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At least 721 records · Page 40
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1947

On the Application of the Energy Method to Stability Problems

Since stability problems have come into the field of vision of engineers, energy methods have proved to be one of the most powerful aids in mastering them. For finding the especially interesting critical loads special procedures have evolved that depart somewhat from those customary in the usual elasticity theory. A clarification of the connections seemed desirable,especially with regard to the post-critical region, for the treatment of which these special methods are not suited as they are. The present investigation discusses this question-complex (made important by shell construction in aircraft) especially in the classical example of the Euler strut, because in this case - since the basic features are not hidden by difficulties of a mathematical nature - the problem is especially clear. The present treatment differs from that appearing in the Z.f.a.M.M. (1938) under the title "Uber die Behandlung von Stabilittatsproblemen mit Hilfe der energetischen Methode" in that, in order to work out the basic ideas still more clearly,it dispenses with the investigation of behavior at large deflections and of the elastic foundation;in its place the present version gives an elaboration of the 6th section and (in its 7 th and 8th secs.)a new example that shows the applicability of the general criterion to a stability problem that differs from that of Euler in many respects.

Marguerre, Karl↗
DOE OSTI2021

Structural and magnetic transitions in the planar antiferromagnet Ba 4 Ir 3 O 10

We report the structural and magnetic ground state properties of the monoclinic compound barium iridium oxide Ba 4 Ir 3 O 10 using a combination of resonant x-ray scattering, magnetometry, and thermodynamic techniques. Magnetic susceptibility exhibits a pronounced antiferromagnetic transition at T N ≈ 25 K, a weaker anomaly at T S ≈ 142 K, and strong magnetic anisotropy at all temperatures. Resonant elastic x-ray scattering experiments reveal a second order structural phase transition at T S and a magnetic transition at T N . Both structural and magnetic superlattice peaks are observed at L = half integer values. The magnetization anomaly at T S implies the presence of magnetoelastic coupling, which conceivably facilitates the symmetry lowering. Mean field critical scattering is observed above T S . The magnetic structure of the antiferromagnetic ground state is discussed based on the measured magnetic superlattice peak intensity. Furthermore, our study not only presents essential information for understanding the intertwined structural and magnetic properties in Ba 4 Ir 3 O 10 but also highlights the necessary ingredients for exploring novel ground states with octahedra trimers.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2021

Machine Learning Predicts the Timing and Shear Stress Evolution of Lab Earthquakes Using Active Seismic Monitoring of Fault Zone Processes

Abstract Machine learning (ML) techniques have become increasingly important in seismology and earthquake science. Lab‐based studies have used acoustic emission data to predict time‐to‐failure and stress state, and in a few cases, the same approach has been used for field data. However, the underlying physical mechanisms that allow lab earthquake prediction and seismic forecasting remain poorly resolved. Here, we address this knowledge gap by coupling active‐source seismic data, which probe asperity‐scale processes, with ML methods. We show that elastic waves passing through the lab fault zone contain information that can predict the full spectrum of labquakes from slow slip instabilities to highly aperiodic events. The ML methods utilize systematic changes in P‐wave amplitude and velocity to accurately predict the timing and shear stress during labquakes. The ML predictions improve in accuracy closer to fault failure, demonstrating that the predictive power of the ultrasonic signals improves as the fault approaches failure. Our results demonstrate that the relationship between the ultrasonic parameters and fault slip rate, and in turn, the systematically evolving real area of contact and asperity stiffness allow the gradient boosting algorithm to “learn” about the state of the fault and its proximity to failure. Broadly, our results demonstrate the utility of physics‐informed ML in forecasting the imminence of fault slip at the laboratory scale, which may have important implications for earthquake mechanics in nature.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Coupled momentum balance and phase-field solver with fenicsx module

Code solves momentum balance and phase-field equations simultaneously. The differential equations are solved on a discretized domain with appropriate boundary and initial conditions using finite element method. Primary purpose of the code is to simulate brittle fracture under dynamic loading. Constitutive equations are that of linear elasticity with degradation of stress due to fracture. Small strain formulation is used.

