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At least 793 records · Page 44

The Role of Molecular Weight and Temperature on the Elastic and Viscoelastic Properties of a Glassy Thermoplastic Polyimide

Mechanical testing of the elastic and viscoelastic response of an advanced thermoplastic polyimide (LaRC-SI) with known variations in molecular weight was performed over a range of temperatures below the glass transition temperature. The notched tensile strength was shown to be a strong function of both molecular weight and temperature, whereas stiffness was only a strong function of temperature. A critical molecular weight was observed to occur at a weight average molecular weight of M, approx. 22,000 g/mol below which, the notched tensile strength decreases rapidly. This critical molecular weight transition is temperature-independent. Low, molecular weight materials tended to fail in a brittle manner, whereas high molecular weight materials exhibited ductile failure. Furthermore, low molecular weight materials have increased creep compliance and creep compliance rate, and are more sensitive to temperature than the high molecular weight materials. At long timescales (less than 1100 hours) physical aging serves to significantly decrease the creep compliance and creep rate of all the materials tested. Low molecular weight materials are less influenced by the effects of physical aging.

Nicholson, Lee M.↗

Linear-response calculation in the time-dependent density functional theory

Linear response calculations based on the time-dependent density-functional theory are presented. Especially, we report results of the finite amplitude method which we have recently proposed as an alternative and feasible approach to the (quasiparticle-)random-phase approximation. Calculated properties of the giant resonances and low-energy E1 modes are discussed. We found a universal linear correlation between the low-energy E1 strength and the neutron skin thickness.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Compressive and shear buckling analysis of metal matrix composite sandwich panels under different thermal environments

Combined inplane compressive and shear buckling analysis was conducted on flat rectangular sandwich panels using the Raleigh-Ritz minimum energy method with a consideration of transverse shear effect of the sandwich core. The sandwich panels were fabricated with titanium honeycomb core and laminated metal matrix composite face sheets. The results show that slightly slender (along unidirectional compressive loading axis) rectangular sandwich panels have the most desirable stiffness-to-weight ratios for aerospace structural applications; the degradation of buckling strength of sandwich panels with rising temperature is faster in shear than in compression; and the fiber orientation of the face sheets for optimum combined-load buckling strength of sandwich panels is a strong function of both loading condition and panel aspect ratio. Under the same specific weight and panel aspect ratio, a sandwich panel with metal matrix composite face sheets has much higher buckling strength than one having monolithic face sheets.

Ko, William L.↗

Compressive and shear buckling analysis of metal matrix composite sandwich panels under different thermal environments

Combined inplane compressive and shear buckling analysis was conducted on flat rectangular sandwich panels using the Raleigh-Ritz minimum energy method with a consideration of transverse shear effect of the sandwich core. The sandwich panels were fabricated with titanium honeycomb core and laminated metal matrix composite face sheets. The results show that slightly slender (along unidirectional compressive loading axis) rectangular sandwich panels have the most desirable stiffness-to-weight ratios for aerospace structural applications; the degradation of buckling strength of sandwich panels with rising temperature is faster in shear than in compression; and the fiber orientation of the face sheets for optimum combined-load buckling strength of sandwich panels is a strong function of both loading condition and panel aspect ratio. Under the same specific weight and panel aspect ratio, a sandwich panel with metal matrix composite face sheets has much higher buckling strength than one having monolithic face sheets.

Ko, William L.↗

Strength and fracture of glass in the lunar environment

Due to the lack of water on the moon, the effects of hydrolytic depolymerization - stress corrosion cracking - will be nonexistent in glasses produced and used on the moon. This would seem to make lunar glass very attractive for use in a wide variety of space engineering applications. We have applied the equation that describes stress corrosion cracking to lunar glass to show that, indeed, decreasing water vapor pressure results in an increase in strength. Experimental results on simulated lunar glass confirm this. The stress corrosion equation predicts an extremely high strength for glasses produced on the moon. This equation, however, cannot be applied to glasses under anhydrous conditions. In an environment completely devoid of water, the strength of glass will be determined by the fracture of the glass at the tip of a flaw, without the corrosive effects of water. Under this condition, in accordance with fracture theory, the strength of the glass will primarily be a function of the flaw size. Our experimental results show that the presence of surface flaws is more detrimental to the strength of simulated lunar glass than the effect of hydrolytic depolymerization.

