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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 703 records · Page 39
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Integrated Data Analysis to Improve Te and Zeff Measurement on NSTX-U

The multi-energy soft x-ray (ME-SXR) camera is a new concept for a fusion plasma diagnostic based on a pixelated detector with adjustable photon cutoff thresholds. It is a single, compact, solid-state detector which combines spatial and spectral sensitivity and can be configured remotely at run time, making it ideal for a fusion environment. The detector can be configured for application to a wide range of physics problems including impurity transport, electron temperature profiles, and non-thermal effects. The detector has been installed on the Madison Symmetric Torus (MST) as part of a collaboration between Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and the University of Wisconsin–Madison to develop the technology and analysis techniques. A full diagnostic forward model of the ME-SXR diagnostic has been developed to enable analysis of the raw photon count data. This model incorporates the atomic physics underlying the plasma emission, diagnostic geometry, and detector response characteristics. Employing this model, a Bayesian analysis approach is used to extract electron temperature from the raw data. This analysis approach uses all available information, clearly quantifies prior information, and handles uncertainties transparently. The ME-SXR camera is being used to study the 3D (helical, stellarator-like) state that forms in the MST device. This helical core structure has improved energy confinement. The transition to the helical state is accompanied by a rise in electron temperature in the central part of the helical structure, but then this enhancement fluctuates. The characteristics of this fluctuation are being compared to a magneto-hydrodynamics model.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2017

A New Precision Measurement of the Small-scale Line-of-sight Power Spectrum of the Ly α Forest

We present a new measurement of the Lyα forest power spectrum at 1.8 < z < 3.4 using 74 Keck/HIRES and VLT/UVES high-resolution, high-signal-to-noise-ratio quasar spectra. We developed a custom pipeline to measure the power spectrum and its uncertainty, which fully accounts for finite resolution and noise and corrects for the bias induced by masking missing data, damped Lyα absorption systems, and metal absorption lines. Our measurement results in unprecedented precision on the small-scale modes $k\gt 0.02\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$, inaccessible to previous SDSS/BOSS analyses. It is well known that these high-k modes are highly sensitive to the thermal state of the intergalactic medium, but contamination by narrow metal lines is a significant concern. We quantify the effect of metals on the small-scale power and find a modest effect on modes with $k\lt 0.1\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$. As a result, by masking metals and restricting to $k\lt 0.1\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$, their impact is completely mitigated. We present an end-to-end Bayesian forward-modeling framework whereby mock spectra with the same noise, resolution, and masking as our data are generated from Lyα forest simulations. These mock spectra are used to build a custom emulator, enabling us to interpolate between a sparse grid of models and perform Markov chain Monte Carlo fits. Our results agree well with BOSS on scales $k\lt 0.02\,{\rm{s}}\,{\mathrm{km}}^{-1}$, where the measurements overlap. The combination of the percent-level low-k precision of BOSS with our 5%–15% high-k measurements results in a powerful new data set for precisely constraining the thermal history of the intergalactic medium, cosmological parameters, and the nature of dark matter. Lastly, the power spectra and their covariance matrices are provided as electronic tables.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS2007

Development of a Pressure Sensitive Paint System for Measuring Global Surface Pressures on Rotorcraft Blades

This paper will describe the results from a proof of concept test to examine the feasibility of using Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) to measure global surface pressures on rotorcraft blades in hover. The test was performed using the U.S. Army 2-meter Rotor Test Stand (2MRTS) and 15% scale swept rotor blades. Data were collected from five blades using both the intensity- and lifetime-based approaches. This paper will also outline several modifications and improvements that are underway to develop a system capable of measuring pressure distributions on up to four blades simultaneously at hover and forward flight conditions.

