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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 631 records · Page 35
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Fluid preconditioning for Newton–Krylov-based, fully implicit, electrostatic particle-in-cell simulations

A recent proof-of-principle study proposes an energy- and charge-conserving, nonlinearly implicit electrostatic particle-in-cell (PIC) algorithm in one dimension [9]. The algorithm in the reference employs an unpreconditioned Jacobian-free Newton–Krylov method, which ensures nonlinear convergence at every timestep (resolving the dynamical timescale of interest). Kinetic enslavement, which is one key component of the algorithm, not only enables fully implicit PIC as a practical approach, but also allows preconditioning the kinetic solver with a fluid approximation. This study proposes such a preconditioner, in which the linearized moment equations are closed with moments computed from particles. Effective acceleration of the linear GMRES solve is demonstrated, on both uniform and non-uniform meshes. The algorithm performance is largely insensitive to the electron–ion mass ratio. Numerical experiments are performed on a 1D multi-scale ion acoustic wave test problem.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
NASA NTRS1986

Electrostatic instabilities of velocity-space-shell distributions in magnetized plasmas

Electron instabilities of magnetized spherical shell distributions in velocity space with a colder Maxwellian background are investigated analytically with simulations using electrostatic particle codes. The resonant and nonresonant instabilities observed in the particle simulations are in agreement with zeros of the dielectric function, as found from the resonant approximations for waves with an electric field component along the magnetic field or by computation with a root solver code in the case of perpendicular propagation. Saturation of the instabilities is by nonlinear cyclotron resonance with the cold background in the resonant case or by nonstochastic cyclotron harmonic damping by the cold background in the nonresonant case. Instabilities invariably lead to perpendicular acceleration and heating of the cold background to velocities sometimes exceeding the shell velocity.

Sentman, D. D.↗
NASA NTRS1987

The Giotto electron plasma experiment

The RPA-Copernic experiment aboard Giotto is described. The experiment is designed to measure the three-dimensional distributions of electrons between 10 eV and 30 keV (by the RPA-1 EESA spectrometer) and the composition and distribution, close to the comet, of thermal positive ions in the mass range 10-213 amu (by the RPA-2 PICCA electrostatic mass analyzer). Three microprocessors interface RPA-1 EESA with RPA-2 PICCA and with the spacecraft and perform extensive onboard data processing. The experiment was operated successfully aboard the spacecraft in September 1985 during the encounter of Giotto with the comet Halley. The results provided by the EESA-1 indicate that the solar wind interaction with the comet Halley forms a well-defined bow shock with features quite different from the features of the comet Giacobini-Zinner bow shock; the data also showed a presence of accelerated keV electrons at the cometary bow shock, upstream and in the transition region.

Reme, H.↗
NASA NTRS2015

Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System (HERTS)

A recent six month investigation focused on: "Determining the benefits of propelling a scientific spacecraft by an 'Electric Sail' propulsion system to the edge of our solar system (the Heliopause), a distance of 100 to 120 AU, in ten years or less" has recently been completed by the Advance Concepts Office at NASA's MSFC. The concept investigated has been named the Heliopause Electrostatic Rapid Transit System (HERTS) by the MSFC team. The HERTS is a revolutionary propellant-less propulsion concept that is ideal for deep space missions to the Outer Planets, Heliopause, and beyond. It is unique in that it uses momentum exchange from naturally occurring solar wind protons to propel a spacecraft within the heliosphere. The propulsion system consists of an array of electrically positively-biased wires that extend outward 20 km from a rotating (one revolution per hour) spacecraft. It was determined that the HERTS system can accelerate a spacecraft to velocities as much as two to three times that possible by any realistic extrapolation of current state-of-the-art propulsion technologies- including solar electric and solar sail propulsion systems. The data produced show that a scientific spacecraft could reach distances of 100AU in less than 10 years. Moreover, it can be reasonably expected that this system could be developed within a decade and provide meaningful Heliophysics Science and Outer Planetary Science returns in the 2025-2035 timeframe.

Wiegmann, Bruce M.↗
NASA NTRS2016

Stair-Step Particle Flux Spectra on the Lunar Surface: Evidence for Nonmonotonic Potentials?

We present examples of unusual "stair‐step" differential flux spectra observed by the Apollo 14 Suprathermal Ion Detector Experiment on the lunar dayside surface in Earth's magnetotail. These spectra exhibit a relatively constant differential flux below some cutoff energy and then drop off precipitously, by about an order of magnitude or more, at higher energies. We propose that these spectra result from photoions accelerated on the lunar dayside by nonmonotonic potentials (i.e.,potentials that do not decay to zero monotonically) and present a model for the expected differential flux. The energy of the cutoff and the magnitude of the differential flux are related to the properties of the local space environment and are consistent with the observed flux spectra. If this interpretation is correct, these surface‐based ion observations provide a unique perspective that both complements and enhances the conclusions obtained by remote‐sensing orbiter observations on the Moon's exospheric and electrostatic properties.

