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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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At least 721 records · Page 40
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2025

BatteryPro: A Python Toolkit for Battery Data Analysis and Machine Learning Predictions

Analyzing battery test data for research & development can be time-consuming since battery tests often run on the order of months to years, generating large volumes of data. BatteryPro is a comprehensive Python package and software designed to facilitate advanced analysis and performance predictions for battery test data. Developed for battery researchers, it supports data types from widely used battery testing instruments, including MACCOR and Biologic cycling systems. The software provides a variety of tools for extracting and plotting key battery parameters such as time, voltage, capacity, current, and pressure. In addition to its extensive data analysis capabilities, BatteryPro features a dedicated machine learning module that employs a Bayesian Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to predict battery performance and degradation. Users can generate synthetic capacity fade data, calculate fade metrics, and leverage predictive models to forecast long-term battery behavior. The software's graphical user interface (GUI) enhances usability, allowing researchers to upload, merge, and analyze multiple data files with full customizability. The GUI also supports machine learning predictions, enabling users to fit models and make predictions based on selected data and parameters. BatteryPro is built using QtDesigner, scikit-learn, matplotlib, and pandas, ensuring a high level of customization, flexibility, and accuracy in battery data analysis. This tool aims to empower researchers with the ability to perform detailed battery analysis and make informed predictions, ultimately advancing the field of battery research.

25 - ENERGY STORAGE↗
NASA NTRS1996

High-Performance Computing for the Electromagnetic Modeling and Simulation of Interconnects

The electromagnetic modeling of packages and interconnects plays a very important role in the design of high-speed digital circuits, and is most efficiently performed by using computer-aided design algorithms. In recent years, packaging has become a critical area in the design of high-speed communication systems and fast computers, and the importance of the software support for their development has increased accordingly. Throughout this project, our efforts have focused on the development of modeling and simulation techniques and algorithms that permit the fast computation of the electrical parameters of interconnects and the efficient simulation of their electrical performance.

Schutt-Aine, Jose E.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Some design constraints required for the use of generic software in embedded systems: Packages which manage abstract dynamic structures without the need for garbage collection

The embedded systems running real-time applications, for which Ada was designed, require their own mechanisms for the management of dynamically allocated storage. There is a need for packages which manage their own internalo structures to control their deallocation as well, due to the performance implications of garbage collection by the KAPSE. This places a requirement upon the design of generic packages which manage generically structured private types built-up from application-defined input types. These kinds of generic packages should figure greatly in the development of lower-level software such as operating systems, schedulers, controllers, and device driver; and will manage structures such as queues, stacks, link-lists, files, and binary multary (hierarchical) trees. Controlled to prevent inadvertent de-designation of dynamic elements, which is implicit in the assignment operation A study was made of the use of limited private type, in solving the problems of controlling the accumulation of anonymous, detached objects in running systems. The use of deallocator prodecures for run-down of application-defined input types during deallocation operations during satellites.

Johnson, Charles S.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Comparison of Human Modeling Tools for Efficiency of Prediction of EVA Tasks

Design of ExtraVehicular Activity (EVA) interfaces for International Space Station is important to successful assembly. This is highlighted by the recent rise in the estimate of time required for EVA during the assembly to 900 hours. The traditional method of evaluating EVA design is examination of mockups in neutral buoyancy testing. While effective, this is costly. Any tools for streamlining this process have positive cost and schedule implications for Station design. The human modelling software package Jack has been shown to be a useful tool in computer-aided design of space hardware requiring actuation in EVA. The package has been used to aid in the design of flight hardware for a Station Assembly Mission; evaluation was based on comparison of the computer simulations with neutral buoyancy simulations. When used to predict the feasibility of tasks, the software was found to be effective for reach and visibility evaluation. Some limitations have been encountered in prediction of work clearances. Another human simulator is currently being evaluated using the same hardware and comparisons to the same Neutral Buoyancy simulations. Preliminary results for ERGO, which is derived from robotics software, indicate similar strengths and weaknesses.

Dischinger, H. Charles, Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Design And Analysis Of Linear Control Systems

Package of five computer programs developed to assist in design and analysis of linear control systems by use of root-locus and frequency-response methods. Package written in FORTRAN (BODE, TPEAK) and BASIC (LOCUS, KTUNE, and POLYROOT).

