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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 OSTI2024

Thermal conductivity suppression in uranium-doped thorium dioxide due to phonon-spin interactions

In this work, impact of low level of uranium (U) atom substitution on thermal conductivity of thorium dioxide (ThO 2 ) is investigated. ThO 2 is an electronic insulator with a wide optical band-gap and no unpaired electrons whose thermal transport is governed by phonons. U-substitution introduces unpaired f-electrons resulting in paramagnetic behavior of U-ThO 2 at room temperature, which significantly suppresses its thermal conductivity. A single crystal of U-ThO 2 with graded composition of U is grown using a hydrothermal synthesis method, and thermal conductivity measurements are performed in regions with uniform composition of U at levels of 0%, 6%, 9% and 16%. Measured thermal conductivity profiles over 77–300 K temperature range are analyzed using an analytical expression for phonon-mediated thermal transport based on Klemens-Callaway model. Temperature dependent thermal conductivity is found to deviate significantly from the Rayleigh scattering trend expected for a simple substitutional point defect with a small perturbation to mass and interatomic forces. With the resonant scattering term, observed large suppression of thermal conductivity at low temperatures can be closely reproduced. Additionally, the extracted phonon-spin coupling constants imply a nonlinear relation of phonon-spin interaction intensity with respect to U doping percentage. Our study reveals how phonon-spin scattering contributed by unpaired f-electrons in U atoms influences thermal transport in the U-ThO 2 system.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Structural coupling and magnetic tuning in Mn 2– x Co x P magnetocalorics for thermomagnetic power generation

Promising materials for magnetic refrigeration and thermomagnetic power generation often display strong coupling between magnetism and structure. It has been previously proposed that MnCoP exhibits this strong coupling, contributing to its substantial magnetocaloric effect near T C = 578K. Here, we show from temperature-dependent synchrotron x-ray diffraction that MnCoP displays a discontinuity in the thermal expansion at T C , with spontaneous magnetostriction that is positive in the a direction and negative in the b direction, highlighting the anisotropic nature of the magnetostructural coupling. Varying the Mn:Co ratio of Mn 2– x Co x P within the range of 0.6 ≤ x ≤ 1.4 allows the magnetic properties to be tuned. T C decreases as the composition deviates from stoichiometric MnCoP, as does the saturation magnetization. The magnitude of the magnetocaloric effect, |Δ S M |, decreases as well, due to broadening of the magnetic transition. The large reversible change in magnetization Δ M accessible over a small temperature range under moderate magnetic fields makes these materials promising for thermomagnetic power generation from waste heat.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Flow Forecasting on New England’s Great River Hydro (CRADA 549) (Final Report)

Great River Hydro (GRH) is New England's largest conventional hydropower generator and operates sustainable hydropower systems in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Several of GRH’s hydropower projects on the Connecticut River are largely constrained to operate as run-of-river; however, though a new FERC license they have opportunity in the form of flex hours where they are allowed to deviate operations to capture favorable market conditions or emergency operations. To maximize value from these new operations, GRH is considering new sources of forecasted inflow. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is evaluating the quality of two commercial inflow forecasts for GRH under DOE Water Power Technology Office’s Notice of Opportunity for Technical Assistance: Improving Hydropower’s Value through Informed Decision Making. This project will provide an unbiased evaluation of the accuracy of inflow forecasts available through commercial vendors. GRH will use this information to support their decision on which inflow forecast to use under their new FERC license and to assess the overall value of the available inflow forecasting tools and practices. In this talk we will discuss details of the near real-time forecast evaluation process, the metrics involved in the evaluation, and some preliminary results. In addition, we’ll touch on the second phase of the project which involves evaluating scheduling strategies that identify windows of opportunity to change operations in ways that increase profit through participation in day ahead and real time markets.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1979

Relationship between hard X-ray and EUV sources in solar flares

The high time resolution hard X-ray (not less than 15 keV) observations of medium and large impulsive solar flares made with the OSO 5 satellite are compared with the simultaneous ground-based observations of 10-1030 A EUV flux made via sudden frequency deviations (SFD) at Boulder. For most flares the agreement between the times of maxima of the impulsive hard X-ray and EUV emissions is found to be consistent with earlier studies (not less than 1 s). The rise and decay times of the EUV emission are larger than the corresponding times for X-rays not less than 30 keV. When OSO 5 hard X-ray measurements are combined with those made by OGO1, OGO 3, OGO 5, and TD 1A satellites, it is found that there is a nearly linear relationship between the energy fluxes of impulsive EUV emission and X-rays not less than 10 keV over a wide range of flare magnitudes. A model involving only a 'partial precipitation' of energetic electrons and consisting of both thick and thin target hard X-ray sources is examined.

