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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 649 records · Page 36

A rigorous two-dimensional model for the stripline ferromagnetic resonance response of metallic ferromagnetic films

In this work, we constructed a two-dimensional numerical model for calculation of the stripline ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) response of metallic ferromagnetic films. We also conducted numerical calculations by using this software. The calculations demonstrated that the eddy current contribution to the FMR response decreases with a decrease in the stripline width. The most important manifestations of the conductivity (eddy current) effect are excitation of the higher-order standing spin waves across the film thickness in the materials for which the standing spin wave peaks would be absent in cavity FMR measurements and strong dependence of the off-resonance series conductance of the stripline on the stripline width. Whereas the contribution of the eddy currents to the stripline FMR response can be very significant, because wide striplines (100 μm+) are conventionally used for the FMR measurements, it is negligible in the case of excitation of spin waves, just because very narrow stripline transducers (0.5–5 μm wide) are required in order to excite spin waves in metallic ferromagnetic films in a noticeable frequency/applied field range.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Transitioning NWChem to the Next Generation of Manycore Machines

The NorthWest chemistry (NWChem) modeling software is a popular molecular chemistry simulation software that was designed from the start to work on massively parallel processing supercomputers [1-3]. It contains an umbrella of modules that today includes self-consistent eld (SCF), second order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), coupled cluster (CC), multiconguration self-consistent eld (MCSCF), selected conguration interaction (CI), tensor contraction engine (TCE) many body methods, density functional theory (DFT), time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT), real-time time-dependent density functional theory, pseudopotential plane-wave density functional theory (PSPW), band structure (BAND), ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD), Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (MD), classical MD, hybrid quantum mechanics molecular mechanics (QM/MM), hybrid ab initio molecular dynamics molecular mechanics (AIMD/MM), gauge independent atomic orbital nuclear magnetic resonance (GIAO NMR), conductor like screening solvation model (COSMO), conductor-like screening solvation model based on density (COSMO-SMD), and reference interaction site model (RISM) solvation models, free energy simulations, reaction path optimization, parallel in time, among other capabilities [4]. Moreover, new capabilities continue to be added with each new release.

Bylaska, Eric J.↗

Supply Chain Cybersecurity Recommendations for Solar Photovoltaics

Solar photovoltaic (PV) cybersecurity is a growing field of research. As deployments of solar PV has increased, cyber risk has also increased. However, utility solar PV installations are not required to comply with North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) Critical Infrastructure Protection (CIP) unless they meet a minimum generation threshold of 75 Megawatts (MW). Individual residential scale solar PV deployments will not meet that generation threshold and are therefore excluded from NERC CIP requirements. With most solar installations below 75MW, solar PV has been deployed with minimal oversight and highly variable cybersecurity maturity. The resources that make up the digital supply chain can include software, code, data, as well as other digital components. However as clean energy technology advances, cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities continue to evolve and grow in sophistication. Solar PV faces a unique challenge in which it can be deployed in residential buildings and purchased by a consumer directly. This makes the supply chain of PV a unique challenge, where responsible parties for cybersecurity vary widely depending on the type of solar PV being deployed. Supply chain cybersecurity for solar PV represents a critical area for ensuring safe operations as the U.S. moves towards a clean energy future.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

AmeriFlux FLUXNET-1F US-CMW Charleston Mesquite Woodland

This is the AmeriFlux Management Project (AMP) created FLUXNET-1F version of the carbon flux data for the site US-CMW Charleston Mesquite Woodland. This is the FLUXNET version of the carbon flux data for the site US-CMW Charleston Mesquite Woodland produced by applying the standard ONEFlux (1F) software. Site Description - Site is a riparian mesquite woodland located along an old alluvial terrace along the banks of the San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona. Site climate is semiarid with monsoonal (Jul-Sep) rainfall. The mesquite trees access groundwater from an alluvial aquifer recharged elsewhere. Site water balance is not closed and ET greatly exceeds precipitation. The understory grasses and forbs are rainfall dependent. This groundwater-dependent ecosystem is far more ebulliant and productive than the upland vegetation around it (shrublands and grasslands).

