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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 847 records · Page 47
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Probing lead acetate in solution using X-ray diffraction

Here, for the purpose of water purification involving toxic metal sensing and removal, high energy X-ray diffraction experiments have been performed on lead acetate Pb(Ac) 2 solutions, liquid and amorphous glutathione disulfide (GSSG), and their mixtures. The data have been interpreted using Empirical Potential Structure Refinement and pair distribution function analysis. At the highest concentration of 1 M Pb(Ac) 2 in water, the lead molecules are found to cluster and the second shell in the water structure becomes slightly more ordered as the water molecules become compressed. Liquid and amorphous GSSG are found to hydrogen bond primarily via OH-O interactions, while NH-O bonds are much more distorted. Aqueous solutions of Pb(Ac) 2 + GSSG show the closest Pb-O (carboxyl) and Pb-N (amine) bonds both at a distance of 2.5 ± 0.1 Å at a concentration of 1 M Pb(Ac) 2 in water. At 0.75 M Pb(Ac) 2 in water, strong Pb-S bonds are found at a distance of 2.8 ± 0.1 Å. The implications for lead removal using capacitive deionization are discussed.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Database development and exploration of process–microstructure relationships using variational autoencoders

The paper demonstrates graphical representation of a large database containing process–microstructure relationships using an unsupervised machine learning algorithm. Correlating microstructural features to processing is an essential first step to answer the difficult problem of process sequence design. Here, a large database of 346,200 orientation distribution functions resulting from a variety of process sequences is constructed, where each sequence comprises up to four stages of tension, compression and rolling along different directions in various permutations. This open-source database is constructed for collaborative development of process design algorithms. The paper demonstrates a novel application of the large database: graphical representation of texture–process relationships. A variational autoencoder is used to reduce the entire database to a two dimensional latent space where variations in processes and properties can be visualized. Using proximity analysis in this latent space, we can quickly unearth multiple process solutions to the problem of texture or property design.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effect of atomic size mismatch and chemical complexity on the local lattice distortion of BCC solid solution alloys

Here, the effects of atomic size mismatch and chemical complexity on the local lattice distortion of solid-solution alloys VNbTa, TiVNbMo, TiVNbMoTa and TiVNbMoTaWRe with body-centered cubic (BCC) structure are quantitatively studied with time-of-flight neutron total scattering, extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) measurements and first principles calculations. Neutron atomic pair distribution function (PDF) measurements found that the local lattice distortion in the ternary solid-solution alloy VNbTa is 1.1 %, obviously larger than that of the most complicated solid-solution alloy (0.27% for TiVNbMoTaWRe). Our results suggested that atomic size mismatch in high entropy alloys is more critical to the local lattice distortion than chemical complexity. Both EXAFS analysis and theoretical calculations indicate that there is a maximum of ~4 % difference between the bonding length of different atomic pairs in VNbTa.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Synergy of carbonyl and azo chemistries for wide-temperature-range rechargeable aluminum organic batteries

Rechargeable aluminum organic batteries (RAOBs) are promising for developing cost-effective and sustainable energy storage devices due to the low cost, abundance, and high sustainability of aluminum and organic resources. In this study, we designed and synthesized a redox-active polymer bearing carbonyl and azo groups as a cathode material for RAOBs. The polymeric cathode exhibits a high reversible specific capacity, superior cyclic stability, fast charging capability, and a wide operation temperature range (₋40°C to 100°C). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), pair distribution function (PDF) analysis, and soft X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) were employed to gain fundamental insight into the carbonyl and azo chemistries in RAOBs, as well as the cathode electrolyte interphase (CEI) structure. We demonstrated a step-by-step alumination/de-alumination reaction for carbonyl and azo groups in the polymer cathode and unraveled a Al 2 O 3⁻ and AlN-rich CEI, which is critical for the impressive performance of RAOBs.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

