Results for “performance improvements” — Page 41

DOE OSTI2022

Graph link prediction in computer networks using Poisson matrix factorisation

Graph link prediction is an important task in cybersecurity: relationships between entities within a computer network, such as users interacting with computers or system libraries and the corresponding processes that use them, can provide key insights into adversary behaviour. Poisson matrix factorisation (PMF) is a popular model for link prediction in large networks, particularly useful for its scalability. In this article PMF is extended to include scenarios that are commonly encountered in cybersecurity applications. Specifically, an extension is proposed to explicitly handle binary adjacency matrices and include known categorical covariates associated with the graph nodes. A seasonal PMF model is also presented to handle seasonal networks. To allow the methods to scale to large graphs, variational methods are discussed for performing fast inference. The results show an improved performance over the standard PMF model and other statistical network models.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

NASA NTRS1975

High energy solar beam testing in the JPL 25-ft space simulator

Modifications to the individual components in the solar simulation system to improve performance and reduce costs are described. The improvements include: an increase in lamp power from 20 KW to 30 KW; a family of solar beams from 8 to 18.5 feet in diameter at intensities related to beam size with a maximum intensity of 12 solar constants over a 9 ft. diameter; and up to 1.1 megawatts of simulated solar energy in the lamp array.

Harrell, J. W.↗

NASA NTRS1982

Capabilities and limitations of the Shuttle for future cargo programs

This paper presents a view of future Shuttle cargo operations. Planned and potential performance improvements are addressed. On-orbit operations, performance and experience are discussed with a view of anticipated changes. Current and future cargo integration activities are also addressed. The future Shuttle user is provided a projection to assist in planning and payload development.

Williams, L. G.↗

NASA NTRS1982

The JT9D Jet Engine Diagnostics Program

The various engine deterioration phenomena that affect JT9D performance retention were studied, and approaches to improve performance retention of engines were identified. The program included surveys of historical data, monitoring of in service engines, ground and flight testing of instrumented engines, analysis, and analytical modeling. Performance deterioration is made up of both short and long term modes, both of which are flight cycle related phenomena. Short term deterioration occurs primarily during airplane acceptance testing prior to delivery to the airline. This effect is caused by flight load and power induced clearance closures and engine deflections with resulting rubbing of airfoils and seals. Long term deterioration is caused by erosion of airfoils and gas path seals during ground operation and take off and by cyclic induced thermal distortion of the high pressure turbine airfoils. Studies of possible remedial approaches have shown that performance retention within 1 to 2 percent of initial revenue service performance can be achieved with a proper program of hot section and cold section maintenance.

Olsson, W. J.↗

NASA NTRS1988

A case for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID)

Increasing performance of CPUs and memories will be squandered if not matched by a similar performance increase in I/O. While the capacity of Single Large Expensive Disks (SLED) has grown rapidly, the performance improvement of SLED has been modest. Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks (RAID), based on the magnetic disk technology developed for personal computers, offers an attractive alternative to SLED, promising improvements of an order of magnitude in performance, reliability, power consumption, and scalability. This paper introduces five levels of RAIDs, giving their relative cost/performance, and compares RAID to an IBM 3380 and a Fujitsu Super Eagle.

Patterson, David A.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Digital control of magnetic bearings in a cryogenic cooler

This paper describes the design of a digital control system for control of magnetic bearings used in a spaceborne cryogenic cooler. The cooler was developed by Philips Laboratories for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. Six magnetic bearing assemblies are used to levitate the piston, displacer, and counter-balance of the cooler. The piston and displacer are driven by linear motors in accordance with Stirling cycle thermodynamic principles to produce the desired cooling effect. The counter-balance is driven by a third linear motor to cancel motion induced forces that would otherwise be transmitted to the spacecraft. An analog control system is currently used for bearing control. The purpose of this project is to investigate the possibilities for improved performance using digital control. Areas for potential improvement include transient and steady state control characteristics, robustness, reliability, adaptability, alternate control modes, size, weight, and cost. The present control system is targeted for the Intel 80196 microcontroller family. The eventual introduction of application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) technology to this problem may produce a unique and elegant solution both here and in related industrial problems.

