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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

First Measurements of the Parity-Violating and Beam-Normal Single-Spin Asymmetries in Elastic Electron-Aluminum Scattering

The Q weak collaboration has made the first measurements of the elastic parity-violating and beam-normal single-spin asymmetries from the 27 Al nucleus. Both are the result of ancillary measurements conducted during the Q weak experiment at Jefferson Lab. The goal of the experimental was to determine the proton's weak charge, Q p W , via a measurement of the elastic parity-violating electron-proton scattering asymmetry. During the experiment, ancillary measurements were made with different beam configurations on a separate aluminum alloy target, in an effort to directly measure the aluminum background coming from the experiment's liquid hydrogen target cell. This dissertation discusses three primary results: the parity-violating 27 Al asymmetry analysis used to correct for the aluminum target background in the final Q weak analysis, its extended analysis leading to the extraction of the pure elastic parity-violating 27 Al asymmetry, and the determination of the elastic beam-normal single-spin 27 Al asymmetry. The parity-violating result was also used to make a semi model-independent determination of 27 Al neutron distribution radius, an important test for models used to describe neutron-rich matter. The beam-normal single-spin asymmetry stands to possibly shed light on an observed disagreement between theory and a previous measurement performed on 208 Pb, as 27 Al is the next highest atomic mass nucleus to have this observable measured. The elastic parity-violating 27 Al asymmetry was found to be 1.927 +/- 0.173 ppm at (Q 2 ) = 0.0236 +/- 0.0001 GeV 2 . This measured parity-violating asymmetry implies a 27 Al neutron distribution radius of 3.024 +/- 0.104 fm. Calculating the difference between this radius and the 27 Al proton distribution radius yields the neutron skin, which was found to be 0.092 +/- 0.104 fm. This skin value is consistent with zero, within its uncertainty, and it confirms the naive expectation for a light nucleus like 27 Al. The beam-normal single-spin 27 Al asymmetry was found to be -16.322 +/- 2.679 ppm at ⟨Q⟩ = 0.154 GeV. This value agrees with the previous observed trend of beam-normal single-spin asymmetries measured from light nuclei, which motivates the need for future measurements of higher atomic mass nuclei.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1973

Experimental studies of turbulent aircraft wake

Review of wind tunnel test data obtained for tip vortex studies on a square-tipped rectangular wing. The results include wing surface pressure distributions, three-dimensional velocity components in the wake, and principal vortex characteristics such as peak tangential velocity and core size distributions. The wind tunnel measurements are compared with flight test data. These comparisons show that the magnitudes of circumferential velocities, normalized by flight speed and lift coefficient, as well as the vortex core radius, normalized by wing span, are in close agreement. The data obtained make possible the calculation of turbulence stress distributions and the formulation of models for the prediction of downstream flow fields.

Chigier, N. A.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Investigation of Flux Spreading in a Light-Trapping, Planar-Cavity Receiver for Enclosed Solar Particle Heating

Concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) technology development has recently focused on increasing the operating temperatures to accommodate high efficiency power cycles and thermochemical processes. Inert solid particles as heat transfer media enable solar receivers to operate above 700 degrees Celsius resulting in increased system thermal efficiency compared to the conventional molten salt based CSP system. An open-cavity falling-particle solar receiver that can efficiently heat particles by direct heating from concentrated solar radiation faces challenges with large particle losses from wind and unable to support thermochemical reactions. A light-trapping, planar cavity reiver (LTPCR) where particles are indirectly heated can significantly minimize the particle losses during the operation, support thermochemical reactions, and offer scalability potential. The LTPCR features an array of vertical planar receiver/absorber panels arranged within a cavity configuration. Concentrated solar radiation from heliostats is focused onto the receiver walls, where heat is indirectly transferred to solid particles flowing inside the receiver channels. Heat transfer occurs through direct contact between the receiver panel walls and particles, and can be enhanced by fluidizing particles with air. This fluidization increases particle-wall contact and extends particle residence time, maximizing heat transfer efficiency. The unique vertical planar receiver structure originated from a near-blackbody tubular light absorber, effectively distributing the incoming solar beam spread across the panel walls and trapping light. This flux spreading effect, driven by cosine projection, converts high incident solar flux into a lower, more uniform heat flux on the panel walls. This redistribution enhances heat transfer efficiency between particle-wall or reaction gases-wall, while preventing localized overheating of the receiver panel. Indirect planar cavity solar receivers completely separate solid particles from the ambient environment that can greatly reduce the thermal losses in heated particles resulting in high efficiency at high temperatures above 700 degrees Celsius. This design ensures no particle losses to the environment during the operation while open-cavity designs can experience significant particle losses from wind. An experimental investigation was conducted to observe flux spreading on the receiver panel wall. A lab-scale prototype planar receiver, fabricated using Haynes 230 alloy, was tested under direct concentrated solar radiation using the high-flux solar furnace (HFSF) facility at NREL. The experiment was performed under normal peak radiative heat fluxes ranging from 800 to 1900 kW/m2. A temperature distribution on the panel wall was measured using a thermal imaging camera (FLIR A 6600). To prevent overheating at the receiver front tip, prism-shaped heat shields (Zircar UNIFROM C1) were placed in front of the receiver, and their influence on flux spreading was also studied. Absorbed flux distribution on the panel wall was modeled using SolTrace. The total solar power and flux distributions delivered from HFSF were determined based on the heliostat mirror optical properties, direct normal irradiance (DNI) on the on-sun testing days, peak flux measurement during the on-sun testing, and shutter/attenuator settings Due to the large incident angles of the solar beam on the panel wall, the angular optical properties of Haynes 230 alloy and Zircar heat shields were incorporated into the model. This flux distribution model was then integrated into a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to predict the receiver panel wall temperature, which was compared with the experimental measurements. Both prediction and measurements identified a temperature hotspot at the backside of the panel, indicating that the incident solar beam can fully reach to the rear of the receiver. The heat shields positioned at the front of the receiver effectively reduced the excessive temperature rise at the receiver front tip. Overall, the temperature was well distributed over the panel wall, with a minor hotspot at the back of the receiver. The model slightly overpredicted the temperature, possibly due to discrepancies in optical properties of the panel and an underprediction of thermal loss in the receiver. The advancement of the particle LTPCR offers a viable alternative to open-cavity receivers by addressing particle loss issues. Additionally, it presents a pathway for enabling solar thermochemical processes, extending CSP technology beyond power generation to fuel and chemical production.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS1994

Navier-Stokes Calculations for a Highly-Twisted Rotor Near Stall

The viscous flow field near the surface of a hovering rotor blade was studied for blade twist distributions typical of a till rotor blade and a conventional helicopter rotor blade. Three blade geometries were studied, including a tilt rotor blade twist distribution (baseline), conventional helicopter rotor blade twist distribution, and the baseline twist distribution with 2 deg of precone. The results give insight into the delayed stall phenomenon often observed for highly twisted rotors. Calculations were performed for a high thrust condition near stall using the thin-layer Navier-Stokes CFD code TURNS. Effects of built-in twist on section force coefficients, skin friction, velocities, surface pressures, and boundary layer shape factor are discussed. Although the rotor thrust coefficient was nominally the same for the cases using the two twist distributions, large differences were found in the section in-plane and normal force coefficients. These preliminary results imply that the blade outboard region, rather than the inboard region, provides the majority of the performance advantage of the baseline case over the low twist case. Skin friction, velocities near the blade, and surface pressures for the two twist distributions reveal significant differences in the blade outboard region.

