Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “DYNAMIC PROPERTY”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Nonlocal Analysis of Natural Vibrations of Carbon Nanotubes

When the atomic level is considered, the dynamic properties have a major influence on nanostructures behavior because of their ultrahigh or very high natural frequencies. Vibrations are essential in the analysis of resonators, oscillators, and sensors for carbon nanotube-based devices. The present paper is dedicated to the eigenfrequencies analysis of single-walled carbon nanotubes. In the analysis, the small-scale coefficient is introduced, and the nonlocal elasticity theory is applied in the modal analysis of the carbon nanotubes. The correlation between nonlocal small-scale parameter and the vibrational behavior of the carbon nanotubes is studied. The determination of nonlocal parameter is based on the structural finite element model of the nanotube. A detailed parametric study is realized to investigate the effects of the length-to-diameter ratio L/D, nonlocal coefficient, the influence of boundary conditions on eigenfrequencies of carbon nanotubes. The main contribution of this work is the evaluation of the nonlocal parameter for single-walled carbon nanotubes based on the finite element approximation in modeling the dynamic behavior instead of commonly used MD simulations. It was clearly displayed that the application of the nonlocal beam models involves analysis of the small-scale parameter, whose value determines the final eigenfrequencies. The highest values of eigenfrequencies were observed for the local beam model. It was presented that the eigenfrequencies for carbon nanotubes decrease when the nanotube length increases for all analyzed modes. On the other hand, when the diameter of carbon nanotubes increases, the eigenfrequency values rise. The numerical validation of the nonlocal parameter revealed the high dependence on the boundary conditions and the mode number. However, the influence of the mode number and the boundary conditions is vanishing for long single-walled carbon nanotubes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

NMR relaxation in the spin-1 Heisenberg chain

For this research, we consider the isotropic S = 1 Heisenberg chain with a finite Haldane gap Δ and use state-of-the-art numerical techniques to investigate its dynamical properties at finite temperature, focusing on the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/ T 1 measured in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) experiments, for instance. In particular, we analyze the contributions from modes with momenta close to q ≈ 0 and q ≈ π as a function of temperature. At higherature we observe spin diffusion, while at lowerature we argue that a simple activated behavior 1/ T 1 exp (-Δ/ T ) can be observed only at temperatures much smaller than the gap Δ.

1-dimensional spin chains↗
NASA NTRS1997

Response properties of pigeon otolith afferents to linear acceleration

In the present study, the sensitivity to sinusoidal linear accelerations in the plane of the utricular macula was tested in afferents. The head orientation relative to the translation axis was varied in order to determine the head position that elicited the maximal and minimal responses for each afferent. The response gain and phase values obtained to 0.5-Hz and 2-Hz linear acceleration stimuli were then plotted as a function of head orientation and a modified cosine function was fit to the data. From the best-fit cosine function, the predicted head orientations that would produce the maximal and minimal response gains were estimated. The estimated maximum response gains to linear acceleration in the utricular plane for the afferents varied between 75 and 1420 spikes s-1 g-1. The mean maximal gains for all afferents to 0.5-Hz and 2-Hz sinusoidal linear acceleration stimuli were 282 and 367 spikes s-1 g-1, respectively. The minimal response gains were essentially zero for most units. The response phases always led linear acceleration and remained constant for each afferent, regardless of head orientation. These response characteristics indicate that otolith afferents are cosine tuned and behave as one-dimensional linear accelerometers. The directions of maximal sensitivity to linear acceleration for the afferents varied throughout the plane of the utricle; however, most vectors were directed out of the opposite ear near the interaural axis. The response dynamics of the afferents were tested using stimulus frequencies ranging between 0.25 Hz and 10 Hz (0.1 g peak acceleration). Across stimulus frequencies, most afferents had increasing gains and constant phase values. These dynamic properties for individual afferents were fit with a simple transfer function that included three parameters: a mechanical time constant, a gain constant, and a fractional order distributed adaptation operator.

