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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 91 records · Page 5
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Hypervelocity impact flash expansion geometry under various spacecraft surface electrical conditions

A more congested space environment due to increasing space activities introduces new threats to spacecraft operators. Among these threats include hypervelocity impacts from microparticles (< 1 µg) in the form of meteoroids and space debris. These microparticles travel at speeds between 11.2 and 72.8 km/s with respect to the Earth and can impact spacecraft forming a small (~1 µm) and dense (~ 10 26 m -3 ) plasma. This plasma can generate a strong optical emission (impact flash) and a radio frequency (RF) emission. These emissions can lead to spacecraft electrical anomalies when the impacted spacecraft surface (target) carries high electrical potential due to various space weather effects. To understand the microparticle hypervelocity impact plasma and its associated threat to spacecraft electronics, we studied the hypervelocity impact flash expansion geometry under various spacecraft surface electrical conditions. Three high-speed broadband photomultiplier tubes (PMT) are used to capture the temporal evolution of the impact flash and the temporal evolution of the angular distribution of the impact flash expansion geometry in a 3 MV electrostatic dust accelerator during a ground-based experiment. Overall, results indicate that the impact surface electrical condition has a statistically significant influence on the impact flash geometry, and a strong similarity between the impact plasma and flash expansion geometry. Thus, this paper provides new experimental support for the impact flash origin from and connection with the impact plasma, and serves as the first impact flash expansion geometry characterization under various impact surface electrical conditions in a collisionless environment (< 10 -5 Torr).

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Thermal expansion of 4H and 6H SiC from 5 K to 340 K

The first thermal expansion measurements of the 4H and 6H polytypes of SiC below room temperature are reported. The measurements were carried out on single-crystal specimens using high-resolution capacitive-based dilatometry. For both polytypes, the thermal expansion coefficient is below 2.4 × 10 -6 1/K near room temperature. No phase transitions are observed over the 5 K to 340 K temperature range of the measurements. The thermal expansion coefficient α of 4H SiC is slightly anisotropic for measurements parallel and perpendicular to the crystallographic c axis with α ∥ about 2.2 × 10 -7 1/K larger than α ⟂ near room temperature. For 6H SiC no discernible anisotropy is observed. The differences in anisotropy can be understood by considering the ratio of hexagonal to cubic bonds of each polytype. Narrow regions with negative thermal expansion that are within the limits of our resolution (~ 1 x 10 -8 ) are observed in the vicinity of 30 K for both specimens. In conclusion, tabulated data, polynomial fits, fit parameters, and comparison to data based on lattice-parameter measurements are provided.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

High temporal resolution generation expansion planning for the clean energy transition

As power systems integrate increasing quantities of wind, solar and energy storage resources, it is important to revisit power system capacity expansion modeling methods and assumptions that have been utilized in thermal- dominated systems. We conduct a series of case study analyses using a simplified representation of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) system to demonstrate how least-cost capacity expansion outcomes are impacted by changes in model resolution across two temporal dimensions: 1) the number of considered representative periods, and 2) the system dispatch interval. First, we find that the least-cost generation portfolio can differ significantly for small changes in the number of representative days, but largely converges to the 365-day result once 104 representative days are considered. Furthermore, systems with wind, solar and storage resources were more sensitive to changes in the number of representative days than a thermal-dominated system. Second, we find that considering five-minute dispatch resolution consistently results in least-cost generation portfolios with less solar capacity and more energy storage capacity than corresponding scenarios with hourly dispatch intervals. This suggests that hourly dispatch representation fails to capture the intra-hour volatility of solar generation, and therefore also overlooks opportunities for storage resources to provide system value by balancing this volatility. Collectively these results indicate that capacity expansion modelers should revisit conventional approaches to temporal representation when conducting analyses of deeply decarbonized power systems to ensure that such analyses are robust and actionable. To our knowledge, this is the first study to analyze capacity expansion outcomes with five-minute dispatch resolution in this manner.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗
DOE OSTI2025

