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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 559 records · Page 31

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRS2017

Digital Material Assembly by Passive Means and Modular Isotropic Lattice Extruder System

A set of machines and related systems build structures by the additive assembly of discrete parts. These digital material assemblies constrain the constituent parts to a discrete set of possible positions and orientations. In doing so, the structures exhibit many of the properties inherent in digital communication such as error correction, fault tolerance and allow the assembly of precise structures with comparatively imprecise tools. Assembly of discrete cellular lattices by a Modular Isotropic Lattice Extruder System (MILES) is implemented by pulling strings of lattice elements through a forming die that enforces geometry constraints that lock the elements into a rigid structure that can then be pushed against and extruded out of the die as an assembled, loadbearing structure.

Carney, Matthew Eli↗

NASA NTRS2018

Digital Material Assembly by Passive Means and Modular Isotropic Lattice Extruder System

Carney, Matthew Eli↗

NASA NTRS1980

Cost reduction in space operations - Structuring a planetary program to minimize the annual funding requirement as opposed to minimizing the program runout cost

An approach is proposed for the structuring of a planetary mission set wherein the peak annual funding is minimized to meet the annual budget restraint. One aspect of the approach is to have a transportation capability that can launch a mission in any planetary opportunity; such capability can be provided by solar electric propulsion. Another cost reduction technique is to structure a mission test in a time sequenced fashion that could utilize essentially the same spacecraft for the implementation of several missions. A third technique would be to fulfill a scientific objective in several sequential missions rather than attempt to accomplish all of the objectives with one mission. The application of the approach is illustrated by an example involving the Solar Orbiter Dual Probe mission.

Herman, D. H.↗

DOE OSTI2025

Encoding hierarchical 3D architecture through inverse design of programmable bonds

The ability to fabricate materials and devices at small scales by design has resulted in tremendous technological progress. However, the need for engineered three-dimensional (3D) nanoscale materials requires new strategies for organizing nanocomponents. Here we demonstrate an inverse design approach for the assembly of nanoparticles into hierarchically ordered 3D organizations using DNA voxels with directional, addressable bonds. By identifying intrinsic symmetries in repeating mesoscale structural motifs, we prescribe a set of voxels, termed a mesovoxel, that are assembled into target 3D crystals. The relationship between different degrees of encoded information used for voxel bonds and the fidelity of assembly is investigated using experimental and computational methods. We apply this assembly strategy to create periodic 3D nanoparticle ordered organizations, including structures with low-dimensional elements, helical motifs, a nanoscale analogue of a face-centred perovskite crystal and a distributed Bragg reflector based on a crystal with plasmonic and photonic length-scale regimes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2022

A coupling approach for linear elasticity problems with spatially non-coincident discretized interfaces

Here we present a new method for coupled linear elasticity problems whose finite element discretization may lead to spatially non-coincident discretized interfaces. Our approach combines the classical Dirichlet–Neumann coupling formulation with a new set of discretized interface conditions obtained through Taylor series expansions. We show that these conditions ensure linear consistency of the coupled finite element solution. We then formulate an iterative solution method for the coupled discrete system and apply the new coupling approach to two representative settings for which we also provide several numerical illustrations. The first setting is a mesh-tying problem in which both coupled structures have the same Lamé parameters whereas the second setting is an interface problem for which the Lamé parameters in the two coupled structures are different.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2021

Correlative analysis of structure and chemistry of Li x FePO 4 platelets using 4D-STEM and X-ray ptychography

