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Results for “impedence analysis”

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 253 records · Page 14
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2021

Tunable Microwave Conductance of Nanodomains in Ferroelectric PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 Thin Film

Ferroelectric materials exhibit spontaneous polarization that can be switched by electric field. Beyond traditional applications as nonvolatile capacitive elements, the interplay between polarization and electronic transport in ferroelectric thin films has enabled a path to neuromorphic device applications involving resistive switching. A fundamental challenge, however, is that finite electronic conductivity may introduce considerable power dissipation and perhaps destabilize ferroelectricity itself. In this work, tunable microwave frequency electronic response of domain walls injected into ferroelectric lead zirconate titanate (PbZr 0.2 Ti 0.8 O 3 ) on the level of a single nanodomain is revealed. Tunable microwave response is detected through first-order reversal curve spectroscopy combined with scanning microwave impedance microscopy measurements taken near 3 GHz. Contributions of film interfaces to the measured AC conduction through subtractive milling, where the film exhibited improved conduction properties after removal of surface layers, are investigated. Using statistical analysis and finite element modeling, we inferred that the mechanism of tunable microwave conductance is the variable area of the domain wall in the switching volume. These observations open the possibilities for ferroelectric memristors or volatile resistive switches, localized to several tens of nanometers and operating according to well-defined dynamics under an applied field.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Temperature Dependence of FDR Response for Thermally Aged Low-Voltage Cables

Frequency Domain Reflectometry (FDR) has attracted significant attention for use in nuclear power plants (NPPs) for non-destructive cable health monitoring. However, cable aging detection using FDR faces challenges due to its high sensitivity to environmental factors such as temperature, vibrations, proximity to other cables, and so on. This work aims to evaluate the influence of measurement temperature on the FDR reflected signal in a low voltage cable undergoing accelerated thermal aging. A 100 ft long multi-core low-voltage unshielded power cable insulated with flame retardant ethylene propylene rubber (FR-EPR) and covered by a chloro-polyethylene (CPE) jacket was selected for this study. The cable was energized during aging by a 480 VAC 3-phase motor, and a 30 ft mid-section of this cable was routed through an air circulating oven held at 140 °C for up to an effective aging time of 62 days. FDR measurements were taken periodically with the oven on (at 140 °C) and with the oven off (at 22 °C). A comparative analysis of data collected at both temperatures showed that the FDR response was strongly dependent on measurement temperature. FDR measurements at ambient temperature showed large peaks corresponding to impedance changes in the aged section of the cable after 3 days of aging. These peaks continued to rise steadily with increasing aging time. However, for measurements taken at 140 °C, slowly rising peaks in the oven region (aged section) were observed only after a lead time of 23 days of aging. This work highlights the importance of measurement temperature on the performance of FDR as a condition monitoring tool for aging cables.

Sriraman, Aishwarya↗
DOE OSTI2022

A Laplace-Domain Circuit Model for Fault and Stability Analysis Considering Unbalanced Topology

For systems subject to unbalanced faults, analytical model building for stability assessment is a challenging task. This letter presents a straightforward modeling approach. A generalized dynamic circuit representation is achieved by use of the Laplacian transform variable s . Here, we translate the voltage and current relationship at the fault location into the relationship of three subsystems. The final circuit model is an interconnected sequence network with impedances in the Laplace domain. This circuit can be directly converted from a steady-state sequence network. This modeling procedure is illustrated by an example case of an induction motor served by a grid through a series compensated line. Electromagnetic transient simulation results demonstrate that sub-synchronous oscillations can be mitigated when a single-line to ground fault is applied at the motor terminal. Stability analysis results based on the dynamic circuit corroborate the simulation results. What's more, the derived circuit effortlessly reveals why unbalance can enhance stability.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2025

Corrosion sensitivity of nickel-based Alloy Inconel 600 in pressurized water reactor water chemistry: Can KOH replace LiOH?

