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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
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2022

Internship Report - Andrew Beathard

This summer, I had the opportunity to work as an intern under Ryan Goldhahn at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Alongside another intern, I was tasked with implementing perception and autonomy algorithms on unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for multiagent cooperative missions and testing their effectiveness at the OS-150 UAS test facility at LLNL. We aimed to engineer a collaborative reaction to a single agent’s identification of an object of interest and test various multiagent algorithms.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Lessons Learned from Open-Source Software Training Toward Expanding the Fusion Workforce

Within the United States (U.S.), the Fusion Innovation Research Engine (FIRE) Collaboratives seek to accelerate fusion technology development through wide-ranging community-driven research activities that bring together industry, laboratories, research institutes, and academia. Increasing the maturity of key components and systems for future fusion power plants (FPPs) toward commercialization, will, by necessity, increase the need for knowledgeable engineers, designers, and researchers in industry capable of integrating and further improving these technologies within industry FPP concepts. Further, various modeling and simulation packages support these programs and are under-development within them to drive design iteration and the development of FPP digital twins. To derive the greatest benefit from model output and capabilities, training these same specialists will be vital. Thus, the development of effective and accessible software onboarding and professional development opportunities focused on fusion will be key to keeping the pace of growth high in the coming decade and beyond. A similar need exists within the advanced fission reactor community, driven by an ever-growing need for carbon-free baseload power for industrial and data center applications. Within the U.S. and around the world, several open-source packages and frameworks exist to support this endeavor, and two we will highlight here are the Multiphysics Object Oriented Simulation Environment (MOOSE) framework and OpenMC. These packages, notably, are also being utilized in the FIRE Collaboratives program. In this presentation, we will highlight the lessons learned from over 30 years of combined software development and training experience, focused on developing strong technical software foundations within the nuclear workforce, from students to professional engineers & scientists. We will connect this experience to present and emerging needs in the fusion energy community, and, finally, will outline possible paths forward to develop a large, robust, global fusion workforce.

70 - PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2001

Multifunctional Collaborative Modeling and Analysis Methods in Engineering Science

Engineers are challenged to produce better designs in less time and for less cost. Hence, to investigate novel and revolutionary design concepts, accurate, high-fidelity results must be assimilated rapidly into the design, analysis, and simulation process. This assimilation should consider diverse mathematical modeling and multi-discipline interactions necessitated by concepts exploiting advanced materials and structures. Integrated high-fidelity methods with diverse engineering applications provide the enabling technologies to assimilate these high-fidelity, multi-disciplinary results rapidly at an early stage in the design. These integrated methods must be multifunctional, collaborative, and applicable to the general field of engineering science and mechanics. Multifunctional methodologies and analysis procedures are formulated for interfacing diverse subdomain idealizations including multi-fidelity modeling methods and multi-discipline analysis methods. These methods, based on the method of weighted residuals, ensure accurate compatibility of primary and secondary variables across the subdomain interfaces. Methods are developed using diverse mathematical modeling (i.e., finite difference and finite element methods) and multi-fidelity modeling among the subdomains. Several benchmark scalar-field and vector-field problems in engineering science are presented with extensions to multidisciplinary problems. Results for all problems presented are in overall good agreement with the exact analytical solution or the reference numerical solution. Based on the results, the integrated modeling approach using the finite element method for multi-fidelity discretization among the subdomains is identified as most robust. The multiple-method approach is advantageous when interfacing diverse disciplines in which each of the method's strengths are utilized. The multifunctional methodology presented provides an effective mechanism by which domains with diverse idealizations are interfaced. This capability rapidly provides the high-fidelity results needed in the early design phase. Moreover, the capability is applicable to the general field of engineering science and mechanics. Hence, it provides a collaborative capability that accounts for interactions among engineering analysis methods.

