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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 307 records · Page 17

QECC-Synth: A Layout Synthesizer for Quantum Error Correction Codes on Sparse Architectures

Quantum Error Correction (QEC) codes are essential for achieving fault-tolerant quantum computing (FTQC). However, their implementation faces significant challenges due to disparity between required dense qubit connectivity and sparse hardware architectures. Current approaches often either underutilize QEC circuit features or focus on manual designs tailored to specific codes and architectures, limiting their capability and generality. In response, we introduce QECC-Synth, an automated compiler for QEC code implementation that addresses these challenges. We leverage the ancilla bridge technique tailored to the requirements of QEC circuits and introduces a systematic classification of its design space flexibilities. We then formalize this problem using the MaxSAT framework to optimize these flexibilities. Evaluation shows that our method significantly outperforms existing methods while demonstrating broader applicability across diverse QEC codes and hardware architectures.

Yin, Keyi [University of California, San Diego]↗

Machine learning guided optimal composition selection of niobium alloys for high temperature applications

Nickel- and cobalt-based superalloys are commonly used as turbine materials for high-temperature applications. However, their maximum operating temperature is limited to about 1100 °C. Therefore, to improve turbine efficiency, current research is focused on designing materials that can withstand higher temperatures. Niobium-based alloys can be considered as promising candidates because of their exceptional properties at elevated temperatures. The conventional approach to alloy design relies on phase diagrams and structure–property data of limited alloys and extrapolates this information into unexplored compositional space. In this work, we harness machine learning and provide an efficient design strategy for finding promising niobium-based alloy compositions with high yield and ultimate tensile strength. Unlike standard composition-based features, we use domain knowledge-based custom features and achieve higher prediction accuracy. We apply Bayesian optimization to screen out novel Nb-based quaternary and quinary alloy compositions and find these compositions have superior predicted strength over a range of temperatures. We develop a detailed design flow and include Python programming code, which could be helpful for accelerating alloy design in a limited alloy data regime.

Mohanty, Trupti (ORCID:0000000342701430)↗

An international review of occupant-related aspects of building energy codes and standards

In light of recent research, it is evident that occupants are playing an increasingly important role in building energy performance. Furthermore, despite the important role of building energy codes and standards in design, the occupant-related aspects are typically simple and have not kept up with the leading research. This paper reviews 23 regions’ building energy codes and standards by first comparing their quantitative aspects and then analyzing their mandated rules and approaches. While the present paper focuses on offices, general recommendations are applicable to other building types as well. The review revealed a wide range of occupant-related values, approaches, and attitudes. For example, code-specified occupant density varies by nearly a factor of three between different codes. This underlines the need for development of advancement in occupant behavior modeling approaches for future occupant-centric building performance codes and standards. Moreover, occupants are often referred to only implicitly; underlying expectations about energy-saving occupant behavior from building occupants varies greatly; and, only a few codes address occupant feedback and system usability. Based on the findings of the review, a set of initial recommendations for future building energy codes is proposed.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

ASME Section III, Division 5, Class A 100,000-hour design data for Alloy 709

This report documents the 100,000 hour, Class A ASME design material data for Alloy 709 based on the extensive Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy, Advanced Reactor Technologies qualification test campaign. This report includes design tensile properties, creep rupture data, allowable stresses, isochronous stress-strain curves, buckling charts, and a few additional miscellaneous pieces of design data. Companion work at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory provide design cyclic data --- fatigue charts and creep-fatigue diagrams --- and an inelastic constitutive model. This work substantially completes the ASME data package for the Alloy 709 Code Case, though the design data will continue to updated as the final tests finish. This report also compares the design performance of Alloy 709 against that of 316H stainless steel to provide a reference for the improved high temperature strength of 709 compared to a reference material for sodium fast reactor construction.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Identifying Limitations of ASME Section III Division 5 For Advanced SMR Designs

This report provides an overview of the ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Section III, Division 5 rules for the design and construction of high temperature nuclear reactor components. The overview focuses on the application of the rules to the design of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The discussion covers the general ASME Code rules for base metal design and construction, the rules for designing weldments, and provides an overview of environmental degradation mechanisms affecting reactor structural materials. The analysis includes historical context on the development of the ASME design approach and a description of what actions could be taken to mitigate the gaps identified in the report. The report concludes with a summary of the key gaps identified in the rules, as they apply to SMR, and a list of recommendations on how those gaps might be addressed.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

