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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 919 records · Page 51
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

Experimental Characterization of Piezoelectric Radial Field Diaphragms for Fluidic Control

NASA has recently developed a new piezoelectric actuator, the Radial Field Diaphragm or RFD. This actuator uses a radially-directed electric field to generate concentric out-of-plane (Z-axis) motion that allows this packaged device to be used as a pump or valve diaphragm. In order to efficiently use this new active device, experimental determination of pressure, flow rate, mechanical work, power consumption and overall efficiency needs to be determined by actually building a pump. However, without an optimized pump design, it is difficult to assess the quality of the data, as these results are inherent to the actual pump. Hence, separate experiments must be conducted in order to generate independent results to help guide the design criteria and pump quality. This paper focuses on the experiments used to generate the RFD's operational parameters and then compares these results to the experimentally determined results of several types of ball pumps. Also discussed are how errors are inherently introduced into the experiments, the pump design, experimental hardware and their effects on the overall system efficiency.

Bryant, R. G.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Nodal Modeling of Tank Pressurization and Draining using a Multi-Node-Ullage Approach

The purpose of the pressurization system in liquid rocket propulsion is to control the pressure in the gas space of the propellant tank (known as the ullage space) and the propellant mass flowrate to the engine. A mathematical model is required to predict the amount of pressurant necessary to ensure that pressure and temperature levels inside the tank remain within acceptable limits and that the propellant pressure leaving the tank satisfies the net positive suction pressure (NPSP) requirement of the pump feeding the engine. Nodal codes typically model tank pressurization and draining using a single node to represent the ullage and a single node to represent the propellant. As the tank drains, the ullage node grows and the propellant node shrinks. The heat transfer between ullage to wall and ullage to propellant is governed by natural convection. Designers of liquid propulsion systems often use empirical correlations to estimate the “Collapse Factor” which represents the ratio of pressurant required with heat transfer and the amount of pressurant required without heat transfer. A single node ullage model of tank pressurization was developed using GFSSP to compute the collapse factor reasonably well and later was used to model tank pressurization during test firing of the FASTRAC rocket engine. The predicted tank pressure compared well with the test data. In the early 1970’s, pressurization and drain tests with liquid methane were performed at NASA Lewis Research Center in a vacuum chamber. A 5 ft diameter spherical aluminum tank was tested to drain from 95% to 5% full using gaseous helium, hydrogen, nitrogen and methane as pressurant. Tests were conducted with different pressurant inlet temperatures and drain times. Measured data include pressurant requirement, amount of pressurant condensed, and ullage and wall temperatures at various heights in the ullage space at the end of draining. A single node GFSSP model was developed to simulate helium pressurization of the methane tank. Predicted helium consumption was 8-23% less than measured. The average error of the six test cases was 16%. A single ullage node with multiple solid node model was developed using Thermal Desktop. Predicted helium consumption compares with the test data within 2%. This paper describes the development of a GFSSP multi-node ullage model of the test configuration and compares the predicted pressurant consumption for both helium and autogenous pressurization using gaseous methane with experimental as well as TD predictions.

Nodal Model↗
DOE OSTI2024

Prediction challenge: First principles simulation of the ultrafast electron diffraction spectrum of cyclobutanone

Computer simulation has long been an essential partner of ultrafast experiments, allowing the assignment of microscopic mechanistic detail to low-dimensional spectroscopic data. However, the ability of theory to make a priori predictions of ultrafast experimental results is relatively untested. Herein, as a part of a community challenge, we attempt to predict the signal of an upcoming ultrafast photochemical experiment using state-of-the-art theory in the context of preexisting experimental data. Specifically, we employ ab initio Ehrenfest with collapse to a block mixed quantum–classical simulations to describe the real-time evolution of the electrons and nuclei of cyclobutanone following excitation to the 3s Rydberg state. The gas-phase ultrafast electron diffraction (GUED) signal is simulated for direct comparison to an upcoming experiment at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory. Following initial ring-opening, dissociation via two distinct channels is observed: the C3 dissociation channel, producing cyclopropane and CO, and the C2 channel, producing CH2CO and C2H4. Direct calculations of the GUED signal indicate how the ring-opened intermediate, the C2 products, and the C3 products can be discriminated in the GUED signal. We also report an a priori analysis of anticipated errors in our predictions: without knowledge of the experimental result, which features of the spectrum do we feel confident we have predicted correctly, and which might we have wrong?