Scott, Russell [USDA-ARS]↗

QuadTune version 1: a regional tuner for global atmospheric models

When a new, better-formulated physical parameterization is introduced into a global atmospheric model, aspects of the global model solutions are sometimes degraded. Then, in order to use the new global model to address science questions, there is an incentive to restore its accuracy. Oftentimes this restoration is achieved by tuning of model parameter values. Unfortunately, the retuning process is expensive because characterizing the parameter dependence requires numerous time-consuming global simulations. To reduce the cost of tuning, this manuscript introduces a “poor man's” model tuner, “QuadTune”. QuadTune carves the globe into regions and approximates the model parameter dependence through the use of an uncorrelated quadratic emulator (i.e., response surface). The simplicity of the emulator reduces the required number of global model simulations and aids explainability of tuner behavior. Tuning removes parametric error but leaves behind model structural error. Structural error manifests itself as regional residual biases, such as stubborn biases and tuning trade-offs. To visualize these residual biases, QuadTune's software includes a set of diagnostic plots. This paper illustrates the use of the plots for characterizing residual biases with an example tuning problem.

Environmental sciences↗

The Role of the CEBAF Element Database in Commissioning the 12GeV Accelerator Upgrade

The CEBAF Element Database (CED) was first developed in 2010 as a resource to support model-driven configuration of the Jefferson Lab Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator (CEBAF). Since that time, its uniquely flexible schema design, robust programming interface, and support for multiple concurrent versions has permitted it to evolve into a more broadly useful operational and control system tool. The CED played a critical role before and during the 2013 startup and commissioning of CEBAF following its 18-month long shutdown and upgrade. Information in the CED about hardware components and their relations to one-another facilitated a thorough Hot Checkout process involving more than 18,000 system checks. New software relies on the CED to generate EDM screens for operators on-demand thereby ensuring that the information on those screens is correct and up-to-date. The CED also continues to fulfill its original mission of supporting model-driven accelerator setup. Using the new ced2elegant and eDT (elegant Download Tool), accelerator physicists have proven able to compute and apply energy-dependant set points with greater efficiency than ever before.

Larrieu, T.↗

py4DSTEM: A Software Package for Four-Dimensional Scanning Transmission Electron Microscopy Data Analysis

Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) allows for imaging, diffraction, and spectroscopy of materials on length scales ranging from microns to atoms. By using a high-speed, direct electron detector, it is now possible to record a full two-dimensional (2D) image of the diffracted electron beam at each probe position, typically a 2D grid of probe positions. These 4D-STEM datasets are rich in information, including signatures of the local structure, orientation, deformation, electromagnetic fields, and other sample-dependent properties. However, extracting this information requires complex analysis pipelines that include data wrangling, calibration, analysis, and visualization, all while maintaining robustness against imaging distortions and artifacts. In this paper, we present py4DSTEM, an analysis toolkit for measuring material properties from 4D-STEM datasets, written in the Python language and released with an open-source license. We describe the algorithmic steps for dataset calibration and various 4D-STEM property measurements in detail and present results from several experimental datasets. We also implement a simple and universal file format appropriate for electron microscopy data in py4DSTEM, which uses the open-source HDF5 standard. We hope this tool will benefit the research community and help improve the standards for data and computational methods in electron microscopy, and we invite the community to contribute to this ongoing project.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Uncertainty analysis of correlated parameters in automated reaction mechanism generation

Abstract Uncertainty analysis is a useful tool for inspecting and improving detailed kinetic mechanisms because it can identify the greatest sources of model output error. Owing to the very nonlinear relationship between kinetic and thermodynamic parameters and computed concentrations, model predictions can be extremely sensitive to uncertainties in some parameters while uncertainties in other parameters can be irrelevant. Error propagation becomes even more convoluted in automatically generated kinetic models, where input uncertainties are correlated through kinetic rate rules and thermodynamic group values. Local and global uncertainty analyses were implemented and used to analyze error propagation in Reaction Mechanism Generator (RMG), an open‐source software for generating kinetic models. A framework for automatically assigning parameter uncertainties to estimated thermodynamics and kinetics was created, enabling tracking of correlated uncertainties. Local first‐order uncertainty propagation was implemented using sensitivities computed natively within RMG. Global uncertainty analysis was implemented using adaptive Smolyak pseudospectral approximations as implemented in the MIT Uncertainty Quantification Library to efficiently compute and construct polynomial chaos expansions to approximate the dependence of outputs on a subset of uncertain inputs. Cantera was used as a backend for simulating the reactor system in the global analysis. Analyses were performed for a phenyldodecane pyrolysis model. Local and global methods demonstrated similar trends; however, many uncertainties were significantly overestimated by the local analysis. Both local and global analyses show that correlated uncertainties based on kinetic rate rules and thermochemical groups drastically reduce a model's degrees of freedom and have a large impact on the determination of the most influential input parameters. These results highlight the necessity of incorporating uncertainty analysis in the mechanism generation workflow.

