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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1974

Ion heating in a plasma focus

Ion acceleration and heating in a plasma focus were investigated by the numerical integration of the three-dimensional equations of motion. The electric and magnetic fields given were derived from experimental data. The results obtained show that during the collapse phase of focus formation, ions are efficiently heated to temperatures of several keV. During the phase of rapid current reduction, ions are accelerated to large velocities in the axial direction. The results obtained with the model are in general agreement with experimental results.

Hohl, F.↗
NASA NTRS1989

Nitrogen oxides from high-altitude aircraft - An update of potential effects on ozone

In the study of fuel consumption rate by stratospheric aircraft, the range of nitric oxide injection is interpreted as an eightfold range of emission index (5-40) with both the one- and the two-dimensional models. Possible effects of future aircraft NO(x) emissions on stratospheric ozone are considered for a broad range in magnitude, altitude, and latitude of the assumed NO(x) emissions. Results of the sensitivity studies using both models are discussed. Large ozone reductions are found to be outside the expected range of validity of these models and are to be anticipated if there should be a large fleet of stratospheric aircraft with NO(x) emission characteristics of current commercial aircraft. Under the test conditions, a global ozone reduction of about 9 percent is estimated for a jet engine emission index of 15 in both models. If engines are redesigned to reduce the emission index to the NASA goal of 5, global average ozone reductions are between 2 and 3 percent, and those of the Northern Hemisphere are about 4 percent. The effects of stratospheric aircraft on ozone could be further reduced through operation at lower altitudes, reduction of aircraft, and efficient fuel consumption.

Johnston, Harold S.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Episodic total ozone minima and associated effects on heterogeneous chemistry and lower stratospheric transport

Three-dimensional model simulations are used to describe the January 31, 1989 ozone minihole over Stavanger, Norway. This minihole is typical of many transient events in the lower stratosphere that arise because of cyclonic-scale disturbances in the troposphere. Although the ozone reduction is a short-lived reversible dynamical event, through heterogeneous chemical processes there can be a significant transfer of chlorine from reservoir molecules to active radicals. This chemically perturbed air is defined as processed air, and it is found that a single event can produce enough processed air to reduce the HCl in the entire polar vortex. Chemical processing on clouds associated with transient events is shown to be a major source of processed air in the polar vortex in December before background temperatures are cold enough for more uniform heterogeneous conversion.

Rood, Richard B.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Flap Side-Edge Noise: Acoustic Analysis of Sen's Model

The two-dimensional flap side-edge flow model developed by Sen is analyzed to reveal the noise production potential of the proposed mechanism. The model assumes that a vortex will form at the equilibrium position off the side edge of the flap. The vortex is then perturbed away from the equilibrium position by incoming turbulence causing it to oscillate and thus radiate sound. The noise field is calculated three-dimensionally by taking the flap to have a finite chord. Spectra and directivity of the farfield sound are presented. In addition, the effect of retarded time differences is evaluated. The parameters in the model are related to typical aircraft parameters and noise reduction possibilities are proposed.

Hardin, Jay C.↗
NASA NTRS2008

Derivation of Boundary Manikins: A Principal Component Analysis

When designing any human-system interface, it is critical to provide realistic anthropometry to properly represent how a person fits within a given space. This study aimed to identify a minimum number of boundary manikins or representative models of subjects anthropometry from a target population, which would realistically represent the population. The boundary manikin anthropometry was derived using, Principal Component Analysis (PCA). PCA is a statistical approach to reduce a multi-dimensional dataset using eigenvectors and eigenvalues. The measurements used in the PCA were identified as those measurements critical for suit and cockpit design. The PCA yielded a total of 26 manikins per gender, as well as their anthropometry from the target population. Reduction techniques were implemented to reduce this number further with a final result of 20 female and 22 male subjects. The anthropometry of the boundary manikins was then be used to create 3D digital models (to be discussed in subsequent papers) intended for use by designers to test components of their space suit design, to verify that the requirements specified in the Human Systems Integration Requirements (HSIR) document are met. The end-goal is to allow for designers to generate suits which accommodate the diverse anthropometry of the user population.

