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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 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Quantifying CTFE content in FK-800 using ATR-FTIR and time to peak crystallization

The chlorotrifluoroethylene (CTFE) content in vinylidene fluoride (VDF)-CTFE copolymers greatly influences the chemical and physical properties and ultimately determines the application. The copolymer known as FK-800 has a VDF:CTFE ratio of ~1:3 and is used almost exclusively as the binder in the insensitive high explosive (HE) formulation PBX 9502. Due to the dangerous nature of HE work and the effect CTFE content variations have, the ability to quickly and easily quantify CTFE content is of interest. Two techniques, attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and time to peak crystallization measured by heat flow calorimetry, were evaluated here as potential means for quantifying CTFE content. Based on the certificate of analyses (COAs), FK-800 lots with varied CTFE content encompassing the range historically used in HE applications were used as standards for both methodologies. For FTIR, a linear regression was performed on the peak area of the C-Cl IR stretch and the CTFE content; the methodology was then demonstrated on four samples, two lots of unadulterated material and material recovered from two HE samples. The calculated CTFE content and COAs were in good agreement for all four samples. Heat flow calorimetry revealed the relationship between time to peak crystallization and CTFE content was best fit by a power regression; the methodology was then tested on two different FK-800 lots. Only one sample showed good agreement between the calculated CTFE content and the COA. This discrepancy indicates the method developed is not suitable for quantifying CTFE, but provides valuable insight regarding the crystallization behavior of VDF-CTFE copolymers.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Using limited neural networks to assess relative mechanistic influence on shock heating in granular solids

The rapid compaction of granular media results in localized heating that can induce chemical reactions, phase transformations, and melting. However, there are numerous mechanisms in play that can be dependent on a variety of microstructural features. Machine learning techniques such as neural networks offer a ubiquitous method to develop models for physical processes. Limiting what kind of microstructural information is used as an input and assessing normalized changes in network error, the relative importance of different mechanisms can be inferred. Here we utilize binned, initial density information as network inputs to predict local shock heating in a granular high explosive trained from large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. In this study, the spatial extent of the density field used in the network is altered to assess the importance and relevant length scales of the physical mechanisms in play, where different microstructural features result in different predictive capabilities.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Posterior Covariance Matrix Approximations

Here, the Davis equation of state (EOS) is commonly used to model thermodynamic relationships for high explosive (HE) reactants. Typically, the parameters in the EOS are calibrated, with uncertainty, using a Bayesian framework and Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. However, MCMC methods are computationally expensive, especially for complex models with many parameters. This paper provides a comparison between MCMC and less computationally expensive Variational methods (Variational Bayesian and Hessian Variational Bayesian) for computing the posterior distribution and approximating the posterior covariance matrix based on heterogeneous experimental data. All three methods recover similar posterior distributions and posterior covariance matrices. This study demonstrates that for this EOS parameter calibration application, the assumptions made in the two Variational methods significantly reduce the computational cost but do not substantially change the results compared to MCMC.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Code for paper "Reconstructing an Implosion with Space-Time Smoothing of Velocimetry Traces"

New diagnostics to obtain high-temporal resolution observation of surface velocity provide a rich collection of data from high-explosive (HE) experiments. Using this data to estimate the temporal evolution of an imploding, HE-driven surface is of great interest for validating simulation of the physical system and for design of future experiments. This is the code for a paper in which we propose a method for using a Gaussian process to estimate the surface position over time and provide uncertainty estimates on that reconstruction accounting for measurement error, uncertainty to sparse spatial sampling velocity data, and robustness to outlying observations. In the paper, the code is applied on data from a hemispherical HE implosion experiment. This code is for release with the paper for peer-review, replicating the results and making the figures from the paper.

Grosskopf, Michael↗
DOE OSTI2023

CTH v.13.0

SAND2023-06647O The latest version of the CTH suite of computer codes is a flexible software system designed to treat a wide range of shock wave propagation and material motion phenomena in 1-D, 2-D, or 3-D. CTH has models suitable for most conditions encountered in shock physics including material strength, fracture, distended materials, high explosives, and a variety of boundary conditions. Finite-volume analogs of the Lagrangian equations of momentum and energy conservation are employed with continuous rezoning to construct Eulerian differencing. Adaptive mesh refinement is available for maximizing resolution in regions of interest. Full Lagrangian numerical methods are available for mechanical or structural response.

