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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 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2019

Development of a subsurface LIBS sensor for in situ groundwater quality monitoring with applications in CO 2 leak sensing in carbon sequestration

Sub-surface activity such as geologic carbon sequestration (GCS) has the potential to contaminate groundwater sources with dissolved metals originating from sub-surface brines or leaching of formation rock. Therefore, a Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) based sensor is developed for sub-surface water quality monitoring. The sensor head is built using a low cost passively Q-switched (PQSW) laser and is fiber coupled to a pump laser and a gated spectrometer. The prototype sensor head was constructed using off the shelf components and a custom monolithic, PQSW laser and testing has verified that the fiber coupled design performs as desired. The system shows good calibration linearity for tested elements (Ca, Sr, and K), quick data collection times, and Limits of Detection (LODs) that are comparable to or better than those of table top, actively Q-switched systems. The fiber coupled design gives the ability to separate the PQSW LIBS excitation laser from the pump source and spectrometer, allowing these expensive and fragile components to remain at the surface while only the low-cost, all optical sensor head needs to be exposed to the hostile downhole environment.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2014

Enhanced surface flashover strength in vacuum of polymethylmethacrylate by surface modification using atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge

Polymer materials, such as polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), are widely used as insulators in vacuum. The insulating performance of a high-voltage vacuum system is mainly limited by surface flashover of the insulators rather than bulk breakdown. Non-thermal plasmas are an efficient method to modify the chemical and physical properties of polymer material surfaces, and enhance the surface insulating performance. In this letter, an atmospheric-pressure dielectric barrier discharge is used to treat the PMMA surface to improve the surface flashover strength in vacuum. Experimental results indicate that the plasma treatment method using Ar and CF{sub 4} (10:1) as the working gas can etch the PMMA surface, introduce fluoride groups to the surface, and then alter the surface characteristics of the PMMA. The increase in the surface roughness can introduce physical traps that can capture free electrons, and the fluorination can enhance the charge capturing ability. The increase in the surface roughness and the introduction of the fluoride groups can enhance the PMMA hydrophobic ability, improve the charge capturing ability, decrease the secondary electron emission yield, increase the surface resistance, and improve the surface flashover voltage in vacuum.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2012

X-Band Photonic Band-Gap Accelerator Structure Breakdown Experiment

In order to understand the performance of photonic band-gap (PBG) structures under realistic high gradient, high power, high repetition rate operation, a PBG accelerator structure was designed and tested at X band (11.424 GHz). The structure consisted of a single test cell with matching cells before and after the structure. The design followed principles previously established in testing a series of conventional pillbox structures. The PBG structure was tested at an accelerating gradient of 65 MV/m yielding a breakdown rate of two breakdowns per hour at 60 Hz. An accelerating gradient above 110 MV/m was demonstrated at a higher breakdown rate. Significant pulsed heating occurred on the surface of the inner rods of the PBG structure, with a temperature rise of 85 K estimated when operating in 100 ns pulses at a gradient of 100 MV/m and a surface magnetic field of 890 kA/m. A temperature rise of up to 250 K was estimated for some shots. The iris surfaces, the location of peak electric field, surprisingly had no damage, but the inner rods, the location of the peak magnetic fields and a large temperature rise, had significant damage. Breakdown in accelerator structures is generally understood in terms of electric field effects. These PBG structure results highlight the unexpected role of magnetic fields in breakdown. The hypothesis is presented that the moderate level electric field on the inner rods, about 14 MV/m, is enhanced at small tips and projections caused by pulsed heating, leading to breakdown. Future PBG structures should be built to minimize pulsed surface heating and temperature rise.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Surface Coating of Tungsten Carbide by Electric Exploding of Contact

