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At least 811 records · Page 45

Testing Fast Reactor Fuels in a Thermal Reactor: A Comparison Report

The testing of fast reactor fuels in the thermal-spectrum of the Advanced Test Reactor using cadmium-filtering has been underway since 2003. The objective of this experimental approach has not been to create testing conditions that are fully prototypic of a fast reactor, but to create a thermal profile inside of test fuel rodlets that is nearly prototypic of corresponding fast reactor conditions. By doing so, this experimental approach should allow for the study of fast reactor fuel performance phenomena that are primarily dependent upon the conditions of temperature and/or temperature gradient inside the fuel to be possible using a thermal test reactor. Validation of this assertion has been undertaken by comparing fuel performance phenomena observed in fuels irradiated in cadmium-filtered positions in ATR to similar or identical fuels irradiated under similar conditions in genuine fast reactors. This report documents a preliminary comparison of limited fuel performance data available from the testing of metallic, oxide, and nitride fuels in cadmium-filtered positions in the ATR to the performance of identical or similar fuels irradiated in genuine fast reactors. Although a variety of fuel performance metrics are presented, particular attention is paid to those phenomena that are primarily, or significantly, dependent on conditions of temperature and temperature gradient with the fuel. Although the comparisons presented in this report are at this time limited in scope and preliminary in nature, they do support the assertion that the objectives of the cadmium-filtered testing approach in ATR are both feasible and appear sound. The available evidence supports the assertion that use of cadmium-filtering creates irradiation conditions in the ATR that are both relevant to, and suitable for, fast reactor fuel performance testing.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Testing Fast Reactor Fuels in a Thermal Reactor: A Comparison Report

The testing of fast reactor fuels in the thermal-spectrum of the Advanced Test Reactor using cadmium-filtering has been underway since 2003. The objective of this experimental approach has not been to create testing conditions that are fully prototypic of a fast reactor, but to create a thermal profile inside of test fuel rodlets that is nearly prototypic of corresponding fast reactor conditions. By doing so, this experimental approach should allow for the study of fast reactor fuel performance phenomena that are primarily dependent upon the conditions of temperature and/or temperature gradient inside the fuel to be possible using a thermal test reactor. Validation of this assertion has been undertaken by comparing fuel performance phenomena observed in fuels irradiated in cadmium-filtered positions in ATR to similar or identical fuels irradiated under similar conditions in genuine fast reactors. This report documents a preliminary comparison of limited fuel performance data available from the testing of metallic, oxide, and nitride fuels in cadmium-filtered positions in the ATR to the performance of identical or similar fuels irradiated in genuine fast reactors. Although a variety of fuel performance metrics are presented, particular attention is paid to those phenomena that are primarily, or significantly, dependent on conditions of temperature and temperature gradient with the fuel. Although the comparisons presented in this report are at this time limited in scope and preliminary in nature, they do support the assertion that the objectives of the cadmium-filtered testing approach in ATR are both feasible and appear sound. The available evidence supports the assertion that use of cadmium-filtering creates irradiation conditions in the ATR that are both relevant to, and suitable for, fast reactor fuel performance testing.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Orb5: A global electromagnetic gyrokinetic code using the PIC approach in toroidal geometry

This paper presents the current state of the global gyrokinetic code Orb5 as an update of the previous reference [Jolliet et al., Comp. Phys. Commun. 177 409 (2007)]. The Orb5 code solves the electromagnetic VlasovMaxwell system of equations using a PIC scheme and also includes collisions and strong flows. The code assumes multiple gyrokinetic ion species at all wavelengths for the polarization density and drift-kinetic electrons. Variants of the physical model can be selected for electrons such as assuming an adiabatic response or a “hybrid” model in which passing electrons are assumed adiabatic and trapped electrons are drift-kinetic. A Fourier filter as well as various control variates and noise reduction techniques enable simulations with good signal-to-noise ratios at a limited numerical cost. They are completed with different momentum and zonal flow-conserving heat sources allowing for temperature-gradient and flux-driven simulations. The code, which runs on both CPUs and GPUs, is well benchmarked against other similar codes and analytical predictions, and shows good scalability up to thousands of nodes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Dinitrogen Emissions Dominate Nitrogen Gas Emissions From Soils With Low Oxygen Availability in a Moist Tropical Forest

