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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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Bruce Walker on Pilon: Automated Assembly Improvement Software at the 2012 Sequencing, Finishing, Analysis in the Future Meeting held June 5-7, 2012 in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Building energy simulation is valuable during the early stages of design, when decisions can have the greatest impact on energy performance. However, preparing digital design models for building energy simulation typically requires tedious manual alteration. This paper describes a series of five automated steps to translate geometric data from an unzoned CAD model into a multi-zone building energy model. First, CAD input is interpreted as geometric surfaces with materials. Second, surface pairs defining walls of various thicknesses are identified. Third, normal directions of unpaired surfaces are determined. Fourth, space boundaries are defined. Fifth, optionally, settings from previous simulations are applied, and spaces are aggregated into a smaller number of thermal zones. Building energy models created quickly using this method can offer guidance throughout the design process.
The Liquids Reflectometer instrument installed at the Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) enables observations of chemical kinetics, solid-state reactions and phase-transitions of thin film materials at both solid and liquid surfaces. Effective measurement of these behaviors requires each sample to be calibrated dynamically using the neutron beam and the data acquisition system in a feedback loop. Since the SNS is an intense neutron source, the time needed to perform the measurement can be the same as the alignment process, leading to a labor-intensive operation that is exhausting to users. An update to the instrument control system, completed in March 2013, implemented the key features of automated sample alignment and robot-driven sample management, allowing for unattended operation over extended periods, lasting as long as 20 hours. We present a case study of the effort, detailing the mechanical, electrical and software modifications that were made as well as the lessons learned during the integration, verification and testing process.
Verification and validation are crucial software quality control procedures when developing and implementing models. This is particularly important as a variety of stakeholders rely on accurate predictions from building simulation programs. This study uses the BEopt Automated Residential Simulation Test Suite (BARTS) to facilitate comparison of two energy simulation engines across various building components and includes models that isolate the impacts of specific building components on annual energy consumption. As a case study, BARTS has been used to identify important discrepancies between the engines for several components of the building models; these discrepancies are caused by differences in the models used by the engines or coding errors.
This is a presentation on connected and automated vehicle energy analysis and off-cycle credits calculation that was given at the January 2016 SAE Government/Industry Meeting.
We address the problem of coordinating online a continuous flow of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) crossing two adjacent intersections in an urban area. We present a decentralized optimal control framework whose solution yields for each vehicle the optimal acceleration/deceleration at any time in the sense of minimizing fuel consumption. The solu- tion, when it exists, allows the vehicles to cross the intersections without the use of traffic lights, without creating congestion on the connecting road, and under the hard safety constraint of collision avoidance. The effectiveness of the proposed solution is validated through simulation considering two intersections located in downtown Boston, and it is shown that coordination of CAVs can reduce significantly both fuel consumption and travel time.
Under a collaborative partnership between the NASA and DOE, a new automated measurement system developed by ORNL will ensure quality production of plutonium-238 while reducing handling by workers. NASA has funded ORNL and other national laboratories to develop a process that will restore US production capability of Pu-238 for the first time since the late 1980s when the Savannah River Plant ceased production. ORNL has produced and separated about 100 grams of the material and plans to scale up the process over the next several years to meet demand to power NASA deep space missions.
Factories, refineries, utilities (water/wastewater, electric) and related industrial sites are complex systems and structures with inspection and maintenance procedures required for optimal operation and regulatory compliance. As a specific example, consider just the bulk electric power system which is comprised of more than 200,000 miles of highvoltage transmission lines, thousands of generation plants and millions of digital controls. More than 1,800 entities own and operate portions of the grid system, with thousands more involved in the operation of distribution networks across North America. The interconnected and interdependent nature of the bulk power system requires a consistent and systematic application of risk mitigation across the entire grid system to be truly effective. Similar situations are found throughout automation where frequently an aging infrastructure is in place too. Consider, for example, the situation present in a refinery or chemical processing setting with the requirement for leak detection inspection of pipes, interconnects and systems stretching across the plant. The current practices and challenges relating just to this task - leak detection and repair (LDAR) – of detecting any fugitive emissions present and documenting all measurements thereby meeting air compliance regulations are typically “handled” by a small army of individuals with handheld or backpack-sized detectors who crawl through piping racks conducting measurements at each flange. Such work is performed in difficult conditions (temperature, humidity, physically challenging) with frequently a high level of employee turnover. Finaly, enter low cost sensors and mobile platforms – in other words unmanned aerial systems (UASs, or drones) with enhanced sensing capabilities.
Challenges to deployment of connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies extend beyond the vehicle and systems engineering challenges, and arise from a set of technological, economic, demographic, and regulatory issues. Informed observers develop intuition about these challenges, but without analytic tools their understanding may be limited as a basis for considering possible actions. We moved beyond the limitations of such intuition to an integrated systems analysis capability to explore CAVs deployment potential. We analyzed the potential for large-scale adoption of CAVs and barriers to such adoption, using quantitative data and understandings of system relationships among stakeholders across the breadth of technological, economic, demographic, and regulatory issues.
This poster highlights a study quantifying the mobility and energy benefits of automated mobility districts (AMDs), with a focus on the district-scale implementation of advanced vehicle (AV) technologies, the benefits of an AV-shared-mobility service within a confined geographic region or district, and AMD models serving as 'special generators' in existing urban travel demand models. Through the study, leaders developed an AMD modeling and simulation toolkit.