Zecevic, Milovan↗
NASA NTRS1973

Mixed finite-difference scheme for analysis of simply supported thick plates.

A mixed finite-difference scheme is presented for the stress and free vibration analysis of simply supported nonhomogeneous and layered orthotropic thick plates. The analytical formulation is based on the linear, three-dimensional theory of orthotropic elasticity and a Fourier approach is used to reduce the governing equations to six first-order ordinary differential equations in the thickness coordinate. The governing equations possess a symmetric coefficient matrix and are free of derivatives of the elastic characteristics of the plate. In the finite difference discretization two interlacing grids are used for the different fundamental unknowns in such a way as to reduce both the local discretization error and the bandwidth of the resulting finite-difference field equations. Numerical studies are presented for the effects of reducing the interior and boundary discretization errors and of mesh refinement on the accuracy and convergence of solutions. It is shown that the proposed scheme, in addition to a number of other advantages, leads to highly accurate results, even when a small number of finite difference intervals is used.

Noor, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Development of selected advanced aerodynamics and active control concepts for commercial transport aircraft

Work done under the Energy Efficient Transport project in the field of advanced aerodynamics and active controls is summarized. The project task selections focused on the following: the investigation of long-duct nacelle shape variation on interference drag; the investigation of the adequacy of a simple control law for the elastic modes of a wing; the development of the aerodynamic technology at cruise and low speed of high-aspect-ratio supercritical wings of high performance; and the development of winglets for a second-generation jet transport. All the tasks involved analysis and substantial wind tunnel testing. The winglet program also included flight evaluation. It is considered that the technology base has been built for the application of high-aspect-ratio supercritical wings and for the use of winglets on second-generation transports.

Taylor, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Wrinkle ridges, reverse faulting, and the depth penetration of lithospheric stress in lunae planum, Mars

Tectonic features on a planetary surface are commonly used as constraints on models to determine the state of stress at the time the features formed. Quantitative global stress models applied to understand the formation of the Tharsis province on Mars constrained by observed tectonics have calculated stresses at the surface of a thin elastic shell and have neglected the role of vertical structure in influencing the predicted pattern of surface deformation. Wrinkle ridges in the Lunae Planum region of Mars form a conentric pattern of regularly spaced features in the eastern and southeastern part of Tharsis; they are formed due to compressional stresses related to the response of the Martian lithosphere to the Tharsis bulge. As observed in the exposures of valley walls in areas such as the Kasei Valles, the surface plains unit is underlain by an unconsolidated impact-generated megaregolith that grades with depth into structurally competent lithospheric basement. The ridges have alternatively been hypothesized to reflect deformation restricted to the surface plains unit ('thin skinned deformation') and deformation that includes the surface unit, megaregolith and basement lithosphere ('thick skinned deformation'). We have adopted a finite element approach to quantify the nature of deformation associated with the development of wrinkle ridges in a vertically stratified elastic lithosphere. We used the program TECTON, which contains a slippery node capability that allowed us to explicitly take into account the presence of reverse faults believed to be associated with the ridges. In this study we focused on the strain field in the vicinity of a single ridge when slip occurs along the fault. We considered two initial model geometries. In the first, the reverse fault was assumed to be in the surface plains unit, and in the second the initial fault was located in lithospheric basement, immediately beneath the weak megaregolith. We are interested in the conditions underwhich strain in the surface layer and basement either penetrates or fails to penetrate through the megaregolith. We thus address the conditions required for an initial basement fault to propagate through the megaregolith to the surface, as well as the effect of the megareolith on the strain tensor in the vicinity of a fault that nucleates in the surface plains unit.

