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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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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Spatially Continuous Depletion Algorithm for Monte Carlo Simulations

To correctly predict reactor behavior during cycle operations, the evolution of nuclide number densities throughout the core must be accurately modeled. The time-varying spatial distribution of nuclide number densities is typically resolved by discretizing the Monte Carlo geometry into smaller cells over which number densities are assumed to be spatially invariant. The nuclide number densities in these smaller cells are integrated through time using reaction rate tallies on the same discretized geometry. However, detailed distributions of nuclide number densities in a full three dimensional simulation can require a prohibitive amount of tallies, and the spatial discretization of the base geometry makes coupling to external multi-physics tools difficult. In this paper a method for solving for spatially continuous number density distributions during depletion calculations will be described. The spatially continuous number densities can be used in the transport method proposed by Brown and Martin which allows for transporting neutrons through a material with continuously varying properties such as temperature and nuclide number densities. Coupled with the ability of Functional Expansion Tallies (FETs) to represent tallied quantities as continuous functions, it is possible to both solve for and make use of spatially continuous nuclide number densities. The need for this capability was alluded to by Brown et. al., but no solution has yet been proposed. With a continuous depletion method, recent work which utilized FETs and continuous material tracking to incorporate multi-physics feedback in Monte Carlo simulations can be extended to simulations that include depletion analysis. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study on neutronics calculation method of SCWR with annular fuel assembly - 26804

Many Supercritical Water Reactor designs have been proposed all over the world. Annular fuel was employed in SCWR by Xi'an JiaoTong University to achieve lower fuel center temperature and lower cladding surface temperature. Different analysis codes have been developed for these designs. In this article, a neutronics calculation code for SCWR with annular fuel is developed. This code is compared with Monte-Carlo code doing both assembly and core calculation. The results showed that the spectra difference of PWRs and SCWRs is the main reason for assembly calculation errors and conventional assembly homogenization method is not suitable for SCWRs. Thus the group-collapsing and spatial-averaging method were studied to improve the accuracy. The few-group structure which contains 14 energy groups is used. The 'super-assembly' model is employed to consider effect of reflector. The results showed that the accuracy of effective multiplication factor and radial power was improved. (authors)

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Physics of Edge-Core Coupling by Inward Turbulence Propagation

The dynamics of edge-core coupling is critically important to the optimization of magnetically confined fusion plasmas. Since early proposals, there has been persistent speculation that inward propagation of turbulence from the boundary is a possible means to energize the edge-core coupling region. However, the detailed mechanism of this process has remained a mystery until recent experiments observed that regular, intense gradient relaxation events generated blob-void pairs very close to the last closed flux surface. Blobs ($\tilde{n}$ >0) propagate outward and detach from the bulk plasma, while voids ($\tilde{n}$ <0) propagate inward, and so stir the core plasma. Here, in this work, we demonstrate that this heretofore ignored process of void emission can drive a broad turbulent layer of width ∼100 𝜌 𝑠 , for typical parameters. The mechanism is the Cherenkov emission of drift waves from inward-propagating voids. The model shows promise to resolve several questions surrounding the shortfall problem and the strong turbulence in the edge-core coupling region.

drift waves↗
DOE OSTI2017

A Case Study in Low Aerosol Number Concentrations Over the Eastern North Atlantic: Implications for Pristine Conditions in the Remote Marine Boundary Layer

We present a case study (20 September to 13 October 2015) of synergistic, multi-instrument observations of aerosols, clouds, and the marine boundary layer (MBL) at the Eastern North Atlantic (ENA) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement site centered on a period of exceptionally low (20–50 cm -3 ) surface accumulation mode (0.1–1 μm) aerosol particle number concentrations. We divide the case study into three regimes (high, clean, and ultraclean) based on daily median number concentrations and compare finer resolution (hourly or less) observations between these regimes. The analysis focuses on the possibility of using these ultraclean events to study pristine conditions in the remote MBL, as well as examining evidence for a recently proposed conceptual model for the large-scale depletion of cloud condensation nuclei-sized particles in postfrontal air masses. Relative to the high and clean regimes, the ultraclean regime tends to exhibit significantly fewer particles between 0.1 and 0.4 μm in diameter and a relatively increased prevalence of larger accumulation mode particles. In addition, supermicron particles tend to dominate total scattering in the ultraclean regime, and there is little evidence for absorbing aerosol. These observations are more in-line with a heavily scavenged but natural marine aerosol population and minimal contribution from continental sources such as anthropogenic pollution, biomass burning, or dust. The air masses with the consistently lowest accumulation mode aerosol number concentrations are largely dominated by heavily drizzling clouds with high liquid water path cores, deep decoupled boundary layers, open cellular organization, and notable surface forcing of subcloud turbulence, even at night.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2023

