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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
NASA NTRS2009

Improving Our Odds: Success through Continuous Risk Management

Launching a rocket, running a business, driving to work and even day-to-day living all involve some degree of risk. Risk is ever present yet not always recognized, adequately assessed and appropriately mitigated. Identification, assessment and mitigation of risk are elements of the risk management component of the "continuous improvement" way of life that has become a hallmark of successful and progressive enterprises. While the application of risk management techniques to provide continuous improvement may be detailed and extensive, the philosophy, ideals and tools can be beneficially applied to all situations. Experiences with the use of risk identification, assessment and mitigation techniques for complex systems and processes are described. System safety efforts and tools used to examine potential risks of the Ares I First Stage of NASA s new Constellation Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV) presently being designed are noted as examples. Recommendations from lessons learned are provided for the application of risk management during the development of new systems as well as for the improvement of existing systems. Lessons learned and suggestions given are also examined for applicability to simple systems, uncomplicated processes and routine personal daily tasks. This paper informs the reader of varied uses of risk management efforts and techniques to identify, assess and mitigate risk for improvement of products, success of business, protection of people and enhancement of personal life.

Greenhalgh, Phillip O.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Water facilities in retrospect and prospect: An illuminating tool for vehicle design

Water facilities play a fundamental role in the design of air, ground, and marine vehicles by providing a qualitative, and sometimes quantitative, description of complex flow phenomena. Water tunnels, channels, and tow tanks used as flow-diagnostic tools have experienced a renaissance in recent years in response to the increased complexity of designs suitable for advanced technology vehicles. These vehicles are frequently characterized by large regions of steady and unsteady 3-D flow separation and ensuing vortical flows. The visualization and interpretation of the complicated fluid motions about isolated vehicle components and complete configurations in a time and cost effective manner in hydrodynamic test facilities is a key element in the development of flow control concepts, and, hence, improved vehicle designs. A historical perspective of the role of water facilities in the vehicle design process is presented. The application of water facilities to specific aerodynamic and hydrodynamic flow problems is discussed, and the strengths and limitations of these important experimental tools are emphasized.

Erickson, Gary E.↗
DOE OSTI2020

GPS-Based Gamma Survey for Characterizing and Decommissioning NORM Sites - 20389

Gamma survey techniques are an especially powerful decommissioning tool at naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM) sites due to both the low cost to obtain data over a large spatial scale and the abundance of gamma emitters in the uranium and thorium decay series. Gamma surveys are executed by coupling a detector - most often a sodium iodide crystal - to a global positioning system (GPS), then reporting a location and gross gamma reading coincidentally to a data logger. Systems may be carried by workers or mounted to a car, all-terrain vehicle, or unmanned aerial system (UAS). The resulting data set provides a high-resolution but low precision map of the gamma radiation field over the area surveyed. Frequently this map is also correlated to soil concentrations of NORM radionuclides (most often, Ra-226) and/or exposure rate. Gamma survey parameters such as movement speed, transect spacing, and data logging frequency define the spatial resolution of the resulting surface, and can be optimized depending on the desired survey sensitivity. This paper examines gamma survey as a tool for decommissioning NORM sites and provides an overview of current gamma survey technology designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the decommissioning process. Topics to be discussed in the paper include: - An overview of gamma survey systems, and the utility of different delivery vehicles depending on desired cost, desired spatial resolution, and site topography. - The influence of physical detector characteristics on detection sensitivity and survey planning. - The tradeoff between high-resolution and large spatial extent, but inherently uncertain data, and low-resolution, low spatial extent, but highly certain data, as well as the specific utility of each of these types of data during NORM facility decommissioning. - Confounding variables that may limit the utility of gamma survey at some sites (e.g., radon gas and spatial heterogeneity / hot spots), and methods to plan for and control these conditions. Results show that the confounding variables, such as radon and data output can greatly influence the overall data quality associated with the decommissioning process. In addition, the use of real-time and aerial survey platforms provides a method for ensuring proper spatial extent of the data. When applied thoughtfully, gamma survey is a powerful tool for detecting NORM radionuclides in the environment and a cost-effective technique for identifying areas requiring remediation. However, entities performing or using gamma survey as a decommissioning tool must be aware of both its advantages and its limitations before basing remediation or regulatory action on gamma survey results. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
NASA NTRS1986

