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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 469 records · Page 26
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1991

Probabilistic Structural Analysis Methods (PSAM) for select space propulsion system components

This annual report summarizes the work completed during the third year of technical effort on the referenced contract. Principal developments continue to focus on the Probabilistic Finite Element Method (PFEM) which has been under development for three years. Essentially all of the linear capabilities within the PFEM code are in place. Major progress in the application or verifications phase was achieved. An EXPERT module architecture was designed and partially implemented. EXPERT is a user interface module which incorporates an expert system shell for the implementation of a rule-based interface utilizing the experience and expertise of the user community. The Fast Probability Integration (FPI) Algorithm continues to demonstrate outstanding performance characteristics for the integration of probability density functions for multiple variables. Additionally, an enhanced Monte Carlo simulation algorithm was developed and demonstrated for a variety of numerical strategies.

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NASA NTRS1992

Development of a versatile laser light scattering instrument

NASA Lewis Research Center is providing and coordinating the technology for placing a compact Laser Light Scattering (LLS) instrument in a microgravity environment. This will be accomplished by defining and assessing user requirements for microgravity experiments, coordinating needed technological developments, and filling technical gaps. This effort is striving to brassboard and evaluate a miniature multi-angle LLS instrument. The progress of the program is reported.

Meyer, William V.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Distribution of space-gathered data

A Data Distribution Satellite (DDS) concept for directly distributing space-gathered data to users on the ground and allowing users access to their experiments for real-time control is described. The DDS would operate in conjunction with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System; high-capacity, optical intersatellite links would be used to establish connectivity with other satellites for international data relay or data gathering. The requirements, scenarios, and satellite communications payload are examined along with the benefits of the concept and the payload technologies that must be developed.

Price, Kent M.↗
NASA NTRS1992

An Automated Thermocouple Calibration System

An Automated Thermocouple Calibration System (ATCS) was developed for the unattended calibration of type K thermocouples. This system operates from room temperature to 650 C and has been used for calibration of thermocouples in an eight-zone furnace system which may employ as many as 60 thermocouples simultaneously. It is highly efficient, allowing for the calibration of large numbers of thermocouples in significantly less time than required for manual calibrations. The system consists of a personal computer, a data acquisition/control unit, and a laboratory calibration furnace. The calibration furnace is a microprocessor-controlled multipurpose temperature calibrator with an accuracy of +/- 0.7 C. The accuracy of the calibration furnace is traceable to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The computer software is menu-based to give the user flexibility and ease of use. The user needs no programming experience to operate the systems. This system was specifically developed for use in the Microgravity Materials Science Laboratory (MMSL) at the NASA LeRC.

Bethea, Mark D.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Design and Application of Strategies/Tactics in Higher Order Logics

This Proceedings includes both a paper from the implementors of PVS providing guidance for PVS strategy writers and a tutorial on PVS strategy writing distilled from the experience of three PVS users who have written extensive sets of PVS user strategies. Following these are three full papers from the higher-order logic theorem proving community that discuss PVS strategies to enhance arithmetic and other interactive reasoning in PVS; implementing first-order tactics in higher-order provers; and a proposed technique for specifying small step semantics that can be used in multiple higher order logic theorem provers, with illustrations from both Coq and PVS. The Proceedings concludes with three position papers for a panel session that discuss three settings in which development of PVS strategies is worth while.

