Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “THICKNESS”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 163 records · Page 9
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

SU-D-206-06: Task-Specific Optimization of Scintillator Thickness for CMOS-Detector Based Cone-Beam Breast CT

Purpose: To optimize the cesium iodide (CsI:Tl) scintillator thickness in a complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS)-based detector for use in dedicated cone-beam breast CT. Methods: The imaging task considered was the detection of a microcalcification cluster comprising six 220µm diameter calcium carbonate spheres, arranged in the form of a regular pentagon with 2 mm spacing on its sides and a central calcification, similar to that in ACR-recommended mammography accreditation phantom, at a mean glandular dose of 4.5 mGy. Generalized parallel-cascades based linear systems analysis was used to determine Fourier-domain image quality metrics in reconstructed object space, from which the detectability index inclusive of anatomical noise was determined for a non-prewhitening numerical observer. For 300 projections over 2π, magnification-associated focal-spot blur, Monte Carlo derived x-ray scatter, K-fluorescent emission and reabsorption within CsI:Tl, CsI:Tl quantum efficiency and optical blur, fiberoptic plate transmission efficiency and blur, CMOS quantum efficiency, pixel aperture function and additive noise, and filtered back-projection to isotropic 105µm voxel pitch with bilinear interpolation were modeled. Imaging geometry of a clinical prototype breast CT system, a 60 kV Cu/Al filtered x-ray spectrum from 0.3 mm focal spot incident on a 14 cm diameter semi-ellipsoidal breast were used to determine the detectability index for 300–600 µm thick (75µm increments) CsI:Tl. The CsI:Tl thickness that maximized the detectability index was considered optimal. Results: The limiting resolution (10% modulation transfer function, MTF) progressively decreased with increasing CsI:Tl thickness. The zero-frequency detective quantum efficiency, DQE(0), in projection space increased with increasing CsI:Tl thickness. The maximum detectability index was achieved with 525µm thick CsI:Tl scintillator. Reduced MTF at mid-to-high frequencies for 600µm thick CsI:Tl lowered the detectability index than 525µm CsI:Tl. Conclusion: For the x-ray spectrum and imaging conditions considered, a 525µm thick CsI:Tl scintillator integrated with the CMOS detector is optimal for detecting microcalcification cluster. Funding support: Supported in part by NIH R01 CA195512. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not reflect the official views of the NIH or the NCI. Disclosures: SV, GV and AK - Research collaboration, Koning Corp., West Henrietta, NY.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

Monte Carlo Simulation of Electron Interactions in an MeV-STEM for Thick Frozen Biological Sample Imaging

A variety of volume electron microscopy techniques have been developed to visualize thick biological samples. However, the resolution is limited by the sliced section thickness (>30–60 nm). To preserve biological samples in a hydrated state, cryo-focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy has been developed, providing nm resolutions. However, this method is time-consuming, requiring 15–20 h to image a 10 μm thick sample with an 8 nm slice thickness. There is a pressing need for a method that allows the rapid and efficient study of thick biological samples while maintaining nanoscale resolution. The remarkable ability of mega-electron-volt (MeV) electrons to penetrate thick biological samples, even exceeding 10 μm in thickness, while maintaining nanoscale resolution, positions MeV-STEM as a suitable microscopy tool for such applications. Our research delves into understanding the interactions between MeV electrons and frozen biological specimens through Monte Carlo simulations. Single elastic scattering, plural elastic scattering, single inelastic scattering, and plural inelastic scattering events have been simulated. The electron trajectories, the beam profile, and the intensity change of electrons in each category have been investigated. Additionally, the effects of the detector collection angle and the focal position of the electron beam were investigated. As electrons penetrated deeper into the specimen, single and plural elastic scattered electrons diminished, and plural inelastic scattered electrons became dominant, and the beam profile became wider. Even after 10 μm of the specimen, 42% of the MeV electrons were collected within 10 mrad. This confirms that MeV-STEM can be employed to study thick biological samples.

