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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 1,567 records · Page 87
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

Applications of data mining technology to enhance O and M: automatic planning of electrical isolation with deep learning - 255

Data mining technology is now readily available, thanks to high powered, low cost computing resource and useful coding tools. We study several applications of data mining to enhance operation and maintenance (O and M), such as abnormality prediction, efficiency diagnosis, document traceability, image recognition, etc. In field support, we try automatic planning of electrical isolation with deep learning. Currently, a skilled engineer plans electrical isolation procedure with hundreds of the circuit diagrams and the related documents, taking man-hours. If this task becomes automatic, it is very efficient. The automatic planning has two issues. One is much calculation time of electrical circuit simulator, searching billions of electrical conducting paths. The other is interpretation of human fuzzy information, such as ease of work. Deep learning is helpful to resolve them. We performed a model case study of the electrical isolation. We applied a deep neural network (DNN) for dropping in the calculation time. We trained the circuit diagrams and the responses of the circuit simulator to the DNN, constructing an efficient path search algorithm in the DNN. The calculation time of the DNN was shorter by a factor of 32 for the model case, compared with that of the electrical circuit simulator. We applied a deep Q-network (DQN) for the interpretation of fuzzy information. The DQN optimized isolation procedure from the viewpoint of the work load with the equipment layout, related doses, and values of wet bulb globe temperature (WBGT) to prevent heatstroke. (authors)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Calculation of the transverse kicks generated by the bends of a hollow electron lens

Electron lenses are pulsed, magnetically confined electron beams whose current-density profile is shaped to obtain the desired effect on the circulating beam in high-energy accelerators. They were used in the Fermilab Tevatron collider for abort-gap clearing, beam-beam compensation, and halo scraping. A beam-beam compensation scheme based upon electron lenses is currently being implemented in the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider at Brookhaven National Laboratory. This work is in support of a conceptual design of hollow electron beam scraper for the Large Hadron Collider. It also applies to the implementation of nonlinear integrable optics with electron lenses in the Integrable Optics Test Accelerator at Fermilab. We consider the axial asymmetries of the electron beam caused by the bends that are used to inject electrons into the interaction region and to extract them. A distribution of electron macroparticles is deposited on a discrete grid enclosed in a conducting pipe. The electrostatic potential and electric fields are calculated using numerical Poisson solvers. The kicks experienced by the circulating beam are estimated by integrating the electric fields over straight trajectories. These kicks are also provided in the form of interpolated analytical symplectic maps for numerical tracking simulations, which are needed to estimate the effects of the electron lens imperfections on proton lifetimes, emittance growth, and dynamic aperture. We outline a general procedure to calculate the magnitude of the transverse proton kicks, which can then be generalized, if needed, to include further refinements such as the space-charge evolution of the electron beam, magnetic fields generated by the electron current, and longitudinal proton dynamics.

Stancari, Giulio↗
DOE OSTI2016

AN ASSESSMENT OF SUNSPOT NUMBER DATA COMPOSITES OVER 1845–2014

New sunspot data composites, some of which are radically different in the character of their long-term variation, are evaluated over the interval 1845–2014. The method commonly used to calibrate historic sunspot data, relative to modern-day data, is “daisy-chaining,” whereby calibration is passed from one data subset to the neighboring one, usually using regressions of the data subsets for the intervals of their overlap. Recent studies have illustrated serious pitfalls in these regressions, and the resulting errors can be compounded by their repeated use as the data sequence is extended back in time. Hence, the recent composite data series by Usoskin et al., R {sub UEA}, is a very important advance because it avoids regressions, daisy-chaining, and other common, but invalid, assumptions: this is achieved by comparing the statistics of “active-day” fractions to those for a single reference data set. We study six sunspot data series, including R {sub UEA} and the new “backbone” data series ( R {sub BB}, recently generated by Svalgaard and Schatten by employing both regression and daisy-chaining). We show that all six can be used with a continuity model to reproduce the main features of the open solar flux variation for 1845–2014, as reconstructed from geomagnetic activity data. However, some differences can be identified that are consistent with tests using a basket of other proxies for solar magnetic fields. Using data from a variety of sunspot observers, we illustrate problems with the method employed in generating R {sub BB} that cause it to increasingly overestimate sunspot numbers going back in time, and we recommend using R {sub UEA} because it employs more robust procedures that avoid such problems.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1972

Recent results on the mass, gravitational field and moments of inertia of the moon.

