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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 1,189 records · Page 66
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Spatial Variation of Soil CO 2 , CH 4 and N 2 O Fluxes Across Topographical Positions in Tropical Forests of the Guiana Shield

The spatial variation of soil greenhouse gas fluxes (GHG; carbon dioxide—CO 2 , methane—CH 4 and nitrous oxide—N 2 O) remains poorly understood in highly complex ecosystems such as tropical forests. Here, we used 240 individual flux measurements of these three GHGs from different soil types, at three topographical positions and in two extreme hydric conditions in the tropical forests of the Guiana Shield (French Guiana, South America) to (1) test the effect of topographical positions on GHG fluxes and (2) identify the soil characteristics driving flux variation in these nutrient-poor tropical soils. Surprisingly, none of the three GHG flux rates differed with topographical position. CO 2 effluxes covaried with soil pH, soil water content (SWC), available nitrogen and total phosphorus. The CH 4 fluxes were best explained by variation in SWC, with soils acting as a sink under drier conditions and as a source under wetter conditions. Unexpectedly, our study areas were generally sinks for N 2 O and N 2 O fluxes were partly explained by total phosphorus and available nitrogen concentrations. This initial work describing the spatial variation of soil fluxes of the three main GHGs measured simultaneously in forests of the Guiana Shield lays the foundation for specific studies of the processes underlying the observed patterns.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Elements of complexity in subsurface modeling, exemplified with three case studies

There are complexity elements to consider when applying subsurface flow and transport models to support environmental analyses. Modelers balance the benefits and costs of modeling along the spectrum of complexity, taking into account the attributes of more simple models (e.g., lower cost, faster execution, easier to explain, less mechanistic) and the attributes of more complex models (higher cost, slower execution, harder to explain, more mechanistic and technically defensible). In this paper, modeling complexity is examined with respect to considering this balance. The discussion of modeling complexity is organized into three primary elements: 1) modeling approach, 2) description of process, and 3) description of heterogeneity. Three examples are used to examine these complexity elements. Two of the examples use simulations generated from a complex model to develop simpler models for efficient use in model applications. The first example is designed to support performance evaluation of soil vapor extraction remediation in terms of groundwater protection. The second example investigates the importance of simulating different categories of geochemical reactions for carbon sequestration and selecting appropriate simplifications for use in evaluating sequestration scenarios. In the third example, the modeling history for a uranium-contaminated site demonstrates that conservative parameter estimates were inadequate surrogates for complex, critical processes and there is discussion on the selection of more appropriate model complexity for this application. All three examples highlight how complexity considerations are essential to create scientifically defensible models that achieve a balance between model simplification and complexity.

conceptual models↗
DOE OSTI2016

Carbon and energy fluxes in cropland ecosystems: a model-data comparison

Croplands are extremely productive ecosystems that contribute to land–atmosphere exchange of carbon, energy, and water during their short growing seasons. We evaluated and compared net ecosystem exchange (NEE), latent heat flux (LE), and sensible heat flux (H) simulated by a suite of ecosystem models at five agricultural eddy covariance flux tower sites in the central United States as part of the North American Carbon Program Site Synthesis project. Most of the models overestimated H and underestimated LE during the growing season, leading to overall higher Bowen ratios compared to the observations. Most models systematically under predicted NEE, especially at rain-fed sites. Certain crop-specific models that were developed considering the high productivity and associated physiological changes in specific crops better predicted the NEE and LE at both rain-fed and irrigated sites. Models with specific parameterization for different crops better simulated the inter-annual variability of NEE for maize-soybean rotation compared to those models with a single generic crop type. Stratification according to basic model formulation and phenological methodology did not explain significant variation in model performance across these sites and crops. The under prediction of NEE and LE and over prediction of H by most of the models suggests that models developed and parameterized for natural ecosystems cannot accurately predict the more robust physiology of highly bred and intensively managed crop ecosystems. When coupled in Earth System Models, it is likely that the excessive physiological stress simulated in many land surface component models leads to overestimation of temperature and atmospheric boundary layer depth, and underestimation of humidity and CO 2 seasonal uptake over agricultural regions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Rainfall events stimulate episodic associative nitrogen fixation in switchgrass

