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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 883 records · Page 49
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1996

Interaction Forces Between Multiple Bodies in a Magnetic Field

Some of the results from experiments to determine the interaction forces between multiple bodies in a magnetic field are presented in this paper. It is shown how the force values and the force directions depend on the configuration of the bodies, their relative positions to each other, and the vector of the primary magnetic field. A number of efficient new automatic loading and assembly machines, as well as manipulators and robots, have been created based on the relationship between bodies and magnetic fields. A few of these patented magnetic devices are presented. The concepts involved open a new way to design universal grippers for robot and other kinds of mechanisms for the manipulation of objects. Some of these concepts can be used for space applications.

Joffe, Benjamin↗
NASA NTRS1994

Excitation of neutron star normal modes during binary inspiral

As a compact binary inspirals due to the emission of gravitational waves, its orbital period decreases continuously down to approximately 1 ms, its value at coalescence. During the last part of the inspiral, the two stars are close together, and their tidal interactions become strong. Neutron stars have many normal modes (core g-modes, crustal discontinuity modes, shear modes, etc.) whose periods lie in the range (approximately several ms) swept by the orbital period. Some of these modes are resonantly excited by the tidal force. The amount of energy a mode absorbs is proportional to the square of the overlap integral between its displacement field and the tidal force field. For all modes of interest, this overlap is poor, resulting in relatively weak excitation. For the best case, the absorbed energy is only a small fraction (approximately 10(exp -6)) of the orbital energy, so the orbital phase shift is too weak to be detected by observations of the gravitational wave signal emitted by the inspiraling binary. However, with displacement amplitudes of excited quadrupole modes ranging up to 0.5% of the stellar radius, the possibility of a detectable electromagnetic signature cannot be dismissed. Both the periods of the modes and the energy they absorb depend quite strongly on the internal structure of the star. Their observation could shed light on the correct high-density equation of state.

Reisenegger, Andreas↗
NASA NTRS1983

Theory of quadrupolar sunspots and the active region of August, 1972

It is pointed out that energy is stored when the force-free magnetic field in an active region departs from a potential field, the departure manifesting itself as a shear in the field. When the field untwists, energy will immediately be released to produce flares. On the basis of this idea, an analytical solution of the equation of a force-free field is derived under the assumption of a constant force-free factor, and expressions are found for seven important quantities for quadrupole sunspots. These are the magnetic energy of the twisted field, the magnetic energy of the potential field, the extractable free energy (delta M), the magnetic flux, the total current, the force-free factor and the field decay factor. The quantities are expressed in terms of three observables: the field intensity, the twist angle and the distance between two spots of the same polarity. The expression for delta M may have applicability in solar prediction work. For the active region of August 1972, delta M is found to be up to 6 x 10 to the 32nd erg, which is sufficient to supply the energy of the observed flare activity.

Chang, H.-M.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Filament cooling and condensation in a sheared magnetic field

Thermal instability driven by optically thin radiation in the corona is believed to initiate the formation of solar filaments. The fact that filaments are observed generally to separate regions of opposite, line-of-sight, magnetic polarity in the differentially rotating photosphere suggests that filament formation requires the presence of a highly sheared magnetic field. The coupled energetics and dynamics of the most important condensation modes, those due to perpendicular thermal conduction at short wavelengths are discussed. Linear structure in the sheared field and their growth rates is described, and 2D, nonlinear, MHD simulations of the evolution of these modes in a force-free field are conducted. The simulations achieve the fine thermal structures, minimum temperatures and maximum densities characteristic of observed solar filaments.

Van Hoven, Gerard↗
NASA NTRS1973

Hydrostatic equilibrium of hydromagnetic fields.

The condition for a hydromagnetic field to be in hydrostatic equilibrium is discussed. It is shown that if the topology of the wrapping pattern of lines of force of a non-force-free field around each other changes along the field, then the configuration cannot be in hydrostatic equilibrium. A general discussion is given, and several special cases are worked out to illustrate the general equilibrium requirement.

Yu, G.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Parametric study of an acoustic levitation system

The performance of an acoustic levitation system designed for the containerless processing of materials and consisting of a St. Clair generator and a reflector arranged in a six-axis configuration, is examined in order to define critical parameters of high-temperature systems and limitations of earth-based devices. The fields and forces along the axis of the system are measured and the forces are plotted versus body volume. It is found that for a range of shapes and sizes the levitation force is roughly proportional to body volume until the characteristic 'diameter' reaches a value of about lambda/2. A significant (i.e., factor of four) enhancement in the levitation force is obtained by curving the faces of the driver and reflector. In addition, the behavior of liquid materials in the acoustic fields is studied, and the radius at which the deformation of a levitated drop occurs is calculated.

