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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 613 records · Page 34
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Direct numerical simulations of agglomeration of circular colloidal particles in two-dimensional shear flow

Colloidal agglomeration of nanoparticles in shear flow is investigated by solving the fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions in a 2D system. We use an extended finite element method in which the dynamics of the particles is solved in a fully coupled manner with the flow, allowing an accurate description of the fluid-particle interfaces without the need of boundary-fitted meshes or of empirical correlations to account for the hydrodynamic interactions between the particles. Adaptive local mesh refinement using a grid deformation method is incorporated with the fluid-structure interaction algorithm, and the particle-particle interaction at the microscopic level is modeled using the Lennard-Jones potential. Motivated by the process used in fabricating fuel cell catalysts from a colloidal ink, the model is applied to investigate agglomeration of colloidal particles under external shear flow in a sliding bi-periodic Lees-Edwards frame with varying shear rates and particle fraction ratios. Both external shear and particle fraction are found to have a crucial impact on the structure formation of colloidal particles in a suspension. Segregation intensity and graph theory are used to analyze the underlying agglomeration patterns and structures, and three agglomeration regimes are identified.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

The propagation of particulate gravity currents in a V-shaped triangular cross section channel: Lock-release experiments and shallow-water numerical simulations

In this study, we investigate the motion of particulate gravity currents in a horizontal V-shaped channel. The particulate currents consisted of particles whose size varied between 0 and 100 μm but whose mean size increased. Particles were poorly sorted as the variance of the grain size distributions varied between 50 and 200. While the phases of propagation of homogeneous currents in such a geometry have been studied in the literature, this study considers the effects of the grain size on the propagation. The distance of propagation and front velocity of full-depth high-Reynolds-number lock-release experiments and shallow-water equation simulations were analyzed as the mean grain size of the initial particle distributions, defined by mass, was increased from 19 to 58 μm. Similar to the homogeneous currents, three consecutive phases of the front velocity could be identified but their characteristics and extent depend on the particle size. The initial phase, in particular, depends on a dimensionless settling number β that is defined as the ratio of two characteristic time scales, the propagation time x{sub 0}/U, where U is the scale for the front speed and x{sub 0} the lock length, and the settling time h{sub 0}/v{sub s}, where v{sub s} is the scale for the settling velocity and h{sub 0} the initial height of the current. For dimensionless settling numbers less than 0.001, the initial phase is characterized by a constant velocity for over about 6-7 lock lengths that is alike the initial slumping phase of perfectly constant velocity of the homogeneous currents. For dimensionless settling numbers greater than 0.001 and less than 0.015, the initial phase is no longer characterized by a constant velocity but an almost constant velocity for over about a similar 6-7 lock lengths. For dimensionless settling numbers greater than 0.015, however, as such, this phase is no longer seen. This initial phase is followed by a continuous decrease of the front advance, which results from the sedimentation of the particles. Unlike the homogeneous currents, this phase is a non-self-similar propagation. This phase is ended by a viscosity-dominated phase appearing to vary as ∼t{sup 1/7}. The good agreement between the front advance of the experiments and shallow-water equation simulations demonstrates that the mean size by mass is a fairly good proxy of poorly sorted particles.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Numerical simulation of fiber interaction in short-fiber injection-molded composite using different cavity geometries

The theoretical fiber-interaction model for calculating the fiber orientation in the injection molded short fiber/thermoplastic composite parts was proposed. The proposed model included the fiber dynamics simulation in order to obtain an equation of the global interaction coefficient and accurate estimate of the fiber interacts at all orientation states. The steps to derive the equation for this coefficient in short fiber suspension as a function of the fiber aspect ratio, volume fraction and general shear rate are delineated. Simultaneously, the high-resolution 3D X-ray computed tomography system XVA-160α was used to observe fiber distribution of short-glass-fiber-reinforced polyamide specimens using different cavity geometries. The fiber orientation tensor components are then calculated. Experimental orientation measurements of short-glass-fiber-reinforced polyamide is used to check the ability of present theory for predicting orientation. The experiments and predictions show a quantitative agreement and confirm the basic understanding of fiber orientation in injection-molded composites.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Design and numerical simulation of a high power capacity relativistic backward wave oscillator with an electron collection cavity