Chemistry↗
DOE OSTI2021

Machine learning assisted prediction of the Young’s modulus of compositionally complex alloys

We identify compositionally complex alloys (CCAs) that offer exceptional mechanical properties for elevated temperature applications by employing machine learning (ML) in conjunction with rapid synthesis and testing of alloys for validation to accelerate alloy design. The advantages of this approach are scalability, rapidity, and reasonably accurate predictions. ML tools were implemented to predict Young’s modulus of refractory-based CCAs by employing different ML models. Our results, in conjunction with experimental validation, suggest that average valence electron concentration, the difference in atomic radius, a geometrical parameter λ and melting temperature of the alloys are the key features that determine the Young’s modulus of CCAs and refractory-based CCAs. The Gradient Boosting model provided the best predictive capabilities (mean absolute error of 6.15 GPa) among the models studied. Our approach integrates high-quality validation data from experiments, literature data for training machine-learning models, and feature selection based on physical insights. It opens a new avenue to optimize the desired materials property for different engineering applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Moving closer to experimental level materials property prediction using AI

Abstract While experiments and DFT-computations have been the primary means for understanding the chemical and physical properties of crystalline materials, experiments are expensive and DFT-computations are time-consuming and have significant discrepancies against experiments. Currently, predictive modeling based on DFT-computations have provided a rapid screening method for materials candidates for further DFT-computations and experiments; however, such models inherit the large discrepancies from the DFT-based training data. Here, we demonstrate how AI can be leveraged together with DFT to compute materials properties more accurately than DFT itself by focusing on the critical materials science task of predicting “formation energy of a material given its structure and composition”. On an experimental hold-out test set containing 137 entries, AI can predict formation energy from materials structure and composition with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.064 eV/atom; comparing this against DFT-computations, we find that AI can significantly outperform DFT computations for the same task (discrepancies of $$>0.076$$ > 0.076 eV/atom) for the first time.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Time-dependent SOLPS-ITER simulations of the tokamak plasma boundary for model predictive control using SINDy *

Abstract Time-dependent SOLPS-ITER simulations have been used to identify reduced models with the sparse identification of nonlinear dynamics (SINDy) method and develop model-predictive control of the boundary plasma state using main ion gas puff actuation. A series of gas actuation sequences are input into SOLPS-ITER to produce a dynamic response in upstream and divertor plasma quantities. The SINDy method is applied to identify reduced linear and nonlinear models for the electron density at the outboard midplane n e , s e p O M P and the electron temperature at the outer divertor T e , s e p d i v . Note that T e , s e p d i v is not necessarily the peak value of T e along the divertor. The identified reduced models are interpretable by construction (i.e. not black box), and have the form of coupled ordinary differential equations. Despite significant noise in T e , s e p d i v , the reduced models can be used to predict the response over a range of actuation levels to a maximum deviation of 0.5% in n e , s e p O M P and 5%–10% in T e , s e p d i v for the cases considered. Model retraining using time history data triggered by a preset error threshold is also demonstrated. A model predictive control strategy for nonlinear models is developed and used to perform feedback control of a SOLPS-ITER simulation to produce a setpoint trajectory in n e , s e p O M P using the integrated plasma simulator framework. The developed techniques are general and can be applied to time-dependent data from other boundary simulations or experimental data. Ongoing work is extending the approach to model identification and control for divertor detachment, which will present transient nonlinear behavior from impurity seeding, including realistic latency and synthetic diagnostic signals derived from the full SOLPS-ITER output.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

A Flow Rate Dependent 1D Model for Thermally Stratified Hot-Water Energy Storage

Stratified tank models are used to simulate thermal storage in applications such as residential or commercial hot-water storage tanks, chilled-water storage tanks, and solar thermal systems. The energy efficiency of these applications relates to the system components and the level of stratification maintained during various flow events in the tank. One-dimensional (1D) models are used in building energy simulations because of the short computation time but often do not include flow-rate dependent mixing. The accuracy of 1D models for plug flow, plug flow with axial conduction, and two convection eddy-diffusivity models were compared with experimental data sets for discharging a 50-gal residential tank and recharging the tank with hot water from an external hot-water source. A minimum and maximum relationship for the eddy diffusivity factor were found at Re <2100 and >10,000 for recirculation of hot water to the top of the tank and vertical tubes inletting cold water at the bottom. The root mean square error decreased from >4 °C to near 2 °C when considering flow-based mixing models during heating, while the exponential decay of the eddy diffusion results in a root mean square error reduction of 1 °C for cone-shaped diffusers that begin to relaminarize flow at the inlet.