Fuel cycle depletion validation and code-to-code verification studies for High Flux Isotope Reactor highly and low-enriched uranium fuel designs

Here, this paper documents fuel cycle depletion validation and code-to-code verification studies for the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) highly enriched uranium (HEU) and proposed low-enriched uranium (LEU) fuel designs. In support of HFIR’s world-leading performance, transport and depletion simulations are performed to ensure safe operations, design and qualify irradiation experiments, enhance core components and irradiation facilities, and design and characterize LEU fuel designs. Identifying well-validated, computationally efficient codes is required for the success of these efforts. The HFIR Controller, Shift, and VESTA codes were deployed to simulate HEU uranium–oxide dispersion fuel cycles at 85, 95, and 100 MW operations, as well as LEU fuel cycles operating at 95 MW with uranium–silicide dispersion and uranium–molybdenum monolithic alloy fuel forms. Excellent agreement between the codes and with experimentally obtained 235 U enrichment distributions provides increased confidence in the ability of these codes to model and simulate HFIR’s unique core design.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Software Validation Work With The ZPPR-15 Data

The analysis activities for fast reactors involve using many different pieces of software that are relied upon for their predictive capabilities. For this software to be considered reliable, documented proof that the predictions of the software are accurate is required. In this manuscript, the validation work that covers some of the Argonne software used in fast reactor design activities is discussed and displayed. This validation work includes neutron and gamma flux distributions, reaction rate distributions, and reactivity worth. In an ideal world, a reactor development program would have access to a comprehensive set of experimental facilities to help inform the design aspects of the reactor itself. While thermal-hydraulics experiments, and to a limited degree mechanical experiments, can be carried out today for validation needs, neutronics related experimental facilities are rather impractical because of the lack of experimental facilities. Given the desired time table for construction of new reactors, the reconstitution or creation of new neutronic experimental facilities is untenable and thus those reactor development programs must rely upon any available experimental measurements that are qualitatively similar to the design. While a methodology has been proposed to assess the similarity between the past experimental measurements and the reactor itself, that aspect is beyond the scope of this manuscript. In this manuscript, the focus is entirely placed on the analysis results for a series of experiments carried out at the ZPPR facility in Idaho in the mid-1980s. In this regard, this manuscript only shows the validation of the stated neutronics software for specific loadings of the ZPPR reactor. Because of the fuel form, its proposed enrichment, and the material content of the reactor core, the ZPPR-15 experiments were identified as potential validation data for the reactor. The ZPPR-15 experiments were intended as mockups of a 330 MWe Integral Fast Reactor program which was a follow on program to the Clinch River Breeder Reactor. In the ZPPR-15 series of experiments, measurements of the neutron spectrum, control rod worth, sodium void worth, foil reaction rate distributions, Doppler worth of heated samples, gamma dose, and axial expansion worth were all carried out and published. In many cases, these reactivity coefficients are good candidates to validate the reactivity coefficient calculation scheme used by the analysis software and included in the safety analysis activities of fast reactor development projects today. This manuscript discusses the modeling methodology and accuracy of the calculated experimental results using the LANL software MCNP and the ANL software package ARC (Argonne Reactor Codes). As will be shown, for many of the experimental measurements, the two software packages are found to be good predictive analysis tools for those experiments. In other cases, problems with the analysis methodology or underlying cross section data are exposed which indicates where predictive analysis is not as reliable. Finally, in some of the measurements the conclusion is reached that the experimental measurement cannot be reproduced with the analysis software as it is simply too difficult.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2026

