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At least 667 records · Page 37

Hourly dynamic line ratings for existing transmission across the contiguous United States (preliminary results) [Slides]

The thermal rating of a transmission line depends on the rate at which heat generated by current flow through the line can be dissipated into the environment by convective and radiative cooling, keeping the conductor below a maximum operating temperature. Static or seasonal line ratings assume nearly-worst-case weather conditions (high ambient air temperature, high solar irradiance, and low wind speed), resulting in a low risk of "overrating" a line (i.e., allowing more current to flow than the line is designed for) but a high fraction of time when the line is "underrated" (i.e., able to flow more current while staying below the maximum temperature). Dynamic transmission line ratings (DLR) use real-time measurements of weather conditions, line sag, or line temperature to determine the thermal rating of transmission lines at hourly or higher time resolution, allowing for increased ratings during some (cold, windy, and/or dark) periods and correcting for overrating during other (hot, calm, and/or sunny) periods. Many studies have explored the benefits of DLR, but typically for small collections of transmission lines under a limited sample of weather conditions, leaving open the question of how widely applicable the benefits of DLR might be over diverse geographies and weather conditions. Here, we combine geospatial data on tens of thousands of transmission line routes across the contiguous United States with high-resolution hourly historical weather data for 2007-2013 to estimate the impact of DLR and other weather-adjusted rating systems. We compare static and dynamic line ratings to intermediate ratings adjusted by ambient temperature, day/night irradiance, clear-sky irradiance, and/or measured irradiance, illustrating the benefits of incorporating progressively more detailed weather data into the calculated line ratings. Moving from nighttime-adjusted ratings to clear-sky-adjusted ratings provides more benefit than moving from clear-sky-adjusted ratings to measured-irradiance-adjusted ratings. Depending on the assumed static windspeed for irradiance-adjusted-ratings, DLR either corrects for overrated hours or provides substantially increased ratings in the majority of hours on the majority of lines.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Preliminary cryogenic performance of the Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility

The Shuttle Infrared Telescope Facility (SIRTF) is a cryogenically cooled telescope in the one-meter aperture class designed for sensing in the infrared from 2-200 microns. This facility is designed to be flown many times on the Space Shuttle with varying instrument complements. All components of the SIRTF within the field of view of the optics are cryogenically cooled. The primary coolant is supercritical helium which is stored in an external tank and routed through the telescope - cooling the instruments first, then the optical components and finally the baffles. For detector cooling below 6K small reservoirs of superfluid helium (He II) are provided. The SIRTF cryogenic system is designed to automatically control the tank pressure and telescope flow rates during prelaunch operations and flight as well as meet the Space Shuttle environmental and safety requirements. Temperatures maintained in the telescope are a function of instrument operation, design, energy dissipation, and telescope pointing angle. By control of the cryogen flow rate any selected instrument temperature can be maintained within fixed limits, and the critical secondary mirror can be maintained below 10K throughout a 14-day mission. Instrument thermal design is a critical factor in the maintenance of proper temperature differences in the experiment package. Design of a cryogenic telescope for space use presents many problems which do not exist in earth based systems. The limited opportunity for servicing, the restricted coolant supply, and the remote instrumentation and control all provide new considerations for the instrument and system designers.

Gier, H. L.↗

A 24-Channel Digitizer With a JESD204B-Compliant Serial Interface for High-Speed Detectors

In this report a 24-channel application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for the readout of high-speed CMOS active pixel sensors for charged particle detection is presented. The chip comprises 24 preamplifiers, 24 distinct 12-bit, 25 MSPS Pipelined analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with self-calibration, an internal phase-locked loop (PLL), and a 3 Gbps serial interface that conforms to the JESD204B standard. To simplify interfacing with a variety of sensors, the ASIC also includes an automatic offset calibration loop. The high level of integration of the ASIC reduces overall system cost and area, and exploiting the signal characteristics of the image sensor allows the ADC to be optimized for reduced power dissipation. The use of an integrated serializer and an industry standard protocol simplifies integration of the ASIC into a complete camera system. The ASIC, called the High-Speed Image Preprocessor Targeted for Electron Readout, or HIPSTER, with a die area of 64.26 mm 2 , is packaged in a 480-ball grid array (BGA) and is fabricated in 180-nm CMOS technology. HIPSTER achieves typical differential nonlinearity (DNL) < 0.55 LSB, input-referred thermal noise of $114.5 μV-rms, and a bit error rate (BER) of better than 10-14. The power dissipation is 98 mW/channel.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Reduced type-A carbohydrate-binding module interactions to cellulose I leads to improved endocellulase activity