STAR Highlights

In this overview talk, I have represented STAR to highlight the results of 19 parallels talks and 38 posters at this Quark Matter Conference. Overall, the contents have 8 major categories: 1. experimental measurements related to the BreitWheeler process and vacuum birefringence; 2. probes of initial states of heavy-ion collisions (parton distribution function and azimuthal correlations in small systems); 3. constraints on temperature-dependent viscosity (η/s(T)) with multiple flow harmonics and rapidity correlations; 4. hard probes using jet structures and heavy flavors; 5. exploration of the origin of global polarization and vorticity; 6. chiral and thermal properties of the QGP; 7. Beam Energy Scan (BES) and the critical point search; 8. upgrades and summary.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Bayesian inference of in-medium baryon-baryon scattering cross sections from HADES proton flow data

Within a Bayesian statistical framework using a Gaussian Process emulator for an isospin-dependent Boltzmann-Uehling-Uhlenbeck (IBUU) transport model simulator of heavy-ion reactions at intermediate energies, we infer from the HADES proton flow data the posterior probability distribution functions of in-medium baryon-baryon scattering cross section modification factor X with respect to free-space and the corresponding incompressibility K of nuclear matter as well as their correlation function. In conclusion, the mean value of X is found to be $X$ = $1.32_ {+0.28} ^ {-0.40} $ at 68% confidence level assuming the nuclear incompressibility K will not exceed 400 MeV, providing circumstantial evidence for enhanced baryon-braryon scattering cross sections in hot and dense nuclear matter.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Controlling extrapolations of nuclear properties with feature selection

Predictions of nuclear properties far from measured data are inherently inaccurate because of uncertainties in our knowledge of nuclear forces and in our treatment of quantum many-body effects in strongly-interacting systems. While the model bias can be directly calculated when experimental data is available, only an estimate can be made in the absence of such measurements. Current approaches to compute the estimated bias quickly lose predictive power when their input variables are taken far from the training region, resulting in uncontrolled uncertainties in applications such as nucleosynthesis simulations. In this letter, we present a novel technique to identify the input variables of machine learning algorithms that can provide robust estimates of model bias. Our process is based on selecting input variables, or features, based on their probability distribution functions across the entire nuclear chart. We illustrate our approach on the problem of quantifying the model bias in nuclear binding energies calculated with Density Functional Theory (DFT). We prove that building model biases with only Z and N as features leads to highly unreliable extrapolations. Conversely, we show that proper feature selection can systematically improve theoretical predictions without increasing uncertainties.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Evidence for WW/WZ vector boson scattering in the decay channel ℓνqq produced in association with two jets in proton-proton collisions at s = 13 TeV

Evidence is reported for electroweak (EW) vector boson scattering in the decay channel $\ell\nu$qq of two weak vector bosons WV (V = W or Z), produced in association with two parton jets. The search uses a data set of proton-proton collisions at 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector during 2016-2018 with an integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$. Events are selected requiring one lepton (electron or muon), moderate missing transverse momentum, two jets with a large pseudorapidity separation and a large dijet invariant mass, and a signature consistent with the hadronic decay of a W/Z boson. The cross section is computed in a fiducial phase space defined at parton level requiring all parton transverse momenta $p_\mathrm{T}$$\gt$ 10 GeV and at least one pair of outgoing partons with invariant mass $m_\mathrm{qq}$$\gt$ 100 GeV. The measured and expected EW WV production cross sections are 1.90 $^{+0.53}_{-0.46}$ pb and 2.23 $^{+0.08}_{-0.11}$ (scale) $\pm$ 0.05 (PDF) pb, respectively, where PDF is the parton distribution function. The observed EW signal strength is $m_\mathrm{EW}$ = 0.85 $\pm$ 0.12 (stat) $^{+0.19}_{-0.17}$ (syst), corresponding to a signal significance of 4.4 standard deviations with 5.1 expected, and it is measured keeping the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) associated diboson production fixed to the standard model prediction. This is the first evidence of vector boson scattering in the $\ell\nu$qq decay channel at LHC. The simultaneous measurement of the EW and QCD associated diboson production agrees with the standard model prediction.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Directed flow from parton spin-orbit coupling in $pp$ and $pA$ collisions