Electric exploding of a tungsten carbide--cobalt material near-by high-speed steel surface forms on it a hardening coating. The essential structure properties of the formed coatings are determined by parameters of contact exploding electrode at the pulse current amplitude from above 106 A/cm2 and duration less than 10-4 s. The metallographic investigations of coating structures were done by microscope 'Neophot-24'. They have shown that the contact electric exploding caused the transfer of tungsten carbide and cobalt on the surface of high-speed steel. The breakdown of tungsten carbide--cobalt material took place during electrical exploding. The hardening layers of tungsten carbide and pure nanocrystalline tungsten have been formed upon the surface of high-speed steel as a result of electric exploding. Crystalline grains of tungsten have an almost spherical form and their characteristic size less than 400 nanometers. Micro hardness of the coating layers and high-speed steel structures was measured.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Heating of Cs2Te photocathode via field emission and radiofrequency pulsed heating: Implication toward breakdown

The occurrence of radiofrequency (RF) breakdown limits operational electromagnetic gradients in accelerator structures. Experimental evidence often suggests that breakdown events are associated with temperature and dark current spikes on the surface of RF devices. In the past decade, there has been increased interest in unveiling the mechanism behind breakdown initiation in metal copper and copper alloys; however, efforts regarding a breakdown phenomenon in photocathode-relevant semiconductors have been more limited. In this work, we explore field-emission-assisted heating via Nottingham and Joule processes, as a possible candidate for breakdown initiation. For this, field emission from an intrinsic Cs2Te ultrathin film coated on a copper substrate was modeled within the Stratton–Baskin–Lvov–Fursey formalism, describing the processes and effects in the bulk and on the surface of a photocathode exposed to high RF electromagnetic fields. It is shown that a field-emission characteristic deviates significantly from the classical Fowler–Nordheim (FN) theory, whereby predicting that dark current is orders of magnitude lower than the one expected by FN law. Conventional pulsed heating was also found to impose negligible heating to the photocathode. Both conclusions suggest that a Cs2Te photocathode coated on a metal substrate would be insensitive to catastrophic thermal-material runaway breakdown, unlike what is observed for metal surfaces. Finally, a few unconventional breakdown candidate scenarios are identified and discussed, including thermoelastic deformation and avalanche breakdown.

Shinohara, Ryo (ORCID:0000000276995732)↗
DOE OSTI2011

Surface composition, microstructure and corrosion resistance of AZ31 magnesium alloy irradiated by high-intensity pulsed ion beam

High-intensity pulsed ion beam (HIPIB) irradiation of AZ31 magnesium alloy is performed and electrochemical corrosion experiment of irradiated samples is carried out by using potentiodynamic polarization technology in order to explore the effect of HIPIB irradiation on corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy. The surface composition, cross-sectional morphology and microstructure are characterized by using electron probe microanalyzer, optical microscope and transmission electron microscope, respectively. The results indicated that HIPIB irradiation leads to a significant improvement in corrosion resistance of magnesium alloy, in terms of the considerable increase in both corrosion potential and pitting breakdown potential. The microstructural refinement and surface purification induced by HIPIB irradiation are responsible for the improved corrosion resistance. - Research Highlights: {yields} A modified layer about 30 {mu}m thick is obtained by HIPIB irradiation. {yields} Selective ablation of element/impurity phase having lower melting point is observed. {yields} More importantly, microstructural refinement occurred on the irradiated surface. {yields} The modified layer exhibited a significantly improved corrosion resistance. {yields} Improved corrosion resistance is ascribed to the combined effect induced by HIPIB.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

Effects of Mechanical Load and Ionizing Radiation on Glass

This paper develops an approach to investigation of a solid as an integral system whose fundamental properties are determined by the energetics of its structure. Addressing the subject from a unified viewpoint, we consider the formation, accumulation, and transformations of defects in silicate and aluminophosphate glasses, which emit electromagnetic waves in a wide frequency range as a result of cracking. It has been shown that electron irradiation causes spontaneous electrical discharges, whose magnitude depends on the electron energy and irradiation time. The discharges occur at surface defects. Brush discharges develop in a layer where charged particles are distributed. In a thin layer of a charged dielectric, we observe a breakdown effect. The electrical discharge concentrates at surface defects, which can be produced in advance. A discharge can be initiated by approaching a grounded metallic tip to a charged surface even some time after irradiation. A discharge, mechanical loading, cooling, or heating of glass is accompanied by not only a light burst but also electromagnetic emission (EME), which correlates well with a polymorphic transformation process, thermoluminescence, etc. Thus, the release of accumulated energy from unirradiated and irradiated inorganic glasses on heating and cooling is accompanied by pulsed EME, whose intensity depends on the energy stored in the material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sodium tracer measurements of an expanded dense aluminum plasma from e-beam isochoric heating

