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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 325 records · Page 18
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Range wide genetic differentiation in the bull kelp Nereocystis luetkeana with a seascape genetic focus on the Salish Sea

Introduction: In temperate regions, one of the most critical determinants of present range-wide genetic diversity was the Pleistocene climate oscillations, the most recent one created by the last glacial maximum (LGM). This study aimed to describe N. luetkeana genetic structure across its entire range (Alaska to California) and test different models of population connectivity within the Salish Sea. This region was colonized after the LGM and has been under increased disturbance in recent decades. Methods: We utilized microsatellite markers to study N. luetkeana genetic diversity at 53 sites across its range. Using higher sampling density in the Salish Sea, we employed a seascape genetics approach and tested isolation by hydrodynamic transport and environment models. Results: At the species distribution scale, we found four main groups of genetic co-ancestry, Alaska; Washington with Vancouver Island’s outer coast and Juan de Fuca Strait; Washington’s inner Salish Sea; and Oregon with California. The highest allelic richness (AR) levels were found in California, near the trailing range edge, although AR was also high in Alaska. The inner Salish Sea region had the poorest diversity across the species distribution. Nevertheless, a pattern of isolation by hydrodynamic transport and environment was supported in this region. Discussion: The levels of allelic, private allele richness and genetic differentiation suggest that during the LGM, bull kelp had both northern and southern glacial refugia in the Prince of Wales Island-Haida Gwaii region and Central California, respectively. Genetic diversity in Northern California sites seems resilient to recent disturbances, whereas the low levels of genetic diversity in the inner Salish Sea are concerning.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2022

Building Energy Modeling Enhancements to Identify Least-Cost Pathways to Net-Zero Carbon Homes: Preprint

Residential grid-interactive efficient buildings (GEBs) can utilize high levels of energy efficiency and demand flexibility to deliver value to occupants, the grid, and society. However, without the ability to analyze, design, and optimize residential GEBs there is a risk that homes will not realize their full potential value as efficient and dynamic resources, which could ultimately lead to higher than necessary energy costs for U.S. households and lower realization of potential energy efficiency and demand flexibility benefits such as increased convenience/automation, thermal comfort, durability, indoor air quality, and resilience. In 2018, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Residential Modeling Team developed a vision for an open source Residential GEB Analytics Platform built within DOE's EnergyPlus and OpenStudio modeling environment that would enable the design and optimization of residential GEBs, including the identification of least-cost pathways to highly energy-efficient and energy-flexible homes (e.g., net zero carbon homes). We created a detailed workplan for the development of new and enhanced residential GEB component-level models for EnergyPlus and OpenStudio needed to progress toward the vision for the analytics platform while delivering near-term benefits to industry. This paper 1) presents the vision for the platform, summarizing the workplan for residential GEB modeling enhancements; 2) highlights significant advancements that have been achieved between 2018 and 2022, including stochastic residential occupancy modeling, flexible water heater modeling, detailed lithium-ion stationary battery modeling, and realistic residential HVAC modeling; and 3) outlines ongoing efforts and next steps toward the full vision for the platform.

building energy modeling↗
NASA NTRS1989

Space station contamination modeling

Current plans for the operation of Space Station Freedom allow the orbit to decay to approximately an altitude of 200 km before reboosting to approximately 450 km. The Space Station will encounter dramatically increasing ambient and induced environmental effects as the orbit decays. Unfortunately, Shuttle docking, which has been of concern as a high contamination period, will likely occur during the time when the station is in the lowest orbit. The combination of ambient and induced environments along with the presence of the docked Shuttle could cause very severe contamination conditions at the lower orbital altitudes prior to Space Station reboost. The purpose here is to determine the effects on the induced external environment of Space Station Freedom with regard to the proposed changes in altitude. The change in the induced environment will be manifest in several parameters. The ambient density buildup in front of ram facing surfaces will change. The source of such contaminants can be outgassing/offgassing surfaces, leakage from the pressurized modules or experiments, purposeful venting, and thruster firings. The third induced environment parameter with altitude dependence is the glow. In order to determine the altitude dependence of the induced environment parameters, researchers used the integrated Spacecraft Environment Model (ISEM) which was developed for Marshall Space Flight Center. The analysis required numerous ISEM runs. The assumptions and limitations for the ISEM runs are described.

