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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 775 records · Page 43
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Assessing potential induced radioactivity in materials processed with X-ray energy above 5 MeV: Assessment protocols and practical experience

In accordance with ISO11137-1 section 5.1.2, ‘the potential for induced radioactivity in product shall be assessed’. This article describes how compliance to this requirement may be achieved using qualified test methods. Materials of consideration are conceptually discussed. Results of testing conducted on products processed with a 7.5 MeV X-ray irradiation process are provided. As X-ray becomes more widely used in healthcare sterilization, having standard assessment protocols for activation coupled with a shared database of material test results will benefit all healthcare product manufacturers seeking to avail of this innovative technology.

Kroc, Thomas K.↗
DOE OSTI2011

Enhanced in-pile instrumentation at the advanced test reactor

Many of the sensors deployed at materials and test reactors cannot withstand the high flux/high temperature test conditions often requested by users at U.S. test reactors, such as the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory. To address this issue, an instrumentation development effort was initiated as part of the ATR National Scientific User Facility in 2007 to support the development and deployment of enhanced in-pile sensors. This paper reports results from this effort. Specifically, this paper identifies the types of sensors currently available to support in-pile irradiations and those sensors currently available to ATR users. Accomplishments from new sensor technology deployment efforts are highlighted by describing new temperature and thermal conductivity sensors now available to ATR users. Efforts to deploy enhanced in-pile sensors for detecting elongation and realtime flux detectors are also reported, and recently-initiated research to evaluate the viability of advanced technologies to provide enhanced accuracy for measuring key parameters during irradiation testing are noted. (authors)

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Enhanced In-Pile Instrumentation at the Advanced Test Reactor

Many of the sensors deployed at materials and test reactors cannot withstand the high flux/high temperature test conditions often requested by users at U.S. test reactors, such as the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL). To address this issue, an instrumentation development effort was initiated as part of the ATR National Scientific User Facility (NSUF) in 2007 to support the development and deployment of enhanced in-pile sensors. This paper reports results from this effort. Specifically, this paper identifies the types of sensors currently available to support in-pile irradiations and those sensors currently available to ATR users. Accomplishments from new sensor technology deployment efforts are highlighted by describing new temperature and thermal conductivity sensors now available to ATR users. Efforts to deploy enhanced in-pile sensors for detecting elongation and real-time flux detectors are also reported, and recently-initiated research to evaluate the viability of advanced technologies to provide enhanced accuracy for measuring key parameters during irradiation testing are noted.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2012

Enhanced In-Pile Instrumentation at the Advanced Test Reactor

Many of the sensors deployed at materials and test reactors cannot withstand the high flux/high temperature test conditions often requested by users at U.S. test reactors, such as the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) at the Idaho National Laboratory. To address this issue, an instrumentation development effort was initiated as part of the ATR National Scientific User Facility in 2007 to support the development and deployment of enhanced in-pile sensors. This paper provides an update on this effort. Specifically, this paper identifies the types of sensors currently available to support in-pile irradiations and those sensors currently available to ATR users. Accomplishments from new sensor technology deployment efforts are highlighted by describing new temperature and thermal conductivity sensors now available to ATR users. Efforts to deploy enhanced in-pile sensors for detecting elongation and real-time flux detectors are also reported, and recently-initiated research to evaluate the viability of advanced technologies to provide enhanced accuracy for measuring key parameters during irradiation testing are noted.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2021

Deep Learning Predicts Stress–Strain Relations of Granular Materials Based on Triaxial Testing Data

This study presents an AI-based constitutive modelling framework wherein the prediction model directly learns from triaxial testing data by combining discrete element modelling (DEM) and deep learning. A constitutive learning strategy is proposed based on the generally accepted frame-indifference assumption in constructing material constitutive models. The low-dimensional principal stress-strain sequence pairs, measured from discrete element modelling of triaxial testing, are used to train recurrent neural networks, and then the predicted principal stress sequence is augmented to other high-dimensional or general stress tensor via coordinate transformation. Through detailed hyperparameter investigations, it is found that long short-term memory (LSTM) and gated recurrent unit (GRU) networks have similar prediction performance in constitutive modelling problems, and both satisfactorily predict the stress responses of granular materials subjected to a given unseen strain path. Furthermore, the unique merits and ongoing challenges of data-driven constitutive models for granular materials are discussed.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Material Control & Accounting Statistical Test Modeling Supporting the Low Enriched Fuel Fabrication Facility Using F3M and MAPIT