Yamauchi, Gloria K.↗
DOE OSTI2015

High Penetration of Photovoltaic Generation Study – Flagstaff Community Power (Final Technical Report, Results of Phases 2-5)

APS’s renewable energy portfolio, driven in part by Arizona’s Renewable Energy Standard (RES) currently includes more than 1100 MW of installed capacity, equating to roughly 3000 GWh of annual production. Overall renewable production is expected to grow to 6000 GWh by 2025. It is expected that distributed photovoltaics, driven primarily by lower cost, will contribute to much of this growth and that by 2025, distributed installations will account for half of all renewable production (3000GHW). As solar penetration increases, additional analysis may be required for routine utility processes to ensure continued safe and reliable operation of the electric distribution network. Such processes include residential or commercial interconnection requests and load shifting during normal feeder operations. Circuits with existing high solar penetration will also have to be studied and results will need to be evaluated for adherence to utility practices or strategy. Increased distributed PV penetration may offer benefits such as load offsetting, but it also has the potential to adversely impact distribution system operation. These effects may be exacerbated by the rapid variability of PV production. Detailed effects of these phenomena in distributed PV applications continue to be studied. Comprehensive, high-resolution electrical models of the distribution system were developed to analyze the impacts of PV on distribution circuit protection systems (including coordination and anti-islanding), predict voltage regulation and phase balance issues, and develop volt/VAr control schemes. Modeling methods were refined by validating against field measurements. To augment the field measurements, methods were developed to synthesize high resolution load and PV generation data to facilitate quasi-static time series simulations. The models were then extended to explore boundary conditions for PV hosting capability of the feeder and to simulate common utility practices such as feeder reconfiguration. The modeling and analysis methodology was implemented using open source tools and a process was developed to aid utility engineers in future interconnection requests. Methods to increase PV hosting capacity were also explored during the course of the study. A 700kVA grid-supportive inverter was deployed on the feeder and each grid support mode was demonstrated. Energy storage was explored through simulation and models were developed to calculate the optimum size and placement needed to increase PV hosting capacity. A tool was developed to aid planners in assigning relative costs and benefits to various strategies for increasing PV hosting capacity beyond current levels. Following the completion of the project, APS intends to use the tools and methods to improve the framework of future PV integration on its system. The tools and methods are also expected to aid other utilities to accelerate distributed PV deployment.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
NASA NTRS2017

Creating a Bimodal Drop-Size Distribution in the NASA Glenn Icing Research Tunnel

The Icing Research Tunnel at NASA Glenn has demonstrated that they can create a drop-size distribution that matches the FAA Part 25 Appendix O FZDZ, MVD <40 microns normalized cumulative volume within 10%. This is done by simultaneously spraying the Standard and Mod1 nozzles at the same nozzle air pressure and different nozzle water pressures. It was also found through these tests that the distributions that are measured when the two nozzle sets are sprayed simultaneously closely matched what was found by combining the two individual distributions analytically. Additionally, distributions were compared between spraying all spraybars and also by spraying only every-other spraybar, and were found to match within 4%. The cloud liquid water content uniformity for this condition has been found to be excellent. It should be noted, however, that the liquid water content for this condition in the IRT is much higher than the requirement specified in Part 25 Appendix O.

bimodal distribution↗
DOE OSTI2017

On factors controlling precursor slip fronts in the laboratory and their relation to slow slip events in nature

Spatial variations in frictional properties on natural faults are believed to be a factor influencing the presence of slow slip events (SSEs). This effect was tested on a laboratory frictional interface between two polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) bodies. We studied the evolution of slip and slip rates that varied systematically based on the application of both high and low normal stress (σ 0 =0.8 or 0.4 MPa) and the far-field loading rate (V LP ). A spontaneous, frictional rupture expanded from the central, weaker, and more compliant section of the fault that had fewer asperities. Slow rupture propagated at speeds V slow ~0.8 to 26 mm s -1 with slip rates from 0.01 to 0.2 μm s -1 , resulting in stress drops around 100 kPa. During certain nucleation sequences, the fault experienced a partial stress drop, referred to as precursor detachment fronts in tribology. Only at the higher level of normal stress did these fronts exist, and the slip and slip rates mimicked the moment and moment release rates during the 2013–2014 Boso SSE in Japan. The laboratory detachment fronts showed rupture propagation speeds V slow /V R ϵ (5 to 172) × 10 -7 and stress drops ~ 100 kPa, which both scaled to the aforementioned SSE. Distributions of asperities, measured using a pressure sensitive film, increased in complexity with additional normal stress—an increase in normal stress caused added complexity by increasing both the mean size and standard deviation of asperity distributions, and this appeared to control the presence of the detachment front.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Raindrop Size Spectrum in Deep Convective Regions of the Americas

