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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 577 records · Page 32
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Analyzing the scale of the bainitic ferrite plates by XRD, SEM and TEM

Since the major strengthening mechanisms in nanocrystalline bainitic steels arise from the exceptionally small size of the bainitc ferrite plate, accurate determination of this parameter is fundamental for quantitative relating the microstructure to the mechanical properties. In this work, the thickness of the bainitic ferrite subunits obtained by different bainitic heat treatments was determined in two steels, with carbon contents of 0.3 and 0.7 wt.%, from SEM and TEM micrographs. As these measurements were made on 2D images taken from random sections, the method includes some stereological correction factors to obtain accurate information. Finally, the determined thicknesses of bainitic ferrite plates were compared with the crystallite size calculated from the analysis of X-ray diffraction peak broadening. Although in some case the values obtained for crystallite size and plate thickness can be similar, this study confirms that indeed they are two different parameters. - Highlights: •Bainitic microstructure in a nanostructured and sub-micron steel •Bainitic ferrite plate thickness measured by SEM and TEM •Crystallite size determined by X-ray analysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Influence of Heave Plate Topology on Reaction Force

In this study, we explore the role of heave plate topology on fluid reaction forces using three, representative shapes: a hexagonal flat plate, a hexagonal conic with an open top, and the same with a closed top that encloses a fluid mass. We force each test article sinusoidally in a quiescent tank and decompose the reaction force using forms of the Morison equation for phase-invariant and phase-dependent parameterizations. We find that a flat plate generates 5.3 % more fluid reaction force than the open conic topology, and 21.4% more than the enclosed conic. Asymmetric topologies generate asymmetric reaction forces, but the magnitude of asymmetry is limited by nearly symmetric fluid inertia forces, which dominate over drag for these test articles. Additionally, we observe asymmetric vortex dynamics for the flat plate when the Keulegan-Carpenter number is between 1 and 2, accompanied by a shift in the phase of the peak force by of the oscillation period. As a consequence of this shift, the hydrodynamic coefficients estimated from the phase-dependent Morison equation decomposition are asymmetric, suggesting that phase-dependent representations may not provide physical insight in some hydrodynamic regimes.

added mass↗
DOE OSTI2021

3D Detection of Lithiation and Lithium Plating in Graphite Anodes during Fast Charging

A barrier to the widespread adoption of electric vehicles is enabling fast charging lithium-ion batteries. At normal charging rates, lithium ions intercalate into the graphite electrode. At high charging rates, lithiation is inhomogeneous, and metallic lithium can plate on the graphite particles, reducing capacity and causing safety concerns. We have built a cell for conducting high-resolution in situ X-ray microtomography experiments to quantify three-dimensional lithiation inhomogeneity and lithium plating. Our studies reveal an unexpected correlation between these two phenomena. During fast charging, a layer of mossy lithium metal plates at the graphite electrode–separator interface. The transport bottlenecks resulting from this layer lead to underlithiated graphite particles well-removed from the separator, near the current collector. These underlithiated particles lie directly underneath the mossy lithium, suggesting that lithium plating inhibits further lithiation of the underlying electrode.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Single-Layer Plasmonic Metasurface Half-Wave Plates with Wavelength-Independent Polarization Conversion Angle

Manipulation of polarization state is of great fundamental importance and plays a crucial role in modern photonic applications such as optical communication, imaging, and sensing. Metamaterials and metasurfaces have attracted increasing interest in this area because they facilitate designer optical response through engineering the composite subwavelength structures. In this paper, we propose a general methods of designing half-wave plate and demonstrate in the near-infrared wavelength range an optically thin plasmonic metasurface half-wave plates that rotate the polarization direction of the linearly polarized incident light with a high degree of linear polarization. Finally, the half-wave plate functionality is realized through arranging the orientation of the nanoantennas to form an appropriate spatial distribution profile, which behave exactly as in classical half-wave plates but over in a wavelength-independent way.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Efficiency of plasma actuator ionization in shock wave modification in a rarefied supersonic flow over a flat plate

This paper describes experimental and numerical investigations focused on the shock wave modification, induced by a dc glow discharge, of a Mach 2 flow under rarefied regime. The model under investigation is a flat plate equipped with a plasma actuator composed of two electrodes. The glow discharge is generated by applying a negative potential to the upstream electrode, enabling the creation of a weakly ionized plasma. The natural flow (i.e. without the plasma) exhibits a thick laminar boundary layer and a shock wave with a hyperbolic shape. Images of the flow obtained with an ICCD camera revealed that the plasma discharge induces an increase in the shock wave angle. Thermal effects (volumetric, and at the surface) and plasma effects (ionization, and thermal non-equilibrium) are the most relevant processes explaining the observed modifications. The effect induced by the heating of the flat plate surface is studied experimentally by replacing the upstream electrode by a heating element, and numerically by modifying the thermal boundary condition of the model surface. The results show that for a similar temperature distribution over the plate surface, modifications induced by the heating element are lower than those produced by the plasma. This difference shows that other effects than purely thermal effects are involved with the plasma actuator. Measurements of the electron density with a Langmuir probe highlight the fact that the ionization degree plays an important role into the modification of the flow. The gas properties, especially the isentropic exponent, are indeed modified by the plasma above the actuator and upstream the flat plate. This leads to a local modification of the flow conditions, inducing an increase in the shock wave angle.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Finite element analysis of an extended end-plate connection using the T-stub approach

