Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “progress”

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 1,711 records · Page 95
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2011

Software Construction and Composition Tools for Petascale Computing SCW0837 Progress Report

The majority of scientific software is distributed as source code. As the number of library dependencies and supported platforms increases, so does the complexity of describing the rules for configuring and building software. In this project, we have performed an empirical study of the magnitude of the build problem by examining the development history of two DOE-funded scientific software projects. We have developed MixDown, a meta-build tool, to simplify the task of building applications that depend on multiple third-party libraries. The results of this research indicate that the effort that scientific programmers spend takes a significant fraction of the total development effort and that the use of MixDown can significantly simplify the task of building software with multiple dependencies.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2011

Effects of Tidal Turbine Noise on Fish Task 2.1.3.2: Effects on Aquatic Organisms: Acoustics/Noise - Fiscal Year 2011 - Progress Report - Environmental Effects of Marine and Hydrokinetic Energy

Naturally spawning stocks of Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) that utilize Puget Sound are listed as threatened (http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/ESA-Salmon-Listings/Salmon-Populations/ Chinook/CKPUG.cfm). Plans exist for prototype tidal turbines to be deployed into their habitat. Noise is known to affect fish in many ways, such as causing a threshold shift in auditory sensitivity or tissue damage. The characteristics of noise, its spectra and level, are important factors that influence the potential for the noise to injure fish. For example, the frequency range of the tidal turbine noise includes the audiogram (frequency range of hearing) of most fish. This study (Effects on Aquatic Organisms, Subtask 2.1.3.2: Acoustics) was performed during FY 2011 to determine if noise generated by a 6-m-diameter open-hydro turbine might affect juvenile Chinook salmon hearing or cause barotrauma. After they were exposed to simulated tidal turbine noise, the hearing of juvenile Chinook salmon was measured and necropsies performed to check for tissue damage. Experimental groups were (1) noise exposed, (2) control (the same handling as treatment fish but without exposure to tidal turbine noise), and (3) baseline (never handled). Preliminary results indicate that low levels of tissue damage may have occurred but that there were no effects of noise exposure on the auditory systems of the test fish.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Marine Animal Alert System -- Task 2.1.5.3: Development of Monitoring Technologies -- FY 2011 Progress Report

The Marine Animal Alert System (MAAS) in development by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is focused on providing elements of compliance monitoring to support deployment of marine hydrokinetic energy devices. An initial focus is prototype tidal turbines to be deployed in Puget Sound in Washington State. The MAAS will help manage the risk of injury or mortality to marine animals from blade strike or contact with tidal turbines. In particular, development has focused on detection, classification, and localization of listed Southern Resident killer whales within 200 m of prototype turbines using both active and passive acoustic approaches. At the close of FY 2011, a passive acoustic system consisting of a pair of four-element star arrays and parallel processing of eight channels of acoustic receptions has been designed and built. Field tests of the prototype system are scheduled for the fourth quarter of calendar year 2011. Field deployment and testing of the passive acoustic prototype is scheduled for the first quarter of FY 2012. The design of an active acoustic system that could be built using commercially available off-the-shelf components from active acoustic system vendors is also in the final stages of design and specification.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2011

Final Progress Report

In this project we have established guidelines for the design on organic chromophores suitable for producing high triplet yields via singlet fission. We have proven their utility by identifying a chromophore of a structural class that had never been examined for singlet fission before, 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran, and demonstrating in two independent ways that a thin layer of this material produces a triplet yield of 200% within experimental error. We have also designed a second chromophore of a very different type, again of a structural class that had not been examined for singlet fission before, and found that in a thin layer it produces a 70% triplet yield. Finally, we have enhanced the theoretical understanding of the quantum mechanical nature of the singlet fission process.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2011

FY2011 Oak Ridge National Laboratory Annual Progress Report for the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Program

