Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “atomic processes”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 55 records · Page 3

Real-time observation of multi-electron processes in atoms and diatomic molecules

We report on the implementation of a reliable experimental approach to observe, in real-time, electron dynamics in atoms and molecules at the attosecond time scale. The experimental approach combines a source of shape-controlled attosecond pulses, a stabilized XUV/IR interferometer for time-resolved measurements, and a multi-particle imaging system (Coltrims). In addition, we report new capabilities to control electron dynamics in quantum systems.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Thermochemical nonequilibrium in atomic hydrogen at elevated temperatures

A numerical study of the nonequilibrium flow of atomic hydrogen in a cascade arc was performed to obtain insight into the physics of the hydrogen cascade arc. A rigorous mathematical model of the flow problem was formulated, incorporating the important nonequilibrium transport phenomena and atomic processes which occur in atomic hydrogen. Realistic boundary conditions, including consideration of the wall electrostatic sheath phenomenon, were included in the model. The governing equations of the asymptotic region of the cascade arc were obtained by writing conservation of mass and energy equations for the electron subgas, an energy conservation equation for heavy particles and an equation of state. Finite-difference operators for variable grid spacing were applied to the governing equations and the resulting system of strongly coupled, stiff equations were solved numerically by the Newton-Raphson method.

Scott, R. K.↗

Laboratory studies of atomic collision processes of importance in planetary atmospheres

A series of differential cross sections for angular scattering and charge transfer was measured. These studies employ position-sensitive detectors (PSD's) to collect collision products scattered over a wide range of angles; and the research program includes investigation of differential cross sections for total angular scattering, charge transfer, stripping, and other collisions. All of these processes can be studied with the same basic apparatus, but minor modifications in the equipment details and in the data acquisition programs and techniques are required for each individual experiment.

Stebbings, R. F.↗

Modeling of Turbulence Effects on Liquid Jet Atomization and Breakup

Recent experimental investigations and physical modeling studies have indicated that turbulence behaviors within a liquid jet have considerable effects on the atomization process. For certain flow regimes, it has been observed that the liquid jet surface is highly turbulent. This turbulence characteristic plays a key role on the breakup of the liquid jet near to the injector exit. Other experiments also showed that the breakup length of the liquid core is sharply shortened as the liquid jet is changed from the laminar to the turbulent flow conditions. In the numerical and physical modeling arena, most of commonly used atomization models do not include the turbulence effect. Limited attempts have been made in modeling the turbulence phenomena on the liquid jet disintegration. The subject correlation and models treat the turbulence either as an only source or a primary driver in the breakup process. This study aims to model the turbulence effect in the atomization process of a cylindrical liquid jet. In the course of this study, two widely used models, Reitz's primary atomization (blob) and Taylor-Analogy-Break (TAB) secondary droplet breakup by O Rourke et al. are examined. Additional terms are derived and implemented appropriately into these two models to account for the turbulence effect on the atomization process. Since this enhancement effort is based on a framework of the two existing atomization models, it is appropriate to denote the two present models as T-blob and T-TAB for the primary and secondary atomization predictions, respectively. In the primary breakup model, the level of the turbulence effect on the liquid breakup depends on the characteristic time scales and the initial flow conditions. This treatment offers a balance of contributions of individual physical phenomena on the liquid breakup process. For the secondary breakup, an addition turbulence force acted on parent drops is modeled and integrated into the TAB governing equation. The drop size formed from this breakup regime is estimated based on the energy balance before and after the breakup occurrence. The turbulence energy is also considered in this process.

Trinh, Huu↗

Emission Process II: Collisional Plasmas

Covered are the basic atomic processes that are important in X-ray emitting plasmas; collisional excitation/ionization, photoexitation/ionization, radiative decay and so on.

