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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

Adhesion Capabilities of Permanent Foaming Fixatives

DOE-EM have identified an operational requirement for a fixative that can immobilize and/or encapsulate residual contamination in 3D void volumes (pipes, gloveboxes, waste containers, etc.) during D and D activities. Failure to safely and effectively immobilize residual contamination can: Put workers at risk; Contaminate the public and environment; Drive up costs. Commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) polyurethane (PU) foams is one possible solution and is currently being investigated by Savannah River National Lab (SRNL). Adhesion testing will dictate how well PU foams will adhere and immobilize residual contamination onto a substrate. Results can provide a performance criteria for Section 5 of ASTM E3191: Standard Specification for Permanent Foaming Fixatives Used to Mitigate Spread of Radioactive Contamination. Initial mechanical testing showed intumescent rigid PU foams were best in class (tensile, compression, TGA/DSC) Application of intumescent rigid PU foam in pipe scenario with 'contamination' showed excellent adhesion capabilities as long as foam had contact with pipe. The foam, however, was not able to penetrate 'contamination' but created pockets where the contamination interacted with the substrate. Pretreatment options of pipe were considered to produce better immobilization capabilities. Pretreatment options included COTS products like baking spray, rubber cement, and soap. Foam was still able to immobilize on a global sense, but not a local sense. Essentially acted as a mechanical plug. A tensile tester (MTS Criterion Series 43) was utilized to evaluate the tensile adhesion strength of 6 COTS PU foams. ASTM D1623: Tensile and Tensile Adhesion Properties of Rigid Cellular Plastics. Procedures: PU foams were cured between two smooth 2'' x 2'' 304 stainless steel coupons with hinges glued on plates for gripping support. Parameters Used: Pull rate of 0.1 in/min. Calculations: Tensile adhesion strength, elongation, and ImageJ analysis of how PU foam is left on substrate. Outcome: The PU foam with the best adhesion capabilities would be downselected for further evaluation to be used as a permanent foaming fixative. The rigid PU foams had the best adhesion capabilities with the R1 foam having a max load of 236 N. One of the I-R2 samples reached almost 450 N and another sample reached 2500 N before slipping. The other intumescent foam, I-F4, had the most coverage on the stainless steel coupon's surface from the ImageJ results (61.43% surface coverage). The intumescent foam, I-R2, will be the foam of choice for future testing due its fire retardant and adhesion capabilities. Future directions: Conduct the following experiment in a pipe scenario with the down-selected PU foam. Procedures: PU foam will be cured between in a 304 stainless steel pipe (ID: 4'', OD: 4.5'', Height: 4''). Parameters Used: Compression testing results will be referenced to determine if foam's adhesion strength would be greater its compression strength as its being compressed. Calculations: Compression strength, shear stress, total time elapsed. Conduct further adhesion testing with the down-selected PU foam (I-R2) to be treated as a permanent foaming fixative (PFF). Determine the minimum contact the PFF should have with the substrate for adequate results. Evaluate if PFF's adhesion capabilities is time dependent (3.1.5 of ASTM E3911). Subject PFF to seismic stressors addressed in Safety Basis of Interim Operation documents (SBIO) to further evaluate adhesion capabilities.

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

A Concept for Ultra-High Energy Electron and Positron Test Beams at Fermilab [PowerPoint]

Experimenters looking for energies higher than 30 GeV will have no current comparable alternatives when CERN test beams are shutdown for 2 years at the end of 2018. Alternate lab electron and positron test beam limits are DESY: Under 10 GeV/c, SLAC: Limited to 25 GeV/c; Fermilab: Ranged from 1 - 32 GeV (highest momenta of ~31.9986 GeV/c) and Mixed Species. A unique opportunity to attract a new group of users has presented itself. As CERN e ± test beams are mixed species, providing higher purity, ultra high energy beams has been requested.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Testing the Performance and Dynamic Control of Energy-Efficient Cellular Shades in the PNNL Lab Homes

This report describes the experimental design and results of testing the energy performance of Hunter Douglas double-cell cellular shades under various control schemes in the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s (PNNL) Lab Homes. The results of both heating and cooling season experiments are presented, where testing is designed to assess the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) savings resulting from the thermal insulating properties as well as the automated and dynamic control strategies of shading devices. Control schemes tested include common “connected home” strategies where controls are integrated and coordinated between the window shading device, building thermostats, and external sensors.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Enhancements in mass transfer for carbon capture solvents part I: Homogeneous catalyst