Archer, Myla↗
NASA NTRS2013

NASA Tech Briefs, Februrary 2013

Topics covered include: Measurements of Ultra-Stable Oscillator (USO) Allan Deviations in Space; Gaseous Nitrogen Orifice Mass Flow Calculator; Validation of Proposed Metrics for Two-Body Abrasion Scratch Test Analysis Standards; Rover Low Gain Antenna Qualification for Deep Space Thermal Environments; Automated, Ultra-Sterile Solid Sample Handling and Analysis on a Chip; Measuring and Estimating Normalized Contrast in Infrared Flash Thermography; Spectrally and Radiometrically Stable, Wideband, Onboard Calibration Source; High-Reliability Waveguide Vacuum/Pressure Window; Methods of Fabricating Scintillators With Radioisotopes for Beta Battery Applications; Magnetic Shield for Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerators (ADR); CMOS-Compatible SOI MESFETS for Radiation-Hardened DC-to-DC Converters; Silicon Heat Pipe Array; Adaptive Phase Delay Generator; High-Temperature, Lightweight, Self-Healing Ceramic Composites for Aircraft Engine Applications; Treatment to Control Adhesion of Silicone-Based Elastomers; High-Temperature Adhesives for Thermally Stable Aero-Assist Technologies; Rockballer Sample Acquisition Tool; Rock Gripper for Sampling, Mobility, Anchoring, and Manipulation; Advanced Magnetic Materials Methods and Numerical Models for Fluidization in Microgravity and Hypogravity; Data Transfer for Multiple Sensor Networks Over a Broad Temperature Range; Using Combustion Synthesis to Reinforce Berms and Other Regolith Structures; Visible-Infrared Hyperspectral Image Projector; Three-Axis Attitude Estimation With a High-Bandwidth Angular Rate Sensor Change_Detection.m; AGATE: Adversarial Game Analysis for Tactical Evaluation; Ionospheric Simulation System for Satellite Observations and Global Assimilative; Modeling Experiments (ISOGAME); An Extensible, User- Modifiable Framework for Planning Activities; Mission Operations Center (MOC) - Precipitation Processing System (PPS) Interface Software System (MPISS); Automated 3D Damaged Cavity Model Builder for Lower Surface Acreage Tile on Orbiter; Mixed Linear/Square-Root Encoded Single-Slope Ramp Provides Low-Noise ADC with High Linearity for Focal Plane Arrays; RUSHMAPS: Real-Time Uploadable Spherical Harmonic Moment Analysis for Particle Spectrometers; Powered Descent Guidance with General Thrust-Pointing Constraints; X-Ray Detection and Processing Models for Spacecraft Navigation and Timing; and Extreme Ionizing-Radiation-Resistant Bacterium

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NASA NTRS2014

Anticipated Changes in Conducting Scientific Data-Analysis Research in the Big-Data Era

A Big-Data environment is one that is capable of orchestrating quick-turnaround analyses involving large volumes of data for numerous simultaneous users. Based on our experiences with a prototype Big-Data analysis environment, we anticipate some important changes in research behaviors and processes while conducting scientific data-analysis research in the near future as such Big-Data environments become the mainstream. The first anticipated change will be the reduced effort and difficulty in most parts of the data management process. A Big-Data analysis environment is likely to house most of the data required for a particular research discipline along with appropriate analysis capabilities. This will reduce the need for researchers to download local copies of data. In turn, this also reduces the need for compute and storage procurement by individual researchers or groups, as well as associated maintenance and management afterwards. It is almost certain that Big-Data environments will require a different "programming language" to fully exploit the latent potential. In addition, the process of extending the environment to provide new analysis capabilities will likely be more involved than, say, compiling a piece of new or revised code.We thus anticipate that researchers will require support from dedicated organizations associated with the environment that are composed of professional software engineers and data scientists. A major benefit will likely be that such extensions are of higherquality and broader applicability than ad hoc changes by physical scientists. Another anticipated significant change is improved collaboration among the researchers using the same environment. Since the environment is homogeneous within itself, many barriers to collaboration are minimized or eliminated. For example, data and analysis algorithms can be seamlessly shared, reused and re-purposed. In conclusion, we will be able to achieve a new level of scientific productivity in the Big-Data analysis environments.

Kuo, Kwo-Sen↗
DOE OSTI2024

Grid-connected heat pump water heater benefits for low-income households in the Southeastern United States

Energy efficient heat pump water heaters (HPWHs) reduce customer energy costs; grid-connected controls further increase HPWH value by enabling energy storage and shifting demand to cheaper, off-peak periods. However, a HPWH’s first cost premium can put it out of reach for low-income customers. This paper will present results of an ongoing study exploring the benefits of load shifting HPWHs for 24 low-income households, aiming to support increased product deployment in this demographic. The study uses EcoPort modules to shift HPWH load for a study sample consisting primarily of low-income adults and seniors in North Carolina. Building upon prior studies, the study’s HPWH operating schedules are designed to maximize shifted energy and minimize participant electricity costs based on local time-of-use rates. The study documents load profiles of grid-connected HPWHs in a less-studied demographic group and explores how certain groups may have particularly flexible loads due to their unique usage profiles. The results are relevant for HPWH product performance in the Southeast. The study will quantify HPWH load shifting performance during North Carolina’s hot summer, temperate shoulder, and occasionally sub-freezing winter seasons, and the study includes installations in conditioned, semi-conditioned, and unconditioned spaces. Finally, study results will also explore how controlled HPWHs can provide value to the regional grid by reducing seasonal peaks via demand response. Lessons learned include HPWH acceptance for low-income and senior users, best practices for maintaining HPWH connectivity among users without prior product experience, and strategies to leverage remote monitoring to ensure optimal operation and enhance HPWH reliability.

