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DOE OSTI2022

Chlorine Worth Study in Support of PF-4 Operations [Slides]

Aqueous Chloride Operations at PF-4 are important because they recover Pu from other processes, reduce waste sent to WIPP, and increase throughput for Am production. Aqueous Chloride Operations have very conservative mass limits (~520 grams Pu) and significant amounts of Chlorine but calculations not crediting Cl-35 neutron absorption accounting for Cl-35 absorption leads to higher mass limits. Can experiments be designed/conducted to provide technical justification to NCS in order to increase mass limits?

2019 ARCHIMEDES LDRD project↗

NASA NTRS2004

Subsurface Sampling and Sensing Using Burrowing Moles

Finding evidence for life on Mars will likely require accessing the subsurface since the Martian surface is both hostile to life and to preservation of biosignatures due to the cold dry conditions, the strong W environment, and the presence of strong oxidants. Systems are needed to probe beneath the sun and oxidant baked surface of Mars and return samples to the surface for analysis or to bring the instrument sensing underground. Recognizing this need, the European Space Agency incorporated a small subsurface penetrometer or Mole onto the Beagle 2 Mars lander. Had the 2003 landing been successful, the Mole would have collected samples from 1-1.5 m depth and delivered them to an organic analysis instrument on the surface. The de- vice called the Planetary Underground Tool (PLUTO), also measured soil mechanical and thermophysical properties. Constrained by the small mass and volume allowance of the Beagle lander, the PLUTO mole was a slender cylinder only 2 cm diameter and 28 cm long equipped with a small sampling device designed to collect samples and bring them to the surface for analysis by other instrument. The mass of the entire system including deployment mechanism and tether was 1/2 kg. sensor package underground to make in situ measurements. The Mars Underground Mole (MUM) is a larger Mole based on the PLUTO design but incorporating light collection optics that interface to a fiber optic cable in the tether that transmits light to a combined stimulated emission Raman Spectrometer and Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) reflectance Spectrometer with sensitivity from 0.7 to 2.5 micrometers. This instrument is called the Dual Spectral Sensor and uses a Digital Array Scanning Interferometer as the sensor technology, a type of fourier transform interferometer that uses fixed element prisms and thus is highly rugged compared to a Michaelson interferometer. Due to the size limitations of an on-Mole instrument compartment, and the availability of a tether, the sensor head, light sources, and control electronics for the instrument are on the surface. The DSS sensor is capable of sensing a wide range of minerals relevant to Mars Astrobiology objectives including hydrated minerals, clays, carbonates, sulfates, and ice. Additionally, Raman spectroscopy is effective for detecting organics. The MUM is designed to achieve a maximum depth of penetration of 5 m in Mars regolith and can be repeatedly deployed and retrieved. The ability to perform repeated sampling, combined with the low mass and power requirements, means that Moles could be incorporated into a rover mission as well as used on a stationary platform. The Mole mechanism is a pointed slender cylinder that advances into soil by way of an internal sliding hammer mechanism. Part of the energy released by the spring-loaded hammer with each shock is transferred to the Mole casing and from there to the soil, resulting in penetration by displacing and compressing the surrounding soil. A backwards-directed impulse as a re- action to each forward shock is transferred via a suppressor mass against a second weaker spring allowing forward motion without requiring reactive forces provided by the lander. The Mole tip can be opened to collect soil samples. The Mole casing is tethered to a supporting mechanism that supplies power. Components supporting the Mole on the surface include a launch tube, tether reel and winch for pulling in tether, in addition to the tether itself.