Use of Doppler tracking data from the Lunar Orbiter series of spacecraft in an analysis of the spherical harmonic coefficients of the lunar gravitational field through thirteenth degree and order. The value obtained for the mass of the moon, GM = 4902.84 cu km/sec/sec, is in good agreement with previous results and with results obtained by alternate procedures. Acceleration contour plots, derived from the gravitational coefficients, show correlations with surface features on the near side of the moon, but are of questionable validity for the far side because of the lack of direct tracking data on the far side. Based on the most recent gravitational field data, the current estimate for the polar moment of inertia of the moon is C/Ma squared = 0.4019 super + 0.004 sub - 0.002. This value indicates that the interior of the moon can be homogeneous, but some results presented strongly suggest that the moon is differentiated, with an excess of mass in the direction toward the earth.

Michael, W. H., Jr.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Application of spherical near-field measurements to microwave holographic diagnosis of antennas

Microwave diagnosis of antennas is considered as a viable tool for the determination of reflector surface distortions and location of defective radiating elements of array antennas. A hybrid technique based on the combination of the spherical near-field measurements and holographic metrology reconstruction is presented. The measured spherical near-field data are first used to construct the far-field amplitude and phase patterns of the antenna on specified regularized u-nu coordinates. These data are then utilized in the surface profile reconstruction of the holographic technique using a fast-Fourier-transform (FFT)/iterative approach. Results of an experiment using a 156-cm reflector antenna measured at 11.3 GHz are presented for both the original antenna and the antenna with four attached bumps. Several contour and gray-scaled plots are presented for the reconstructed surface profiles of the measured antennas. The recovery effectiveness of the attached bumps has been demonstrated. The hybrid procedure presented is used to assess the achieved accuracy of the holographic reconstruction technique because of its ability to determine very accurate far-field amplitude and phase data from the spherical near-field measurements.

Rahmat-Samii, Yahya↗
NASA NTRS1994

Calibration of HST wide field camera for quantitative analysis of faint galaxy images

We present the methods adopted to optimize the calibration of images obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) Wide Field Camera (WFC) (1991-1993). Our main goal is to improve quantitative measurement of faint images, with special emphasis on the faint (I approximately 20-24 mag) stars and galaxies observed as a part of the Medium-Deep Survey. Several modifications to the standard calibration procedures have been introduced, including improved bias and dark images, and a new supersky flatfield obtained by combining a large number of relatively object-free Medium-Deep Survey exposures of random fields. The supersky flat has a pixel-to-pixel rms error of about 2.0% in F555W and of 2.4% in F785LP; large-scale variations are smaller than 1% rms. Overall, our modifications improve the quality of faint images with respect to the standard calibration by about a factor of five in photometric accuracy and about 0.3 mag in sensitivity, corresponding to about a factor of two in observing time. The relevant calibration images have been made available to the scientific community.

Ratnatunga, Kavan U.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Correlation of Thermally Induced Pores with Microstructural Features Using High Energy X-rays

Combined application of a near-field High Energy Diffraction Microscopy measurement of crystal lattice orientation fields and a tomographic measurement of pore distributions in a sintered nickel-based superalloy sample allows pore locations to be correlated with microstructural features. Furthermore, measurements were carried out at the Advanced Photon Source beamline 1-ID using an X-ray energy of 65 keV for each of the measurement modes. The nickel superalloy sample was prepared in such a way as to generate significant thermally induced porosity. A three-dimensionally resolved orientation map is directly overlaid with the tomographically determined pore map through a careful registration procedure. The data are shown to reliably reproduce the expected correlations between specific microstructural features (triple lines and quadruple nodes) and pore positions. With the statistics afforded by the 3D data set, we conclude that within statistical limits, pore formation does not depend on the relative orientations of the grains. The experimental procedures and analysis tools illustrated are being applied to a variety of materials problems in which local heterogeneities can affect materials properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1979

Leading-edge slat optimization for maximum airfoil lift

A numerical procedure for determining the position (horizontal location, vertical location, and deflection) of a leading edge slat that maximizes the lift of multielement airfoils is presented. The structure of the flow field is calculated by iteratively coupling potential flow and boundary layer analysis. This aerodynamic calculation is combined with a constrained function minimization analysis to determine the position of a leading edge slat so that the suction peak on the nose of the main airfoil is minized. The slat position is constrained by the numerical procedure to ensure an attached boundary layer on the upper surface of the slat and to ensure negligible interaction between the slat wake and the boundary layer on the upper surface of the main airfoil. The highest angle attack at which this optimized slat position can maintain attached flow on the main airfoil defines the optimum slat position for maximum lift. The design method is demonstrated for an airfoil equipped with a leading-edge slat and a trailing edge, single-slotted flap. The theoretical results are compared with experimental data, obtained in the Ames 40 by 80 Foot Wind Tunnel, to verify experimentally the predicted slat position for maximum lift. The experimentally optimized slat position is in good agreement with the theoretical prediction, indicating that the theoretical procedure is a feasible design method.