Lithium hydroxide (LiOH) has been used to balance water acidity against boric acid moderators in the primary water of Western pressurized water reactor (PWR) designs for decades. However, the demand and the cost of lithium-7 has grown significantly since 2015. Potassium hydroxide (KOH) has been identified as a suitable and cost-effective substitute for LiOH and has been used successfully in Russian PWR designs for more than 40 years. However, it is important to know if alloys and water conditions used in Western PWR’s (Alloy 600) are similarly compatible with KOH additions. This work is focused on the aqueous corrosion behaviors of Alloy 600 with LiOH versus KOH additions at normal operating concentrations and crevice water chemistry at simulated PWR primary water conditions. TEM was used to characterize the formed oxide through diffraction analysis; SIMS was used to probe the cation ingress into the material; Atom probe tomography was used to determine the 3D elemental distribution within the oxide/metal structures; finally electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to discuss the structure and corrosion resistance of the oxide films. These advanced characterization techniques complement the weight measurments which showed lower mass gain in KOH than LiOH crevice water due to less oxide formation. Overall, the use of KOH as a potential alternative to LiOH in PWR is discussed.

Alloy 600↗
DOE OSTI2020

Single Bimodular Sensor for Differentiated Detection of Multiple Oxidative Gases

Semiconductive metal-oxide sensors suffer from cross-sensitivities under mixed chemical condition, specifically upon mixture of multiple oxidative or reductive gases. Herein, a single bimodular sensor is demonstrated for smart differentiation of multiple oxidative analytes by relating the resistance-metric mode to impedance-metric mode. The sensor construct based on ZnO nanorods readily outputs three response datasets upon exposure of oxidative-gas mixture including O 2 , SO 2 , and NO 2 , the resistance, real part impedance, and imaginary part impedance. The differentiative and correlated nature between these response signals allows such a single sensor platform to differentiate these oxidative gases accurately and robustly. Linear and non-linear decision boundaries are established over a large gas-concentration range from 2 ppm to 3% through a combination of principal component analysis and artificial neural network training. A facile user interface is demonstrated for recognition and measurement of unknown gas analytes, with the error of the predicted analyte-concentration as low as 2%.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

A New High-Impedance-Fault Detection Method to Prevent Power-Line-Induced Wildfires

High Impedance Faults (HIFs) occur when energized power lines come into contact with high impedance ground surfaces, such as tree branches and grassland. HIFs have the potential to cause arcing, leading to vegetation ignition and the initiation of wildfires. The challenge in detecting HIFs comes from the high impedance of the partially conductive materials in contact with the power lines. They create a fault current of low magnitude and traditional protective devices struggle to detect such faults. This paper proposes a novel HIF detection algorithm based upon the analyzed arcing signatures associated with HIFs. The algorithm is evaluated using the Australian Public Bushfire Safety Program (PBSP) dataset. For comparative analysis, a state-of-the-art commercial HIF detection product is also evaluated using the same dataset. The proposed algorithm demonstrates higher detection accuracy over the commercial products with fewer false flags and undetected faults.

grasslands↗
DOE OSTI2024

Microstructural Passivation of Patterned Al 2 O 3 Back Contacts on CdS/CdTe Solar Cells

Abstract Patterned aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) back contact on cadmium telluride (CdTe) solar cells can effectively mitigate the loss of the majority carriers while retaining the passivation benefits for minority carriers. This study investigates the impact of the point‐contact geometry on cell performance, where the spacing of the microholes is systematically varied at a constant microhole diameter (≈16 µm). Microhole arrays are created on an evaporated Al 2 O 3 layer (≈30 nm) on CdTe using laser‐beam lithography and selective wet etching processes. Comparative analysis indicates a significant decrease in fill factor (FF) and short‐circuit current ( I SC ) when the contact fraction falls below 30%, likely due to the Al 2 O 3 barrier impeding majority carriers. Above this fraction, FF and I SC are comparable to those of baseline CdTe cells without Al 2 O 3 . Open‐circuit voltage ( V OC ) shows a gradual decrease as Al 2 O 3 coverage is reduced but exhibits a slight increase (<15 mV) when the contact fraction exceeds 30%. Cathodoluminescence (CL) characterization reveals that significantly improved radiative recombination occurs within the CdTe grain bulk with Al 2 O 3 , whereas this effect on grain boundaries is minimal. The findings imply complex local carrier dynamics in the patterned back‐contact region, closely tied to the microstructural properties of CdTe‐based solar cells.