Stair-step↗
NASA NTRS2019

Source of the Bursty Bulk Flow Diffuse Aurora: Electrostatic Cyclotron Harmonic and Whistler Waves in the Coupling of Bursty Bulk Flows to Auroral Precipitation

Electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) and whistler chorus waves are recognized as the two mechanisms responsible for the resonant wave‐particle interactions necessary to precipitate plasma sheet electrons into the ionosphere, producing the diffuse Aurora. Previous work has demonstrated ECH waves dominate electron scattering at L shells >8, while whistler chorus dominates scattering at L shells L < 8. However, we find from Time History of Events and Macroscale (THEMIS) Interactions during Substorms observations of fast flows at L = 12 that oblique whistler chorus emissions play the dominant role in scattering electrons. Previous works have identified whistler‐mode waves within fast flows that are produced by an electron temperature anisotropy Te,⊥/Te,||> 1, consistent with electron betatron acceleration. Here, however, we find whistler chorus emissions throughout an interval of fast flows where Te,⊥/Te,||< 1. Parallel electron beams account for the enhanced parallel electron temperature and serve as the instability mechanism for the whistler chorus. The parallel electron beams and associated cigar‐shaped distributions are consistent with Fermi acceleration at dipolarizations in fast flows. We demonstrate that the scattering efficiency of the whistler chorus exceeds that of ECH waves, which THEMIS also detects during the fast flows. The obliquity of the whistler waves permits efficient scattering of lower‐energy electrons into the diffuse aurora. We conclude that Fermi acceleration of electrons provides one important free‐energy source for the wave‐particle interactions responsible for coupling plasma sheet electrons into the diffuse aurora during substorm conditions.

Wendel, D. E.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Transverse ion heating in multicomponent plasmas

A new mechanism is proposed for plasma modes which can occur only in a multicomponent plasma and not in pure electron-ion plasma. The addition of ions creates a new instability near the ion-ion hybrid mode whose frequency is adequate for the wave to interact with oxygen ions. To study heating of ions (such as ionospheric oxygen ions) in presence of auroral electrons, several numerical simulations were carried out using a one-dimensional electrostatic code in a magnetic field. It was found that in the presence of electrons drifting along auroral field lines into the ionosphere, the ion-ion hybrid mode can be driven unstable when the electron drift speed is too small to excite the lower hybrid instability. Since the ion-ion mode has a smaller frequency than that of the lower hybrid waves, it can couple to the heavy ions, resulting in a substantial heating of heavy ions; on the other hand, because of their frequencies, the lower hybrid waves can accelerate only light ion species.

Ashour-Abdalla, M.↗
NASA NTRS2010

Improved Creep Measurements for Ultra-High Temperature Materials

Our team has developed a novel approach to measuring creep at extremely high temperatures using electrostatic levitation (ESL). This method has been demonstrated on niobium up to 2300 C, while ESL has melted tungsten (3400 C). This method has been extended to lower temperatures and higher stresses and applied to new materials, including a niobium-based superalloy, MASC. High-precision machined spheres of the sample are levitated in the NASA MSFC ESL, a national user facility and heated with a laser. The samples are rotated with an induction motor at up to 30,000 revolutions per second. The rapid rotation loads the sample through centripetal acceleration, producing a shear stress of about 60 MPa at the center, causing the sample to deform. The deformation of the sample is captured on high-speed video, which is analyzed by machine-vision software from the University of Massachusetts. The deformations are compared to finite element models to determine the constitutive constants in the creep relation. Furthermore, the non-contact method exploits stress gradients within the sample to determine the stress exponent in a single test.

Hyers, Robert W.↗
DOE OSTI2016

MC3, Version 1

The MC3 code is used to perform Monte Carlo simulations in the isothermal-isobaric ensemble (constant number of particles, temperature, and pressure) on molecular crystals. The molecules within the periodic simulation cell are treated as rigid bodies, alleviating the requirement for a complex interatomic potential. Intermolecular interactions are described using generic, atom-centered pair potentials whose parameterization is taken from the literature [D. E. Williams, J. Comput. Chem., 22, 1154 (2001)] and electrostatic interactions arising from atom-centered, fixed, point partial charges. The primary uses of the MC3 code are the computation of i) the temperature and pressure dependence of lattice parameters and thermal expansion coefficients, ii) tensors of elastic constants and compliances via the Parrinello and Rahman’s fluctuation formula [M. Parrinello and A. Rahman, J. Chem. Phys., 76, 2662 (1982)], and iii) the investigation of polymorphic phase transformations. The MC3 code is written in Fortran90 and requires LAPACK and BLAS linear algebra libraries to be linked during compilation. Computationally expensive loops are accelerated using OpenMP.