Abstract Associative N 2 fixation (ANF) is widespread but poorly characterized, limiting our ability to estimate global inputs from N 2 fixation. In some places, ANF rates are at or below detection most of the time but occasionally and unpredictably spiking to very high rates. Here we test the hypothesis that plant phenology and rainfall events stimulate ANF episodes. We measured ANF in intact soil cores in switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.) in Michigan, USA. We used rain exclusion shelters to impose three rainfall treatments with each receiving 60 mm of water over a 20-day period but at different frequencies. We concurrently established a treatment that received ambient rainfall, and all four treatments were replicated four times. To assess the effects of plant phenology, we measured ANF at key phenological stages in the ambient treatment. To assess the effects of rainfall, we measured ANF immediately before and immediately after each wetting event in each treatment involving rainfall manipulation. We found that the previous day’s rainfall could explain 29% of the variation in ANF rates within the ambient treatment alone, and that bulk soil C:N ratio was also positively correlated with ANF, explaining 18% of the variation alone. Wetting events increased ANF and the magnitude of response to wetting increased with the amount of water added and decreased with the amount of inorganic N added in water. ANF episodes thus appear to be driven primarily by wetting events. Wetting events likely increase C availability, promote microbial growth, and make rhizosphere conditions conducive to ANF.

Vizza, Carmella (ORCID:0000000292690357)↗
DOE OSTI2013

Climate Change Projections of the North American Regional Climate Change Assessment Program (NARCCAP)

We investigate major results of the NARCCAP multiple regional climate model (RCM) experiments driven by multiple global climate models (GCMs) regarding climate change for seasonal temperature and precipitation over North America. We focus on two major questions: How do the RCM simulated climate changes differ from those of the parent GCMs and thus affect our perception of climate change over North America, and how important are the relative contributions of RCMs and GCMs to the uncertainty (variance explained) for different seasons and variables? The RCMs tend to produce stronger climate changes for precipitation: larger increases in the northern part of the domain in winter and greater decreases across a swath of the central part in summer, compared to the four GCMs driving the regional models as well as to the full set of CMIP3 GCM results. We pose some possible process-level mechanisms for the difference in intensity of change, particularly for summer. Detailed process-level studies will be necessary to establish mechanisms and credibility of these results. The GCMs explain more variance for winter temperature and the RCMs for summer temperature. The same is true for precipitation patterns. Thus, we recommend that future RCM-GCM experiments over this region include a balanced number of GCMs and RCMs.

climatic change↗
DOE OSTI2017

Investigation of Cody–Lorentz and Tauc–Lorentz Models in Characterizing Dielectric Function of (HfO{sub 2}){sub x}(ZrO{sub 2}){sub 1–x} Mixed Thin Film

In the present study, Tauc–Lorentz and Urbach tail assisted Cody–Lorentz models were intuitively derived, explained, and employed to simulate the imaginary dielectric function of the atomic layer deposited (HfO{sub 2}){sub x}(ZrO{sub 2}){sub 1–x} in the energy range of 0.7–9.3 eV. A fitting procedure is carried out using the Levenberg–Marquardt method for minimizing mean square errors. Both models support the experimental data derived by vacuum ultraviolet spectroscopic ellipsometry. For a zirconium content of 60 and 75%, a weak absorption profile is observed in the visible region and elaborately explained by the Lorentz oscillator model. In order to calculate the band gap of different compositions, Cody plots and Tauc plots are presented. The results show that the Cody–Lorentz model is more accuracy due to its exponential absorption below the band gap energy and modified density of states.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Flux Rule, U(1) Instanton, and Superconductivity

We examine some consequences of the duality that a U(1) phase factor added on a wave function describes a whole system motion and also plays the role of a U(1) gauge potential. First, we show that the duality solves a long-standing puzzling problem that the ‘flux rule’ (the Faraday’s induction formula) and the Lorentz force calculation for an emf emerging in an electron system moving in a magnetic field give the same result (Feynman et al. 1963). Next, we examine a U(1) phase factor induced on the wave function for an electron system due to the single-valuedness requirement of the wave function with respect to the electron coordinates, and its consequential appearance of a U(1) instanton. This instanton explains the Meissner effect, supercurrent generation, flux quantization in the units of (h/(2e)), and the voltage quantization in the units of ((hf)/(2e)) across the Josephson junction in the presence of a radiation field with frequency f. In the experiment, a radiation field must be present to have a finite voltage across the Josephson junction; but a clear explanation for it has been lacking. The present work provides an explanation for it, and also explains the high precision of the quantized voltage as due to a topological effect.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2018

First-Principles Investigation of Magnetic Properties and Faraday Rotation of Co Doping CdTe

