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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 1,675 records · Page 93
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

A study of defects in iron-based binary alloys by the Mössbauer and positron annihilation spectroscopies

The room temperature positron annihilation lifetime spectra and {sup 57}Fe Mössbauer spectra were measured for pure Fe as well as for iron-based Fe{sub 1−x}Re{sub x}, Fe{sub 1−x}Os{sub x}, Fe{sub 1−x}Mo{sub x}, and Fe{sub 1−x}Cr{sub x} solid solutions, where x is in the range between 0.01 and 0.05. The measurements were performed in order to check if the known from the literature, theoretical calculations on the interactions between vacancies and solute atoms in iron can be supported by the experimental data. The vacancies were created during formation and further mechanical processing of the iron systems under consideration so the spectra mentioned above were collected at least twice for each studied sample synthesized in an arc furnace— after cold rolling to the thickness of about 40 μm as well as after subsequent annealing at 1270 K for 2 h. It was found that only in Fe and the Fe-Cr system the isolated vacancies thermally generated at high temperatures are not observed at the room temperature and cold rolling of the materials leads to creation of another type of vacancies which were associated with edge dislocations. In the case of other cold-rolled systems, positrons detect vacancies of two types mentioned above and Mössbauer nuclei “see” the vacancies mainly in the vicinity of non-iron atoms. This speaks in favour of the suggestion that in iron matrix the solute atoms of Os, Re, and Mo interact attractively with vacancies as it is predicted by theoretical computations and the energy of the interaction is large enough for existing the pairs vacancy-solute atom at the room temperature. On the other hand, the corresponding interaction for Cr atoms is either repulsive or attractive but smaller than that for Os, Re, and Mo atoms. The latter is in agreement with the theoretical calculations.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Relating reconnection rate, exhaust structure and effective resistivity

The magnetic reconnection structure consists of a central diffusion region (CDR) and a cone or wedge shaped reconnection exhaust containing accelerated plasma flows and electromagnetic fluctuations. We predict here the relationship among the exhaust half-cone angle (θ{sub e}), the half width (w) of the CDR, the outflow velocity V{sub o}, and the effective resistivity (η{sub eff}), which includes the effects of all the nonideal terms in the generalized Ohm's law. The effective resistivity is defined as the ratio of reconnection electric field E{sub rec} to the current density J{sub y} at the X point and it essentially represents the loss of momentum from the current-carrying plasma particles due to scattering by waves, their inertia or outflux from the CDR. The relation is checked against relevant results previously reported from laboratory experiments, space observations, and simulations, showing excellent agreement. The relation can be used for estimating the ad-hoc effective resistivity often used in magnetohydrodynamic modeling of reconnection.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effects of alloy disorder and confinement on phonon modes and Raman scattering in Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1−x} nanocrystals: A microscopic modeling

Confinement and alloy disorder effects on the lattice dynamics and Raman scattering in Si{sub 1−x}Ge{sub x} nanocrystals (NCs) are investigated numerically employing two different empirical inter-atomic potentials. Relaxed NCs of different compositions (x) were built using the Molecular Dynamics method and applying rigid boundary conditions mimicking the effect of surrounding matrix. The resulting variation of bond lengths with x was checked against Vegard's law and the NC phonon modes were calculated using the same inter-atomic potential. The localization of the principal Raman-active (Si-Si, Si-Ge, and Ge-Ge) modes is investigated by analysing representative eigenvectors and their inverse participation ratio. The dependence of the position and intensity of these modes upon x and NC size is presented and compared to previous calculated results and available experimental data. In particular, it is argued that the composition dependence of the intensity of the Si-Ge and Ge-Ge modes does not follow the fraction of the corresponding nearest-neighbour bonds as it was suggested by some authors. Possible effects of alloy segregation are considered by comparing the calculated properties of random and clustered Si{sub x}Ge{sub 1−x} NCs. It is found that the Si-Si mode and Ge-Ge mode are enhanced and blue-shifted (by several cm{sup −1}for the Si-Si mode), while the intensity of the Si-Ge Raman mode is strongly suppressed by clustering.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

Measurement of coherence length and incoherent source size of hard x-ray undulator beamline at Pohang Light Source-II

