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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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30 records · Page 2

Containerless Measurement of Thermophysical Properties of Ti-Zr-Ni Alloys

The surface tension, viscosity, density, and thermal expansion of Ti-Zr-Ni alloys were measured for a number of compositions by electrostatic levitation methods. Containerless methods greatly reduce heterogeneous nucleation, increasing access to the undercooled liquid regime at finite cooling rates. The density and thermal expansion are measured optically, while the surface tension and viscosity are measured by the oscillating drop method. The measured alloys include compositions which form a metastable quasicrystal phase from the undercooled liquid, and alloys close to the composition of several multi-component bulk metallic glass-forming alloys. Measurements of surface tension show behavior typical of transition metals at high temperature, but a sudden decrease in the deeply undercooled liquid for alloys near the quasicrystal-forming composition range, but not for compositions which form the solid-solution phase first.

Hyers, Robert↗

Numerical study of multi-component flow and mixing in a scaled fission product venting system

Numerical simulation of isothermal multi-component gas flow was conducted to study fluid flow and mixing in a scaled low-pressure, low-temperature test facility for the fission product venting system (FPVS) of a gas cooled fast reactor (GFR). The geometry of FPVS test facility was an open loop including gradual expansion coupling and two 90°pipe elbows. First, the validation of large eddy simulation (LES) wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity (WALE) turbulent model was performed for transitional flow in a circular pipe with gradual expansion. The reactingFOAM solver in OpenFOAM v8 was employed. By introducing appropriate turbulence disturbance at the flow inlet, such as turbulence intensity, the numerical results showed good agreement in (1) the velocity profile downstream of the pipe expansion measured by particle image velocimetry (PIV) in this study, and (2) the reattachment length reported in the literature. Using this validated model, the numerical simulation of flow and component mixing was performed for the FPVS with an inlet flowrate corresponding to a Reynolds number of 2,400 to investigate the flow behavior and component mixing. Standard deviation of the mass fraction of component, referred to as absolute mixing index (AMI), was calculated to quantify the mixing of components, showing that the component mixing length determined by AMI is related to the reattachment length downstream of the expansion. Additionally, this study was able to identify the best location in the FPVS test facility to measure the velocity and concentration profies where multicomponent flow is well mixed.

15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY↗

Thin film combinatorial sputtering of Al-Ce alloys: Investigating the phase separation of as-deposited solid solutions and determining the coefficient of thermal expansion

Al x Ce 100–x thin films with a composition range of ~75.0 < x < 99.5 at% (36.5 < x < 97.5 wt%) were synthesized via combinatorial co-sputtering from an Al and an Al 50 Ce 50 target. The crystal structure, phase fraction, film morphology, electrical resistivity, and temperature-dependent coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) are all correlated to the Al x Ce 100–x composition. The as-deposited films form a metastable solid-solution, and annealing leads to the formation of the thermodynamically stable two-phase system of Al and the α-Al 11 Ce 3 intermetallic. Temperature dependent x-ray diffraction (XRD) reveals that the two phases expand independently of one another, and the thin film Al temperature-dependent CTE is similar to bulk Al. The thin film Al 11 Ce 3 intermetallic phase has a nearly constant CTE of ~1.5 × 10 –5 /°C within the temperature range studied (25–550 °C). To confirm the thin film Al 11 Ce 3 results, bulk stoichiometric Al 11 Ce 3 and +/- 1 wt% Ce samples were prepared and the CTE of each was measured with the same conditions. A Rietveld analysis of the bulk data enabled an estimation of the CTE in each of the 3 orthorhombic lattice parameters, which displayed anisotropic behavior. The thin film and bulk CTE measurements were in very good agreement. Estimations of the temperature dependent CTE of the two-phase alloys are made via the Reuss and Voigt models. Finally, by demonstrating the efficacy of the approach, more complex multi-component rapid materials discovery of low CTE Al-alloys can be pursued via the combinatorial thin film synthesis and XRD measurement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Chemical short-range order in derivative Cr–Ta–Ti–V–W high entropy alloys from the first-principles thermodynamic study

The development of high-entropy alloys (HEAs) focuses on exploring compositional regions in multi-component systems with all alloy elements in equal or near-equal atomic concentrations. Initially it was based on the main idea that high mixing configurational entropy contributions to the alloy free energy could promote the formation of a single solid solution phase. By using the ab-initio based Cluster Expansion (CE) Hamiltonian model constructed for the quinary bcc Cr–Ta–Ti–V–W system in combination with Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, we show that the phase stability and chemical short-range order (SRO) of the equiatomic quinary and five sub-quaternary systems, as well as their derivative alloys, can dramatically change the order–disorder transition temperatures (ODTT) as a function of alloy compositions. In particular, it has been found, that the equiatomic quaternary Ta–Ti–V–W and Cr–Ta–Ti–W alloys had the lowest order–disorder transition temperature (500 K) among all the analysed equiatomic compositions. In all investigated alloy systems, the strongest chemical ordering has been observed between Cr and V, which led to the conclusion that decreasing the concentration of either Cr or V might be beneficial in terms of decreasing the ODTT. It also predicts that increasing concentration of Ti significantly decreases the ODTT. Our analysis of chemical SRO as a function of alloy composition allows to understand the microstructure evolution of HEAs as a function of temperature in excellent agreement with available experimental observations. Importantly, our free energy of mixing and SRO calculations predict that the origin of precipitates formed by Cr- and V-rich in the sub-quaternary Cr–Ta–V–W system is driven by the thermodynamics. The modelling results are in an excellent agreement with experimental observation of Cr and V segregation in the W 0.38 Ta 0.36 Cr 0.15 V 0.11 alloy which in turns shows an exceptional radiation resistance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Photoluminescence polarization anisotropy for studying long-range structural ordering within semiconductor multi-atomic alloys and organic crystals

