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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 955 records · Page 53
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2026

Center for Integrated Simulation of Fusion Relevant RF Actuators

This project was part of the “Center for Integrated Simulation of Fusion Relevant RF Actuators” SciDAC-4 project, led by Dr. Paul Bonoli (MIT). Rather than use an acronym (CISFRRFA), the project will be referred to in this document as the “RF-SciDAC4”. The larger SciDAC-4 project goals were to: 1. Develop an integrated simulation of the antenna + sheath + scrape-off-layer + core plasma system which fully utilizes leadership class computing resources to move towards a quantitative predictive capability for the response to RF power. 2. Work closely with the SciDAC-4 Whole Device Modeling (WDM) community to make both our new code development efforts, as well as the established hierarchy of RF tools, available within their environment, and to utilize WDM technologies to implement the couplings below. 3. Validate this predictive capability on appropriately diagnosed experiments including dedicated RF test stands, linear devices, and existing tokamaks. 4. Use these tools to inform design of robust, impurity-mitigating RF heating and current drive sources for future fusion devices.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Description of global EGAM in the maximum of local frequency during current ramp-up discharges in DIII-D

Energetic-particle-induced geodesic acoustic modes, EGAMs (Fu, Phys. Rev. Let., vol. 101, 2008, pp. 185002), driven by neutral beam injection (NBI), have been observed in many DIII-D tokamak experiments (Nazikian et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 101, 2008, pp. 185001). This mechanism has been theoretically investigated in (Qiu et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, vol. 52, 2010, pp. 095003), using a sharp energetic particle distribution function, and in (Qu et al., Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion, vol. 59, 2017, pp. 055018), where the dispersion relation and eigenmode behaviour were obtained for the situation of early beam scenario, that is, for times smaller than the beam slowing down time. In this work, we extend these studies determining the eigenmode for beyond the slowing down time, in a scenario with reverse safety factor q profile, where a small concentration of energetic ions can produce an off-axis maximum in the GAM dispersion relation. Here, the characteristics of EGAM are analytically studied with the drift kinetic equation together with the MHD code NOVA. The toroidal energetic ion transit frequency, coupled with the GAM frequency, produces the maximum in the dispersion relation where the eigenmode can be found. The quantitative correspondence of experimental results with the predictions of the proposed model is analysed.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2026

Anomalous lattice expansion of bcc Ta in helium-loaded diamond anvil cells

Anomalous lattice expansion of bcc Ta is observed in helium-loaded diamond anvil cell (DAC) experiments near 6 GPa and above 400 K, while co-loaded W, Mo, and Au exhibit normal thermal expansion. The Ta volume expansion increases with temperature, reaching ~14% near 650 K before plateauing, and is largely retained after recovery to ambient conditions. Time-resolved measurements at 500 K reveal progressive expansion over several hours, consistent with gradual, thermally activated He incorporation. The largely retained expansion during subsequent cooling and holding at 400 K indicates that the incorporated He is predominantly kinetically trapped. The data reveal two distinct regimes: below ~550 K, modest and spatially uniform expansion consistent with interstitial He trapping at isolated, randomly distributed vacancies; above ~550 K, He-vacancy cluster growth producing dramatically larger expansion, peak broadening, and a core–shell microstructure revealed by micron-resolution X-ray diffraction mapping. These results demonstrate that He is not always a passive pressure medium in DAC experiments and reveal a previously unrecognized regime of He-mediated lattice modification in Ta, complementing conventional ion-implantation studies relevant to nuclear and fusion structural materials.

Diamond anvil cell↗
DOE OSTI2024

Experiments on plasma detachment in a V-shaped slot divertor in the DIII-D tokamak