Jamison, John W.↗
DOE OSTI2025

THE DESIGN OF RADIAL HONEYCOMB LATTICES FOR IMPACT ENERGY ABSORPTION IN RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS PACKAGES

In this research we present a variation on the corrugation technique of honeycomb lattices, for cylindrical honeycombs, making them much easier to design for impact energy absorption in radioactive materials packages. This variation, termed radial honeycomb lattices, eliminates the residual strain and saddle effect. The use of honeycomb lattices provides advantages over the typically used foams. While foams are effective at absorbing impact energy, they can burn, their material properties are difficult to control, they can degrade over time, and procurement of raw materials can be dependent on timing of manufacturer batch runs. While the weaknesses of foam are strengths for honeycomb lattices, lattices have a different set of problems. Typically, when cylindrical honeycomb lattices are manufactured, they are manufactured flat, wrapped around a mandrel of the desired radius, and then brazed. This approach introduces residual strains, resulting in the saddle effect, which limits both the radial thickness and cylinder length. The radial honeycomb lattice approach presented here makes the design of thicker and longer cylinder honeycombs possible. To address these issues, we propose a honeycomb lattice which changes in cross-section from the inner to the outer radius of the cylinder. This causes the lattice to automatically wrap into a cylinder as it exits the corrugating gears. The theoretically bounding case, of a square cross-section at the inner radius, transitioning through a hexagon, to a diamond cross-section at the outer radius, results in a maximum thickness of approximately 41% of the inner radius. Full mathematical derivations, implemented in computer code, allow for the design of an entire radial honeycomb lattice, including the corrugating gears. To accomplish this only the radial thickness, inner cross-section shape, cell size, and nominal gear radius need to be specified, making the design of these lattices very efficient. Radial honeycomb lattice prototypes have demonstrated that the honeycomb does indeed wrap into a cylinder as intended, without the saddle effect, and can therefore be used to create thick-walled cylinders of any length. These design improvements make cylindrical honeycomb lattices much more accessible as a design element for radioactive materials packages

Johnson, William R. [Savannah River National Labor↗
NASA NTRS1985

Interactive software for spectral assignment

A new interactive computer software package for eigenvalue/eigenvector assignment using constant state feedback is described. The package consists of ten subprograms, each associated with a specific design objective, accessible from a main control program. Using this package, primary design objectives of assigning eigenvalues and approximating eigenvectors are first achieved. Then secondary design objectives, including modification of specific eigenvector components, reduction in specified elements of the feedback gain matrix, and reduction in eigensystem sensitivity to changes in plant parameters, are addressed. These secondary objectives are achieved by a systematic modification of the assigned eigenvectors in a small region about the initial assignment. In addition, the program implements the use of spectral assignment procedures with reduced-order system models. Program modes are described and illustrated by numerical examples.

Mielke, R. R.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Technical support package: Large, easily deployable structures. NASA Tech Briefs, Fall 1982, volume 7, no. 1

Design and test data for packaging, deploying, and assembling structures for near term space platform systems, were provided by testing light type hardware in the Neutral Buoyancy Simulator. An optimum or near optimum structural configuration for varying degrees of deployment utilizing different levels of EVA and RMS was achieved. The design of joints and connectors and their lock/release mechanisms were refined to improve performance and operational convenience. The incorporation of utilities into structural modules to determine their effects on packaging and deployment was evaluated. By simulation tests, data was obtained for stowage, deployment, and assembly of the final structural system design to determine construction timelines, and evaluate system functioning and techniques.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Textile Carbon Fiber Packaging and NCF Production

This Technical Collaboration Project focused on packaging large tow (≥ 10 grams/meter) textile carbon fibers, for which currently there is no suitable method. Prior to this project, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) used a crude packaging approach to deliver (approximately) 100-meter packages for evaluation by intermediates producers, composites fabricators and other collaborators. That packaging approach was simply a hoop wrap on a standard 75 mm (3 inch) cardboard tube, with paper interleaved between layers and little or no tension control during spooling. While this approach was very effective for initial fiber development and sample fiber and small composite sample evaluation, these packages were inadequate for larger-scale demonstrations and more extensive applications development. The paper-interleaved packages were inconsistent, wasteful, and too small for commercial utilization; they were designed as a quick and simple means to package material for delivery into prototyping operations and were never expected to satisfy industrial requirements for commercial production. This project aimed to develop a commercially relevant approach for packaging large tow textile carbon fibers for robust delivery into downstream commercial intermediates and composites production operations. The development of robust packaging equipment that delivers packages meeting industrial requirements is essential to commercial implementation. In this project, the team identified packaging requirements, created a design, and prototyped a new packaging concept at ORNL’s Carbon Fiber Technology Facility (CFTF) and resulting packages were tested in production of non-crimp fabric (NCF).