Lowland tropical forest soils are relatively N rich and are the largest global source of N 2 O (a powerful greenhouse gas) to the atmosphere. Despite the importance of tropical N cycling, there have been few direct measurements of N 2 (an inert gas that can serve as an alternate fate for N 2 O) in tropical soils, limiting our ability to characterize N budgets, manage soils to reduce N 2 O production, or predict the future role that N limitation to primary productivity will play in buffering against climate change. We collected soils from across macro‐ and micro‐topographic gradients that have previously been shown to differ in O 2 availability and trace gas emissions. We then incubated these soils under oxic and anoxic headspaces to explore the relative effect of soil location versus transient redox conditions. No matter where the soils came from, or what headspace O 2 was used in the incubation, N 2 emissions dominated the flux of N gas losses. In the macrotopography plots, production of N 2 and N 2 O were higher in low O 2 valleys than on more aerated ridges and slopes. In the microtopography plots, N 2 emissions from plots with lower mean soil O 2 (5%–10%) were greater than in plots with higher mean soil O 2 (10%–20%). We estimate an N gas flux of ∼37 kg N/ha/yr from this forest, 99% as N 2 . These results suggest that N 2 fluxes may have been systematically underestimated in these landscapes, and that the measurements we present call for a reevaluation of the N budgets in lowland tropical forest ecosystems.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Diamine chelates for increased stability in mixed Sn–Pb and all-perovskite tandem solar cells

Perovskite tandem solar cells show promising performance but non-radiative recombination and its progressive worsening with time, especially in the mixed Sn–Pb low-bandgap layer, limit performance and stability. Here, in this study, we find that mixed Sn–Pb perovskite thin films exhibit a compositional gradient, with an excess of Sn on the surface – and we show this gradient exacerbates oxidation and increases the recombination rate. We find that diamines preferentially chelate Sn atoms, removing them from the film surface and achieving a more balanced Sn:Pb stoichiometry, making the surface of the film resistive to the oxidation of Sn. The process forms an electrically resistive low-dimensional barrier layer, passivating defects and reducing interface recombination. Further improving the homogeneity of the barrier layer using 1,2-diaminopropane results in more uniform distribution and passivation. Tandems achieve a power conversion efficiency of 28.8%. As a result, encapsulated tandems retain 90% of initial efficiency following 1000 hours of operating at the maximum power point under simulated one-sun illumination in air without cooling.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Machine learning approaches for influenza A virus risk assessment identifies predictive correlates using ferret model in vivo data

In vivo assessments of influenza A virus (IAV) pathogenicity and transmissibility in ferrets represent a crucial component of many pandemic risk assessment rubrics, but few systematic efforts to identify which data from in vivo experimentation are most useful for predicting pathogenesis and transmission outcomes have been conducted. To this aim, we aggregated viral and molecular data from 125 contemporary IAV (H1, H2, H3, H5, H7, and H9 subtypes) evaluated in ferrets under a consistent protocol. Three overarching predictive classification outcomes (lethality, morbidity, transmissibility) were constructed using machine learning (ML) techniques, employing datasets emphasizing virological and clinical parameters from inoculated ferrets, limited to viral sequence-based information, or combining both data types. Among 11 different ML algorithms tested and assessed, gradient boosting machines and random forest algorithms yielded the highest performance, with models for lethality and transmission consistently better performing than models predicting morbidity. Comparisons of feature selection among models was performed, and highest performing models were validated with results from external risk assessment studies. Our findings show that ML algorithms can be used to summarize complex in vivo experimental work into succinct summaries that inform and enhance risk assessment criteria for pandemic preparedness that take in vivo data into account.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Iterative map-making with two-level preconditioning for polarized cosmic microwave background data sets: A worked example for ground-based experiments

