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At least 127 records · Page 7

Halide sublattice dynamics drive Li-ion transport in antiperovskites

Here, in this work, we resolve how proton dynamics and halide mixing enhance or impede ionic conduction in protonated lithium antiperovskites (pLiAP) at compositions near the eutectic points of the halide salts. As a material class, pLiAPs of the form Li 3-x OH x X, (X = Cl, Br) show vast compositional design freedom; however, the resulting properties are susceptible to synthesis and processing methodologies. Proton incorporation and halide mixing stabilize the perovskite cubic phase at low temperatures (<50 °C) and using halide mixtures near the eutectic points (~250 to 300 °C) offer possibilities of lower temperature and faster synthesis and processing conditions (<1 h). Mixed-halide compositions such as Li 2 OHCl 0.37 Br 0.63 lead to a 30-fold improvement in room temperature ionic conductivity of a single halide structure, 1.5 × 10 -6 vs. 4.9 × 10 -8 S cm -1 (Li 2 OHCl). We combine infrared spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance with first-principles density functional theory calculations to deconvolute halide mixing effects from local proton dynamics on Li-ion transport. In contrast to what has been supposed, our findings suggest that the halide sublattice dynamics, besides the OH rotation, correlate strongly with the fast-ion conduction at high temperatures.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

IRIS-GNN: Leveraging Graph Neural Networks for Scheduling on Truly Heterogeneous Runtime Systems

The diversity of accelerators in computer systems poses significant challenges for software developers, such as managing vendor-specific compiler toolchains, code fragmentation requiring different kernel implementations, and performance portability issues. To address these, the Intelligent Runtime System (IRIS) was developed. IRIS works across various systems, from smartphones to supercomputers, enabling automatic performance scaling based on available accelerators. It introduces abstract tasks for seamless execution transitions between accelerators while ensuring memory consistency and task dependencies. Although IRIS simplifies system details, optimal dynamic scheduling still requires user input to understand workload structures. To address this, we introduce a new scheduling policy for IRIS, termed IRIS-GNN, which is the first IRIS hybrid policy that operates in conjunction with the dynamic policies. This policy employs a Graph-Neural Network (GNN) to conduct Graph Classification of any task graphs submitted to IRIS. This GNN analyzes the structure and attributes of the task graph, categorizing it as either locality, concurrency, or mixed. This classification subsequently guides the selection of the dynamic policy used by IRIS. We provide a comparison of the performance of IRIS-GNN against the complete spectrum of IRIS’s dynamic policies, assess the overhead introduced by the GNN within this scheduling framework, and ultimately explore its practical application in real-world scenarios.

Johnston, Beau↗

Enabling Predictive Scale-Bridging Simulations through Active Learning (Institutional Computing Annual Report (Project w20_alscalebridging)) [Slides]

The goal of this project was to develop, demonstrate, and provide a new capability to achieve greater physical fidelity in large-scale simulations, rather than the usual brute-force increases in the number of mesh elements or particles. This was done by using machine learning (ML) techniques to develop emulators for subscale physics that can be used in coarse-scale continuum simulations, trained on fine-scale molecular dynamics (MD) simulations that are launched on-the-fly via active learning. raditional inertial confinement fusion (ICF) simulations rely on numerical diffusion to simulate molecular effects such as non-local transport and mixing without truly accounting for molecular interactions; our approach directly accounts for this physics.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

A 10, 6-micrometer laser receiver RF subsystem

A simplified laser receiver carrier tracking loop is described. The laser carrier is optically mixed with a locally generated 10.6 micrometer signal, thereby translating the received signal to an IF signal that varies between dc and GHz. This signal is fed to a second order carrier tracking loop that contains a transistor LC oscillator tuned by a varactor over a 1 GHz range; transistor shunt capacitance increases the upper frequency bound of the oscillator in a high Doppler environment.

Santarpia, D. E.↗

Design considerations for optical heterodyne receivers: A review

The current state of knowledge concerning optical heterodyne receivers is reviewed. Following a discussion of noise processes in the heterodyne receiver and the manner in which sensitivity is increased through time integration of the detected signal, an expression for the mean square signal current is derived by mixing a coherent local oscillator with a partially coherent, quasimonochromatic source. Then the manner in which the IF signal calculation can be transferred to any convenient plane in the optical front end of the receiver is demonstrated. Using these techniques, a relatively simple equation is obtained for the coherently detected signal from an extended incoherent source and applied to the heterodyne detection of an extended thermal source and to the backscatter lidar problem where the antenna patterns of both the transmitter beam and heterodyne receiver must be taken into account. Finally, the detection of a coherent source is considered and, in particular, a distant point source such as a star or laser transmitter in a long range heterodyne communications system is discussed.

