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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 1,801 records · Page 100

Barotropic oscillations of the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas

Calculations of the periods and structures of several of the lowest barotropic free modes of oscillation of the combined Mediterranean-Adriatic Basin are presented which take into account basin morphometry, bottom topography and the earth's rotation. The numerical calculations, based on a Galerkin procedure developed by Rao and Schwab (1976), were first carried out to find the normal modes of the combined Mediterranean-Adriatic system at a resolution of 1 deg on a Mercator projection, and used to determine the mouth of the Adriatic, which was then examined on a finer grid without rotation. Comparison of the periods of the lowest gravitational modes of the Mediterranean Sea under different conditions show the most significant effect to be due to variable basin topography. Periods of 38.5, 11.4, 8.4 and 7.4 h are computed for the lowest modes of the Mediterranean Sea, while periods of 21.9, 10.7 and 6.7 h are computed for the Adriatic, in agreement with observed periods.

Schwab, D. J.↗

Computer code for the prediction of nozzle admittance

A procedure which can accurately characterize injector designs for large thrust (0.5 to 1.5 million pounds), high pressure (500 to 3000 psia) LOX/hydrocarbon engines is currently under development. In this procedure, a rectangular cross-sectional combustion chamber is to be used to simulate the lower traverse frequency modes of the large scale chamber. The chamber will be sized so that the first width mode of the rectangular chamber corresponds to the first tangential mode of the full-scale chamber. Test data to be obtained from the rectangular chamber will be used to assess the full scale engine stability. This requires the development of combustion stability models for rectangular chambers. As part of the combustion stability model development, a computer code, NOAD based on existing theory was developed to calculate the nozzle admittances for both rectangular and axisymmetric nozzles. This code is detailed.

Nguyen, Thong V.↗

Overall Traveling-Wave-Tube Efficiency Improved By Optimized Multistage Depressed Collector Design

Depressed Collector Design The microwave traveling wave tube (TWT) is used widely for space communications and high-power airborne transmitting sources. One of the most important features in designing a TWT is overall efficiency. Yet, overall TWT efficiency is strongly dependent on the efficiency of the electron beam collector, particularly for high values of collector efficiency. For these reasons, the NASA Glenn Research Center developed an optimization algorithm based on simulated annealing to quickly design highly efficient multistage depressed collectors (MDC's). Simulated annealing is a strategy for solving highly nonlinear combinatorial optimization problems. Its major advantage over other methods is its ability to avoid becoming trapped in local minima. Simulated annealing is based on an analogy to statistical thermodynamics, specifically the physical process of annealing: heating a material to a temperature that permits many atomic rearrangements and then cooling it carefully and slowly, until it freezes into a strong, minimum-energy crystalline structure. This minimum energy crystal corresponds to the optimal solution of a mathematical optimization problem. The TWT used as a baseline for optimization was the 32-GHz, 10-W, helical TWT developed for the Cassini mission to Saturn. The method of collector analysis and design used was a 2-1/2-dimensional computational procedure that employs two types of codes, a large signal analysis code and an electron trajectory code. The large signal analysis code produces the spatial, energetic, and temporal distributions of the spent beam entering the MDC. An electron trajectory code uses the resultant data to perform the actual collector analysis. The MDC was optimized for maximum MDC efficiency and minimum final kinetic energy of all collected electrons (to reduce heat transfer). The preceding figure shows the geometric and electrical configuration of an optimized collector with an efficiency of 93.8 percent. The results show the improvement in collector efficiency from 89.7 to 93.8 percent, resulting in an increase of three overall efficiency points. In addition, the time to design a highly efficient MDC was reduced from a month to a few days. All work was done in-house at Glenn for the High Rate Data Delivery Program. Future plans include optimizing the MDC and TWT interaction circuit in tandem to further improve overall TWT efficiency.