Zuber, M. T.↗
NASA NTRS2024

Brillouin Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne Oceanographic Lidar Receiver for Profiling Temperature, Salinity, and Sound Velocity

A lidar receiver employing a proposed Brillouin asymmetric spatial heterodyne (BASH) spectrometer to measure depth resolved profiles of near surface ocean temperature, salinity, and sound velocity from aircraft is conceptualized. A BASH spectrometer can have high throughput, can be designed for any wavelength and, importantly, can be field widened, allowing accurate, high spectral resolution of the Brillouin spectrum within diffuse scatter from depth. Temperature and salinity are measured independently with no assumptions about one or the other and the measurements are unbiased by the presence of particulate or elastic scatter. A sensitivity analysis and lidar simulations show the expected performance.

John A Smith↗
DOE OSTI2021

Search for low-energy neutrinos from astrophysical sources with Borexino

We report on searches for neutrinos and antineutrinos from astrophysical sources performed with the Borexino detector at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy. Electron antineutrinos ( $\bar{ν}_e$ ) are detected in an organic liquid scintillator through the inverse β -decay reaction. In the present work we set model-independent upper limits in the energy range 1.8-16.8 MeV on neutrino fluxes from unknown sources that improve our previous results, on average, by a factor 2.5. Using the same data set, we first obtain experimental constraints on the diffuse supernova $\bar{ν}_e$ fluxes in the previously unexplored region below 8 MeV. A search for $\bar{ν}_e$ in the solar neutrino flux is also presented: the presence of $\bar{ν}_e$ would be a manifestation of a non-zero anomalous magnetic moment of the neutrino, making possible its conversion to antineutrinos in the strong magnetic field of the Sun. We obtain a limit for a solar $\bar{ν}_e$ flux of 384 cm -2 s -1 (90% C.L.), assuming an undistorted solar 8 B neutrinos energy spectrum, that corresponds to a transition probability pνe→$\bar{ν}_e$< 7.2 ×10-5 (90% C.L.) for E $\bar{ν}_e$ > 1.8 MeV.At lower energies, by investigating the spectral shape of elastic scattering events, we obtain a new limit on solar 7 Be- ν e conversion into $\bar{ν}_e$ of pνe→$\bar{ν}_e$< 0.14 (90% C.L.) at 0.862 MeV. Last, we investigate solar flares as possible neutrino sources and obtain the strongest up-to-date limits on the fluence of neutrinos of all flavor neutrino below 3–7 MeV. Assuming the neutrino flux to be proportional to the flare’s intensity, we exclude an intense solar flare as the cause of the observed excess of events in run 117 of the Cl-Ar Homestake experiment.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

A general solution for accelerating screw dislocations in arbitrary slip systems with reflection symmetry

Solutions to the differential equations of linear elasticity in the continuum limit in arbitrary crystal symmetry are known only for steady-state dislocations of arbitrary character, i.e. line defects moving at constant velocity. Troubled by singularities at certain ‘critical’ velocities (typically close to certain sound speeds), these dislocation fields are thought to be too idealized, and divergences are usually attributed to neglecting the finite size of the core and to the restriction to constant velocity. In the isotropic limit, accelerating pure screw and edge dislocations were studied some time ago. A generalization to anisotropic crystals has been attempted for pure screw and edge dislocations only for some special cases. This work aims to fill the gap of deriving a general anisotropic solution for pure screw dislocations applicable to slip systems featuring a reflection symmetry, a prerequisite to studying pure screw dislocations without mixing with edge dislocations. Finally, further generalizations to arbitrary mixed dislocations as well as regularizations of the dislocation core are beyond the scope of this paper and are left for future work.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Ion Transport in Concentrated Crosslinked Solid Polymer Electrolytes

