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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 1,423 records · Page 79

Composite Reflective Absorptive IR-Blocking Filters Embedded in Metamaterial Antireflection Coated Silicon

Infrared (IR)-blocking filters are crucial for controlling the radiative loading on cryogenic systems and for optimizing the sensitivity of bolometric detectors in the far-IR. We present a new IR filter approach based on a combination of patterned frequency-selective structures on silicon and a thin (2575 micron thick) absorptive composite based on powdered reststrahlen absorbing materials. For a 300 K blackbody, this combination reflects approximately 50% of the incoming light and blocks greater than.99.8% of the total power with negligible thermal gradients and excellent low-frequency transmission. This allows a reduction in the IR thermal loading to negligible levels in a single cold filter. These composite filters are fabricated on silicon substrates, which provide excellent thermal transport laterally through the filter and ensure that the entire area of the absorptive filter stays near the bath temperature. A metamaterial antireflection coating cut into these substrates reduces in-band reflections to below 1%, and the in-band absorption of the powder mix is below 1% for signal bands below 750 GHz. This type of filter can be directly incorporated into silicon refractive optical elements.

Munson, C. D.↗

A Path to High Efficiency Optical Coupling for HIRMES

The high-resolution mid-infrared spectrometer (HIRMES) under development for SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) is an instrument operating in the 25-122 μm spectral range with a spectral resolution R= Δ ʎ /ʎ ~100,000 and has two absorber-coupled transition edge sensor (TES) bolometric detector focal planes. We have developed novel NbTiN low stress absorber coatings which have the required optical impedance across the HIRMES operating band. The low intrinsic stress of these coatings allow for a peak-to-valley corrugation amplitude < 5 μm of the 450 nm thick, 1.4 mm x 1.7 mm detector pixels. Furthermore, these coatings have a superconducting transition temperature ~ 10 K, which allows them to simultaneously serve as an absorber in the desired signal band and a rejection filter at long wavelengths. This attribute makes them especially attractive for ultrasensitive absorber-coupled bolometric detector applications, because it helps in controlling the optical loading from out-of band radiation. We also discuss a novel method for integrating a wedged reflective absorber-termination to the detector array.

bolometers↗

Simulation and Modeling of Flow Generated by Gust Generator in a Wind Tunnel

A computational study of a gust field generated by a gust generator in a low-speed wind tunnel. The gust generator is designed for the University of Washington Aeronautical Laboratory (UWAL) Kirsten wind tunnel for a gust load alleviation (GLA) control experiment of a Common Research Model (CRM) flexible wing utilizing the Variable Camber Continuous Trailing Edge Flap (VCCTEF). The gust generator comprises four horizontal NACA 0015 gust generator vanes placed upstream of the test section. Computational fluid dynamics simulations using a two-dimensional (2D) Unsteady-Reynolds-Averaged-Navier-Stokes (URANS) with k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) turbulence model provide detailed time-resolved information about the generated flow by the gust generator under prescribed sinusoidal motion. The characteristics of the induced flow by the gust generator are analyzed. A gust propagation model of the gust field is investigated. An unsteady lift model is developed using a varying-fidelity approach which includes a 2D interference aerodynamic model of the combined gust generator-wing system. The computed integrated unsteady lift is compared to experimental data for validation of the unsteady lift model. Both the amplitude and transport delay are found to be accurately captured by the unsteady lift model.

Nhan, Nguyen↗

A Physics-Based Spatial Wake Interactional Model of Fixed-Wing Aircraft and Rotorcraft for Urban Air Mobility

This paper presents a study of a physics-based spatial wake interactional model for urban air mobility. A modeling method for spatial wake interaction of fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft is presented. The method validates an existing wake vortex model with flight data from the existing literature. The model is then adopted for both fixed-wing aircraft and rotorcraft. A lift circulation model is developed for rotorcraft to account for unsteady aerodynamics and the compressibility effect. This lift circulation model provides more realistic estimate of lift circulation for rotorcraft for used in wake vortex modeling. A vehicle-building wake interaction is studied using the method of image. The effects of wake vortex encounters on aerodynamic loads, stability, and control are examined. A flight control simulation is performed to demonstrate recovery during a simulated wake vortex encounter.