Young, Karen↗
NASA NTRS2018

An Active Subspace Method for Accelerating Convergence in Delaunay-Based Optimization via Dimension Reduction

Delaunay-based derivative-free optimization, ∆DOGS, is an efficient and provably-convergent global optimization method for the problems which has computationally expensive objection function and the analytical expression for the objective function is not available. ∆-DOGS is a novel optimization scheme in the family of response surface methods (RSMs); however, it suffers from the curse of dimensionality since the computational cost increases dramatically as the number of design parameters increases. As a result, the number of design parameters in ∆-DOGS algorithm is relatively low (n.10). To avoid such problems, this paper proposes a combination of derivative-free optimization, seeking the global minimizer of an expensive and nonconvex objective function f(x) and active subspace method, detecting the directions of the most variability using evaluations of the gradient. The contribution of other directions to the objective function is bounded by a sufficiently small constant. This new algorithm iteratively applied Delaunay-based derivative-free optimization to seek the minimizer on the d-dimensional active subspace that has most function variation. Inverse mapping is needed to project data from active subspace to full-model for evaluating function values. This task is overcome by solving an inequality constrained problem that curves the response surface of the objective function. The test results show that this strategy is effective on a handful of optimization problems.

Bewley, Thomas R.↗
DOE OSTI2012

Construction of accuracy-preserving surrogate for the eigenvalue radiation diffusion and/or transport problem

The construction of surrogate models for high fidelity models is now considered an important objective in support of all engineering activities which require repeated execution of the simulation, such as verification studies, validation exercises, and uncertainty quantification. The surrogate must be computationally inexpensive to allow its repeated execution, and must be computationally accurate in order for its predictions to be credible. This manuscript introduces a new surrogate construction approach that reduces the dimensionality of the state solution via a range-finding algorithm from linear algebra. It then employs a proper orthogonal decomposition-like approach to solve for the reduced state. The algorithm provides an upper bound on the error resulting from the reduction. Different from the state-of-the-art, the new approach allows the user to define the desired accuracy a priori which controls the maximum allowable reduction. We demonstrate the utility of this approach using an eigenvalue radiation diffusion model, where the accuracy is selected to match machine precision. Results indicate that significant reduction is possible for typical reactor assembly models, which are currently considered expensive given the need to employ very fine mesh many group calculations to ensure the highest possible fidelity for the downstream core calculations. Given the potential for significant reduction in the computational cost, we believe it is possible to rethink the manner in which homogenization theory is currently employed in reactor design calculations. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2017

A New Hole Transport Material for Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells With Reduced Device Cost

To realize commercialization of perovskie solar cell (PVSC) technology, it is essential to reduce the device costs while maintaining high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs). So far, the high cost of the most commonly used hole selective material, 2,2′,7,7′‐Tetrakis (N,N‐di‐p‐methoxyphenylamino)‐9,9′‐spirobifluorene (spiro‐OMeTAD), for high‐PCE PVSCs presents a significant obstacle for device cost reduction. In this work, the synthesis and characterization of a new spiro‐OMeTAD derivative hole selective material, 2,6,14‐tris(5′‐(N,N‐bis(4‐methoxyphenyl)aminophenol‐4‐yl)‐3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophen‐2‐yl)‐triptycene (TET) is reported. TET features a three‐dimensional structure consisting of a triptycene core and triarylamine arms linked by 3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene, facilitating efficient hole transport. Planar PVSCs using TET hole selective layers (HSLs) achieved high fill factors of over 81% and steady‐state efficiencies of up to 18.6%, comparable with that (19.0%) of PVSC using spiro‐OMeTAD HSL. Importantly, the hereby reported efficient PVSCs can be produced with very thin TET HSLs (about 30 nm). Considering the lower laboratory synthesis and purification cost ($123 vs. $500 g −1 ) and thinner HSL (30 vs. 200 nm), the cost for TET on a unit area of one device is 25 times lower than that for high‐purity spiro‐OMeTAD. The device with TET HSL shows good stability under continuous illumination. Therefore, this work makes a significant step forward toward the commercialization of the emerging PVSC technology.