1D flow model↗
NASA NTRS1980

Block 4 receiver tracking loop performance in the presence of a CW RFI

A model that allows one to predict the tracking performance of the Block 4 receiver in the presence of a continuous wave radio frequency interference is discussed. Experimental and analytical results are provided for a typical Deep Space Network operational mode. Simulation and experimental results show good agreement with theoretical prediction for the static phase error and out-of-lock values. Predicted phase jitter is consistently lower than the experimental and simulated results by a factor of one-half for small interference to signal ratio (ISR) when the offset frequency is small. For large ISR, good agreement is observed. The analytical model assumes a noiseless condition, which is valid only when the loop is operated at strong signal levels. Experimental data indicate, however, that even at the minimum operating signal level of 10-dB carrier margin, reasonably good prediction can still be obtained. A curve of protection criteria that extends the current recommendation is also presented.

Sue, M. K.↗
NASA NTRS1980

The effects of receiver tracking phase error on the performance of the concatenated Reed-Solomon Viterbi channel coding system

In connection with attempts to achieve very low error probabilities, Odenwalder (1970) proposed a concatenated coding system using the Viterbi-decoded convolutional codes as the inner code and Reed-Solomon (RS) codes as the outer code. Analytical and experimental results are presented concerning the effects of the receiver tracking phase error on the performance of the concatenated RS/Viterbi channel coding system. On the basis of these results it is concluded that certain problems regarding communication operations on deep-space missions can be alleviated by employing the RS/Viterbi coding system. In one-way communication, an employment of RS/Viterbi coding will also provide greater data protection than the Viterbi-decoded convolutional-only coding system.

Liu, K. Y.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Single event upset vulnerability of selected 4K and 16K CMOS static RAM's

Upset thresholds for bulk CMOS and CMOS/SOS RAMS were deduced after bombardment of the devices with 140 MeV Kr, 160 MeV Ar, and 33 MeV O beams in a cyclotron. The trials were performed to test prototype devices intended for space applications, to relate feature size to the critical upset charge, and to check the validity of computer simulation models. The tests were run on 4 and 1 K memory cells with 6 transistors, in either hardened or unhardened configurations. The upset cross sections were calculated to determine the critical charge for upset from the soft errors observed in the irradiated cells. Computer simulations of the critical charge were found to deviate from the experimentally observed variation of the critical charge as the square of the feature size. Modeled values of series resistors decoupling the inverter pairs of memory cells showed that above some minimum resistance value a small increase in resistance produces a large increase in the critical charge, which the experimental data showed to be of questionable validity unless the value is made dependent on the maximum allowed read-write time.

Kolasinski, W. A.↗
NASA NTRS1989

A Mach 6 external nozzle experiment with Argon-Freon exhaust simulation

A scramjet exhaust simulation technique for hypersonic wind tunnel testing has been developed. Mixtures of Argon and Freon correctly match the inviscid simulation parameters of Mach number, static-pressure ratio, and the ratio of specific heats at the combustor exit location; this simulation is accomplished at significantly reduced temperatures and without combustion. An investigation of nozzle parametrics in a Mach 6 freestream showed that the external nozzle ramp angle, the cowl trailing-edge angle, an external nozzle flow fence and the nozzle static-pressure ratio significantly affected the external nozzle thrust and pitching moment as measured by the integration of surface-pressure data. A comparison of Argon-Freon and air exhaust simulation showed that the external nozzle thrust and pitching moment were in error by roughly a factor of 2 using air due to the incorrect match of the ratio of specific heats. An assessment of two-dimensional Euler and Navier-Stokes codes for predicting external nozzle aerodynamic characteristics was made by comparing computed and experimental results.

Pittman, James L.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Machine learning interatomic potential for silicon-nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) by active learning

Silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) is an extensively used material in the automotive, aerospace, and semiconductor industries. However, its widespread use is in contrast to the scarce availability of reliable interatomic potentials that can be employed to study various aspects of this material on an atomistic scale, particularly its amorphous phase. In this work, we developed a machine learning interatomic potential, using an efficient active learning technique, combined with the Gaussian approximation potential (GAP) method. Our strategy is based on using an inexpensive empirical potential to generate an initial dataset of atomic configurations, for which energies and forces were recalculated with density functional theory (DFT); thereafter, a GAP was trained on these data and an iterative re-training algorithm was used to improve it by learning on-the-fly. When compared to DFT, our potential yielded a mean absolute error of 8 meV/atom in energy calculations for a variety of liquid and amorphous structures and a speed-up of molecular dynamics simulations by 3–4 orders of magnitude, while achieving a first-rate agreement with experimental results. Our potential is publicly available in an open-access repository.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Likelihood-based signal and noise analysis for docking of models into cryo-EM maps

