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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 1,531 records · Page 85
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

A hybrid full-wave Markov chain approach to calculating radio-frequency wave scattering from scrape-off layer filaments

The interaction of radio-frequency (RF) waves with edge turbulence modifies the incident wave spectrum, and can significantly affect RF heating and current drive in tokamaks. Previous lower hybrid (LH) scattering models have either used the weak-turbulence approximation, or treated more realistic, filamentary turbulence in the ray tracing limit. In this study, a new model is introduced which retains full-wave effects of RF scattering in filamentary turbulence. First, a Mie-scattering technique models the interaction of an incident wave with a single Gaussian filament. Next, an effective differential scattering width is derived for a statistical ensemble of filaments. Lastly, a Markov chain solves for the transmitted wave spectrum in slab geometry. This model is applied to LH launching for current drive. The resulting wave spectrum is asymmetrically broadened in angular wavenumber space. This asymmetry is not accounted for in previous LH scattering models. The modified wave spectrum is coupled to a ray tracing/Fokker–Planck solver (GENRAY/CQL3D) to study its impact on current drive. The resulting current profile is greatly altered, and there is significant increase in the on-axis current and decrease in the off-axis peaks. This is attributed to a portion of the modified wave spectrum that is strongly dampened on-axis during the first pass.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1994

Computer simulation of Alfven waves and double layers along auroral magnetic field lines

A plasma simulation has been developed to model interactions between inertial Alfven waves and double layers and to investigate their relative contributions at auroral particle acceleration. We use a novel one-dimensional particle-in-cell code, with periodic boundary conditions, to model the nonlinear excitation of current-driven weak double layers via free energy supplied by an inertial Alfven wave. Analysis of the simulation output shows that double layers are not the agent primarily responsible for electron acceleration. Rather, the inertial Alfven wave accelerates groups of electrons into a steepening beam as it encounters them. As the beam electrons reenter the main distribution, decelerated by anomalous resistive effects, they are replaced by electrons farther downstream. Hence, the particles do not free-stream over the length of the channel. Furthermore, this wave action persists even when the system is linearly stable to ion-acoustic modes, precluding the possibility that this behavior is brought about by the formation of ion-acoustic double layers.

Silberstein, M.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Observational and theoretical studies of the evolving structure of baroclinic waves: Attractor dynamics of global weather systems

Significant progress was made in developing a six-component dry model of mid-latitude baroclinic wave evolution, and a ten-component moist model. These models include representations of airflow over mountians and non-adiabatic processes. As a first step, the properties of a reduced, three component, baroclinic system are studied. The classical baroclinic stability criteria emerge as the properties of one of the three equilibria admitted, with the remaining two equilibria forming the attractor region for the observed weather activity. Passive tracer evolution in a baroclinic wave was studied. A model in which only constituents trapped within low atmospheric levels are considered, has been extended to include the possibility for fluxes into the upper levels of the atmosphere. The reported results for the lower levels achieved previously are shown to be qualitatively similar to those obtained by these new calculations in which the vertical flux constraint is removed. An extensive study of an 8-year record of global outgoing longwave radiation for the Northern Hemisphere reveals that blocking events exhibit only a weak signature of blocking highs, as measured by relatively low values of the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean value of the observed long wave outgoing radiation. Though present in many cases, the signature is not a strongly distinctive feature of the blocking episodes.

Saltzman, B.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Numerical Modeling & Optimization of the iProTech Pitching Inertial Pump (PIP) Wave Energy Converter (WEC) (CRADA Final Report)

This project represents a continuation of the collaboration between iProTech and NLR to simulate, optimize and design the iProTech Pitching Inertial Pump (PIP) device. The objectives of this TEAMER project are twofold: 1. Refining the physical characteristics of the existing iProTech PIP WEC-Sim model to enhance the model’s fidelity and include controllable components. Key model enhancements target the inclusion of Coulomb friction, the introduction of a controllable bypass valve, and the replacement of traditional check valves with advanced motorized ones. 2. Exploring traditional and advanced control algorithms. From traditional methods like latching control to cutting-edge reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms, the goal is to ensure the PIP device's adaptability and optimal performance across a range of ocean conditions. NLR is tasked with augmenting the WEC-Sim model and implementing the control algorithms, culminating in performance comparison analyses. iProTech will update their existing 3D models, advise on model improvements, and determine crucial system metrics. WEC-Sim, developed in MATLAB/SIMULINK with Simscape Multibody, is the main piece of software that will be used in this project. Coupled with the MATLAB RL Toolbox, it offers a robust platform for in-depth simulation and optimization of the iProTech PIP device. Building on previous work to explore the PIP design space and optimize its geometry, mass distribution, center of gravity and other key parameters, this project aims to refine iProTech’s existing numerical models and develop effective control algorithms that can seamlessly integrate into their future hardware testing campaigns.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
NASA NTRS1991

