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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

Glass-Ceramic Material Modeling

Glass-ceramics are a unique class of materials in which the growth of a ceramic phase(s) may be induced in an inorganic glass resulting in a microstructurally heterogeneous material with both glass and ceramic phases. This specialized processing is often referred to as "ceramming''. A wide variety of such materials have been developed through the use of different initial glass compositions and thermomechanical processing routes and that have enabled applications in dentistry, consumer kitchenware, and telescopes mirrors. These materials may also exhibit large apparent coefficients of thermal expansion making them attractive for consideration in glass-ceramic seals. These large apparent coefficients of thermal expansion often arise from silica polymorphs, such as cristobalite, undergoing a solid-to-solid phase transformations producing additional non-linearity in the effective material response.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Ballistic Impact Testing of Aluminum 2024 and Titanium 6Al-4V for Material Model Development

An experimental program is underway to develop a consistent set of material property and impact test data, and failure analysis, for a variety of materials that can be used to develop improved impact failure and deformation models. Unique features of this set of data are that all material property information and impact test results are obtained using identical materials, the test methods and procedures are extensively documented and all of the raw data is available. This report describes ballistic impact testing which has been conducted on aluminum (Al) 2024 and titanium (Ti) 6Al-4vanadium (V) sheet and plate samples of different thicknesses and with different types of projectiles, one a regular cylinder and one with a more complex geometry incorporating features representative of a jet engine fan blade.

Pereira, J. Michael↗

Bayesian analysis for estimating statistical parameter distributions of elasto-viscoplastic material models

High temperature design methods rely on constitutive models for inelastic deformation and failure typically calibrated against the mean of experimental data without considering the associated scatter. Variability may arise from the experimental data acquisition process, from heat-to-heat material property variations, or both and need to be accurately captured to predict parameter bounds leading to efficient component design. Applying the Bayesian Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method to produce statistical models capturing the underlying uncertainty in the experimental data is an area of ongoing research interest. This work varies aspects of the Bayesian MCMC method and explores their effect on the posterior parameter distributions for a uniaxial elasto-viscoplastic damage model using synthetically generated reference data. From our analysis with the uniaxial inelastic model we determine that an informed prior distribution including different types of test conditions results in more accurate posterior parameter distributions. The parameter posterior distributions, however, do not improve when increasing the number of similar experimental data. Additionally, changing the amount of scatter in the data affects the quality of the posterior distributions, especially for the less sensitive model parameters. Moreover, we perform a sensitivity study of the model parameters against the likelihood function prior to the Bayesian analysis. The results of the sensitivity analysis help to determine the reliability of the posterior distributions and reduce the dimensionality of the problem by fixing the insensitive parameters. The comprehensive study described in this work demonstrates how to efficiently apply the Bayesian MCMC methodology to capture parameter uncertainties in high temperature inelastic material models. Quantifying these uncertainties in inelastic models will improve high temperature engineering design practices and lead to safer, more effective component designs.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Evaluation of Fatigue Crack Growth and Fracture Properties of Cryogenic Model Materials

The criteria used to prevent failure of wind-tunnel models and support hardware were revised as part of a project to enhance the capabilities of cryogenic wind tunnel testing at NASA Langley Research Center. Specifically, damage-tolerance fatigue life prediction methods are now required for critical components, and material selection criteria are more general and based on laboratory test data. The suitability of two candidate model alloys (AerMet 100 and C-250 steel) was investigated by obtaining the fatigue crack growth and fracture data required for a damage-tolerance fatigue life analysis. Finally, an example is presented to illustrate the newly implemented damage tolerance analyses required of wind-tunnel model system components.

Newman, John A.↗

Quantum Computing to Accelerate High Fidelity Computational Materials Modeling

In this CIF we worked to develop quantum algorithms for material science simulations based on new ideas recently proposed on plane wave basis sets. Many body simulations are not generally performed in plane wave basis sets on classical hardware, but with newly proposed quantum algorithms, it is possible this will be a highly efficient basis set to run quantum simulations on quantum hardware. Using state of the art classical simulations we ran small test simulations to estimate the resources that will be needed to run such plane wave algorithms on quantum hardware. We demonstrate our approach for a series of atoms and molecular systems.

