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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
NASA NTRS1988

Geological indicators for impact: The anomalous case of the Vredefort structure, South Africa

The Vredefort Dome is located within and almost central to the Witwatersrand basin in its presently known extent. It exposes a central Archean granite core which is surrounded by a collar of supracrustal rocks. These collar rocks outline a strong polygonal geometry. The Archean core is comprised of two concentric zones, the Outer Granite Gneiss (OGG), and the core central Inlandsee Leucogranofels (ILG). The rocks of the inner core display granulite facies metamorphism, while the OGG is in amphibolite facies. The inner core is believed from recent drill hole information to be underlain by mafic and ultramafic gneisses, the extent of which cannot be assessed at present. A fairly broad zone of charnockites separates the OGG and ILG domains. This zone is characterized by a high concentration of pseudotachylite and ductile shearing. Whereas a number of other domical structures are located within or surrounding the Witwatersrand basin, the Vredefort structure is anomalous, in that it has: a partly polygonal geometry; extensive alkali intrusives in the northwestern sector; granophyre dykes (ring-dykes peripheral to the contact collar-basement and NW-SE or NE-SW trending dykes within the Archean basement); contact metamorphism of the collar supracrustal rocks; the overturning of collar supracrustals in the northern sectors; deformation phenomena widely regarded as representing shock metamorphism (pseudotachylite, (sub)planar microdeformation features in quartz, shatter cones and occurrences of high-P quartz polymorphs); a positive 30 mgal gravity anomaly; and high amplitude magnetic anomalies. Recent geophysical, structural and petrological evidence pertinent for the identification of the processes that led to the formation of the Vredefort structure are summarized.

Antoine, L. A. G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Near-infrared continuum and 3.3 micrometer(s) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon imaging of the starburst ring in the type 1 Seyfert galaxy NGC 7469

High resolution near-infrared images of the type 1 Seyfert galaxy NGC 7469 have been obtained to probe its dusty nuclear environment. Direct J, H, and K images are relatively featureless, but residual images created by subtracting a smooth model based on best-fitting elliptical isophotes reveal a tight inner spiral whose high surface-brightness portions correspond to a previously detected 3 sec (1 kpc) diameter ring of radio continuum emission. The inner infrared spiral arms extended approximately equal to 4 sec NW and SE from the nucleus, and the NW arm joins up with large-scale spiral structure visible in the R band. The residual images also show a bar-like structure aligned with the brightest infrared/radio hotspots at PA approximately equal to 50 deg. Three infrared hotspots are detected which align remarkably well with 6 cm radio continuum sources. The near-infrared ring and the hotspots are visible in the residual images, and in a high-resolution direct K-band image restored to an effective resolution of 0.65 sec (FWHM) using the Richardson-Lucy algorithm. The infrared hotspots have luminosities of nuL(sub nu) (2.2 micrometer(s)) approximately equal to 10(exp 8) solar luminosity (M(sub k) approximately equal to -16 mag), suggesting they are either giant H II regions or individual supernovae. The two brightest regions may be associated with enhanced star formation triggered by orbit crowding of gas where spiral arms emerge from an inner bar. Narrowband (delta lambda/lambda approximately 1.5%) imaging in the 3.28 micrometer(s) dust emission feature and surrounding continuum confirms the 3 sec diameter 3.28 micrometer(s) emission region detected previously using multiaperture photometry. The extended polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission is slightly elongated and aligned with published 1O III1 line emission and 12.5 micrometer(s) continuum emission, apparently tracing the starburst. The presence of approximately equal to 25% of the total 3.28 micrometer(s) PAH emission within R less than 1 sec demonstrates that a starburst within the central few hundred parsecs must supply a significant fraction of the infrared continuum from the nucleus, and there is apparently sufficient shielding material between the starburst and the active galactic nucleus (AGN) to preserve the PAHs along our line of sight to the nucleus.

Mazzarella, J. M.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fluid structure interaction of a subaqueous pendulum: Analyzing the effect of wake correction via large eddy simulations

The dynamic behavior of a subaqueous cylindrical pendulum and corresponding flow dynamics are investigated. The objectives were twofold: (i) to examine whether the two-dimensional model equations sufficiently capture the three-dimensional dynamics and (ii) to investigate the emerging three-dimensional vortical flow structures. Large eddy simulations with two-way coupling fluid structure interaction were carried out using the immersed boundary method to simulate the motion of the pendulum and its interactions with the initially stagnant water. The resulting pendulum motion is compared against measured data obtained in a series of experimental tests to validate the simulation results and the model equations with and without wake corrections. An analysis of the flow vorticity revealed the development of a vortex ring during the first swing and the formation of tip vortices. The evolution of the vortex rings emerging from the motion of the subaqueous cylindrical pendulum was visualized using Q-criteria showing a reasonable agreement with vortical structures observed in the experiment using particle imaging velocimetry. The hydrodynamic moments acting on the simulated pendulum and the moments calculated from the model equations are analyzed. Using the insights from these numerical simulations, a modification of the wake correction is proposed to enhance the accuracy of the rate of decay and period. The transient effect of coherent flow on pendulum dynamics, especially the added mass effect, is discussed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1993

