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At least 37 records · Page 2

Availability of Critical Benchmark Experiments for the Pebble Tanker Transportation Model for Nuclear Criticality Safety Validation of TRISO Pebbles

This study addresses the need for comprehensive investigations into TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel pebble transportation validation. In this work, an exploratory model, the pebble tanker(PT), was developed with the aim of facilitating the validation of nuclear criticality safety calculations in the context of industrial-scale transportation of TRISO fuel. The PT model was designed to investigate the availability and applicability of critical benchmark experiments crucial for assessing the transportation of these pebbles. This work incorporated sensitivity/uncertainty (S/U) similarity studies to quantify the applicability of critical benchmark experiments and to address nuclear data uncertainties in the context of TRISO transportation. Two container models were investigated: one for the Hermes-type pebble and one for the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)–type pebble. The models were simplified, considering fuel, containment, and either water or air, to enable a focus on the underlying physics of applications involving TRISO fuel pebbles using the PT model. A crucial aspect under consideration was the capacity of the transport package to hold pebbles while ensuring subcriticality in the flooded state. An approach in the criticality validation process involves assessing the similarity between systems through an integral index parameter evaluation. This involves calculating a correlation coefficient (referred to as c k ) based on shared nuclear data–induced uncertainty between a benchmark experiment and the application of the PT model. To facilitate this analysis, the SCALE tools, particularly the CSAS6-Shift, TSUNAMI-3D-Shift, and TSUNAMI-IP sequences, were employed for comprehensive studies in neutronics and S/U analysis. Our findings showed that there are sufficient critical experimental benchmarks to perform this validation of the PT model in the most reactive state, i.e. when the tanker is flooded. This paper provides valuable insights into validating a transport package for Generation IV TRISO fuel pebbles.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS

Development of a phase-change thermal storage system using modified anhydrous sodium hydroxide for solar electric power generation

A thermal storage system for use in solar power electricity generation was investigated analytically and experimentally. The thermal storage medium is principally anhydrous NaOH with 8% NaNO3 and 0.2% MnO2. Heat is charged into storage at 584 K and discharged from storage at 582 K by Therminol-66. Physical and thermophysical properties of the storage medium were measured. A mathematical simulation and computer program describing the operation of the system were developed. A 1/10 scale model of a system capable of storing and delivering 3.1 x 10 to the 6th power kJ of heat was designed, built, and tested. Tests included steady state charging, discharging, idling, and charge-discharge conditions simulating a solar daily cycle. Experimental data and computer-predicted results are correlated. A reference design including cost estimates of the full-size system was developed.

Cohen, B. M.

Inlet flow distortion in turbomachinery. I - Comparison of theory and experiment in a transonic fan stage. II - A parameter study

In the present paper, a semi-actuator-disk theory is reviewed that was developed previously for the distorted inflow to a single-stage axial-flow compressor. Flow distortion occurs far upstream; it may be a distortion in stagnation temperature, stagnation pressure, or both. Losses, quasi-steady deviation angles, and reference incidence correlations are included in the analysis, and both subsonic and transonic relative Mach numbers are considered. The theory is compared with measurements made in a transonic fan stage, and a parameter study is carried out to determine the influence of solidity on the attenuation of distortions in stagnation pressure and stagnation temperature.

Seidel, B. S.

Inlet flow distortion in turbomachinery

A single stage axial compressor with distorted inflow is studied. The inflow distortion occurs far upstream and may be a distortion in stagnation temperature, stagnation pressure or both. The blade rows are modeled as semi-actuator disks. Losses, quasi-steady deviation angles, and reference incidence correlations are included in the analysis. Both subsonic and transonic relative Mach numbers are considered. A parameter study is made to determine the influence of such variables as Mach number and swirl angle on the attenuation of the distortion.

Seidel, B. S.