Dissociation of nonproductively bound cellulolytic enzymes from cellulose is hypothesized to be a key rate-limiting factor impeding cost-effective biomass conversion to fermentable sugars. However, the role of carbohydrate-binding modules (CBMs) in enabling nonproductive enzyme binding is not well understood. Here, we examine the subtle interplay of CBM binding and cellulose hydrolysis activity for three models type-A CBMs (Families 1, 3a, and 64) tethered to multifunctional endoglucanase (CelE) on two distinct cellulose allomorphs (i.e., cellulose I and III). We generated a small library of mutant CBMs with varying cellulose affinity, as determined by equilibrium binding assays, followed by monitoring cellulose hydrolysis activity of CelE–CBM fusion constructs. Finally, kinetic binding assays using quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation were employed to measure CBM adsorption and desorption rate constants kon and koff, respectively, towards nanocrystalline cellulose derived from both allomorphs. Overall, our results indicate that reduced CBM equilibrium binding affinity towards cellulose I alone, resulting from increased desorption rates (koff) and reduced effective adsorption rates (nkon), is correlated to overall improved endocellulase activity. Future studies could employ similar approaches to unravel the role of CBMs in nonproductive enzyme binding and develop improved cellulolytic enzymes for industrial applications.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Contributions to the Earth's Obliquity Rate, Precession, and Nutation

The precession and nutation of the Earth's equator arise from solar, lunar, and planetary torques on the oblate Earth. The mean lunar orbit plane is nearly coincident with the ecliptic plane. A small tilt out of the ecliptic is caused by planetary perturbations and the Earth's gravitational harmonic J(sub 2). These planetary perturbations on the lunar orbit result in torques on the oblate Earth which contribute to precession, obliquity rate, and nutation while the J(sub 2) perturbations contribute to precession and nutation. Small additional contributions to the secular rates arise from tidal effects and planetary torques on the Earth's bulge. The total correction to the obliquity rate is -0.024 sec/century, it is an observable motion in space (the much larger conventional obliquity rate is wholly from the motion of the ecliptic, not the equator), and it is not present in the IAU-adopted expressions for the orientation of the Earth's equator. The effects have generally been allowed for in past nutation theories and some precession theories. For the planetary effect, the contributions to the 18.6 yr nutation are -0.03 mas (milliarcseconds) for the in-phase Delta(psi) plus out-of-phase contributions of 0.14 mas in Delta(psi) and -0.03 mas in Delta(sub epsilon). The latter terms demonstrate that out-of-phase contributions can arise by means other than dissipation. The sum of the contributions to the precession rate is considered and the inferred value of the moment of inertia combination (C-A)/C, which is used to scale the coefficients in the nutation series, is evaluated. Using an updated value for the precession rate, the rigid body (C-A)/C =0.003 273 763 4 which, in combination with a satellite-derived J(sub 2), gives a normalized polar moment of inertia C/MR(exp 2) = 0.330 700 7. The planetary contributions to the precession and obliquity rates are not constant for long times causing accelerations in both quantities. Acceleration in precession also arises from tides and changing J(sub 2) Contributions from the improved theory, masses, ecliptic motion, and measured values of the precession rate and obliquity are combined to give expressions (polynomials in time) for precession, obliquity, and Greenwich Mean Sidereal Time.