In this paper, we aimed to study the effect of doping of the compound CdTe with the cobalt impurity (Co), as well as the vacancy defects in Cd sites. On one hand, this leads to the investigation of the magnetic properties and the Faraday rotation effect for the studied alloy, doped with different concentrations of cobalt (0.01, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, 0.2, 0.25). On the other hand, we have created 0.01 of vacancy defects in Cd sites. Then, we raised the vacancy defect concentration to 0.05, keeping the same concentrations of cobalt. As a result, we have investigated that there is a magnetism appearing with the cobalt doping, while the vacancy defects in Cd sites affect the stability of the magnetic states. In general, it improves the ferromagnetic state that will be well explained in the discussion. Our calculations were performed using the KKR-CPA method within the spin-polarized density functional theory (DFT) with the local density approximation (LDA). The curves of the density of states (DOS) illustrate the results of this study which has been discussed, analyzed, and explained below. In addition, the energy of each case was calculated and given in the tables below for both the DLM (half of the cobalt spins are up while the other half are down) and the ferromagnetic state in order to confirm which one of them is stable.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

Contingency in the Direction and Mechanics of Soil Organic Matter Responses to Increased Rainfall

Shifts in regional precipitation patterns will be a major component of global climate change. Rainfall will show greater and more variable changes in response to rising earth surface temperatures than most other climatic variables, and will be a major driver of ecosystem change. We studied the consequences of predicted changes in California’s rainy season for storage and stabilization mechanisms of soil organic matter (SOM). In a controlled and replicated experiment, we amended rainfall over large plots of natural grassland in accordance with alternative scenarios of future climate change. Results show that increases in annual rainfall have important consequences for soil C storage, but that the strength and even direction of these effects depend entirely on seasonal timing. Rainfall increases during the winter rainy season led to pronounced C loss from soil while rainfall increases after the typical rainy season increased soil C stocks. Analysis of mineral-OM associations reveals a powerful mechanism underlying this difference: increased winter rainfall vastly diminished the role of Fe and Al oxides in SOM stabilization. Dithionite extractable crystalline Fe oxides explained more than 35 percent of the variability in C storage in ambient control and spring-addition treatments, compared to less than 0.01 percent in the winter-addition treatment. Likewise, poorly crystalline Fe and Al oxides explained more than 25 and 40 percent of the variability in C storage, respectively, in the control and spring-addition treatments compared to less than 5 percent in the -winter-addition treatment. Increases in annual precipitation identical in amount but at three-month offsets produced opposite effects on soil C storage. These results highlight the complexity inherent in biospheric feedbacks to the climate system, and the way that careful experimentation can penetrate that complexity to improve predictions of ecosystem and climatic change.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2022

Phenomenological Model of Nonlinear Dynamics and Deterministic Chaotic Gas Migration in Bentonite: Experimental Evidence and Diagnostic Parameters

Understanding gas migration in compacted clay materials, e.g., bentonite and claystone, is important for the design and performance assessment of an engineered barrier system of a radioactive waste repository system, as well as many practical applications. Existing field and laboratory data on gas migration processes in low-permeability clay materials demonstrate the complexity of flow and transport processes, including various types of instabilities, caused by nonlinear dynamics of coupled processes of liquid–gas exchange, dilation, fracturing, fracture healing, etc., which cannot be described by classical models of fluid dynamics in porous media. We here show that the complexity of gas migration processes can be explained using a phenomenological concept of nonlinear dynamics and deterministic chaos theory. To do so, we analyzed gas pressure and gas influx (i.e., input) and outflux (i.e., output), recorded during the gas injection experiment in the compact Mx80-D bentonite sample, and calculated a set of the diagnostic parameters of nonlinear dynamics and chaos, such a global embedding dimension, a correlation dimension, an information dimension, and a spectrum of Lyapunov exponents, as well as plotted 2D and 3D pseudo-phase-space strange attractors, based on the univariate influx and outflux time series data. These results indicate the presence of phenomena of low-dimensional deterministic chaotic behavior of gas migration in bentonite. In particular, during the onset of gas influx in the bentonite core, before the breakthrough, the development of gas flow pathways is characterized by the process of chaotic gas diffusion. After the breakthrough, with inlet-to-outlet movement of gas, the prevailing process is chaotic advection. During the final phase of the experiment, with no influx to the sample, the relaxation pattern of gas outflux is resumed back to a process of chaotic diffusion. The types of data analysis and a proposed phenomenological model can be used to establish the basic principles of experimental data-gathering, modeling predictions, and a research design.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Grain Growth in Nanocrystalline Mg-Al Thin Films