Degnan, J. J.↗

Measurements to determine the location of the phase center of geoceiver antennas - Unofficial summary of results

In Doppler positioning systems, the basic method of point positioning involves a stable transmitted satellite signal received by a ground based antenna and receiver. This received frequency is mixed with a locally generated reference frequency, resulting in a beat frequency. A Doppler equation has been developed which includes all known contributions to this Doppler count. Upon measuring this count at the receiver and by using the precise orbital position of the transmitting satellite, the position of a receiver antenna can be calculated. However, for geodetic accuracy, it is assumed that the receiver antenna is stationary and has a predictable constant phase reference point. Thus, if a phase variation does exist, it may be misinterpreted as an added Doppler shift due to range change.

Larsen, R. K.↗

Numerical investigation of supersonic base flow with parallel injection

The present investigation represents the first detailed numerical calculations of base flow with gas injection using a geometry and primary flow condition germane to a scramjet combustor. The investigation is concerned with the numerical solution of the complete two-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations for the flowfield in the vicinity of the base with parallel gas injection, taking into account the fluid dynamic aspects of this flowfield. The flow is dominated by separation, and by mixed regions of locally subsonic and supersonic flow. A comparison is conducted of flows with and without injection, and the effect of base injection on the wave patterns and shear layers of such flows is clearly established.

Sullins, G. A.↗

Temperature Effects in Elastohydrodynamically Lubricated Contacts

This paper gives an overview of our current understanding of thermal phenomena in elastohydrodynamic contacts and suggests some avenues for fruitful research in the next decade. Typical measured temperatures are presented for representative conditions and ranges of operating parameters. Temperatures can range from bulk ambient temperature to several hundred degrees centigrade in fully separated elastohydrodynamic films. Although attention in the past decade has been on the full film for the purposes of understanding film thickness and traction phenomena, the more interesting conditions are in the mixed elastohydrodynamic films. These mixed conditions are both common in tribological systems and they are the conditions that border on unsuccessful run-in and failure of the elastohydrodynamic contact. In mixed film conditions local hotspots can have temperatures of the order of 1888 C which cause increased reactivity of the surfaces with surrounding materials as well as changes of the surface physical properties so important to the operation of concentrated contacts. An additional area discussed is that of the bulk system thermal transients which occur in tribological systems. These transients are frequently long in duration and have a direct bearing on the elastohydrodynamic film thickness and traction.

Ward O Winer↗

Synthetic aperture radar target simulator

A simulator for simulating the radar return, or echo, from a target seen by a SAR antenna mounted on a platform moving with respect to the target is described. It includes a first-in first-out memory which has digital information clocked in at a rate related to the frequency of a transmitted radar signal and digital information clocked out with a fixed delay defining range between the SAR and the simulated target, and at a rate related to the frequency of the return signal. An RF input signal having a frequency similar to that utilized by a synthetic aperture array radar is mixed with a local oscillator signal to provide a first baseband signal having a frequency considerably lower than that of the RF input signal.

Zebker, H. A.↗

In situ propellant production: Alternatives for Mars exploration

Current planning for the Space Exploration Initiative (SEI) recognizes the need for extraterrestrial resources to sustain long-term human presence and to attain some degree of self-sufficiency. As a practical matter, reducing the need to carry large supplies of propellant from Earth will make space exploration more economical. For nearly every round trip planned with conventional propulsion, the actual payload is only a small fraction - perhaps 10-15 percent - of the mass launched from Earth. The objective of this study was to analyze the potential application for SEI missions of propellants made exclusively from lunar or martian resources. Using such propellants could minimize or eliminate the cost of carrying propellant for surface excursion vehicles and return transfers through two high-energy maneuvers: Earth launch and trans-Mars injection. Certain chemical mono- and bipropellants are candidates for this approach; they could be recovered entirely from in situ resources on the Moon and Mars, without requiring a continuing Earth-based resupply of propellant constituents (e.g., fuel to mix with a locally obtained oxidizer) and, perhaps, with minimal need to resupply consumables (e.g., reagents or catalyst for process reactions). A complete assessment of the performance potential of these propellants must include the requirements for installation, operations, maintenance, and resupply of the chemical processing facility.

