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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 613 records · Page 34

The magnetic structure of long-wavelength magnetohydrodynamic modes in current-carrying stellarator plasmas

Magnetic field fluctuations are observed in current-carrying stellarator plasmas when the rotational transform is close to a rational value at the edge of the plasma. At low plasma pressure, these fluctuations are associated with perturbed currents parallel to the equilibrium magnetic field lines. A model for these magnetohydrodynamic modes in a low-β, three-dimensional stellarator equilibria has been developed. A set of helical current filaments are constrained to mimic the structure of magnetic field lines on rational surfaces derived from three-dimensional (3D) equilibrium reconstructions. Transformation to straight field line coordinates then allows fitting of the poloidal magnetic sensor data to a single harmonic function, which fixes the modeled toroidal mode structure via the field line flow geometry. The developed procedure accurately captures phase and amplitude variation for m/n = 3/2, 3/1, and 4/1 modes in the 3D equilibria of the compact toroidal hybrid experiment.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Streamlined spatial and environmental expression signatures characterize the minimalist duckweed Wolffia australiana

Single-cell genomics permits a new resolution in the examination of molecular and cellular dynamics, allowing global, parallel assessments of cell types and cellular behaviors through development and in response to environmental circumstances, such as interaction with water and the light–dark cycle of the Earth. Here, we leverage the smallest, and possibly most structurally reduced, plant, the semiaquaticWolffia australiana, to understand dynamics of cell expression in these contexts at the whole-plant level. We examined single-cell-resolution RNA-sequencing data and foundWolffiacells divide into four principal clusters representing the above- and below-water-situated parenchyma and epidermis. Although these tissues share transcriptomic similarity with model plants, they display distinct adaptations thatWolffiahas made for the aquatic environment. Within this broad classification, discrete subspecializations are evident, with select cells showing unique transcriptomic signatures associated with developmental maturation and specialized physiologies. Assessing this simplified biological system temporally at two key time-of-day (TOD) transitions, we identify additional TOD-responsive genes previously overlooked in whole-plant transcriptomic approaches and demonstrate that the core circadian clock machinery and its downstream responses can vary in cell-specific manners, even in this simplified system. Distinctions between cell types and their responses to submergence and/or TOD are driven by expression changes of unexpectedly few genes, characterizingWolffiaas a highly streamlined organism with the majority of genes dedicated to fundamental cellular processes.Wolffiaprovides a unique opportunity to apply reductionist biology to elucidate signaling functions at the organismal level, for which this work provides a powerful resource.

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology↗

Ongoing data reduction, theoretical studies and supporting research in magnetospheric physics

Data from ISEE-3, Pioneer Venus Orbiter, and Voyager 1 and 2 were analyzed. The predictability of local shock macrostructure at ISEE-1, at the Earth's bow shock, from solar wind measurements made up-stream by ISEE-3, was conducted using computer graphic format. Morphology of quasi-parallel shock was reviewed. The review attempted to interrelate various measurements and computations involving the q-parallel structure and foreshock elements connected to it. A new classification for q-parallel morphology was suggested.

Scarf, F. L.↗

Vertical structure and size distributions of Martian aerosols from solar occultation measurements

Phobos 2 spectrometer measurements of solar occultations close to the evening terminator have furnished data on the vertical structure of the Martian aerosols near the northern spring equinox. Since the thermal structure derived from saturated IR profiles of water vapor does not allow the reaching of the CO2 frost point at cloud altitudes, said clouds' particles may be formed by H2O ice. Dust was also monitored at two wavelengths; it is assumed that the dust particles are levitated by eddy mixing. A parallel is drawn between these thin clouds and the polar mesospheric clouds observed on earth.

Chassefiere, E.↗

Large space structures fabrication experiment

The fabrication machine used for the rolltrusion and on-orbit forming of graphite thermoplastic (CTP) strip material into structural sections is described. The basic process was analytically developed parallel with, and integrated into the conceptual design of, a flight experiment machine for producing a continuous triangular cross section truss. The machine and its associated ancillary equipment are mounted on a Space Lab pallet. Power, thermal control, and instrumentation connections are made during ground installation. Observation, monitoring, caution and warning, and control panels and displays are installed at the payload specialist station in the orbiter. The machine is primed before flight by initiation of beam forming, to include attachment of the first set of cross members and anchoring of the diagonal cords. Control of the experiment will be from the orbiter mission specialist station. Normal operation is by automatic processing control software. Machine operating data are displayed and recorded on the ground. Data is processed and formatted to show progress of the major experiment parameters including stable operation, physical symmetry, joint integrity, and structural properties.

