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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 37 records · Page 2

Developing an Ultra-Compact, Topology-Optimized Heat Exchanger using Additive Manufacturing

Traditional heat exchanger designs have relied on a plate-fin architecture, assembled in a crossflow configuration. These HX designs are limited in their maximum allowable temperature and, therefore, efficiency. More advanced designs, such as those containing counter-flow, microtube cores, can yield higher efficiencies, but generally require complex headers. The design of such headers is usually determined based on user experience rather than on rigorous design tools, which can lead to lossy architectures; conventional headers can generate up to 50% of the total pressure loss through the HX. Furthermore, the consequences of manufacturing techniques are rarely considered during the design phase. Our team has developed an ultra-compact, topology-optimized heat exchanger capable of operating in environments with temperatures and pressures up to 800°C (1472°F) and 250 bar (3626 psi), respectively. Throughout the program, the team leveraged extensive additive manufacturing research and experience in supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO 2 ) power generation experience to develop and commercialize the technology. The final power density numbers for the subscale and full-scale heat exchangers are >15 kW/kg and >50 kW/L, which includes the core and the headers. The team has involved the RTX business units, notably Collins Aerospace, in discussions for commercializing the technology.

20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS↗

Development of HPC based phase field simulations tool for modification of alloy morphology to enhance material properties during additive manufacturing (AM) process

Currently, additive manufacturing (AM) technology is extensively used to manufacture aerospace components because of the unique advantages of the technique in producing custom designs, complex geometries in a near-net fashion that significantly reduces the manufacturing cost, and improved energy efficiency. However, the thermodynamic properties of existing aerospace alloys and the thermal conditions that prevail in most of the powder-bed based additive manufacturing processes lead to undesirable columnar / columnar-dendritic microstructures that promote solidification cracking during the process, and the development of anisotropy in the mechanical properties of the as-built components. Time consuming, energy-intensive post AM treatments are required to recover the mechanical properties of the wrought components for which the existing alloy compositions were designed for. However, novel alloy compositions, that exploit the AM thermal conditions to produce fine, equiaxed grain structures in the as-built condition, with mechanical properties equal to or exceeding those of the wrought work-horse alloy, Ti-6Al-4V has recently been demonstrated in Ti-Cu alloys. Significant energy savings up to 66% can be obtained for a typical aerospace component through digitally designing the AM process, process parameters, and alloy composition. The current project focused on developing a fundamental understanding of the evolution of the columnar to equiaxed transition (CET) occurring during solidification under AM thermal conditions in Ti-Cu and Ti-Cu-X alloys using high-fidelity phase field (PF) simulations using the leadership class computing facilities that exist in the national laboratories. The simulations were able to capture the effect of alloy and process conditions on CET, and clearly showed the beneficial effect of a ternary solute addition to Ti-Cu binary alloys on CET. The simulations indicated that bulk nucleation in the liquid ahead of the solidifying epitaxial front was promoted by a large, transient, thermal undercooling promoted by the mismatch between the growth rate of the dendrite tips in the epitaxial front and the imposed solidification rate. AM experiments performed at Raytheon Technologies Research Center using the same thermal conditions used in the PF simulations indicated the formation of equiaxed grains, although the grain size was bigger than the ones reported in the literature. On the other hand, the equiaxed grain size predicted by PF simulations were smaller than the grain size of Ti-Cu alloys reported in the literature. The industry will follow up the existing work in a future program that would involve further optimization of the process for the Ti-Cu-X alloys to demonstrate the application of the process and the alloy to a specific aerospace component.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Densification, microstructure, and mechanical properties of Mo–30W alloys fabricated from conditioned powders

