Focused ion beam for improved spatially-resolved mass spectrometry and analysis of radioactive materials for uranium isotopic analysis
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46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
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Results for “Materials analysis”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
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A Circularity Assessment for Silicon Solar Panels Based on Dynamic Material Flow Analysis
Solar photovoltaics (PV) are the fastest growing renewable energy technology for clean, inexpensive, and sustainable electricity generation. Along with numerous technical roadmaps to improve system cost, performance and reliability, the PV industry should also plan to handle large volumes of silicon panel waste, which is initially estimated to be ~13 million metric tons (MT) by 2050 in the U.S. alone. Understanding the magnitude of material needs and how material flows throughout the PV panel life cycle could respond to design, operational and different end-of-life (EOL) circular pathways will help transition into a circular, resource-conserving economy. Herein, we introduce a dynamic material flow analysis (DMFA) framework based on electricity generation to quantify time-series stocks and flows of bulk PV materials (e.g., solar glass and aluminum frames) throughout the life cycles of utility-scale silicon PV systems in the U.S. in the period 2000-2100. We apply the model to a range of scenarios to understand how material demands depend on selected PV-related parameters, different material circularity strategies, and recent module design trends (e.g., bifacial, frameless). We found that float glass and aluminum in PV installations would likely reach 100 million MT and 12 million MT by 2100, respectively, in the baseline scenario. The most influential parameters for PV installation and subsequent waste reduction are found to be module lifetime, module efficiency, annual degradation, and material reduction. Module recycling and component remanufacturing were found to be the most effective material circularity strategies for waste minimization. Panel reuse has negligible savings on waste under current module efficiencies compared to replacements with newer generations with higher efficiency. Ongoing trends to produce larger power frameless modules could save 10 million MT of glass and ~9 million MT of aluminum. Our results enable advanced planning for future materials needs and provide insight into potential opportunities to minimize waste.
70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
A Circularity Assessment for Silicon Solar Panels Based on Dynamic Material Flow Analysis: Preprint
Solar photovoltaics (PV) are the fastest growing renewable energy technology for clean, inexpensive, and sustainable electricity generation. Along with numerous technical roadmaps to improve system cost, performance and reliability, the PV industry should also plan to handle large volumes of silicon panel waste, which is initially estimated to be ~13 million metric tons (MT) by 2050 in the U.S. alone. Understanding the magnitude of material needs and how material flows throughout the PV panel life cycle could respond to design, operational and different end-of-life (EOL) circular pathways will help transition into a circular, resource-conserving economy. Herein, we introduce a dynamic material flow analysis (DMFA) framework based on electricity generation to quantify time-series stocks and flows of bulk PV materials (e.g., solar glass and aluminum frames) throughout the life cycles of utility-scale silicon PV systems in the U.S. in the period 2000-2100. We apply the model to a range of scenarios to understand how material demands depend on selected PV-related parameters, different material circularity strategies, and recent module design trends (e.g., bifacial, frameless). We found that float glass and aluminum in PV installations would likely reach 100 million MT and 12 million MT by 2100, respectively, in the baseline scenario. The most influential parameters for PV installation and subsequent waste reduction are found to be module lifetime, module efficiency, annual degradation, and material reduction. Module recycling and component remanufacturing were found to be the most effective material circularity strategies for waste minimization. Panel reuse has negligible savings on waste under current module efficiencies compared to replacements with newer generations with higher efficiency. Ongoing trends to produce larger power frameless modules could save 10 million MT of glass and ~9 million MT of aluminum. Our results enable advanced planning for future materials needs and provide insight into potential opportunities to minimize waste.
