Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “enhanced sampling”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 1,063 records · Page 59
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

HFTS-1 (Final Report)

Despite the long history of hydraulic fracturing, the optimal number of fracturing stages during multi-stage fracture stimulation in horizontal wells can be a complex subject. In addition to the increased expense of multistage fracturing in horizontal wells, increasing the number of fracturing stages does not always correlate with a commensurate increase in production. The problem is the application of a uniform fracture stimulation design to all stages with no consideration for geological variations along the wellbore. The result is an inefficient use and costly waste of energy and water. Optimization of the fracturing process requires an understanding of the cause-and-effect relationship between fracturing parameters and local geological properties at a given location along the wellbore. Realizing that the generalized rock mechanics theories and hypotheses are not truly applicable to fractured and laminated shales, quantifiable impacts of a shale’s geomechanical and depositional features are a prerequisite for design and implementation of optimized hydraulic fractures. The overarching goal of this project is to understand and define the relationships of shale geology and fracture dynamics using detailed field data that includes coring of the fracture domain. Finally, resource recovery from shale formations is estimated to be less than fifteen percent. Research proposed in this project will establish the foundations for investigating enhanced recovery techniques for increased resource recovery in existing fracture treated wells. Natural gas as an EOR fluid is in the initial stages of being used broadly in the oil and gas industry and as such, many aspects of the process need to be researched and addressed prior to widespread acceptance. In addition, re-fracturing techniques, particularly using cemented liners also need to be further investigated. This project explores several of these EOR techniques in greater detail, not just at the theoretical level, but through actual field test sites. This report delves into the research program, identified tasks, several studies, observations, results, and conclusions under the Hydraulic Fracturing Test Site (HFTS) project. This test project is subdivided into three distinct phases and each phase is discussed in detail under separate sections. The original test site for Phase 1 as well as the Phase 2 site are in Midland Basin in Texas and operated by Laredo Petroleum. In the first two phases, the program targeted the Wolfcamp formation in Midland Basin. Phase 3 of the study targeted the EagleFord play in South Texas with Devon Energy as the operator. Significant conclusions from this study include: 1) lateral and vertical fracture growth mapping as well as proppant transport behavior, 2) Use of field gas and its applicability for huff n puff EOR injection in the Midland Basin, 3) Development and validation of proppant log, both at core scale as well as in-fill well implementation by analyzing drilling mud return samples, 4) Applicability of liner refracturing including best practices for enhanced unit level productivity. This report will detail all these studies as well as technical results and conclusions from said studies. These include general subsurface characterization work, completion designs as implemented, studies looking at fracture geometry, high resolution microseismic study, advanced crosswell strain mapping studies including drainage characterization, core characterization results, proppant analysis (core and observation wells), geochemistry, etc. to name a few.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2016

Investigation and modeling of the degradation of Zr-based fuel claddings during corrosion in steam and air-steam mixtures at high temperatures - 6.3 STP-2016-0033