Allen, Daniel D.↗

Response Functions for the Two-Dimensional Ultracold Fermi Gas: Dynamical BCS Theory and Beyond

Response functions are central objects in physics. They provide crucial information about the behavior of physical systems, and they can be directly compared with scattering experiments involving particles such as neutrons or photons. Calculations of such functions starting from the many-body Hamiltonian of a physical system are challenging and extremely valuable. In this paper, we focus on the two-dimensional (2D) ultracold Fermi atomic gas which has been realized experimentally. We present an application of the dynamical BCS theory to obtain response functions for different regimes of interaction strengths in the 2D gas with zero-range attractive interaction. We also discuss auxiliary-field quantum Monte Carlo (AFQMC) methods for the calculation of imaginary time correlations in these dilute Fermi gas systems. Illustrative results are given and comparisons are made between AFQMC and dynamical BCS theory results to assess the accuracy of the latter.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Determination of band oscillator strengths of atmospheric molecules from high resolution vacuum ultraviolet cross section measurements

An account is given of progress in work on (1) the determination of band oscillator strengths of the Schumann-Runge absorption bands of (16)O2 and (18)O2 from cross section measurements conducted at 79 K; (2) the determination of the absolute absorption cross section of the Schumann-Runge bands of (16)O(18)O from optical depth measurements performed on mixtures of (16)O2, (18)O2 and (16)O(18)O at 79K; and (3) the influence of Schumann-Runge linewing contributions on the determination of the Herzberg continuum absorption cross section of (16)O2 in the wavelength region 194 to 204 nm. The experimental investigations are effected at high resolution with a 6.65 m scanning spectrometer which is, by virtue of its small instrumental width (EWHM = 0.0013 nm), uniquely suitable for cross section measurements of molecular bands with discrete rotational structure. Absolute cross sections, which are independent of the instrumental function and from which band oscillator strengths are directly determined, are measured for the absorption bands that are most predissociated. Such measurements are needed for (1) accurate calculations of the stratospheric production of atomic oxygen and heavy ozone formed following the photopredissociation of (18)O(16)O by solar radiation penetrating between the absorption lines of (16)O2; (2) elucidation of the mechanism of predissociation of the upper state of the Schumann-Runge bands; and (3) determination of the true shape of the Herzberg continuum cross section.

Parkinson, W. H.↗

A phase-field model for hydraulic fracture nucleation and propagation in porous media

Many geo-engineering applications, for example, enhanced geothermal systems, rely on hydraulic fracturing to enhance the permeability of natural formations and allow for sufficient fluid circulation. Over the past few decades, the phase-field method has grown in popularity as a valid approach to modeling hydraulic fracturing because of the ease of handling complex fracture propagation geometries. However, existing phase-field methods cannot appropriately capture nucleation of hydraulic fractures because their formulations are solely energy-based and do not explicitly take into account the strength of the material. Thus, in this work, we propose a novel phase-field formulation for hydraulic fracturing with the main goal of modeling fracture nucleation in porous media, for example, rocks. Built on the variational formulation of previous phase-field methods, the proposed model incorporates the material strength envelope for hydraulic fracture nucleation through two important steps: (i) an external driving force term, included in the damage evolution equation, that accounts for the material strength; (ii) a properly designed damage function that defines the fluid pressure contribution on the crack driving force. In conclusion, the comparison of numerical results for two-dimensional test cases with existing analytical solutions demonstrates that the proposed phase-field model can accurately model both nucleation and propagation of hydraulic fractures. Additionally, we present the simulation of hydraulic fracturing in a three-dimensional domain with various stress conditions to demonstrate the applicability of the method to realistic scenarios.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Exchange–correlation entropy from the generalized thermal adiabatic connection