Williams, James G.↗

Contributions to the Earth's obliquity rate, precession, and nutation

The precession and nutation of the Earth's equator arise from solar, lunar, and planetary torques on the oblate Earth. The mean lunar orbit plane is nearly coincident with the ecliptic plane. A small tilt out of the ecliptic is caused by planetary perturbations and the Earth's gravitational harmonic J(sub2). These planetary perturbations on the lunar orbit result in torques on the oblate Earth which contribute to precession, obliquity rate, and nutation while the J(sub 2) perturbations contribute to precession and nutation. Small additional contributions to the secular rates arise from tidal effects and planetary torques on the Earth's bulge. The total correction to the obliquity rate is -0.024sec/century, it is an observable motion in space (the much larger conventional obliquity rate is wholly from the motion of the ecliptic, not the equator), and it is not present in the IAU-adopted expressions for the orientation of the Earth's equator. The J(sub2) effects have generally been allowed for in past nutation theories and some procession theories. For the planetary effect, the contributions to the 18.6 yr nutation are -0.03 mas (milliarcseconds) for the in-phase Delta phi plus out-of-phase contributions of 0.14 mas in Delta phi and -0.03 mas in Delta epsilon. The latter terms demonstrate that out-of-phase contributions can arise by means other than dissipation. The sum of the contributions to the precession rate is considered and the inferred value of the moment of inertia combination (C-A)/C, which is used to scale the coefficients in the nutation series, is evaluated. Using an updated value for the precession rate, the rigid body (C-A)/C = 0.003 273 763 4 which, in combination with a satellite-derived J(sub2), gives a normalized polar moment of inertia C/MR(exp2) = 0.330 700 7. The planetary contributions to the precession and obliquity rates are not constant for long times causing accelerations in both quantities. Acceleration in precession also arises from tides and changing J(sub2). Contributions from the improved theory, masses, ecliptic motion, and measured values of the precession rate and obliquity are combined to give expressions (polynomials in time) for precession, obliquity, and Greenwich Mean Sidereal Time.

Williams, James G.↗

Prediction of Probabilistic Shock Initiation Thresholds of Energetic Materials Through Evolution of Thermal-Mechanical Dissipation and Reactive Heating

The ignition threshold of an energetic material (EM) quantifies the macroscopic conditions for the onset of self-sustaining chemical reactions. The threshold is an important theoretical and practical measure of material attributes that relate to safety and reliability. Historically, the thresholds are measured experimentally. In this work, we present a new Lagrangian computational framework for establishing the probabilistic ignition thresholds of heterogeneous EM out of the evolutions of coupled mechanical-thermal-chemical processes using mesoscale simulations. Furthermore, the simulations explicitly account for microstructural heterogeneities, constituent properties, and interfacial processes and capture processes responsible for the development of material damage and the formation of hotspots in which chemical reactions initiate. The specific mechanisms tracked include viscoelasticity, viscoplasticity, fracture, post-fracture contact, frictional heating, heat conduction, reactive chemical heating, gaseous product generation, and convective heat transfer. To determine the ignition threshold, the minimum macroscopic loading required to achieve self-sustaining chemical reactions with a rate of reactive heat generation exceeding the rate of heat loss due to conduction and other dissipative mechanisms is determined. Probabilistic quantification of the processes and the thresholds are obtained via the use of statistically equivalent microstructure sample sets (SEMSS). The predictions are in agreement with available experimental data.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Direct numerical simulation of turbulent H2-O2 combustion using reduced chemistry

Results of direct numerical simulations of hydrogen-oxygen combustion using a partial-equilibrium chemistry scheme in constant density, decaying, isotropic turbulence are reported. The simulations qualitatively reproduce many features of experimental results, such as superequilibrium radical species mole fractions, with temperature and major species mole fractions closer to chemical equilibrium. It was also observed that the peak reaction rates occur in narrow zones where the stoichiometric surface intersects regions of high scalar dissipation, as might be expected for combustion conditions close to chemical equilibrium. Another finding was that high OH mole fraction correspond more closely to the stoichiometric surface than to areas of high reaction rate for conditions of the simulations. Simulation results were compared to predictions of the Conditional Moment Closure model. This model was found to give good results for all quantities of interest when the conditionally averaged scalar dissipation was used in the prediction. When the nonconditioned average dissipation was used, the predictions compared well to the simulations for most of the species and temperature, but not for the reaction rate. The comparison would be expected to improve for higher Reynolds number flows, however.

