach is insufficient for a code like Flash-X, which has a multitude of code components that can be assembled in various permutations and combinations to form different instances of applications. Similar challenges apply to any code that has composability, where a single specified way of apportioning work among devices may not be optimal. Additionally, use cases arise where the optimal control flow of computation may differ for different devices while the underlying numerics remain identical. This combination leads to unique challenges including handling an existing large code base in Fortran and/or C/C++, subdivision of code into a great variety of units supporting a wide range of physics and numerical methods, different parallelization techniques for distributed and shared memory systems and accelerator devices, and heterogeneity of computing platforms requiring coexisting variants of parallel algorithms. All of these challenges demand that scientific software developers apply existing knowledge about domain applications, algorithms, and computing platforms to determine custom abstractions and granularity for code generation. There is a critical lack of tools to tackle those problems. CG-Kit is designed to fill this gap by providing a user with the ability to express their desired control flow and computation-to-resource map in the form a pseudocode-like recipe. It consists of standalone tools that can be combined into highly specific and, we argue, highly effective portability and maintainability toolchains. Here we present the design of our new tools: parametrized source trees, control flow graphs, and recipes. The tools are implemented in Python. They are agnostic to the programming language of the source code targeted for code generation. In conclusion, we demonstrate the capabilities of the toolkit with two examples, first, multithreaded variants of the basic AXPY operation, and second, variants of parallel algorithms within a hydrodynamics solver, called Spark, from Flash-X that operates on block-structured adaptive meshes.

Algorithmic portability↗

Flexible and Modular Simultaneous Modeling of Flow and Reactive Transport in Rivers and Hyporheic Zones

Investigations of coupled multiphysics processes in rivers and hyporheic zones have extensively used numerical models. Most existing models use a sequential, one-way coupling between the surface and subsurface domains. Such one-way coupling potentially introduces error. To overcome this, a fully coupled model, hyporheicFoam, was developed using the open-source computational platform OpenFOAM. It captures the coupled flow and multicomponent reactive transport processes within both surface and subsurface domains and across their interface. The coupling between two domains is implemented by mapping conservative flux boundary conditions at the interface through an iterative algorithm. Reactive transport is enabled by specifying a reaction network. To start, we have implemented reaction kinetics following the double Monod-type model with inhibition. The model capability is illustrated through modeling of both conservative and reactive hyporheic flow and transport through dune bedforms. With the novel coupled model, it is now possible to quantify reactions wherein the reactants and products are constantly exchanging between domains and have feedbacks. hyporheicFoam can simulate large, three-dimensional cases owing to the computational flexibility and power offered by the code structure and parallel design of OpenFOAM.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

The elphbolt ab initio solver for the coupled electron-phonon Boltzmann transport equations

elphbolt is a modern Fortran (2018 standard) code for efficiently solving the coupled electron–phonon Boltzmann transport equations from first principles. Using results from density functional and density functional perturbation theory as inputs, it can calculate the effect of the non-equilibrium phonons on the electronic transport (phonon drag) and non-equilibrium electrons on the phononic transport (electron drag) in a fully self-consistent manner and obeying the constraints mandated by thermodynamics. It can calculate the lattice, charge, and thermoelectric transport coefficients for the temperature gradient and electric fields, and the effect of the mutual electron–phonon drag on these transport properties. The code fully exploits the symmetries of the crystal and the transport-active window to allow the sampling of extremely fine electron and phonon wave vector meshes required for accurately capturing the drag phenomena. The corray feature of modern Fortran, which offers native and convenient support for parallelization, is utilized. The code is compact, readable, well-documented, and extensible by design.

electron drag↗

Power distribution estimation method for SMR using ex-core detectors: experimental demonstration by plural control rod patterns at KUCA

The power distribution estimation method based on the ex-core detectors, or PHOEBE, was demonstrated at Kyoto University Critical Assembly, KUCA. Generally, core monitoring systems use in-core neutron detectors. Since inside the core is a harsh environment, the maintainability and reliability of the detectors are deteriorated. On the other hand, the environment outside the core is milder: core monitoring by the ex-core detectors improves the maintainability and reliability especially for small modular reactors and micro-reactors. However, neutron information from the inner region of the core is lost at the ex-core detectors. To recover the information, the authors proposed to utilize the power correlation between the fuel regions. PHOEBE concept was demonstrated at KUCA with distorted power distributions simulated by control rod patterns. The relative power distribution estimated by PHOEBE agreed with that calculated by Monte Carlo simulation code MVP. PHOEBE approximately reproduced the trend of the distorted power distributions calculated by MVP code. By contrast, the case of without power correlation between fuel regions produced significant different power distributions. Therefore, the advantage of considering the power correlation between fuel regions was also demonstrated. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Fourier coding of images

Fourier transform coding and transmission of two dimensional images from far ranging space probes

Andrews, H. C.↗