Differential scaling: Implications for central structures in large lunar craters

The change in morphology of central structures with crater size on the terrestrial planets has been studied by many investigators. While the progression of morphological change essentially follows the same basic pattern, the appearance of central peaks, and the transitions from single to multiple peaks and peaks to peak rings occur at crater diameters that appear to be dependent on parameters associated with the target planet. Statistical data, morphological information, and model results exist for central structures in large craters, but the amount of 'ground truth' is comparatively meager. What, for instance, is the amount of stratigraphic uplift in craters? Answers to questions such as this will provide useful constraints on models of origin for central structures and would help in interpretation of remote-sensing data. This contribution uses terrestrial information and model calculations to estimate the amount of stratigraphic uplift for central-peak craters on the Moon--the only planet other than Earth for which sufficient topographic data are available.

Cintala, M. J.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Wet compaction to a blue nugget: a critical phase in galaxy evolution

ABSTRACT We utilize high-resolution cosmological simulations to reveal that high-redshift galaxies tend to undergo a robust ‘wet compaction’ event when near a ‘golden’ stellar mass of $\sim \!\!10^{10}\, \rm M_\odot$ . This is a gaseous shrinkage to a compact star-forming phase, a ‘blue nugget’ (BN), followed by central quenching of star formation to a compact passive stellar bulge, a ‘red nugget’ (RN), and a buildup of an extended gaseous disc and ring. Such nuggets are observed at cosmic noon and seed today’s early-type galaxies. The compaction is triggered by a drastic loss of angular momentum due to, e.g. wet mergers, counter-rotating cold streams, or violent disc instability. The BN phase marks drastic transitions in the galaxy structural, compositional, and kinematic properties. The transitions are from star forming to quenched inside-out, from diffuse to compact with an extended disc or ring and a stellar envelope, from dark matter to baryon central dominance, from prolate to oblate stellar shape, from pressure to rotation support, from low to high metallicity, and from supernova to AGN feedback. The central black hole growth, first suppressed by supernova feedback when below the golden mass, is boosted by the compaction, and the black hole keeps growing once the halo is massive enough to lock in the supernova ejecta.

Lapiner, Sharon (ORCID:0009000409733232)↗
NASA NTRS1976

Design of a Mars entry 'aeroshell'

The external shell of the Project Viking capsule, which will provide atmospheric deceleration for the 1976 landing of an unmanned spacecraft on the surface of Mars, is a wide-angle, stiffened cone subject to buckling under entry aerodynamic pressure. Complex, highly optimized structural prototype and flight designs were evolved through the application of relatively advanced buckling analysis methodology. Both designs were evaluated through tests and analysis with improved shell-of-revolution computer programs. Deviations between the analyses and experiments were resolved only by modeling the thin-walled rings as shell branches. The results illustrate the great complexity of shell behavior and the designer's need for reliable analysis tools capable of representing detailed structural behavior with greater accuracy than is current practice.

Leonard, R. W.↗
DOE OSTI2024

PigmentHunter: A point-and-click application for automated chlorophyll-protein simulations

Chlorophyll proteins (CPs) are the workhorses of biological photosynthesis, working together to absorb solar energy, transfer it to chemically active reaction centers, and control the charge-separation process that drives its storage as chemical energy. Yet predicting CP optical and electronic properties remains a serious challenge, driven by the computational difficulty of treating large, electronically coupled molecular pigments embedded in a dynamically structured protein environment. To address this challenge, we introduce here an analysis tool called PigmentHunter, which automates the process of preparing CP structures for molecular dynamics (MD), running short MD simulations on the nanoHUB.org science gateway, and then using electrostatic and steric analysis routines to predict optical absorption, fluorescence, and circular dichroism spectra within a Frenkel exciton model. Inter-pigment couplings are evaluated using point-dipole or transition-charge coupling models, while site energies can be estimated using both electrostatic and ring-deformation approaches. The package is built in a Jupyter Notebook environment, with a point-and-click interface that can be used either to manually prepare individual structures or to batch-process many structures at once. Here, we illustrate PigmentHunter’s capabilities with example simulations on spectral line shapes in the light harvesting 2 complex, site energies in the Fenna–Matthews–Olson protein, and ring deformation in photosystems I and II.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1991

