Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “Task 36”

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 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2016

HMPT: Introduction: Live #27916, Test 27917

This course, HMPT: Introduction Live 27916, addresses the Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) general awareness, transportation security awareness, and safety training requirements for Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in the Hazardous Materials Packaging and Transportation (HMPT) training. Although the course itself is suggested to be taken one time only, the accompanying test (27917) is required initially and then every 36 months. This course is intended to help you learn how to navigate the regulations found in 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Parts 107–178, Transportation. These regulations change frequently, and it is your responsibility to keep up to date with these changes. This course will give you tools to perform your hazardous materials (HAZMAT) tasks according to the most current regulations.

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗
DOE OSTI2016

Energy Frontier Research Centers: Science for Our Nation's Energy Future, September 2016

As world demand for energy rapidly expands, transforming the way energy is collected, stored, and used has become a defining challenge of the 21st century. At its heart, this challenge is a scientific one, inspiring the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES) to establish the Energy Frontier Research Center (EFRC) program in 2009. The EFRCs represent a unique approach, bringing together creative, multidisciplinary scientific teams to perform energy-relevant basic research with a complexity beyond the scope of single-investigator projects. These centers take full advantage of powerful new tools for characterizing, understanding, modeling, and manipulating matter from atomic to macroscopic length scales. They also train the next-generation scientific workforce by attracting talented students and postdoctoral researchers interested in energy science. The EFRCs have collectively demonstrated the potential to substantially advance the scientific understanding underpinning transformational energy technologies. Both a BES Committee of Visitors and a Secretary of Energy Advisory Board Task Force have found the EFRC program to be highly successful in meeting its goals. The scientific output from the EFRCs is impressive, and many centers have reported that their results are already impacting both technology research and industry. This report on the EFRC program includes selected highlights from the initial 46 EFRCs and the current 36 EFRCs.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2025

Tunable Electrochemical Pathway for High-Purity REMs and CMs

This report details a comprehensive research initiative focused on developing a technical research plan for the efficient and sustainable production of rare earth elements (REEs) and critical materials (CMs) from coal-based resources, specifically lignite coal from the Williston Basin in North Dakota. The project’s methodology centers on the design and evaluation of a tunable electrochemical pathway (TEP), an innovative approach aimed at achieving high-purity rare earth oxides (REOs), rare earth salts (RES), and CMs. This research is crucial for addressing the growing demand for these materials in clean energy technologies, electric vehicles, and high-tech applications, while reducing the United States’ reliance on foreign supply chains. The project was structured into four key tasks, each designed to build upon the previous one and contribute to the overarching goal of developing a viable technical research plan.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2026

Separation of Lithium and Magnesium from Brines Using Zwitterionic Simulated Moving Beds: Cooperative Research and Development (Final Report)

The purpose of this work was to separate lithium and magnesium from lithium-containing brines by applying a zwitterionic simulated moving bed (zSMB) system that NLR developed. This work was needed to validate lithium and magnesium separation for future development at scale. Below is a summary of the tasks outlined in the Statement of Work and the results that were generated.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Boiler materials for ultra supercritical coal power plants

