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At least 1,297 records · Page 72

Hybrid data-driven and model-informed online tool wear detection in milling machines

Precision machining tool wear is responsible for low product throughput and quality. Monitoring the tool wear online is vital to prevent degradation in machining quality. However, direct real-time tool wear measurement is not practical. This paper presents residual-based anomaly detection models, combining a hybrid model comprised of a physics-based model and a data-driven model (a decision tree or a neural network) to predict signals of interest (e.g., power or forces) under nominal conditions, followed by Page’s cumulative sum test for detecting tool wear on-line using the computer numerical control machine measurements. The most informative features are ranked using dynamic programming and its approximation variants from real-time measurements and machine settings, such as the width of cut, depth of cut, feed rate and spindle speed, that serve as inputs to the predictive models. The baseline nominal model is incrementally updated with experimental data via a gradient boosted adaptation model to generate the residuals that account for discrepancies between the actual machine data under normal conditions and the baseline nominal model predictions. The hybrid model is validated against 20 Mazak milling machine experimental tests and one Haas run-to-failure experiment. The proposed anomaly detector is applied to synthetic data from simulations of the physics-based model at different operating conditions, measurement noise levels, and tool wear levels, and the methods were able to achieve an overall 92% accuracy in data with 1% noise. The anomaly detection methods based on hybrid model reduced the false alarms of either the data-driven or physical-based models alone, and are found to be capable of good online detection of tool wear.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Wall Upgrades for Residential Deep Energy Retrofits: A Literature Review

In the United States, 39% of total energy consumption comes from the building sector, 20% of which is attributed to residential buildings. New, high-performance homes incorporate a combination of tight building envelopes, mechanical ventilation and efficient components to ensure comfort, adequate airflow and moisture control. These systems work together to create energy efficient homes that employ measures to manage moisture and indoor pollutants. Older homes, built before 1992 when DOE’s Building Energy Codes Program was established represent approximately 68% of building stock in the country, and often have significant air leakage and inadequate insulation. Homes with little to no air sealing or insulation result in heating and cooling losses, which can represent a substantial portion of utility bills. Done correctly, deep energy retrofits (DERs) can significantly improve the energy performance of a home’s thermal envelope, decrease indoor pollutants and increase homeowner comfort. This literature review summarizes current practices for exterior wall retrofits for existing homes, provides an overview of techno-economic approaches to investigate residential wall systems, and discusses thermal and hygrothermal modeling strategies. Accompanying this literature review is a larger effort to identify state-of-the-art technologies for existing wall energy efficiency retrofit systems that can be applied over existing siding and are suitable for the cold/very cold climates.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Primer for OTERR Core Reloading Optimization

OTERR (Optimization of Test Reactor Reloading) is a software tool which assists in finding optimal fuel assembly reloading patterns for nuclear reactors. It was created specifically to support the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR) program, but its functionality is general enough to be applied to most fast spectrum reactors which use hexagonal prismatic fuel elements. This document is meant to be a primer for new users of OTERR to walk through example workflows for core reloading optimization cases. Simple cases are followed step-by-step to discuss what needs to be done to complete a reloading optimization sequence. Note that the intent of this document is to provide practical examples for users to follow along with so they can quickly start using OTERR and then make changes to fit their own modeling needs. Detail is limited in terms of addressing additional features not used in these examples and especially lacking in discussion of theory used in the code. To better address these points, users are highly encouraged to refer to the OTERR User Manual and the OTERR Theory Manual.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Challenges of mine remediation programmes in developing countries - a life cycle perspective - 15371

This paper analyses some challenges of environmental rehabilitation (ER) projects in developing countries that the authors have encountered over the past two decades in many parts of the world, discusses the reasons and proposes ways to mitigate them. In the life cycle of an ER project, some stages that are particularly decisive for the lasting rehabilitation success are considered here: (1) site characterisation/baseline studies, (2) justification and development of remediation objectives, site end states and a remediation strategy, and (3) the after-care phase. This paper argues that the time available in many ER projects in developing countries using international funding is very often insufficient, and discusses the reasons for some of the most important bottlenecks: (1) time realistically required to produce thorough baseline data and obtain historic site information that are indispensable to develop a robust remediation design, (2) lack of an adequate legal and regulatory framework, overlapping and/or conflicting provisions of national standards and discrepancies with international best practice, (3) unmanaged stakeholder expectations regarding the actual health and environmental risks, justification and prioritisation of remedial actions, and the achievable remediation end state. Insufficient resources for after-care, monitoring and, if required, corrective action is another major issue that, in the experience of the authors, jeopardises the sustainability of remediation success. Consequently by applying the lessons learnt from previous ER projects in developing (and developed) countries and taking them on board during the programming phase of new ER projects, international funding agencies could greatly help to avoid these obstacles. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Development of a Robust Reference Electrode in Aggressive Chemical and Radiation Environments in the Hanford Waste Tanks