Schumacher, Shane↗
DOE OSTI2015

Coherent pulse interrogation system for fiber Bragg grating sensing of strain and pressure in dynamic extremes of materials

A 100 MHz fiber Bragg grating (FBG) interrogation system is described and applied to strain and pressure sensing. The approach relies on coherent pulse illumination of the FBG sensor with a broadband short pulse from a femtosecond modelocked erbium fiber laser. After interrogation of the FBG sensor, a long multi-kilometer run of single mode fiber is used for chromatic dispersion to temporally stretch the spectral components of the reflected pulse from the FBG sensor. Dynamic strain or pressure induced spectral shifts in the FBG sensor are detected as a pulsed time domain waveform shift after encoding by the chromatic dispersive line. Signals are recorded using a single 35 GHz photodetector and a 50 G Samples per second, 25 GHz bandwidth, digitizing oscilloscope. Application of this approach to high-speed strain sensing in magnetic materials in pulsed magnetic fields to ~150 T is demonstrated. The FBG wavelength shifts are used to study magnetic field driven magnetostriction effects in LaCoO₃. A sub-microsecond temporal shift in the FBG sensor wavelength attached to the sample under first order phase change appears as a fractional length change (strain: ΔL/L<10⁻⁴) in the material. A second application used FBG sensing of pressure dynamics to nearly 2 GPa in the thermal ignition of the high explosive PBX-9501 is also demonstrated. Both applications demonstrate the use of this FBG interrogation system in dynamical extreme conditions that would otherwise not be possible using traditional FBG interrogation approaches that are deemed too slow to resolve such events.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Rapid Synthesis of Monodispersed TATB Microparticles in Ionic Liquid Micelles

Controlling microscopic morphology of energetic materials is of significant interest for the improvement of their performance and production consistency. As an important insensitive high explosive material, triaminotrinitrobenzene (TATB) has attracted tremendous research effort for military grade explosives and propellants. Here, in this study, a new, rapid and inexpensive synthesis method for monodispersed TATB microparticles based on micelle-confined precipitation was developed. Surfactant with proper hydrophilic-lipophilic balance value was found to be critical to the success of this synthesis. Lasltyl, the morphology of the TATB microparticles can be tuned between quasi-spherical and faceted by controlling the speed of recrystallization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Drop weight impact measurements of HE sensitivity: modified detection methods

High explosives small-scale sensitivity testing has been a hallmark of safety screening since WWII. Sensitivity testing was once crude and simple; broom sticks were used to scrape explosives on the floor while experimenters would look, listen, and smell for signs of a reaction. Since then, a wide variety of testing apparatus have been developed to explore the effects of different stimuli on explosives. In concert with the development of the machines themselves, the reaction detection methods have also evolved. This paper’s focus is on the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL) drop weight impact machine and reaction detection methods.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

SMIS PBX-9502 Test Report

Two impact experiments in the Specific Munitions Impact Scenario (SMIS) configuration [1{3] were performed on September 3 and 4, 2013 at Lower Slobbovia ring site. Targets of the high explosive PBX-9502 were impacted with 1/2-inch diameter low-carbon steel spheres red from a 30-mm powder gun at velocities of approximately 2.5 km/s. In one experiment the target was cased in a steel cylinder with steel end plates, and in the second the target was cased in a plastic cylinder with a thin steel front cover plate and a thick steel rear plate. In neither experiment did the PBX-9502 detonate, though some material reacted in the impact

