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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

SU-E-T-574: Fessiblity of Using the Calypso System for HDR Interstitial Catheter Reconstruction

Purpose: It is always a challenge to reconstruct the interstitial catheter for high dose rate (HDR) brachytherapy on patient CT or MR images. This work aims to investigate the feasibility of using the Calypso system (Varian Medical, CA) for HDR catheter reconstruction utilizing its accuracy on tracking the electromagnetic transponder location. Methods: Experiment was done with a phantom that has a HDR interstitial catheter embedded inside. CT scan with a slice thickness of 1.25 mm was taken for this phantom with two Calypso beacon transponders in the catheter. The two transponders were connected with a wire. The Calypso system was used to record the beacon transponders’ location in real time when they were gently pulled out with the wire. The initial locations of the beacon transponders were used for registration with the CT image and the detected transponder locations were used for the catheter path reconstruction. The reconstructed catheter path was validated on the CT image. Results: The HDR interstitial catheter was successfully reconstructed based on the transponders’ coordinates recorded by the Calypso system in real time when the transponders were pulled in the catheter. After registration with the CT image, the shape and location of the reconstructed catheter are evaluated against the CT image and the result shows an accuracy of 2 mm anywhere in the Calypso detectable region which is within a 10 cm X 10 cm X 10 cm cubic box for the current system. Conclusion: It is feasible to use the Calypso system for HDR interstitial catheter reconstruction. The obstacle for its clinical usage is the size of the beacon transponder whose diameter is bigger than most of the interstitial catheters used in clinic. Developing smaller transponders and supporting software and hardware for this application is necessary before it can be adopted for clinical use.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

A quantitative method to determine the region not influenced by injected interstitial and surface effects during void swelling in ion-irradiated metals

We propose and demonstrate a microstructurally-based experimental method to quantitively determine the depth regions in self-ion-irradiated metals that are affected by the injected interstitial effect and various surface effects, focusing on the choice of safe analysis zones to minimize the impact of these phenomena. The goal is to define the depth ranges where extracted data can be confidently applied to ion-neutron correlations for reactor application. Since ion energies in the range of 1–5 MeV are most frequently employed by the radiation effects community, irradiations were conducted at four energies in this range, all proceeding at 475 °C. The experiment was conducted on relatively pure single crystal iron to focus only on physical phenomena, avoiding the influence of possibly confounding chemical or segregation processes. Care was also taken to minimize the influence of other physical factors such as crystalline orientation. It was shown that, at 475 °C, ion energies of ≤1 MeV were too shallow in penetration and did not yield a safe depth range, but irradiations at 2.5 MeV and above yielded useful safe zones with predicted swelling behavior becoming independent of ion energy. The surface-affected zone width was found to be roughly twice that of the void-denuded zone width and to be independent of accumulated displacement dose. The largest injected-interstitial effect arises from the injected interstitial depression of void nucleation and growth. The interstitial-affected region starts at about one half of the projected range and does not show any “spreading” of its influence in depth as the peak damage level increases from 50 to 100 dpa. This study provides some confidence that enhances the credibility of ion simulation when applied to prediction of void swelling in neutron environments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Complexes of self-interstitials with oxygen atoms in Ge

Interactions of germanium self-interstitials with interstitial oxygen atoms in Ge subjected to irradiation at ∼80 K and subsequently to annealing have been studied. To distinguish the processes involving vacancies and self-interstitials the doping with tin was used. It was shown that absorption lines with maximum at 602, 674, 713 and 803 cm{sup −1} are self-interstitials-related. Two lines at 602 and 674, which develop upon annealing in the temperature range 180–240 K, belong to IO complexes, while the bands at 713 and 803 cm{sup −1}, which emerge after annealing at T>220 K, are associated with I{sub 2}O. It is argued that the annealing of IO occurs by two mechanisms: by dissociation and by diffusion.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Mechanical properties as an indicator of interstitials in niobium for superconducting accelerator cavities