Software Validation Work With The ZPPR-15 Data

The analysis activities for fast reactors involve using many different pieces of software that are relied upon for their predictive capabilities. For this software to be considered reliable, documented proof that the predictions of the software are accurate is required. In this manuscript, the validation work that covers some of the Argonne software used in fast reactor design activities is discussed and displayed. This validation work includes neutron and gamma flux distributions, reaction rate distributions, and reactivity worth. In an ideal world, a reactor development program would have access to a comprehensive set of experimental facilities to help inform the design aspects of the reactor itself. While thermal-hydraulics experiments, and to a limited degree mechanical experiments, can be carried out today for validation needs, neutronics related experimental facilities are rather impractical because of the lack of experimental facilities. Given the desired time table for construction of new reactors, the reconstitution or creation of new neutronic experimental facilities is untenable and thus those reactor development programs must rely upon any available experimental measurements that are qualitatively similar to the design. While a methodology has been proposed to assess the similarity between the past experimental measurements and the reactor itself, that aspect is beyond the scope of this manuscript. In this manuscript, the focus is entirely placed on the analysis results for a series of experiments carried out at the ZPPR facility in Idaho in the mid-1980s. In this regard, this manuscript only shows the validation of the stated neutronics software for specific loadings of the ZPPR reactor. Because of the fuel form, its proposed enrichment, and the material content of the reactor core, the ZPPR-15 experiments were identified as potential validation data for the reactor. The ZPPR-15 experiments were intended as mockups of a 330 MWe Integral Fast Reactor program which was a follow on program to the Clinch River Breeder Reactor. In the ZPPR-15 series of experiments, measurements of the neutron spectrum, control rod worth, sodium void worth, foil reaction rate distributions, Doppler worth of heated samples, gamma dose, and axial expansion worth were all carried out and published. In many cases, these reactivity coefficients are good candidates to validate the reactivity coefficient calculation scheme used by the analysis software and included in the safety analysis activities of fast reactor development projects today. This manuscript discusses the modeling methodology and accuracy of the calculated experimental results using the LANL software MCNP and the ANL software package ARC (Argonne Reactor Codes). As will be shown, for many of the experimental measurements, the two software packages are found to be good predictive analysis tools for those experiments. In other cases, problems with the analysis methodology or underlying cross section data are exposed which indicates where predictive analysis is not as reliable. Finally, in some of the measurements the conclusion is reached that the experimental measurement cannot be reproduced with the analysis software as it is simply too difficult.

Aliberti, Gerardo↗
NASA NTRS1999

Monte Carlo Simulation of Nanoparticle Encapsulation in Flames

Two critical challenges facing the application of flames for synthesis of nanopowder materials are: (1) overcoming formation of agglomerates and (2) ensuring that the highly reactive nanopowders that are synthesized in flames can be produced in such a manner that their purity is maintained during subsequent processing. Agglomerates are produced in flames because particle formation occurs in a high temperature and high number density environment. They are undesirable in most advanced applications of powders. For example, agglomerates have a deleterious effect on compaction density, leading to voids when nanopowders are consolidated. Efforts to avoid agglomeration in flames without substantially reducing particle number density and, consequently, production rate, have had limited success. Powder purity must also be maintained during subsequent handling of nanopowders and this poses a significant challenge for any synthesis route because nanopowders, particularly metals and non-oxide ceramic powders, are inherently reactive. Impurities acquired during handling of nanopowders have slowed the advancement of the nanostructured materials industry. One promising approach that has been proposed to address these problems is nano-encapsulation. In this approach, the core particles are encapsulated in a removable material while they are within the flame but before excessive agglomeration has occurred. Condensation can be very rapid so that core particles are trapped within the condensed material and agglomeration is limited. Nano-encapsulation also addresses the handling concerns for post-synthesis processing. Results have shown that when nano-encapsulated powders are exposed to atmosphere the core particles are protected from oxidation and/or hydrolysis. Thus, handling of the powders does not require extreme care. If, for example, at the time of consolidation the encapsulation material is removed by vacuum annealing, the resulting powder remains unagglomerated and free of impurities. In this work, we described a novel aerosol model that has been developed to simulate particle encapsulation in flames. The model will ultimately be coupled to a one-dimensional spherical flame code and compared to results from microgravity flame experiments.