Cawkwell, MarcJon↗
NASA NTRS1997

Laboratory Plasma Source as an MHD Model for Astrophysical Jets

The significance of the work described herein lies in the demonstration of Magnetized Coaxial Plasma Gun (MCG) devices like CPS-1 to produce energetic laboratory magneto-flows with embedded magnetic fields that can be used as a simulation tool to study flow interaction dynamic of jet flows, to demonstrate the magnetic acceleration and collimation of flows with primarily toroidal fields, and study cross field transport in turbulent accreting flows. Since plasma produced in MCG devices have magnetic topology and MHD flow regime similarity to stellar and extragalactic jets, we expect that careful investigation of these flows in the laboratory will reveal fundamental physical mechanisms influencing astrophysical flows. Discussion in the next section (sec.2) focuses on recent results describing collimation, leading flow surface interaction layers, and turbulent accretion. The primary objectives for a new three year effort would involve the development and deployment of novel electrostatic, magnetic, and visible plasma diagnostic techniques to measure plasma and flow parameters of the CPS-1 device in the flow chamber downstream of the plasma source to study, (1) mass ejection, morphology, and collimation and stability of energetic outflows, (2) the effects of external magnetization on collimation and stability, (3) the interaction of such flows with background neutral gas, the generation of visible emission in such interaction, and effect of neutral clouds on jet flow dynamics, and (4) the cross magnetic field transport of turbulent accreting flows. The applicability of existing laboratory plasma facilities to the study of stellar and extragalactic plasma should be exploited to elucidate underlying physical mechanisms that cannot be ascertained though astrophysical observation, and provide baseline to a wide variety of proposed models, MHD and otherwise. The work proposed herin represents a continued effort on a novel approach in relating laboratory experiments to astrophysical jet observation. There exists overwhelming similarity among these flows that has already produced some fascinating results and is expected to continue a high pay off in future flow similarity studies.

Mayo, Robert M.↗
DOE OSTI2016

MC3, Version 1

The MC3 code is used to perform Monte Carlo simulations in the isothermal-isobaric ensemble (constant number of particles, temperature, and pressure) on molecular crystals. The molecules within the periodic simulation cell are treated as rigid bodies, alleviating the requirement for a complex interatomic potential. Intermolecular interactions are described using generic, atom-centered pair potentials whose parameterization is taken from the literature [D. E. Williams, J. Comput. Chem., 22, 1154 (2001)] and electrostatic interactions arising from atom-centered, fixed, point partial charges. The primary uses of the MC3 code are the computation of i) the temperature and pressure dependence of lattice parameters and thermal expansion coefficients, ii) tensors of elastic constants and compliances via the Parrinello and Rahman’s fluctuation formula [M. Parrinello and A. Rahman, J. Chem. Phys., 76, 2662 (1982)], and iii) the investigation of polymorphic phase transformations. The MC3 code is written in Fortran90 and requires LAPACK and BLAS linear algebra libraries to be linked during compilation. Computationally expensive loops are accelerated using OpenMP.

Cawkwell, Marc Jon↗
DOE OSTI2014

The role of space charge compensation for ion beam extraction and ion beam transport (invited)

Depending on the specific type of ion source, the ion beam is extracted either from an electrode surface or from a plasma. There is always an interface between the (almost) space charge compensated ion source plasma, and the extraction region in which the full space charge is influencing the ion beam itself. After extraction, the ion beam is to be transported towards an accelerating structure in most cases. For lower intensities, this transport can be done without space charge compensation. However, if space charge is not negligible, the positive charge of the ion beam will attract electrons, which will compensate the space charge, at least partially. The final degree of Space Charge Compensation (SCC) will depend on different properties, like the ratio of generation rate of secondary particles and their loss rate, or the fact whether the ion beam is pulsed or continuous. In sections of the beam line, where the ion beam is drifting, a pure electrostatic plasma will develop, whereas in magnetic elements, these space charge compensating electrons become magnetized. The transport section will provide a series of different plasma conditions with different properties. Different measurement tools to investigate the degree of space charge compensation will be described, as well as computational methods for the simulation of ion beams with partial space charge compensation.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Impact of proton irradiation on 4H-SiC Low Gain Avalanche Detectors (LGADs)