Near field interaction of microwave signals with a bounded plasma plume

The objective was to study the effect of the arcjet thruster plume on the performance of an onboard satellite reflector antenna. A project summary is presented along with sections on plasma and electromagnetic modeling. The plasma modeling section includes the following topics: wave propagation; plasma analysis; plume electron density model; and the proposed experimental program. The section on electromagnetic modeling includes new developments in ray modeling and the validation of three dimensional ray results.

Ling, Hao↗
NASA NTRS2003

Concepts and Development of Bio-Inspired Distributed Embedded Wired/Wireless Sensor Array Architectures for Acoustic Wave Sensing in Integrated Aerospace Vehicles

This paper discusses the modeling of acoustic emissions in plate structures and their sensing by embedded or surface bonded piezoelectric sensor arrays. Three different modeling efforts for acoustic emission (AE) wave generation and propagation are discussed briefly along with their advantages and disadvantages. Continuous sensors placed at right angles on a plate are being discussed as a new approach to measure and locate the source of acoustic waves. Evolutionary novel signal processing algorithms and bio-inspired distributed sensor array systems are used on large structures and integrated aerospace vehicles for AE source localization and preliminary results are presented. These systems allow for a great reduction in the amount of data that needs to be processed and also reduce the chances of false alarms from ambient noises. It is envisioned that these biomimetic sensor arrays and signal processing techniques will be useful for both wireless and wired sensor arrays for real time health monitoring of large integrated aerospace vehicles and earth fixed civil structures. The sensor array architectures can also be used with other types of sensors and for other applications.

Ghoshal, Anindya↗
DOE OSTI2023

Mechanism for fluctuating pair density wave

Abstract In weakly coupled BCS superconductors, only electrons within a tiny energy window around the Fermi energy, E F , form Cooper pairs. This may not be the case in strong coupling superconductors such as cuprates, FeSe, SrTiO 3 or cold atom condensates where the pairing scale, E B , becomes comparable or even larger than E F . In cuprates, for example, a plausible candidate for the pseudogap state at low doping is a fluctuating pair density wave, but no microscopic model has yet been found which supports such a state. In this work, we write an analytically solvable model to examine pairing phases in the strongly coupled regime and in the presence of anisotropic interactions. Already for moderate coupling we find an unusual finite temperature phase, below an instability temperature T i , where local pair correlations have non-zero center-of-mass momentum but lack long-range order. At low temperature, this fluctuating pair density wave can condense either to a uniform d -wave superconductor or the widely postulated pair-density wave phase depending on the interaction strength. Our minimal model offers a unified framework to understand the emergence of both fluctuating and long range pair density waves in realistic systems.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Strongly nonlinear wave propagation in elasto-plastic metamaterials: Low-order dynamic modeling

Nonlinear elastic metamaterials are known to support a variety of dynamic phenomena that enhance our capacity to manipulate elastic waves. Since these properties stem from complex, subwavelength geometry, full-scale dynamic simulations are often prohibitively expensive at scales of interest. Prior studies have therefore utilized low-order effective medium models, such as discrete mass-spring lattices, to capture essential properties in the long-wavelength limit. While models of this type have been successfully implemented for a wide variety of nonlinear elastic systems, they have predominantly considered dynamics depending only on the instantaneous kinematics of the lattice, neglecting history-dependent effects, such as wear and plasticity. Here, to address this limitation, the present study develops a lattice-based modeling framework for nonlinear elastic metamaterials undergoing plastic deformation. Due to the history- and rate-dependent nature of plasticity, the framework generally yields a system of differential-algebraic equations whose computational cost is significantly greater than an elastic system of comparable size. We demonstrate the method using several models inspired by classical lattice dynamics and continuum plasticity theory and explore means to obtain empirical plasticity models for general geometries, thereby gaining insight into the influence of microstructural plasticity on effective material performance, which can be used to improve the design of nonlinear mechanical metamaterials.

