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At least 91 records · Page 5

Unitary Shaft-Angle and Shaft-Speed Sensor Assemblies

The figure depicts a unit that contains a rotary-position or a rotary-speed sensor, plus electronic circuitry necessary for its operation, all enclosed in a single housing with a shaft for coupling to an external rotary machine. This rotation sensor unit is complete: when its shaft is mechanically connected to that of the rotary machine and it is supplied with electric power, it generates an output signal directly indicative of the rotary position or speed, without need for additional processing by other circuitry. The incorporation of all of the necessary excitatory and readout circuitry into the housing (in contradistinction to using externally located excitatory and/or readout circuitry) in a compact arrangement is the major difference between this unit and prior rotation-sensor units. The sensor assembly inside the housing includes excitatory and readout integrated circuits mounted on a circular printed-circuit board. In a typical case in which the angle or speed transducer(s) utilize electromagnetic induction, the assembly also includes another circular printed-circuit board on which the transducer windings are mounted. A sheet of high-magnetic permeability metal ("mu metal") is placed between the winding board and the electronic-circuit board to prevent spurious coupling of excitatory signals from the transducer windings to the readout circuits. The housing and most of the other mechanical hardware can be common to a variety of different sensor designs. Hence, the unit can be configured to generate any of variety of outputs by changing the interior sensor assembly. For example, the sensor assembly could contain an analog tachometer circuit that generates an output proportional (in both magnitude and sign or in magnitude only) to the speed of rotation.

Alhorn, Dean C.↗

Seismic Detection of the Layers of the Lunar Core

This slide presentation reviews the analysis of Apollo-era seismic data and indirect geophysical measurements (i.e., moment of inertia, lunar laser ranging and electromagnetic induction) and concludes that significant questions still remain. The Apollo deep moonquake seismograms using terrestrial array processing methods is analyzed to infer the structure of the lunar core. The results indicate the presence of a solid inner and fluid outer core.

Weber, Renee C.↗

Imaging the Moon's Core with Seismology

Constraining the structure of the lunar core is necessary to improve our understanding of the present-day thermal structure of the interior and the history of a lunar dynamo, as well as the origin and thermal and compositional evolution of the Moon. We analyze Apollo deep moonquake seismograms using terrestrial array processing methods to search for the presence of reflected and converted energy from the lunar core. Although moonquake fault parameters are not constrained, we first explore a suite of theoretical focal spheres to verify that fault planes exist that can produce favorable core reflection amplitudes relative to direct up-going energy at the Apollo stations. Beginning with stacks of event seismograms from the known distribution of deep moonquake clusters, we apply a polarization filter to account for the effects of seismic scattering that (a) partitions energy away from expected components of ground motion, and (b) obscures all but the main P- and S-wave arrivals. The filtered traces are then shifted to the predicted arrival time of a core phase (e.g. PcP) and stacked to enhance subtle arrivals associated with the Moon s core. This combination of filtering and array processing is well suited for detecting deep lunar seismic reflections, since we do not expect scattered wave energy from near surface (or deeper) structure recorded at varying epicentral distances and stations from varying moonquakes at varying depths to stack coherently. Our results indicate the presence of a solid inner and fluid outer core, overlain by a partial-melt-containing boundary layer (Table 1). These layers are consistently observed among stacks from four classes of reflections: P-to-P, S-to-P, P-to-S, and S-to-S, and are consistent with current indirect geophysical estimates of core and deep mantle properties, including mass, moment of inertia, lunar laser ranging, and electromagnetic induction. Future refinements are expected following the successful launch of the GRAIL lunar orbiter and SELENE 2 lunar lander missions.

Weber, Renee C.↗

Assimilation of Sea Ice Thickness Derived from Cryosat-2 Along-Track Freeboard Measurements into the Met Office's Forecast Ocean Assimilation Model (FOAM)