circular economy↗
Accurate oscillator strengths for ultraviolet lines of Ar I - Implications for interstellar material
Analysis of absorption from interstellar Ar I in lightly reddened lines of sight provides information on the warm and hot components of the interstellar medium near the sun. The details of the analysis are limited by the quality of the atomic data. Accurate oscillator strengths for the Ar I lines at 1048 and 1067 A and the astrophysical implications are presented. From lifetimes measured with beam-foil spectroscopy, an f-value for 1048 A of 0.257 +/- 0.013 is obtained. Through the use of a semiempirical formalism for treating singlet-triplet mixing, an oscillator strength of 0.064 +/- 0.003 is derived for 1067 A. Because of the accuracy of the results, the conclusions of York and colleagues from spectra taken with the Copernicus satellite are strengthened. In particular, for interstellar gas in the solar neighborhood, argon has a solar abundance, and the warm, neutral material is not pervasive.
Federman, S. R.↗
Experimental evaluation of low cycle thermal fatigue in a turbine vane fabricated from laminated porous material
Analysis of low cycle thermal fatigue in laminated porous wall turbine vanes
Nealy, D. A.↗
Thermal properties of channels in the Aeolis Quadrangle: Topographic traps for Aeolian materials
Analysis of high spatial resolution (down to 2 to 5 km) thermal data that shows the presence of aeolian debris mantling in topographic traps such as some channels is presented. In cases where this occurs, even if the mantle is thin, it can prevent remote sensing analysis of actual compositional differences that may characterize the true floors of the features.
Zimbelman, James R.↗
Long-term changes in composition of solar particles implanted in extraterrestrial materials
Analysis of lunar surface samples for elements implanted therein by solar corpuscular radiation reveals evidence for the following compositional changes over a time period between 1.5 and 3 Gyr: 50-percent decreases in the ratios He-4/Ar-36 and Xe/Ar-36; a 20-percent increase in the ratio He-3/He-4; a 3-percent increase in the ratio Ne-20/Ne-22; and a 50-percent increase in the ratio N-15/N-14. The causes of these changes are not resolved at this time but may include (1) a change in acceleration conditions of the solar wind, (2) a change in flux of solar energetic particles relative to that of the solar wind, and (3) a change in composition of the solar convective zone. There is good evidence for a long-term decrease in the solar-wind flux.
Kerridge, J. F.↗
Conjunction Assessment Risk Analysis
Materials for short course. This briefing from NASA is one segment of a larger 3-day course being presented by multiple entities.
conjunction assessment↗
Static geometric and material nonlinear analysis.
This paper presents a survey of four aspects of nonlinear analysis - basic formulation, plasticity relations, computational procedures, and methods of solution. This survey is for the most part limited to static geometric and material nonlinear analysis under the assumption of small strains. The two formulations covered are the total Lagrangian and the incremental moving coordinate formulations. A comparison of the two formulations is presented and an attempt is made to clarify the underlying basis of each formulation. The survey of computational procedures reveals that most researchers are now using some form of numerical integration to evaluate nonlinear contributions.
Stricklin, J. A.↗
A Statistics-Based Material Property Analysis to Support TPS Characterization
Accurate characterization of entry capsule heat shield material properties is a critical component in modeling and simulating Thermal Protection System (TPS) response in a prescribed aerothermal environment. The thermal decomposition of the TPS material during the pyrolysis and charring processes is poorly characterized and typically results in large uncertainties in material properties as inputs for ablation models. These material property uncertainties contribute to large design margins on flight systems and cloud re- construction efforts for data collected during flight and ground testing, making revision to existing models for entry systems more challenging. The analysis presented in this work quantifies how material property uncertainties propagate through an ablation model and guides an experimental test regimen aimed at reducing these uncertainties and characterizing the dependencies between properties in the virgin and charred states for a Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) based TPS. A sensitivity analysis identifies how the high-fidelity model behaves in the expected flight environment, while a Monte Carlo based uncertainty propagation strategy is used to quantify the expected spread in the in-depth temperature response of the TPS. An examination of how perturbations to the input probability density functions affect output temperature statistics is accomplished using a Kriging response surface of the high-fidelity model. Simulations are based on capsule configuration and aerothermal environments expected during the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) entry sequence. We identify and rank primary sources of uncertainty from material properties in a flight-relevant environment, show the dependence on spatial orientation and in-depth location on those uncertainty contributors, and quantify how sensitive the expected results are.