Vaden, Karl R.↗

Denoising diffusion probabilistic models for generative alloy design

Inverse material design is an extremely challenging optimization task made difficult by, in part, the highly nonlinear relationship linking performance with composition. Quantitative approaches have improved significantly owing to advances in high throughput experimentation and computational thermodynamics. However, existing physics-based tools are mostly forward models; input a chemistry and obtain a prediction. More recently the materials community has leveraged advances in the machine learning community to establish novel inverse design frameworks. Very recently denoising diffusion probabilistic models have been shown to be extremely powerful generators producing synthetic data of various modalities e.g. images, text, audio, tables, etc.. In this work a novel framework for alloy design and optimization is proposed leveraging these class of models. Five key generative tasks are demonstrated (1) unconditional generation (2) composition conditioned generation (3) property conditioned generation (4) multi-feedstock conditioned generation and (5) generative optimization. These methods were tested on three case studies: high entropy alloy design, superalloy binder jet additive manufacturing, and in-situ dual-feedstock wire-arc additive manufacturing. Results indicate that the established models are extremely flexible, expressive, and robust. The architecture’s flexibility and training procedure empower the model to learn complex intra-compositional and composition-property relationships. Furthermore, the probabilistic nature of these models makes them well suited for addressing solution non-uniqueness and tackling uncertainty quantification tasks. While the fidelity and quantity of the underlying training data is paramount, we envision that future alloy design frameworks will make extensive use of these kinds of machine learning models as “search” tools bolstering the utility of experimental and computational approaches.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Clinical Experience with Real-Time 3-D Guidance Based on C-Arm-Acquired Cone-Beam CT (CBCT) in Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Stent Shunt (TIPSS) Placement

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT)-based real-time 3-D guidance of TIPSS placement and its positioning compared to standard guiding methods.Materials and MethodsIn a prospective, randomized, consecutive study design from 2015 to 2017, we included 21 patients in the CBCT guided group and 15 patients in the ultrasound (US) guided group. The prospective groups were compared in terms of success rate of intervention, portal vein puncture/procedure time, number of puncture attempts and applied dose. We furthermore retrospectively analyzed the last 23 consecutive cases with fluoroscopic guided portal vein puncture in terms of success rate, procedure time and applied dose, as it has been the standard method before US guidance.ResultsThe median number of puncture attempts (CBCT: n = 2, US: n = 4, p = 0.249) and the mean puncture time (CBCT: 32 ± 45 min, US: 36 ± 45 min, p = 0.515) were not significantly different. There were furthermore no significant differences in the mean time needed for the total TIPSS procedure (CBCT: 115 ± 52 min, US: 112 ± 41 min, fluoroscopy: 110 ± 33 min, p = 0.996). The mean applied dose of the complete procedure also showed no statistically significant differences (CBCT: 563 ± 289 Gy·cm{sup 2}, US: 322 ± 186 Gy·cm{sup 2}, fluoroscopy: 469 ± 352 Gy·cm{sup 2}, p = 0.069). There were no image guidance related complications.ConclusionReal-time 3-D needle guidance based on CBCT is feasible for TIPSS placement. In terms of puncture attempts, duration and dose, CBCT guidance was not inferior to the control groups and may be a valuable support for interventionists in TIPSS procedures.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Towards a reliable assessment of charging effects during surface analysis: Accurate spectral shapes of ZrO 2 and Pd/ZrO 2 via X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy

X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy of large bandgap or insulating material surfaces relies on an effective mechanism that compensates for the emission (loss) of electrons by maintaining the material surface at a steady-state uniform potential. While a steady-state may be attained by utilizing an active compensation, such as low power electron emitting filament, there is the possibility that the surface potential is not uniform over the area analyzed, leading to peak shifts and incorrect spectral interpretation. Here, in this work, a spectral data processing method based on mapping the ZrO 2 and Pd/ZrO 2 surfaces utilizing photoemission peak binding energy is proposed, which provides information about the response of specific material surfaces to charge compensation. Spectromicroscopy of ZrO 2 and Pd/ZrO 2 surfaces without spatial information is used to monitor the efficacy of charge compensation. Exploiting counts distributed over many bins require the use of procedures and algorithms essential to practical mapping peak positions. Iterative singular value decomposition is therefore introduced and utilized as a means of efficiently delivering spatially resolved spectra from which binding energy for peaks is computed. The concepts developed in this work result in robust and accurate peak models of ZrO 2 and Pd/ZrO 2 that can be applied in XPS analysis of not only ZrO 2 but other large bandgap or insulating material surfaces. Supporting arguments for a peak model representing signal from Zr 3p and Pd 3d are developed within this work are presented.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Optimizing accuracy and efficacy in data-driven materials discovery for the solar production of hydrogen