Kane, S. R.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Evaluation of a nonlinear parameter extraction mathematical model including the term C(subm(sub delta e squared))

Shuttle flight test data were used to determine values for the short-period parameters. The best identified, as judged by its estimated standard deviation, was the elevon effectiveness parameter C (sub m (sub sigma e squared)). However, the scatter about the preflight prediction of C (sub m (sub sigma e squared)) was large. Other investigators have suggested that adding nonlinear terms to the mathematical model used to identify C (sub m (sub sigma e)) could reduce the scatter. The results of this investigation show that C (sub m (sub sigma e squared)) is the only identifiable nonlinear parameter applicable and that the changes in C (sub m (sub sigma e)) values when C (sub m (sub sigma e squared)) is included are in the order of ten percent for the data estimated.

Suit, W. T.↗
NASA NTRS1992

The wind geometry of the Wolf-Rayet star HD 191765

A time-dependent spectropolarimetric data set of HD 191765 in the wavelength range 3159-7593 A is presented. At all epochs the present observations display a large and strongly wavelength-dependent continuum polarization and reduced levels of polarization across the emission lines. The data imply a significant intrinsic continuum polarization which requires a general deviation of the electron distribution from spherical symmetry. The global shape is quite stable as a function of time; small fluctuations may arise from localized density/temperature changes. The line polarizations are consistent with an axisymmetric wind geometry and ionization stratification. A qualitative model for polarization in a Wolf-Rayet atmosphere is developed. It is argued that the blueward rise of the continuum polarization in HD 191765 can be explained if the density in the wind is high, resulting in a competition of thermal and electron-scattering continuum opacity in the vertical.

Schulte-Ladbeck, R. F.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Sensitivity of Global Sea-Air CO2 Flux to Gas Transfer Algorithms, Climatological Wind Speeds, and Variability of Sea Surface Temperature and Salinity

Sensitivity analyses of sea-air CO2 flux to gas transfer algorithms, climatological wind speeds, sea surface temperatures (SST) and salinity (SSS) were conducted for the global oceans and selected regional domains. Large uncertainties in the global sea-air flux estimates are identified due to different gas transfer algorithms, global climatological wind speeds, and seasonal SST and SSS data. The global sea-air flux ranges from -0.57 to -2.27 Gt/yr, depending on the combination of gas transfer algorithms and global climatological wind speeds used. Different combinations of SST and SSS global fields resulted in changes as large as 35% on the oceans global sea-air flux. An error as small as plus or minus 0.2 in SSS translates into a plus or minus 43% deviation on the mean global CO2 flux. This result emphasizes the need for highly accurate satellite SSS observations for the development of remote sensing sea-air flux algorithms.

McClain, Charles R.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Monte Carlo Bayesian Inference on a Statistical Model of Sub-gridcolumn Moisture Variability Using High-resolution Cloud Observations : Sensitivity Tests and Results - Part II

Part I presented a Monte Carlo Bayesian method for constraining a complex statistical model of GCM sub-gridcolumn moisture variability using high-resolution MODIS cloud data, thereby permitting large-scale model parameter estimation and cloud data assimilation. This part performs some basic testing of this new approach, verifying that it does indeed significantly reduce mean and standard deviation biases with respect to the assimilated MODIS cloud optical depth, brightness temperature and cloud top pressure, and that it also improves the simulated rotational-Ramman scattering cloud optical centroid pressure (OCP) against independent (non-assimilated) retrievals from the OMI instrument. Of particular interest, the Monte Carlo method does show skill in the especially difficult case where the background state is clear but cloudy observations exist. In traditional linearized data assimilation methods, a subsaturated background cannot produce clouds via any infinitesimal equilibrium perturbation, but the Monte Carlo approach allows finite jumps into regions of non-zero cloud probability. In the example provided, the method is able to restore marine stratocumulus near the Californian coast where the background state has a clear swath. This paper also examines a number of algorithmic and physical sensitivities of the new method and provides guidance for its cost-effective implementation. One obvious difficulty for the method, and other cloud data assimilation methods as well, is the lack of information content in the cloud observables on cloud vertical structure, beyond cloud top pressure and optical thickness, thus necessitating strong dependence on the background vertical moisture structure. It is found that a simple flow-dependent correlation modification due to Riishojgaard (1998) provides some help in this respect, by better honoring inversion structures in the background state.