Norman Tubman↗

Summary of Structural Material Modeling Development for the NEAMS Program in Fiscal Year 2020

This report summarizes work performed during Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) for the U.S. Department of Energy?s Nuclear Engineering Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program for the Structural Materials and Chemistry Technical Area in the work package entitled "MS- 20IN050104 - Structural Materials - INL." The Structural Materials and Chemistry Technical Area is a relatively new component of the NEAMS program, and is currently focusing on developing simulation capabilities to support the deployment of nuclear energy in the areas of molten salt reactor chemistry, light water reactor (LWR) structural material degradation, and structural material behavior for advanced reactor applications. INL performed work for to advance capabilities for simulation of structural material behavior in both LWR and advanced reactor applications in the work described here.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Additive Manufacturing with Cellulose-Based Composites: Materials, Modeling, and Applications

Recent advances in large-scale additive manufacturing (AM) with polymer-based composites have enabled efficient production of high-performance materials. Cellulose nanomaterials (CNMs) have emerged as bio-based feedstocks due to their exceptional strength and sustainability. However, challenges such as hornification and poor dispersion in polymer matrices still limit large-scale CNM–polymer composite manufacturing, requiring novel strategies. Here, this review outlines an approach starting with atomic-level simulations to link molecular composition to key parameters like bulk density, viscosity, and modulus. These simulations provide data for finite element analysis (FEA), which informs large-scale experiments and reduces the need for extensive trials. The strategy explores how atomic interactions impact the morphology, adhesion, and mechanical properties of CNM-based composites in AM processes. The review also discusses current developments in AM, along with predictions of mechanical and thermal properties for structural applications, packaging, flexible electronics, and hydrogel scaffolds. By integrating experimental findings with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and finite element modeling (FEM), valuable insights for material design, process optimization, and performance enhancement in CNM-based AM are provided to address ongoing challenges.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Cryogenic Model Materials

An overview and status of current activities seeking alternatives to 200 grade 18Ni Steel CVM alloy for cryogenic wind tunnel models is presented. Specific improvements in material selection have been researched including availability, strength, fracture toughness and potential for use in transonic wind tunnel testing. Potential benefits from utilizing damage tolerant life-prediction methods, recently developed fatigue crack growth codes and upgraded NDE methods are also investigated. Two candidate alloys are identified and accepted for cryogenic/transonic wind tunnel models and hardware.

Kimmel, W. M.↗

Data-driven material models for atomistic simulation

The central approximation made in classical molecular dynamics simulation of materials is the interatomic potential used to calculate the forces on the atoms. Great effort and ingenuity is required to construct viable functional forms and find accurate parametrizations for potentials using traditional approaches. Machine learning has emerged as an effective alternative approach to develop accurate and robust interatomic potentials. Beginning with a very general model form, the potential is learned directly from a database of electronic structure calculations and therefore can be viewed as a multiscale link between quantum and classical atomistic simulations. Risk of inaccurate extrapolation exists outside the narrow range of time and length scales where the two methods can be directly compared. Here, we use the spectral neighbor analysis potential (SNAP) and show how a fit can be produced with minimal interpolation errors which is also robust in extrapolating beyond training. To demonstrate the approach, we have developed a tungsten-beryllium potential suitable for the full range of binary compositions. Subsequently, large-scale molecular dynamics simulations were performed of high energy Be atom implantation onto the (001) surface of solid tungsten. The machine learned W-Be potential generates a population of implantation structures consistent with quantum calculations of defect formation energies. A very shallow ( < 2 nm ) average Be implantation depth is predicted which may explain ITER diverter degradation in the presence of beryllium.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Low-temperature domain-wall freezing and nonequilibrium dynamics in the transverse-field Ising model material CoNb 2 O 6

CoNb 2 O 6 is a rare realization of the transverse-field Ising model, making it a useful tool for studying both equilibrium and nonequilibrium many-body quantum physics. Despite a large body of work dedicated to characterizing this material, details of the ordered states in the presence of relatively weak transverse fields have not been discussed in detail. Here, we present a detailed study of CoNb 2 O 6 via ac susceptibility measurements in order to further characterize its low-temperature behavior in the presence of a transverse field. Specifically, we call attention to an unconventional freezing transition in zero field below T F = 1.2 K, occurring within the well-known commensurate antiferromagnetic (CAFM) state that onsets at T N2 = 1.9 K. We performed a series of transverse-field quenches into this frozen state, which resulted in a slowly relaxing susceptibility, χ' (t), that followed a logarithmic decay within the time range measured. Additionally, we discuss the frozen state in the context of the freezing of previously discussed “free” chains arising from domain walls between the four degenerate sublattices of the CAFM state. We also attempted to observe Kibble-Zurek scaling by quenching the transverse field into the frozen state at different rates. This produced a null result; the behavior can be fully explained by coarsening of domains over the time scale of the quenches. The absence of a clear Kibble-Zurek scaling is itself surprising, given the proposed ubiquity of the phenomenon for general second-order phase transitions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Parameter Estimation for Viscoplastic Material Modeling