Design approach for a microprocessor-based GPS time transfer receiver

The design concept and characteristics of a self-contained microprocessor-based Global Positioning System time transfer receiver is described. A prototype of this unit is currently in the test phase. It employs two-bit digital baseband correlation rather than analog IF correlation of the signals with the reference code. The correlator, numerically controlled oscillators and code generator are implemented in a special-purpose digital signal processor. The time is recovered in the digital code tracking loop, and final corrections are applied in the control processor. Other features of this design are: (1) drift-free digital mechanization; (2) high reliability of digital circuits; (3) flexible control capability of the microprocessor; and (4) potential for a high degree of digital VLSI chip development leading to compact, low-cost units.

Ould, P. C.

Autoignition in a premixing-prevaporizing fuel duct using 3 different fuel injection systems at inlet air temperatures to 1250 K

Conditions were determined in a continuous-flow, premixing-prevaporizing duct at which autoignition occurred. Test conditions were representative of an advanced, regenerative-cycle, automotive gas turbine. The test conditions inlet air temperatures from 600 to 1250 K (a vitiated preheater was used), pressures from 170 to 600 kPa, air velocities of 10 to 30 m/sec, equivalence ratios from 0.3 to 1.0, mixing lengths from 10 to 60 cm, and residence times of 2 to 100 ms. The fuel was diesel number 2. The duct was insulated and had an inside diameter of 12 cm. Three different fuel injection systems were used: One was a single simplex pressure atomizer, and the other two were multiple-source injectors. The data obtained with the simplex and one of the multiple-source injectors agreed satisfactorily with the references and correlated with an Arrenhius expression. The data obtained with the other multiple source injector, which used multiple cones to improve the fuel-air distribution, did not correlate well with residence time.

Tacina, R. R.

Nitrile/Buna N Material Failure Assessment for an O-Ring used on the Gaseous Hydrogen Flow Control Valve (FCV) of the Space Shuttle Main Engine

After the rollout of Space Shuttle Discovery in April 2005 in preparation for return-to-flight, there was a failure of the Orbiter (OV-103) helium signature leak test in the gaseous hydrogen (GH2) system. Leakage was attributed to the Flow Control Valve (FCV) in Main Engine 3. The FCV determined to be the source of the leak for OV-103 is designated as LV-58. The nitrile/Buna N rubber O-ring seal was removed from LV-58, and failure analysis indicated radial cracks providing leak paths in one quadrant. Cracks were eventually found in 6 of 9 FCV O-rings among the three Shuttle Orbiters, though none were as severe as those for LV-58, OV-103. Testing by EM10 at MSFC on all 9 FCV O- rings included: laser dimensional, Shore A hardness and properties from a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) and an Instron tensile machine. The following test data was obtained on the cracked quadrant of the LV-58, OV-103 O-ring: (1) the estimated compression set was only 9.5%, compared to none for the rest of the O-ring; (2) Shore A hardness for the O.D. was higher by almost 4 durometer points than for the rest of the O-ring; and (3) DMA data showed that the storage/elastic modulus E was almost 25% lower than for the rest of the O-ring. Of the 8 FCV O-rings tested on an Instron, 4 yielded tensile strengths that were below the MIL spec requirement of 1350 psi-a likely influence of rubber cracking. Comparisons were made between values of modulus determined by DNA (elastic) and Instron (Young s). Each nitrile/Buna N O-ring used in the FCV conforms to the MIL-P-25732C specification. A number of such O-rings taken from shelf storage at MSFC and Kennedy Space Center (KSC) were used to generate a reference curve of DMA glass transition temperature (Tg) vs. shelf storage time ranging from 8 to 26 years. A similar reference curve of TGA onset temperature (of rubber weight loss) vs. shelf storage time was also generated. The DMA and TGA data for the used FCV O-rings were compared to the reference curves. Correlations were also made between the DMA modulus (at 22 C) and Shore A hardness for all 9 of the FCV O-rings used among the three Shuttle Orbiters. The radial cracking in the FCV O-rings was determined to be due to ozone attack, as nitrile/Buna N rubber is susceptible to such attack. Nitrile/Buna N material under MIL-P25732C should be used in a hydraulic fluid environment to help protect it from cracking. However, the FCV O-rings were used in an air only environment. The FCV design has as much as a 9-mil gap that allows the O.D. of the O-ring to be directly exposed to ozone, pressurized air and some elevated temperatures, accelerating the weathering process that leads to O-ring cracking. Space Shuttle flights will likely not continue past 2010. Therefore, Shuttle management decided to continue using the nitrile/Buna N material for the FCVs, but have each O-ring replaced after 3 years to minimize any chances for crack initiation.