The feasibility of assimilating sea ice thickness (SIT) observations derived from CryoSat-2 along-track measurements of sea ice freeboard is successfully demonstrated using a 3D-Var assimilation scheme, NEMOVAR, within the Met Office's global, coupled ocean–sea-ice model, Forecast Ocean Assimilation Model (FOAM). The CryoSat-2 Arctic freeboard measurements are produced by the Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM) and are converted to SIT within FOAM using modelled snow depth. This is the first time along-track observations of SIT have been used in this way, with other centres assimilating gridded and temporally averaged observations. The assimilation leads to improvements in the SIT analysis and forecast fields generated by FOAM, particularly in the Canadian Arctic. Arctic-wide observation-minus-background assimilation statistics for 2015–2017 show improvements of 0.75 m mean difference and 0.41 m root-mean-square difference (RMSD) in the freeze-up period and 0.46 m mean difference and 0.33 m RMSD in the ice break-up period. Validation of the SIT analysis against independent springtime in situ SIT observations from NASA Operation IceBridge (OIB) shows improvement in the SIT analysis of 0.61 m mean difference (0.42 m RMSD) compared to a control without SIT assimilation. Similar improvements are seen in the FOAM 5 d SIT forecast. Validation of the SIT assimilation with independent Beaufort Gyre Exploration Project (BGEP) sea ice draft observations does not show an improvement, since the assimilated CryoSat-2 observations compare similarly to the model without assimilation in this region. Comparison with airborne electromagnetic induction (Air-EM) combined measurements of SIT and snow depth shows poorer results for the assimilation compared to the control, despite covering similar locations to the OIB and BGEP datasets. This may be evidence of sampling uncertainty in the matchups with the Air-EM validation dataset, owing to the limited number of observations available over the time period of interest. This may also be evidence of noise in the SIT analysis or uncertainties in the modelled snow depth, in the assimilated SIT observations, or in the data used for validation. The SIT analysis could be improved by upgrading the observation uncertainties used in the assimilation. Despite the lack of CryoSat-2 SIT observations available for assimilation over the summer due to the detrimental effect of melt ponds on retrievals, it is shown that the model is able to retain improvements to the SIT field throughout the summer months due to prior, wintertime SIT assimilation. This also results in regional improvements to the July modelled sea ice concentration (SIC) of 5 % RMSD in the European sector, due to slower melt of the thicker sea ice.

Emma K. Fiedler↗

Feasibility study of a swept frequency electromagnetic probe (SWEEP) using inductive coupling for the determination of subsurface conductivity of the earth and water prospecting in arid regions

Techniques developed for electromagnetic probing of the lunar interior, and techniques developed for the generation of high power audio frequencies were combined to make practical a magnetic inductive coupling system for the rapid measurement of ground conductivity profiles which are helpful when prospecting for the presence and quality of subsurface water. A system which involves the measurement of the direction, intensity, and time phase of the magnetic field observed near the surface of the earth at a distance from a horizontal coil energized so as to create a field that penetrates the earth was designed and studied to deduce the conductivity and stratification of the subsurface. Theoretical studies and a rudimentary experiment in an arid region showed that the approach is conceptually valid and that this geophysical prospecting technique can be developed for the economical exploration of subterranean water resources.

Latorraca, G. A.↗

Nightside Time Domain Electromagnetic Sounding with ARTEMIS: Challenges of Isolating Induction from the Lunar Interior

Electromagnetic sounding analyses THEMIS-ARTEMIS magnetic field data to isolate and identify induced magnetic fields to determine the electrical conductivity of the lunar interior. The transfer function method uses two observations one near the Moon and one far from lunar effects. We focus on induction within the nightside wake cavity performing a visual inspection in the time domain. Large transients are naturally occurring and can excite telluric currents within conducting layers within the lunar interior according to the skin depth of the signal. Time windows within wake passes with one probe close and the other far have been identified within 10 years of ARTEMIS data. We discuss initial conclusions and challenges of isolating interior induction within the lunar plasma environment.

Moons↗

Electromagnetic particle simulation codes

Electromagnetic particle simulations solve the full set of Maxwell's equations. They thus include the effects of self-consistent electric and magnetic fields, magnetic induction, and electromagnetic radiation. The algorithms for an electromagnetic code which works directly with the electric and magnetic fields are described. The fields and current are separated into transverse and longitudinal components. The transverse E and B fields are integrated in time using a leapfrog scheme applied to the Fourier components. The particle pushing is performed via the relativistic Lorentz force equation for the particle momentum. As an example, simulation results are presented for the electron cyclotron maser instability which illustrate the importance of relativistic effects on the wave-particle resonance condition and on wave dispersion.

Pritchett, P. L.↗

Induction Heating Model of Cermet Fuel Element Environmental Test (CFEET)