Monte Carlo Bayesian inference↗
DOE OSTI2025

Phonon-Spin Scattering from Unpaired f-electrons in U atoms and It’s Influence on Thermal Transport in Uranium-doped Thorium Dioxide Single Crystals

In this work, impact of low level of uranium (U) atom substitution on thermal conductivity of thorium dioxide (ThO2) is investigated. ThO2 is an electronic insulator with a wide optical band-gap and no unpaired electrons whose thermal transport is governed by phonons. U-substitution introduces unpaired f-electrons resulting in paramagnetic behavior of U-ThO2 at room temperature, which significantly suppresses its thermal conductivity. A single crystal of U-ThO2 with graded composition of U is grown using a hydrothermal synthesis method, and thermal conductivity measurements are performed in regions with uniform composition of U at levels of 0%, 6%, 9% and 16%. Measured thermal conductivity profiles over 77–300 K temperature range are analyzed using an analytical expression for phonon-mediated thermal transport based on Klemens-Callaway model. Temperature dependent thermal conductivity is found to deviate significantly from the Rayleigh scattering trend expected for a simple substitutional point defect with a small perturbation to mass and interatomic forces. With the resonant scattering term, observed large suppression of thermal conductivity at low temperatures can be closely reproduced. Additionally, the extracted phonon-spin coupling constants imply a nonlinear relation of phonon-spin interaction intensity with respect to U doping percentage. Our study reveals how phonon-spin scattering contributed by unpaired f-electrons in U atoms influences thermal transport in the U-ThO2 system.

36 - MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Examination of probability distribution of mixture fraction in LES/FDF modelling of a turbulent partially premixed jet flame

An accurate prediction of the probability density function (PDF) of the mixture fraction is crucial to the prediction of combustion since mixing plays an important role in turbulent non-premixed and partially premixed flames. This work provides an assessment of the large-eddy simulation (LES)/filtered density function (FDF) method for the prediction of the PDF of the mixture fraction. The advantage of the LES/FDF method is that it provides the full predictions of the statistical distribution of scalars including the mixture fraction. The predictive accuracy of the method for the PDF is yet to be fully validated. Assessing the prediction of the PDF of the mixture fraction, a conserved scalar, is an important starting point. The Sydney/Sandia inhomogeneous inlet jet flame is used as a test case. A quick comparison shows that the LES/FDF predicted PDF shapes of the mixture fraction deviate significantly from the commonly presumed Beta-PDF as well as from the experimental data in the flame. Here, to examine the source of the discrepancy, we clarify the different PDF definitions used in the comparison among the predictions, measurements, and the presumed shape PDFs. The discrepancy observed from the comparison is largely reconciled by clarifying the difference between the PDFs that are examined. The PDF of the resolved mixture fraction is shown to be close to the Beta-PDF in both the measurements and predictions, while the PDF directly deduced from the LES/FDF particles deviates significantly from the Beta-PDF. A multimodal PDF analysis and a pseudo convergence analysis are conducted to provide plausible evidence to support the predicted multimodal PDF shapes. The sub-filter scale FDF is shown to be close to the Beta-PDF too through the construction of a synthesized PDF, which supports the common presumed Beta-PDF assumption used in the presumed PDF methods when combined with LES.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2013

Mars: A Planet with a Dynamic Climate System

Mars is a well-observed planet. Since the 1960s orbiters, landers, rovers, and earth-based telescopic observations show that its climate system is dynamic. Its dynamic nature, largely the result of atmosphere-surface interactions, is most obvious in the seasonal cycles of dust, water, and carbon dioxide that define the planet's climate system. These cycles are linked through the global circulation and MGS, Odyssey, Phoenix, MER, Mars Express, MRO, and now MSL have continuously observed them at Mars for the past 16 years. Their observations show that while the seasonal cycles are largely annually repeatable, there are interannual variations. Planet-encircling dust storms, for example, are quasi-triennial and originate over a broader range of seasons and locations than previously thought. Water moves from pole-to-pole each year in a largely, but not precisely, repeatable pattern that suggests but does not demand non-polar surface reservoirs. And the seasonal CO2 polar caps grow and retreat in a very predictable way with only minor deviations from year-to-year in spite of significant differences in atmospheric dust content. These behaviors suggest a complicated but robust coupled system in which these cycles interact to produce the greatest interannual variability in the dust cycle and least variability in the CO2 cycle. The nature of these interactions is the subject of ongoing research, but clouds, both water ice and CO2 ice, now appear to play a bigger role than believed at the end of the 20th century. There may also be some long-term trends in these cycles as there is evidence from imaging data, for example, that the south polar residual cap may not be stable on decadal to centennial time scales. On even longer time scales, the discovery of as much as 5 mb global equivalent of buried CO2 ice near the south pole, the detection of vast quantities of subsurface water ice at very shallow depths in midlatitudes of both hemispheres, and the presence of remnant glacial features at almost all latitudes, strongly suggests the possibility of significant climate change associated with orbital variations. Some of the major questions these data raise concern how closed the seasonal cycles are and which reservoirs are gaining or loosing, the cause of the large interannual variability of the dust cycle and how it couples to the water and CO2 cycles, and the mechanisms for the origin of past glacial activity and the emplacement and removal of subsurface ice. While many of these questions can be addressed with continued research based on existing data, new observations focused on atmosphere surface-interactions would provide valuable constraints on how dust, water, and CO2 move between the surface and atmosphere.

