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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 OSTI2019

Sugar production from bioenergy sorghum by using pilot scale continuous hydrothermal pretreatment combined with disk refining

Chemical-free pretreatments are attracting increased interest because they generate less inhibitor in hydrolysates. In this study, pilot-scaled continuous hydrothermal (PCH) pretreatment followed by disk refining was evaluated and compared to laboratory-scale batch hot water (LHW) pretreatment. Bioenergy sorghum bagasse (BSB) was pretreated at 160–190 °C for 10 min with and without subsequent disk milling. Hydrothermal pretreatment and disk milling synergistically improved glucose and xylose release by 10–20% compared to hydrothermal pretreatment alone. Maximum yields of glucose and xylose of 82.55% and 70.78%, respectively were achieved, when BSB was pretreated at 190 °C and 180 °C followed by disk milling. LHW pretreated BSB had 5–15% higher sugar yields compared to PCH for all pretreatment conditions. The surface area improvement was also performed. PCH pretreatment combined with disk milling increased BSB surface area by 31.80–106.93%, which was greater than observed using LHW pretreatment.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗
DOE OSTI2021

The reaction between metakaolin and limestone and its effect in porosity refinement and mechanical properties

In limestone calcined clay cements (LC{sup 3}), more hemicarboaluminate and monocarboaluminate is observed, as compared to other blended cements, from the reaction of metakaolin with limestone. In this study, it is shown that the formation of these carboaluminate phases, predominantly occurs during a “third” hydration peak, after the main alite and aluminate peaks. The influence of the metakaolin content, level of sulfate addition and the water to binder ratio on the position and magnitude of this peak were investigated. This precipitation of hemi and monocarboaluminate has a significant effect on porosity refinement and strength development. It was also observed that alumina from metakaolin can contribute to the precipitation of ettringite if sufficient sulfate is available.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Refining internal bilayer structure of bicelles resolved by extended-q small angle X-ray scattering

The internal profile across the bilayer reveals important structural information regarding the crystallinity of acyl chains or the positions of encapsulated species. Here, we demonstrate that a simple five-layer-core-shell discoidal model can be employed tobest fit the extended-qsmall angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data and resolvethe bilayer internal structure (with sub-nanometer resolution) of a nanoscale discoidal system comprised of a mixture of long-and short-chain lipids(known as “bicelles”). In contrast to the traditional core-shell discoidal model, the detailed structure in the hydrophobic core such as the methylene and methyl groups can be distinguished via this model. The refined model is validated by the SAXS data of bicelles whose electron scattering length density of the hydrophobic core is adjusted by the addition of a long-chain lipid with a fluorine-end group.The higher resolution of the bilayer internal structure can be employed to advance our understanding of the interaction and conformation of the membrane and associated molecules, such as membrane-associated proteins and locations of entrapped species in the lipid nanoparticles.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-order matrix-free incompressible flow solvers with GPU acceleration and low-order refined preconditioners

In this work, we present a matrix-free flow solver for high-order finite element discretizations of the incompressible Navier-Stokes and Stokes equations with GPU acceleration. For high polynomial degrees, assembling the matrix for the linear systems resulting from the finite element discretization can be prohibitively expensive, both in terms of computational complexity and memory. For this reason, it is necessary to develop matrix-free operators and preconditioners, which can be used to efficiently solve these linear systems without access to the matrix entries themselves. The matrix-free operator evaluations utilize GPU-accelerated sum-factorization techniques to minimize memory movement and maximize throughput. The preconditioners developed in this work are based on a low-order refined methodology with parallel subspace corrections, as described for diffusion problems in [1]. The saddle-point Stokes system is solved using block-preconditioning techniques, which are robust in mesh size, polynomial degree, time step, and viscosity. For the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, we make use of projection (fractional step) methods, which require Helmholtz and Poisson solves at each time step. The performance of our flow solvers is assessed on several benchmark problems in two and three spatial dimensions.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Refining seasonal performance metrics for room air-conditioning in emerging markets: Integrating building simulations with real-world equipment performance data

