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At least 1,423 records · Page 79
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Marine and land active-source seismic imaging of mid-Miocene to Holocene-aged faulting near geothermal prospects at Pyramid Lake, Nevada

Amy Eisses, Annie Kell, Graham Kent, Neal Driscoll, Robert Karlin, Rob Baskin, John Louie, and Satish Pullammanappallil, 2011, Marine and land active-source seismic imaging of mid-Miocene to Holocene-aged faulting near geothermal prospects at Pyramid Lake, Nevada: Geothermal Resources Council Transactions, 35, 7 pp. Preprint at http://crack.seismo.unr.edu/geothermal/Eisses-GRCpaper-sm.pdf The Pyramid Lake fault zone lies within a vitally important area of the northern Walker Lane where not only can transtension can be studied through a complex arrangement of strike-slip and normal faults but also geothermal activity can be examined in the extensional regime for productivity. This study used advanced and economical seismic methods in attempt to develop the Paiute Tribe’s geothermal reservoir and to expand upon the tectonics and earthquake hazard knowledge of the area. 500 line-kilometers of marine CHIRP data were collected on Pyramid Lake combined with 27 kilometers of vibrator seismic on-land data from the northwest side of the basin were collected in 2010 that highlighted two distinct phases of faulting. Preliminary results suggest that the geothermal fluids in the area are controlled by the late Pleistoceneto Holocene-aged faults and not through the mid-Miocene-aged conduits as originally hypothesized.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Aging Behavior of the Viton® Fluoroelastomer O-Rings in the 9975 Shipping Package

The 9975 Type B shipping package is used within the DOE complex for shipping special nuclear materials. This package is re-certified annually in accordance with Safety Analysis Report requirements. The package is also used at the Savannah River Site as part of the long-term storage configuration of special nuclear materials. As such, the packages do not undergo annual recertification during storage, with uncertainty as to how long some of the package components will meet their functional requirements in the storage environment. The packages are currently approved for up to 15 years storage, and work continues to provide a technical basis to extend that period. This paper describes efforts by the Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) to extend the service life estimate of Viton® GLT and GLT-S fluoroelastomer O-rings used in the 9975 shipping package. O-rings of both compositions are undergoing accelerated aging at elevated temperature, and are periodically tested for compression stress relaxation (CSR) behavior and leak performance. The CSR behavior of O-rings was evaluated at temperatures from 79 °C to 177 °C. These collective data were used to develop predictive models for extrapolation of CSR behavior to relevant service temperatures (< 75 °C). O-rings were also aged in Primary Containment Vessel (PCV) fixtures at temperatures ranging from 79 °C to 232 °C. The fixtures are helium leak tested periodically to determine if they remain leak-tight. The PCV fixture tests demonstrate that the 9975 O-rings will remain leak-tight at temperatures up to 149 °C for 3 years or more, and no leak failures have been observed with up to 8 years aging at 93 °C. Significantly longer periods of leak-tight service are expected at the lower temperatures actually experienced in the storage environment. The predictive model developed from the CSR data conservatively indicates a service life of more than 20 years at the bounding temperature of 75 °C. Although the relationship between CSR behavior and leak-tight performance has not been established for this design, the CSR predictions for this O-ring are conservative relative to leak-tight performance to date.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

ADVANCED NDE TECHNOLOGIES FOR DETECTING AND MANAGING AGING AND DEGRADATION IN REACTOR COMPONENTS

Recent research in nuclear power reactors has focused on the development and deployment of technologies for improving the economics of nuclear power plant (NPP) operation. Of interest, both from an economic and safety perspective, is the management and mitigation of aging-related degradation in critical components. In this paper, we describe potential techniques for nondestructive evaluation (NDE) that may be adapted for online monitoring of component aging in advanced non-light water reactors (ANLWR). The implications of the operating environment on the NDE measurement, especially when conducted continuously with the sensor placed in situ, are described. The design of sensors that can be used for monitoring component aging in situ and online are discussed, and results from laboratory testing at elevated temperature are outlined. Laboratory testing indicates the sensor can survive the operating temperatures in ANLWRs while providing a reasonable measurement signal-to-noise ratio. Ongoing research is focused on further testing and refining the sensor design and measurement procedures for deployment in ANLWR environments.