electron specimen interaction↗
DOE OSTI2018

Thickness-independent capacitance of vertically aligned liquid-crystalline MXenes

The scalable and sustainable manufacture of thick electrode films with high energy and power densities is critical for the large-scale storage of electrochemical energy for application in transportation and stationary electric grids. Two-dimensional nanomaterials have become the predominant choice of electrode material in the pursuit of high energy and power densities owing to their large surface-area-to-volume ratios and lack of solid-state diffusion. However, traditional electrode fabrication methods often lead to restacking of two-dimensional nanomaterials, which limits ion transport in thick films and results in systems in which the electrochemical performance is highly dependent on the thickness of the film. Strategies for facilitating ion transport—such as increasing the interlayer spacing by intercalation or introducing film porosity by designing nanoarchitectures—result in materials with low volumetric energy storage as well as complex and lengthy ion transport paths that impede performance at high charge–discharge rates. Vertical alignment of two-dimensional flakes enables directional ion transport that can lead to thickness-independent electrochemical performances in thick films. However, so far only limited success has been reported, and the mitigation of performance losses remains a major challenge when working with films of two-dimensional nanomaterials with thicknesses that are near to or exceed the industrial standard of 100 micrometres. Here we demonstrate electrochemical energy storage that is independent of film thickness for vertically aligned two-dimensional titanium carbide (Ti 3 C 2 T x ), a material from the MXene family (two-dimensional carbides and nitrides of transition metals (M), where X stands for carbon or nitrogen). The vertical alignment was achieved by mechanical shearing of a discotic lamellar liquid-crystal phase of Ti 3 C 2 T x . The resulting electrode films show excellent performance that is nearly independent of film thickness up to 200 micrometres, which makes them highly attractive for energy storage applications. In conclusion, the self-assembly approach presented here is scalable and can be extended to other systems that involve directional transport, such as catalysis and filtration.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Morphology control enables thickness-insensitive efficient nonfullerene polymer solar cells

Owing to the use of cost-effective materials and excellent stability, nonfullerene polymer solar cells (PSCs) have great potential for realizing large-area industrial production. In contrast to fullerene-based devices, non-fullerene PSCs have exhibited a superior photovoltaic performance with up to 12% efficiency and long-term thermal stability. Presently, one of the major factors hindering industrial production is the high sensitivity of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) to thickness variations, which can significantly affect the manufacturing yields and production costs of roll-to-roll processing. Specifically, the device fill factors and PCEs of many high-efficiency nonfullerene PSCs show a significant loss when the thickness of the active layer is over 100 nm. In order to achieve high output capabilities earlier, there is an urgent need to find a processing method to fabricate high-efficiency thick-film nonfullerene PSCs. Controlling the morphology and performance sensitivity in thick-film non-fullerene devices is a great challenge in the field. In this paper, we present a simple morphology optimization method via thermal annealing to fabricate highly efficient thickness-insensitive non-fullerene PSCs. After this treatment, PBDB-T/IT-M-based nonfullerene PSCs can afford an impressive PCE of up to ~9.4% at an active layer thickness of 250 nm. In addition, the devices with an active layer thickness of 400 nm still maintain a high efficiency close to 9%. The photovoltaic properties and morphology parameters resolved from hard and soft X-ray scattering clearly indicate that thermal annealing plays a key role in improving the film thickness insensitivity for non-fullerene PSCs.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2022

Realizing crack-free high-aluminum-mole-fraction AlGaN on patterned GaN beyond the critical layer thickness