Machine Learning-Accelerated First-Principles Molecular Dynamics Explains Anomalous Lattice Thermal Expansion in BaZr 0.78 Y 0.22 O 3-δ

Fuel cells are a vital clean energy technology that converts chemical energy directly into electricity with high efficiency, making them a cornerstone of a sustainable energy future. Herein we investigate the thermal and chemical lattice expansion behavior of hydrated BaZr 0.78 Y 0.22 O 3-δ using machine learning-accelerated ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. Here, our results reproduce the experimentally observed non-monotonic and anomalous temperature dependence of lattice expansion, which we attribute to the competing effects of thermal expansion and dehydration—two mechanisms that influence the lattice expansion in opposite directions. The importance of this work lies in its detailed demonstration of how advanced computational techniques can accurately capture complex environmental effects, providing a valuable framework for modeling similar phenomena in a variety of material systems and applications.

Proton conducting fuel cell↗
DOE OSTI2020

Transforming Thermal Expansion from Positive to Negative: The Case of Cubic Magnetic Compounds of (Zr,Nb)Fe 2

Negative thermal expansion (NTE) is an intriguing property for not only fundamental studies but also technological applications. However, few NTE materials are available compared with the huge amount of positive thermal expansion materials. The discovery of new NTE materials remains challenging. In this paper, we report a chemical modification strategy to transform thermal expansion from positive to negative in cubic magnetic compounds of (Zr,Nb)Fe 2 by tuning the magnetic exchange interaction. Furthermore, an isotropic zero thermal expansion can be established in Zr 0.8 Nb 0.2 Fe 2 (α 1 = 1.4 x 10 -6 K -1 , 3-470 K) over a broad temperature range that is even wider than that of the prototype Invar alloy of Fe 0.64 Ni 0.36 . The NTE of (Zr,Nb)Fe 2 is originated from the weakened magnetic exchange interaction and the increased d electrons of Fe by the Nb chemical substitution, so that the magnetovolume effect overwhelms the contribution of anharmonic lattice vibration.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2022

Few-femtosecond resolved imaging of laser-driven nanoplasma expansion

Abstract The free expansion of a planar plasma surface is a fundamental non-equilibrium process relevant for various fields but as-yet experimentally still difficult to capture. The significance of the associated spatiotemporal plasma motion ranges from astrophysics and controlled fusion to laser machining, surface high-harmonic generation, plasma mirrors, and laser-driven particle acceleration. Here, we show that x-ray coherent diffractive imaging can surpass existing approaches and enables the quantitative real-time analysis of the sudden free expansion of laser-heated nanoplasmas. For laser-ionized SiO 2 nanospheres, we resolve the formation of the emerging nearly self-similar plasma profile evolution and expose the so far inaccessible shell-wise expansion dynamics including the associated startup delay and rarefaction front velocity. Our results establish time-resolved diffractive imaging as an accurate quantitative diagnostic platform for tracing and characterizing plasma expansion and indicate the possibility to resolve various laser-driven processes including shock formation and wave-breaking phenomena with unprecedented resolution.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Nonnegligible cascading impacts of global urban expansion on net primary productivity

Accelerated global urban expansion not only directly occupies surrounding ecosystems, but also induces cascading losses of natural vegetation elsewhere through cropland displacement. Yet, how such effects alter the net primary productivity (NPP) worldwide remains unclear. Here, we quantified the direct and cascading impacts of global urban expansion on terrestrial NPP from 1992 to 2020 and projected the impacts under the shared socioeconomic pathways framework by 2100. We found that global urban expansion caused a cascading loss of 29.2 to 63.9 Tg C/year of terrestrial NPP in the historical period (1992–2020), accounting for 13–29% of the total direct NPP loss. Instead, our projections indicate that during 2020–2100, mainly due to the increased relocation of displaced croplands to low-productive ecosystems, the cascading impacts gradually change from negative to positive, leading to a net NPP increase. Such an increase may offset up to 7% of the total direct NPP loss, better balancing crop compensation with NPP maintenance. Our findings highlight the unexpected large cascading impacts of urban expansion on the carbon cycle and stress the importance of regulating land transitions to curtail land-use emissions.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