Sun, Z.↗
DOE OSTI2020

RELAP-7 Application and Enhancement for FLEX Strategies and ATF Behavior under Extended Loss of AC Power Conditions

This report summarizes the results of a three-year research project sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Nuclear Energy University Program (NEUP) to enhance and apply the RELAP-7 code by adding and improving several important components (e.g., a mechanistic Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) system model) for thermal hydraulic studies of LWRs under ELAP conditions and evaluating the time available for transition to portable FLEX equipment. The project team included University of Massachusetts–Lowell, The Ohio State University, Texas A&M University, Idaho National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. In the Fukushima accident, it was found that the RCIC system played a crucial role in delaying core meltdown by almost three days in Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2, because of self-regulated operation of the steam driven RCIC turbine-pump injection system. Steam flow in the convergent-divergent nozzles of the RCIC Terry turbine is two-phase non-equilibrium transonic flow with homogenous nucleation condensation. To more accurately predict the dynamic process and behavior of the transonic compressible steam flow, a one-dimensional transient two-phase analytical model is presented. A simplified four-fluid model was employed in the present work with the consideration of four separate fluid fields: vapor, liquid film, entrained droplets and condensed droplets. The mass, momentum and energy interactions between the fluids were considered and modeled. An extended seven-equation non-equilibrium critical flow model was developed to obtain the critical pressure and velocities of each phase at the nozzle throat. To predict the wetness in the divergent section, a mechanistic nucleation condensation model was integrated in the nozzle analysis model, considering the generation and consequent growth of droplets. The governing differential equations on a staggered grid were discretized using the second-order Lax-Wendroff scheme with a flux limiter, and the Semi-Implicit Method for Pressure-Linked Equation (SIMPLE) algorithm was employed to solve the discrete linear system. To demonstrate the predictability and reliability of the physical models and the numerical method proposed in the present work, three representative nozzles were modeled and simulated. The results show good agreement with the available experimental data, even for condensation shock. Then, the 1D nozzle model was employed to obtain nozzle flow tables of the Terry turbine nozzle for different working pressures which can cover the operation pressure range of the RCIC system. A mechanistic RCIC turbine-pump system model was developed and implemented in the system code TRACE to simulate dynamic responses of the RCIC system under Beyond Design Basis Accident (BDBA) conditions. The turbine-pump governing equations are based on the control volume approach of the angular momentum balance. The physics based mechanistic RCIC model was developed using the TRACE control system components (i.e., signal variables, control blocks, and tables), and incorporated into a TRACE boiling water reactor (BWR) model. The TRACE model in this report has a detailed nodalization of the reactor pressure vessel (RPV), and all of the major flow paths and system components, including the safety relief valves (SRVs) and the containment suppression pool and drywell. Based on the nozzle flow tables generated from the 1D nozzle model developed, the turbine drive torque can be calculated from table lookup. Since the detailed specifications of the RCIC pump are unavailable, the homologous curves for a Bingham pump were used in the current pump component. A station black-out (SBO) accident test problem was selected to demonstrate the TRACE RCIC model. The short-term SBO simulations were performed for two cladding materials: Zircaloy and FeCrAl, to demonstrate the effect of the accident tolerant fuel cladding on fuel heat-up under BDBA accident conditions. The wetwell plays a vital safety role in SBO and other BWR accident scenarios in that it can reduce containment pressure and supply additional core make-up water. The suppression pool temperature distribution has a very large impact on both RPV and containment pressure. Thus, another novel contribution of the project comes mainly from an improved, systems-level wetwell model which can capture buoyancy-induced thermal stratification effects due to steam injection and condensation. A two-zone stratified wetwell model has been implemented in RELAP-7 and some results from that model are presented. This wetwell model is capable of simulating thermal stratification due to a low steam mass injection rate. With a low mass flow rate, the model assumes that all the steam condenses within the pipe and the resulting plume can be approximated with a purely buoyant, heat-source driven model. The wetwell model developed with these assumptions is adequate to simulate slow transients such as extended SBO transients.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Direct Observations of Solute Dispersion in Rocks With Distinct Degree of Sub‐Micron Porosity