The novel small molecule carbonic anhydrase (CA) mimic [Co III (Salphen-COO - )Cl]HNEt 3 ( 1 ), was synthesized as an additive for increasing CO 2 absorption rates in amine-based post-combustion carbon capture processes (CCS), and its efficacy was verified. 1 was designed for use in a kinetically slow but thermally stable blended solvent, containing the primary amines 1-amino-2-propanol (A2P) and 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP). Together, the A2P/AMP solvent and 1 reduce the overall energy penalty associated with CO 2 capture from coal-derived flue gas, relative to the baseline solvent MEA. 1 is also effective at increasing absorption kinetics of kinetically fast solvents, such as MEA, which can reduce capital costs by requiring a smaller absorber tower. The transition from catalyst testing under idealized laboratory conditions, to process relevant lab- and bench-scale testing adds many additional variables that are not well understood and rarely discussed. As a result, the stepwise testing of both 1 and the novel A2P/AMP solvent blend is described through a transition process that identifies many of these process and evaluation challenges not often addressed when designing a chemical or catalytic additive for industrial CCS systems, where consideration of solvent chemistry is typically the primary goal.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Lab Groups partner to change street sign; New spelling honors culture, revisits weapons legacy

This is a LANL Today article. It offers a brief historical overview of the Lab’s presence on Enewetak Atoll for weapons testing purposes. It explains the Lab’s efforts to change the spelling of Eniwetok Drive to Enewetak Drive to reflect the preferred spelling of residents of Enewetak Atoll. The purpose is historical and cultural education.

96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION↗

Technology Reinvestment Project Manufacturing Education and Training

The manufacturing education program is a joint program between the University of Alabama in Huntsville's (UAH) College of Engineering and Alabama A&M University's (AAMLJ) School of Engineering and Technology. The objective of the program is to provide more hands-on experiences to undergraduate engineering and engineering technology students. The scope of work consisted of. Year 1, Task 1: Review courses at Alabama Industrial Development Training (AIDT); Task 2: Review courses at UAH and AAMU; Task 3: Develop new lab manuals; Task 4: Field test manuals; Task 5: Prepare annual report. Year 2, Task 1: Incorporate feedback into lab manuals; Task 2 : Introduce lab manuals into classes; Task 3: Field test manuals; Task 4: Prepare annual report. Year 3, Task 1: Incorporate feedback into lab manuals; Task 2: Introduce lab manuals into remaining classes; Task 3: Conduct evaluation with assistance of industry; Task 4: Prepare final report. This report only summarizes the activities of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The activities of Alabama A&M University are contained in a separate report.

Schroer, Bernard J.↗

Photogrammetric Measurements of an EH-60L Brownout Cloud

There is a critical lack of quantitative data regarding the mechanism of brownout cloud formation. Recognizing this, tests were conducted during the Air Force Research Lab 3D-LZ Brownout Test at the US Army Yuma Proving Ground. Photogrammetry was utilized during two rounds of flight tests with an instrumented EH-60L Black Hawk to determine if this technique could quantitatively measure the formation and evolution of a brownout cloud. Specific areas of interest include the location, size, and average convective velocity of the cloud, along with the characteristics of any defined structures within it. Following the first flight test, photogrammetric data were validated through comparison with onboard vehicle data. Lessons learned from this test were applied to the development of an improved photogrammetry system. A second flight test, utilizing the improved system, demonstrated that obtaining quantitative measurements of the brownout cloud are possible. Results from these measurements are presented in the paper. Flow visualization with chalk dust seeding was also tested. It was observed that pickup forces of the brownout cloud appear to be very low. Overall, these tests demonstrate the viability of photogrammetry as a means for quantifying brownout cloud formation and evolution.