Urigwe, Daniela↗
DOE OSTI2021

Water Technoeconomic Assessment Pipe-Parity Platform (WaterTAP3)

The Water Technoeconomic Assessment Pipe-Parity Platform (WaterTAP3) was developed under the National Alliance for Water Innovation (NAWI) to facilitate consistent technoeconomic assessments of desalination treatment trains. The WaterTAP3 is an analytically robust modeling tool that can be used to evaluate water technology cost, energy, environmental, and resiliency tradeoffs across different water sources, sectors, and scales. The model simulates steady-state water treatment train performance and costs including flow and constituent mass balance across unit processes, based on source water conditions, configurations of treatment technologies, and system-level techno-economic assumptions. Users can build a new treatment train by connecting any number of unit processes, specific for their context and system, or selecting a train from the treatment train library. The model contains various technical and cost parameter options for a range of treatment processes and a library of influent water quality characteristics for a variety of source waters and case studies. Users can customize water quality parameters to evaluate the technology performance in their context. The model can be set up for different assessment needs including simulation, optimization, and uncertainty and sensitivity analyses. The results from WaterTAP3 can help identify trade-offs among the different system performance metrics, with insight on how particular technologies or systems promote pipe-parity. The flexibility and comprehensive scope of the tool makes it a promising solution to industry-wide water technoeconomic evaluations, leading to more informed water investment decisions and technologies. As a user-friendly, open-source platform, WaterTAP3 can be used by industry, academia, policymakers, planners, and those with or without extensive analytical experience. A publicly available graphical user interface is currently under development.

Miara, Ariel↗
NASA NTRS1990

VIP: A knowledge-based design aid for the engineering of space systems

The Vehicles Implementation Project (VIP), a knowledge-based design aid for the engineering of space systems is described. VIP combines qualitative knowledge in the form of rules, quantitative knowledge in the form of equations, and other mathematical modeling tools. The system allows users rapidly to develop and experiment with models of spacecraft system designs. As information becomes available to the system, appropriate equations are solved symbolically and the results are displayed. Users may browse through the system, observing dependencies and the effects of altering specific parameters. The system can also suggest approaches to the derivation of specific parameter values. In addition to providing a tool for the development of specific designs, VIP aims at increasing the user's understanding of the design process. Users may rapidly examine the sensitivity of a given parameter to others in the system and perform tradeoffs or optimizations of specific parameters. A second major goal of VIP is to integrate the existing corporate knowledge base of models and rules into a central, symbolic form.

Lewis, Steven M.↗
DOE OSTI2023

MTA Secondary Beamline Production and Optics Optimization

A new secondary beamline was recently installed in the MeV Test Area (MTA) with the objective of enhancing mu+/mu- production by factors of 3/8 by using a tungsten target versus the conventional graphite production target using the 400 MeV Fermilab proton Linac beam. Ultra-low energy muon beams can support world-class physics experiments for fundamental muon measurements, sensitive searches for symmetry violation, and precision tests of theory. Extensive production studies have confirmed higher muon yield from heavy targets (tungsten vs carbon), but also, surprisingly, showed significant differences in production fluence and energy spectrum between modern hadronic models (GENIEhad) and between GEANT and MCNP. Studies are also underway towards a high-efficiency source of muonium by stopping the mu+ beam in superfluid helium. Muon fluxes can be measured at MTA including using higher-Z and novel target geometries to test hadronic and production models which are critical to understanding ongoing experiments (Mu2e) and will significantly impact the planning of future HEP experiments and planning PIP II facilities. The MTA beamline will additionally support a broad user muon test beam for future experiments and R&D.