Warm dense matter is a highly energetic phase characterized by strong correlations, thermal effects, and quantum mechanical electrons. Thermal density functional theory is commonly used in simulations of this challenging phase, driving the development of temperature-dependent approximations to the exchange–correlation free energy. Approaches using the adiabatic connection formula are well known at zero temperature and have been recently leveraged at non-zero temperatures as well. In this work, a generalized thermal adiabatic connection (GTAC) formula is proposed, introducing a fictitious temperature parameter. This allows extraction of the exchange–correlation entropy S XC using simulated interaction strength scaling. Here, this procedure uses a Hellmann–Feynman approach to express the exchange–correlation entropy in terms of a temperature- and interaction strength-dependent exchange–correlation potential energy. In addition, analysis of S XC as a function of interaction strength suggests new forms for approximations, and GTAC itself offers a new framework for exploring both the exact and approximate interplay of temperature, density, and interaction strength across a wide range of conditions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Evidence for x -dependent proton color fluctuations in p A collisions at the CERN Large Hadron Collider

The centrality dependence of forward jet production in pA collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has been found to grossly violate the Glauber model prediction in a way that depends on the x in the proton. In this paper, we argue that this modification pattern provides the first experimental evidence for x-dependent proton color fluctuation effects. On average, parton configurations in the projectile proton containing a parton with large x interact with a nuclear target with a significantly smaller than average cross section and have smaller than average size. We implement the effects of fluctuations of the interaction strength and, using the ATLAS analysis of how hadron production at backward rapidities depends on the number of wounded nucleons, make quantitative predictions for the centrality dependence of the jet production rate as a function of the x-dependent interaction strength σ(x). We find that σ(x) ~ 0.6(σ) gives a good description of the data at x = 0.6. Finally, these findings support an explanation of the European Muon Collaboration effect as arising from the suppression of small-size nucleon configurations in the nucleus.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Thermal environment effects on strength and impact properties of boron-aluminum composites

A systematic study was conducted regarding the degradation of fracture strength and impact energy in commercial B-Al composites in both static and cyclic thermal environments. The composites used in the study contained approximately 50 vol % boron fibers, unidirectionally aligned in either a 6061 Al or 1100 Al matrix. The tensile strengths of the composites after 3000 thermal cycles as a function of upper cycle temperature are presented in graphs. The temperature at which the strengths of 6061 Al matrix, B-Al composites were significantly degraded after 3000 cycles was noticeably higher than that for the 1100 Al matrix composites. Static heating at 420 C resulted in no significant strength degradation for the 6061 Al matrix composites. In the case of 1100 matrix composites, some degradation was observed at 420 C but markedly less than in the composites cycled to 420 C.

Grimes, H. H.↗

Analysis and comparison of CVS-ADC approaches up to third order for the calculation of core-excited states

The extended second order algebraic-diagrammatic construction (ADC(2)-x) scheme for the polarization operator in combination with core-valence separation (CVS) approximation is well known to be a powerful quantum chemical method for the calculation of core-excited states and the description of X-ray absorption spectra. For the first time, the implementation and results of the third order approach CVS-ADC(3) are reported. Therefore, the CVS approximation has been applied to the ADC(3) working equations and the resulting terms have been implemented efficiently in the adcman program. By treating the α and β spins separately from each other, the unrestricted variant CVS-UADC(3) for the treatment of open-shell systems has been implemented as well. The performance and accuracy of the CVS-ADC(3) method are demonstrated with respect to a set of small and middle-sized organic molecules. Therefore, the results obtained at the CVS-ADC(3) level are compared with CVS-ADC(2)-x values as well as experimental data by calculating complete basis set limits. The influence of basis sets is further investigated by employing a large set of different basis sets. Besides the accuracy of core-excitation energies and oscillator strengths, the importance of cartesian basis functions and the treatment of orbital relaxation effects are analyzed in this work as well as computational timings. It turns out that at the CVS-ADC(3) level, the results are not further improved compared to CVS-ADC(2)-x and experimental data, because the fortuitous error compensation inherent in the CVS-ADC(2)-x approach is broken. While CVS-ADC(3) overestimates the core excitation energies on average by 0.61% ± 0.31%, CVS-ADC(2)-x provides an averaged underestimation of −0.22% ± 0.12%. Eventually, the best agreement with experiments can be achieved using the CVS-ADC(2)-x method in combination with a diffuse cartesian basis set at least at the triple-ζ level.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Transient Reliability Analysis Capability Developed for CARES/Life