We point out a novel mechanism to generate cos φ two-particle azimuthal correlation (‘directed flow’) in unpolarized proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions in the forward rapidity region of the projectile proton. This is a direct consequence of the recently discovered strong spin-orbit coupling in gluons at small-x. The observable simultaneously serves as a unique probe into the double helicity parton distribution functions of the proton.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2026

First nucleon gluon PDF from large momentum effective theory

We report the first nucleon gluon parton distribution function (PDF) using Large-Momentum Effective Theory (LaMET). We focus on the gluon operator which was demonstrated to have the best signal-to-noise in the previous attempt [1] in computing gluon PDFs using LaMET. We compute the corresponding Wilson coefficients needed for the hybrid-renormalized matrix elements and the matching kernel to convert the quasi-PDF to the lightcone one at the one-loop level. We demonstrate that with the proper Wilson coefficients in place, the counterterms for the renormalization are independent of the hadron and mass within statistical error. Using the resulting renormalization, we then compute the nucleon PDF using a HISQ ensemble generated by the MILC collaboration with N f = 2 + 1 +1, a ≈ 0.12 fm, with valence pion masses of 310 and 690 MeV and two gauge link smearing techniques. Despite the physics effects of the heavier than physical pion masses and gauge link smearing, this calculation provides excellent proof of principle and compares reasonably with selected global fit results.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Probability of Loss of Assured Safety in Systems with Multiple Time-Dependent Failure Modes: Incorporation of Delayed Link Failure in the Presence of Aleatory Uncertainty

Probability of loss of assured safety (PLOAS) is modeled for weak link (WL)/strong link (SL) systems in which one or more WLs or SLs could potentially degrade into a precursor condition to link failure that will be followed by an actual link failure after some amount of elapsed time. The descriptor loss of assured safety (LOAS) is used because failure of the WL system places the entire system in an inoperable configuration while failure of the SL system before failure of the WL system, although undesirable, does not necessarily result in an unintended operation of the entire system. Thus, safety is “assured” by failure of the WL system before failure of the SL system. Here, the following topics are considered: (i) Definition of precursor occurrence time cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) for individual WLs and SLs, (ii) Formal representation, approximation and illustration of PLOAS with (a) constant delay times, (b) aleatory uncertainty in delay times, and (c) delay times defined by functions of link properties at occurrence times for link failure precursors, and (iii) Procedures for the verification of PLOAS calculations for the three indicated definitions of delayed link failure.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

A data-driven method for modelling dissipation rates in stratified turbulence

We present a deep probabilistic convolutional neural network (PCNN) model for predicting local values of small-scale mixing properties in stratified turbulent flows, namely the dissipation rates of turbulent kinetic energy and density variance, $\varepsilon$ and $\chi$ . Inputs to the PCNN are vertical columns of velocity and density gradients, motivated by data typically available from microstructure profilers in the ocean. The architecture is designed to enable the model to capture several characteristic features of stratified turbulence, in particular the dependence of small-scale isotropy on the buoyancy Reynolds number $Re_b:=\varepsilon /(\nu N^2)$ , where $\nu$ is the kinematic viscosity and $N$ is the background buoyancy frequency, the correlation between suitably locally averaged density gradients and turbulence intensity and the importance of capturing the tails of the probability distribution functions of values of dissipation. Empirically modified versions of commonly used isotropic models for $\varepsilon$ and $\chi$ that depend only on vertical derivatives of density and velocity are proposed based on the asymptotic regimes $Re_b\ll 1$ and $Re_b\gg 1$ , and serve as an instructive benchmark for comparison with the data-driven approach. When trained and tested on a simulation of stratified decaying turbulence which accesses a range of turbulent regimes (associated with differing values of $Re_b$ ), the PCNN outperforms assumptions of isotropy significantly as $Re_b$ decreases, and additionally demonstrates improvements over the fitted empirical models. A differential sensitivity analysis of the PCNN facilitates a comparison with the theoretical models and provides a physical interpretation of the features enabling it to make improved predictions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Self-sustaining sound in collisionless, high- β plasma