Concepts, analysis and development for precision deployable space structures

Several issues surrounding the development of large Precision Segmented Reflector (PSR) designs are investigated. The concerns include nonlinear dynamics of large unruly masses such as the multi-layer thermal insulation of sunshades for instruments such as the precision pointing 20-m-diameter Large Deployable Reflector (LDR). A study of the residual oscillations after bang-bang reorientation maneuvers of a rigid satellite with a string appendage is presented. Application is made to the design of a sunshade (thermal blanket) for the LDE satellite. Another concern is the development of a deployable truss that has minimum structural redundancy (such as the tetrahedral truss) and that can be configured with planar and doubly curved geometries. A kinematically synchronized articulation scheme for a deployable tetrahedral truss is presented. Called the Tetrapac, this truss is currently limited to a planar configuration that has two rings. The final concern is the development and demonstration of hardware that enables astronauts to attach large, cumbersome, and fragile precision reflector segments to an erectable truss structure. This task must be accomplished with a high degree of precision and with relative ease. A design for a Panel Attachment Device (PAD) was developed and manufactured for neutral buoyancy simulations to be performed by LaRC.

Miller, Richard K.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Design, evaluation, and fabrication of low-cost composite blades for intermediate-size wind turbines

Low cost approaches for production of 60 ft long glass fiber/resin composite rotor blades for the MOD-OA wind turbine were identified and evaluated. The most cost-effective configuration was selected for detailed design. Subelement and subscale specimens were fabricated for testing to confirm physical and mechanical properties of the composite blade materials, to develop and evaluate blade fabrication techniques and processes, and to confirm the structural adequacy of the root end joint. Full-scale blade tooling was constructed and a partial blade for tool and process tryout was built. Then two full scale blades were fabricated and delivered to NASA-LeRC for installation on a MOD-OA wind turbine at Clayton, New Mexico for operational testing. Each blade was 60 ft. long with 4.5 ft. chord at root end and 2575 lbs weight including metal hub adapter. The selected blade configuration was a three cell design constructed using a resin impregnated glass fiber tape winding process that allows rapid wrapping of primarily axially oriented fibers onto a tapered mandrel, with tapered wall thickness. The ring winder/transverse filament tape process combination was used for the first time on this program to produce entire rotor blade structures. This approach permitted the complete blade to be wound on stationary mandrels, an improvement which alleviated some of the tooling and process problems encountered on previous composite blade programs.

Weingart, O.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Nuclear–Electronic Orbital General Rate Theory: Predicting Hydrogen Kinetic Isotope Effects in the Deep Tunneling Regime

Hydrogen transfer is a critical component of many chemical and biological processes. The ratio of rate constants for hydrogen and deuterium transfer defines the H/D kinetic isotope effect (KIE), which is a powerful tool for elucidating hydrogen transfer mechanisms. Interpretation of experimental H/D KIEs relies on accurate and affordable computational methods. However, due to their light mass, hydrogen and deuterium can undergo tunneling, which is challenging to describe in multidimensional molecular systems. Herein, we introduce the nuclear–electronic orbital general rate theory (NEO-GRT), which enables the efficient prediction of H/D KIEs based on full-dimensional molecular quantum chemistry calculations. The NEO-GRT approach describes the hydrogen transfer rate constant with a general expression that spans the vibrationally adiabatic and nonadiabatic hydrogen tunneling regimes. The input quantities are computed using NEO density functional theory, which treats the transferring hydrogen or deuterium nucleus quantum mechanically on the same level as the electrons. We investigate two intramolecular proton transfer reactions in organic molecules at temperatures down to 50 K to evaluate the performance of NEO-GRT by comparison to transition state theory and ring-polymer instanton theory. The KIEs computed with NEO-GRT agree with those calculated using ring-polymer instanton theory for the full-dimensional molecular systems at the same level of electronic structure theory. This agreement indicates that NEO-GRT captures the deep hydrogen tunneling effects, in contrast to transition state theory, which neglects such effects. Given its relatively low computational cost, NEO-GRT is a promising approach for predicting H/D KIEs in large organic and organometallic systems.

Hydrogen↗
DOE OSTI2022

Endless Dirac nodal lines in kagome-metal Ni3In2S2

Abstract Topological semimetals are a frontier of quantum materials. In multiband electronic systems, topological band crossings can form closed curves, known as nodal lines. In the presence of spin–orbit coupling and/or symmetry-breaking operations, topological nodal lines can break into Dirac/Weyl nodes and give rise to interesting transport properties, such as the chiral anomaly and giant anomalous Hall effect. Recently, the time-reversal symmetry-breaking induced Weyl fermions are observed in a kagome-metal Co 3 Sn 2 S 2 , triggering interests in nodal-line excitations in multiband kagome systems. Here, using first-principles calculations and symmetry-based indicator theories, we find six endless nodal lines along the stacking direction of kagome layers and two nodal rings in the kagome plane in nonmagnetic Ni 3 In 2 S 2 . The linear dipsersive electronic structure, confirmed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, induces large magnetoresistance up to 2000% at 9 T. Our results establish a diverse topological landscape of multiband kagome metals.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Emergence of a Spin Microemulsion in Spin-Orbit Coupled Bose-Einstein Condensates