An improved understanding of grain growth kinetics in nanocrystalline materials, and in metals and alloys in general, is of continuing interest to the scientific community. In this study, Mg - Al thin films containing ~10 wt.% Al and with 14.5 nm average grain size were produced by magnetron-sputtering and subjected to heat-treatments. The grain growth evolution in the early stages of heat treatment at 423 K (150 °C), 473 K (200 °C) and 573K (300 °C) was observed with transmission electron microscopy and analyzed based upon the classical equation developed by Burke and Turnbull. The grain growth exponent was found to be 7±2 and the activation energy for grain growth was 31.1±13.4 kJ/mol, the latter being significantly lower than in bulk Mg-Al alloys. The observed grain growth kinetics are explained by the Al supersaturation in the matrix and the pinning effects of the rapidly forming beta precipitates and possibly shallow grain boundary grooves. The low activation energy is attributed to the rapid surface diffusion which is dominant in thin film systems.

activation energy↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effect of Sound Waves on Decarburization Rate of Fe-C Melt

Sound waves have the ability to propagate through a gas phase and, thus, to supply the acoustic energy from a sound generator to materials being processed. This offers an attractive tool, for example, for controlling the rates of interfacial reactions in steelmaking processes. This study investigates the kinetics of decarburization in molten Fe-C alloys, the surface of which was exposed to sound waves and Ar-O{sub 2} gas blown onto the melt surface. The main emphasis is placed on clarifying effects of sound frequency, sound pressure, and gas flow rate. A series of water model experiments and numerical simulations are also performed to explain the results of high-temperature experiments and to elucidate the mechanism of sound wave application. This is explained by two phenomena that occur simultaneously: (1) turbulization of Ar-O{sub 2} gas flow by sound wave above the melt surface and (2) motion and agitation of the melt surface when exposed to sound wave. It is found that sound waves can both accelerate and inhibit the decarburization rate depending on the Ar-O{sub 2} gas flow rate and the presence of oxide film on the melt surface. The effect of sound waves is clearly observed only at higher sound pressures on resonance frequencies, which are defined by geometrical features of the experimental setup. The resonance phenomenon makes it difficult to separate the effect of sound frequency from that of sound pressure under the present experimental conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Thermodynamics of Boron Removal from Silicon Using CaO-MgO-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-SiO{sub 2} Slags

Slag refining is one of few metallurgical methods for removal of boron from silicon. It is important to know the thermodynamic properties of boron in slags to understand the refining process. The relation of the distribution coefficient of boron to the activity of silica, partial pressure of oxygen, and capacity of slags for boron oxide was investigated. The link between these parameters explains why the distribution coefficient of boron does not change much with changing slag composition. In addition, the thermodynamic properties of dilute boron oxide in CaO-MgO-Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-SiO{sub 2} slags was determined. The ratio of the activity coefficient of boron oxide and silica was found to be the most important parameter for understanding changes in the distribution coefficient of boron for different slags. Finally, the relation between the activity coefficient of boron oxide and slag structure was investigated. It was found that the structure can explain how the distribution coefficient of boron changes depending on slag composition.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Dissolution Behavior and Phase Evolution During Aluminum Oxide Dissolution in BOF Slag

Basic oxygen furnace (BOF) slag is a byproduct in the steel making process and is produced in considerable amounts. Thus, its valorization is important. Additives such as Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} can be utilized to modify the composition and mineralogy of the slag provided that a fast and effective dissolution of these additives in molten slags can be ensured. With this in mind, the dissolution of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} particles in molten BOF slag has been investigated between 1500 and 1600 °C. In all cases, a dissolution zone forms around the dissolving particle which limits the dissolution rate in the melt under natural convection conditions. The dissolution in the current system is found to be an indirect process, wherein crystalline reaction products like CaAl{sub 4}O{sub 7} (CA{sub 2}) and CaAl{sub 2}O{sub 4} (CA) form on the surface of the particles. CA forms at 1500 °C and CA{sub 2} at 1600 °C. These reaction products form a continuous layer on the surface of the dissolving particles but the thickness of this reaction layer remains limited. The experimental data have been utilized to evaluate the dissolution paths. Near the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}/slag interface, the inter-diffusion of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and CaO occurs due to which the dissolution path shifts towards the Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}-CaO binary system. A phenomenological model is presented to explain the evolution of the dissolution process in the current system, wherein the kinetics of the process is used to explain the reaction products formed at 1500 °C and 1600 °C.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Modeling of Powder Bed Manufacturing Defects