Using analytical theory and hybrid-kinetic numerical simulations, we demonstrate that, in a collisionless plasma, long-wavelength ion-acoustic waves (IAWs) with amplitudes $δn/n_0≳2/β$ (where $β\gg1$ is the ratio of thermal to magnetic pressure) generate sufficient pressure anisotropy to destabilize the plasma to firehose and mirror instabilities. These kinetic instabilities grow rapidly to reduce the pressure anisotropy by pitch-angle scattering and trapping particles, respectively, thereby impeding the maintenance of Landau resonances that enable such waves’ otherwise potent collisionless damping. The result is wave dynamics that evince a weakly collisional plasma: the ion distribution function is near-Maxwellian, the field-parallel flow of heat resembles its Braginskii form (except in regions where large-amplitude magnetic mirrors strongly suppress particle transport), and the relations between various thermodynamic quantities are more ‘fluid-like’ than kinetic. A nonlinear fluctuation–dissipation relation for self-sustaining IAWs is obtained by solving a plasma-kinetic Langevin problem, which demonstrates suppressed damping, enhanced fluctuation levels and weakly collisional thermodynamics when IAWs with $δn/n_0≳2/β$ are stochastically driven. We investigate how our results depend upon the scale separation between the wavelength of the IAW and the Larmor radius of the ions, and discuss briefly their implications for our understanding of turbulence and transport in the solar wind and the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A field–particle correlation analysis of a perpendicular magnetized collisionless shock

Using the field–particle correlation technique, we examine the particle energization in a three-dimensional (one spatial dimension and two velocity dimensions; 1D-2V) continuum Vlasov–Maxwell simulation of a perpendicular magnetized collisionless shock. The combination of the field–particle correlation technique with the high-fidelity representation of the particle distribution function provided by a direct discretization of the Vlasov equation allows us to ascertain the details of the exchange of energy between the electromagnetic fields and the particles in phase space. We identify the velocity-space signatures of shock-drift acceleration of the ions and adiabatic heating of the electrons arising from the perpendicular collisionless shock by constructing a simplified model with the minimum ingredients necessary to produce the observed energization signatures in the self-consistent Vlasov–Maxwell simulation. We are thus able to completely characterize the energy transfer in the perpendicular collisionless shock considered here and provide predictions for the application of the field–particle correlation technique to spacecraft measurements of collisionless shocks.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Description of global EGAM in the maximum of local frequency during current ramp-up discharges in DIII-D

Energetic-particle-induced geodesic acoustic modes, EGAMs (Fu, Phys. Rev. Let., vol. 101, 2008, pp. 185002), driven by neutral beam injection (NBI), have been observed in many DIII-D tokamak experiments (Nazikian et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 101, 2008, pp. 185001). This mechanism has been theoretically investigated in (Qiu et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, vol. 52, 2010, pp. 095003), using a sharp energetic particle distribution function, and in (Qu et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, vol. 59, 2017, pp. 055018), where the dispersion relation and eigenmode behaviour were obtained for the situation of early beam scenario, that is, for times smaller than the beam slowing down time. In this work, we extend these studies determining the eigenmode for beyond the slowing down time, in a scenario with reverse safety factor q profile, where a small concentration of energetic ions can produce an off-axis maximum in the GAM dispersion relation. Here, the characteristics of EGAM are analytically studied with the drift kinetic equation together with the MHD code NOVA. The toroidal energetic ion transit frequency, coupled with the GAM frequency, produces the maximum in the dispersion relation where the eigenmode can be found. The quantitative correspondence of experimental results with the predictions of the proposed model is analysed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Multimode theory of electron hole transverse instability