Refractory alloys, such as molybdenum-based systems, are attracting growing interest for applications in extreme environments, such as in the nuclear and aerospace industries. Recent advances in sintering technologies, coupled with mechanical alloying, have enabled the tailored design of these alloys by leveraging powder characteristics to control final microstructures and mechanical properties. In this study, Mo-30W alloys were fabricated using electric field-assisted sintering (EFAS) from ball-milled powders with and without hydrogen treatment to investigate the influence of surface oxides on material properties and sintering behavior. The results revealed that samples processed from as-ball-milled powder contained a high density of oxides within the microstructure, whereas oxide presence was significantly reduced in samples fabricated from hydrogen-treated powders. Interestingly, the two powder types led to opposite trends in grain size distribution: samples from untreated powders exhibited grain refinement from sample periphery to the center, while samples from hydrogen-treated powders showed grain coarsening toward the center. This behavior is attributed to temperature gradients present during sintering due to electrical percolation pathway differences during Joule heating. The powder surface oxides may have influenced the temperature distribution and grain evolution. Microhardness profiles measured along both axial and thickness directions were consistent with the grain size distribution. Furthermore, oxide films on powder surfaces have delayed densification by hindering particle necking and atomic diffusion during sintering.

36 - MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Hygrothermal aging effects on polyimide and acrylate-based adhesive materials in high-performance flat-flex cable assemblies

Flat-flex assemblies are widely used across a diverse range of technologies, including consumer electronics, automotive systems, aerospace and defense applications, and medical devices, due to their compact form factor and flexibility. However, environmental stressors like temperature and humidity are known to degrade performance over time, though the main mechanisms for degradation remain unknown. Here, in this work, we examined the aging behavior of copper/polyimide/adhesive laminate systems under varying temperature and humidity conditions, focusing on material degradation and its effects on mechanical and dielectric properties. Results show that peel strength and breakdown voltage decrease with exposure time, temperature, and humidity; spectroscopic characterization revealed that the adhesive, and not the polyimide, is the weak link in the material stack-up. The adhesive, identified as a butyl acrylate-acrylonitrile (BA-AN) copolymer, exhibited age-related spectral changes that correlated with exposure severity and duration. Hydrolysis at BA ester and AN nitrile groups was identified as the primary degradation mechanism, producing amides, acids, and alcohols. We developed a mechanistic model that connects kinetic parameters for BA-AN spectral band decay to peel strength and breakdown voltage, and implicates hydrolysis at the AN moiety, not BA, in performance decrements. Modeling predictions at ambient conditions indicate faster decline in peel strength than dielectric strength at early times, followed by plateauing of both properties at longer times. These findings provide critical insights into laminate aging mechanisms and highlight the importance of addressing BA-AN degradation to improve the long-term reliability of these systems in high-humidity environments.

organic↗

Protein structural changes on a CubeSat under rocket acceleration profile

Catalyzing life-sustaining reactions, proteins are composed by 20 different amino acids that fold into a compact yet flexible three-dimensional architecture, which dictates what their function(s) might be. Determining the spatial arrangement of the atoms, the protein’s 3D structure, enables key advances in fundamental and applied research. Protein crystallization is a powerful technique to achieve this. Unlike Earth’s crystallization experiments, biomolecular crystallization in space in the absence of gravitational force is actively sought to improve crystal growth techniques. However, the effects of changing gravitational vectors on a protein solution reaching supersaturation remain largely unknown. Here, we have developed a low-cost crystallization cell within a CubeSat payload module to exploit the unique experimental conditions set aboard a sounding rocket. We designed a biaxial gimbal to house the crystallization experiments and take measurements on the protein solution in-flight with a spectrophotometry system. After flight, we used X-ray diffraction analysis to determine that flown protein has a structural rearrangement marked by loss of the protein’s water and sodium in a manner that differs from crystals grown on the ground. We finally show that our gimbal payload module design is a portable experimental setup to take laboratory research investigations into exploratory space flights.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Reactor Network Analysis with Various Reaction Mechanisms to Investigate Hydrogen vs. Methane Fuel at Varying Flame Temperatures with Experimental Data