Non-NASA Center↗
DOE OSTI2015

Role of the antiferromagnetic pinning layer on spin wave properties in IrMn/NiFe based spin-valves

Brillouin light scattering (BLS) was exploited to study the spin wave properties of spin-valve (SV) type samples basically consisting of two 5 nm-thick NiFe layers (separated by a Cu spacer of 5 nm), differently biased through the interface exchange coupling with an antiferromagnetic IrMn layer. Three samples were investigated: a reference SV sample, without IrMn (reference); one sample with an IrMn underlayer (10 nm thick) coupled to the bottom NiFe film; one sample with IrMn underlayer and overlayer of different thickness (10 nm and 6 nm), coupled to the bottom and top NiFe film, respectively. The exchange coupling with the IrMn, causing the insurgence of the exchange bias effect, allowed the relative orientation of the NiFe magnetization vectors to be controlled by an external magnetic field, as assessed through hysteresis loop measurements by magneto-optic magnetometry. Thus, BLS spectra were acquired by sweeping the magnetic field so as to encompass both the parallel and antiparallel alignment of the NiFe layers. The BLS results, well reproduced by the presented theoretical model, clearly revealed the combined effects on the spin dynamic properties of the dipolar interaction between the two NiFe films and of the interface IrMn/NiFe exchange coupling.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Electric-field guiding of magnetic skyrmions

We theoretically study equilibrium and dynamic properties of nanosized magnetic skyrmions in thin magnetic films with broken inversion symmetry, where an electric field couples to magnetization via spin-orbit coupling. Based on a symmetry-based phenomenology and micromagnetic simulations we show that this electric-field coupling, via renormalizing the micromagnetic energy, modifies the equilibrium properties of the skyrmion. This change, in turn, results in a significant alteration of the current-induced skyrmion motion. Particularly, the speed and direction of the skyrmion can be manipulated by designing a desired energy landscape electrically, which we describe within Thiele's analytical model and demonstrate in micromagnetic simulations including electric-field-controlled magnetic anisotropy. We additionally use this electric-field control to construct gates for controlling skyrmion motion exhibiting a transistorlike and multiplexerlike function. Furthermore, the proposed electric-field effect can thus provide a low-energy electrical knob to extend the reach of information processing with skyrmions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Anomalous Effects of Velocity Rescaling Algorithms: The Flying Ice Cube Effect Revisited

The flying ice cube effect is a molecular dynamics simulation artifact in which the use of velocity rescaling thermostats sometimes causes violation of the equipartition theorem, affecting both structural and dynamic properties. The reason for this artifact and the conditions under which it occurs have not been fully understood. Since the flying ice cube effect was first demonstrated, a new velocity rescaling algorithm (the CSVR thermostat) has been developed and become popular without its effects on the equipartition theorem being truly known. Meanwhile, the use of simple velocity rescaling and Berendsen (weak coupling) thermostat algorithms has not abated but has actually continued to grow. Here, we have calculated the partitioning of the kinetic energy between translational, rotational, and vibrational modes in simulations of diatomic molecules to explicitly determine whether the equipartition theorem is violated under different thermostats and while rescaling velocities to different kinetic energy distributions. We have found that the underlying cause of the flying ice cube effect is a violation of balance leading to systematic redistributions of kinetic energy under simple velocity rescaling and the Berendsen thermostat. When velocities are instead rescaled to the canonical ensemble’s kinetic energy distribution, as is done with the CSVR thermostat, the equipartition theorem is not violated, and we show that the CSVR thermostat satisfies detailed balance. The critical necessity for molecular dynamics practitioners to abandon the use of popular yet incorrect velocity rescaling algorithms is underscored with an example demonstrating that the main result of a highly cited study is entirely due to artifacts resulting from the study’s use of the Berendsen thermostat.

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

Neutrino-driven Winds in Three-dimensional Core-collapse Supernova Simulations

Abstract In this paper, we analyze the neutrino-driven winds that emerge in 12 unprecedentedly long-duration 3D core-collapse supernova simulations done using the code F ornax . The 12 models cover progenitors with zero-age main-sequence mass between 9 and 60 solar masses. In all our models, we see transonic outflows that are at least 2 times as fast as the surrounding ejecta and that originate generically from a proto−neutron star surface atmosphere that is turbulent and rotating. We find that winds are common features of 3D simulations, even if there is anisotropic early infall. We find that the basic dynamical properties of 3D winds behave qualitatively similarly to those inferred in the past using simpler 1D models, but that the shape of the emergent wind can be deformed, very aspherical, and channeled by its environment. The thermal properties of winds for less massive progenitors very approximately recapitulate the 1D stationary solutions, while for more massive progenitors they deviate significantly owing to aspherical accretion. The Y e temporal evolution in winds is stochastic, and there can be some neutron-rich phases. Though no strong r -process is seen in any model, a weak r -process can be produced, and isotopes up to 90 Zr are synthesized in some models. Finally, we find that there is at most a few percent of a solar mass in the integrated wind component, while the energy carried by the wind itself can be as much as 10%–20% of the total explosion energy.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Sepsis reconsidered: Identifying novel metrics for behavioral landscape characterization with a high-performance computing implementation of an agent-based model