Abstract Experiments in DIII-D demonstrate that the upstream plasma density to detach an un-pumped slot divertor is similar for a V-shaped and a flat-end slot, despite significantly higher neutral pressure in the V-shaped slot and in contrast to SOLPS-ITER predictions. The detachment threshold can be reduced by using in-slot instead of main-chamber gas fuelling or by placing the strike point on the inner slanted slot baffle instead of the slot end, as described by simulations with full drift physics. When increasing the plasma line-averaged density (without extrinsic impurities), the transition to detachment in DIII-D slot divertor is sharp and requires a high value of plasma density with the ion B → × ∇ B drift into the slot, whereas it is smooth and requires a lower value of plasma density with the opposite drift direction, in accord with detachment experiments in the DIII-D open lower divertor. Unique experiments on DIII-D and comparison to advanced simulations expand the scientific understanding of slot-shaped divertors, considered highly desirable for next step fusion devices.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Active Irradiation Testing of Temperature Sensing Capability of Clad Sapphire Optical Fibers with Type 2 Bragg Gratings using Optical Backscatter Reflectometry

This work investigated the temperature-sensing capabilities of Type II fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) inscribed in sapphire optical fiber in the Ohio State University Research Reactor (OSURR). A Luna Innovations 4600 optical backscatter reflectometer (OBR) was used to interrogate FBGs in three sapphire optical fibers with an internal cladding that was developed by Ohio State. The sapphire fibers were fusion-spliced to silica lead fibers. In addition to the sapphire fibers, two silica fibers with the same Type II FBGs were included in the experiment as a reference. The fiber-based sensors were irradiated in the Central Irradiation Facility (CIF) of the OSURR for a total of 40 hours over 5 days at a reactor power of 450 kW, resulting in a total neutron fluence of approximately 2.5 × 10 18 n/cm 2 and a gamma dose of approximately 3.48 Grad. Two K-type thermocouples were included within the rig: one at the core centerline and the other 12 inches above the top of the core. The temperature was not actively controlled, but the thermocouples were used to provide a reference to which the fiber-based temperature measurements could be compared.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Economic Analysis of the NIF Optics Recycle Loop Systems Investment Options: SAE 560 - Economic Considerations for Systems Engineering at University of Southern California

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) relies on large-scale precision optics to deliver high-energy laser pulses for fusion and high-energy-density physics research; however, the NIF routinely operates above the damage threshold for those optics, decreasing their effectiveness with every experiment. A production line composed of several dozen highly specialized processing systems, collectively referred to as the ‘optics recycle loop’, was established to support refurbishment and re-use of these critical components to reduce reliance on high-cost and high-risk optic replacement strategies. This analysis aims to identify the most cost-effective investment options for improving recycle loop throughput by maximizing availability and production flexibility while minimizing the engineering and infrastructure efforts and cost.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2022

Design of inertial fusion implosions reaching the burning plasma regime

One of the last remaining milestones in fusion research before reaching ignition is creating a burning plasma state, where alpha particles from deuterium-tritium (DT) fusion reactions redeposit their energy as the dominant source of heating in the plasma. The indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion approach at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) uses a laser-generated radiation cavity (hohlraum) to spherically implode DT fuel to high temperatures and densities in a central ”hot spot”. Here, we deliver more energy to the hot spot than ever before, while maintaining the extreme pressures required for inertial confinement, by increasing the size of the implosion compared to previous experiments. We develop more efficient hohlraums, to drive these larger implosions within NIF’s current laser energy and power capability and control symmetry by moving energy between laser beams and by changing the shape of the hohlraum. These designs resulted in record fusion powers of 1.5 petawatts, greater than the input power of the laser, and 170 kJ of fusion energy. Radiation hydrodynamics simulations show alpha particle heating as the dominant term in the hot spot energy balance, e.g. a burning plasma state. This work is expected to motivate future studies of burning plasmas and improve predictive capability by providing a benchmark for modeling used to understand the proximity to ignition.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Grain boundary segregation in BCC vanadium-based alloys: Quantum-accurate computed segregation spectra and targeted experimental validations

Grain boundaries are critically important to the material performance of fusion reactor materials such as vanadium, particularly mechanical properties and irradiation resistance. A key challenge to the design and control of grain boundaries in vanadium alloys is the lack of quantitative data on grain boundary segregation. In this study, we combine computational and experimental methods to address this gap. Furthermore, using a machine learning-accelerated quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics approach, we calculated the segregation spectra for 28 transition metal elements in polycrystalline vanadium, and validated these predictions experimentally for a subset of solutes that sample a range of segregation behavior, specifically zirconium, titanium, and tungsten, using analytical transmission electron microscopy. Furthermore, the agreement between experiment and theory highlights the predictive capability of our approach. Critically, this work provides a comprehensive database of quantum-accurate solute segregation enthalpies in vanadium, enabling the development of advanced alloys for fusion reactors applications.

