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Results for “Materials studies and techniques”

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 73 records · Page 4
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1986

A study of the stress wave factor technique for nondestructive evaluation of composite materials

The acousto-ultrasonic method of nondestructive evaluation is an extremely sensitive means of assessing material response. Efforts continue to complete the understanding of this method. In order to achieve the full sensitivity of the technique, extreme care must be taken in its performance. This report provides an update of the efforts to advance the understanding of this method and to increase its application to the nondestructive evaluation of composite materials. Included are descriptions of a novel optical system that is capable of measuring in-plane and out-of-plane displacements, an IBM PC-based data acquisition system, an extensive data analysis software package, the azimuthal variation of acousto-ultrasonic behavior in graphite/epoxy laminates, and preliminary examination of processing variation in graphite-aluminum tubes.

Sarrafzadeh-Khoee, A.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Thermodynamic Studies of High Temperature Materials Via Knudsen Cell Mass Spectrometry

The Knudsen Cell technique is a classic technique from high temperature chemistry for studying condensed phase/vapor equilibria. It is based on a small enclosure, usually about 1 cm in diameter by 1 cm high, with an orifice of well-defined geometry. This forms a molecular beam which is analyzed with mass spectrometry. There are many applications to both fundamental and applied problems with high temperature materials. Specific measurements include vapor pressures and vapor compositions above solids, activities of alloy components, and fundamental gas/solid reactions. The basic system is shown. Our system can accommodate a wide range of samples, temperatures, and attachments, such as gas inlets. It is one of only about ten such systems world-wide.

Jacobson, Nathan S.↗
DOE OSTI2020

Plasma and trap-based techniques for science with antimatter

Positrons (i.e., antielectrons) find use in a wide variety of applications, and antiprotons are required for the formation and study of antihydrogen. Available sources of these antiparticles are relatively weak. To optimize their use, most applications require that the antiparticles be accumulated into carefully prepared plasmas. We present an overview of the techniques that have been developed to efficiently accumulate low energy antiparticles and create, in particular, tailored antiparticle plasmas. Techniques are also described to create tailored antiparticle beams. Many of these techniques are based on methods first developed by the nonneutral plasma community using electron plasmas for increased data rate. They have enabled the creation and trapping of antihydrogen, have been critical to studies of positron and positronium interactions with matter, including advanced techniques to characterize materials and material surfaces, and have led to the creation and study of the positronium molecule. Rather than attempting to be comprehensive, we focus on techniques that have proven most useful, applications where there has been significant, recent progress, and areas that hold promise for future advances. Examples of the latter include the ever more precise comparisons of the properties of antihydrogen and hydrogen, tests of gravity using antihydrogen and positronium atoms, and efforts to create and study phases of the many-electron, many-positron system.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Crystallization kinetics and thermodynamics of an Ag–In–Sb–Te phase change material using complementary in situ microscopic techniques

The crystallization of an amorphous Ag–In–Sb–Te (AIST) phase change material (PCM) is studied using multiple in situ imaging techniques to directly quantify crystal growth rates over a broad range of temperatures. The measurable growth rates span from ≈ 10 –9 to ≈ 20 m/s. Recent results using dynamic transmission electron microscopy (TEM), a photoemission TEM technique, and TEM with sub-framed imaging are reported here and placed into the context of previous growth rate measurements on AIST. Dynamic TEM experiments show a maximum observed crystal growth rate for as-deposited films to be > 20 m/s. It is shown that crystal growth above the glass transition can be imaged in a TEM through use of subframing and a high-frame-rate direct electron detection camera. Challenges associated with the determination of temperature during in situ TEM experiments are described. Finally, preliminary nanocalorimetry results demonstrate the feasibility of collecting thermodynamic data for crystallization of PCMs with simultaneous TEM imaging.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1998