Buildings significantly impact worldwide energy consumption, emphasizing the need to reduce the cooling energy demand, especially in warm climates. Minimum energy performance standards (MEPS) and seasonal performance metrics such as the Cooling Seasonal Performance Factor (CSPF) are crucial for improving room air conditioning (RAC) efficiency. However, challenges remain, particularly in emerging markets like Brazil, where seasonal performance metrics have recently been introduced. This study assesses the factors influencing country-level seasonal efficiency metrics and proposes a framework to refine these calculations by considering local climates and expected RAC usage in real-world households via building simulations. Key considerations include outdoor air temperature binning for different climates, RAC usage patterns (i.e., daytime and nighttime usages), envelope thermal performance of households, and urban heat island (UHI) effects. The results reveal that CSPF values can vary significantly based on climate conditions, with observed CSPF ranging from 4.10 to 11.59 Wh/Wh across 577 Brazilian climates. The inclusion of UHI effects led to a reduction in CSPF values by up to 29% during nighttime operations in hot urban areas. Additionally, building envelope efficiency showed contrasting impacts on RAC performance, with CSPFs reaching up to 15.35 Wh/Wh under specific optimized conditions. These findings highlight the need for transparent policymaking in RAC performance databases, facilitating the application of approaches like those proposed in this study and supporting diverse stakeholders in decision-making.

Bavaresco, Mateus↗
DOE OSTI2013

A top-down assessment of energy, water and land use in uranium mining, milling, and refining

Land, water and energy use are key measures of the sustainability of uranium production into the future. As the most attractive, accessible deposits are mined out, future discoveries may prove to be significantly, perhaps unsustainably, more intensive consumers of environmental resources. A number of previous attempts have been made to provide empirical relationships connecting these environmental impact metrics to process variables such as stripping ratio and ore grade. These earlier attempts were often constrained by a lack of real world data and perform poorly when compared against data from modern operations. This paper conditions new empirical models of energy, water and land use in uranium mining, milling, and refining on contemporary data reported by operating mines. It shows that, at present, direct energy use from uranium production represents less than 1% of the electrical energy produced by the once-through fuel cycle. Projections of future energy intensity from uranium production are also possible by coupling the empirical models with estimates of uranium crustal abundance, characteristics of new discoveries, and demand. The projections show that even for the most pessimistic of scenarios considered, by 2100, the direct energy use from uranium production represents less than 3% of the electrical energy produced by the contemporary once-through fuel cycle.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Refinement and Validation of the Head and Neck Lymphedema and Fibrosis Symptom Inventory

Lymphedema and fibrosis (LEF) are common yet overlooked late effects of head and neck cancer and its therapy. Lack of reliable and valid measures of head and neck LEF is a critical barrier to the timely identification and management of head and neck LEF. To fill this gap, we developed and pilot tested a 64-item patient-reported outcome measure ( Lymphedema Symptom Intensity and Distress Survey-Head and Neck, LSIDS-H&N). This article aims to report the process of further validation and refinement of the tool.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Wide-Scale Clinical Implementation of Knowledge-Based Planning: An Investigation of Workforce Efficiency, Need for Post-automation Refinement, and Data-Driven Model Maintenance

Our purpose was to investigate the effect of automated knowledge-based planning (KBP) on real-world clinical workflow efficiency, assess whether manual refinement of KBP plans improves plan quality across multiple disease sites, and develop a data-driven method to periodically improve KBP automated planning routines.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Microstructure refinement of hot deformed Dy-free NdFeB magnets through a novel cold sintering approach by pressure-assisted spark plasma sintering