Ramuhalli, Pradeep↗
DOE OSTI2020

Accelerated Aging and Evaluation of Hose-In-Hose Transfer Lines in the Hanford Waste Transfer System - 20312

Nonmetallic materials are used in the United States Department of Energy's Hanford Site Tank Farm waste transfer system. These materials include the inner primary hoses in the hose-in-hose transfer lines (HIHTLs), Garlock{sup R} gaskets, ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) O-rings, and other nonmetallic materials. These nonmetallic materials are exposed to β and γ radiation, caustic solutions as well as high temperature and pressure stressors. How the nonmetallic components react to each of these stressors individually has been well established. However, simultaneous exposure of these stressors has not been evaluated and is of great concern to Hanford Site engineers. Florida International University's Applied Research Center engineers worked closely with key Hanford's Washington River Protection Solutions personnel to develop an experimental test plan that determines how these nonmetallic components react to various simultaneous stressor exposures. In this paper, research on the experimental testing of the hose-in-hose transfer lines used in the Hanford tank farm waste transfer system under simultaneous stressor exposures is presented. The stressor exposure experiments consisted of various combinations of simultaneous stressor exposure of caustic solution, high temperature and high pressure stressors. Research efforts focused on evaluating the aging behavior of EPDM by exposing samples of HIHTLs as well as EPDM dog bone shaped specimens to a 25% NaOH solution at (38 deg. C), operating (54 deg. C) and design temperatures (77 deg. C) for 6 months and 12 months. In addition, HIHTL and the EPDM dog-bone specimens were exposed to only hot water at 77 deg. C for a duration of one year. The mechanical and material properties of the samples were characterized and compared with those of the unexposed samples (baseline). Evaluations included burst pressure tests of the EPDM hose-in-hose transfer lines and material tensile strength test of EPDM dog-bone coupons. Both the tensile strength of the EPDM material dog bones and the burst pressure of the HIHTLs significantly decreased with the increasing temperature and increasing exposure time. When compared with the baseline samples, the burst pressure decreased by 28.75% for the sample aged at 77 deg. C after 12 months, in comparison to sample aged at 38 deg. C and 54 deg. C which had about 1.34% and 5.70% loss in burst pressures, respectively, after 12-month exposure. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Effects of Contaminant-Aging on Decontamination Efficacy for Rapid Remediation of Concrete Surfaces - 20412

Understanding the relationship between decontamination efficacy and contaminant aging is imperative for developing effective remediation strategies following a large-scale contamination event. Non-destructive decontamination of concrete following a contamination incident becomes more difficult with increased time between contamination and decontamination because contaminants may chemically bind to concrete and/or penetrate into the concrete subsurface. In this work, we evaluated the decontamination efficacy of two decontamination methods on concrete samples contaminated with soluble Cesium-137 (Cs-137) and silica particles with 0.5 μm and 2 μm diameters. Concrete samples were aged between 1 and 59 days, with half of the coupons receiving 1 mL of artificial rainwater about once every three days. After aging, coupons were either decontaminated or analyzed to determine contaminant penetration depths. Coupons were decontaminated with 0.1 M Potassium Chloride (KCI) solution applied either by flowing solution across the contaminated coupon face or non-destructive power washing. Contaminant depth profiles were created by removing the top surface of the coupon at least 15 times, measuring the activity in each removed layer, normalizing the total activity removed to the measured decontamination efficacy following the last layer removal, and determining the penetration thickness using the coupon dimensions, bulk density, and mass of material removed for each layer. Pressurized washing effectively removed particles, but not soluble cesium, despite the majority of Cs-137 being located within the first millimeter of the subsurface. Soluble cesium removal by flowing 0.1 M KCI solution across the contaminated surface dropped to less than 12% within the first ten days. This drop in Cs-137 removal efficacy occurred within the first five days for coupons experiencing artificial rainfall events. Flowing 0.1 M KCI solution across the contaminated face was ineffective at removing particles, likely because particles had localized in surface depressions. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2022

Extreme fast charge aging: Effect of electrode loading and NMC composition on inhomogeneous degradation in graphite bulk and electrode/electrolyte interface

Empowering extreme fast charging (XFC) requires a comprehensive understanding of its application with advanced anode and cathode materials in lithium-ion batteries. No report exists for the full extent of limitations for the anode with crosstalk effect from paired cathode as well as Li plating due to electrode loading under XFC. In this study, a combination of cell testing and multiple length characterization is used to investigate XFC aging mechanism in cells with a low loading of 1.5 mAh cm -2 and high loading of 2.5 mAh cm -2 for graphite (Gr)/Ni-rich LiNi x Mn y Co 1-x-y O 2 (NMCs). Operando XRD mappings show 1.5 mAh cm -2 loadings result in higher strain in graphite for all three cathode types. Among the three NMC cathodes, the graphite from NMC532 and NMC811 cells show comparable strain. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show distinct differences between 6-C-charged anodes in two loadings. Significantly increased electrode thickness can be seen due to more damage in the graphite bulk and accumulation of the electrolyte decomposition products in electrode pores. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals both cathode chemistry and Li plating influence the non-uniform SEI composition on graphite surface. We report higher Ni content in NMC811 promotes the higher levels of salt decomposition on the SEI and formation of higher mass of electrolyte aging products.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Initial precipitation and hardening mechanism during non-isothermal aging in an Al–Mg–Si–Cu 6005A alloy