Gao, Connie W.↗

DIASCoPE: Directly integrated acoustic system combined with pressure experiments—A new method for fast acoustic velocity measurements at high pressure

A novel experimental system to measure elastic wave velocities in samples in situ under extreme conditions of pressure and temperature in a multi-anvil apparatus has been installed at Beamline 6-BM-B of the Advanced Photon Source at Argonne National Laboratory. This system allows for measurement of acoustic velocities via ultrasonic interferometry, and makes use of the synchrotron beam to measure sample densities via X-ray diffraction and sample lengths using X-radiographic imaging. This system is fully integrated into the automated software controls of the beamline and is capable of collecting robust data on elastic wave travel times in less than 1 s, which is an improvement of more than one to two orders of magnitude over existing systems. Moreover, this fast data collection time has been shown to have no effect on the obtained travel time results. This allows for more careful study of time-dependent phenomena with tighter snapshots in time of processes that would otherwise be lost or averaged out in other acoustic measurement systems.

Whitaker, Matthew L.↗

Designing a mixture experiment when the components are subject to a nonlinear multiple-component constraint

This article presents a case study of developing an experimental design for a constrained mixture experiment when the experimental region is defined by single-component constraints (SCCs), linear multiple-component constraints (MCCs), and a nonlinear MCC. Traditional methods and software for designing constrained mixture experiments with SCCs and linear MCCs are not directly applicable because of the nonlinear MCC. A modification of existing methodology to account for the nonlinear MCC was developed and is described in this article. The case study involves a 15-component nuclear waste glass example in which SO3 is one of the components. SO3 has a solubility limit in glass that depends on the composition of the balance of the glass. A goal was to design the experiment so that SO3 would not exceed its predicted solubility limit for any of the experimental glasses. The SO3 solubility limit had previously been modeled by a partial quadratic mixture (PQM) model expressed in the relative proportions of the 14 other components. The PQM model was used to construct a nonlinear MCC in terms of all 15 components. In addition, there were SCCs and linear MCCs. This article discusses the waste glass example and how a layered design was generated to (i) account for the SCCs, linear MCCs, and nonlinear MCC and (ii) meet the goals of the study.

Low-activity waste↗

Visualization of metabolic interaction networks in microbial communities using VisANT 5.0

Here, the complexity of metabolic networks in microbial communities poses an unresolved visualization and interpretation challenge. We address this challenge in the newly expanded version of a software tool for the analysis of biological networks, VisANT 5.0. We focus in particular on facilitating the visual exploration of metabolic interaction between microbes in a community, e.g. as predicted by COMETS (Computation of Microbial Ecosystems in Time and Space), a dynamic stoichiometric modeling framework. Using VisANT's unique meta-graph implementation, we show how one can use VisANT 5.0 to explore different time-dependent ecosystem-level metabolic networks. In particular, we analyze the metabolic interaction network between two bacteria previously shown to display an obligate cross-feeding interdependency. In addition, we illustrate how a putative minimal gut microbiome community could be represented in our framework, making it possible to highlight interactions across multiple coexisting species. We envisage that the "symbiotic layout" of VisANT can be employed as a general tool for the analysis of metabolism in complex microbial communities as well as heterogeneous human tissues.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Fully Convolutional Spatio-Temporal Models for Representation Learning in Plasma Science

We have trained a fully convolutional spatio-temporal model for fast and accurate representation learning in the challenging exemplar application area of fusion energy plasma science. The onset of major disruptions is a critically important fusion energy science issue that must be resolved for advanced tokamak plasmas such as the $25B burning plasma international thermonuclear experimental reactor (ITER) experiment. While a variety of statistical methods have been used to address the problem of tokamak disruption prediction and control, recent approaches based on deep learning have proven particularly compelling. In the present paper, we introduce further improvements to the fusion recurrent neural network (FRNN) software suite, which delivered cross-machine disruption predictions with unprecedented accuracy using a large database of experimental signals from two major tokamaks. Up to now, FRNN was based on the long short-term memory (LSTM) variant of recurrent neural networks to leverage the temporal information in the data. Here, we implement and apply the "temporal convolutional neural network (TCN)" architecture to the time-dependent input signals. Furthermore, this allows highly optimized convolution operations to carry the majority of the computational load of training, thus enabling a reduction in training time, and the effective use of high-performance computing resources for hyperparameter tuning. At the same time, the TCN-based architecture achieves better predictive performance when compared with the LSTM architecture for various tasks for a representative fusion database.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Microwave Readout Techniques for Very Large Arrays of Nuclear Sensors