The Hanford site stores more than 200 million liters of radioactive and chemically hazardous wastes from the production of weapons materials. The wastes are stored in 177 underground carbon-steel storage tanks, separated between 149 single shell tanks (SSTs) and 28 double shell tanks (DSTs). The DSTs provide critical retrieval and interim storage before the waste is vitrified in the Waste Treatment and Isolation Plant (WTP). The tanks will need to remain in-service far beyond the initial 40-year design life, and effective corrosion control practices must remain in force to extend the tanks’ lifespans. This effort includes direct measurements of corrosion rate (e.g., ultrasonic measurements and corrosion coupons) and electrochemical processes (e.g., linear polarization measurements and open circuit potential measurements). The Hanford site began monitoring the corrosion potential in select DSTs in 2008. Of the 45 reference electrodes that have been installed, 29 have failed and 6 others provided unreliable results. DOE-EM is supporting a 3-year program to develop a chemical and radiation resistant reference electrode for application in the Hanford tanks. The first year of the program focused on understanding the failure mechanism for the reference electrodes and identification of candidate construction materials that would mitigate degradation of the electrodes in the waste environment. During the second year of the program, the objectives were to: 1) test candidate materials under simulated waste conditions, 2) design components that will extend the service life of the electrode, 3) fabricate materials for prototype reference electrodes, and 4) assemble prototype reference electrodes for accelerated testing. The reference electrode is constructed of four principal parts: 1) junction, 2) casing, 3) inner chamber backfill materials, and 4) the sensing wire. Principally, improvements of the junction, casing, and inner chamber backfill materials are being pursued. The junction material at the interface between the waste and the inner chamber of the reference electrode was identified as a critical component in the failure of the reference electrodes. Nine candidate replacement junction materials were tested under simulated waste conditions to evaluate permeation rate. These materials included a variety of polymeric and ceramic materials, some of which were 3-D printed. Thus far, porous polyvinylidene fluoride materials have performed satisfactorily and are being considered for prototype development. The commercial electrode casing materials in general have performed well. Additionally, 3-D printing of chemically and mechanically stable materials is being investigated as a means for further improvement in fabrication consistency. SRNL has also investigated altering the reference electrode design to extend the service life. The new design of the interior of the reference electrode casing creates a longer, more tortuous path between the junction material and the electrode sensing wire. A finite element model was used to optimize the design without adversely impacting the circuit resistance of the electrode during the measurements, thus preserving the measurement accuracy while enhancing the service life. The inner chamber back fill materials are also critical to the performance of the reference electrode. Materials that are resistant to intruding tank waste and provide a conductive path to the sensing wire were investigated. Gel and powder materials that are interspersed with a conductive chloride bearing material were tested for their influence on diffusion and electrode resistance. All the investigated materials and components will be assembled, with collaboration from commercial vendors, to fabricate the initial prototypes. Accelerated testing of the prototypes will be initiated in Year 2 of the program and will be completed in Year 3. A recommendation on the materials of construction and the design of the new robust reference electrode will be presented to the Hanford tank farm facility.

Sykes, Kiana [Savannah River National Laboratory (↗

Measured extent of agricultural expansion depends on analysis technique

Concern is rising that ecologically important, carbon-rich natural lands in the United States are losing ground to agriculture. We investigate how quantitative assessments of historical land use change to address this concern differ in their conclusions depending on the data set used. We examined land use change between 2006 and 2014 in 20 counties in the Prairie Pothole Region using the Cropland Data Layer, a modified Cropland Data Layer, data from the National Agricultural Imagery Program, and in-person ground-truthing. The Cropland Data Layer analyses overwhelmingly returned the largest amount of land use change with associated error that limits drawing conclusions from it. Analysis with visual imagery estimated a fraction of this land use change. Clearly, analysis technique drives understanding of the measured extent of land use change; different techniques produce vastly different results that would inform land management policy in strikingly different ways. As a result, best practice guidelines are needed.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Veterans Commissioning Training Program for Commercial Healthcare Facilities [Final Report]

