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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 595 records · Page 33

Development of an Experimental Approach for Thermal Testing in Bedded Salt - 19431

Safe and permanent isolation of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and high-level nuclear waste (HLW) is an integral component of the cradle-to-grave philosophy of radioactive waste management. Out of the multitude of rock types considered for the permanent deep disposal of nuclear waste (tuff, shale, granite, clay, and salt), salt has received significant interest particularly because of the advantage offered by salt as an impermeable and dry medium with self-sealing properties. The concept of HLW disposal in salt has been investigated through several testing campaigns in the U.S. and in Germany. Serval knowledge gaps still exist in our understanding of how brine is generated and how it transports under heat generating conditions. These knowledge gaps limit our ability to build a robust safety case for the disposal of heat generating waste in salt. The current manuscript reports on efforts performed to develop a field-testing campaign to study brine and water vapor migration in heated salt. The paper summarizes initial work done in a phased thermal testing program in bedded salt at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), Carlsbad, New Mexico. The testing to date has been focused on existing boreholes and is being used to 'shakedown' the process for implementation of a more refined testing program that will be implemented in freshly drilled boreholes planned for FY2019. We designed and deployed a heater assembly that consisted of a packer, borehole deformation gauge, heater block, a network of thermocouples, and a pressure transducer setup to measure in situ temperature and pressure. The assembly was deployed in an existing borehole and several heating and cooling experiments were performed to test the performance of the different instruments fielded. We report on the results obtained for brine generation as a function of time and heating and cooling cycles and temperature evolution in the rock salt. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Functional Properties of Porous Ti-48.0 at.% Ni Shape Memory Alloy Produced by Self-Propagating High-Temperature Synthesis

The functional behavior of the porous shape memory alloy produced by self-propagating high-temperature synthesis from the Ti-48.0 at.% Ni powder mixture was studied. It was found that a large unelastic strain recovered on unloading and it was not attributed to the pseudoelasticity effect. A decrease in deformation temperatures did not influence the value of strain that recovered on unloading, while the effective modulus decreased from 1.9 to 1.44 GPa. It was found that the porous Ti-48.0 at.% Ni alloy revealed the one-way shape memory effect, where the maximum recoverable strain was 5%. The porous Ti-48.0 at.% Ni alloy demonstrated the transformation plasticity and the shape memory effects on cooling and heating under a stress. An increase in stress did not influence the shape memory effect value, which was equal to 1%. It was shown that the functional properties of the porous alloy were determined by the TiNi phase consisted of the two volumes Ti{sub 49.3}Ni{sub 50.7} and Ti{sub 50}Ni{sub 50} where the martensitic transformation occurred at different temperatures. The results of the study showed that the existence of the Ti{sub 49.3}Ni{sub 50.7} volumes in the porous Ti-48.0 at.% Ni alloy improved the functional properties of the alloy.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mechanochromic Palettes Based on Optical Rotation in Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Elastomers for Visual Signalling

Mechanochromic photonic materials present promising prospects for enhancing diverse facets of human life. Cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) present immediate mechanochromic properties, allowing their utility in various fields, including camouflages, textiles, and anticounterfeiting. Nonetheless, it is essential to provide differentiated color information corresponding to diverse types and degrees of deformation for practical use in real life. Herein, the mechanochromic responses of CLCEs are investigated using their optical rotation under compression and uniaxial stretching. The CLCEs exhibit the same reflection colors indistinguishable for compression and uniaxial stretching due to their contracted pitches. In contrast, the linearly polarized light passing through deformed CLCEs can be modulated by optical rotation, resulting in distinct transmission colors that can be discerned through mechanical deformations. A visual signaling system with color information derived from optical rotation is demonstrated. By comprehending and manipulating the mechanoresponsive behavior of CLCEs, these materials can be advanced into innovative solutions with enhanced functionality and performance, thereby broadening their applications for human life enhancement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Dynamic lattice distortions driven by surface trapping in semiconductor nanocrystals