Deep space missions with large payloads require high specific impulse and relatively high thrust to achieve mission goals in reasonable time frames. Nuclear Thermal Rockets (NTR) are capable of producing a high specific impulse by employing heat produced by a fission reactor to heat and therefore accelerate hydrogen through a rocket nozzle providing thrust. Fuel element temperatures are very high (up to 3000 K) and hydrogen is highly reactive with most materials at high temperatures. Data covering the effects of high‐temperature hydrogen exposure on fuel elements are limited. The primary concern is the mechanical failure of fuel elements due to large thermal gradients; therefore, high‐melting‐point ceramics‐metallic matrix composites (cermets) are one of the fuels under consideration as part of the Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (NCPS) Advance Exploration System (AES) technology project at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The purpose of testing and analytical modeling is to determine their ability to survive and maintain thermal performance in a prototypical NTR reactor environment of exposure to hydrogen at very high temperatures and obtain data to assess the properties of the non‐nuclear support materials. The fission process and the resulting heating performance are well known and do not require that active fissile material to be integrated in this testing. A small‐scale test bed; Compact Fuel Element Environmental Tester (CFEET), designed to heat fuel element samples via induction heating and expose samples to hydrogen is being developed at MSFC to assist in optimal material and manufacturing process selection without utilizing fissile material. This paper details the analytical approach to help design and optimize the test bed using COMSOL Multiphysics for predicting thermal gradients induced by electromagnetic heating (Induction heating) and Thermal Desktop for radiation calculations.

Gomez, C. F.↗

Induction Heating Model of Cermet Fuel Element Environmental Test (CFEET)

Deep space missions with large payloads require high specific impulse and relatively high thrust to achieve mission goals in reasonable time frames. Nuclear Thermal Rockets (NTR) are capable of producing a high specific impulse by employing heat produced by a fission reactor to heat and therefore accelerate hydrogen through a rocket nozzle providing thrust. Fuel element temperatures are very high (up to 3000 K) and hydrogen is highly reactive with most materials at high temperatures. Data covering the effects of high‐temperature hydrogen exposure on fuel elements are limited. The primary concern is the mechanical failure of fuel elements due to large thermal gradients; therefore, high‐melting‐point ceramics‐metallic matrix composites (cermets) are one of the fuels under consideration as part of the Nuclear Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (NCPS) Advance Exploration System (AES) technology project at the Marshall Space Flight Center. The purpose of testing and analytical modeling is to determine their ability to survive and maintain thermal performance in a prototypical NTR reactor environment of exposure to hydrogen at very high temperatures and obtain data to assess the properties of the non‐nuclear support materials. The fission process and the resulting heating performance are well known and do not require that active fissile material to be integrated in this testing. A small‐scale test bed; Compact Fuel Element Environmental Tester (CFEET), designed to heat fuel element samples via induction heating and expose samples to hydrogen is being developed at MSFC to assist in optimal material and manufacturing process selection without utilizing fissile material. This paper details the analytical approach to help design and optimize the test bed using COMSOL Multiphysics for predicting thermal gradients induced by electromagnetic heating (Induction heating) and Thermal Desktop for radiation calculations.

Gomez, Carlos F.↗

Electromagnetic coil optimization for reduced Lorentz forces

Abstract The reduction of magnetic forces on electromagnetic coils is an important consideration in the design of high-field devices such as the stellarator or tokamak. Unfortunately, these forces may be too time-consuming to evaluate by conventional finite element modeling within an optimization loop. Although mutual forces can be computed rapidly by approximating large-bore coils as infinitely thin, this approximation does not hold for self-forces as it leads to an unphysical divergence. Recently, a novel reduced model for the self-field, self-force, and self-inductance of electromagnetic coils based on filamentary models was rigorously derived and demonstrated to be highly accurate and numerically efficient to evaluate (Hurwitz et al 2024 IEEE Trans. Magn. 60 7001614). In this paper, we present an implementation of the reduced self-force model employing automatic differentiation within the simsopt stellarator design software and use it in derivative-based coil optimization for a quasi-axisymmetric stellarator. We show that it is possible to significantly reduce point-wise forces throughout the coils, though this comes with trade-offs to fast particle losses and the minimum distance between coils and the plasma surface. The trade-off between magnetic forces and coil-surface distance is mediated by the minimum coil–coil distance for coils near the inboard side of the ‘bean’ cross-section of the plasma. The relationship between forces and fast particle losses is mediated by the normal field error. Coil forces can be lowered to a threshold with minimal deterioration to losses. Importantly, the magnet optimization approach here can be used also for tokamaks, other fusion concepts, and applications outside of fusion.

Hurwitz, Siena (ORCID:0000000166599659)↗

On the theory of nonhomogeneous nonequilibrium superconductivity in 2D systems with massless fermions