This project was designed to develop a building energy training curriculum, with hopes for creating immediate, long-term job opportunities for returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans as energy commissioning agents within both public and private sectors. As part of this proposed effort, an online version of the curricula were developed in part using a modified version of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) Certified Building Commissioning Professional program. Case studies utilizing building information modeling (BIM) data from actual retrocommissioning projects and 3D gaming platform were developed as part of the curriculum. In addition to using materials from existing literature, the PIs also conducted scientific-based research on energy retrofitting related to building envelopes using numerical simulation approach. And the research findings and recommendation were incorporated in the developed curriculum. Currently, there are a lack of scientific-based guidance on envelope retrofitting practice. Many retrofitting practices were based on experiences, and are limited by the lack of scientific evidence. Existing retrofitting training material have limitations due to this missing piece. We have succeeded in producing some scientific evidence to guide and provide solutions to some building envelope design and retrofitting. The results from some of our research using computational fluid dynamics have demonstrated the feasibility of using our recommended solutions. Research results and findings were disseminated to the research and industry communities through conference papers (Appendix B) and presentations (Appendix C), and some results and findings were incorporated into the developed training curriculum (Appendix A).

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Thermal, RGB, and Multispectral Unexploded Ordnance Data Collection

As of May 1, 2026 Landmine contamination affects 58 countries and many hundreds of thousands of km² of land. For example, the National Mine Action Program Demining Ukraine reporting that up to 144,000 km² of territory are potentially contaminated and require survey and clearance (National Mine Action Program “Demining Ukraine,” n.d.) alone. This contamination includes mines and other explosive remnants of war and continues to constrain civilian access, agricultural use, infrastructure recovery, and broader socioeconomic activity (International Campaign to Ban Landmines–Cluster Munition Coalition [ICBL-CMC], 2024; Mine Action Review, 2024). Current response activities rely on established mine-action approaches including non-technical survey, technical survey, clearance, and explosive ordnance disposal, consistent with international mine-action terminology and operational practice (United Nations Mine Action Service [UNMAS], 2024; Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining [GICHD], 2023). In this context, UAV-based sensing, including UAV-mounted thermal imaging, may provide a useful supplementary capability by supporting faster, safer detection and mapping of suspect hazards prior to ground intervention (Smiljanic, 2022).

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗

Utilizing the Shift Technical Engineer Pipeline to Develop the Next Generation of Engineers - 17354

As the liquid waste contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS), Savannah River Remediation (SRR) is responsible for safely treating and dispositioning approximately 35 million gallons of liquid waste stored at SRS. To achieve this mission, SRR manages and operates several complex nuclear facilities. These nuclear facilities include the H and F Tank Farms, the Defense Waste Processing Facility (DWPF), and the Saltstone Processing and Disposal Facility. To support the operations of these complex nuclear facilities, a Shift Technical Engineer (STE) is stationed for every shift. The STE is the sole Engineering Organization representative on-shift and serves as a direct technical resource for operations, including safety basis interpretation, process monitoring and prompt troubleshooting support. The training and qualification for an STE is more intensive than for typical technical staff personnel at SRR, involving additional classes, under-instruction watches, demonstration of practical factors, and culminating in an intense oral board examination. Like many other contractors in the DOE complex, SRR faces the challenge of preparing a significant number of new generation engineers to take the place of an aging workforce. Beyond the traditional training to establish minimum technical qualifications, SRR has established a number of initiatives aimed at accelerating the process of preparing early career engineers to replace experienced senior engineers. These initiatives include an internal rotational program, technical exchange activities with companies at other DOE sites, and an STE pipeline. The STE role provides a unique mechanism for select, early career engineers to gain in-depth knowledge and significant responsibility normally not achieved until much later in their careers. Once qualification is complete, the engineers perform the STE duties, providing technical support for nuclear facility operations. In addition, creating an STE pipeline, where promising young engineers are continually being qualified to replace the on-shift STEs, provides the company with a source of experienced engineers with in-depth technical knowledge as well as valuable experience interfacing with operations and other facility support groups. This paper will discuss the STE position, the qualification process, and how SRR is using the STE qualification pipeline to benefit both the company and the individual engineer. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