Emissions data were evaluated for a set of test hardware that adapts Collins Aerospace’s aeroengine liquid fueled injector technology to a ground-based turbine. The hardware was specifically developed to operate on 100% hydrogen; however it has the ability to operate on both pure methane and hydrogen and mixtures in between. 16 injector configurations and seven factors (air split, fuel and air swirl, pressure drop, preheat temperature, fuel composition, and flame temperature) were investigated based on a Box Behnken statistical model. Of the 16, configuration 3 was selected for further discussion being in the middle of the statistical design space. A chemical reactor network was developed based on the experimental data obtained and was assessed with three different mechanisms: GRI Mech 3.0, UCSD, and Galway. All factors were held constant except the fuel composition to directly compare chemical pathways for methane and hydrogen. This study was conducted across different flame temperatures of 1500K, 1675K, and 1850K for both hydrogen and methane. Additional lower flame temperatures of 1100K and 1300K were evaluated for hydrogen. Moreover, results for fully premixed and non-premixed results were compared to obtain information on the implications of mixedness on emissions. These results were compared with the Leonard and Stegmaier plot for methane and a similar plot was constructed for hydrogen.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Assessment of Cold Spray Technology for Nuclear Power Applications

This report provides an overview of cold spray (CS) technology as it relates to repair and fabrication of metal alloys in the nuclear power industry. CS is a relatively new technology with applications established in other industries (e.g., aerospace, defense), and greater use of CS is anticipated within the nuclear power industry. This report is prepared in support of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Action Plan for Advanced Manufacturing Technologies (AMTs) Rev. 1, which includes objectives to identify the AMTs most likely to be used for nuclear power applications that require NRC approval, and to prepare NRC staff to review regulatory submittals containing components manufacturing using AMTs. In addition to providing an overview of CS technology, this report highlights engineering and scientific knowledge gaps of CS and rates the size of the knowledge gaps. It also assesses importance rankings of the knowledge gaps as they relate to several application categories. The application categories considered in this exercise include factory-applied CS for chloride induced stress corrosion cracking (CISCC) mitigation, field CISCC repair, light water reactor (LWR) factory structural fabrication, and LWR field dimensional restoration and corrosion protection. The combination of a knowledge gap size rating and importance ranking for an application can be used to prioritize additional data or information gathering efforts.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Chemically Enhanced Electrodialysis (CEED) for Recovery of Rare Earth Elements

Rare-earth elements are crucial for numerous technologically relevant industries including energy, electronics, and aerospace; however, both the supply and separation of rare earths are pressing challenges. The long-term goal of the collaborative project is to develop a novel approach to existing extraction behaviors. To achieve this goal, a class of electrodialysis membranes with novel ion-gating functionality will be developed and paired with a conventional electrodialysis strategy. The hypothesis of the work is that incorporating sequestrants of suitable structures at the surface of the electrodialysis membrane will enhance extraction efficiency for ions of interest. Our ability to prepare sequestrants of diverse conformations and to adapt their molecular structure for binding lanthanides renders the proposed technology a versatile method for selective ion separation. Our approach will enable an entirely new technological approach to the separation of valuable rare-earth elements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Toward a circular economy: zero-waste manufacturing of carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites

Fiber-reinforced composites are becoming ubiquitous as a way of lightweighting in the wind, aerospace, and automotive industries, but current recycling technologies fall short of a circular economy. In this work, fiber-reinforced composites made of recycled carbon fiber and polyphenylene sulfide were recycled and remanufactured using common processing technologies such as compression and injection molding. An industrially viable size-exclusive sieving technique was used to retain fiber length and reduce variability in the mechanical properties of the remanufactured composites. Fiber length reduction alone could not explain the strength reductions apparent in the composites, which we propose are due to microstructural inhomogeneity as defined by poor dispersion of the fibers. Future recycling efforts must focus on fiber length retention and good dispersion to make composite remanufacturing a viable path toward a circular economy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Implementation of Disruptive Designs for Gas Turbine Components Utilizing Additive Manufacturing

