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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 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2017

A single-pixel X-ray imager concept and its application to secure radiographic inspections

Imaging technology is generally considered too invasive for arms control inspections due to the concern that it cannot properly secure sensitive features of the inspected item. However, this same sensitive information, which could include direct information on the form and function of the items under inspection, could be used for robust arms control inspections. The single-pixel X-ray imager (SPXI) is introduced as a method to make such inspections, capturing the salient spatial information of an object in a secure manner while never forming an actual image. The method is built on the theory of compressive sensing and the single pixel optical camera. The performance of the system is quantified here using simulated inspections of simple objects. Measures of the robustness and security of the method are introduced and used to determine how such an inspection would be made which can maintain high robustness and security. In particular, it is found that an inspection with low noise (<1%) and high undersampling (>256×) exhibits high robustness and security.

Arms Control↗
DOE OSTI2013

Qualification Requirements of Guided Ultrasonic Waves for Inspection of Piping in Light Water Reactors

Guided ultrasonic waves (GUW) are being increasingly used for both NDT and monitoring of piping. GUW offers advantages over many conventional NDE technologies due to the ability to inspect large volumes of piping components without significant removal of thermal insulation or protective layers. In addition, regions rendered inaccessible to more conventional NDE technologies may be more accessible using GUW techniques. For these reasons, utilities are increasingly considering the use of GUWs for performing the inspection of piping components in nuclear power plants. GUW is a rapidly evolving technology and its usage for inspection of nuclear power plant components requires refinement and qualification to ensure it is able to achieve consistent and acceptable levels of performance. This paper will discuss potential requirements for qualification of GUW techniques for the inspection of piping components in light water reactors (LWRs). The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has adopted ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code requirements in Sections V, III, and XI for nondestructive examination methods, fabrication inspections, and pre-service and in-service inspections. A Section V working group has been formed to place the methodology of GUW into the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code but no requirements for technique, equipment, or personnel exist in the Code at this time.

Guided Ultrasonic Waves↗
DOE OSTI2020

Progress on Advancing the Robotic Air-slot Volumetric Inspection System (RAVIS) for Hanford Under-tank Inspection - 20519

The 27 in-service double-shell tank (DST) systems at Hanford provide interim storage for nearly 56 million gallons of nuclear and hazardous chemical legacy waste. The safe and reliable storage of the waste is critical to the site's extended cleanup mission. While in service, the leak integrity of the DSTs must be demonstrated to satisfy the Washington Administrative Code, inform decisions on tank management, and gauge fitness for continued service beyond originally intended design lives. The carbon steel plates and welds that comprise DST primary tank sidewalls and lower knuckles are routinely 'sampled' for volumetric non-destructive testing using ultrasonic inspection technology to determine whether corrosion pitting, cracking, or general corrosion are occurring that could compromise tank leak integrity. However, the carbon steel plates and welds that comprise the bottoms of primary tanks have not been thoroughly inspected since the DSTs were constructed (i.e., since 1968-1986) due to limited physical access to the exterior tank bottoms. The Robotic Air-slot Volumetric Inspection System, or 'RAVIS,' is being engineered to overcome the challenge of tank bottom in-service inspection. The system will be deployed under primary tanks within the small cooling channels/air-slots in the refractory pads upon which the tanks rest and will use ultrasonic guided wave inspection technology to volumetrically inspect physically inaccessible regions that make up ∼90% of a tank bottom, as well as regions that are physically accessible from the air-slots but comprise only ∼10% of a tank bottom. This paper describes the air-slot sensor and robotic deployment system and focuses on the testing approach and methods that are being applied to support (1) design feedback and performance acceptance (requirement verification) and (2) performance repeatability/reliability assessments (qualification) to ensure the RAVIS is prepared for successful inservice inspections of primary tank bottoms. Test progress made against the test plan, the results of 2019 testing, and the future outlook are included. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2021

Development of an Innovative Inspection Tool for Superheater Tubes in Fossil Fuel Power Plants

Fossil fuel power plants are complex systems containing multiple components that require periodic health monitoring. Failures in these systems can lead to increased downtime for the plant, reduction of power, and significant cost for repairs. Inspections of the plant’s superheater tubes are typically manual, laborious, and extremely time-consuming. This is due to their small diameter size (between 1.3 and 7.6 cm) and the coiled structure of the tubing. In addition, the tubes are often stacked close to each other, limiting access for external inspection. This paper presents the development and testing of an electrically powered pipe crawler that can navigate inside 5 cm diameter tubes and provide an assessment of their health. The crawler utilizes peristaltic motion within the tubes via interconnected modules for gripping and extending. The modular nature of the system allows it to traverse through straight sections and multiple 90° and 180° bends. Additional modules in the system include an ultrasonic sensor for tube thickness measurements, as well as environmental sensors, a light detecting and ranging (LiDAR) sensor, and camera. Furthermore, these modules utilize a gear system that allows for 360° rotation and provides a means to inspect the entire internal circumference of the tubes.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Progress on Advancing Robotic Ultrasonic Volumetric Inspection Technology for Hanford Under-tank Inspection - 19474