Oran, W. A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Magnetic reconnection and thermal equilibration

When a magnetic field is forced to evolve on a time scale sev, as by footpoint motions driving the solar corona or non-axisymmetric instabilities in tokamaks, the magnetic field lines undergo large-scale changes in topology on a time scale approximately an order of magnitude longer than $\tau$ ev . But the physics that allows such changes operates on a time scale eight or more orders of magnitude slower. An analogous phenomenon occurs in air. Temperature equilibration occurs on a time scale approximately an order of magnitude longer than it takes air to cross a room, $\tau$ ev , although the physical mechanism that allows temperature equilibration is approximately four orders of magnitude slower than $\tau$ ev . The use of Lagrangian coordinates allows the fundamental equations to be solved and both phenomena explained. The theories of thermal equilibration and magnetic reconnection are developed in parallel to help readers obtain an understanding of the importance and implications of analyses using Lagrangian coordinates.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1988

Magnetic fine structure of solar coronal loops

A numerical simulation of the effect of a random photospheric flow on the magnetic structure of a coronal loop is presented. An initially uniform field embedded in a perfectly conducting plasma is assumed, extending between two flat parallel plates representing the solar photosphere at both ends of the loop. The field is perturbed by a sequence of randomly phased, sinusoidal flow patterns applied at one of the boundary plates, and the corresponding sequence of force-free fields is determined. It is found that the electric currents generated by these flows develop a fine structure on a scale significantly smaller than the wavelength of the velocity patterns. This suggests that magnetic energy is transferred to smaller scale via a cascade process.

Van Ballegooijen, A. A.↗
NASA NTRS1977

Critical currents in sputtered copper molybdenum sulphide

Critical currents in a sputtered Chevrel-phase copper molybdenum sulfide have been measured at 4.2 K as a function of applied magnetic field. Self-field critical-current values up to 10 to the 9th A/sq m were found, decreasing to 10 to the 8th A/sq m at 3 T. Graphs of pinning forces versus field were found to be independent of field direction, and the pinning mechanism is sample independent. Critical-current densities for sputtered lead molybdenum sulphide are estimated to be about 10 to the 8th A/sq m at 26 T based on a scaling law for pinning.

Alterovitz, S. A.↗
DOE OSTI2021

Optical Forces on an Oscillating Dipole Near VO2 Phase Transition

We investigate optical forces on oscillating dipoles close to a phase change vanadium dioxide (VO2) film, which exhibits a metal-insulator transition around 340 K and low thermal hysteresis. This configuration emulates the interaction between an illuminated nanosphere and an interface and we employ a classical description to capture its important aspects. We consider both electric and magnetic dipoles for two different configurations, namely with the dipole moments parallel and perpendicular to the VO2 film. By using Bruggeman theory to describe the effective optical response of the material, we show that the thermal hysteresis present in the VO2 transition clearly shows up in the behavior of optical forces. In the near-field regime, the force on both dipoles can change from attractive to repulsive just by heating (or cooling) the film for a selected frequency range. We also verified that the optical forces are comparable to the Casimir-Polder force in a similar system, revealing the possibility of modulating or even changing the sign of the resultant force on an illuminated nano-object due to the presence of a thermochromic material. We hope that this work contributes to set the grounds for alternative approaches to control light-matter interactions using phase-change materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2018

