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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 OSTI2017

Modernization and optimization of a legacy open-source CFD code for high-performance computing architectures

Legacy codes remain a crucial element of today's simulation-based engineering ecosystem due to the extensive validation process and investment in such software. The rapid evolution of high-performance computing architectures necessitates the modernization of these codes. One approach to modernization is a complete overhaul of the code. However, this could require extensive investments, such as rewriting in modern languages, new data constructs, etc., which will necessitate systematic verification and validation to re-establish the credibility of the computational models. The current study advocates using a more incremental approach and is a culmination of several modernization efforts of the legacy code MFIX, which is an open-source computational fluid dynamics code that has evolved over several decades, widely used in multiphase flows and still being developed by the National Energy Technology Laboratory. Two different modernization approaches,‘bottom-up’ and ‘top-down’, are illustrated. Here, preliminary results show up to 8.5x improvement at the selected kernel level with the first approach, and up to 50% improvement in total simulated time with the latter were achieved for the demonstration cases and target HPC systems employed.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Discrete Hankel Transform Approach to Nuclear Data Processing for Fusion Applications

This study introduces advancements to the numerical solutions employed in the processing of nuclear data for fusion applications. It leverages the convolution theorem and Fourier transform techniques to enhance computational efficiency and broaden applicability. Building upon a previously reported discrete Hankel transform approach for Doppler broadening, this work refines the solution of convolution integrals central to these applications. The methodology provides a general and unified framework for evaluating any convolution operation, regardless of whether the underlying problem involves temperature effects in nuclear reactions. The applicability to the nuclear data processing for fusion is demonstrated by deriving the convolution integrals for some of the fusion-related quantities. As before, the convolution operation utilizes a Gaussian-based kernel; however, the discrete Hankel transform of order $𝛼$ = $\frac{1}{2}$ is now applied to the forward Fourier transform of the nonkernel argument, rather than the inverse Fourier transform. This modification eliminates the need for the integration of the nonkernel, cross section–based function, which is a step that posed challenges for certain pointwise cross-section representations. It also removes the requirement for cross-section linearization. Optimized for graphics processing unit architectures, the approach significantly improves computational performance. These advancements are currently under evaluation as the foundation for the next-generation thermonuclear data file processing codes being developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

Nuclear science and engineering↗
DOE OSTI2022

Inferring safety critical events from vehicle kinematics in naturalistic driving environment: Application of deep learning Algorithms

Advances in sensing technology has enabled the collection of countless terabytes of second-by-second kinematics data. Such data provides opportunities for real-time monitoring of driving behavior and identification of safety critical events (SCEs) including crashes and near crashes. The concept of volatility is relevant in this context, which identifies instability and erratic variations in driving behavior prior to involvement in SCEs. This study utilized vehicle kinematics from a large-scale naturalistic driving data to develop a deep learning approach based on 1D convolutional neural networks (CNN) for inferring SCEs. The data are unique in the sense that such accurate pre-crash data at high fidelity are not available in traditional crash repositories. This study contributes to the literature by providing a first attempt at predicting responses to SCEs by developing deep learning-based CNN architectures using novel driving volatility based kinematic thresholds for a sample of 9553 events. The key contribution lies in developing a volatility-based CNN input layout that is acceptable to CNN schemes and represents the motion kinematics such as speed, acceleration and volatility measures. Several 1D-CNN architectures were developed using layers, numbers of convolutions, layer patterns, and kernels. Shallow and deep architectures were tested, revealing higher accuracy of shallow architectures in detecting SCEs. The optimal number of epochs were identified using an early stopping method while the CNN performance was improved by increasing the number of epochs. The ensemble CNN had the highest predictive accuracy of 95.6% for detection of crashes and near crashes, which was 2.5% higher than the optimal CNN using 20% hold out test data. The ensemble CNN also outperformed classical machine learning models and model performance reported in past studies on detection of SCEs. Finally, these results have implications for identification of safety hotspots and providing real-time alerts and warnings in connected and highly automated vehicle environment including society of automotive engineers levels 3–5.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Do people spend travel time the way they think they would? a comparative study of generic and trip-specific travel time allocation using hybrid multiple discrete continuous (MDC) framework

Unlike driving alone, public transportation allows one to engage in extraneous activities while traveling – often referred to as travel-based multitasking. Research involving travel-based multitasking often relies on either generic (i.e. not related to an actual trip) or revealed (i.e. related to an executed trip) data. The data collected for this study provided a unique opportunity to compare the generic and trip-specific preferences while traveling on public transportation. To this end, the study develops two integrated choice and latent variable models with multiple discrete-continuous (MDC) kernels to simultaneously model the activity selection and the time allocation for generic and trip-specific data, respectively. According to the results the trip-specific data could identify more nuances in the travel-based multitasking behavior than the generic data. Finally, the heterogeneity identified by the developed models will be helpful for the transit operators in providing appropriate facilities (e.g. internet access, reading lights) along various transit corridors.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2011

