Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Integral Benchmarks”

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.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 883 records · Page 49

Modeling of standing wave RF cavities for tracking through multi-pass energy recovery linac

Short bunches, high current and multiple linac pass are all characteristics of Energy Recovery Linacs (ERLs), which may result in collective effects. They in turn, may affect the beam, degrading its quality, or even yield to instabilities causing a beam loss. To study and mitigate these effects one needs a numerical simulation code, that can take into account both the collective effects, as well as, particular ERL features, such as a multi-turn design that does not reach a steady state or the multiple passages of the beam through Radio-Frequency (RF) cavities at different energies. CODAL [1], a code developed by SOLEIL in collaboration with IJCLab, enables such studies. It is a 6 dimensional (6D) tracking code applying 'kicks' based on the integration of the local Hamiltonian for each element of the lattice. It is also capable of simulating space charge, wakefields and coherent synchrotron radiation. However, to correctly take into account the ERL dynamics, an upgrade had to be made to include the effect of a standing wave RF cavity in 6D. In this paper, we will concentrate on the implementation and benchmarking (with DESY’s tracking code ASTRA [2]) of both the longitudinal and the transverse models (by J.B. Rosenzweig and L. Serafini [3]), which we use to carry out tracking of fully analytical 6D RF cavity.

Bogacz, A.↗

Benchmarking of massively parallel phase-field codes for directional solidification

We present a detailed benchmark comparing two state-of-the-art phase-field implementations for simulating alloy solidification under experimentally relevant conditions. The study investigates the directional solidification of Al-3wt%Cu under high-velocity solidification conditions and SCN-0.46wt% camphor under microgravity conditions from National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) DECLIC-DSI-R experiments. Both codes, one employing finite-difference discretization with uniform mesh and GPU-acceleration (GPU-PF) and the other one employing finite-element discretization with adaptive-mesh and CPU-parallelization (PRISMS-PF), solve the same quantitative phase-field formulation that incorporates an anti-trapping current for the solidification of dilute alloys. We evaluate the predictions of each code for dendritic morphology, primary spacing, and tip dynamics in both 2D and 3D, as well as their numerical convergence and computational performance. While existing benchmark problems have primarily focused on simplified or small-scale simulations, they do not reflect the computational and modeling challenges posed by employing experimentally relevant time and length scales. Our results provide a practical framework for assessing phase-field code performance as well as validating and facilitating their application in integrated computational materials engineering (ICME) workflows that require integration with realistic experimental data.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

On the room-temperature phase diagram of high pressure hydrogen: An ab initio molecular dynamics perspective and a diffusion Monte Carlo study

The finite-temperature phase diagram of hydrogen in the region of phase IV and its neighborhood was studied using the ab initio molecular dynamics (MD) and the ab initio path-integral molecular dynamics (PIMD). The electronic structures were analyzed using the density-functional theory (DFT), the random-phase approximation, and the diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) methods. Taking the state-of-the-art DMC results as benchmark, comparisons of the energy differences between structures generated from the MD and PIMD simulations, with molecular and dissociated hydrogens, respectively, in the weak molecular layers of phase IV, indicate that standard functionals in DFT tend to underestimate the dissociation barrier of the weak molecular layers in this mixed phase. Because of this underestimation, inclusion of the quantum nuclear effects (QNEs) in PIMD using electronic structures generated with these functionals leads to artificially dissociated hydrogen layers in phase IV and an error compensation between the neglect of QNEs and the deficiencies of these functionals in standard ab initio MD simulations exists. This analysis partly rationalizes why earlier ab initio MD simulations complement so well the experimental observations. The temperature and pressure dependencies for the stability of phase IV were also studied in the end and compared with earlier results.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Enhancing Kokkos with OpenACC