Water facilities in retrospect and prospect: An illuminating tool for vehicle design

Water facilities play a fundamental role in the design of air, ground, and marine vehicles by providing a qualitative, and sometimes quantitative, description of complex flow phenomena. Water tunnels, channels, and tow tanks used as flow-diagnostic tools have experienced a renaissance in recent years in response to the increased complexity of designs suitable for advanced technology vehicles. These vehicles are frequently characterized by large regions of steady and unsteady three-dimensional flow separation and ensuing vortical flows. The visualization and interpretation of the complicated fluid motions about isolated vehicle components and complete configurations in a time and cost effective manner in hydrodynamic test facilities is a key element in the development of flow control concepts, and, hence, improved vehicle designs. A historical perspective of the role of water facilities in the vehicle design process is presented. The application of water facilities to specific aerodynamic and hydrodynamic flow problems is discussed, and the strengths and limitations of these important experimental tools are emphasized.

Erickson, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Metal Vapor Arcing Risk Assessment Tool

The Tin Whisker Metal Vapor Arcing Risk Assessment Tool has been designed to evaluate the risk of metal vapor arcing and to help facilitate a decision toward a researched risk disposition. Users can evaluate a system without having to open up the hardware. This process allows for investigating components at risk rather than spending time and money analyzing every component. The tool points to a risk level and provides direction for appropriate action and documentation.

Hill, Monika C.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Simulation-aided occupant-centric building design: A critical review of tools, methods, and applications

Occupants are active participants in their built environment, affecting its performance while simultaneously being affected by its design and indoor environmental conditions. With recent advances in computer modeling, simulation tools, and analysis techniques, topics such as human-building interactions and occupant behavior have gained significant interest in the literature given their premise of improving building design processes and operating strategies. In practice, the focus of occupant-centric literature has been mostly geared towards the latter (i.e., operation), leaving the implications on building design practices underexplored. This paper fills the gap by providing a critical review of existing studies applying computer-based modeling and simulation to guide occupant-centric building design. The reviewed papers are organized along four main themes, namely occupant-centric: (i) metrics of building performance, (ii) modeling and simulation approaches, (iii) design methods and applications, and (iv) supporting practices and mechanisms. Important barriers are identified for a more effective application of occupant-centric building design practices, including the limited consideration of metrics beyond energy efficiency (e.g., occupant well-being and space planning), the limited implementation and validation of the proposed methods, and the lack of integration of occupant behavior modeling in existing building performance simulation tools. Finally, future research directions are discussed, covering large-scale international data collection efforts to move from generic assumptions about occupant behavior to specific/localized knowledge, improved metrics of measuring building performance, and improved industry practices, such as building codes, to promote an occupant-in-the-loop approach to the building design process.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS2004

The Role of Structural Models in the Solar Sail Flight Validation Process

NASA is currently soliciting proposals via the New Millennium Program ST-9 opportunity for a potential Solar Sail Flight Validation (SSFV) experiment to develop and operate in space a deployable solar sail that can be steered and provides measurable acceleration. The approach planned for this experiment is to test and validate models and processes for solar sail design, fabrication, deployment, and flight. These models and processes would then be used to design, fabricate, and operate scaleable solar sails for future space science missions. There are six validation objectives planned for the ST9 SSFV experiment: 1) Validate solar sail design tools and fabrication methods; 2) Validate controlled deployment; 3) Validate in space structural characteristics (focus of poster); 4) Validate solar sail attitude control; 5) Validate solar sail thrust performance; 6) Characterize the sail's electromagnetic interaction with the space environment. This poster presents a top-level assessment of the role of structural models in the validation process for in-space structural characteristics.

