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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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1994

Scientific and technical photography at NASA Langley Research Center

As part of my assignment connected with the Scientific and Technical Photography & Lab (STPL) at the NASA Langley Research Center I conducted a series of interviews and observed the day to day operations of the STPL with the ultimate objective of becoming exposed first hand to a scientific and technical photo/imaging department for which my school prepares its graduates. I was also asked to share my observations with the staff in order that these comments and observations might assist the STPL to better serve its customers. Meetings with several individuals responsible for various wind tunnels and with a group that provides photo-optical instrumentation services at the Center gave me an overview of the services provided by the Lab and possible areas for development. In summary form these are some of the observations that resulted from the interviews and daily contact with the STPL facility. (1) The STPL is perceived as a valuable and almost indispensable service group within the organization. This comment was invariably made by everyone. Everyone also seemed to support the idea that the STPL continue to provide its current level of service and quality. (2) The STPL generally is not perceived to be a highly technically oriented group but rather as a provider of high quality photographic illustration and documentation services. In spite of the importance and high marks assigned to the STPL there are several observations that merit consideration and evaluation for possible inclusion into the STPL's scope of expertise and future operating practices. (1) While the care and concern for artistic rendition of subjects is seen as laudable and sometimes valuable, the time that this often requires is seen as interfering with keeping the tunnels operating at maximum productivity. Tunnel managers would like to shorten down-time due to photography, have services available during evening hours and on short notice. It may be of interest to the STPL that tunnel managers are incorporating ever greater imaging capabilities in their facilities. To some extent this could mean a reduced demand for traditional photographic services. (2) The photographic archive is seen as a Center resource. Archiving of images, as well as data, is a matter of concern to the investigators. The early holdings of the Photographic Archives are quickly deteriorating. The relative inaccessibility of the material held in the archives is problematic. (3) In certain cases delivery or preparation of digital image files instead of, or along with, hardcopy is already being perceived by the STPL's customers as desirable. The STPL should make this option available, and the fact that it has, or will have this capability widely known. (4) The STPL needs to continue to provide expert advice and technical imaging support in terms of application information to users of traditional photographic and new electronic imaging systems. Cooperative demo projects might be undertaken to maintain or improve the capabilities of the Lab. (5) STPL personnel do not yet have significant electronic imaging or electronic communication skills and improvements in this is an area could potentially have a positive impact on the Center. (6) High speed photographic or imaging services are often mentioned by the STPL as being of primary importance to their mission but the lab supports very few projects calling for high speed imaging services. Much high speed equipment is in poor state of repair. It is interesting to note that when the operation of lasers, digital imaging or quantitative techniques are requested these are directed to another NASA department. Could joint activities be initiated to solve problems? (7). The STPL could acquire more technical assignments if examples of the areas where they posses expertise would be circulated around the center. The fact that the STPL owns high speed video capability could be 'advertised' among its customer base if there truly was an interest in building up a customer base in this area. The STPL could participate in events like TOPS as an exhibitor, as well as a documenter, of the event.

Davidhazy, Andrew↗
NASA NTRS1998

Electronics Manufacturer Provided With Testing and Evaluation Data Necessary to Obtain Additional Orders

A local electronics manufacturer, the Sterling Manufacturing Company, was presented with the opportunity to supply 30,000 automotive cellular antennas to a European subsidiary of a large U.S. auto manufacturer. Although the company built an antenna that they believed would meet the auto manufacturer's specifications, they were unable to conduct the necessary validation tests in-house. They decided to work with NASA Lewis Research Center's Space Electronics Division, which, as part of its technology development program, evaluates the performance of antennas in its Microwave Systems Lab to assess their capabilities for space communications applications. Data measured in Lewis' Microwave Systems Lab proved that Sterling's antenna performed better than specified by the auto manufacturer.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2023