Sand Shear Band Thickness Measurements by Digital Imaging Techniques

Digital imaging analysis was used to study localized deformations in granular materials tested under plane strain condition. Two independent techniques were applied and compared. In the first, the digitized optical images of a grid printed on the latex membrane were used to measure the shear band orientation angle and thickness, and were found to be 54.5' and 3.01 mm respectively. The second technique involved introducing an ultra-low viscosity resin into the specimen in preparation for thin- sectioning and microscopic study of the internal fabric. A total of 24 microscopic images obtained from four thin sections were analyzed and void ratio variation was measured. The shear band thickness measurements from images located along the shear band axis (at two locations) were equal to 3.19 mm and 3.29 mm which are very close to the average value obtained from surface analysis. The study was then extended to investigate the effects of sand grain-size and properties, specimen density, and confining pressure on shear band thickness. It was found that the normalized shear band thickness decreases as grain-size and confining pressure increase and as density decreases. Finally, shear band thickness is highly influenced by the specimen dilatancy.

Alshibli, Khalid A.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Investigating compression failure mechanisms in composite laminates with a transient fiberglass-epoxy birefringent material

An experimental study is reported in which a nondestructive technique involving the use of a transparent fiberglass-epoxy composite birefringent material has been used to investigate compression failure mechanisms in graphite-epoxy laminates. It is shown that the birefringency and transparency of the fiberglass-epoxy material permits regions of high stress to be located and the mechanisms of local failure propagation to be identified within the laminate. The material may also be useful for studying stress fields and for identifying failure initiation and propagation mechanisms in a wide variety of composite-structure problems.

Shuart, M. J.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fast, Accurate, and Reliable Thermal Metrology to Assess the Thermal Resistivity on Small Samples of Thermal Insulation

Developing new insulation materials having a thermal resistivity greater than 69 m K/W (10 hr ft2 °F/Btu/inch) can be appealing for building envelope retrofit and construction of new buildings. Multiple institutions are involved in the development of innovative insulation materials with high thermal resistivity. However, these projects have struggled in the development of new materials due to the difficulty associated with the measurement of small sections of high thermal resistivity materials. As new materials are being developed, the size of each test specimen impacts the cost of development. Given the lack of a reliable method to measure the thermal resistivity on small samples of such materials, we evaluated experimental techniques that can be improved to satisfy the need for testing small sections of high thermal resistivity materials and developed standardized test methods to enable the rapid thermal evaluation of advanced insulation materials. This paper presents the study results and potential techniques for fast, accurate, and reliable effective thermal resistivity measurement on small samples of insulation materials.

Desjarlais, Andre Omer↗
DOE OSTI2025

Comparison Study of Conventional and Adaptive Mesh Refinement in Organic Material Decomposition Models

This study compares conventional mesh refinement techniques, specifically Uniform Mesh Refinement (UMR), with a new Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) method, applied to Organic Material Decomposition (OMD) models. The proposed benefit of AMR is that only areas that require refinement, based on minimizing a specific field gradient, are refined thus decreasing model wall time compared to conventional UMR methods. This work specifically focuses on comparing UMR and AMR methods on decomposing (both No-Flow and Porous-Flow material models) Polymeric Methylene Diisocyanate (PMDI) polyurethane foam. Throughout the work, the geometry increased in complexity to assess the refinement methods performance at varying levels geometric intricacy. While AMR has been shown to work well in a variety of applications, the UMR approach proved to be computationally faster, for many of the geometries and foam decomposition models, than AMR. However, it was observed that at higher levels of refinement, greater than 3 UMR, AMR begins to be computationally better. Additionally, the settings used to perform AMR greatly impact its performance, and lessons learned, in terms of OMD models, are shared. Due to physics involved in material decomposition, specifically the evolution of state variables, these problems don’t fully benefit from the advantages of AMR.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
NASA NTRS1983

Containerless high temperature property measurements by atomic fluorescence

The use of laser induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques for containerless study of high temperature processes and material properties is studied. Gas jet and electromagnetic levitation and electromagnetic and laser heating techniques are used with LIF in Earth-based containerless high temperature experiments. The work to date includes development of an apparatus and its use in studies of chemical reactions on Al2O3, molybdenum, and tungsten specimens, novel methods for noncontact specimen temperature measurement, and levitation jet properties. Brief summaries of these studies are given. The apparatus is described and detailed results for the current reporting period are presented.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS1984

Containerless high temperature property measurements by atomic fluorescence

Laser induced fluorescence (LIF) techniques for containerless study of high temperature processes and material properties was studied. Gas jet and electromagnetic levitation and electromagnetic and laser heating techniques are used with LIF in earth-based containerless high temperature experiments. Included are the development of an apparatus and its use in the studies of (1) chemical reactions on Al2O3, molybdenum, tungsten and LaB6 specimens, (2) methods for noncontact specimen temperature measurement, (3) levitation jet properties and (4) radiative lifetime and collisional energy transfer rates for electronically excited atoms.

