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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 1,783 records · Page 99
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Technical Basis for Evaluating Software-Related Common-Cause Failures

The instrumentation and control (I&C) system architecture at a nuclear power plant (NPP) incorporates protections against common-cause failures (CCFs) through the use of diversity and defense-in-depth. Even for well-established analog-based I&C system designs, the potential for CCFs of multiple systems (or redundancies within a system) constitutes a credible threat to defeating the defense-in-depth provisions within the I&C system architectures. The integration of digital technologies into the I&C systems provides many advantages compared to the aging analog systems with respect to reliability, maintenance, operability, and cost effectiveness. However, maintaining the diversity and defense-in-depth for both the hardware and software within the digital system is challenging. In fact, the introduction of digital technologies may actually increase the potential for CCF vulnerabilities because of the introduction of undetected systematic faults. These systematic faults are defined as a “design fault located in a software component” and at a high level, are predominately the result of (1) errors in the requirement specification, (2) inadequate provisions to account for design limits (e.g., environmental stress), or (3) technical faults incorporated in the internal system (or architectural) design or implementation. Other technology-neutral CCF concerns include hardware design errors, equipment qualification deficiencies, installation or maintenance errors, instrument loop scaling and setpoint mistakes.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2016

Collaborative Research: failure of RockMasses from Nucleation and Growth of Microscopic Defects and Disorder

Over the 21 years of funding we have pursued several projects related to earthquakes, damage and nucleation. We developed simple models of earthquake faults which we studied to understand Gutenburg-Richter scaling, foreshocks and aftershocks, the effect of spatial structure of the faults and its interaction with underlying self organization and phase transitions. In addition we studied the formation of amorphous solids via the glass transition. We have also studied nucleation with a particular concentration on transitions in systems with a spatial symmetry change. In addition we investigated the nucleation process in models that mimic rock masses. We obtained the structure of the droplet in both homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation. We also investigated the effect of defects or asperities on the nucleation of failure in simple models of earthquake faults.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

neutron-Induced Failures in semiconductor Devices

Single Event Effects are a very significant failure mode in modern semiconductor devices that may limit their reliability. Accelerated testing is important for semiconductor industry. Considerable more work is needed in this field to mitigate the problem. Mitigation of this problem will probably come from Physicists and Electrical Engineers working together

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2018

Material Failure Model and Properties for Puncture Simulations

Sharp tools in a production environment can puncture fragile components. This project analyzes a slender probe as it penetrates a ductile material. Finite element models of probe penetration problems need material models that are accurate through the full range of strain. Elastic properties are frequently derived and are available for most metals with a strong statistical basis. Stress-strain curves including the plastic range are limited and usually stop at the ultimate strength, where void nucleation occurs. Criteria for damage accumulation and rupture are difficult to obtain for many materials. Tests have been performed on coupons of 7075-T651 plate with three probes. The geometry of the coupon and probes are provided, as well as appropriate initial and boundary conditions. The mean energy required for each of the probes to penetrate the coupon is also provided. The objective of this project is to demonstrate three advanced material models for 7075-T651 plate with failure criteria and derive the requisite parameters for each model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

FY18 Thermal Mechanical Failure: SS-304L calibration Taylor-Quinney parameter measurement and kinematic hardening plasticity

The Thermal-Mechanical Failure project conducted in FY 2018 was divided into three sub projects: 1. Calibration of the uniaxial response of 304L stainless steel specimens at three temperatures (20, 150 and 310°C) and two strain rates (2 x 10 -4 and 8 x 10 -2 s -1 ); 2. Measurements of the fraction of plastic work that is converted to heat (Taylor-Quinney parameter) for 304L stainless steel. This fraction is usually assumed to be 0.95 in analysis because data is only available for a few materials; 3. Comparison of the predicted responses by isotropic and kinematic hardening plasticity models in a couple of simplified structural problems. One problem is a can crush followed by pressurization and is loosely associated with a crush-and-burn scenario. The other problem consists of a drop scenario of a thin-walled cylinder that carries a cantilevered internal mass.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Analysis of the Heliotrope Flight System Failure on May 29 2015