This paper presents the main results of a study conducted to quantify and to model the degradation state of Zr-based fuel claddings submitted to severe accident conditions in a nuclear reactor core: high temperatures and either pure steam or air-steam mixture. Due to the progressive thickening of a dense and protective ZrO{sub 2} layer, the oxidation kinetics of Zr-based claddings in steam at high temperatures typical of nuclear severe accidents, is generally cubic or parabolic. However, for some temperature domains, this oxide layer may crack, becoming porous and non-protective anymore. In these 'breakaway' conditions, the oxidation kinetics change from (sub-)parabolic to linear or even accelerated. Additionally, the temperature increase can lead core materials to melt and to relocate down to the vessel lower head, threatening its integrity. If it fails, and for specific conditions, air ingress may take place into the reactor. Hence, oxygen and nitrogen both react with Zr-based claddings, successively through oxidation of Zr (forming ZrO{sub 2} layer), nitriding of Zr (forming ZrN particles) and oxidation of ZrN (forming ZrO{sub 2} and releasing nitrogen). These self-sustained chemical reactions enhance the deterioration of Zr-based claddings and of their ZrO{sub 2} layers, inducing a rise of their open porosity. To quantify this porosity, a series of two-step experiments was conducted. First, Zirlo{sup TM} cladding samples were isothermally oxidized in various conditions: in pure steam or in 50- 50 mol% air-steam mix, at several temperatures, and for different durations. The main thermal effects on reaction kinetics and the high impact of air on the cladding degradation are all confirmed by experimental results. Second, pioneering porosimetry measurements by Hg intrusion were realized for the first time on such corroded cladding samples. In both atmospheres, it is pointed out that 1200 and 1250 K lead to particularly porous oxide layers, especially due to strong 'breakaway' effects. Moreover, it is confirmed that the presence of air strongly enhances the oxide cracking: cladding samples are more porous when oxidized in the air-steam mixture than under pure steam. Finally, it is observed that in all conditions, the open porous volume fraction of Zirlo{sup TM} claddings continuously rises during their corrosion process. Hence, for each experimental condition, porosity correlations are determined through linear regressions, and porosity increase rates are deduced by derivation versus time and validated against porosimetry results of cladding samples corroded in transient (nonisothermal) conditions. (authors)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Investigation and modeling of the degradation of zirconium-based fuel cladding during corrosion in steam and air-steam mixtures at high temperatures - 2016-0033

This paper presents the main results of a study conducted to quantify and to model the degradation state of zirconium-based fuel claddings submitted to severe-accident conditions in a nuclear reactor core: high temperatures and either pure steam or an air-steam mixture. Due to the progressive thickening of a dense and protective ZrO{sub 2} layer, the oxidation kinetics of zirconium-based claddings in steam at high temperatures typical of severe nuclear accidents are generally cubic or parabolic. However, for some temperature domains, this oxide layer may crack, becoming porous and no longer protective. In these 'breakaway' conditions, the oxidation kinetics change from (sub)parabolic to linear or even accelerated. In addition, the temperature increase can lead core materials to melt and to relocate down to the vessel lower head, threatening its integrity. If it fails, and for specific conditions, air ingress may take place into the reactor. Hence, oxygen and nitrogen both react with zirconium-based claddings successively through the oxidation of zirconium (forming a ZrO{sub 2} layer), nitriding of zirconium (forming zirconium nitride particles), and the oxidation of zirconium nitride (forming ZrO{sub 2} and releasing nitrogen). These self-sustained chemical reactions enhance the deterioration of zirconium-based claddings and their ZrO{sub 2} layers, inducing an increase in their open porosity. To quantify this porosity, a series of two-step experiments was conducted. First, ZIRLO{sup TM} cladding samples were isothermally oxidized in pure steam or in a 50:50 mol% air-steam mixture at several different temperatures and durations. The main thermal effects on reaction kinetics and the high impact of air on the cladding degradation were all confirmed by experimental results. Second, pioneering porosimetry measurements by mercury intrusion were realized for the first time on such corroded cladding samples. In both atmospheres, it was pointed out that 1,200 and 1,250 K led to particularly porous oxide layers, especially due to strong breakaway effects. Moreover, we confirmed that the presence of air strongly enhances the oxide cracking: cladding samples were more porous when oxidized in the air-steam mixture than under pure steam. Finally, we observed that in all conditions, the open porous volume fraction of ZIRLO claddings continuously rose during their corrosion process. Hence, for each experimental condition, porosity correlations were determined through linear regressions, and porosity increase rates were deduced by derivation versus time and validated against porosimetry results of cladding samples corroded in transient nonisothermal) conditions. (authors)

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2020

Is a Linear or a Walkabout Protocol More Efficient When Using a Rover to Choose Biologically Relevant Samples in a Small Region of Interest?