Hydrostatic drives consisting of a variable displacement pump and a low speed high torque (LSHT) motor are frequently used in off-highway vehicles. A variable displacement traction motor is desirable because of the ability to downsize the pump and thereby run the hydrostat at higher efficiency, as well as the possibility of hybridization of the drivetrain. Currently on the market are fixed and discrete speed LSHT radial piston motors and high speed low torque variable displacement axial piston motors. The radial piston motors are displacement dense but are not continuously variable, whereas the axial piston motors are continuously variable but require gearboxes, introducing packaging and robustness concerns. The Variable Displacement Linkage Motor (VDLM) is a LSHT motor that is continuously variable. It offers several benefits over current LSHT motors in that it is highly efficient over its operating range, it has low torque ripple, and it is displacement dense due to its multi-lobed cam and radial packaging. As with the design of any motor, the process is iterative and must be performed whenever performance objectives change. This paper describes an automated method for rapid exploration of the solution space for a variable displacement motor with specific application to the VDLM. This method leads to a motor design that theoretically can achieve 97% efficiency with a torque ripple below 5% at full displacement.
Wind turbine blades are now over 100 meters long and can reach heights of several meters while in the finishing area of the factory. Because of this, automation should be used to lower the manufacturing cost and make the process safer for blade manufacturing technicians. This session will present a novel method that generates a six degree of freedom robotic toolpath with 3D cameras for the finishing of wind turbine blades to drive down the levelized cost and make wind energy even more competitive in the utility scale energy generation industry.
Manual malware analysis is time consuming and is not scalable. This poster describes tools that INL has developed that automate and codify threat information.
In this paper, the authors present a microsimulation-based methodological approach for evaluating the energy impact of connected and automated vehicles (CAVs). They use an open-source micro-simulator, SUMO, and provide a way to set up a simulation environment that emulates real-world traffic dynamics. They also employ the Intelligent Driver Model to represent human drivers and calibrate its driving behavior using real-world traffic data and driving statistics. The authors conduct extensive simulation studies considering different penetration rates of CAVs, different car-following models, and varying car-following model parameters. Using the state-of-the-art Future Automotive System Technology Simulator (FASTSim), they estimate the fuel economy of each vehicle and analyze the energy impact of the given CAV implementation. Finally, the authors analyze the possible factors affecting the simulation results, and also discuss limitations and future work.
Three post-mold operations performed in wind blade manufacturing include: trimming, to remove excess flashing; grinding, to shape the leading edge; and sanding, to prepare the are for bonding of over-lamination or paint. This work focuses on automating these three operations. Each operation scans the blade to build a point cloud, plans a tool path for the operation, and executes the toolpath using an industrial robot arm. The results are analyzed to determine the operational speed and the finish quality.
The U.S. NRC is currently proposing rulemaking '10 CFR 50.46c' to revise the loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA) and emergency core cooling system (ECCS) acceptance criteria to include the effects of higher burn-up on cladding performance. The key implications of this proposition are that the cladding performance cannot be evaluated in isolation anymore. Both cladding and ECCS performance need to be considered in a coupled manner. This also implies that models for cladding performance as well as LOCA methodologies will need to be updated for regulatory purposes. Furthermore, efforts need to be made to find the limiting case within the regulatory input space. The Risk-Informed Safety Margin Characterization (RISMC) Pathway, as part of the DOE Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) research and development program initialed several programs at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) to support the industry in the transition to the new rule and to offer potential solutions to this LOCA/ECCS analysis. One of these programs is the Industry Application no. 1 (IA1). Its purpose is to provide to the plant owner/operator a vehicle to inform decisions to manage margins related to compliance with the proposed 10 CFR 50.46c rule. IA1's goal is to develop an Integrated Evaluation Model (IEM) to revisit how uncertainties are propagated across the physical disciplines and data involved, as well as well as how risks are evaluated in a LOCA under 10 CFR 50.46c. This IEM is called LOCA Tool-kit for the US (LOTUS) and it connects five major disciplines involved in LOCA analysis. The focus of LOTUS is to establish the automation interfaces among the five disciplines. LOTUS will utilize in a first step existing computer codes. The risk-informed margins management approach for IA1 will provide a means of quantifying the impact on the key LOCA analysis figures-of-merit like peak cladding temperature (PCT), equivalent cladding reacted (ECR), etc. of a change in LOCA analysis inputs. The information that the risk analysis and associated tools provide can then be used for decision-making and margin management. (authors)
Update on Automated Mechanical Testing system Project
A microindentation scanner is constructed that measures the spatial fluctuation in the elastic properties of natural rocks. This novel instrument performs automated indentation tests on the surface of a rock slab and outputs 2-D maps of the indentation modulus at submillimeter resolution. Maps obtained for clean, well-consolidated, sandstone are presented and demonstrate the capabilities of the instrument. We postulate that the elastic structure of sandstones correlates well with their visual appearance. Moreover, we observe that the probability distribution of the indentation modulus fluctuations across the slab surfaces can be modeled using a lognormal probability density function. To illustrate possible use of the data obtained with the microindentation scanner, we use roughly 10 cm × 10 cm scans with millimeter resolution over four sandstone planar slabs to numerically compute the overall drained elastic moduli for each sandstone sample. We demonstrate that such numerically computed moduli are well modeled using the multicomponent form of the Hashin-Shtrikman lower bound that employs the observed lognormal probability distribution for the mesoscopic-scale moduli (the geometric mean works almost the same). We also compute the seismic attenuation versus frequency associated with wave-induced fluid flow between the heterogeneities in the scanned sandstones and report relatively small values for the inverse quality factor (Q -1 <10 -2 ) in the seismic frequency band 10 2 Hz 4 Hz. The numerically computed frequency dependence in the attenuation varies from one type of sandstone to another, and we determine vital anisotropy in the attenuation associated with waves propagating in different directions.