Olson, L. E.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Effect of cleaning procedures on the electrical properties of carbon nanotube transistors—A statistical study

The interface between a carbon nanotube (CNT) and its environment can dramatically affect the electrical properties of CNT-based field-effect transistors (FETs). For such devices, the channel environment plays a significant role inducing doping or charge traps giving rise to hysteresis in the transistor characteristics. Thereby the fabrication process strongly determines the extent of those effects and the final device performance. In CNT-based devices obtained from dispersions, a proper individualization of the nanotubes is mandatory. This is generally realized by an ultrasonic treatment combined with surfactant molecules, which enwrap nanotubes forming micelle aggregates. To minimize impact on device performance, it is of vital importance to consider post-deposition treatments for removal of surfactant molecules and other impurities. In this context, we investigated the effect of several wet chemical cleaning and thermal post treatments on the electrical characteristics as well as physical properties of more than 600 devices fabricated only by wafer-level compatible technologies. We observed that nitric acid and water treatments improved the maximum-current of devices. Additionally, we found that the ethanol treatment successfully lowered hysteresis in the transfer characteristics. The effect of the chemical cleaning procedures was found to be more significant on CNT-metal contacts than for the FET channels. Moreover, we investigated the effect of an additional thermal cleaning step under vacuum after the chemical cleaning, which had an exceptional impact on the hysteresis behavior including hysteresis reversal. The presence of surfactant molecules on CNT was evidenced by X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies. By identifying the role of surfactant molecules and assessing the enhancement of device performance as a direct consequence of several cleaning procedures, these results are important for the development of CNT-based electronics at the wafer-level.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2019

Simultaneous scanning near-field optical and X-ray diffraction microscopy for correlative nanoscale structure-property characterization

A multimodal imaging instrument has been developed that integrates scanning near-field optical microscopy with nanofocused synchrotron X-ray diffraction imaging. The instrument allows for the simultaneous nanoscale characterization of electronic/near-field optical properties of materials together with their crystallographic structure, facilitating the investigation of local structure–property relationships. The design, implementation and operating procedures of this instrument are reported. The scientific capabilities are demonstrated in a proof-of-principle study of the insulator–metal phase transition in samarium sulfide (SmS) single crystals induced by applying mechanical pressure via a scanning tip. The multimodal imaging of an in situ tip-written region shows that the near-field optical reflectivity can be correlated with the heterogeneously transformed structure of the near-surface region of the crystal.

insulator–metal transitions↗
NASA NTRS1961

A Preliminary Study of V/STOL Transport Aircraft and Bibliography of NASA Research in the VTOL-STOL Field

This group of papers was prepared by the staff of the Langley Research Center to assist in planning for future commercial air-transport facilities in the New York metropolitan area. Areas of particular interest were predictions regarding the types of V/STOL aircraft that are likely to be developed for various commercial transport applications, estimates of the performance and probable operating procedures for such aircraft, and the approximate dates these aircraft could be available for use. Although the NASA has made no comprehensive studies of this type, the extensive research program in the VTOL-STOL field during the last 10 years appeared to provide a source for some of the desired information . The five papers included herein were therefore prepared to summarize pertinent available material in a form suitable for the intended use. In several instances, new studies and analysis were required to provide the necessary information, but because of a time deadline, many of the significant points received only a cursory examination. For example, much of the quantitative data used in the papers for making generalized comparisons was obtained by approximate methods and is not considered appropriate for use in applications where precise estimates are required. It should be recognized, then, that the treatment of the V/STOL transport provided by this group of papers is necessarily of a preliminary nature.