Fusion materials↗
DOE OSTI2024

Unsupervised multimodal fusion of in-process sensor data for advanced manufacturing process monitoring

Effective monitoring of manufacturing processes is crucial for maintaining product quality and operational efficiency. Modern manufacturing environments often generate vast amounts of complementary multimodal data, including visual imagery from various perspectives and resolutions, hyperspectral data, and machine health monitoring information such as actuator positions, accelerometer readings, and temperature measurements. However, fusing and interpreting this complex, high-dimensional data presents significant challenges, particularly when labeled datasets are unavailable or impractical to obtain. This paper presents a novel approach to multimodal sensor data fusion in manufacturing processes, inspired by the Contrastive Language-Image Pre-training (CLIP) model. We leverage contrastive learning techniques to correlate different data modalities without the need for labeled data, overcoming limitations of traditional supervised machine learning methods in manufacturing contexts. Our proposed method demonstrates the ability to handle and learn encoders for five distinct modalities: visual imagery, audio signals, laser position (x and y coordinates), and laser power measurements. By compressing these high-dimensional datasets into low-dimensional representational spaces, our approach facilitates downstream tasks such as process control, anomaly detection, and quality assurance. The unsupervised nature of our method makes it broadly applicable across various manufacturing domains, where large volumes of unlabeled sensor data are common. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach through a series of experiments, demonstrating its potential to enhance process monitoring capabilities in advanced manufacturing systems. This research contributes to the field of smart manufacturing by providing a flexible, scalable framework for multimodal data fusion that can adapt to diverse manufacturing environments and sensor configurations. The proposed method paves the way for more robust, data-driven decision-making in complex manufacturing processes.

Contrastive Learning↗
DOE OSTI2024

Ultra-intense femtosecond laser interactions with aligned nanostructures

The interaction of ultrafast laser pulses of relativistic intensity with high aspect ratio nanostructures can efficiently and volumetrically heat matter to an ultra-high-energy-density regime encountered in the center of stars and within the core of fusion capsules compressed by the world’s largest lasers. It also generates gigantic quasi-static electromagnetic fields that accelerate particles to very high energy. Here, we present an overview of the physics and applications of these dense relativistic plasmas that can be created with pulses of relatively modest energy from lasers that can operate at a high repetition rate. Recent nanowire array experiments produced near-solid density plasmas with an extreme degree of ionization (e.g., Au +72 ), converted ultrafast pulses of laser light into intense x-ray flashes with record efficiency, and accelerated ions to MeV energies, efficiently driving micro-scale fusion reactions that generate flashes of quasi-monoenergetic neutrons. These plasmas also serve as a platform for advancing the understanding of atomic processes in extreme environments and open a new pathway to laser-driven fusion energy. The irradiation of nanostructures at intensities of > 1 x 10 22 W cm –2 is predicted to lead to an extreme ultra-high energy density plasma regime characterized by terabar pressures that is virtually unexplored.

Optics↗
DOE OSTI2021

Direct Measurements of DT Fuel Preheat from Hot Electrons in Direct-Drive Inertial Confinement Fusion

Hot electrons generated by laser-plasma instabilities degrade the performance of laser-fusion implosions by preheating the DT fuel and reducing core compression. The hot-electron energy deposition in the DT fuel has been directly measured for the first time by comparing the hard x-ray signals between DT-layered and mass-equivalent ablator-only implosions. The electron energy deposition profile in the fuel is inferred through dedicated experiments using Cu-doped payloads of varying thickness. The measured preheat energy accurately explains the areal-density degradation observed in many OMEGA implosions. Furthermore, this technique can be used to assess the viability of the direct-drive approach to laser fusion with respect to the scaling of hot-electron preheat with laser energy.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

On the importance of excited state species in low pressure capacitively coupled plasma argon discharges