The flight and unscheduled termination of a prototype solar powered hot air balloon are described. Impact speeds of the falling payload are estimated, and the cause of the unexpected release is discussed. Modifications to the flight system to reduce the chances of this failure mode are presented.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

NSLS-II Linac Klystron Filament Failure Analysis

The NSLS-II linear accelerator uses the TH2100A klystron tube. One tube has failed with broken window with less than 8000 hours. The tuning (impedance matching) posts were clearly bent, indicating that this tube had a mismatch at the window that was tuned out at the factory. None of our other tubes arrived like this. It is not clear if this was a contributing factor to the failure. This tube was purchased by BNL and installed after linac commissioning to verify operation. Tube delivered with linac held as spare and re-installed when this tube failed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Comparison of Failure Mechanisms Due to Shock Propagation in Forged, Layered, and Additive Manufactured Titanium

This chapter for the Stewardship Science Academic Programs Annual Report describes a project focused on characterizing the shock propagation and failure mechanisms in forged, layered, and additive manufactured (AM) materials. The AM process fabricates a part layer by layer, which provides opportunities to tailor geometry and optimize structural performance in addition to minimizing the amount of material waste for odd shaped parts.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Predicting and Preventing Failures [Slides]

Unpredicted bearings failures can be costly and dangerous. Current methods of detecting bearing faults rely on trained specialists with expensive detection equipment. Specialists must react daily, as the sheer number of bearings and the machines they operate are critical and any downtime will result in loss of productivity and endanger personal. My method utilizes machine learning algorithms coupled with relatively inexpensive accelerometers to remotely monitor data for specialists for fault detection, and estimate the diameter of the fault that has been caused by the bearing. The algorithm offers high accuracy detection using solely accelerometer data that can be obtained remotely, reducing the strain on analysists and ensuring that equipment is always running at an optimal and safe level. The algorithms operate in two layers, one layer detects the type of fault, and the second estimates the diameter of wear to determine the severity of the fault. The detection layer operates in the frequency space using a high accuracy Support Vector Machine algorithm and is trained on different types and sizes of machines to ensure generalization. The second layer uses a modified k-means clustering algorithm and vector calculus to estimate the bearing wear.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Hierarchical Multi-scale Modeling of Laser Weld Failure: An Initial Investigation

The failure of 304L laser welds is of interest to system and component designers due to nuclear safety requirements for abnormal environments. Accurately modeling laser weld behavior in full system and component models has proven especially challenging due to three factors: the large variability observed in laser weld characterization tests; the difficulty in isolating the weld material for material characterization and modeling the weld material behavior; and the disparate scales associated with modeling laser welds in large systems. Recent work has shown that meso-scale geometric features of laser welds such as pores and weld root tortuosity are critical to accurately predicting the structural performance of welds. The challenge with modeling these welds is that the geometric features driving their structural performance are generally on the order of ten to hundreds of microns, but can affect the responses of interest in systems and components on the order of centimeters to meters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Distended clads gas pressurization and material failure timescales

This document presents timescales for additional failure modes, including pressurization of void space in the pellet to the estimated tensile strength of the pellet. Because helium is known to be captured in the fuel as well as evolved as gas, previous timescales are adjusted to account for the substantial dissolution of helium in the matrix of the fuel at normal fuel temperatures. Helium arises from the decay of the 238Pu in the fuel, and can appear as a gas, creating bubbles within the fuel. The majority of helium is known to be captured within the fuel matrix at the operating temperatures of an isolated clad.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2019

Facility to Alleviate Salt Technology Risks (FASTR): Preliminary Design Report with Failure Modes and Effects Analysis

The Facility to Alleviate Salt Technology Risks (FASTR) is a versatile, high-temperature (>600°C) molten chloride salt test facility designed to enable a variety of testing to advance the Generation 3 (Gen 3) Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) molten salt technology. FASTR includes a salt preparation system and a forced flow test loop with a suite of instrumentation. The FASTR loop is capable of 725°C operation, flow rates of 3–7 kg/s, includes heated and cooled sections, and swappable components to enable testing of future vendor-supplied hardware. The salt preparation system supplies large batches (e.g., 200 kg) of clean salt for use in the FASTR forced convection loop. This report summarizes the planned design and capabilities of FASTR. In addition, a failure modes and effects analysis of the system is reported.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Mitigation of Failure Propagation in Li-Ion Batteries