Abstract The transport of chemical species in rocks is affected by their structural heterogeneity to yield a wide spectrum of local solute concentrations. To quantify such imperfect mixing, advanced methodologies are needed that augment the traditional breakthrough curve analysis by probing solute concentration within the fluids locally. Here, we demonstrate the application of asynchronous, multimodality imaging by X‐ray computed tomography (XCT) and positron emission tomography (PET) to the study of passive tracer experiments in laboratory rock cores. The four‐dimensional concentration maps measured by PET reveal specific signatures of the transport process, which we have quantified using fundamental measures of mixing and spreading. We observe that the extent of solute spreading correlate strongly with the strength of subcore‐scale porosity heterogeneity measured by XCT, while dilution is enhanced in rocks containing substantial sub‐micron porosity. We observe that the analysis of different metrics is necessary, as they can differ in their sensitivity to the strength and forms of heterogeneity. The multimodality imaging approach is uniquely suited to probe the fundamental difference between spreading and mixing in heterogeneous media. We propose that when multi‐dimensional data is available, mixing and spreading can be independently quantified using the same metric. We also demonstrate that one‐dimensional transport models have limited predictive ability toward the internal evolution of the solute concentration, when the model is solely calibrated against the effluent breakthrough curves. The data set generated in this study can be used to build realistic digital rock models and to benchmark transport simulations that account deterministically for rock property heterogeneity.

Kurotori, Takeshi [Department of Chemical Engineer↗
DOE OSTI2024

Do not forget the electrons: Extending moderately-sized nuclear networks for multidimensional hydrodynamic codes

Context.Nuclear networks are widely used coupled with hydrodynamical simulations of explosive scenarios to account for the change of nuclear species and energy generation rate due to nuclear reactions. In this way, there is a feedback mechanism between the hydrodynamical state and the nuclear processes. Unfortunately, the timescale of nuclear reactions is orders of magnitude smaller than the dynamical timescale that drives hydrodynamical simulations. Therefore, these nuclear networks are usually very small, reduced in most cases to a dozen elements, especially when simulations are carried out in more than one dimension. Aims.We present here an extended nuclear network, with 90 species, designed for being coupled with hydrodynamic simulations, which includes neutrons, protons, electrons, positrons, and the corresponding neutrino and anti-neutrino emission. This network is also coupled with temperature, making it extremely robust and, together with its size, unique of its kind. The inclusion of electron captures on free protons makes the network very appropriate for multidimensional studies of Type Ia supernova explosions, especially when the exploding object is a massive white dwarf. Methods.We perform several tests that are relevant to simulate explosive scenarios, such as Type Ia supernovae and core-collapse supernovae. We compare the results of the 90 nuclei network with a standardα-chain network with 14 elements to evaluate the differences in the energy generation rate. We also evaluate the relevance of including the electrons in the network in terms of generated yields and how it affects the pressure of a degenerate fluid such as that of white dwarfs. The results obtained with the 90-nuclei network have been verified with a much larger 2000-nuclei network built from REACLIB (WinNet), in terms of nuclear energy generation rate, pressure, and produced yields. Results.The results obtained with the proposed medium-sized network compare fairly well, to a few percent, with those computed withWinNetin scenarios reproducing the gross physical conditions of current Type Ia supernova explosion models. In those cases where the carbon and oxygen fuel ignites at high density, the high-temperature plateau typical of the nuclear statistical equilibrium regime is well defined and stable, allowing large integration time steps. We show that the inclusion of electron captures on free protons substantially improves the estimation of the electron fraction of the mixture. Therefore, the pressure is better determined than in networks where electron captures are excluded, which will ultimately lead to more reliable hydrodynamic models. Explosive combustion of helium at low density, occurring near the surface layer of a white dwarf, is also better described with the proposed network, which gives nuclear energy generation rates much closer toWinNetthan typical reduced alpha networks. Conclusions.A nuclear network withN= 90 species, including electrons, aimed at multidimensional calculations of supernova explosions is described and verified. The proposed network is suitable for the study of Type Ia supernova explosions because it provides better values of pressure and electron abundance than other existing networks with smaller or even a similar size but without including electron capture processes.