Smith, Randall K.↗

New insights into the mechanism of ultrasonic atomization for the production of metal powders in additive manufacturing

Ultrasonic atomization is one of the promising technologies for producing metal powders for additive manufacturing, where precise control of particle size and morphology is essential. In this study, we coupled an ultrasonic transducer with a carbon fiber plate and atomized liquid droplets and films under different vibration amplitudes. Water, glycerol, and pure aluminum melt were used to study the atomization mechanism and the resulting droplet/powder characteristics, respectively. High-speed optical and ultrafast synchrotron X-ray imaging were used to study in situ the ultrasonic atomization dynamics, including pulsation and clustering of cavities inside the liquid layer/films, development of capillary waves, and formation of liquid droplets. For the first time, we observed and captured the occurrence of cavitation during the atomization of resting drops, films and impact droplets. The inertial cavitation events interfered with the capillary waves across the interphase boundary, puncturing and breaking the boundary to produce atomized mist. The in situ observation revealed the intricate dynamics of ultrasonic atomization and underscored the pivotal role of cavitation events throughout the entire atomization process. We also conducted experiments on ultrasonic atomization of liquid aluminum, producing particles of perfectly spherical shape. The particle size tended to decrease with reduced vibration amplitude Our work has demonstrated the important processing strategies on how to tailor the particle size while ensuring consistent particle shape and morphology, which is the key processing capability for producing high quality powders for additive manufacturing applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The potential for bulk undercooling as an industrial process

The main focus is on solidification occurring in highly supercooled melts. Solidification rates in such melts are extremely high, an attractive feature from a commercial standpoint. Thus, the reported growth velocities for pure Ni and Co dendrites at a supercooling of 175 K are in excess of 180 km/hr. Rapidly quenched crystalline alloys produced by various atomization processes (e.g., centrifugal atomization or inert gas atomization) or melt spinning are examples of solidification processes, currently being intensively explored commercially, wherein extremely high solidification rates are achieved. Estimated dendrite tip growth rates are about 2 km/hr in a binary Al-4.5 wt % alloy, with a heat transfer coefficient of 6.4x10 sub 5 w/sq cm K or 15 cal/cu cm sK. In the limit, when the solidification rate exceeds a critical value, a glassy microstructure is obtained even in highly alloyed melts, which under normal conditions would solidity to form one or more crystalline phases. Glassy metals, also called metallic glasses, are candidate materials for distribution transformers because of their very low energy losses and are also being used in brazing and soldering applications.

Laxmanan, V.↗

The influence of droplet evaporation on fuel-air mixing rate in a burner

Experiments involving combustion of a variety of hydrocarbon fuels in a simple atmospheric pressure burner were used to evaluate the role of droplet evaporation in the fuel/air mixing process in liquid fuel spray flames. Both air-assist atomization and pressure atomization processes were studied; fuel/air mixing rates were determined on the basis of cross-section average oxygen concentrations for stoichiometric overall operation. In general, it is concluded that droplets act as point sources of fuel vapor until evaporation, when the fuel jet length scale may become important in determining nonuniformities of the fuel vapor concentration. In addition, air-assist atomizers are found to have short droplet evaporation times with respect to the duration of the fuel/air mixing process, while for the pressure jet atomizer the characteristic evaporation and mixing times are similar.

Komiyama, K.↗

Recent Theoretical Studies On Excitation and Recombination

New advances in the theoretical treatment of atomic processes in plasmas are described. These enable not only an integrated, unified, and self-consistent treatment of important radiative and collisional processes, but also large-scale computation of atomic data with high accuracy. An extension of the R-matrix work, from excitation and photoionization to electron-ion recombination, includes a unified method that subsumes both the radiative and the di-electronic recombination processes in an ab initio manner. The extensive collisional calculations for iron and iron-peak elements under the Iron Project are also discussed.

Pradhan, Anil K.↗

Modeling diffusion and depletion in high-aspect-ratio atomic layer deposition processes: Process parameters and manufacturing impacts

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a powerful technique for modifying the surface chemistry and properties of substrates with complex and nonplanar topologies. However, achieving uniform and conformal deposition on ultrahigh-aspect-ratio substrates remains challenging, typically requiring large quantities of precursors and long exposure times. Furthermore, process optimization is often performed empirically and involves substantial trial and error. In this work, we perform a combined experimental and computational study of ALD Al 2 O 3 infiltration into silica aerogel monoliths (aspect ratio >10 5 ). A reaction-diffusion model is used to explore the effects of key processing parameters, namely, exposure time per dose, precursor source temperature, number of aerogels in the reactor, and reactor volume. The model is based on quasi-static mode ALD, where the dosed precursor is held in the chamber for a fixed period of time before purging. We analyze the trade-offs between process throughput and precursor utilization for each of these parameters. Furthermore, we investigate the co-optimization and interactions between multiple process parameters, demonstrating the potential for further improvements. Furthermore, this physics-based model can be used to identify a set of process parameters for high-aspect-ratio ALD that meet specific manufacturing objective functions, including throughput, cost, and sustainability.