MARVEL Project Code of Record, COR-0011

MARVEL Project Code of Record identifies the codes, standards, and procedures necessary to design, develop, construct, and startup the Microreactor Applications Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) Project. No code exceptions to construction of the MARVEL reactor in the traditional sense were identified, meaning there are no technical aspects that fail to meet a code requirement. However, due to the novel design of the MARVEL reactor, not every aspect or system can be precisely covered by the existing ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code. In those cases, the document identifies (with concurrences received) how the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code is applied in an equivalent or analogous manner.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Dynamical logical qubits in the Bacon-Shor code

The Bacon-Shor code is a quantum error correcting subsystem code composed of weight-2 check operators that admits a single logical qubit, and has distance 𝑑 on a 𝑑×𝑑 square lattice. We show that when viewed as a Floquet code, by choosing an appropriate measurement schedule of the check operators, it can additionally host several dynamical logical qubits. Specifically, we identify a period-4 measurement schedule of the check operators that preserves logical information between the instantaneous stabilizer groups. Such a schedule not only measures the usual stabilizers of the Bacon-Shor code, but also measures and promotes gauge operators of the parent subsystem code to additional temporary stabilizers that protect the dynamical logical qubits against errors. We show that the code distance of these Floquet-Bacon-Shor codes scales as Θ⁢(𝑑/√𝑘) on an 𝑛=𝑑×𝑑 lattice with 𝑘 dynamical logical qubits, along with the logical qubit of the parent subsystem code. Unlike the usual Bacon-Shor code, the Floquet-Bacon-Shor code family introduced here can therefore saturate the subsystem bound 𝑘⁢𝑑=𝑂⁡(𝑛). Moreover, several errors are shown to be self-corrected purely by the measurement schedule itself. This work provides insights into the design space for dynamical codes and expands the known approaches for constructing Floquet codes.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

ASME Code Revisions to Incorporate 316H and Alloy 617 Viscoplastic Constitutive Models to Section III, Division 5 and Code Case N-898

This report provides a final status update on work to develop and implement two new constitutive models for 316H stainless steel and the Ni-based Alloy 617 in Nonmandatory Appendix Z to the Section III, Division 5, Subsection HB, Subpart B ASME Boiler & Pressure Vessel Code rules covering the design and construction of Class A high temperature nuclear reactor components. This report summarizes the objections of the overall project and provides the final versions of the constitutive models proposed for incorporation into the ASME Code. The report also provides an update on the balloting status at ASME of the two proposed constitutive models. As of the time of writing (July 2022) the models are on-track to be approved by ASME after the August 2022 Code Week. If so, this will mean the 316H model will be published in the 2023 edition of the Code and the A617 model available as part of a revised Code Case immediately

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

User Friendly Web-Based Tool to Assess the Energy Efficiency and Durability of Residential Wall Retrofits

According to the U.S. Department of Energy Windows and Building Envelope Research and Development Roadmap for Emerging Technologies, building envelope wall energy loss in the United States accounts for about 5.9 x 1010 kWh or 2 quads of energy annually, costing homeowners and occupants billions of dollars. Enclosure retrofits targeting these losses can save significant energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and save occupants millions of dollars over time. Older homes, built before 1992 when DOE’s Building Energy Codes Program was established, represent approximately 68 percent of the residential building stock in the country, often having significant air leakage and inadequate insulation. Homes with little to no air sealing or insulation have heating and cooling losses that can represent a substantial portion of utility bills.High-performance building envelope retrofit systems are rarely selected for retrofit applications. Current solutions are expensive and/or unfamiliar to many designers, builders, contractors, and code officials and therefore are perceived as risky. The dominant perceived risk is durability specifically related to condensation and moisture accumulation in the building envelope component.The Building Science Advisor (BSA) is a rule-based expert system web-based tool that was originally developed to assist building professionals in designing energy efficient and durable wall systems for new construction. With the present focus being placed on upgrading the existing building stock, a retrofit module has been developed that, based on the location, existing construction, and planned retrofit strategy, provides recommendations on how to address the retrofit in a manner that will perform in accordance with IECC 2018 building code and not create a durability problem. This paper will describe the development of this tool and demonstrate its features and capabilities.