Beam-to-column end-plate bolted connections are usually used as moment-resistant connections in steel framed structures. For this joint type, the deformability is governed by the deformation capacity of the column flange and end-plate under tension and elongation of the bolts. All these elements around the beam tension flange form the tension region of the joint, which can be modeled by means of equivalent T-stubs. In this paper a beam-to-column end-plate bolted connection is substituted with a T-stub of appropriate effective length and it is analyzed using the commercially available finite element software ABAQUS. The performance of the model is validated by comparing the behavior of the T-stub from the numerical simulation with the behavior of the connection as a whole. The moment-rotation curve of the T-stub obtained from the numerical simulation is compared with the behavior of the whole extended end-plate connection, obtained by numerical simulation, experimental tests and analytical approach.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2015

Broadband acoustic trapping of a particle by a soft plate with a periodic deep grating

We investigated the acoustic radiation force (ARF) acting on a cylindrical brass particle near an acoustically soft plate patterned with a periodic deep grating. The existence of a negative ARF by which the particle can be pulled towards the sound source is confirmed. In addition, the bandwidth for negative ARF in this soft-plate system is found to be considerably broader than in the stiff-plate systems typically used in previous studies. It is further demonstrated by field distribution analysis that the negative ARF is caused by the gradient force induced by the gradient vortex velocity field near the surface, which stems from the collective resonance excitation of the antisymmetric coupling of Scholte surface waves in the thin plate. The effects of particle location and size on the ARF were also investigated in detail. The negative ARF has potential use in applications requiring particle manipulation using acoustic waves.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2020

Underpotential lithium plating on graphite anodes caused by temperature heterogeneity

Rechargeability and operational safety of commercial lithium (Li)-ion batteries demand further improvement. Plating of metallic Li on graphite anodes is a critical reason for Li-ion battery capacity decay and short circuit. It is generally believed that Li plating is caused by the slow kinetics of graphite intercalation, but in this paper, we demonstrate that thermodynamics also serves a crucial role. We show that a nonuniform temperature distribution within the battery can make local plating of Li above 0 V vs. Li 0 /Li + (room temperature) thermodynamically favorable. This phenomenon is caused by temperature-dependent shifts of the equilibrium potential of Li 0 /Li + . Supported by simulation results, we confirm the likelihood of this failure mechanism during commercial Li-ion battery operation, including both slow and fast charging conditions. This work furthers the understanding of nonuniform Li plating and will inspire future studies to prolong the cycling lifetime of Li-ion batteries.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Effect of tilt on circular zone plate performance

Fresnel zone plates are frequently used as focusing and imaging optics in x-ray microscopy, as they provide the ease of use of normal incidence optics. We consider here the effects of tilt misalignment on their optical performance, both in the thin optics limit and in the case of zone plates that are sufficiently thick so that volume diffraction effects come into play. Using multislice propagation, we show that simple analytical models describe the tilt sensitivity of thin zone plates and the thickness at which volume diffraction must be considered, and examine numerically the performance of example zone plates for soft x-ray focusing at 0.5 keV and hard x-ray focusing at 10 keV.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Electroless Plated Nanodiamond Coating for Stainless Steel Passivation