Source record↗

MODEST: A Tool for Geodesy and Astronomy

Features of the JPL VLBI modeling and estimation software "MODEST" are reviewed. Its main advantages include thoroughly documented model physics, portability, and detailed error modeling. Two unique models are included: modeling of source structure and modeling of both spatial and temporal correlations in tropospheric delay noise. History of the code parallels the development of the astrometric and geodetic VLBI technique and the software retains many of the models implemented during its advancement. The code has been traceably maintained since the early 1980s, and will continue to be updated with recent IERS standards. Scripts are being developed to facilitate user-friendly data processing in the era of e-VLBI.

Sovers, Ojars J.↗

Use of MAGSAT anomaly data for crustal structure and mineral resources in the US midcontinent

While the preliminary magnetic anomaly map for the centra midcontinent is only in the hand-drawn stage, it agrees in broad aspects with the preliminary global MAGSAT map provided by NASA. Because of data evaluation and finer scale averaging, there are more detailed features which hold promise for eventual geological/crustal interpretation. Some current analysis is directed at examining whether a map data feature such as an elongated anomaly or trend, which seems parallel to satellite data tracks, is likely of crustal origin or is an artifact of the data set.

Carmichael, R. S.↗

YAHFC: A Code Framework to Model Nuclear Reactions and Estimate Correlated Uncertainties

Reaction modeling is a key ingredient in designing experiments and interpreting their results, and is an essential component in the process of evaluating nuclear data and assembling nuclear data libraries used in nuclear technology applications. Typically, experimental data are available only for a handful of reaction channels and theory models are used to fill in the gaps. In addition, theory is often called upon as the arbitrator between discrepant data. Most importantly, theory and modeling are required for an accurate determination of uncertainties in the evaluated data and the correlations between the multiple channels. A fast, accurate, and flexible modeling capability has been developed at LLNL with the code system YAHFC (Yet Another Hauser-Feshbach Code). YAHFC is a Monte Carlo, Hauser-Feshbach code framework, making full use of dynamic memory allocation, derived types, and parallel computing. YAHFC can generate events to simulate experiments and is guiding experiments designed to measure inelastic neutron scattering from actinide targets. YAHFC is also being used to analyze decays from surrogate experiments, thereby enabling the inference of reaction cross sections inaccessible by direct measurement. Finally, by modeling nuclear reactions with constraints from experimental data, YAHFC can deliver complete nuclear data libraries, with evaluated uncertainties, using the modernized Generalized Nuclear Data Structure (GNDS).

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Aeroelastic problems in turbomachines

A review of the field of turbomachinery aeroelasticity is presented. Developments over the past decade are emphasized, and an assessment of possible future directions of research is offered. The paper reviews the areas of unsteady cascade flows, structural modeling, and flutter prediction methods. Representative results for unsteady flow calculations and flutter boundary predictions in subsonic, transonic, and supersonic flows are discussed, including recent calculations based on the methods of computational fluid mechanics. Results from current attempts to correlate experimental data with theoretical predictions are discussed briefly. It is recommended that future research include investigations of novel approaches to flutter calculations that can take full advantage of parallel processing supercomputers. The feasibility of using mistuning and aeroelastic tailoring as passive flutter suppression techniques should also be pursued.

Bendiksen, Oddvar O.↗

NASA Space Radiation Risk Project: Overview and Recent Results

The NASA Space Radiation Risk project is responsible for integrating new experimental and computational results into models to predict risk of cancer and acute radiation syndrome (ARS) for use in mission planning and systems design, as well as current space operations. The project has several parallel efforts focused on proving NASA's radiation risk projection capability in both the near and long term. This presentation will give an overview, with select results from these efforts including the following topics: verification, validation, and streamlining the transition of models to use in decision making; relative biological effectiveness and dose rate effect estimation using a combination of stochastic track structure simulations, DNA damage model calculations and experimental data; ARS model improvements; pathway analysis from gene expression data sets; solar particle event probabilistic exposure calculation including correlated uncertainties for use in design optimization.

Blattnig, Steve R.↗

Efficacy of the Cell Perturbation Method in Large-Eddy Simulations of Boundary Layer Flow over Complex Terrain

