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At least 883 records · Page 49

Computational Mechanics Research and Support for Aerodynamics and Hydraulics at TFHRC (Year 3 Quarter 2 Progress Report)

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne’s Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. The analysis methods employ well benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges — superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events — and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFHRC wind engineering laboratory, and coupling of CFD and CSM software to solve fluid structure interaction problems, primarily analysis of bridge cables in wind. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of January through March 2013.

Lottes, S. A.↗

Wind Tunnel Model of the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center Aerodynamics Laboratory [TFHRC Project Report]

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne’s Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. The analysis methods employ well benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. This report documents one of the tasks in this project. In this task, a detailed CFD model of the wind tunnel laboratory at TFHRC was built and tested to provide a means to assess the air flow uniformity provided by the tunnel to the test zone and assess room geometry effects. Considerable effort went into the construction and testing of the model and various submodels, such as the screens in the wind tunnel. The model is available for use in further studies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Development of a New Criticality Safety Training Program for College Students

Nuclear criticality safety (NCS) expertise remains a crucial workforce need within the US Department of Energy (DOE) laboratory complex. To address this challenge, a novel university/laboratory-based nuclear criticality training certificate program is being developed through a collaborative effort between the Georgia Institute of Technology, Texas A&M University, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This comprehensive program implements a two-tiered certification approach that combines online theoretical coursework with hands-on experimental training to create a sustainable pipeline of nuclear criticality specialists. The program specifically targets undergraduate and graduate students in engineering, physics, and mathematics disciplines across the United States. Through integration of fundamental nuclear physics principles, practical safety applications, and experiential learning opportunities, this initiative aims to establish a standardized pathway for developing the next generation of NCS professionals.

K-Effective↗

Additive manufacturing integrated energy—enabling innovative solutions for buildings of the future

Here, the AMIE (Additive Manufacturing Integrated Energy) demonstration utilized 3D printing as an enabling technology in the pursuit of construction methods that use less material, create less waste, and require less energy to build and operate. It was developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in collaboration with the Governor's Chair for Energy and Urbanism, a research partnership of the University of Tennessee (UT) and ORNL led by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM), AMIE embodies a suite of innovations demonstrating a transformative future for designing, constructing and operating buildings. Subsequent, blind UT College of Architecture and Design studios taught in collaboration with SOM professionals also explored forms and shapes based on biological systems that naturally integrate structure and enclosure. AMIE, a compact micro-dwelling developed by ORNL research scientists and SOM designers, incorporates next-generation modified atmosphere insulation, self-shading windows, and the ability to produce, store and share solar power with a paired hybrid vehicle. It establishes for the first time, a platform for investigating solutions integrating the energy systems in buildings, vehicles, and the power grid. The project was built with broad-based support from local industry and national material suppliers. Designed and constructed in a span of only nine months, AMIE 1.0 serves as an example of the rapid innovation that can be accomplished when research, design, academic and industrial partners work in collaboration toward the common goal of a more sustainable and resilient built environment.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Computational mechanics research and support for aerodynamics and hydraulics at TFHRC year 1 quarter 4 progress report.

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. The analysis methods employ well-benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to assess them for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFCHR wind engineering laboratory, vehicle stability under high wind loading, and the use of electromagnetic shock absorbers to improve vehicle stability under high wind conditions. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of July through September 2011.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Computational Mechanics Research and Support for Aerodynamics and Hydraulics at TFHRC: Year 2 Quarter 1 Progress Report

The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and computational structural mechanics (CSM) focus areas at Argonne's Transportation Research and Analysis Computing Center (TRACC) initiated a project to support and compliment the experimental programs at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center (TFHRC) with high performance computing based analysis capabilities in August 2010. The project was established with a new interagency agreement between the Department of Energy and the Department of Transportation to provide collaborative research, development, and benchmarking of advanced three-dimensional computational mechanics analysis methods to the aerodynamics and hydraulics laboratories at TFHRC for a period of five years, beginning in October 2010. The analysis methods employ well-benchmarked and supported commercial computational mechanics software. Computational mechanics encompasses the areas of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Computational Wind Engineering (CWE), Computational Structural Mechanics (CSM), and Computational Multiphysics Mechanics (CMM) applied in Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problems. The major areas of focus of the project are wind and water effects on bridges - superstructure, deck, cables, and substructure (including soil), primarily during storms and flood events - and the risks that these loads pose to structural failure. For flood events at bridges, another major focus of the work is assessment of the risk to bridges caused by scour of stream and riverbed material away from the foundations of a bridge. Other areas of current research include modeling of flow through culverts to improve design allowing for fish passage, modeling of the salt spray transport into bridge girders to address suitability of using weathering steel in bridges, CFD analysis of the operation of the wind tunnel in the TFHRC wind engineering laboratory. This quarterly report documents technical progress on the project tasks for the period of October through December 2011.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Meta-Level Design Guidance and Operator Performance Measures for Hybrid Control Rooms