This study compared drop size distribution (DSD) measurements on the surfaces, the corresponding properties, and the precipitation modes among three deep convective regions within the Americas. The measurement compilation corresponded to two sites in the midlatitudes: the U.S. Southern Great Plains and Córdoba Province in subtropical South America, as well as to one site in the tropics: Manacapuru in central Amazonia; these are all areas where intense rain-producing systems contribute to the majority of rainfall in the Americas’ largest river basins. This compilation included two types of disdrometers (Parsivel and 2D-Video Disdrometer) that were used at the midlatitude sites and one type of disdrometer (Parsivel) that was deployed at the tropical site. The distributions of physical parameters (such as rain rate R, mass-weighted mean diameter D m , and normalized droplet concentration N w ) for the raindrop spectra without rainfall mode classification seemed similar, except for the much broader N w distributions in Córdoba. The raindrop spectra were then classified into a light precipitation mode and a precipitation mode by using a cutoff at 0.5 mm h -1 based on previous studies that characterized the full drop size spectra. These segregated rain modes are potentially unique relative to previously studied terrain-influenced sites. In the light precipitation and precipitation modes, the dominant higher frequency observed in a broad distribution of N w in both types of disdrometers and the identification of shallow light precipitation in vertically pointing cloud radar data represent unique characteristics of the Córdoba site relative to the others. As a result, the co-variability between the physical parameters of the DSD indicates that the precipitation observed in Córdoba may confound existing methods of determining the rain type by using the drop size distribution.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Engineering the radiative dynamics of thermalized excitons with metal interfaces

As a platform for optoelectronic devices based on exciton dynamics, monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are often placed near metal interfaces or inside planar cavities. While the radiative properties of point dipoles at metal interfaces has been studied extensively, those of excitons, which are delocalized and exhibit a temperature-dependent momentum distribution, lack a thorough treatment. Here, we analyze the emission properties of excitons in TMDCs near planar metal interfaces and explore their dependence on exciton center-of-mass momentum, transition dipole orientation, and temperature. Defining a characteristic energy scale k B T c = ($\hbar k$) 2 /2m (k being the radiative wavevector and m the exciton mass), we find that at temperatures T $\gg$ T c and low densities where the momentum distribution can be characterized by Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, the modified emission rates (normalized to free space) behave similarly to point dipoles. This similarity in behavior arises due to the broad nature of wavevector components making up the exciton and point dipole emission. On the other hand, the narrow momentum distribution of excitons for T < T c can result in significantly different emission behavior as compared to point dipoles. These differences can be further amplified by considering excitons with a Bose Einstein distribution at high phase space densities, such as in a condensate phase. We find suppression or enhancement of emission relative to the point dipole case by several orders of magnitude. These insights can help optimize the performance of optoelectronic devices that incorporate 2D semiconductors near metal electrodes and can inform future studies of exciton radiative dynamics at low temperatures. Additionally, these studies show that nanoscale optical cavities are a viable pathway to generating long-lifetime exciton states in TMDCs.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2017