Source record↗
DOE OSTI2022

The Effect of Geometry, Spin, and Orbital Optimization in Achieving Accurate, Correlated Results for Iron–Sulfur Cubanes

Iron–sulfur clusters comprise an important functional motif in the catalytic centers of biological systems, capable of enabling important chemical transformations at ambient conditions. This remarkable capability derives from a notoriously complex electronic structure that is characterized by a high density of states that is sensitive to geometric changes. The spectral sensitivity to subtle geometric changes has received little attention from correlated, large active space calculations, owing partly to the exceptional computational complexity for treating these large and correlated systems accurately. Here, to provide insight into this aspect, we report the first Complete Active Space Self Consistent Field (CASSCF) calculations for different geometries of the [Fe(II/III) 4 S 4 (SMe) 4 ] -2 clusters using two complementary, correlated solvers: spin-pure Adaptive Sampling Configuration Interaction (ASCI) and Density Matrix Renormalization Group (DMRG). We find that the previously established picture of a double-exchange driven magnetic structure, with minute energy gaps (<1 mHa) between consecutive spin states, has a weak dependence on the underlying geometry. However, the spin gap between the singlet and the spin state 2S + 1 = 19, corresponding to a maximal number of Fe-d electrons being unpaired and of parallel spin, is strongly geometry dependent, changing by a factor of 3 upon slight deformations that are still within biologically relevant parameters. The CASSCF orbital optimization procedure, using active spaces as large as 86 electrons in 52 orbitals, was found to reduce this gap compared to typical mean-field orbital approaches. Our results show the need for performing large active space calculations to unveil the challenging electronic structure of these complex catalytic centers and should serve as accurate starting points for fully correlated treatments upon inclusion of dynamical correlation outside the active space.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Electrical Manipulation of Topological Phases in a Quantum Anomalous Hall Insulator

Quantum anomalous Hall phases arising from the inverted band topology in magnetically doped topological insulators have emerged as an important subject of research for quantization at zero magnetic fields. Though necessary for practical implementation, sophisticated electrical control of molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown quantum anomalous Hall matter have been stymied by growth and fabrication challenges. Here, in this study, a novel procedure is demonstrated, employing a combination of thin-film deposition and 2D material stacking techniques, to create dual-gated devices of the MBE-grown quantum anomalous Hall insulator, Cr-doped (Bi,Sb) 2 Te 3 . In these devices, orthogonal control over the field-induced charge density and the electric displacement field is demonstrated. A thorough examination of material responses to tuning along each control axis is presented, realizing magnetic property control along the former and a novel capability to manipulate the surface exchange gap along the latter. Through electrically addressing the exchange gap, the capabilities to either strengthen the quantum anomalous Hall state or suppress it entirely and drive a topological phase transition to a trivial state are demonstrated. The experimental result is explained using first principle theoretical calculations, and establishes a practical route for in situ control of quantum anomalous Hall states and topology.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2013

Rapid quantification of sequence repeats to resolve the size, structure and contents of bacterial genomes

Background: The numerous classes of repeats often impede the assembly of genome sequences from the short reads provided by new sequencing technologies. We demonstrate a simple and rapid means to ascertain the repeat structure and total size of a bacterial or archaeal genome without the need for assembly by directly analyzing the abundances of distinct k-mers among reads. Results: The sensitivity of this procedure to resolve variation within a bacterial species is demonstrated: genome sizes and repeat structure of five environmental strains of E. coli from short Illumina reads were estimated by this method, and total genome sizes corresponded well with those obtained for the same strains by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. In addition, this approach was applied to read-sets for completed genomes and shown to be accurate over a wide range of microbial genome sizes. Conclusions: Application of these procedures, based solely on k-mer abundances in short read data sets, allows aspects of genome structure to be resolved that are not apparent from conventional short read assemblies. This knowledge of the repetitive content of genomes provides insights into genome evolution and diversity.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Feynman formulae and phase space Feynman path integrals for tau-quantization of some Lévy-Khintchine type Hamilton functions

Evolution semigroups generated by pseudo-differential operators are considered. These operators are obtained by different (parameterized by a number τ) procedures of quantization from a certain class of functions (or symbols) defined on the phase space. This class contains Hamilton functions of particles with variable mass in magnetic and potential fields and more general symbols given by the Lévy-Khintchine formula. The considered semigroups are represented as limits of n-fold iterated integrals when n tends to infinity. Such representations are called Feynman formulae. Some of these representations are constructed with the help of another pseudo-differential operator, obtained by the same procedure of quantization; such representations are called Hamiltonian Feynman formulae. Some representations are based on integral operators with elementary kernels; these are called Lagrangian Feynman formulae. Langrangian Feynman formulae provide approximations of evolution semigroups, suitable for direct computations and numerical modeling of the corresponding dynamics. Hamiltonian Feynman formulae allow to represent the considered semigroups by means of Feynman path integrals. In the article, a family of phase space Feynman pseudomeasures corresponding to different procedures of quantization is introduced. The considered evolution semigroups are represented as phase space Feynman path integrals with respect to these Feynman pseudomeasures, i.e., different quantizations correspond to Feynman path integrals with the same integrand but with respect to different pseudomeasures. This answers Berezin’s problem of distinguishing a procedure of quantization on the language of Feynman path integrals. Moreover, the obtained Lagrangian Feynman formulae allow also to calculate these phase space Feynman path integrals and to connect them with some functional integrals with respect to probability measures.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2013