Feeley, J.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Performance of a Miniaturized Arcjet

Performance measurements were obtained and life-limiting mechanisms were identified on a laboratory-model arcjet thruster designed to operate at a nominal power level of 300 W. The design employed a supersonic-arc-attachment concept and was operated from 200 to 400 W on hydrogen/nitrogen mixtures in ratios simulating fully decomposed hydrazine and ammonia. Power was provided by breadboard power processor. Performance was found to be a strong function of propellant flow rate. Anode losses were essentially constant for the range of mass flow rates tested. It is believed that the performance is dominated by viscous effects. Significantly improved performance was noted with simulated ammonia operation. At 300 W the specific impulse on simulated ammonia was 410 s with an efficiency of 0.34, while simulated hydrazine provided 370 s specific impulse at an efficiency of 0.27.

Sankovic, John M.↗

NASA NTRS1999

Java RMI Software Technology for the Payload Planning System of the International Space Station

The Payload Planning System is for experiment planning on the International Space Station. The planning process has a number of different aspects which need to be stored in a database which is then used to generate reports on the planning process in a variety of formats. This process is currently structured as a 3-tier client/server software architecture comprised of a Java applet at the front end, a Java server in the middle, and an Oracle database in the third tier. This system presently uses CGI, the Common Gateway Interface, to communicate between the user-interface and server tiers and Active Data Objects (ADO) to communicate between the server and database tiers. This project investigated other methods and tools for performing the communications between the three tiers of the current system so that both the system performance and software development time could be improved. We specifically found that for the hardware and software platforms that PPS is required to run on, the best solution is to use Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) for communication between the client and server and SQLJ (Structured Query Language for Java) for server interaction with the database. Prototype implementations showed that RMI combined with SQLJ significantly improved performance and also greatly facilitated construction of the communication software.

Bryant, Barrett R.↗

NASA NTRS2014

Propulsion System Models for Rotorcraft Conceptual Design

The conceptual design code NDARC (NASA Design and Analysis of Rotorcraft) was initially implemented to model conventional rotorcraft propulsion systems, consisting of turboshaft engines burning jet fuel, connected to one or more rotors through a mechanical transmission. The NDARC propulsion system representation has been extended to cover additional propulsion concepts, including electric motors and generators, rotor reaction drive, turbojet and turbofan engines, fuel cells and solar cells, batteries, and fuel (energy) used without weight change. The paper describes these propulsion system components, the architecture of their implementation in NDARC, and the form of the models for performance and weight. Requirements are defined for improved performance and weight models of the new propulsion system components. With these new propulsion models, NDARC can be used to develop environmentally-friendly rotorcraft designs.

Propulsion System Models↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advancing GRCop-based Bimetallic Additive Manufacturing to Optimize Component Design and Applications for Liquid Rocket Engines

