Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “Platform”

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 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

An optimized microfabricated platform for the optical generation and detection of hyperpolarized 129 Xe

Low thermal-equilibrium nuclear spin polarizations and the need for sophisticated instrumentation render conventional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and imaging (MRI) incompatible with small-scale microfluidic devices. Hyperpolarized 129 Xe gas has found use in the study of many materials but has required very large and expensive instrumentation. Recently a microfabricated device with modest instrumentation demonstrated all-optical hyperpolarization and detection of 129 Xe gas. This device was limited by 129 Xe polarizations less than 1%, 129 Xe NMR signals smaller than 20 nT, and transport of hyperpolarized 129 Xe over millimeter lengths. Higher polarizations, versatile detection schemes, and flow of 129 Xe over larger distances are desirable for wider applications. Here we demonstrate an ultra-sensitive microfabricated platform that achieves 129 Xe polarizations reaching 7%, NMR signals exceeding 1 μT, lifetimes up to 6 s, and simultaneous two-mode detection, consisting of a high-sensitivity in situ channel with signal-to-noise of 10 5 and a lower-sensitivity ex situ detection channel which may be useful in a wider variety of conditions. 129 Xe is hyperpolarized and detected in locations more than 1 cm apart. Our versatile device is an optimal platform for microfluidic magnetic resonance in particular, but equally attractive for wider nuclear spin applications benefitting from ultra-sensitive detection, long coherences, and simple instrumentation.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

A microfluidic platform for pharmaceutical salt screening

We describe a microfluidic platform comprised of 48 wells to screen for pharmaceutical salts. Solutions of pharmaceutical parent compounds (PCs) and salt formers (SFs) are mixed on-chip in a combinatorial fashion in arrays of 87.5-nanolitre wells, which constitutes a drastic reduction of the volume of PC solution needed per condition screened compared to typical high throughput pharmaceutical screening approaches. Nucleation and growth of salt crystals is induced by diffusive and/or convective mixing of solutions containing, respectively, PCs and SFs in a variety of solvents. Here, to enable long term experiments, solvent loss was minimized by reducing the thickness of the absorptive polymeric material, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and by using solvent impermeable top and bottom layers. Additionally, well isolation was enhanced via the incorporation of pneumatic valves that are closed at rest. Brightfield and polarized light microscopy and Raman spectroscopy were used for on-chip analysis and crystal identification. Using a gold-coated glass substrate and minimizing the thickness of the PDMS control layer drastically improved the signal-to-noise ratio for Raman spectra. Two drugs, naproxen (acid) and ephedrine (base), were used for validation of the platform's ability to screen for salts. Each PC was mixed combinatorially with potential SFs in a variety of solvents. Crystals were visualized using brightfield polarized light microscopy. Subsequent on-chip analyses of the crystals with Raman spectroscopy identified four different naproxen salts and five different ephedrine salts.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2016

Mass spectrometry-based monitoring of millisecond protein–ligand binding dynamics using an automated microfluidic platform

Characterizing protein-ligand binding dynamics is crucial for understanding protein function and developing new therapeutic agents. We have developed a novel microfluidic platform that features rapid mixing of protein and ligand solutions, variable incubation times, and on-chip electrospray ionization to perform label-free, solution-based monitoring of protein-ligand binding dynamics. This platform offers many advantages including automated processing, rapid mixing, and low sample consumption.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2018

An integrated mass spectrometry platform enables picomole-scale real-time electrosynthetic reaction screening and discovery

The identification of new electrosynthetic pathways enables environmentally friendly synthetic applications. However, the development of miniaturized screening procedures/platforms to expedite the discovery of electrooxidation reactions remains challenging. Herein, we developed an integrated system that serves as a reactor and ion source in a single experimental step using only picomole-scale reactants to monitor electrooxidation in real-time. This reaction screening platform utilizes the intrinsic electrochemical capabilities of nano-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. We validated the feasibility of this method by reproducing three known electrochemical reactions. We also discovered two new electroorganic reaction pathways: (i) C–N dehydrodimerization of 8-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinoline to construct a novel quinoline skeleton, and (ii) TEMPO-mediated accelerated electrooxidative dehydrogenation of tetrahydroisoquinolines. Moreover, the radical cations and key intermediates captured by this screening platform provided direct evidence for the mechanism of these novel electrochemical reactions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2026

Multiphasic droplet microfluidics platform for controlled bacteria and mammalian cell co-culture