The production of hydrogen fuels, via water splitting, is of practical relevance for meeting global energy needs and mitigating the environmental consequences of fossil-fuel-based transportation. Water photoelectrolysis has been proposed as a viable approach for generating hydrogen, provided that stable and inexpensive photocatalysts with conversion efficiencies over 10% can be discovered, synthesized at scale, and successfully deployed. While a number of first-principles studies have focused on the data-driven discovery of photocatalysts, in the absence of systematic experimental validation, the success rate of these predictions may be limited. We address this problem by developing a screening procedure with co-validation between experiment and theory to expedite the synthesis, characterization, and testing of the computationally predicted, most desirable materials. Here, starting with 70 150 compounds in the Materials Project database, the proposed protocol yielded 71 candidate photocatalysts, 11 of which were synthesized as single-phase materials. Experiments confirmed hydrogen generation and favorable band alignment for 6 of the 11 compounds, with the most promising ones belonging to the families of alkali and alkaline-earth indates and orthoplumbates. This study shows the accuracy of a nonempirical, Hubbard-corrected density-functional theory method to predict band gaps and band offsets at a fraction of the computational cost of hybrid functionals, and outlines an effective strategy to identify photocatalysts for solar hydrogen generation.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Redshifting galaxies from DESI to JWST CEERS: Correction of biases and uncertainties in quantifying morphology

Observations of high-redshift galaxies with unprecedented detail have now been rendered possible with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). However, accurately quantifying their morphology remains uncertain due to potential biases and uncertainties. To address this issue, we used a sample of 1816 nearby DESI galaxies, with a stellar mass range of 10 9.75 - 11.25 M ⊙ , to compute artificial images of galaxies of the same mass located at 0.75 ≤ z ≤ 3 and observed at rest-frame optical wavelength in the Cosmic Evolution Early Release Science (CEERS) survey. We analyzed the effects of cosmological redshift on the measurements of Petrosian radius (R p ), half-light radius (R 50 ), asymmetry (A), concentration (C), axis ratio (q), and Sérsic index (n). Our results show that R p and R 50 , calculated using non-parametric methods, are slightly overestimated due to PSF smoothing, while R 50 , q, and n obtained through fitting a Sérsic model does not exhibit significant biases. By incorporating a more accurate noise effect removal procedure, we improve the computation of A over existing methods, which often overestimate, underestimate, or lead to significant scatter of noise contributions. Due to PSF asymmetry, there is a minor overestimation of A for intrinsically symmetric galaxies. However, for intrinsically asymmetric galaxies, PSF smoothing dominates and results in an underestimation of A, an effect that becomes more significant with higher intrinsic A or at lower resolutions. Moreover, PSF smoothing also leads to an underestimation of C, which is notably more pronounced in galaxies with higher intrinsic C or at lower resolutions. We developed functions based on resolution level, defined as R p /FWHM, for correcting these biases and the associated statistical uncertainties. Applying these corrections, we measured the bias-corrected morphology for the simulated CEERS images and we find that the derived quantities are in good agreement with their intrinsic values – except for A, which is robust only for angularly large galaxies where R p /FWHM ≥ 5. Our correction functions can be applied to other surveys, offering valuable tools for future studies.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Thermal infrared images to quantify thermal ablation effects of acid and base on target tissues

Hyperthermia (42-46°C), treatment of tumor tissue through elevated temperature, offers several advantages including high cost-effectiveness, highly targeted ablation and fewer side effects and hence higher safety level over traditional therapies such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Recently, hyperthermia using heat release through exothermic acid-base neutralization comes into view owing to its relatively safe products of salt and water and highly confined ablation. However, lack of quantitative understanding of the spatial and temporal temperature profiles that are produced by simultaneous diffusion of liquid chemical and its chemical reaction within tumor tissue impedes the application of this method. This article is dedicated to quantify thermal ablation effects of acid and base both individually and as in neutralization via infrared captured thermal images. A theoretical model is used to approximate specific heat absorption rate (SAR) based on experimental measurements that contrast two types of tissue, normal pork and pig liver. According to the computation, both pork and liver tissue has a higher ability in absorbing hydrochloric acid (HCl) than sodium hydroxide, hence suggesting that a reduced dosage for HCl is appropriate in a surgery. The heating effect depends heavily on the properties of tissue types and amount of chemical reagents administered. Given thermal parameters such as SAR for different tissues, a computational model can be made in predicting temperature transitions which will be helpful in planning and optimizing surgical hyperthermia procedures.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Optimization of excitation transfer in a spin chain

A revised formulation of the problem of fastest transfer of the excitation in a spin chain is considered on the base of Shrödinger equation which Hamiltonian depends linearly on control. It is taken into account that the excitation of the first or last spin means that it has greatest amplitude equal to the chain invariant whereas its phase is undefined and can be considered as an additional control variable. The role of this additional control is analyzed via transformation of the original problem with unbounded linear control to the regular derived problem known from the theory of degenerate problems [1, 2], in the same way as in [2]. The overall procedure is demonstrated in computational experiments with the use of visual examples.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Power Converter Circuit Design Automation using Parallel Monte Carlo Tree Search