Wide-bandgap III-nitride heterostructures are required for a variety of device applications. However, this alloy system has a large lattice constant and thermal expansion coefficient mismatch that limits the alloy composition and layer thickness for many heteroepitaxial device structures. Consequently, various methods have been devised to allow the heteroepitaxial growth of AlInGaN heterostructures to accommodate this inherent strain. In this work, we describe a non-planar-growth approach that enables the deposition of crack-free high-Al-mole-fraction Al x Ga 1-x N on patterned GaN/sapphire templates and bulk GaN substrates with large-area mesas. We have studied the effects of the patterned mesa width, the mesa etch depth, and the gap between the mesas on the heteroepitaxy of Al x Ga 1-x N superlattices with an average Al molar fraction 0.11 < x¯ < 0.21 and non-planar overgrowth growth thicknesses up to 3.5 μm. Similar to the planar growth approach, increasing the thickness and Al mole fraction of the Al x Ga 1-x N superlattices leads to surface cracking when exceeding the critical layer thickness. However, limiting the mesa dimension in one direction enables strain mitigation and drastically increases the critical layer thickness. Additionally, larger etch depths of the mesas increase the Al alloy composition and thickness for crack-free AlGaN heteroepitaxy whereas the gap in between the mesas seems to have no crucial influence. We demonstrate that the Al alloy composition and layer thicknesses of such heterostructures can be increased far beyond the critical layer thickness for planar growth and demonstrate the growth of a crack-free full AlxGa 1-x N/GaN quantum-well laser heterostructure designed for operation at ~370 nm.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dependence of thick filament structure in relaxed mammalian skeletal muscle on temperature and interfilament spacing

Contraction of skeletal muscle is regulated by structural changes in both actin-containing thin filaments and myosin-containing thick filaments, but myosin-based regulation is unlikely to be preserved after thick filament isolation, and its structural basis remains poorly characterized. Here, we describe the periodic features of the thick filament structure in situ by high-resolution small-angle x-ray diffraction and interference. We used both relaxed demembranated fibers and resting intact muscle preparations to assess whether thick filament regulation is preserved in demembranated fibers, which have been widely used for previous studies. We show that the thick filaments in both preparations exhibit two closely spaced axial periodicities, 43.1 nm and 45.5 nm, at near-physiological temperature. The shorter periodicity matches that of the myosin helix, and x-ray interference between the two arrays of myosin in the bipolar filament shows that all zones of the filament follow this periodicity. The 45.5-nm repeat has no helical component and originates from myosin layers closer to the filament midpoint associated with the titin super-repeat in that region. Cooling relaxed or resting muscle, which partially mimics the effects of calcium activation on thick filament structure, disrupts the helical order of the myosin motors, and they move out from the filament backbone. Compression of the filament lattice of demembranated fibers by 5% Dextran, which restores interfilament spacing to that in intact muscle, stabilizes the higher-temperature structure. The axial periodicity of the filament backbone increases on cooling, but in lattice-compressed fibers the periodicity of the myosin heads does not follow the extension of the backbone. Thick filament structure in lattice-compressed demembranated fibers at near-physiological temperature is similar to that in intact resting muscle, suggesting that the native structure of the thick filament is largely preserved after demembranation in these conditions, although not in the conditions used for most previous studies with this preparation.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2024

EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATION OF THEORETICAL BURST STRENGTH SOLUTION FOR DEFECT-FREE THICK-WALLED PIPES

The burst pressure of line pipes is an important strength property required in pipeline design and integrity management. Historically, the Barlow formula in conjunction with the ultimate tensile stress (UTS) of pipeline steels were utilized to estimate the burst strength of line pipes. However, the Barlow formula did not consider the plastic flow effect for ductile steels and is applicable only to thin-walled pipes. In 2006, the present author proposed a new multiaxial plastic yield theory and obtained a theoretical Zhu-Leis solution of burst strength for defect-free thin-walled pipes in term of UTS and strain hardening exponent n of pipeline steels. The Zhu-Leis solution has been validated by various burst test data for thin-walled pipelines for a wide range of steel grades from Grade B to X120. Recently, the present author extended the Zhu-Leis theory of plasticity to thick-walled pipes and obtained the Zhu-Leis solution of burst pressure for thick-walled pipes. The proposed burst pressure solution is applicable to both thin and thick-walled pipes. To experimentally validate the proposed theoretical burst pressure solution, this paper obtains a set of burst test data for three thick-walled pipes in Grade B carbon steel with a nominal diameter of 2.375 inches and three nominal wall thicknesses, resulting in D/t = 15.4, 10.9, 6.9. Through comparisons, these burst data validate the theoretical burst pressure solution for thick-walled pipes. Moreover, two additional burst test datasets collected from literature for thin and thick-walled pipes further validate the proposed burst pressure solution for both thin and thick-walled pipes.