Roy, Etee Kawna↗
DOE OSTI2020

High Fidelity Interface Modeling to Enable Enhanced Electromagnetics ModSim Capabilities

Years of work by 1350 and others has shown that the phenomenology behind EM penetration of joints and seams is a major driver in the shielding effectiveness of ND systems. Via analysis of a canonical cylindrical geometry and comparison against experimental data, we will provide evidence supporting the theory that proper treatment of contact phenomenology including joint deformation, asperity-induced contact impedance, and appropriate treatment of machining tolerance values is required to match electromagnetics modeling and simulation results to experimental data.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2025

Single-Bunch Instabilities Driven by Space Charge During Low-Energy Cooling at Injection in the EIC Hadron Storage Ring

This paper presents a simulation-based study of single-bunch dynamics at the injection energy of 23.8 GeV for protons in the EIC hadron storage ring, focusing on the impact of space-charge–driven instabilities. The analysis demonstrates that at this energy, the proton bunch experiences significant transverse space-charge forces, which can reduce the stability margin in the presence of the geometric and resistive wall impedance. Various collective effects were considered, with particular attention to the nonlinear nature of the transverse space charge. To stabilize the beam, high chromaticity and octupoles were introduced and their effects analyzed using the ELEGANT code. The results provide a quantitative assessment of the stability thresholds and offer guidance for the machine design and operational strategy at injection.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Thermal analysis of RHIC arc dipole magnet cold mass with EIC beam screen

The existing RHIC storage rings – including their superconducting magnet arcs – will be used for the hadron storage ring of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC). The vacuum chamber of these magnets was not designed for the EIC hadron beams, with shorter bunches and of higher average current than the RHIC beams. With the current stainless steel beam pipe, the resistive-wall (RW) heating will exceed the dynamic heat load budget. Limiting the RW heating is important to prevent the superconducting magnets from quenching and to maintain a low screen temperature necessary to impede the rise of RW heating (higher resistance at higher temperature) as well as to achieve desired ultra-high vacuum. In addition, simulations predict the formation of electron cloud which would further contribute to the dynamic heat load and could compromise the quality and stability of the beam. To reduce the resistive-wall heating and suppress electron cloud, a beam screen will be installed in the vacuum chamber of the RHIC SC magnets. The screen will have a high RRR copper layer at its inner face – useful to reduce the resistive-wall impedance thanks to its high conductivity especially at cryogenic temperatures – and will be coated with a thin layer of amorphous carbon, a material with low secondary electron yield to suppress the formation of electron clouds. The baseline solution envisages a screen that will be cooled by thermal contact to the 4.55 K beam pipe. Detailed thermal analysis have been conducted in ANSYS 2020 for an arc dipole cold mass equipped with a beam screen in order to study the feasibility of a passively-cooled screen and guide its design. Temperature-dependent thermal conductivity properties of all materials in the operating (cryogenic) temperature range are considered. Suitable assumptions and simplifications are made to model the magnet coil and calculate its homogenized thermal conductivity. Sensitivity studies with respect to layer thicknesses and area of contact are carried out and results are presented.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Functional analysis of a conserved site mutation in the DNA end processing enzyme PNKP leading to ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 4 in humans