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2020

Quarkyonic matter equation of state in beta-equilibrium

Quark matter may appear due to a hadronic-quark transition in the core of a hybrid star. Quarkyonic matter is an approach in which both quarks and nucleons appear as quasiparticles in a crossover transition, and provides an explicit realization of early ideas concerning quark matter (e.g., the MIT bag model). This description has recently been employed by McLerran and Reddy to model chargeless (pure neutron) matter with an approach that has the virtue that the speed of sound rises quickly at a neutron-quark transition so as to satisfy observational constraints on the neutron star maximum mass (≳ 2 $M_⊙$) and the radius of a 1.4 $M_⊙$ star ($R_{1.4}$ ≲ 13.5 km). Traditional models involving first-order transitions result in softer pressure-energy density relations that have difficulty satisfying these constraints except with very narrow choices of parameters. Here, we propose a variation of quarkyonic matter involving protons and leptons whose energy can be explicitly minimized to achieve both chemical and beta equilibrium, which cannot be done in the chargeless formulation. Quarkyonic stellar models are able to satisfy observed mass and radius constraints with a wide range of model parameters, avoiding the obligatory fine-tuning of conventional hybrid star models, including requiring the transition density to be very close to the nuclear saturation density. Our formulation fits experimental and theoretical properties of the nuclear symmetry energy and pure neutron matter, and contains as few as three free parameters. This makes it an ideal tool for the study of high-density matter that is an efficient alternative to piecewise polytrope or spectral decomposition methods.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS2016

Testing and Resilience of the Impact Origin of the Moon

The leading hypothesis for the origin of the Moon is the giant impact model, which grew out of the post-Apollo science community. The hypothesis was able to explain the high E-M system angular momentum, the small lunar core, and consistent with the idea that the early Moon melted substantially. The standard hypothesis requires that the Moon be made entirely from the impactor, strangely at odds with the nearly identical oxygen isotopic composition of the Earth and Moon, compositions that might be expected to be different if Moon came from a distinct impactor. Subsequent geochemical research has highlighted the similarity of both geochemical and isotopic composition of the Earth and Moon, and measured small but significant amounts of volatiles in lunar glassy materials, both of which are seemingly at odds with the standard giant impact model. Here we focus on key geochemical measurements and spacecraft observations that have prompted a healthy re-evaluation of the giant impact model, provide an overview of physical models that are either newly proposed or slightly revised from previous ideas, to explain the new datasets.

Righter, K.↗
DOE OSTI2014

A double-layer based model of ion confinement in electron cyclotron resonance ion source

The paper proposes a new model of ion confinement in ECRIS, which can be easily generalized to any magnetic configuration characterized by closed magnetic surfaces. Traditionally, ion confinement in B-min configurations is ascribed to a negative potential dip due to superhot electrons, adiabatically confined by the magneto-static field. However, kinetic simulations including RF heating affected by cavity modes structures indicate that high energy electrons populate just a thin slab overlapping the ECR layer, while their density drops down of more than one order of magnitude outside. Ions, instead, diffuse across the electron layer due to their high collisionality. This is the proper physical condition to establish a double-layer (DL) configuration which self-consistently originates a potential barrier; this “barrier” confines the ions inside the plasma core surrounded by the ECR surface. The paper will describe a simplified ion confinement model based on plasma density non-homogeneity and DL formation.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Successful νp -process in neutrino-driven outflows in core-collapse supernovae

The origin of the solar system abundances of several proton-rich isotopes, especially 92,94 Mo and 96,98 Ru, has been an enduring mystery in nuclear astrophysics. An attractive proposal to solve this problem is the νp-process, which can operate in neutrino-driven outflows in a core-collapse supernova after the shock is launched. Years of detailed studies, however, have cast doubt over the ability of this process to generate sufficiently high absolute and relative amounts of various p-nuclei. The νp-process is also thought to be excluded by arguments based on the long-lived radionuclide 92 Nb. Here, we present explicit calculations, in which both the abundance ratios and the absolute yields of the p-nuclei up to A ≲ 105 are successfully reproduced, even when using the modern (medium enhanced) triple-α reaction rates. The process is also shown to produce the necessary amounts of 92 Nb. The models are characterized by subsonic outflows and by the protoneutron star masses in the ≳ 1.7 M ⊙ range. In conclusion, this suggests that the Mo and Ru p-nuclides observed in the Solar System were made in CCSN explosions characterized by an extended accretion stage.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2019