Wake Vortex Encounter↗

Effect of volcanic emissions on clouds during the 2008 and 2018 Kilauea degassing events

Volcanic eruptions in otherwise clean environments are “natural experiments” wherein the effects of aerosol emissions on clouds and climate can be partitioned from meteorological variability and anthropogenic activities. In this work, we combined satellite retrievals, reanalysis products, and atmospheric modeling to analyze the mechanisms of aerosol–cloud interactions during two degassing events at the Kilauea volcano in 2008 and 2018. The eruptive nature of the 2008 and 2018 degassing events was distinct from long-term volcanic activity for Kilauea. Although previous studies assessed the modulation of cloud properties from the 2008 event, this is the first time such an analysis has been reported for the 2018 event and that multiple degassing events have been analyzed and compared at this location. Both events resulted in significant changes in cloud effective radius and cloud droplet number concentration that were decoupled from local meteorology and in line with an enhanced cloud albedo. However, it is likely that the effects of volcanic emissions on liquid water path and cloud fraction were largely offset by meteorological variability. Comparison of cloud anomalies between the two events suggested a threshold response of aerosol–cloud interactions to overcome meteorological effects, largely controlled by aerosol loading. In both events, the ingestion of aerosols within convective parcels enhanced the detrainment of condensate in the upper troposphere, resulting in deeper clouds than observed under pristine conditions. Accounting for ice nucleation on ash particles led to enhanced ice crystal concentrations at cirrus levels and a slight decrease in ice water content, improving the correlation of the model results with the satellite retrievals. Overall, aerosol loading, plume characteristics, and meteorology contributed to changes in cloud properties during the Kilauea degassing events.

Katherine H. Breen↗

Probability Bounds Analysis Applied to Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Nonlinearity

The Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) Program Orion vehicle finite element model (FEM) was updated based on a modal test performed by Lockheed Martin. Due to nonlinearity observed in the test results, linear low force level (LL) and high force level (HL) FEMs were developed for use during various Space Launch System (SLS) flight regimes depending on expected forcing levels. Uncertainty models were derived for the combined MPCV and MPCV Stage Adaptor LL and HL Hurty/Craig-Bampton (HCB) components based on the MPCV structural test article Configuration 4 modal test-analysis correlation results. Subsequently, system-level uncertainty quantification analyses were performed using both models for various SLS flight configurations to determine the impact of the nonlinearity on important system metrics. The system metrics included both transfer functions associated with attitude control and dynamic loads associated with aerodynamic buffeting during ascent. In each case, an independent Monte Carlo (MC) analysis was performed, and no attempt was made to combine the results. The Hybrid Parametric Variation (HPV) method was used to develop the LL and HL MPCV HCB uncertainty models. The HPV method provides both parametric and non-parametric components of uncertainty. The non-parametric uncertainty accounts for the difference in model-form between the linearized analytical model and the corresponding linearized component test results in the form of mode shapes and frequencies at that force level. This linear model-form uncertainty is implemented in the HPV method using random matrix theory. However, the HPV uncertainty models developed for the linear LL and HL MPCV components do not account for the nonlinearity in the MPCV. With respect to the linearized models, this nonlinearity is also an uncertainty in model form, but in this case, it must be treated independently as an epistemic uncertainty. It represents a lack of knowledge, in contrast to an aleatory uncertainty due to the randomness of a variable. In the case of an epistemic variable, the true value is unknown, only the interval within which it lies is known. Epistemic uncertainty can be reduced with increased knowledge, while in general, aleatory uncertainty cannot. This work combines the epistemic uncertainty due to the MPCV nonlinearity with the parametric and non-parametric uncertainty within the HPV method using a second order propagation approach. The LL and HL test data is augmented with surrogate test data derived from a nonlinear MPCV representation. The impact of the MPCV nonlinearity on system response statistics is determined using a series of cumulative distribution functions in the form of a horsetail plot, or p-box. This results in an interval of probabilities for a specific response value, or an interval of response values at a specific probability.

Daniel C Kammer↗

Identifying Common Use Cases across Extensible Traffic Management (xTM) for Interactions with Air Traffic Controllers

NASA’s Extensible Traffic Management (xTM) builds on the foundation and the architecture of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Traffic Management (UTM) concept and extends it broadly to other domains, such as Advanced / Urban Air Mobility (AAM/UAM) and Upper Class E Traffic Management (ETM). These xTM concepts assume the ability to fly in airspace that is authorized to operate solely under xTM services and mostly without any air traffic control (ATC) support. However, they also assume circumstances in which the xTM vehicles would need to operate in conventional ATC-managed airspace, both during nominal and off-nominal scenarios. Due to the vast differences in the xTM vehicle performances and missions, there is a concern that ATC may have difficulty in safely managing the xTM traffic and providing appropriate services to all vehicles, unless a consistent set of roles, procedures, and data exchange requirements are defined across the diverse set of xTM vehicle operations. In this paper, we describe a set of use cases that have been identified in UTM, AAM/UAM, and ETM operations that are related to ATC interactions, and we propose to categorize these use cases across xTM domains based on common trigger events. Organizing the use cases from the perspective of ATC roles per each trigger event is expected to provide the first step in discovering common procedures and data requirements across xTM domains that could help ease the controllers’ cognitive task load and allow them to manage these interactions more safely.