Gordon, T. D.↗
NASA NTRS1995

Life prediction of aging aircraft wiring systems

The program goal is to develop a computerized life prediction model capable of identifying present aging progress and predicting end of life for aircraft wiring. A summary is given in viewgraph format of progress made on phase 1 objectives, which were to identify critical aircraft wiring problems; relate most common failures identified to the wire mechanism causing the failure; assess wiring requirments, materials, and stress environment for fighter aircraft; and demonstrate the feasibility of a time-temperature-environment model.

Slenski, George↗
NASA NTRS1982

Interactive modeling, design and analysis of large spacecraft

An efficient computer aided design and analysis capability applicable to large space structures was developed to relieve the engineer of much of the effort required in the past. The automated capabilities can be used to rapidly synthesize, evaluate, and determine performance characteristics and costs for future large spacecraft concepts. The interactive design and evaluation of advanced spacecraft program (IDEAS) is used to illustrate the power, efficiency, and versatility of the approach. The coupling of space environment modeling algorithms with simplified analysis and design modules in the IDEAS program permits rapid evaluation of completing spacecraft and mission designs. The approach is particularly useful in the conceptual design phase of advanced space missions when a multiplicity of concepts must be considered before a limited set can be selected or more detailed analysis. Integrated spacecraft systems level data and data files are generated or subsystems and mission reexamination and/or refinement and for more rigorous analyses.

Garrett, L. B.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Modeling Natural Space Ionizing Radiation Effects on External Materials

Predicting the effective life of materials for space applications has become increasingly critical with the drive to reduce mission cost. Programs have considered many solutions to reduce launch costs including novel, low mass materials and thin thermal blankets to reduce spacecraft mass. Determining the long-term survivability of these materials before launch is critical for mission success. This presentation will describe an analysis performed on the outer layer of the passive thermal control blanket of the Hubble Space Telescope. This layer had degraded for unknown reasons during the mission, however ionizing radiation (IR) induced embrittlement was suspected. A methodology was developed which allowed direct comparison between the energy deposition of the natural environment and that of the laboratory generated environment. Commercial codes were used to predict the natural space IR environment model energy deposition in the material from both natural and laboratory IR sources, and design the most efficient test. Results were optimized for total and local energy deposition with an iterative spreadsheet. This method has been used successfully for several laboratory tests at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The study showed that the natural space IR environment, by itself, did not cause the premature degradation observed in the thermal blanket.

Alstatt, Richard L.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Constitutive model development for isotropic materials

The objective is to develop a unified constitutive model for finite-element structural analysis of turbine engine hot section components. This effort constitutes a different approach for nonlinear finite-element computer codes which were heretofore based on classical inelastic methods. A unified constitutive theory will avoid the simplifying assumptions of classical theory and should more accurately represent the behavior of superalloy materials under cyclic loading conditions and high temperature environments. Model development will be directed toward isotropic, cast nickel-base alloys used for aircooled turbine blades and vanes. The contractor will select a base material for model development and an alternate material for verification purposes from a list of three alloys specified by NASA. The candidate alloys represent a cross-section of turbine blade and vane materials of interest to both large and small size engine manufacturers. Material stock for the base and alternate materials will be supplied to the Contractor by the government.