We measured the spatial coherence length and incoherent source size of a hard x-ray undulator beamline at Pohang Light Source-II, the stored electron energy of which has been increased from 2.5 GeV to 3 GeV. The coherence length was determined by single-slit measurement of the visibility of the Fresnel diffraction pattern. The correlated incoherent source size was cross-checked for three different optics: the single slit, beryllium parabolic compound refractive lenses, and the Fresnel zone plate. We concluded that the undulator beamline has an effective incoherent source size (FWHM) of 540 μm (horizontal) × 50 μm (vertical)

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Gamma ray shielding and structural properties of Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3}−PbO−B{sub 2}O{sub 3}−V{sub 2}O{sub 5} glass system

The present work has been undertaken to evaluate the applicability of Bi{sub 2}O{sub 3}−PbO−B{sub 2}O{sub 3}−V{sub 2}O{sub 5} glass system as gamma ray shielding material. Gamma ray mass attenuation coefficient has been determined theoretically using WinXcom computer software developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology. A meaningful comparison of their radiation shielding properties has been made in terms of their half value layer parameter with standard radiation shielding concrete 'barite'. Structural properties of the prepared glass system have been investigated in terms of XRD and FTIR techniques in order to check the possibility of their commercial utility as alternate to conventional concrete for gamma ray shielding applications.

61 RADIATION PROTECTION AND DOSIMETRY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Structure and composition of zirconium carbide thin-film grown by ion beam sputtering for optical applications

Thin film of compound material ZrC was deposited on Si (100) wafer using ion beam sputtering method. The deposition was carried out at room temperature and at base pressure of 3×10{sup −5} Pa. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements were performed for determining the surface chemical compositions. Grazing incidence x-ray reflectivity (GIXRR) measurements were performed to study the film thickness, roughness and density. From GIXRR curve roughness value of the film was found less than 1 nm indicating smooth surface morphology. Films density was found 6.51 g/cm{sup 3}, which is close to bulk density. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements were performed to check the surface morphology. AFM investigation showed that the film surface is smooth, which corroborate the GIXRR data. Figure 2 of the original article PDF file, as supplied to AIP Publishing, contained a PDF processing error. This article was updated on 12 May 2014 to correct that error.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Reaction theory for exotic nuclei

Exotic nuclei are usually defined as those with unusual N/Z ratios. They can be found in the crust of neutron stars enbedded in a sea of electrons or created in laboratory by fragmentation of a primary beam (in-flight method) or of the target (ISOL method). They are extremely important for nuclear astrophysics, see for example Ref.[1]. Furthermore by studying them we can check the limits of validity of nuclear reaction and structure models. This contribution will be devoted to the understanding of how by using reaction theory and comparing to the data we can extract structure information. We shall discuss the differences between the mechanisms of transfer and breakup reactions, an we will try to explain how nowadays it is possible to do accurate spectroscopy in extreme conditions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Thermodynamics and structure of a two-dimensional electrolyte by integral equation theory

Monte Carlo simulations and integral equation theory were used to predict the thermodynamics and structure of a two-dimensional Coulomb fluid. We checked the possibility that integral equations reproduce Kosterlitz-Thouless and vapor-liquid phase transitions of the electrolyte and critical points. Integral equation theory results were compared to Monte Carlo data and the correctness of selected closure relations was assessed. Among selected closures hypernetted-chain approximation results matched computer simulation data best, but these equations unfortunately break down at temperatures well above the Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. The Kovalenko-Hirata closure produces results even at very low temperatures and densities, but no sign of phase transition was detected.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Molecular dynamics simulations of the melting curve of NiAl alloy under pressure

The melting curve of B2-NiAl alloy under pressure has been investigated using molecular dynamics technique and the embedded atom method (EAM) potential. The melting temperatures were determined with two approaches, the one-phase and the two-phase methods. The first one simulates a homogeneous melting, while the second one involves a heterogeneous melting of materials. Both approaches reduce the superheating effectively and their results are close to each other at the applied pressures. By fitting the well-known Simon equation to our melting data, we yielded the melting curves for NiAl: 1783(1 + P/9.801){sup 0.298} (one-phase approach), 1850(1 + P/12.806){sup 0.357} (two-phase approach). The good agreement of the resulting equation of states and the zero-pressure melting point (calc., 1850 ± 25 K, exp., 1911 K) with experiment proved the correctness of these results. These melting data complemented the absence of experimental high-pressure melting of NiAl. To check the transferability of this EAM potential, we have also predicted the melting curves of pure nickel and pure aluminum. Results show the calculated melting point of Nickel agrees well with experiment at zero pressure, while the melting point of aluminum is slightly higher than experiment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Thermo-mechanical characterization of a monochlorophenyl, hepta isobutyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane/polystyrene composite

