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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

Experimental Study and Fractal Analysis on the Anisotropic Performance of Explosively Welded Interfaces of 304 Stainless Steel/245 Carbon Steel

The mechanical anisotropy of an explosive welding composite plate made of 304 stainless steel/245 steel was studied through shear experiments performed on explosively welded wavy interfaces along several orientation angles. The results indicated that the strength and the fracture energy of samples significantly varied with the orientation angles. The fracture surfaces of all samples were observed using a scanning electron microscope and through three-dimensional structure microscopy. The periodic features of all the fracture surfaces were clearly shown in different fracture modes. The fractal dimension of the fracture surfaces was calculated based on the fractal geometry by the box-counting method in MATLAB. The cohesive element model was used to analyze the fracture energy according to the physical dependence of the fractal dimension on thermodynamic entropy and interface separation energy. The fracture energy was an exponential function of the fractal dimension value, which was in good agreement with the experimental results. All results were validated for effective use in the application of anisotropy analysis to the welded interface and structural optimization of explosively welded composite plates.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

A physical interpretation of impedance at conducting polymer/electrolyte junctions

We monitor the process of dedoping in a planar junction between an electrolyte and a conducting polymer using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy performed during moving front measurements. The impedance spectra are consistent with an equivalent circuit of a time varying resistor in parallel with a capacitor. We show that the resistor corresponds to ion transport in the dedoped region of the film, and can be quantitatively described using ion density and drift mobility obtained from the moving front measurements. The capacitor, on the other hand, does not depend on time and is associated with charge separation at the moving front. This work offers a physical description of the impedance of conducting polymer/electrolyte interfaces based on materials parameters.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

High-resolution chemical analysis by STEM-EELS of nanosized oxide particles in a mechanically-alloyed FeCrAl intermetallic

The chemical composition of nanosized oxides has been analysed in a mechanically-alloyed (MA) iron–chromium–aluminium intermetallic containing yttria additions using an aberration-corrected, high-resolution scanning transmission electron microscope (STEM). The oxide particles are seen to contain yttrium and oxygen only, but very little of the matrix metallic elements, while the matrix in the immediate vicinity shows a very low iron content. Possible reasons for the change of matrix composition outside the particle-matrix interface are discussed. - Highlights: • High-resolution chemical analysis of oxide particles was performed using STEM-EELS. • Oxide particles contain Y and O but essentially no elements from the Fe–Cr–Al matrix. • The matrix immediately outside the particles appears to be depleted in Fe. • Diffusion of Y during particle growth possibly transports vacancies to the interface.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Impact of Infrared Optical Properties on Crystalline Si and Thin Film CdTe Solar Cells

Photons with energies below the photovoltaic (PV) absorber band gap do not generate current and adversely impact performance when absorbed in other solar cell components to produce heat. Here we incorporate infrared (IR) optical response in simulations for understanding thermal losses. Spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to measure Al-Si interface optical properties in Si PV. Reflectance of an Si module has been analyzed to account for encapsulant and Al-Si interface contributions. IR extended quantum efficiency simulations calculate efficiency gains / losses arising from variations in current generated and total reflectance as functions of transparent front contact material in thin film CdTe PV.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

RadLab: A Comprehensive Database and Graphical and Programming Interfaces for Biologically Relevant Space Radiation Data

RadLab, a new component of the NASA Open Science Data Repository (OSDR), is a platform built upon a database of radiation data relevant to space biology. RadLab provides visual and programmatic interfaces for interrogation of its database, as well as a submission process for inclusion of data from investigators. The RadLab application programming interface (API) implements a request syntax enabling users to retrieve data filtered by various combinations of parameters (detector type, location, direction, timespan, etc), which are delivered in machine-readable text formats, ready to be ingested by downstream analysis pipelines; while the graphical user interface (GUI) provides easy means to iteratively modify query parameters and incorporates a number of standard analyses and visualizations (time series plots, geospatial visualizations, detector comparison). Investigators from many countries, including US, Russia, Japan, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, and Italy, have committed to provide data from their instruments located on the ISS; RadLab will also include data from other spacecraft in LEO (e.g., the Space Shuttle, the Mir space station), BLEO (e. g. BioSentinel, Mars Orbiter, among others), and on other celestial bodies (e. g. Chang’e 4, Curiosity). The first release of RadLab has been made available to the public. Once fully operational, RadLab will provide a comprehensive and ever-growing compendium of space radiation data, facilitating straightforward access to multiple types of readings and enabling space biology researchers to perform intercomparisons of detectors and to determine the radiation environment of research missions, both via programmatic retrieval of these data and via the graphical analysis toolkit; as well as a user-friendly submission portal for ingesting data from space agencies and research institutions. Radiation scientists will be able to use RadLab to gain a deeper understanding of the space radiation environment for future human space exploration. The RadLab Working Group has been formed to foster close collaborations among data contributors and users, to identify data sources, to put in place standards for data normalization, to guide the development of features of the analysis toolkit, to establish the use of RadLab in space radiation biology research, and eventually to provide a forum for discussing relevant research issues that can take advantage of RadLab's capabilities.