Copeland, Sean R.↗
Sulphur-bearing Compounds Detected by MSL SAM Evolved Gas Analysis of Materials from Yellowknife Bay, Gale Crater, Mars
The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) instruments on the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) analysed several subsamples of sample fines (<150 μm) from three sites in Yellowknife Bay, an aeolian bedform termed Rocknest (hereafter "RN") and two samples drilled from the Sheepbed mudstone at sites named John Klein ("JK") and Cumberland ("CB"). SAM's evolved gas analysis (EGA) mass spectrometry detected H2O, CO2, O2, H2, SO2, H2S, HCl, NO, OCS, CS2 and other trace gases. The identity of evolved gases and temperature (T) of evolution can support mineral detection by CheMin and place constraints on trace volatile-bearing phases present below the CheMin detection limit or difficult to characterize with XRD (e.g., X-ray amorphous phases). Here, we focus on potential constraints on phases that evolved SO2, H2S, OCS, and CS2 during thermal analysis.
McAdam, A. C.↗
Thermal degradation analysis of polymeric materials by combined mass spectrometric and thermogravimetric analysis
Polymeric materials thermal degradation kinetic parameters using combined mass spectrometric and thermogravimetric analysis /MS-TGA/
Hamaker, F. M.↗
Geometric and Material Nonlinear Structural Analysis
GAMNAS (Geometric and Material Nonlinear Analysis of Structures) is twodimensional finite-element stress-analysis program supporting fracturemechanics studies of debonding and delamination. GAMNAS options include linear, geometricnonlinear, material-nonlinear, and combined geometric- and material-nonlinear analysis.
Whitcomb, J. D.↗
Changing the Rules of the Game: Used Fuel Studies Outside of a Remote Handling Facility
Recent advances in micro-fabrication tools like the FEI Helios NanoLab 660 dual Focused Ion Beam (FIB) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) now make it possible to easily and reliably prepare micron (or smaller) specimens for analyses or further experimentation. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) has leveraged this capability at the Category II Nuclear Facility, the Radiochemical Processing Laboratory, to facilitate nuclear materials analysis and experimentation of used nuclear fuel. Micron-scale specimens of un-irradiated UO2 fuel pellets of various enrichments from depleted to 4.95% enriched, relative to 235U, were prepared at PNNL and shipped to the University of Missouri’s Research Reactor (MURR) for irradiation. Prior to shipping, samples were attached to commercially available Transmission Electron Microscopy half-grids via ion deposition, which were then housed in specially designed aluminum sample holders approved for use at the reactor facility. This minimized handling and preparation requirements prior to materials analysis after irradiation. Samples were irradiated to a burnup equivalent of 8 – 3,700 MWd/MTU. Additionally, by reducing the size of the specimens, and therefore their emitted radiation dose, the required cooling time after irradiation and prior to analysis was greatly diminished, and handling of these samples could proceed outside of a hot cell facility. Results from these experiments provided insight into the initial production of noble metal phase particles in used nuclear fuel at extremely low burnup levels. Some incompatibility with the container was observed at higher burnup. Micro-scale irradiation experiments were performed at roughly 1/7th of the time, effort and expense a similar bulk-scale study requiring a shielded hot cell facility would require. Conducting nuclear materials analysis at the micron-scale holds the promise of enhancing collaboration and material accessibility to the broader research community, improving accessibility to cutting edge research tools by the nuclear materials science community, lowering the risk to the scientist by reducing radiation dose and exposure, reducing facility and research costs associated with the requirement to conduct nuclear materials science within glovebox or remote handling facilities, and minimizing waste.