Johnston, John D.↗
NASA NTRS2018

A Summary of the NASA Design Environment for Novel Vertical Lift Vehicles (DELIVER) Project

The number of new markets and use cases being developed for vertical take-off and landing vehicles continues to explode, including the highly publicized urban air taxi and package deliver applications. There is an equally exploding variety of novel vehicle configurations and sizes that are being proposed to fill these new market applications. The challenge for vehicle designers is that there is currently no easy and consistent way to go from a compelling mission or use case to a vehicle that is best configured and sized for the particular mission. This is because the availability of accurate and validated conceptual design tools for these novel types and sizes of vehicles have not kept pace with the new markets and vehicles themselves. The Design Environment for Novel Vertical Lift Vehicles (DELIVER) project was formulated to address this vehicle design challenge by demonstrating the use of current conceptual design tools, that have been used for decades to design and size conventional rotorcraft, applied to these novel vehicle types, configurations and sizes. In addition to demonstrating the applicability of current design and sizing tools to novel vehicle configurations and sizes, DELIVER also demonstrated the addition of key transformational technologies of noise, autonomy, and hybrid-electric and all-electric propulsion into the vehicle conceptual design process. Noise is key for community acceptance, autonomy and the need to operate autonomously are key for efficient, reliable and safe operations, and electrification of the propulsion system is a key enabler for these new vehicle types and sizes. This paper provides a summary of the DELIVER project and shows the applicability of current conceptual design and sizing tools novel vehicle configurations and sizes that are being proposed for urban air taxi and package delivery type applications.

Design Environment↗
NASA NTRS1984

Fabrication development for ODS-superalloy, air-cooled turbine blades

MA-600 is a gamma prime and oxide dispersion strengthened superalloy made by mechanical alloying. At the initiation of this program, MA-6000 was available as an experimental alloy only and did not go into production until late in the program. The objective of this program was to develop a thermal-mechanical-processing approach which would yield the necessary elongated grain structure and desirable mechanical properties after conventional press forging. Forging evaluations were performed to select optimum thermal-mechanical-processing conditions. These forging evaluations indicated that MA-6000 was extremely sensitive to die chilling. In order to conventionally hot forge the alloy, an adherent cladding, either the original extrusion can or a thick plating, was required to prevent cracking of the workpiece. Die design must reflect the requirement of cladding. MA-6000 was found to be sensitive to the forging temperature. The correct temperature required to obtain the proper grain structure after recrystallization was found to be between 1010-1065 C (1850-1950 F). The deformation level did not affect subsequent crystallization; however, sharp transition areas in tooling designs should be avoided in forming a blade shape because of the potential for grain structure discontinuities. Starting material to be used for forging should be processed so that it is capable of being zone annealed to a coarse elongated grain structure as bar stock. This conclusion means that standard processed bar materials can be used.

Moracz, D. J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Developing an Equity Framework for State Regulatory Decision-Making

The report presents a framework for states that seek to incorporate equity into regulatory decision-making. Berkeley Lab contextualizes approaches and metrics from various states into example processes to exemplify how this may be done, including topics such as the development of equity goals and definitions, intervenor funding, community engagement, performance-based ratemaking, and utility resource planning. The report offers five takeaways and considerations, supported by these examples: 1. Equity comprises multiple tenets and stages, all of which must be considered in parallel. 2. At the start of designing new equity-related processes, it is critical to establish clear and actionable goals, definitions, roles, and responsibilities to ensure progress. 3. Once goals are established, it is critical to align tools and metrics that bridge the gap between what an intervention may do and how it may impact communities and households. 4. Processes should be stakeholder driven. It is important to not only increase education and outreach, but to actively seek out and incorporate feedback from inclusive public processes and build in accountability mechanisms. Processes should be iterative. Feedback loops between evaluations and program design provide the flexibility to better align existing interventions with community priorities and to incorporate equity into future decision-making.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2024