This report covers the application of the TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel fabrication facility material control & accounting (MC&A) modeling capability developed by Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) under the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Materials Protection, Accounting, and Control Technologies (MPACT) program to support the development of MC&A approaches for the Low Enriched Fuel Fabrication Facility (LEFFF) at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Physical model assisted probability of detection in nondestructive evaluation

Nondestructive evaluation is used widely in many engineering and industrial areas to detect defects or flaws such as cracks inside parts or structures during manufacturing or for products in service. The standard statistical model is a simple empirical linear regression between the (possibly transformed) signal response variables and the (possibly transformed) explanatory variables. For some applications, such a simple empirical approach is inadequate. An important alternative approach is to use knowledge of the physics of the inspection process to provide information about the underlying relationship between the response and explanatory variables. Use of such knowledge can greatly increase the power and accuracy of the statistical analysis and enable, when needed, proper extrapolation outside the range of the observed explanatory variables. This paper describes a set of physical model-assisted analyses to study the capability of two different ultrasonic testing inspection methods to detect synthetic hard alpha inclusion and flat-bottom hole defects in a titanium forging disk.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2012

Micromechanical tests of ion irradiated materials: Atomistic simulations and experiments

We investigated irradiation effects on Fe-Cr binary alloys by using a nano-indentation combined with a continuous stiffness measurement (CSM) technique. We modeled the nano-indentation test by using a finite element method. We could extract the intrinsic hardness and the yield stress of an irradiation hardened region by using a so-called inverse method. SiC micro-pillars of various sizes were fabricated by mask and inductively coupled plasma etching technique and compressed by using flat punch nano-indentation. Compressive fracture strength showed a clear specimen size effect. Brittle-to-Ductile transition at room temperature was observed as the specimen size decreases. The effect of irradiation on the fracture strength of SiC micro-pillars was evaluated by performing ion irradiation with Si ions. We have performed molecular dynamics simulations of nano-indentation and nano-pillar compression tests. Radiation effect was observed which is found to be due to the interaction of dislocations nucleated by spherical indenter with pre-existing radiation defects (voids). These atomistic simulations are expected to significantly contribute to the investigation of the fundamental deformation mechanism of small scale irradiated materials. (authors)

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2012

Tellurite glass as a waste form for a simulated mixed chloride waste stream: Candidate materials selection and initial testing

Tellurite glasses have been researched widely for the last 60 years since they were first introduced by Stanworth. These glasses have been primarily used in research applications as glass host materials for lasers and as non-linear optical materials, though many other uses exist in the literature. Tellurite glasses have long since been used as hosts for various, and even sometimes mixed, halogens (i.e., multiple chlorides or even chlorides and iodides). Thus, it was reasonable to expect that these types of glasses could be used as a waste form to immobilize a combination of mixed chlorides present in the electrochemical separations process involved with fuel separations and processing from nuclear reactors. Many of the properties related to waste forms (e.g., chemical durability, maximum chloride loading) for these materials are unknown and thus, in this study, several different types of tellurite glasses were made and their properties studied to determine if such a candidate waste form could be fabricated with these glasses. One of the formulations studied was a lead tellurite glass, which had a low sodium release and is on-par with high-level waste silicate glass waste forms.

electrochemical↗
DOE OSTI2013

Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility: Addressing advanced nuclear materials research