Kaufman, A.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Microbially mediated nitrification improves modeled temperate forest responses to declining nitrogen deposition

As nitrogen deposition declines across the US, uncertainty remains in whether temperate forests will continue to sequester carbon. This uncertainty is amplified by ecosystem models that inaccurately capture the microbial mechanisms that drive soil carbon sequestration and nitrogen loss. Further, even soil process models that represent decomposer microbes and better capture soil carbon retention under nitrogen deposition broadly underrepresent microbial nitrogen transformations. To address this limitation, we leveraged three decades of biogeochemical cycling data from a whole-watershed nitrogen fertilization experiment to incorporate microbially-driven nitrification in the FUN-CORPSE (Fixation and Uptake of Nitrogen-Carbon, Organisms, Rhizosphere, and Protection in the Soil Environment) model. Our objectives include: 1) Reproducing key ecosystem responses to fertilization, 2) Integrating microbially-explicit nitrification in FUN-CORPSE, and 3) Assessing modeled soil C and N under projected N deposition shifts. FUN-CORPSE accurately represented soil C and streamwater N losses under ambient N deposition and captured how fertilization induced a 25 % decline in plant C cost of N acquisition, reducing decomposition and increasing soil C. Furthermore, with microbially-explicit nitrification, FUN-CORPSE captured the 100 % increase in nitrification rates and the 50 % increase in streamwater nitrate loss under N fertilization. Specifically, incorporating microbial nitrification improved modeled streamwater N leaching from R 2 = 0.01 to R 2 = 0.57. Under declining N deposition, FUN-CORPSE simulates that N losses recover more quickly than soil C pools. However, the predicted return of soil C to pre-fertilized levels suggests that additional C sequestered due to N deposition may be vulnerable to loss over the next century.

Microbial nitrification model↗
NASA NTRS2022

The 2019 Raikoke volcanic eruption -Part 2: Particle-phase dispersion and concurrent wildfire smoke emissions

Between 27 June and 14 July 2019 aerosol layers were observed by the United Kingdom (UK) Raman lidar network in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The arrival of these aerosol layers in late June caused some concern within the London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) as according to dispersion simulations the volcanic plume from the 21 June 2019 eruption of Raikoke was not expected over the UK until early July. Using dispersion simulations from the Met Office Numerical Atmospheric-dispersion Modelling Environment (NAME), and supporting evidence from satellite and in situ aircraft observations, we show that the early arrival of the stratospheric layers was not due to aerosols from the explosive eruption of the Raikoke volcano but due to biomass burning smoke aerosols associated with intense forest fires in Alberta, Canada, that occurred 4 d prior to the Raikoke eruption. We use the observations and model simulations to describe the dispersion of both the volcanic and forest fire aerosol clouds and estimate that the initial Raikoke ash aerosol cloud contained around 15 Tg of volcanic ash and that the forest fires produced around 0.2 Tg of biomass burning aerosol. The operational monitoring of volcanic aerosol clouds is a vital capability in terms of aviation safety and the synergy of NAME dispersion simulations, and lidar data with depolarising capabilities allowed scientists at the Met Office to interpret the various aerosol layers over the UK and attribute the material to their sources. The use of NAME allowed the identification of the observed stratospheric layers that reached the UK on 27 June as biomass burning aerosol, characterised by a particle linear depolarisation ratio of 9 %, whereas with the lidar alone the latter could have been identified as the early arrival of a volcanic ash–sulfate mixed aerosol cloud. In the case under study, given the low concentration estimates, the exact identification of the aerosol layers would have made little substantive difference to the decision-making process within the London VAAC. However, our work shows how the use of dispersion modelling together with multiple observation sources enabled us to create a more complete description of atmospheric aerosol loading.