A preliminary investigation was conducted into the feasibility of using simple mechanical properties experiments to evaluate interstitial impurity uptake from processing environments. Two types of tests were examined: tensile tests and complex modulus measurements using a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). For the tensile tests, samples were cut from a single crystal of niobium, with the same orientation, and then prepared following different procedures. Significant differences were observed during tensile tests, with yielding strength and strain-to-failure clearly related to interstitial uptake. When the strain rate was reduced by an order of magnitude, the strain-to-failure was reduced by 18 % indicating that interstitial hydrogen is responsible for this behavior. For the complex modulus measurement, polycrystalline samples from different locations of two different ingots were examined at a frequency of 1.0 Hz while the temperature was increased at the rate of 1.0 °C per minute. Anaelastic peaks were found for C, N, and O in all samples, but the lower limit of the system did not allow for detection of a peak for H. It is concluded that mechanical properties could be developed as a measurement tool to guide the development of processing methods for producing reduced interstitial content material, but additional research, and uncertainty analysis, is required for these tools to be reliable in this application.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-55: Reproducibility of Interstitial HDR Brachytherapy Plans

Purpose: Treating gynecological cancers with interstitial high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy requires precise reconstruction of catheter positions to obtain accurate dosimetric plans. In this study, we investigated the degree of reproducibility of dosimetric plans for Syed HDR brachytherapy. Methods: We randomly selected five patients having cervix-vaginal cancer who were recently treated in our clinic with interstitial HDR brachytherapy with a prescription dose of 25–30 Gy in five fractions. Interstitial needles/catheters were placed under fluoroscopic guidance and intra-operative 3T MRI scan was performed to confirm the desired catheter placement for adequate target volume coverage. A CT scan was performed and fused with the MRI for delineating high-risk CTV (HR-CTV), intermediate-risk CTV (IR-CTV) and OARs. HDR treatment plans were generated using Oncentra planning software. A single plan was used for all five fractions of treatment for each patient. For this study, we took the original clinical plan and removed all the reconstructed catheters from the plan keeping the original contours unchanged. Then, we manually reconstructed all the catheters and entered the same dwell time from the first original clinical plan. The dosimetric parameters studied were: D90 for HR-CTV and IR-CV, and D2cc for bladder, rectum, sigmoid and bowel. Results: The mean of absolute differences in dosimetric coverage (D90) were (range): 1.3% (1.0–2.0%) and 2.0% (0.9–3.6%) for HR-CTV and IR-CTV, respectively. In case of OARs, the mean of absolute variations in D2cc were (range): 4.7% (0.7–8.9%) for bladder, 1.60% (0.3–3.2%) for rectum, 1.6% (0–3.9%) for sigmoid, and 1.8% (0–5.1%) for bowel. Conclusion: Overall, the reproducibility of interstitial HDR plans was within clinically acceptable limit. Observed maximum variation in D2cc for bladder. If number of catchers and dwell points were relatively low or any one catheter was heavily loaded, then reproducibility of the plan was more sensitive to the accuracy of catheter reconstruction.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Influences of interstitial and extrusion temperature on grain boundary segregation, Y-Ti-O nanofeatures, and mechanical properties of ferritic steels

Doping with interstitials influences the grain boundary (GB) composition of metallic alloys, enabling changes in elemental GB enrichment, grain size, and mechanical properties or even promoting nanoparticle formation. Yet, little efforts on these doping effects have been made in oxide dispersion-strengthened (ODS) steels. In this paper, by combining advanced microscopy techniques, we studied the impact of interstitial concentration and extrusion temperature on the GB structure-dependent solute segregation, Y-Ti-O nanofeatures, and mechanical properties of ferritic Fe–14Cr (wt%) ODS steels fabricated by ball milling. We found that doping with high carbon and oxygen contents causes the GB to be decorated with the interstitials and promotes nanoparticle formation along the GBs, thereby retarding capillary-driven grain coarsening. This effect performs twofold, through grain size refinement and particle hardening. For samples with low interstitial contents, altering the extrusion temperature does not significantly change the material's mechanical properties and microstructure or the nonstoichiometric chemistry of nanoparticles, which are highly stable at high temperatures. Finally and further, for all the samples, Y–Al oxides in the initial precipitation stages rapidly become coarsened at high temperatures, as Al weakens the thermal stability of nanoparticles, thereby transforming them to core-shell structures with Y-Al-rich cores and Ti-O-rich shells in the later precipitation stages.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Chemical trends favoring interstitial cluster formation in bcc high-entropy alloys from first-principles calculations

Achieving high strength and ductility is a common goal in structural alloy design. Body-centered cubic high-entropy alloys (HEAs) commonly highlight the conflict between these properties, with stronger alloys being brittle and vice versa. Recent reports suggest interstitial solutes can be used to overcome this trade-off, in some cases providing both strength and ductility enhancements. This effect has been correlated with interstitial cluster formation, although the conditions favoring their formation remain incompletely understood. Using first-principles calculations of solution energies and diffusivities, we provide insights into thermodynamic and kinetic factors favoring interstitial solute clusters. Among C, N and O solutes, O interstitials display most desirable diffusion kinetics. Further, the results highlight the importance of local composition fluctuations in the HEAs to enable the formation of clusters of appreciable size. The results are explained in terms of bonding and distortion trends across solutes and HEA compositions to provide guidelines for alloy design.