The CARES/Life software developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center provides a general-purpose design tool that predicts the probability of the failure of a ceramic component as a function of its time in service. This award-winning software has been widely used by U.S. industry to establish the reliability and life of a brittle material (e.g., ceramic, intermetallic, and graphite) structures in a wide variety of 21st century applications.Present capabilities of the NASA CARES/Life code include probabilistic life prediction of ceramic components subjected to fast fracture, slow crack growth (stress corrosion), and cyclic fatigue failure modes. Currently, this code can compute the time-dependent reliability of ceramic structures subjected to simple time-dependent loading. For example, in slow crack growth failure conditions CARES/Life can handle sustained and linearly increasing time-dependent loads, whereas in cyclic fatigue applications various types of repetitive constant-amplitude loads can be accounted for. However, in real applications applied loads are rarely that simple but vary with time in more complex ways such as engine startup, shutdown, and dynamic and vibrational loads. In addition, when a given component is subjected to transient environmental and or thermal conditions, the material properties also vary with time. A methodology has now been developed to allow the CARES/Life computer code to perform reliability analysis of ceramic components undergoing transient thermal and mechanical loading. This means that CARES/Life will be able to analyze finite element models of ceramic components that simulate dynamic engine operating conditions. The methodology developed is generalized to account for material property variation (on strength distribution and fatigue) as a function of temperature. This allows CARES/Life to analyze components undergoing rapid temperature change in other words, components undergoing thermal shock. In addition, the capability has been developed to perform reliability analysis for components that undergo proof testing involving transient loads. This methodology was developed for environmentally assisted crack growth (crack growth as a function of time and loading), but it will be extended to account for cyclic fatigue (crack growth as a function of load cycles) as well.

Nemeth, Noel N.↗

The role of cytosine methylation on charge transport through a DNA strand

Cytosine methylation has been found to play a crucial role in various biological processes, including a number of human diseases. The detection of this small modification remains challenging. In this work, we computationally explore the possibility of detecting methylated DNA strands through direct electrical conductance measurements. Using density functional theory and the Landauer-Büttiker method, we study the electronic properties and charge transport through an eight base-pair methylated DNA strand and its native counterpart. We first analyze the effect of cytosine methylation on the tight-binding parameters of two DNA strands and then model the transmission of the electrons and conductance through the strands both with and without decoherence. We find that the main difference of the tight-binding parameters between the native DNA and the methylated DNA lies in the on-site energies of (methylated) cytosine bases. The intra- and inter-strand hopping integrals between two nearest neighboring guanine base and (methylated) cytosine base also change with the addition of the methyl groups. Our calculations show that in the phase-coherent limit, the transmission of the methylated strand is close to the native strand when the energy is nearby the highest occupied molecular orbital level and larger than the native strand by 5 times in the bandgap. The trend in transmission also holds in the presence of the decoherence with the same rate. The lower conductance for the methylated strand in the experiment is suggested to be caused by the more stable structure due to the introduction of the methyl groups. We also study the role of the exchange-correlation functional and the effect of contact coupling by choosing coupling strengths ranging from weak to strong coupling limit.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Polymer Coatings on Virus-like Particle Nanoreactors at Low Ionic Strength—Charge Reversal and Substrate Access