Nonradiative processes limit optoelectronic functionality of nanocrystals and curb their device performance. Nevertheless, the dynamic structural origins of nonradiative relaxations in nanocrystals are not understood. Here, femtosecond electron diffraction measurements corroborated by atomistic simulations uncover transient lattice deformations accompanying radiationless electronic processes in semiconductor nanocrystals. Investigation of the excitation energy dependence shows that hot carriers created by a photon energy considerably larger than the bandgap induce structural distortions at nanocrystal surfaces on few picosecond timescales associated with the localization of trapped holes. On the other hand, carriers created by a photon energy close to the bandgap result in transient lattice heating that occurs on a much longer 200 ps timescale, governed by an Auger heating mechanism. Elucidation of the structural deformations associated with the surface trapping of hot holes provides atomic-scale insights into the mechanisms deteriorating optoelectronic performance and a pathway towards minimizing these losses in nanocrystal devices.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Tensile deformation behavior of twist grain boundaries in CoCrFeMnNi high entropy alloy bicrystals

High entropy alloys (HEA) are a class of materials that consist of multiple elemental species in similar concentrations. The use of elements in far from dilute concentrations introduces a multi-dimensional composition design space by which the properties of metallic systems can be tailored. While the mechanical behavior of HEAs has been the subject of active research recently, the role of grain boundaries (GBs) in their deformation behavior remains poorly understood. Motivated by recent experiments on HEAs demonstrating that GBs act as nucleation sites for deformation twins, herein, we leverage atomistic simulations to construct a series of equiatomic CoCrFeMnNi HEA bicrystals with $\langle 110 \rangle$ and $\langle 111 \rangle$ symmetric twist GBs and examine their tensile behavior and underlying deformation mechanisms at 77 K. Simulation results reveal that plastic deformation proceeds by the nucleation of partial dislocations from GBs, which then grow with further loading by bowing into the bulk crystals leaving behind stacking faults. Variations in the nucleation stress exist as function of GB character, defined in this work by the twist angle. Our results provide future avenues to explore GBs as a microstructure design tool to develop HEAs with tailored properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Nucleon localization function in rotating nuclei

An electron localization function was originally introduced to visualize in positional space bond structures in molecules. It became a useful tool to describe electron configurations in atoms, molecules, and solids. In nuclear physics, a nucleon localization function (NLF) has been used to characterize cluster structures in light nuclei, formation of fragments in fission, and pasta phases appearing in the inner crust of neutron stars. In the case of a deformed rotating nucleus, several NLFs can be introduced, depending on the definition of the spin-quantization axis, direction of the total angular momentum, and self-consistent symmetries of the system. Contributions to the NLF from the current density, spin-current tensor density, and density gradient terms are negligible in the nuclear interior. The oscillating pattern of the simplified NLF can be explained in terms of a constructive interference between kinetic-energy and particle densities. The characteristic nodal pattern seen in the NLF in the direction of major axis of a rotating nucleus comes from single-particle orbits carrying large aligned angular momentum. The variation of the NLF along the minor axis of the nucleus can be traced back to deformation-aligned orbits.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Mass-number and excitation-energy dependence of the spin cutoff parameter

Here, the spin cutoff parameter determining the nuclear level density spin distribution ρ(J) is defined through the spin projection as < J 2 z > 1/2 or equivalently for spherical nuclei, (< J(J+1) >/3) 1/2 . It is needed to divide the total level density into levels as a function of J. To obtain the total level density at the neutron binding energy from the s-wave resonance count, the spin cutoff parameter is also needed. The spin cutoff parameter has been calculated as a function of excitation energy and mass with a super-conducting Hamiltonian. Calculations have been compared with two commonly used semiempirical formulas. A need for further measurements is also observed. Some complications for deformed nuclei are discussed. The quality of spin cut off parameter data derived from isomeric ratio measurement is examined.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Magneto-Mechanical Optimization of Cross-Sections for $ \text{cos}(\theta)$Accelerator Magnets