Anisotropic fine-grained Dy-free NdFeB high-performance magnets were produced using a novel cold sintering approach by pressure-assisted spark plasma sintering (SPS). The NdFeB nanocrystalline ribbon powders were subjected to cold sintering below 450 °C using pressure-assisted SPS, followed by hot deformation at 710 °C and 810 °C via SPS. Results indicate that cold sintering below 450 °C effectively restricts grain growth in the NdFeB magnets, yielding sub-100 nm scale grains across both fine-grained regions and most coarse-grained regions. The refined grain structure achieved through cold sintering allows for a lower hot deformation temperature as compared with the magnet by conventional sintering, as finer grains allow easier deformation and grain sliding/rotation. This process produces a highly fine-grained and anisotropic microstructure to achieve high magnetic performance (i.e., high intrinsic coercivity, remanence, and maximum energy product) in the magnets. The cold sintering (at 350 °C) and lower hot deformation temperatures required (e.g., 710 °C) help control grain coarsening and limit grain size that is commensurate with the size of a single magnetic domain of the Nd 2 Fe 14 B magnetic matrix phase, resulting in high intrinsic coercivity (H ci =11.4 kOe). Furthermore, the reduced hot deformation temperature mitigates the formation of coarse grain bands, leading to improved magnetic properties, specifically an increased remanence (B r = 14.3 kGs) and a high maximum energy product ((BH) max = 48 MGOe). In conclusion, cold sintered hot deformed NdFeB magnet also shows good thermal stability with reversible temperature coefficient α(B r )= -0.097 %/K and α(H ci )= -0.616 %/K at elevated temperatures up to 400 K.

Cold Sintering↗
DOE OSTI2014

A procedure for the estimation of the numerical uncertainty of CFD calculations based on grid refinement studies

This paper offers a procedure for the estimation of the numerical uncertainty of any integral or local flow quantity as a result of a fluid flow computation; the procedure requires solutions on systematically refined grids. The error is estimated with power series expansions as a function of the typical cell size. These expansions, of which four types are used, are fitted to the data in the least-squares sense. The selection of the best error estimate is based on the standard deviation of the fits. The error estimate is converted into an uncertainty with a safety factor that depends on the observed order of grid convergence and on the standard deviation of the fit. For well-behaved data sets, i.e. monotonic convergence with the expected observed order of grid convergence and no scatter in the data, the method reduces to the well known Grid Convergence Index. Examples of application of the procedure are included. - Highlights: • Estimation of the numerical uncertainty of any integral or local flow quantity. • Least squares fits to power series expansions to handle noisy data. • Excellent results obtained for manufactured solutions. • Consistent results obtained for practical CFD calculations. • Reduces to the well known Grid Convergence Index for well-behaved data sets.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Multi-frequency progressive refinement for learned inverse scattering

Interpreting scattered acoustic and electromagnetic wave patterns is a computational task that enables remote imaging in a number of important applications, including medical imaging, geophysical exploration, sonar and radar detection, and nondestructive testing of materials. However, accurately and stably recovering an inhomogeneous medium from far-field scattered wave measurements is a computationally difficult problem, due to the nonlinear and non-local nature of the forward scattering process. We design a neural network, called Multi-Frequency Inverse Scattering Network (MFISNet), and a training method to approximate the inverse map from far-field scattered wave measurements at multiple frequencies. We consider three variants of MFISNet, with the strongest performing variant inspired by the recursive linearization method — a commonly used technique for stably inverting scattered wavefield data — that progressively refines the estimate with higher frequency content. MFISNet outperforms past methods in regimes with high-contrast, heterogeneous large objects, and inhomogeneous unknown backgrounds.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

A survey of high level frameworks in block-structured adaptive mesh refinement packages

Over the last decade block-structured adaptive mesh refinement (SAMR) has found increasing use in large, publicly available codes and frameworks. SAMR frameworks have evolved along different paths. Some have stayed focused on specific domain areas, others have pursued a more general functionality, providing the building blocks for a larger variety of applications. In this survey paper we examine a representative set of SAMR packages and SAMR-based codes that have been in existence for half a decade or more, have a reasonably sized and active user base outside of their home institutions, and are publicly available. The set consists of a mix of SAMR packages and application codes that cover a broad range of scientific domains. We look at their high-level frameworks, their design trade-offs and their approach to dealing with the advent of radical changes in hardware architecture. Finally, the codes included in this survey are BoxLib, Cactus, Chombo, Enzo, FLASH, and Uintah.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Advances in Patch-Based Adaptive Mesh Refinement Scalability