Stoker, C. R.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Effect of grain dissolution on sloping ground

The static and dynamic stability of natural or constructed slopes can be affected by dissolution or dissolution-like phenomena. Their underlying mechanisms, however, remain unclear. New experimental results and discrete element simulations provide particle-level and macroscale information on the consequences of mineral dissolution on slope behavior. At the microscale, load-carrying grain arches develop around dissolving particles, the porosity increases, and contact force chains evolve to form a honeycomb topology. At the macroscale, while vertical settlements are the prevailing deformation pattern, lateral granular movements that create mass wasting are prominent in sloping ground, even under the quasi-static granular loss. Horizontal grain displacement is maximum at the surface and decreases linearly with the distance from the slope surface to become zero at the bottom boundaries, much like vertical granular displacement along the depth. Sediments with smaller friction angles and steeper slopes experience greater displacement, both vertically and horizontally. Slopes become flatter after dissolution, with the reduction in slope angle directly related to the loss in ground elevation, ΔH/H o . Yet, because of the porous fabric that results from dissolution, vertical shortening is less than the upper bound, estimated from the loss in the solid mass fraction, ΔH/H o ≈SF. Under water-saturated conditions, the post-dissolution fabric may lead to sudden undrained shear and slope slide.

42 ENGINEERING↗

NASA NTRS2011

Ares I-X In-Flight Modal Identification

Operational modal analysis is a procedure that allows the extraction of modal parameters of a structure in its operating environment. It is based on the idealized premise that input to the structure is white noise. In some cases, when free decay responses are corrupted by unmeasured random disturbances, the response data can be processed into cross-correlation functions that approximate free decay responses. Modal parameters can be computed from these functions by time domain identification methods such as the Eigenvalue Realization Algorithm (ERA). The extracted modal parameters have the same characteristics as impulse response functions of the original system. Operational modal analysis is performed on Ares I-X in-flight data. Since the dynamic system is not stationary due to propellant mass loss, modal identification is only possible by analyzing the system as a series of linearized models over short periods of time via a sliding time-window of short time intervals. A time-domain zooming technique was also employed to enhance the modal parameter extraction. Results of this study demonstrate that free-decay time domain modal identification methods can be successfully employed for in-flight launch vehicle modal extraction.

Bartkowicz, Theodore J.↗

DOE OSTI2023

SPH modeling of biomass granular flow: Theoretical implementation and experimental validation

The commercialization of biomass-derived energy is impeded by flowability challenges arising from the feeding and handling of granular biomass materials in full-scale biorefineries. To overcome these obstacles, a robust and accurate model to simulate the flow of granular biomass is indispensable. However, conventional mesh-based numerical codes are limited by inherent mesh distortion in simulating large deformation that commonly occurs in granular biomass handling. Here, in this study, we propose a graphics processing unit (GPU)-accelerated meshless Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) code to model the flow of granular biomass materials. A modified void ratio-based mass conversation, a hybrid particle-to-particle/surface frictional boundary treatment, and a hypoplastic constitutive model are implemented. Four numerical examples, an elastic block sliding on inclined planes, sand column collapse, Angle of Repose, and axial compression tests for pine chips, were simulated using the developed SPH code. The results demonstrate good agreement between numerical predictions and analytical and experimental data for all four examples, validating the SPH code and increasing confidence that it can be applied to simulate more complex granular biomass handling processes, such as hopper feeding or auger conveyance.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

NASA NTRS1993

Structural mapping of Maxwell Montes

Four sets of structures were mapped in the western and southern portions of Maxwell Montes. An early north-trending set of penetrative lineaments is cut by dominant, spaced ridges and paired valleys that trend northwest. To the south the ridges and valleys splay and graben form in the valleys. The spaced ridges and graben are cut by northeast-trending graben. The northwest-trending graben formed synchronously with or slightly later than the spaced ridges. Formation of the northeast-trending graben may have overlapped with that of the northwest-trending graben, but occurred in a spatially distinct area (regions of 2 deg slope). Graben formation, with northwest-southeast extension, may be related to gravity-sliding. Individually and collectively these structures are too small to support the immense topography of Maxwell, and are interpreted as parasitic features above a larger mass that supports the mountain belt.