Crosslinking polymers is a common approach to create mechanically stable solid materials such as polymer electrolytes for lithium batteries. In conventional liquid electrolytes, the solvent molecules move freely to accommodate the field-induced motion of ions. However, in crosslinked polymer electrolytes, the rearrangement of polymer segments is constrained by the deformation limits of the network. Herein, we develop a new transport model that accounts for both the formation of concentration gradients and the elasticity of the electrolyte. The elasticity is incorporated by adding an additional term related to the entropy of crosslinked strands to the electrochemical potential of the salt. The resulting Crosslink Model contains two adjustable parameters: $\mathcal{N}$, the average number of monomers in a strand, and λ crit , the maximum strain the network can sustain. These solid-like constraints produce singularities in the governing transport equations, fundamentally altering the concentration profiles. Plateaus in salt concentrations emerge near the electrodes, and network elasticity introduces a strain overpotential. When compared to a Baseline Model ($\mathcal{N}$ → ∞, equivalent to concentrated solution theory), which predicts steepest gradients near the electrodes, both models yield similar current–voltage relationships. Model predictions are compared to electrochemical data for a poly(ethylene oxide)-based crosslinked polymer electrolyte.

Patel, Vivaan [University of California, Berkeley,↗
NASA NTRS1980

Stresses in a three-dimensional unidirectional composite containing broken fibers

An approximate solution is developed for the determination of the interlaminar normal and shear stresses in the vicinity of a crack in a three dimensional composite containing unidirectional linearly elastic fibers in an infinite linearly elastic matrix. In order to reduce the complexity of the formulation, certain assumptions are made as to the physically significant stresses to be retained. These simplifications reduce the partial differential equations of elasticity to differential-difference equations which are tractable using Fourier transform techniques. This 'material modeling' approach is in contrast with solutions developed by considering each lamina as a homogeneous, orthotropic layer. The resulting solution does not contain the classical singular stress field for the fibers and the influence of broken fibers on unbroken fibers is felt by a change in stress concentration factors. The matrix stresses however, are unbounded as the fiber spacing vanishes and an equivalent fiber-matrix geometry is proposed which gives the correct singular behavior. The numerical solution is considered in detail and several specific examples are presented. The potential for damaged or debonded zones to be generated by an embedded crack is discussed, and stress concentration factors for fibers near the crack are given. Detailed comparisons are made between the present solution, the analogous two-dimensional problem, and corresponding shear-lag models.

Goree, J. G.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Coupled phase field damage and crystal plasticity analysis of intragranular fracture: The role of crystallographic orientation and voids

Damage evolution in engineering metal alloys at the grain scale exhibits significant microstructural heterogeneity and anisotropy. These heterogeneities create local hotspots for stress and strain localization, leading to void nucleation. Crystal orientation influences the active slip systems around voids, affecting lattice rotation and potentially forming discontinuities. At low triaxiality, voids may change shape due to lower stress, rotation, elongation, and coalescence. At high triaxiality, the correlation between crystal orientation and void growth rate becomes stronger, resembling the behavior observed in isolated single crystals. Therefore, understanding the effects of crystal orientation, heterogeneous strain, and defect evolution is crucial for single crystal fracture characterization. Here, in this work, a coupled phase-field damage (PFD) and crystal plasticity (CP) model is implemented within a finite element framework to analyze crystal deformation and failure. The CP method employs a dislocation density-based constitutive model, while intragranular failure is modeled using an anisotropic PFD method. The PFD model considers both the stored energy due to elastic stretching and the energy release due to defect formation and crack formation. A single crystal Al2219 with an intracrystalline spherical void is chosen to analyze fracture. The study finds that fracture propagation is strongly correlated with crystal orientations. This coupled CP-PFD model provides accurate failure prediction in crystalline materials by incorporating the effects of crystal orientations and existing voids. This study demonstrates how the local microstructure and defects influence plastic deformation and failure mechanisms in metal alloys.