A challenge to simulating turbulent flow in multiscale atmospheric applications is the efficient generation of resolved turbulence motions over an area of interest. One approach is to apply small perturbations to flow variables near the inflow planes of turbulence-resolving simulation domains nested within larger mesoscale domains. While this approach has been examined in numerous idealized and simple terrain cases, its efficacy in complex terrain environments has not yet been fully explored. Here, we examine the benefits of the stochastic cell perturbation method (CPM) over real complex terrain using data from the 2017 Perdigão field campaign, conducted in an approximately 2-km wide valley situated between two nearly parallel ridges. Following a typical configuration for multiscale simulation using nested domains within the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to downscale from the mesoscale to a large-eddy simulation (LES), we apply the CPM on a domain with horizontal grid spacing of 150 m. At this resolution, spurious coherent structures are often observed under unstable atmospheric conditions with moderate mean wind speeds. Results from such an intermediate resolution grid are often nested down for finer, more detailed LES, where these spurious structures adversely affect the development of turbulence on the subsequent finer grid nest. We therefore examine the impacts of the CPM on the representation of turbulence within the nested LES domain under moderate mean flow conditions in three different stability regimes: weakly convective, strongly convective, and weakly stable. In addition, two different resolutions of the underlying terrain are used to explore the role of the complex topography itself in generating turbulent structures. We demonstrate that the CPM improves the representation of turbulence within the LES domain, relative to the use of high-resolution complex terrain alone. During the convective conditions, the CPM improves the rate at which smaller-scales of turbulence form, while also accelerating the attenuation of the spurious numerically generated roll structures near the inflow boundary. During stable conditions, the coarse mesh spacing of the intermediate LES domain used herein was insufficient to maintain resolved turbulence using CPM as the flow develops downstream, highlighting the need for yet higher resolution under even weakly stable conditions, and the importance of accurate representation of flow on intermediate LES grids.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

High-performance parallel analysis of coupled problems for aircraft propulsion

Applications are described of high-performance parallel, computation for the analysis of complete jet engines, considering its multi-discipline coupled problem. The coupled problem involves interaction of structures with gas dynamics, heat conduction and heat transfer in aircraft engines. The methodology issues addressed include: consistent discrete formulation of coupled problems with emphasis on coupling phenomena; effect of partitioning strategies, augmentation and temporal solution procedures; sensitivity of response to problem parameters; and methods for interfacing multiscale discretizations in different single fields. The computer implementation issues addressed include: parallel treatment of coupled systems; domain decomposition and mesh partitioning strategies; data representation in object-oriented form and mapping to hardware driven representation, and tradeoff studies between partitioning schemes and fully coupled treatment.

Felippa, C. A.↗

Theoretical characterization of the reaction CH3 +OH yields CH3OH yeilds products: The (1)CH2 + H2O, H2 + HCOH, and H2 + H2CO channels

The potential energy surface (PES) for the CH3OH system has been characterized for the (1)CH2 + H2O, H2 + HCOH, and H2 + H2CO product channels using complete-active-space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) gradient calculations to determine the stationary point geometries and frequencies followed by CASSCF/internally contracted configuration-interaction (CCI) calculations to refine the energetics. The (1)CH2 + H2O channel is found to have no barrier. The long range interaction is dominated by the dipole-dipole term, which orients the respective dipole moments parallel to each other but pointing in opposite directions. At shorter separations there is a dative bond structure in which a water lone pair donates into the empty a" orbital of CH2. Subsequent insertion of CH2 into an OH bond of water have barriers located at -5.2 kcal/mol and 1.7 kcal/mol, respectively, with respect to CH3 + OH. From comparison of the computed energetics of the reactants and products to known thermochemical data it is estimated that the computed PES is accurate to plus or minus 2 kcal/mol.

Walch, Stephen P.↗

Theoretical characterization of the reaction CH3 + OH yields CH3OH yields products - The (1)CH2 + H2O, H2 + HCOH, and H2 + H2CO channels

The potential energy surface (PES) for the CH3OH system has been characterized for the (1)CH2 + H2O, H2 + HCOH, and H2 + H2CO product channels using complete-active-space self-consistent-field (CASSCF) gradient calculations to determine the stationary point geometries and frequencies followed by CASSCF/internally contracted configuration-interaction (CCI) calculations to refine the energetics. The (1)CH2 + H2O channel is found to have no barrier. The long range interaction is dominated by the dipole-dipole term, which orients the respective dipole moments parallel to each other but pointing in opposite directions. At shorter separations there is a dative bond structure in which a water lone pair donates into the empty 'a' orbital of CH2. Subsequent insertion of CH2 into an OH bond of water have barriers located at -5.2 kcal/mol and 1.7 kcal/mol, respectively, with respect to CH3 + OH. From comparison of the computed energetics of the reactants and products to known thermochemical data it is estimated that the computed PES is accurate to plus or minus 2 kcal/mol.