We conducted a field test at a potential Mars analog site to provide insight into planning for future robotic missions such as Mars 2020, where science operations must facilitate efficient choice of biologically relevant sampling locations. We compared two data acquisition and decision-making protocols currently used by Mars Science Laboratory: (1) a linear approach, where sites are examined as they are encountered and (2) a walkabout approach, in which the field site is first examined with remote rover instruments to gain an understanding of regional context followed by deployment of time- and power-intensive contact and sampling instruments on a smaller subset of locations. The walkabout method was advantageous in terms of both the time required to execute and a greater confidence in results and interpretations, leading to enhanced ability to tailor follow-on observations to better address key science and sampling goals. This advantage is directly linked to the walkabout method's ability to provide broad geological context earlier in the science analysis process. For Mars 2020, and specifically for small regions to be explored (e.g., <1 sq. km), we recommend that the walkabout approach be considered where possible, to provide early context and time for the science team to develop a coherent suite of hypotheses and robust ways to test them.

R. Aileen Yingst↗
DOE OSTI2016

Band-gap tuning and magnetic properties of heterovalent ions (Ba, Sr and Ca) substituted BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles

A Comparative study of heterovalent Ba, Sr and Ca ions substitution on the structural, vibrational, optical and magnetic properties of BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles was carried out. The distorted rhombohedral structure was confirmed from both X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy techniques in pure BiFeO{sub 3} and Bi{sub 0.85}A{sub 0.15}FeO{sub 3} (A= Ba, Sr and Ca) samples. UV-Visible spectroscopy results show that the band-gap of BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles can be tuned by heterovalent ions substitution from 2.12 eV for BiFeO{sub 3} to 2.10, 2.06 and 2.03 eV for Ca, Sr and Ba substituted BiFeO{sub 3} nanoparticles respectively. The magnetic measurements indicate enhancement in magnetization for heterovalent A{sup 2+} substituted BiFeO{sub 3} samples and the magnetization increases with increase of ionic radius of the substituted ions.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2006

Protocol for Future Amino Acid Analyses of Samples Returned by the Stardust Mission

We have demonstrated that LC-ToF-MS coupled with UV fluorescence detection is a powerful tool for the detection of amino acids in meteorite extracts. Using this new analytical technique we were able to identify the extraterrestrial amino acid AIB extracted from fifteen 20 micron sized Murchison meteorite grains. We found that the amino acid contamination levels in Stardust aerogels was much lower than the levels observed in the Murchison meteorite. In addition, the alpha-dialkyl amino acids AIB and isovaline which are the most abundant amino acids in Murchison were not detected in the aerogel above blank levels. We are currently integrating LIF detection capability to our existing nanoflow LC-ToF-MS for enhanced sensitivity required for the analysis of amino acids in Stardust samples.

Glavin, D. P.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Static, mixed-array total evaporation for improved quantitation of plutonium minor isotopes in small samples

Actinide isotope measurements are a critical signature capability in the modern nuclear forensics “toolbox”, especially when interrogating anthropogenic constituents in real-world scenarios. Unfortunately, established methodologies, such as traditional total evaporation via thermal ionization mass spectrometry, struggle to confidently measure low abundance isotope ratios (<10 -6 ) within already limited quantities of sample. Herein, we investigate the application of static, mixed array total evaporation techniques as a straightforward means of improving plutonium minor isotope measurements, which have been resistant to enhancement in recent years because of elevated radiologic concerns. Furthermore, results are presented for small sample (~20 ng) applications involving a well-known plutonium isotope reference material, CRM-126a, and compared with traditional total evaporation methods.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

Organically Modified Nanoclay and Aluminum Hydroxide Incorporated Bionanocomposites towards Enhancement of Physico-mechanical and Thermal Properties of Lignocellulosic Structural Reinforcement