Fast, reliable docking of models into cryo-EM maps requires understanding of the errors in the maps and the models. Likelihood-based approaches to errors have proven to be powerful and adaptable in experimental structural biology, finding applications in both crystallography and cryo-EM. Indeed, previous crystallographic work on the errors in structural models is directly applicable to likelihood targets in cryo-EM. Likelihood targets in Fourier space are derived here to characterize, based on the comparison of half-maps, the direction- and resolution-dependent variation in the strength of both signal and noise in the data. Because the signal depends on local features, the signal and noise are analysed in local regions of the cryo-EM reconstruction. The likelihood analysis extends to prediction of the signal that will be achieved in any docking calculation for a model of specified quality and completeness. A related calculation generalizes a previous measure of the information gained by making the cryo-EM reconstruction.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1977

Remote sounding of cloudy atmospheres. III - Experimental verifications

The cloud-filtering technique developed in Parts I and II of this study is experimentally verified in this paper. The verification is based on radiance data measured in the 4.3 and 15 micron CO2 bands using a multidetector sounder mounted on an aircraft. The results presented here show that, from the aircraft height of 7.6 km and in the presence of multiple cloud formations, it is possible to recover simultaneously: (1) the clear-column atmospheric temperature profile with an rms error of 1 K with respect to radiosondes, (2) the land and sea surface temperature at all sun zenith angles. The accuracy of the recovered sea-surface temperature is 0.5-1 K with respect to measured bucket temperatures, (3) the humidity profile (water vapor mixing ratio) with a precision of 10%, (4) the fractional covers and heights of up to three cloud formations, and (5) the types of clouds, i.e., whether convective or nonconvective.

Chahine, M. T.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Optical Communication with Semiconductor Laser Diode

Theoretical and experimental performance limits of a free-space direct detection optical communication system were studied using a semiconductor laser diode as the optical transmitter and a silicon avalanche photodiode (APD) as the receiver photodetector. Optical systems using these components are under consideration as replacements for microwave satellite communication links. Optical pulse position modulation (PPM) was chosen as the signal format. An experimental system was constructed that used an aluminum gallium arsenide semiconductor laser diode as the transmitter and a silicon avalanche photodiode photodetector. The system used Q=4 PPM signaling at a source data rate of 25 megabits per second. The PPM signal format requires regeneration of PPM slot clock and word clock waveforms in the receiver. A nearly exact computational procedure was developed to compute receiver bit error rate without using the Gaussion approximation. A transition detector slot clock recovery system using a phase lock loop was developed and implemented. A novel word clock recovery system was also developed. It was found that the results of the nearly exact computational procedure agreed well with actual measurements of receiver performance. The receiver sensitivity achieved was the closest to the quantum limit yet reported for an optical communication system of this type.

Davidson, Frederic↗
NASA NTRS1992

Analyzing the path of responding in maze-solving and other tasks

Response time and accuracy are sensitive measures of overall performance but may mask underlying response strategies. For example, analysis of latency and accuracy measures produced in a computerized-maze task does not reveal whether rhesus monkeys really 'solve a maze' or simply move as much as is possible toward the target, negotiating barriers through trial and error as they encounter them. Regression procedures are described for analyzing response path against several hypothetical response curves, and analyses of response path for rhesus monkeys' performance on the computerized MAZE task are presented as an illustration. The data suggest that rhesus monkeys do invoke a response strategy of solving the maze, because the observed response topography is significantly associated with the optimal path of responding. Many experimental paradigms should similarly benefit from analysis of the response paths that subjects exhibit.