In the past three decades, first principles-based fully kinetic particle-in-cell Monte Carlo collision (PIC/MCC) simulations have been proven to be an important tool for the understanding of the physics of low pressure capacitive discharges. However, there is a long-standing issue that the plasma density determined by PIC/MCC simulations shows quantitative deviations from experimental measurements, even in argon discharges, indicating that certain physics may be missing in previous modeling of the low pressure radio frequency (rf) driven capacitive discharges. In this work, we report that the energetic electron-induced secondary electron emission (SEE) and excited state atoms play an important role in low pressure rf capacitive argon plasma discharges. The ion-induced secondary electrons are accelerated by the high sheath field to strike the opposite electrode and produce a considerable number of secondary electrons that lead to additional ionizing impacts and further increase of the plasma density. Importantly, the presence of excited state species even further enhances the plasma density via excited state neutral and resonant state photon-induced SEE on the electrode surface. The PIC/MCC simulation results show good agreement with the recent experimental measurements in the low pressure range (1–10 Pa) that is commonly used for etching in the semiconductor industry. At the highest pressure (20 Pa) and driving voltage amplitudes 250 and 350 V explored here, the plasma densities from PIC/MCC simulations considering excited state neutrals and resonant photon-induced SEE are quantitatively higher than observed in the experiments, requiring further investigation on high pressure discharges.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Validation of the plasma-wall self-organization model for density limit in ECRH-assisted start-up of Ohmic discharges on J-TEXT

Abstract A recently developed plasma-wall self-organization model (Escande et al 2022 Nucl. Fusion 62 026001) predicts a significantly enhanced density limit, which may be attainable in tokamaks with ECRH-assisted Ohmic start-up and sufficiently high initial neutral density. Experiments have been conducted on J-TEXT to validate such a density limit scenario based on this model. Experimental results demonstrate that increasing the pre-filled gas pressure or ECRH power during the start-up phase can help effectively enhance plasma purity and raise the density limit at the flat-top phase. The experimental data shows that density limit increases by a ratio 0.76 / 0.6 ≈ 1.27 for a decrease by a factor 0.13 / 0.33 ≈ 0.4 in C III radiation.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Effect of injected flux and current temporal phasing on self-organization in the HIT-SI3 experiment

The HIT-SI3 device at the University of Washington uses three oscillating inductive helicity injectors to form and sustain spheromak plasma equilibria. By adjusting the temporal phase of the injector waveforms with respect to each other, the toroidal spectrum of the imposed perturbations can be controlled. Using a recently implemented GPU-based control system, the available mode spectra were explored experimentally by scanning the space of relative injector phasing. In this space, significant variation in the toroidal mode spectrum ($n$ = 1, 2, 3) of the perturbations was observed. Additionally, variation in characteristics of driven equilibria was also observed, including a ≈ $30$% range in toroidal current gain ($I$ $Φ$ / $I$ $Inj$ ). Experimental results are compared with both a composite-equilibria and nonlinear dynamic model, including extended MHD simulations using the NIMROD code and composite Taylor state equilibria computed using the PSI-Tet code. In conclusion, qualitative agreement is seen with the nonlinear models, but not with composite-equilibria models, suggesting the use of nonlinear models to better capture observed plasma dynamics and provide predictive use for future experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Radiation and heat transport in divergent shock–bubble interactions

Shock–bubble interactions (SBIs) are important across a wide range of physical systems. In inertial confinement fusion, interactions between laser-driven shocks and micro-voids in both ablators and foam targets generate instabilities that are a major obstacle in achieving ignition. Experiments imaging the collapse of such voids at high energy densities (HED) are constrained by spatial and temporal resolution, making simulations a vital tool in understanding these systems. In this study, we benchmark several radiation and thermal transport models in the xRAGE hydrodynamic code against experimental images of a collapsing mesoscale void during the passage of a 300 GPa shock. We also quantitatively examine the role of transport physics in the evolution of the SBI. This allows us to understand the dynamics of the interaction at timescales shorter than experimental imaging framerates. We find that all radiation models examined reproduce empirical shock velocities within experimental error. Radiation transport is found to reduce shock pressures by providing an additional energy pathway in the ablation region, but this effect is small (∼1% of total shock pressure). Employing a flux-limited Spitzer model for heat conduction, we find that flux limiters between 0.03 and 0.10 produce agreement with experimental velocities, suggesting that the system is well-within the Spitzer regime. Higher heat conduction is found to lower temperatures in the ablated plasma and to prevent secondary shocks at the ablation front, resulting in weaker primary shocks. Finally, we confirm that the SBI-driven instabilities observed in the HED regime are baroclinically driven, as in the low energy case.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Photon Doppler Velocimetry to Spatially Resolve Plasma Density in a Power Flow Gap