Borges, Pedro P P O↗
DOE OSTI2025

Discovery and Characterization of a Metastable Cubic Interstitial Nickel–Carbon System with an Expanded Lattice

Metastable, i.e., kinetically favored but thermodynamically not stable, interstitial solid solutions of carbon in iron are well-understood. Carbon can occupy the interstitial atoms of the host metal, altering its properties. Alloying of the host metal results in the stabilization of the FeC x phases, widening its application. Pure nickel finds niche applications, mainly focusing on catalysis, while nickel alloys are widely applied, e.g., in gas turbines, reactors, and seawater piping. Nickel carbide (Ni 3 C) is the well-known stable Ni–C system displaying a rhombohedral (R3̅c) crystal structure. Some reports describe an elusive cubic Ni–C system, observed during certain catalytic reactions occurring on nickel and formed by the occupation of the interstitials of the metal with carbon: to date, the stabilization and characterization of this phase have not been accomplished. Hereby, we report on the synthesis of a cubic metastable NiC x phase using chemical vapor deposition of methane on supported nickel nanoparticles. The structure was predicted by DFT/ReaxFF, synthesized and monitored with in situ time-resolved synchrotron XRD, and experimentally confirmed by Rietveld refinement and (S)TEM-EELS under ambient conditions. The results show an Fm3̅m phase with a lattice parameter of a = 3.749 ± 0.037 Å at room temperature, with the highest ever reported atomic percentage of carbon occupying the octahedral interstices of 23.1%, resulting in a NiC 0.3 phase. The degree of occupation of the interstitial voids by carbon can be controlled, enabling the tuning of the host metal’s d-spacing and composition, highlighting the applicability of this synthesis route for catalytic nanoparticle preparation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Modification of Transition-Metal Redox by Interstitial Water in Hexacyanometalate Electrodes for Sodium-Ion Batteries

A sodium-ion battery (SIB) solution is attractive for grid-scale electrical energy storage. Low-cost hexacyanometalate is a promising electrode material for SIBs because of its easy synthesis and open framework. Most hexacyanometalate-based SIBs work with aqueous electrolyte, and interstitial water in the material has been found to strongly affect the electrochemical profile, but the mechanism remains elusive. Here we provide a comparative study of the transition-metal redox in hexacyanometalate electrodes with and without interstitial water based on soft X-ray absorption spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. We found distinct transition-metal redox sequences in hydrated and anhydrated Na x MnFe(CN) 6 ·zH 2 O. The Fe and Mn redox in hydrated electrodes are separated and are at different potentials, leading to two voltage plateaus. On the contrary, mixed Fe and Mn redox in the same potential range is found in the anhydrated system. This work reveals for the first time how transition-metal redox in batteries is strongly affected by interstitial molecules that are seemingly spectators. The results suggest a fundamental mechanism based on three competing factors that determine the transition-metal redox potentials. Finally, because most hexacyanometalate electrodes contain water, this work directly reveals the mechanism of how interstitial molecules could define the electrochemical profile, especially for electrodes based on transition-metal redox with well-defined spin states.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Correlation between the electronic structures and diffusion paths of interstitial defects in semiconductors: The case in CdTe

Using first-principles calculations, we study the diffusions of interstitial defects Cd, Cu, Te, and Cl in CdTe. We find that the diffusion behavior is strongly correlated with the electronic structure of the interstitial diffuser. For Cd and Cu, because the defect state is the non-degenerated slike state under T d symmetry, the diffusions are almost along the [111] directions between the tetrahedral sites, although the diffusion of Cu shows some deviation due to the s - d coupling. The diffusions of the neutral and charged Cd and Cu follow similar paths. However, for Te and Cl atoms, because the defect state is the degenerated p-like state under T d symmetry, large distortions occur. Therefore, the diffusion paths are very different from those of Cd and Cu interstitials, and depend strongly on the charge states of the interstitial atoms. For Te, we find that the distortion is mostly stabilized by the crystal-field splitting, but for Cl, the exchange splitting plays a more important role.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Interstitial solute segregation at triple junctions: Implications for nanomaterials and a case study of hydrogen in palladium