Sparse expansions of multicomponent oxide configuration energy using coherency and redundancy

We report that compressed sensing has become a widely accepted paradigm to construct high dimensional cluster expansion models used for statistical mechanical studies of atomic configuration in complex multicomponent crystalline materials. However, strict sampling requirements necessary to obtain minimal coherence measurements for compressed sensing to guarantee accurate estimation of model parameters are difficult and in some cases impossible to satisfy due to the inability of physical systems to access certain configurations. Nevertheless, the dependence of energy on atomic configuration can still be adequately learned without these strict requirements by using compressed sensing by way of coherent measurements using redundant function sets known as frames. We develop a particular frame constructed from the union of all occupancy-based cluster expansion basis sets. We illustrate how using this highly redundant frame yields sparse expansions of the configuration energy of complex oxide materials that are competitive and often surpass the prediction accuracy and sparsity of models obtained from standard cluster expansions.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2020

Anharmonic Origin of the Giant Thermal Expansion of NaBr

ll phonons in a single crystal of NaBr are measured by inelastic neutron scattering at temperatures of 10, 300, and 700 K. Even at 300 K, the phonons, especially the longitudinal-optical phonons, show large shifts in frequencies and show large broadenings in energy owing to anharmonicity. Ab initio computations are first performed with the quasiharmonic approximation (QHA) in which the phonon frequencies depend only on V and on T only insofar as it alters V by thermal expansion. This QHA is an unqualified failure for predicting the temperature dependence of phonon frequencies, even 300 K, and the thermal expansion is in error by a factor of 4. Ab initio computations that include both anharmonicity and quasiharmonicity successfully predict both the temperature dependence of phonons and the large thermal expansion of NaBr. The frequencies of longitudinal-optical phonon modes decrease significantly with temperature owing to the real part of the phonon self-energy from explicit anharmonicity originating from the cubic anharmonicity of nearest-neighbor NaBr bonds. Anharmonicity is not a correction to the QHA predictions of thermal expansion and thermal phonon shifts but dominates the behavior.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2025

Anharmonic phonons, thermal expansion, and nuclear quantum effects in Zn

The anharmonic behavior of phonons and thermal expansion of hexagonal zinc were studied from 15 to 690 K by inelastic neutron scattering (INS) and ab initio simulations. Phonon spectra were measured for Q-points covering the full Brillouin zone, giving the phonon density of states (DOS) and dispersions along high-symmetry directions. The dispersions were sharp at 15 K, but diffuse intensity was observed at energies above them. The dispersions broadened with temperature T and the diffuse intensity became stronger. This diffuse intensity appeared in all INS measurements and simulations, except for classical molecular dynamics at 15 K. The temperature-dependent effective potential (TDEP) method, which included the nuclear quantum effect from zero-point vibrational dynamics, was used to calculate the free energy and thermal expansion. For T < 100 K nuclear quantum effects were important for obtaining the correct negative thermal expansion, and path integral molecular dynamics (PIMD) was particularly effective for obtaining the negative thermal expansion in the basal plane. A Heisenberg-Langevin model for interacting phonons coupled to a thermal bath was able to reproduce the shape and intensity of the diffuse spectral features.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2024

Crystal structure solution and high-temperature thermal expansion in NaZr 2 (PO 4 ) 3 -type materials