Spatially and temporally resolved visible absorption spectroscopy is performed on sodium D-lines present as surface contaminants on an expanded dense aluminum plasma plume. An 80-ns FWHM, intense, relativistic electron beam deposits 5.4 J into a 100- μ m-thick Al foil, which isochorically heats and subsequently hydrodynamically expands the material through the warm dense matter state and into a classical-like plasma state, with a coupling parameter of approximately 0.2 and a degeneracy parameter of approximately 270. The Na contamination, carried along with the expanding plume, shows saturated absorption features in the dense Al continuum for λ > 450 nm. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy confirm Na is a surface contaminant with an atomic concentration of ~ 0.1 % when interrogating identical foil samples. Additioanlly, a spectroscopic-quality radiation transport model is used to post-process 2D hydrodynamic simulations to interpret the plasma conditions based on the measured Na 3p-3s doublet line profiles. A sodium number density of 3 × 10 15 cm -3 best matches the experimental spectra, which originate from a dense surface plasma with n e = 3.0 ± 0.8 × 10 18 cm -3 .

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS2012

Plasma Actuators for Turbomachinery Flow Control

This report is Part I of the final report of NASA Cooperative Agreement contract no. NNX07AC02A. The period of performance was January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2010. This report includes the project summary, a list of publications and reprints of the publications that appeared in archival journals. Part II of the final report includes a Ph.D. dissertation and is published separately as NASA/CR-2012-2172655. The research performed under this project was focused on the operation of surface dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) devices driven by high voltage, nanosecond scale pulses plus constant or time varying bias voltages. The main interest was in momentum production and the range of voltages applied eliminated significant heating effects. The approach was experimental supplemented by computational modeling. All the experiments were conducted at Princeton University. The project provided comprehensive understanding of the associated physical phenomena. Limitations on the performance of the devices for the generation of high velocity surface jets were established and various means for overcoming those limitations were proposed and tested. The major limitations included the maximum velocity limit of the jet due to electrical breakdown in air and across the dielectric, the occurrence of backward breakdown during the short pulse causing reverse thrust, the buildup of surface charge in the dielectric offsetting the forward driving potential of the bias voltage, and the interaction of the surface jet with the surface through viscous losses. It was also noted that the best performance occurred when the nanosecond pulse and the bias voltage were of opposite sign. Solutions include the development of partially conducting surface coatings, the development of a semiconductor diode inlaid surface material to suppress the backward breakdown. Extension to long discharge channels was studied and a new ozone imaging method developed for more quantitative determination of surface jet properties.

Miles, Richard, B↗
NASA NTRS2016

Controlled Contamination of Epoxy Composites with PDMS and Removal by Laser Ablation

Surface preparation is critical to the performance of adhesively bonded composites. During manufacturing, minute quantities of mold release compounds are inevitably deposited on faying surfaces and may compromise bond performance. To ensure safety, mechanical fasteners and other crack arrest features must be installed in the bondlines of primary structures, which negates some advantages of adhesively bonded construction. Laser ablation is an automated, repeatable, and scalable process with high potential for the surface preparation of metals and composites in critical applications such as primary airframe structures. In this study, laser ablation is evaluated on composite surfaces for the removal of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a common mold release material. Composite panels were contaminated uniformly with PDMS film thicknesses as low as 6.0 nm as measured by variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry. Bond performance was assessed by mechanical testing using a 250 F cure, epoxy adhesive and compared with pre-bond surface inspection results. Water contact angle, optically stimulated electron emission, and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy were used to characterize contaminated and laser ablated surfaces. The failure mode obtained from double cantilever beam tests correlated well with surface characterization data. The test results indicated that even low levels of PDMS were not completely removed by laser ablation.