OPTIMAL LINEAR IMAGE COMBINATION

A simple, yet general, formalism for the optimized linear combination of astrophysical images is constructed and demonstrated. The formalism allows the user to combine multiple undersampled images to provide oversampled output at high precision. The proposed method is general and may be used for any configuration of input pixels and point spread function; it also provides the noise covariance in the output image along with a powerful metric for describing undesired distortion to the image convolution kernel. The method explicitly provides knowledge and control of the inevitable compromise between noise and fidelity in the output image. We present a first prototype implementation of the method, outlining the steps taken to generate an efficient algorithm. This implementation is then put to practical use in reconstructing fully sampled output images using simulated, undersampled input exposures that are designed to mimic the proposed Wide-field InfraRed Survey Telescope (WFIRST). We examine results using randomly rotated and dithered input images, while also assessing better-known 'ideal' dither patterns: comparing results, we illustrate the use of the method as a survey design tool. Finally, we use the method to test the robustness of linear image combination when subjected to practical realities such as missing input pixels and focal plane plate scale variations.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

HELIOSEISMOLOGY OF A REALISTIC MAGNETOCONVECTIVE SUNSPOT SIMULATION

We compare helioseismic travel-time shifts measured from a realistic magnetoconvective sunspot simulation using both helioseismic holography and time-distance helioseismology, and measured from real sunspots observed with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager instrument on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory and the Michelson Doppler Imager instrument on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory. We find remarkable similarities in the travel-time shifts measured between the methodologies applied and between the simulated and real sunspots. Forward modeling of the travel-time shifts using either Born or ray approximation kernels and the sound-speed perturbations present in the simulation indicates major disagreements with the measured travel-time shifts. These findings do not substantially change with the application of a correction for the reduction of wave amplitudes in the simulated and real sunspots. Overall, our findings demonstrate the need for new methods for inferring the subsurface structure of sunspots through helioseismic inversions.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2012

VELOCITY AND MAGNETIC TRANSIENTS DRIVEN BY THE X2.2 WHITE-LIGHT FLARE OF 2011 FEBRUARY 15 IN NOAA 11158

The first X-class flare of the current solar cycle 24 occurred in Active Region NOAA 11158 during its central meridian passage on 2011 February 15. This two-ribbon white-light flare was observed by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. During the peak phase of the flare, we detected magnetic and Doppler velocity (DV) transients appearing near the umbral boundary of the main sunspot. These transients persisted for a few minutes and showed spatial and temporal correspondence with the flare kernels. The observed magnetic polarity at the transients' locations underwent a sign reversal, together with a large enhancement in DVs. We explain this observational phenomenon using the HMI spectral data obtained before, during, and after the flare. These changes were reflected in the maps of the active region in all the Stokes parameters. Association of the transient features with various signatures of the flare and the cause and effects of their appearance are also presented on the basis of present theoretical models.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

NONLINEAR BEHAVIOR OF BARYON ACOUSTIC OSCILLATIONS FROM THE ZEL'DOVICH APPROXIMATION USING A NON-FOURIER PERTURBATION APPROACH

Baryon acoustic oscillations are an excellent technique to constrain the properties of dark energy in the universe. In order to accurately characterize the dark energy equation of state, we must understand the effects of both the nonlinearities and redshift space distortions on the location and shape of the acoustic peak. In this paper, we consider these effects using the Zel'dovich approximation and a novel approach to second-order perturbation theory. The second-order term of the Zel'dovich power spectrum is built from convolutions of the linear power spectrum with polynomial kernels in Fourier space, suggesting that the corresponding term of the Zel'dovich correlation function can be written as a sum of quadratic products of a broader class of correlation functions, expressed through simple spherical Bessel transforms of the linear power spectrum. We show how to systematically perform such a computation. We explicitly prove that our result is the Fourier transform of the Zel'dovich power spectrum and compare our expressions to numerical simulations. Finally, we highlight the advantages of writing the nonlinear expansion in configuration space, as this calculation is easily extended to redshift space, and the higher-order terms are mathematically simpler than their Fourier counterparts.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