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2014

The high-foot implosion campaign on the National Ignition Facility

If you could identify only one key skill that a primary or secondary designer should possess, it would be the ability to design an implosion that works reliably and as advertised. Being able to harness an implosion is a key skill because of what an implosion does – an implosion is a “pressure amplifier” that takes absorbed energy and turns that energy, with significant energy loss, into pressure. The pressure generated in implosions is used to compress materials to high densities in the primary designers case, and high densities and temperatures in the secondary designers case. While primary designers and their simulation tools can be tested against experiments at scale fielded at high-explosive facilities around the NNSA complex, secondary designers are much more limited in the experimental facilities that can access relevant conditions (facilities such as Omega at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, the Z-machine at Sandia National Lab in Albuquerque and the National Ignition Facility at Livermore are more-or-less it). Ignition conditions are the highest-pressure and therefore hardest conditions to access with facility levels of energy, but the struggle to obtain ignition has been an illuminating test of the stockpile stewardship model. If you thought the criteria for ignition is when the fusion energy output from an inertially confined fusion (ICF) implosion exceeds the energy delivered to the target, you’d be wrong. While the above definition is used for milestone tracking purposes, the actually definition of ignition that has been used in fusion research since 1957 is when the power produced by the fusing region exceeds the rate at which energy is lost from the fusing region due to x-ray radiation processes and heat conduction processes. This simple statement about fusion power and rates of energy loss lead to a quantitative criterion for ignition that is known as the “Lawson Criteria.”

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ejecta Particle-Size Measurements in Vacuum and Helium Gas using Ultraviolet In-Line Fraunhofer Holography

An Ultraviolet (UV) in-line Fraunhofer holography diagnostic has been developed for making high-resolution spatial measurements of ejecta particles traveling at many mm/μsec. This report will discuss the development of the diagnostic including the high-powered laser system and high-resolution optical relay system. In addition, the system required to reconstruct the images from the hologram and the corresponding analysis of those images to extract particles will also be described. Finally, results from six high-explosive (HE), shock-driven Sn ejecta experiments will be presented. Particle size distributions will be shown that cover most of the ejecta velocities for experiments conducted in a vacuum, and helium gas environments. In addition, a modification has been made to the laser system that produces two laser pulses separated by 6.8 ns. This double-pulsed capability allows a superposition of two holograms to be acquired at two different times, thus allowing ejecta velocities to be measured directly. Results from this double pulsed experiment will be described.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Ejecta Particle-Size Measurements in Vacuum and Helium Gas using Ultraviolet In-Line Fraunhofer Holography

An ultraviolet (UV) in-line Fraunhofer holography diagnostic has been developed for making high-resolution spatial measurements of ejecta particles traveling at many mm/μsec. This report will discuss the development of the diagnostic, including the high-powered laser system and high-resolution optical relay system. In addition, we will also describe the system required to reconstruct the images from the hologram and the corresponding analysis of those images to extract particles. Finally, we will present results from six high-explosive (HE), shock-driven Sn-ejecta experiments. Particle-size distributions will be shown that cover most of the ejecta velocities for experiments conducted in a vacuum, and helium gas environments. In addition, a modification has been made to the laser system that produces two laser pulses separated by 6.8 ns. This double-pulsed capability allows a superposition of two holograms to be acquired at two different times, thus allowing ejecta velocities to be measured directly. Results from this double-pulsed experiment will be described.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Influence of sweeping detonation-wave loading on damage evolution during spallation loading of tantalum in both a planar and curved geometry

Widespread research over the past five decades has provided a wealth of experimental data and insight concerning the shock hardening, damage evolution, and the spallation response of materials subjected to square-topped shock-wave loading profiles. However, fewer quantitative studies have been conducted on the effect of direct, in-contact, high explosive (HE)-driven Taylor wave (unsupported shocks) loading on the shock hardening, damage evolution, or spallation response of materials. Systematic studies quantifying the effect of sweeping-detonation wave loading are yet sparser. In this study, the damage evolution and spallation response of Ta is shown to be critically dependent on the peak shock stress, the geometry of the sample (flat or curved plate geometry), and the shock obliquity during sweeping-detonation-wave shock loading. Sweepingwave loading in the flat-plate geometry is observed to: a) yield a lower spall strength than previously documented for 1-D supported-shock-wave loading, b) exhibit increased shock hardening as a function of increasing obliquity, and c) lead to an increased incidence of deformation twin formation with increasing shock obliquity. Sweeping-wave loading of a 10 cm radius curved Ta plate is observed to: a) lead to an increase in the shear stress as a function of increasing obliquity, b) display a more developed level of damage evolution, extensive voids and coalescence, and lower spall strength with obliquity in the curved plate than seen in the flat-plate sweeping-detonation wave loading for an equivalent HE loading, and c) no increased propensity for deformation twin formation with increasing obliquity as seen in the flat-plate geometry. The overall observations comparing and contrasting the flat versus curved sweeping-wave spall experiments with 1D loaded spallation behavior suggests a coupled influence of obliquity and geometry on dynamic shock-induced damage evolution and spall strength. Coupled experimental and modeling research to quantify the combined effects of sweeping-wave loading with increasingly complex sample geometries on the shockwave response of materials is clearly crucial to providing the basis for developing and thereafter validation of predictive modeling capability.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Damaging HMX/HTPB formulations: In-situ compression imaging using X-ray micro computed tomography