We present Vlasov–Poisson three-dimensional linear stability analysis of an initially planar electron hole structure, solving for the distribution function by integration along unperturbed orbits. The non-sinusoidal potential perturbation shape (parallel to $B$ ) is expanded in eigenfunctions of the adiabatic Poisson operator, generalizing the prior assumption of a rigid shift of the equilibrium. We show that the shiftmode is then modified by a second discrete mode plus an integral over a continuum of wave-like modes. A rigorous treatment shows that the continuum can be approximated effectively by a single mode that satisfies the external wave dispersion relation, thus making the perturbation a weighted sum of three modes. We find numerically the solution for the complex instability frequency, and the corresponding three mode amplitudes determining the perturbation eigenmode. This multimode analysis refines the accuracy of the prior single-mode results, giving slightly higher growth rates at most parameters, as expected from the extra mode shape freedom. Oscillating modes near stability boundaries have larger mode distortions which help explain particle-in-cell simulations that observe instability up to ${\sim }20$ % beyond the prior shiftmode thresholds, and narrowing of the perturbation. At high magnetic field, the multimode analysis predicts a reduction of the already small growth rate.

Physics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Physics basis for the Wisconsin HTS Axisymmetric Mirror (WHAM)

The Wisconsin high-temperature superconductor axisymmetric mirror experiment (WHAM) will be a high-field platform for prototyping technologies, validating interchange stabilization techniques and benchmarking numerical code performance, enabling the next step up to reactor parameters. A detailed overview of the experimental apparatus and its various subsystems is presented. WHAM will use electron cyclotron heating to ionize and build a dense target plasma for neutral beam injection of fast ions, stabilized by edge-biased sheared flow. At 25 keV injection energies, charge exchange dominates over impact ionization and limits the effectiveness of neutral beam injection fuelling. This paper outlines an iterative technique for self-consistently predicting the neutral beam driven anisotropic ion distribution and its role in the finite beta equilibrium. Beginning with recent work by Egedal et al. ( Nucl. Fusion , vol. 62, no. 12, 2022, p. 126053) on the WHAM geometry, we detail how the FIDASIM code is used to model the charge exchange sources and sinks in the distribution function, and both are combined with an anisotropic magnetohydrodynamic equilibrium solver method to self-consistently reach an equilibrium. We compare this with recent results using the CQL3D code adapted for the mirror geometry, which includes the high-harmonic fast wave heating of fast ions.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Anisotropic Heating and Parallel Heat Flux in Electron-only Magnetic Reconnection with Intense Guide Fields

Electron-only reconnection (E-REC) is a process recently observed in the Earth’s magnetosheath, where magnetic reconnection occurs at electron kinetic scales, and ions do not couple to the reconnection process. Electron-only reconnection is likely to have a significant impact on the energy conversion and dissipation of turbulence cascades at kinetic scales in some settings. This paper investigates E-REC under different intensities of strong guide fields (the ratio between the guide field and the in-plane asymptotic field strength is 5, 10 and 20, respectively) via two-dimensional fully kinetic particle-in-cell simulations, focusing on electron heating. The simulations are initialized with a force-free current sheet equilibrium under various intensities of strong guide fields. Similarly to previous experimental studies, electron temperature anisotropy along separatrices is observed, which is found to be mainly caused by the variations of parallel temperature. Both regions of anisotropy and parallel temperature increase/decrease along separatrices become thinner with increasing guide fields. Besides, we find a transition from a quadrupolar to a hexapolar (six-polar) to an octopolar (eight-polar) structure in temperature anisotropy and parallel temperature as the guide field intensifies. Non-Maxwellian electron velocity distribution functions (EVDFs) at different locations in the three simulations are observed. Our results show that parallel electron velocity varies notably with different guide field intensities and finite parallel electron heat flux density is observed. The three simulations exhibit features of the Chew–Goldberger–Low theory, with the level of consistency increasing as the guide field strength increases. This explains the electron parallel temperature variations and the shape of the EVDFs observed along the separatrices. This work may provide insights into the understanding of electron heating and parallel heat flux density in E-REC observed in the turbulent magnetosheath.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