Silicon carbide (SiC) particle detectors have the potential to provide time resolutions and robust performance in extreme environments which exceed that of silicon detectors. In this work 4H-SiC low gain avalanche detectors (LGADs) and complementary PiN diodes were irradiated with 2.5 GeV protons at fluences up to 3.33 × 10 14 p/cm 2 . The electrostatic performance of both irradiated and non-irradiated devices was evaluated using I-V and C-V measurements. Moreover, charge collection measurements using α particles were also conducted. SiC LGADs displayed a loss in rectification, high ON-state resistances >10 10 Ω-cm 2 , and the complete removal of gain when exposed to the highest proton fluence. Additionally, the reductions in capacitance and OFF-state current pointed to compensation of the gain layer as a gain reducing mechanism. The introduction of radiation-induced defects also hinders carrier acceleration, which reduces impact ionization and further gain reduction. LGADs exposed to a fluence of 1 × 10 14 p/cm 2 experienced a partial recovery in gain (originally having a value of ∼ 2) with a value of ∼ 1.65 when applying a bias of 500 V. Charge trapping was also seen in the reduction of charge collection efficiency (CCE) to ∼ 65% for the PiN diode. However, despite the reduction in device performance, the demonstration of a measurable signal after irradiation points to the potential of SiC LGAD detectors for future high energy physics applications.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

O + ion conic and plasma sheet dynamics observed by Van Allen Probe satellites during the 1 June 2013 magnetic storm: Energetic Inner Magnetosphere O + Ions

The Van Allen Probe satellites were near apogee in the late evening local time sector during the 1 June 2013 magnetic storm's main phase. About an hour after crossing the ring current's “nose structure” into the plasma sheet, the satellites encountered a quasiperiodic sequence of 0.08–3 keV O + ions. Pitch angle distributions of this population consistently peaked nearly antiparallel to the local magnetic field. We then interpret this population as O + conics originating in the northern ionosphere. The sequences began as fairly steady state conic fluxes with energies in the ~ 80 to 100 eV range. Over about a half hour buildup phase, O + energies peaked near 1 keV. During subsequent release phases lasting ~ 20 min, O + energies returned to low-energy starting points. We argue these observations reflect repeated formations and dissolutions of downward, magnetically aligned electric fields (ε||) layers trapping O + conics between mirror points within heating layers below and electrostatic barriers above. Nearly identical variations were observed at the locations of both satellites during 9 of these 13 conic cycles. Phase differences between cycles were observed at both spacecraft during the remaining events. Most “buildup” to “release” phase transitions coincided with AL index minima. But, in situ magnetometer measurements indicate only weak dipolarizations of tail-like magnetic fields. The lack of field-aligned reflected O + and tail-like magnetic fields suggest that both ionospheres may be active. However, Southern Hemisphere origin conics cannot be observed since they would be isotropized and accelerated during neutral sheet crossings.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗
NASA NTRS1982

Ionic charge state distribution of helium, carbon, oxygen, and iron in an energetic storm particle enhancement

An analysis is presented of the ionic charge state distribution of He, C, O and Fe in the energetic storm particle event of September 28-29, 1978. Data were obtained with the ULEZEQ electrostatic analyzer-proportional counter on board the ISEE 3 spacecraft. The He(+)/He(++) ratio between 0.4 and 1 MeV/n is shown to be significantly lower during the energetic storm particle event than during the preceding period of solar flare particle enhancement, with a temporal evolution similar to that of the Fe/He ratio as reported by Klecker et al. (1981). Increases in the mean charge state for oxygen by about 3% and for iron by about 16% are also noted. The temporal variations in charge states are accounted for in terms of first-order Fermi acceleration of the pre-existing solar flare particles by a propagating interplanetary shock wave.

Hovestadt, D.↗
NASA NTRS1976

Electrostatic turbulence in the magnetosphere

Plasma wave measurements from the IMP-6, IMP-8 and Hawkeye-1 satellites show that a broad region of intense low-frequency electric field turbulence occurs on the high latitude auroral field lines at altitudes ranging from a few thousand kilometers in the ionosphere to many earth radii in the distant magnetosphere. A qualitatively similar, but less intense, type of electric field turbulence is also observed at the plasmapause during magnetic storms. In the auroral regions the turbulence occurs in an essentially continuous band on the auroral L-shells at all local times around the earth and is most intense during periods of auroral activity. In this paper we summarize the basic characteristics of this electric field turbulence and consider the possible role this turbulence may play in the heating and acceleration of plasma in the magnetosphere.

Gurnett, D. A.↗
DOE OSTI2014

Modified Thomson spectrometer design for high energy, multi-species ion sources

A modification to the standard Thomson parabola spectrometer is discussed, which is designed to measure high energy (tens of MeV/nucleon), broad bandwidth spectra of multi-species ions accelerated by intense laser plasma interactions. It is proposed to implement a pair of extended, trapezoidal shaped electric plates, which will not only resolve ion traces at high energies, but will also retain the lower energy part of the spectrum. While a longer (along the axis of the undeflected ion beam direction) electric plate design provides effective charge state separation at the high energy end of the spectrum, the proposed new trapezoidal shape will enable the low energy ions to reach the detector, which would have been clipped or blocked by simply extending the rectangular plates to enhance the electrostatic deflection.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