Ahmed, Shiza↗
DOE OSTI2020

User Access to Scientific Facilities via 5G: A Cyber Security Thought Experiment

5G is more than an over-the-air radio technology upgrade. It is a strategy to extend Mobile Network Operator service offerings beyond traditional voice, instant messaging and Internet access. 5G Mobile Network Operators will offer new telecommunication services that include enhanced guarantees of confidentiality, integrity and availability. How could such services change the way Science collaborations connect scientists to supercomputers and other scientific facilities? Current scientific collaborations implicitly trust cloud service providers to securely store and process data. The perceived risks of outsourcing Science data security are counterbalanced by assurances that cloud providers operate at a scale that allows them to implement security measures impractical for Science collaborations (e.g. continuous system administrator behavioral monitoring and strict individual separation of duties). If that is true for a cloud service provider like Amazon Web Services (2018 revenue: $25.7 billion), could it also be true for Mobile Network Operators like Verizon Wireless (2018 revenue: $91.7 billion) or AT&T Mobility (2018 revenue: $71.3 billion)? DOE Leadership Class supercomputer facility users currently access them from the public Internet via Secure Shell. The sponsors and operators of the supercomputer facilities have determined that the public Internet path between the Scientist’s Device and the Login Node does not natively provide enough confidentiality or integrity to protect those communications. Therefore, the facilities achieve additional confidentiality and integrity by requiring Secure Shell encryption across those untrusted network paths. Using 5G Network Slice technology, a Mobile Network Operator may offer communication services between supercomputer users and facilities that natively provide confidentiality and integrity guarantees. Sponsors and operators of supercomputer facilities may determine that these guarantees provide enough confidentiality and integrity to protect those communications. If so, a 5G Network Slice could replace an SSH session running over the public Internet. Finally, this use case could be extended to other Office of Science user facility access requirements. Consider microscopy instruments at (e.g.) the Center for Nanoscale Materials or the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory. The embedded systems controlling such instruments may not always support encrypted network access technologies like SSH. 5G Network Slices may offer an alternative to current VPN or SSH tunneling techniques, with additional benefits like guaranteed minimum bandwidth.

5G↗
NASA NTRS2002

A low temperature facility for experiments on the International Space Station

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is currently developing the Low Temperature Microgravity Physics Experiments Facility (LTMPEF), a multiple user and multiple flight facility that will provide a long duration low temperature environment on board the International Space Station. The LTMPEF will be attached to the Japanese Experiment Module (KIBO) Exposed Facility of the International Space Station with an initial flight starting in late 2005. The LTMPF is a self contained, reusable, cryogenic facility containing a 180-liter superfluid helium tank, two experiment packages, and electronics to provide experiment control and telemetry. Two distinct primary experiments will be accommodated during each mission, and secondary experiments requiring no additional hardware beyond that built for the primary experiments will also be accommodated during each mission. Detailed technical capabilities of the Facility will be presented, along with a brief description of the six science investigations currently selected to fly on the first two missions.

International Space Station↗
DOE OSTI2023

LDRD 2022 Annual Report: Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program Activities

Each year, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) is required to provide a report of its completed Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program (LDRD) projects to the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Scientific and Technical Information in accordance with DOE Order 413.2C Chg1 (MinChg) dated August 2, 2018. This report provides a detailed look at the scientific and technical activities for each of the LDRD projects funded by BNL in FY 2022, in fulfillment of that requirement. In FY 2022, the BNL LDRD Program funded 70 projects, 30 of which were new starts, at a total cost of $17.2M. The investments that BNL makes in its LDRD program support the Laboratory’s strategic goals. BNL has identified seven scientific initiatives that define the Laboratory’s scientific future and that will enable it to realize its overall vision. This requires simultaneous excellence in all aspects of BNL’s work – from science and operations, to external partnerships with the local, state, and national communities, and beyond. This is enabled by safe, efficient, and secure operations; by an unwavering commitment to a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, including workforce development, both with staff and reaching out to the community; and by a strong focus on renewed infrastructure. The seven scientific initiatives are: 1) Nuclear Physics: uncover the structure of visible matter by constructing and operating the Electron-Ion Collider at BNL to maintain international leadership in nuclear physics for decades; 2) Clean Energy and Climate: support a net-zero U.S. economy through fundamental research in basic energy and climate sciences to revolutionize grid-scale storage, renewable integration, and the study of atmospheric processes with a new facility to improve climate predictability; 3) Quantum Information Science and Technology: discover new quantum materials to enhance quantum computers and develop an entanglement sharing quantum network as a prototype for the first quantum internet; 4) Discovery Science Driven by the Human-AI Facility Integration: revolutionize the operation of experiments across the sciences at user facilities and in core programs; 5) High Energy Physics: understand the origin of space and time with the ATLAS high luminosity upgrade at CERN and the future Long Baseline Neutrino Facility/Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment; 6) Isotope Production: accelerate and expand isotope production to ensure the security of the Nation’s supply; 7) Accelerator Science and Technology: harness the cross-cutting accelerator science expertise at BNL to develop new facilities, improve and expand its user facilities, and promote the use of accelerators in industry. The funded projects support BNL’s seven scientific initiatives and priority programs as well as new areas of research and competencies at the Laboratory that are consistent with the Laboratory’s vision and mission. In total, these LDRD investments supported 43 postdoctoral researchers in whole or in part and resulted in 138 publications and 7 awards. This Program Activities Report represents the future of BNL science; it is an impressive body of exploratory work that investigates many scientific and technical directions in support of the DOE and BNL missions.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2020