A high power capacity relativistic backward wave oscillator with an electron collection cavity (ECC) placed at the downstream of the slow wave structure (SWS) is presented. The breakdown threshold is increased, and the density of seed electron is suppressed by preventing the secondary electron, plasma, and powder generated from the bombardment of spent electron beam on the surface of the collector drifting to the extractor and beam-wave interaction region. The maximum longitudinal electric field in the device is reduced through extension of the span between electron beam and slow wave structure and weakening the Cerenkov radiation. The conversion efficiency reaches up to 52% owing to enhanced transit time radiation taking place at the entrance of the ECC. The maximum longitudinal electric field is 1.1 MV/cm on the surface of SWSs when the output power is 7.3 GW and the power capacity improves significantly.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Numerical simulation of losses along a natural circulation helium loop

A natural circulation helium loop appears to be a perspective passive method of a nuclear reactor cooling. When designing this device, it is important to analyze the mechanism of an internal flow. The flow of helium in the loop is set in motion due to a difference of hydrostatic pressures between cold and hot branch. Steady flow at a requested flow rate occurs when the buoyancy force is adjusted to resistances against the flow. Considering the fact that the buoyancy force is proportional to a difference of temperatures in both branches, it is important to estimate the losses correctly in the process of design. The paper deals with the calculation of losses in branches of the natural circulation helium loop by methods of CFD. The results of calculations are an important basis for the hydraulic design of both exchangers (heater and cooler). The analysis was carried out for the existing model of a helium loop of the height 10 m and nominal heat power 250 kW.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

Impact of carrier localization on recombination in InGaN quantum wells and the efficiency of nitride light-emitting diodes: Insights from theory and numerical simulations

We investigate the effect of carrier localization due to random alloy fluctuations on the radiative and Auger recombination rates in InGaN quantum wells as a function of alloy composition, crystal orientation, carrier density, and temperature. Our results show that alloy fluctuations reduce individual transition matrix elements by the separate localization of electrons and holes, but this effect is overcompensated by the additional transitions enabled by translational symmetry breaking and the resulting lack of momentum conservation. Thus, we find that localization increases both radiative and Auger recombination rates, but that Auger recombination rates increase by one order of magnitude more than radiative rates. Moreover, we demonstrate that localization has an overall detrimental effect on the efficiency-droop and green-gap problems of InGaN light-emitting diodes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Investigation of the short argon arc with hot anode. I. Numerical simulations of non-equilibrium effects in the near-electrode regions

The atmospheric pressure arcs have recently found application in the production of nanoparticles. The distinguishing features of such arcs are small length and hot ablating anode characterized by intensive electron emission and radiation from its surface. We performed a one-dimensional modeling of argon arc, which shows that near-electrode effects of thermal and ionization non-equilibrium play an important role in the operation of a short arc, because the non-equilibrium regions are up to several millimeters long and are comparable to the arc length. The near-anode region is typically longer than the near-cathode region and its length depends more strongly on the current density. The model was extensively verified and validated against previous simulation results and experimental data. The Volt-Ampere characteristic (VAC) of the near-anode region depends on the anode cooling mechanism. The anode voltage is negative. In the case of strong anode cooling (water-cooled anode) when the anode is cold, temperature and plasma density gradients increase with current density, resulting in a decrease of the anode voltage (the absolute value increases). Falling VAC of the near-anode region suggests the arc constriction near the anode. Without anode cooling, the anode temperature increases significantly with the current density, leading to a drastic increase in the thermionic emission current from the anode. Correspondingly, the anode voltage increases to suppress the emission, and the opposite trend in the VAC is observed. Here, the results of simulations were found to be independent of sheath model used: collisional (fluid) or collisionless model gave the same plasma profiles for both near-anode and near-cathode regions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Numerical simulation of magnetized jet creation using a hollow ring of laser beams

