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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 505 records · Page 28
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

Idaho National Laboratory Integrated Safety Management System FY 2016 Effectiveness Review and Declaration Report

Idaho National Laboratory’s (INL’s) Integrated Safety Management System (ISMS) effectiveness review of fiscal year (FY) 2016 shows that INL has integrated management programs and safety elements throughout the oversight and operational activities performed at INL. The significant maturity of Contractor Assurance System (CAS) processes, as demonstrated across INL’s management systems and periodic reporting through the Management Review Meeting process, over the past two years has provided INL with current real-time understanding and knowledge pertaining to the health of the institution. INL’s sustained excellence of the Integrated Safety and effective implementation of the Worker Safety and Health Program is also evidenced by other external validations and key indicators. In particular, external validations include VPP, ISO 14001, DOELAP accreditation, and key Laboratory level indicators such as ORPS (number, event frequency and severity); injury/illness indicators such as Days Away, Restricted and Transfer (DART) case rate, back & shoulder metric and open reporting indicators, demonstrate a continuous positive trend and therefore improved operational performance over the last few years. These indicators are also reflective of the Laboratory’s overall organizational and safety culture improvement. Notably, there has also been a step change in ESH&Q Leadership actions that have been recognized both locally and complex-wide. Notwithstanding, Laboratory management continues to monitor and take action on lower level negative trends in numerous areas including: Conduct of Operations, Work Control, Work Site Analysis, Risk Assessment, LO/TO, Fire Protection, and Life Safety Systems, to mention a few. While the number of severe injury cases has decreased, as evidenced by the reduction in the DART case rate, the two hand injuries and the fire truck/ambulance accident were of particular concern. Aggressive actions continue in order to understand the causes and define actions needed to prevent similar injuries and accidents in the future. While our injury rate is not where we want it to be, it is not the only indicator that defines our ISMS program, safety culture, and efforts to be a continuous learning organization. When reviewing the entire year’s performance, and all areas that integrate ISMS principles and core functions, INL has an “effective” ISMS program that is continually improving.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
NASA NTRS1987

Bioreactor design concepts

Two parallel lines of work are underway in the bioreactor laboratory. One of the efforts is devoted to the continued development and utilization of a laboratory research system. That system's design is intended to be fluid and dynamic. The sole purpose of such a device is to allow testing and development of equipment concepts and procedures. Some of the results of those processes are discussed. A second effort is designed to produce a flight-like bioreactor contained in a double middeck locker. The result of that effort has been to freeze a particular bioreactor design in order to allow fabrication of the custom parts. The system is expected to be ready for flight in early 1988. However, continued use of the laboratory system will lead to improvements in the space bioreactor. Those improvements can only be integrated after the initial flight series.

Bowie, William↗
NASA NTRS1989

Conference on Real-Time Computer Applications in Nuclear, Particle and Plasma Physics, 6th, Williamsburg, VA, May 15-19, 1989, Proceedings

Papers on real-time computer applications in nuclear, particle, and plasma physics are presented, covering topics such as expert systems tactics in testing FASTBUS segment interconnect modules, trigger control in a high energy physcis experiment, the FASTBUS read-out system for the Aleph time projection chamber, a multiprocessor data acquisition systems, DAQ software architecture for Aleph, a VME multiprocessor system for plasma control at the JT-60 upgrade, and a multiasking, multisinked, multiprocessor data acquisition front end. Other topics include real-time data reduction using a microVAX processor, a transputer based coprocessor for VEDAS, simulation of a macropipelined multi-CPU event processor for use in FASTBUS, a distributed VME control system for the LISA superconducting Linac, a distributed system for laboratory process automation, and a distributed system for laboratory process automation. Additional topics include a structure macro assembler for the event handler, a data acquisition and control system for Thomson scattering on ATF, remote procedure execution software for distributed systems, and a PC-based graphic display real-time particle beam uniformity.

Pordes, Ruth↗
NASA NTRS2013

Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent and Landing System Overview

The Mars Science Laboratory project recently places the Curiosity rove on the surface of Mars. With the success of the landing system, the performance envelope of entry, descent and landing capabilities has been extended over the previous state of the art. This paper will present an overview to the MSL entry, descent and landing system design and preliminary flight performance results.