Montgomery, Christopher J.↗

A statistical mechanics framework for polymer chain scission, based on the concepts of distorted bond potential and asymptotic matching

To design increasingly tough, resilient, and fatigue-resistant elastomers and hydrogels, the relationship between controllable network parameters at the molecular level (bond type, non-uniform chain length, entanglement density, etc.) to macroscopic quantities that govern damage and failure must be established. Many of the most successful constitutive models for elastomers have been rooted in statistical mechanical treatments of polymer chains. Typically, such constitutive models have used variants of the freely jointed chain model with rigid links. However, since the free energy state of a polymer chain is dominated by enthalpic bond distortion effects as the chain approaches its rupture point, bond extensibility ought to be accounted for if the model is intended to capture chain rupture. To that end, a new bond potential is supplemented to the freely jointed chain model (as derived in the u FJC framework of Buche and Silberstein (2021) and Buche et al. (2022)), which we have extended to yield a tractable, closed-form model of single chain behavior that should be amenable to continuum-level constitutive model development. Inspired by the asymptotically matched u FJC model response in both the low/intermediate chain force and high chain force regimes, a simple, quasi-polynomial bond potential energy function is derived. This bond potential exhibits harmonic behavior near the equilibrium state and anharmonic behavior for large bond stretches tending to a characteristic energy plateau (akin to the Lennard-Jones and Morse bond potentials). Using this bond potential, approximate yet highly-accurate analytical functions for bond stretch and chain force dependent upon chain stretch are established. Then, using this polymer chain model, a stochastic thermal fluctuation-driven chain rupture framework is developed. This framework is based upon a force-modified tilted bond potential that accounts for distortional bond potential energy, allowing for the derivation and subsequent calculation of the dissipated chain scission energy. Here, the cases of rate-dependent and rate-independent scission are accounted for throughout the rupture framework. The impact of Kuhn segment number on chain rupture behavior is also investigated. The model is fit to single chain mechanical response data collected from atomic force microscopy tensile tests for validation and to glean deeper insight into the molecular physics taking place. Due to their analytical nature, this polymer chain model and the associated rupture framework can in the future be implemented in finite element models accounting for fracture and fatigue in polydisperse elastomer networks.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Studying phonon coherence with a quantum sensor

Nanomechanical oscillators offer numerous advantages for quantum technologies. Their integration with superconducting qubits shows promise for hardware-efficient quantum error-correction protocols involving superpositions of mechanical coherent states. Limitations of this approach include mechanical decoherence processes, particularly two-level system (TLS) defects, which have been widely studied using classical fields and detectors. In this manuscript, we use a superconducting qubit as a quantum sensor to perform phonon number-resolved measurements on a piezoelectrically coupled phononic crystal cavity. This enables a high-resolution study of mechanical dissipation and dephasing in coherent states of variable size ($\overline{n}$ ≃ 1 – 10 phonons). We observe nonexponential relaxation and state size-dependent reduction of the dephasing rate, which we attribute to TLS. Using a numerical model, we reproduce the dissipation signatures (and to a lesser extent, the dephasing signatures) via emission into a small ensemble (N = 5) of rapidly dephasing TLS. Our findings comprise a detailed examination of TLS-induced phonon decoherence in the quantum regime.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Spatial Distribution of Volcanic Hotspots and Paterae on Io: Implications for Tidal Heating Models and Magmatic Pathways

