Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Insight Center”

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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Applying Utility's Advanced Grid Technologies to Improve Resiliency of a Critical Load

The US DOE Office of Electricity's Energy Storage Program's joint R&D work with the Cordova Electric Cooperative (CEC) has deployed several advanced grid technologies that are providing benefits today to Cordova Alaska's electricity users. Advanced grid technologies deployed through DoE co-funded R&D include a 1MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), and enhanced monitoring including Phasor Measurement Units (PMU's) to help better understand the operational impacts of the added BESS. This paper will highlight key accomplishments to-date in deploying and using advanced grid technologies, and then outline the next phase of work that will use these technologies to implement an operating scheme to reconfigure the utility's distribution system and utility resources including BESS to provide emergency back-up power to a critical load: the Cordova Community Medical Center (CCMC). This paper will include additional insights on the use of utility resources to support critical loads via case study examples by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Assoc. (NRECA).

BESS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Medical Simulation Practices 2010 Survey Results

Medical Simulation Centers are an essential component of our learning infrastructure to prepare doctors and nurses for their careers. Unlike the military and aerospace simulation industry, very little has been published regarding the best practices currently in use within medical simulation centers. This survey attempts to provide insight into the current simulation practices at medical schools, hospitals, university nursing programs and community college nursing programs. Students within the MBA program at Saint Joseph's University conducted a survey of medical simulation practices during the summer 2010 semester. A total of 115 institutions responded to the survey. The survey resu~s discuss overall effectiveness of current simulation centers as well as the tools and techniques used to conduct the simulation activity

McCrindle, Jeffrey J.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optimum Multinozzle Configuration for Minimizing the Rayleigh Integral During High-Frequency Transverse Instabilities

This paper develops a formalism for optimizing nozzle location/configuration with respect to combustion stability of high-frequency transverse modes in a can combustor. The stability of these acoustically noncompact flames was assessed using the Rayleigh integral (RI). Several key control parameters influence RI—flame angle, swirling strength, nozzle location, as well as nozzle location with respect to the acoustic mode shape. In this study, we consider a N-around-1 configuration such as typically used in a multi-nozzle can system and study the overall stability of this system for different natural transverse modes. Typically, such nozzles are distributed in a uniformly circular manner for which we study the overall RI, and for cases where RI > 0, we optimize the nozzle distribution that can reduce and minimize RI. For a fixed geometry such as a circular configuration, the analysis shows how the flame's parameters must vary across the different nozzles, to result in a relatively stable system. Additionally, for a fixed set of flame parameters, the analysis also indicates the noncircular distribution of the N nozzles that minimizes RI. Overall, the analysis aims to provide insights on designing nozzle locations around the center nozzle for minimal amplification of a given transverse mode.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Insights into Defect-Mediated Nucleation of the Equilibrium B2 Phase in Face-Centered Cubic High-Entropy Alloys

A fine scale second phase distribution is important for strengthening metallic materials. High precipitate density is often difficult to achieve due to sluggish precipitation kinetics and limited nucleation sites. Based on the CALPHAD predictions, transition element-based complex concentrated alloys (CCAs)/ High Entropy Alloys (HEAs), have a highly stable face-centered cubic (FCC) phase and intermetallic B2 phase. The precipitation of the strengthening B2 phase is often limited to low fractions in these alloys due to a high nucleation barrier in the FCC matrix. Here, by illustrating in three different alloys, we present a defect mediated nucleation of a high fraction equilibrium B2 phase. The degree of cold work is used to manipulate the phase fraction, morphology, and distribution of B2 precipitates. Our approach synergistically improves the strength and ductility of these alloys and is widely applicable to many other complex alloys.

Sharma, Abhishek↗
NASA NTRS2018

Perserving Samples and Their Scientific Integrity - Insights into MSR from the Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center

The Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation Office at NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), in Houston, TX (henceforth Curation Office) manages the curation of all past, present, and future extraterrestrial samples returned by NASA missions and shared collections from international partners, preserving their integrity for future scientific study while providing the samples to the international community in a fair and unbiased way. The Curation Office also curates flight and non-flight reference materials and other materials from spacecraft assembly of sample return missions that would have the potential to cross-contaminate a present or future NASA astromaterials collection. These materials are primarily collected during the assembly, test, and launch operations (ATLO) phase and after flight during the recovery and curation phase. In addition, the Curation Office curates non-flight, flight-like, and flown witness plates for sample return missions. These reference materials and witness plates provide the scientific community with the fundamental ability to reconstruct the contamination/alteration history of the sample collection through the course of the mission, with the overall goal of strengthening the scientific conclusions drawn from the study of returned materials.