Tritium gas sample bottles and manifold components require passivation surface treatments to minimize the interaction of the hydrogen isotopes with surface contamination on the stainless steel containment materials. This document summarizes the effort to evaluate electroless plated nanodiamond coatings as a passivation layer for stainless steel. In this work, we developed an electroless nanodiamond (ND)-copper (Cu) coating process to deposit ND on stainless steel parts with the diamond loadings of 0%, 25% and 50% v/v in a Cu matrix. The coated Conflat Flanged Vessel Assemblies (CFVAs) were evaluated on surface morphology, composition, ND distribution, residual hydrogen release, and surface reactivity with deuterium. For as-received Cu and ND-Cu coated CFVAs, hydrogen off-gassing is rapid, and the off-gas rates of H 2 was one to two orders of magnitude higher than that for both untreated and electropolished stainless steel CFVAs, and hydrogen and deuterium reacted to form HD as well. These results indicated that residual H 2 was entrapped in the Cu and ND-Cu coated CFVAs during the coating process, and moisture was adsorbed on the surface, and ND and/or Cu might facilitate catalytic isotope exchange reaction for HD formation. However, hydrocarbons (i.e., CH 3 ) did not form, and did not appear to be an issue for the Cu and ND-Cu coated CFVAs. After vacuum heating, residual H 2 and adsorbed H 2 O in the Cu and ND-Cu coated CFVAs were dramatically reduced. The H 2 off-gassing rate after the vacuum treatment of Cu and 50% ND-Cu coated CFVAs was on the level of 10 -14 l mbar/s cm 2 , while H 2 O off-gas rate was on the level of 10 -15 l mbar/s cm 2 , consistent with the untreated or electropolished stainless steel CFVA, but the HD formation remained. The Restek EP bottle was used as a reference for this work. The Restek Electro-Polished (EP) bottle and their SilTek coated bottles tested under a different research project exhibited very little hydrogen off-gassing and unmeasurable HD formation. ND and Cu were initially chosen to develop improved passivation technology, because Cu has a lower permeability of hydrogen, and diamond is more inert than other materials under a hydrogen atmosphere. However, our tests demonstrated that even after an 8-18 day vacuum extraction heat treatment, the electroless plated Cu and ND-Cu coated stainless steel CFVAs exhibited H 2 off-gassing rates that were just comparable to those for the untreated or electropolished stainless steel CFVA, and the HD formation was still observed. Thus, the Restek Electro-Polished (EP) bottle outperformed the electroless plated Cu and ND-Cu coated stainless steel CFVAs, and the electroless plated nanodiamond coating is not promising as a surface passivation technology. However, the ND-Cu coating may be beneficial to another application in which catalyzing the H 2 -D 2 exchange reaction is desired.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2023

Machine Learning-Enabled Quantitative Analysis of Optically Obscure Scratches on Nickel-Plated Additively Manufactured (AM) Samples

Additively manufactured metal components often have rough and uneven surfaces, necessitating post-processing and surface polishing. Hardness is a critical characteristic that affects overall component properties, including wear. This study employed K-means unsupervised machine learning to explore the relationship between the relative surface hardness and scratch width of electroless nickel plating on additively manufactured composite components. The Taguchi design of experiment (TDOE) L9 orthogonal array facilitated experimentation with various factors and levels. Initially, a digital light microscope was used for 3D surface mapping and scratch width quantification. However, the microscope struggled with the reflections from the shiny Ni-plating and scatter from small scratches. To overcome this, a scanning electron microscope (SEM) generated grayscale images and 3D height maps of the scratched Ni-plating, thus enabling the precise characterization of scratch widths. Optical identification of the scratch regions and quantification were accomplished using Python code with a K-means machine-learning clustering algorithm. The TDOE yielded distinct Ni-plating hardness levels for the nine samples, while an increased scratch force showed a non-linear impact on scratch widths. The enhanced surface quality resulting from Ni coatings will have significant implications in various industrial applications, and it will play a pivotal role in future metal and alloy surface engineering.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1956

A Study of the Efficiency of High-strength, Steel, Cellular-core Sandwich Plates in Compression

Structural efficiency curves are presented for high-strength, stainless-steel, cellular-core sandwich plates of various proportions subjected to compressive end loads for temperatures of 80 F and 600 F. Optimum proportions of sandwich plates for any value of the compressive loading intensity can be determined from the curves. The efficiency of steel sandwich plates of optimum proportions is compared with the efficiency of solid plates of high-strength steel and aluminum and titanium alloys at the two temperatures.

SANDWICH AND LAMINATES↗
NASA NTRS2004

Chemical stability enhancement of lithium conducting solid electrolyte plates using sputtered LiPON thin film

Sputter deposition of LiPON films directly onto high Li+ conductivity solid electrolyte plates has been investigated as a means to minimize the reactivity of the plates to metallic Li. The LiPON films were shown to effectively passivate the plates in contact with metallic Li, in contrast to unpassivated plates that reacted immediately in contact with Li metal.

LiPON lithium metals electrolyte plates↗
DOE OSTI2016

Research reactor plate fuel multi-physics hotspot model for the HFIR

Ongoing development of a multi-physics hotspot model for nuclear research reactor plate fuel is presented with a focus on the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The background of plate fueled research reactors in general and the HFIR in particular are discussed along with the need to convert from high enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel, which drives the need to improve the analysis capability of fuel thermal-fluid performance. HFIR HEU fuel plate fabrication is described to explain the origin of fuel segregations and cladding non-bonds that currently contribute to the hotspot flux peaking factors. Previous efforts at modeling hotspots caused by these defects are reviewed and areas for improvement associated with high resolution multi-physics simulation are identified. Modes of heat transfer through non-bonds, including thermal contact conductance, are examined. Conjugate heat transfer over hotspots is also explored to high resolution up to and through the wall boundary. The challenges associated with multi-physics verification and validation (VV), particularly the requirements beyond VV 20, are presented. An approach to Validation within the limits of existing data for conduction heat transfer through the fuel plate, and convection into the cooling fluid is set forth. Preliminary simulations are presented assessing hot spot modeling approaches for contact conductance, and fluid turbulence modeling within COMSOL. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
NASA NTRS1942

