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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

Quantifying uncertainty in analysis of shockless dynamic compression experiments on platinum. II. Bayesian model calibration

Dynamic shockless compression experiments provide the ability to explore material behavior at extreme pressures but relatively low temperatures. Typically, the data from these types of experiments are interpreted through an analytic method called Lagrangian analysis. Here, in this work, alternative analysis methods are explored using modern statistical methods. Specifically, Bayesian model calibration is applied to a new set of platinum data shocklessly compressed to 570 GPa. Several platinum equation-of-state models are evaluated, including traditional parametric forms as well as a novel non-parametric model concept. The results are compared to those in Paper I obtained by inverse Lagrangian analysis. The comparisons suggest that Bayesian calibration is not only a viable framework for precise quantification of the compression path, but also reveals insights pertaining to trade-offs surrounding model form selection, sensitivities of the relevant experimental uncertainties, and assumptions and limitations within Lagrangian analysis. The non-parametric model method, in particular, is found to give precise unbiased results and is expected to be useful over a wide range of applications. The calibration results in estimates of the platinum principal isentrope over the full range of experimental pressures to a standard error of 1.6%, which extends the results from Paper I while maintaining the high precision required for the platinum pressure standard.

Brown, Justin Lee↗

Hierarchical top-down bottom-up calibration with consideration for uncertainty and inter-scale discrepancy of Peierls stress of bcc Fe

A hierarchical multiscale model of plasticity in single crystal bcc Fe, framed at the mesoscale pertaining to a statistically representative set of dislocations for each slip system, relies on specification of a set of parameters which are informed using both bottom-up (BU) (atomistic) and top-down (TD) (experimental) information. We term this specification process a 'connection' between BU and TD pathways to inform the mesoscale model. The connection is considered in the presence of error, uncertainty, and discrepancy between the models. Furthermore, we expand upon a previously developed reconciled TD and BU calibration method to account for anticipated discrepancy between information from different length scales. The results of a previously formulated likelihood-based connection test of the multiscale model suggest a 'missing link' may be responsible for part of the inter-scale discrepancy. In this case, this link is assumed to be a relation between the unit-process (single dislocation line) of coordinated kink-pair nucleation on a screw dislocation segment and the many-body dislocation process which manifests in the onset of experimentally observed plastic deformation in a single crystal. A physics-informed discrepancy layer is formulated to improve the connection in the presence of additional persistent uncertainties. This physics-informed hypothesis testing is demonstrated as an alternative to fully data-driven search methods, particularly applicable to datasets of limited size that are often encountered in such multiscale material modeling applications. Discrete dislocation dynamics simulations are used to investigate the effect of the Peierls stress on straight screw dislocations and in the operation of Frank–Read sources. Discussion concerns the critical role of uncertainty quantification in providing a basis for this form of incremental hypothesis testing.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Neural Density Estimation and Uncertainty Quantification for ChemCam Spectra [Slides]

The ChemCam instrument of Curiosity uses laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). It fires a laser at target and vaporizes rock surfaces, creating a plasma. Three spectrographs divide the plasma light into wavelengths for chemical analysis: ultraviolet, violet, and visible near-infrared. Regression methods (SVR, PCR, CNN) have been employed for calibration (prediction of the elemental composition of samples); however, labeled ChemCam samples are limited. Here, we focus on unsupervised learning and employ generative models from ChemCam analysis. Further, we use labels (supervised) in combination to the generative model to compute uncertainties related to predictions. We report generative modeling can be successfully applied to model real-world data. Normalizing flow models can be efficiently constructed on latent spaces for fast downstream inference. Unsupervised and supervised learning can be combined to form an uncertainty quantification framework.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Validation of Exploding Wire Tests Using Alegra-NG

Exploding wire tests are used to characterize materials undergoing high voltage loading and to validate computational models in a simple configuration. In this report, the materials emphasized are gold, aluminum, copper and nickel wires. Model validation is presented using the nominal model (no uncertainty) in the form of heat maps (per material) that show model bias across scalar quantities and initial voltage. Mesh convergence and uncertainty quantification is also presented.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Model Calibration for Cancer Risk Projections According to Uncertain Data

This paper presents forward and inverse formulations for the calibration of computational models according to uncertain data. Uncertainty in the data might be caused by a poor metrology system, measurement noise, missing or uncontrollable input variables, or by the inability to directly measure the inputs and/or outputs of interest. The forward approach performs the calibration in the space of the model’s output thereby requiring repeated model simulations. Conversely, the inverse approach leverages an ensemble of solutions to an inverse problem in order to perform the calibration in the space of the model’s parameters. As such, the computational demands of the inverse approach are considerably lower. These strategies are applied to the calibration of a radiation model that in-forms cancer risk projections for future deep space missions.