Aerogel↗

Influence of ambient air pressure on effervescent atomization

The influence of ambient air pressure on the drop-size distributions produced in effervescent atomization is examined in this article. Also investigated are the effects on spray characteristics of variations in air/liquid mass ratio, liquid-injection pressure, and atomizer discharge-orifice diameter at different levels of ambient air pressure. It is found that continuous increase in air pressure above the normal atmospheric value causes the mean drop-size to first increase up to a maximum value and then decline. An explanation for this characteristic is provided in terms of the various contributing factors to the overall atomization process. It is also observed that changes in atomizer geometry and operating conditions have little effect on the distribution of drop-sizes in the spray.

Chen, S. K.↗

Atomic oxygen durability of solar concentrator materials for Space Station Freedom

The findings are reviewed of atomic oxygen exposure testing of candidate solar concentrator materials containing SiO2 and Al2O3 protective coatings for use on Space Station Freedom solar dynamic power modules. Both continuous and iterative atomic oxygen exposure tests were conducted. Iterative air plasma ashing resulted in larger specular reflectance decreases and solar absorptance increases than continuous ashing to the same fluence, and appears to provide a more severe environment than the continuous atomic oxygen exposure that would occur in the low Earth orbit environment. First generation concentrator fabrication techniques produced surface defects including scratches, macroscopic bumps, dendritic regions, porosity, haziness, and pin hole defects. Several of these defects appear to be preferential sites for atomic oxygen attack leading to erosive undercutting. Extensive undercutting and flaking of reflective and protective coatings were found to be promoted through an undercutting tearing propagation process. Atomic oxygen erosion processes and effects on optical performance is presented.

Degroh, Kim K.↗

Photoionization Models for High Density Gas

Relativistically broadened and redshifted 6.4 – 6.9 keV iron K lines are observed from many accretion powered objects, including X-ray binaries and active galactic nuclei(AGN). Existence of gas close to the central engine implies large radiation intensities and correspondingly large gas densities if the gas is to remain partially ionized. Simple estimates indicate that high gas densities are needed to allow survival of iron against ionization. These are high enough that rates for many atomic processes are affected by mechanisms related to interactions with nearby ions and electrons. Radiation intensities are high enough that stimulated processes can be important. Most models currently in use for interpreting relativistic lines use atomic rate coefficients designed for use at low densities and neglect stimulated processes. In our work so far we have presented atomic structure calculations with the goal of providing physically appropriate models at densities consistent with line-emitting gas near compact objects. In this paper we apply these rates to photoionization calculations, and produce ionization balance curves and X-ray emissivities and opacities which are appropriate for high densities and high radiation intensities. The final step in our program will be presented in a subsequent paper: Model atmosphere calculations which incorporate these rates into synthetic spectra.

T Kallman↗

Atomization of liquid droplets in a convective gas stream.

New experimental results are reported for the atomization of liquid droplets by a high-speed air stream. A series of experiments are described in which water droplets, ranging in diameter from 1000 to 2700 microns, were introduced into the test section of a shock tube and allowed to interact with the convective flow established by the passage of a propagating shock front. A rotating drum camera system was employed to obtain a collection of streak photographs of the atomization process from which the breakup time, the breakup distance, and the ultimate atomized particle size were determined.

Ranger, A. A.↗

Improved State Selection For Hydrogen Masers

Improved selection system for hydrogen maser helps exclude hydrogen atoms from storage bulb in undesired quantum states not contributing to amplification/oscillation process. Atoms in undesired states limit stability of maser by reducing storage lifetime of atoms in desired state, reducing output power, and colliding with atoms in desired state under circumstances that causing systematic shifts in frequency.

Vessot, Robert F. C.↗