Evaluation of The NSUF Reactor Activation and Damage (RAD) Calculator: Assessing the Accuracy of the Activation Calculator

Nuclear Science User Facilities developed an activation calculator as part of the Combined Material Experiment Toolbox project. The activation calculator estimates the radionuclide concentration in an irradiated sample to indicate when and where the samples may best be examined to only help with scoping the experiment. To verify the accuracy of the calculator, the results from the specific gamma dose rate [mrem/hr/g] at various cooldown times were compared to equivalent results generated in ORIGEN. Most elements were tested as a sample composed solely of that element. These samples were exposed to thirteen different lengths of irradiation in all reactor positions included in the calculator. For elements of interest (i.e., ones currently included in the Nuclear Fuels and Materials Library), 83% of the test cases fell within the allowed tolerance for this scoping tool of ±50%. The overall error is logarithmic with irradiation length and is almost completely independent of reactor position. The primary source of error is missing nuclear data and reactions. NSUF believes that the RAD Calculator can be deployed to the user community because it is designed to provide estimates to aid researchers in planning experiments, and users are cautioned about the limitations of the calculator.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
NASA NTRS1975

AMPS data management requirements study

A data simulation is presented for instruments and associated control and display functions required to perform controlled active experiments of the atmosphere. A comprehensive user's guide is given for the data requirements and software developed for the following experiments: (1) electromagnetic wave transmission; (2) passive observation of ambient plasmas; (3) ionospheric measurements with a subsatellite; (4) electron accelerator beam measurements; and (5) measurement of acoustic gravity waves in the sodium layer using lasers. A complete description of each experiment is given.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2008

XTCE and XML Database Evolution and Lessons from JWST, LandSat, and Constellation

The database organizations within three different NASA projects have advanced current practices by creating database synergy between the various spacecraft life cycle stakeholders and educating users in the benefits of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) XML Telemetry and Command Exchange (XTCE) format. The combination of XML for managing program data and CCSDS XTCE for exchange is a robust approach that will meet all user requirements using Standards and Non proprietary tools. COTS tools for XTCEKML are very wide and varied. To combine together various low cost and free tools can be more expensive in the long run than choosing a more expensive COTS tool that meets all the needs. This was especially important when deploying in 32 remote sites with no need for licenses. A common mission XTCEKML format between dissimilar systems is possible and is not difficult. Command XMLKTCE is more complex than telemetry and the use of XTCEKML metadata to describe pages and scripts is needed due to the proprietary nature of most current ground systems. Other mission and science products such as spacecraft loads, science image catalogs, and mission operation procedures can all be described with XML as well to increase there flexibility as systems evolve and change. Figure 10 is an example of a spacecraft table load. The word is out and the XTCE community is growing, The f ~ sXt TCE user group was held in October and in addition to ESAESOC, SC02000, and CNES identified several systems based on XTCE. The second XTCE user group is scheduled for March 10, 2008 with LDMC and others joining. As the experience with XTCE grows and the user community receives the promised benefits of using XTCE and XML the interest is growing fast.

Gal-Edd, Jonathan↗
DOE OSTI2024

Control And Optimization Modular Modeling Application For Nuclear Deployment

The purpose of the COMMAND code is to provide a flexible, scalable tool for use in developing, integrating, and testing the technologies necessary for achieving autonomous operations of advanced nuclear reactors. The code enables users to efficiently implement custom simulations and experiments by combining key methods from different software modules. These modules are focused on: modeling and simulation tools, such as nuclear simulation tools used for high-fidelity modeling (e.g., Reactor Excursion and Leak Analysis Program [RELAP5-3D] and Monte Carlo N-Particle [MCNP]); machine learning and optimization tools (e.g., anomaly detection and data-driven modeling techniques); advanced control in its digital, high-performance, and supervisory control forms (e.g., proportional integral derivative (PID) control and model predictive control (MPC); and integration with hardware through industrial communication protocols. To ensure flexibility and scalability, COMMAND was designed to be both modular—the software “pieces” all inherit from generic building blocks and can be combined and connected to create complicated simulations—and high performing—designed for parallel processing, enabling simulations and experiments to take advantage of multi-core computers, servers, and nodes. The code is written in the Python programming language due to the language's popularity, active community, and open-source and cross-platform nature. Maintaining consistency with other simulation tools used within the nuclear energy community, users implement simulations and experiments through text input files, which define components, parameters, connections, etc., through lines of text. Given that COMMAND is written in Python, these input files are native Python scripts, and so use the standard Python structure and formatting. This also enables users to take advantage of Python's extensive package library to develop custom capabilities for their specific use cases.

Faber, Jacob [Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Ida↗