Ransom, Jonathan B.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Model for Collaboration among Carriers to Reduce Empty Container Truck Trips

In recent years, intermodal transport has become an increasingly attractive alternative to freight shippers. However, the current intermodal freight transport is not as efficient as it could be. Oftentimes an empty container needs to be transported from the empty container depot to the shipper, and conversely, an empty container needs to be transported from the receiver to the empty container depot. These empty container movements decrease the freight carrier’s profit, as well as increase traffic congestion, decrease roadway safety, and add unnecessary emissions to the environment. To this end, our study evaluates a potential collaboration strategy to be used by carriers for domestic intermodal freight transport based on an optimization approach to reduce the number of empty container trips. A binary integer-linear programming model is developed to determine each freight carrier’s optimal schedule while minimizing its operating cost. The model ensures that the cost for each carrier with collaboration is less than or equal to its cost without collaboration. It also ensures that average savings from the collaboration are shared equally among all participating carriers. Additionally, two stochastic models are provided to account for uncertainty in truck travel times. The proposed collaboration strategy is tested using empirical data and is demonstrated to be effective in meeting all of the shipment constraints.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2005

Advanced Environmental Barrier Coatings Development for Si-Based Ceramics

Advanced environmental barrier coating concepts based on multi-component HfO2 (ZrO2) and modified mullite systems are developed for monolithic Si3N4 and SiC/SiC ceramic matrix composite (CMC) applications. Comprehensive testing approaches were established using the water vapor cyclic furnace, high pressure burner rig and laser heat flux steam rig to evaluate the coating water vapor stability, cyclic durability, radiation and erosion resistance under simulated engine environments. Test results demonstrated the feasibility and durability of the environmental barrier coating systems for 2700 to 3000 F monolithic Si3N4 and SiC/SiC CMC component applications. The high-temperature-capable environmental barrier coating systems are being further developed and optimized in collaboration with engine companies for advanced turbine engine applications.

Zhu, Dong-Ming↗
DOE OSTI2022

Giving Research Software Engineers a Larger Stage Through the Better Scientific Software Fellowship

The Better Scientific Software Fellowship (BSSwF) was launched in 2018 to foster and promote practices, processes, and tools to improve developer productivity and software sustainability of scientific codes. The BSSwF’s vision is to grow the community with practitioners, leaders, mentors, and consultants to increase the visibility of scientific software. Over the last five years, many fellowship recipients and honorable mentions have identified as research software engineers (RSEs). Furthermore, case studies from several of the program’s participants illustrate the diverse ways the BSSwF has benefited both the RSE and scientific communities. In an environment where the contributions of RSEs are too often undervalued, we believe that programs such as the BSSwF can help recognize and encourage community members to step outside of their regular commitments and expand on their work, collaborations, and ideas for a larger audience.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Cooperative Education

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is a multidisciplinary national laboratory that conducts research and development in national security, engineering, materials science, computational modeling, and advanced manufacturing. The laboratory develops innovative technologies to address complex scientific and engineering challenges. This project focuses on the development and evaluation of high-performance absorbing structures through computational design, simulation, and engineering analysis. Absorbing structures are used in applications where damage mitigation, structural protection, and material efficiency are critical performance requirements. The increasing demand for lightweight, high-strength, and highly efficient structural systems has created a need for improved design methodologies capable of maximizing absorption while minimizing weight and material usage. The project utilizes advanced engineering software, including 3D CAD software and FEA, to generate and optimize structural concepts. Computational simulations are performed to evaluate structural behavior under loading conditions, while mathematical analyses are conducted using Python-based tools as well as established analytical equations from material and structural mechanics. The project benefits LANL by supporting the development of advanced design methodologies and improving the understanding of material and structural performance. During the internship term, a significant portion of the design development, simulation, and data analysis activities will be completed. Success of the project depends on collaboration among engineering mentors and technical staff members. Work will be conducted at Los Alamos National Laboratory using laboratory computing resources and engineering software.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

National Rotor Testbed Requirements. Draft

This document serves both as a guide and a record for requirements management associated with design of retrofit rotors for the Sandia SWiFT turbines. The rotors will support a long-term experimental campaign. Data gathered during the campaign will support formal verification and validation of complex flow numerical models for prediction of metrics deemed important for wind energy plant efficiency. These integrated projects involve multiple years of effort, dozens of engineers and collaborators, and dozens of stakeholders in the form of the research community, National Lab staff, and DOE staff. Creating of formal, written requirements will ensure flow-down of activities from high-level goals, aid communication, and enable clear verification of activities. A custom requirements schema is created and described. Commercial requirements management software —IBM Rational DOORS—is used to organize the information and ensure traceability. This document serves as a record of the process as well as a record of the exported, detailed contents of the DOORS database.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Forging the Forge