Watkins, A. Neal↗
DOE OSTI2022

Tackling Disorder in γ‐Ga 2 O 3

Abstract Ga 2 O 3 and its polymorphs are attracting increasing attention. The rich structural space of polymorphic oxide systems such as Ga 2 O 3 offers potential for electronic structure engineering, which is of particular interest for a range of applications, such as power electronics. γ‐Ga 2 O 3 presents a particular challenge across synthesis, characterization, and theory due to its inherent disorder and resulting complex structure–electronic‐structure relationship. Here, density functional theory is used in combination with a machine‐learning approach to screen nearly one million potential structures, thereby developing a robust atomistic model of the γ‐phase. Theoretical results are compared with surface and bulk sensitive soft and hard X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X‐ray absorption spectroscopy, spectroscopic ellipsometry, and photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy experiments representative of the occupied and unoccupied states of γ‐Ga 2 O 3 . The first onset of strong absorption at room temperature is found at 5.1 eV from spectroscopic ellipsometry, which agrees well with the excitation maximum at 5.17 eV obtained by photoluminescence excitation spectroscopy, where the latter shifts to 5.33 eV at 5 K. This work presents a leap forward in the treatment of complex, disordered oxides and is a crucial step toward exploring how their electronic structure can be understood in terms of local coordination and overall structure.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

TMD factorization for dijets + photon production from the dilute-dense CGC framework

We calculate the production of a photon and two jets at forward rapidity in proton-nucleus collisions, within the hybrid dilute-dense framework in the Color Glass Condensate (CGC) formalism. After obtaining the cross section for both the quark- and gluon-initiated channels, we consider the correlation limit, in which the vector sum of the transverse momenta of the three outgoing particles is small with respect to the individual transverse momenta. In this limit, the cross section simplies considerably and can be written in a factorized form, sensitive to various unpolarized and linearly-polarized transverse-momentum-dependent gluon distribution functions (gluon TMDs). Thus, we demonstrate for the first time that the emergence of a TMD factorization formula in the correlation limit, from CGC expressions, holds beyond the previously-considered simpler 2→2processes.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2018

A forward branching phase space generator for hadron colliders

In this study we develop a projective phase space generator appropriate for hadron collider geometry. The generator integrates over bremsstrahlung events which project back to a single, fixed Born event. The projection is dictated by the experimental jet algorithm allowing for the forward branching phase space generator to integrate out the jet masses and initial state radiation. When integrating over the virtual and bremsstrahlung amplitudes this results in a single K-factor, assigning an event probability to each Born event. This K-factor is calculable as a perturbative expansion in the strong coupling constant. One can build observables from the Born kinematics, giving identical results to traditional observables as long as the observable does not depend on the infrared sensitive jet mass or initial state radiation.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2015

Online adaptation and verification of VMAT

Purpose: This work presents a method for fast volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) adaptation in response to interfraction anatomical variations. Additionally, plan parameters extracted from the adapted plans are used to verify the quality of these plans. The methods were tested as a prostate class solution and compared to replanning and to their current clinical practice. Methods: The proposed VMAT adaptation is an extension of their previous intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) adaptation. It follows a direct (forward) planning approach: the multileaf collimator (MLC) apertures are corrected in the beam’s eye view (BEV) and the monitor units (MUs) are corrected using point dose calculations. All MLC and MU corrections are driven by the positions of four fiducial points only, without need for a full contour set. Quality assurance (QA) of the adapted plans is performed using plan parameters that can be calculated online and that have a relation to the delivered dose or the plan quality. Five potential parameters are studied for this purpose: the number of MU, the equivalent field size (EqFS), the modulation complexity score (MCS), and the components of the MCS: the aperture area variability (AAV) and the leaf sequence variability (LSV). The full adaptation and its separate steps were evaluated in simulation experiments involving a prostate phantom subjected to various interfraction transformations. The efficacy of the current VMAT adaptation was scored by target mean dose (CTV{sub mean}), conformity (CI{sub 95%}), tumor control probability (TCP), and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP). The impact of the adaptation on the plan parameters (QA) was assessed by comparison with prediction intervals (PI) derived from a statistical model of the typical variation of these parameters in a population of VMAT prostate plans (n = 63). These prediction intervals are the adaptation equivalent of the tolerance tables for couch shifts in the current clinical practice. Results: The proposed adaptation of a two-arc VMAT plan resulted in the intended CTV{sub mean} (Δ ≤ 3%) and TCP (ΔTCP ≤ 0.001). Moreover, the method assures the intended CI{sub 95%} (Δ ≤ 11%) resulting in lowered rectal NTCP for all cases. Compared to replanning, their adaptation is faster (13 s vs 10 min) and more intuitive. Compared to the current clinical practice, it has a better protection of the healthy tissue. Compared to IMRT, VMAT is more robust to anatomical variations, but it is also less sensitive to the different correction steps. The observed variations of the plan parameters in their database included a linear dependence on the date of treatment planning and on the target radius. The MCS is not retained as QA metric due to a contrasting behavior of its components (LSV and AAV). If three out of four plan parameters (MU, EqFS, AAV, and LSV) need to lie inside a 50% prediction interval (3/4—50%PI), all adapted plans will be accepted. In contrast, all replanned plans do not meet this loose criterion, mainly because they have no connection to the initially optimized and verified plan. Conclusions: A direct (forward) VMAT adaptation performs equally well as (inverse) replanning but is faster and can be extended to real-time adaptation. The prediction intervals for the machine parameters are equivalent to the tolerance tables for couch shifts in the current clinical practice. A 3/4—50%PI QA criterion accepts all the adapted plans but rejects all the replanned plans.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Optimizing Proprotor Blades Using Coupled Aeroacoustic and Aerodynamic Sensitivities