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the Ohio Coal Development Office (OCDO) have undertaken a project aimed at identifying, evaluating, and qualifying the materials needed for the construction of the critical components of coal-fired boilers capable of operating at much higher efficiencies than current generation of supercritical plants. This increased efficiency is expected to be achieved principally through the use of advanced ultrasupercritical (A-USC) steam conditions up to 760°C (1400°F) and 35 MPa (5000 psi). A limiting factor to achieving these higher temperatures and pressures for future A-USC plants are the materials of construction. The goal of this project is to assess/develop materials technology to build and operate an A-USC boiler capable of delivering steam with conditions up to 760°C (1400°F)/35 MPa (5000 psi). The project has successfully met this goal through a focused long-term public-private consortium partnership. The project was based on an R&D plan developed by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and an industry consortium that supplemented the recommendations of several DOE workshops on the subject of advanced materials. In view of the variety of skills and expertise required for the successful completion of the proposed work, a consortium led by the Energy Industries of Ohio (EIO) with cost-sharing participation of all the major domestic boiler manufacturers, ALSTOM Power (Alstom), Babcock and Wilcox Power Generation Group, Inc. (B&W), Foster Wheeler (FW), and Riley Power, Inc. (Riley), technical management by EPRI and research conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) has been developed. The project has clearly identified and tested materials that can withstand 760°C (1400°F) steam conditions and can also make a 700°C (1300°F) plant more economically attractive. In this project, the maximum temperature capabilities of these and other available high-temperature alloys have been assessed to provide a basis for materials selection and application under a range of conditions prevailing in the boiler. A major effort involving eight tasks was completed in Phase 1. In a subsequent Phase 2 extension, the earlier defined tasks were extended to finish and enhance the Phase 1 activities. This extension included efforts in improved weld/weldment performance, development of longer-term material property databases, additional field (in-plant) corrosion testing, improved understanding of long-term oxidation kinetics and exfoliation, cyclic operation, and fabrication methods for waterwalls. In addition, preliminary work was undertaken to model an oxyfuel boiler to define local environments expected to occur and to study corrosion behavior of alloys under these conditions. This final technical report provides a comprehensive summary of all the work undertaken by the consortium and the research findings from all eight (8) technical tasks including A-USC boiler design and economics (Task 1), long-term materials properties (Task 2), steam- side oxidation (Task 3), Fireside Corrosion (Task 4), Welding (Task 5), Fabricability (Task 6), Coatings (Task 7), and Design Data and Rules (Task 8).

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2017

Novel Dissimilar Joints Between Alloy 800H and 2.25%Cr and 1%Mo Steel

Dissimilar metal joints between ferritic steels and nickel base alloys are currently fabricated using conventional arc welding processes with selected filler metal combinations. The dissimilar metal joints contain abrupt changes in composition over a relatively small distance. Many years of service at elevated temperatures has shown that these welds are susceptible to creep and creep fatigue failures. The primary mechanism for these creep failures involves carbon diffusion from the ferritic steel to the nickel base alloy. As a result, a carbon depleted zone is created that contains very few stable carbides. This work used additive manufacturing (AM) technologies as a highly controllable means for reducing carbon migration through theoretically designed, compositionally graded transition joints guided by appropriate thermodynamic, kinetic and heat transfer and fluid flow modeling. The contents of the report include the objectives and tasks set forth by the PI and collaborators, major technical accomplishments throughout the research and additional details in the form of technical publications resulting from the NEUP grant and reports from the collaborating university and national laboratory.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Degradation Studies of Silicone Rubbers in Direct Contact with Corrosive Solids Under Compression

Silicone elastomers are polymer materials widely used within the complex, serving as cushions, adhesives, binders, and potting compounds. Excellent high-temperature resistance combined with low-temperature flexibility, high resistance to chemicals and long-term age-related stability, make silicones first-choice materials in many application areas. However, the siloxane bonds comprising the backbone of silicone elastomers are susceptible to hydrolysis when catalytic amounts of acid or base are present. Hydrolysis is a form of degradation that results in chain-cleavage and rearrangement reactions, which can manifest in changes to the physical response and mechanical properties of the elastomer. This task aims to assess and quantify the extent of degradation and/or corrosion of silicone elastomer materials when placed in direct compressive contact with an Arrhenius base under varying environments (oxidative/nonoxidative, relative humidity, temperature, time, etc.).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Understanding Small-Molecule Interactions in Metal-Organic Frameworks: Coupling Experiment with Theory

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have gained much attention as next generation porous media for various applications, especially gas separations/storage and catalysis. New MOFs are regularly reported; however, to develop better materials in a timely manner for specific applications, the interactions between guest molecules and the internal surface of the framework must first be understood. In this review, we present a combined experimental and theoretical approach that proves essential for the elucidation of small-molecule interactions in a model MOF system known as M 2 (dobdc) (dobdc 4– = 2,5-dioxido-1,4-benzenedicarboxylate; M = Mg, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, or Zn), a material whose adsorption properties can be readily tuned via chemical substitution. Here, we additionally show that the study of extensive families like this one can provide a platform to test the efficacy and accuracy of developing computational methodologies in slightly varying chemical environments, a task that is necessary for their evolution into viable, robust tools for screening large numbers of materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2024