The NaZr 2 P 3 O 12 family of materials have shown low and tailorable thermal expansion properties. In this study, SrZr 4 P 6 O 24 (SrO·4ZrO 2 ·3P 2 O 5 ), CaZr 4 P 6 O 24 (CaO·4ZrO 2 ·3P 2 O 5 ), MgZr 4 P 6 O 24 (MgO·4ZrO 2 ·3P 2 O 5 ), NaTi 2 P 3 O 12 [½(Na 2 O·4TiO 2 ·3P 2 O 5 )], NaZr 2 P 3 O 12 [½(Na 2 O·4ZrO 2 ·3P 2 O 5 )], and related solid solutions were synthesized using the organic–inorganic steric entrapment method. The samples were characterized by in-situ high-temperature X-ray diffraction from 25 to 1500°C at the Advanced Photon Source and National Synchrotron Light Source II. The average linear thermal expansion of SrZr 4 P 6 O 24 and CaZr 4 P 6 O 24 was between −1 × 10 −6 per °C and 6 × 10 −6 per °C from 25 to 1500°C. The crystal structures of the high-temperature polymorphs of CaZr 4 P 6 O 24 and SrZr 4 P 6 O 24 with R 3 c symmetry were solved by Fourier difference mapping and Rietveld refinement. This polymorph is present above ∼1250°C. This work measured thermal expansion coefficients to 1500°C for all samples and investigated the differences in thermal expansion mechanisms between polymorphs and between compositions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Comment on “Light-induced lattice expansion leads to high-efficiency perovskite solar cells”

Tsai et al. report a uniform light-induced lattice expansion of metal halide perovskite films under 1-sun illumination and claim to exclude heat-induced lattice expansion. In this paper, we show that by controlling the temperature of the perovskite film under both dark and illuminated conditions, the mechanism for lattice expansion is in fact fully consistent with heat-induced thermal expansion during illumination.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗
DOE OSTI2023

Cardy expansion of 3d superconformal indices and corrections to the dual black hole entropy

We consider the superconformal index of three-dimensional $\mathcal{N}$ = 2 supersymmetric field theories computed via localization on S 1 × S 2 . We systematically develop an expansion where the ratio of the radius of S 1 to the radius of S 2 is taken very small — a Cardy-like expansion. We emphasize the sub-leading structures in this Cardy-like expansion as well as their interplay with the large-N limit for theories with gauge group of the form product of U(N) factors. We demonstrate that taking the large-N limit first leads to an expression for the effective action yielding the index that only includes terms proportional to 1/β and powers of β i=0,1,2 where β is the ratio of radii. As we depart from the β → 0 limit for finite N, we find indications of non-perturbative contributions of the form e –1/β . We present an explicit evaluation of the superconformal index for the ABJM theory in the large-N limit that is exact in β up to non-perturbative corrections. For the ABJM theory we explore the implications of the Cardy-like expansion for corrections to the entropy of the rotating, electricallly charged, asymptotically AdS 4 dual black hole. Interestingly, we find a closed form for the entropy that includes all perturbative corrections in β and takes the form of the leading order expression but with shifted charges.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Finite N indices and the giant graviton expansion

The superconformal index of N = 4 super-Yang Mills theory with U(N) gauge group can be written as a matrix integral over the gauge group. Recently, Murthy demonstrated that this integral can be reexpressed as a sum of terms corresponding to a giant graviton expansion of the index, and provided an explicit formula for the case of a single giant graviton. Here we give similar explicit formulae for an arbitrary number, m ≥ 1, of giant gravitons. We provide 1/2 and 1/16 BPS index examples up to the order where three giant gravitons contribute and demonstrate that the expansion of the matrix integral differs from the giant graviton expansion computed in the supergravity dual. This shows that the giant graviton expansion is not necessarily unique once two or more giant gravitons start appearing.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Impact of downhole pressure and fluid-access on the effectiveness of wellbore cement expansion additives