UMERC Materials and Manufacturing Workshop

On October 4, 2023, DOE's Water Power Technology Office (WPTO) hosted a half-day workshop as part of the annual UMERC conference. The workshop brought together universities, industry, DOE offices, and national labs sharing their work, outcomes, capabilities, and critical gaps around materials and manufacturing (M&M) in the marine energy industry. There were breakout sessions for groups to make connections and explore paths forward to advance marine energy. The stated objectives included the following: 1) identify developers and universities highest priority M&M needs to reduce cost and improve performance to inform future DOE funding priorities; 2) raising awareness across the industry, around universities' M&M capabilities and key M&M projects, around developers' M&M needs, around national labs' M&M projects, capabilities, and opportunities to support research and deployment, and around TEAMER, IEC TC114, and other DOE offices that can support M&M research through resources and financial assistance.

manufacturing↗
DOE OSTI2021

Real-Time Investigation of Sn(II) Oxidation in Pb-Free Halide Perovskites by X-ray Absorption and Mössbauer Spectroscopy

Sn(II) halide perovskites are a less toxic alternative to Pb-based materials in perovskite solar cells, but oxidation to Sn(IV) introduces additional degradation pathways. Improving stability requires mechanistic pictures of O 2 - and H 2 O-induced degradation and their synergy. In this work, we demonstrate that X-ray absorption spectroscopy reports the average valency of the bulk material, allowing oxidation kinetics to be measured from minutes to days. Optical and X-ray diffraction studies demonstrate the challenge of isolating oxidative degradation with techniques lacking element specificity and oxidation state sensitivity. Finally, 119Sn Mössbauer spectroscopy is presented as a lab-based technique capable of providing information on valency and speciation throughout oxidation.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Laboratory-based characterization of plutonium in soil particles using micro-XRF and 3D confocal XRF

The investigation of plutonium (Pu) in a soil matrix is of interest in safeguards, nuclear forensics, and environmental remediation activities. The elemental composition of two plutonium contaminated soil particles was characterized nondestructively using a pair of micro X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (micro-XRF) techniques including high resolution X-ray (hiRX) and 3D confocal XRF. The three dimensional elemental imaging capability of confocal XRF permitted the identification two distinct Pu particles within the samples: one external to the Ferich soil matrix and another co-located with Cu within the soil matrix. The size and morphology of the particles was assessed with X-ray transmission microscopy and micro X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) providing complementary morphological information. Limits of detection for a 30 μm Pu particle are <10 ng for each of the XRF techniques. Ultimately, this study highlights the capability for lab-based, nondestructive, spatially resolved characterization of heterogeneous matrices on the micrometer scale with nanogram sensitivity.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗
DOE OSTI2018

Scorpius is being poised to make a sting in stockpile stewardship

Los Alamos is leading a federally directed charge to develop a new facility at the Nevada National Security Site. To study what happens to plutonium during the final stages of a nuclear weapon implosion, the plan calls for Scorpius, which will provide a radiographic capability in a lab 1,000 feet underground.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2022

Thermal Neutron Scattering Improvements and Fixes for MCNP6.3 [Slides]

Major error (10,000+ pcm) discovered when using uranium-dioxide or uranium-nitride included in ENDF80SaB2 release. Improvements are being made towards preparing the code for ENDF/B-VIII.1 (ACE) format updates. A minor error (0-10’s pcm) was discovered while working on new capability development for Lab Directed Research & Development (LDRD) project. Previously, only a single coherent or incoherent elastic channel (along with an inelastic channel) was allowed in a thermal neutron scattering evaluation and subsequent processed ACE file. Based on what is planned in ENDF/B-VIII.1 release, there will be (a) new thermal scattering evaluation(s) which uses this mixed-mode coherent and incoherent elastic scattering blocks. MCNP6.3 has been modified to be able to handle such data in the future. Some reorganization has been made in the cross section calculation (acetot, sabcol, colidn) in the presence of TSL data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2011