The purpose of this grant was to refine and test methods to evaluate digital human system interfaces (HSI) for existing largely analog nuclear power plant (NPP) control rooms (CRs). We hypothesized that CR operator performance (CROP) in hybrid NPP CRs will be improved if future digital HSI is designed based on: 1) more robust design guidelines for operator situation awareness (SA) and decision-making (DM); 2) enhanced CROP metrics during HSI evaluation; 3) an ontology for selecting simulation scenarios to evaluate digital HSI; and 4) a model to predict optimal HSI design attributes given CROP objectives. The team conducted numerous nuclear power plant site visits (e.g., to Brown’s Ferry, Palo Verde, Sequoyah and Vogtle) to study control room operations and crisis management and 3 visits to the NRC Chattanooga Training Center. We observed research studies at DC Cook and NRC Chattanooga in collaboration with the Halden Reactor Project. We collected operator performance and workload data in one NPP simulator. A comprehensive human (i.e., CROP) performance literature review was published in Applied Ergonomics. We obtained operator team performance data from CAER to produce our data fusion model and a paper delineating the results have been accepted (revision submitted) in Resilience Engineering and System Safety. We analyzed interview data related to scenario ontology development; a manuscript is still in preparation.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

Center for Space Nuclear Research (CSNR) NTP Design Team Report

The CSNR NTR Design Team has developed a history of collaboration with NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center (MSFC). First assembled in the summer of 2013 to explore the concept of the Low-Enriched Uranium Nuclear Thermal Rocket (LEU-NTR), the team continued research to find solutions with guiding Nuclear Thermal Propulsion (NTP) technological development and provide design and analysis support for the Space Capable Cryogenic Thermal Engine (SCCTE) Project. The work presented in this report provides a background on the cermet LEU-NTR, summarizes work complete to explore a new design space for NTRs, and describes the SCCTE core that was developed.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

[Europa Lander] Decontamination Methods Trade Study

The following trade study was done to answer the following task from the Sandia JPL Collaboration for Europa Lander Statement of Work: Perform a trade study to assess the feasibility of other sterilization/decontamination methods for reducing forward biological contamination on S/C and assess their suitability for PP applications

42 ENGINEERING↗

Ultrasonic Measurements of Temperature Profile and Heat Fluxes in Coal-Fired Power Plants (Final Report)