Wong, Oliver D.↗

Respirable Release Fraction Measurement Chamber (RRFMC) - 18321

The Respirable Release Fraction Measurement Chamber (RRFMC) is designed to hoist a container to a predetermined height, drop it, and then utilize aerosol particle counters to measure the mass of powder that is released from failed containers. The RRFMC hoist mechanism is located inside an airtight (6.1 m high) steel enclosure that isolates the released test aerosol from the surrounding lab room environment. Accurate measurement of the released test powder is necessary for estimating the total released mass of material. Cerium oxide will be used as a surrogate for plutonium oxide. The range of the aerodynamic diameter of cerium oxide test powder was characterized both by cascade impaction and aerodynamic sizing. The scope of this paper includes the physical parameters required for accurately measuring the total mass of released powder, the fabrication of the tower, various strategies to optimize concentration sampling, and developing methods to accurately measure the respirable fraction, airborne release fraction, and the damage ratio. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Integral LOCA fragmentation test on high-burnup fuel

Increasing the fuel burnup limit in light water reactors is sought to enhance fuel cycle economics and requires establishing a technical basis. Experimental observations of severe fuel fragmentation under loss-of-coolant-accident conditions at Halden and Studsvik had raised the need for additional considerations during the development of this technical basis. These test data suggested that the burnup threshold for high burnup fuel fragmentation may be influenced by pre-transient power. Additional loss-of-coolant-accident test data is therefore valuable to complement these tests and enhance the current state of understating. Oak Ridge National Lab has developed the Severe Accident Test Station capable of examining the oxidation kinetics and accident response of irradiated fuel and cladding materials for design basis accident and beyond design basis accident scenarios. Severe Accident Test Station provides various temperature profiles, steam, and the thermal shock conditions necessary for integral loss of coolant accident testing, defueled oxidation quench testing, and high-temperature beyond design basis accident testing. Severe Accident Test Station has been successfully installed and demonstrated in the Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory at Oak Ridge National Lab. Furthermore, descriptions of the in-cell re-fabrication capabilities and assembly of the loss-of-coolant-accident test train are provided. Installation of the Severe Accident Test Station system and in-cell re-fabrication restores United States capability to examine postulated and extended loss-of-coolant-accident conditions on spent fuel and cladding and provides a platform for evaluating advanced fuel and accident-tolerant fuel cladding concepts. Lastly, three in-cell integral loss-of-coolant-accident test were performed in the Severe Accident Test Station and compared to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sponsored loss-of-coolant-accident test as well as the original loss-of-coolant-accident test performed at Argonne National Lab. Finally, the results of these tests as well as all publicly available integral loss-of-coolant-accident test were used to validate a threshold for high burnup fuel fragmentation.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Room Temperature Measurements of Higher Order Modes for the SPS Prototype RF-Dipole Crabbing Cavity

LHC High Luminosity Upgrade will be developing two local crabbing systems to increase the luminosity of the colliding bunches at the ATLAS and CMS experiments. One of the crabbing systems uses the rf-dipole cavity design that will be crabbing the beam in the horizontal plane. The fully integrated crabbing cavity has two higher order mode couplers in damping those excited modes. Currently two sets of HOM couplers have been fabricated at Jefferson Lab for prototyping and testing with the LARP crabbing cavities. This paper presents the measurements of the higher order modes with the prototype HOM couplers carried out at room temperature.

de Silva, SUbashini U.↗

Assessment and Non-Destructive Evaluation of the Influence of Residual Solvent on a Two-Part Epoxy-Based Adhesive Using Ultrasonics

Polymers are increasingly being used in higher demanding applications due to their ability to tailor the properties of structures while allowing for a weight and cost reduction. Solvents play an important role in the manufacture of polymeric structures since they allow for a reduction in the polymer’s viscosity or assist with the dispersion of fillers into the polymer matrix. However, the incorrect removal of the solvent affects both the physical and chemical properties of polymeric materials. The presence of residual solvent can also negatively affect the curing kinetics and the final quality of polymers. Destructive testing is mainly performed to characterize the properties of these materials. However, this type of testing involves using lab-type equipment that cannot be taken in-field to perform in situ testing and requires a specific sample preparation. Here, a method is presented to non-destructively evaluate the curing process and final viscoelastic properties of polymeric materials using ultrasonics. In this study, changes in longitudinal sound speed were detected during the curing of an aerospace epoxy adhesive as a result of variations in polymer chemistry. To simulate the presence of residual solvent, samples containing different weight percentages of isopropyl alcohol were manufactured and tested using ultrasonics. Thermogravimetric analysis was used to show changes in the decomposition of the adhesive due to the presence of IPA within the polymer structure. Adding 2, 4, and 6 wt.% of IPA decreased the adhesive’s lap shear strength by 40, 58, and 71%, respectively. Ultrasonics were used to show how the solvent influenced the curing process and the final sound speed of the adhesive. Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio were determined using both the longitudinal and shear sound speeds of the adhesive. Using ultrasonics has the potential to non-invasively characterize the quality of polymers in both an in-field and manufacturing settings, ensuring their reliability during use in demanding applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Liquid nitrogen tests of a Torus coil for the Jefferson Lab 12GeV accelerator upgrade