The understanding of power flow plasmas is important as we look towards next generation pulsed power (NGPP) as current losses could prohibit the goals of that facility. Therefore, it is important to have accurate diagnostics of the plasma parameters on the current machines, which can be used to help inform and improve simulations. Having these plasma parameters will help validate models and simulations to provide confidence when they are expanded to conditions relevant to NGPP. One important plasma parameter that can be measured is the electron density, which can be measured by photonic Doppler velocimetry (PDV). A PDV system has several key advantages over other interferometers by measuring relatively low densities (> 1 × 10 15 cm -2 ) with both spatial and temporal resolution. Experiments were performed on the Mykonos pulsed power machine, which is a 1 MA sub scale machine in which recent platforms have been developed to explore current densities relevant to the inner magnetically insulated transmission line (MITL) on the Z machine. Experiments were performed on two different platforms, the thin foil platform and the Mykonos parallel plate platform (MP3). In addition, a combination of both single-point and multi-point measurements were used. The single-point measurements proved to be very promising, providing a clear increase in density at about 70 ns into the current rise on thin foil experiments up to about 5 × 10 17 cm -3 before the probe stopped providing signal. While we did also see returns from multi-point measurements on both platforms, the signals were not as easy to interpret due to strong background effects. However, they do show initial promise for this diagnostic to measure density at several points across a 1 mm gap. These measurements provide insights in how to improve the diagnostic so that it can provide useful information on power flow relevant experiments.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2021

On the Use of Smart Meter Data to Estimate the Voltage Magnitude on the Primary Side of Distribution Service Transformers: Preprint

This paper develops a novel method to estimate the voltage magnitude on the primary side of distribution service transformers. The proposed method relies exclusively on smart meters, and therefore it is fully data-driven. This is an important feature because electric utilities have detailed models of only the primary network--that is, the network between the distribution substation and the primary side of service transformers that are installed closer to end-customer sites. The network that connects the secondary side of service transformers to end-customer sites, referred to as the secondary network, is simply represented by a lumped load. For each secondary network, the proposed method uses data acquired from only 2 smart meters: the closest and the farthest--in the sense of electrical distance--from the service transformer. As a reference to this feature, the proposed method is named SM2Vp. To our knowledge, this is the first time a method is shown to provide actionable information for real-time operation and control of power distribution grids using only two smart meters per secondary network. This is important because utilities have experienced barriers in managing and using large data sets for real-time operation and control. SM2Vp is primarily intended to provide pseudo-measurements for distribution system state estimation, but it can also be used directly for voltage control schemes. The performance of SM2Vp is demonstrated by numerical simulations carried out on three secondary network synthetic models and by using field data provided by a utility partner serving customers in southwestern California. A maximum relative error of approximately 3.9% or less is observed for the primary voltage magnitude estimates in all numerical experiments.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2020

Magnetic field impact on the laser heating in MagLIF

Prior to implosion in Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF), the fuel is heated to temperatures on the order of several hundred eV with a multi-kJ, multi-ns laser pulse. In this paper, we present two laser heated plasma experiments, relevant to the MagLIF preheat stage, performed at Z with beryllium liners filled with deuterium and a trace amount of argon. In one experiment, there is no magnetic field and, in the other, the liner and fuel are magnetized with an 8.5 T axial magnetic field. The recorded time integrated, spatially resolved spectra of the Ar K-shell emission are sensitive to electron temperature T e . Individual analysis of the spatially resolved spectra produces electron temperature distributions T e (z) that are resolved along the axis of laser propagation. In the experiment with magnetic field, the plasma reaches higher temperatures and the heated region extends deeper within the liner than in the unmagnetized case. Radiation magnetohydrodynamics simulations of the experiments are presented and post-processed. A comparison of the results from experimental and simulated data reveals that the simulations underpredict T e in both cases but the differences are larger in the case with magnetic field.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