The Advanced Test Reactor National Scientific User Facility (ATR NSUF), based at the Idaho National Laboratory in the United States, is supporting Department of Energy and industry research efforts to ensure the properties of materials in light water reactors are well understood. The ATR NSUF is providing this support through three main efforts: establishing unique infrastructure necessary to conduct research on highly radioactive materials, conducting research in conjunction with industry partners on life extension relevant topics, and providing training courses to encourage more U.S. researchers to understand and address LWR materials issues. In 2010 and 2011, several advanced instruments with capability focused on resolving nuclear material performance issues through analysis on the micro (10-6 m) to atomic (10-10 m) scales were installed primarily at the Center for Advanced Energy Studies (CAES) in Idaho Falls, Idaho. These instruments included a local electrode atom probe (LEAP), a field-emission gun scanning transmission electron microscope (FEG-STEM), a focused ion beam (FIB) system, a Raman spectrometer, and an nanoindentor/atomic force microscope. Ongoing capability enhancements intended to support industry efforts include completion of two shielded, irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) test loops, the first of which will come online in early calendar year 2013, a pressurized and controlled chemistry water loop for the ATR center flux trap, and a dedicated facility intended to house post irradiation examination equipment. In addition to capability enhancements at the main site in Idaho, the ATR NSUF also welcomed two new partner facilities in 2011 and two new partner facilities in 2012; the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) and associated hot cells and the University California Berkeley capabilities in irradiated materials analysis were added in 2011. In 2012, Purdue University’s Interaction of Materials with Particles and Components Testing (IMPACT) facility and the Pacific Northwest Nuclear Laboratory (PNNL) Radiochemistry Processing Laboratory (RPL) and PIE facilities were added. The ATR NSUF annually hosts a weeklong event called User’s Week in which students and faculty from universities as well as other interested parties from regulatory agencies or industry convene in Idaho Falls, Idaho to see presentations from ATR NSUF staff as well as select researchers from the materials research field. User’s week provides an overview of current materials research topics of interest and an opportunity for young researchers to understand the process of performing work through ATR NSUF. Additionally, to increase the number of researchers engaged in LWR materials issues, a series of workshops are in progress to introduce research staff to stress corrosion cracking, zirconium alloy degradation, and uranium dioxide degradation during in-reactor use.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2011

Los Alamos National Laboratory

The purpose of the briefing is to describe general laboratory technical capabilities to be used for various groups such as military cadets or university faculty/students and post docs to recruit into a variety of Los Alamos programs. Discussed are: (1) development and application of high leverage science to enable effeictive, predictable and reliability outcomes; (2) deter, detect, characterize, reverse and prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their use by adversaries and terrorists; (3) modeling and simulation to define complex processes, predict outcomes, and develop effective prevention, response, and remediation strategies; (4) energetic materials and hydrodynamic testing to develop materials for precise delivery of focused energy; (5) materials cience focused on fundamental understanding of materials behaviors, their quantum-molecular properties, and their dynamic responses, and (6) bio-science to rapidly detect and characterize pathogens, to develop vaccines and prophylactic remedies, and to develop attribution forensics.

98 NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT, SAFEGUARDS, AND PHYSICAL P↗
DOE OSTI2023

Low thermal inertia thermal barrier coatings for spark ignition engines: An experimental study

Application of thermal barrier coatings in spark ignition engines have historically been avoided due to the knock penalty associated with higher surface temperatures induced by the ceramic layer. However, advances in low thermal inertia coatings (i.e. temperature swing coatings) that combine low thermal conductivity with low volumetric heat capacity can prevent excessively high surface temperatures during the intake stroke and reduce or avoid knock while improving performance and efficiency. In this study, a novel coating material was tested in a low compression ratio spark ignition engine to evaluate the performance of an advanced low thermal inertia coating during steady and cold-start conditions. A total of four pistons with this novel material was tested, with an additional piston coated with gadolinium zirconate. Spark timing sweeps demonstrated a maximum 0.8% relative thermal efficiency gain with a thin coating of the novel material. Here, the novel material coated above 200-microns showed a deterioration in performance and efficiency due to charge heating increasing knock propensity. Cold-start tests demonstrated that charge heating is beneficial for reducing unburned hydrocarbons and particle matter emissions.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Enhanced work hardening from oxygen-stabilized ω precipitates in an aged metastable β Ti-Nb alloy