Harrington, A. D.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Status of Nozzle Aerodynamic Technology at MSFC

This viewgraph presentation provides information on the status of nozzle aerodynamic technology at MSFC (Marshall Space Flight Center). The objectives of this presentation were to provide insight into MSFC in-house nozzle aerodynamic technology, design, analysis, and testing. Under CDDF (Center Director's Discretionary Fund), 'Altitude Compensating Nozzle Technology', are the following tasks: Development of in-house ACN (Altitude Compensating Nozzle) aerodynamic design capability; Building in-house experience for all aspects of ACN via End-to-End Nozzle Test Program; Obtaining Experimental Data for Annular Aerospike: Thrust eta, TVC (thrust vector control) capability and surface pressures. To support selection/optimization of future Launch Vehicle propulsion we needed a parametric design and performance tool for ACN. We chose to start with the ACN Aerospike Nozzles.

Ruf, Joseph H.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Optically Active Spin Defects in Few-Layer Thick Hexagonal Boron Nitride

Optically active spin defects in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) are promising quantum systems for the design of two-dimensional quantum sensing units offering optimal proximity to the sample being probed. In this Letter, we first demonstrate that the electron spin resonance frequencies of boron vacancy centers ($V$$^{–}_{B}$) can be detected optically in the limit of few-atomic-layer thick hBN flakes despite the nanoscale proximity of the crystal surface that often leads to a degradation of the stability of solid-state spin defects. We then analyze the variations of the electronic spin properties of $V$$^{–}_{B}$ centers with the hBN thickness with a focus on (i) the zero-field splitting parameters, (ii) the optically induced spin polarization rate and (iii) the longitudinal spin relaxation time. Furthermore, this Letter provides important insights into the properties of $V$$^{–}_{B}$ centers embedded in ultrathin hBN flakes, which are valuable for future developments of foil-based quantum sensing technologies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2022

A broad specificity β-propeller enzyme from Rhodopseudomonas palustris that hydrolyzes many lactones including γ-valerolactone

Lactones are prevalent in biological and industrial settings, yet there is a lack of information regarding enzymes used to metabolize these compounds. One compound, γ-valerolactone (GVL), is used as a solvent to dissolve plant cell walls into sugars and aromatic molecules for subsequent microbial conversion to fuels and chemicals. Despite the promise of GVL as a renewable solvent for biomass deconstruction, residual GVL can be toxic to microbial fermentation. Here, we identified a Ca 2+ -dependent enzyme from Rhodopseudomonas palustris (Rpa3624) and showed that it can hydrolyze aliphatic and aromatic lactones and esters, including GVL. Maximum-likelihood phylogenetic analysis of other related lactonases with experimentally determined substrate preferences shows that Rpa3624 separates by sequence motifs into a subclade with preference for hydrophobic substrates. Additionally, we solved crystal structures of this β-propeller enzyme separately with either phosphate, an inhibitor, or a mixture of GVL and products to define an active site where calcium-bound water and calcium-bound aspartic and glutamic acid residues make close contact with substrate and product. Our kinetic characterization of WT and mutant enzymes combined with structural insights inform a reaction mechanism that centers around activation of a calcium-bound water molecule promoted by general base catalysis and close contacts with substrate and a potential intermediate. Similarity of Rpa3624 with other β-propeller lactonases suggests this mechanism may be relevant for other members of this emerging class of versatile catalysts.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dynamic Competition between Hubbard and Superexchange Interactions Selectively Localizes Electrons and Holes through Polarons

Controlling the effects of photoexcited polarons in transition metal oxides can enable the long time-scale charge separation necessary for renewable energy applications and controlling new quantum phases through dynamically tunable electron–phonon coupling. In previously studied transition metal oxides, polaron formation is facilitated by a photoexcited ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT). When the polaron is formed, oxygen atoms move away from iron centers, which increases carrier localization at the metal center and decreases charge hopping. Studies of yttrium iron garnet and erbium iron oxide have suggested that strong electron and spin correlations can modulate photoexcited polaron formation. To understand the interplay between strong spin and electronic correlations in highly polar materials, we studied gadolinium iron oxide (GdFeO 3 ), which selectively forms photoexcited polarons through an Fe–O–Fe superexchange interaction. Excitation-wavelength-dependent transient extreme ultraviolet (XUV) spectroscopy selectively excites LMCT and metal-to-metal charge transfer (MMCT) transitions. Here, the LMCT transition suppresses photoexcited polaron formation due to the balance between superexchange and Hubbard interactions, while MMCT transitions result in photoexcited polaron formation within 250 ± 40 fs. Ab initio theory demonstrates that electron and hole polarons localize on iron centers following MMCT. In addition to understanding how strong electronic and spin correlations can control strong electron–phonon coupling, these experiments separately measure electron and hole polaron interactions on neighboring metal centers for the first time, providing insight into a large range of charge-transfer and Mott–Hubbard insulators.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Cluster Frustration in the Breathing Pyrochlore Magnet LiGaCr 4 S 8

