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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 793 records · Page 44
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

A comparison of EBSD based strain indicators for the study of Fe-3Si steel subjected to cyclic loading

The current work aims at proposing an EBSD-based indicator for fatigue damage of a Fe-3Si steel. At the same time direct observation of dislocation structures is provided by electron channelling contrast imaging (ECCI). The investigation consisted in processing the EBSD data from patterns collected on specimen subjected to low cycle fatigue. It revealed two different regimes depending on the applied total strain variation which is explained by the identification of the dislocations structures and their evolution. At low strain variation, strain accommodation occurs by planar glide of dislocations uniformly distributed throughout the grains. No misorientation evolution is observed. At higher strain variation, the vein-channel structure is observed within the grain and the wall-channel structure in the vicinity of grain boundaries. The misorientation between these two dislocation structures is evaluated at about 0.7° which is detected by the EBSD analyses and explains the increase of the different misorientation based criteria. The EBSD study enables also the prediction of crack initiation mode. Finally, this study points out the limits of the EBSD technique as no misorientation evolution is detected at small strain variation. Indeed, the lattice distortion is too weak to be detected by conventional EBSD. - Highlights: • Microstructure investigation of the fatigue behaviour of an iron-silicon steel • Use of cECCI to investigate the fatigue dislocations structures • Characterisation of local plastic accommodation through EBSD misorientation criteria.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

Precipitation trends determine future occurrences of compound hot–dry events

Compound hot–dry events—co-occurring hot and dry extremes—frequently cause damages to human and natural systems, often exceeding separate impacts from heatwaves and droughts. Strong increases in the occurrence of these events are projected with warming, but associated uncertainties remain large and poorly understood. Here, using climate model large ensembles, we show that mean precipitation trends exclusively modulate the future occurrence of compound hot–dry events over land. This occurs because local warming will be large enough that future droughts will always coincide with at least moderately hot extremes, even in a 2°C warmer world. By contrast, precipitation trends are often weak and equivocal in sign, depending on the model, region and internal climate variability. Therefore, constraining regional precipitation trends will also constrain future compound hot–dry events. These results help to assess future frequencies of other compound extremes characterized by strongly different trends in the drivers.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Structural refinement of Pbnm-type perovskite films from analysis of half-order diffraction peaks

Engineering structural modifications of epitaxial perovskite thin films is an effective route to induce new functionalities or enhance existing properties due to the close relation of the electronic ground state to the local bonding environment. As such, there is a necessity to systematically refine and precisely quantify these structural displacements, particularly those of the oxygen octahedra, which is a challenge due to the weak scattering factor of oxygen and the small diffraction volume of thin films. In this paper, we present an optimized algorithm to refine the octahedral rotation angles using specific unit-cell-doubling half-order diffraction peaks for the a - a - c + Pbnm structure. The oxygen and A-site positions can be obtained by minimizing the squared-error between calculated and experimentally determined peak intensities using the (1/2 1/2 3/2) and (1/2 1/2 5/2) reflections to determine the rotation angle α about in-plane axes and the (1/2 5/2 1), (1/2 3/2 1), and (1/2 3/2 2) reflections to determine the rotation angle γ about the out-of-plane axis, whereas the convoluting A-site displacements associated with the octahedral rotation pattern can be determined using (1 1 1/2) and (1/2 1/2 1/2) reflections to independently determine A-site positions. The validity of the approach is confirmed by applying the refinement procedure to determine the A-site and oxygen displacements in a NdGaO 3 single crystal. Finally, the ability to refine both the oxygen and A-site displacements relative to the undistorted perovskite structure enables a deeper understanding of how structural modifications alter functionality properties in epitaxial films exhibiting this commonly occurring crystal structure.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2016

XY antiferromagnetic ground state in the effective S = 1 2 pyrochlore Yb 2 Ge 2 O 7