Normal-pressure Tests of Circular Plates with Clamped Edges

A fixture is described for making normal-pressure tests of flat plates 5 inches in diameter in which particular care was taken to obtain rigid clamping at the edges. Results are given for 19 plates, ranging in thickness from 0.015 to 0.072 inch. The center deflections and the extreme-fiber stresses at low pressures were found to agree with theoretical values; the center deflections at high pressures were 4 to 12 percent greater than the theoretical values. Empirical curves are derived of the pressure for the beginning of permanent set as a function of the dimensions of the plate and the tensile properties of the material.

CIRCULAR↗
DOE OSTI2016

Quantifying melt production and degassing rate at mid-ocean ridges from global mantle convection models with plate motion history

The Earth's surface volcanism exerts first-order controls on the composition of the atmosphere and the climate. On Earth, the majority of surface volcanism occurs at mid-ocean ridges. In this study, based on the dependence of melt fraction on temperature, pressure, and composition, we compute melt production and degassing rate at mid-ocean ridges from three-dimensional global mantle convection models with plate motion history as the surface velocity boundary condition. By incorporating melting in global mantle convection models, we connect deep mantle convection to surface volcanism, with deep and shallow mantle processes internally consistent. We compare two methods to compute melt production: a tracer method and an Eulerian method. Our results show that melt production at mid-ocean ridges is mainly controlled by surface plate motion history, and that changes in plate tectonic motion, including plate reorganizations, may lead to significant deviation of melt production from the expected scaling with seafloor production rate. We also find a good correlation between melt production and degassing rate beneath mid-ocean ridges. The calculated global melt production and CO 2 degassing rate at mid-ocean ridges varies by as much as a factor of 3 over the past 200 Myr. We show that mid-ocean ridge melt production and degassing rate would be much larger in the Cretaceous, and reached maximum values at ~150–120 Ma. Our results raise the possibility that warmer climate in the Cretaceous could be due in part to high magmatic productivity and correspondingly high outgassing rates at mid-ocean ridges during that time.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2020

Revealing and Elucidating ALD-Derived Control of Lithium Plating Microstructure

The practical implementation of Li metal batteries is hindered by difficulties in controlling the Li metal plating microstructure. While previous atomic layer deposition (ALD) studies have focused on directly coating Li metal with thin films for the passivation of the electrode–electrolyte interface, a different approach is adopted, situating the ALD film beneath Li metal and directly on the copper current collector. Here, a mechanistic explanation for this simple strategy of controlling the Li metal plating microstructure using TiO 2 grown on copper foil by ALD is presented. In contrast to previous studies where ALD-grown layers act as artificial interphases, this TiO 2 layer resides at the copper–Li metal interface, acting as a nucleation layer to improve the Li metal plating morphology. Upon lithiation of TiO 2 , a Li x TiO 2 complex forms; this alloy provides a lithiophilic surface layer that enables uniform and reversible Li plating. The reversibility of lithium deposition is evident from the champion cell (5 nm TiO 2 ), which displays an average Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 96% after 150 cycles at a moderate current density of 1 mA cm –2 . This simple approach provides the first account of the mechanism of ALD-derived Li nucleation control and suggests new possibilities for future ALD-synthesized nucleation layers.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Effect of Plate Hardening Behavior on the Deformation of Stainless Steel Metal Bellows

Tensile tests of original plate samples from three types of stainless steel metal bellows were performed at room temperature. The constitutive equations for the three hardening curves were obtained and fitted. The analysis results of the microstructure and fracture morphology of the tensile specimens show that the grain size of the plate with a high logarithmic–exponential hardening rate is uneven and the dimple of the shear fracture is elongated into an ellipse. By contrast, the grain size of the plate with a relatively low linear hardening rate is even and the dimple of the fracture is uniformly equiaxial. Finite element simulations of the hydraulic bulging and repeated limit bending deformation of the metal bellows of the three types of materials were also conducted. The repeated limit bending deformation process was tested experimentally. Although the effect of the hardening exponent on the residual stress of the metal bellows after hydraulic bulging is minimal, this exponent considerably influences the repeated limit bending deformation of the metal bellows after subsequent use. The trough hardening phenomenon is serious in the repeated limit bending process. Moreover, when the hardening exponent of the original plate is high, the resistance to bending fracture at the trough area is poor.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