2040 Vision Study: an Enlargement of Model Based Engineering

Over the last few decades, advances in high-performance computing, new materials characterization methods, and, more recently, an emphasis on integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) and additive manufacturing have been a catalyst for multiscale modeling and simulation-based design of materials and structures in the aerospace industry. As a result, NASA's Transformational Tools and Technology (TTT) Project sponsored a study (performed by a team led by Pratt & Whitney) to define the potential 25-year future state required for integrated multiscale modeling of materials and systems (e.g., load-bearing structures) to accelerate the pace and reduce the expense of innovation in future aerospace and aeronautical systems. This talk will briefly review the findings of this 2040 Vision study (e.g., the 2040 vision state; the required interdependent core technical work areas, Key Element (KE); associated critical gaps and actions to close those gaps; and major recommendations). The study, NASA CR 2018- 219771, envisions the development of a cyber-physical-social ecosystem comprised of experimentally verified and validated computational models, tools, and techniques, along with the associated digital tapestry, that marries two non-mutually exclusive paradigms _ "design of the materials" (material scientist viewpoint) and "design with the materials" (structural analyst viewpoint) _ into a concurrent transformational paradigm that impacts the entire supply chain to enable cost-effective, rapid, and revolutionary design of fit-for-purpose materials, components, and systems. Although the vision focused on aeronautics and space applications, it is believed that other engineering communities (e.g., automotive, biomedical, etc.) can benefit as well from the proposed framework with only minor modifications. Finally, it is TTT's hope and desire that this vision provides the strategic guidance to both public and private research and development decision makers to make the proposed 2040 vision state a reality and thereby provide a significant advancement in the United States global competitiveness.

Arnold, Steven M.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Parallel algorithms for finding connected components using linear algebra

Finding connected components is one of the most widely used operations on a graph. Optimal serial algorithms for the problem have been known for half a century, and many competing parallel algorithms have been proposed over the last several decades under various different models of parallel computation. This paper presents a class of parallel connected-component algorithms designed using linear-algebraic primitives. These algorithms are based on a PRAM algorithm by Shiloach and Vishkin and can be designed using standard GraphBLAS operations. Here, we demonstrate two algorithms of this class, one named LACC for Linear Algebraic Connected Components, and the other named FastSV which can be regarded as LACC’s simplification. With the support of the highly-scalable Combinatorial BLAS library, LACC and FastSV outperform the previous state-of-the-art algorithm by a factor of up to 12x for small to medium scale graphs. For large graphs with more than 50B edges, LACC and FastSV scale to 4K nodes (262K cores) of a Cray XC40 supercomputer and outperform previous algorithms by a significant margin. This remarkable performance is accomplished by (1) exploiting sparsity that was not present in the original PRAM algorithm formulation, (2) using high-performance primitives of Combinatorial BLAS, and (3) identifying hot spots and optimizing them away by exploiting algorithmic insights.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2021

Photometric redshift estimation of BASS DR3 quasars by machine learning

ABSTRACT Correlating Beijing–Arizona Sky Survey (BASS) data release 3 (DR3) catalogue with the ALLWISE data base, the data from optical and infrared information are obtained. The quasars from Sloan Digital Sky Survey are taken as training and test samples while those from LAMOST are considered as external test sample. We propose two schemes to construct the redshift estimation models with XGBoost, CatBoost, and Random Forest. One scheme (namely one-step model) is to predict photometric redshifts directly based on the optimal models created by these three algorithms; the other scheme (namely two-step model) is to first classify the data into low- and high-redshift data sets, and then predict photometric redshifts of these two data sets separately. For one-step model, the performance of these three algorithms on photometric redshift estimation is compared with different training samples, and CatBoost is superior to XGBoost and Random Forest. For two-step model, the performances of these three algorithms on the classification of low and high redshift subsamples are compared, and CatBoost still shows the best performance. Therefore, CatBoost is regarded as the core algorithm of classification and regression in two-step model. In contrast to one-step model, two-step model is optimal when predicting photometric redshift of quasars, especially for high-redshift quasars. Finally, the two models are applied to predict photometric redshifts of all quasar candidates of BASS DR3. The number of high-redshift quasar candidates is 3938 (redshift ≥3.5) and 121 (redshift ≥4.5) by two-step model. The predicted result will be helpful for quasar research and follow-up observation of high-redshift quasars.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