Lithium iron phosphate (Li x FePO 4 ), a cathode material used in rechargeable Li-ion batteries, phase separates upon de/lithiation under equilibrium. The interfacial structure and chemistry within these cathode materials affects Li-ion transport, and therefore battery performance. Here, correlative imaging of Li x FePO 4 was performed using four-dimensional scanning transmission electron microscopy (4D-STEM), scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM), and X-ray ptychography in order to analyze the local structure and chemistry of the same particle set. Over 50,000 diffraction patterns from 10 particles provided measurements of both structure and chemistry at a nanoscale spatial resolution (16.6–49.5 nm) over wide (several micron) fields-of-view with statistical robustness. Li x FePO 4 particles at varying stages of delithiation were measured to examine the evolution of structure and chemistry as a function of delithiation. In lithiated and delithiated particles, local variations were observed in the degree of lithiation even while local lattice structures remained comparatively constant, and calculation of linear coefficients of chemical expansion suggest pinning of the lattice structures in these populations. Partially delithiated particles displayed broadly core–shell-like structures, however, with highly variable behavior both locally and per individual particle that exhibited distinctive intermediate regions at the interface between phases, and pockets within the lithiated core that correspond to FePO 4 in structure and chemistry. The results provide insight into the Li x FePO 4 system, subtleties in the scope and applicability of Vegard’s law (linear lattice parameter-composition behavior) under local versus global measurements, and demonstrate a powerful new combination of experimental and analytical modalities for bridging the crucial gap between local and statistical characterization.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

NASA NTRS2016

Boeing Smart Rotor Full-scale Wind Tunnel Test Data Report

A full-scale helicopter smart material actuated rotor technology (SMART) rotor test was conducted in the USAF National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex 40- by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel at NASA Ames. The SMART rotor system is a five-bladed MD 902 bearingless rotor with active trailing-edge flaps. The flaps are actuated using piezoelectric actuators. Rotor performance, structural loads, and acoustic data were obtained over a wide range of rotor shaft angles of attack, thrust, and airspeeds. The primary test objective was to acquire unique validation data for the high-performance computing analyses developed under the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) Helicopter Quieting Program (HQP). Other research objectives included quantifying the ability of the on-blade flaps to achieve vibration reduction, rotor smoothing, and performance improvements. This data set of rotor performance and structural loads can be used for analytical and experimental comparison studies with other full-scale rotor systems and for analytical validation of computer simulation models. The purpose of this final data report is to document a comprehensive, highquality data set that includes only data points where the flap was actively controlled and each of the five flaps behaved in a similar manner.

Full-Scale Wind Tunnel↗

NASA NTRS2007

Structural Feasibility Analysis of a Robotically Assembled Very Large Aperture Optical Space Telescope

This paper presents a feasibility study of robotically constructing a very large aperture optical space telescope on-orbit. Since the largest engineering challenges are likely to reside in the design and assembly of the 150-m diameter primary reflector, this preliminary study focuses on this component. The same technology developed for construction of the primary would then be readily used for the smaller optical structures (secondary, tertiary, etc.). A reasonable set of ground and on-orbit loading scenarios are compiled from the literature and used to define the structural performance requirements and size the primary reflector. A surface precision analysis shows that active adjustment of the primary structure is required in order to meet stringent optical surface requirements. Two potential actuation strategies are discussed along with potential actuation devices at the current state of the art. The finding of this research effort indicate that successful technology development combined with further analysis will likely enable such a telescope to be built in the future.

space telescopes↗

DOE OSTI2025

Data Structure Alchemy

In an increasingly more data-driven world, the project set out to uncover the first principles of data-structure design, chart the immense design space they form, and build automation that can synthesize an optimal structure, or even a whole storage engine, for any given workload, hardware platform, and cost target. Data structures are at the center of every computational system and are directly responsible for its performance. Two core technical thrusts were defined: 1) Mapping design spaces for key data-centric abstractions (filters, hash functions, storage-engine layouts, neural-network topologies, blockchain protocols, image layouts, etc.). 2) Developing search & synthesis algorithms, initially analytical cost models, later neural-guided bi-level optimisers that navigate sextillions of candidate designs in seconds and materialise the best one as ready‐to-run code. This report distills the key insights, accomplishments, and impact.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS2019

System, Apparatus and Method for Pedal Control

An apparatus, method, and system for controlling motion in six degrees of freedom is described. The apparatus includes a support structure, a first pedal and a second pedal. A first set of three independent articulating mechanisms is operatively connected to the support structure and the first pedal. The first set of three independent articulating mechanisms, in combination, enable motion of the first pedal in three control axes corresponding to three discrete degrees of freedom. A second set of three independent articulating mechanisms, operatively connected to the second pedal, enable motion, in combination, in three control axes corresponding to a discrete second set of three degrees of freedom. The apparatus may also include first and second sensors configured to detect the motion of the first and second pedals.