Powder bed additive manufacturing offers unmatched capabilities. The deposition resolution achieved is extremely high enabling the production of innovative functional products and materials. Achieving the desired final quality is, however, hampered by many potential defects that have to be managed in due course of the manufacturing process. Defects observed in products manufactured via powder bed fusion have been studied experimentally. In this effort we have relied on experiments reported in the literature and—when experimental data were not sufficient—we have performed additional experiments providing an extended foundation for defect analysis. There is large interest in reducing the effort and cost of additive manufacturing process qualification and certification using integrated computational material engineering. A prerequisite is, however, that numerical methods can indeed capture defects. A multiscale multiphysics platform is developed and applied to predict and explain the origin of several defects that have been observed experimentally during laser-based powder bed fusion processes. The models utilized are briefly introduced. The ability of the models to capture the observed defects is verified. The root cause of the defects is explained by analyzing the numerical results thus confirming the ability of numerical methods to provide a foundation for rapid process qualification.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Stress Wave Attenuation in Aluminum Alloy and Mild Steel Specimens Under SHPB Tensile Testing

Investigations on the effect of intensity of incident pressure wave applied through the striker bar on the specimen force histories and stress wave attenuation during split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) tensile testing are presented. Details of the tensile SHPB along with Lagrangian x–t diagram of the setup are included. Studies were carried out on aluminum alloy 7075 T651 and IS 2062 mild steel. While testing specimens using the tensile SHPB setup, it was observed that the force calculated from the transmitter bar strain gauge was smaller than the force obtained from the incident bar strain gauge. This mismatch between the forces in the incident bar and the transmitter bar is explained on the basis of stress wave attenuation in the specimens. A methodology to obtain force histories using the strain gauges on the specimen during SHPB tensile testing is also presented. Further, scanning electron microscope images and photomicrographs are given. Correlation between the microstructure and mechanical properties is explained. Further, uncertainty analysis was conducted to ascertain the accuracy of the results.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Comparative Study of the Geometric Effects on Fracture Behaviors of Side-Grooved and Plain-Sided Compact Tension Specimens

This paper investigates the fracture response and crack-tip constraint of two typical compact tension specimens. They are pre-cracked plain-sided and side-grooved specimens. In order to clarify the significant effects of geometric parameters on the crack-tip stress fields, an extensive series of detailed 3D elastic–plastic finite element analyses have been carried out. Taking the standard ratio of geometric parameters as a basis, several non-standard geometric parameters are adopted in the calculation for comparison, including specimen thickness, width, crack length. Accordingly, the variation of local J-integral and crack-tip opening displacement have been vigorously investigated over the crack front. Most importantly, the crack-tip stress fields are analyzed in detail with the emphasis on the stress triaxiality and opening mode stress. Furthermore, the crack-tip plastic strain and deformation are compared under small-scale yielding and large-scale yielding between plain-sided and side-grooved specimens, and the constraint parameter Q is employed to explain the distribution of the near-tip plastic strain. Through the vigorous research work, the variation of fracture behavior caused by geometric parameters is reasonably explained and understood.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Investigation of Mode I Notch Toughness of Zr{sub 41.2}Ti{sub 13.8}Cu{sub 10}Ni{sub 12.5}Be{sub 22.5} Metallic Glass under Dynamic Loading Conditions

Based on dynamic three-point bending tests, the dynamic notch toughness (K{sub Q}{sup d}) of Zr{sub 41.2}Ti{sub 13.8}Cu{sub 10}Ni{sub 12.5}Be{sub 22.5} (Vit 1) bulk metallic glass (BMG) was found to be sensitive to stress intensity factor rate ( K-dot {sub Q}{sup d}), which varied from 5.21 to 31.90 MPa m{sup 1/2}. The number of shear bands (N{sub s}) in the notch tip plastic zone was quantitatively analyzed. The phenomenon wherein N{sub s} decreased with increasing loading rate was explained based on the theory of the shear transformation zone and the softening mechanism. Then, power law relationships were established among N{sub s}, K{sub Q}{sup d} and K-dot {sub Q}{sup d}. The results showed that shear bands can affect K{sub Q}{sup d} and K-dot {sub Q}{sup d} and act as a bridge connecting K{sub Q}{sup d} and K-dot {sub Q}{sup d}. The sensitivity of K{sub Q}{sup d} to K-dot {sub Q}{sup d} in BMGs can be well explained by the variation of N{sub s} with loading rate.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