Electron beam melting (EBM) is an additive manufacturing process used to print metallic components with complex geometries for aerospace applications. A preheating characteristic enables this technology to avoid large accumulation of residual stress during printing. However, cracking mechanisms particularly in Ni-based superalloys are associated with not only residual stress but also with microstructure (i.e., solidification morphology, transient evolution of γ'). Siemens is committed to AM technology for gas turbine applications. The ability to novel predictive designs of turbine blades would reduce process development time and allow acquisition of key microstructure and performance data early in a design campaign. Siemens initiated a project to establish the design rules for the fabrication of non-printable Nibased superalloys. This phase 1 program demonstrates the feasibility for virtual fabrication of the actual blade geometries through EBM process.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Multi-Source Machine Learning and Thermoplastics Enhanced Aerostructure Manufacturing (mTEAM)

RTX Technology Research Center (RTRC), together with Collins Aerospace (Collins) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) guided solution to advance the manufacturing and assembly of high performance and lightweight thermoplastic composite (TPC) aerospace products. The solution aims to lower risk, cost and lead time for induction heating based welding and consolidation processes for TPC structure. The cost and lead time of part and material specific process development for induction welding (IW) and induction consolidation will be reduced by replacing traditional empirical methods with optimization methods that merge AI/ML and physics-based process simulations and process experiments with sensing and controls. TPC-IW process development is empirical in nature, and uncertainties in material & process behavior exist near & far from the induction coil. Physics-based simulations can be leveraged directly for process optimization but can be too computationally expensive to run in high fidelity and real time to do robust process optimization. The key impact of successful TPC induction consolidation and welding is cost & lead time reduction for part & material specific consolidation and welding recipes. This is an enabler for more rapid deployment of TPC structures via joining assembly, which can reduce energy & cost intensive usage of autoclaves & ovens. The solution aimed to advance the U.S. Department of Energy’s interests in using thermoplastics and automation in composite manufacturing for improvement of products for existing markets via increased production speeds, reduced costs, and lowered use of energy. Welded TPC structures can offer significant weight & energy savings for high-value commercial aerospace & industrial applications compared to metal & thermoset composite structures assembled by mechanical fastening and/or adhesive bonding. The project was organized into two Budget Periods. Budget Period 1 (BP1) was 15 months and its goal was to perform ML process optimization framework development & deployment on lab-coupon aerostructure components. A Go/No-Go Review was performed at the end of BP1 to verify fulfilment of key tasks & milestones to justify a Go Decision to move into the next Budget Period. Budget Period 2 (BP2) was 12 months and its goal was the deployment of the ML framework for ML process optimization of pilot industrial scale aerostructure components. The overall project aim was to develop & demonstrate ML-enhanced modeling framework that learns process-property mapping from multiple data sources at different fidelities. During BP1, the team accomplished key tasks & milestones to demonstrate the concept of multi-source ML for TPC aerostructure consolidation and assembly. First, the team completed documentation of induction based TPC heating requirements including baseline metrics to compare measured results against. Next the team completed demonstration of data generation from physics-based simulations for ML surrogate model generation and demonstrated the integration of physics-based simulation data into multi-source AI/ML algorithms. In parallel, the team established the lab-coupon scale induction welding system and completed a process to label and reduce generated data from physics-based simulation and experiments for ML surrogate models to enable multi-source ML model training & testing. To complete BP1, the team integrated physics-based simulation data and experimental data into multi-source ML algorithms. This was based on the team completing ML deployment of the induction welding on a lab system at RTRC and AI/ML deployment on existing induction welding line at Collins. ORNL visited both Collins and RTRC sites to witness the TPC induction welding process. Then, ORNL designed and constructed a new version of their vision-based sensing system better adapted to acquire process signals of the TPC induction welding process for process anomaly and defect detection. In BP2, the team accomplished key tasks & milestones to scale up multi-source ML for TPC aerostructure consolidation and assembly from the lab-coupon scale to the pilot-industrial scale. In BP2, the team demonstrated real time anomaly & defect detection via experiments performed by ORNL & RTRC. The team completed ML-optimization heating trials for TPC induction consolidation at Collins, and the team confirmed pilot industrial scale experimental data from Collins was compatible with the developed ML pipeline from RTRC. The team completed sub-element scale ML process optimization demonstration at RTRC, where the team leveraged RTRC’s robotic TPC welding setup to de-risk the ML process optimization by performing ML analysis of recorded temperatures to account for complex part features. Then, the team applied its ML-derived control strategies and ML process optimization framework at Collins to the pilot-industrial scale on a demo skin-stiffener part representative of a nacelle aerostructure fan cowl section. The key innovation is the AI/ML framework enabling effective process development of high performance, lightweight, energy efficient TPCs for composite aircraft structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Evaluation of Additively Manufactured Monolithic SiC and SiC Ceramic Matrix Composites for Concentrating Solar Receiver Applications

Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office, US Department of Energy, GE Aerospace Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR). We report the results of our study of the effective heat transfer characteristic of several candidate structure motifs, or feature geometries, made of SiC via additive manufacturing in a simulative laboratory test. The SiC structure motifs studied include different permutations of three-dimensional periodic lattices and defined shapes. The solar-thermal simulating laboratory test setup is constructed using a 4kW CO2 laser system with beam shaping optics to apply radiative heating power on one face of 2”-diameter cylindrical feature specimens representing the structure motifs of interest for receiver element design. Using the test setup, simulative test conditions representative of a concentrated solar flux of up to ~2000 suns could be achieved in the lab tests under varying air flow through the test structure. A numerical analysis scheme is developed to extract an effective or compound heat transfer coefficient representative of the test structure under steady-state heat flow conditions.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Recent Advances in Machine Learning for Fiber Optic Sensor Applications

Over the last three decades, fiber optic sensors (FOS) have gained a lot of attention for their wide range of monitoring applications across many industries, including aerospace, defense, security, civil engineering, and energy. FOS technologies hold great promise to form the backbone for next‐generation intelligent sensing platforms that offer long‐distance, high‐accuracy, distributed measurement capabilities and multiparametric monitoring with resilience to harsh environmental conditions. The major limitations posed by FOS are 1) cross‐sensitivity, 2) enormous volume and large data generation, 3) low data processing speed, 4) degradation of signal‐to‐noise ratio over the fiber length, and 5) overall cost of sensor and interrogator systems. These challenges can be overcome by building advanced data analytics engines enabled by recent breakthroughs in machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). This article presents a comprehensive review of recent studies that integrate ML and AI algorithms with FOS technologies. This review also highlights several FOS technology development directions that promise a significant impact on widespread use for several industrial applications, with an emphasis on energy systems monitoring. A perspective on future directions for further research development is also provided.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

CRADA Final Report: CRADA Number NFE-21-08878 with Addiguru, LLC

In recent years, the additive manufacturing industry has grown significantly. This technology is gaining traction in many industries including aerospace, medical and dental devices, energy, tooling, and automotive. Currently, additive manufacturing processes have greatly improved in efficiency since their introduction to the market. However, many of the same quality problems identified by previous researchers persist.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Optimization of Functionally Graded Materials Using Additive Manufacturing: An Integrated Experimental and Computational Approach (Abbreviated Final Report)

Many advanced technologies, such as next-generation energy systems, aerospace vehicles, and defense platforms, require materials that can withstand extreme environments, including high temperatures, corrosion, and radiation, while remaining strong and lightweight. Traditionally, joining different materials to achieve these properties introduces weak, failure-prone interfaces and defects that limit performance. Our research aimed to overcome this challenge by using additive manufacturing, specifically directed energy deposition, to create functionally graded materials—components with smooth transitions between different metals. This approach eliminates sharp boundaries and allows for tailored material properties throughout a part.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Design, Fabrication and On-Sun Performance Evaluation of SiC Receiver Feature Specimens for CST Applications Using Additively Manufactured SiC Materials