The characterization of precipitation and hardening mechanism during non-isothermal aging had been investigated using high resolution transmission electron microscopy for an Al–Mg–Si–Cu 6005A alloy. It was proposed that the needle-shaped β″ precipitates with a three-dimension coherency strain-field and an increased number density in the Al matrix provided the maximum strengthening effect for the Al–Mg–Si–Cu 6005A alloy. Simultaneously, it was also found that the formation and evolution of clusters in the early precipitation were associated with the vacancy binding energy, during which Si atoms played an important role in controlling the numbers density of Mg/Si co-clusters, and the excess Si atoms provided the increased number of nucleation sites for the subsequent precipitates to strengthen and improve the precipitation rate. Finally, based on the experimental observation and theoretical analysis, the precipitation sequence during the early precipitation in the Al–Mg–Si–Cu 6005A alloy was proposed as: supersaturated solid solution → Si-vacancy pairs, Mg-vacancy pairs and Mg clusters → Si clusters, and dissolution of Mg clusters → Mg atoms diffusion into the existing Si clusters → Mg/Si co-clusters → GP zone. - Highlights: • β″ precipitates provide the maximum strengthening effect for the 6005A alloy. • Si atoms play an important role in controlling the numbers of Mg/Si co-clusters. • The early aging sequence is deduced based on the solute-vacancy binding energy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Radiation Aging of Cable Insulation Systems to Support Extension of Cable Electrical Assessment Techniques - CRADA 562 (Final Report)

Radiation aging (primarily gamma radiation) affects a small subset of the LV cable population based on a 40-year operation. Increasing plant operating life to 60 or 80 years will result in additional cables experiencing degradation, either from radiation or from combined thermal and radiation effects. Previous research work done by EPRI and other researchers focuses on electrical diagnostics of thermal effects. However, the electrical diagnostic response of the cable system to radiation aging is minimally understood. In order to study the electrical responses from XLPE and EPR cabling and correlate these responses with radiation dose and level of thermal exposure, gamma radiation testing was performed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). This report covers the radiation testing performed at PNNL, which involved irradiation of 30-foot long cables and short witness samples. The cabling was irradiated, at room temperature, using cobalt-60 gamma-rays to intervals of 10 million rads (10 Mrads), for a maximum of 70 Mrads. The results can be used to determine cable conditions (extent of damage) more accurately and localize where the degradation exists along the length of the cable (axial location). These insights can provide operators with the options to focus repair, mitigation, or replacement efforts locally.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2011

Theoretical analyses of aerosol aging on a substrate without wall-effects by a cross-flow

Long time ({approx}1 day) aging or reactions of aerosol is typically studied using either large aerosol chambers (> 10 m3) or particles supported on a substrate to minimize wall effects. To avoid wall effects in the latter, it is often essential that the wall reactivity be extremely small (<< 10-5 reactions per encounter) and that the particle loadings be very small (< 1 pg/cm2) to eliminate transport-limited trace gas depletion near the particles and substrate. We evaluate here a cross-flow approach, which greatly reduces these constraints. Particles are to be supported on a micromesh ({approx}50% or more open area) through which the reactive gas is drawn at around a few hundred cm/s. The analysis shows how the competitions between flow and diffusion establishes a 'zone of isolation' several microns wide around each reactive particle, outside of which the reactivity of other particles or the substrate are irrelevant to the local reactions. This cross-flow approach reduces the effects of substrate and collective particle reactivity typically orders of magnitude, and will facilitate aging studies of supported aerosols.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Long-Term Thermal Aging of Modified Sylgard 184 Formulations

Primarily used as an encapsulant and soft adhesive, Sylgard 184 is an engineered, high-performance silicone polymer that has applications spanning microfluidics, microelectromechanical systems, mechanobiology, and protecting electronic and non-electronic devices and equipment. Despite its ubiquity, there are improvements to be considered, namely, decreasing its gel point at room temperature, understanding volatile gas products upon aging, and determining how material properties change over its lifespan. In this work, these aspects were investigated by incorporating well-defined compounds (the Ashby–Karstedt catalyst and tetrakis (dimethylsiloxy) silane) into Sylgard 184 to make modified formulations. As a result of these additions, the curing time at room temperature was accelerated, which allowed for Sylgard 184 to be useful within a much shorter time frame. Additionally, long-term thermal accelerated aging was performed on Sylgard 184 and its modifications in order to create predictive lifetime models for its volatile gas generation and material properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2000