Context. An estimation of the sky signal from streams of time ordered data (TOD) acquired by the cosmic microwave background (CMB) experiments is one of the most important steps in the context of CMB data analysis referred to as the map-making problem. The continuously growing CMB data sets render the CMB map-making problem progressively more challenging in terms of computational cost and memory in particular in the context of ground-based experiments with their operational limitations as well as the presence of contaminants. Aims. We study a recently proposed, novel class of the Preconditioned Conjugate Gradient (PCG) solvers which invoke two-level preconditioners in the context of the ground-based CMB experiments. We compare them against the PCG solvers commonly used in the map-making context considering their precision and time-to-solution. Methods. We compare these new methods on realistic, simulated data sets reflecting the characteristics of current and forthcoming CMB ground-based experiments. We develop a divide-and-conquer implementation of the approach where each processor performs a sequential map-making for a subset of the TOD. Results. We find that considering the map level residuals, the new class of solvers permits us to achieve a tolerance that is better than the standard approach by up to three orders of magnitude, where the residual level often saturates before convergence is reached. This often corresponds to an important improvement in the precision of the recovered power spectra in particular on the largest angular scales. The new method also typically requires fewer iterations to reach a required precision and therefore shorter run times are required for a single map-making solution. However, the construction of an appropriate two-level preconditioner can be as costly as a single standard map-making run. Nevertheless, if the same problem needs to be solved multiple times, for example, as in Monte Carlo simulations, this cost is incurred only once, and the method should be competitive, not only as far as its precision is concerned but also its performance.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

pyDiSCaMB : enabling the use of multipolar scattering factors in Phenix

Multipolar scattering models, such as the transferable aspherical atom model, account for atomic chemical interactions and provide a more accurate representation of experimental data. However, the simpler independent atom model (IAM), which assumes non-interacting atoms, is the only model available in the most widely used macromolecular refinement programs. This is primarily because IAM offers a hard-to-beat combination of computational efficiency and modelling power at typical macromolecular resolutions. By contrast, more accurate multipolar modelling has historically been limited due to its computational cost and the absence of an interface between software capable of calculating structure factors and gradients based on multipolar models and software designed for macromolecular refinement. This work introduces pyDiSCaMB , a Python software package designed to integrate between the computational crystallography toolbox ( cctbx ) and the quantum crystallography library DiSCaMB ( Densities in Structural Chemistry and Molecular Biology ), thus enabling multipolar scattering models in Phenix 's toolkit. The implementation, features and capabilities of pyDiSCaMB are presented, the runtimes for the calculation of structure factor and target gradients with respect to atomic parameters are explored, and Fourier images of electrostatic potential, electron density and deformation maps are computed as illustrative examples. The pyDiSCaMB library will make multipolar modelling widely available to the structural biology community, potentially transforming refinement and model-building for both crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy (cryoEM).

MATTS data bank↗

Asymmetric responses of primary productivity to precipitation extremes: A synthesis of grassland precipitation manipulation experiments

Climatic changes are altering Earth's hydrological cycle, resulting in altered precipitation amounts, increased interannual variability of precipitation, and more frequent extreme precipitation events. These trends will likely continue into the future, having substantial impacts on net primary productivity (NPP) and associated ecosystem services such as food production and carbon sequestration. Frequently, experimental manipulations of precipitation have linked altered precipitation regimes to changes in NPP. Yet, findings have been diverse and substantial uncertainty still surrounds generalities describing patterns of ecosystem sensitivity to altered precipitation. Additionally, we do not know whether previously observed correlations between NPP and precipitation remain accurate when precipitation changes become extreme. We synthesized results from 83 case studies of experimental precipitation manipulations in grasslands worldwide. Here, we used meta-analytical techniques to search for generalities and asymmetries of aboveground NPP (ANPP) and belowground NPP (BNPP) responses to both the direction and magnitude of precipitation change. Sensitivity (i.e., productivity response standardized by the amount of precipitation change) of BNPP was similar under precipitation additions and reductions, but ANPP was more sensitive to precipitation additions than reductions; this was especially evident in drier ecosystems. Additionally, overall relationships between the magnitude of productivity responses and the magnitude of precipitation change were saturating in form. The saturating form of this relationship was likely driven by ANPP responses to very extreme precipitation increases, although there were limited studies imposing extreme precipitation change, and there was considerable variation among experiments. Finally, this highlights the importance of incorporating gradients of manipulations, ranging from extreme drought to extreme precipitation increases into future climate change experiments. Additionally, policy and land management decisions related to global change scenarios should consider how ANPP and BNPP responses may differ, and that ecosystem responses to extreme events might not be predicted from relationships found under moderate environmental changes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

High flux boiling heat transfer enhancement using triangle shaped vertical walls in two-phase microchannel heat exchangers