During this project, we transformed the use of microwave readout techniques for nuclear sensors from a speculative idea to reality. The core of the project consisted of the development of a set of microwave electronics able to generate and process large numbers of microwave tones. The tones can be used to probe a circuit containing a series of electrical resonances whose frequency locations and widths depend on the state of a network of sensors, with one sensor per resonance. The amplitude and phase of the tones emerging from the circuit are processed by the same electronics and are reduced to the sensor signals after two demodulation steps. This approach allows a large number of sensors to be interrogated using a single pair of coaxial cables. We successfully developed hardware, firmware, and software to complete a scalable implementation of these microwave control electronics and demonstrated their use in two areas. First, we showed that the electronics can be used at room temperature to read out a network of diverse sensor types relevant to safeguards or process monitoring. Second, we showed that the electronics can be used to measure large numbers of ultrasensitive cryogenic sensors such as gamma-ray microcalorimeters. In particular, we demonstrated the undegraded readout of up to 128 channels and established a path to even higher multiplexing factors. These results have transformed the prospects for gamma-ray spectrometers based on cryogenic microcalorimeter arrays by enabling spectrometers whose collecting areas and count rates can be competitive with high purity germanium but with 10x better spectral resolution.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

AniMACCS User Guide

AniMACCS is a utility code in the MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System (MACCS) software suite that allows for certain MACCS output information to be visually displayed and overlaid onto a geospatial map background. AniMACCS was developed by Sandia National Laboratories for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. MACCS is designed to calculate health and economic consequences following a release of radioactive material in the atmosphere. MACCS accomplishes this by modeling the atmospheric dispersion, deposition, and consequences of the release, which depend on several factors including the source term, weather, population, economic, and land-use characteristics of the impacted geographical area. From these inputs, MACCS determines the characteristics of the plume, as well as ground and air concentrations as a function of time and radionuclide.

63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTAN↗

Comprehensive uncertainty quantification (UQ) for full engineering models by solving probability density function (PDF) equation

This report details a new method for propagating parameter uncertainty (forward uncertainty quantification) in partial differential equations (PDE) based computational mechanics applications. The method provides full-field quantities of interest by solving for the joint probability density function (PDF) equations which are implied by the PDEs with uncertain parameters. Full-field uncertainty quantification enables the design of complex systems where quantities of interest, such as failure points, are not known apriori. The method, motivated by the well-known probability density function (PDF) propagation method of turbulence modeling, uses an ensemble of solutions to provide the joint PDF of desired quantities at every point in the domain. A small subset of the ensemble is computed exactly, and the remainder of the samples are computed with approximation of the driving (dynamics) term of the PDEs based on those exact solutions. Although the proposed method has commonalities with traditional interpolatory stochastic collocation methods applied directly to quantities of interest, it is distinct and exploits the parameter dependence and smoothness of the dynamics term of the governing PDEs. The efficacy of the method is demonstrated by applying it to two target problems: solid mechanics explicit dynamics with uncertain material model parameters, and reacting hypersonic fluid mechanics with uncertain chemical kinetic rate parameters. A minimally invasive implementation of the method for representative codes SPARC (reacting hypersonics) and NimbleSM (finite- element solid mechanics) and associated software details are described. For solid mechanics demonstration problems the method shows order of magnitudes improvement in accuracy over traditional stochastic collocation. For the reacting hypersonics problem, the method is implemented as a streamline integration and results show very good accuracy for the approximate sample solutions of re-entry flow past the Apollo capsule geometry at Mach 30.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Sensitivity Coefficients Calculated for the Prompt Neutron Decay Constant at or Near Delayed Critical [Abstract]