OBSERVATIONAL STUDY OF THE QUASI-PERIODIC FAST-PROPAGATING MAGNETOSONIC WAVES AND THE ASSOCIATED FLARE ON 2011 MAY 30

On 2011 May 30, quasi-periodic fast-propagating (QFP) magnetosonic waves accompanied by a C2.8 flare were directly imaged by the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly instrument on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. The QFP waves successively emanated from the flare kernel, they propagated along a cluster of open coronal loops with a phase speed of {approx}834 km s{sup -1} during the flare's rising phase, and the multiple arc-shaped wave trains can be fitted with a series of concentric circles. We generate the k - {omega} diagram of the Fourier power and find a straight ridge that represents the dispersion relation of the waves. Along the ridge, we find a lot of prominent nodes which represent the available frequencies of the QFP waves. On the other hand, the frequencies of the flare are also obtained by analyzing the flare light curves using the wavelet technique. The results indicate that almost all the main frequencies of the flare are consistent with those of the QFP waves. This suggests that the flare and the QFP waves were possibly excited by a common physical origin. On the other hand, a few low frequencies (e.g., 2.5 mHz (400 s) and 0.7 mHz (1428 s)) revealed by the k - {omega} diagram cannot be found in the accompanying flare. We propose that these low frequencies were possibly due to the leakage of the pressure-driven p-mode oscillations from the photosphere into the low corona, which should be a noticeable mechanism for driving the QFP waves observed in the corona.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2012

ABRUPT LONGITUDINAL MAGNETIC FIELD CHANGES AND ULTRAVIOLET EMISSIONS ACCOMPANYING SOLAR FLARES

We have used Transition Region and Coronal Explorer 1600 A images and Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) magnetograms to compare ultraviolet (UV) emissions from the chromosphere to longitudinal magnetic field changes in the photosphere during four X-class solar flares. An abrupt, significant, and persistent change in the magnetic field occurred across more than 10 pixels in the GONG magnetograms for each flare. These magnetic changes lagged the GOES flare start times in all cases, showing that they were consequences and not causes of the flares. Ultraviolet emissions were spatially coincident with the field changes. The UV emissions tended to lag the GOES start times for the flares and led the changes in the magnetic field in all pixels except one. The UV emissions led the photospheric field changes by 4 minutes on average with the longest lead being 9 minutes; however, the UV emissions continued for tens of minutes, and more than an hour in some cases, after the field changes were complete. The observations are consistent with the picture in which an Alfven wave from the field reconnection site in the corona propagates field changes outward in all directions near the onset of the impulsive phase, including downward through the chromosphere and into the photosphere, causing the photospheric field changes, whereas the chromosphere emits in the UV in the form of flare kernels, ribbons, and sequential chromospheric brightenings during all phases of the flare.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

POINT-SPREAD FUNCTIONS FOR THE EXTREME-ULTRAVIOLET CHANNELS OF SDO/AIA TELESCOPES

We present the stray-light point-spread functions (PSFs) and their inverses we characterized for the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) EUV telescopes on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft. The inverse kernels are approximate inverses under convolution. Convolving the original Level 1 images with them produces images with improved stray-light characteristics. We demonstrate the usefulness of these PSFs by applying them to two specific cases: photometry and differential emission measure (DEM) analysis. The PSFs consist of a narrow Gaussian core, a diffraction component, and a diffuse component represented by the sum of a Gaussian-truncated Lorentzian and a shoulder Gaussian. We determined the diffraction term using the measured geometry of the diffraction pattern identified in flare images and the theoretically computed intensities of the principal maxima of the first few diffraction orders. To determine the diffuse component, we fitted its parameterized model using iterative forward-modeling of the lunar interior in the SDO/AIA images from the 2011 March 4 lunar transit. We find that deconvolution significantly improves the contrast in dark features such as miniature coronal holes, though the effect was marginal in bright features. On a percentage-scattering basis, the PSFs for SDO/AIA are better by a factor of two than that of the EUV telescope on board the Transition Region And Coronal Explorer mission. A preliminary analysis suggests that deconvolution alone does not affect DEM analysis of small coronal loop segments with suitable background subtraction. We include the derived PSFs and their inverses as supplementary digital materials.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