Extensible Traffic Management (xTM)↗

Time-Varying Reference Model Modification of Adaptive Control with Multi-Objective Performance Optimization

This paper presents an adaptive control approach that modifies a reference model in order to satisfy a multi-objective optimization of two performance signals: a linear signal and a quadratic signal. The time varying reference model modification is accomplished by the real-time solutions of the time-varying Riccati and Sylvester equations coupled with the least-squares parameter estimation of the sensitivities of the performance signals to be minimized. The effectiveness of the proposed method is to be demonstrated by a flight control application of maneuver load alleviation and drag minimization.

Adaptive Control↗

Performance Optimization Methods for a Memory-Bound, Unstructured-Grid CFD Application on Massively Parallel GPU Platforms

Computational performance of the FUN3D unstructured-grid computational fluid dynamics (CFD) application on massively parallel GPU environments is memory-bound and highly dependent upon efficient reads from and atomic updates to the irregular cell-, edge-, and node-based data structures. In this talk, we present recent efforts into optimizing select performance-critical kernels on NVIDIA Tesla V100 and A100 GPUs and AMD CDNA MI100 GPUs. A novel use of L2 cache residency controls and asynchronous loads into on-chip shared memory are explored on the A100 GPU for the sparse iterative solver, which is dominated by mixed-precision, sparse matrix vector multiplication. Demonstrations show that these methods improve global memory bandwidth utilization by 13.5% on the A100 GPU. Several techniques are also presented that use registers and/or shared memory to facilitate array transposition and aggregation which combine to reduce the frequency and increase the cache efficiency of floating-point atomic updates to the irregular data structures. These methods are demonstrated to improve the kernel throughput by nearly 500% on select kernels on the AMD MI100 over atomic updates directly to global memory. Overall, both V100 and A100 GPUs outperformed the MI100 GPU on kernels dominated by double-precision atomic updates; however, the techniques demonstrated here reduced the performance gap and improved the MI100 performance.

GPU CPU unstructured CFD memory↗

Development of Hierarchical Control for a Lunar Habitat DC Microgrid Model Using Power Hardware-in-the-Loop

As interest in space exploration grows, developing a lunar habitat has become a key component of extending missions into deep space. To guarantee reliable power management of a habitat’s DC microgrid, control schemes are needed that can manage the different assets (batteries, photovoltaics, loads) effectively. Proposed hierarchical control schemes are further developed into hardware solutions using Opal-RT’s real-time simulation software and Power Hardware-in-the-Loop platform. Experimental results of a simulated DC microgrid and physical DC/DC components can allow better realization and performance of applications such as battery discharge control.

PHIL↗

Status of the NGNP Graphite Creep Experiments AGC-1 and AGC-2 Irradiated in the Advanced Test Reactor

The United States Department of Energy’s Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Program will be irradiating six nuclear graphite creep experiments in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The graphite experiments will be irradiated over the next six to eight years to support development of a graphite irradiation performance data base on the new nuclear grade graphites now available for use in high temperature gas reactors. The goals of the irradiation experiments are to obtain irradiation performance data, including irradiation creep, at different temperatures and loading conditions to support design of the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) Very High Temperature Gas Reactor, as well as other future gas reactors. The experiments will each consist of a single capsule that will contain six peripheral stacks of graphite specimens, with half of the graphite specimens in each stack under a compressive load, while the other half of the specimens will not be subjected to a compressive load during irradiation. The six peripheral stacks will have different compressive loads applied to the top half of each pair of specimen stacks, while a seventh stack will not have a compressive load. The specimens will be irradiated in an inert sweep gas atmosphere with on-line temperature and compressive load monitoring and control. There will also be sampling the sweep gas effluent to determine if any oxidation or off-gassing of the specimens occurs during irradiation of the experiment. The first experiment, AGC-1, started its irradiation in September 2009, and the irradiation was completed in January 2011. The second experiment, AGC-2, started its irradiation in April 2011 and completed its irradiation in May 2012. This paper will briefly discuss the design of the experiment and control systems, and then present the irradiation results for each experiment to date.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