Experimental evaluation of actual delivered dose using mega-voltage cone-beam CT and direct point dose measurement

Radiation therapy in patients is planned by using computed tomography (CT) images acquired before start of the treatment course. Here, tumor shrinkage or weight loss or both, which are common during the treatment course for patients with head-and-neck (H and N) cancer, causes unexpected differences from the plan, as well as dose uncertainty with the daily positional error of patients. For accurate clinical evaluation, it is essential to identify these anatomical changes and daily positional errors, as well as consequent dosimetric changes. To evaluate the actual delivered dose, the authors proposed direct dose measurement and dose calculation with mega-voltage cone-beam CT (MVCBCT). The purpose of the present study was to experimentally evaluate dose calculation by MVCBCT. Furthermore, actual delivered dose was evaluated directly with accurate phantom setup. Because MVCBCT has CT-number variation, even when the analyzed object has a uniform density, a specific and simple CT-number correction method was developed and applied for the H and N site of a RANDO phantom. Dose distributions were calculated with the corrected MVCBCT images of a cylindrical polymethyl methacrylate phantom. Treatment processes from planning to beam delivery were performed for the H and N site of the RANDO phantom. The image-guided radiation therapy procedure was utilized for the phantom setup to improve measurement reliability. The calculated dose in the RANDO phantom was compared to the measured dose obtained by metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor detectors. In the polymethyl methacrylate phantom, the calculated and measured doses agreed within about +3%. In the RANDO phantom, the dose difference was less than +5%. The calculated dose based on simulation-CT agreed with the measured dose within±3%, even in the region with a high dose gradient. The actual delivered dose was successfully determined by dose calculation with MVCBCT, and the point dose measurement with the image-guided radiation therapy procedure.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Low Ohmic contact resistance and high on/off ratio in transition metal dichalcogenides field-effect transistors via residue-free transfer

Beyond-silicon technology demands ultrahigh performance field-effect transistors. Transition metal dichalcogenides provide an ideal material platform, but the device performances such as the contact resistance, on/off ratio and mobility are often limited by the presence of interfacial residues caused by transfer procedures. Here, we show an ideal residue-free transfer approach using polypropylene carbonate with a negligible residue coverage of ~0.08% for monolayer MoS 2 at the centimetre scale. By incorporating a bismuth semimetal contact with an atomically clean monolayer MoS 2 field-effect transistor on hexagonal boron nitride substrate, we obtain an ultralow Ohmic contact resistance of ~78 Ω µm, approaching the quantum limit, and a record-high on/off ratio of ~10 11 at 15 K. Further, such an ultra-clean fabrication approach could be the ideal platform for high-performance electrical devices using large-area semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2025

A Computational Procedure for Assessing I$_{c}(\varepsilon$) in Nb$_{3}$Sn/Bi-2212 Hybrid Magnets

The critical current of superconductors is commonly measured by testing unloaded wires under an external magnetic field. While stressed by intense Lorentz forces, the existing HTS/LTS superconductors are prone to a reduction in critical current before reaching their structural mechanical limit. Here, in this work, the magnetic and mechanical analysis of the FNAL 4-layer Bi-2212/Nb$_{3}$Sn hybrid dipole magnet is reported, aimed at predicting the critical current degradation for both the superconductors during powering at 16T. All the Rutherford cables in the coils of the hybrid magnet were modeled at the strand level in Ansys APDL with the heterogeneous cable model. Utilizing this detailed geometry, it was possible to evaluate the effects of strain on the critical current degradation for both the Nb$_{3}$Sn and Bi-2212 superconductors under the intense Lorentz forces. The analysis presented in this paper integrates strain-dependent critical current laws, with parameters derived from experimental data, to simulate the hybrid magnet's performance for all possible current-powering configurations. The proposed methodology enables a detailed assessment of conductor integrity and I$_{C}(\varepsilon$) reduction in existing hybrid magnet designs, providing a versatile and rigorous framework for optimizing future high-field hybrid magnets.

D'Agliano, A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Laborato↗