Additive manufacturing (AM) is advancing many applications of component design for liquid rocket engines. The ability to rapidly design and manufacture components has provided significant opportunities for development and flight programs across the propulsion industry. AM has demonstrated significant advantages that include cost and schedule savings in addition to performance improvements through new design opportunities. While these performance advantages can be in the characteristics of complex design features, they can also be in the form of new materials. AM has been demonstrated in these various component applications using a variety of metal alloys, many of which are traditional alloys for extreme environments. Additional developments were completed using AM to provide new alloys and maturing these material uses for high performance applications. Almost all of the prior developments across component applications have focused on single-alloys in these AM processes. NASA and industry partners have focused in recent years to advance processing to create bimetallic and multicomponent AM processes and materials. The role of multi-alloy AM offers advantages since it can further optimize weight, optimize reliability and performance by increasing the strength to weight ratio of a component, and can optimize materials for various engineering requirements. This is particularly important in liquid rocket engine combustion devices that must reject heat in high heat flux environments yet maintain adequate structural margins under high operational pressure. NASA has been exploring several AM processes, materials, and applications for combustion devices, specifically combustion chambers, injectors, nozzles, and ignition systems. These components require fine geometric features for internal flow or cooling functionality. They experience high thermal gradients across thin-walls and must survive high pressures and temperatures from propellants and the combustion process. A copper-based alloy is normally used to provide high thermal conductivity, but at the detriment of increased weight if used as a single alloy in an AM chamber. Various AM processes were demonstrated on these components using a copper-based alloy/superalloy bimetallic solution. The AM processes being explored individually and in combination for bimetallic applications include Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), Laser Powder Directed Energy Deposition (LP-DED), and cold spray. The combination of bimetallic material combinations explored in this research include copper-based material primarily and superalloys, Inconel 625 or NASA HR-1. The various aspects of the additive manufacturing processes and challenges, materials characterization, and the testing of bimetallic components in a relevant environment will be discussed.

Additive Manufacturing↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Advancing GRCop-based Bimetallic Additive Manufacturing to Optimize Component Design and Applications for Liquid Rocket Engines

Additive manufacturing (AM) is advancing many applications of component design for liquid rocket engines. The ability to rapidly design and manufacture components has provided significant opportunities for development and flight programs across the propulsion industry. AM has demonstrated significant advantages that include cost and schedule savings in addition to performance improvements through new design opportunities. While these performance advantages can be in the characteristics of complex design features, they can also be in the form of new materials. AM has been demonstrated in these various component applications using a variety of metal alloys, many of which are traditional alloys for extreme environments. Additional developments were completed using AM to provide new alloys and maturing these material uses for high performance applications. Almost all of the prior developments across component applications have focused on single-alloys in these AM processes. NASA and industry partners have focused in recent years to advance processing to create bimetallic and multicomponent AM processes and materials. The role of multi-alloy AM offers advantages since it can further optimize weight, optimize reliability and performance by increasing the strength to weight ratio of a component, and can optimize materials for various engineering requirements. This is particularly important in liquid rocket engine combustion devices that must reject heat in high heat flux environments yet maintain adequate structural margins under high operational pressure. NASA has been exploring several AM processes, materials, and applications for combustion devices, specifically combustion chambers, injectors, nozzles, and ignition systems. These components require fine geometric features for internal flow or cooling functionality. They experience high thermal gradients across thin-walls and must survive high pressures and temperatures from propellants and the combustion process. A copper-based alloy is normally used to provide high thermal conductivity, but at the detriment of increased weight if used as a single alloy in an AM chamber. Various AM processes were demonstrated on these components using a copper-based alloy/superalloy bimetallic solution. The AM processes being explored individually and in combination for bimetallic applications include Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), Laser Powder Directed Energy Deposition (LP-DED), and cold spray. The combination of bimetallic material combinations explored in this research include copper-based material primarily and superalloys, Inconel 625 or NASA HR-1. The various aspects of the additive manufacturing processes and challenges, materials characterization, and the testing of bimetallic components in a relevant environment will be discussed.

Additive Manufacturing↗

DOE OSTI2024

Exogenous erythropoietin increases hematological status, fat oxidation, and aerobic performance in males following prolonged strenuous training

