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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 109 records · Page 6

An efficient algorithm for simulating ensembles of parameterized flow problems

Abstract Many applications of computational fluid dynamics require multiple simulations of a flow under different input conditions. In this paper, a numerical algorithm is developed to efficiently determine a set of such simulations in which the individually independent members of the set are subject to different viscosity coefficients, initial conditions and/or body forces. The proposed scheme, when applied to the flow ensemble, needs to solve a single linear system with multiple right-hand sides, and thus is computationally more efficient than solving for all the simulations separately. We show that the scheme is nonlinearly and long-term stable under certain conditions on the time-step size and a parameter deviation ratio. A rigorous numerical error estimate shows the scheme is of first-order accuracy in time and optimally accurate in space. Several numerical experiments are presented to illustrate the theoretical results.

Mathematics↗

A proximity‐based image‐processing algorithm for colloid assignment in segmented multiphase flow datasets

Summary Colloidal transport and deposition are of both environmental and engineering importance. Easier access to x‐ray microtomography (XMT) coupled with improved imaging resolution has made XMT a unique and viable tool for visualizing and quantifying these processes. Currently, there is scant information in the literature addressing colloid segmentation and analysis in saturated and unsaturated porous media, in particular related to spatial partitioning of colloids. To support this need, an approach to assign segmented colloidal particles and aggregates to different partitioning classes based on their proximity to different phases is presented here. The method uses different markers for each attachment site (e.g. wetting‐nonwetting phase interfaces). An example XMT dataset from a drainage experiment is used to demonstrate the efficacy of the image processing algorithms. Flow conditions, and fluid and colloid properties, can thus be compared to the behaviour of colloids within the porous medium. This algorithm can help elucidate colloidal deposition mechanisms and the importance of different attachment sites, explore the importance of fluid properties, as well as the arrangement and shape of the colloids.

BRUECK, C. L.↗

Comparison of Real-Time Pressure Rail Selection Algorithms for the Hybrid Hydraulic Electric Architecture: Case Study on a Track Loader

Abstract The hybrid hydraulic electric architecture (HHEA) seeks to combine the high power/torque/force density of hydraulics with the efficiency of electric machines. A set of common pressure rails is used to provide a majority of the power and this power is modulated by small electric machines to provide precise control for the operator. The HHEA has been studied in previous work using off-line dynamic programming optimization to determine energy efficient pressure rail selections, but this approach requires drive cycle information apriori. A Lagrange multiplier method has also been investigated where a set of gains (Lagrange multipliers) are optimized off-line with the idea the these gains, once determined, could be used for real-time operation. In this work, three new real-time pressure rail selection algorithms that do not require future drive cycle information are investigated; greedy, torque minimizing, and thresholding. The greedy control is found to only use 1% more energy than the globally optimal dynamic programming solution; but a model of energy loss is required.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Performance of algorithms that reconstruct missing transverse momentum in $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV proton–proton collisions in the ATLAS detector

The reconstruction and calibration algorithms used to calculate missing transverse momentum (E miss T ) with the ATLAS detector exploit energy deposits in the calorimeter and tracks reconstructed in the inner detector as well as the muon spectrometer. Various strategies are used to suppress effects arising from additional proton–proton interactions, called pileup, concurrent with the hard-scatter processes. Tracking information is used to distinguish contributions from the pileup interactions using their vertex separation along the beam axis. The performance of the E miss T reconstruction algorithms, especially with respect to the amount of pileup, is evaluated using data collected in proton–proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV during 2012, and results are shown for a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 20.3fb –1 . The simulation and modelling of E miss T in events containing a Z boson decaying to two charged leptons (electrons or muons) or a W boson decaying to a charged lepton and a neutrino are compared to data. The acceptance for different event topologies, with and without high transverse momentum neutrinos, is shown for a range of threshold criteria for E miss T , and estimates of the systematic uncertainties in the E miss T measurements are presented.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

PANDORA: A Parallel Dendrogram Construction Algorithm for Single Linkage Clustering on GPU

This paper introduces Pandora, a parallel algorithm for computing dendrograms, the hierarchical cluster trees for single linkage clustering (SLC). Current parallel approaches construct dendrograms by partitioning a minimum spanning tree and removing edges. However, they struggle with skewed, hard-to-parallelize real-world dendrograms. Consequently, computing dendrograms is the sequential bottleneck in HDBSCAN*[21], a popular SLC variant. Pandora uses recursive tree contraction to address this limitation. Pandora contracts nodes to construct progressively smaller trees. It computes the smallest contracted dendrogram and expands it by inserting contracted edges. This recursive strategy is highly parallel, skew-independent, work-optimal, and well-suited for GPUs and multicores. We develop a performance portable implementation of Pandora in Kokkos[31] and evaluate its performance on multicore CPUs and multi-vendor GPUs (e.g., Nvidia, AMD) for dendrogram construction in HDBSCAN*. Multithreaded Pandora is 2.2x faster than the current best-multithreaded implementation. Our GPU version achieves 6-20x speedup on AMD GPUs and 10-37x on NVIDIA GPUs over multithreaded Pandora. Pandora removes HDBSCAN*’s sequential bottleneck, greatly boosting efficiency, particularly with GPUs.