CO2 cycles↗
DOE OSTI2025

Injection Locking of Gigahertz‐Frequency Surface Acoustic Wave Phononic Crystal Oscillator

Low-noise gigahertz (GHz) frequency sources are essential for applications in signal processing, sensing, and telecommunications. Surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonator-based oscillators offer compact form factors and low-phase noise due to their short mechanical wavelengths and high-quality (Q) factors. However, their small footprint makes them vulnerable to environmental variation, resulting in their poor long-term frequency stability. Injection locking is widely used to suppress frequency drift of lasers and oscillators by synchronizing to an ultra-stable reference. Here, injection locking of a 1-GHz SAW phononic-crystal oscillator is demonstrated, achieving 40-dB phase noise reduction at low offset frequencies and unperturbed low noise at large offset frequencies. Compared to a free-running SAW oscillator, which typically exhibits frequency drifts of several hundred hertz over minutes, the injection-locked oscillator reduces the frequency deviation to below 0.35 Hz. The locking range and oscillator dynamics is also investigated in the injection pulling region. The demonstrated injection-locked SAW oscillator could find applications in high-performance portable telecommunications and sensing systems.

injection locking↗
DOE OSTI2025

Persistent Classification: Understanding Adversarial Attacks by Studying Decision Boundary Dynamics

ABSTRACT There are a number of hypotheses underlying the existence of adversarial examples for classification problems. These include the high‐dimensionality of the data, the high codimension in the ambient space of the data manifolds of interest, and that the structure of machine learning models may encourage classifiers to develop decision boundaries close to data points. This article proposes a new framework for studying adversarial examples that does not depend directly on the distance to the decision boundary. Similarly to the smoothed classifier literature, we define a (natural or adversarial) data point to be ( γ , σ)‐stable if the probability of the same classification is at least for points sampled in a Gaussian neighborhood of the point with a given standard deviation . We focus on studying the differences between persistence metrics along interpolants of natural and adversarial points. We show that adversarial examples have significantly lower persistence than natural examples for large neural networks in the context of the MNIST and ImageNet datasets. We connect this lack of persistence with decision boundary geometry by measuring angles of interpolants with respect to decision boundaries. Finally, we connect this approach with robustness by developing a manifold alignment gradient metric and demonstrating the increase in robustness that can be achieved when training with the addition of this metric.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Search for new heavy resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, or ZH boson pairs in the all-jets final state in proton-proton collisions at √s = 13 TeV

A search for new heavy resonances decaying to WW, WZ, ZZ, WH, or ZH boson pairs in the all-jets final state is presented. The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data recorded by the CMS detector in 2016–2018 at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV at the CERN LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb –1 . The search is sensitive to resonances with masses between 1.3 and 6 TeV, decaying to bosons that are highly Lorentz-boosted such that each of the bosons forms a single large-radius jet. Machine learning techniques are employed to identify such jets. No significant excess over the estimated standard model background is observed. A maximum local significance of 3.6 standard deviations, corresponding to a global significance of 2.3 standard deviations, is observed at masses of 2.1 and 2.9 TeV. In a heavy vector triplet model, spin-1 Z' and W' resonances with masses below 4.8 TeV are excluded at the 95% confidence level (CL). These limits are the most stringent to date. In a bulk graviton model, spin-2 gravitons and spin-0 radions with masses below 1.4 and 2.7 TeV, respectively, are excluded at 95% CL. Production of heavy resonances through vector boson fusion is constrained with upper cross section limits at 95% CL as low as 0.1 fb.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Magnetism in Mixed Valence, Defect, Cubic Perovskites: BaIn 1– x Fe x O 2.5+δ , x = 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75. Local and Average Structures