Stancati, Michael L.↗

Laser/lidar analysis and testing

Section 1 of this report details development of a model of the output pulse frequency spectrum of a pulsed transversely excited (TE) CO2 laser. In order to limit the computation time required, the model was designed around a generic laser pulse shape model. The use of such a procedure allows many possible laser configurations to be examined. The output pulse shape is combined with the calculated frequency chirp to produce the electric field of the output pulse which is then computationally mixed with a local oscillator field to produce the heterodyne beat signal that would fall on a detector. The power spectral density of this heterodyne signal is then calculated. Section 2 reports on a visit to the LAWS laser contractors to measure the performance of the laser breadboards. The intention was to acquire data using a digital oscilloscope so that it could be analyzed. Section 3 reports on a model developed to assess the power requirements of a 5J LAWS instrument on a Spot MKII platform in a polar orbit. The performance was assessed for three different latitude dependent sampling strategies.

Spiers, Gary D.↗

Simulations of the Vertical Redistribution of HNO3 by NAT or NAD PSCs: The Sensitivity to the Number of Cloud Particles Formed and the Cloud Lifetime

Recent satellite and in situ measurements have indicated that limited denitrification can occur in the Arctic stratosphere. In situ measurements from the SOLVE campaign indicate polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) composed of small numbers (about 3 x 10^ -4 cm^-3) of 10-20 micron particles (probably NAT or NAD). These observations raise the issue of whether low number density NAT PSCs can substantially denitrify the air with reasonable cloud lifetimes. In this study, we use a one dimensional cloud model to investigate the verticle redistribution of HNO3 by NAT/NAD PSCs. The cloud formation is driven by a temperature oscillation which drops the temperature below the NAT/NAD formation threshold (about 195 K) for a few days. We assume that a small fraction of the available aerosols act as NAT nuclei when the saturation ratio of HNO3 over NAT(NAD) exceeds 10(l.5). The result is a cloud between about 16 and 20 km in the model, with NAT/NAD particle effective radii as large as about 10 microns (in agreement with the SOLVE data). We find that for typical cloud lifetimes of 2-3 days or less, the net depletion of HNO3 is no more than 1-2 ppbv, regardless of the NAT or NAD particle number density. Repeated passes of the air column through the cold pool build up the denitrification to 3-4 ppbv, and the cloud altitude steadily decreases due to the downward transport of nitric acid. Increasing the cloud lifetime results in considerably more effective denitrification, even with very low cloud particle number densities. As expected, the degree of denitrification by NAT clouds is much larger than that by NAD Clouds. Significant denitrification by NAD Clouds is only possible if the cloud lifetime is several days or more. The clouds also cause a local maximum HNO3 mixing ratio at cloud base where the cloud particles sublimate.

Jensen, Eric J.↗

Accuracy Analysis for Finite-Volume Discretization Schemes on Irregular Grids

A new computational analysis tool, downscaling test, is introduced and applied for studying the convergence rates of truncation and discretization errors of nite-volume discretization schemes on general irregular (e.g., unstructured) grids. The study shows that the design-order convergence of discretization errors can be achieved even when truncation errors exhibit a lower-order convergence or, in some cases, do not converge at all. The downscaling test is a general, efficient, accurate, and practical tool, enabling straightforward extension of verification and validation to general unstructured grid formulations. It also allows separate analysis of the interior, boundaries, and singularities that could be useful even in structured-grid settings. There are several new findings arising from the use of the downscaling test analysis. It is shown that the discretization accuracy of a common node-centered nite-volume scheme, known to be second-order accurate for inviscid equations on triangular grids, degenerates to first order for mixed grids. Alternative node-centered schemes are presented and demonstrated to provide second and third order accuracies on general mixed grids. The local accuracy deterioration at intersections of tangency and in flow/outflow boundaries is demonstrated using the DS tests tailored to examining the local behavior of the boundary conditions. The discretization-error order reduction within inviscid stagnation regions is demonstrated. The accuracy deterioration is local, affecting mainly the velocity components, but applies to any order scheme.

Diskin, Boris↗

Thermodynamic non-ideality and disorder heterogeneity in actinide silicate solid solutions

Non-ideal thermodynamics of solid solutions can greatly impact materials degradation behavior. We have investigated an actinide silicate solid solution system (USiO 4 –ThSiO 4 ), demonstrating that thermodynamic non-ideality follows a distinctive, atomic-scale disordering process, which is usually considered as a random distribution. Neutron total scattering implemented by pair distribution function analysis confirmed a random distribution model for U and Th in first three coordination shells; however, a machine-learning algorithm suggested heterogeneous U and Th clusters at nanoscale (~2 nm). The local disorder and nanosized heterogeneous is an example of the non-ideality of mixing that has an electronic origin. Partial covalency from the U/Th 5f–O 2p hybridization promotes electron transfer during mixing and leads to local polyhedral distortions. The electronic origin accounts for the strong non-ideality in thermodynamic parameters that extends the stability field of the actinide silicates in nature and under typical nuclear waste repository conditions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Comparing Global Spray Combustion Characteristics and Local Shot-to-Shot Variations in a Reacting n -Heptane Spray