A range of bio-nanocomposites were prepared by incorporation of organo modified montmorillonite nanoclay (OMMT) with or without use of aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH){sub 3}) within polylactic acid (PLA) solution. Furthermore, the solution was employed for modification of ligno-cellulosic (jute) fabric structural reinforcements. The successful incorporation of nanofillers within the host polymer, polylactic acid (PLA) was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Water uptake and swelling behaviour studies revealed that the water uptake and swelling ratio of bio-composites reduced significantly as compared to pristine jute fabric, whereas upon incorporation of OMMT and Al(OH){sub 3}, the water barrier properties reduced even further in the developed bio-nanocomposites. The flexural strength of the bio-nanocomposites also showed improved mechanical and dimensional stability. Synergistic effects of OMMT and Al(OH){sub 3} were observed in enhancing the aforementioned physico-mechanical properties. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies revealed microstructural details of developed samples. Similarly, the thermo-gravimetric analysis and linear burning rate studies of Al(OH){sub 3 }treated bio-nanocomposite materials revealed enhanced thermal resistance and reduced flammability respectively compared to both pristine woven jute fabric and fabrics treated with PLA alone or those without Al(OH){sub 3}. From the above results it can safely be said that the bio-nanocomposite material can be a prospective candidate for development of flame retardant biopackaging.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Observations and Modeling of the Green Ocean Amazon: Sounding Enhancement Field Campaign Report

The goal of this campaign was to provide higher temporal sampling of the vertical structure of the atmosphere during the two intensive observational periods (IOPs) of the GoAmazon 2014/15 campaign. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Climate Research Facility’s first ARM Mobile Facility (AMF1) baseline launches for 2014 and 2015 was 4 sondes/day at 2 am, 8 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm local time (LT) (6, 12, 18 and 0 Coordinated Universal Time [UTC]). However, rapid changes in boundary layer and free tropospheric temperature, humidity, and wind profiles happen throughout the diurnal cycle over Manaus, Brazil's complex forest canopy with resulting responses in aerosol, cloud, and precipitation characteristics. This campaign increased sampling to 5 sondes/day for the 2014 wet and dry season IOPs by adding a launch at 11 am (15 UTC) to capture rapid changes in boundary layer properties and convective cloud growth during that time. The extra launch also corresponded to the time of day the ARM Gulfstream (G-1) and German HALO aircraft most often flew, thus providing useful measurements of the large-scale environment during the flights. In addition, the extra launch will significantly add to the quality of AMF1 instrument retrievals and variational analysis forcing data set during the IOPs.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Magnetic properties of Ce-Nd-Fe-Mo alloys and their nitrides

New quaternary alloys of Ce-1 xNdxFe12 Mo-y(y) with x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1 and y=0, 1.5, 2 have been prepared and magnetically hardened by melt spinning. X-ray diffraction indicates that the as-spun materials exhibit the tetragonal ThMn12-type structure. Prior to nitriding, the coercivity H-ci is less than 0.6 kOe in all alloys and is independent of Nd content, while the magnetization 4 pi M-19 (measured in an applied held of 19 kOe) and Curie temperature T-c increase with added Nd content x. The effects of nitriding pressure P, time t, and temperature TOR magnetic properties have been carefully evaluated on NdFe10Mo2 in order to identify the optimal nitriding parameters. The optimized nitriding profile was subsequently adopted to nitride the remaining samples. After nitrogenation, T-c and 4 pi M-19 have been substantially enhanced primarily due to the increased Fe-Fe exchange from nitrogen induced lattice dilation. Benefitting from the positive contribution from Nd, H-ci has been greatly improved in the Nd containing samples. As a result, Ce0.2Nd0.8Fe10Mo2 nitride features H-ci=2.9 kOe and (BH)(max) = 1.6 MGOe and Ce0.2Nd0.8Fe10.5Mo1.5 nitride demonstrates H-ci=2.5 kOe, (BH)(max) = 1.5 MGOe at room temperature, and T-c=337 degrees C. which are substantial advancements compared to the pure Ce based ThMn12-type materials previously reported. (C) 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Zhou, C↗
DOE OSTI2017

Improved strategies for DNP-enhanced 2D 1 H-X heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy of surfaces

We demonstrate that dynamic nuclear polarization (DNP)-enhanced 1 H-X heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR) measurements of hydrogen-rich surface species are better accomplished by using proton-free solvents. This approach notably prevents HETCOR spectra from being obfuscated by the solvent-derived signals otherwise present in DNP measurements. Additionally, in the hydrogen-rich materials studied here, which included functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles and metal organic frameworks, the use of proton-free solvents afforded higher sensitivity gains than the commonly used solvents containing protons. Here, we also explored the possibility of using a solvent-free sample formulation and the feasibility of indirect detection in DNP-enhanced HETCOR experiments.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Development of an Enhanced Metaproteomic Approach for Deepening the Microbiome Characterization of the Human Infant Gut