Zhu, Xiankui↗
DOE OSTI2016

A new population of compton-thick AGNs identified using the spectral curvature above 10 keV

We present a new metric that uses the spectral curvature (SC) above 10 keV to identify Compton-thick active galactic nuclei (AGNs) in low-quality Swift/Burst Alert Telescope (BAT) X-ray data. Using NuSTAR, we observe nine high SC-selected AGNs. We find that high-sensitivity spectra show that the majority are Compton-thick (78% or 7/9) and the remaining two are nearly Compton-thick (N {sub H} ≃ (5–8) × 10{sup 23} cm{sup −2} ). We find that the SC{sub BAT} and SC{sub NuSTAR} measurements are consistent, suggesting that this technique can be applied to future telescopes. We tested the SC method on well-known Compton-thick AGNs and found that it is much more effective than broadband ratios (e.g., 100% using SC versus 20% using 8–24 keV/3–8 keV). Our results suggest that using the >10 keV emission may be the only way to identify this population since only two sources show Compton-thick levels of excess in the Balmer decrement corrected [O iii] to observed X-ray emission ratio (F{sub [OIII]}/F{sub 2--10 keV}{sup obs}>1) and WISE colors do not identify most of them as AGNs. Based on this small sample, we find that a higher fraction of these AGNs are in the final merger stage (<10 kpc) than typical BAT AGNs. Additionally, these nine obscured AGNs have, on average, ≈4× higher accretion rates than other BAT-detected AGNs (〈λ{sub Edd}〉 = 0.068±0.023 compared to 〈λ{sub Edd}〉 = 0.016±0.004). The robustness of SC at identifying Compton-thick AGNs implies that a higher fraction of nearby AGNs may be Compton-thick (≈22%) and the sum of black hole growth in Compton-thick AGNs (Eddington ratio times population percentage) is nearly as large as mildly obscured and unobscured AGNs.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1981

Freshwater ice thickness observations using passive microwave sensors

Walden Reservoir, a freshwater lake in north-central Colorado, was overflown six times by a NASA C-130 aircraft between January 1977 and April 1980. The aircraft was equipped with four microwave radiometers operating between 0.81 and 6.0 cm in wavelength (37.0 to 5.0 GHz). The 6.0-cm radiometer data showed a good relationship with ice thickness based on a sample of four ice thickness values. The 1.67- and 1.35-cm radiometer data showed weaker relationships with ice thickness. The 0.81-cm sensor data showed no positive relationship with ice thickness. None of the relationships was statistically significant because of the small sample size. The 6.0-cm sensor data in the nadir-viewing mode was found to have the most potential of all the wavelengths studied, for use in remotely determining ice thickness. The 6.0-cm radiometer probably sensed the entire thickness of the ice on the reservoir (ranging from 25.4 to 67.3 cm in thickness) and was apparently not significantly affected by the snow overlying the ice. The shorter wavelengths are scattered by the snow overlying the ice and are more suitable for snow studies than for ice thickness studies.

Hall, D. K.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Path Radiance Technique for Retrieving Aerosol Optical Thickness over Land