ECP libraries and tools: An overview

The Exascale Computing Project (ECP) Software Technology and Co-Design teams addressed the growing complexities in high-performance computing (HPC) by developing scalable software libraries and tools that leverage exascale system capabilities. As we enter the exascale era, the need for reusable, optimized software solutions that can handle the unique challenges posed by these systems becomes increasingly important. The primary challenges the ECP teams faced were to create software libraries and tools that are performant on exascale architectures and portable and usable across diverse hardware platforms. Efforts addressed issues related to concurrent execution, memory management, and the integration of heterogeneous computing resources, such as GPUs from multiple vendors. The ECP’s strategy involved a structured development process encompassing the creation, optimization, and deployment of software in collaboration with industry, academia, and national laboratories. The project was organized into several technical areas: co-design of domain-specific suites with target applications, programming models and runtimes, development tools, mathematical libraries, data and visualization tools, and software ecosystem and delivery mechanisms. ECP has successfully developed a large portfolio of software libraries and tools that demonstrate significant improvements in performance and scalability on exascale systems. These products have been integrated into the Department of Energy’s computing facilities, supporting various scientific applications and ensuring robust performance across different hardware setups. ECP advancements in software development for exascale computing highlight the importance of a collaborative and adaptive approach to handling next-generation HPC systems complexities. The lessons learned emphasize the need for continuous engagement with end-users and vendors, and the importance of maintaining a balance between innovation and practical implementation. Future efforts will focus on ensuring scalability, keeping pace with rapid hardware advancements, and further enhancing the interoperability and usability of the software ecosystem. In conclusion, subsequent articles in this special issue provide in-depth discussions and case studies into specific library and tool efforts.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
NASA NTRS1991

A unified approach for composite cost reporting and prediction in the ACT program

The Structures Technology Program Office (STPO) at NASA Langley Research Center has held two workshops with representatives from the commercial airframe companies to establish a plan for development of a standard cost reporting format and a cost prediction tool for conceptual and preliminary designers. This paper reviews the findings of the workshop representatives with a plan for implementation of their recommendations. The recommendations of the cost tracking and reporting committee will be implemented by reinstituting the collection of composite part fabrication data in a format similar to the DoD/NASA Structural Composites Fabrication Guide. The process of data collection will be automated by taking advantage of current technology with user friendly computer interfaces and electronic data transmission. Development of a conceptual and preliminary designers' cost prediction model will be initiated. The model will provide a technically sound method for evaluating the relative cost of different composite structural designs, fabrication processes, and assembly methods that can be compared to equivalent metallic parts or assemblies. The feasibility of developing cost prediction software in a modular form for interfacing with state of the art preliminary design tools and computer aided design (CAD) programs is assessed.

Freeman, W. Tom↗
DOE OSTI2021

Next Generation Co-Molded One-Piece Automotive Parts

The purpose of this project was to determine the feasibility of co-molding Class A Sheet Molding Compound (SMC), structural SMC, and continuous fiber prepreg materials to produce a single piece co-molded automotive part, such as a hood. The combination of the three molding materials and the incorporation of selective design features (ribs, flanges, corrugations) was expected to eliminate the need for inner reinforcement panels, significantly reducing tooling costs and simplifying the manufacturing process. A multi-material solution would also result in significant weight savings. The scope of this project included the material characterization of the three materials, development of cure and flow simulation models, and validation of the models against parts molded with different combinations of the materials on an 11”x11” plaque tool with rib features. The intent of this project was to apply the learnings obtained from co-molding a part with simplified geometry to a Phase 2 project that would produce a single piece hood, co-molded with the same materials. Resins from INEOS Composites were provided to IDI to produce SMC and continuous fiber prepregs. Purdue University and INEOS Composites characterized the rheological and curing behavior of the different materials as well as the mechanical properties of the co-molded parts. This data was used by Purdue University to create simulation models. Models were created to predict both flow patterns and predict mechanical properties of different laminate constructions in and around the ribs. Michigan State University - Corktown validated Purdue’s models by co-molding the three materials in different combinations on a tool containing rib features provided by Century Tool. The co-molded parts were evaluated against the simulation models by Purdue, Corktown and INEOS. The project team demonstrated the following: • The ability to obtain a cohesive co-molded structure made up of Class A SMC, Structural SMC, and continuous fiber prepreg. • The ability to obtain a co-molded part with a Class A surface • Modeling of flow and fiber orientation • Modeling to predict mechanical properties of multi-material co-molded structures The predicted flow behavior and fiber orientation from simulations were then compared with the molded samples. Exact local orientation state was difficult to compare between microscopy and flow simulation, but captured general trends. Multi-material flow behavior was generally modeled well with SMC materials, but the introduction of woven material sheets requires further model development. Purdue compared the predicted versus actual mechanical properties, and INEOS Composites evaluated the surface appearance of unpainted and painted co-molded parts. The models developed by Purdue demonstrated that the mechanical properties can be predicted for parts with varying material configurations. The resulting models can be applied to future co-molded part design, tooling design, and molding conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1988