Uncertainty analysis of trade-offs between multiple responses using hypervolume

When multiple responses are considered in process optimization, the degree to which they can be simultaneously optimized depends on the optimization objectives and the amount of trade-offs between the responses. The normalized hypervolume of the Pareto front is a useful summary to quantify the amount of trade-offs required to balance performance across the multiple responses. In order to quantify the impact of uncertainty of the estimated response surfaces and add realism to what future data to expect, 2 versions of the scaled normalized hypervolume of the Pareto front are presented. To demonstrate the variation of the hypervolume distributions, we explore a case study for a chemical process involving 3 responses, each with a different type of optimization goal. Our results show that the global normalized hypervolume characterizes the proximity to the ideal results possible, while the instance-specific summary considers the richness of the front and the severity of trade-offs between alternatives. Furthermore, the 2 scaling schemes complement each other and highlight different features of the Pareto front and hence are useful to quantify what solutions are possible for simultaneous optimization of multiple responses.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Barium isotopic composition of mainstream silicon carbides from Murchison: Constraints for s-process nucleosynthesis in asymptotic giant branch stars

We present barium, carbon, and silicon isotopic compositions of 38 acid-cleaned presolar SiC grains from Murchison. Comparison with previous data shows that acid washing is highly effective in removing barium contamination. Strong depletions in δ({sup 138}Ba/{sup 136}Ba) values are found, down to –400‰, which can only be modeled with a flatter {sup 13}C profile within the {sup 13}C pocket than is normally used. The dependence of δ({sup 138}Ba/{sup 136}Ba) predictions on the distribution of {sup 13}C within the pocket in asymptotic giant branch (AGB) models allows us to probe the {sup 13}C profile within the {sup 13}C pocket and the pocket mass in AGB stars. In addition, we provide constraints on the {sup 22}Ne(α, n){sup 25}Mg rate in the stellar temperature regime relevant to AGB stars, based on δ({sup 134}Ba/{sup 136}Ba) values of mainstream grains. We found two nominally mainstream grains with strongly negative δ({sup 134}Ba/{sup 136}Ba) values that cannot be explained by any of the current AGB model calculations. Instead, such negative values are consistent with the intermediate neutron capture process (i process), which is activated by the very late thermal pulse during the post-AGB phase and characterized by a neutron density much higher than the s process. These two grains may have condensed around post-AGB stars. Finally, we report abundances of two p-process isotopes, {sup 130}Ba and {sup 132}Ba, in single SiC grains. These isotopes are destroyed in the s process in AGB stars. By comparing their abundances with respect to that of {sup 135}Ba, we conclude that there is no measurable decay of {sup 135}Cs (t {sub 1/2} = 2.3 Ma) to {sup 135}Ba in individual SiC grains, indicating condensation of barium, but not cesium into SiC grains before {sup 135}Cs decayed.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1996

Effect of Full-Chord Porosity on Aerodynamic Characteristics of the NACA 0012 Airfoil

A test was conducted on a model of the NACA 0012 airfoil section with a solid upper surface or a porous upper surface with a cavity beneath for passive venting. The purposes of the test were to investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of an airfoil with full-chord porosity and to assess the ability of porosity to provide a multipoint or self-adaptive design. The tests were conducted in the Langley 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel over a Mach number range from 0.50 to 0.82 at chord Reynolds numbers of 2 x 10(exp 6), 4 x 10(exp 6), and 6 x 10(exp 6). The angle of attack was varied from -1 deg to 6 deg. At the lower Mach numbers, porosity leads to a dependence of the drag on the normal force. At subcritical conditions, porosity tends to flatten the pressure distribution, which reduces the suction peak near the leading edge and increases the suction over the middle of the chord. At supercritical conditions, the compression region on the porous upper surface is spread over a longer portion of the chord. In all cases, the pressure coefficient in the cavity beneath the porous surface is fairly constant with a very small increase over the rear portion. For the porous upper surface, the trailing edge pressure coefficients exhibit a creep at the lower section normal force coefficients, which suggests that the boundary layer on the rear portion of the airfoil is significantly thickening with increasing normal force coefficient.