C++ template metaprogramming has emerged as a prominent approach for achieving performance portability in heterogeneous computing. Kokkos represents a notable paradigm in this domain, offering programmers a suite of high-level abstractions for generic programming while deferring much of the device-specific code generation and optimization to the compiler through template specializations. Kokkos furnishes a range of device-specific code specializations across multiple back ends, including CUDA and HIP. Diverging from conventional back ends, the OpenACC implementation presents a high-level, multicompiler, multidevice, and directive-based programming model. This paper presents recent advancements in the OpenACC back end for Kokkos (i.e., KokkACC) and focuses on its integration into the Kokkos ecosystem, exploration of automatic device selection capabilities to enhance productivity, and performance evaluation on modern hardware such as NVIDIA H100 GPUs. The study includes implementation details and a thorough performance assessment across various computational benchmarks, including minibenchmarks (AXPY and DOT product), miniapps (LULESH, MiniFE, and SNAP-LAMMPS), and a scientific kernel based on the lattice Boltzmann method.

Valero Lara, Pedro↗

Initial Investigations of the Criticality Safety Validation Basis for HA-LEU Transportation

Many proposed advanced nuclear energy systems require so called high-assay low enriched uranium (HALEU), which has a 235U enrichment >5 wt% and <20 wt%, where the current fleet of light water reactors (LWRs) utilize enrichments of 5 wt% or less. With few benchmark experiments in HA-LEU enrichment range, the interplay of the cross sections for multiple nuclei become important, especially for LEU experiments where 1H, 16O, 235U, 238U and others are applied simultaneously in the calculation of the integral keff response. With continuing evidence that nuclear data are tuned to reproduce expected keff values for selected criticality experiments, which likely do not include those with 20 wt% 235U, particular attention must be given to validation.This paper describes the impact of recent nuclear data changes on HA-LEU and provides a preliminary sensitivity/uncertainty-based assessment of the applicability of available of criticality experiments for the validation of licensing calculations for the transportation of small quantities of 20 wt% UF6.

Rearden, Bradley↗

A new metrics framework for quantifying and intercomparing atmospheric rivers in observations, reanalyses, and climate models

We present a new atmospheric river (AR) analysis and benchmarking tool, namely Atmospheric River Metrics Package (ARMP). It includes a suite of new AR metrics that are designed for quick analysis of AR characteristics via statistics in gridded climate datasets such as model output and reanalysis. This package can be used for climate model evaluation in comparison with reanalysis and observational products. Integrated metrics such as mean bias and spatial pattern correlation are efficient for diagnosing systematic AR biases in climate models. For example, the package identifies the fact that, in CMIP5 and CMIP6 (Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phases 5 and 6) models, AR tracks in the South Atlantic are positioned farther poleward compared to ERA5 reanalysis, while in the South Pacific, tracks are generally biased towards the Equator. For the landfalling AR peak season, we find that most climate models simulate a completely opposite seasonal cycle over western Africa. This tool can also be used for identifying and characterizing structural differences among different AR detectors (ARDTs). For example, ARs detected with the Mundhenk algorithm exhibit systematically larger size, width, and length compared to the TempestExtremes (TE) method. The AR metrics developed from this work can be routinely applied for model benchmarking and during the development cycle to trace performance evolution across model versions or generations and set objective targets for the improvement of models. They can also be used by operational centers to perform near-real-time climate and extreme event impact assessments as part of their forecast cycle.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Initial steady-state core simulation capability or thermal and pool-type molten salt reactors, coupling reactor physics, thermal-hydraulics, and evolving chemistry