Keep, Myra↗

DOE OSTI2021

Next-Generation Simulations of the Remarkable Deaths Of Massive Stars [Slides]

3D models of stellar convection are necessary for accurate description of state of model near collapse. Convection is occurring at many scales with the large dominant mode near collapse. 3D instabilities can affect flow properties and mass entrainment. Mach number profiles show favorable conditions for explosion. 3D rotating progenitor models are ALSO necessary. The redistribution of AM diverges from the MESA model, with implications for remnant. There is turbulent transport of AM in convective shell regions. Multi-D models can provide input for successful CCSN models. Larger non-radial kinetic energy exists when using multi-D progenitor input. The 3D CCSN model showed prompt convection and asymmetric shock runaway. Explosion properties suggest robust impact on multi-messenger signals.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2023

Public Town Hall (2/27/2023) [Slides]

With geopolitical tensions high around the globe (Ukraine, Russia, China…), our mission is more important now than at any point since the Cold War – Our people help ensure the reliability of the deterrent, detect weapons of mass destruction, and advance the frontiers of science, engineering and computing.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗

NASA NTRS1980

Gas bearings

The present work deals with the fundamentals of gas lubrication theory, which forms the foundation of all analytical design tools for gas bearings. Most of the hard lessons learned in the past are outlined with reference to dry contact, debris ingestion, sliding speed, and chemical stability of lubricant. The mathematical theory of gas lubrication is described for scaling rules in thin-film viscous flow, momentum conservation, mass conservation, energy conservation, isothermal gas bearing theory, coupling effects, and global bearing characteristics. Particular attention is given to the governing differential equations for common bearing configurations. Also discussed are representative solutions of self-acting gas bearings, externally pressurized bearings, and time-dependent effects.

Pan, C. H. T.↗

NASA NTRS1964

Studies of Lubricating Materials in Vacuum

Lubricating materials for use in a vacuum environment have been the subject of a series of experimental investigations. Evaporation properties were evaluated for solid polymeric compositions. Friction and wear studies explored the behavior during sliding contact for series of polymeric compositions, binary alloys containing soft film-forming phases, complex alloys with film-forming materials, and a burnished MoS2 film. Friction and wear experiments were conducted at 10(exp-9)mm Hg with a 3/16-inch-radius-hemisphere rider specimen sliding on the flat surface of a rotating 2-1/2-inch-diameter disk specimen with materials that had low rates of evaporation. The influence of fillers in polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) on decomposition during vacuum friction studies was determined with a mass spectrometer. A real advantage in reducing decomposition and improving friction wear properties is gained by adding fillers (e.g., copper) that improve thermal conductivity through the composite materials. A polyimide and an epoxy-MoS2 composition material were found to have better friction and wear properties than PTFE compositions. A series of alloys (cast binary as well as more complex alloys) that contained microinclusions of potential film-forming material was studied. These materials replaced the normal surface oxides as they were worn away on sliding contact. Iron sulfide, nickel oxide, and tin are typical film-forming materials employed and were demonstrated to be effective in inhibiting surface welding and reducing friction. A burnished MoS2 film applied to type 440-C stainless steel in argon with a rotating soft wire brush had good endurance properties but somewhat higher friction than commercially available bonded films. An oil film applied to the burnished MoS2 markedly reduced its endurance life.

WEAR↗

NASA NTRS1988

Manipulator For A Vacuum Chamber

Rotary seal provides for external actuators. Positioner in vacuum employs four actuators; up/down, horizontal rotary, horizontal, and vertical rotary. External up/down and azimuthal actuators drives shaft entering vacuum chamber through sliding and rotating seal. Placement of actuator motors outside vacuum chamber reduces heat-removal load on system. Atop 2.5-cm-diameter shaft is stage supporting masses as great as 15 kg. Small motors on stage provide horizontal translation and rotation in vertical plane. Manipulator developed for calibrating plasma detectors by subjecting them to particle beams in vacuum. Standard, commercially available parts used.