High-Efficiency Retrofit Lessons for Retail from a SuperTarget: Preprint

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory partnered with Target under the Commercial Building Program to design and implement a retrofit of a SuperTarget in Thornton, CO. The result was a retrofit design that predicted 37% energy savings over ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004, and 29% compared to existing (pre-retrofit) store consumption. The largest savings came from energy efficient lighting, energy efficient cooling systems, improved refrigeration, and better control of plug loads.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

PRELIMINARY RESULTS OF THE AGC-4 IRRADIATION IN THE ADVANCED TEST REACTOR AND DESIGN OF AGC-5 (HTR16-18469)

The United States Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Technologies (ART) Program will irradiate up to six nuclear graphite creep experiments in the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). The graphite experiments are being irradiated over an approximate eight year period to support development of a graphite irradiation performance data base on the new nuclear grade graphites now available for use in high temperature gas reactors. The goals of the irradiation experiments are to obtain irradiation performance data, including irradiation creep, at different temperatures and loading conditions to support design of the Very High Temperature Gas Reactor (VHTR), as well as other future gas reactors. The experiments each consist of a single capsule that contain six stacks of graphite specimens, with half of the graphite specimens in each stack under a compressive load, while the other half of the specimens are not be subjected to a compressive load during irradiation. The six stacks have differing compressive loads applied to the top half of diametrically opposite pairs of specimen stacks. A seventh specimen stack in the center of the capsule does not have a compressive load. The specimens are being irradiated in an inert sweep gas atmosphere with on-line temperature and compressive load monitoring and control. There are also samples taken of the sweep gas effluent to measure any oxidation or off-gassing of the specimens that may occur during initial start-up of the experiment. The first experiment, AGC-1, started its irradiation in September 2009, and the irradiation was completed in January 2011. The second experiment, AGC-2, started its irradiation in April 2011 and completed its irradiation in May 2012. The third experiment, AGC-3, started its irradiation in late November 2012 and completed in the April of 2014. AGC-4 is currently being irradiated in the ATR. This paper will briefly discuss the preliminary irradiation results of the AGC-4 experiment, as well as the design of AGC-5.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

The Demonstration of Power over Ethernet (PoE) Technologies in Commercial and Institutional Buildings

PoE technologies are currently ubiquitous in offices in the form of phones, access points, and IP security cameras and managed by on-site IT staff. As low voltage DC-power capabilities have increased with network switches, PoE devices are now being integrated across additional building systems, including lighting, computers, and HVAC controls. Since PoE devices are connected to network switches, energy monitoring and management can be performed through the IT network management software. Data and results from technology validations are still very limited for PoE equipment. This lack of information hinders higher adoption as its benefits and challenges have been insufficiently quantified in real-world scenarios. The use of IT network switches to power and control lighting, plug loads, and HVAC were demonstrated at a variety of sites including offices, schools, and a hotel. This paper presents the findings of a three-year DOE-/State of Minnesota-funded project that demonstrated and assessed the energy and non-energy benefits of Power over Ethernet (PoE) technologies at four commercial/institutional sites. The goals of the demonstrations were to: (1) assess the receptiveness of commercial and institutional markets to these new technologies, (2) demonstrate the feasibility of PoE technologies within standard design/construction practices and commercial codes, (3) assess the energy and cost savings opportunities of these technologies, (4) provide energy management opportunities where they typically are not available, and (5) formulate approaches to spur adoption of these technologies in the marketplace.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

The Demonstration of Power over Ethernet (PoE) Technologies in Commercial and Institutional Buildings

PoE technologies are currently ubiquitous in offices in the form of phones, access points, and IP security cameras and managed by on-site IT staff. As low voltage DC-power capabilities have increased with network switches, PoE devices are now being integrated across additional building systems, including lighting, computers, and HVAC controls. Since PoE devices are connected to network switches, energy monitoring and management can be performed through the IT network management software. Data and results from technology validations are still very limited for PoE equipment. This lack of information hinders higher adoption as its benefits and challenges have been insufficiently quantified in real-world scenarios. The use of IT network switches to power and control lighting, plug loads, and HVAC were demonstrated at a variety of sites including offices, schools, and a hotel. This paper presents the findings of a three-year DOE-/State of Minnesota-funded project that demonstrated and assessed the energy and non-energy benefits of Power over Ethernet (PoE) technologies at four commercial/institutional sites. The goals of the demonstrations were to: (1) assess the receptiveness of commercial and institutional markets to these new technologies, (2) demonstrate the feasibility of PoE technologies within standard design/construction practices and commercial codes, (3) assess the energy and cost savings opportunities of these technologies, (4) provide energy management opportunities where they typically are not available, and (5) formulate approaches to spur adoption of these technologies in the marketplace.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Core design study of a supercritical light water reactor with double row fuel rods