Circadian rhythms in healthy aging--effects downstream from the pacemaker

Using both previously published findings and entirely new data, we present evidence in support of the argument that the circadian dysfunction of advancing age in the healthy human is primarily one of failing to transduce the circadian signal from the circadian timing system (CTS) to rhythms "downstream" from the pacemaker rather than one of failing to generate the circadian signal itself. Two downstream rhythms are considered: subjective alertness and objective performance. For subjective alertness, we show that in both normal nychthemeral (24 h routine, sleeping at night) and unmasking (36 h of constant wakeful bed rest) conditions, advancing age, especially in men, leads to flattening of subjective alertness rhythms, even when circadian temperature rhythms are relatively robust. For objective performance, an unmasking experiment involving manual dexterity, visual search, and visual vigilance tasks was used to demonstrate that the relationship between temperature and performance is strong in the young, but not in older subjects (and especially not in older men).

Non-NASA Center↗
NASA NTRS1996

Age-related alterations in the fractal scaling of cardiac interbeat interval dynamics

We postulated that aging is associated with disruption in the fractallike long-range correlations that characterize healthy sinus rhythm cardiac interval dynamics. Ten young (21-34 yr) and 10 elderly (68-81 yr) rigorously screened healthy subjects underwent 120 min of continuous supine resting electrocardiographic recording. We analyzed the interbeat interval time series using standard time and frequency domain statistics and using a fractal measure, detrended fluctuation analysis, to quantify long-range correlation properties. In healthy young subjects, interbeat intervals demonstrated fractal scaling, with scaling exponents (alpha) from the fluctuation analysis close to a value of 1.0. In the group of healthy elderly subjects, the interbeat interval time series had two scaling regions. Over the short range, interbeat interval fluctuations resembled a random walk process (Brownian noise, alpha = 1.5), whereas over the longer range they resembled white noise (alpha = 0.5). Short (alpha s)- and long-range (alpha 1) scaling exponents were significantly different in the elderly subjects compared with young (alpha s = 1.12 +/- 0.19 vs. 0.90 +/- 0.14, respectively, P = 0.009; alpha 1 = 0.75 +/- 0.17 vs. 0.99 +/- 0.10, respectively, P = 0.002). The crossover behavior from one scaling region to another could be modeled as a first-order autoregressive process, which closely fit the data from four elderly subjects. This implies that a single characteristic time scale may be dominating heartbeat control in these subjects. The age-related loss of fractal organization in heartbeat dynamics may reflect the degradation of integrated physiological regulatory systems and may impair an individual's ability to adapt to stress.

NASA Discipline Cardiopulmonary↗
NASA NTRS2014

In Situ Radiometric and Exposure Age Dating of the Martian Surface

We determined radiogenic and cosmogenic noble gases in a mudstone on the floor of Gale Crater. A K-Ar age of 4.21 +/- 0.35 billion years represents a mixture of detrital and authigenic components and confirms the expected antiquity of rocks comprising the crater rim. Cosmic-ray-produced 3He, 21Ne, and 36Ar yield concordant surface exposure ages of 78 T 30 million years. Surface exposure occurred mainly in the present geomorphic setting rather than during primary erosion and transport. Our observations are consistent with mudstone deposition shortly after the Gale impact or possibly in a later event of rapid erosion and deposition. The mudstone remained buried until recent exposure by wind-driven scarp retreat. Sedimentary rocks exposed by this mechanism may thus offer the best potential for organic biomarker preservation against destruction by cosmic radiation.

age dating↗
DOE OSTI2017

Cloud droplet activation through oxidation of organic aerosol influenced by temperature and particle phase state: CLOUD ACTIVATION BY AGED ORGANIC AEROSOL