radiation↗

High-Temperature 2D Optical Relaxation Visualizes Enhanced Oxygen Exchange Kinetics at Metal-Mixed Conducting Oxide Interfaces

Solid-state heterointerfaces are of interest for emergent local behavior that is distinct from either bulk parent compound. One technologically relevant example is the case of mixed ionic/electronic conductor (MIEC)–metal interfaces, which play an important role in electrochemistry. Metal–MIEC composite electrodes can demonstrate improved catalytic activity vs single-phase MIECs, improving fuel cell efficiency. Similarly, MIEC surface reaction kinetics are often evaluated using techniques that place metal current collectors in contact with the surface under evaluation, potentially altering the response vs the native surface. Here, techniques enabling direct and local in situ observation of the behavior at and around such heterointerfaces are needed. Here, we develop a spatially resolved optical transmission relaxation (2D-OTR) method providing continuous evaluation of local, high-temperature, controlled atmosphere defect kinetics across a ~1 cm2 sample area simultaneously in a contact-free manner. We apply it to observe the spatial variance of oxygen incorporation and evolution rates at ~525–620 °C, in response to step changes in oxygen partial pressure, on MIEC SrTi 0.65 Fe 0.35 O 3–x films as a function of distance from porous Pt and Au layers. Using this model geometry, we find significant enhancements in kinetics adjacent to the metals that decay over a few millimeter distance. To extract kinetic parameters, we fit the short-term optical data (initial portion of relaxations) with an exponential decay function appropriate for surface-exchange-limited kinetics, yielding apparent surface exchange coefficients (k chem ) with spatial resolution, decreasing with distance from the metal. To understand the kinetic processes governing the complete (long-term) optical relaxations, we performed COMSOL simulations, which demonstrated that a combination of laterally varying k chem and in-plane diffusion controls the observed kinetics over the full time range. Further support for spatially varying kchem comes from demonstrations of changing surface and bulk chemistry vs distance from the metal–MIEC interface, by X-ray photoelectron and optical absorption spectroscopies, respectively. Although microporous Pt and Au are not excellent electrodes in isolation, both metals exert a synergistic effect on the oxygen surface exchange rate in the presence of the mixed conducting film.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Built-in Electric Field Induced Mechanical Property Change at the Lanthanum Nickelate/Nb-doped Strontium Titanate Interfaces

The interactions between electric field and the mechanical properties of materials are important for the applications of microelectromechanical and nanoelectromechanical systems, but relatively unexplored for nanoscale materials. Here, we observe an apparent correlation between the change of the fractured topography of Nb-doped SrTiO 3 (Nb:STO) within the presence of a built-in electric field resulting from the Schottky contact at the interface of a metallic LaNiO 3 thin film utilizing cross-sectional scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. The change of the inter-atomic bond length mechanism is argued to be the most plausible origin. This picture is supported by the strong-electric-field-dependent permittivity in STO and the existence of the dielectric dead layer at the interfaces of STO with metallic films. Finally, these results provided direct evidence and a possible mechanism for the interplay between the electric field and the mechanical properties on the nanoscale for perovskite materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Microgravity science and applications bibliography, 1989 revision

This edition of the Microgravity Science and Applications (MSA) Bibliography is a compilation of government reports, contractor reports, conference proceedings, and journal articles dealing with flight experiments utilizing a low gravity environment to elucidate and control various processes, or with ground based activities that provide supported research. It encompasses literature published but not cited in the 1988 Revision and that literature which has been published in the past year. Subdivisions of the Bibliography include: electronic materials, metals, alloys, and composites; fluids, interfaces, and transport; glasses and ceramics; biotechnology; combustion science; experimental technology, facilities, and instrumentation. Also included are publications from the European, Soviet, and Japanese programs.