Patch-based structured adaptive mesh refinement (SAMR) is widely used for high-resolution simu- lations. Combined with modern supercomputers, it could provide simulations of unprecedented size and resolution. A persistent challenge for this com- bination has been managing dynamically adaptive meshes on more and more MPI tasks. The dis- tributed mesh management scheme in SAMRAI has made some progress SAMR scalability, but early al- gorithms still had trouble scaling past the regime of 105 MPI tasks. This work provides two critical SAMR regridding algorithms, which are integrated into that scheme to ensure efficiency of the whole. The clustering algorithm is an extension of the tile- clustering approach, making it more flexible and efficient in both clustering and parallelism. The partitioner is a new algorithm designed to prevent the network congestion experienced by its prede- cessor. We evaluated performance using weak- and strong-scaling benchmarks designed to be difficult for dynamic adaptivity. Results show good scaling on up to 1.5M cores and 2M MPI tasks. Detailed timing diagnostics suggest scaling would continue well past that.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Monoclinically distorted perovskites, A{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} (A=Pr, Gd): Rietveld refinement, and dielectric studies

Double perovskite related oxide A{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6}A=Pr, Gd were synthesized by the solid state reaction method at 1523 K. The structure and microstructure of the compounds were studied by X-ray, SAED and FESEM. Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray analysis shows that the compounds crystallizes in monoclinic space group P2{sub 1}/n (a{sup +}b{sup −}b{sup −}) with unit cell parameter √2a{sub p}×√2a{sub p}×2a{sub p} (a=5.5026(1) Å, b=5.6305(1) Å, c=7.8149(1) Å, β=90.02(1)° for Pr{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} and a=5.3621(1) Å, b=5.6565(2) Å, c=7.6779(2) Å and β=90.264(2)° for Gd{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6}. Electron diffraction study confirms P2{sub 1}/n symmetry of the oxides. The monoclinic distortion is larger in Gd{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} than Pr{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} which is associated with the tolerance factor and the tilting angle of ZnO{sub 6} and TiO{sub 6} octahedra (ϕ=13.64° for Pr{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} and 16.51° for Gd{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6}). The compounds are highly ordered. The charge and size difference between B site cations are the driving force for the ordering of the B′O{sub 6} and B″O{sub 6} octahedra. Pr{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} shows a dielectric constant of 27 and dielectric loss of 0.003 while Gd{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} has a dielectric constant of 17 and dielectric loss of 0.005 measured at 1 MHz. - Graphical abstract: Synthesis of new double perovskite dielectric material with very low dielectric loss. - Highlights: • Synthesis of new monoclinically distorted double perovskite (Pr{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6}). • Synthesis of monoclinically distorted double perovskite (Gd{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6}). • Selected area electron diffraction study of A{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} (A=Pr, Gd). • Study of dielectric properties of A{sub 2}ZnTiO{sub 6} (A=Pr, Gd)

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2015

Microstructure refinement and mechanical properties improvement by developing IAF on inclusions in Ti–Al complex deoxidized HSLA steel

The present study focused on microstructure refinement in Ti–Al complex deoxidized low alloy structural steel by developing IAF on inclusions. The goal was to establish more determined relation between Ti, Al in steel and the produced microstructures. In steel sample with Ti and Al contents of 0.0035% and 0.0004%, respectively, IAF was well developed by inclusions characterized by TiO{sub x}–MnO oxide cores enwrapped by (MnO–SiO{sub 2}–Al{sub 2}O{sub 3})–MnS or (MnO–SiO{sub 2})–MnS surface layers. With the rise of Ti and Al contents, IAF volume decreased greatly because of different inclusion chemistry, TiO{sub x} + MnS, TiO{sub x}–Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} or Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}, which inhibit the formation of IAF. Thermodynamic calculations were carried out for optimal Ti and Al contents in steel to target inclusions with proper chemistry for nucleating IAF. These laboratorial findings were successfully applied and reproducibly observed in pilot trials. It was indicated that low temperature impact toughness at 0 °C and − 20 °C of the produced medium plate was effectively improved despite lower Ti contents than common process, which was very meaningful in saving the cost of high Ti content steels. - Highlights: • IAF volume showed close relationship to Ti or Al contents. • To target IAF, there is no need to add too many titanium alloys. • Optimal Ti and Al were about 0.0020–0.0060% and 0.0005–0.0020%, respectively. • Impact toughness of steel plate at 0 °C and − 20 °C was successfully improved.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Refining whisker size of 2024Al/Al18B4O33w composite through extrusion and its effects on the material's micro-structures and mechanical properties