Washburn, David A.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Computational modelling of Er(3+): Garnet laser materials

The Er(3+) ion has attracted a lot of interest for four reasons: (1) Its (4)I(sub 13/2) yields (4)I(sub 15/2) transition lases in the eyesafe region near 1.5 micron; (2) the (4)I(sub 13/2) transition lases near 2.8 micron, an important wavelength for surgical purposes; (3) it displays surprisingly efficient upconversion with lasing observed at 1.7, 1.2, 0.85, 0.56, 0.55, and 0.47 micron following 1.5 micron pumping; and (4) it has absorption bands at 0.96 and 0.81 micron and thus can be diode pumped. However, properties desirable for upconversion reduce the efficiency of 1.5 and 3 micron laser operation and vice versa. Since all of the processes are influenced by the host via the crystal field induced stark splittings in the Er levels, this project undertook modelling of the host influence on the Er lasinng behavior. While growth and measurement of all ten Er(3+) doped garnets is the surest way of identifying hosts which maximize upconversion (or conversly, 1.5 and 3 micron performance), it is also expensive - costing approximately $10,000/material or approximately $100,000 for the materials computationally investigated here. The calculations were performed using a quantum mechanical point charge model developed by Clyde Morrison at Harry Diamond Laboratories. The programs were used to fit the Er:YAG experimental energy levels so that the crystal field parameters, B(sub nm) could be extracted. From these radial factors, rho (sub n) were determined for Er(3+) in garnets. These, in combination with crystal field components, Anm, available from X-ray data, were used to predict energy levels for Er in the other nine garnet hosts. The levels in Er:YAG were fit with an rms error of 12.2/cm over a 22,000/cm range. Predicted levels for two other garnets for which literature values were available had rms errors of less than 17/cm , showing the calculations to be reliable. Based on resonances between pairs of calculated stark levels, the model predicts GSGG as the best host for 1.5 micron laser operation, GSGG or YSAG as the best host for a 2.8 micron operation, and LuGG as the best host for an upconversion material.

Spangler, Lee H.↗
NASA NTRS1998

Experiment 1: Orbital Processing of High-Quality Zn-Alloyed CdTe Compound Semiconductors

Zinc-alloyed cadmium telluride (Zn:CdTe) crystals were grown in unit gravity and in microgravity for comparative analysis. Two crystals were grown on USML-1/STS-50 in 1992, and two additional crystals were grown on USML-2/STS-73 in 1995. The Crystal Growth Furnace (CGF) in the seeded Bridgman-Stockbarger crystal growth geometry was utilized on both missions. Crystals grown on USML-1/STS-50 were found to have solidified with partial wall contact due to the near-absence of the hydrostatic pressure in microgravity, a residual g-vector that was not axial, and the nonwetting sample/ampoule wetting conditions. Crystals grown on USML-2/STS-73 included: a sample/ampoule identical to the USML-1/STS-73 sample/ampoule, with the addition of a restraining spring to simulate hydrostatic pressure internally, and a tapered ampoule which accomplished 2.2 cm of crystal growth without wall contact. Infrared transmission of all ground and flight samples was found to be 63-66 percent, very close to the theoretical 66 percent, suggesting good stoichiometric control. Infrared microscopy confirmed that the primary precipitates were Te and their size (1-10 microns) and density suggested that the flight- and ground-base samples experienced similar thermal histories. Longitudinal macrosegregation, calculated using scaling analysis, was predicted to be low. Nearly diffusion controlled growth was achieved even in unit gravity and macrosegregation data could be fit with a diffusion controlled model. Radial segregation was monitored and was found to vary with fraction solidified, particularly through the shoulder region, where the sample cross section was varying significantly. It was also disturbed in the flight samples in regions where asymmetric wall contact was noted. In regions where a steady state was established, the radial segregation was invariant within our experimental measurement error. Flight samples were found to be much higher in structural perfection than samples processed in unit gravity under identical growth conditions. In regions where solidification had occurred without wall contact, the free surfaces evidenced virtually no twinning, although twins appeared in the flight samples in regions of wall contact and were pervasive in the ground samples. These results were confirmed using optical microscopy and synchrotron x-ray white beam topography. Full-width half-maximum rocking curve widths (FWHM), recorded in arc-seconds, were significantly reduced from 20 a-s (1 g) to 9 a-s (micro-g) for the best regions of the crystals. The 9 a-s (FWHM) rocking curve value in the unconfined flight samples equals the best value reported terrestrially for this material. The ground samples exhibited a fully developed (111)[110] dislocation mosaic structure, whereas dislocations within the flight samples were discrete and no mosaic structure was evident. The defect density was quantitatively reduced from 75,000 (1 g) to 800 (micro-g) +/-50 percent. Dislocation etch pit density results were confirmed using transmission synchrotron white beam and monochromated beam topography. The low defect density is thought to have resulted from the near absence of hydrostatic pressure, which allowed the molten boule to solidify with little or no wall contact. This minimized the transfer of hoop stresses during solidification and post-solidification processing.

Larson, D. J., Jr.↗