Sun, Yuhao↗
DOE OSTI2017

Mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon microfibers derived from Mg-biquinoline-dicarboxy compound for efficient oxygen electroreduction

An in-situ MgO-templating synthesis route was introduced to obtain the mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon microfibers by thermal conversion of new Mg-2,2′-biquinoline 4,4-dicarboxy acid coordination compound (Mg-DCA) microfibers. The investigated crystal structure of Mg-DCA testified that the assembling of Mg{sup 2+} and DCA through Mg-O coordination bond and hydrogen bond contributed to the formation of one-dimensional (1D) crystalline Mg-DCA microfibers. The nitrogen-doped carbons derived from the pyrolysis of Mg-DCA showed the well-defined microfiber morphology with high mesopore-surface area. Such mesoporous microfibers exhibited the efficient catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline solutions with better stability and methanol-tolerance performance. - Graphical abstract: Mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon microfibers with efficient oxygen electroreduction activity were prepared by thermal conversion of new Mg-biquinoline-based coordination compound microfibers.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Step engineering for nucleation and domain orientation control in WSe 2 epitaxy on c -plane sapphire

In this study, epitaxial growth of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides on sapphire has emerged as a promising route to wafer-scale single-crystal films. Steps on the sapphire act as sites for transition metal dichalcogenide nucleation and can impart a preferred domain orientation, resulting in a substantial reduction in mirror twins. Here we demonstrate control of both the nucleation site and unidirectional growth direction of WSe 2 on c-plane sapphire by metal–organic chemical vapour deposition. The unidirectional orientation is found to be intimately tied to growth conditions via changes in the sapphire surface chemistry that control the step edge location of WSe 2 nucleation, imparting either a 0° or 60° orientation relative to the underlying sapphire lattice. The results provide insight into the role of surface chemistry on transition metal dichalcogenide nucleation and domain alignment and demonstrate the ability to engineer domain orientation over wafer-scale substrates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

AlGaN/GaN heterostructure prepared on a Si (110) substrate via pulsed sputtering

GaN films were grown on Si (110) substrates using a low-temperature growth technique based on pulsed sputtering. Reduction of the growth temperature suppressed the strain in the GaN films, leading to an increase in the critical thickness for crack formation. In addition, an AlGaN/GaN heterostructure with a flat heterointerface was prepared using this technique. Furthermore, the existence of a two dimensional electron gas at the heterointerface with a mobility of 1360 cm{sup 2}/Vs and a sheet carrier density of 1.3 × 10{sup 13} cm{sup −2} was confirmed. Finally, the use of the AlGaN/GaN heterostructure in a high electron mobility transistor was demonstrated. These results indicate that low-temperature growth via pulsed sputtering is quite promising for the fabrication of GaN-based electronic devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Investigation of kinetic inductance and microwave loss in thin-film TaC x N 1−x superconducting resonators

The promise of tantalum for realizing superconducting quantum devices has generated interest in its compound films, particularly nitrides. Among these, cubic-phase tantalum carbonitride (TaC x N 1−x ) offers reduced susceptibility to oxidation and a high critical temperature, yet its microwave properties remain largely unexplored. Here, in this study, we investigate plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition of cubic-phase TaC x N 1−x thin films for superconducting microwave circuits. Structural and transport measurements reveal nanocrystalline morphology with sub-10 nm grains and superconductivity in the dirty limit. Coplanar waveguide resonators exhibit moderately high kinetic inductance (16.8 pH/sq for 30 nm films) with potential for enhancement through dimensional scaling. The films also support high internal quality factors exceeding 10 5 at 50 mK in the single-photon regime, comparable to granular aluminum. Loss analysis identifies the two-level systems as the dominant limiting mechanism, with potential for further reduction through interface engineering. These results establish atomic layer deposited TaC x N 1−x as a promising material for scalable, low-loss, high-inductance superconducting circuits.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Ab initio phonon thermal transport in monolayer InSe, GaSe, GaS, and alloys

We compare vibrational properties and phonon thermal conductivities (κ) of monolayer InSe, GaSe and GaS systems using density functional theory and Peierls-Boltzmann transport methods. In going from InSe to GaSe to GaS, system mass decreases giving both increasing acoustic phonon velocities and decreasing scattering of these heat-carrying modes with optic phonons, ultimately giving κInSe< κGaSe< κGaS. This behavior is demonstrated by correlating the scattering phase space limited by fundamental conservation conditions with mode scattering rates and phonon dispersions for each material. We also show that, unlike flat monolayer systems such as graphene, thermal transport is governed by in-plane vibrations in InSe, GaSe and GaS, similar to buckled monolayer materials such as silicene. Alloying of InSe, GaSe and GaS systems provides an effective method for modulating their κ through intrinsic vibrational modifications and phonon scattering from mass disorder giving reductions ~2-3.5 times. This disorder also suppresses phonon mean free paths in the alloy systems compared to those in their crystalline counterparts. This work provides fundamental insights of lattice thermal transport from basic vibrational properties for an interesting set of two-dimensional materials.