Increasing operating temperatures of solar receivers is paramount to the efficiency of concentrated solar thermal (CST) and solar power (CSP) systems. Successful development of CST systems to generate heat for industrial applications requires significant increase in temperature capability and techno-economically viability of the receiver systems. Supported by an award from the Solar Technology Office (SETO), US Department of Energy (DOE), GE Aerospace Research in collaboration with Heliogen Holdings Inc and Sandia National Lab, is engaged in the development of ultra-High Operating Temperature SiC-matrix Solar Thermal Air Receiver (HOTSSTAR) enabled by additive manufacturing. The program objective is to demonstrate SiC receiver with air exit temperatures up to 1100 oC and high thermal efficiencies. We report design, fabrication and on-sun test results of SiC components of a prototype 50kW (thermal) HOTSSTAR module. The receiver module architecture is based on a radial airflow design and consists of a series of radial SiC receiver sectors organized around a SiC center absorber. The SiC components are fabricated using binder-jet printed SiC followed by melt-infiltration reaction bonding process. To enhance the reliability and to minimize the risk of cracking damage of SiC test articles in thermal gradient and thermal shock environment of the application, the components were laminated with GE’s MI SiC-SiC CMC. Following extensive design and lab test analyses, selected SiC component designs are tested at Heliogen Lancaster Solar field under highly concentrated solar fluxes around 2000 suns to assess the thermal performance characteristics under realistic field conditions. We report on the test results and compare the thermal performances of different HOTSSTAR SiC absorbers. Finally, we discuss fabrication and initial assembly of a 50kW prototype test module in preparation of on-sun field tests to assess the performance of our final design.

CST, CSP, high temperature, air receiver, SiC, add↗

High Elevation Radiation Array (HERA) detectors for airborne thunderstorm investigations

A high-energy atmospheric physics phenomenon, referred to as a terrestrial gamma ray flash (TGF), is associated with lightning and produces large bursts of energetic photon radiation. TGFs will be investigated using a suite of gamma-ray instruments designed and constructed to fly on ten United States Air Force (USAF) WC-130J Hurricane Hunter aircraft as part of an aircrew ionization study led by the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and the United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM), in cooperation with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron (WRS). Each instrument consists of one NaI and one plastic detector, a GPS timing device, and an instrument computer that performs data acquisition. High Elevation Radiation Array (HERA) detectors will be employed to maximize the chances of observing TGFs near their source and to gain a better understanding of their origin, mechanism, ubiquity, and to assess potential hazards posed to military and commercial aircrew and passengers. The HERA program, deployed on 10 separate Air Force aircraft over a multi-year campaign, will result in thousands of observational flight hours and be the largest concerted effort to date to observe TGFs in situ through aircraft observations. In this paper, we give an overview of the scientific goals of this campaign and how the HERA instruments have been designed to meet those goals. Here, we include a detailed description of the HERA instrument, along with mass model and signal processing simulations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Highly Recyclable Thermosets for Lightweight Composites: CRADA 517 [Abstract only]

Lightweight composites are of increasing need to enable reduced fuel usage, reduced carbon emissions and increased range in air and ground transportation. The superior weight savings of carbon fiber thermoset composites are impeded by material and production costs and the limited options available for composite repair and recycle. The materials recovery and recycling sector is currently overwhelmed by an abundance of low-value materials and limited market opportunities for downcycled content, rendering landfilling a more attractive alternative. Vitrimers represent a new paradigm for repairable and recyclable thermosets, but this relatively new technology will require development, including government investment, to reduce risks for its adoption by aerospace and automotive OEMs. The overall goal of the project is to create recyclable carbon fiber composites using vitrimer resins that are more energy efficient to produce and have improved properties over baseline technology. The targeted composites will retain their tensile strength after multiple recycling and reprocessing steps. In addition, monomer will be recoverable through depolymerization and re-usable carbon fibers will be retrieved.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