A key ingredient in the design of engineering components and structures under general thermomechanical loading is the use of mathematical constitutive models (e.g. in finite element analysis) capable of accurate representation of short and long term stress/deformation responses. In addition to the ever-increasing complexity of recent viscoplastic models of this type, they often also require a large number of material constants to describe a host of (anticipated) physical phenomena and complicated deformation mechanisms. In turn, the experimental characterization of these material parameters constitutes the major factor in the successful and effective utilization of any given constitutive model; i.e., the problem of constitutive parameter estimation from experimental measurements.

Saleeb, Atef F.↗

DECT-MULTRA: Dual-Energy CT Image Decomposition With Learned Mixed Material Models and Efficient Clustering

Dual-energy computed tomography (DECT) imaging plays an important role in advanced imaging applications due to its material decomposition capability. Image-domain decomposition operates directly on CT images using linear matrix inversion, but the decomposed material images can be severely degraded by noise and artifacts. This paper proposes a new method dubbed DECT-MULTRA for image-domain DECT material decomposition that combines conventional penalized weighted-least squares (PWLS) estimation with regularization based on a mixed union of learned transforms (MULTRA) model. Our proposed approach pre-learns a union of common-material sparsifying transforms from patches extracted from all the basis materials, and a union of cross-material sparsifying transforms from multi-material patches. The common-material transforms capture the common properties among different material images, while the cross-material transforms capture the cross-dependencies. The proposed PWLS formulation is optimized efficiently by alternating between an image update step and a sparse coding and clustering step, with both of these steps having closed-form solutions. The effectiveness of our method is validated with both XCAT phantom and clinical head data. The results demonstrate that our proposed method provides superior material image quality and decomposition accuracy compared to other competing methods.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Micro-scale Artificial Weave Generation Capabilities for Thermal Protection System Material Modeling

Thermal Protection System (TPS) modeling requires accurate representation and prediction of the thermomechanical behavior of ablative materials. State-of-the-art TPS materials such as Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) have a proven flight record and demonstrate exceptional capabilities for handling extreme aerothermal heating conditions. The constant push for lightweight materials that are flexible in their design and performance, and hence allow for a wide range of mission profiles, has led NASA over the past years to develop its Heatshield for Extreme Entry Environment Technology (HEEET). HEEET is based primarily on a dual layer woven carbon fiber architecture and the technology has successfully been tested in arc-jet facilities. These recent developments have sparked interest in the accurate micro-scale modeling of composite weave architectures, to predict the structural response of macro-scale heatshields upon atmospheric entry. This effort can be extended to incorporate in-depth failure mechanics analyses as a result of local thermal gradients or high-velocity particle impact.

Visser, Sander J.↗

Cesium-Coated Halide Perovskites as a Photocathode Material: Modeling Insights

Photocathodes emit electrons when illuminated, a process utilized across many technologies. Cutting-edge applications require a set of operating conditions that are not met with current photocathode materials. Meanwhile, halide perovskites have been studied extensively and have shown a lot of promise for a wide variety of optoelectronic applications. Well-documented halide perovskite properties such as inexpensive growth techniques, improved carrier mobility, low trap density, and tunable direct band gaps make them promising candidates for next-generation photocathode materials. In this study, we use density functional theory to explore the possible application of pure inorganic perovskites (CsPbBr 3 and CsPbI 3 ) as photocathodes. It is determined that the addition of a Cs coating improved the performance by lowering the work function anywhere between 1.5 and 3 eV depending on the material, crystal surface, and surface coverage. A phenomenological model, modified from that developed by Gyftopoulos and Levine, is used to predict the reduction in work function with Cs coverage. The results of this work aim to guide the further experimental development of Cs-coated halide perovskites for photocathode materials.

38 RADIATION CHEMISTRY, RADIOCHEMISTRY, AND NUCLEA↗