Io, the innermost of Jupiter's Galilean satellites, is the most volcanically active body in the Solar. System. Io's global mean heat flow is approximately 2 W/square m, which is approximately 20 times larger than on Earth. High surface temperatures concentrate within "hotspots" and, to date, 172 Ionian hotspots have been identified by spacecraft and Earth-based telescopes. The Laplace resonance between Io, Europa, and Ganymede maintains these satellites in noncircular orbits and causes displacement of their tidal bulges as the overhead position of Jupiter changes for each moon. Gravitational interactions between Jupiter and Io dominate the orbital evolution of the Laplacian system and generate enormous heat within to as tidal energy is dissipated. If this energy were transferred out of Io at the same rate as it is generated, then the associated surface heat flux would be 2.24 +/- 0.45 W/square m. This estimate is in good agreement with observed global heat flow, but to better constrain tidal dissipation mechanisms and infer how thermal energy is transferred to Io's surface, it is critical to closely examine the spatial distribution of volcanic features. End-member tidal dissipation models either consider that heating occurs completely in the mantle, or completely in the asthenosphere. Mixed models typically favor one-third mantle and two-thirds asthenosphere heating. Recent models also consider the effects of mantle-asthenosphere boundary permeability and asthenospheric instabilities. Deep-mantle heating models predict maximum surface heat flux near the poles, whereas asthenosphere heating models predict maxima near the equator-particularly in the Sub-Jovian and Anti-Jovian hemispheres, with smaller maxima occurring at orbit tangent longitudes. Previous studies have examined the global distribution of Ionian hotspots and patera (i.e., irregular or complex craters with scalloped edges that are generally interpreted to be volcanic calderas), but in this study, we combine a new geospatial analysis technique with an improved hotspot and paterae database .

Hamilton, C. W.↗

Search for subsolar-mass black hole binaries in the second part of Advanced LIGO’s and Advanced Virgo’s third observing run

ABSTRACT We describe a search for gravitational waves from compact binaries with at least one component with mass $0.2$–$1.0 \, \mathrm{M}_\odot$ and mass ratio q ≥ 0.1 in Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Advanced Virgo data collected between 2019 November 1, 15:00 utc and 2020 March 27, 17:00 utc. No signals were detected. The most significant candidate has a false alarm rate of $0.2 \, \rm {yr}^{-1}$. We estimate the sensitivity of our search over the entirety of Advanced LIGO’s and Advanced Virgo’s third observing run, and present the most stringent limits to date on the merger rate of binary black holes with at least one subsolar-mass component. We use the upper limits to constrain two fiducial scenarios that could produce subsolar-mass black holes: primordial black holes (PBH) and a model of dissipative dark matter. The PBH model uses recent prescriptions for the merger rate of PBH binaries that include a rate suppression factor to effectively account for PBH early binary disruptions. If the PBHs are monochromatically distributed, we can exclude a dark matter fraction in PBHs $f_\mathrm{PBH} \gtrsim \, 0.6$ (at 90 per cent confidence) in the probed subsolar-mass range. However, if we allow for broad PBH mass distributions, we are unable to rule out fPBH = 1. For the dissipative model, where the dark matter has chemistry that allows a small fraction to cool and collapse into black holes, we find an upper bound fDBH < 10−5 on the fraction of atomic dark matter collapsed into black holes.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Delocalized Excitation Transfer in Open Quantum Systems with Long-Range Interactions

The interplay between coherence and system-environment interactions is at the basis of a wide range of phenomena, from quantum information processing to charge and energy transfer in molecular systems, biomolecules, and photochemical materials. In this work, we use a Frenkel exciton model with long-range interacting qubits coupled to a damped collective bosonic mode to investigate vibrationally assisted transfer processes in donor-acceptor systems featuring internal substructures analogous to light-harvesting complexes. We find that certain delocalized excitonic states maximize the transfer rate and that the entanglement is preserved during the dissipative transfer over a wide range of parameters. We investigate the reduction in transfer caused by static disorder, white noise, and finite temperature and study how transfer efficiency scales as a function of the number of dimerized monomers and the component number of each monomer, finding which excitonic states lead to optimal transfer. Finally, we provide a realistic experimental setting to realize this model in analog trapped-ion quantum simulators. Analog quantum simulation of systems comprising many and increasingly complex monomers could offer valuable insights into the design of light-harvesting materials, particularly in the nonperturbative intermediate parameter regime examined in this study, where classical simulation methods are resource intensive.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Strangeness-changing rates and hyperonic bulk viscosity in neutron star mergers