Objectives: Sepsis affects nearly 1 million people in the United States per year, has a mortality rate of 28–50% and requires more than $20 billion a year in hospital costs. Over a quarter century of research has not yielded a single reliable diagnostic test or a directed therapeutic agent for sepsis. Central to this insufficiency is the fact that sepsis remains a clinical/physiological diagnosis representing a multitude of molecularly heterogeneous pathological trajectories. Advances in computational capabilities offered by High Peformance Computing (HPC) platforms call for an evolution in the investigation of sepsis to attempt to define the boundaries of traditional research (bench, clinical and computational) through the use of computational proxy models. We present a novel investigatory and analytical approach, derived from how HPC resources and simulation are used in the physical sciences, to identify the epistemic boundary con- ditions of the study of clinical sepsis via the use of a proxy agent-based model of systemic inflammation. Design: Current predictive models for sepsis use correlative methods that are limited by patient heterogeneity and data sparseness. We address this issue by using an HPC version of a system-level validated agent-based model of sepsis, the Innate Immune Response ABM (IIRBM), as a proxy system in order to identify boundary conditions for the possible behavioral space for sepsis. We then apply advanced analysis derived from the study of Random Dynamical Systems (RDS) to identify novel means for characterizing system behavior and providing insight into the tractability of traditional investigatory methods. Results: The behavior space of the IIRABM was examined by simulating over 70 million sepsis patients for up to 90 days in a sweep across the following parameters: cardio-respiratory-metabolic resilience; microbial invasiveness; microbial toxigenesis; and degree of nosocomial exposure. In addition to using established methods for describing parameter space, we developed two novel methods for characterizing the behavior of a RDS: Probabilistic Basins of Attraction (PBoA) and Stochastic Trajectory Analysis (STA). Computationally generated behavioral landscapes demonstrated attractor structures around stochastic re- gions of behavior that could be described in a complementary fashion through use of PBoA and STA. The stochasticity of the boundaries of the attractors highlights the challenge for correlative attempts to characterize and classify clinical sepsis. Conclusions: HPC simulations of models like the IIRABM can be used to generate approximations of the behavior space of sepsis to both establish “boundaries of futility” with respect to existing investi- gatory approaches and apply system engineering principles to investigate the general dynamic properties of sepsis to provide a pathway for developing control strategies. Here, the issues that bedevil the study and treatment of sepsis, namely clinical data sparseness and inadequate experimental sampling of system behavior space, are fundamental to nearly all biomedical research, manifesting in the “Crisis of Reproducibility” at all levels. HPC-augmented simulation-based research offers an investigatory strategy more consistent with that seen in the physical sciences (which combine experiment, theory and simulation), and an opportunity to utilize the leading advances in HPC, namely deep machine learning and evolutionary computing, to form the basis of an iterative scientific process to meet the full promise of Precision Medicine (right drug, right patient, right time).

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2015

Synchronization, non-linear dynamics and low-frequency fluctuations: Analogy between spontaneous brain activity and networked single-transistor chaotic oscillators

In this paper, the topographical relationship between functional connectivity (intended as inter-regional synchronization), spectral and non-linear dynamical properties across cortical areas of the healthy human brain is considered. Based upon functional MRI acquisitions of spontaneous activity during wakeful idleness, node degree maps are determined by thresholding the temporal correlation coefficient among all voxel pairs. In addition, for individual voxel time-series, the relative amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations and the correlation dimension (D{sub 2}), determined with respect to Fourier amplitude and value distribution matched surrogate data, are measured. Across cortical areas, high node degree is associated with a shift towards lower frequency activity and, compared to surrogate data, clearer saturation to a lower correlation dimension, suggesting presence of non-linear structure. An attempt to recapitulate this relationship in a network of single-transistor oscillators is made, based on a diffusive ring (n = 90) with added long-distance links defining four extended hub regions. Similarly to the brain data, it is found that oscillators in the hub regions generate signals with larger low-frequency cycle amplitude fluctuations and clearer saturation to a lower correlation dimension compared to surrogates. The effect emerges more markedly close to criticality. The homology observed between the two systems despite profound differences in scale, coupling mechanism and dynamics appears noteworthy. These experimental results motivate further investigation into the heterogeneity of cortical non-linear dynamics in relation to connectivity and underline the ability for small networks of single-transistor oscillators to recreate collective phenomena arising in much more complex biological systems, potentially representing a future platform for modelling disease-related changes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2016