MSL↗
NASA NTRS1991

Model-based task planning system for a space laboratory environment

This paper describes the design of a model-based autonomous planning system that will enable robots to manage a space-borne chemical laboratory. In a model-based planning system, knowledge is encapsulated in the form of models at the various layers to support the predefined system objectives. Thus the model-based approach can be considered as an extended planning paradigm which is able to base its planning, control, diagnosis, repair, and other activities on a variety of objectives-related models. A System Entity Structure/Model Base framework is employed to support autonomous system design through the ability to generate a family of planning alternatives as well as to build hierarchical event-based control structures. The model base is a multilevel, multiabstraction, and multiformalism system organized through the use of system morphisms to integrate related models.

Chi, Sung-Do↗
NASA NTRS1992

Implementation of an intelligent control system

A laboratory testbed facility which was constructed at NASA LeRC for the development of an Intelligent Control System (ICS) for reusable rocket engines is described. The framework of the ICS consists of a hierarchy of various control and diagnostic functions. The traditional high speed, closed-loop controller resides at the lowest level of the ICS hierarchy. Above this level resides the diagnostic functions which identify engine faults. The ICS top level consists of the coordination function which manages the interaction between an expert system and a traditional control system. The purpose of the testbed is to demonstrate the feasibility of the OCS concept by implementing the ICS as the primary controller in a simulation of the Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME). The functions of the ICS which are implemented in the testbed are as follows: an SSME dynamic simulation with selected fault mode models, a reconfigurable controller, a neural network for sensor validation, a model-based failure detection algorithm, a rule based failure detection algorithm, a diagnostic expert system, an intelligent coordinator, and a user interface which provides a graphical representation of the event occurring within the testbed. The diverse nature of the ICS has led to the development of a distributed architecture consisting of specialized hardware and software for the implementation of the various functions. This testbed is made up of five different computer systems. These individual computers are discussed along with the schemes used to implement the various ICS components. The communication between computers and the timing and synchronization between components are also addressed.

Simon, D. L.↗
DOE OSTI2018

RayStation: External beam treatment planning system

RaySearch Laboratories is a world leader in the field of advanced software and creator of the RayStation treatment planning system for radiation therapy. The aim with RayStation is to deliver an unmatched user experience and leading functionality. Unique features described here include multiatlas based autosegmentation for contouring, deformable registration with 2 different algorithms, multicriteria optimization, Plan Explorer, fallback planning, ultrafast computation speed, and 4-dimensional (4D) adaptive radiation therapy. RayStation can be used to plan for electrons and photons on traditional linacs, for protons on various delivery systems, and for Accuray's helical TomoTherapy system. This paper describes some of these modalities, with reference to clinical cases and including descriptions of the impact on workflow.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Computational studies of impurity migration during induction stirring of molten uranium

Understanding and controlling impurity behavior in actinide metal casting processes are foundational for efficient part production yet remain major challenges for researchers and industry. To help provide insight regarding impurity distribution during actinide metal casting, we have developed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models for a laboratory-scale system using commercial and open-source code. Multiple simulation frameworks allow for improved confidence in the resulting outputs, while taking advantage of the maturity and convenience offered by commercial platforms and simultaneously maintaining the transparency and flexibility often provided by open-source software. Here, we describe multiple experiment-informed models designed to simulate a specific laboratory system in which uranium melt, containing a known starting concentration of carbon impurity, is electromagnetically stirred in an induction furnace. Here, the goal of the simulations is to predict the motion of uranium carbide microparticles in the velocity field of the melt. Prior to simulating the uranium-carbon system, numerical models were validated using a previously published nonradioactive experimental system. Effects of the size and shape of impurity particles in the models were investigated and agree with experimental findings. Simulation of smaller particles (< 50 µm) shows more homogenous distribution throughout the stirred melt. With increased particle size (100 µm), the body forces, which include the buoyancy force, dominate over the drag force, causing larger particles to move toward the crucible walls and upward in the system.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS2010