Many industrial processes are inaccessible or inhospitable to characterization by traditional temperature measurement methods, such as thermocouples, especially over prolonged exposure to harsh environments. Ultrasound is an established characterization technology with diverse applications ranging from medical imaging to therapies to flaw detection to nondestructive evaluation. Ultrasound may characterize solid materials and components noninvasively as a nondestructive evaluation modality and obtain internal measurements of material properties. For example, the speed of ultrasound propagation changes with Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, which can be found from its measurements. Traditional ultrasonic characterization assumes all material properties remain constant with the position. When this assumption holds, a property of interest may be measured by relating it to the speed of ultrasound propagation (or a speed of sound, SOS) and measuring the SOS by timing the ultrasound propagation through a known distance. However, when a property of interest is spatially distributed, the propagation time depends on the SOS changing with the position along the ultrasound propagation path. The multiple temperature distributions may lead to an identical time of flight (TOF). Temperature is one property that impacts the speed of ultrasound and often cannot be assumed to remain constant with the position. Previously, in the context of temperature, we addressed the challenge of ultrasonic characterization of spatially distributed properties by developing a method for measuring segmental temperature distributions (MSTD). This method divides the ultrasonic propagation into segments bound by echogenic features. These features provide ultrasonic interfaces where some energy is reflected toward the receiving transducer, and the rest continues through the medium. The time-of-flight between the echoes reflected from echogenic features characterizes the spatial distribution in the properties of interest in the corresponding segment of the ultrasonic propagation path. This project demonstrated the application of the MSTD method in industrial conditions of the coal-fired power plant. We implemented the MSTD using metals and alloys waveguides, which may be the existing structure for which the temperature distribution is characterized or purposefully designed waveguides added to the structure by welding or other means specifically to quantify thermal properties using the MSTD method. Previous iterations of the MSTD method used ceramic and cementitious waveguides, which significantly attenuate ultrasound. On the other hand, low attenuation in metallic waveguides creates interactions between echogenic features which compilates the signal analysis in the segmental TOF measurements. We have established the WG design principles that minimize the interferences between trailing and primary echoes and, in some cases, eliminate them. The waveguides in which echoes do not interfere improve the timing accuracy and the robustness of ultrasonic measurements of the spatial distributions in material properties. Our emphasis remained on the estimation of the temperature distributions. We have developed general recommendations for designing ultrasonically segmented waveguides with the reduced influence of trailing echoes. Two of our waveguide designs were tested in the industry. The first waveguide was designed for insertion into a combustion zone of the utility-scale coal-fired power plant boiler. The second design allows the characterization of temperature distribution in the direction normal to the boiler’s water wall, a large heat exchanger converting the chemical energy released during combustion to the steam driving the electrical power generation turbines. These waveguides were designed to operate within a restrictive space of thermally insulated water wall and incorporate densely located echogenic features while combatting the influence of trailing echoes. The project has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using the developed method for accurate, continuous, and robust temperature measurements in extreme environments of power generation and other industrial processes. It, therefore, has achieved its overarching goal of advancing the technology readiness level of the novel Ultrasound Measurements of Segmental Temperature Distribution (US-MSTD) method for real-time measurements of the temperature distribution and heat fluxes closer to commercial availability, developing a prototype multipoint measurement system, and validating its performance on coal-fired utility boilers. The success of this project was achieved in collaboration with the power generator, Rocky Mountain Power, and set the stage for the transfer of this technology from the laboratory to the industry.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗

Brochure for the DOE Office of Science Workshop on Envisioning Frontiers in AI and Computing for Biological Research

In February of 2025 a joint ASCR/BER workshop was held to identify key transformational research directions for understanding biology using artificial intelligence (AI), digital twins and high-performance (HPC) computational methods to facilitate scientific discovery and innovation in support of the Department of Energy mission. AI technologies offer exciting new groundbreaking methods to analyze large volumes of complex biological data, thereby greatly accelerating the ability to understand, predict, and design biological processes for beneficial purposes. In the laboratory, the bridging of AI-enabled automated experimental technologies, HPC and digital twins will provide potent tools for researchers to explore the fundamental nature of biology and harness its inherent metabolic potential for a variety of beneficial purposes. The focus of this workshop was on how high-performance computational methods can impact this objective by exploring digital twins, foundational models, and data-driven approaches with applications to advance automated laboratory experiments, modeling of complex living systems and engineering new functions into plants and microbial systems relevant to DOE mission. Workshop attendees with expertise in plant science, microbiology, mathematics, computer science, and AI assessed the current state of the science, trends, and AI challenges at the interface of plant and microbial systems biology and computational science to identify opportunities for high-impact research. This collaborative effort capitalized on ASCR's advancements in applied mathematics, computer science, and Exascale systems, and BER's expertise in basic genomics-enabled research on DOE relevant plant and microbial systems. The workshop culminated in four key priority research directions to guide future research and development within DOE Office of Science programs.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

U.S. Efforts in Support of Examinations at Fukushima Daiichi - November 2025 Meeting Notes

Fifteen years have passed since the March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) triggered a tsunami that inundated the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (Daiichi or 1F) and led to severe accidents in multiple units at the plant. During these fifteen years since these events, Daiichi forensics examinations and evaluations have revealed many insights for enhancing the safety of nuclear power plants worldwide. However, uncertainties remain regarding the events after the GEJE. Additional Daiichi forensics information is required to inform future Decontamination and Decommissioning (D&D) activi- ties conducted by the plant owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Incorporated (TEPCO Hold- ings). This forensics information also has important implications for the safety and operation of U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. A collaborative U.S. and Japanese effort, which includes approximately 50 experts in reactor safety and plant operations, was initiated in 2014 by the Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy (U.S. DOE-NE) to identify Daiichi examination needs and evaluate recent Daiichi examination data to address these needs. This collaborative effort, which is beneficial to the U.S. and Japan, continues as Japan moves forward with D&D activities.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