Here we analyze static and nonequilibrium superconducting properties of a 2D relativistic-like model system with local electron-electron interaction, Rashba spin-orbit interaction αR in presence of time-dependent in-plane magnetic field H(t). It is shown that similar to the 2D case with ordinary massive quasiparticle dispersion ε(k)~|k| 2 at large fields, such a system demonstrates a nonhomogeneous superconducting stripe phase with the order parameter Δ(r)=Δ(0)cos(2[μ B B×r]n/$\hbarυ_F$) (B is the magnetic induction, υF is the Fermi velocity, n is the normal to the plane, μ B is the Bohr magneton, and αR$\ll$υF) where the stripes are oriented along the B direction. In the considered system, the inter-stripe period L and the magnitude of the magnetic field B are related by a universal relation BL=$\hbarυ_F$/μ B ≃0.714∙10 -4 Tm. Contrary to the case of massive quasiparticles, where the condition α R ~υ F can be, in principle, satisfied by increasing α R or by charge doping (Fermi velocity decreasing), in a relativistic-like system, where υF is doping-independent and one-two orders of magnitude larger than typical Fermi velocity in the “standard” 2D systems, the stripe phase can be the ground state at a rather low doping level. We also analyzed the nonequilibrium properties of the system with a focus on the melting of the stripe order (when the magnetic field is quenched to a lower value) and stripe dynamics (when the field is rotated by 90° degrees) and found several notable results. In particular, it was shown that the stripe domains melt according to law R~1$\sqrt{t}$ at initial times, while at longer times they shrink exponentially. In the case of the flipped magnetic field, the stripe orientation gradually turns from x- to y-direction, and the intermediate “crossed-stripe” phase takes place during times of order of picoseconds. Such a crossed phase is built of periodic superconducting bubbles that potentially may have applications in modern ultrafast superconducting technologies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Numerical Investigation of Susceptor-Catalyst Design for Ethylene Generation in Radio Frequency Based Reactors

Ethylene is the most widely produced petrochemical component in the world. Whether reactors are heated directly or indirectly via steam, manufacturers use economies of scale to overcome inherent thermodynamic inefficiencies when burning fossil fuels. While allowing large-scale operations to use alternative sources of energy and raw materials, new methods of supplying energy to chemical reactor systems can reduce the energy waste produced by conventional processes. One viable method for effectively supplying energy to reactor systems is electromagnetic (EM) induction heating. Using the properties of radio frequency (RF) waves, heterogeneous catalysts can be precisely targeted for heating inside reactors. Site-selective heating can greatly lower the energy requirements of the process by supplying heat to reaction sites while reducing needless heat transfer elsewhere. In this study, a microscale model was used to help create guidelines for susceptors and catalysts to improve ethylene production. The oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane is investigated by utilizing several catalysts and potential catalyst/susceptor combinations, with heat provided by an EM susceptor. Having the susceptors and catalyst function separately results in higher gradients in both heat and mass transfer, which drives transport through the catalyst region, while still providing adequate heating for endothermic reactions. However, using a susceptive core with a catalyst covering produces the maximum ethylene concentration.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

The influence of surface impurities on photoelectric currents driven by intense soft x rays

In an x-ray driven cavity experiment, an intense flux of soft x rays on the emitting surface produces significant emission of photoelectrons having several kiloelectronvolts of kinetic energy. At the same time, rapid heating of the emitting surface occurs, resulting in the release of adsorbed surface impurities and subsequent formation of an impurity plasma. This numerical study explores a simple model for the photoelectric currents and the impurity plasma. In this work, attention is given to the effect of varying the composition of the impurity plasma. The presence of protons or hydrogen molecular ions leads to a substantially enhanced cavity current, while heavier plasma ions are seen to have a limited effect on the cavity current due to their lower mobility. Additionally, it is demonstrated that an additional peak in the current waveform can appear due to the impurity plasma. A correlation between the impurity plasma composition and the timing of this peak is elucidated.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Faraday effect in collisional magnetized plasmas

Faraday rotation is a valuable diagnostic tool for investigating laboratory and astrophysical plasmas, but it has almost exclusively been treated in the collisionless limit (despite the non-negligible role of Coulomb collisions in many laboratory plasmas). Here, we show that Faraday rotation can occur in collisional plasmas and that the usual effect is curiously altered by collisions. Namely, an initially linearly polarized light wave—propagating parallel to a uniform magnetic field—becomes elliptically polarized in the collisional plasma, and collisional absorption of the wave also occurs. Moreover, the ellipticity and rotation angle are quantifiably sensitive to the fidelity of the collisional transport coefficients. As we will demonstrate with particle-in-cell EPOCH simulations, these effects offer a stringent diagnostic tool for benchmarking multi-scale plasma simulation codes.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Linear magnetic susceptibility of anisotropic superconductors of cuboidal shape

In this study, a simplified model of anisotropic magnetic susceptibility in the Meissner–London vortex-free state of cuboidal superconducting samples is presented. Using this model, precision measurements of the magnetic response in three perpendicular directions of a magnetic field with respect to primary crystal axes can be used to extract the components of the London penetration depth, thus enabling the evaluation of the general superfluid density tensor, which is needed in the analysis of the superconducting gap structure.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