We report neutron scattering and muon spin relaxation measurements (μSR) on the pyrochlore antiferromagnet Yb 2 Ge 2 O 7 . Inelastic neutron scattering was used to probe the transitions between crystal electric field levels, allowing us to determine the eigenvalues and eigenvectors appropriate to the J=$\frac{7}{2}$ Yb 3+ ion in this environment. The crystal electric field ground state doublet in Yb 2 Ge 2 O 7 corresponds primarily to m J =± $\frac{1}{2}$ with local XY anisotropy, consistent with an S eff = 12 description for the Yb moments. $μ$SR measurements reveal the presence of an ordering transition at T N =0.57 K with persistent weak dynamics in the ordered state. Finally, we present neutron diffraction measurements that reveal a clear phase transition to the $k$=(000)$Γ_5$ ground state with an ordered magnetic moment of 0.3(1)$μ_B$ per Yb ion. We compare and contrast this phenomenology with the low-temperature behavior of Yb 2 Ti 2 O 7 and Er 2 Ti 2 O 7 , the prototypical S eff = $\frac{1}{2}$ XY pyrochlore magnets.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1973

Rearward-facing steps in laminar supersonic flows with and without suction.

It was found in the experimental study conducted that, for both suction and no-suction cases, an increase in the step height caused a sharp drop in the initial heating rates which then gradually recovered to less or near the attached-flow values. The height of the step controlled the heating rates at the step base. Mass suction from the separated area increased the local heating rates, the relative increase being most significant immediately behind the step. In general, however, the effect of mass suction on heat-transfer at all laminar flows was relatively weak.

Jakubowski, A. K.↗
NASA NTRS1989

ULF waves at Comets Halley and Giacobini-Zinner - Comparison with theory

Because the Doppler shift occurring in ion-cyclotron resonance is equal and opposite to that associated with the flow of the solar wind plasma past the observer, one should be able to monitor the amplitude of waves due to the cyclotron resonant instability by examining the amplitude of waves near the gyrofrequency of the respective ions as measured in the spacecraft frame. This expectation has been checked by using one-dimensional electromagnetic hybrid simulations of two ion pickup. This simplifies the comparison of theoretical predictions of wave growth with the observations. Distant from both comets the wave amplitudes are very weak. As the comet is approached the wave amplitude grows. These observations agree qualitatively with the simulations which predict amplitudes that depend on the properties of the injected beams and the local injection rate.

Le, G.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Coronal density and temperature structure from coordinated observations associated with the total solar eclipse of 1988 March 18

This paper explores and compares diagnostics for temperature and density within large-scale structures of the inner corona based on cospatial and cotemporal spectrophotometric observations made at the time of the total solar eclipse of 1988 March 17/18. In the analysis a determination of plasma temperature T can be derived unambiguously from the intensity ratios Fe XIV/XUV or Fe XIV/Fe X since all the emission lines come from the ionized state of Fe and the ratios are only weakly dependent on density. These temperatures and the densities found in well-defined large-scale coronal structures are discussed. The emission-line temperature is found to be high (local maxima) in the coronal structures with enhanced white-light emission and associated with new cycle high-latitude magnetic fields separated from the old cycle polar field of opposite polarity. Also the average of the ratio of scale-height temperature/temperature over the entire range of position angle is roughly unity although the ratio is higher than unity (1.3-1.6) in the three most prominent streamers.

Guhathakurta, M.↗
NASA NTRS2002

A Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin Method for Euler-Bernoulli Beam Problems

An accurate and yet simple Meshless Local Petrov-Galerkin (MLPG) formulation for analyzing beam problems is presented. In the formulation, simple weight functions are chosen as test functions. The use of these functions shows that the weak form can be integrated with conventional Gaussian integration. The MLPG method was evaluated by applying the formulation to a variety of patch test and thin beam problems. The formulation successfully reproduced exact solutions to machine accuracy when test functions with C2 continuity and an appropriate order of basis functions are used.