High levels of oxygen in solid solution in Ti alloys are considered detrimental to mechanical properties because of embrittlement concerns. In metastable β titanium alloys, the formation of isothermal ω precipitates is also known to cause severe embrittlement and ductility reduction. However, oxygen has been shown to partition to the ω phase during ageing, and this partitioning behavior may potentially impact ω’s mechanical contribution. Using micropillar compression, we compared the deformation behavior of Ti-20Nb (at. %) with oxygen-stabilized ω precipitates to the behavior of oxygen-free specimens. The oxygen-stabilized microstructures showed increased compressive yield strength and enhanced work hardening behavior compared to oxygen-free specimens. In the absence of oxygen, the compressed pillars showed slip band formation and catastrophic failure, and transmission electron microscopy imaging revealed that ω precipitates were sheared within the continuous deformation channels resulting in slip localization. In contrast, oxygen-stabilized ω precipitates were harder to shear and the formation of continuous deformation channels was suppressed during compression, leading to improved work hardening behavior up to 15% strain. Furthermore, this counter-intuitive role of oxygen may offer design strategies to address the significant embrittlement and loss of ductility observed for ω-strengthened β Ti alloys without oxygen and avenues to expand the use of β Ti alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2010

Estimating Parameters of Delaminations in GRP Pipes Using Thermal NDE and ANN

Thermographic Non-Destructive Evaluation (TNDE) is one of the techniques that have been widely used over the decades to evaluate the integrity of structures. To meet the increased demand for robust and effective inspection in complex TNDE tasks, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) have been recently deployed in many problems. The aim of the paper is to adopt an inverse technique using ANNs in the field of TNDE to estimate various parameters of delamination in Glass Reinforced Polymer (GRP) pipes by supplying thermal contrast evolution data as input. A Radial Basis Network (RBN) is employed with 80 input and 3 output neurons. The estimation capability of the network was evaluated with the data obtained from numerical simulations. The overall absolute errors show that the estimation capability of ANN is good.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2015

Comparison of measured and computed radial trajectories of plasma focus devices UMDPF1 and UMDPF0

In published literature, there has been scant data on radial trajectory of the plasma focus and no comparison of computed with measured radial trajectory. This paper provides the first such comparative study. We compute the trajectories of the inward-moving radial shock and magnetic piston of UMDPF1 plasma focus and compare these with measured data taken from a streak photograph. The comparison shows agreement with the measured radial trajectory in terms of average speeds and general shape of trajectory. This paper also presents the measured trajectory of the radially compressing piston in another machine, the UMDPF0 plasma focus, confirming that the computed radial trajectory also shows similar general agreement. Features of divergence between the computed and measured trajectories, towards the end of the radial compression, are discussed. From the measured radial trajectories, an inference is made that the neutron yield mechanism could not be thermonuclear. A second inference is made regarding the speeds of axial post-pinch shocks, which are recently considered as a useful tool for damage testing of fusion-related wall materials.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2011

Application of the Split Hopkinson Resonant Bar Test for Seismic Property Characterization of Hydrate-bearing Sand Undergoing Water Saturation

Conventional resonant bar tests allow the measurement of seismic properties of rocks and sediments at low frequencies (several kilohertz). However, the tests require a long, slender sample which is often difficult to obtain from the deep subsurface and weak and fractured formations. We present an alternative low-frequency measurement technique to the conventional resonant bar tests. This technique involves a jacketed core sample placed between a pair of long, metal extension rods with attached seismic source and receiver—the same geometry as the split Hopkinson pressure bar test for large-strain, dynamic impact experiments. Because of the added length and mass to the sample, the resonance frequency of the entire system can be lowered significantly, compared to the sample alone. The proposed “Split Hopkinson Resonant Bar (SHRB)” test is applied in two steps. In the first step, extension and torsion-mode resonance frequencies and attenuation of the system are measured. Then, numerical inversions for the compressional and shear wave velocities and attenuation are performed. We initially applied the SHRB test to synthetic materials (plastics) for testing its accuracy, then used it for measuring the seismic velocities and attenuation of a rock core containing supercritical CO 2 , and a sediment core while methane hydrate formed in the pore space.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