Propagation of thermal events from one damaged cell in a battery module to adjacent cells is a safety concern. A team of researchers from Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed a “safety-map” to evaluate propensity for failure propagation. The model results were used to evaluate passive thermal management designs for Li-ion battery modules.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Sensitivity and Uncertainty Analysis of Generator Failures under Extreme Temperature Scenarios in Power Systems

This report summarizes work done under the Verification, Validation, and Uncertainty Quantification (VVUQ) thrust area of the North American Energy Resilience Model (NAERM) Program. The specific task of interest described in this report is focused on sensitivity analysis of scenarios involving failures of both wind turbines and thermal generators under extreme cold-weather temperature conditions as would be observed in a Polar Vortex event.

17 WIND ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Isotopic fractionation as in-situ sensor of subsurface reactive flow and precursor for rock failure

Greater utilization of subsurface reservoirs perturbs in-situ chemical-mechanical conditions with wide ranging consequences from decreased performance to project failure. Understanding the chemical precursors to rock deformation is critical to reducing the risks of these activities. To address this need, we investigated the coupled flow-dissolution- precipitation-adsorption reactions involving calcite and environmentally-relevant solid phases. Experimentally, we quantified (1) stable isotope fractionation processes for strontium during calcite nucleation and growth, and during reactive fluid flow; (2) consolidation behavior of calcite assemblages in the common brines. Numerically, we quantified water weakening of calcite using molecular dynamics simulations; and quantified the impact of calcite dissolution rate on macroscopic fracturing using finite element models. With microfluidic experiments and modeling, we show the effect of local flow fields on the dissolution kinetics of calcite. Taken together across a wide range of scales and methods, our studies allow us to separate the effects of reaction, flow, and transport, on calcite fracturing and the evolution of strontium isotopic signatures in the reactive fluids.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2019

Failure Characterization of SiC/SiC Woven Tubular Composites

In the nuclear power industry, fuel-pellet swelling and pellet-cladding interactions induce complex stress states in the cladding material. SiCf/SiC composite tubes (SiC fibers embedded in SiC matrix) have been proposed as a candidate material for the cladding material. SiCf/SiC has high resistance to radiation-damage, low neutron crosssection and good damage tolerance in extreme radiation environments. The drawback of using SiC is the brittle nature of the material. However, using SiC in a woven ceramic matrix composite introduces a pseudoductility effect without catastrophic failure. In the current work woven, tubular cladding with continuous silicon carbide fibers and a high-purity stoichiometric silicon-carbide matrix was compared with monolithic silicon carbide samples.

Nance, James↗
DOE OSTI2020

Degradation and Failure Phenomena of Accident Tolerant Fuel Concepts: FeCrAl Alloy Cladding

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is anticipating licensing applications and commercial use of accident tolerant fuel (ATF) in United States commercial nuclear power reactors. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is providing technical assistance to the NRC related to the newly proposed nuclear fuel and cladding designs. This report focuses specifically on the iron-chromium-aluminum (FeCrAl) alloys being investigated to replace zirconium-based alloys for fuel cladding and provides current state-of-the-industry information on material properties and fuel performance considerations under reactor operating conditions and design basis accident conditions. Currently, Global Nuclear Fuels (GNF) is the only U.S.-based fuel vendor considering FeCrAl cladding as a near-term ATF design. GNF has tested several different FeCrAl alloys including Kanthal APMT, C26M, and MA956; fueled C26M rods and unfueled Kanthal APMT, C26M, and MA956 rods have been inserted in lead test assemblies at Plants Hatch and Clinton. This report will focus on those three alloys specifically, with broader information given regarding in-reactor and ex-reactor testing of FeCrAl alloys. To support the NRC’s readiness efforts, this report will identify and discuss degradation and failure modes of FeCrAl cladding concepts, including fuel performance characteristics that may not be addressed within existing regulatory documents.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