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2021

ARC Software Validation Work for the FFTF Reactor

Extensive efforts have been carried out at ANL for the verification and validation of the Argonne Reactor Codes (ARC) software package currently used for the design of Versatile Test Reactor (VTR). The ARC software package consists of steady state neutronics and thermal hydraulics modeling capabilities which are being used by the VTR program to develop most of the VTR reactor design details which will be part of the licensing application. It is anticipated that this software will continue to be used for the design work and for initial operations although additional software may be introduced at a later time. The validation work was focused primarily on obtaining validation data consistent with VTR and usable for the ARC software. Because no critical facilities or operating fast spectrum reactors are available to do experiments for the VTR, the next best option is to identify historical experimental data that can be used as validation data. Early on in VTR, the ZPPR-15 set of experiments was identified as good validation data because of 1) the availability and quality of the data, 2) existing staff that are already familiar with the experimental machine and measurements, 3) most of the ZPPR-15 loadings of interest have already been processed into ARC models, and 4) a full uncertainty quantification has already been done for several loadings of ZPPR-15. The FFTF startup and operations data was identified as the most consistent reactor type that has validation data usable for VTR. Finally, the EBR-II fuel depletion measurements were identified as the best available validation data for VTR. It is important to note that both the FFTF and EBR-II reactors typically come with higher uncertainties than the ZPPR. In the frame of the discussed verification and validation efforts, the present document discusses the analysis of selected FFTF measurements included in the benchmark specifications of the International Reactor Physics Experiment (IRPhE) handbook. The FFTF reactor core configurations from the benchmark specification are presented in Section 2. The analysis is performed with the use of the ARC code suite available at ANL for fast reactor studies and is discussed in Section 3. The reactor parameters from the benchmark include criticality, neutron spectra, effective delayed neutron spectra, control rod worth, isothermal temperature coefficient and low energy gamma-ray spectra. The calculated values and the comparison with the experimental data is discussed in Sections 4 to 9 for each considered reactor parameter. Finally, conclusions are presented in Section 10.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Drop Analysis of the Advanced Test Reactor Fresh Fuel Shipping Container with Heavier Low-Enriched Uranium Fuel Contents