A magnet system consisting of six superconducting trapezoidal racetrack-type coils is being built for the Jefferson Lab 12-GeV accelerator upgrade project. The magnet coils are wound with Superconducting Super Collider-36 NbTi strand Rutherford cable soldered into a copper channel. Each superconducting toroidal coil is force cooled by liquid helium, which circulates in a tube that is in good thermal contact with the inside of the coil. Thin copper sheets are soldered to the helium cooling tube and enclose the superconducting coil, providing cooling to the rest of the coil pack. As part of a rigorous risk mitigation exercise, each of the six coils is cooled with liquid nitrogen (LN2) to 80 K to validate predicted thermal stresses, verify the robustness and integrity of electrical insulation, and evaluate the efficacy of the employed conduction cooling method. This paper describes the test setup, the tests performed, and the findings.

Torus, SSC-NbTi, LN2 cold test, FEA, epoxy potting↗

Failures in Hybrid Microcircuits During Environmental Testing. History Cases

This purpose of this viewgraph presentation is to discuss failures in hermetic hybrids observed at the GSFC PA Lab during environmental stress testing. The cases discussed are: Case I. Substrate metallization failures during Thermal cycling (TC). Case II. Flex lid-induced failure. Case Ill. Hermeticity failures during TC. Case IV. Die metallization cracking during TC. and how many test cycles and parts is necessary? Case V. Wire Bond failures after life test. Case VI. Failures caused by Au/In IMC growth.

Teverovsky, Alexander↗

Design Concepts for an Optimized, Modular, and Scalable Liquid Amine Test Stand

The Air Revitalization Labs at NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) is investigating liquid amines to for their performance removing spacecraft carbon dioxide (CO2) for crewed space missions. Development of the current one-crew scale amine test stand stems from several modifications to a test stand initially built at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) This sub-scale system has been modified to incorporate a flow spreader for the inlet air stream, an updated contactor design for CO2 capture, a degasser to regenerate the liquid sorbent and recover the captured CO2, and a condenser to reduce water loss. Results from the existing integrated liquid amine test stand have provided valuable insight, but continued performance optimization requires design and build of a new integrated test system. New design concepts will institute a modular configuration to allow for interfacing with novel contactor and degasser architecture, parallel or series flow pathways for the air stream and liquid sorbent, and scaling up to a 4-crew CO2 removal system.

Tiago Faria Costa↗

A novel method of testing the shear strength of thick honeycomb composites

Sandwich composites of aluminum and glass/phenolic honeycomb core were tested for shear strength before and after impact damage. The assessment of shear strength was performed in two ways; by four point bend testing of sandwich beams and by a novel double lap shear (DLS) test. This testing technique was developed so smaller specimens could be used, thus making the use of common lab scale fabrication and testing possible. The two techniques yielded similar data. The DLS test gave slightly lower shear strength values of the two methods but were closer to the supplier's values for shear strength.

Hodge, A. J.↗

Research Combustion Lab Facility Capabilities and Throughput Enhanced by New Test Stands

The original test stand location has a small copper rocket engine mounted on the stand. The new stand, located about 4 feet to the left, has a long pulse detonation combustion engine mounted on it. To the rear of the two stands can be seen a bulkhead with feed line outlets that can be switched at common valves behind the bulkhead to supply either stand. A gauge panel is visible through a doorway in the bulkhead at which various purge pressures are set. A connection panel for instrumentation wiring can be seen above the stands.

Source record↗