This report presents the development and validation of an initial steady-state multiphysics capability for molten salt reactors (MSRs) under the Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling and Simulation (NEAMS) program in Fiscal Year 2025. The framework integrates neutronics, thermal-hydraulics, species transport, and thermochemistry to capture the coupled dynamics of liquid-fueled systems. Implementation and testing were performed on two representative designs: the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment (MSRE), a thermal-spectrum, channeled-flow reactor, and the Lotus Molten Salt Reactor (L-MSR), a fast-spectrum, pool-type reactor. The modeling suite employs Griffin for reactor physics and depletion, Pronghorn and SAM for thermal-hydraulics, Thermochimica for chemistry, and Saline for thermophysical properties, with benchmarking and validation carried out against historical MSRE data, experimental flow-loop measurements, and reference depletion calculations from Monte Carlo codes. The framework demonstrated the ability to reproduce key reactor behaviors including temperature feedback, reactivity losses, delayed neutron precursor transport, xenon poisoning, and redox potential evolution. The results confirm the feasibility and accuracy of the coupled models in predicting steady-state and selected transient MSR behaviors. This latter ones are used in this report as a proxy indicating that the steady-state models from which the transient starts are accurate. For MSRE, validation showed good agreement with pump start-up and natural circulation tests, while for the L-MSR, benchmarking confirmed hydraulic calibration and consistency of neutronics–thermal coupling. The tools also provided new insights into species transport, noble metal deposition, and salt solidification dynamics. On the Xenon transport front, the code is validated against the steady state Xenon poisoining measurement and showed good agreement with the experimental value. Identified areas for future work include advanced void transport modeling, three-dimensional simulations, improved alloy corrosion models, and tighter integration with high-fidelity Monte Carlo codes. These developments provide a foundation for high-fidelity MSR simulations that can support reactor design optimization, safety assessments, and long-term operational strategies.

42 - ENGINEERING↗

Toward an integrated platform for characterizing laser-driven, isochorically heated plasmas with 1 µm spatial resolution

Warm dense matter is a region of phase space that is of high interest to multiple scientific communities ranging from astrophysics to inertial confinement fusion. Further understanding of the conditions and properties of this complex state of matter necessitates experimental benchmarking of the current theoretical models. We discuss the development of an x-ray radiography platform designed to measure warm dense matter transport properties at large laser facilities such as the OMEGA Laser Facility. Our platform, Fresnel Diffractive Radiography, allows for high spatial resolution imaging of isochorically heated targets, resulting in notable diffractive effects at sharp density gradients that are influenced by transport properties such as thermal conductivity. We discuss initial results, highlighting the capabilities of the platform in measuring diffractive features with micron-level spatial resolution.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

ORBIT-2 Dataset for Scaling Exascale Vision Foundation Models for Weather and Climate Downscaling

This dataset release corresponds to the work conducted in ORBIT-2: Scaling Exascale Vision Foundation Models for Weather and Climate Downscaling, where large-scale AI methods were applied to improve climate and weather resolution. The collection integrates four widely used, publicly available datasets: ERA5, PRISM, DAYMET, and IMERG. To prepare the data for ORBIT-2 model training and evaluation, we applied a preprocessing pipeline that generates paired low-resolution and high-resolution samples, enabling supervised downscaling experiments. The transformation from coarse to fine scales was performed using bilinear regridding, consistent with the procedures described in WeatherBench2, a community benchmark for weather and climate AI models. This dataset supports the development and evaluation of foundation models designed for weather and climate downscaling at exascale. Additional details on methodology and applications can be found in Wang et al., ORBIT-2 (arXiv:2505.04802, 2025).

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Earth as a Proxy Exoplanet: Deconstructing and Reconstructing Spectrophotometric Light Curves

Point-source spectrophotometric (single-point) light curves of Earth-like planets contain a surprising amount of information about the spatial features of those worlds. Spatially resolving these light curves is important for assessing time-varying surface features and the existence of an atmosphere, which in turn is critical to life on Earth and significant for determining habitability on exoplanets. Given that Earth is the only celestial body confirmed to harbor life, treating it as a proxy exoplanet by analyzing time-resolved spectral images provides a benchmark in the search for habitable exoplanets. The Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) provides such an opportunity, with observations of ∼5000 full-disk sunlit Earth images each year at 10 wavelengths with high temporal frequency. We disk-integrate these spectral images to create single-point light curves and decompose them into principal components (PCs). Using machine-learning techniques to relate the PCs to six preselected spatial features, we find that the first and fourth PCs of the single-point light curves, contributing ∼83.23% of the light-curve variability, contain information about low and high clouds, respectively. Surface information relevant to the contrast between land and ocean reflectance is contained in the second PC, while individual land subtypes are not easily distinguishable (<0.1% total light-curve variation). We build an Earth model by systematically altering the spatial features to derive causal relationships to the PCs. This model can serve as a baseline for analyzing Earth-like exoplanets and guide wavelength selection and sampling strategies for future observations.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Process Feasibility Analysis of Waste Biomass Valorization to Biochar and Bio-Oil via Slow and Fast Pyrolysis