Walch, Stephen P.↗

Parallelization of the Physical-Space Statistical Analysis System (PSAS)

Atmospheric data assimilation is a method of combining observations with model forecasts to produce a more accurate description of the atmosphere than the observations or forecast alone can provide. Data assimilation plays an increasingly important role in the study of climate and atmospheric chemistry. The NASA Data Assimilation Office (DAO) has developed the Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation System (GEOS DAS) to create assimilated datasets. The core computational components of the GEOS DAS include the GEOS General Circulation Model (GCM) and the Physical-space Statistical Analysis System (PSAS). The need for timely validation of scientific enhancements to the data assimilation system poses computational demands that are best met by distributed parallel software. PSAS is implemented in Fortran 90 using object-based design principles. The analysis portions of the code solve two equations. The first of these is the "innovation" equation, which is solved on the unstructured observation grid using a preconditioned conjugate gradient (CG) method. The "analysis" equation is a transformation from the observation grid back to a structured grid, and is solved by a direct matrix-vector multiplication. Use of a factored-operator formulation reduces the computational complexity of both the CG solver and the matrix-vector multiplication, rendering the matrix-vector multiplications as a successive product of operators on a vector. Sparsity is introduced to these operators by partitioning the observations using an icosahedral decomposition scheme. PSAS builds a large (approx. 128MB) run-time database of parameters used in the calculation of these operators. Implementing a message passing parallel computing paradigm into an existing yet developing computational system as complex as PSAS is nontrivial. One of the technical challenges is balancing the requirements for computational reproducibility with the need for high performance. The problem of computational reproducibility is well known in the parallel computing community. It is a requirement that the parallel code perform calculations in a fashion that will yield identical results on different configurations of processing elements on the same platform. In some cases this problem can be solved by sacrificing performance. Meeting this requirement and still achieving high performance is very difficult. Topics to be discussed include: current PSAS design and parallelization strategy; reproducibility issues; load balance vs. database memory demands, possible solutions to these problems.

Larson, J. W.↗

The Safe Removal of Frozen Air from the Annulus of an LH2 Storage Tank

Large Liquid Hydrogen (LH2) storage tanks are vital infrastructure for NASA. Eventually, air may leak into the evacuated and perlite filled annular region of these tanks. Although the vacuum level is monitored in this region, the extremely cold temperature causes all but the helium and neon constituents of air to freeze. A small, often unnoticeable pressure rise is the result. As the leak persists, the quantity of frozen air increases, as does the thermal conductivity of the insulation system. Consequently, a notable increase in commodity boil-off is often the first indicator of an air leak. Severe damage can result from normal draining of the tank. The warming air will sublimate which will cause a pressure rise in the annulus. When the pressure increases above the triple point, the frozen air will begin to melt and migrate downward. Collection of liquid air on the carbon steel outer shell may chill it below its ductility range, resulting in fracture. In order to avoid a structural failure, as described above, a method for the safe removal of frozen air is needed. A thermal model of the storage tank has been created using SINDA/FLUINT modeling software. Experimental work is progressing in an attempt to characterize the thermal conductivity of a perlite/frozen nitrogen mixture. A statistical mechanics model is being developed in parallel for comparison to experimental work. The thermal model will be updated using the experimental/statistical mechanical data, and used to simulate potential removal scenarios. This paper will address methodologies and analysis techniques for evaluation of two proposed air removal methods.

cryogenic insulation↗

Randomized Preconditioned Solvers for Strong Constraint 4D-Var Data Assimilation

The Strong Constraint 4D Variational (SC-4DVAR) data assimilation method is widely used in climate and weather applications. SC-4DVAR involves solving a minimization problem to compute the maximum a posteriori estimate, which we tackle using the Gauss-Newton method. The computation of the descent direction is expensive since it involves the solution of a large-scale and potentially ill-conditioned linear system, solved using the preconditioned conjugate gradient (PCG) method. Here, to address this cost, we efficiently construct scalable preconditioners using three different randomization techniques, which all rely on a certain low-rank structure involving the Gauss-Newton Hessian. The proposed techniques come with theoretical guarantees on the condition number, and at the same time, are amenable to parallelization. We also develop an adaptive approach to estimate the sketch size and choose between the reuse or recomputation of the preconditioner. We demonstrate the performance and effectiveness of our methodology on two representative model problems—the Burgers and barotropic vorticity equation—showing a drastic reduction in both the number of PCG iterations and the number of Gauss-Newton Hessian products after including the preconditioner construction cost.

Gauss-Newton↗

Japanese Magsat Team. A: Crustal structure near Japan and its Antarctic Station. B: Electric currents and hydromagnetic waves in the ionosphere and the magnetosphere

Efforts continue in compiling tapes which contain vector and scalar data decimated at an interval of 0.5 sec, together with time and position data. A map of the total force field anomaly around Japan was developed which shows a negative magnetic anomaly in the Okhotsk Sea. Examination of vector residuals from the MGST model shows that the total force perturbation is almost ascribable to the perturbation parallel to the main geomagnetic field and that the contribution from the perturbation transverse to the main field to the total force perturbation is negligibly small. The influences of ionospheric current with equatorial electroject and of the magnetospheric field aligned current on the dawn-dusk asymmetry of daily geomagnetic variations are being considered. The total amount of electric current flowing through the plane of the Magsat orbit loop was calculated by direct application of Maxwell's equation. Results show that the total electric current is 1 to 5 ampheres, and the current direction is either sunward or antisunward.

Fukushima, N.↗