Hunsaker, F.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Fission Product Yields of 233 U and 239 Pu by Neutron-Induced Fission at Neutron Energies from 0.18-140 MeV [Slides]

Nuclear fission is an important process with applications in astrophysics, nuclear reactors, and stockpile stewardship. Despite having been discovered over 80 years ago, fission is not fully described by a predictive model. This study will show fission product mass yields and total kinetic energies (TKE) across a large range of incident neutron energies for future refinement of fission models. 233U(n,f) data is used to verify features and structures on a previous experiment and compared against fission models. 239Pu(n,f) data will be analyzed to show new data at higher neutron energies using techniques to handle fission in the presence of alphas. 252Cf(sf) data will be used for calibration and benchmarking with a thin-backed target.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗

NASA NTRS1974

Effectiveness of solid lubricant coatings for friction in hard vacuum (10-9 tor)

A study was made of the efficiency of solid lubricating coatings, based on MoS2 with various binders, during friction and under highvacuum conditions. Mass spectrometry was used for an analysis of the composition of the gas evolved from the coatings in the friction process. It is shown that the vacuum level, loading, and sliding velocity influence coating effectiveness. In the friction process the solid lubricant coatings yield characteristic decay products associated with the chemical nature of the binders. The mechanism of coating breakdown during friction is associated with the binder breakdown mechanism.

Verkin, B. I.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Solar-C Conceptual Spacecraft Design Study: Final Review. Release 2

This briefing package contains the conceptual spacecraft design completed by the Advanced Concepts Office (ED04) in support of the Solar-C Study. The mission is to succeed Hinode (Solar B), and is designed to study the polar regions of the sun. Included in the slide presentation are sections that review the payload data, and overall ground rules and assumptions, mission analysis and trajectory design, the conceptual spacecraft design section includes: (1) Integrated Systems Design, (2) Mass Properties (3) Cost, (4) Solar Sail Systems, (6) Propulsion, (7) Structures, (8) Thermal (9) Power (10) Avionics / GN&C. There are also conclusions and follow-up work that must be done. In the Back-up section there is information about the JAXA H-11A Launch Vehicle, scalability and spiral development, Mass Projections, a comparison of the TRL assessment for two potential vendors of solar sails, and a chart with the mass properties,

Hopkins, Randall↗

NASA NTRS1976

Flux-corrected transport techniques for transient calculations of strongly shocked flows

New flux-corrected transport algorithms are described for solving generalized continuity equations. These techniques were developed by requiring that the finite difference formulas used ensure positivity for an initially positive convected quantity. Thus FCT is particularly valuable for fluid-like problems with strong gradients or shocks. Repeated application of the same subroutine to mass, momentum, and energy conservation equations gives a simple solution of the coupled time-dependent equations of ideal compressible fluid dynamics without introducing an artificial viscosity. FCT algorithms span Eulerian, sliding-rezone, and Lagrangian finite difference grids in several coordinate systems. The latest FCT techniques are fully vectorized for parallel/pipeline processing.

Boris, J. P.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Low SWaP Onboard Satellite Navigation, Guidance, and Control Technology