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced in May 2011 a new cooperative research effort comprising DOE, the U.S. Council for Automotive Research (composed of automakers Ford Motor Company, General Motors Company, and Chrysler Group), Tesla Motors, and representatives of the electric utility and petroleum industries. Known as U.S. DRIVE (Driving Research and Innovation for Vehicle efficiency and Energy sustainability), it represents DOE's commitment to developing public-private partnerships to fund high risk-high reward research into advanced automotive technologies. The new partnership replaces and builds upon the partnership known as FreedomCAR (derived from 'Freedom' and 'Cooperative Automotive Research') that ran from 2002 through 2010 and the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles initiative that ran from 1993 through 2001. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory's (ORNL's) Power Electronics and Electric Machines (PEEM) subprogram within the DOE Vehicle Technologies Program (VTP) provides support and guidance for many cutting-edge automotive technologies now under development. Research is focused on developing revolutionary new power electronics (PE), electric motor (EM), and traction drive system technologies that will leapfrog current on-the-road technologies. The research and development (R&D) is also aimed at achieving a greater understanding of and improvements in the way the various new components of tomorrow's automobiles will function as a unified system to improve fuel efficiency. In supporting the development of advanced vehicle propulsion systems, the PEEM subprogram has enabled the development of technologies that will significantly improve efficiency, costs, and fuel economy. The PEEM subprogram supports the efforts of the U.S. DRIVE partnership through a three phase approach intended to: (1) identify overall propulsion and vehicle related needs by analyzing programmatic goals and reviewing industry's recommendations and requirements and then develop the appropriate technical targets for systems, subsystems, and component R&D activities; (2) develop and validate individual subsystems and components, including EMs and PE; and (3) determine how well the components and subsystems work together in a vehicle environment or as a complete propulsion system and whether the efficiency and performance targets at the vehicle level have been achieved. The research performed under this subprogram will help remove technical and cost barriers to enable the development of technology for use in such advanced vehicles as hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in HEVs (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles, and fuel-cell-powered automobiles that meet the goals of the VTP. A key element in making these advanced vehicles practical is providing an affordable electric traction drive system. This will require attaining weight, volume, efficiency, and cost targets for the PE and EM subsystems of the traction drive system. Areas of development include: (1) novel traction motor designs that result in increased power density and lower cost; (2) inverter technologies involving new topologies to achieve higher efficiency with the ability to accommodate higher temperature environments while achieving high reliability; (3) converter concepts that use methods of reducing the component count and integrating functionality to decrease size, weight, and cost; (4) new onboard battery charging concepts that result in decreased cost and size; (5) more effective thermal control through innovative packaging technologies; and (6) integrated motor-inverter traction drive system concepts. ORNL's PEEM research program conducts fundamental research, evaluates hardware, and assists in the technical direction of the VTP Advanced Power Electronics and Electric Motors (APEEM) program. In this role, ORNL serves on the U.S. DRIVE Electrical and Electronics Technical Team, evaluates proposals for DOE, and lends its technological expertise to the direction of projects and evaluation of developing technologies. ORNL also executes specific projects for DOE. DOE's continuing R&D into advanced vehicle technologies for transportation offers the possibility of reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil and the negative economic impacts of crude oil price fluctuations. It also supports the Administration's goal of deploying 1 million PHEVs by 2015.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2011

FY2011 Progress Report: Agreement 8697 - NOx Sensor Development

Objectives are: (1) Develop an inexpensive, rapid-response, high-sensitivity and selective electrochemical sensor for oxides of nitrogen (NO{sub x}) for compression-ignition, direct-injection (CIDI) OBD II systems; (2) Explore and characterize novel, effective sensing methodologies based on impedance measurements and designs and manufacturing methods that are compatible with mass fabrication; and (3) Collaborate with industry in order to (ultimately) transfer the technology to a supplier for commercialization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative University Fellowship Program (Final Progress Report)

2004-2011 Final Report for AFCI University Fellowship Program. The goal of this effort was to be supportive of university students and university programs - particularly those students and programs that will help to strengthen the development of nuclear-related fields. The program also supported the stability of the nuclear infrastructure and developed research partnerships that are helping to enlarge the national nuclear science technology base. In this fellowship program, the U.S. Department of Energy sought master's degree students in nuclear, mechanical, or chemical engineering, engineering/applied physics, physics, chemistry, radiochemistry, or fields of science and engineering applicable to the AFCI/Gen IV/GNEP missions in order to meet future U.S. nuclear program needs. The fellowship program identified candidates and selected full time students of high-caliber who were taking nuclear courses as part of their degree programs. The DOE Academic Program Managers encouraged fellows to pursue summer internships at national laboratories and supported the students with appropriate information so that both the fellows and the nation's nuclear energy objectives were successful.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2012

TORUS: Theory of Reactions for Unstable iSotopes: A Topical Collaboration for Nuclear Theory Project Period: June 1, 2010 – May 31, 2015 and Annual Continuation and Progress Report Year-2: March 1, 2011 – February 29, 2012