Image processing software for imaging spectrometry

The paper presents a software system, Spectral Analysis Manager (SPAM), which has been specifically designed and implemented to provide the exploratory analysis tools necessary for imaging spectrometer data, using only modest computational resources. The basic design objectives are described as well as the major algorithms designed or adapted for high-dimensional images. Included in a discussion of system implementation are interactive data display, statistical analysis, image segmentation and spectral matching, and mixture analysis.

Mazer, Alan S.↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Gas-Particle Interaction Model Development in Plume Surface Interaction Erosion and Cratering

The development of a predictive simulation capability for extra-terrestrial Plume Surface Interaction (PSI) environments is undertaken by the Fluid Dynamics Branch at NASA/MSFC under the Game Changing Development (GCD) Program funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD). Predictive simulation capability for propulsive Martian and Lunar landing PSI requires accurate modeling of the complex high-speed plume impingement and resulting gas/particle-cloud and ejecta stream formation. Physics modeling gap analysis during formulation of the PSI project scope identified two particular phenomena of first order importance in gas-particle interactions that lacked existing modeling formulations. The first arises from the lack of models capturing the unsteady drag forces imparted on particles by the rapidly expanding supersonic compressible flow. The second addresses the fluctuating forces and dispersions imparted on both the particle and the fluid resulting from the interference and wake turbulence generated by close proximity particle clouds, dubbed the Particle Turbulent Kinetic Energy(PTKE). Their first order significance has been identified in experiments, but simulation models currently do not exist for either effect. The development of models and the eventual implementation into the Eulerian Gas-Granular Flow Solver (GGFS) simulation tools was constructed as one of four major tasks of the PSI project. In this process, data on particle kinetics and gas-particle interactions are collected from carefully designed experiments of particles embedded in jets. The effects observed in the experiments are then replicated in high-fidelity particle-resolved CFD simulations to inform the formulation of improvements to particle phase drag models for implementations in the more efficient Eulerian-Lagrangian CFD simulations. The resulting models are ultimately ported to the Eulerian-Eulerian models applied for most efficient simulations in PSI production application tools. This paper describes the activities and accomplishments of the past year in the gas-particle interaction modeling task of the PSI project.