The Advanced Test Reactor Fresh Fuel Shipping Container (ATR FFSC) is a rectangular stainless steel container used for shipping radioactive material. The container is described in the ATR FFSC Safety Analysis Report (SAR). Per the ATR FFSC SAR, the ATR FFSC is designated a Type AF-96 packaging per the definition of 10 CFR §71.4, and was originally designed to transport high enriched uranium (HEU) reactor fuel elements for the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR), the Advanced Test Reactor Critical (ATRC) facility, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Reactor (MITR), and the University of Missouri Research Reactor (MURR). The Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA), Office of Material Management and Minimization (M3) is working with the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to develop and qualify new low enriched uranium (LEU) fuels and technologies for use in the ATR, ATRC, MITR, and MURR reactors. The LEU fuel elements will weigh significantly more than the current HEU designs and, combined with their associated Fuel Handling Enclosures for packaging, some configurations will exceed the 50 lbf used in the ATR FFSC qualifying drop tests. There are LEU versions of MITR, MURR, and ATR fuel elements. However, for this evaluation, drop analysis of the ATR FFSC with only the heavier ATR Low Enrichment (LOWE) fuel element is considered in this evaluation because the LOWE fuel element is the heaviest of the considered LEU fuel elements. The ATR HEU fuel element and the ATR LOWE fuel element are identical in every design aspect except for the fuel meat inside the 19 fuel plates. The LEU fuel meats are made using a U-10Mo high-density foil rather than uranium dispersed in aluminum in the HEU fuel elements. The high density of the uranium in the LEU fuel meat increases the LOWE fuel element weight to just under 44 lbf (versus the 22.1 lbf weight of the tested ATR HEU fuel element). ATR fuel elements are placed in a thin-gauge aluminum weldment called a "Fuel Handling Enclosure" during packaging. The Fuel Handling Enclosure is used to cover and protect the element during loading and unloading operations. The ATR Fuel Handling Enclosure weighs about 15 lbf per the drawings in the ATR FFSC SAR and the weight is accounted for in this evaluation. Transporting the heavier LEU fuel elements require evaluation of two issues. The first is the effect of the increased mass of the LEU fuel elements on the survivability of the ATR FFSC package following the requisite drop qualifications. The second is the effect of the increased mass of the fuel plates on the fuel element during the same drops. The ATR FFSC containing an ATR HEU fuel element in an ATR Fuel Handling Enclosure was physically dropped multiple times to qualify the container as a Type AF-96 package. The ATR FFSC SAR describes the drop tests performed with an actual ATR HEU fuel element weighing 22.1 lbf contained in a 14.3 lbf Fuel Handling Enclosure for a total payload of 36.4 lbf. Those drop tests showed that the ATR FFSC maintained containment of the ATR HEU fuel element and the fuel element was not significantly damaged. (Containment herein is not defined as a leak tight but is retention of the radioactive contents.) The purpose of the evaluation is to analytically show that, for a similar set of tests, the ATR FFSC maintains containment of the heavier ATR LOWE fuel element and to assess the damage to the fuel element during the drops. The approach was to create finite element analysis (FEA) models that produce the same results as the physical drops. Those models were then used as the benchmarks for the follow-on analyses using the heavier contents. FEA models of the drops of ATR FFSC using up to a 115 lbf fuel element were run and evaluated. Likewise, drops of a LOWE fuel element weighing 44 lbf in the ATR FFSC were run and evaluated. It is important to note that this report was done at the quality level necessary to be included in a nuclear facility safety basis. However, it is not the intent of this report to conclude the suitability of the ATR FFSC for transporting the heavier payloads. This report only describes the results of the FEA as related to the required drop scenarios. Incorporation of the FEA into the safety basis will be evaluated by the ATR FFSC design authority. The physical drop tests of the HEU fuel element and FEA drop analysis for the LOWE fuel element showed noteworthy damage to the fuel plates. An aluminum protective block was conceived to mitigate the damage. The concept requires the blocks to be placed in the fuel element between the end boxes and fuel plates. Additional FEA drop analyses were performed using the protective block. The addition of the blocks is primarily intended to mitigate the damage to the LOWE fuel element fuel plates. However, FEA drop analyses of the ATR HEU fuel element with the blocks were also performed and included for information.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1999

Experimental Studies of the Heat Transfer to RBCC Rocket Nozzles for CFD Application to Design Methodologies

Rocket thrusters for Rocket Based Combined Cycle (RBCC) engines typically operate with hydrogen/oxygen propellants in a very compact space. Packaging considerations lead to designs with either axisymmetric or two-dimensional throat sections. Nozzles tend to be either two- or three-dimensional. Heat transfer characteristics, particularly in the throat, where the peak heat flux occurs, are not well understood. Heat transfer predictions for these small thrusters have been made with one-dimensional analysis such as the Bartz equation or scaling of test data from much larger thrusters. The current work addresses this issue with an experimental program that examines the heat transfer characteristics of a gaseous oxygen (GO2)/gaseous hydrogen (GH2) two-dimensional compact rocket thruster. The experiments involved measuring the axial wall temperature profile in the nozzle region of a water-cooled gaseous oxygen/gaseous hydrogen rocket thruster at a pressure of 3.45 MPa. The wall temperature measurements in the thruster nozzle in concert with Bartz's correlation are utilized in a one-dimensional model to obtain axial profiles of nozzle wall heat flux.

Santoro, Robert J.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Solar Cruiser TRAC Boom Development

The TRAC boom studied is a 30 meter, high-aspect ratio and highly nonlinear structural element planned for the NASA Solar Cruiser spacecraft where it would serve as the solar sail’s skeletal system designed to deploy the packaged reflective sail membrane as well as support operational sail tension loads for flight. Key design drivers for this boom are understanding and characterizing load-deformation behavior and quantifying buckling performance–under flight conditions (zero gravity). Knowing that the full-scale solar sail system cannot be feasibly tested for flight conditions under Earth’s gravity, a building block approach is methodically followed to verify finite element analysis (FEA) predictions and to evolve the finite element model (FEM) accordingly, beginning with the lowest level complexity to match global elastic behavior to the highest level complexity to bound theoretical responses under conservative expected flight conditions. Although the testing campaign for the TRAC boom has not developed yet to produce a full-scale test data point that loads the boom to failure, the fidelity of simulations have evolved with success and warrant further interest and work on this high-aspect ratio, but highly stable, deployable structural boom.