The key issue in retrieving aerosol optical thickness over land from short-wave satellite radiances is to identify and separate the signal due to scattering by a largely transparent aerosol layer from the noise due to reflection by the background surface, where the signal is relatively uniform compared to the highly inhomogeneous surface contribution. Sensitivity studies in aerosol optical thickness retrievals reveal that the apparent reflectance at the top of the atmosphere is very susceptible to the surface reflectance, especially when aerosol optical thickness is small. Uncertainties associated with surface reflectance estimation can greatly amplify the error of the aerosol optical thickness retrieval. To reduce these uncertainties, we have developed a "path radiance" method to retrieve aerosol optical thickness over land by extending the traditional technique that uses the "dark object" approach to extract the aerosol signal. This method uses the signature of the correlation of visible and mid-IR reflectance at the surface, and couples the correlation with the atmospheric effect. We have applied this method to a Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) image acquired over the Oklahoma Southern Great Plains (SGP) site of DoE's ARM (Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) program on September 27, 1997, a very clear day (aerosol optical thickness of 0.07 at 0.5 pm) during the first Landsat IOP (Intensive Observation Period). The retrieved mean aerosol optical thickness for TM band 1 at 0.49 pm and band 3 at 0.66 pm agree very well with the ground-based sun-photometer measurements at the ARM site. The ability to retrieve small aerosol optical thickness makes this path radiance technique promising. More importantly, the path radiance is relatively insensitive to surface inhomogeneity. The retrieved mean path radiances in reflectance units have very small standard deviations for both TM blue and red bands. This small variability of path radiance further supports the current aerosol retrieval method.

Tsay, S.-C.↗
NASA NTRS1999

Path Radiance Technique for Retrieving Aerosol Optical Thickness Over Land

The key issue in retrieving aerosol optical thickness over land from shortwave satellite radiances is to identify and separate the signal due to scattering by a largely transparent aerosol layer from the noise due to reflection by the background surface, where the signal is relatively uniform compared to the highly inhomogeneous surface contribution. Sensitivity studies in aerosol optical thickness retrievals reveal that the apparent reflectance at the top of the atmosphere is very susceptible to the surface reflectance, especially when aerosol optical thickness is small. Uncertainties associated with surface reflectance estimation can greatly amplify the error of the aerosol optical thickness retrieval. To reduce these uncertainties, we have developed a "path radiance" method to retrieve aerosol optical thickness over land by extending the traditional technique that uses the "dark object" approach to extract the aerosol signal. This method uses the signature of the correlation of visible and mid-IR reflectance at the surface, and couples the correlation with the atmospheric effect. We have applied this method to a Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) image acquired over the Oklahoma Southern Great Plains (SGP) site of DoE's ARM (Department of Energy's Atmospheric Radiation Measurement) program on September 27,1997, a very clear day (aerosol optical thickness of 0.07 at 0.5 microns) during the first Landsat Intensive Observation Period (IOP). The retrieved mean aerosol optical thickness for TM band 1 at 0.49 micron and band 3 at 0.66 micron agree very well with the ground-based sun-photometer measurements at the ARM site. The ability to retrieve small aerosol optical thickness makes this path radiance technique promising. More importantly, the path radiance is relatively insensitive to surface inhomogeneity. The retrieved mean path radiances in reflectance units have very small standard deviations for both TM blue and red bands. This small variability of path radiance further supports the current aerosol retrieval method.

Tsay, S.-C.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Cloud Thickness from Offbeam Returns - Thor Lidar

Physical thickness of a cloud layer, and sometimes multiple cloud layers, can be estimated from the time delay of off-beam returns from a pulsed laser source illuminating one side of the cloud layer. In particular, the time delay of light returning from the outer diffuse halo of light surrounding the beam entry point, relative to the time delay at beam center, determines the cloud physical thickness. The delay combined with the pulse stretch gives the optical thickness. The halo method works best for thick cloud layers, typically optical thickness exceeding 2, and thus compliments conventional lidar which cannot penetrate thick clouds. Cloud layer top and base have been measured independently over the ARM/SGP site using conventional laser ranging (lidar) and the top minus base thickness are compared with a cloud top halo estimate obtained from the NASA/Goddard THOR System (THOR = THickness from Offbeam Returns). THOR flies on the NASA P3, and measures the halo timings from several km above cloud top, at the same time providing conventional lidar cloud top height. The ARM/SGP micropulse lidar provides cloud base height for validation.