Onboard autonomy is a necessity for responsive space operations. Autonomous navigation, guidance, and control (NGC) enables space missions to reduce their dependence on high demand ground assets and costly ground personnel. It also allows for in-situ decision making and higher return on mission data. A flight software and hardware system providing this capability, called “autoNGC,” is currently being developed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center for infusion into multiple future missions. The first build of autoNGC, providing autonomous navigation for lunar orbiting spacecraft, is targeted for completion by Fall 2024. It provides sensor fusion of multiple measurement types including pseudo-range from a weak signal Global Navigation Satellite Service (GNSS) receiver, 1-way and 2-way direct to Earth (DTE) range and Doppler, bearing and range from optical camera sensed images, and an accelerometer. AutoNGC is also being targeted for future missions that involve small body proximity operations, Sun Earth Libration point orbits, and distributed systems missions (DSMs) including those at outer planets. AutoNGC flight software is being built upon the plug-and-play architecture of the core Flight System (cFS) [Ref. 1]. Figure (Slide 7) shows the message-based software bus layout of various software applications (“apps”) consisting of the standard cFS apps and autoNGC interface apps and libraries. Accurate onboard navigation and timing is obtained through the Goddard Enhanced Onboard Navigation System (GEONS) software library [Ref. 2], which fuses different measurement types through an extended Kalman filter (EKF) framework. Optical measurements that are ingested in GEONS are provided by the cFS Goddard Image Analysis and Navigation Tool (cGIANT) app [Ref. 3]. This app processes optical images to extract the bearing angles of the centroid of the imaged body (near or far), the range to the imaged body, and/or of the features on the surface of a body to perform terrain relative navigation (TRN). Measurement of range to the body’s center of mass can also be derived from the detection of the limb. The first build of autoNGC for a lunar orbiting spacecraft is a minimal size, weight, and power (SWaP) hardware design allowing for inclusion into CubeSats and SmallSat-size class buses. Advancements in miniaturized space processors, such as the SpaceCube 3.0 Mini and the SpaceCube Mini-Z [Ref. 4] are utilized for low SWaP while maintaining a high level of performance. Figure (Slide 11) shows the composition of the first autoNGC build. The current enclosure design has dimensions 12 cm x 17 cm x 13.5 cm. The box mass is expected to be less than 2 kg, and the nominal power is 21 W. The hardware interfaces are designed for flexibility with a variety of sensor inputs. The achievable navigation performance depends on the sensors utilized, including the onboard clock for 1-way pseudo-range measurements. Analysis using a configuration that consists of weak signal GPS, TRN, and 1-way DTE has shown position and velocity accuracies of 10 meters and 2 cm/s (3-σ ) RSS, respectively, with onboard time knowledge estimated to better than 13 ns (3-σ ), for a spacecraft in a representative 12-hour eccentric lunar orbit. Other measurement types such as x-rays from known pulsars (called XNAV) and cross-links can also be processed in GEONS. With the plug-and-play architecture of autoNGC, cFS apps can easily be added and replaced, even after launch. Goddard is actively seeking partners to collaborate in the development of additional capabilities for autoNGC, including industry, academia, and others across the US Government. Plans are being formulated to make the autoNGC software platform available for use by any US government organization to leverage the non-recurring engineering associated with the development of onboard autonomous NGC 3 capabilities. As advancements in space qualified sensors, microprocessors, and algorithms are made, the autoNGC platform provides a ready starting point for inclusion of these technologies.

C. J. Gramling↗

NASA NTRS1995

Large-scale landslide simulations: Global deformation, velocities and basal friction

The cause of the apparent small friction exhibited by long runout landslides has long been speculated upon. In an attempt to provide some insight into the matter, this paper describes results obtained from a discrete particle computer simulation of landslides composed of up to 1,000,000 two-dimensional discs. While simplified, the results show many of the characteristics of field data (the volumetric effect on runout, preserved strata, etc.) and with allowances made for the two-dimensional nature of the simulation, the runouts compare well with those of actual landslides. The results challenge the current view that landslides travel as a nearly solid block riding atop a low friction basal layer. Instead, they show that the mass is completely shearing and indicate that the apparent friction coefficient is an increasing function of shear rate. The volumetric effect can then be understood. With all other conditions being equal, different size slides appear to travel with nearly the same average velocity; however, as the larger landslides are thicker, they experience smaller shear rates and correspondingly smaller frictional resistance.

Campbell, Charles S.↗

NASA NTRS2010

Risk Informed Design as Part of the Systems Engineering Process

This slide presentation reviews the importance of Risk Informed Design (RID) as an important feature of the systems engineering process. RID is based on the principle that risk is a design commodity such as mass, volume, cost or power. It also reviews Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) as it is used in the product life cycle in the development of NASA's Constellation Program.

Deckert, George↗