Dynamic simulation↗
DOE OSTI2021

Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves Accelerated (MASWAccelerated): Software for efficient surface wave inversion using MPI and GPUs

Multichannel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW) is a technique frequently used in geotechnical engineering and engineering geophysics to infer 1D layered models of seismic shear wave velocities in the top tens to hundreds of meters of the subsurface. We aim to accelerate MASW calculations by capitalizing on modern computer hardware available in the workstations of most engineers: multiple cores and graphics processing units (GPUs). We propose new parallel and GPU accelerated algorithms for computing 1D MASW inversion, and provide software implementations in C using Message Passing Interface (MPI) and CUDA. These algorithms take advantage of sparsity that arises in the problem, and the work balance between processes considers typical data trends. We compare our methods to an existing open source Matlab MASW tool. Our serial C implementation achieves a 2x speedup over the Matlab software, and we continue to see improvements by parallelizing the problem with MPI. Here we see nearly perfect strong and weak scaling for uniform data, and improve strong scaling for realistic data by repartitioning the problem to process mapping. By utilizing GPUs available on most modern workstations, we observe an additional 1.3x speedup over the serial C implementation on the first use of the method. We typically repeatedly evaluate theoretical dispersion curves as part of an optimization procedure, and on the GPU the kernel can be cached for faster reuse on later runs. We observe a 3.2x speedup on the cached GPU runs compared to the serial C runs. This work is the first open-source parallel or GPU-accelerated software tool for MASW imaging, and should enable geotechnical engineers to fully utilize all computer hardware at their disposal.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Nonequilibrium sub-10 nm spin-wave soliton formation in FePt nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles such as FePt in the L1 0 phase are the bedrock of our current data storage technology. As the grains become smaller to keep up with technological demands, the superparamagnetic limit calls for materials with higher magnetocrystalline anisotropy. This, in turn, reduces the magnetic exchange length to just a few nanometers, enabling magnetic structures to be induced within the nanoparticles. Here, we describe the existence of spin-wave solitons, dynamic localized bound states of spin-wave excitations, in FePt nanoparticles. We show with time-resolved x-ray diffraction and micromagnetic modeling that spin-wave solitons of sub–10 nm sizes form out of the demagnetized state following femtosecond laser excitation. The measured soliton spin precession frequency of 0.1 THz positions this system as a platform to develop novel miniature devices.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2026

The Hydraulic and Electric Reverse Osmosis Wave Energy Converter (HERO WEC)

The Hydraulic and Electric Reverse Osmosis Wave Energy Converter (HERO WEC) is a 6-ft wave energy device that turns seawater into drinking water. It is designed for rapid deployment in disaster response scenarios where fresh water is limited. Featuring both hydraulic and electric power takeoff systems, HERO WEC has undergone two ocean deployments at Jennette's Pier on the Outer Banks of North Carolina in addition to extensive in-lab testing. The research provides practical insights into the real-world challenges of wave energy conversion beyond modeling and dry-lab environments. Attendees will develop an understanding of the practical considerations for deploying wave energy devices and the lessons learned from real-world HERO WEC deployments.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗
NASA NTRS2012

A Review of Low Frequency Electromagnetic Wave Phenomena Related to Tropospheric-Ionospheric Coupling Mechanisms