Aluminum alloy↗
DOE OSTI2023

Kinematics and dynamics of disclination lines in three-dimensional nematics

An exact kinematic law for the motion of disclination lines in nematic liquid crystals as a function of the tensor order parameter Q is derived. Unlike other order parameter fields that become singular at their respective defect cores, the tensor order parameter remains regular. Following earlier experimental and theoretical work, the disclination core is defined to be the line where the uniaxial and biaxial order parameters are equal, or equivalently, where the two largest eigenvalues of Q cross. This allows an exact expression relating the velocity of the line to spatial and temporal derivatives of Q on the line, to be specified by a dynamical model for the evolution of the nematic. By introducing a linear core approximation for Q, analytical results are given for several prototypical configurations, including line interactions and motion, loop annihilation, and the response to external fields and shear flows. Behaviour that follows from topological constraints or defect geometry is highlighted. Finally, the analytic results are shown to be in agreement with three-dimensional numerical calculations based on a singular Maier–Saupe free energy that allows for anisotropic elasticity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Seismic Elastic Double-Beam Characterization of Faults and Fractures for CO₂ Storage Site Selection

Site characterization for underground injection and storage of gigatonne-scale CO₂ requires reliable and cost-effective methods to detect and characterize faults and fractures and to assess their stress state and fault activation potential. This is critical, as wastewater injection and disposal have been shown to activate faults and induce earthquakes, and CO₂ leakage remains a key concern for long-term storage. In this project, we developed seismic methods to detect and characterize large-scale sedimentary and crystalline basement faults and associated small-scale fractures below conventional seismic imaging resolution using multicomponent (9C) surface seismic data. Machine learning was used to automatically interpret large-scale faults, providing key information for estimating the maximum magnitude of potential induced earthquakes. High-fidelity imaging was achieved by exploiting redundancy across multiple elastic wave modes, where independent images from different modes and frequencies cross-validate each other. We also used our nonlinear signal comparison (NLSC) method for ground roll removal, improving data quality in complex near-surface conditions. The methods were validated using field data acquired in central Montana. Results show that basement faults extend into the sedimentary section and that small-scale fractures are widespread above the basement. The inferred stress orientation is consistent with regional stress data, and the estimated maximum induced earthquake magnitude is small (Mw ~2.3). The developed workflow provides a practical approach for fault and fracture characterization and for assessing induced seismicity and leakage risk. It is directly applicable to CO₂ storage site selection and to other subsurface systems.

02 PETROLEUM↗
NASA NTRS1987

A probabilistic Hu-Washizu variational principle

A Probabilistic Hu-Washizu Variational Principle (PHWVP) for the Probabilistic Finite Element Method (PFEM) is presented. This formulation is developed for both linear and nonlinear elasticity. The PHWVP allows incorporation of the probabilistic distributions for the constitutive law, compatibility condition, equilibrium, domain and boundary conditions into the PFEM. Thus, a complete probabilistic analysis can be performed where all aspects of the problem are treated as random variables and/or fields. The Hu-Washizu variational formulation is available in many conventional finite element codes thereby enabling the straightforward inclusion of the probabilistic features into present codes.

Liu, W. K.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Subsurface Stress Fields In Single Crystal (Anisotropic) Contacts

Single crystal superalloy turbine blades used in high pressure turbomachinery are subject to conditions of high temperature, triaxial steady and alternating stresses, fretting stresses in the blade attachment and damper contact locations, and exposure to high-pressure hydrogen. The blades are also subjected to extreme variations in temperature during start-up and shutdown transients. The most prevalent HCF failure modes observed in these blades during operation include crystallographic crack initiation/propagation on octahedral planes, and noncrystallographic initiation with crystallographic growth. Numerous cases of crack initiation and crack propagation at the blade leading edge tip, blade attachment regions, and damper contact locations have been documented. Understanding crack initiation/propagation under mixed-mode loading conditions is critical for establishing a systematic procedure for evaluating HCF life of single crystal turbine blades. This paper presents analytical and numerical techniques for evaluating two and three dimensional subsurface stress fields in anisotropic contacts. The subsurface stress results are required for evaluating contact fatigue life at damper contacts and dovetail attachment regions in single crystal nickel-base superalloy turbine blades. An analytical procedure is , presented, for evaluating the subsurface stresses in the elastic half-space, using a complex potential method outlined by Lekhnitskii. Numerical results are presented for cylindrical and spherical anisotropic contacts, using finite element analysis. Effects of crystal orientation on stress response and fatigue life are examined.

Arakere, Nagaraj K.↗