As part of the NASA Johnson Space Center’s (JSC) effort to revitalize and recommit to our “Dare Unite Explore” vision for the future, the Center is exploring a new strategy to spread the innovation mindset and increase collaboration across the workforce. In order to maintain JSC’s leadership in human spaceflight, there is a need for working at the speed of commercial industry, breaking down silos between organizations, improving innovation and increasing workforce flexibility. Through brainstorming concepts and benchmarking other facilities, the leadership team evaluated several ideas, assessed constraints and derived that an “Innovation Team” was relatively easy to adopt. Modeled after productive teams like the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Innovation Foundry and Glenn Research Center's Compass team, JSC is laying the foundation of a new innovation team called the Forge. This team is as much about getting employees tempered in the ways of innovative thinking as it is about refining design studies and hammering out proposals. By the dictionary definition of the verb, forge can mean either to move ahead slowly and steadily or to move with a sudden increase of speed and power. Driving cultural change in a large government organization like NASA often involves slow perseverance with small injections of momentum to forge ahead. Leveraging lessons learned from the Innovation Foundry and Compass, this paper describes how the collaborative, concurrent engineering framework was tailored to JSC’s needs, as well as the aspects that were considered given JSC’s operation-focused, Program-driven landscape. Our process to drive cultural change, the steps taken, and challenges encountered are discussed. The first two pilots of the teaming framework are described with initial results presented in terms of employee engagement and fostering innovation. We also describe the planned future work and next steps to continue to push the initiative forward. Long has the Center been resting on its operations heritage, now we are forging a new path to Dare to expand frontiers, Unite with our partners and Explore space to benefit humanity.

Culture Change↗
DOE OSTI2024

NSTX-U National Research Program: White Paper in Response to Call from FESAC Sub-Committee

Both scientific and technical innovation is needed for the realization of an attractive engineering solution for a timely and cost-effective Pilot Plant, the design and construction of which is the overarching recommendation of the FESAC Long Range Plan, and the 2021 NASEM Pilot Plant reports, which underpin the Bold Decadal Vision. The two most significant plasma physics gaps to close for a Compact Pilot Plant (CPP) are core confinement improvement and heat flux mitigation, neither of which have been closed in an integrated fashion for any planned fusion power production device. High core confinement and stability are essential for producing majority self-driven plasmas in CPPs with reduced size and auxiliary heating power requirements, with an improvement in confinement being the major driver for cost reduction of a CPP. The National Spherical Tokamak Experiment - Upgrade (NSTX-U) is a unique low aspect ratio research facility that will address the fundamental challenge of developing the science and technology basis for a CPP design that integrates high core and edge confinement with the ability to mitigate very high incident heat fluxes. NSTX-U capabilities will enable the high performance, already achieved on NSTX, to extend into physics regimes much closer to those anticipated in Spherical Tokamak (ST)-based CPPs. These confinement and stability properties will be assessed by a full complement of diagnostics and analysis tools, which will also aid in the development of the underlying theory and predictive models needed for further optimization. Both conventional and transformative heat flux mitigation methods, such as liquid lithium plasma-facing components, will be developed and tested in-situ in NSTX-U at incident heat fluxes of ~100 MW/m 2 , and will inform plans and reduce risk for a subsequent major upgrade to the device to fully heated, high-Z wall and full liquid lithium divertor capability, a technology that potentially could then be implemented on any magnetic confinement device at any aspect ratio. NSTX-U research is fully complementary to programs performed on other STs, nationally and internationally. Furthermore, NSTX-U research has a direct connection to the private sector by informing design choices for future power production facilities being developed by these companies. The NSTX-U program will operate as a national User Facility, with collaborating researchers, engineers, and graduate students from 19 outside institutions, and open to participation and experiments led by researchers from both public and private entities. The research program will advance workforce development through training of young scientists, engineers, and technicians, and it will also serve for further diagnostic innovation, especially for high heat flux and high-Z wall environments, and implementation of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) for plasma and heat flux control.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