Atmospheric Risk Assessment for the Mars Science Laboratory Entry, Descent, and Landing System

In 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission will pioneer the next generation of robotic Entry, Descent, and Landing (EDL) systems, by delivering the largest and most capable rover to date to the surface of Mars. As with previous Mars landers, atmospheric conditions during entry, descent, and landing directly impact the performance of MSL's EDL system. While the vehicle's novel guided entry system allows it to "fly out" a range of atmospheric uncertainties, its trajectory through the atmosphere creates a variety of atmospheric sensitivities not present on previous Mars entry systems and landers. Given the mission's stringent landing capability requirements, understanding the atmosphere state and spacecraft sensitivities takes on heightened importance. MSL's guided entry trajectory differs significantly from recent Mars landers and includes events that generate different atmospheric sensitivities than past missions. The existence of these sensitivities and general advancement in the state of Mars atmospheric knowledge has led the MSL team to employ new atmosphere modeling techniques in addition to past practices. A joint EDL engineering and Mars atmosphere science and modeling team has been created to identify the key system sensitivities, gather available atmospheric data sets, develop relevant atmosphere models, and formulate methods to integrate atmosphere information into EDL performance assessments. The team consists of EDL engineers, project science staff, and Mars atmospheric scientists from a variety of institutions. This paper provides an overview of the system performance sensitivities that have driven the atmosphere modeling approach, discusses the atmosphere data sets and models employed by the team as a result of the identified sensitivities, and introduces the tools used to translate atmospheric knowledge into quantitative EDL performance assessments.

EDL↗
DOE OSTI2018

NOAA Air Resources Laboratory Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division Contribution to LAFE Field Campaign Report

The Land-Atmosphere Feedback Experiment (LAFE) was conducted between 1 and 31 August, 2017 at the Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Southern Great Plains (SGP) observatory. The main scientific goal of LAFE was to investigate feedbacks occurring between different land surface types and the overlying atmosphere to improve turbulence parameterizations in numerical weather prediction models. LAFE collaborators included scientists from the following institutions: Cleveland State University Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies (CIMSS) Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) Leibniz University Institute of Meteorology and Climatology Marquette University NASA Goddard Space Flight Center National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL) Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) University of Hohenheim Institute of Physics and Meteorology University of Tennessee Space Institute (UTSI). In addition to helping plan the scientific objectives of LAFE, collaborators deployed several lidars (i.e., temperature, water, vapor, and wind) and remote-sensing instruments (e.g., microwave radiometers, atmospheric emitted radiance interferometers [AERIs], etc.) to complement the suite of instrument platforms already present at the SGP site. The measurement platforms, as well as scientific objectives of LAFE, are summarized in Wulfmeyer et al. (2018). To complement these platforms, the NOAA Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division (ATDD) installed micrometeorological towers to continuously measure fluxes of momentum, sensible heat, latent heat, and CO 2 at 2 m and 10 m above ground level (AGL) at three sites during LAFE. Tower measurements also included temperature, humidity, wind speed and direction, pressure, rainfall, soil temperature, and soil moisture. The three micrometeorological towers were installed between 9 and 13 July, 2017 and were removed between 12 and 14 September, 2017. During the experiment, the footprint of Tower 1 included a mixture of soybean and grassland that transitioned to mature soybean crop during the second half of the experiment. Tower 2’s footprint encompassed a field of grazed pasture, and Tower 3’s footprint was a mature soybean crop. The meteorological and flux measurements from these towers were/are being used to: Increase the spatial density of measurement platforms that were already available at the ARM facility and that were deployed during LAFE Improve the characterization of surface fluxes around the SGP site Explore the validity of applying Monin-Obukhov Similarity Theory (MOST) over different land surface types and improve knowledge of flux-gradient relationships Provide initial conditions and be used for verification for large-eddy simulations (LES) Evaluate numerical weather prediction models, e.g., the High-Resolution Rapid Refresh (HRRR), to identify and correct for biases within these models Evaluate the role of low-level advection at each site, which would be present in the flux-divergence data sets obtained from the three towers.

Southern Great Plains, unmanned aerial systems, su↗