Desjarlais, Andre Omer↗

Status Report on ASME Code Development for Nonmetallic Core Components in 2020

The purpose of this report is to provide a status update on the progress and ongoing activities of the current ASME Boiler Pressure Vessel (BPV) Code Section III, Division 5, on nonmetallic core components and assemblies which includes the design rules for graphite and ceramic composite materials. Section III is concerned with the design and construction of nuclear reactor components and Division 5 focuses on high temperature reactors (HTR). The ASME Section III Committee’s function for nuclear items other than pressure-retaining components, is to establish rules of safety related to structural integrity. The term “construction” refers to the all-inclusive effort comprising of materials, design, fabrication, examination, inspection, testing, certification, and pressure relief. The Department of Energy (DOE) supports industry codes and standards development through focused research providing the technical basis for new or modified codes and standards and the participation of subject matter experts in codes and standards committees. The activities for the nonmetallic core components and assemblies committees are the pursuit of two working groups that meet quarterly during ASME BPV Code Week meetings. The two working groups are General Requirements for Graphite and Ceramic Composite Core Components and Assemblies (GR GCCCCA) and Nonmetallic Design and Materials (NDM). The rules on general requirements for nonmetallic core components are discussed in the articles of Subsection HA subpart B. Ceramic composites were recently incorporated within the rules, and the GR GCCCCA working group is now in the process of aligning the requirements with the subsections and articles of ASME BPV Code Section III NCA, the general requirements for Division 1 and 2 of the code. The NDM working group is concerned with the design rules for graphite and composite materials for core components and assemblies discussed in Subsection HH (Class SN Nonmetallic Core Components) subpart A and subpart B which reference graphite and composite materials respectively. The bulk of the progress and work is done within this working group. A significant undertaking, with discussion that started in 2015, is to gain endorsement of ASME Section III, Division 5, by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In June 2018, ASME formally recommended endorsement to the NRC. The NRC has since initiated the endorsement review process, which is to be concluded early in 2021. ASME task groups on metallic structures and components, as well as non-metallic core support structures, have been formed to define potential pathways and schedules for NRC endorsement of Division 5. NRC determined to perform a review on the 2017 edition of Section III Division 5 as a baseline. As a result, the use of graphite as nonmetallic core components formed part of the review, but it excluded composite materials (which were first introduced in the 2019 edition). This report documents progress in FY 2020 directed toward ASME’s efforts to develop design codes for graphite and composites. Progress includes a major code review by NRC, the first code enquiry, and its solution, an overhaul of the treatment of Weibull Statistics, and the addition of Nonmandatory Appendices to the composites code relating to carbon-carbon composite materials.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

BISON fuel performance modeling optimization for experiment X447 and X447A using axial swelling and cladding strain measurements

With the recent need to qualify new reactor designs such as the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), fuel performance calculations need to be performed to determine safety criteria of the proposed designs. In order to validate the fuel performance results obtained by a fuel performance code, BISON, for new reactor designs, legacy fuel from EBR-II and FFTF MFF with Post -Irradiation Examination (PIE) data need to be used as validation cases to benchmark models. Here in this work, BISON has been paired with the Fuels Irradiation & Physics Database (FIPD) and IFR Materials Information System (IMIS) to supply PIE data for comparison with simulations of EBR-II experiments X447/X447A. X447/X447A were assessed by implementing models for Fuel Cladding Chemical Interaction (FCCI) within BISON and optimizing the friction coefficient between the fuel surface and the cladding, the anisotropic swelling factor, and the HT9 first thermal creep scalar (which scales the first term in the HT9 creep equation) to best match the PIE axial fuel swelling height and cladding profilometry for all pins in X447/X447A. The optimal values were found using a generic algorithm developed to select different values for the three parameters until end criteria was met and error couldn’t be reduced further. The BISON-simulated cladding profilometry was evaluated using Standard Error of the Estimate (SEE) to account for the profile shape of the cladding profilometry. Optimal values for the friction coefficient, anisotropic fuel swelling factor, and HT9 first thermal creep scalar were found to best fit the BISON simulation results to the PIE measurements found in IMIS and FIPD. Improvements to current models are suggested to account for the underprediction of fuel swelling at low burnups and the overprediction of fuel swelling at higher burnups observed for the axial fuel swelling height. Although two pins in EBR-II X447/X447A (DP70 and DP75) were known to fail due to FCCI, none of the pins simulated in BISON reached a cumulative damage fraction (CDF) above 0.008 with FCCI correlations coupled in the BISON simulations. The error estimate generated for all pins in X447/X447A using optimal values was 209 µm, which is deemed acceptable.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Qualification of Digitized Legacy Fast Reactor Data

The Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) fuel compatibility test program (1984-1994) included a variety of fuel pin examinations conducted at the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) and the Alpha-Gamma Hot Cell Facility (AGHCF). Hard copy data records of these examinations have been recovered, scanned, and preserved in PDF format. Many hard copy records are now qualified in accordance with an NRC-approved Quality Assurance Program Plan (QAPP), and there is an ongoing effort to qualify additional legacy records. This legacy fuel performance data is vital to support design and licensing of fast reactors with validation of state-of-the-art codes and advanced methods for design and analysis. Stakeholders can most easily utilize this data when the PDF scans have been converted into digital data tables. However, qualification of the scanned hard copy data does not qualify the digital data file resulting from the digitization of the data contained in the record; the subject matter expert (SME) must make a review of the digitized data table as well before it can be designated as qualified. This report outlines a peer review process to qualify the digital data file(s), typically in CSV format, corresponding to hard copy records in accordance with the existing QAPP.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Counterweight for Long Reach Robotic Arm