HMX (octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine) is a powerful high explosive that is routinely used in formulations such as PBX 9501. Much remains to be learned about the performance and mechanical properties of HMX formulations such as these, particularly after dynamic damage has occurred. We have prepared formulations with HMX using hydroxyl terminated polybutadiene (HTPB) binder in order to form an explosive that is relatively insensitive to mild stimuli, analogous to PBXB-110 (different only is substitution of dioctyladipate (DO) for isodecyl pelargonate).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

A Thermal Control System for an Isostatic Press

This paper proposes a concept of operation for an isostatic pressing capability using a proposed thermally controlled system developed using system engineering methodology. The concept utilizes a computer controlled fluid based heat exchange system capable of heating or cooling a pressure vessel in which high explosive (HE) is isostatically pressed. A press operator controls the system through a computer interface.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

LIHEM Failure Model Development

Previously, a factor of safety criterion for the IHEs (LX-17 and PBX 9502) was defined using the ultimate strength of the material based on uniaxial compression and tension data at various temperatures and strain rates and an experimentally derived failure surface. The probability of failure was subsequently calculated using this factor of safety, uncertainty data, and assumptions. This year, the methodology was extended to incorporate the effect of cyclic loading into the Livermore Insensitive High Explosives Mechanical (LIHEM) model. As mentioned in the previous section, we performed cyclic experiments on three-point-bend specimens in order to find cycles-to-failure as a function of failure load at various temperatures, frequencies, and amplitudes.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Project Trinity: The Myth, The Legend, The Legacy [Slides]

The Manhattan Project was established in June 1942. Its mission: beat the Nazis to the atomic bomb. Los Alamos was selected as the site for the weapons design laboratory. J. Robert Oppenheimer served as the Laboratory’s director. In the spring of 1944, Los Alamos scientists discovered plutonium would not work in a gun assembly. That summer, the Laboratory was reorganized to build an implosion bomb. Scientists were confident Little Boy, the uranium gun weapon, would perform in combat. Initially, however, scientists were skeptical its imploding plutonium counterpart would function. Eventually, due to improvements in the high explosives (HE), most scientists were confident the implosion bomb would work …but not confident enough to use it in combat without testing it first! Oppenheimer persuaded General Leslie Groves, Commander of the Manhattan Engineer District, to test.

Military Technology, Weaponry, & National Defense(↗
DOE OSTI2014

Evaluation of Select Heat and Pressure Measurement Gauges for Potential Use in the NRC/OECD High Energy Arc Fault (HEAF) Test Program

In an effort to improve the current state of the art in fire probabilistic risk assessment methodology, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Regulatory Research, contracted Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) to conduct a series of scoping tests to identify thermal and mechanical probes that could be used to characterize the zone of influence (ZOI) during high energy arc fault (HEAF) testing. For the thermal evaluation, passive and active probes were exposed to HEAF-like heat fluxes for a period of 2 seconds at the SNL's National Solar Thermal Test Facility to determine their ability to survive and measure such an extreme environment. Thermal probes tested included temperature lacquers (passive), NANMAC thermocouples, directional flame thermometers, modified plate thermometers, infrared temperature sensors, and a Gardon heat flux gauge. Similarly, passive and active pressure probes were evaluated by exposing them to pressures resulting from various high-explosive detonations at the Sandia Terminal Ballistic Facility. Pressure probes included bikini pressure gauges (passive) and pressure transducers. Results from these tests provided good insight to determine which probes should be considered for use during future HEAF testing.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