Love, Stanley G.↗

DOE OSTI2020

Structural Tolerance Factor Approach to Defect-Resistant I 2 -II-IV-X 4 Semiconductor Design

Recent work on quaternary semiconductors Cu 2 BaSn(S,Se) 4 and Ag 2 BaSnSe 4 for photovoltaic and thermoelectric applications, respectively, has shown the promise of exploring the broader family of defect-resistant I 2 -II-IV-X 4 materials (where I, II, and IV refer to the formal oxidation state of the metal cations and X is a chalcogen anion) with tetrahedrally coordinated I/IV cations and larger II cations (i.e., Sr, Ba, Pb, and Eu) for optoelectronic and energy-related applications. Chemical dissimilarity among the II and I/IV atoms represents an important design motivation because it presents a barrier to antisite formation, which otherwise may act as electronically harmful defects. We herein show how all 31 experimentally reported I 2 -II-IV-X 4 examples (with large II cations and tetrahedrally coordinated smaller I/IV cations), which form within five crystal structure types, are structurally linked. Based on these structural similarities, we derive a set of tolerance factors that serve as descriptors for phase stability within this family. Despite common usage in the well-studied perovskite system, Shannon ionic radii are found to be insufficient for predicting metal–chalcogen bond lengths, pointing to the need for experimentally derived correction factors as part of an empirically driven learning approach to structure prediction. Here, we use the tolerance factors as a predictive tool and demonstrate that four new I 2 -II-IV-X 4 compounds, Ag 2 BaSiS 4 , Ag 2 PbSiS 4 , Cu 2 PbGeS 4 , and Cu 2 SrSiS 4 , can be synthesized in correctly predicted phases. One of these compounds, Ag 2 PbSiS 4 , shows potentially promising optoelectronic properties for photovoltaic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

DOE OSTI2021

Moving beyond the constraints of chemistry via crystal structure discovery with isotropic multiwell pair potentials

The rigid constraints of chemistry-dictated by quantum mechanics and the discrete nature of the atom-limit the set of observable atomic crystal structures. What structures are possible in the absence of these constraints? Here, we systematically crystallize one-component systems of particles interacting with isotropic multiwell pair potentials. We investigate two tunable families of pairwise interaction potentials. Our simulations self-assemble a multitude of crystal structures ranging from basic lattices to complex networks. Sixteen of the structures have natural analogs spanning all coordination numbers found in inorganic chemistry. Fifteen more are hitherto unknown and occupy the space between covalent and metallic coordination environments. The discovered crystal structures constitute targets for self-assembly and expand our understanding of what a crystal structure can look like.

crystal structures↗

DOE OSTI2024

Targeted Adaptive Design

Modern advanced manufacturing and advanced materials design often require searches of relatively high-dimensional process control parameter spaces for settings that result in optimal structure, property, and performance parameters. The mapping from the former to the latter must be determined from noisy experiments or from expensive simulations. Here, we abstract this problem to a mathematical framework in which an unknown function from a control space to a design space must be ascertained by means of expensive noisy measurements, which locate control settings generating desired design features within specified tolerances, with quantified uncertainty. We describe targeted adaptive design (TAD), a new algorithm that performs this sampling task efficiently. TAD creates a Gaussian process surrogate model of the unknown mapping at each iterative stage, proposing a new batch of control settings to sample experimentally and optimizing the updated expected log-predictive probability density of the target design. TAD either stops upon locating a solution with uncertainties that fit inside the tolerance box or uses a measure of expected future information to determine that the search space has been exhausted with no solution. TAD thus embodies the exploration-exploitation tension in a manner that recalls, but is essentially different from, Bayesian optimization and optimal experimental design.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2023

Machine Learning Full NMR Chemical Shift Tensors of Silicon Oxides with Equivariant Graph Neural Networks

The nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) chemical shift tensor is a highly sensitive probe of the electronic structure of an atom and furthermore its local structure. Recently, machine learning has been applied to NMR in the prediction of isotropic chemical shifts from a structure. Current machine learning models, however, often ignore the full chemical shift tensor for the easier-to-predict isotropic chemical shift, effectively ignoring a multitude of structural information available in the NMR chemical shift tensor. Here we use an equivariant graph neural network (GNN) to predict full 29 Si chemical shift tensors in silicate materials. The equivariant GNN model predicts full tensors to a mean absolute error of 1.05 ppm and is able to accurately determine the magnitude, anisotropy, and tensor orientation in a diverse set of silicon oxide local structures. When compared with other models, the equivariant GNN model outperforms the state-of-the-art machine learning models by 53%. The equivariant GNN model also outperforms historic analytical models by 57% for isotropic chemical shift and 91% for anisotropy. The software is available as a simple-to-use open-source repository, allowing similar models to be created and trained with ease.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

NASA NTRS1982

Dynamic modeling of structures from measured complex modes

A technique is presented to use a set of identified complex modes together with an analytical mathematical model of a structure under test to compute improved mass, stiffness and damping matrices. A set of identified normal modes, computed from the measured complex modes, is used in the mass orthogonality equation to compute an improved mass matrix. This eliminates possible errors that may result from using approximated complex modes as normal modes. The improved mass matrix, the measured complex modes and the higher analytical modes are then used to compute the improved stiffness and damping matrices. The number of degrees-of-freedom of the improved model is limited to equal the number of elements in the measured modal vectors. A simulated experiment shows considerable improvements, in the system's analytical dynamic model, over the frequency range of the given measured modal information.

Ibrahim, s. R.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Dynamic Modeling of Structures from Measured Complex Modes

Ibrahim, S. R.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Heterometallic UO 2 2+ /Ag + Complexes: Structural Design and Luminescence Properties

Reported here are the synthesis, structural characterization, and luminescence properties of 11 novel UO 2 2+ /Ag + heterometallic complexes. Halogenated benzoic acids (2,6-dihalobenzoic acid (halo = F, Br), 3,5-dichlorobenzoic acid, and 3-halobenzoic acid (halo = Br, I)) and N-donor polycyclic ligands (2,2′-bipyridine, 2,2’;6′,2″-terpyridine, 1,10-phenanthroline, 2,2′-bipyrimidine) were employed to synthesize a set of compounds and induce structural diversity. The primary mode of coordination with the uranyl cation is hexagonal bipyramidal monomeric units with three halobenzoate ligands in the equatorial plane, though 1-D chains with pentagonal bipyramidal uranyl centers also form. The Ag + cations coordinate preferentially to the N-donor ligands and serve as counter-cations for the anionic uranyl motifs. The soft ligand character of the N-donor molecules is found to be a requirement for the inclusion of the Ag + cation into the structures. Anionic uranyl units and cationic silver units assemble via noncovalent interactions between π systems on adjacent rings and between halogens (when Br and I are present). Solid-state emission spectra display the usual uranyl band with superimposed vibronic fine structure, except for that of compound 1 , which shows emission from the 2,2′-bipyridine center. This family of compounds represents a substantial contribution to the already rich library of UO 2 2+ /Ag + compounds, and the synthetic parameters discussed within reveal a platform for the design of new heterometallic uranyl-containing materials.

anions↗

NASA NTRS1978

Associative programming language and virtual associative access manager

APL provides convenient associative data manipulation functions in a high level language. Six statements were added to PL/1 via a preprocessor: CREATE, INSERT, FIND, FOR EACH, REMOVE, and DELETE. They allow complete control of all data base operations. During execution, data base management programs perform the functions required to support the APL language. VAAM is the data base management system designed to support the APL language. APL/VAAM is used by CADANCE, an interactive graphic computer system. VAAM is designed to support heavily referenced files. Virtual memory files, which utilize the paging mechanism of the operating system, are used. VAAM supports a full network data structure. The two basic blocks in a VAAM file are entities and sets. Entities are the basic information element and correspond to PL/1 based structures defined by the user. Sets contain the relationship information and are implemented as arrays.

Carol Price↗