Raju, I. S.↗
NASA NTRS2012

Global CO2 Distributions over Land from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT)

January 2009 saw the successful launch of the first space-based mission specifically designed for measuring greenhouse gases, the Japanese Greenhouse gases Observing SATellite (GOSAT). We present global land maps (Level 3 data) of column-averaged CO2 concentrations (X(sub CO2)) derived using observations from the GOSAT ACOS retrieval algorithm, for July through December 2009. The applied geostatistical mapping approach makes it possible to generate maps at high spatial and temporal resolutions that include uncertainty measures and that are derived directly from the Level 2 observations, without invoking an atmospheric transport model or estimates of CO2 uptake and emissions. As such, they are particularly well suited for comparison studies. Results show that the Level 3 maps for July to December 2009 on a lO x 1.250 grid, at six-day resolution capture much of the synoptic scale and regional variability of X(sub CO2), in addition to its overall seasonality. The uncertainty estimates, which reflect local data coverage, X(sub CO2) variability, and retrieval errors, indicate that the Southern latitudes are relatively well-constrained, while the Sahara Desert and the high Northern latitudes are weakly-constrained. A probabilistic comparison to the PCTM/GEOS-5/CASA-GFED model reveals that the most statistically significant discrepancies occur in South America in July and August, and central Asia in September to December. While still preliminary, these results illustrate the usefulness of a high spatiotemporal resolution, data-driven Level 3 data product for direct interpretation and comparison of satellite observations of highly dynamic parameters such as atmospheric CO2.

Hammerling, Dorit M.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Isotropy constraints on powerful sources of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays at 10{sup 19} eV

Anisotropy in the arrival direction distribution of ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) produced by powerful sources is numerically evaluated. We show that nondetection of significant anisotropy at ≈10{sup 19} eV at present and in future experiments imposes general upper limits on UHECR proton luminosity of steady sources as a function of source redshifts. The upper limits constrain the existence of typical steady 10{sup 19} eV UHECR sources in the local universe and limit their local density to ≳10{sup −3} Mpc {sup −3}, assuming average intergalactic magnetic fields less than 10{sup −9} G. This isotropy, being stronger than that measured at the highest energies, may indicate the transient generation of UHECRs. Our calculations are applied for extreme high-frequency-peaked BL Lacertae objects 1ES 0229+200, 1ES 1101–232, and 1ES 0347–121, to test the UHECR-induced cascade model, in which beamed UHECR protons generate TeV radiation in transit from sources. While the magnetic-field structure surrounding the sources affects the required absolute cosmic-ray luminosity of the blazars, the magnetic-field structure surrounding the Milky Way directly affects the observed anisotropy. If these magnetic fields are weak enough, significant UHECR anisotropy from these blazars is detectable by the Pierre Auger Observatory unless the maximum energy of UHECR protons is below 10{sup 19} eV. Furthermore, if these are the sources of UHECRs above 10{sup 19} eV, a local magnetic structure surrounding the Milky Way is needed to explain the observed isotropy at ∼10{sup 19} eV, which may be incompatible with large magnetic structures around all galaxies for the UHECR-induced cascade model to work with reasonable jet powers.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
NASA NTRS1995

Simulated interannual variability of the Greenland Sea deep water formation and its connection to surface forcing

A fully prognostic Arctic ice-ocean model is used to study the interannual variability of deepwater formation in the Greenland Sea Gyre based on the simulations for the Arctic ice-ocean system for the period 1955 and 1960 - 1985. The model uses monthly climatology for thermodynamic forcing components (such as air temperature and cloudiness), together with constant annual net precipitation and river runoff. The daily wind forcing is derived from analyzed sea level air pressures from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). In summary, the model shows that the occurence of deep convection in the Greenland Sea Gyre is controlled by the extensive Fram Strait ice export and/or local wind conditions in the Greenland Sea. In the latter case the weakening of the local wind curl allows the Polar Front to move eastward. The movement of the Polar Front causes adverse ice conditions, often together with much larger than normal ice export from the Arctic, such as in 1968, which can block convection in the gyre. The density difference between upper and lower layers is investigated as an indication of water mass formation through convection, occurring as strong diffusion in the model. The model-simulated density difference between the average top 100 m and deep levels reveals that the period 1960 - 1985 had only a few distinct years with weak stratification, and, especially, the model predicts no deep convection since the nid-1970s. The common factor for the years of the weakest decrease of the model-predicted heat content of the upper 2000 m which can, to a high degree, be explained by local heat loss.