Schiffman, R. A.↗
DOE OSTI2023

Direct prediction of inelastic neutron scattering spectra from the crystal structure*

Abstract Inelastic neutron scattering (INS) is a powerful technique to study vibrational dynamics of materials with several unique advantages. However, analysis and interpretation of INS spectra often require advanced modeling that needs specialized computing resources and relevant expertise. This difficulty is compounded by the limited experimental resources available to perform INS measurements. In this work, we develop a machine-learning based predictive framework which is capable of directly predicting both one-dimensional INS spectra and two-dimensional INS spectra with additional momentum resolution. By integrating symmetry-aware neural networks with autoencoders, and using a large scale synthetic INS database, high-dimensional spectral data are compressed into a latent-space representation, and a high-quality spectra prediction is achieved by using only atomic coordinates as input. Our work offers an efficient approach to predict complex multi-dimensional neutron spectra directly from simple input; it allows for improved efficiency in using the limited INS measurement resources, and sheds light on building structure-property relationships in a variety of on-the-fly experimental data analysis scenarios.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-energy-resolution inelastic X-ray scattering spectrometer at beamline 30-ID of the Advanced Photon Source

Inelastic X-ray scattering is a powerful and versatile technique for studying lattice dynamics in materials of scientific and technological importance. In this article, the design and capabilities of the momentum-resolved high-energy-resolution inelastic X-ray spectrometer (HERIX) at beamline 30-ID of the Advanced Photon Source are reported. The instrument operates at 23.724 keV and has an energy resolution of 1.3–1.7 meV. It can accommodate momentum transfers of up to 72 nm -1 , at a typical X-ray flux of 4.5 × 10 9 photons s -1 meV -1 at the sample. A suite of in situ sample environments are provided, including high pressure, static magnetic fields and uniaxial strains, all at high or cryogenic temperatures.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2024

Open-source electrochemical cell for in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy in transmission and fluorescence modes

X-ray spectroscopy is a valuable technique for the study of many materials systems. Characterizing reactions in situ and operando can reveal complex reaction kinetics, which is crucial to understanding active site composition and reaction mechanisms. In this project, the design, fabrication and testing of an open-source and easy-to-fabricate electrochemical cell for in situ electrochemistry compatible with X-ray absorption spectroscopy in both transmission and fluorescence modes are accomplished via windows with large opening angles on both the upstream and downstream sides of the cell. Using a hobbyist computer numerical control machine and free 3D CAD software, anyone can make a reliable electrochemical cell using this design. Onion-like carbon nanoparticles, with a 1:3 iron-to-cobalt ratio, were drop-coated onto carbon paper for testing in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Cyclic voltammetry of the carbon paper showed the expected behavior, with no increased ohmic drop, even in sandwiched cells. Chronoamperometry was used to apply 0.4 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, with and without 15 min of oxygen purging to ensure that the electrochemical cell does not provide any artefacts due to gas purging. The XANES and EXAFS spectra showed no differences with and without oxygen, as expected at 0.4 V, without any artefacts due to gas purging. The development of this open-source electrochemical cell design allows for improved collection of in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy data and enables researchers to perform both transmission and fluorescence simultaneously. It additionally addresses key practical considerations including gas purging, reduced ionic resistance and leak prevention.