uncertainty quantification↗

Used Nuclear Fuel Loading and Structural Performance Under Normal Conditions of Transport - Modeling, Simulation and Experimental Integration RD&D Plan

Under current U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulation, it is not sufficient for used nuclear fuel (UNF) to simply maintain its integrity during the storage period, it must maintain its integrity in such a way that it can withstand the physical forces of handling and transportation associated with restaging the fuel and moving it to treatment or recycling facilities, or a geologic repository. Hence it is necessary to understand the performance characteristics of aged UNF cladding and ancillary components under loadings stemming from transport initiatives. Researchers would like to demonstrate that enough information, including experimental support and modeling and simulation capabilities, exists to establish a preliminary determination of UNF structural performance under normal conditions of transport (NCT). This research, development and demonstration (RD&D) plan describes a methodology, including development and use of analytical models, to evaluate loading and associated mechanical responses of UNF rods and key structural components. This methodology will be used to provide a preliminary assessment of the performance characteristics of UNF cladding and ancillary components under rail-related NCT loading. The methodology couples modeling and simulation and experimental efforts currently under way within the Used Fuel Disposition Campaign (UFDC). The methodology will involve limited uncertainty quantification in the form of sensitivity evaluations focused around available fuel and ancillary fuel structure properties exclusively. The work includes collecting information via literature review, soliciting input/guidance from subject matter experts, performing computational analyses, planning experimental measurement and possible execution (depending on timing), and preparing a variety of supporting documents that will feed into and provide the basis for future initiatives. The methodology demonstration will focus on structural performance evaluation of Westinghouse WE 17×17 pressurized water reactor fuel assemblies with a discharge burnup range of 30-58 GWd/MTU (assembly average), loaded in a representative high-capacity (≥32 fuel rod assemblies) transportation package. Evaluations will be performed for representative normal conditions of rail transport involving a rail conveyance capable of meeting the Association of American Railroads (AAR) S-2043 specification. UNF modeling is anticipated to be defined to the pellet-cladding level and take in to account influences associated with spacer grids, intermediate fluid mixers, and control components. The influence of common degradation issues such as ductile-to-brittle-transition will also be accounted for. All model development and analysis will be performed with commercially available software packages exclusively. Inputs and analyses will be completely documented, all supporting information will be traceable, and bases will be defendable so as to be most useful to the U.S. Department of Energy community and mission. The expected completion date is the end of fiscal year (FY) 2013.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

Application of Bound-to-Bound Data Collaboration approach for development and uncertainty quantification of a reduced char combustion model

The development of efficient industrial oxy-coal boilers can be significantly aided by Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tools, as far as fidelity in modeling coal combustion is also complemented by feasible computational costs. Reduced and predictive models are the most suitable for this application scale. Reduced models feature predictivity when they are validated against a broad range of experiments and targeted by Uncertainty Quantification (UQ) procedures. This work proposes a numerical procedure that uses Bound-to-Bound Data Collaboration (B2B-DC) to derive a reduced char combustion model describing transport phenomena and reactions between char carbon and O 2 , CO 2 and H 2 O, in both conventional and oxy-conditions. The approach determines the consistency between a numerical model and an experimental dataset. The latter is made up of the experiments carried out in an optically accessible laminar entrained flow reactor, operated by Sandia National Laboratories. The procedure follows five steps towards predictive modeling capability, namely: quantification of the uncertainty in the experiments, via instrument verification and modeling; development of a physics model and continuous improvement of its fidelity, via model-form uncertainty; identification of the uncertain and most sensitive parameters and of their prior bounds; sampling of the initial uncertain parameter space and training of a surrogate model; validation of the physics model via inference from the data. The last step, also known as inverse problem, is performed by applying the Bound-to-Bound Data Collaboration approach. A char combustion model is found consistent with the experimental data and its validity stands for conventional and oxy-combustion conditions. It accounts for heterogeneous reactions at the particle surface, mass transport of species in the particle boundary layer, pore diffusion and surface area changes. The consistent reduced model overcomes the differences in mass transport and kinetics observed in the experimental campaign. In conclusion, a reduction of the initial degree of uncertainty in both model and experiments is achieved.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Uncertainty Quantification of Artemis I Space Launch System Integrated Aerodynamics Databases

Accurate prediction of integrated aerodynamic forces and moments is a necessary part of aerospace vehicle development. This accuracy can be quantified in the form of an uncertainty model, which makes the prediction more useful within an integrated vehicle design effort. Aerodynamic force and moment databases were constructed for the Artemis~I mission of the Space Launch System vehicle. These databases reconcile data from multiple sources to yield unified predictions of how NASA's most advanced launch vehicle interacts with Earth's atmosphere as it ascends into orbit. This paper outlines how the uncertainty quantification was performed for these databases to ensure comprehensive and tractable uncertainty source coverage.