Microfluidics has revolutionized high-throughput miniaturized biological assays. However, co-culture of mammalian cells and bacteria remains challenging in microfluidic systems due to incompatible growth requirements, limited spatial control, and the requirement for a mammalian cell adhesion matrix. Here, we present a microfluidic platform that generates multiphasic droplets which encapsulate mammalian and bacterial cells, enabling their direct and indirect co-culture. By combining photopolymerizable hydrogels with polymer phase separation, we generate core–shell droplets composed of a liquid and a hydrogel compartment. The hydrogel compartment supports mammalian cell adhesion and culture, while the liquid compartment sustains bacterial growth. We demonstrate two droplet architectures that allow physical bacteria–mammalian cell contacts or enforce complete physical separation, representing direct and indirect co-culture. Our multiphasic droplets are stable, customizable, able to sustain co-culture for over 24 hours, and compatible with fluorescence-based cell sorting technologies. Overall, our multiphasic droplet microfluidic platform provides a scalable and versatile tool for high-throughput co-culture and screening of host–microbe interactions.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

MIRACL Co‐Simulation platform for control and operation of distributed wind in microgrid

Abstract This paper presents a co‐simulation platform (CSP) developed as a part of the “Microgrids, Infrastructure Resilience and Advanced Controls Launchpad (MIRACL)” project, hereafter called MIRACL‐CSP, to allow simulation‐based testing, demonstration, and evaluations of distributed wind under various grid operating conditions. MIRACL‐CSP provides modular interactions among the power distribution system, distributed wind, and utility decision‐making framework. A hierarchical engine for large‐scale infrastructure co‐simulations (HELICS) is used as the core engine of MIRACL‐CSP to establish time and information coordination among the MIRACL‐CSP modules. In this study, MIRACL‐CSP performance is demonstrated using the IEEE 123‐node test distribution grid modelled in GridLAB‐D and the utility decision support application modelled in Python. The functionality of MIRACL‐CSP is demonstrated through various grid operational scenarios in a microgrid and networked microgrid environment. A co‐simulation study is described that demonstrated MIRACL‐CSP capabilities for the microgrid operational scenario in the IEEE 123‐node test system. MIRACL‐CSP is a generic platform that facilitates distributed wind research for different test systems, applications, and valuation of distributed wind.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2010

Automation Improvements for Synchrotron Based Small Angle Scattering Using an Inexpensive Robotics Platform

This paper reports on the progress toward creating semi-autonomous motion control platforms for beamline applications using the iRobot Create registered platform. The goal is to create beamline research instrumentation where the motion paths are based on the local environment rather than position commanded from a control system, have low integration costs and also be scalable and easily maintainable.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Robotic reconnaissance platform. I. Spectroscopic instruments with rangefinders

In this paper, basic principles of the design and implementation of a portable, multi-functional scientific instrument, operating from a robotic reconnaissance mobile platform are discussed. The current version of the instrument includes a multi-gas laser sensor, multi-functional spectrometer, isotopes identifier, cameras, and rangefinder. An additional set of sensors monitors temperature, pressure, humidity, and background radiation. All components are installed on a mini-robotic platform, which provides data acquisition, processing, and transmittance. The design focuses on the development of calibration-free, reliable, low power-consumption devices. To create a highly survivable, accurate, and reliable instrument, a concept of an inhomogeneous sensory network has been developed. Such a network combines non-identical sensors and provides cross-use of information received from different sensors to describe environmental conditions, to choose appropriate algorithms of data processing, and to achieve high accuracy gas-concentration measurements. The system uses the same lasers to operate different optical devices such as sensors, rangefinders, spectrometers, and isotopes identifiers. Among the innovative elements described in this paper, are a calibration-free, laser multi-gas sensor with range-finding option; a high signal/noise ratio transmittance spectrometer; a single-frequency laser with nano-selector; and low repetition-rate femtosecond fiber lasers operating in near- and middle- infrared spectral ranges. New detailed analyses of absorption spectroscopy theoretical approximations made it possible to achieve high-accuracy gas-concentration measurements with miniature optical sensors.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

A tunable hemispherical platform for non-stretching curved flexible electronics and optoelectronics

