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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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25 records · Page 2

Maximizing selectivity: An analysis of isoporous membranes

Membranes are compelling candidates for many separation-based industrial processes. However, all synthetic membranes are subject to well-recognized permeability-selectivity trade-offs that hinder their use in advanced applications. Having uniform nanoscale pore size, isoporous nanofiltration and ultrafiltration membranes have attracted wide research interest. However, quantitative analysis of isoporous membrane performance is lacking - particularly at module and system-level scales. In this study, an analytical model is built to investigate how membrane pore-size distribution affects the solute separation efficiency (i.e., rejection and selectivity). The model accounts for convective hindrance as well as concentration polarization and explores effects on separation from the solute-to-pore-size ratio and percent recovery (i.e., fraction of feed flow that passes through the membrane). At the module level, our analysis suggests that a notably sharper rejection vs. solute size curve can be obtained as the pore-size distribution becomes narrower. Additionally, as the recovery increases, the rejection of a solute is maintained at a high level using isoporous membranes while the rejection drops rapidly for membranes that possess a disperse pore-size distribution. Furthermore, in the separation of mixed solutes, isoporous membranes achieve a large selectivity with a modest loss of permeability. Overall, this study elaborates the unique role that isoporous membranes play within the permeability-selectivity trade-off relations and identifies the most exciting opportunities for their future applications.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Crystal engineering of heterocyclic arylene(ethynylene) oligomers through programmed aromatic stacking

Conjugated oligomers and polymers consisting of aromatic heterocycles are examples of next-generation organic electronic materials. However, control and optimization of the self-assembly of these materials in the solid-state, which is a crucial parameter for high efficiency performance, remains an unsolved challenge in materials development. In this work, we provide valuable insight into aromatic stacking interactions between fluorinated arene rings (ArF) and heterocycles with different electronic character (Het), and elaborate on the prospect of using these interactions to control the solid-state configurations of three-ring phenyleneethynylene oligomers (PEs). Oligomers possessing heterocycles typically thought of as electron-rich (ER) show blue-shifted optical spectra in the solid-state, while those incorporating heterocycles typically thought of us electron deficient (ED) show red-shifted solid-state optical spectra. Crystal structures show ArF-Het stacking interactions between the fluorinated side-chains and ER units, which twist the backbone out of planarity and prevent chromophore aggregation. Further, the interactions are absent in ED oligomers, highlighting cofacial incompatibility between ArF rings and ED units. A combination of TD-DFT computations and novel heterocycle descriptors reinforce our assignment of the oligomers as ED or ER, while exhaustive conformer analysis shows ArF-Het stacking interactions are a significant contributor to compound stability. Overall, this work describes the importance of heterocycle electronics in conformational control in the solid state, understanding of which can be a valuable asset in the development of novel optoelectronic materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Data analysis and modeling pipelines for controlled networked social science experiments

There is large interest in networked social science experiments for understanding human behavior at-scale. Significant effort is required to perform data analytics on experimental outputs and for computational modeling of custom experiments. Moreover, experiments and modeling are often performed in a cycle, enabling iterative experimental refinement and data modeling to uncover interesting insights and to generate/refute hypotheses about social behaviors. The current practice for social analysts is to develop tailor-made computer programs and analytical scripts for experiments and modeling. This often leads to inefficiencies and duplication of effort. In this work, we propose a pipeline framework to take a significant step towards overcoming these challenges. Our contribution is to describe the design and implementation of a software system to automate many of the steps involved in analyzing social science experimental data, building models to capture the behavior of human subjects, and providing data to test hypotheses. The proposed pipeline framework consists of formal models, formal algorithms, and theoretical models as the basis for the design and implementation. We propose a formal data model, such that if an experiment can be described in terms of this model, then our pipeline software can be used to analyze data efficiently. The merits of the proposed pipeline framework is elaborated by several case studies of networked social science experiments.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Transverse Λ polarization in e + e – processes within a TMD factorization approach and the polarizing fragmentation function

We perform a re-analysis of Belle data for the transverse Λ and Λ¯ polarization in e + e – annihilation processes within a transverse momentum dependent (TMD) factorization approach. We consider two data sets, one referring to the associated production of Λ’s with a light unpolarized hadron in an almost back-to-back configuration, and one for the inclusive Λ production, with the reconstruction of the thrust axis. We adopt the Collins-Soper-Sterman framework and employ the recent formulation on the factorization of single-inclusive hadron production. This extends a previous phenomenological study carried out in a more simplified TMD approach, leading to a new extraction of the polarizing fragmentation function (FF). While confirming several features of the previous analysis, here we include the proper QCD scale dependence of this TMD FF and carefully exploit the role of its nonperturbative component. Here, the compatibility, within a unique TMD factorization scheme, of double and single-inclusive hadron production is discussed in detail. Moreover, we consider another data set for inclusive Λ production, at much larger energies, from the OPAL Collaboration, in order to test the consistency of the entire approach. Finally, we elaborate on some fundamental issues like the role of SU(2) isospin symmetry and the heavy quark contributions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Studsvik R2 materials test reactor Ad Hoc depletion strategy for the derivation of the fuel isotopic composition of the MPCMIV benchmark