Mineck, Raymond E.↗
NASA NTRS1991

Maintaining consistency in distributed systems

In systems designed as assemblies of independently developed components, concurrent access to data or data structures normally arises within individual programs, and is controlled using mutual exclusion constructs, such as semaphores and monitors. Where data is persistent and/or sets of operation are related to one another, transactions or linearizability may be more appropriate. Systems that incorporate cooperative styles of distributed execution often replicate or distribute data within groups of components. In these cases, group oriented consistency properties must be maintained, and tools based on the virtual synchrony execution model greatly simplify the task confronting an application developer. All three styles of distributed computing are likely to be seen in future systems - often, within the same application. This leads us to propose an integrated approach that permits applications that use virtual synchrony with concurrent objects that respect a linearizability constraint, and vice versa. Transactional subsystems are treated as a special case of linearizability.

Birman, Kenneth P.↗
DOE OSTI2020

The Sizes of z ∼ 9−10 Galaxies Identified in the Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) Survey

Redshift z = 9–10 object selection is the effective limit of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) imaging capability, even when confirmed with Spitzer. If only a few photometry data points are available, it becomes attractive to add criteria based on their morphology in these J- and H-band images. One could do so through visual inspection, a size criterion, or alternate morphometrics. We explore a vetted sample of Brightest of Reionizing Galaxies (BoRG) z ∼ 9 and z ∼ 10 candidate galaxies and the object rejected by Morishita+ to explore the utility of a size criterion in z = 9–10 candidate selection. A stringent, point-spread function (PSF)-corrected effective radius criterion ([[Formula]]) would result in the rejection of 65%–70% of the interlopers visually rejected by Morishita et al. It may also remove up to ∼20% of bona fide brightest (L≫L{sup ∗}) z = 9 or 10 candidates from a BoRG selected sample based on the Mason et al. luminosity functions, assuming the Holwerda et al. z∼9 size–luminosity relation. We argue that including a size constraint in lieu of a visual inspection may serve in wide-field searches for these objects in, e.g., Euclid or HST archival imaging with the understanding that some brightest (L≫L{sup ∗}) candidates may be missed. The sizes of the candidates found by Morishita et al. follow the expected size distribution of z ∼ 9 for bright galaxies, consistent with the log normal in Shibuya et al. and single objects. Two candidates show high star formation surface density (Σ{sub SFR}>25M{sub ⊙} kpc{sup −2}) and all merit further investigation and follow-up observations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Dose variations caused by setup errors in intracranial stereotactic radiotherapy: A PRESAGE study

Stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) requires tight margins around the tumor, thus producing a steep dose gradient between the tumor and the surrounding healthy tissue. Any setup errors might become clinically significant. To date, no study has been performed to evaluate the dosimetric variations caused by setup errors with a 3-dimensional dosimeter, the PRESAGE. This research aimed to evaluate the potential effect that setup errors have on the dose distribution of intracranial SRT. Computed tomography (CT) simulation of a CIRS radiosurgery head phantom was performed with 1.25-mm slice thickness. An ideal treatment plan was generated using Brainlab iPlan. A PRESAGE was made for every treatment with and without errors. A prescan using the optical CT scanner was carried out. Before treatment, the phantom was imaged using Brainlab ExacTrac. Actual radiotherapy treatments with and without errors were carried out with the Novalis treatment machine. Postscan was performed with an optical CT scanner to analyze the dose irradiation. The dose variation between treatments with and without errors was determined using a 3-dimensional gamma analysis. Errors are clinically insignificant when the passing ratio of the gamma analysis is 95% and above. Errors were clinically significant when the setup errors exceeded a 0.7-mm translation and a 0.5° rotation. The results showed that a 3-mm translation shift in the superior-inferior (SI), right-left (RL), and anterior-posterior (AP) directions and 2° couch rotation produced a passing ratio of 53.1%. Translational and rotational errors of 1.5 mm and 1°, respectively, generated a passing ratio of 62.2%. Translation shift of 0.7 mm in the directions of SI, RL, and AP and a 0.5° couch rotation produced a passing ratio of 96.2%. Preventing the occurrences of setup errors in intracranial SRT treatment is extremely important as errors greater than 0.7 mm and 0.5° alter the dose distribution. The geometrical displacements affect dose delivery to the tumor and the surrounding normal tissues.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2013