Three dimensional FLASH magneto-hydrodynamic modeling is carried out to interpret the OMEGA laser experiments of strongly magnetized, highly collimated jets driven by a ring of 20 OMEGA beams. The predicted optical Thomson scattering spectra and proton images are in good agreement with a subset of the experimental data. Here, magnetic fields generated via the Biermann battery term are amplified at the boundary between the core and the surrounding of the jet. The simulation predicts multiple axially aligned magnetic flux ropes with an alternating poloidal component. Future applications of the hollow ring configuration in laboratory astrophysics are discussed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

A flux-balanced fluid model for collisional plasma edge turbulence: Numerical simulations with different aspect ratios

We investigate the drift wave–zonal flow dynamics in a shearless slab geometry with the new flux-balanced Hasegawa-Wakatani model. As in previous Hasegawa-Wakatani models, we observe a sharp transition from a turbulence dominated regime to a zonal jet dominated regime as we decrease the plasma resistivity. However, unlike previous models, zonal structures are always present in the flux-balanced model, even for high resistivity, and strongly reduce the level of particles and vorticity flux. The more robust zonal jets also have a higher variability than in previous models, which is further enhanced when the computational domain is chosen to be elongated in the radial direction. In these cases, we observe complex multiscale dynamics, with multiple jets interacting with one another, and intermittent bursts. We present a detailed statistical analysis which highlights how the changes in the aspect ratio of the computational domain affect the third-order statistical moments, and thus modify the turbulent dynamics. By changing the aspect ratio and extending either the radial or the binormal direction, the present model study offers a better approximation to mimic turbulence in flux tube simulations for either very low magnetic shear or very high magnetic shear systems.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Numerical simulation of spall in lead accounting for its occurrence in solid as well as liquid phases

The capabilities of a recently-developed continuum-level model developed for the purpose of predicting the evolution of spall, including the compaction of damaged material, and applicable to the formation of spall in the material that is fully solid as well as material that is locally liquid, are evaluated against empirical data for lead. Here, the model accounts for inertial forces, elastoplastic constitutive behavior, viscosity, and surface tension. Predictions of spall layer thickness are shown to match the empirical data reasonably well.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Numerical simulations of global Alfvén eigenmodes excitation and stabilization in NSTX-U

Three-dimensional nonlinear simulations of Alfvén eigenmodes in the subcyclotron frequency range demonstrate a robust physical stabilizing mechanism via modest off-axis beam injection, in agreement with experimental observations from the National Spherical Torus Experiment (NSTX-U). Experimental results from NSTX-U have demonstrated that neutral beam injection from the new beam sources with large tangency radii deposits beam ions with large pitch, which can very effectively stabilize all unstable Global Alfvén Eigenmodes (GAEs). Beam-driven GAEs have been linked to enhanced electron transport in NSTX, and the ability to control these modes will have significant implications for NSTX-U, ITER, and other fusion devices where super-Alfvénic fast ions might be present. Nonlinear simulations using the HYM code have been performed to study the excitation and stabilization of GAEs in the NSTX-U right before and shortly after the additional off-axis beam injection. The simulations reproduce the experimental finding, namely, it is shown that off-axis neutral beam injection reliably and strongly suppresses all unstable GAEs. Before additional beam injection, the simulations show unstable counter-rotating GAEs with toroidal mode numbers and frequencies that match the experimentally determined modes. Additional off-axis beam injection has been modeled by adding beam ions with large pitch and varying density. The complete stabilization occurs at less than 7% of the total beam ion inventory. New analytical theory of GAE (de)stabilization has also been derived, indicating a different interpretation for the GAE stabilization mechanism compared to previous publications.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Numerical simulation of streamer evolution in surface dielectric barrier discharge with electrode-array

Atmospheric pressure surface dielectric barrier discharges (SDBDs) may be composed of streamers fast propagating along a dielectric surface in ambient air, producing reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, and inducing a force on the neutral gas, which can find applications, respectively, in plasma medicine and aerodynamics. In this work, a two-dimensional self-consistent fluid model was developed to study SDBDs with an electrode-array. Emphasis was placed on the interaction of counter-propagating streamers and discharge uniformity for different applied voltages and geometric configurations of the electrode-array. When two counter-propagating streamers collide, the streamers come to a stop within a certain (ultimate) distance between the streamer heads. Optimizing the applied voltages is a convenient way to improve uniformity, making the streamer heads reach a minimum distance between each other. Shortening the electrode spacing can simultaneously shorten the streamer length and the ultimate distance between streamers. Under certain discharge parameters (such as applied voltage), there exists an optimum electrode spacing maximizing uniformity.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2011