The cross-section design of cos (θ) superconducting magnets is historically developed in a two-step process: initially, the coil geometry is defined on the basis of magnetic optimizations; then, the structure is designed around the coil. The first step searches for the best coil cross-section maximizing the magnetic field, margin, field quality and conductor efficiency. The latter step aims at limiting the coil stresses and deformations. However, the coil design, defined with the initial magnetic optimization, can influence the mechanical behaviour of the magnet, altering, for example, the peak stress during operation. As the critical current is a function of the applied strain, the mechanical implications of the coil cross-section design can limit the achievable performance. In this paper we propose an integrated optimization process that targets the peak stress on the conductor in addition to the magnetic objectives. Here the results are presented for a sample high-field Nb 3 Sn dipole: a 4-layer design aiming at ultimate conductor performance.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Mechanochromic Palettes of Cholesteric Liquid Crystal Elastomers for Visual Signaling

Mechanochromic photonic materials present promising prospects for enhancing diverse facets of human life. Cholesteric liquid crystal elastomers (CLCEs) present immediate mechanochromic properties, allowing their utility in various fields, including camouflages, textiles, and anticounterfeiting. Nonetheless, it is essential to provide differentiated color information corresponding to diverse types and degrees of deformation for practical use in real life. Herein, we investigate the mechanochromic responses of CLCEs using their optical rotation under compression and uniaxial stretching. The CLCEs exhibit the same reflection colors indistinguishable for compression and uniaxial stretching due to their contracted pitches. In contrast, the linearly polarized light passing through deformed CLCEs can be modulated by optical rotation, resulting in distinct transmission colors that can be discerned through mechanical deformations. We demonstrate a visual signaling system with color information derived from optical rotation. By comprehending and manipulating the mechanoresponsive behavior of CLCEs, we can advance these materials into innovative solutions with enhanced functionality and performance, thereby broadening their applications for human life enhancement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Clinical Outcomes and Patterns of Disease Recurrence After Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy for Oropharyngeal Squamous Carcinoma

Purpose: A single-institution prospective study was conducted to assess disease control and toxicity of proton therapy for patients with head and neck cancer. Methods and Materials: Disease control, toxicity, functional outcomes, and patterns of failure for the initial cohort of patients with oropharyngeal squamous carcinoma (OPC) treated with intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) were prospectively collected in 2 registry studies at a single institution. Locoregional failures were analyzed by using deformable image registration. Results: Fifty patients with OPC treated from March 3, 2011, to July 2014 formed the cohort. Eighty-four percent were male, 50% had never smoked, 98% had stage III/IV disease, 64% received concurrent therapy, and 35% received induction chemotherapy. Forty-four of 45 tumors (98%) tested for p16 were positive. All patients received IMPT (multifield optimization to n=46; single-field optimization to n=4). No Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events grade 4 or 5 toxicities were observed. The most common grade 3 toxicities were acute mucositis in 58% of patients and late dysphagia in 12%. Eleven patients had a gastrostomy (feeding) tube placed during therapy, but none had a feeding tube at last follow-up. At a median follow-up time of 29 months, 5 patients had disease recurrence: local in 1, local and regional in 1, regional in 2, and distant in 1. The 2-year actuarial overall and progression-free survival rates were 94.5% and 88.6%. Conclusions: The oncologic, toxicity, and functional outcomes after IMPT for OPC are encouraging and provide the basis for ongoing and future clinical studies.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

A Darcy‐Brinkman‐Biot Approach to Modeling the Hydrology and Mechanics of Porous Media Containing Macropores and Deformable Microporous Regions