Chemical aging of organic aerosol (OA) through multiphase oxidation reactions can alter their cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity and hygroscopicity. However, the oxidation kinetics and OA reactivity depend strongly on the particle phase state, potentially influencing the hydrophobic-to-hydrophilic conversion rate of carbonaceous aerosol. Here, amorphous Suwannee River fulvic acid (SRFA) aerosol particles, a surrogate humic-like substance (HULIS) that contributes substantially to global OA mass, are oxidized by OH radicals at different temperatures and phase states. When oxidized at low temperature in a glassy solid state, the hygroscopicity of SRFA particles increased by almost a factor of two, whereas oxidation of liquid-like SRFA particles at higher temperatures did not affect CCN activity. Low-temperature oxidation appears to promote the formation of highly-oxygenated particle-bound fragmentation products with lower molar mass and greater CCN activity, underscoring the importance of chemical aging in the free troposphere and its influence on the CCN activity of OA.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2012

Optimal Control of Markov Processes with Age-Dependent Transition Rates

We study optimal control of Markov processes with age-dependent transition rates. The control policy is chosen continuously over time based on the state of the process and its age. We study infinite horizon discounted cost and infinite horizon average cost problems. Our approach is via the construction of an equivalent semi-Markov decision process. We characterise the value function and optimal controls for both discounted and average cost cases.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2015

Developing 226 Ra and 227 Ac age-dating techniques for nuclear forensics to gain insight from concordant and non-concordant radiochronometers

The model age or ‘date of purification’ of a nuclear material is an important nuclear forensic signature. In this study, chemical separation and MC-ICP-MS measurement techniques were developed for 226 Ra and 227 Ac: grand-daughter nuclides in the 238 U and 235 U decay chains respectively. The 230 Th- 234 U, 226 Ra- 238 U, 231 Pa- 235 U, and 227 Ac- 235 U radiochronometers were used to calculate model ages for CRM-U100 standard reference material and two highly-enriched pieces of uranium metal from the International Technical Working Group Round Robin 3 Exercise. In conclusion, the results demonstrate the accuracy of the 226 Ra- 238 U and 227 Ac- 235 U chronometers and provide information about nuclide migration during uranium processing.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2018

An alternative separation procedure for 90 Sr age dating using DGA Resin

The likelihood of an attack by a terrorist organization using a radiological dispersal device (RDD) is much higher than that of an attack with an improvised nuclear device or true nuclear weapon, as much less technical expertise is required to build an RDD. Consequently, there has been an effort to develop methods for age-dating radiological sealed sources in recent years. One such procedure, described by Steeb et al., is used for determining the age of 90 Sr sources. That procedure utilized a rather expensive extraction chromatography resin and was based on an uncommon apparatus with limited sample capacity for the separation step. The procedure also left the Zr fraction contaminated with the radioactive 90 Y daughter nuclide. This work investigates using an alternative separation scheme that utilizes a less costly resin in a widely available column configuration and results in the isolation of 90 Sr's stable granddaughter, 90 Zr, without 90 Y contamination. This allows the zirconium quantification to be done with a mass spectrometer outside the radiological environment and increases the number of instruments capable of making the measurement, which could allow measurements to be made more quickly.

45 MILITARY TECHNOLOGY, WEAPONRY, AND NATIONAL DEF↗
DOE OSTI2019

The Microstructure, and Mechanical and Corrosion Properties of As-Cast and As-Extruded Mg-2%Zn-x%Cu Alloys After Solution and Aging Heat Treatments

The effects of different Cu concentrations and heat treatment on the microstructure, mechanical and corrosion properties of the as-cast and hot-extruded Mg-2%Zn alloys were studied. The results showed that T6 heat treatment led to the dissolution of intermetallics and breaking the continuous networks of intermetallics. Also, the grain size of the base alloy decreased with further Cu additions after solution and aging heat treatments. Microstructural characterization indicated that Mg(Zn,Cu) and Mg(Zn,Cu){sub 2} intermetallics were formed which their volume fractions increased with exceeding Cu additions. Moreover, the addition of 3 wt.% Cu and T6 heat treatment increased the Brinell hardness of both as-cast and hot-extruded specimens reached to 94 HBN and 116 HBN, respectively. The optimum amounts of the ultimate tensile strength and elongation values obtained from 0.1 wt.% Cu addition for both conditions after T6 treatment which were 253 MPa, 11.5% and 263 MPa, 14.7%, respectively. However, more Cu addition (> 0.5 wt.%) deteriorated the tensile properties of the alloy due to the high volume fraction of intermetallics. The yield tensile strength increased continuously with different Cu additions for the cast and extruded alloys after solution and aging heat treatments. After T6 heat treatment, extruded alloys showed better anti-corrosion properties than those of the cast alloys, while the extruded Mg-2%Zn-0.1%Cu alloy exhibited the best anti-corrosion property. Further Cu addition increased the volume fraction of intermetallics and enhanced the corrosion rate which was due to the galvanic couple effect.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