In support of efforts to develop improved models of turbulent spray behavior and combustion in diesel engines, experimental data and analysis must be obtained for guidance and validation. For Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS)-based Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling approaches, representative ensemble average experimental results are important. For high-fidelity models such as large eddy simulations (LES)-based CFD, precise individual experimental results are desirable. However, making comparisons between a given experiment and LES is a challenge since local parameters cannot be directly compared. In this work, an optically accessible constant pressure flow rig (CPFR) is utilized to acquire diesel-like fuel injection and reaction behavior simultaneously with three optical diagnostic techniques: rainbow Schlieren deflectometry (RSD), OH* chemiluminescence (OH*), and two-color pyrometry (2CP). The CPFR allows a large number of repeated injection experiments to be performed for statistical analysis and convergence using ensemble-averaging techniques, while maintaining highly repeatable test conditions. Even for stable test conditions, variations in local turbulent fuel–air mixing introduce variability, which manifests as significant differences in OH* and 2CP results. Experimental measurements of characteristic parameters including liquid and vapor jet penetration, liftoff length, soot temperature and concentration, and turbulent flame speed, along with the shot-to-shot variability of each dataset, are presented and discussed. Finally, a statistical method is utilized to analyze the extent of this variability, and to identify superlative injections within the dataset for discussion and analysis of shot-to-shot variations.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Localized arc filament plasma actuators for noise mitigation and mixing enhancement

A device for controlling fluid flow. The device includes an arc generator coupled to electrodes. The electrodes are placed adjacent a fluid flowpath such that upon being energized by the arc generator, an arc filament plasma adjacent the electrodes is formed. In turn, this plasma forms a localized high temperature, high pressure perturbation in the adjacent fluid flowpath. The perturbations can be arranged to produce vortices, such as streamwise vortices, in the flowing fluid to control mixing and noise in such flows. The electrodes can further be arranged within a conduit configured to contain the flowing fluid such that when energized in a particular frequency and sequence, can excite flow instabilities in the flowing fluid. The placement of the electrodes is such that they are unobtrusive relative to the fluid flowpath being controlled.

Samimy, Mohammad↗

Localized arc filament plasma actuators for noise mitigation and mixing enhancement

A device for controlling fluid flow. The device includes an arc generator coupled to electrodes. The electrodes are placed adjacent a fluid flowpath such that upon being energized by the arc generator, an arc filament plasma adjacent the electrodes is formed. In turn, this plasma forms a localized high temperature, high pressure perturbation in the adjacent fluid flowpath. The perturbations can be arranged to produce vortices, such as streamwise vortices, in the flowing fluid to control mixing and noise in such flows. The electrodes can further be arranged within a conduit configured to contain the flowing fluid such that when energized in a particular frequency and sequence, can excite flow instabilities in the flowing fluid. The placement of the electrodes is such that they are unobtrusive relative to the fluid flowpath being controlled.

Samimy, Mohammad↗

Observations of Ion Signatures of Magnetic Reconnection for Northward IMF

Magnetic merging at Earth's magnetopause produces distinct mixtures of ions and electrons as well as signatures in their distribution functions. High resolution measurements allow for the separation of the different distributions and quantification of their characteristics. This provides details on the temporal and spatial nature of the merging site and the resulting history of the merged fields. The event of May 29, 1996 resulted in remote observations of the effects of reconnection on both magnetosheath and magnetosphere populations for a period of approximately three hours. Three-dimensional ion distributions obtained by the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment on the Polar spacecraft show that field lines threading the spacecraft's location in the northern cusp region contained a mix of D-shaped ions from the magnetosheath and accelerated magnetospheric ions both moving parallel to the local magnetic field. This mix of ions resulted from transmission of magnetosheath ions across the magnetopause at speeds greater than the de-Hoffman-Teller speed and the reflection of cold, slow-moving plasmasphere-like ions at the magnetopause. These observations are used to conclude that these field lines were connected to the ionosphere in the northern hemisphere and, southward of the spacecraft, the interplanetary magnetic field and crossed the magnetopause in the equatorial region southward of the spacecraft.

Chandler, Michael O.↗