Constraints on planetesimal collision models in debris disks

Observations of debris disks offer a window into the physical and dynamical properties of planetesimals in extrasolar systems through the size distribution of dust grains. In particular, the millimeter spectral index of thermal dust emission encodes information on the grain size distribution. We have made new VLA observations of a sample of seven nearby debris disks at 9 mm, with 3{sup ′′} resolution and ∼5 μJy beam{sup −1}rms. We combine these with archival ATCA observations of eight additional debris disks observed at 7 mm, together with up-to-date observations of all disks at (sub)millimeter wavelengths from the literature, to place tight constraints on the millimeter spectral indices and thus grain size distributions. The analysis gives a weighted mean for the slope of the power-law grain size distribution, n(a)∝a{sup −q}, of 〈q〉=3.36±0.02, with a possible trend of decreasing q for later spectral type stars. We compare our results to a range of theoretical models of collisional cascades, from the standard self-similar, steady-state size distribution (q = 3.5) to solutions that incorporate more realistic physics such as alternative velocity distributions and material strengths, the possibility of a cutoff at small dust sizes from radiation pressure, and results from detailed dynamical calculations of specific disks. Such effects can lead to size distributions consistent with the data, and plausibly the observed scatter in spectral indices. For the AU Mic system, the VLA observations show clear evidence of a highly variable stellar emission component; this stellar activity obviates the need to invoke the presence of an asteroid belt to explain the previously reported compact millimeter source in this system.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Low-Temperature Rotational Tunneling of Tetrahydroborate Anions in Lithium Benzimidazolate-Borohydride Li 2 (bIm)BH 4

To investigate the dynamical properties of the novel hybrid compound, lithium benzimidazolate-borohydride Li 2 (bIm)BH 4 (where bIm denotes a benzimidazolate anion, C 7 N 2 H 5 - ), we have used a set of complementary techniques: neutron powder diffraction, ab initio density functional theory calculations, neutron vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, neutron spin echo, and quasi-elastic neutron scattering. Our measurements performed over the temperature range from 1.5 to 385 K have revealed the exceptionally fast low-temperature reorientational motion of BH 4 - anions. This motion is facilitated by the unusual coordination of tetrahedral BH 4 - anions in Li2(bIm)BH4: each anion has one of its H atoms anchored within a nearly square hollow formed by four coplanar Li+ cations, while the remaining -BH 3 fragment extends into a relatively open space, being only loosely coordinated to other atoms. As a result, the energy barriers for reorientations of this fragment around the anchored B-H bond axis are very small, and at low temperatures, this motion can be described as rotational tunneling. The tunnel splitting derived from the neutron spin echo measurements at 3.6 K is 0.43(2) ueV. With increasing temperature, we have observed a gradual transition from the regime of low-temperature quantum dynamics to the regime of classical thermally activated jump reorientations. The jump rate of the uniaxial 3-fold reorientations reaches 5 x 10 11 s -1 at 80 K. Nearer room temperature and above, both nuclear magnetic resonance and quasi-elastic neutron scattering measurements have revealed the second process of BH4- reorientations characterized by the activation energy of 261 meV. This process is several orders of magnitude slower than the uniaxial 3-fold reorientations; the corresponding jump rate reaches ~7 x 10 8 s -1 at 300 K.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Striking role of non-bridging oxygen on glass transition temperature of calcium aluminosilicate glass-formers

Molecular dynamics simulations are used to study the structural and dynamic properties of calcium aluminosilicate, (CaO-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}){sub 1−x}(SiO{sub 2}){sub x}, glass formers along three joins, namely, R = 1, 1.57, and 3, in which the silica content x can vary from 0 to 1. For all compositions, we determined the glass-transition temperature, the abundances of the non-bridging oxygen, triclusters, and AlO{sub 5} structural units, as well as the fragility from the temperature evolution of the α-relaxation times. We clearly evidence the role played by the non-bridging oxygen linked either to Al atoms or Si atoms in the evolution of the glass-transition temperature as well as of the fragility as a function of silica content along the three joins.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Characterization of temporal coherence of hard X-ray free-electron laser pulses with single-shot interferograms