Haekkinen, Sirpa↗
DOE OSTI2019

Interaction-induced long-time tail of a nonlinear ac absorption in a localized system: A relay-race mechanism

In conventional solid-state electron systems with localized states the ac absorption is linear since the inelastic widths of the energy levels exceed the drive amplitude. The situation is different in the systems of cold atoms in which phonons are absent. Then even a weak drive leads to saturation of the ac absorption within resonant pairs, so that the population of levels oscillates with the Rabi frequency. We demonstrate that, in the presence of weak dipole-dipole interactions, the response of the system acquires a long-time component which oscillates with frequency much smaller than the Rabi frequency. The underlying mechanism of this long-time behavior is that the fields created in the course of the Rabi oscillations serve as resonant drive for the second-generation Rabi oscillations in pairs with level spacings close to the Rabi frequency. Here, the frequency of the second-generation oscillations is of the order of interaction strength. As these oscillations develop, they can initiate the next-generation Rabi oscillations, and so on. Formation of the second-generation oscillations is facilitated by the nondiagonal component of the dipole-dipole interaction tensor.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
NASA NTRS1983

Orbiting chains and rings

Two very different, highly flexible, space structures proposed during the last decade which involve analytical solution of certain partial differential equations are discussed. The first structure is an array, or hanging chain of aluminum beads which would serve as a convenient communicator if, under the influence of the Earth's gravity gradient, it assumes a local vertical orientation as it circles the Earth. Two passive schemes have been proposed for damping the rigid modes: twist the wire at the ends to provide non-zero moment of inertia about the vertical, thereby inducing relative motion of the two tips during rigid pitch or roll, and thus exercising a damper; and introduce weak lossy springs between the end sections and the main section; thereby providing linear coupling between the springs and all the in-plane (pitch) modes. The second structure is a complete ring of satellites cabled together at synchronous altitude. By a slight increase in altitude, the cable is in tension. This configuration is, however, unstable, and an active feedback control scheme is required to stabilize it. A possible scheme involves local cable length adjustment based on measurement of local altitude and shape variations and their rates.

Breakwell, J. V.↗
DOE OSTI2025

Signature of magnetoelectric coupling driven finite momentum pairing in 3D ising superconductor

The finite momentum superconducting paring states (FMPs) represent a forefront of condensed matter physics. Here we report experimental evidence of FMP in a locally noncentrosymmetric bulk superconductor 4H b -TaS 2 . Using hard X-ray diffraction and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we reveal unusual 2D ferro-rotational charge density wave (CDW) and weak interlayer hopping in 4H b -TaS 2 . The superconducting upper critical field, H c2 , linearly increases via decreasing temperature, and well exceeds the Pauli limit, suggesting the dominant orbital pair-breaking mechanism. Remarkably, we observed evidence of field-induced superconductivity-to-superconductivity transition that breaks continuous rotational symmetry of the s-wave uniform pairing in the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer theory down to the six-fold rotation symmetry. Ginzburg-Landau free energy analysis shows that magnetoelectric coupling, induced by 2D ferro-rotational CDW, stabilizes FMP that provides an explanation of the lowering rotation symmetry. Our results provide a new understanding of unconventional superconducting behaviors of the bulk quantum heterostructure 4H b -TaS 2 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2017