08 HYDROGEN↗
DOE OSTI2025

Kinetic Monte Carlo simulations of aging in δ -Pu

We have developed a first-passage kinetic Monte Carlo approach for materials aging to investigate the sensitivity of void swelling to model parameters, including helium bubble density and size distribution. In addition to explicitly accounting for the spatial distribution of individual point defects, bubbles, and voids, our approach can simulate total doses equivalent to 100 years of natural aging on statistically representative volumes of materials. This technique enables us to study the effects on swelling and radiation damage evolution due to temperature and dose rate (as altered in artificially aged experiments), differences in effective interaction radii between vacancies and interstitials, and varying defect diffusion activation energies, while providing more detailed information than previous rate-equation based approaches. In conclusion, our results indicate that spatial effects that are not modeled in mean-field rate theories could play a significant role in void swelling initiation and growth for certain regimes of model parameters.

Actinides↗
DOE OSTI2023

A low noise CMOS camera system for 2D resonant inelastic soft X-ray scattering

Resonant Inelastic X-ray Scattering (RIXS) is a powerful spectroscopic technique to study quantum properties of materials in the bulk. A novel variant of RIXS, called 2D RIXS, enables concurrent measurement of the scattered X-ray spectrum for a wide range of input energies, improving on the typically low throughput of 1D RIXS. In the soft X-ray domain, 2D RIXS demands an X-ray camera system with small pixels, large area, high quantum efficiency and low noise to limit the false detection rate in long duration exposures. We designed and implemented a 7.5 Megapixel back-illuminated CMOS detector with 5 μm pixels and high quantum efficiency in the 200–1,000 eV X-ray energy range for the QERLIN 2D RIXS spectrometer at the Advanced Light Source. The QERLIN beamline and detector are currently in commissioning. The camera noise from in-situ 3 s long dark exposures is 7e - or less and the leakage current is 6.5 × 10 -3 e - /(pixel ∙ s). For individual 500 eV X-rays, the expected efficiency is greater than 75% and the false detection rate is ~1 × 10 -5 per pixel.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
NASA NTRS1979

Free oscillations of a large drop in space

In preparation for forthcoming studies on materials processing in space, techniques and equipment are being developed for the deployment and control of large globules of liquid in a zero-g environment. This paper first presents a theoretical analysis of the intense sound field within an enclosure by which positioning forces, torques, and temporal perturbations may be applied to a sample. Procedures for digital analysis of photographic records of the sample motion are described. Results on the mean and oscillatory motion of a 2.5 cm diameter water drop during the flight of a SPAR rocket are given. In particular, spectral analysis shows that the drop oscillates at several frequencies. Identification with theoretically expected modes is made for some of the spectral lines.

Jacobi, N.↗
NASA NTRS1987

Raman spectra of adsorbed layers on space shuttle and AOTV thermal protection system surface

Surfaces of interest to space vehicle heat shield design were struck by a 2 W argon ion laser line while subjected to supersonic arc jet flow conditions. Emission spectra were taken at 90 deg to the angle of laser incidence on the test object. Results showed possible weak Raman shifts which could not be directly tied to any particular parameter such as surface temperature or gas composition. The investigation must be considered exploratory in terms of findings. Many undesirable effects were found and corrected as the project progressed. For instance, initial spectra settings led to ghosts which were eliminated by closing the intermediate of filter slit of the Spex from 8 to 3 mm. Further, under certain conditions, plasma lines from the laser were observed. Several materials were also investigated at room temperature for Raman shifts. Results showed Raman shifts for RCC and TEOS coated materials. The HRSI materials showed only weak Raman shifts, however, substantial efforts were made in studying these materials. Baseline materials showed the technique to be sound. The original goal was to find a Raman shift for the High-temperature Reusable Surface Insulation (HRSI) Reaction Cured borosilicate Glass (RCG) coated material and tie the amplitude of this peak to Arc jet conditions. Weak Raman shifts may be present, however, time limitations prevented confirmation.

Willey, Ronald J.↗
NASA NTRS1988

Radar Cross Section Studies/Compact Range Research

A summary is given of the achievements of NASA Grant NsG-1613 by Ohio State University from May 1, 1987 to April 30, 1988. The major topics covered are as follows: (1) electromagnetic scattering analysis; (2) indoor scattering measurement systems; (3) RCS control; (4) waveform processing techniques; (5) material scattering and design studies; (6) design and evaluation of design studies; and (7) antenna studies. Major progress has been made in each of these areas as verified by the numerous publications produced.

Burnside, W. D.↗