A DENSITY-INDEPENDENT FORMULATION OF SMOOTHED PARTICLE HYDRODYNAMICS

The standard formulation of the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) assumes that the local density distribution is differentiable. This assumption is used to derive the spatial derivatives of other quantities. However, this assumption breaks down at the contact discontinuity. At the contact discontinuity, the density of the low-density side is overestimated while that of the high-density side is underestimated. As a result, the pressure of the low-density (high-density) side is overestimated (underestimated). Thus, unphysical repulsive force appears at the contact discontinuity, resulting in the effective surface tension. This tension suppresses fluid instabilities. In this paper, we present a new formulation of SPH, which does not require the differentiability of density. Instead of the mass density, we adopt the internal energy density (pressure) and its arbitrary function, which are smoothed quantities at the contact discontinuity, as the volume element used for the kernel integration. We call this new formulation density-independent SPH (DISPH). It handles the contact discontinuity without numerical problems. The results of standard tests such as the shock tube, Kelvin-Helmholtz and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, point-like explosion, and blob tests are all very favorable to DISPH. We conclude that DISPH solved most of the known difficulties of the standard SPH, without introducing additional numerical diffusion or breaking the exact force symmetry or energy conservation. Our new SPH includes the formulation proposed by Ritchie and Thomas as a special case. Our formulation can be extended to handle a non-ideal gas easily.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

He I D3 OBSERVATIONS OF THE 1984 MAY 22 M6.3 SOLAR FLARE

The He I D3 line has a unique response to a flare impact on the low solar atmosphere and can be a powerful diagnostic tool for energy transport processes. Using images obtained from the recently digitized films of the Big Bear Solar Observatory, we report D3 observations of the M6.3 flare on 1984 May 22, which occurred in an active region with a circular magnetic polarity inversion line (PIL). The impulsive phase of the flare starts with a main elongated source that darkens in D3, inside of which bright emission kernels appear at the time of the initial small peak in hard X-rays (HXRs). These flare cores subsequently evolve into a sharp emission strand lying within the dark halo; this evolution occurs at the same time as the main peak in HXRs, reversing the overall source contrast from -5% to 5%. The radiated energy in D3 during the main peak is estimated to be about 10{sup 30} erg, which is comparable to that carried by nonthermal electrons above 20 keV. Afterward, the flare proceeds along the circular PIL in the counterclockwise direction to form a dark circular ribbon in D3, which apparently mirrors the bright ribbons in H{alpha} and He I 10830 A. All of these ribbons last for over one hour in the late gradual phase. We suggest that the present event resembles the so-called black-light flare that was proposed based on continuum images, and that D3 darkening and brightening features herein may be due to thermal conduction heating and the direct precipitation of high-energy electrons, respectively.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2013

A robust quantification of galaxy cluster morphology using asymmetry and central concentration

We present a novel quantitative scheme of cluster classification based on the morphological properties that are manifested in X-ray images. We use a conventional radial surface brightness concentration parameter (c {sub SB}) as defined previously by others and a new asymmetry parameter, which we define in this paper. Our asymmetry parameter, which we refer to as photon asymmetry (A {sub phot}), was developed as a robust substructure statistic for cluster observations with only a few thousand counts. To demonstrate that photon asymmetry exhibits better stability than currently popular power ratios and centroid shifts, we artificially degrade the X-ray image quality by (1) adding extra background counts, (2) eliminating a fraction of the counts, (3) increasing the width of the smoothing kernel, and (4) simulating cluster observations at higher redshift. The asymmetry statistic presented here has a smaller statistical uncertainty than competing substructure parameters, allowing for low levels of substructure to be measured with confidence. A {sub phot} is less sensitive to the total number of counts than competing substructure statistics, making it an ideal candidate for quantifying substructure in samples of distant clusters covering a wide range of observational signal-to-noise ratios. Additionally, we show that the asymmetry-concentration classification separates relaxed, cool-core clusters from morphologically disturbed mergers, in agreement with by-eye classifications. Our algorithms, freely available as Python scripts (https://github.com/ndaniyar/aphot), are completely automatic and can be used to rapidly classify galaxy cluster morphology for large numbers of clusters without human intervention.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Characteristics of the photospheric magnetic field associated with solar flare initiation

The physical environment governing the solar flare initiation is not fully understood, although there are significant efforts to address the relationship between magnetic non-potential parameters and early flare signatures. In this study, we attempt to characterize the flare initiation based on the processed Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager vector magnetograms, Atmospheric Imaging Assembly 1600 Å, and RHESSI hard X-ray observations. Three flare events, the M6.6 flare on 2011 February 13, the X2.2 flare on 2011 February 15, and the X2.1 flare on 2011 September 6, in two active regions AR 11158 and AR 11283 are investigated. We analyze the source field strength in the photosphere, which is defined as the magnitude of the observed magnetic field deviation from the potential field. It is found that one of the strong source field regions above the magnetic polarity inversion line well connects the initial bright kernels of two conjugate ribbons. The results imply that the distribution of the photospheric source field strength can be used to locate the initiation site of flaring loops regardless of the configuration of pre-flare magnetic fields or the evolution of active regions. Moreover, the field configuration in the strong source field regions tends to become more inclined after flares, which is consistent with the coronal implosion scenario. We also employ a fast method to derive the total current density from the photospheric vector magnetogram in the framework of force-free field. This method can provide fast estimation of photospheric current density within a reasonable accuracy without appealing for the more accurate calculation from a model extrapolation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Regularity underlying complexity: a redshift-independent description of the continuous variation of galaxy-scale molecular gas properties in the mass-star formation rate plane