Martin J Osborne↗
NASA NTRS2005

A Global Rapid Integrated Monitoring System for Water Cycle and Water Resource Assessment (Global-RIMS)

The main focus of our work was to solidify underlying data sets, the data processing tools and the modeling environment needed to perform a series of long-term global and regional hydrological simulations leading eventually to routine hydrometeorological predictions. A water and energy budget synthesis was developed for the Mississippi River Basin (Roads et al. 2003), in order to understand better what kinds of errors exist in current hydrometeorological data sets. This study is now being extended globally with a larger number of observations and model based data sets under the new NASA NEWS program. A global comparison of a number of precipitation data sets was subsequently carried out (Fekete et al. 2004) in which it was further shown that reanalysis precipitation has substantial problems, which subsequently led us to the development of a precipitation assimilation effort (Nunes and Roads 2005). We believe that with current levels of model skill in predicting precipitation that precipitation assimilation is necessary to get the appropriate land surface forcing.

Roads, John↗
DOE OSTI2025

Mesoscale Linear Elastic Modeling and Homogenization of Marine Energy Composites

The design of fiber-reinforced composite (FRC)-based components for marine energy applications necessitates a fundamental understanding of material properties and the resulting geometry to predict long-term performance. In this work, we present a modeling workflow to predict linear elastic and diffusive bulk properties at the mesoscale for an idealized geometry based on knowledge of fiber and resin properties. A parametric study was performed to identify the key model input parameters that influence bulk properties. Furthermore, we demonstrate how bulk properties can be leveraged in high-fidelity image-based simulations, where imperfections in tow geometry and voids captured during X-ray computed tomography imaging are explicitly represented within the simulation. Bulk properties of interest include moduli, Poisson’s ratios, hygroscopic swelling, diffusivity, and moisture uptake, which are key parameters for characterizing FRC performance within marine environments. Modeling predictions agreed well with experimental data, except for estimating swelling coefficients, likely due to crack accumulation as a function of moisture uptake. The mesoscale modeling workflow ultimately highlights a versatile framework for understanding the influence of material and geometric properties, which can be leveraged to rapidly assess new FRC-based components.

computational mechanics↗
DOE OSTI2022

Development and Commercialization of an IDAES-Based Power Plant Performance Monitoring and Optimization System

DOE and NETL have created an advanced, open-source computational platform through the Institute for the Design of Advanced Energy Systems (IDAES). The IDAES platform is a very extensive modeling environment that can be used for a broad range of power plant and process applications. MapEx Software is developing and commercializing a software application that makes it easier to set-up and run IDAES-based analyses. The MapEx-developed software application will replace the need for custom Python language coding with a user-friendly graphical user interface where the user can construct a flowsheet diagram of the IDAES model by inserting icons representing the plant equipment onto the screen. This application will make the implementation of modeling and optimization of existing fossil-fired power plants more straight-forward and less time-consuming. The effort focuses on performance monitoring and optimization of plant operations for the existing coal-fired power plant fleet but is built on a structure that allows expansion into the broad range of applications where IDAES methods may be applied.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗
NASA NTRS1981

A spacecraft attitude and articulation control system design for the Comet Halley intercept mission

An attitude and articulation control system design for the Comet Halley 1986 intercept mission is presented. A spacecraft dynamics model consisting of five hinge-connected rigid bodies is used to analyze the spacecraft attitude and articulation control system performance. Inertial and optical information are combined to generate scan platform pointing commands. The comprehensive spacecraft model has been developed into a digital computer simulation program, which provides performance characteristics and insight pertaining to the control and dynamics of a Halley Intercept spacecraft. It is shown that scan platform pointing error has a maximum value of 1.8 milliradians during the four minute closest approach interval. It is also shown that the jitter or scan platform pointing rate error would have a maximum value of 2.5 milliradians/second for the nominal 1000 km closest approach distance trajectory and associated environment model.