Palmieri, Frank↗
DOE OSTI2010

Low voltage operation of plasma focus

Plasma foci of compact sizes and operating with low energies (from tens of joules to few hundred joules) have found application in recent years and have attracted plasma-physics scientists and engineers for research in this direction. We are presenting a low energy and miniature plasma focus which operates from a capacitor bank of 8.4 {mu}F capacity, charged at 4.2-4.3 kV and delivering approximately 52 kA peak current at approximately 60 nH calculated circuit inductance. The total circuit inductance includes the plasma focus inductance. The reported plasma focus operates at the lowest voltage among all reported plasma foci so far. Moreover the cost of capacitor bank used for plasma focus is nearly 20 U.S. dollars making it very cheap. At low voltage operation of plasma focus, the initial breakdown mechanism becomes important for operation of plasma focus. The quartz glass tube is used as insulator and breakdown initiation is done on its surface. The total energy of the plasma focus is approximately 75 J. The plasma focus system is made compact and the switching of capacitor bank energy is done by manual operating switch. The focus is operated with hydrogen and deuterium filled at 1-2 mbar.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

A General Overview of Cathodic Protection in Reinforced Concrete

Corrosion of reinforcement steel in concrete is a prevalent issue in infrastructures worldwide, with the direct costs of repair estimated to be $1 trillion annually. Treatment options are complicated by the concrete’s role in the corrosion process. Ordinary, modern-day cement is so alkaline that it maintains a thick passive layer on the steel surface, reducing corrosion to inconsequential rates. However, environmental contaminants in the form of carbon dioxide or chlorides may cause a breakdown in the passive layer, exposing the steel surface to corrosion. Galvanic cells will be free to form due to potential differences along the rebar, and anode sites will create dissolved iron ions that cannot travel far through the still concrete. Thus, rust products will accumulate directly onto the steel/concrete interface. Iron oxides have a much higher volume relative to steel, and even a miniscule amount of rust can produce enough volumetric stress to cause cracking, spalling and delamination of the surrounding concrete, increasing the risk of structural failure. Safeguards and inhibiting technology exist to limit the chances of corrosion initiation by either species, but cracking of the concrete cover and gradual accumulation of contaminants means that corrosion is unavoidable in certain environments and will initiate, given enough time.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1992

The SIMPSONS project: An integrated Mars transportation system

In response to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for an integrated transportation system network for an advanced Martian base, Frontier Transportation Systems (FTS) presents the results of the SIMPSONS project (Systems Integration for Mars Planetary Surface Operations Networks). The following topics are included: the project background, vehicle design, future work, conclusions, management status, and cost breakdown. The project focuses solely on the surface-to-surface transportation at an advanced Martian base.

Kaplan, Matthew↗
DOE OSTI2014

Preliminary Design of Laser - induced Breakd own Spectroscopy for Proto - MPEX

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a technique for measuring surface matter composition. LIBS is performed by focusing laser radiation onto a target surface, ablating the surface, forming a plasma, and analyzing the light produced. LIBS surface analysis is a possible diagnostic for characterizing plasma-facing materials in ITER. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has enabled the initial installation of a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy diagnostic on the prototype Material-Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX), which strives to mimic the conditions found at the surface of the ITER divertor. This paper will discuss the LIBS implementation on Proto-MPEX, preliminary design of the fiber optic LIBS collection probe, and the expected results.