OpenMP application experiences: Porting to accelerated nodes

As recent enhancements to the OpenMP specification become available in its implementations, there is a need to share the results of experimentation in order to better understand the OpenMP implementation’s behavior in practice, to identify pitfalls, and to learn how the implementations can be effectively deployed in scientific codes. We report on experiences gained and practices adopted when using OpenMP to port a variety of ECP applications, mini-apps and libraries based on different computational motifs to accelerator-based leadership-class high-performance supercomputer systems at the United States Department of Energy. Additionally, we identify important challenges and open problems related to the deployment of OpenMP. Through our report of experiences, we find that OpenMP implementations are successful on current supercomputing platforms and that OpenMP is a promising programming model to use for applications to be run on emerging and future platforms with accelerated nodes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Integrated System Planning: Emerging Software Requirements in the Power Industry

Power system planning software remains fragmented across organizational boundaries, with specialized tools for capacity expansion, production cost modeling, power flow, and dynamic analysis operating on incompatible data models and assumptions. This article argues that the fragmentation is not merely a technical problem but a predictable consequence of Conway's law: software architectures mirror the departmental structures within which they are developed. Regulatory milestones like Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Order 888 formalized these divisions, but the roots trace back to the distinct engineering disciplines-mechanical, chemical, and electrical-that staffed generation and transmission planning departments in vertically integrated utilities. As the industry moves toward integrated system planning (ISP) that coordinates generation, transmission, and distribution investment decisions, the software ecosystem must evolve accordingly. We identify five categories of software requirements to enable this transition: coherent data inputs decoupled from individual applications, unified and extensible data schemas, modular component representations that support multiple abstraction levels, lifecycle management of planning datasets, and well-defined application programming interface (API) contracts that separate data exchange from algorithmic control. We examine how these requirements interact with three common workflow patterns-serial gate clearing, sequential multiapplication, and convergence oriented-and discuss the interface design principles each demands. We then outline a vision for platform-based planning architectures where specialized analytical services compose through standardized interfaces and where artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) tools augment decision support within a disciplined software infrastructure. The practices proposed here offer a path from today's siloed tool collections toward collaborative planning ecosystems capable of handling the complexity of modern power system transformation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Techno-Economic Impact Assessments of Energy Efficiency Improvements in the Industrial Combustion Systems

Industrial energy efficiency assessments not only provide benefits to manufacturers but also generate significant economic and environmental benefits to localities, states, and the nation through indirect and induced benefits. Quantifying these benefits requires a systematic economic framework for capturing these interactions. This article employs methodologies for improving the energy efficiency of small- and medium-sized industry through their combustion systems. Combustion systems offer large opportunities to enhance energy efficiency through adopting advanced technologies and better-informed operations. The case studies presented illuminate the potential savings and impacts from implementing energy-efficient combustion recommendations and the importance of energy audits and energy efficiency in the fight against climate change. This study describes and quantifies the cascading economic and environmental impacts of implementing the industrial energy efficiency recommendations offered by an energy auditing program by participating facilities over a 10-year period. Results showed that it is expected that a total of $185 M would be saved in energy costs, and 2.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions would be avoided annually, and about 972 jobs could be created in the studied region if all the combustion recommendations would be implemented. Furthermore, the broader view afforded by the proposed study can be used to support better energy-efficient practices in manufacturing facilities, communities, and states.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework

LEAF Version 2.0 is a framework comprising of three models RUSLE2, WEPS, and AGNPS. The framework can predict row crop, crop residue, and energy crop yields at a sub-field resolutions for various combinations of soil, climate and crop management and residue harvesting practices. It estimates the loss of soil, carbon, and nutrients to the atmosphere, to the groundwater, and to runoff. It also models the overland flow of water and washed-off sediments, nutrients and other chemicals to provide estimates of sediment, nutrient, and chemical loadings to water bodies within a watershed. AGNPS model and wash-off calculations are the new additions to this version of LEAF. Development of LEAF software is supported by DOE's BETO program.

Nair, Shyam↗

Parametric Studies for Plutonium Metal-Water Mixtures in Arrays of 6-Inch Columns

A parametric study for arrays of 6-inch diameter tank columns was performed in order to assist in the practical development of limits for plutonium solution operations. This technical document utilizes approaches taken in NCS-TECH-10-009 [Reference 1]. While this technical document expands on areas where the authors feel appropriate, it does not attempt to recreate all parts of the existing technical document. This technical document is intended to be used in conjunction with the previous technical document. The results reported in this technical document may be used to support facility-specific program documents or individual Criticality Safety Evaluation Documents (CSEDs). This technical document does not derive any specific requirements. Caution should be taken when applying these results; it is the criticality safety analyst's responsibility, if he/she chooses to utilize this technical document, to properly assess the applicability of the results presented herein for his/her application.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Access Innovation (Final)