The Ad Hoc Depletion Strategy elaborated by the NINE company, developed in support of the organization of the MPCMIV (Multi-physics Pellet Cladding Mechanical Interaction Validation) benchmark input and output specifications, is presented. This work aims at illustrating the strategy itself and then showing the results obtained with its application over the Studsvik R2 Testing Reactor, which is analyzed in the benchmark. The objective of the application of the strategy is to compute the fuel elements isotopic compositions at the beginning of some core loadings of interest for the benchmark. To this objective, it is necessary to implement first the simulation model of the three single assembly types and perform the infinite lattice depletions, then, to build the full core model and to perform the simulation of the core cycle. All the models and simulations were carried out with the use of the Monte Carlo particle transport code Serpent 2. Finally, the simulations results are assessed against Studsvik isotopic compositions of the fuel elements discharged from the R2 Reactor at the end of the core loading. Several assumptions were necessary during all the steps of the strategy, to overcome the lack of information regarding the core management. For this reason, the solution found at the end of the current analysis may not be completely optimized and further improvements regarding the model assumptions will be tested in a future work. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Sensitivity of fatigue reliability in wind turbines: effects of design turbulence and the Wöhler exponent

Fatigue assessment of wind turbines involves three main sources of uncertainty: material resistance, load, and the damage accumulation model. Many studies focus on increasing the accuracy of fatigue load assessment to improve the fatigue reliability. Probabilistic modeling of the wind's turbulence standard deviation is an example of an approach used for this purpose. Editions 3 and 4 of the IEC standard for the design of wind energy generation systems (IEC 61400-1) suggest different probability distributions as alternatives for the representative turbulence in the normal turbulence model (NTM) of edition 1. There are debates on whether the suggested distributions provide conservative reliability levels, as the established design safety factors are calibrated based on the representative turbulence approach. The current study addresses the debate by comparing annual reliability based on different scenarios of NTM using a probabilistic approach. More importantly, it elaborates on the relative importance of load assessment accuracy in defining the fatigue reliability. Using the DTU 10 MW reference wind turbine and the first-order reliability method (FORM), we study the changes in the annual reliability level and its sensitivity to the three main random inputs. We perform the study considering the blade root flapwise and the tower base fore–aft moments, assuming different fatigue exponents in each load channel. The results show that integration over distributions of turbulence in each mean wind speed results in less conservative annual reliability levels than representative turbulence. The difference in the reliability levels varies according to turbulence distribution and the fatigue exponent. In the case of the tower base, the difference in the annual reliability index after 20 years can be up to 50 %. However, the model and material uncertainty have much higher effects on the reliability levels compared to load uncertainty. Knowledge about such differences in the reliability levels due to the choice of turbulence distribution is especially important, as it impacts the extent of lifetime extension through reliability reassessments.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

MOOSE Framework Meshing Enhancements to Support Reactor Analysis

MOOSE-based physics codes require an input finite element mesh on which the physics solution is calculated, reported, and transferred to other physics codes. The use of difficult-touse, external licensed software is often required to generate high quality meshes for reactor geometries. High-fidelity geometry modeling also requires elaborate tracking of groups of elements for material property assignment and output reporting which can be considerably complex for the user to identify and maintain. Under the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program, several meshingrelated enhancements have been developed for the MOOSE framework to address user challenges in creating finite element meshes for advanced reactor geometries. MOOSE mesh generators have been developed to mesh hexagonal geometries (pins, ducted assemblies, and cores) commonly found in liquid-metal cooled fast reactor concepts. The mesh generator used for hexagonal pin cells is generic for regular polygons and therefore may also be used for Cartesian pin cells. Hexagonal pin cells can be stitched into ducted assemblies, and assemblies can be stitched together into a core. The user may specify region ids, region names, and other preferences on the mesh. This control is useful for later material mapping in the MOOSE-based physics codes input. A capability was also developed for meshing rotating control drums including determination of material volume fractions in each mesh element as a function of time. Control drum meshes may be stitched to other hexagonal assemblies to create a core configuration. Additional mesh generators were developed that wrap around the hexagonal meshing capabilities and utilize “extra element integer” ID values on each element. In regular Cartesian or hexagonal assemblies or cores, the bookkeeping of element groups for both material assignment and output reporting can now be automated through assignment of pin, assembly, core, axial and depletion id values stored as extra element integers. The extra element tags on the mesh greatly speed the reactor analyst’s efforts to map materials to meshes, track depletion zones, and parse output such as axial pin power distributions. At the highest level, pin, assembly, and core mesh generators (with this reactor terminology) have also been developed to easily generate regular Cartesian and hexagonal cores, including axial extrusion. These reactor geometry builders call upon the previously mentioned capabilities to produce analysis-ready 3D meshes including material assignments. Open source mesh triangulation capabilities were also investigated for integration into the MOOSE framework to address the need for meshing the core periphery region which extends from the irregular outer assembly border to a cylindrical boundary. Options are limited due to licensing constraints, and the recommendation is pursue building a native MOOSE Delaunay triangulator routine with full functionality. Finally, a series of verification problems were performed with NEAMS physics tools. All developed capabilities will be available in the new open-source “Reactor” module of the MOOSE framework, which is accessible to any MOOSE-based NEAMS physics tool.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