Long-range structural ordering within multi-component semiconductor alloys and organic crystals leads to significant optical anisotropy and, in particular, to anisotropy of the photoluminescence (PL) emission. The PL emission of ternary and quaternary semiconductor alloys is polarized if there is some amount of the atomic ordering within the crystal structure. We analyze the polarization of the PL emission from the quaternary GaInAsP semiconductor alloy grown by Liquid Phase Epitaxy (LPE) and conclude that it could be caused by low degree atomic ordering within the crystal structure together with the thermal biaxial strain due to difference between the thermal expansion coefficients of the layer and the substrate. We also study the state of polarization of the PL from organic crystals in order to identify different features of the crystal PL spectrum.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

High-temperature crystallization of nanocrystals into three-dimensional superlattices

Crystallization of colloidal nanocrystals into superlattices represents a practical bottom-up process with which to create ordered metamaterials with emergent functionalities. With precise control over the size, shape and composition of individual nanocrystals, various single-and multi-component nanocrystal superlattices have been produced, the lattice structures and chemical compositions of which can be accurately engineered. Nanocrystal superlattices are typically prepared by carefully controlling the assembly process through solvent evaporation or destabilization or through DNA-guided crystallization. Slow solvent evaporation or cooling of nanocrystal solutions (over hours or days) is the key element for successful crystallization processes. Here we report the rapid growth (seconds) of micrometre-sized, face-centred-cubic, three-dimensional nanocrystal superlattices during colloidal synthesis at high temperatures (more than 230 degrees Celsius). Using in situ small-angle X-ray scattering, we observe continuous growth of individual nanocrystals within the lattices, which results in simultaneous lattice expansion and fine nanocrystal size control due to the superlattice templates. Thermodynamic models demonstrate that balanced attractive and repulsive interparticle interactions dictated by the ligand coverage on nanocrystal surfaces and nanocrystal core size are responsible for the crystallization process. The interparticle interactions can also be controlled to form different superlattice structures, such as hexagonal close-packed lattices. In conclusion, the rational assembly of various nanocrystal systems into novel materials is thus facilitated for both fundamental research and for practical applications in the fields of magnetics, electronics and catalysis.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Accurate calculation of many-body energies in water clusters using a classical geometry-dependent induction model

We incorporate geometry-dependent distributed multipole and polarizability surfaces into an induction model that is used to describe the 3- and 4-body terms of the interaction between water molecules. The expansion is carried out up to hexadecapole with the multipoles distributed on the atom sites. Dipole-dipole, dipole-quadrupole, and quadrupole-quadrupole distributed polarizabilities are used to represent the response of the multipoles to an electric field. We compare the model against two large databases consisting of 43,844 3-body terms and 3,603 4-body terms obtained from high level ab initio calculations previously used to fit the MB-pol and q-AQUA interaction potentials. The classical induction model with no adjustable parameters reproduces the ab-initio 3- and 4-body terms contained in these teo Databases with a Root-Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) of 0.104/0.058 and a Mean-Absolute-Error (MAE) of 0.054/0.026 kcal/mol, respectively, results that are on a par with those obtained 1 by fitting the same data using tens of thousands of Permutationally Invariant Polynomials (PIPs). This demonstrates the accuracy of this physically motivated model in describing the 3- and 4-body terms in the interactions between water molecules with no adjustable parameters. The triple-dipole-dispersion energy was included in the 3-body energy and was found to be small but not quite negligible. The model represents a practical, efficient and transferable approach for obtaining accurate non-additive interactions for multi-component systems without the need of performing tens of thousands of high level electronic structure calculations and fitting them with tens of thousands of PIPs.

molecular analysis water, aqueous↗

The Novel Hybrid Ab Initio Model of High-Performance Structural Alloys Design for Fossil Energy Power Plants