Key, R. W.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Validation and Parametric Investigations of an Internal Permanent Magnet Motor Using a Lumped Parameter Thermal Model

One of the key challenges for the electric vehicle industry is to develop high-power-density electric motors. Achieving higher power density requires efficient heat removal from inside the motor. In order to improve thermal management, a multiphysics modeling framework that is able to accurately predict the behavior of the motor, while being computationally efficient, is essential. This paper first presents a detailed validation of a lumped parameter thermal network (LPTN) model of an Internal Permanent Magnet synchronous motor within the commercially available MOTOR-CAD modeling environment. The validation is based on temperature comparison with experimental data and with more detailed finite element analysis (FEA). All critical input parameters of the LPTN are considered in detail for each layer of the stator, especially the contact resistances between the impregnation, liner, laminations, and housing. Finally, a sensitivity analysis for each of the critical input parameters is provided. A maximum difference of 4% - for the highest temperature in the slot-winding and the end-winding - was found between the LPTN and the experimental data. Comparing the results from the LPTN and the FEA model, the maximum difference was 2% for the highest temperature in the slot-winding and end-winding. As for the LPTN sensitivity analysis, the thermal parameter with the highest sensitivity was found to be the liner-to-lamination contact resistance.

42 ENGINEERING↗
NASA NTRS2013

Acceptability of Flight Deck-Based Interval Management Crew Procedures

The Interval Management for Near-term Operations Validation of Acceptability (IM-NOVA) experiment was conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) in support of the NASA Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) Airspace Systems Program's Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration - 1 (ATD-1). ATD-1 is intended to showcase an integrated set of technologies that provide an efficient arrival solution for managing aircraft using NextGen surveillance, navigation, procedures, and automation for both airborne and ground-based systems. The goal of the IM-NOVA experiment was to assess if procedures outlined by the ATD-1 Concept of Operations, when used with a minimum set of Flight deck-based Interval Management (FIM) equipment and a prototype crew interface, were acceptable to and feasible for use by flight crews in a voice communications environment. To investigate an integrated arrival solution using ground-based air traffic control tools and aircraft automatic dependent surveillance broadcast (ADS-B) tools, the LaRC FIM system and the Traffic Management Advisor with Terminal Metering and Controller Managed Spacing tools developed at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) were integrated in LaRC's Air Traffic Operations Laboratory. Data were collected from 10 crews of current, qualified 757/767 pilots asked to fly a high-fidelity, fixed based simulator during scenarios conducted within an airspace environment modeled on the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Terminal Radar Approach Control area. The aircraft simulator was equipped with the Airborne Spacing for Terminal Area Routes algorithm and a FIM crew interface consisting of electronic flight bags and ADS-B guidance displays. Researchers used "pseudo-pilot" stations to control 24 simulated aircraft that provided multiple air traffic flows into DFW, and recently retired DFW air traffic controllers served as confederate Center, Feeder, Final, and Tower controllers. Pilot participant feedback indicated that the procedures used by flight crews to receive and execute interval management (IM) clearances in a voice communications environment were logical, easy to follow, did not contain any missing or extraneous steps, and required the use of an acceptable level of workload. The majority of the pilot participants found the IM concept, in addition to the proposed FIM crew procedures, to be acceptable and indicated that the ATD-1 procedures can be successfully executed in a near-term NextGen environment.

Murdock, Jennifer L.↗
NASA NTRS2006

NASA Tech Briefs, June 2006

Topics covered include: Magnetic-Field-Response Measurement-Acquisition System; Platform for Testing Robotic Vehicles on Simulated Terrain; Interferometer for Low-Uncertainty Vector Metrology; Rayleigh Scattering for Measuring Flow in a Nozzle Testing Facility; "Virtual Feel" Capaciflectors; FETs Based on Doped Polyaniline/Polyethylene Oxide Fibers; Miniature Housings for Electronics With Standard Interfaces; Integrated Modeling Environment; Modified Recursive Hierarchical Segmentation of Data; Sizing Structures and Predicting Weight of a Spacecraft; Stress Testing of Data-Communication Networks; Framework for Flexible Security in Group Communications; Software for Collaborative Use of Large Interactive Displays; Microsphere Insulation Panels; Single-Wall Carbon Nanotube Anodes for Lithium Cells; Tantalum-Based Ceramics for Refractory Composites; Integral Flexure Mounts for Metal Mirrors for Cryogenic Use; Templates for Fabricating Nanowire/Nanoconduit- Based Devices; Measuring Vapors To Monitor the State of Cure of a Resin; Partial-Vacuum-Gasketed Electrochemical Corrosion Cell; Theodolite Ring Lights; Integrating Terrain Maps Into a Reactive Navigation Strategy; Reducing Centroid Error Through Model-Based Noise Reduction; Adaptive Modeling Language and Its Derivatives; Stable Satellite Orbits for Global Coverage of the Moon; and Low-Cost Propellant Launch From a Tethered Balloon

