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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 55 records · Page 3
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Effect of surface roughness on phase transition timing in megaampere pulsed-power–driven exploding conductors

An understanding of material phase transitions in megaampere pulsed-power–driven exploding conductors is important for predicting the growth of hydrodynamic instabilities in magneto-inertial fusion concepts. Here, this study analyzes phase transitions in electrical conductor explosions using 1D Lagrangian and 2D arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations to show that micrometer-scale surface roughness can lead to the electrothermal instability (ETI), a feedback effect that concentrates resistive heating and leads to early melting and ablation. Simulations of the Mykonos electrothermal instability II (METI-II) experiment show melting begins 19% sooner for machined rods with micrometer-scale surface roughness than for rods without these features. The surface magnetic field is 41 T around the initial region of melt, representing a lower magnitude than both the 86 T from 1D simulations and the 85 T threshold reported elsewhere. In 2D simulations with micrometer-scale surface roughness, temperature measurements indicate the critical point temperature of aluminum is reached 17% faster in comparison with 1D simulations. Values from 2D simulations with surface roughness align with predictions from ETI theory, and the observed temperature redistribution further supports the ETI as an underlying mechanism. Simulation results are validated against experimental photonic Doppler velocimetry data. This study shows 1D simulations are adequate to model conductors with sub-micrometer-scale surface roughness in this high-energy-density regime; however, 2D or 3D simulations are required to capture the full range of physics for accurately describing phase transitions in conductors with micrometer-scale or larger surface roughness.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2021

Scale-dependent spatial variabilities of hydrological exchange flows and transit time in a large regulated river

Hydrological exchange flows (HEF) across the river-aquifer interface and the associated residence time of river water in the aquifer have important implications for contaminant plume migration and biogeochemical processes in the river corridor. HEFs and residence time are influenced by both subsurface physical features and hydrologic forcing related to the transport process, which can exhibit complex spatial and temporal variations. In this study, we used a massively parallel subsurface flow model and a particle-tracking model to study the influences of different control factors on spatial variability of HEFs and residence time distributions (RTD) in the Hanford Reach of the Columbia River in Washington State. A total number of 100M particles were randomly injected in time and space and then tracked in a model domain that covers a 51-km 2 area (15.1M model cells). We used hourly river stages and groundwater levels to drive the model to provide dynamic velocity fields for the particle tracking in the simulation period that was longer than 2 years. The groundwater flow simulation and particle-tracking results provide the first comprehensive assessment of the spatial distribution of HEFs and residence time in large complex river corridors. Overall, our results show that the aquifer hydrogeological structure has the strongest correlation with the extent and magnitude of exchange flux. The residence time exhibits complex patterns that are impacted by all the river geomorphologic, hydrodynamic, and hydrogeologic factors and are strongly correlated with the downwelling ratio of exchange flux. The new insights gained through this study can be used to support the development of reduced-order models of HEFs and RTDs for large complex river systems.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1991

Performance impact on nuclear thermal propulsion of piloted Mars missions with short transit times

The requirements of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) are examined with respect to a specific mission scenario derived from Stafford Committee recommendations. The recommended mission scenario is a split/sprint opposition mission which includes a piloted vehicle and a cargo vehicle, and the baseline mission is developed from a reference trajectory. Key mision parameters are developed from the baseline mission, including engine-thrust levels, mission opportunity, and engine burn-time requirements. The impact of engine failure is also considered in terms of burn-time requirements, and other mission-performance issues considered include propulsion-technology assumptions, triple-perigee earth-departure burns, and Mars parking-orbit selection. The engine requirements call for a 50-75-klb engine-thrust level, maximum single burn time of 0.6 hours, and a maximum total-mission burn time of 1.7 hours. For a crew of 6, a 475-day total-mission trip with a 90-day stay at Mars is possible.

Wickenheiser, T. J.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Transit-time devices as local oscillators for frequencies above 100 GHz

Very promising preliminary experimental results have been obtained from GaAs IMPATT diodes at F-band frequencies (75 mW, 3.5 percent at 111.1 GHz and 20 mW, 1.4 percent at 120.6 GHz) and from GaAs TUNNETT diodes at W-band frequencies (26 mW, 1.6 percent at 87.2 GHz and 32 mW, 2.6 percent at 93.5 GHz). These results indicate that IMPATT, MITATT and TUNNETT diodes have the highest potential of delivering significant amounts of power at Terahertz frequencies. As shown recently, the noise performance of GaAs W-band IMPATT diodes can compete with that of Gunn devices. Since TUNNETT diodes take advantage of the quieter tunnel injection, they are expected to be especially suited for low-noise local oscillators. This paper will focus on the two different design principles for IMPATT and TUNNETT diodes, the material parameters involved in the design and some aspects of the present device technology. Single-drift flat-profile GaAs D-band IMPATT diodes had oscillations up to 129 GHz with 9 mW, 0.9 percent at 128.4 GHz. Single-drift GaAs TUNNETT diodes had oscillations up to 112.5 GHz with 16 mW and output power levels up to 33 mW and efficiencies up to 3.4 percent around 102 GHz. These results are the best reported so far from GaAs IMPATT and TUNNETT diodes.

Eisele, H.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Transition Time: Zero

I had been in a technical/project management assignment about two years, when one day my boss asked me to come to his office to 'discuss an opportunity.' When I arrived in his office, he indicated that the project manager of one of our biggest ($10M+) and most important projects had requested to be removed from the job immediately, and the organization was going to grant the request. He felt I was the most experienced person he had and thought I would be a perfect fit for this job.

Cameron, W. Scott↗