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Microgravity science and applications bibliography, 1990 revision

This edition of the Microgravity Science and Applications (MSA) Bibliography is a compilation of government reports, contractor reports, conference proceedings, and journal articles dealing with flight experiments utilizing a low gravity environment to elucidate and control various processes, or with ground based activities that provide supporting research. It encompasses literature published but not cited in the 1989 Revision and that literature which has been published in the past year. Subdivisions of the bibliography include: electronic materials; metals, alloys, and composites; fluids, interfaces, and transport; glasses and ceramics; biotechnology; combustion science; and experimental technology, facilities, and instrumentation. Also included are publications from the European, Soviet, and Japanese programs.

Source record↗

Microgravity science and applications bibliography, 1991 revision

This edition of the Microgravity Science and Applications (MSA) Bibliography is a compilation of government reports, contractor reports, conference proceedings, and journal articles dealing with flight experiments using a low gravity environment to elucidate and control various processes, or with ground based activities that provide supporting research. It encompasses literature published but not cited in the 1990 Revision and that literature which has been published in the past year. Subdivisions of the bibliography include: Electronic materials; Metals, alloys, and composites; Fluids, interfaces and transport; Glasses and ceramics; Biotechnology; Combustion science; and Experimental technology, instrumentation, and facilities. Also included are a limited number of publications from the European, Soviet, and Japanese programs.

Source record↗

〈001〉 textured polycrystalline current-perpendicular-to-plane pseudo spin-valves using Co{sub 2}Fe(Ga{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5}) Heusler alloy

The orientation dependence of current-perpendicular-to-plane giant-magnetoresistance (CPP-GMR) was investigated by fabricating 〈001〉 textured polycrystalline pseudo spin valves (PSVs) with Co{sub 2}Fe(Ga{sub 0.5}Ge{sub 0.5}) (CFGG) Heusler alloy ferromagnetic layers and a Ag spacer. The PSV with 10 nm CFGG annealed at 400 °C exhibited the resistance-change area product (ΔRA) of 5.8 mΩ (MR ratio of 16%), the largest value reported for polycrystalline CPP-(P)SVs. The 〈001〉 textured CFGG PSV outperforms the 〈011〉 textured CFGG PSV possibly due to the reduced lattice mismatch or improved band matching at the CFGG/Ag interface.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Reducing Intermetallic Compounds of Mg/Al Joint in Friction Stir Lap Welding

To reduce intermetallic compounds (IMCs) of Al{sub 12}Mg{sub 17} and Al{sub 3}Mg{sub 2} in Mg/Al friction stir lap welding joint, pin tip was plunged into the lower sheet at a small distance. Results showed that at a fixed welding speed of 50 mm/min, sound joints were obtained using rotating speeds from 750 to 500 rpm, and the IMCs zones were rather small. Cracks easily appeared inside IMCs inside onion ring and at lap interface. Therefore, reducing the IMC was beneficial for reducing the crack. Joint lap shear stress firstly increased and then decreased with decrease in the rotating speed. The maximum shear stress of 50.2 MPa was attained at a rotating speed of 500 rpm because of reduced IMC.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Fractal Control of the Electron Spectrum of the Interfaces in Solar Elements Based on Covalent Semiconductors

Based on a combination of the Madelung-Seitz and Phillips-Penn approaches, the effect of fractality of the interface on its electronic structure in a covalent semiconductor solar cell is considered. The possibility of pumping a local level from the region of recombination to the region of attachment and back is found. A number of applications are considered, in particular, a new mechanism of radiative degradation by lowering the fractality of the interface.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Pinkbar is an epithelial-specific BAR domain protein that generates planar membrane structures

Bin/amphipysin/Rvs (BAR)-domain proteins sculpt cellular membranes and have key roles in processes such as endocytosis, cell motility and morphogenesis. BAR domains are divided into three subfamilies: BAR- and F-BAR-domain proteins generate positive membrane curvature and stabilize cellular invaginations, whereas I-BAR-domain proteins induce negative curvature and stabilize protrusions. We show that a previously uncharacterized member of the I-BAR subfamily, Pinkbar, is specifically expressed in intestinal epithelial cells, where it localizes to Rab13-positive vesicles and to the plasma membrane at intercellular junctions. Notably, the BAR domain of Pinkbar does not induce membrane tubulation but promotes the formation of planar membrane sheets. Structural and mutagenesis analyses reveal that the BAR domain of Pinkbar has a relatively flat lipid-binding interface and that it assembles into sheet-like oligomers in crystals and in solution, which may explain its unique membrane-deforming activity.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