Polynucleotide kinase 3'-phosphatase (PNKP), an essential DNA end-processing enzyme in mammals with 3'-phosphatase and 5'-kinase activities, plays a pivotal role in multiple DNA repair pathways. Its functional deficiency has been etiologically linked to various neurological disorders. Recent reports have shown that mutation at a conserved glutamine (Gln) in PNKP leads to late-onset ataxia with oculomotor apraxia type 4 (AOA4) in humans and embryonic lethality in pigs. However, the molecular mechanism underlying such phenotypes remains elusive. Here, we report that the enzymatic activities of the mutant versus WT PNKP are comparable; however, cells expressing mutant PNKP and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of AOA4 patients showed a significant amount of DNA double-strand break accumulation and consequent activation of the DNA damage response. Further investigation revealed that the nuclear localization of mutant PNKP is severely abrogated, and the mutant proteins remain primarily in the cytoplasm. Western blot analysis of AOA4 patient-derived PBMCs also revealed the presence of mutated PNKP predominantly in the cytoplasm. To understand the molecular determinants, we identified that mutation at a conserved Gln residue impedes the interaction of PNKP with importin alpha but not with importin beta, two highly conserved proteins that mediate the import of proteins from the cytoplasm into the nucleus. Collectively, our data suggest that the absence of PNKP in the nucleus leads to constant activation of the DNA damage response due to persistent accumulation of double-strand breaks in the mutant cells, triggering death of vulnerable brain cells—a potential cause of neurodegeneration in AOA4 patients.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Simulation and Postmortem Analysis of Angeles Forest Disturbance Event

Multiple unexpected solar photovoltaic (PV) plant responses in the California region following contingencies in recent years warrant postmortem analysis leveraging digital fault recorder (DFR) data for a better understanding of such events and preventing similar events in the future. Most utilities in US, in general, possess transient stability (TS) phasor-domain models of the power grid. Since traditional phasor-based transient stability planning models cannot perform such analysis, this paper presents an approach to extract a region of such models and convert it to Electromagnetic transient (EMT) models. The approach is based on the determination of the minimum impedance-weighted spanning tree between the fault location and affected PV plants in a Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) planning model followed by conversion of this region into an EMT model. The accuracy of the proposed approach is validated against DFR records obtained from the 2018 Angeles Forest disturbance event.

Samanta, Sayan↗
DOE OSTI2020

Detection and Localization of Damaged Photovoltaic Cells and Modules Using Spread Spectrum Time Domain Reflectometry

The operating efficiency of photovoltaic (PV) plants can be improved if damaged or degraded modules can be detected and identified. Currently, string-level power electronics can detect problems with modules or cabling but not locate them, which would facilitate addressing these issues. Here, we investigate the ability of spread spectrum time domain reflectometry (SSTDR) to both detect and locate/identify damaged cells and modules within a series-connected PV string. We tested the ability of SSTDR to detect and locate single-cell mini-modules and full-sized PV modules, which were intentionally damaged by impacts with a hammer (breaking the glass and damaging the silicon below) or by cutting through some or all busbars. Damage to the glass and silicon of cells was detected and located within a small string of minimodules. Busbar damage was detectable only if an open was created by cutting through all intercell busbars. Furthermore, physical impact damage to the glass and silicon of a full-sized PV module could be detected, but further development of signal processing is needed to achieve localization of such damaged modules within a string.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Impedance-Aware Graph Convolutional Networks for Voltage Estimation in Active Distribution Networks

Voltage estimation plays a key role in ensuring the effective control and reliability of distribution networks. However, traditional machine learning methods often fail to capture the details of the distribution network’s topology. To overcome this challenge, graph convolutional networks (GCN) have emerged as an alternative. Graph convolutional networks inherently capture the topology of the grid, utilizing correlations to achieve precise voltage estimation. Other machine learning models and conventional GCNs fail to account for the distribution line characteristics found in the real world, limiting their effectiveness. This paper proposes an advanced variant of GCN called the Impedance-Aware Graph Convolutional Network (IA-GCN). The IA-GCN layer incorporates the magnitude of the impedance into the graph convolution mechanism, allowing it to capture topological nuances and provide valuable insights into node interrelationships by considering impedance as an intrinsic dimension. The performance of the IA-GCN layer is then compared with that of GCN and GraphSAGE layers through a surrogate model for voltage estimation. The performance analysis demonstrates that IA-GCN outperforms GCN by reducing the MAE by 87.55% and improving the R-squared value by 98%.

Ravi, Abhijith↗