Temporal coherence is one of the most fundamental characteristics of light, connecting to spectral information through the Fourier transform relationship between time and frequency. Interferometers with a variable path-length difference (PLD) between the two branches have widely been employed to characterize temporal coherence properties for broad spectral regimes. Hard X-ray interferometers reported previously, however, have strict limitations in their operational photon energies, due to the specific optical layouts utilized to satisfy the stringent requirement for extreme stability of the PLD at sub-ångström scales. The work presented here characterizes the temporal coherence of hard X-ray free-electron laser (XFEL) pulses by capturing single-shot interferograms. Since the stability requirement is drastically relieved with this approach, it was possible to build a versatile hard X-ray interferometer composed of six separate optical elements to cover a wide photon energy range from 6.5 to 11.5 keV while providing a large variable delay time of up to 47 ps at 10 keV. A high visibility of up to 0.55 was observed at a photon energy of 10 keV. The visibility measurement as a function of time delay reveals a mean coherence time of 5.9 ± 0.7 fs, which agrees with that expected from the single-shot spectral information. In conclusion, this is the first result of characterizing the temporal coherence of XFEL pulses in the hard X-ray regime and is an important milestone towards ultra-high energy resolutions at micro-electronvolt levels in time-domain X-ray spectroscopy, which will open up new opportunities for revealing dynamic properties in diverse systems on timescales from femtoseconds to nanoseconds, associated with fluctuations from ångström to nanometre spatial scales.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Active and tunable nanophotonic metamaterials

Abstract Metamaterials enable subwavelength tailoring of light–matter interactions, driving fundamental discoveries which fuel novel applications in areas ranging from compressed sensing to quantum engineering. Importantly, the metallic and dielectric resonators from which static metamaterials are comprised present an open architecture amenable to materials integration. Thus, incorporating responsive materials such as semiconductors, liquid crystals, phase-change materials, or quantum materials (e.g., superconductors, 2D materials, etc.) imbue metamaterials with dynamic properties, facilitating the development of active and tunable devices harboring enhanced or even entirely novel electromagnetic functionality. Ultimately, active control derives from the ability to craft the local electromagnetic fields; accomplished using a host of external stimuli to modify the electronic or optical properties of the responsive materials embedded into the active regions of the subwavelength resonators. We provide a broad overview of this frontier area of metamaterials research, introducing fundamental concepts and presenting control strategies that include electronic, optical, mechanical, thermal, and magnetic stimuli. The examples presented range from microwave to visible wavelengths, utilizing a wide range of materials to realize spatial light modulators, effective nonlinear media, on-demand optics, and polarimetric imaging as but a few examples. Often, active and tunable nanophotonic metamaterials yield an emergent electromagnetic response that is more than the sum of the parts, providing reconfigurable or real-time control of the amplitude, phase, wavevector, polarization, and frequency of light. The examples to date are impressive, setting the stage for future advances that are likely to impact holography, beyond 5G communications, imaging, and quantum sensing and transduction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Unravelling the orbits of cluster galaxy populations according to their dominant gas ionization source

ABSTRACT We investigate the kinematical and dynamical properties of cluster galaxy populations classified according to their dominant source of gas ionization, namely: star-forming (SF) galaxies, optical active galactic nuclei (AGNs), mixed SF plus AGN ionization (transition objects, T), and quiescent (Q) galaxies. We stack 8892 member galaxies from 336 relaxed galaxy clusters to build an ensemble cluster and estimate the observed projected profiles of numerical density and velocity dispersion, $\sigma _P(R)$, of each galaxy population. The MAMPOSSt code and the Jeans equations inversion technique are used to constrain the velocity anisotropy profiles of the galaxy populations in both parametric and non-parametric ways. We find that Q (SF) galaxies display the lowest (highest) typical cluster-centric distances and velocity dispersion values. Transition galaxies are more concentrated and tend to exhibit lower velocity dispersion values than SF galaxies. Galaxies that host an optical AGN are as concentrated as Q galaxies but display velocity dispersion values similar to those of the SF population. MAMPOSSt is able to find equilibrium solutions that successfully recover the observed $\sigma _P(R)$ profile only for the Q, T, and AGN populations. We find that the orbits of all populations are consistent with isotropy in the inner regions, becoming increasingly radial with the distance from the cluster centre. These results suggest that Q galaxies are in equilibrium within their clusters, while SF galaxies have more recently arrived in the cluster environment. Finally, the T and AGN populations appear to be in an intermediate dynamical state between those of the SF and Q populations.