New Generator Technology

New generator technology project is driven by the need to be able to remotely deploy generator technology where it is needed, when it is needed. Both the military and aid programs that provide assistance after disasters could use the ability to deploy energy generation that fits the needs of the situation. Currently, pre-specified generators are deployed, sometime more than half way around the world to provide electricity. Through our Phase-I to Phase III DARPA grant, we will provide a mechanism where a 3d print station and raw materials could be shipped to a deployment site and remotely deployed personnel. These remote personnel can collaborate with engineers at a home location where 3d print plans can be optimized for the remote purpose. The plans can then be sent electronically to the remote location for printing, much like NASA sent the plans for a socket wrench to the International Space Station for printing in . If multiple generators need to be deployed at different remote locations, within miles of each other the printer rig can be moved to print the generators where they are needed. 3d printing is growing in the field of manufacturing. 3d printing has matured to the point where many types of materials are now available for many types of manufacturing. Both magnetic and electrically conductive material materials have recently been developed which can now lead to 3d printing of engines and generators. Our project will provide a successful printer rig that can be remotely deployed, to print a generator design in the field as well as provide a process for deploying the printed generator as well. This Systems Engineering Management Plan(SEMP) will provide the planning required for a Phase I DARPA grant that may also include goals for Phase II and Phase II grants. The SEMP provides a proposed project schedule, references, system engineering processes, specialty engineering system deployment and product support sections. Each section will state how our company will provide the necessary services to make this project succeed.

3D printing, manufacturing, generator technology, ↗
DOE OSTI2013

Virtual Design Studio (VDS) - Development of an Integrated Computer Simulation Environment for Performance Based Design of Very-Low Energy and High IEQ Buildings

Executive Summary The objective of this study was to develop a “Virtual Design Studio (VDS)”: a software platform for integrated, coordinated and optimized design of green building systems with low energy consumption, high indoor environmental quality (IEQ), and high level of sustainability. This VDS is intended to assist collaborating architects, engineers and project management team members throughout from the early phases to the detailed building design stages. It can be used to plan design tasks and workflow, and evaluate the potential impacts of various green building strategies on the building performance by using the state of the art simulation tools as well as industrial/professional standards and guidelines for green building system design. Engaged in the development of VDS was a multi-disciplinary research team that included architects, engineers, and software developers. Based on the review and analysis of how existing professional practices in building systems design operate, particularly those used in the U.S., Germany and UK, a generic process for performance-based building design, construction and operation was proposed. It distinguishes the whole process into five distinct stages: Assess, Define, Design, Apply, and Monitoring (ADDAM). The current VDS is focused on the first three stages. The VDS considers building design as a multi-dimensional process, involving multiple design teams, design factors, and design stages. The intersection among these three dimensions defines a specific design task in terms of “who”, “what” and “when”. It also considers building design as a multi-objective process that aims to enhance the five aspects of performance for green building systems: site sustainability, materials and resource efficiency, water utilization efficiency, energy efficiency and impacts to the atmospheric environment, and IEQ. The current VDS development has been limited to energy efficiency and IEQ performance, with particular focus on evaluating thermal performance, air quality and lighting environmental quality because of their strong interaction with the energy performance of buildings. The VDS software framework contains four major functions: 1) Design coordination: It enables users to define tasks using the Input-Process-Output flow approach, which specifies the anticipated activities (i.e., the process), required input and output information, and anticipated interactions with other tasks. It also allows task scheduling to define the work flow, and sharing of the design data and information via the internet. 2) Modeling and simulation: It enables users to perform building simulations to predict the energy consumption and IEQ conditions at any of the design stages by using EnergyPlus and a combined heat, air, moisture and pollutant simulation (CHAMPS) model. A method for co-simulation was developed to allow the use of both models at the same time step for the combined energy and indoor air quality analysis. 3) Results visualization: It enables users to display a 3-D geometric design of the building by reading BIM (building information model) file generated by design software such as SketchUp, and the predicted results of heat, air, moisture, pollutant and light distributions in the building. 4) Performance evaluation: It enables the users to compare the performance of a proposed building design against a reference building that is defined for the same type of buildings under the same climate condition, and predicts the percent of improvements over the minimum requirements specified in ASHRAE Standard 55-2010, 62.1-2010 and 90.1-2010. An approach was developed to estimate the potential impact of a design factor on the whole building performance, and hence can assist the user to identify areas that have most pay back for investment. The VDS software was developed by using C++ with the conventional Model, View and Control (MVC) software architecture. The software has been verified by using a simple 3-zone case building. The application of the VDS concepts and framework for building design and performance analysis has been illustrated by using a medium-sized, five story office building that received LEED Platinum Certification from USGBC.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2022