An equilibrium core for supercritical light water reactor has been designed. A novel type of fuel assembly with dual rows of fuel rods between water rods is chosen and optimized to get more uniform assembly power distributions. Stainless steel is used for fuel rod cladding and structural material. Honeycomb structure filled with thermal isolation is introduced to reduce the usage of stainless steel and to keep moderator temperature below the pseudo critical temperature. Water flow scheme with ascending coolant flow in inner regions is carried out to achieve high outlet temperature. In order to enhance coolant outlet temperature, the radial power distributions needs to be as flat as possible through operation cycle. Fuel loading pattern and control rod pattern are optimized to flatten power distribution at inner regions. Axial fuel enrichment is divided into three parts to control axial power peak, which affects maximum cladding surface temperature. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Testing and Performance Validation of a Shielded Waste Segregation and Clearance Monitor Designed for the Measurement of Low Level Waste-13043

This paper describes the development, testing and validation of a shielded waste segregation and clearance monitor designed for the measurement of low-density low-level waste (LLW). The monitor is made of a measurement chamber surrounded by detectors and a shielded outer frame. The shielded chamber consists of a steel frame, which contains typically 1.5 inches (3.81 cm) of lead and 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) of steel shielding. Inside the shielding are plastic scintillator panels, which serve as gross gamma ray detectors. The detector panels, with embedded photomultipliers, completely surround the internal measurement chamber on all 6 sides. Care has been taken to distribute the plastic scintillator detectors in order to optimise both the efficiency for gamma ray detection and at the same time achieve a volumetric sensitivity, which is as uniform as possible. A common high voltage power supply provides the bias voltage for each of the six photomultipliers. The voltage signals arising from the detectors and photomultipliers are amplified by six sensitive amplifiers. Each amplifier incorporates a single channel analyser with both upper and lower thresholds and the digitised counts from each detector are recorded on six scalars. Operation of the device is by means of a microprocessor from which the scalars are controlled. An internal load cell linked to the microprocessor determines the weight of the waste object, and this information is used to calculate the specific activity of the waste. The monitor makes background measurements when the shielded door is closed and a sample, usually a bag of low-density waste, is not present in the measurement chamber. Measurements of the minimum detectable activity (MDA) of an earlier large volume prototype instrument are reported as part of the development of the Waste Segregation and Clearance Monitor (WSCM) described in the paper. For the optimised WSCM a detection efficiency of greater than 32% was measured using a small Cs-137 source placed in the centre of the measurement chamber. Small sources have also been used to determine the spatial variation of the detection efficiency for various positions within the measurement chamber. The data have been used to establish sentencing limits and different 'fingerprints' for specific waste streams including waste streams containing fission products and others based on other radionuclides including Am-241. Some of the test data that are presented have been used to validate the instrument performance. The monitor is currently in routine use at a nuclear facility for the measurement and sentencing of low-density low activity radioactive waste. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Preliminary results of AGC-4 irradiation in the advanced test reactor and design of AGC-5 - 18469

The U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Reactor Technologies Program will irradiate up to six nuclear graphite creep experiments in Idaho National Laboratory Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). The graphite experiments are being irradiated over an approximate 8-year period to support development of a graphite irradiation performance database on new nuclear grade graphites now available for use in high-temperature gas reactors. The goals of the irradiation experiments are to obtain irradiation performance data, including irradiation creep, at different temperatures and loading conditions to support design of the very high-temperature gas reactor and other future gas reactors. Each of the experiments consist of a single capsule that contains six stacks of graphite specimens, with half of the graphite specimens in each stack under a compressive load and the other half of specimens not subjected to a compressive load during irradiation. The six stacks have differing compressive loads applied to the top half of the diametrically opposite pairs of specimen stacks. A seventh specimen stack in the center of the capsule does not have a compressive load. The specimens are being irradiated in an inert sweep gas atmosphere with online temperature and compressive load monitoring and control. Also, samples are taken of sweep gas effluent to measure any oxidation or off-gassing that may occur during initial startup of the experiment. The first experiment Advanced Graphite Capsule (AGCJ-I started irradiation in September 2009 and completed in January 2011; the second experiment AGC-2 started irradiation in April 2011 and completed in May 2012; the third experiment AGC-3 started irradiation in late November 2012 and completed in April 2014; and AGC-4 is currently being irradiated in ATR. This paper will briefly discuss preliminary irradiation results from the AGC-4 experiment and design of AGC-3. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