The Hanford River Protection Project is reliant on safe interim storage of high-level waste at the Hanford site and will continue to depend on it until the waste has been treated and vitrified by the Hanford Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant (WTP). The Hanford double-shell tanks (DSTs) have provided interim storage since the DSTs were put into service (1971 - 1986) and the RPP will continue to rely on their service until least 2050, at which time the 27 in-service DSTs will be 14-54 years beyond their original design lives. As the DSTs continue to age and be operated beyond design life, reliable leak integrity assessments of primary tanks and secondary liners will become increasingly important in order to provide situational awareness to tank operations personnel and to support risk-informed decisions on the selection of DSTs as waste feed staging tanks and the order and timing of future DST refurbishment or, alternatively, DST retrieval sequence. This paper summarizes progress made in fiscal year (FY) 2018 on the engineering of a robotic air-slot volumetric inspection system (RAVIS) that is designed to perform ultrasonic (volumetric) leak integrity inspections of physically inaccessible primary tank bottom plates and welds. Leak integrity inspections performed with the RAVIS will supplement today's primary tank leak integrity inspections, which are currently limited to physically accessible sidewall plates and welds. The RAVIS will be deployed into air slots of the insulating concrete (refractory) pad beneath the primary tanks and use its ultrasonic guided wave phased-array (GWPA) sensor to electronically steer an ultrasonic beam 360-degrees around the sensor to volumetrically examine adjacent carbon steel plates and welds covered by refractory pad material. Deployments of RAVIS down multiple air-slots will be performed to determine which regions of a tank bottom have sound leak integrity or which regions are in need of future wall thickness restoration or weld repair due to pitting corrosion, general corrosion, or heat/stress-induced cracks. The initial RAVIS design and the flaw detection test results for the first air-slot GWPA sensor that was designed to fit inside the air-slots will be presented in this paper. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗
DOE OSTI2019

Characterization and nondestructive inspection of additively manufactured materials

Additively manufactured (AM) components often exhibit significant discontinuities and indications without a clear understanding of how they might affect the mechanical properties of a part during qualification and service. This uncertainty is unacceptable for the design and manufacturing of most aerospace components. Current research in both mechanical testing and nondestructive evaluation involves developing methods for characterizing and inspecting AM components as the use of such materials continues to rise. Although several AM manufacturing methods have been developed in recent decades, this paper focuses on AM production-ready processes for a direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) powder bed fusion machine and will provide background on Sandia National Laboratories’ research efforts in this area. Tensile bar samples manufactured using the DMLS powder bed fusion method were inspected in this study, and the results of ultrasonic spectroscopy for assessing internal flaws will be presented. A combination of material property evaluation, microstructural characterization, and nondestructive inspection techniques will also be described. Finally, the results obtained from these material evaluation methods assist in determining inspection limits and methods for qualifying AM materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2017

Shell Inspection History and Current CMM Inspection Efforts

The following report provides a review of past and current CMM Shell Inspection efforts. Calibration of the Sheffield rotary contour gauge has expired and the primary inspector, Matthew Naranjo, has retired. Efforts within the Inspection team are transitioning from maintaining and training new inspectors on Sheffield to off-the-shelf CMM technology. Although inspection of a shell has many requirements, the scope of the data presented in this report focuses on the inner contour, outer contour, radial wall thickness and mass comparisons.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Toward Autonomous Field Inspection of CSP Collectors With a Polarimetric Imaging Drone

We developed a polarimetric imaging drone to perform field inspections of heliostats and carried out field tests at Sandia’s National Solar Thermal Test Facility (NSTTF). The preliminary results show that Degree of Linear Polarization (DOLP) and Angle of Polarization (AOP) images greatly enhanced the edge detection results compared with the conventional visible images, supporting fast and accurate detection of heliostat mirror edges and cracks. The system holds the promise to enable future automated detection of heliostats optical errors and mirror defects.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

CTBT on-site inspections

On-site inspection (OSI) is a critical part of the verification regime for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The OSI verification regime provides for international inspectors to make a suite of measurements and observations on site at the location of an event of interest. The other critical component of the verification regime is the International Monitoring System (IMS), which is a globally distributed network of monitoring stations. The IMS along with technical monitoring data from CTBT member countries, as appropriate, will be used to trigger an OSI. After the decision is made to carry out an OSI, it is important for the inspectors to deploy to the field site rapidly to be able to detect short-lived phenomena such as the aftershocks that may be observable after an underground nuclear explosion. The inspectors will be on site from weeks to months and will be working with many tens of tons of equipment. Parts of the OSI regime will be tested in a field exercise in the country of Jordan late in 2014. The build-up of the OSI regime has been proceeding steadily since the CTBT was signed in 1996 and is on track to becoming a deterrent to someone considering conducting a nuclear explosion in violation of the Treaty.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