Two-phase heat exchangers allow heat loads to be dissipated with lower fluid flow rates without inducing thermal gradients, and high surface area microchannels further reduce the thermal resistance of these heat exchangers. However, there are many practical limits that prevent widespread use of two-phase microchannel heat exchangers. Many authors have looked to address these practical limits by treating the channel floors or creating artificial nucleation sites. Few works look to enhance heat transfer in the walls of channels with hydraulic diameters below 200 μm. This work is aimed at increasing the efficacy of high aspect ratio silicon microchannels that use R134a as the working fluid. The 125 parallel channels are 40 μm wide, 200 μm deep, and 2 mm long and contain a 15 μm wide, 150 μm long restriction at each inlet. The thermal resistance and dryout characteristics of traditional, plain-walled channels are compared to channels with 2 area enhancement patterns each of which increases the area available for heat transfer by 41%. Furthermore, a resistance to dryout is seen in both area-enhanced test sections, and a 15.5% reduction in thermal resistance is shown for the area-enhanced part with a 6 μm triangular pitch. Only a 7.8% performance increase is seen in the test section with a 3 μm pitch. Both area enhancement patterns induce an average 27% increase in pressure drop for all tests. Heat transfer characteristics are solved for using a finite element analysis (FEA) model. By examining heat transfer coefficients and local heat fluxes, it is postulated that the area enhancement reduces heat transfer coefficients and the performance increase is caused by increasing the number of active nucleation sites.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Development of an Innovative High-Thermal Conductivity UO2 Ceramic Composites Fuel Pellets with Carbon Nano-Tubes Using Spark Plasma Sintering

Uranium dioxide (UO2) is the most common fuel material in commercial nuclear power reactors. Despite its numerous advantages such as high melting point, good high-temperature stability, good chemical compatibility with cladding and coolant, and resistance to radiation, it suffers from low thermal conductivity that can result in large temperature gradients within the UO2 fuel pellet, causing it to crack and release fission gases. Thermal swelling of the pellets also limits the lifetime of UO2 fuel in the reactor. To mitigate these problems, we propose to develop novel UO2 fuel with uniformly distributed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) that can provide high-conductivity thermal pathways and can eliminate fuel cracking and fission gas release due to high temperatures. CNTs have been investigated extensively for the past decade to explore their unique physical properties and many potential applications. CNTs have high thermal conductivity (6600 W/mK for an individual single- walled CNT and >3000 W/mK for an individual multi-walled CNT) and high temperature stability up to 2800°C in vacuum and about 750°C in air. These properties make them attractive candidates in preparing nano-composites with new functional properties. The objective of the proposed research is to develop high thermal conductivity of UO2–CNT composites without affecting the neutronic property of UO2 significantly. The concept of this goal is to utilize a rapid sintering method (5–15 min) called spark plasma sintering (SPS) in which a mixture of CNTs and UO2 powder are used to make composites with different volume fractions of CNTs. Incorporation of these nanoscale materials plays a fundamentally critical role in controlling the performance and stability of UO2 fuel. We will use a novel in situ growth process to grow CNTs on UO2 particles for rapid sintering and develop UO2-CNT composites. This method is expected to provide a uniform distribution of CNTs at various volume fractions so that a high thermally conductive UO2-CNT composite is obtained with a minimal volume fraction of CNTs. The mixtures are sintered in the SPS facility at a range of temperatures, pressures, and time durations so as to identify the optimal processing conditions to obtain the desired microstructure of sintered UO2-CNT pellets. The second objective of the proposed work is to identify the optimal volume fraction of CNTs in the microstructure of the composites that provides the desired high thermal conductivity yet retaining the mechanical strength required for efficient function as a reactor fuel. We will systematically study the resulting microstructure (grain size, porosity, distribution of CNTs, etc.) obtained at various SPS processing conditions using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscope (TEM). We will conduct indentation hardness measurements and uniaxial strength measurements as a function of volume fraction of CNTs to determine the mechanical strength and compare them to the properties of UO2. The fracture surfaces will be studied to determine the fracture characteristics that may relate to the observed cracking during service. Finally, we will perform thermal conductivity measurements on all the composites up to 1000° C. This study will relate the microstructure, mechanical properties, and thermal properties at various volume fractions of CNTs. The overall intent is to identify optimal processing conditions that will provide a well-consolidated compact with optimal microstructure and thermo-mechanical properties. The deliverables include: (1) fully characterized UO2-CNT composite with optimal CNT volume fraction and high thermal conductivity and (2) processing conditions for production of UO2-CNT composite pellets using SPS method.