Michael W Lee↗

Surrogate construction via weight parameterization of residual neural networks

Surrogate model development is a critical step for uncertainty quantification or other sample-intensive tasks for complex computational models. Here, in this work, we develop a multi-output surrogate form using a class of neural networks (NNs) that employ shortcut connections, namely Residual NNs (ResNets). ResNets are known to regularize the surrogate learning problem and improve the efficiency and accuracy of the resulting surrogate. Inspired by the continuous, Neural ODE analogy, we augment ResNets with weight parameterization strategy with respect to ResNet depth. Weight-parameterized ResNets regularize the NN surrogate learning problem and allow better generalization with a drastically reduced number of learnable parameters. We demonstrate that weight-parameterized ResNets are more accurate and efficient than conventional feed-forward multi-layer perceptron networks. We also compare various options for parameterization of the weights as functions of ResNet depth. We demonstrate the results on both synthetic examples and a large scale earth system model of interest.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Process-based Neural Network to Forecast Vegetation Dynamics

This white paper calls for an AI-based emulator of DOE’s dynamic vegetation model that is computationally efficient and accommodates/parameterizes the governing processes built in the model. This AI-based emulator is needed for model calibration, sensitivity analysis, prediction, uncertainty quantification, and decision making. This AI-based emulator will incorporate physics and biological information in the form of conservation laws and constitutive relationships.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Quantification of uncertainties in coupled material degradation processes - High temperature, fatigue and creep

This paper describes the development of methodology that provides for quantification of uncertainties in lifetime strength of aerospace materials subjected to a number of diverse effects. A probabilistic material degradation model, in the form of a randomized multifactor interaction equation, has been postulated for lifetime strength degradation of structural components of aerospace propulsion systems. The model includes effects that typically reduce lifetime strength and may include temperature, mechanical fatigue, creep and others. The paper also includes the analysis of experimental data from the open literature for Inconel 718. These data are used to provide an initial check for model validity, as well as for calibration of the model's empirical material constants. The model validity check and calibration is carried out for three effects, namely, high temperature, mechanical fatigue and creep.

Boyce, L.↗

Large-Scale Uncertainty and Error Analysis for Time-dependent Fluid/Structure Interactions in Wind Turbine Applications

The following is the final report covering the entire period of this aforementioned grant, June 1, 2011 - May 31, 2013 for the portion of the effort corresponding to Stanford University (SU). SU has partnered with Sandia National Laboratories (PI: Mike S. Eldred) and Purdue University (PI: Dongbin Xiu) to complete this research project and this final report includes those contributions made by the members of the team at Stanford. Dr. Eldred is continuing his contributions to this project under a no-cost extension and his contributions to the overall effort will be detailed at a later time (once his effort has concluded) on a separate project submitted by Sandia National Laboratories. At Stanford, the team is made up of Profs. Alonso, Iaccarino, and Duraisamy, post-doctoral researcher Vinod Lakshminarayan, and graduate student Santiago Padron. At Sandia National Laboratories, the team includes Michael Eldred, Matt Barone, John Jakeman, and Stefan Domino, and at Purdue University, we have Prof. Dongbin Xiu as our main collaborator. The overall objective of this project was to develop a novel, comprehensive methodology for uncertainty quantification by combining stochastic expansions (nonintrusive polynomial chaos and stochastic collocation), the adjoint approach, and fusion with experimental data to account for aleatory and epistemic uncertainties from random variable, random field, and model form sources. The expected outcomes of this activity were detailed in the proposal and are repeated here to set the stage for the results that we have generated during the time period of execution of this project: 1. The rigorous determination of an error budget comprising numerical errors in physical space and statistical errors in stochastic space and its use for optimal allocation of resources; 2. A considerable increase in efficiency when performing uncertainty quantification with a large number of uncertain variables in complex non-linear multi-physics problems; 3. A solution to the long-time integration problem of spectral chaos approaches; 4. A rigorous methodology to account for aleatory and epistemic uncertainties, to emphasize the most important variables via dimension reduction and dimension-adaptive refinement, and to support fusion with experimental data using Bayesian inference; 5. The application of novel methodologies to time-dependent reliability studies in wind turbine applications including a number of efforts relating to the uncertainty quantification in vertical-axis wind turbine applications. In this report, we summarize all accomplishments in the project (during the time period specified) focusing on advances in UQ algorithms and deployment efforts to the wind turbine application area. Detailed publications in each of these areas have also been completed and are available from the respective conference proceedings and journals as detailed in a later section.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fast Learning for Immersive Engagement in Energy Simulations