Pandey, Tribhuwan (ORCID:0000000203737716)↗
DOE OSTI2023

Phase segregation and miscibility of TiO x nanocomposites in Gd-doped ceria solid electrolyte material

Electro-chemo-mechanical (ECM) coupling refers to mechanical deformation due to electrochemically driven compositional change in a solid. An ECM actuator producing micrometre-size displacements and long-term stability at room temperature was recently reported, comprising a 20 mol% Gd-doped ceria (20GDC), a solid electrolyte membrane, placed between two working bodies made of TiO x /20GDC (Ti-GDC) nanocomposites with Ti concentration of 38 mol%. The volumetric changes originating from oxidation or reduction in the local TiO x units are hypothesized to be the origin of mechanical deformation in the ECM actuator. Studying the Ti concentration-dependent structural changes in the Ti-GDC nanocomposites is therefore required for (i) understanding the mechanism of dimensional changes in the ECM actuator and (ii) maximizing the ECM response. Here, the systematic investigation of the local structure of the Ti and Ce ions in Ti-GDC over a broad range of Ti concentrations using synchrotron X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction is reported. The main finding is that, depending on the Ti concentration, Ti atoms either form a cerium titanate or segregate into a TiO 2 anatase-like phase. The transition region between these two regimes with Ti(IV) concentration between 19% and 57% contained strongly disordered TiO x units dispersed in 20GDC containing Ce(III) and Ce(IV) and hence rich with oxygen vacancies. As a result, this transition region is proposed to be the most advantageous for developing ECM-active materials.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2020

Efficient compressive and Bayesian characterization of biphoton frequency spectra

Frequency-bin qudits constitute a promising tool for quantum information processing, but their high dimensionality can make for tedious characterization measurements. Here we introduce and compare compressive sensing and Bayesian mean estimation for recovering the spectral correlations of entangled photon pairs. Using a conventional compressive sensing algorithm, we reconstruct joint spectra with up to a 26-fold reduction in measurement time compared to the equivalent raster scan. Applying a custom Bayesian model to the same data, we then additionally realize reliable and consistent quantification of uncertainty. Finally, these efficient methods of biphoton characterization should advance our ability to use the high degree of parallelism and complexity afforded by frequency-bin encoding.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS1977

Electron kinematics in a plasma focus

The results of numerical integrations of the three-dimensional relativistic equations of motion of electrons subject to given electric and magnetic fields are presented. Fields due to two different models are studied: (1) a circular distribution of current filaments, and (2) a uniform current distribution; both the collapse and the current reduction phases are studied in each model. Decreasing current in the uniform current model yields 100 keV electrons accelerated toward the anode and, as for earlier ion computations, provides general agreement with experimental results.

Hohl, F.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Error reduction program: A progress report

Five finite differences schemes were evaluated for minimum numerical diffusion in an effort to identify and incorporate the best error reduction scheme into a 3D combustor performance code. Based on this evaluated, two finite volume method schemes were selected for further study. Both the quadratic upstream differencing scheme (QUDS) and the bounded skew upstream differencing scheme two (BSUDS2) were coded into a two dimensional computer code and their accuracy and stability determined by running several test cases. It was found that BSUDS2 was more stable than QUDS. It was also found that the accuracy of both schemes is dependent on the angle that the streamline make with the mesh with QUDS being more accurate at smaller angles and BSUDS2 more accurate at larger angles. The BSUDS2 scheme was selected for extension into three dimensions.

Syed, S. A.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Exploiting symmetries in the modeling and analysis of tires

A simple and efficient computational strategy for reducing both the size of a tire model and the cost of the analysis of tires in the presence of symmetry-breaking conditions (unsymmetry in the tire material, geometry, or loading) is presented. The strategy is based on approximating the unsymmetric response of the tire with a linear combination of symmetric and antisymmetric global approximation vectors (or modes). Details are presented for the three main elements of the computational strategy, which include: use of special three-field mixed finite-element models, use of operator splitting, and substantial reduction in the number of degrees of freedom. The proposed computational stategy is applied to three quasi-symmetric problems of tires: linear analysis of anisotropic tires, through use of semianalytic finite elements, nonlinear analysis of anisotropic tires through use of two-dimensional shell finite elements, and nonlinear analysis of orthotropic tires subjected to unsymmetric loading. Three basic types of symmetry (and their combinations) exhibited by the tire response are identified.

Noor, Ahmed K.↗