Maintenance for vital systems proves challenging due to their location: tucked up and behind components. Pinpointing the precise location of errors presents difficulty when relying solely on the human eye. The solution to this issue arises in the form of a Long Reach Robotic Arm. An adequately balanced robot with several individually controlled links contains the capability to maneuver around obstructing components to locate the points of failure with accuracy. The design process for such a robot begins with the writing of a program. The program intends to visualize how the Long Reach Robotic Arm will move in 2D space by printing a select number of lines representing each arm link to the screen and controlling each link through the keyboard. This code substantially simplifies the design process for the multi-linked arm. The next step in the Long Reach Robotic Arm design process is the development of the arm and its counterweight system. The clear division of this work allows two interns to work on this project: one assumes responsibility for the arm, and the other for the counterweight. I undertook the design for the counterbalance. My half of the project is essential for maintaining safety as an extended multi-linked robot arm presents the challenge of preserving stability. The best method to supply a balance to the robot, even in extension, is a mobile counterweight with a compact design.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗

Interfacing HDF5 with a scalable object‐centric storage system on hierarchical storage

Summary Object storage technologies that take advantage of multitier storage on HPC systems are emerging. However, to use these technologies at present, applications have to be modified significantly from current I/O libraries. HDF5, a widely used I/O middleware on HPC systems, provides a virtual object layer (VOL) that allows applications to connect to different storage mechanisms transparently without requiring significant code modifications. We recently designed the proactive data containers (PDC) object‐centric storage system that provides the capabilities of transparent, asynchronous, and autonomous data movement taking advantage of multiple storage tiers—a decision that has so far been left upon the user on most current systems. To enable PDC's features through HDF5 without modifying application codes, we have developed an HDF5 VOL connector that interfaces with PDC. We present in this article the connector interface and evaluate its performance on Cori, a Cray XC40 supercomputer located at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC). Our evaluation demonstrates up to an 8× improvement compared with HDF5 that has the most recent optimizations.

Mu, Jingqing↗

Large Program Design [Slides]

A slideshow presentation describing how different writing small software coding projects is from writing large software coding projects. It can be OK to just throw together code that is small, single-purpose, and short-lived, but there's more need for good design if the code has to live longer, give highly reliable results, be easy to use, get bigger/cover more physics, cover more application domains. Larger projects also need good code if they are to have more widely-distributed users, have more developers work on it, run larger problems, or run on new architectures.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The design of a photoionization front experiment using the Z-Machine as a driving source and estimated measurements

Radiation-driven heat fronts are present in the early universe during reionization, the circumstellar medium of supernovae, and in high-energy-density physics experiments. Dedicated experiments to observe and diagnose the behavior of these types of heat fronts can improve our understanding of these phenomena. A simulation study of photoionization fronts using the HELIOS-CR radiation hydrodynamics code provides an experimental design for the Z-Machine at Sandia National Laboratory using a measurement-calibrated input radiation flux to drive the photoionization front. The simulations use detailed atomic physics and non-diffusive radiation transport in 1D to determine an optimal gas pressure of 0.75 atm for an experiment in N gas as well as the effects of increasing the thickness of the window that seals the gas cell. Post-processing of these simulations demonstrates that ratios of atomic rate coefficients place the heat front in a physics regime where photoionization dominates the energy deposition. Here, to see the sensitivity of the simulations to changes in the model and spatial grid, this analysis performed resolution, atomic model detail, and radiation transport angular grid studies showing less than 10% deviation from the nominal model for increased complexity, when possible. An effort to emulate 3D geometric effects on the radiation flux using an artificial attenuation scheme has shown that, even for conservative estimates of the flux, simulations still produce a photoionization front. Estimations of a streaked, visible spectroscopy measurement using SPECT3D showed that line emission measurements are present early in time and that later in time thermal emission should become dominant.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

The Design of a High Charge Polarized Preinjector for the Electron-Ion Collider

The design of the electron pre-injector of the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) project to generate 4 x 7 nC bunch has been advancing to meet the requirements for injection into the Rapid Cycling Synchrotron (RCS). The major challenges are high charge transport and achieving small energy spread from 3 GHz traveling-wave plate(TWP). The designed preinjector includes the polarized electron source, bunching section, TWP Linac, zigzag phase space manipulation and spin rotator. In this report, we will discuss the RF frequency selection and the way to reduce energy spread down to 0.2% by longitudinal phase space manipulate. We will also report the results of beamline simulation using space charge code and the conceptual design of spin rotator.

Wang, E.↗