The tidal waves of modern electronic/electrical devices have led to increasing demands for ubiquitous application-specific power converters. A conventional manual design procedure of such power converters is computation- and labor-intensive, which involves selecting and connecting component devices, tuning component-wise parameters and control schemes, and iteratively evaluating and optimizing the design. To automate and speed up this design process, we propose an automatic framework that designs custom power converters from design specifications using Monte Carlo Tree Search. Specifically, the framework embraces the upper-confidence-bound-tree (UCT), a variant of Monte Carlo Tree Search, to automate topology space exploration with circuit design specification-encoded reward signals. Moreover, our UCT-based approach can exploit small offline data via the specially designed default policy and can run in parallel to accelerate topology space exploration. Further, it utilizes a hybrid circuit evaluation strategy to substantially reduce design evaluation costs. Empirically, we demonstrated that our framework could generate energy-efficient circuit topologies for various target voltage conversion ratios. Compared to existing automatic topology optimization strategies, the proposed method is much more computationally efficient --- the sequential version can generate topologies with the same quality while being up to 67% faster. Here, the parallelization schemes can further achieve high speedups compared to the sequential version.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

The SCEC Unified Community Velocity Model Software Framework

Crustal seismic-velocity models and datasets play a key role in regional 3D numerical earthquake ground-motion simulation, full waveform tomography, and modern physics-based probabilistic earthquake-hazard analysis, as well as in other related fields, including geophysics and earthquake engineering. Most of these models and datasets, often collectively identified as Community Velocity Models (CVMs), synthesize information from multiple sources and are delivered to users in variable formats, including computer applications that allow for interactive querying of material properties, namely P- and S-wave velocities and density ρ. Computational users often require massive and repetitive access to velocity models and datasets, and such access is often unpractical and difficult due to a lack of standardized methods and procedures. To overcome these issues and to facilitate access by the community to these models, the Southern California Earthquake Center developed the Unified CVM (UCVM) software framework, an open-source collection of tools that enables users to access one or more seismic-velocity models, while providing a standard query interface. Here, we describe the research challenges that motivated the development of UCVM, its software design, development approach, and basic capabilities, as well as a few examples of seismic-modeling applications that use UCVM.

Geochemistry & Geophysics↗

IRAS known asteroid prediction and association

Techniques and procedures employed to obtain data concerning the known asteroids from IRAS observations are discussed. The IRAS observations covered 95 percent of the sky with at least four scans of the telescope field of view. A search was first carried out for geometrical intersections of the trajectories of a given asteroid and the telescope boresight, following which a matched sighting was sought for each such intersection among the actual IRAS point source detections. By using ground based measurements of visual magnitudes, IRAS observations of IR brightness, and a thermal model, albedos and diameters have been computed for 1,822 known asteroids, increasing the amount of this kind of information by about an order of magnitude.

Kia, Tooraj↗

Design for validation: An approach to systems validation

Every complex system built is validated in some manner. Computer validation begins with review of the system design. As systems became too complicated for one person to review, validation began to rely on the application of adhoc methods by many individuals. As the cost of the changes mounted and the expense of failure increased, more organized procedures became essential. Attempts at devising and carrying out those procedures showed that validation is indeed a difficult technical problem. The successful transformation of the validation process into a systematic series of formally sound, integrated steps is necessary if the liability inherent in the future digita-system-based avionic and space systems is to be minimized. A suggested framework and timetable for the transformtion are presented. Basic working definitions of two pivotal ideas (validation and system life-cyle) are provided and show how the two concepts interact. Many examples are given of past and present validation activities by NASA and others. A conceptual framework is presented for the validation process. Finally, important areas are listed for ongoing development of the validation process at NASA Langley Research Center.

Carter, William C.↗

From Competence to Efficiency: A Tale of GA Progress

Genetic algorithms (GAs) - search procedures based on the mechanics of natural selection and genetics - have grown in popularity for the solution of difficult optimization problems. Concomitant with this growth has been a rising cacaphony of complaint asserting that too much time must be spent by the GA practitioner diddling with codes, operators, and GA parameters; and even then these GA cassandras continue, and the user is still unsure that the effort will meet with success. At the same time, there has been a rising interest in GA theory by a growing community - a theorocracy - of mathematicians and theoretical computer scientists, and these individuals have turned their efforts increasingly toward elegant abstract theorems and proofs that seem to the practitioner to offer little in the way of answers for GA design or practice. What both groups seem to have missed is the largely unheralded 1993 assembly of integrated, applicable theory and its experimental confirmation. This theory has done two key things. First, it has predicted that simple GAs are severely limited in the difficulty of problems they can solve, and these limitations have been confirmed experimentally. Second, it has shown the path to circumventing these limitations in nontraditional GA designs such as the fast messy GA. This talk surveys the history, methodology, and accomplishment of the 1993 applicable theory revolution. After arguing that these accomplishments open the door to universal GA competence, the paper shifts the discussion to the possibility of universal GA efficiency in the utilization of time and real estate through effective parallelization, temporal decomposition, hybridization, and relaxed function evaluation. The presentation concludes by suggesting that these research directions are quickly taking us to a golden age of adaptation.