Wingard, Doug

Characterization of Axial Inducer Cavitation Instabilities via High Speed Video Recordings

Sub-scale water tests were undertaken to assess the viability of utilizing high resolution, high frame-rate digital video recordings of a liquid rocket engine turbopump axial inducer to characterize cavitation instabilities. These high speed video (HSV) images of various cavitation phenomena, including higher order cavitation, rotating cavitation, alternating blade cavitation, and asymmetric cavitation, as well as non-cavitating flows for comparison, were recorded from various orientations through an acrylic tunnel using one and two cameras at digital recording rates ranging from 6,000 to 15,700 frames per second. The physical characteristics of these cavitation forms, including the mechanisms that define the cavitation frequency, were identified. Additionally, these images showed how the cavitation forms changed and transitioned from one type (tip vortex) to another (sheet cavitation) as the inducer boundary conditions (inlet pressures) were changed. Image processing techniques were developed which tracked the formation and collapse of cavitating fluid in a specified target area, both in the temporal and frequency domains, in order to characterize the cavitation instability frequency. The accuracy of the analysis techniques was found to be very dependent on target size for higher order cavitation, but much less so for the other phenomena. Tunnel-mounted piezoelectric, dynamic pressure transducers were present throughout these tests and were used as references in correlating the results obtained by image processing. Results showed good agreement between image processing and dynamic pressure spectral data. The test set-up, test program, and test results including H-Q and suction performance, dynamic environment and cavitation characterization, and image processing techniques and results will be discussed.

Arellano, Patrick

A Generalized, Compactly-Supported Correlation Function for Data Assimilation Applications

Correlation functions play an essential role in modern data assimilation, where they are used to model covariances given a set of tunable parameters or applied as tapering functions to localize covariances in ensemble-based schemes. One of the most widely-used correlation functions in data assimilation is the Gaspari and Cohn (1999) piecewise-rational, compactly-supported parametric correlation function (hereafter referred to as GC99). The GC99 correlation function is useful due to its tunable cut-off parameter c and Gaussian-like shape achieved when the parameter a is set to one-half. These properties are attractive for tapering functions in data assimilation applications. However, the GC99 correlation function is homogeneous over Euclidean 3-space and isotropic when restricted to the sphere, properties that may be less than ideal for some geophysical applications. GC99 is also compactly-supported on a sphere of fixed radius, which requires tuning of the cut-off parameter c that can depend on the specific application. This work presents a generalization of the GC99 correlation function that allows the cut-off parameter c and shape parameter a to vary over space to gain more flexibility in shape while maintaining its compact support property. The function, which we call the Generalized Gaspari Cohn (GenGC) correlation function, introduces inhomogeneity in Euclidean 3-space and anisotropy when restricted to the sphere by allowing both parameters c and a to vary, as functions, over the spatial domain. The GC99 correlation function is a special case of GenGC where the functions c and a are held constant, as fixed parameters rather than functions. The GenGC correlation function also generalizes the follow-on to the work of Gaspari and Cohn (1999) presented in Gaspari et al. (2006), which allowed a to vary while keeping c fixed. We illustrate through simple one- and two-dimensional examples the variety of inhomogeneous and anisotropic correlation functions GenGC can produce by varying c and a over space, and suggest applications where they may be useful in data assimilation, such as covariance modeling or localization. In particular, we describe how the GenGC correlation function can be used to construct covariances using correlation length and variance fields derived from dynamics. For example, the correlation length field for advective dynamics is governed by a partial differential equation (PDE) in N spatial dimensions, where N is the number of space dimensions of the state. Correlation length fields can be determined from this PDE and used with GenGC to construct the corresponding correlations. We can then approximate the full covariance by rescaling by the variance, which also satisfies a PDE in N spatial dimensions for advective dynamics. Thus we can approximate the full covariance without solving the covariance PDE, which is in 2N spatial dimensions, by solving just two PDEs each in only N spatial dimensions. This approach to evolving the correlation length and variance fields, then reconstructing the correlations using GenGC, is suggested as an alternative to current methods of covariance modeling in data assimilation algorithms.