At very fine grain sizes, grain boundary segregation can deviate from conventional behavior due to triple junction effects. While this issue has been addressed in prior work for substitutional alloys, here we develop a framework that accounts for interstitial sites in the grains, grain boundaries, and triple junctions of model Pd(H) polycrystals. This approach allows computation of interstitial segregation spectra separately at both defect types, which permits an understanding of segregation at all grain sizes via a size-scaling spectral isotherm. Here, the size dependencies of dilute Pd(H) are found to be influenced not only by the triple junction content, but also by grain size–dependent lattice strains; the latter effect is evidenced by size dependencies of individual grain boundary and junction subspectra. The framework proposed here is applicable to interstitial alloys in general and may serve as a basis for interfacial engineering in interstitial nanocrystalline alloys. As an example, we show that using the dilute limit isotherm, hydrogen density can triple in nanocrystalline vis-à-vis microcrystalline Pd due to hydrogen adsorption at intergranular defect sites.

Alloys↗
DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-J-04: Integration of Interstitial High Intensity Therapeutic Ultrasound Applicators On a Clinical MRI-Guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound Treatment Planning Software Platform

Purpose: Interstitial high intensity therapeutic ultrasound (HITU) applicators can be used to ablate tissue percutaneously, allowing for minimally-invasive treatment without ionizing radiation [1,2]. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the feasibility and usability of combining multielement interstitial HITU applicators with a clinical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided focused ultrasound software platform. Methods: The Sonalleve software platform (Philips Healthcare, Vantaa, Finland) combines anatomical MRI for target selection and multi-planar MRI thermometry to provide real-time temperature information. The MRI-compatible interstitial US applicators (Acoustic MedSystems, Savoy, IL, USA) had 1–4 cylindrical US elements, each 1 cm long with either 180° or 360° of active surface. Each applicator (4 Fr diameter, enclosed within a 13 Fr flexible catheter) was inserted into a tissue-mimicking agar-silica phantom. Degassed water was circulated around the transducers for cooling and coupling. Based on the location of the applicator, a virtual transducer overlay was added to the software to assist targeting and to allow automatic thermometry slice placement. The phantom was sonicated at 7 MHz for 5 minutes with 6–8 W of acoustic power for each element. MR thermometry data were collected during and after sonication. Results: Preliminary testing indicated that the applicator location could be identified in the planning images and the transducer locations predicted within 1 mm accuracy using the overlay. Ablation zones (thermal dose ≥ 240 CEM43) for 2 active, adjacent US elements ranged from 18 mm × 24 mm (width × length) to 25 mm × 25 mm for the 6 W and 8 W sonications, respectively. Conclusion: The combination of interstitial HITU applicators and this software platform holds promise for novel approaches in minimally-invasive MRI-guided therapy, especially when bony structures or air-filled cavities may preclude extracorporeal HIFU.[1] Diederich et al. IEEE UFFFC 46.5 (1999): 1218.[2] Chopra et al. PMB 50.21 (2005): 4957. Funding support was provided by Philips Healthcare and in-kind support from Acoustic MedSystems Inc. Ari Partanen is a paid employee of Philips Healthcare. Goutam Ghoshal and Everette Clif Burdette are paid employees of Acoustic MedSystems Inc.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Comparative Atmospheric Corrosion Behavior of a Mild Steel and an Interstitial Free Steel

The present work discusses the effect of structure and morphology of rust on the corrosion behavior of a mild steel and an interstitial free steel exposed to open atmosphere for 2 years involving extreme weather conditions, where temperature varies from 2-3 to 45 °C, rainfall varies from 10 to 320 mm and humidity varies from ~ 20 to 75%. Effect of duration of atmospheric exposure, change in morphological characteristics of rust, and atmospheric parameters, such as temperature, humidity, rain and SO{sub 2} content on the corrosion behavior of both the steels was analyzed. Corrosion resistance of the interstitial free steel was better than the mild steel due to lower carbon content and better compactness of the rusts formed on the interstitial free steel.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Interstitial loop transformations in FeCr