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy↗
DOE OSTI2019

Plasma-Material-Interaction Research Using PISCES Linear Plasma Devices

In this paper, recent plasma-material-interaction (PMI) studies of relevance to fusion PMI science are discussed. The results are a mix of science experiments and in situ diagnostic technology development. Scientific issues addressed include the nature of He and W atom migration in the evolution of W fuzz surfaces, understanding the nature of D retention in damaged W surfaces via modeling with the tritium migration and analysis program, and an examination of synergistic effects associated with D trapping on composite Be codeposit and W substrate surfaces. In situ diagnostic developments discussed include laser-induced desorption spectroscopy for the measurement of bulk hydrogen retention and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for the measurement of near-surface composition.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2014

Preliminary design of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for proto-Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) is a technique for measuring surface matter composition. LIBS is performed by focusing laser radiation onto a target surface, ablating the surface, forming a plasma, and analyzing the light produced. LIBS surface analysis is a possible diagnostic for characterizing plasma-facing materials in ITER. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has enabled the initial installation of a laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy diagnostic on the prototype Material-Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX), which strives to mimic the conditions found at the surface of the ITER divertor. This paper will discuss the LIBS implementation on Proto-MPEX, preliminary design of the fiber optic LIBS collection probe, and the expected results.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2015

Charge balancing in GaN-based 2-D electron gas devices employing an additional 2-D hole gas and its influence on dynamic behaviour of GaN-based heterostructure field effect transistors

GaN-based heterostructure FETs (HFETs) featuring a 2-D electron gas (2DEG) can offer very attractive device performance for power-switching applications. This performance can be assessed by evaluation of the dynamic on-resistance R{sub on,dyn} vs. the breakdown voltage V{sub bd}. In literature, it has been shown that with a high V{sub bd}, R{sub on,dyn} is deteriorated. The impairment of R{sub on,dyn} is mainly driven by electron injection into surface, barrier, and buffer traps. Electron injection itself depends on the electric field which typically peaks at the gate edge towards the drain. A concept suitable to circumvent this issue is the charge-balancing concept which employs a 2-D hole gas (2DHG) on top of the 2DEG allowing for the electric field peak to be suppressed. Furthermore, the 2DEG concentration in the active channel cannot decrease by a change of the surface potential. Hence, beside an improvement in breakdown voltage, also an improvement in dynamic behaviour can be expected. Whereas the first aspect has already been demonstrated, the second one has not been under investigation so far. Hence, in this report, the effect of charge-balancing is discussed and its impact on the dynamic characteristics of HFETs is evaluated. It will be shown that with appropriate device design, the dynamic behaviour of HFETs can be improved by inserting an additional 2DHG.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2014

TH-C-12A-08: New Compact 10 MV S-Band Linear Accelerator: 3D Finite-Element Design and Monte Carlo Dose Simulations

Purpose: To design a new compact S-band linac waveguide capable of producing a 10 MV x-ray beam, while maintaining the length (27.5 cm) of current 6 MV waveguides. This will allow higher x-ray energies to be used in our linac-MRI systems with the same footprint. Methods: Finite element software COMSOL Multiphysics was used to design an accelerator cavity matching one published in an experiment breakdown study, to ensure that our modeled cavities do not exceed the threshold electric fields published. This cavity was used as the basis for designing an accelerator waveguide, where each cavity of the full waveguide was tuned to resonate at 2.997 GHz by adjusting the cavity diameter. The RF field solution within the waveguide was calculated, and together with an electron-gun phase space generated using Opera3D/SCALA, were input into electron tracking software PARMELA to compute the electron phase space striking the x-ray target. This target phase space was then used in BEAM Monte Carlo simulations to generate percent depth doses curves for this new linac, which were then used to re-optimize the waveguide geometry. Results: The shunt impedance, Q-factor, and peak-to-mean electric field ratio were matched to those published for the breakdown study to within 0.1% error. After tuning the full waveguide, the peak surface fields are calculated to be 207 MV/m, 13% below the breakdown threshold, and a d-max depth of 2.42 cm, a D10/20 value of 1.59, compared to 2.45 cm and 1.59, respectively, for the simulated Varian 10 MV linac and brehmsstrahlung production efficiency 20% lower than a simulated Varian 10 MV linac. Conclusion: This work demonstrates the design of a functional 27.5 cm waveguide producing 10 MV photons with characteristics similar to a Varian 10 MV linac.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