GC99

A STUDY OF SHORT-RANGE CORRELATED PAIR FORMATION MECHANISMS

Short-Range Correlations (SRCs) refers to pairs of nucleons that are temporary high density fluctuations with high relative momenta and lower center-of-mass momenta com pared to the nuclear Fermi momentum (kF). SRCs account for 20–25% of the nucleons in medium to heavy nuclei, make up essentially all nucleons with momentum greater than kF, and contribute most of the kinetic energy carried by nucleons in nuclei. The existing semi-inclusive and exclusive measurements only cover a handful of light nu clei or heavy elements. This does not allow for a systematic study of the dependence of SRC pairs on nuclear mass and proton-neutron asymmetry. It also does not allow for insights into SRC pairing mechanisms. Therefore, we systematically studied the individual probabilities for finding SRC protons in symmetric and neutron-rich asymmetric nuclei d, 9Be, 10B, 11B, 12C, 40Ca, 48Ca, 54Fe, and 197Au. We measured the (e,e'p) reaction in kinematics dominated by scattering off mean-field nucleons (k = kF) and nucleons in SRC pairs (k = kF) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (JLab) in Hall C of the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility (CEBAF) in the Fall of 2022. The measured results were used to determine the SRC pairing probabilities for protons to examine how pairing depends on nuclear mass, proton-neutron asymmetry, and nuclear shell structure. The extracted cross-section ratios were also compared to theoretical calculations. We found that SRC pair formation depends more on the nuclear shell structure with sharp increases locally within the general trend of a slower increase with larger A. We also found that intra-shell pairing has a much larger influence than inter-shell pairing. Comparisons to theory suggest that angular momentum selection rules are important to SRC pair formation and can provide new constraints for new theoretical models.

Swan, Noah [Old Dominion Univ., Norfolk, VA (Unite

Improved Reference Sampling and Subtraction: A Technique for Reducing the Read Noise of Near-Infrared Detector Systems

Near-infrared array detectors, like the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) NIRSpec's Teledyne's H2RGs, often provide reference pixels and a reference output. These are used to remove correlated noise. Improved reference sampling and subtraction (IRS(exp 2)) is a statistical technique for using this reference information optimally in a leastsquares sense. Compared with the traditional H2RG readout, IRS(exp 2) uses a different clocking pattern to interleave many more reference pixels into the data than is otherwise possible. Compared with standard reference correction techniques, IRS(exp 2) subtracts the reference pixels and reference output using a statistically optimized set of frequency dependent weights. The benefits include somewhat lower noise variance and much less obvious correlated noise. NIRSpec's IRS(exp 2) images are cosmetically clean, with less 1/f banding than in traditional data from the same system. This article describes the IRS(exp 2) clocking pattern and presents the equations needed to use IRS(exp 2) in systems other than NIRSpec. For NIRSpec, applying these equations is already an option in the calibration pipeline. As an aid to instrument builders, we provide our prototype IRS(exp 2) calibration software and sample JWST NIRSpec data. The same techniques are applicable to other detector systems, including those based on Teledyne's H4RG arrays. The H4RG's interleaved reference pixel readout mode is effectively one IRS(exp 2) pattern.