We present a comprehensive neutron scattering study of the breathing pyrochlore magnet LiGaCr 4 S 8 . We observe an unconventional magnetic excitation spectrum with a separation of high and low-energy spin dynamics in the correlated paramagnetic regime above a spin-freezing transition at 12(2) K. By fitting to magnetic diffuse-scattering data, we parameterize the spin Hamiltonian. We find that interactions are ferromagnetic within the large and small tetrahedra of the breathing pyrochlore lattice, but antiferromagnetic further-neighbor interactions are also essential to explain our data, in qualitative agreement with density-functional theory predictions [Ghosh et al., npj Quantum Mater. 4, 63 (2019)]. We explain the origin of geometrical frustration in LiGaCr 4 S 8 in terms of net antiferromagnetic coupling between emergent tetrahedral spin clusters that occupy a face-centered lattice. Furthermore, our results provide insight into the emergence of frustration in the presence of strong further-neighbor couplings, and a blueprint for the determination of magnetic interactions in classical spin liquids.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1982

Thematic mapper data quality and performance assessment in renewable resource/agricultural remote sensing

A "quick look" investigation of the initial LANDSAT-4, thematic mapper (TM) scene received from Goddard Space Flight Center was performed to gain early insight into the characteristics of TM data. The initial scene, containing only the first four bands of the seven bands recorded by the TM, was acquired over the Detroit, Michigan, area on July 20, 1982. It yielded abundant information for scientific investigation. A wide variety of studies were conducted to assess all aspects of TM data. They ranged from manual analyses of image products to detect obvious optical, electronic, or mechanical defects to detailed machine analyses of the digital data content for evaluation of spectral separability of vegetative/nonvegetative classes. These studies were applied to several segments extracted from the full scene. No attempt was made to perform end-to-end statistical evaluations. However, the output of these studies do identify a degree of positive performance from the TM and its potential for advancing state-of-the-art crop inventory and condition assessment technology.

Erickson, J. D.↗
NASA NTRS2013

Kennedy Space Center: Swamp Works

When I began my internship with the Granular Mechanics and Regolith Operations laboratory (GMRO), also known as Swamp Works, I was given the unique opportunity to shadow many teams working on various projects, and decide what projects I wanted to take part in. Before I go into details of my experiences at Swamp Works, I would like to take a moment to explain what I discovered Swamp Works to be. Swamp Works is a family of hardworking, dedicated, and driven people from various backgrounds and skill sets. These people all work to advance technologies and make science fiction science fact through means of rapid prototyping. They support and encourage failure as an option when learning new things, as long as lesson learned from said failure. In fact, their motto states "Fail, Fast, Forward." What this means is, not if but when one fails he or she must do so quickly and spring forward from the failure so that his or her progress is not delayed. With this acceptance, it provided me the confidence to dive into a multitude of projects working in various fields and with a wide range of skill sets. The first project I joined was Badger. My motivation for taking on this project was the opportunity I would have to obtain valuable experience working with 3D modeling and 3D printing technologies. Badger was a digging apparatus to be used in a highly dusty environment in a material known as Regolith. Regolith is a scientific term for the dirt or top soil found on planetary bodies. Regolith contains a large quantity of sediments less than lOppm and as a result poses a challenge of keeping it out of any cracks and crevices. Furthermore, regolith can create high levels of electrostatic energy, which can prove damaging to sensitive electrical hardware. With these characteristics in mind, I decided to take on the task of designing and manufacturing a dust proof cover for the sensitive electrical hardware. When I began this project, I did not have the slightest idea as to how to use 3D modeling software or a means of manufacturing a viable product. As I went along with variants of the design, I became very proficient with a 3D modeling program known as CREO 2.0. Upon completion of my 3D design, I then had the task of manufacturing and having, in my hands, a usable model. To do this I had to work with additive printing technologies also known as 3D printing. Through my experiences working with Badger, I realized that 3D modeling is the focal point in much of engineering. With this in mind, I have embraced this fact and decided to further my experience with this software so that I may become a more valuable asset to any firm later in my career. Mid-way through work with Badger, I picked up another project in which I found much interest. I ha~ the opportunity to work side by side with a materials and composites guru in manufacturing carbon composite coupons (test strips) for performing stress, strain, and sheer analysis on. Being from a surfing, kiteboarding, and other water sport background I have always been interested in board design. With this in mind, it is no wonder why I found interest in such a project. I had the opportunity to refine Mold preparatory, composite layup, and composite curing techniques. Following manufacturing of these composite strips, I then performed various stress tests and logged my results. With these results, future teams could create lighter, stronger, and more cost effective composite structures for use in varieties of applications. After my experiences with materials and composites testing, I have obtained crucial appreciation for detailed documentation and analysis that material sciences involve. However, as interesting as composite materials testing has been, I do not feel this is where my future career lies. Another, more on the side, project I have been involved in is building a 626 cubic foot regolith containment chamber for doing full scale testing of robotic systems. This chamber is built of high strength aluminum scaffold materials, 80/20, and massive panels of Lexan. Once the chamber is completed, it is be filled with 120 tons of regolith and dubbed the largest regolith test chamber in the world. Through my experiences with building "Big Bin" as we called it, I discovered my demand for engaging and hands on activities. Through all of my incredible experiences working with the Swamp Works at Kennedy Space Center; I have obtained crucial knowledge, insights, and experiences that have fuelled, shaped, and will continue to drive me toward my ultimate goal of obtaining not only a degree in Engineering, but obtaining a job that I can call a career. I want to give much thanks to all of those who mentored me along my journey, and to all who made this opportunity a reality.