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are a class of biomaterials which serve as platforms for achieving the desired functionality through interior and exterior modifications. Through ionic strength-mediated electrostatic interactions, VLPs have been assembled into hierarchically ordered materials. This work builds on predictive models to prepare polymer-coated VLP dusters at very low ionic strength. Zeta potential measurements showed that the clusters carried a strongly positive charge, a complete charge reversal from the VLP building block. SAXS analysis confirmed polymer adsorption onto the VLP exterior. Furthermore, we then studied the activity of an encapsulated enzyme toward small molecular and macromolecular substrates to determine the effect of each component of the hierarchically assembled material. We found that while encapsulation and polymer coating did not have a large effect on access to the enzyme by its native, small molecular substrate, substrate modification with a macromolecule caused the polymer coating and encapsulation to affect the access to the enzyme.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

The Influence of Printing Parameters, Post-Processing, and Testing Conditions on the Properties of Binder Jetting Additive Manufactured Functional Ceramics

This article outlines the current state-of-the-art binder jetting (BJT) additive manufacturing of functional ceramics. The impact of printing parameters, heat treatment processing, and testing conditions on the observed performance of these ceramics is discussed. Additionally, this article discusses the impact of physical properties such as density and mechanical strength on the overall performance of these functional ceramics. Although printing parameters and initial feedstock are crucial for the printability of the desired parts, other factors play an important role in the performance of the ceramic. Thermal post-processing is crucial to achieve optimized functional properties, while the testing orientation is key to obtaining the maximum output from the part. Finally, future research directions for this field are also discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Adsorption of Cu(II) on Oxidized Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in the Presence of Hydroxylated and Carboxylated Fullerenes

The adsorption of Cu(II) on oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (oMWCNTs) as a function of contact time, pH, ionic strength, temperature, and hydroxylated fullerene (C 60 (OH) n ) and carboxylated fullerene (C 60 (C(COOH) 2 ) n ) were studied under ambient conditions using batch techniques. The results showed that the adsorption of Cu(II) had rapidly reached equilibrium and the kinetic process was well described by a pseudo-second-order rate model. Cu(II) adsorption on oMWCNTs was dependent on pH but independent of ionic strength. Compared with the Freundlich model, the Langmuir model was more suitable for analyzing the adsorption isotherms. The thermodynamic parameters calculated from temperature-dependent adsorption isotherms suggested that Cu(II) adsorption on oMWCNTs was spontaneous and endothermic. The effect of C 60 (OH) n on Cu(II) adsorption of oMWCNTs was not significant at low C 60 (OH) n concentration, whereas a negative effect was observed at higher concentration. The adsorption of Cu(II) on oMWCNTs was enhanced with increasing pH values at pH < 5, but decreased at pH ≥ 5. The presence of C 60 (C(COOH) 2 ) n inhibited the adsorption of Cu(II) onto oMWCNTs at pH 4–6. The double sorption site model was applied to simulate the adsorption isotherms of Cu(II) in the presence of C 60 (OH) n and fitted the experimental data well.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Valence and lowest Rydberg electronic states of phenol investigated by synchrotron radiation and theoretical methods

We present the experimental high-resolution vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) photoabsorption spectra of phenol covering for the first time the full 4.3–10.8 eV energy-range, with absolute cross sections determined. Theoretical calculations on the vertical excitation energies and oscillator strengths were performed using time-dependent density functional theory and the equation-of-motion coupled cluster method restricted to single and double excitations level. These have been used in the assignment of valence and Rydberg transitions of the phenol molecule. The VUV spectrum reveals several new features not previously reported in the literature, with particular reference to the 6.401 eV transition, which is here assigned to the 3sσ/σ{sup ∗}(OH)←3π(3a″) transition. The measured absolute photoabsorption cross sections have been used to calculate the photolysis lifetime of phenol in the earth’s atmosphere (0–50 km).

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