The series BaIn 1–x Fe x O 2.5+δ , x = 0.25, 0.50, and 0.75, has been prepared under air-fired and argon-fired conditions and studied using X-ray diffraction, d.c. and a.c. susceptibility, Mössbauer spectroscopy, neutron diffraction, X-ray near edge absorption spectroscopy (XANES), and X-ray pair distribution (PDF) methods. While Ba 2 In 2 O 5 (BaInO 2.5 ) crystallizes in an ordered brownmillerite structure, Ibm2, and Ba 2 Fe 2 O 5 (BaFeO 2.5 ) crystallizes in a complex monoclinic structure, P2 1 /c, showing seven Fe 3+ sites with tetrahedral, square planar, and octahedral environments, all phases studied here crystallize in the cubic perovskite structure, Pm$\bar{}3}$m, with long-range disorder on the small cation and oxygen sites. 57 Fe Mössbauer studies indicate a mixed valency, Fe 4+ /Fe 3+ , for both the air-fired and argon-fired samples. The increased Fe 3+ content for the argon-fired samples is reflected in increased cubic cell constants and in the increased Mössbauer fraction. It appears that the Pm$\bar{}3}$m phases are only metastable when fired in argon. From a slightly modified percolation theory for a primitive cubic lattice (taking into account the presence of random O atom vacancies), long-range spin order is permitted for the x = 0.50 and 0.75 phases. Instead, the d.c. susceptibility shows only zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) divergences at ~6 K [5 K] for x = 0.50 and at ~22 K [21 K] for x = 0.75, with values for the argon-fired samples in [ ]. Neutron diffraction data for the air-fired samples confirm the absence of long-range magnetic order at any studied temperature. For the air-fired x = 0.50, a.c. susceptibility data show a frequency-dependent χ'(max) and spin glass behavior, while for x = 0.75, χ'(max) is invariant with frequency, ruling out either a spin glass or a superparamagnetic ground state. These behaviors are discussed in terms of competing Fe 3+ –Fe 3+ antiferromagnetic exchange and ferromagnetic Fe 3+ –Fe 4+ exchange. The PDF and 57 Fe Mössbauer data indicate a local structure at short interatomic distances, which deviates strongly from the average Pm$\bar{}3}$m model. Fe Mössbauer, PDF, and XANES data show a systematic dependence on x and indicate that the Fe 3+ sites are largely fourfold-coordinated and Fe 4+ sites are fivefold- or sixfold-coordinated.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

A two-directional vibrational probe reveals different electric field orientations in solution and an enzyme active site

We report the catalytic power of an electric field depends on its magnitude and orientation with respect to the reactive chemical species. Understanding and designing new catalysts for electrostatic catalysis thus requires methods to measure the electric field orientation and magnitude at the molecular scale. We demonstrate that electric field orientations can be extracted using a two-directional vibrational probe by exploiting the vibrational Stark effect of both the C=O and C–D stretches of a deuterated aldehyde. Combining spectroscopy with molecular dynamics and electronic structure partitioning methods, we demonstrate that, despite distinct polarities, solvents act similarly in their preference for electrostatically stabilizing large bond dipoles at the expense of destabilizing small ones. In contrast, we find that for an active-site aldehyde inhibitor of liver alcohol dehydrogenase, the electric field orientation deviates markedly from that found in solvents, which provides direct evidence for the fundamental difference between the electrostatic environment of solvents and that of a preorganized enzyme active site.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Collective Ferromagnetism of Artificial Square Spin Ice

In this work, we study the temperature and magnetic field dependence of the total magnetic moment of large-area permalloy artificial square spin ice arrays. The temperature dependence and hysteresis behavior are consistent with the coherent magnetization reversal expected in the Stoner-Wohlfarth model, with clear deviations due to interisland interactions at small lattice spacing. Through micromagnetic simulations, we explore this behavior and demonstrate that the deviations result from increasingly complex magnetization reversal at small lattice spacing, induced by interisland interactions, and depending critically on details of the island shapes. These results establish new means to tune the physical properties of artificial spin ice structures and other interacting nanomagnet systems, such as patterned magnetic media.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2022

Search for type-III seesaw heavy leptons in leptonic final states in $pp$ collisions at $\sqrt{s} = 13~\text {TeV}$ with the ATLAS detector

A search for the pair production of heavy leptons as predicted by the type-III seesaw mechanism is presented. The search uses proton–proton collision data at a centre-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to 139 fb –1 of integrated luminosity recorded by the ATLAS detector during Run 2 of the Large Hadron Collider. The analysis focuses on final states with three or four electrons or muons from the possible decays of new heavy leptons via intermediate electroweak bosons. No significant deviations above the Standard Model expectation are observed; upper and lower limits on the heavy lepton production cross-section and masses are derived respectively. These results are then combined for the first time with the ones already published by ATLAS using the channel with two leptons in the final state. The observed lower limit on the mass of the type-III seesaw heavy leptons combining two, three and four lepton channels together is 910 GeV at the 95% confidence level.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