Automated Grain Boundary (GB) Segmentation and Microstructural Analysis in 347H Stainless Steel Using Deep Learning and Multimodal Microscopy

Austenitic 347H stainless steel offers superior mechanical properties and corrosion resistance required for extreme operating conditions such as high temperature. The change in microstructure due to composition and process variations is expected to impact material properties. Identifying microstructural features such as grain boundaries thus becomes an important task in the process-microstructure-properties loop. Applying convolutional neural network (CNN)-based deep learning models is a powerful technique to detect features from material micrographs in an automated manner. In contrast to microstructural classification, supervised CNN models for segmentation tasks require pixel-wise annotation labels. However, manual labeling of the images for the segmentation task poses a major bottleneck for generating training data and labels in a reliable and reproducible way within a reasonable timeframe. Microstructural characterization especially needs to be expedited for faster material discovery by changing alloy compositions. Here, in this study, we attempt to overcome such limitations by utilizing multimodal microscopy to generate labels directly instead of manual labeling. We combine scanning electron microscopy images of 347H stainless steel as training data and electron backscatter diffraction micrographs as pixel-wise labels for grain boundary detection as a semantic segmentation task. The viability of our method is evaluated by considering a set of deep CNN architectures. We demonstrate that despite producing instrumentation drift during data collection between two modes of microscopy, this method performs comparably to similar segmentation tasks that used manual labeling. Additionally, we find that naïve pixel-wise segmentation results in small gaps and missing boundaries in the predicted grain boundary map. By incorporating topological information during model training, the connectivity of the grain boundary network and segmentation performance is improved. Finally, our approach is validated by accurate computation on downstream tasks of predicting the underlying grain morphology distributions which are the ultimate quantities of interest for microstructural characterization.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Double Q-Learning for Radiation Source Detection

Anomalous radiation source detection in urban environments is challenging due to the complex nature of background radiation. When a suspicious area is determined, a radiation survey is usually carried out to search for anomalous radiation sources. To locate the source with high accuracy and in a short time, different survey approaches have been studied such as scanning the area with fixed survey paths and data-driven approaches that update the survey path on the fly with newly acquired measurements. In this work, we propose reinforcement learning as a data-driven approach to conduct radiation detection tasks with no human intervention. A simulated radiation environment is constructed, and a convolutional neural network-based double Q-learning algorithm is built and tested for radiation source detection tasks. Simulation results show that the double Q-learning algorithm can reliably navigate the detector and reduce the searching time by at least 44% compared with traditional uniform search methods and gradient search methods.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Determination of the direct double- β -decay Q value of Zr 96 and atomic masses of Zr 90 - 92 , 94 , 96 and Mo 92 , 94 - 98 , 100

Experimental searches for neutrinoless double-β decay offer one of the best opportunities to look for physics beyond the standard model. Detecting this decay would confirm the Majorana nature of the neutrino, and a measurement of its half-life can be used to determine the absolute neutrino mass scale. Important to both tasks is an accurate knowledge of the Q value of the double-β decay. The LEBIT Penning trap mass spectrometer was used for the first direct experimental determination of the ⁹⁶Zr double-β decay Q value: Q ββ =3355.85(15) keV. This value is nearly 7 keV larger than the 2012 Atomic Mass Evaluation [M. Wang et al., Chin. Phys. C 36, 1603 (2012)] value and one order of magnitude more precise. The 3-σ shift is primarily due to a more accurate measurement of the ⁹⁶Zr atomic mass: m(⁹⁶Zr)=95.90827735(17) u. Using the new Q value, the 2νββ-decay matrix element, |M 2ν |, is calculated. Improved determinations of the atomic masses of all other zirconium ( 90-92,94,96 Zr) and molybdenum ( 92,94-98,100 Mo) isotopes using both ¹²C₈ and ⁸⁷Rb as references are also reported.