The early-life microbiota establishment in the human infant gut is highly variable and plays a crucial role in host nutrients and immunity maturation. While high-performance mass spectrometry (MS)-based metaproteomics is a powerful method for the functional characterization of complex microbial communities, the construction of comprehensive metaproteomic information in human fecal samples is inhibited by the presence of abundant human proteins. To alleviate this restriction, we have designed a novel metaproteomic strategy based on Double Filtering (DF) to enhance microbial protein characterization in complex fecal samples from healthy premature infants. We improved the overall depth of infant gut proteome measurement, with an increase in the number of identified low abundance proteins, and observed greater than twofold improvement in metrics for microbial protein identifications and quantifications with a relatively high rank correlation to control. We further showed the substantial enhancement of this approach for extensively interpreting microbial functional categories between infants by affording more detailed and confident identified categories. This approach provided an avenue for in-depth measurement in the microbial component of infant fecal samples and thus comprehensive characterization of infant gut microbiome functionality.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2025

Investigations on the Thermal Stability and Kinetics of Biolubricants Synthesized from Different Types of Vegetable Oils

Petroleum-based lubricants raise environmental concerns due to their non-biodegradability and toxicity, whereas biobased lubricants underperform owing to low thermal stability. This study examined and compared three vegetable oils, along with their chemically modified versions, to better understand their suitability as biolubricants. High oleic soybean oil (HOSOY), regular soybean oil (RSOY), and waste cooking oil (WCO) were subjected to chemical modification, where isopropyl groups were attached to the fatty acid chains of the oils to produce branched oils, i.e., b-HOSOY, b-RSOY, and b-WCO. The detailed kinetic study of each regular and modified sample was investigated using thermogravimetric analysis. The kinetic parameters, such as the activation energies, reaction rate, and pre-exponential factor, were generated via Friedman methods. The differential thermal gravimetric (DTG) analysis showed low volatilization at the onset temperature in each modified oil as compared with the unmodified samples under an oxidative environment. Furthermore, the comparative kinetic studies demonstrated the enhanced thermoxidative stability of the modified products relative to their unaltered counterparts. Among the tested oils, the b-RSOY showed an average activation energy of 325 kJ/mol, followed by the b-WCO: 300 kJ/mol and the b-HOSOY: 251 kJ/mol, indicating the most stable modified product under an oxidative environment. For all the samples, the pre-exponential factors were in good agreement with the activation energies, which validates that finding the pre-exponential components is crucial to the kinetic analysis.

Sarker, Majher I. (ORCID:0000000299509274)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Microwave-enhanced methane cracking for clean hydrogen production in shale rocks

Here, steam methane reforming (SMR) generates about 95% of hydrogen (H 2 ) in the U.S. using natural gas as a main feedstock. However, this technology also generates a large amount of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), a major greenhouse gas causing global warming. Carbon capture and storage (CCS) technique is required, but the cost and safety of storing CO 2 underground are a concern. Here we propose a new approach using microwave/electromagnetic irradiation to produce clean hydrogen from unrecovered hydrocarbons within petroleum reservoirs. Solid carbon or CO 2 produced during this process will be simultaneously sequestrated underground without involving CCS. In this paper, we perform a series of experiments to investigate the in-situ hydrogen production from shale gas (methane) conversion by passing a methane stream through a packed shale rock sample heated by microwave. We found that methane conversion was significantly enhanced in the presence of Fe and Fe 3 O 4 particles as catalysts, with a conversion of 40.5% and 100% at reaction temperature of 500 °C and 600 °C, respectively. Methane conversion is promoted at a lower reaction temperature by the catalytic effect of minerals in shale. Additionally, the influences of catalysts, shale rock, and methane flow rate are characterized.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2022

External charge compensation in etched gallium nitride measured by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