LWRS Newsletter March 2019 Issue 28

The latest issue of the LWRS Program Newsletter (Issue 28) was recently posted on the LWRS Program website. This issue includes the following articles: • Stakeholder Engagement Review Meeting • Simulating the Effects of Neutron Irradiation on Concrete with the MOSAIC Software • Risk and Cost Analysis of Utilizing FLEX Equipment for Efficient Maintenance in Nuclear Power Plants • Integration of Classical PRA models into Dynamic PRA • Toward a Predictive Model for Cabling Failure: An interdisciplinary, collaborative effort between the University of Minnesota–Duluth and the Materials Research Pathway • Compact Digital Modernization – Enabling Nuclear Power Plant Operations and Maintenance Cost Benefits • Increasing the Value of the U.S. Nuclear Reactor Fleet

42 ENGINEERING↗

Strongly Tapered Helical Undulator System for Fast-greens Installation

RadiaBeam, in collaboration with UCLA and Fermilab, is developing a strongly tapered helical undulator system for the Tapering Enhanced Stimulated Superradiant Amplification experiment at 515 nm (TESSA-515). The experiment will be carried out at the FAST facility at Fermilab as a Gamma-Ray high Efficiency ENhanced Source (FAST-GREENS). The undulator system was designed by UCLA, engineered by RadiaBeam, and will be installed on the beamline at Fermilab (FNAL). The design is based on a permanent magnet Halbach scheme of four 1-meter long undulator sections; two of which have been completed and installed. The undulator period is fixed at 32 mm and the magnetic field amplitude can be tapered by tuning the gap along the interaction. Each magnet can be individually adjusted by 1 mm, offering up to 25% magnetic field tunability with a minimum gap of 5.58 mm. This paper discusses the design and engineering of the undulator system and the stage 0 installation status.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Sensor Network Demonstration for In Situ Decommissioning - 13332

Florida International University's (FIU's) Applied Research Center is currently supporting the Department of Energy's (DOE) Environmental Management Office of D and D and Facility Engineering program. FIU is supporting DOE's initiative to improve safety, reduce technical risks, and limit uncertainty within D and D operations by identifying technologies suitable to meet specific facility D and D requirements, assessing the readiness of those technologies for field deployment, and conducting feasibility studies and large scale demonstrations of promising technologies. During FY11, FIU collaborated with Savannah River National Laboratory in the development of an experimental test site for the demonstration of multiple sensor systems for potential use in the in situ decommissioning process. In situ decommissioning is a process in which the above ground portion of a facility is dismantled and removed, and the underground portion is filled with a cementious material such as grout. In such a scenario, the question remains on how to effectively monitor the structural health of the grout (cracking, flexing, and sinking), as well as track possible migration of contaminants within and out of the grouted monolith. The right types of sensors can aid personnel in better understanding the conditions within the entombed structure. Without sensors embedded in and around the monolith, it will be very difficult to estimate structural integrity and contaminant transport. Yet, to fully utilize the appropriate sensors and the provided data, their performance and reliability must be evaluated outside a laboratory setting. To this end, a large scale experimental setup and demonstration was conducted at FIU. In order to evaluate a large suite of sensor systems, FIU personnel designed and purchased a pre-cast concrete open-top cube, which served as a mock-up of an in situ DOE decommissioned facility. The inside of the cube measures 10 ft x 10 ft x 8 ft. In order to ensure that the individual sensors would be immobilized during the grout pouring activities, a set of nine sensor racks were designed. The 270 sensors provided by Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Mississippi State University (MSU), University of Houston (UH), and University of South Carolina (USC) were secured to these racks based on predetermined locations. Once sensor racks were installed inside the test cube, connected and debugged, approximately 32 cubic yards of special grout material was used to entomb the sensors. MSU provided and demonstrated four types of fiber loop ring-down (FLR) sensors for detection of water, temperature, cracks, and movement of fluids. INL provided and demonstrated time differenced 3D electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), advanced tensiometers for moisture content, and thermocouples for temperature measurements. University of Houston provided smart aggregate (SA) sensors, which detect crack severity and water presence. An additional UH sensor system demonstrated was a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) fiber optic system measuring strain, presence of water, and temperature. USC provided a system which measured acoustic emissions during cracking, as well as temperature and pH sensors. All systems were connected to a Sensor Remote Access System (SRAS) data networking and collection system designed, developed and provided by FIU. The purpose of SRAS was to collect and allow download of the raw sensor data from all the sensor system, as well as allow upload of the processed data and any analysis reports and graphs. All this information was made available to the research teams via the Deactivation and Decommissioning Knowledge Management and Information Tool (D and D KM-IT). As a current research effort, FIU is performing an energy analysis, and transferring several sensor systems to a Photovoltaic (PV) System to continuously monitor energy consumption parameters and overall power demands. Also, One final component of this research is focusing on developing an integrated data network to capture, log and analyze sensor system data in near real time from a single interface. FIU personnel and DOE Fellows monitored the progress and condition of the sensors for a period of six months. During this time, the sensors recorded data pertaining to strain, compression, temperature, crack detection, moisture presence, fluid mobility, shock resistance, monolith movement, and electrical resistivity. In addition, FIU regularly observed the curing process of the grout and documented the cube condition via the nine racks of sensors. The sensors held up throughout the curing process, withstood the natural elements for six months, and monitored the integrity of the grout. The large scale experiment and demonstration conducted at FIU was the first of its kind to demonstrate the feasibility of state of the art sensors for in situ decommissioning applications. These efforts successfully measured the durability, performance, and precision of the sensors in question as well as monitored and recorded the curing process of the selected grout material under natural environmental conditions. The current energy analysis work is resulting in data on the constraints placed by some of the sensor systems on a power network that requires high reliability and low losses. In addition, a sensor system demonstration has determined that it is feasible to develop an integrated data network where data can be accessed in near real-time from all systems, thereby allowing for larger-scale integrated system testing to be performed. Information collected during the execution of this research project will aid decision makers in the identification of sensors to be used in nuclear facilities selected for in situ decommissioning. (authors)