Testing of a Methane Cryogenic Heat Pipe with a Liquid Trap Turn-Off Feature for use on Space Interferometer Mission (SIM)

Camera cooling for SIM presents three thermal control challenges; stable operation at 163K (110 C), decontamination heating to +20 C, and a long span from the cameras to the radiator. A novel cryogenic cooling system based on a methane heat pipe meets these challenges. The SIM thermal team, with the help of heat pipe vendor ATK, designed and tested a complete, low temperature, cooling system. The system accommodates the two SIM cameras with a double-ended conduction bar, a single methane heat pipe, independent turn-off devices, and a flight-like radiator. The turn ]off devices consist of a liquid trap, for removing the methane from the pipe, and an electrical heater to raise the methane temperature above the critical point thus preventing two-phase operation. This is the first time a cryogenic heat pipe has been tested at JPL and is also the first heat pipe to incorporate the turn-off features. Operation at 163K with a methane heat pipe is an important new thermal control capability for the lab. In addition, the two turn-off technologies enhance the "bag of tricks" available to the JPL thermal community. The successful test program brings this heat pipe to a high level of technology readiness.

cyrogenic heat pipe↗
NASA NTRS2014

Electrostatic Levitation for Studies of Additive Manufactured Materials

The electrostatic levitation (ESL) laboratory at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center is a unique facility for investigators studying high temperature materials. The laboratory boasts two levitators in which samples can be levitated, heated, melted, undercooled, and resolidified. Electrostatic levitation minimizes gravitational effects and allows materials to be studied without contact with a container or instrumentation. The lab also has a high temperature emissivity measurement system, which provides normal spectral and normal total emissivity measurements at use temperature. The ESL lab has been instrumental in many pioneering materials investigations of thermophysical properties, e.g., creep measurements, solidification, triggered nucleation, and emissivity at high temperatures. Research in the ESL lab has already led to the development of advanced high temperature materials for aerospace applications, coatings for rocket nozzles, improved medical and industrial optics, metallic glasses, ablatives for reentry vehicles, and materials with memory. Modeling of additive manufacturing materials processing is necessary for the study of their resulting materials properties. In addition, the modeling of the selective laser melting processes and its materials property predictions are also underway. Unfortunately, there is very little data for the properties of these materials, especially of the materials in the liquid state. Some method to measure thermophysical properties of additive manufacturing materials is necessary. The ESL lab is ideal for these studies. The lab can provide surface tension and viscosity of molten materials, density measurements, emissivity measurements, and even creep strength measurements. The ESL lab can also determine melting temperature, surface temperatures, and phase transition temperatures of additive manufactured materials. This presentation will provide background on the ESL lab and its capabilities, provide an approach to using the ESL in supporting the development and modeling of the selective laser melting process for metals, and provide an overview of the results to date.

SanSoucie, Michael P.↗
NASA NTRS2020

FEP Extensible Proxy

The FEP Extensible Proxy (FEP) provides schema-less micro-service JSON communications for the Airspace Operations Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center. The FEP grew out of a need to provide robust communications pathways for future airspace simulation capabilities for the lab. FEP provides a websocket based publish/subscribe communications pathway.

FEP Extensible Proxy↗
DOE OSTI2015

Redefining What's Possible for Renewable Energy: Grid Integration

The Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is spearheading engineering innovations that will help optimize the entire energy system, and the lab's analysis capabilities complement that engineering work by identifying ways to integrate renewable energy effectively and economically. This 3-minute video shows how NREL research and analysis are redefining what’s possible for renewable energy on the grid.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Quantum science and technology

Fermilab’s leading-edge quantum science program builds on the lab’s unique capabilities as both the U.S. center for high-energy physics and a leader in quantum physics research.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2020

SorpPropLib : An Open-Source Database for Sorption Equilibrium Properties

Hundreds of sorption working pair equilibrium measurements have been reported in the literature, and many experimental results have been fitted to equilibrium equations. However, an open database does not exist for the equilibrium equations. Therefore, this work compiled 438 published equilibrium equations of sorption working pairs into an open-source database called SorpPropLib. SorpPropLib is accessible from six programming environments commonly used in sorption cycle simulation (C++, Excel®, Python®, Matlab®, Modelica® and Lab-VIEW™). Plotting capabilities allow fast cycle visualization in each programming environment. Thereby, the open-source database SorpPropLib aims to enable and encourage easy data sharing to advance sorption research.