Plasmoid instability in high-Lundquist-number magnetic reconnection

Our understanding of magnetic reconnection in resistive magnetohydrodynamics has gone through a fundamental change in recent years. The conventional wisdom is that magnetic reconnection mediated by resistivity is slow in laminar high Lundquist (S) plasmas, constrained by the scaling of the reconnection rate predicted by Sweet-Parker theory. However, recent studies have shown that when S exceeds a critical value ∼10{sup 4}, the Sweet-Parker current sheet is unstable to a super-Alfvénic plasmoid instability, with a linear growth rate that scales as S{sup 1/4}. In the fully developed statistical steady state of two-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations, the normalized average reconnection rate is approximately 0.01, nearly independent of S, and the distribution function f(ψ) of plasmoid magnetic flux ψ follows a power law f(ψ)∼ψ{sup −1}. When Hall effects are included, the plasmoid instability may trigger onset of Hall reconnection even when the conventional criterion for onset is not satisfied. The rich variety of possible reconnection dynamics is organized in the framework of a phase diagram.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

Fourier decomposition of polymer orientation in large-amplitude oscillatory shear flow

In our previous work, we explored the dynamics of a dilute suspension of rigid dumbbells as a model for polymeric liquids in large-amplitude oscillatory shear flow, a flow experiment that has gained a significant following in recent years. We chose rigid dumbbells since these are the simplest molecular model to give higher harmonics in the components of the stress response. We derived the expression for the dumbbell orientation distribution, and then we used this function to calculate the shear stress response, and normal stress difference responses in large-amplitude oscillatory shear flow. In this paper, we deepen our understanding of the polymer motion underlying large-amplitude oscillatory shear flow by decomposing the orientation distribution function into its first five Fourier components (the zeroth, first, second, third, and fourth harmonics). We use three-dimensional images to explore each harmonic of the polymer motion. Our analysis includes the three most important cases: (i) nonlinear steady shear flow (where the Deborah number λω is zero and the Weissenberg number λγ 0 is above unity), (ii) nonlinear viscoelasticity (where both λω and λγ 0 exceed unity), and (iii) linear viscoelasticity (where λω exceeds unity and where λγ 0 approaches zero). We learn that the polymer orientation distribution is spherical in the linear viscoelastic regime, and otherwise tilted and peanut-shaped. We find that the peanut-shaping is mainly caused by the zeroth harmonic, and the tilting, by the second. The first, third, and fourth harmonics of the orientation distribution make only slight contributions to the overall polymer motion.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2015

Characterization of material ablation driven by laser generated intense extreme ultraviolet light

We present a comparative study on the hydrodynamic behaviour of plasmas generated by material ablation by the irradiation of nanosecond extreme ultraviolet (EUV or XUV) or infrared laser pulses on solid samples. It was clarified that the difference in the photon energy deposition and following material heating mechanism between these two lights result in the difference in the plasma parameters and plasma expansion characteristics. Silicon plate was ablated by either focused intense EUV pulse (λ = 9–25 nm, 10 ns) or laser pulse (λ = 1064 nm, 10 ns), both with an intensity of ∼10{sup 9 }W/cm{sup 2}. Both the angular distributions and energy spectra of the expanding ions revealed that the photoionized plasma generated by the EUV light differs significantly from that produced by the laser. The laser-generated plasma undergoes spherical expansion, whereas the EUV-generated plasma undergoes planar expansion in a comparatively narrow angular range. It is presumed that the EUV radiation is transmitted through the expanding plasma and directly photoionizes the samples in the solid phase, consequently forming a high-density and high-pressure plasma. Due to a steep pressure gradient along the direction of the target normal, the EUV plasma expands straightforward resulting in the narrower angular distribution observed.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