Experimenters at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) measure the prompt neutron decay constant for many experiments at the National Criticality Experiments Research Center (NCERC) to infer reactivity and the effective neutron multiplication factor. These quantities are very important for nuclear criticality safety and validating nuclear data. Uncertainty in measures of criticality of an experimental configuration can be determined prior to physically performing the experiment by applying first order perturbation theory to Monte Carlo codes, such as MCNP®. The first order perturbation theory produces first derivatives of some nuclear parameter to nuclear data (e.g., cross section data). This first derivative is commonly referred to as a sensitivity coefficient. Currently, the MCNP® software has the capability of computing effective neutron multiplication factor sensitivity coefficients to cross section data. This work builds off of this MCNP® capability and the first order perturbation theory to provide a method of calculating sensitivity coefficients for the prompt neutron decay constant at or near delayed critical to cross section data. The prompt neutron decay constant sensitivity coefficient calculated in this work does not depend on any modification of the MCNP® source code. Prompt neutron decay constant sensitivity coefficient calculations can be used to infer reactivity and effective neutron multiplication factor sensitivity coefficient values as well. By investigating the trends of prompt neutron decay constant sensitivity coefficients for nuclide-reaction pairs across energy spectra, experiments can be designed to maximize or minimize the uncertainty in the prompt neutron decay constant in a particular energy region, which can lead to further optimization studies. Prompt neutron decay constant sensitivity coefficients will be calculated for the Jezebel benchmark. Subsequently, these sensitivity coefficients will be used in a data assimilation process to determine if there is or are optimal experiments that can be performed to provide insight into adjustments of uncertain/inaccurate cross section data. Specifically, the effect of the prompt neutron decay constant sensitivity coefficients on the nuclear data-induced uncertainty in the effective neutron multiplication factor will be examined

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

A tool and a methodology to use macros for abstracting variations in code for different computational demands

Scientific software used on high-performance computing platforms is in a phase of transformation because of the combined increase in the heterogeneity and complexity of models and hardware platforms. Having separate implementations for different platforms can easily lead to combinatorial explosions; therefore, the computational science community has been looking for mechanisms to express code through abstractions that can be specialized for different platforms. Most existing approaches use template meta-programming in C++, and are, therefore language specific. Here, we have developed a tool that uses customized expansion of macros to mimic some of C++ behavior in other languages. It enables unification of any code variants that may be necessary to run efficiently on different target architectures and different computational environments through use of macros with multiple alternative definitions and ability to arbitrate on definition selection for expansion. Combined with two other tools, a custom runtime, and a user specified recipe translator, our custom macroprocessor becomes a part of an overall performance portability solution that does not depend on any specific programming language. We also use macros as code-shorthand that lets code snippets become building blocks that allow variations in control flow to explore performance options. We demonstrate use of macros in Flash-X, a multiphysics multicomponent code with many Fortran legacy components derived from an earlier community code FLASH.

Heterogenous computing↗

MO-F-CAMPUS-I-01: A System for Automatically Calculating Organ and Effective Dose for Fluoroscopically-Guided Procedures

Purpose: A system was developed that automatically calculates the organ and effective dose for individual fluoroscopically-guided procedures using a log of the clinical exposure parameters. Methods: We have previously developed a dose tracking system (DTS) to provide a real-time color-coded 3D- mapping of skin dose. This software produces a log file of all geometry and exposure parameters for every x-ray pulse during a procedure. The data in the log files is input into PCXMC, a Monte Carlo program that calculates organ and effective dose for projections and exposure parameters set by the user. We developed a MATLAB program to read data from the log files produced by the DTS and to automatically generate the definition files in the format used by PCXMC. The processing is done at the end of a procedure after all exposures are completed. Since there are thousands of exposure pulses with various parameters for fluoroscopy, DA and DSA and at various projections, the data for exposures with similar parameters is grouped prior to entry into PCXMC to reduce the number of Monte Carlo calculations that need to be performed. Results: The software developed automatically transfers data from the DTS log file to PCXMC and runs the program for each grouping of exposure pulses. When the dose from all exposure events are calculated, the doses for each organ and all effective doses are summed to obtain procedure totals. For a complicated interventional procedure, the calculations can be completed on a PC without manual intervention in less than 30 minutes depending on the level of data grouping. Conclusion: This system allows organ dose to be calculated for individual procedures for every patient without tedious calculations or data entry so that estimates of stochastic risk can be obtained in addition to the deterministic risk estimate provided by the DTS. Partial support from NIH grant R01EB002873 and Toshiba Medical Systems Corp.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