Engelpracht, Mirko↗
DOE OSTI2022

Zirate INL Welcome

Overview of INL and all the capabilities at the lab.

36 - MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Re-establishment of Sandia National Labs super-critical carbon dioxide testing autoclave capability for exposure of metal alloys and polymers (Level 4 Milestone Report)

The sCO 2 system located in 916/160A, Sandia National Laboratories, CA, was constructed in 2014, for testing of materials in the presence of supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) at high pressures (up to 3500 psi) and temperatures (up to 650°C). The basic design of the system consists of a thermally insulated IN625 autoclave, a high-pressure supercritical CO 2 compressor, autoclave heaters, temperature controllers, gas manifold, and temperature and pressure diagnostics. This system was modified in 2016 (sCO 2 compressor was removed) to enable corrosion studies with metal alloys in gaseous CO 2 at lower pressure (up to 300 psi) at 500°C. The capability was not used much afterwards until 2020, when preliminary tests using this capability (again without the supercritical CO 2 compressor) involved the exposure of fatigue and tensile specimens of HN 230 and 800H alloys to CO 2 gas for 168 hours in gaseous CO 2 . Using this capability, we finished experiments with low pressure (450 psi/ 3 MPa), high temperature (650°C) exposure of fatigue and tensile specimens of HN 230 and 800H alloys to CO 2 gas for 168 hours. The data from these experiments will be compared to that gathered from experiments performed in 2020 using the tube furnace and presented in a future report. It is to be noted that the tube furnace experiments ran 500-1500 hours, unlike the 168 hours of exposure in the recent experiment. This can help validate the use of the sCO 2 autoclave for both CO 2 and sCO 2 experiments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2026

Understanding spectral dependance of laser-induced damage precursors in dielectric materials (Abbreviated report_23-ERD-006)

High peak and average power laser systems are typically limited by the handling fluence of the optical components. In particular, the multilayer dielectric coatings are known to be much lower operational fluence than the more ideal bulk materials. In this project we proposed and succeeded in probing different established classes of damage prone precursors at different wavelengths to understand their fundamental laser damage response as a function of wavelength. This study helped to shed light on the fundamental physics of the non-linear precursors that govern laser damage phenomena for ns-regime pulsed laser damage. In this study, we utilized the onsite coating capabilities (VPL, IBS coating lab) to purposefully generate laser damage-prone precursors in hafnia-based coatings (both single and multi-layer coatings). Specifically, we engineered coatings with craze lines initiated by nodules, generated coatings with our xenon-based coating process to suppress nanobubble formation and generated hafnia coatings under controlled oxygen flow conditions to study hafnia sub-oxides and oxygen flow dependance. In these studies we found that craze lines are rife with precursors that are sensitive to ultra-violet light but not to infrared light; we found that the removal of nanobubbles helps with all wavelengths tested, but is most impactful for ultra-violet light; we also found that ultra-violet laser damage performance of hafnia is closely matched to oxygen flow rate, while the infrared performance may be slightly better at lower flow rates. During this LDRD we also successfully stood up a new laser damage testing capability, namely a wavelength agile damage test station to study the spectral response of known laser-induced damage precursors. This is a unique and important capability for Lawrence Livermore National Lab, allowing us to understand the spectral response of materials under high intensity irradiation and damage. This is a vital tool to understand non-linear optical response at wavelengths that we have previously been unable to test at.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