DeFilippo, Anthony Robert↗
NASA NTRS2007

Earth Observations to Assess Impact of Hurricane Katrina on John C. Stennis Space Center

The peril from hurricanes to Space Operations Centers is real and is forecast to continue; Katrina, Rita, and Wilma of 2005 and Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne of 2004 are sufficient motivation for NASA to develop a multi-Center plan for preparedness and response. As was demonstrated at SSC (Stennis Space Center) in response to Hurricane Katrina, NASA Centers are efficiently activated as local command centers, playing host to Federal and State agencies and first responders to coordinate and provide evacuation, relocation, response, and recovery activities. Remote sensing decision support provides critical insight for managing NASA infrastructure and for assisting Center decision makers. Managers require geospatial information to manage the federal city. Immediately following Katrina, SSC s power and network connections were disabled, hardware was inoperative, technical staff was displaced and/or out of contact, and graphical decision support tools were non-existent or less than fully effective. Despite this circumstance, SSC EOC (Emergency Operations Center) implemented response operations to assess damage and to activate recovery plans. To assist Center Managers, the NASA ASP (Applied Sciences Program) made its archive of high-resolution data over the site available. In the weeks and months after the immediate crisis, NASA supplemented this data with high-resolution, post-Katrina imagery over SSC and much of the affected coastal areas. Much of the high-resolution imagery was made available through the Department of Defense Clear View contract and was distributed through U.S. Geological Survey Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science "Hurricane Katrina Disaster Response" Web site. By integrating multiple image data types with other information sources, ASP applied an all-source solutions approach to develop decision support tools that enabled managers to respond to critical issues, such as expedient access to infrastructure and deployment of resources, provision of temporary shelter, logistical control of critical supplies, and the mobilization and coordination of assets from ground crews to aircraft/airspace management. Furthermore, ASP developed information products that illustrate risks to SSC's infrastructure from surge, inundation, and flood. Current plans include developing wind-risk prototype products for refinement and adoption into EOC plans.

Graham, William D.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Implementation of Insight Responsibilities in Process Engineering

This report describes an approach for evaluating flight readiness (COFR) and contractor performance evaluation (award fee) as part of the insight role of NASA Process Engineering at Kennedy Space Center. Several evaluation methods are presented, including systems engineering evaluations and use of systems performance data. The transition from an oversight function to the insight function is described. The types of analytical tools appropriate for achieving the flight readiness and contractor performance evaluation goals are described and examples are provided. Special emphasis is placed upon short and small run statistical quality control techniques. Training requirements for system engineers are delineated. The approach described herein would be equally appropriate in other directorates at Kennedy Space Center.