Sao, Piyush↗

An error reduction algorithm to improve lidar turbulence estimates for wind energy

Abstract. Remote-sensing devices such as lidars are currently being investigated as alternatives to cup anemometers on meteorological towers for the measurement of wind speed and direction. Although lidars can measure mean wind speeds at heights spanning an entire turbine rotor disk and can be easily moved from one location to another, they measure different values of turbulence than an instrument on a tower. Current methods for improving lidar turbulence estimates include the use of analytical turbulence models and expensive scanning lidars. While these methods provide accurate results in a research setting, they cannot be easily applied to smaller, vertically profiling lidars in locations where high-resolution sonic anemometer data are not available. Thus, there is clearly a need for a turbulence error reduction model that is simpler and more easily applicable to lidars that are used in the wind energy industry. In this work, a new turbulence error reduction algorithm for lidars is described. The Lidar Turbulence Error Reduction Algorithm, L-TERRA, can be applied using only data from a stand-alone vertically profiling lidar and requires minimal training with meteorological tower data. The basis of L-TERRA is a series of physics-based corrections that are applied to the lidar data to mitigate errors from instrument noise, volume averaging, and variance contamination. These corrections are applied in conjunction with a trained machine-learning model to improve turbulence estimates from a vertically profiling WINDCUBE v2 lidar. The lessons learned from creating the L-TERRA model for a WINDCUBE v2 lidar can also be applied to other lidar devices. L-TERRA was tested on data from two sites in the Southern Plains region of the United States. The physics-based corrections in L-TERRA brought regression line slopes much closer to 1 at both sites and significantly reduced the sensitivity of lidar turbulence errors to atmospheric stability. The accuracy of machine-learning methods in L-TERRA was highly dependent on the input variables and training dataset used, suggesting that machine learning may not be the best technique for reducing lidar turbulence intensity (TI) error. Future work will include the use of a lidar simulator to better understand how different factors affect lidar turbulence error and to determine how these errors can be reduced using information from a stand-alone lidar.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Set covering algorithm, a subprogram of the scheduling algorithm for mission planning and logistic evaluation

A computer program using Lemke, Salkin and Spielberg's Set Covering Algorithm (SCA) to optimize a traffic model problem in the Scheduling Algorithm for Mission Planning and Logistics Evaluation (SAMPLE) was documented. SCA forms a submodule of SAMPLE and provides for input and output, subroutines, and an interactive feature for performing the optimization and arranging the results in a readily understandable form for output.

Chang, H.↗

Trellises and Trellis-Based Decoding Algorithms for Linear Block Codes: An Iterative Decoding Algorithm for Linear Block Codes Based on a Low-Weight Trellis Search - Part 3

For long linear block codes, maximum likelihood decoding based on full code trellises would be very hard to implement if not impossible. In this case, we may wish to trade error performance for the reduction in decoding complexity. Sub-optimum soft-decision decoding of a linear block code based on a low-weight sub-trellis can be devised to provide an effective trade-off between error performance and decoding complexity. This chapter presents such a suboptimal decoding algorithm for linear block codes. This decoding algorithm is iterative in nature and based on an optimality test. It has the following important features: (1) a simple method to generate a sequence of candidate code-words, one at a time, for test; (2) a sufficient condition for testing a candidate code-word for optimality; and (3) a low-weight sub-trellis search for finding the most likely (ML) code-word.

Lin, Shu↗

Obstacle Detection Algorithms for Aircraft Navigation: Performance Characterization of Obstacle Detection Algorithms for Aircraft Navigation

The research reported here is a part of NASA's Synthetic Vision System (SVS) project for the development of a High Speed Civil Transport Aircraft (HSCT). One of the components of the SVS is a module for detection of potential obstacles in the aircraft's flight path by analyzing the images captured by an on-board camera in real-time. Design of such a module includes the selection and characterization of robust, reliable, and fast techniques and their implementation for execution in real-time. This report describes the results of our research in realizing such a design. It is organized into three parts. Part I. Data modeling and camera characterization; Part II. Algorithms for detecting airborne obstacles; and Part III. Real time implementation of obstacle detection algorithms on the Datacube MaxPCI architecture. A list of publications resulting from this grant as well as a list of relevant publications resulting from prior NASA grants on this topic are presented.