A quieter and aerodynamically more efficient proprotor design requires high-fidelity and well-integrated optimization and analysis tools. To fulfill that requirement, the present paper delivers a methodology based on multidisciplinary, adjoint-based, discrete optimization. SU2-based code development involves the implementation of aeroacoustic analysis, adjoint computations, and integrations into a multidisciplinary rotorcraft optimization suite. Submodules utilized in the optimization are verified with wind tunnel data to demonstrate the accuracy of aerodynamic and aeroacoustic analyses. The developed code is used for NASA's helically twisted proprotor to maximize the aeroacoustic performance of the proprotor while holding thrust constant. The optimization process considers multiple flight conditions (hence, multipoint), which are forward flight and hovering. As an outcome of the analyses, the optimized blade design propagates lower noise as perceived by multiple observers in both flight conditions

R Omur Icke↗
NASA NTRS1974

Application of a parameter identification technique to a hingeless helicopter rotor

A mathematical model of a gyro-controlled, three-bladed hingeless helicopter rotor was developed and parameters of the model were estimated using a parameter identification technique. The flapping and feathering degrees of freedom of the blades were modeled. The equations of the model contain time-varying, periodic coefficients due to the forward speed of the rotor. A digital simulation of the analytical model was compared with wind-tunnel measurements to establish the validity of the model. Comparisons of steady-state and transient solutions of the analytical model with the tunnel measurements gave reasonably good matching of gyro angle but less satisfactory matching of hub moment measurements. Further improvements were obtained by use of a parameter identification technique to adjust as many as 10 parameters of the analytical model. The sensitivity of the blade response to small changes in the parameters was also calculated.

Kanning, G.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Surrogate Model Selection for Design Space Approximation And Surrogatebased Optimization

Surrogate models are used to map input data to output data when the actual relationship between the two is unknown or computationally expensive to evaluate for sensitivity analysis, uncertainty propagation and surrogate based optimization. This work evaluates the performance of eight surrogate modeling techniques for design space approximation and surrogate based optimization applications over a set of generated datasets with known characteristics. With this work, we aim to provide general rules for selecting an appropriate surrogate model form solely based on the characteristics of the data being modeled. Furthermore, the computational experiments revealed that, in general, multivariate adaptive regression spline models (MARS) and single hidden layer feed forward neural networks (ANN) yielded the most accurate predictions over the design space while Random Forest (RF) models most reliably identified the locations of the optimums when used for surrogate-based optimization.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗
DOE OSTI2010

Correlations probed in direct two-nucleon removal reactions

Final-state-exclusive momentum distributions of fast, forward-traveling residual nuclei, following two-nucleon removal from fast secondary radioactive beams of projectile nuclei, can and have now been measured. Assuming that the most important reaction mechanism is the sudden direct removal of a pair of nucleons from a set of relatively simple, active shell-model orbital configurations, such distributions were predicted to depend strongly on the total angular momentum I carried by the two nucleons--the final-state spin for spin 0{sup +} projectiles. The sensitivity of these now-accessible observables to specific details of the (correlated) two-nucleon wave functions is of importance. We clarify that it is the total orbital angular momentum L of the two nucleons that is the primary factor in determining the shapes and widths of the calculated momentum distributions. It follows that, with accurate measurements, this dependence upon the L makeup of the two-nucleon wave functions could be used to assess the accuracy of (shell- or many-body-) model predictions of these two-nucleon configurations. By using several tailored examples, with specific combinations of active two-nucleon orbitals, we demonstrate that more-subtle structure aspects may be observed, allowing such reactions to probe and/or confirm the details of theoretical model wave functions.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2017

n-ZnO/p-CuI barrier heterostructure based on zinc-oxide nanoarrays formed by pulsed electrodeposition and SILAR copper-iodide films