Gulyuz, K.↗
DOE OSTI2018

Study of the Effective Refractive Index Profile in Self-Assembling Nanostructured ITO Films

The optical characteristics and structural features of self-assembling nanostructured indium–tin oxide (ITO) films deposited onto substrates heated above 400°C are studied. Estimations of the distribution profiles of the material and effective refractive index in the films under study are obtained by computer simulation of a medium having spectral dependences of light transmission and reflection coefficients closest to those observed in the experiment. These results are in good agreement with scanning electron microscopy data for these films and make it possible to not only confirm the gradient character of such coatings but also restore some of its features. The further overgrowth of voids in self-assembling nanostructured films by means of the deposition of an additional material amount by magnetron sputtering at room temperature leads to a variation in the effective refractive index profile in them. Thus, it is possible to form transparent conductive films with an efficient refractive index profile adjusted for specific tasks. Adjustment of the refractive index profile in self-assembled ITO films acquires a special value for designing coatings with specified properties by virtue of a limited set of transparent conductive materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Self-assembly of pi-conjugated peptides in aqueous environments leading to energy-transporting bioelectronic nanostructures

The realization of new supramolecular pi-conjugated organic structures inspired and driven by peptide-based self-assembly will offer a new approach to interface with the biotic environment in a way that will help to meet many DOE-recognized grand challenges. Previously, we developed pi-conjugated peptides that undergo supramolecular self-assembly into one-dimensional (1-D) organic electronic nanomaterials under benign aqueous conditions. The intermolecular interactions among the pi-conjugated organic segments within these nanomaterials lead to defined perturbations of their optoelectronic properties and yield nanoscale conduits that support energy transport within individual nanostructures and throughout bulk macroscopic collections of nanomaterials. Our objectives for future research are to construct and study biomimetic electronic materials for energy-related technology optimized for harsher non-biological environments where peptide-driven self-assembly enhances pi-stacking within nanostructured biomaterials, as detailed in the following specific tasks: (1) synthesis and detailed optoelectronic characterization of new pi-electron units to embed within homogeneous self assembling peptides, (2) molecular and data-driven modeling of the nanomaterial aggregates and their higher-order assemblies, and (3) development of new hierarchical assembly paradigms to organize multiple electronic subunits within the nanomaterials leading to heterogeneous electronic properties (i.e. gradients and localized electric fields). These intertwined research tasks will lead to the continued development and fundamental mechanistic understanding of a powerful bioinspired materials set capable of making connections between nanoscale electronic materials and macroscopic bulk interfaces, be they those of a cell, a protein or a device.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Light Water Reactor Sustainability Program Materials Research Pathway Technical Program Plan

The Materials Research (MR) Pathway within the Light Water Reactor Sustainability (LWRS) Program is charged with performing the research and development (R&D) to develop the scientific basis for understanding and predicting long-term environmental degradation behavior of materials in nuclear reactors. Furthermore, it is essential to use the mechanistic understanding of degradation phenomena in materials to develop mitigation, repair, and new material alternatives for existing components. The work will provide data and methods to assess performance of systems, structures, and components (SSCs) essential to safe and sustained reactor operations. The R&D products developed from the LWRS Program will be used by utilities, industry groups, and regulators to inform operational and regulatory requirements for materials in reactor SSCs subjected to long-term operation conditions, providing key input to both regulators and industry. The intent of this research is to help in reducing the operating costs, which may be in the form of offset maintenance costs due to better predictive models for component lifetimes, improved analysis of materials through nondestructive evaluation, reduced costs for repairs, or extended performance of plants through the selection of improved replacement materials. To best achieve this, industry experience and guidance are important as is their role in coordinated or collaborative research projects. The objectives of this report are to describe the motivation and organization of the MR Pathway within the LWRS Program, provide details on the individual research tasks within the MR Pathway, describe the outcomes and deliverables of the MR Pathway, including recent technical highlights and progress, and list the requirements for performing the research.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-256: 4D IMRT Planning Using An Early Prototype GPU-Enabled Eclipse Workstation