Investigation of coupling mechanisms between the troposphere and the ionosphere requires a multidisciplinary approach involving several branches of atmospheric sciences, from meteorology, atmospheric chemistry, and fulminology to aeronomy, plasma physics, and space weather. In this work, we review low frequency electromagnetic wave propagation in the Earth-ionosphere cavity from a troposphere-ionosphere coupling perspective. We discuss electromagnetic wave generation, propagation, and resonance phenomena, considering atmospheric, ionospheric and magnetospheric sources, from lightning and transient luminous events at low altitude to Alfven waves and particle precipitation related to solar and magnetospheric processes. We review in situ ionospheric processes as well as surface and space weather phenomena that drive troposphere-ionosphere dynamics. Effects of aerosols, water vapor distribution, thermodynamic parameters, and cloud charge separation and electrification processes on atmospheric electricity and electromagnetic waves are reviewed. We also briefly revisit ionospheric irregularities such as spread-F and explosive spread-F, sporadic-E, traveling ionospheric disturbances, Trimpi effect, and hiss and plasma turbulence. Regarding the role of the lower boundary of the cavity, we review transient surface phenomena, including seismic activity, earthquakes, volcanic processes and dust electrification. The role of surface and atmospheric gravity waves in ionospheric dynamics is also briefly addressed. We summarize analytical and numerical tools and techniques to model low frequency electromagnetic wave propagation and solving inverse problems and summarize in a final section a few challenging subjects that are important for a better understanding of tropospheric-ionospheric coupling mechanisms.

Simoes, Fernando↗
NASA NTRS1981

A shock wave approach to the noise of supersonic propellers

To model propeller noise expected for a turboprop aircraft, the pressure ratio across the shock at the propeller tip was calculated and compared with noise data from three propellers. At helical tip Mach numbers over 1.0, using only the tip shock wave, the model gave a fairly good prediction of the noise for a bladed propeller and for a propeller swept for aerodynamic purposes. However for another propeller, which was highly swept and designed to have noise cancellations from the inboard propeller sections, the shock strength from the tip over predicted the noise. In general the good agreement indicates that shock theory is a viable method for predicting the noise from these supersonic propellers but that the shock strengths from all of the blade sections need to be properly included.

Dittmar, J. H.↗
NASA NTRS1993

On reflection of Alfven waves in the solar wind

We have revisited the problem of propagation of toroidal and linear Alfven waves formulated by Heinemann and Olbert (1980) to compare WKB and non-WKB waves and their effects on the solar wind. They considered two solar wind models and showed that reflection is important for Alfven waves with periods of the order of one day and longer, and that non-WKB Alfven waves are no more effective in accelerating the solar wind than WKB waves. There are several recently published papers which seem to indicate that Alfven waves with periods of the order of several minutes should be treated as non-WKB waves and that these non-WKB waves exert a stronger acceleration force than WKB waves. The purpose of this paper is to study the origin of these discrepancies by performing parametric studies of the behavior of the waves under a variety of different conditions. In addition, we want to investigate two problems that have not been addressed by Heinemann and Olbert, namely, calculate the efficiency of Alfven wave reflection by using the reflection coefficient and identify the region of strongest wave reflection in different wind models. To achieve these goals, we investigated the influence of temperature, electron density distribution, wind velocity and magnetic field strength on the waves. The obtained results clearly demonstrate that Alfven wave reflection is strongly model dependent and that the strongest reflection can be expected in models with the base temperatures higher than 10(exp 6) K and with the base densities lower than 7 x 10(exp 7) cm(exp -3). In these models as well as in the models with lower temperatures and higher densities, Alfven waves with periods as short as several minutes have negligible reflection so that they can be treated as WKB waves; however, for Alfven waves with periods of the order of one hour or longer reflection is significant, requiring a non-WKB treatment. We also show that non-WKB, linear Alfven waves are always less effective in accelerating the plasma than WKB Alfven waves. Finally, it is evident from our results that the region of strongest wave reflection is usually located at the base of the models, and hence that interpretation of wave reflection based solely on the reflection coefficient can be misleading.

Krogulec, M.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Reflection of Alfven waves in the solar wind