Schwantes, Jon M.↗
Material Response Analysis of a Titan Entry Heatshield
Accurate calculation of thermal protection material response is critical to the vehicle design for missions to the Saturn moon Titan. In this study, Icarus, a three-dimensional, unstructured, finite-volume material response solver under active development at NASA Ames Research Center, is used to compute the in-depth material response of the Huygens spacecraft along its November 11 entry trajectory. The heatshield analyzed in this study consists of a five-layer stack-up of Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA), aluminum honeycomb, adhesive, and face sheetmaterials. During planetary entry, the PICA outer layer is expected to undergo pyrolysis. A surface energy balance boundary condition that captures both time- and spatial-variance of surface properties during entry is used in the simulation.
material response↗
Injection data analysis using material balance time for CO 2 storage capacity estimation in deep closed saline aquifers
Estimating the ultimate storage capacity of deep saline aquifers is important to address the formation potential to store the envisioned large volumes of CO 2 . Injection data (i.e. injection rate, bottomhole pressure, and cumulative injected volume of CO 2 ) are routinely recorded during storage operations. These data contain valuable information on the subsurface (e.g. the reservoir pore volume and the formation storage capacity) that can be extracted. In this paper, we present a two-step graphical technique to infer the pore volume and the ultimate storage capacity of closed saline aquifers by analyzing the available injection data. First, the pore volume is inferred through adapting the concept of the material balance time. Material balance time is an approximate superposition time function developed to interpret production data from oil and gas wells operating at variable pressure/rate conditions during the boundary-dominated flow period. Using material balance techniques, the ultimate storage capacity is then estimated through linear extrapolation of the average pressure trend to the maximum allowable pressure the formation can withstand. The average pressure is not available in practice, but is can be obtained from the injection data. Two approaches are presented in this study to calculate the average pressure; namely the rigorous and the approximate approaches. Unlike the rigorous approach, the approximate approach does not require a prior knowledge of some reservoir properties (e.g. relative permeability, absolute permeability, formation porosity and thickness) to calculate the average pressure. To investigate its potential and reliability in analyzing CO 2 injection data, the proposed technique is applied to four synthetic cases representing different well operating conditions. Results indicate that the approximate approach consistently overestimates the actual (simulated) storage capacity as compared to the rigorous approach. The agreement - between the inferred and the simulated reservoir pore volume, and between the analytical and numerical estimates of storage capacity - validates the potential application of the technique to CO 2 storage in closed saline aquifers. The technique is further substantiated through application to a field data set utilized from a commercial-scale geological storage (CGS) project. Finally, field data interpretation shows that the proposed technique can be utilized to identify the degree of hydraulic continuity and reservoir compartmentalization within a target formation by interpreting the corresponding pressure and rate responses.
02 PETROLEUM↗
Material Flow Analysis and Life Cycle Assessment of Polyethylene Terephthalate and Polyolefin Plastics Supply Chains in the United States
Plastics are useful and beneficial materials that contribute to an improved quality of life, yet they generate significant solid wastes and emissions and consume significant energy resources. Systems analysis is incomplete on current linear production systems of plastics supply chains and their associated processes. Our study combines material flow and life cycle assessment data sets of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and the main polyolefin polymers in the United States, comprising over 70% of plastics flows. This study estimates the total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and energy consumption of these supply chains, including transportation and end-of-life processes, lacking in prior studies. Here we calculate annual GHG emissions and energy consumption of these plastic supply chains to be 101 MMT CO 2 -eq and 3248 PJ in 2019, respectively. The GHG emissions of these supply chains represented 1.5% of the total U.S. emissions and 5% of the total U.S. industry-related GHG emissions. The total energy consumption of these supply chains represented 3.1% of the total U.S. energy consumption in 2019. Transportation of PET and polyolefin plastic materials contributes 5% and 2% to the total supply chain GHG emissions and energy consumption, respectively. This baseline study provides a benchmark and enables a comparison to future circular production systems for plastics in the United States.
09 BIOMASS FUELS↗