The United States has abundant biomass and waste feedstock to support the nation's energy addition and affordability targets. Pyrolysis, a thermochemical conversion process, decomposes lignocellulosic feedstocks into liquid, solid, and gaseous fuels that can contribute to the domestic production of biofuels, biopower, and bioproducts. Growing private sector interest in this technology is a key motivation for this comprehensive techno-economic process modeling analysis of a respective biorefinery that includes feedstock preprocessing, slow and fast pyrolysis, and product separation to bio-oil, biochar, and syngas hydrocarbons. Results show that biochar from slow pyrolysis could achieve minimum selling prices (MSPs) of $\$$188-$\$$260/t, competitive with reported market values, while bio-oil from fast pyrolysis is estimated to yield MSPs of $\$$6.49-$\$$9.68/GGE, approximately twice conventional fuel benchmarks. Sensitivity analysis identifies feedstock cost, product yield, and scale as primary cost drivers, while scenarios involving biochar carbon credits and high value applications may substantially improve economics. Overall, these results suggest that continued innovation in feedstock logistics, process integration, and market development will be critical to achieving economically viable and scalable bioproducts.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

Correlation consistent basis sets for explicitly correlated wavefunctions: Pseudopotential-based basis sets for the post-d main group elements Ga–Rn

New correlation consistent basis sets, cc-pVnZ-PP-F12 (n = D, T, Q), for all the post-d main group elements Ga–Rn have been optimized for use in explicitly correlated F12 calculations. The new sets, which include not only orbital basis sets but also the matching auxiliary sets required for density fitting both conventional and F12 integrals, are designed for correlation of valence sp, as well as the outer-core d electrons. The basis sets are constructed for use with the previously published small-core relativistic pseudopotentials of the Stuttgart-Cologne variety. Benchmark explicitly correlated coupled-cluster singles and doubles with perturbative triples [CCSD(T)-F12b] calculations of the spectroscopic properties of numerous diatomic molecules involving 4p, 5p, and 6p elements have been carried out and compared to the analogous conventional CCSD(T) results. In general the F12 results obtained with a n-zeta F12 basis set were comparable to conventional aug-cc-pVxZ-PP or aug-cc-pwCVxZ-PP basis set calculations obtained with x = n + 1 or even x = n + 2. The new sets used in CCSD(T)-F12b calculations are particularly efficient at accurately recovering the large correlation effects of the outer-core d electrons.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

First Principles Description of the Giant Dipole Resonance in O 16

We present a calculation of the giant dipole resonance in 16 O based on a nucleon-nucleon (NN) interaction from chiral e ective eld theory that reproduces NN scattering data with high accuracy. By merging the Lorentz integral transform and the coupled-cluster methods, we extend the previous theoretical limits for break-up observables in light nuclei with mass numbers (A ≤ 7), and address the collective giant dipole resonance of 16 O. We successfully benchmark the new approach against virtually exact results from the hyperspherical harmonics method in 4 He. Our results for 16 O reproduce the position and the total strength (bremsstrahlung sum rule) of the dipole response very well. When compared to the cross section from photo-absorption experiments the theoretical curve exhibits a smeared form of the peak. The tail region between 40 and 100 MeV is reproduced within uncertainties.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Search for New Phenomena in Dijet Angular Distributions in Proton-Proton Collisions at s = 8 TeV Measured with the ATLAS Detector

A search for new phenomena in LHC proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV was performed with the ATLAS detector using an integrated luminosity of 17.3 fb⁻¹. The angular distributions are studied in events with at least two jets; the highest dijet mass observed is 5.5 TeV. All angular distributions are consistent with the predictions of the standard model. In a benchmark model of quark contact interactions, a compositeness scale below 8.1 TeV in a destructive interference scenario and 12.0 TeV in a constructive interference scenario is excluded at 95% C.L.; median expected limits are 8.9 TeV for the destructive interference scenario and 14.1 TeV for the constructive interference scenario.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Perfect crystal propagator for physical optics simulations with Synchrotron Radiation Workshop