We have revisited the problem of propagation of toroidal and linear Alfven waves formulated by Heinemann and Olbert (1980) to compare Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin (WKB) and non-WKB waves and their effects on the solar wind. They considered two solar wind models and showed that reflection is important for Alfven waves with periods of the order of one day and longer and that non-WKB Alfven waves are no more effective in accelerating the solar wind than in WKB waves. There are several recently published papers that seem to indicate that Alfven waves with periods of the order of several minutes should be treated as non-WKB waves and that these non-WKB waves exert a stronger acceleration force than WKB waves. The purposse of this paper is to study the origin of these discrepancies by performing parametric studies of the behavior of the waves under a variety of different conditions. In addition, we want to investigate two problems that have not been addressed by Heinimann and Olbert, namely, calculate the efficieny of Alfven wave reflection by using the reflection coefficient and identfy the region of strongest wave reflection in different wind models. To achieve these goals, we investigate the influence of temperature, electron desity distribution, wind velocity, and magnetic field strength on te waves. The obtained results clearly demonstrate that Alfven wave reflection is strongly model dependent and that the strongest reflection can be expected in models with the base temperatures higher than 10(exp 6) K and with the base densities lower than 7 x 10(exp 7)/cu cm. In these models as well as in the models with lower temperatures and higher densities Alfven waves with periods as short as several minutes have negligible reflection so that they can be treated as WKB waves; however, for Alfven waves with periods of the order of one hour or longer reflection is significant, requiring a non-WKB treatment. We also show that non-WKB, linear Alfven waves are always less effective in accelerating the plasma than WKB Alfven waves. Finally, it is evident from our results that the region of strongest wave reflection is usually located at the base of the models and hence that interpretation of wave reflection based soley on the reflection coefficient can be misleading.

Krogulec, M.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ionization wave propagation in a He plasma jet in a controlled gas environment

Characterizing ionization wave propagation in low temperature plasma jets is critical to predicting production of reactive species and plasma–surface interactions for biomedical applications and surface functionalization. In this work, results from optical emission and laser induced fluorescence measurements of the ionization wave in a He plasma jet operating in a controlled gas environment are discussed and used for comparison with numerical modeling. Additionally, the ionization wave was observed using ICCD (Intensified Charge Coupled Device) imaging and characterized by time and spatially resolved electron density measurements using laser-collision-induced fluorescence. The plasma jet was initially characterized using pure He (nominally at 200 Torr), while varying pressure and voltage. When operating in pure He, the ionization wave broadly expands exiting the plasma tube. Increasing the operating pressure reduces the speed and isotropic expansion of the ionization wave. Furthermore, the jet operated with a humid He shroud was also studied. The humid He shroud results in the electron density increasing and having an annular profile due to the lower ionization potential of H2O compared to He and localized photoionization in the mixing region. Numerical modeling highlighted the importance of resonance radiation emitted by excited states of He, photoelectron emission from the quartz tube, and the kinetic behavior of the electrons produced by photoionization ahead of the ionization front.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2006

Simulating Responses of Gravitational-Wave Instrumentation

Synthetic LISA is a computer program for simulating the responses of the instrumentation of the NASA/ESA Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) mission, the purpose of which is to detect and study gravitational waves. Synthetic LISA generates synthetic time series of the LISA fundamental noises, as filtered through all the time-delay-interferometry (TDI) observables. (TDI is a method of canceling phase noise in temporally varying unequal-arm interferometers.) Synthetic LISA provides a streamlined module to compute the TDI responses to gravitational waves, according to a full model of TDI (including the motion of the LISA array and the temporal and directional dependence of the arm lengths). Synthetic LISA is written in the C++ programming language as a modular package that accommodates the addition of code for specific gravitational wave sources or for new noise models. In addition, time series for waves and noises can be easily loaded from disk storage or electronic memory. The package includes a Python-language interface for easy, interactive steering and scripting. Through Python, Synthetic LISA can read and write data files in Flexible Image Transport System (FITS), which is a commonly used astronomical data format.

Armstrong, John↗
NASA NTRS2000

Long-Term Global Morphology of Gravity Wave Activity Using UARS Data

Gravity waves in satellite data from CRISTA and MLS are studied in depth this quarter. Results this quarter are somewhat limited due to the PI'S heavy involvement throughout this reporting period in on-site forecasting of mountain wave-induced turbulence for the NASA's ER-2 research aircraft at Kiruna, Sweden during the SAGE Ill Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE). Results reported concentrate on further mesoscale modeling studies of mountain waves over the southern Andes, evident in CRISTA and MLS data. Two-dimensional mesoscale model simulations are extended through generalization of model equations to include both rotation and a first-order turbulence closure scheme. Results of three experiments are analyzed in depth and submitted for publication. We also commence simulations with a three-dimensional mesoscale model (MM5) and present preliminary results for the CRISTA 1 period near southern South America. Combination of ground-based temperature data at 87 km from two sites with global HRDl data was continued this quarter, showing stationary planetary wave structures. This work was also submitted for publication.

Eckermann, Stephen D.↗