One major challenge in incorporating flexible electronics or optoelectronics on curved surfaces is the requirement of significant stretchability. We report a tunable platform for incorporating flexible and yet non-stretching device layers on a hemisphere. In this configuration, an array of planar petals contractively maps onto the surface of an inflatable hemisphere through elastocapillary interactions mediated by an interface liquid. A mechanical model is developed to elucidate the dependence of the conformality of the petal structures on their elastic modulus and thickness and the liquid surface tension. The modeling results are validated against experimental results obtained using petal structures of different thicknesses, restoring elastic spring elements of different spring constants, and liquids with different surface tension coefficients. Our platform will enable facile integration of non-stretching electronic and optoelectronic components prepared using established planar fabrication techniques on tunable hemispherical surfaces.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Traffic information computing platform for big data

Big data environment create data conditions for improving the quality of traffic information service. The target of this article is to construct a traffic information computing platform for big data environment. Through in-depth analysis the connotation and technology characteristics of big data and traffic information service, a distributed traffic atomic information computing platform architecture is proposed. Under the big data environment, this type of traffic atomic information computing architecture helps to guarantee the traffic safety and efficient operation, more intelligent and personalized traffic information service can be used for the traffic information users.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Manipulating waves with LEGO{sup ®} bricks: A versatile experimental platform for metamaterial architectures

In this letter, we discuss a versatile, fully reconfigurable experimental platform for the investigation of phononic phenomena in metamaterial architectures. The approach revolves around the use of 3D laser vibrometry to reconstruct global and local wavefield features in specimens obtained through simple arrangements of LEGO{sup ®} bricks on a thin baseplate. The agility by which it is possible to reconfigure the brick patterns into a nearly endless spectrum of topologies makes this an effective approach for rapid experimental proof of concept, as well as a powerful didactic tool, in the arena of phononic crystals and metamaterials engineering. We use our platform to provide a compelling visual illustration of important spatial wave manipulation effects (waveguiding and seismic isolation), and to elucidate fundamental dichotomies between Bragg-based and locally resonant bandgap mechanisms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2017

A broadband proton backlighting platform to probe shock propagation in low-density systems

A proton backlighting platform has been developed for the study of strong shock propagation in low-density systems in planar geometry. Electric fields at the converging shock front in inertial confinement fusion implosions have been previously observed, demonstrating the presence of—and the need to understand—strong electric fields not modeled in standard radiation-hydrodynamic simulations. In this planar configuration, long-pulse ultraviolet lasers are used to drive a strong shock into a gas-cell target, while a short-pulse proton backlighter side-on radiographs the shock propagation. Finally, the capabilities of the platform are presented here. Future experiments will vary shock strength and gas fill, to probe shock conditions at different Z and T e .

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2017

A platform for studying the Rayleigh–Taylor and Richtmyer–Meshkov instabilities in a planar geometry at high energy density at the National Ignition Facility

A new experimental platform has been developed at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) for studying the Rayleigh–Taylor (RT) and Richtmyer–Meshkov (RM) instabilities in a planar geometry at high-energy-densities. The platform uses 60 beams of the NIF laser to drive an initially solid shock tube containing a pre-machined interface between dense and light materials. The strong shock turns the initially solid target into a plasma and the material boundary into a fluid interface with the imprinted initial condition. The interface evolves by action of the RT and RM instabilities, and the growth is imaged with backlit x-ray radiography. We present our first data involving sinusoidal interface perturbations driven from the heavy side to the light side. Late-time radiographic images show the initial conditions reaching the deeply nonlinear regime, and an evolution of fine structure consistent with a transition to turbulence. Lastly, we show preliminary comparisons with post-shot numerical simulations and discuss the implications for future campaigns.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Multimodal microfluidic platform for controlled culture and analysis of unicellular organisms

Modern live-cell imaging approaches permit real-time visualization of biological processes, yet limitations exist for unicellular organism isolation, culturing and long-term imaging that preclude fully understanding how cells sense and respond to environmental perturbations and the link between single-cell variability and whole-population dynamics. Here we present a microfluidic platform that provides fine control over the local environment with the capacity to replace media components at any experimental time point, and provides both perfused and compartmentalized cultivation conditions depending on the valve configuration. In this work, the functionality and flexibility of the platform were validated using both bacteria and yeast having different sizes, motility and growth media. The demonstrated ability to track the growth and dynamics of both motile and non-motile prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms emphasizes the versatility of the devices, which with further scale-up should enable studies in bioenergy and environmental research.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