NREL Waves to Water Prize Program: Sensitivity Analysis of Alternative Markets

Isle Inc., in collaboration with Engineering for Change (project team), performed a Sensitivity Analysis of market alternatives to evaluate commercialization barriers for the Waves to Water (W2W) competitors. This analysis included interviews with organizations and end-users in three market categories (1) Disaster Relief, (2) Commercial/Industrial, and (1) Municipal, Residential, and Government. For each category, the project team selected organizations that provided a well rounded experience and set of drivers for adopting W2W technologies. In addition to the project team's efforts, fellows from NREL/DOE completed interviews with government organizations to understand their potential to engage with W2W technologies, and these findings are summarized in a separate summary document.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
DOE OSTI2021

Machine Learning Based Software Package for Reproducible Data Analysis for Electron Microscopy

Advances in hardware and computation technologies are enabling large hyperspectral imaging during Electron Microscopy (EM), resulting in datasets being produced at rapidly increasing spatial and temporal resolutions. This presents exciting opportunities for microstructure analysis, but also poses great challenges in data analysis. Under this STTR program, QuesTek Innovations LLC, a leader in the field of integrated computational materials engineering (ICME), collaborated with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. The team developed an open-source machine learning (ML) powered tool for EM data analysis of multiple systems and data types, and collected EM data for ML model development using the cutting-edge PicoProbe equipment at Argonne National Laboratory.

Lin, Yu↗
DOE OSTI2023

Initial Systems-Level Assessment of a Distributed Direct Air Capture System Concept at the Urban-scale (UrbanDAC)

Direct Air Capture (DAC) systems offer a promising solution for mitigating global carbon emissions by directly removing ambient carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere. While future DAC facilities are typically envisioned as being large and centralized, small-scale systems present an alternative approach with advantages such as adaptability and lower uptake costs. By harnessing waste heat from the built environment, such small-scale systems become distributed DAC at the urban scale (UrbanDAC) that benefit from existing urban infrastructure, while presenting challenges such as identifying eligible buildings and sustainable transportation and storage of captured CO 2 . Collaborating with engineering experts and developers of a DAC unit that can be co-located with cooling towers of existing commercial buildings, this study explores the systems-level implications of UrbanDAC using a geographically explicit multi-decision criteria analysis (MCDA) framework. By considering various infrastructure and environmental factors, network analysis and geospatial techniques are applied to identify optimal building candidates for distributed DAC units within Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, as a representative mid-size city. The selected outputs of the MCDA are used to explore a scenario that assumes a CO 2 collection and transport route for 20 high-ranking candidate buildings; total carbon emissions, EV energy consumption, and net carbon dioxide removal (CDR) are then calculated. Results suggest that the spatial variation of optimal candidates between thriving commercial areas is an important planning consideration. Examining the feasibility of UrbanDAC at an urban planning level provides valuable insights into the barriers and enabling conditions for CDR in cities, where the vast majority of CO 2 emissions are produced, and supports decision-making processes for the implementation of decarbonization initiatives. Through this initial assessment, this research acts as a pilot study for an emerging technology that highlights the importance of distributed DAC technologies in addressing climate change and emphasizes the need for further research and exploration in this domain.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
NASA NTRS2000

The Proliferation of PDC-Type Environments in Industry and Universities

JPL's Project Design Cenger (PDC), opened in 1994, has become a model for other facilities of the same type in the aerospace industry. More recently, PDC-type environments have been adopted by some university aerospace departments as an educational tool. This paper discusses some of these facilities and their possible future direction.

concurrent engineering collaborating environments ↗