A p-CuI/n-ZnO barrier structure is investigated as a promising base diode structure for a semitransparent near-ultraviolet detector. We analyze the crystal structure and electrical and optical properties of zinc-oxide nanoarrays electrodeposited in the pulsed mode and copper-iodide films formed by the successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method, which were used as the basis for an n-ZnO/p-CuI barrier heterostructure sensitive to ultraviolet radiation in the spectral range of 365–370 nm. Using the I–V characteristics, a shunting resistance of R{sub sh} · S{sub c} = 879 Ω cm{sup 2}, a series resistance of R{sub s} · S{sub c} = 8.5 Ω cm{sup 2}, a diode rectification factor of K = 17.6, a rectifying p–n-junction barrier height of Φ = 1.1 eV, and a diode ideality factor of η = 2.4 are established. It is demonstrated that at low forward biases (0 V < {sup U} < 0.15 V), the effects of charge-carrier recombination and tunneling are equal. As the bias increases above 0.15 V, the tunneling–recombination transport mechanism starts working. The diode saturation current J{sub 0} is found to be 6.4 × 10{sup –6} mA cm{sup –2} for recombination and tunneling charge-carrier transport and 2.7 × 10{sup –3} mA cm{sup –2} for tunneling–recombination charge-carrier transport.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1980

Comparison of calculated and measured helicopter rotor lateral flapping angles

Calculated and measured values of helicopter rotor flapping angles in forward flight are compared for a model rotor in a wind tunnel and an autogiro in gliding flight. The lateral flapping angles can be accurately predicted when a calculation of the nonuniform wake-induced velocity is used. At low advance ratios, it is also necessary to use a free wake geometry calculation. For the cases considered, the tip vortices in the rotor wake remain very close to the tip-path plane, so the calculated values of the flapping motion are sensitive to the fine details of the wake structure, specifically the viscous core radius of the tip vortices.

Johnson, W.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Theoretical Studies of Gamma-Ray Bursts with Swift

Graduate student L.J. Gou , P. Meszaros, T. Abel and B. Zhang investigated the detectability of long GRB afterglows from very high redshifts, where bright reverse shock emission last longer in the observer frame, and its importance for detection and analysis purposes relative to the forward shock increases. They consider two different models for the GRB environment, based on current ideas about the redshift dependence of gas properties in galaxies and primordial star formation. They calculate the observed flux as a function of the redshift and observer time for typical GRB afterglows, taking into account intergalactic photoionization and Lyman-alpha absorption opacity as well as extinction by the Milky Way Galaxy. The fluxes in the X-ray and near IR bands are compared with the sensitivity of different detectors such as Chandra, Swift and JWST. They find that Chandra and Swift can potentially detect GRBs out to very high redshifts z above 13 and 30, respectively. In the K and M bands, the JWST and ground-based telescopes are potentially able to detect GRBs even one day after the trigger out to z approximately 16 and 33, if present. While the X-ray band is insensitive to the external density and to reverse shocks, the near IR bands provides a sensitive tool for diagnosing both the environment and the reverse shock components.

Meszaros, Peter↗
DOE OSTI2024

Tackling the curse of dimensionality in fractional and tempered fractional PDEs with physics-informed neural networks

Fractional and tempered fractional partial differential equations (PDEs) are effective models of long-range interactions, anomalous diffusion, and non-local effects. Traditional numerical methods for these problems are mesh-based, thus struggling with the curse of dimensionality (CoD). Physics-informed neural networks (PINNs) offer a promising solution due to their universal approximation, generalization ability, and mesh-free training. In principle, Monte Carlo fractional PINN (MC-fPINN) estimates fractional derivatives using Monte Carlo methods and thus could lift CoD. However, this may cause significant variance and errors, hence affecting convergence; in addition, MC-fPINN is sensitive to hyperparameters. In general, numerical methods and specifically PINNs for tempered fractional PDEs are under-developed. Herein, we extend MC-fPINN to tempered fractional PDEs to address these issues, resulting in the Monte Carlo tempered fractional PINN (MC-tfPINN). To reduce possible high variance and errors from Monte Carlo sampling, we replace the one-dimensional (1D) Monte Carlo with 1D Gaussian quadrature, applicable to both MC-fPINN and MC-tfPINN. We validate our methods on various forward and inverse problems of fractional and tempered fractional PDEs, scaling up to 100,000 dimensions. Our improved MC-fPINN/MC-tfPINN using quadrature consistently outperforms the original versions in accuracy and convergence speed in very high dimensions.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2018