An experimental platform for pulsed-power driven magnetic reconnection

We describe a versatile pulsed-power driven platform for magnetic reconnection experiments, based on the exploding wire arrays driven in parallel [Suttle et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 225001 (2016)]. This platform produces inherently magnetised plasma flows for the duration of the generator current pulse (250 ns), resulting in a long-lasting reconnection layer. The layer exists for long enough to allow the evolution of complex processes such as plasmoid formation and movement to be diagnosed by a suite of high spatial and temporal resolution laser-based diagnostics. We can access a wide range of magnetic reconnection regimes by changing the wire material or moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays. We present results with aluminium and carbon wires, in which the parameters of the inflows and the layer that forms are significantly different. By moving the electrodes inside the wire arrays, we change how strongly the inflows are driven. This enables us to study both symmetric reconnection in a range of different regimes and asymmetric reconnection.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

Nanocalorimeter platform for in situ specific heat measurements and x-ray diffraction at low temperature

Recent advances in electronics and nanofabrication have enabled membrane-based nanocalorimetry for measurements of the specific heat of microgram-sized samples. We have integrated a nanocalorimeter platform into a 4.5 T split-pair vertical-field magnet to allow for the simultaneous measurement of the specific heat and x-ray scattering in magnetic fields and at temperatures as low as 4 K. This multi-modal approach empowers researchers to directly correlate scattering experiments with insights from thermodynamic properties including structural, electronic, orbital, and magnetic phase transitions. The use of a nanocalorimeter sample platform enables numerous technical advantages: precise measurement and control of the sample temperature, quantification of beam heating effects, fast and precise positioning of the sample in the x-ray beam, and fast acquisition of x-ray scans over a wide temperature range without the need for time-consuming re-centering and re-alignment. Furthermore, on an YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ crystal and a copper foil, we demonstrate a novel approach to x-ray absorption spectroscopy by monitoring the change in sample temperature as a function of incident photon energy. Lastly, we illustrate the new insights that can be gained from in situ structural and thermodynamic measurements by investigating the superheated state occurring at the first-order magneto-elastic phase transition of Fe 2 P, a material that is of interest for magnetocaloric applications.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2018

Using a 2-shock 1D platform at NIF to measure the effect of convergence on mix and symmetry

In this paper, we describe the use of a robust new 1-D like implosion platform at the National Ignition Facility [G. H. Miller et al., Opt. Eng. 43, 2841 (2004)] to study the effect of convergence on mix and shape. Previous experiments suggest that nuclear yields and ion temperature degrade with increased convergence [M. D. Cable et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 2316 (1994)] due to enhanced perturbation growth and mix, but little has been reported on the distortion of the shape with time. The 2-shock platform was developed [S. F. Khan et al., Phys. Plasmas 23, 042708 (2016)] to maintain a high degree of sphericity during the whole implosion phase and has a thick, uniformly doped (1% Si) plastic CH shell to minimize the effect of mixing due to hydrodynamic feed-through from the outer ablator surface. An inner layer of deuterated plastic (CD) and hydrogen-tritium (DT) gas fill allows for the measurement of DT neutrons produced by the mix between the gas and ablator. DD neutrons provide information about the hot, unmixed CD region. By changing the fill gas density while keeping the capsule diameter, ablator thickness, and Au hohlraum conditions fixed, the x-ray hot spot convergence ratio was varied from 14 to 22. We find that the atomic mix (DT yield) grows linearly as a function of convergence, but since T ion changes as well, it does not necessarily mean that the amount or extent of mix grows linearly as well. Lastly, we also find the DD yield, which is a measurement of the shell heating, saturates above a certain convergence.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2019

Study of a magnetically driven reconnection platform using ultrafast proton radiography

A novel magnetically driven reconnection platform was created by a pair of U-shaped Cu coils that connect two parallel Cu plates irradiated at a focused laser intensity of ~3 × 10 16 W/cm 2 and characterized using ultrafast proton radiography. The proton data show two prolate voids, each corresponding to the coil current, with an inferred maximum magnitude of 57 ± 4 kA. A center “flasklike” feature was also observed in the proton radiographs. By prescribing electromagnetic fields associated with magnetic reconnection in proton ray tracing simulations, characteristics of this center feature were reproduced. Finally, these results demonstrate the robustness of the laser-driven capacitor coils for generating strong magnetic fields and provide promise of using such coils as a viable platform for studying magnetically driven reconnection in the laboratory.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