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2015

Air Traffic Management Technology Demostration Phase 1 (ATD) Interval Management for Near-Term Operations Validation of Acceptability (IM-NOVA) Experiment

The Interval Management for Near-term Operations Validation of Acceptability (IM-NOVA) experiment was conducted at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center (LaRC) in support of the NASA Airspace Systems Program's Air Traffic Management Technology Demonstration-1 (ATD-1). ATD-1 is intended to showcase an integrated set of technologies that provide an efficient arrival solution for managing aircraft using Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) surveillance, navigation, procedures, and automation for both airborne and ground-based systems. The goal of the IMNOVA experiment was to assess if procedures outlined by the ATD-1 Concept of Operations were acceptable to and feasible for use by flight crews in a voice communications environment when used with a minimum set of Flight Deck-based Interval Management (FIM) equipment and a prototype crew interface. To investigate an integrated arrival solution using ground-based air traffic control tools and aircraft Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) tools, the LaRC FIM system and the Traffic Management Advisor with Terminal Metering and Controller Managed Spacing tools developed at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) were integrated into LaRC's Air Traffic Operations Laboratory (ATOL). Data were collected from 10 crews of current 757/767 pilots asked to fly a high-fidelity, fixed-based simulator during scenarios conducted within an airspace environment modeled on the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) Terminal Radar Approach Control area. The aircraft simulator was equipped with the Airborne Spacing for Terminal Area Routes (ASTAR) algorithm and a FIM crew interface consisting of electronic flight bags and ADS-B guidance displays. Researchers used "pseudo-pilot" stations to control 24 simulated aircraft that provided multiple air traffic flows into the DFW International Airport, and recently retired DFW air traffic controllers served as confederate Center, Feeder, Final, and Tower controllers. Analyses of qualitative data revealed that the procedures used by flight crews to receive and execute interval management (IM) clearances in a voice communications environment were logical, easy to follow, did not contain any missing or extraneous steps, and required the use of an acceptable workload level. The majority of the pilot participants found the IM concept, in addition to the proposed FIM crew procedures, to be acceptable and indicated that the ATD-1 procedures could be successfully executed in a nearterm NextGen environment. Analyses of quantitative data revealed that the proposed procedures were feasible for use by flight crews in a voice communications environment. The delivery accuracy at the achieve-by point was within +/-5 sec, and the delivery precision was less than 5 sec. Furthermore, FIM speed commands occurred at a rate of less than one per minute, and pilots found the frequency of the speed commands to be acceptable at all times throughout the experiment scenarios.

Kibler, Jennifer L.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Contribution of explosion and future collision fragments to the orbital debris environment

The time evolution of the near-earth man-made orbital debris environment modeled by numerical simulation is presented in this paper. The model starts with a data base of orbital debris objects which are tracked by the NORAD ground radar system. The current untrackable small objects are assumed to result from explosions and are predicted from data collected from a ground explosion experiment. Future collisions between earth orbiting objects are handled by the Monte Carlo method to simulate the range of collision possibilities that may occur in the real world. The collision fragmentation process between debris objects is calculated using an empirical formula derived from a laboratory spacecraft impact experiment to obtain the number versus size distribution of the newly generated debris population. The evolution of the future space debris environment is compared with the natural meteoroid background for the relative spacecraft penetration hazard.

Su, S.-Y.↗