Valk, Greique A. (ORCID:0009000827731299)↗
DOE OSTI2014

Conservative and dissipative force field for simulation of coarse-grained alkane molecules: A bottom-up approach

We apply operational procedures available in the literature to the construction of coarse-grained conservative and friction forces for use in dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations. The full procedure rely on a bottom-up approach: large molecular dynamics trajectories of n-pentane and n-decane modeled with an anisotropic united atom model serve as input for the force field generation. As a consequence, the coarse-grained model is expected to reproduce at least semi-quantitatively structural and dynamical properties of the underlying atomistic model. Two different coarse-graining levels are studied, corresponding to five and ten carbon atoms per DPD bead. The influence of the coarse-graining level on the generated force fields contributions, namely, the conservative and the friction part, is discussed. It is shown that the coarse-grained model of n-pentane correctly reproduces self-diffusion and viscosity coefficients of real n-pentane, while the fully coarse-grained model for n-decane at ambient temperature over-predicts diffusion by a factor of 2. However, when the n-pentane coarse-grained model is used as a building block for larger molecule (e.g., n-decane as a two blobs model), a much better agreement with experimental data is obtained, suggesting that the force field constructed is transferable to large macro-molecular systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Preliminary Scaling and controls Analysis of an FHR-HTSE System Idaho National Laboratory Summer 2013 Final Report

For new nuclear reactor system designs to be approved by regulatory agencies like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the details of system operation must be validated with respect to standards of safety, control, and output. A scaled experiment that replicates certain properties of the system can be used to validate compliance with regulatory standards, while avoiding the prohibitive cost and labor required to develop a fully functional prototype system; therefore, designing such an experiment is of special interest to current efforts to develop hybrid energy systems (HES) that integrate small modular reactors (SMRs), renewable energy systems, and industrial process applications such as hydrogen production and desalination. In addition, a scaled experiment can be an economical method of analyzing the interconnections between HES components and understanding the time constants associated between inter-component energy and information flows. This report discusses the results of a preliminary scaling analysis done for the primary loop of a 300 MWth Fluoride-Salt-Cooled High Temperature Reactor (FHR) that is coupled with a High-Temperature Steam Electrolysis system (HTSE), as well as the basic control logic that governs the primary components and the necessary hardware to achieve optimal functionality. The scaled facility will be a 1 MWth system that uses Dowtherm A as the simulant fluid for Flibe (the coolant of choice for the primary loop of molten salt reactors), and can validate the heat transfer and steady-state operational requirements of the 300 MWth prototype. The scaled facility matches the Prandtl and Reynolds numbers associated with steady-state operation of the FHR-HTSE’s primary loop without having to deal with very high temperatures, flow rates, or power inputs. This will allow the facility to run experiments that analyze various thermophysical and fluid-dynamic properties that characterize reactor operation, such as pressure drops, radial temperature distribution, heat exchanger conditions. The facility also has potential to integrate additional components of the prototype system, such as intermediate thermal-hydraulics loops, real-time grid-demand data, energy storage, and HTSE.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2013

Fragile to strong crossover at the Widom line in supercooled aqueous solutions of NaCl

We study by molecular dynamics simulations the dynamical properties of an aqueous solution of NaCl at a concentration of 0.67 mol/kg upon supercooling. In a previous study of the same ionic solution, we have located the liquid-liquid critical point (LLCP) and determined the Widom line connected to the liquid-liquid transition. We present here the results obtained from the study of the self-intermediate scattering function in a large range of temperatures and densities approaching the LLCP. The structural relaxation is in agreement with the mode coupling theory (MCT) in the region of mild supercooling. In the deeper supercooled region the α-relaxation time as function of temperature deviates from the MCT power law prediction showing a crossover from a fragile to a strong behavior. This crossover is found upon crossing the Widom line. The same trend was found in bulk water upon supercooling and it appears almost unchanged by the interaction with ions apart from a shift in the thermodynamic plane toward lower pressures and higher temperatures. These results show that the phenomenology of supercooled water transfers from bulk to solution where the study of the supercooled region is experimentally less difficult.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