Electronic states at GaN surfaces and at regrowth and heteroepitaxy interfaces inhibit electronic device performance. Understanding electronic state configuration at the GaN surface is, therefore, crucial for the development of GaN-based devices, which are currently of considerable interest in power electronic applications. GaN and other wurtzite III-nitrides possess large spontaneous polarization along the c-axis, producing a bound sheet charge at the surface, which affects the electronic state configuration through the formation of internal and external compensation charges. Defects induced by conventional plasma-based dry etching methods may inhibit the internal screening of this bound charge and thus increase the concentration of external charged states. The surface band bending of n-type Ga-face GaN (0001) was measured with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy after inductively coupled plasma etching to investigate the impact of dry etching on external charge compensation. GaN samples were etched using inductively coupled plasma with varying rf power and a novel plasma-enhanced atomic layer etching method using an oxidation, fluorination, and ligand-exchange mechanism. The band bending varied from 0.0 to 0.8 ± 0.1 eV for the samples measured.

Hatch, Kevin A. (ORCID:0000000283118623)↗
DOE OSTI2020

Far-infrared absorption of undoped and Br-doped carbon nanofiber powder in stacked-cup cone configuration

In this study, we performed room-temperature far-infrared (40–650cm –1 ) transmission measurements on undoped and bromine-doped powder samples of carbon nanofibers in stacked-cup cone geometry. The transmission spectra show enhanced transmittance after bromine doping and all spectra were fit to a Drude-Lorentz (DL) model. A decreased metallic conductivity along with a redshift of the lowest semiconducting gap was found with doped samples. A significant decrease in the scattering rate upon heavy doping has been qualitatively explained as partial ordering of intercalated dopant ions. Absorption spectra were derived from the transmission spectra under the assumption of nondispersive reflectance and subsequently compared with DL-model-derived spectra. The free-carrier density of the n -type powder and the electronic mean free path were estimated and compared with reported values for single-walled nanotubes and pyrolytic graphite.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS2016

An Interdisciplinary Method for the Visualization of Novel High-Resolution Precision Photography and Micro-XCT Data Sets of NASA's Apollo Lunar Samples and Antarctic Meteorite Samples to Create Combined Research-Grade 3D Virtual Samples for the Benefit of Astromaterials Collections Conservation, Curation, Scientific Research and Education

New technologies make possible the advancement of documentation and visualization practices that can enhance conservation and curation protocols for NASA's Astromaterials Collections. With increasing demands for accessibility to updated comprehensive data, and with new sample return missions on the horizon, it is of primary importance to develop new standards for contemporary documentation and visualization methodologies. Our interdisciplinary team has expertise in the fields of heritage conservation practices, professional photography, photogrammetry, imaging science, application engineering, data curation, geoscience, and astromaterials curation. Our objective is to create virtual 3D reconstructions of Apollo Lunar and Antarctic Meteorite samples that are a fusion of two state-of-the-art data sets: the interior view of the sample by collecting Micro-XCT data and the exterior view of the sample by collecting high-resolution precision photography data. These new data provide researchers an information-rich visualization of both compositional and textural information prior to any physical sub-sampling. Since January 2013 we have developed a process that resulted in the successful creation of the first image-based 3D reconstruction of an Apollo Lunar Sample correlated to a 3D reconstruction of the same sample's Micro- XCT data, illustrating that this technique is both operationally possible and functionally beneficial. In May of 2016 we began a 3-year research period during which we aim to produce Virtual Astromaterials Samples for 60 high-priority Apollo Lunar and Antarctic Meteorite samples and serve them on NASA's Astromaterials Acquisition and Curation website. Our research demonstrates that research-grade Virtual Astromaterials Samples are beneficial in preserving for posterity a precise 3D reconstruction of the sample prior to sub-sampling, which greatly improves documentation practices, provides unique and novel visualization of the sample's interior and exterior features, offers scientists a preliminary research tool for targeted sub-sample requests, and additionally is a visually engaging interactive tool for bringing astromaterials science to the public.

Blumenfeld, E. H.↗