Kasturi, Rangachar↗

SNPP VIIRS RSB on-orbit radiometric calibration algorithms Version 2.0 and the performances. Part I: The algorithms

The first VIIRS instrument is aboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership satellite. The instrument has 14 reflective solar bands (RSBs) to passively collect photons reflected from the Earth surface in the design wavelengths from 412 to 2250 nm. The instrument uses a solar diffuser (SD) to radiometrically calibrate its RSBs. When lit by the Sun through an attenuation screen (the SD screen), the SD diffusely reflects off the incident sunlight to act as a radiance source for the calibration. An onboard solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM) yields the on-orbit change of the SD bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) by comparing the signal strength from the SD with that from the Sun attenuated by another attenuation screen (the SDSM screen). Complications arise due to the discovery that the on-orbit change of the BRDF is angle dependent. Additionally, the SDSM does not cover the wavelengths for the short-wave infrared bands in the RSBs. Furthermore, satellite yaw maneuvers were performed in the early mission to yield data for refining the prelaunch SDSM screen relative effective transmittance and the relative product of the SD screen transmittance and the BRDF at the mission start. But the yaw maneuver data are coarse in the solar azimuth angles and thus are unable to yield accurate values between the measurement angles. Over the years of performing on-orbit radiometric calibration through the SD for the VIIRSRSBs, we have developed several highly effective calibration algorithms to address the issues mentioned above. This paper reviews these algorithms.

Ning Lei↗

Enhancing accessibility and usability of Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents through the Algorithm Publication Tool

Effective communication of scientific theories is crucial for transforming raw instrument data into valuable Earth observation products. The NASA Earth science data community disseminates this knowledge through Algorithm Theoretical Basis Documents (ATBDs). Historically, these documents lacked a standardized format, were designed for human readability rather than machine interpretation, and were challenging to locate due to the absence of a centralized repository. The Algorithm Publication Tool (APT) transforms how ATBD content is presented, simplifying the processes of creating, updating, and locating these documents. APT offers authors the option to use its user-friendly cloud-based interface or standardized templates for ATBD development. The primary advantage of the interface is its capability to manage the entire ATBD creation process within a single environment, ensuring comprehensive tracking of all activities and facilitating user tasks. Conversely, the use of standardized ATBD templates allows users to create documents using familiar tools like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or Overleaf for LaTeX. APT also provides a centralized repository, enabling easy search and discovery of published ATBDs. This presentation showcases APT's functionalities, illustrates its contributions to advancing open science, and highlights potential benefits for broader community adoption.

Bradley Baker↗

Transfer learning for smart buildings: A critical review of algorithms, applications, and future perspectives

Smart buildings play a crucial role toward decarbonizing society, as globally buildings emit about one-third of greenhouse gases. In the last few years, machine learning has achieved a notable momentum that, if properly harnessed, may unleash its potential for advanced analytics and control of smart buildings, enabling the technique to scale up for supporting the decarbonization of the building sector. In this perspective, transfer learning aims to improve the performance of a target learner exploiting knowledge in related environments. The present work provides a comprehensive overview of transfer learning applications in smart buildings, classifying and analyzing 77 papers according to their applications, algorithms, and adopted metrics. The study identified four main application areas of transfer learning: (1) building load prediction, (2) occupancy detection and activity recognition, (3) building dynamics modeling, and (4) energy systems control. Furthermore, the review highlighted the role of deep learning in transfer learning applications that has been used in more than half of the analyzed studies. The paper also discusses how to integrate transfer learning in a smart building's ecosystem, identifying, for each application area, the research gaps and guidelines for future research directions.

Pinto, G↗

Pareto Optimization of Oligomer Polarizability and Dipole Moment Using a Genetic Algorithm

High-performance electronic components are highly sought after in order to produce increasingly smaller and cheaper electronic devices. Drawing inspiration from inorganic dielectric materials, in which both polarizability and polarization contribute, organic materials can also maximize both. For a large set of small molecules drawn from PubChem, a Pareto-like front appears between the polarizability and dipole moment, indicating the presence of an apparent trade-off between these two properties. We tested this balance in π-conjugated materials by searching for novel conjugated hexamers with simultaneously large polar- izabilities and dipole moments with potential use for dielectric materials. Using a genetic algorithm (GA) screening technique in conjunction with an approximate density functional tight-binding method for property calculations, we were able to efficiently search chemical space for optimal hexamers. Given the scope of chemical space, using the GA technique saves considerable time and resources by speeding up molecular searches compared to a systematic search. Here, we also explored the underlying structure–function relationships, including sequence and monomer properties, that characterize large polarizability and dipole moment regimes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