Subhash, Ghatu↗

Fatigue Testing and Characterization of Pre-hydrided Zircaloy-4 Cladding Tubes

The solubility of hydrogen in Zircaloy-4 (Zry-4) at the cladding operating temperature is near 100 wt. ppm. Above this solubility limit, excess hydrogen precipitates as δ-hydride platelets in the cladding material. Because of the effect of the thermal gradient across the cladding thickness on the migration and precipitation of hydrogen, hydride rims are often observed at the cladding outer surface; under excessive corrosion conditions hydride blisters are possible. It is well known that the fatigue of metal alloys, especially high cycle fatigue, is sensitive to the status of surface including the microstructure, roughness, and residual stress. Thus, the question considered herein, is whether excessive hydrogen pickup modifies the microstructure such that it has a degradation effect on the fatigue performance of cladding during operation. This report describes the evaluation of fatigue performance of a pre-hydrided Zry-4 cladding. A commercial Zry-4 was polished and pre-hydrided to 800 ppm and 1300 ppm H contents. The fatigue testing was conducted under strain control at 5 Hz with fully-reversed bending by using a cyclic integrated reversible bending fatigue tester (CIRFT). Six specimens with 1300 ppm and one specimen with 800 ppm were tested. Significant variation in test results were observed. While two of the 1300 ppm specimens failed with less than 1 ×10 5 cycles (at 0.32% and 0.41%), the four other samples did not fail over the strain amplitude range of 0.25% to 0.38%. Interestingly, the fracture initiation site of the failed samples was on the outside diameter (OD) surface rather than on the inside diameter (ID) surface as is typical for the as-polished cladding. This suggested a degrading effect of the hydriding process. Subsequently, three of the unfailed specimens were then further tested at ~0.43% to observe where failure initiation occurred. Significant variation was also observed in these three specimens. One specimen failed at ~9000 cycles while the two others failed at 43000 and 1.06 ×10 5 cycles. The performance here correlated to the location of failure initiation; failure initiated on the OD in the sample that failed after 9000 cycles while it initiated on the ID in the sample that failed after 43000 and 1.06 ×10 5 cycles. Flat features at the OD initiation sites suggest a brittle hydride feature on the surface of those samples was the cause of the degradation in fatigue performance, though the overall hydrogen levels in all samples was similar. A summary of all the observations is provided below: • The un-failed specimens with 1300 ppm H were cycled to failure with a higher amplitude near 0.43%. In addition, the fatigue-treated specimen tended to have a longer fatigue at the same induced amplitude. • Fractography revealed a mixed failure mode for the pre-hydrided specimen. Particularly, the specimen with fracture initiation site (FIS) located on the outer diameter surface of tube tended to have a shorter fatigue life than that of FIS on the inner diameter surface. • Etched cross section was shown to have hydride platelets aligned with tube longitudinal axis as expected, and the density of hydrides is at the similar level as in literature data. Meanwhile, a LECO procedure was applied for hydrogen concentration measurement, which showed the measured hydrogen contents are close to the nominal value. • With the polished cladding tube as baseline, O’Donnell-Lager (O-L) analysis showed that a decrease of about 50% in reduction-of-area (RA) would be needed for the O-L fitting to the fatigue data of 1300 ppm cladding. The suggestion for the next steps is provided.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Toward Complete Merger Identification at Cosmic Noon with Deep Learning

As we enter the era of large imaging surveys such as Roman, Rubin, and Euclid, a deeper understanding of potential biases and selection effects in optical astronomical catalogs created with the use of ML-based methods is paramount. This work focuses on a deeper understanding of the performance and limitations of deep learning-based classifiers as tools for galaxy merger identification. We train a ConvNeXT-Pico model on mock HST CANDELS images from the IllustrisTNG50 simulation. Our focus is on a more challenging classification of galaxy mergers and non-mergers at higher redshifts 1 < z < 1.5, including minor mergers and lower mass galaxies down to the stellar mass of 108M⊙. We demonstrate, for the first time, that a deep learning model, such as the one developed in this work, can successfully identify even minor and low mass mergers even at these redshifts. Our model achieves overall accuracy, purity, and completeness of over 73%. We show that some galaxy mergers can only be identified from certain observation angles, leading to a potential upper limit in overall accuracy. Using Grad-CAMs and UMAPs, we more deeply examine the performance and observe a visible gradient in the latent space with stellar mass and specific star formation rate, but no visible gradient with merger mass ratio or merger stage.