Cahalan, R.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Thin Sea-Ice Thickness as Inferred from Passive Microwave and In Situ Observations

Since microwave radiometric signals from sea-ice strongly reflect physical conditions of a layer near the ice surface, a relationship of brightness temperature with thickness is possible especially during the early stages of ice growth. Sea ice is most saline during formation stage and as the salinity decreases with time while at the same time the thickness of the sea ice increases, a corresponding change in the dielectric properties and hence the brightness temperature may occur. This study examines the extent to which the relationships of thickness with brightness temperature (and with emissivity) hold for thin sea-ice, approximately less than 0.2 -0.3 m, using near concurrent measurements of sea-ice thickness in the Sea of Okhotsk from a ship and passive microwave brightness temperature data from an over-flying aircraft. The results show that the brightness temperature and emissivity increase with ice thickness for the frequency range of 10-37 GHz. The relationship is more pronounced at lower frequencies and at the horizontal polarization. We also established an empirical relationship between ice thickness and salinity in the layer near the ice surface from a field experiment, which qualitatively support the idea that changes in the near-surface brine characteristics contribute to the observed thickness-brightness temperature/emissivity relationship. Our results suggest that for thin ice, passive microwave radiometric signals contain, ice thickness information which can be utilized in polar process studies.

Naoki, Kazuhiro↗
NASA NTRS2014

Origami-Inspired Folding of Thick, Rigid Panels

To achieve power of 250 kW or greater, a large compression ratio of stowed-to-deployed area is needed. Origami folding patterns were used to inspire the folding of a solar array to achieve synchronous deployment; however, origami models are generally created for near-zero-thickness material. Panel thickness is one of the main challenges of origami-inspired design. Three origami-inspired folding techniques (flasher, square twist, and map fold) were created with rigid panels and hinges. Hinge components are added to the model to enable folding of thick, rigid materials. Origami models are created assuming zero (or near zero) thickness. When a material with finite thickness is used, the panels are required to bend around an increasingly thick fold as they move away from the center of the model. The two approaches for dealing with material thickness are to use membrane hinges to connect the panels, or to add panel hinges, or hinges of the same thickness, at an appropriate width to enable folding.

Trease, Brian P.↗
NASA NTRS2020

Winter Arctic Sea Ice Thickness from ICESat-2 Freeboards

NASA’s ICESat-2 mission was launched in September 2018 with the primary goal of monitoring our rapidly changing polar regions. The sole instrument onboard, the Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter System (ATLAS), is now providing routine, very high-resolution, surface elevation data across the globe, including the Arctic and Southern Oceans. In this study we demonstrate our new processing chain for converting the along-track ICESat-2 sea ice freeboard product (ATL10) into sea ice thickness, focusing our initial efforts on the Arctic Ocean. For this conversion we primarily make use of snow depth and density data from the NASA Eulerian Snow on Sea Ice Model (NESOSIM). The coarse resolution (~100 km) snow data are redistributed onto the high resolution (~30 - 100 m) ATL10 freeboards using relationships obtained from snow depth and freeboard data collected by NASA’s Operation IceBridge mission. We present regional sea ice thickness distributions and highlight their seasonal evolution through our first winter-season of data collection. We include ice thickness uncertainty estimates, while also acknowledging the limitations of these estimates. We generate a gridded monthly thickness product and compare this with various monthly sea ice thickness estimates obtained from ESA’s CryoSat-2 satellite mission, with ICE 33 Sat-2 showing consistently lower thicknesses. Finally, we compare our February/March 2019 thickness estimates to ICESat February/March (19th February – 21st March) 2008 ice thickness estimates using the same input assumptions, which show a ~0.40 m or ~21% thinning across an inner Arctic Ocean domain in this 11-year time period.