Autogenous shrinkage of wellbore cement widely impairs zonal isolation. MgO-based cement expansion additives (CEAs) can mitigate this shrinkage, or even impart net expansion, by creating porosity through displacive crystal growth-processes. However, both MgO hydration and autogenous shrinkage behaviour depend strongly on stress state. Evaluation of CEA performance in wellbore cements therefore requires testing under elevated pressures representative for subsurface environments. We report experiments addressing the chemical and bulk volume changes that occur in cement hydrating at 10 MPa confining pressure and 90 °C. Volumetric response was investigated as function of MgO concentration, external water supply, and pore pressure decrease through water consumption during reaction. Results show the bulk expansion achieved using MgO-based CEAs diminishes markedly with increasing effective confining pressure or, equivalently, upon restricting fluid supply. This reduced expansion-potential under pressure has profound implications for slurry design, notably regarding CEA-concentrations required to counteract micro-annulus formation while maintaining low cement permeability.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2022

An in-situ study of low thermal expansion and internal stress evolution in FeMn alloys

The mechanism of low thermal expansion phenomenon in antiferromagnetic FeMn alloys needs to be revealed. In this work, the evolution of lattice thermal expansion and internal stress in FeMn alloys was investigated by in-situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction during thermal cycling. Preceding the martensitic transformation, the coefficient of lattice thermal expansion (CLTE) decreased and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the diffraction peaks broadened abnormally. The evolution of the lattice thermal expansion and the FWHM were both reversible and isotropic. The additional reflection spots around the fundamental diffraction spots in the electron diffraction patterns of austenite and the dispersed nano-scale martensite embryos in austenite observed in the dark field TEM images proves the existence of premartensitic transformation. Finally, similar phenomena were found in FeMn Invar alloy, which indicate that the Invar effect is closely related to the internal stress evolution caused by premartensitic transformation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating system responses to electric vehicle charging infrastructure expansion through data-driven simulation

Understanding the system responses to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure expansion, including vehicle charging needs, station utilization, and energy consumption, is critical for effective planning to meet growing charging demand without unnecessary resource investment. This study evaluates the system responses to EV charging infrastructure expansion, focusing on charging needs, station utilization, and energy consumption. Using trip data from the National Household Travel Survey and origin–destination patterns, we simulated trip chains in downtown Atlanta with 10 % EV penetration. We assessed 32 scenarios involving different charging port power levels and siting strategies. Furthermore, we found that higher-power ports were more sensitive to placement, with concentrated expansion boosting station utilization more than uniform expansion. Adding high-power ports did not always increase peak energy consumption; in some cases, a few 400 kW ports reduced overall consumption compared to 150 kW ports by enabling faster charging and higher vehicle turnover.

Electric vehicle↗
DOE OSTI2022

Tailoring Negative Thermal Expansion via Tunable Induced Strain in La–Fe–Si-Based Multifunctional Material

Zero thermal expansion (ZTE) composites are typically designed by combining positive (PTE) with negative thermal expansion (NTE) materials acting as compensators and have many diverse applications, including in high-precision instrumentation and biomedical devices. La(Fe 1-x ,Si x )13-based compounds display several remarkable properties, such as giant magnetocaloric effect and very large NTE at room-temperature. Both are linked via strong magnetovolume coupling, which leads to sharp magnetic and volume changes occurring simultaneously across first-order phase transitions; the abrupt nature of these changes makes them unsuitable as thermal expansion compensators. To make these materials more useful practically, the mechanisms controlling the temperature over which this transition occurs and the magnitude of contraction need to be controlled. In this work, ball-milling was used to decrease particles and crystallite sizes and increase the strain in LaFe 11.9 Mn 0.27 Si 1.29 H x alloys. Such size and strain tuning effectively broadened the temperature over which this transition occurs. The material’s NTE operational temperature window was expanded, and its peak was suppressed by up to 85%. This work demonstrates that induced strain is the key mechanism controlling these materials’ phase transitions. This allows the optimization of their thermal expansion towards room-temperature ZTE-applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