We report the first numerical prediction of a “spin microemulsion”—a phase with undulating spin domains resembling classical bicontinuous oil-water-surfactant emulsions—in two-dimensional systems of spinor Bose-Einstein condensates with isotropic Rashba spin-orbit coupling. Using field-theoretic numerical simulations, we investigated the melting of a low-temperature stripe phase with supersolid character and find that the stripes lose their superfluidity at elevated temperature and undergo a Kosterlitz-Thouless-like transition into a spin microemulsion. Momentum distribution calculations highlight a thermally broadened occupation of the Rashba circle of low-energy states with macroscopic and isotropic occupation around the ring. Here, we provide a finite-temperature phase diagram that positions the emulsion as an intermediate, structured isotropic phase with residual quantum character before transitioning at higher temperature into a structureless normal fluid.

Finite temperature field theory↗
DOE OSTI2026

SPRUCE Wood Anatomy of Picea mariana and Larix laricina in SPRUCE Experimental Plots, Marcell Experimental Forest, Minnesota, July 2023

Branch samples were collected in July 2023 to measure wood anatomical traits on two dominant conifer species, Picea mariana and Larix laricina, in a bog forest at the SPRUCE (Spruce and Peatland Responses Under Changing Environments) experiment in northern Minnesota. Anatomical measurements were made on the annual rings of those branches with dates ranging from 2011-2023. Wood anatomical measurements include annual tracheid diameter, tracheid density, cell wall thickness, thickness-to-span-ratio, and conduit lumen fraction in both earlywood and latewood. Wood anatomical samples were prepared using a portable sliding microtome (G.S.L.-1 lightweight microtome, WSL) and a light microscope (Leica DM2500). This dataset spans 2011–2023, with full branch-level coverage for 2020–2023, whereas some thinner branches formed only in recent years and therefore do not contain rings from earlier years. By providing annual, treatment-specific anatomical measurements, this dataset can help quantify structural acclimation to global change, clarify links among phenology, wood formation, and hydraulic traits, and improve predictions of forest growth response under future climates. This dataset contains one data file in comma separate (.csv) format. Additional metadata are provided: one data dictionary and a file-level metadata file in comma separate (.csv) format and a user guide in PDF (*.pdf) format.

annual tracheid diameter↗
NASA NTRS1974

Spinning mode sound propagation in ducts with acoustic treatment

A detailed theoretical study of the acoustic propagation of spinning modes in acoustically treated open circular ducts is described. The suppressor with splitter rings was modeled by using the rectangular approximation to the annular duct. The theoretical models were used to determine optimum impedance and maximum attenuation for several spinning lobe numbers from 0 to 50. Some interesting results of the analysis are that for circular ducts the maximum possible attenuation and the optimum wall impedance are strong functions of the lobe number. For annular ducts the attenuation and optimum wall impedance are insensitive to the spinning lobe number for well cut-on modes. The above results help explain why suppressors with splitter rings were quite effective in spite of the lack of detailed information on the noise source modal structure.

Rice, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1975

Spinning mode sound propagation in ducts with acoustic treatment

Recent acoustic data show larger noise attenuations than predicted for acoustically treated aircraft engine inlets without splitter rings. A theoretical study of the acoustic propagation of spinning modes in acoustically treated open circular ducts is presented, and a suppressor with splitter rings was modeled by using the rectangular approximation to the annular duct. Theoretical models were used to determine optimum impedance and maximum attenuation for several spinning lobe numbers from 0 to 50. Results of the analysis indicate that for circular ducts the maximum possible attenuation and the optimum wall impedance are strong functions of the lobe number, and for annular ducts the attenuation and optimum wall impedance are insensitive to the spinning lobe number for well cut-on modes. These results explain why suppressors with splitter rings were quite effective in spite of the lack of detailed information on the noise source modal structure. Conversely, effective use of outer wall treatment alone will require expanded knowledge of the noise source structure. Approximate solutions are presented to help interpret the more exact theoretical results.

Rice, E. J.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Space Shuttle STS-1 SRB damage investigation

The physical damage incurred by the solid rocket boosters during reentry on the initial space shuttle flight raised the question of whether the hardware, as designed, would yield the low cost per flight desired. The damage was quantified, the cause determined and specific design changes recommended which would preclude recurrence. Flight data, postflight analyses, and laboratory hardware examinations were used. The resultant findings pointed to two principal causes: failure of the aft skirt thermal curtain at the onset of reentry aerodynamic heating, and overloading of the aft shirt stiffening rings during water impact. Design changes were recommended on both the thermal curtain and the aft skirt structural members to prevent similar damage on future missions.

Nevins, C. D.↗