Alek A Petty↗
NASA NTRS2022

Effects of Increasing the Category Resolution of the Sea Ice Thickness Distribution in a Coupled Climate Model on Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice Mean State

Many modern sea ice models used in global climate models represent the subgrid-scale heterogeneity in sea ice thickness with an ice thickness distribution (ITD), which improves model realism by representing the significant impact of the high spatial heterogeneity of sea ice thickness on thermodynamic and dynamic processes. Most models default to five thickness categories. However, little has been done to explore the effects of the resolution of this distribution (number of categories) on sea-ice feedbacks in a coupled model framework and resulting representation of the sea ice mean state. Here, we explore this using sensitivity experiments in CESM2 with the standard 5 ice thickness categories and 15 ice thickness categories. Increasing the resolution of the ITD in a run with preindustrial climate forcing results in substantially thicker Arctic sea ice year-round. Analyses show that this is a result of the ITD influence on ice strength. With 15 ITD categories, weaker ice occurs for the same average thickness, resulting in a higher fraction of ridged sea ice. In contrast, the higher resolution of thin ice categories results in enhanced heat conduction and bottom growth and leads to only somewhat increased winter Antarctic sea ice volume. The spatial resolution of the ICESat-2 satellite mission provides a new opportunity to compare model outputs with observations of seasonal evolution of the ITD in the Arctic (ICESat-2; 2018–2021). Comparisons highlight significant differences from the ITD modeled with both runs over this period, likely pointing to underlying issues contributing to the representation of average thickness.

Madison M. Smith↗
DOE OSTI2022

Minimizing thickness variation in monolithic U-10Mo fuel foil and Zr interlayer during hot rolling: A microstructure-based finite element method analysis

Low-enriched uranium alloyed with 10 wt. % molybdenum (U-10Mo) has been identified as a promising alternative to highly enriched uranium fuel for the United States’ high performance research reactors. The monolithic U-10Mo fuel plate consists of a metallic U-10Mo fuel foil with a 25 µm Zr interlayer and a relatively thick cladding of aluminum alloy 6061. The Zr interlayer is typically applied during the hot co-rolling process, and this process dictates the uniformity of the Zr interlayer. Thickness variation observed in the U-10Mo and Zr interlayer has been attributed to several sources: the initial grain size of the U-10Mo castings, can materials, rolling temperature, inhomogeneous molybdenum content, and porosity in the cast U-10Mo. This thickness variation limits the ability to meet the dimensional specification; thus, a better understanding of the factors causing the nonuniform thickness is needed. In this work, we used a novel, microstructure-based finite element method to model the hot rolling process to address these concerns. Grain microstructures in U-10Mo were tessellated and explicitly considered in the finite element model. Each grain was assigned a random material property to mimic the grain strength variations induced by different grain orientations. Simulations were performed using six steel can thicknesses, four grain sizes, and with or without a Zr interlayer to investigate the influences of those variables on the thickness nonuniformity. The simulation results showed that a thinner steel can and finer U-10Mo grain size reduce thickness variations in both the U-10Mo fuel foil and Zr interlayer. The direct findings from the simulations and analysis can be used to optimize the hot rolling schedule, reduce fabrication defects, and meet the dimensional specifications. The proposed microstructure-based finite element model can be also coupled with experimental microstructure characterization data, images, and models to simulate multi-pass hot rolling.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Crystallographic texture gradient along the wall thickness of an SF-copper tube

Metallic tubes usually show heterogeneities along circumference and through wall thickness. Local texture analysis by synchrotron diffraction and global texture analysis by neutron diffraction was used describing texture variations related to the wall thickness. Test sample was an SF-Cu tube with outer diameter of 140 mm and an average wall thickness of 10 mm. The texture is dominated by the cube component {001} <100>. Other minor components are rotated cube {013} <100>, Goss {011} <100>, Cu {112} <111>, brass {110} <112>, S {123} <634>. The texture gradient over the wall thickness shows a remarkable variation of the sharpness of the cube component. Other components show only little variation. Comparing samples obtained at maximum wall thickness and at minimum wall thickness one can see that the wall thickness has an influence on the global texture as well as texture gradient. Another interesting result is, that global textures measured directly by neutrons and averaged global textures, calculated from the set of local measurements by synchrotron diffraction, agree surprisingly well despite their different resolution.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