12 MANAGEMENT OF RADIOACTIVE AND NON-RADIOACTIVE W↗

Overview of International Activities in Hydrogen System Safety in IEA Hydrogen TCP Task 43

Safety and reliability have long been recognized as key issues for the development, commercialization, and implementation of new technologies and infrastructure, and hydrogen systems are no exception to this rule. Reliability engineering, quantitative risk assessment (QRA), and knowledge exchange each play a key role in proactive addressing safety - before problems happen - and help us learn from problems if they happen. Many international research activities are focusing on both reliability and risk assessment for hydrogen systems. However, the element of knowledge exchange is sometimes less visible. To support international collaboration and knowledge exchange, the International Energy Agency (IEA) convened a new Technology Collaboration Program, "Task 43: Safety and Regulatory Aspects of Emerging Large Scale Hydrogen Energy Applications" started in June 2022. Within Task 43, Subtask E focuses on Hydrogen Systems Safety. This paper discusses the structure of the Hydrogen Systems Safety subtask and the aligned activities and introduces opportunities for future work.

HYDROGEN↗

Engineering Precisely Controlled Negative and Zero Thermal Expansion Behaviors in Metal-Organic Frameworks

Positive thermal expansion can cause significant stress or even catastrophic device failure in applications where materials are placed in confined environments. At material interfaces such as coatings, thermal expansion effects can also lead to cracking and peeling behavior. The ability to impart controlled thermal expansion properties in an array of designs via additive manufacturing technologies would mitigate such problems and bring significant value to various materials science and engineering challenges. Negative thermal expansion materials are of interest for composite material applications whereby they can compensate for the behavior of a positive thermal expansion matrix. This Truman Fellowship LDRD research project presents complimentary experimental and molecular modeling results towards the fundamental understanding and development of metal-organic framework (MOF) materials with controlled thermal expansion properties. Design strategies for imparting precisely tailored negative, zero, and positive thermal expansion regimes in MOFs are studied and the implications of these design strategies for the use of MOFs as an emergent negative thermal expansion material class are examined. Challenges towards exploiting this nanoscale behavior at length scales relevant to composite material systems are introduced. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I will be forever grateful to the Truman Fellowship Selection Committee for providing me with the opportunity to pursue this research project. The unique opportunity to carry out this exciting scientific research with all of the resources and support that Sandia has to offer has been a truly rewarding experience. I would like to especially thank Yolanda Moreno for her endless assistance throughout my time as a Truman Fellow. It is hard to imagine a more supportive and stimulating scientific environment to carry out this research. I would also like to thank all of my colleagues and the individuals that have collaborated with me throughout this Fellowship, both internal and external to Sandia. Many of you appear as co-authors on the publications resulting from this LDRD, including especially fruitful collaborations with researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Amsterdam. I cannot express enough my gratitude for the significant role that you all played in shaping my educational experience and the success during my time at Sandia as a Truman Fellow.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