Jeff West↗
DOE OSTI2020

A Survey of Multizone Airflow Simulation Software

H-Canyon simulates the building and process ventilation to ensure positive contamination control for any modifications as well as evaluating off-normal conditions. Simulations can also be used to identify air quality of personnel occupied areas. The models can be classified into two groups, single and multi-zone models. As the name states, a single zone model assumes that the building can be described by a single, well-mixed zone. Whereas large buildings have structures that must be described as multizone. Multizone airflow models deal with the difficulty of flows in a building by distinguishing the effects of internal flow restrictions. Several models have been developed that take internal partitions into account. CONTAM (currently used) is a multizone airflow program created by NIST to determine airflows including infiltration, exfiltration, wind pressures acting outside the building, buoyancy effects caused by the indoor and outdoor air temperature difference. COMIS is a multizone air infiltration, ventilation, and contaminant transport model that was developed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. COMIS deals with applied pressure distribution, airflow components, HVAC systems, schedules, and contaminant transport. EnergyPlus is designed by DOE. It supports flexible component level configuration of HVAC models and simulates sub-hourly time steps to control fast dynamic systems. The program features include providing accurate environmental performance data including energy consumption and carbon emissions, and reporting solar gains on surfaces. Heavent is used to model industrial ventilation systems to control airborne contaminants. It's designed based on the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) Ventilation manual. DesignBuilder is the most recognized and advanced user interface to EnergyPlus. It gives access to all of the most frequently required simulation capabilities covering building fabric, thermal mass, glazing, shading renewables, and HVAC analysis. The objective of this study is to identify all relevant software available including commercially licensed, freely licensed, and open source, that can be used to simulate large, complex process facility ventilation systems. All discovered software tools are evaluated for salient features and compared to the software tool currently used to simulate the H-Canyon ventilation system. The design criteria of a ventilation system has two basic requirements: Supplying fresh air for the occupants and changing the air in the room sufficiently; therefore, the smells, fumes, and contaminants will be removed. In this study, first, whether the software simulates airflow (infiltration, natural ventilation, and interzonal) or considers them to be inputs is discussed. Second, if indoor contaminant levels are considered; and finally suggestions on how airflow analysis can be more appropriately accounted for when performing airflow simulation of a building. All of the airflow software reviewed for this study can account for constant infiltration and natural ventilation rates that are not affected by changes in indoor and outdoor conditions. Modelling infiltration in EnergyPlus or DesignBuilder are applicable for small buildings and not appropriate for larger buildings like the H-Canyon. The effect of wind on external pressures, infiltration, and natural and mechanical ventilation, can also be calculated using all of these software. These programs have control options to switch between natural to mechanical ventilation modes or both (hybrid). Interzonal airflow can be applied which means one zone can be specified to receive a fixed amount of air from another zone. The following ventilation modeling software is recommended for further testing: CONTAM, COMIS, Heavent. The next step in evaluating the software will consist of creating test facility simulations using evaluation copies of the software.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

MLIR loop optimizations for High-Level Synthesis: a case study

High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tools simplify the design of hardware accelerators by automatically generating Verilog/VHDL code starting from a general purpose software programming language. They include a wide range of optimization techniques in the process, most of them performed on a low-level intermediate representation (IR) of the code. Introducing optimizations on a higher level of abstraction could significantly contribute to the automated design process results; for example, polyhedral techniques for the manipulation of loops could have a significant impact on the generated accelerators when applied on a specialized IR. We use loop pipelining as a case study to explore the introduction of compiler-based transformations on top of an existing HLS process. We leverage the Multi-Level Intermediate Representation (MLIR) framework and an external scheduler to implement the required transformations, and couple them with existing HLS tools to evaluate the improvements that loop pipelining brings to the performance of generated accelerators. The proposed approach can be integrated with other high-level transformations on the MLIR representation, combining different techniques to obtain pre-optimized inputs for HLS that do not have to rely on a specific backend tool.

Curzel, Serena↗
DOE OSTI2026

Retrofit Energy Analysis and Central Thermal modeling (REACT) v1.0

REACT is a website designed to simplify the analysis and decision-making process for retrofitting existing central plant heating and cooling systems with advanced heat pump technologies. The tool evaluates the technical and economic viability of replacing traditional boilers with various options including water-to-water or air-to-water heat pumps, which can provide efficient and lower-cost heating and cooling. It allows users to compare current central plant configurations with retrofit scenarios, assessing energy consumption, life-cycle costs, and environmental impact. Retrofitting traditional boiler and chiller systems with water-to-water or air-to-water heat pumps can significantly reduce energy consumption and lower lifecycle costs. The REACT provides: User-Friendly Tools: A user friendly web interface for quick, intuitive analysis accessible to non-experts. Advanced Modeling: A Python-powered engine for detailed parametric studies, optimization, and research applications. Comprehensive Analysis: Lifecycle cost evaluation, energy consumption modeling, and environmental impact assessment. Visual Insights: A variety of plots to visualize system performance and design trade-offs. The engine for the website (REACT) bases on several Python libraries, and the website will be hosted on an ETA server.

Kim, Donghun [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborator↗