Abstract This study investigated the effects of EPO on hemoglobin (Hgb) and hematocrit (Hct), time trial (TT) performance, substrate oxidation, and skeletal muscle phenotype throughout 28 days of strenuous exercise. Eight males completed this longitudinal controlled exercise and feeding study using EPO (50 IU/kg body mass) 3×/week for 28 days. Hgb, Hct, and TT performance were assessed PRE and on Days 7, 14, 21, and 27 of EPO. Rested/fasted muscle obtained PRE and POST EPO were analyzed for gene expression, protein signaling, fiber type, and capillarization. Substrate oxidation and glucose turnover were assessed during 90‐min of treadmill load carriage (LC; 30% body mass; 55 ± 5% V̇O 2 peak) exercise using indirect calorimetry, and 6‐6‐[ 2 H 2 ]‐glucose PRE and POST. Hgb and Hct increased, and TT performance improved on Days 21 and 27 compared to PRE ( p < 0.05). Energy expenditure, fat oxidation, and metabolic clearance rate during LC increased ( p < 0.05) from PRE to POST. Myofiber type, protein markers of mitochondrial biogenesis, and capillarization were unchanged PRE to POST. Transcriptional regulation of mitochondrial activity and fat metabolism increased from PRE to POST ( p < 0.05). These data indicate EPO administration during 28 days of strenuous exercise can enhance aerobic performance through improved oxygen carrying capacity, whole‐body and skeletal muscle fat metabolism.

Drummer, Devin J.↗

DOE OSTI2024

Chain Conformations of TEMPO-Based Organic Radical Polymers with Varying Radical Loading and Temperature in Battery-Relevant Solvents

Poly(2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxy-4-yl methacrylate) (PTMA) is an organic radical polymer that is a promising active material in organic batteries. The proximity of the radical groups impacts the nature of charge transfer, in which closer packing promotes electron exchange; however, the chain conformation of PTMA is not well understood. Here, the conformation of PTMA in, and its thermodynamic interactions with, battery-relevant solvents is determined using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) and 50:50 (wt %) ethylene carbonate/dimethyl carbonate (EC/DMC) mixtures with PTMA of varying radical content (68 vs 98%) and temperature (25 and 60 °C) are examined. Both solvents are theta solvents for PTMA irrespective of radical loading and temperature. PTMA attains an expanded chain conformation in NMP and a more compact polymer chain conformation in EC/DMC. Lastly, the electrochemical performance of PTMA films formed from EC/DMC shows improved performance relative to those cast from NMP, which is interpreted to indicate that the compact conformation of PTMA in EC/DMC enables improved inter- and intrachain charge transfer.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2026

Impact of Annealing on Superconducting Properties of Tantalum Thin Films

The pursuit for higher-coherence superconducting qubits has led to the adoption of new materials and innovative fabrication techniques. Among the commonly used superconducting materials, tantalum-based or tantalum-capped superconducting qubits have demonstrated the longest lifetimes, outperforming niobium devices even in the presence of their native oxides. Given the losses introduced by the surface oxide, one method to further improve performance is to reduce or eliminate the native oxide on tantalum through UHV annealing. In this work, we examine the effect of dissolved oxygen as a function of annealing temperature on the superconducting properties of tantalum thin films. Dissolved oxygen is quantified using atom probe tomography (APT) and secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and correlated with electromagnetic transport measurements performed using a Physical Property Measurement System (PPMS). This study observes that annealing decomposes the native oxide and drives oxygen diffusion into the film matrix. Increasing oxygen content decreases the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) and the residual resistivity ratio (RRR). The critical field decreases with the incorporation of oxygen, while the film’s coherence length decreases relatively by 5%. These results, as well as findings from ongoing studies linking fabrication processes to the structural and chemical properties of the superconducting film and Josephson junction, provide insight into effective strategies for improving the performance of superconducting devices.