The TORUS collaboration derives its name from the research it focuses on, namely the Theory of Reactions for Unstable iSotopes. It is a Topical Collaboration in Nuclear Theory, and funded by the Nuclear Theory Division of the Office of Nuclear Physics in the Office of Science of the Department of Energy. The funding supports one postdoctoral researcher for the years 1 through 3. The collaboration brings together as Principal Investigators a large fraction of the nuclear reaction theorists currently active within the USA. The mission of the TORUS Topical Collaboration is to develop new methods that will advance nuclear reaction theory for unstable isotopes by using three-body techniques to improve direct-reaction calculations, and, by using a new partial-fusion theory, to integrate descriptions of direct and compound-nucleus reactions. This multi-institution collaborative effort is directly relevant to three areas of interest: the properties of nuclei far from stability; microscopic studies of nuclear input parameters for astrophysics, and microscopic nuclear reaction theory.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Annual technical progress report of radioisotope power systems materials production and technology program tasks for october 1, 2010 through september 30, 2011

The Office of Space and Defense Power Systems of the Department of Energy (DOE) provides Radioisotope Power Systems (RPS) for applications where conventional power systems are not feasible. For example, radioisotope thermoelectric generators were supplied by the DOE to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for deep space missions including the Cassini Mission launched in October of 1997 to study the planet Saturn. For the Cassini Mission, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) produced carbon-bonded carbon fiber (CBCF) insulator sets, iridium alloy blanks and foil, and clad vent sets (CVS) used in the generators. These components were also produced for the Pluto New Horizons and Mars Science Lab missions launched in January 2006 and November 2011respectively. The ORNL has been involved in developing materials and technology and producing components for the DOE for nearly four decades. This report reflects program guidance from the Office of RPS for fiscal year (FY) 2011. Production activities for prime quality (prime) CBCF insulator sets, iridium alloy blanks and foil, and CVS are summarized in this report. Technology activities are also reported that were conducted to improve the manufacturing processes, characterize materials, or to develop information for new RPS. Work has also been initiated to establish fabrication capabilities for the Light Weight Radioisotope Heater Units.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗
DOE OSTI2012

Final Progress Report: Isotope Identification Algorithm for Rapid and Accurate Determination of Radioisotopes Feasibility Study

This is the final report of the project titled, 'Isotope Identification Algorithm for Rapid and Accurate Determination of Radioisotopes,' PMIS project number LA10-HUMANID-PD03. The goal of the work was to demonstrate principles of emulating a human analysis approach towards the data collected using radiation isotope identification devices (RIIDs). It summarizes work performed over the FY10 time period. The goal of the work was to demonstrate principles of emulating a human analysis approach towards the data collected using radiation isotope identification devices (RIIDs). Human analysts begin analyzing a spectrum based on features in the spectrum - lines and shapes that are present in a given spectrum. The proposed work was to carry out a feasibility study that will pick out all gamma ray peaks and other features such as Compton edges, bremsstrahlung, presence/absence of shielding and presence of neutrons and escape peaks. Ultimately success of this feasibility study will allow us to collectively explain identified features and form a realistic scenario that produced a given spectrum in the future. We wanted to develop and demonstrate machine learning algorithms that will qualitatively enhance the automated identification capabilities of portable radiological sensors that are currently being used in the field.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2011

Progress Report on Development of Intermediate Fidelity Full Assembly Analysis Methods

While high fidelity modeling capabilities for various physics phenomena are being pursued under advanced modeling and simulation initiatives under the DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, they generally rely on high-performance computation facilities and are too expensive to be used for parameter-space exploration or design analysis. One-dimensional system codes have been used for a long time and have reached a degree of maturity, but limit their validity to specific applications. Thus, an intermediate fidelity (IF) modeling method is being pursued in this work for a fast-running, modest-fidelity, whole-core transient analyses capability. The new approach is essential for design scoping and engineering analyses and could lead to improvements in the design of the new generations of reactors and to the reduction of uncertainties in safety analysis. This report summarizes the initial effort on the development of the intermediate-fidelity full assembly modeling method. The requirements and the desired merits of the IF approach have been defined. A three-dimensional momentum source model has been developed to model the anisotropic flow in the wire-wrapped rod bundle without the need to resolve the geometric details. It has been confirmed that the momentum source model works well if its affecting region is accurately imposed. The validity of the model is further verified by mesh and parameter sensitivity studies. The developed momentum source model, in principle, can be applied to any wire-wrapped bundle geometries and any flow regimes; while the modeling strategy can be applied to other conditions with complex or distorted geometry, such as flow in blocked channels.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Modeling Volatile Species Retention Experiments (Interim Progress Report) (M3FT-12LA0202053)