Abstract The coupled hydrology and mechanics of soft porous materials (such as clays, hydrogels, membranes, and biofilms) is an important research area in several fields, including water and energy technologies as well as biomedical engineering. Well‐established models based on poromechanics theory exist for describing these coupled properties, but these models are not adapted to describe systems with more than one characteristic length scale, that is, systems that contain both macropores and micropores. In this paper, we expand upon the well‐known Darcy‐Brinkman formulation of fluid flow in two‐scale porous media to develop a “Darcy‐Brinkman‐Biot” formulation: a general coupled system of equations that approximates the Navier‐Stokes equations in fluid‐filled macropores and resembles the equations for poroelasticity in microporous regions. We parameterized and validated our model for systems that contain either plastic (swelling clay) or elastic microporous regions. In particular, we used our model to predict the permeability of an idealized siliciclastic sedimentary rock as a function of pore water salinity and clay content. Predicted permeability values are well described by a single parametric relation between permeability and clay volume fraction that agrees with existing experimental data sets. Our novel formulation captures the coupled hydro‐chemo‐mechanical properties of sedimentary rocks and other deformable porous media in a manner that can be readily implemented within the framework of Digital Rock Physics.

Carrillo, Francisco J.↗

Statistical Regularities of Formation of a Main Crack in a Structurally Inhomogeneous Material under Various Deformation Conditions

The peculiarities of the formation of a main crack in the Westerly granite samples under quasistatic uniaxial compression without any lateral upthrust have been studied using the data of acoustic emission (AE) and X-ray computer microtomography (CT). The multifractal analysis of pauses between acoustic emission events and the analysis of the energy distribution functional forms of the AE signal have been performed. According to the computer tomography data, defects form only near a future main crack; i.e., no stage of disperse accumulation of defects over entire sample volume has been revealed. Two stages of the main crack formation have been observed: the first stage is characterized by an exponential energy distribution of AE signals and the second stage is characterized by a power low of the AE signal energy distribution. The multifractal analysis of the pauses between neighboring AE signals demonstrate the transition from the multifractal dynamics of the acoustic emission to the monofractal dynamics when approaching a fracture moment.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Supersymmetric D3/D5 for massive defects on curved space

We construct the holographic dual for N=4 SYM on S 4 and AdS 4 coupled to massive N=2 supersymmetric quenched flavor fields on a codimension-1 defect, which is S 3 and AdS 3 , respectively. The holographic description is in terms of a D 3 /probe D 5 brane system. We set up and reduce the BPS equations for D 5 -brane embeddings with arbitrary supersymmetric deformations and partly solve them at the non-linear level. The remaining equations are solved explicitly in a small-mass expansion. We compute the contribution of the defect fields to the partition function on S 4 and compare to a field theory computation using supersymmetric localization, for which we set up the matrix model. Both computations agree, lending strong support to holographic probe brane constructions using D 3 /D 5 configurations in general.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

An Integrated Simulation of Multiple-Pass U-10Mo Alloy Hot Rolling and Static Recrystallization

To achieve a desired microstructure and minimize the thickness variation in rolled foils, researchers must understand the effects of foil fabrication process variables on microstructure evolution. We developed an integrated simulation of deformation and recrystallization that employs the finite element method (FEM) and the kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) Potts model, respectively, to investigate microstructure evolution during multiple-pass hot rolling and heat treatment in polycrystalline U-10Mo fuel. Scanning electron microscopy and electron backscatter diffraction images of microstructures were directly used as input in FEM calculation of deformation, and the calculated strains were used to determine the driving force of nucleation and growth of recrystallized grains in the Potts model. Grain structures predicted by the Potts model were used to update the grain structure and material properties for FEM. Simulation alternated between FEM and the Potts model to simulate grain structure evolution during multiple rolling and heat treatments. The initial model parameters were determined by benchmarking the recrystallization kinetics against experimental data. Then, the model was applied to predict the grain structure evolution. Results showed that our model can capture the coupling between deformation and recrystallization and can quantitatively reproduce the observed U-10Mo recrystallization and grain growth kinetics. The simulation results demonstrated that the developed model can predict U-10Mo grain structures as a function of initial microstructure and foil fabrication parameters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Chemically interconnected light-weight 3D-carbon nanotube solid network