Over the past two years, with the support of the Department of Energy, Powerhouse developed and launched Access Innovation, a partnership program to better connect clean energy startups with industry and investors for partnership. The program has successfully exceeded the objectives of the grant to pilot and validate successful methods of facilitating partnerships between early stage clean energy companies and industry and investors, secure follow on partnerships for early stage clean energy startups in the form of investment, pilot projects, new advisors, customer agreements, and joint development agreements and to track metrics, analyze, draft findings and distribute lessons on what models are most effective in forming partnerships to inform other organizational best practices.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Computational Analysis of Hydraulic Efficiency of Michigan DOT Cover C

Drainage structures are used to capture stormwater runoff in streets and highways in urban environments. These drainage structures, which typically consist of catch basins with grates, inlets, or combination grates/inlets, collect stormwater runoff and discharge through buried conveyance systems. They are strategically placed for public safety in curb and gutter systems to provide efficient drainage of water from roadways and thus reduce the risk of hydroplaning. The performance of drainage structures is measured in terms of hydraulic efficiency, which is defined as the percentage of flow captured by the basin as compared to the total flow drainage to the structure. Understanding of the performance of these drainage structures helps designers properly space inlets to promote an economic design that ensures the safety of the traveling public. The current design methodology used to determine drainage structure follows guidelines established in the current Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) Drainage Manual (2006). The guidelines in the MDOT Drainage Manual were modeled after the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Hydraulic Engineering Circular 22 “Urban Drainage Design” (HEC-22). HEC-22 includes empirically derived equations to calculate the interception capacity of drainage structures for several commonly used grate configurations, such as the parallel bar, curved vane and tilt bar grates, which are based on a research study performed by Burgi et al. in the 1970s. MDOT uses several drainage structures to capture runoff that are detailed as Standard Plans. Many of these drainage structures utilize sinusoidal type grates that are not described in HEC-22. Physical modeling of these structures has been limited, posing the need to have them analyzed to verify their capture efficiency. Current MDOT practice is to assume a similar sized reticuline grate, as described in HEC-22, for capture efficiencies. Until recently, evaluating the hydraulic performance of drainage structures was limited to physical modeling in a hydraulics laboratory. With advances in engineering software and computing power, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling has become a more cost-effective alternative. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides states the option to evaluate their drainage structures using CFD through the Transportation Pooled Fund Program. This study, “Computational Analysis of Hydraulic Efficiency of Michigan DOT Cover C,” was carried out using the pooled fund. MDOT’s Cover C was chosen as the first test candidate, given its similar sinusoidal pattern to other MDOT grates, but it is typically used for high-volume, higher speed applications. A similar version, Cover CX, is used on interstate highways but does not have traverse bars for bicycle safety. Additional grates may be considered for evaluation in the future.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Optimization of wall assembly for DOE Efficient New Homes Program in HUD’s Climate Zones 2 and 3

Manufactured homes provide affordable housing for over 20 million Americans. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Efficient New Homes (ENH) program has introduced new energy certification requirements that manufacturers can optionally target to ensure outstanding levels of energy savings, comfort, health, and durability. In collaboration with Clayton Homes (under User Agreement (NN-23-1469)), Oak Ridge National Laboratory evaluated multiple wall assembly options to meet ENH requirements in HUD Climate Zones 2 and 3, with a target maximum cost premium of 5%. After analyzing thermal performance, cost, and manufacturability, insulated structural sheathing was identified as the most practical and effective solution. A full-scale manufactured home prototype demonstrated that this approach meets energy performance goals with minimal disruption to existing manufacturing processes and a cost premium of less than 10% with a path to further lower costs, offering a promising path forward for more efficient manufactured housing.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Landscape Environmental Assessment Framework

LEAF Version 2.0 is a framework comprising of three models RUSLE2, WEPS, and AGNPS. The framework can predict row crop, crop residue, and energy crop yields at a sub-field resolutions for various combinations of soil, climate and crop management and residue harvesting practices. It estimates the loss of soil, carbon, and nutrients to the atmosphere, to the groundwater, and to runoff. It also models the overland flow of water and washed-off sediments, nutrients and other chemicals to provide estimates of sediment, nutrient, and chemical loadings to water bodies within a watershed. AGNPS model and wash-off calculations are the new additions to this version of LEAF. Development of LEAF software is supported by DOE's BETO program.

Nair, Shyam↗