Metal nuclear fuel is a candidate transmutation fuel form for advanced fuel cycles. One constituent of the fuel, americium, has a high vapor pressure, and there is a concern that excessive volatility losses of americium will occur during casting of the metal. A number of experiments have been performed using americium and surrogate metals, including experiments slated for FY12, to address the concern. The present task is to model and numerically simulate these experiments. This report describes a system-level model of the relevant experiments that has been developed together with some results. It also describes some initial 3D, full-physics simulations of portions of the experiments that have been performed.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Productization and Manufacturing Scaling of High-Efficiency Solar Cell and Module Products Based on a Disruptive Low-Cost, Mono-Crystalline Technology (Final Technical Progress Report)

Final report for PV incubator subcontract with Solexel, Inc. The purpose of this project was to develop Solexel's Unique IP, productize it, and transfer it to manufacturing. Silicon constitutes a significant fraction of the total solar cell cost, resulting in an industry-wide drive to lower silicon usage. Solexel's disruptive Solar cell structure got around these challenges and promised superior light trapping, efficiency and mechanical strength, despite being significantly thinner than commercially available cells. Solexel's successful participation in this incubator project became evident as the company is now moving into commercial production and position itself to be competitive for the next Technology Pathway Partnerships (TPP) funding opportunity.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2012

Student Progress Report: Summer 2012 [Slides]

The Los Alamos SOURCES 4C code has been benchmarked for alpha particle beam problems and common neutron source materials (e.g. those containing plutonium or beryllium), but little benchmarking has been performed for more exotic isotopic neutron sources or uranium mixtures. This work extends SOURCES 4C benchmarking effort. Experimental data was found in the literature for several isotopic neutron sources, namely Am/Be, Am/F, Am/B, Cm/Be, 238 Pu/ 13 C, 252 Cf, and Am/Li.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Local System Support for PDB Biological Unit Search and Display (Final Progress Report)

The BIOMOL grant was for 'Local System Support for PDB Biological Unit Search and Display' to augment Rasmol's [Bernstein 2000] [Sayle, Milner-White 1995] existing macromolecular display functions with new capabilities by taking advantage of recent increases in local computing power in order to move functionality that is now scattered among various local and remote systems into one local package. Work included new algorithms for molecular surface display, an extended format for Protein Data Bank Entries, work on issues relating to the integration of multiple diffraction images formats.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Final Progress Report: Internship at Los Alamos National Laboratory

Originally I was tasked fluidized bed modeling, however, I changed projects. While still working with ANSYS Fluent, I performed a study of particle tracks in glove boxes. This is useful from a Health-Physics perspective, dealing respirable particles that can be hazardous to the human body. I iteratively tested different amounts of turbulent particles in a steady-state flow. The goal of this testing was to discover how Fluent handles built-in Rosin-Rammler distributions for particle injections. I worked on the health physics flow problems and distribution analysis under the direction of two mentors, Bruce Letellier and Dave Decroix. I set up and ran particle injection calculations using Fluent. I tried different combinations of input parameters to produce sets of 500,000, 1 million, and 1.5 million particles to determine what a good test case would be for future experiments. I performed a variety of tasks in my work as an Undergraduate Student Intern at LANL this summer, and learned how to use a powerful CFD application in addition to expanding my skills in MATLAB. I enjoyed my work at LANL and hope to be able to use the experience here to further my career in the future working in a security-conscious environment. My mentors provided guidance and help with all of my projects and I am grateful for the opportunity to work at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2012

Back-Surface Passivation for High-Efficiency Crystalline Silicon Solar Cells: Final Technical Progress Report, September 2010 -- May 2012

TetraSun has enjoyed major success as a Photovoltaic Technology Incubator awardee within the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) SunShot Program. All deliverables were submitted on time and passed NREL verification. Over the period of this project, the company evolved from five founders to a team of 15 scientists, engineers and technicians and has set up an R&D pilot line in Silicon Valley, California.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