Osborne, Deborah M.↗
DOE OSTI2024

Unraveling Electronic and Vibrational Coherences Following a Charge Transfer Process in a Photosystem II Reaction Center

A reaction center is a unique biological system that performs the initial charge separation within a Photosystem II (PSII) multiunit enzyme, which eventually drives the catalytic water-splitting in plants and algae. The possible role of quantum coherences coinciding with the energy and charge transfer processes in PSII reaction center is one of the active areas of research. Here, we study these quantum coherences by using a numerically exact method on an excitonic dimer model, including linear vibronic coupling and employing optimal parameters from experimental two-dimensional coherent spectroscopic measurements. This enables us to precisely capture the excitonic interaction between pigments and the dissipation of the energy from electronic and charge-transfer (CT) states to the protein environment. We employ the time nonlocal (TNL) quantum master equation to calculate the population dynamics, which yields numerically reliable results. The calculated results show that, due to the strong dissipation, the lifetime of electronic coherence is too short to have direct participation in the charge transfer processes. However, there are long-lived vibrational coherences present in the system at frequencies close to the excitionic energy gap. These are strongly coupled with the electronic coherences, which makes the detection of the electronic coherences with conventional techniques very challenging. Additionally, we unravel the strong excitonic interaction of radical pair (PD1 and PD2) in the reaction center, which results in a long-lived electronic coherence of >100 fs, even at room temperature. Our work provide important physical insight to the charge separation process in PSII reaction center, which may be helpful for better understanding of photophysical processes in other natural and artificial light-harvesting systems.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2025

SITCOMTN-164: AnaCal Shear Profile of Abell 360 in LSSTComCam Data Preview 1

This technote presents the measurement of the weak-lensing shear profile for the Abell 360 galaxy cluster using LSSTComCam data processed with the AnaCal pipeline. We detail the procedures involved in bright-star masking, source selection, and the estimation of tangential and cross shear around the cluster center. The resulting shear profiles provide key insights into the mass distribution of Abell 360 and demonstrate the capabilities of AnaCal in processing early LSST data, with the tangential shear profile detected at 5σ significance.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Single-atom implanted two-dimensional MOFs as efficient electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction

The exploration of novel electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices has been extensively studied in recent decades for their specific advantages. Therefore, the design of highly efficient, stable, and noble-metal-free electrocatalysts for oxygen-related reactions (OER) is critical but challenging and is still worth improving. Herein, a facile and controllable synthesis strategy for bimetallic electrocatalysts for the OER from a two-dimensional iron-based metal–organic framework (HUST-8, HUST = Huazhong University of Science and Technology) precursor has been reported. The unoccupied porphyrin center has been disposed into the layer structure of HUST-8, which is very facile for the introduction of a second type of metal center via post-modification treatment. Guided by the synthesis strategy, Fe/Ni, Fe/Co, Fe/Zn, Fe/Mn and Fe/Fe species have been fabricated, and their electrocatalytic performance for the OER has been further characterized, among which the Fe/Ni type exhibits the best efficiency and conversion. For Fe/Ni species of HUST-8 (labeled as Ni@HUST-8), in 1 M KOH, the initial potential for OER activity performance is 170 mV (vs. RHE). At 10 mA cm -2 , the corresponding overpotential is 240 mV and the Tafel slope is simulated as 60.8 mV dec -1 . All of these experimental results of Ni@HUST-8 illustrate its better performance than commercial IrO 2 . Compared to the MOF parent and other bimetallic species, the higher electrocatalytic performance of Ni@HUST-8 should be ascribed to the special synergistic effect of Fe and Ni centers, which tends to greatly improve the reaction kinetics and charge transfer efficiency, while increasing the activity of the OER and achieving the best catalytic performances. The systematic investigation clearly manifests the important role of the synergistic effect of bimetallic centers in the OER and provides other insight into fabricating tailored electrocatalysts derived from MOF-based templates.

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

On Feature, Classifier and Detector Fusers for 235U Signatures Using Gamma Spectral Counts

Three types of information fusion strategies are studied to assess the performance of classifiers for detecting low-level 235 U radiation sources, using features obtained from gamma spectra of NaI detectors. These three strategies are based on using two spectral region features, fusing eight classifiers of diverse designs, and fusing multiple detectors located at different positions around the source. The inner, middle and outer groups of detectors, within a formation of two concentric circles and a spiral of 21 detectors, are identified based on their distance to the source, which is located at the center. This study provides two main qualitative insights into this classification task. First, the fusion of detectors leads to an overall improved classification performance, least in the inner group, most in the outer group, and in between for the middle group. Second, several classifiers and fusers achieve lower training error which does not translate to lower generalization error, indicating their over-fitting to training data.

Rao, Nageswara↗