In this paper we present a computation of the rates of strangeness-changing processes and the resultant bulk viscosity in matter at the densities and temperatures typical of neutron star mergers. To deal with the high temperature in this environment we go beyond the Fermi surface approximation in our rate calculations and numerically evaluate the full phase space integral. Here, we include processes where quarks move between baryons via meson exchange: these have generally been omitted in previous analyses but provide the dominant contribution to the rates of strangeness-changing processes and the bulk viscosity. The calculation of these rates is an essential step towards any calculation of dissipation mechanisms in hyperonic matter in mergers. As one application, we calculate the dissipation times for density oscillations at the frequencies seen in merger simulations. We find that hyperon bulk viscosity for temperatures in the MeV regime can probably be neglected in this context, but becomes highly relevant for keV-range temperatures.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Studies of Alternative Ventilation Configurations to Mitigate Airborne Exposure Risks in Office Spaces

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of alternative ventilation configurations on airflow patterns and potential exposure risks in office spaces. Two existing conference rooms at Sandia NM were modeled using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations to characterize airflow patterns and potential airborne exposure risks in well-mixed and once-through (through-flow) ventilation conditions. Multiple scenarios were studied to evaluate the impact of occupancy, Plexiglass barriers, and a modified-return airflow configuration. Experimental and visualization tests were also conducted to validate the well-mixed and through-flow models and findings. The simulations demonstrated that the modified-return airflow configuration that promoted through-flow conditions reduced pathogen concentrations within the space compared to the well-mixed airflow configuration; occupancy reduction only reduced the number of exposed individuals, and Plexiglass barriers had almost no effect. The experimentally measured air speeds at nine anemometer locations generally matched the simulated airflow velocities, and a fog-purge visualization test was also consistent with simulated results of plume movement and dissipation. The visualization tests demonstrated improvements in air change rate with the modified return, which promoted through-flow conditions, versus the original well-mixed ventilation configuration. The results of this study demonstrate that minor modifications to a space that promote through-flow conditions can improve air quality and reduce pathogen concentrations. Additional airflow modeling and testing of alternative occupied space configurations are recommended to further inform room designs that mitigate airborne exposure risks for occupants.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Periodic solutions to systems of reaction-diffusion equations

Necessary and sufficient conditions are derived for the existence of temporally periodic 'dissipative structure' solutions in weak diffusion with the reaction rate terms dominant in a generic system of reaction-diffusion differential equations. The enumerator index i of the equations denotes the density or concentration of the ith participating molecular or biological species, and D sub i is the diffusivity constant for the ith species while Q sub i (c), an algebraic function of the n-tuple c, expresses the local rate of production of the ith species due to chemical reactions or biological interactions.

Rosen, G.↗

The scattering of Alfven waves by density fluctuations

The propagation of an Alfven wave packet through a medium containing time-dependent random density fluctuations is considered. The Alfven wave interaction with these density irregularities causes the transfer of wave power to both shear (Alfvenic) and compressive (magnetosonic) disturbances. The latter are dissipated and heat the plasma. The Alfven wave decay rate is computed in the limit of short-wavelength density fluctuations, the results are applied to the solar corona and interstellar medium.

Li, He-Sheng↗

The secondary outburst maximum of T Coronae Borealis - Implications for the physics of accretion disks

The hypothesis of Webbink (1976) that the accretion of a torus of matter onto a main-sequence star caused secondary maxima during the 1866 and 1946 eruptions of the recurrent nova T CrB is examined. Simple 1D calculations show that the accretion disk viscosity must increase with time to produce light curves resembling observations. It is inferred that the physical mechanism responsible for producing the viscous dissipation in the accretion disk has a fast growth rate and saturates to a viscosity parameter of order unity. The good agreement between parameters estimated from observations and those derived from a physical mechanism suggests that the growth rate instability identified by Balbus and Hawley (1991) is a promising source for accretion disk viscosity.

Cannizzo, John K.↗