Barriers for interfacial back-electron transfer: A comparison between TiO 2 and SnO 2 /TiO 2 core/shell structures

Temperature dependent kinetics for back-electron transfer (BET) from electrons in TiO 2 or SnO 2 /TiO 2 core/shell nanoparticles to oxidized donor-bridge-acceptor (D-B-A) sensitizers is reported over a 110° range. Two D-B-A sensitizers (CF 3 -p and CF 3 -x) were utilized that differed only by the nature of the bridging ligand: a xylyl spacer that largely insulated the two redox active centers and a phenyl bridge that promoted strong electronic coupling and an adiabatic electron transfer mechanism. An Arrhenius analysis revealed that the activation energies were significantly larger for the core/shell oxides, E a = 32 ± 4 kJ/mol, compared to TiO 2 alone, E a = 22 ± 6 kJ/mol. The barriers for BET on sensitized TiO 2 were within the same range as previous literature reports, while this study represents the first quantification for SnO 2 /TiO 2 core/shell materials. Two different models were proposed to rationalize the larger barrier for the core/shell materials: (1) a band edge offset model and (2) a low energy trap state model with recombination from the TiO 2 rutile polymorph shell. The latter model was preferred and is in better agreement with the experimental data. The kinetic analysis also afforded the forward and reverse rate constants for the intramolecular equilibrium. In accordance with theoretical predictions and previous research, the absolute value of the free energy change was smaller for the adiabatic equilibrium provided by the phenyl bridge, i.e., |ΔG o ad | <|ΔG o |.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2010

Improvements to the three-color optical CCD-based pyrometer system

We put forward an improved three-color measurement scheme with a color CCD sensor using the combination of effective wavelengths and blackbody calibrations. The process of effective wavelengths realizes the separation of the emissivity function from the measurement integral equation. This improved method not only effectively avoids errors arising from the traditional process adopting the basic wavelengths, but also simplifies the complex integral calculations. For a blackbody or graybody, the measurement performance of the pyrometer was experimentally investigated from the point of the temperature sensitivity. The results show that narrowing the spectrum bandwidth with different bandpass spectral filters may improve the temperature sensitivities. The spectrum adjustment not only makes the linear emissivity more suitable in the narrower waveband, but also reduces the numerical uncertainty of the effective wavelengths. For nongray objects, the effects of the numerical uncertainty of the effective wavelengths to measurements were quantificationally evaluated at different measurement conditions (different temperatures, emissivities, and spectrums). The results indicate that the reference values of 584, 555, and 511nm or 607, 560, and 506nm of the effective wavelengths are reasonable for the present system with the modified spectral response using Filter 1 or Filter 2. The maximum calculation errors arising from the reference effective wavelengths are less than 1.6%. In this paper, the technical realization steps of the improved method are also described. The measurement experiments of a metal sample in hot environments were carried out to further verify the applicability of this improved CCD-based pyrometer. The results agreed well with the spectrometer-based results.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

High-Energy Density science at the Linac Coherent Light Source

The Matter in Extreme Conditions end station at the Linac Coherent Light Source holds great promise for novel pump-probe experiments to make new discoveries in high- energy density science. Recently, our experiments have demonstrated the first spectrally- resolved measurements of plasmons using a seeded 8-keV x-ray laser beam. Forward x-ray Thomson scattering spectra from isochorically heated solid aluminum show a well-resolved plasmon feature that is down-shifted in energy by 19 eV from the incident 8 keV elastic scattering feature. In this spectral range, the simultaneously measured backscatter spectrum shows no spectral features indicating observation of collective plasmon oscillations on a scattering length comparable to the screening length. Moreover, this technique is a prerequisite for Thomson scattering measurements in compressed matter where the plasmon shift is a sensitive function of the free electron density and where the plasmon intensity provides information on temperature.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