Methods-statistical

Toward a Balanced Description of Ground and Excited States with Transcorrelated F12 Methods

By correlating only the 1-particle states occupied in the reference determinant, the conventional design for the single-reference R12/F12 explicitly correlated methods biases them toward the ground-state description, thereby making the treatment of response properties of the ground state, and energies and other properties of excited states less robust. While the use of multireference methods and/or extensions of the standard SP-projected geminals can achieve a more balanced description of ground and excited states, here we show that the same goals can be achieved by extending the action of F12 correlators to the occupied and valence unoccupied 1-particle states only. This design choice reflects the strong dependence of the optimal correlation length scale of the F12 ansatz on the orbital energies/structure, and helps to avoid the unphysical raising of the ground-state energy if the F12 geminals are used to correlate pairs of all 1-particle states. The improved F12 geminal design is incorporated into the unitary transcorrelation framework to produce a unitary 2-body Hamiltonian that incorporates the short-range dynamical correlation physics for ground and low-energy excited states in a balanced manner. This explicitly correlated effective Hamiltonian reduces the basis set requirement on the correlation-consistent basis cardinal number by 1 or more over the uncorrelated counterpart for the description of ground-state coupled-cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) energies, vertical excitation energies, and harmonic vibrational frequencies of equation-of-motion CCSD low-energy excited states.

Hamiltonians

Digital imaging techniques in experimental stress analysis

Digital imaging techniques are utilized as a measure of surface displacement components in laser speckle metrology. An image scanner which is interfaced to a computer records and stores in memory the laser speckle patterns of an object in a reference and deformed configuration. Subsets of the deformed images are numerically correlated with the references as a measure of surface displacements. Discrete values are determined around a closed contour for plane problems which then become input into a boundary integral equation method in order to calculate surface traction in the contour. Stresses are then calculated within this boundary. The solution procedure is illustrated by a numerical example of a case of uniform tension.

Peters, W. H.

Prospects for VLBI Detection of Planets

Astrometric VLBI observations of radio stars are being made to connect the Hipparcos star catalog to the extragalactic radio reference frame. Typically, the antennas are moved between a star and a strong, compact reference source a few degrees away every 2-3 minutes. After correlation, the strong reference source fringes are used to determine the exact delay and rate of the weak radio star fringes, allowing the visibilities to be measured and coherently integrated for the duration of the experiment. As a result accurate astrometry has been possible on radio stars with flux densities as low as 2 mJy...

Jones, D. L.

Sub-Milliarcsecond Astrometry with Phase-Referenced VLBI

Astrometric VLBI observations of radio stars are being made to connect the Hipparcos optical reference frame and the extragalactic radio reference frame. The antennas are switched between a star and a strong, compact reference source a few degrees away every 2-3 minutes. After correlation, the strong reference source fringes are used to determine the exact delay and rate of the weak radio star fringes, allowing the visibilities to be measured and coherently integrated for the duration of the experiment. As a result accurate astrometry has been possible on radio stars with flux densities as low as 2 mJy. All five astrometric parameters (two positions, two proper motions, and one parallax) have been obtained for several stars, with formal errors and epoch-to-epoch residuals less than 1 milliarcsecond.

Jones, D. L.

Pipelined digital SAR azimuth correlator using hybrid FFT-transversal filter

A synthetic aperture radar system (SAR) having a range correlator is provided with a hybrid azimuth correlator which utilizes a block-pipe-lined fast Fourier transform (FFT). The correlator has a predetermined FFT transform size with delay elements for delaying SAR range correlated data so as to embed in the Fourier transform operation a corner-turning function as the range correlated SAR data is converted from the time domain to a frequency domain. The azimuth correlator is comprised of a transversal filter to receive the SAR data in the frequency domain, a generator for range migration compensation and azimuth reference functions, and an azimuth reference multiplier for correlation of the SAR data. Following the transversal filter is a block-pipelined inverse FFT used to restore azimuth correlated data in the frequency domain to the time domain for imaging.

Wu, C.

Aerodynamic Design of Axial-flow Compressors. VI - Experimental Flow in Two-Dimensional Cascades

Available experimental two-dimensional cascade data for conventional compressor blade sections are correlated at a reference incidence angle in the region of minimum loss. Variations of reference incidence angle, total-pressure loss, and deviation angle with cascade geometry, inlet Mach number, and Reynolds number are investigated. From the analysis and the correlations of the available data, rules and relations are evolved for the prediction of blade-profile performance. These relations are developed in simplified forms readily applicable to compressor design procedures.

Lieblein, Seymour