The current project developed a novel HT-CALPHAD/DFT approach, which can quickly design new high-performance structural alloys for the application of FE power plants. The PI will mainly take charge of high-throughput DFT simulations and computational thermodynamics of the selected multicomponent alloy systems for the FE power plant applications. At the end of the project, a novel hybrid model based on high throughput CALPHAD/DFT simulations and computational thermodynamics will be developed to provide guidance on how to identify multi-component new high-performance structural alloys with much less computational effort needed. It will address the extensive computation time needed for DFT on the new alloys design. In addition, it will also address the well-known headache of DFT, i.e. how to make the accurate prediction of the high-temperature equilibria. The novel hybrid model the PI proposed will not only be applied to the design of high-performance structural alloys in FE power plants but in many different applications, such as nuclear reactors. This hybrid modeling approach includes four sections: 1) HT-CALPHAD modeling of Al-Co-Cr-Ni-Fe system with FCC and BCC phase. In this section, 3561 non-equiatomic compositions were randomly generated in order to investigate the phase stability of single FCC and BCC phases. Meanwhile, we proposed a data screening procedure to screen out the good candidates within these compositions, considering the temperature range, average density, and melting temperature, etc. 2) Investigation of FCC-Cr lattice stability in Fe-Cr system. We systematically assessed the reliability of FCC-Cr lattice stability derived by DFT and CALPHAD approaches. Meanwhile, the Fe-Cr binary system was chosen as a case study to verify the Cr lattice stability obtained by both approaches. 3) High-throughput DFT modeling on elastic properties of Al-Co-Cr-Ni-Fe systems. We predicted and established the FCC quinary elastic constant database of the Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni systems at 0K by using special quasi-random structure (SQS) approach. The predictions will start with pure elements of Al-Co-Cr-Fe-Ni system and will be continued with binaries, ternaries, quaternaries, and finally the quinary compositions. 3) Modeling of temperature-dependent elastic properties in Al-Co-Cr-Ni-Fe systems. In this part, we predict the thermal expansion coefficient and elastic stiffness coefficient as a function of temperature by applying quasiharmonic approximation. With this approach, the elastic properties of HEAs at elevate temperature can be estimated.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Functional Wigner representation of quantum dynamics of Bose-Einstein condensate

We develop a method of simulating the full quantum field dynamics of multi-mode multi-component Bose-Einstein condensates in a trap. We use the truncated Wigner representation to obtain a probabilistic theory that can be sampled. This method produces c-number stochastic equations which may be solved using conventional stochastic methods. The technique is valid for large mode occupation numbers. We give a detailed derivation of methods of functional Wigner representation appropriate for quantum fields. Our approach describes spatial evolution of spinor components and properly accounts for nonlinear losses. Such techniques are applicable to calculating the leading quantum corrections, including effects such as quantum squeezing, entanglement, EPR correlations, and interactions with engineered nonlinear reservoirs. By using a consistent expansion in the inverse density, we are able to explain an inconsistency in the nonlinear loss equations found by earlier authors.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Pronghorn

Pronghorn is designed as a multi-dimensional coarse-mesh conjugate heat transfer simulator (tightly coupled fluid and solid phase heat transfer) for nuclear reactor core applications. Pronghorn’s design philosophy of is that: 1. The tool will be agnostic of reactor concept, including VHTRs, SFRs, FHRs, and LWRs. 2. Must be higher fidelity than traditional nuclear systems/safety analysis (0D-1D). 3. Avoid lower-length scale phenomena, such as boundary layer theory, i.e., rely on closure relations. 4. Apply mixture theory (homogenization) wherever possible. 5. Conserve mass and energy (solve all physics on single mesh). 6. Must be easily coupled to both MOOSE-based and external physics applications. 7. Does not require a super computer. Thus, Pronghorn’s algorithmic philosophy is to resolve large scale flow features and model lower-length scale phenomena, such as boundary layers. The coarse mesh approach for lower-length scale modeling is to develop a multi-component multi-phase homogenization of solid and liquid phases into a mixture formulation inside a finite element. For example, a pebble bed core is represented as a two-phase mixture of coolant and fuel pebbles, where the fuel phase is stationary. Thus, the solid phase exerts a drag force on the fluid phase, composed of form and viscous drag, and both phases exchange internal energy through conduction and convective heat transfer. For Pronghorn, the volume fraction of fluid can vary in space, but not in time. Pronghorn has been validated against the VHTR PBMR400 benchmark problems, used for rod ejection simulations have been conducted for thermal-fluids/neutronics for both pebble-bed and prismatic gas-cooled reactors and simple thermal-neutronics coupled LWR benchmark problems. Pronghorn flow models cover a wide range of transient and steady flow conditions, including, porous fluid flow, compressible flow, and nearly incompressible, thermally expansive flow. The physics can be solved in three-dimensional Cartesian coordinates and two-dimensional cylindrical (r-z) coordinates.

Martineau, RichardC.↗

Component mode synthesis of large rotor systems

A scheme is presented for calculating the vibrations of large multi-component flexible rotor systems based on the component mode synthesis method. It is shown that, by a modal expansion of the elastic interconnecting elements, the system modal equation can be conveniently constructed from the undamped eigen representations of the component subsystems. The capability of the component mode method is demonstrated in two examples: a transient simulation of a two-spool gas turbine engine equipped with a squeeze-film damper; and an unbalance response analysis of the Space Shuttle Main Engine oxygen turbopump in which the dynamics of the rotor and the housing are both considered.

Li, D. F.↗