Star-forming galaxies (SFGs) display a continuous specific star formation rate (sSFR) distribution, which can be approximated by two log-normal functions: one encompassing the galaxy main sequence (MS), and the other a rarer, starbursting population. Starburst (SB) sSFRs can be regarded as the outcome of a physical process (plausibly merging) taking the mathematical form of a log-normal boosting kernel that enhances star formation activity. We explore the utility of splitting the star-forming population into MS and SB galaxies—an approach we term the '2-Star Formation Mode' framework—for understanding their molecular gas properties. Star formation efficiency (SFE) and gas fraction variations among SFGs take a simple redshift-independent form, once these quantities are normalized to the corresponding values for average MS galaxies. SFE enhancements during SB episodes scale supra-linearly with the SFR increase, as expected for mergers. Consequently, galaxies separate more clearly into loci for SBs and normal galaxies in the Schmidt-Kennicutt plane than in (s)SFR versus M {sub *} space. SBs with large deviations (>10 fold) from the MS, e.g., local ULIRGs, are not average SBs, but are much rarer events whose progenitors had larger gas fractions than typical MS galaxies. Statistically, gas fractions in SBs are reduced two- to threefold compared to their direct MS progenitors, as expected for short-lived SFR boosts where internal gas reservoirs are depleted more quickly than gas is re-accreted from the cosmic web. We predict variations of the conversion factor α{sub CO} in the SFR-M {sub *} plane and we show that the higher sSFR of distant galaxies is directly related to their larger gas fractions.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Direct evidence of an eruptive, filament-hosting magnetic flux rope leading to a fast solar coronal mass ejection

Magnetic flux ropes (MFRs) are believed to be at the heart of solar coronal mass ejections (CMEs). A well-known example is the prominence cavity in the low corona that sometimes makes up a three-part white-light (WL) CME upon its eruption. Such a system, which is usually observed in quiet-Sun regions, has long been suggested to be the manifestation of an MFR with relatively cool filament material collecting near its bottom. However, observational evidence of eruptive, filament-hosting MFR systems has been elusive for those originating in active regions. By utilizing multi-passband extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) observations from Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, we present direct evidence of an eruptive MFR in the low corona that exhibits a hot envelope and a cooler core; the latter is likely the upper part of a filament that undergoes a partial eruption, which is later observed in the upper corona as the coiled kernel of a fast, WL CME. This MFR-like structure exists more than 1 hr prior to its eruption, and displays successive stages of dynamical evolution, in which both ideal and non-ideal physical processes may be involved. The timing of the MFR kinematics is found to be well correlated with the energy release of the associated long-duration C1.9 flare. We suggest that the long-duration flare is the result of prolonged energy release associated with the vertical current sheet induced by the erupting MFR.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2014

On the origin of a sunquake during the 2014 March 29 X1 flare

Helioseismic data from the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager instrument have revealed a sunquake associated with the X1 flare SOL2014-03-29T17:48 in active region NOAA 12017. We try to discover if acoustic-like impulses or actions of the Lorentz force caused the sunquake. We analyze spectropolarimetric data obtained with the Facility Infrared Spectrometer (FIRS) at the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST). Fortunately, the FIRS slit crossed the flare kernel close to the acoustic source during the impulsive phase. The infrared FIRS data remain unsaturated throughout the flare. Stokes profiles of lines of Si I 1082.7 nm and He I 1083.0 nm are analyzed. At the flare footpoint, the Si I 1082.7 nm core intensity increases by a factor of several, and the IR continuum increases by 4% ± 1%. Remarkably, the Si I core resembles the classical Ca II K line's self-reversed profile. With nLTE radiative models of H, C, Si, and Fe, these properties set the penetration depth of flare heating to 100 ± 100 km (i.e., photospheric layers). Estimates of the non-magnetic energy flux are at least a factor of two less than the sunquake energy flux. Milne-Eddington inversions of the Si I line show that the local magnetic energy changes are also too small to drive the acoustic pulse. Our work raises several questions. Have we missed the signature of downward energy propagation? Is it intermittent in time and/or non-local? Does the 1-2 s photospheric radiative damping time discount compressive modes?.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