The fast computation which is critical for immersive engagement with and learning from energy simulations would be furthered by developing a general method for creating rapidly computed simplified versions of NREL's computation-intensive energy simulations. Created using machine learning techniques, these 'reduced form' simulations can provide statistically sound estimates of the results of the full simulations at a fraction of the computational cost with response times - typically less than one minute of wall-clock time - suitable for real-time human-in-the-loop design and analysis. Additionally, uncertainty quantification techniques can document the accuracy of the approximate models and their domain of validity. Approximation methods are applicable to a wide range of computational models, including supply-chain models, electric power grid simulations, and building models. These reduced-form representations cannot replace or re-implement existing simulations, but instead supplement them by enabling rapid scenario design and quality assurance for large sets of simulations. We present an overview of the framework and methods we have implemented for developing these reduced-form representations.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Constellation Program Lessons Learned in the Quantification and Use of Aerodynamic Uncertainty

The NASA Constellation Program has worked for the past five years to develop a re- placement for the current Space Transportation System. Of the elements that form the Constellation Program, only two require databases that define aerodynamic environments and their respective uncertainty: the Ares launch vehicles and the Orion crew and launch abort vehicles. Teams were established within the Ares and Orion projects to provide repre- sentative aerodynamic models including both baseline values and quantified uncertainties. A technical team was also formed within the Constellation Program to facilitate integra- tion among the project elements. This paper is a summary of the collective experience of the three teams working with the quantification and use of uncertainty in aerodynamic environments: the Ares and Orion project teams as well as the Constellation integration team. Not all of the lessons learned discussed in this paper could be applied during the course of the program, but they are included in the hope of benefiting future projects.

Walker, Eric L.↗

Daily Forecasting of Regional Epidemics of Coronavirus Disease with Bayesian Uncertainty Quantification, United States

To increase situational awareness and support evidence-based policymaking, we formulated a mathematical model for coronavirus disease transmission within a regional population. This compartmental model accounts for quarantine, self-isolation, social distancing, a nonexponentially distributed incubation period, asymptomatic persons, and mild and severe forms of symptomatic disease. We used Bayesian inference to calibrate region-specific models for consistency with daily reports of confirmed cases in the 15 most populous metropolitan statistical areas in the United States. We also quantified uncertainty in parameter estimates and forecasts. This online learning approach enables early identification of new trends despite considerable variability in case reporting.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Applying uncertainty quantification to multiphase flow computational fluid dynamics

Multiphase computational fluid dynamics plays a major role in design and optimization of fossil fuel based reactors. There is a growing interest in accounting for the influence of uncertainties associated with physical systems to increase the reliability of computational simulation based engineering analysis. The U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has recently undertaken an initiative to characterize uncertainties associated with computer simulation of reacting multiphase flows encountered in energy producing systems such as a coal gasifier. The current work presents the preliminary results in applying non-intrusive parametric uncertainty quantification and propagation techniques with NETL's open-source multiphase computational fluid dynamics software MFIX. For this purpose an open-source uncertainty quantification toolkit, PSUADE developed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) has been interfaced with MFIX software. In this study, the sources of uncertainty associated with numerical approximation and model form have been neglected, and only the model input parametric uncertainty with forward propagation has been investigated by constructing a surrogate model based on data-fitted response surface for a multiphase flow demonstration problem. Monte Carlo simulation was employed for forward propagation of the aleatory type input uncertainties. Several insights gained based on the outcome of these simulations are presented such as how inadequate characterization of uncertainties can affect the reliability of the prediction results. Also a global sensitivity study using Sobol' indices was performed to better understand the contribution of input parameters to the variability observed in response variable.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Latent Space Dynamics Identification

LaSDI is a data-driven physical simulation software that forms a latent space for a given high-fidelity model and discovers a set of ordinary differential equations for the latent space dynamics. It allows a fast and accurate solution process, which is useful for multi-query decision making applications, such as design optimization and uncertainty quantification. The performance of the LaSDI framework is demonstrated on four different problems, i.e., 1D and 2D Burgers equations, nonlinear heat conduction, and radial advection problems. Both linear and nonlinear compression techniques, such as neural network and proper orthogonal decomposition, are used to form a latent space. A concept of local dynamics identification procedure is introduced to enable a parametric model, which enhances the accuracy level over a given parameter space.

Fries, William↗

Uncertainty quantification in breakup reactions

Breakup reactions are one of the favored probes to study loosely bound nuclei, particularly those in the limit of stability forming a halo. In order to interpret such breakup experiments, the continuum discretized coupled channel method is typically used. In this study, the first Bayesian analysis of a breakup reaction model is performed. Herein we use a combination of statistical methods together with a three-body reaction model (the continuum discretized coupled channel method) to quantify the uncertainties on the breakup observables due to the parameters in the effective potential describing the loosely bound projectile of interest. The combination of tools we develop opens the path for a Bayesian analysis of not only breakup processes, but also a wide array of complex processes that require computationally intensive reaction models.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