Statistical Analysis of Torus and Kink Instabilities in Solar Eruptions

A recent laboratory experiment of ideal magnetohydrodynamic instabilities revealed four distinct eruption regimes readily distinguished by the torus instability (TI) and helical kink instability (KI) parameters. To establish its observational counterpart, we collected 38 solar flares (stronger than GOES-class M5 in general) that took place within 45° of disk center during 2011–2017, 26 of which are associated with a halo or partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME; i.e., ejective events), while the others are CME-less (i.e., confined events). This is a complete sample of solar events satisfying our selection criteria detailed in the paper. For each event, we calculate a decay index n of the potential strapping field above the magnetic flux rope (MFR) in and around the flaring magnetic polarity inversion line (a TI parameter) and the unsigned twist number T(sub w) of the nonlinear force-free field lines forming the same MFR (a KI parameter). We then construct an n–T(sub w) diagram to investigate how the eruptiveness depends on these parameters. We find that (1) T(sub w) appears to play little role in discriminating between confined and ejective events; (2) the events with n ≳ 0.8 are all ejective, and all confined events have n ≲ 0.8. However, n ≳ 0.8 is not a necessary condition for eruption because some events with n ≲ 0.8 also erupted. In addition, we investigate the MFR’s geometrical parameters, apex height, and distance between footpoints, as a possible factors for the eruptiveness. We briefly discuss the difference of the present result for solar eruptions with that of the laboratory result in terms of the role played by magnetic reconnection.

Solar activity↗
DOE OSTI2026

Machine Learning Interatomic Potentials for Modeling Framework Flexibility and Water Uptake in NbOFFIVE-1-Ni Metal–Organic Framework

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), with their distinctive porous structures and tunable chemical properties, have shown immense promise in the separation and storage of gases. Currently, the accurate simulation of their adsorptive properties remains challenging, especially for systems where the molecules fit very tightly into the pores. Traditional simulation methods often approximate the frameworks as rigid and do not account for the framework flexibility seen in materials such as NbOFFIVE-1-Ni. First-principles molecular dynamics (FPMD) simulations offer the desired accuracy in modeling this flexibility but are limited by their extensive computational demands, rendering them impractical for long simulations. Conversely, classical force field-based simulations offer computational efficiency but lack the necessary accuracy. Here, to break this accuracy-efficiency trade-off, we have developed machine learning interatomic potentials trained on energies and forces from FPMD to model the framework flexibility of NbOFFIVE-1-Ni in the presence of water over nanosecond time scales. Furthermore, by integrating MLIP-driven molecular dynamics (MLIP-MD) with grand canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) simulations, we further incorporated framework flexibility into adsorption predictions, yielding water adsorption isotherms that better align with experimental data compared to those of conventional GCMC simulations. These advances offer new opportunities for the design and optimization of MOFs in gas storage and separation applications.

adsorption↗
NASA NTRS1990

The dynamo of the diurnal tide and its effect on the thermospheric circulation

A theoretical multiconstituent model (including O, N2, and O2) which describes the interactions between neutral winds, dynamo electric fields, and ion drifts is used to interpret observations that revealed a dominance of the fundamental diurnal tide in the upper thermosphere and at equatorial latitudes, and its effect on the thermospheric circulation. The model is shown to reproduce reasonably well the magnitudes of the neutral winds, ion drift velocities, and the ratio between the two. A solution for the neutral winds in which the dynamo electric field is forced to zero shows that the dynamo-induced ion drift is very important in accelerating the neutral atmosphere at higher altitudes. The dynamo interaction primarily affects the curl component of the field; its effect on the temperature and density perturbations is small.

Mayr, H. G.↗
NASA NTRS2008

1997 May 12 Coronal Mass Ejection Event. I. A Simplified Model of the Preeruptive Magnetic Structure

A simple model of the coronal magnetic field prior to the coronal mass ejection (CME) eruption on 1997 May 12 is developed. First, the magnetic field is constructed by superimposing a large-scale background field and a localized bipolar field to model the active region (AR) in the current-free approximation. Second, this potential configuration is quasi-statically sheared by photospheric vortex motions applied to two flux concentrations of the AR. Third, the resulting force-free field is then evolved by canceling the photospheric magnetic flux with the help of an appropriate tangential electric field applied to the central part of the AR. To understand the structure of the modeled configuration, we use the field line mapping technique by generalizing it to spherical geometry. We demonstrate that the initial potential configuration contains a hyperbolic flux tube (HFT) which is a union of two intersecting quasi-separatrix layers. This HFT provides a partition of the closed magnetic flux between the AR and the global solar magnetic field. Such a partition is approximate since the entire flux distribution is perfectly continuous. The vortex motions applied to the AR inter-lock the field lines in the coronal volume to form additionally two new HFTs pinched into thin current layers. Reconnection in these current layers helps to redistribute the magnetic flux and current within the AR in the flux-cancellation phase. In this phase, a magnetic flux rope is formed together with a bald patch separatrix surface wrapping around the rope. Other important implications of the identified structural features of the modeled configuration are also discussed.

Titov, V. S.↗