Two-photon fluorescence microscopy signal formation in highly scattering media: theoretical and numerical simulation

Using the radiative transfer theory and Monte Carlo simulations, we analyse the effect of scattering in a medium and of the size of the detector pinhole on the formation of the fluorescent signal in standard two-photon fluorescence microscopy (TPFM) systems. The theoretical analysis is based on a small-angle diffusion approximation of the radiative transfer equation, adapted to calculate the propagation of focused infrared radiation in media similar to the biological tissues in their optical properties. The accuracy of the model is evaluated by comparing the calculated excitation intensity in a highly scattering medium with the results of Monte Carlo simulations. To simulate a tightly focused Gaussian beam by the Monte Carlo method, the so called 'ray-optics' approach that correctly takes into account the finite size and shape of the beam waist is applied. It is shown that in the combined confocal and two-photon scanning microscopy systems not equipped with an external 'nondescanned' detector, the scattering significantly affects both the nonlinear excitation efficiency in the medium and the fluorescence collection efficiency of the system. In such systems, the rate of the useful TPFM signal in-depth decay is 1.5 - 2 times higher than in systems equipped with a 'nondescanned' detector. (application of lasers and laser-optical methods in life sciences)

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Numerical simulation of microwave amplification in a plasma channel produced in a gas via multiphoton ionisation by a femtosecond laser pulse

This paper examines the evolution of a nonequilibrium plasma channel produced in xenon by a femtosecond KrF laser pulse. We demonstrate that such a channel can be used to amplify microwave pulses over times of the order of the relaxation time of the photoelectron energy spectrum in xenon. Using the slowly varying amplitude approximation, we analyse the propagation and amplification of an rf pulse in a plasma channel, in particular when the rf field influences the electron energy distribution function in the plasma. (interaction of laser radiation with matter. laser plasma)

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Numerical simulation of a high efficiency combustion-driven HF laser with preheated fuels

We report a simulation calculation of the processes proceeding in a nozzle array and an optical cavity of a combustion-driven cw HF chemical laser with preheated fuels. Investigation results demonstrate that fuel preheating can dramatically improve the output characteristics of combustion-driven HF chemical lasers. The available output power and specific output power are improved by ∼13% and ∼46%, respectively, when fuels are preheated to 1200 K. It is shown that the fuel consumption in the combustor is reduced by ∼36%, which allows one to improve the performance of combustion-driven HF lasers and make them more compact due to fuel preheating. (paper)

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Complementary bimodal approach to monitoring of photodynamic therapy with targeted nanoconstructs: numerical simulations

We propose a new approach to monitoring photodynamic therapy (PDT) of glioblastoma with the use of targeted nanoconstructs containing a photosensitiser (PS) [benzoporphyrin derivative (BPD)] and IRDye800 dye, antibodies for efficient accumulation of the drug in a tumour, and a chemotherapeutic agent for combined effect on tumour cells. Application of IRDye800 is determined by the shift of its absorption and fluorescence spectra to the near-IR range with respect to BPD that ensures a higher imaging depth. Monitoring of PDT is based on the simultaneous fluorescence and optoacoustic (OA) imaging. Fluorescence imaging provides visualisation of fluorescence agents with high molecular sensitivity and monitoring of the effectiveness of PDT by PS photobleaching. OA allows one to examine the vascular pattern of the tumour environment, as well as assess the depth of the tumour. IRDye800 is a better contrast agent in comparison to BPD due to red-shifted spectral characteristics and a higher fluorescence quantum yield. Monte Carlo simulations combined for OA simulations with K-wave modelling allowed the feasibility of the complementary approach to be studied and demonstrated that this combination allows one to localise a tumour with a size of 2 mm at depths from 100 μm to 2 mm. (paper)

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