Shinde, Maithilee [IIT, Chicago; Fermilab]↗

DOE OSTI2022

Elucidating Diiodomethane-Induced Improvement in Photonically Cured MAPbI 3 Solar Cells

Diiodomethane (CH 2 I 2 ) has been reported to improve the photonically cured perovskite solar cell (PSC) device performance by reducing pinholes. Here we show that even for pinhole-free methylammonium lead iodide (MAPbI 3 ) made by photonic curing, adding CH 2 I 2 promotes significant performance improvement. We elucidate the mechanisms behind the observed improvement. In addition to current-density versus voltage measurements, we perform a wide variety of characterization to compare the crystallinity, grain structure, optical, chemical, and electrical properties of the photonically cured samples with and without CH 2 I 2 in the MAPbI 3 layer to those of thermally annealed devices. Here, the addition of CH 2 I 2 promotes grain growth in the vertical direction, increases the I/Pb ratio in the final film, and removes the I - ionic diffusion and defect signature associated with iodine interstitials. As a result, we achieve a champion efficiency of 15.04% with MAPbI 3 conversion time of 20 ms, comparable to PSCs that have MAPbI 3 layer thermally annealed for 10 min. Understanding the mechanisms behind additive-induced improvements for non-thermal annealing processes is critical to enabling high-speed PSC manufacturing.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

NASA NTRS1980

CF6-50 Short Core Exhaust Nozzle

The General Electric CF6-50 engine nacelle was originally equipped with both fan nozzle and core nozzle thrust reversers. Many airline operators later deactivated the core reverser. Elimination of the core reverser enabled design changes to be made to help improve performance. A reduction in core nozzle length of approximately two feet was possible. This concept, defined as the Short Core Exhaust Nozzle, was evaluated in engine ground tests, including performance, acoustic, and endurance tests under the NASA/Lewis Engine Component Improvement Program. The test results verified the performance predictions from scale model tests. The Short Core Exhaust Nozzle provides an internal cruise SFC reduction of 0.9% without an increase in engine noise. The nozzle hardware successfully completed 1000 flight cycles of endurance testing with no signs of distress.

Dusa, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS1994

A study of low emissions gas turbine combustions

Analytical studies have been conducted to determine the best methods of reducing NO(x) emissions from proposed civilian supersonic transports. Modifications to the gas turbine engine combustors and the use of additives were both explored. It was found that combustors which operated very fuel rich or lean appear to be able to meet future emissions standards. Ammonia additives were also effective in removing NO(x), but residual ammonia remained a problem. Studies of a novel combustor which reduces emissions and improves performance were initiated. In a related topic, a study was begun on the feasibility of using supersonic aircraft to obtain atmospheric samples. The effects of shock heating and compression on sample integrity were modeled. Certain chemical species, including NO2, HNO3, and ClONO2 were found to undergo changes to their composition after they passed through shock waves at Mach 2. The use of detonation waves to enhance mixing and combustion in supersonic airflows was also investigated. This research is important to the use of airbreathing propulsion to obtain orbital speeds and access to space. Both steady and pulsed detonation waves were shown to improve engine performance.

Adelman, Henry G.↗

NASA NTRS2009

NASA Composite Materials Development: Lessons Learned and Future Challenges

Composite materials have emerged as the materials of choice for increasing the performance and reducing the weight and cost of military, general aviation, and transport aircraft and space launch vehicles. Major advancements have been made in the ability to design, fabricate, and analyze large complex aerospace structures. The recent efforts by Boeing and Airbus to incorporate composite into primary load carrying structures of large commercial transports and to certify the airworthiness of these structures is evidence of the significant advancements made in understanding and use of these materials in real world aircraft. NASA has been engaged in research on composites since the late 1960 s and has worked to address many development issues with these materials in an effort to ensure safety, improve performance, and improve affordability of air travel for the public good. This research has ranged from synthesis of advanced resin chemistries to development of mathematical analyses tools to reliably predict the response of built-up structures under combined load conditions. The lessons learned from this research are highlighted with specific examples to illustrate the problems encountered and solutions to these problems. Examples include specific technologies related to environmental effects, processing science, fabrication technologies, nondestructive inspection, damage tolerance, micromechanics, structural mechanics, and residual life prediction. The current state of the technology is reviewed and key issues requiring additional research identified. Also, grand challenges to be solved for expanded use of composites in aero structures are identified.

Tenney, Darrel R.↗