Goldberg, David E.↗

Evaluation of shoulder integrity in space: first report of musculoskeletal US on the International Space Station

Investigative procedures were approved by Henry Ford Human Investigation Committee and NASA Johnson Space Center Committee for Protection of Human Subjects. Informed consent was obtained. Authors evaluated ability of nonphysician crewmember to obtain diagnostic-quality musculoskeletal ultrasonographic (US) data of the shoulder by following a just-in-time training algorithm and using real-time remote guidance aboard the International Space Station (ISS). ISS Expedition-9 crewmembers attended a 2.5-hour didactic and hands-on US training session 4 months before launch. Aboard the ISS, they completed a 1-hour computer-based Onboard Proficiency Enhancement program 7 days before examination. Crewmembers did not receive specific training in shoulder anatomy or shoulder US techniques. Evaluation of astronaut shoulder integrity was done by using a Human Research Facility US system. Crew used special positioning techniques for subject and operator to facilitate US in microgravity environment. Common anatomic reference points aided initial probe placement. Real-time US video of shoulder was transmitted to remote experienced sonologists in Telescience Center at Johnson Space Center. Probe manipulation and equipment adjustments were guided with verbal commands from remote sonologists to astronaut operators to complete rotator cuff evaluation. Comprehensive US of crewmember's shoulder included transverse and longitudinal images of biceps and supraspinatus tendons and articular cartilage surface. Total examination time required to guide astronaut operator to acquire necessary images was approximately 15 minutes. Multiple arm and probe positions were used to acquire dynamic video images that were of excellent quality to allow evaluation of shoulder integrity. Postsession download and analysis of high-fidelity US images collected onboard demonstrated additional anatomic detail that could be used to exclude subtle injury. Musculoskeletal US can be performed in space by minimally trained operators by using remote guidance. This technique can be used to evaluate shoulder integrity in symptomatic crewmembers after strenuous extravehicular activities or to monitor microgravity-associated changes in musculoskeletal anatomy. Just-in-time training, combined with remote experienced physician guidance, may provide a useful approach to complex medical tasks performed by nonexperienced personnel in a variety of remote settings, including current and future space programs. (c) RSNA, 2004.

Space Flight/education↗

An Immersed Boundary Method for Solving the Compressible Navier-Stokes Equations with Fluid Structure Interaction

An immersed boundary method for the compressible Navier-Stokes equation and the additional infrastructure that is needed to solve moving boundary problems and fully coupled fluid-structure interaction is described. All the methods described in this paper were implemented in NASA's LAVA solver framework. The underlying immersed boundary method is based on the locally stabilized immersed boundary method that was previously introduced by the authors. In the present paper this method is extended to account for all aspects that are involved for fluid structure interaction simulations, such as fast geometry queries and stencil computations, the treatment of freshly cleared cells, and the coupling of the computational fluid dynamics solver with a linear structural finite element method. The current approach is validated for moving boundary problems with prescribed body motion and fully coupled fluid structure interaction problems in 2D and 3D. As part of the validation procedure, results from the second AIAA aeroelastic prediction workshop are also presented. The current paper is regarded as a proof of concept study, while more advanced methods for fluid structure interaction are currently being investigated, such as geometric and material nonlinearities, and advanced coupling approaches.

Equations↗

Gaussian Process Modeling For Experimental Procedure Uncertainty

Many laboratory experiments generate data that are characterized by a form of uncertainty that differs from noise: experimental procedure uncertainty. The origin of this type of uncertainty is the difficulty in controlling a subset of experimental conditions in such a way that the experiment is perfectly reproducible within noise. In this report, we describe a Gaussian Process modeling-based method that accounts for experimental procedure uncertainty. The method accounts for variations in conditions from experiment to experiment that are independent between experiments, but correlated within each experiment, and incorporates the resulting uncertainty into predictions at future experimental settings. The method is discussed in the context of a specific chemistry application in which Raman scattering spectra are measured from three-component mixtures.

42 ENGINEERING↗

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