Purpose: True 4D IMRT planning, based on simultaneous spatiotemporal optimization has been shown to significantly improve plan quality in lung radiotherapy. However, the high computational complexity associated with such planning represents a significant barrier to widespread clinical deployment. We introduce an early prototype GPU-enabled Eclipse workstation for inverse planning. To our knowledge, this is the first GPUintegrated Eclipse system demonstrating the potential for clinical translation of GPU computing on a major commercially-available TPS. Methods: The prototype system comprised of four NVIDIA Tesla K80 GPUs, with a maximum processing capability of 8.5 Tflops per K80 card. The system architecture consisted of three key modules: (i) a GPU-based inverse planning module using a highly-parallelizable, swarm intelligence-based global optimization algorithm, (ii) a GPU-based open-source b-spline deformable image registration module, Elastix, and (iii) a CUDA-based data management module. For evaluation, aperture fluence weights in an IMRT plan were optimized over 9 beams,166 apertures and 10 respiratory phases (14940 variables) for a lung cancer case (GTV = 95 cc, right lower lobe, 15 mm cranio-caudal motion). Sensitivity of the planning time and memory expense to parameter variations was quantified. Results: GPU-based inverse planning was significantly accelerated compared to its CPU counterpart (36 vs 488 min, for 10 phases, 10 search agents and 10 iterations). The optimized IMRT plan significantly improved OAR sparing compared to the original internal target volume (ITV)-based clinical plan, while maintaining prescribed tumor coverage. The dose-sparing improvements were: Esophagus Dmax 50%, Heart Dmax 42% and Spinal cord Dmax 25%. Conclusion: Our early prototype system demonstrates that through massive parallelization, computationally intense tasks such as 4D treatment planning can be accomplished in clinically feasible timeframes. With further optimization, such systems are expected to enable the eventual clinical translation of higher-dimensional and complex treatment planning strategies to significantly improve plan quality. This work was partially supported through research funding from National Institutes of Health (R01CA169102) and Varian Medical Systems, Palo Alto, CA, USA.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2016

Demonstration of a Prototype Hydrogen Sensor and Electronics Package - Progress Report 2

This is the second progress report on the demonstration of a prototype hydrogen sensor and electronics package. It goes into detail about the five tasks, four of which are already completed as of August 2016, with the final to be completed by January 26, 2017. Then the budget is detailed along with the planned work for May 27, 2016 to July 27, 2016.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2018

A Simplified Procedure to Determine Post-necking True Stress–Strain Curve from Uniaxial Tensile Test of Round Metallic Specimen Using DIC

Triaxial state of stress is usually generated in the necked zone because of neck geometry, and as a consequence proper correction of true tensile stress–strain curve after necking is mandatory. Various correction factors like Bridgman, Davidenkov and Spiridonova, Siebel and Schwaigere are available in the published literature to calculate true stress from mean axial stress. Similarly true strains can be calculated from the minimum diameters of the round specimen in the necked region for various true stress levels. But experimental determination of correction factors and minimum diameters of the round specimen in the necked region is a cumbersome task. This investigation shows a simplified procedure to determine true strains and the correction factors from digital image correlation-based local strain measurement in the necked region. The present procedure is validated by experimental results of rail steel.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Recent Developments in Femtosecond Laser-Enabled TriBeam Systems

Streams of multimodal three-dimensional (3D) and four-dimensional (4D) data are revolutionizing our ability to design and predict the behavior of a broad array of advanced materials systems. Over the last 10 years, a new 3D imaging platform consisting of a femtosecond (fs) pulsed laser coupled with a focused ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB SEM) has been developed by UC Santa Barbara in collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific (formerly FEI). The femtosecond-laser-enabled FIB SEM, called the TriBeam, has become one of the only 3D serial sectioning methods available that can gather millimeter-scaled multimodal datasets at sub-μm voxel resolutions; these length scales are critical for many materials problems. Multimodal chemical, crystallographic, and morphological information can be gathered rapidly on a layer-by-layer basis and reconstructed in 3D. Large (gigabyte to terabyte scale) 3D datasets have been generated for a broad array of materials systems, including metallic alloys, ceramics, biomaterials, polymer- and ceramic-matrix composites, and semiconductors. The research tasks conducted have resulted in a completely new design, operating with a dual-wavelength femtosecond-pulsed laser on a plasma focused ion beam (PFIB) platform.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