Lee Nguyen↗
NASA NTRS1997

Aviation Design Software

DARcorporation developed a General Aviation CAD package through a Small Business Innovation Research contract from Langley Research Center. This affordable, user-friendly preliminary design system for General Aviation aircraft runs on the popular 486 IBM-compatible personal computers. Individuals taking the home-built approach, small manufacturers of General Aviation airplanes, as well as students and others interested in the analysis and design of aircraft are possible users of the package. The software can cut design and development time in half.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

Residential Energy Efficiency Design Guide for Tribal Lands

Homeowners and renters on tribal lands have historically faced a disproportionate energy burden compared to the United States as a whole. The Indian Health Service (IHS), which serves these communities, strives to meet aggressive energy performance goals when constructing their residential housing. Challenges common in rural locations can hinder progress toward those goals, such as availability of materials, access to specialized labor, and budget constraints. This guide is for architects and builders who aim to incorporate energy efficiency (EE) into their residential designs. This report presents commercially viable energy efficiency packages for a variety of locations and home inputs to help guide home builders in choosing improvements for energy performance. The intention is to provide a diverse set of packages that can be used during the design phase to achieve energy savings compared to a code minimum building design. By presenting a set of diverse options with similar expected energy savings and life-cycle costs, final decisions can be left up to the building designers who can better determine the appropriate package given local costs, materials, and labor availability. Although this guide was developed for IHS projects, it can be used to help designers and construction professionals better make cost-effective choices when a detailed, project-specific building energy analysis is not possible.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS1997

NASA X-34 Technology in Motion

The X-34 technology development program is a joint industry/government project to develop, test, and operate a small, fully-reusable hypersonic flight vehicle. The objective is to demonstrate key technologies and operating concepts applicable to future reusable launch vehicles. Integrated in the vehicle are various systems to assure successful completion of mission objectives, including the Main Propulsion System (MPS). NASA-Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) is responsible for developing the X-34's MPS including the design and complete build package for the propulsion system components. The X-34 will be powered by the Fastrac Engine, which is currently in design and development at NASA-MSFC. Fastrac is a single-stage main engine, which burns a mixture of liquid oxygen (LOX) and kerosene(RP-1). The interface between the MPS and Fastrac engine are critical for proper system operation and technologies applicable to future reusable launch vehicles. Deneb's IGRIP software package with the Dynamic analysis option provided a key tool for conducting studies critical to this interface as well as a mechanism to drive the design of the LOX and RP-1 feedlines. Kinematic models were created for the Fastrac Engine and the feedlines for various design concepts. Based on the kinematic simulation within Envision, design and joint limits were verified and system interference controlled. It was also critical to the program to evaluate the effect of dynamic loads visually, providing a verification tool for dynamic analysis and in some cases uncovering areas that had not been considered. Deneb's software put the X-34 technology in motion and has been a key factor in facilitating the strenuous design schedule.

Beech, Geoffrey↗
DOE OSTI2023

PyApprox: A software package for sensitivity analysis, Bayesian inference, optimal experimental design, and multi-fidelity uncertainty quantification and surrogate modeling

PyApprox is a Python-based one-stop-shop for probabilistic analysis of numerical models such as those used in the earth, environmental and engineering sciences. Easy to use and extendable tools are provided for constructing surrogates, sensitivity analysis, Bayesian inference, experimental design, and forward uncertainty quantification. The algorithms implemented represent a wide range of methods for model analysis developed over the past two decades, including recent advances in multi-fidelity approaches that use multiple model discretizations and/or simplified physics to significantly reduce the computational cost of various types of analyses. An extensive set of Benchmarks from the literature is also provided to facilitate the easy comparison of new or existing algorithms for a wide range of model analyses. Here, this paper introduces PyApprox and its various features, and presents results demonstrating the utility of PyApprox on a benchmark problem modeling the advection of a tracer in groundwater.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