Highlights: • The nonuniform distributions of stress and velocity along whisker lead to whisker breakage. • The microcrack between broken whiskers can propagate into interface or matrix, related to the wedge angle of broken whisker. • The whisker breakage and staggered result in the decreasing distance between neighboring whiskers. • The smaller distance between neighboring whiskers reduces the resistance to the propagation of crack resulting in the lower ultimate tensile strength of extruded composite. - Abstract: Hot extrusion is used to improve the distribution of whiskers and refine the whisker sizes of 2024Al/Al{sub 18}B{sub 4}O{sub 33}w composite. The grain size and the ultimate tensile strength of the extruded 2024Al/Al{sub 18}B{sub 4}O{sub 33}w composite are analyzed. The results show that the average length of whiskers decreases due to the whisker breakage. The nonuniform distributions of stress and velocity along the whisker lead to whisker breakage. The microcrack between the broken whiskers can propagate into the interface or the matrix, related to the wedge angle of the broken whisker. The extrusion is beneficial to the whisker staggered and makes it easy for the microcracks filled with matrix. The whisker breakage and the whisker staggered result in the decreasing distance between the neighboring whiskers. Due to the dislocation motion constrained by matrix and the overlap of the deformation areas, the decreasing distance between the neighboring whiskers promoting the recrystallization results in the smaller grain size. During tensile tests, due to the smaller resistance with the smaller distance between the neighboring whiskers, the cracks between the progressive broken whiskers are easy to coalesce resulting in the lower ultimate tensile strength of the extruded composite.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

TiAl/RGO (reduced graphene oxide) bulk composites with refined microstructure and enhanced nanohardness fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM)

Highlights: • The average grain size generally refines with increasing the laser scan line spacing. • The phase transformation mechanism during SLM is determined by HRTEM. • Some RGO sheets transform into amorphous carbon during SLM process. • The nanohardness is much higher than those casting counterparts. - Abstract: This work for the first time investigated the effect of laser scan line spacing on the microstructure, phase evolution and nanohardness of Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb/RGO (reduced graphene oxide) metal matrix composites (MMCs) fabricated by selective laser melting (SLM). The results show that with increasing the laser scan line spacing from 80 to 140 μm, the average grain size generally decreases from 10.13 to 8.12 μm. The SLM-processed Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb/RGO parts are dominated by high-angle (>15°) grain boundaries (HAGBs) and α{sub 2} (Ti{sub 3}Al) phase. With the increase in laser scan line spacing, the contents of HAGBs and α{sub 2} phase both decrease. Due to instantaneous high temperature during the SLM process, some RGO sheets transform to amorphous carbon. The nanohardness of SLM-processed Ti-48Al-2Cr-2Nb/RGO parts increase from 8.13 ± 0.39 GPa to 9.85 ± 0.46 GPa when increasing the laser scan line spacing from 80 to 140 μm, which is much higher than that of the traditional casting TiAl counterparts (4.98 ± 0.10 GPa).

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

Pore structure refinement of cement paste incorporating nanosilica: Study with dual beam scanning electron microscopy/focused ion beam (SEM/FIB)

Highlights: • The modifying effects of nanosilica on pore structure of cement-based composites are investigated. • Dual beam SEM/FIB is implemented to create the 3D pore structure model and calculate porosity and pore size distribution. • The porosity and pore diameter are found to decrease with the inclusion of nanosilica. - Abstract: Pozzolanic materials, micro- and nano-, have been found to improve the durability properties of cement-based materials by refining their pore structure. As a relatively newer material, the modifying effects of nanosilica on pore structure are still inconclusive in the literature. In this study, this was characterized by implementing dual beam SEM/FIB, which can generate 3D models of porous materials for quantitative analysis. The sample is milled by focused ion beam layer-by-layer, and each surface layer is 2D imaged via scanning electron microscopy. Three types of pores – large capillary pore, medium capillary pore and gel pore – can be observed. A 3D pore structure model is then reconstructed from 1000 of these 2D images, from which porosity and pore size distribution can be calculated. Cement pastes incorporating nanosilica and silica fume were compared. The porosity and pore diameter were found to decrease with the inclusion of nanosilica. Furthermore, reduction in capillary pores and subsequent increase in gel pores were also observed.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