The thermal and mechanical properties of a monochlorophenyl, hepta isobutyl Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane/Polystyrene (ph,hib-POSS/PS) composite were studied and compared with those of pristine polymer. ph,hib-POSS/PS system was prepared by solubilization and precipitation of Polystyrene (PS) in the presence of POSS. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was performed to check the distribution of the filler in the polymer matrix. Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) was carried out to measure viscoelastic properties of solid samples. Degradations were carried out into a thermobalance and the obtained thermogravimetric (TG) and differential thermogravimetric (DTG) curves were discussed and interpreted.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Collecting high-order interactions in an effective pairwise intermolecular potential using the hydrated ion concept: The hydration of Cf{sup 3+}

This work proposes a new methodology to build interaction potentials between a highly charged metal cation and water molecules. These potentials, which can be used in classical computer simulations, have been fitted to reproduce quantum mechanical interaction energies (MP2 and BP86) for a wide range of [M(H{sub 2}O){sub n}]{sup m+}(H{sub 2}O){sub ℓ} clusters (n going from 6 to 10 and ℓ from 0 to 18). A flexible and polarizable water shell model (Mobile Charge Density of Harmonic Oscillator) has been coupled to the cation-water potential. The simultaneous consideration of poly-hydrated clusters and the polarizability of the interacting particles allows the inclusion of the most important many-body effects in the new polarizable potential. Applications have been centered on the californium, Cf(III) the heaviest actinoid experimentally studied in solution. Two different strategies to select a set of about 2000 structures which are used for the potential building were checked. Monte Carlo simulations of Cf(III)+500 H{sub 2}O for three of the intermolecular potentials predict an aquaion structure with coordination number close to 8 and average R{sub Cf−−O} in the range 2.43–2.48 Å, whereas the fourth one is closer to 9 with R{sub Cf−−O} = 2.54 Å. Simulated EXAFS spectra derived from the structural Monte Carlo distribution compares fairly well with the available experimental spectrum for the simulations bearing 8 water molecules. An angular distribution similar to that of a square antiprism is found for the octa-coordination.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Configurational entropy of hydrogen-disordered ice polymorphs

The configurational entropy of several H-disordered ice polymorphs is calculated by means of a thermodynamic integration along a path between a totally H-disordered state and one fulfilling the Bernal-Fowler ice rules. A Monte Carlo procedure based on a simple energy model is used, so that the employed thermodynamic path drives the system from high temperatures to the low-temperature limit. This method turns out to be precise enough to give reliable values for the configurational entropy s{sub th} of different ice phases in the thermodynamic limit (number of molecules N → ∞). The precision of the method is checked for the ice model on a two-dimensional square lattice. Results for the configurational entropy are given for H-disordered arrangements on several polymorphs, including ices Ih, Ic, II, III, IV, V, VI, and XII. The highest and lowest entropy values correspond to ices VI and XII, respectively, with a difference of 3.3% between them. The dependence of the entropy on the ice structures has been rationalized by comparing it with structural parameters of the various polymorphs, such as the mean ring size. A particularly good correlation has been found between the configurational entropy and the connective constant derived from self-avoiding walks on the ice networks.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effective-medium model of wire metamaterials in the problems of radiative heat transfer

In the present work, we check the applicability of the effective medium model (EMM) to the problems of radiative heat transfer (RHT) through so-called wire metamaterials (WMMs)—composites comprising parallel arrays of metal nanowires. It is explained why this problem is so important for the development of prospective thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems. Previous studies of the applicability of EMM for WMMs were targeted by the imaging applications of WMMs. The analogous study referring to the transfer of radiative heat is a separate problem that deserves extended investigations. We show that WMMs with practically realizable design parameters transmit the radiative heat as effectively homogeneous media. Existing EMM is an adequate tool for qualitative prediction of the magnitude of transferred radiative heat and of its effective frequency band.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2014

First results of electron temperature measurements by the use of multi-pass Thomson scattering system in GAMMA 10