Owing to the weak physical interactions such as van der Waals and π-π interactions, which hold nanotubes together in carbon nanotube (CNT) bulk structures, the tubes can easily slide on each other. In creating covalent interconnection between individual carbon nanotube (CNT) structures we saw remarkable improvements in the properties of their three-dimensional (3D) bulk structures. The creation of such nanoengineered 3D solid structures with improved properties and low-density remains one of the fundamental challenges in real-world applications. We also report the scalable synthesis of low-density 3D macroscopic structure made of covalently interconnected nanotubes using free-radical polymerization method after functionalized CNTs with allylamine monomers. The resulted interconnected highly porous solid structure exhibits higher mechanical properties, larger surface area and greater porosity than non-crosslinked nanotube structures. To gain further insights into the deformation mechanisms of nanotubes, fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations are used. Here we demonstrate one such utility in CO 2 uptake, whose interconnected solid structure performed better than non-interconnected structures.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Interface mechanics of carbon fibers with radially-grown carbon nanotubes

An atomistic modeling framework to investigate the interface/interphase of composite architecture with carbon fibers containing radially-grown carbon nanotubes (often called fuzzy fibers) is detailed in this paper. A polymeric functional coating for the carbon fiber surface, which also serves as a substrate for the CNT growth, is explicitly modeled. The tensile and transverse moduli of the fuzzy fiber/epoxy interphase is computed from virtual deformation simulations and compared to experimental values reported in literature, in order to validate the nanoscale model. Furthermore, the effect of the polymer substrate is studied by modeling the local interphase mechanics. Various modes of virtual loading provide the cohesive behavior of the local substrate/epoxy interphase. Conclusions are presented by comparing the material response of the interphase with and without the polymeric substrate. In this study, the integration of results from the nanoscale to an atomistically-informed subcell-based continuum level model is also demonstrated.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Activation of dislocations in Mg with solute Y

Mg-Y cast alloy shows excellent ductility (elongation to failure > 15%) compared with pure Mg and commercial Mg cast alloys. By monitoring the microstructure evolution during an in situ tensile test of a Mg-2.5 wt%Y alloy, we identify the activation of prismatic slip, which is rare in Mg. Synchrotron X-ray micro-beam Laue diffraction (μ-Laue) and transmission electron microscopy revealed the morphology of prismatic slip bands and individual dislocations. Density functional theory and molecular dynamics calculations indicate that solute Y can significantly reduce the stacking fault energy (SFE) along direction on prismatic plane in Mg lattice and thus facilitate the nucleation of dislocations during deformation. The presence of free dislocations in the Mg lattice can also lead to nucleation of {10–12} twins even under unfavorable geometric conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Portable COTS RGB Wavefront Sensor

Atmospheric effects reduce the ability to detect or identify objects of interest due to spatial and spectral scintillation. Algorithms alone cannot correct for turbulence over long-range horizontal paths. While adaptive optics (AO) work well for astronomical viewing, the same methods do not adapt directly for complex imagery over long-range horizontal paths. In this two-year research project, we combine an off-the-shelf high-frame-rate USB3 color camera with a compact 90 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope to create a portable red/green/blue (RGB) wavefront sensor. The 90 mm aperture is covered with an aluminum plate holding three separate narrowband color filters. These filters, specifically matched to the relative spectral response of the sensor’s Bayer mask, provide nearly complete separation of the three color planes. This device enables portable imaging through atmospheric turbulence and analysis thereof, where relative motion of the three-color Bayer-pixel video provides real-time wavefront information on the second-order statistics of Kolmogorov turbulence. We not only extract dwell-averaged wavefront tip and tilt as a function of time but also, using our spectral filtering algorithm, are able to fit higher-order modes to the imaged wavefront statistics. In our second year, we will combine this sensor with a deformable mirror to complete the AO system for long-range horizontal paths.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