Here, we improve the Self-Evolving Atomistic Kinetic Monte Carlo (SEAKMC) algorithm by integrating the Activation Relaxation Technique nouveau (ARTn), a powerful open-ended saddle-point search method, into the algorithm. We use it to investigate the reaction of 37-interstitial 1/2[1 1 1] and 1/2[View the MathML source] loops in FeCr at 10 at.% Cr. They transform into 1/2[1 1 1], 1/2[View the MathML source], [1 0 0] and [0 1 0] 74-interstitial clusters with an overall barrier of 0.85 eV. We find that Cr decoration locally inhibits the rotation of crowdions, which dictates the final loop orientation. Moreover, the final loop orientation depends on the details of the Cr decoration. Generally, a region of a given orientation is favored if Cr near its interface with a region of another orientation is able to inhibit reorientation at this interface more than the Cr present at the other interfaces. Also, we find that substitutional Cr atoms can diffuse from energetically unfavorable to energetically favorable sites within the interlocked 37-interstitial loops conformation with barriers of less than 0.35 eV.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Effects of applied strain on nanoscale self-interstitial cluster formation in BCC iron

The effect of applied strains on the configurational evolution of self-interstitial clusters in BCC iron (Fe) is explored with atomistic simulations. A novel cluster configuration is discovered at low temperatures (<600 K), which consists of <110> dumbbells and <111> crowdions in a specific configuration, resulting in an immobile defect. The stability and diffusion of this cluster at higher temperatures is explored. In addition, an anisotropy distribution factor of a particular [hkl] interstitial loop within the family of < hkl > loops is calculated as a function of strain. Here, the results show that loop anisotropy is governed by the angle between the stress direction and the orientation of the <111> crowdions in the loop, and directly linked to the stress induced preferred nucleation of self-interstitial atoms.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Surface-induced charge at the Ge (001) surface and its interaction with self-interstitials

The Ge (001) surface with dimer structure, is negatively charged while into the bulk, positive charges are observed even deeper than the fifteenth layer from the surface. This is different from the Si case. This charge distribution can lead to the repulsion of positively charged self-interstitials by the positively charged near surface layer in an implantation or irradiation process. Self-interstitial reflection by Ge surfaces had been proposed to explain the results of diffusion experiments during irradiation whereby positively charged self-interstitials are generated by collisions of highly energetic particles with Ge atoms. We investigated different Ge (001) surface comparing an as-cleaved surface with dangling bonds to a surface with dimer structure, and to a surface terminated by hydrogen atoms. The effect of these different surface terminations on the surface-induced charges in the near surface bulk were calculated by ab initio techniques.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Identification of the interstitial Mn site in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As

We determined the lattice location of Mn in ferromagnetic (Ga,Mn)As using the electron emission channeling technique. We show that interstitial Mn occupies the tetrahedral site with As nearest neighbors (T{sub As}) both before and after thermal annealing at 200 °C, whereas the occupancy of the tetrahedral site with Ga nearest neighbors (T{sub Ga}) is negligible. T{sub As} is therefore the energetically favorable site for interstitial Mn in isolated form as well as when forming complexes with substitutional Mn. These results shed new light on the long standing controversy regarding T{sub As} versus T{sub Ga} occupancy of interstitial Mn in (Ga,Mn)As.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Influence of heterovalent doping on tetrahedral N interstitial formation in dilute GaAsN alloys

Dilute alloying of GaAs with N enables bandgap tuning for near-infrared to mid-infrared optoelectronic devices. However, non-substitutional N incorporation has been linked to lower absorption and emission efficiencies in dilute-nitride-alloy-based devices, especially in those containing heterovalent dopants. Here, in this work, we examine the influence of heterovalent dopants on N incorporation mechanisms in dilute GaAs 1−x N x alloys with N composition intentionally below the threshold composition for the formation of tetrahedral N interstitials (N tetra ) in undoped GaAs 1−x N x . For undoped GaAs 1−x N x , 20% of the N incorporates in non-substitutional sites, as (N-N) As and (N-As) split interstitials. Interestingly, Si dopants induce the formation of N tetra , while Be doping has a negligible effect on the interstitial type. Although elastic interactions due to opposite signs of the misfit volumes of N tetra and N As contribute to N tetra incorporation above a threshold N composition, Si dopants reduce the threshold composition, due to the Fermi level-dependent stability of N tetra .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