A multi-pass Thomson scattering (TS) has the advantage of enhancing scattered signals. We constructed a multi-pass TS system for a polarisation-based system and an image relaying system modelled on the GAMMA 10 TS system. We undertook Raman scattering experiments both for the multi-pass setting and for checking the optical components. Moreover, we applied the system to the electron temperature measurements in the GAMMA 10 plasma for the first time. The integrated scattering signal was magnified by approximately three times by using the multi-pass TS system with four passes. The electron temperature measurement accuracy is improved by using this multi-pass system.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2014

Wang-Landau density of states based study of the folding-unfolding transition in the mini-protein Trp-cage (TC5b)

We present the results of a high-statistics equilibrium study of the folding/unfolding transition for the 20-residue mini-protein Trp-cage (TC5b) in water. The ECEPP/3 force field is used and the interaction with water is treated by a solvent-accessible surface area method. A Wang-Landau type simulation is used to calculate the density of states and the conditional probabilities for the various values of the radius of gyration and the number of native contacts at fixed values of energy—along with a systematic check on their convergence. All thermodynamic quantities of interest are calculated from this information. The folding-unfolding transition corresponds to a peak in the temperature dependence of the computed specific heat. This is corroborated further by the structural signatures of folding in the distributions for radius of gyration and the number of native contacts as a function of temperature. The potentials of mean force are also calculated for these variables, both separately and jointly. A local free energy minimum, in addition to the global minimum, is found in a temperature range substantially below the folding temperature. The free energy at this second minimum is approximately 5 k{sub B}T higher than the value at the global minimum.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effects of electron inertia in collisionless magnetic reconnection

We present a study of collisionless magnetic reconnection within the framework of full two-fluid MHD for a completely ionized hydrogen plasma, retaining the effects of the Hall current, electron pressure and electron inertia. We performed 2.5D simulations using a pseudo-spectral code with no dissipative effects. We check that the ideal invariants of the problem are conserved down to round-off errors. Our numerical results confirm that the change in the topology of the magnetic field lines is exclusively due to the presence of electron inertia. The computed reconnection rates remain a fair fraction of the Alfvén velocity, which therefore qualifies as fast reconnection.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Unraveling halide hydration: A high dilution approach

The hydration properties of halide aqua ions have been investigated combining classical Molecular Dynamics (MD) with Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy. Three halide-water interaction potentials recently developed [M. M. Reif and P. H. Hünenberger, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 144104 (2011)], along with three plausible choices for the value of the absolute hydration free energy of the proton (ΔG{sub hyd}{sup ⊖}[H{sup +}]), have been checked for their capability to properly describe the structural properties of halide aqueous solutions, by comparing the MD structural results with EXAFS experimental data. A very good agreement between theory and experiment has been obtained with one parameter set, namely L{sub E}, thus strengthening preliminary evidences for a ΔG{sub hyd}{sup ⊖}[H{sup +}] value of −1100 kJ mol{sup −1} [M. M. Reif and P. H. Hünenberger, J. Chem. Phys. 134, 144104 (2011)]. The Cl{sup −}, Br{sup −}, and I{sup −} ions have been found to form an unstructured and disordered first hydration shell in aqueous solution, with a broad distribution of instantaneous coordination numbers. Conversely, the F{sup −} ion shows more ordered and defined first solvation shell, with only two statistically relevant coordination geometries (six and sevenfold complexes). Our thorough investigation on the effect of halide ions on the microscopic structure of water highlights that the perturbation induced by the Cl{sup −}, Br{sup −}, and I{sup −} ions does not extend beyond the ion first hydration shell, and the structure of water in the F{sup −} second shell is also substantially unaffected by the ion.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2014

Controlling the dipole-dipole interaction using NMR composite rf pulses

New composite rf pulses are proposed during which the average dipole-dipole interactions within a spin ensemble are controlled, while a global rotation is achieved. The method used to tailor the pulses is based on the average Hamiltonian theory and relies on the geometrical properties of the spin-spin dipolar interaction. I describe several such composite pulses and analyze quantitatively the improvement brought on the control of the NMR dynamics. Numerical simulations show that the magic sandwich pulse sequence, during which the average dipolar field is effectively reversed, is plagued by defects originating from the finite initial and final π/2 rf pulses. A numerical test based on a classical description of nuclear magnetic resonance is used to check that, when these pulses are replaced by magic composite pulses, the efficiency of the magic sandwich is improved.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