Schechter, Aimee L. [U. Colorado, Boulder]↗

Energetic oxygen and sulfur in the Jovian magnetosphere

Measurements made in the Jovian magnetosphere by the cosmic ray subsystem on Voyager 1 and 2 are reported. Energy spectra of oxygen ions in the energy range 1-20 MeV/nuc between 5 and 20 Jovian radii are presented, and phase space densities are calculated. A steep positive radial gradient in the phase space density of the energetic oxygen ions is observed, indicating an inward diffusive flow. The upper limit on the rate at which oxygen ions with greater than 400 MeV/nuc-G diffuse across 10 Jovian radii is calculated to be 5 x 10 to the 21st ions per second, indicating that about 10 to the -7th of the ions from Io are accelerated to over 400 MeV/nuc-G and diffuse to 10 Jovian radii. Observations also suggest that oxygen and sulfur ions in the Io plasma torus diffuse radially outward, are nonadiabatically accelerated in a region outside 17 Jovian radii, and diffuse inward and outward from the accelerated region.

Gehrels, N.↗

Origins of the low energy relativistic interplanetary electrons

Electron measurements in the energy range 2-25 MeV on the Pioneer 10 spacecraft are studied from 1 to 21.5 AU. It is found that in this radial range, interplanetary low energy electron fluxes are of Jovian origin, based on the decreasing electron intensity from about 6 to 21.5 AU, a negative gradient from about 11 to 21.5 AU, and the constant spectral index observed from 1 to 21.5 AU. The upper limit of the galactic flux is estimated at 12 MeV and standard assumptions are applied to solar modulation. It is found that at 1 AU, the expected flux of galactic origin is a factor 300 or more below the observed quiet time flux, and the extrapolated interstellar flux level is consistent with estimates based on galactic diffuse radio and gamma-ray emissions.

Eraker, J. H.↗

Modeling of transient two-component flow using a four-point implicit method

The four-point, centered implicit scheme that is extensively used in open channel flow simulation is shown to be applicable to rapid and slow pressure transient problems in conduits with nearly single phase and two-phase flows. It is only necessary to choose the proper weighting factor value, theta, of the Courant number. For rapid pressure transients such as waterhammer, the implicit method can yield reasonable results with limited numerical dispersion and attenuation if theta is only slightly greater than the critical value of 0.5. For slower pressure gradients in single and two-phase flows, reasonable numerical solutions may be achieved for Courant number values as high as 20.

Wiggert, D. C.↗

Energetic charged particles in the magnetosphere of Neptune

The Voyager 2 cosmic ray system (CRS) measured significant fluxes of energetic greater than or equal to about 1 megaelectron volt (MeV) trapped electrons and protons in the magnetosphere of Neptune. The intensities are maximum near a magnetic L shell of 7, decreasing closer to the planet because of absorption by satellites and rings. In the region of the inner satellites of Neptune, the radiation belts have a complicated structure, which provides some constraints on the magnetic field geometry of the inner magnetosphere. Electron phase-space densities have a positive radial gradient, indicating that they diffuse inward from a source in the outer magnetosphere. Electron spectra from 1 to 5 MeV are generally well represented by power laws with indices near 6, which harden in the region of peak flux to power law indices of 4 to 5. Protons have significantly lower fluxes than electrons throughout the magnetosphere, with large anisotropies due to radial intensity gradients. The radiation belts resemble those of Uranus to the extent allowed by the different locations of the satellites, which limit the flux at each planet.

Stone, E. C.↗

Morphological instability in rapid directional solidification

Mullins and Sekerka (1964) showed for fixed temperature gradient that the planar interface is linearly stable for all pulling speeds V above some critical value, the absolute stability limit. Near this limit, where solidification rates are rapid, the assumption of local equilibrium at the interface may be violated. Here, nonequilibrium effects are incorporated into a linear stability analysis of the planar front by allowing the segregation coefficient and interface temperature to depend on V in a thermodynamically consistent way. The absolute stability limit of the cellular mode is modified. A new oscillatory state is formed which, in the absence of latent heat, has a critical wavenumber of zero; by itself this instability would lead to the formation of solute bands in the solid. This mode has its own absolute-stability limit determined by solute trapping and kinetics. Under certain conditions, there exists a window of stability above the steady absolute-stability boundary and below the oscillatory-stability boundary; here the planar segregation-free state is restabilized.

Merchant, G. J.↗