Atomic and electronic basis for the serrations of refractory high-entropy alloys

Refractory high-entropy alloys present attractive mechanical properties, i.e., high yield strength and fracture toughness, making them potential candidates for structural applications. Understandings of atomic and electronic interactions are important to reveal the origins for the formation of high-entropy alloys and their structure-dominated mechanical properties, thus enabling the development of a predictive approach for rapidly designing advanced materials. Here, we report the atomic and electronic basis for the valence-electron-concentration-categorized principles and the observed serration behavior in high-entropy alloys and high-entropy metallic glass, including MoNbTaW, MoNbVW, MoTaVW, HfNbTiZr, and Vitreloy-1 MG (Zr 41 Ti 14 Cu 12.5 Ni 10 Be 22.5 ). We find that the yield strengths of high-entropy alloys and high-entropy metallic glass are a power-law function of the electron-work function, which is dominated by local atomic arrangements. Further, a reliance on the bonding-charge density provides a groundbreaking insight into the nature of loosely bonded spots in materials. The presence of strongly bonded clusters and weakly bonded glue atoms imply a serrated deformation of high-entropy alloys, resulting in intermittent avalanches of defects movement.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Theory of the spatial transfer of interface-nucleated changes of dynamical constraints and its consequences in glass-forming films

We formulate a new theory for how caging constraints in glass-forming liquids at a surface or interface are modified and then spatially transferred, in a layer-by-layer bootstrapped manner, into the film interior in the context of the dynamic free energy concept of the Nonlinear Langevin Equation (NLE) theory approach. The dynamic free energy at any mean location (cage center) involves contributions from two adjacent layers where confining forces are not the same. At the most fundamental level of the theory, the caging component of the dynamic free energy varies essentially exponentially with distance from the interface, saturating deep enough into the film with a correlation length of modest size and weak sensitivity to the thermodynamic state. This imparts a roughly exponential spatial variation of all the key features of the dynamic free energy required to compute gradients of dynamical quantities including the localization length, jump distance, cage barrier, collective elastic barrier, and alpha relaxation time. The spatial gradients are entirely of dynamical, not structural or thermodynamic, origin. The theory is implemented for the hard sphere fluid and diverse interfaces which can be a vapor, a rough pinned particle solid, a vibrating (softened) pinned particle solid, or a smooth hard wall. Their basic description at the level of the spatially heterogeneous dynamic free energy is identical, with the crucial difference arising from the first layer where dynamical constraints can be weakened, softened, or hardly changed depending on the specific interface. Numerical calculations establish the spatial dependence and fluid volume fraction sensitivity of the key dynamical property gradients for five different model interfaces. A comparison of the theoretical predictions for the dynamic localization length and glassy modulus with simulations and experiments for systems with a vapor interface reveals good agreement. Finally, the present advance sets the stage for using the Elastically Collective NLE theory to make quantitative predictions for the alpha relaxation time gradient, decoupling phenomena, T g gradient, and many film-averaged properties of both model and experimental (colloids, molecules, and polymers) systems with diverse interfaces and chemical makeup.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Interplay of charge density wave states and strain at the surface of CeTe 2

in this work we use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to study charge density wave (CDW) states in the rare-earth ditelluride, CeTe 2 . Our STM measurements surprisingly detect a unidirectional CDW with q ~ 0.28 a * , which differs from previous experimental and first-principles studies of the rare-earth ditellurides, and which is very close to what is found in experimental measurements of the related rare-earth tritellurides. Furthermore, in the vicinity of an extended subsurface defect, we find spatially-separated as well as spatially-coexisting unidirectional CDWs at the surface of CeTe 2 . We quantify the nanoscale strain and its variations induced by this defect, and establish a correlation between local lattice strain and the locally-established CDW states; this suggests that lattice strain plays an important role in determining the specific characteristics of the established CDW state. Our measurements probe the fundamental properties of a weakly-bound two-dimensional Te sheet, which experimental and theoretical work has previously established as the fundamental component driving much of the essential physics in both the rare-earth di- and tritelluride compounds.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