Until now, a treatment of dynamical diffraction from perfect crystals has been missing in the "Synchrotron Radiation Workshop" (SRW) wavefront propagation computer code despite the widespread use of crystals on X-ray synchrotron beamlines. Now a special propagator" module for calculating dynamical diffraction from a perfect crystal in the Bragg case has been written in C++, integrated into the SRW C/C++ library and made available for simulations using the Python interface of SRW. The propagator performs local processing of the frequency-domain electric field in the angular representation. A 2-D Fast Fourier Transform is used for changing the field representation from/to the coordinate representation before and after applying the crystal propagator. This ensures seamless integration of the new propagator with the existing functionalities of the SRW package, allows compatibility with existing propagators for other optical elements, and enables the simulation of complex beamlines transporting partially coherent X-rays. The code has been benchmarked by comparison with predictions made by plane-wave and spherical-wave dynamical diffraction theory. Test simulations for a selection of X-ray synchrotron beamlines are also shown.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

Cladding Profilometry Analysis of Experimental Breeder Reactor-II Metallic Fuel Pins with HT9, D9, and SS316 Cladding

BISON finite element method fuel performance simulations were conducted using an existing automated process that couples the Fuels Irradiation & Physics Database (FIPD) and the Integral Fast Reactor Materials Information System database by writing input files and comparing the BISON output to post-irradiation fuel pin profilometry measurements contained within the databases. The importance of this work is to demonstrate the ability to benchmark fuel performance metallic fuel models within BISON using Experimental Breeder Reactor-II fuel pin data for a number of similar pins, while building off previous modeling efforts. Changes to the generic BISON input file include implementing pin specific axial power and flux profiles, pin specific fluences, frictional contact, and irradiation-induced volumetric swelling models for cladding. A statistical analysis of irradiation-induced volumetric swelling models for HT9, D9, and SS316 was performed for experiments X421/X421A, X441/X441A, and X486. Between these three experiments, there were 174 post-irradiation examination (PIE) profilometries used for validating the swelling models presented using a standard error of the estimate (SEE) method. Implementation of the volumetric swelling models for D9 and SS316 claddings was found to have a significant impact on the BISON profilometry simulated, where HT9 clad pins had an insignificant change due to low fluence values. BISON profilometry simulated for HT9, D9, and SS316 fuel pins agreed with PIE profilometry measurements, with assembly SEE values being 4.4 × 10−3 for X421A, 2.0 × 10−3 for X441A, and 2.8 × 10−3 for X486. D9 clad pins in X421/X421A had the highest SEE values, which is due to the BISON simulated profilometry being shifted axially. While this work accomplished its purpose to demonstrate the modeling of multiple fuel pins from the databases to help validate models, the results suggest that the continued development of metallic fuel models is necessary for qualifying new metallic fuel systems to better capture some physical performance phenomena, such as the hot pressing of U-Pu-Zr and the fuel cladding chemical interaction.

11 NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE AND FUEL MATERIALS↗

The software product assurance metrics study: JPL's software systems quality and productivity

The findings are reported of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)/Software Product Assurance (SPA) Metrics Study, conducted as part of a larger JPL effort to improve software quality and productivity. Until recently, no comprehensive data had been assembled on how JPL manages and develops software-intensive systems. The first objective was to collect data on software development from as many projects and for as many years as possible. Results from five projects are discussed. These results reflect 15 years of JPL software development, representing over 100 data points (systems and subsystems), over a third of a billion dollars, over four million lines of code and 28,000 person months. Analysis of this data provides a benchmark for gauging the effectiveness of past, present and future software development work. In addition, the study is meant to encourage projects to record existing metrics data and to gather future data. The SPA long term goal is to integrate the collection of historical data and ongoing project data with future project estimations.

Bush, Marilyn W.↗