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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

Research on Deformation Law of Deep Foundation Pit of Station in Core Region of Saturated Soft Loess Based on Monitoring

Saturated soft loess has a large pore structure, high compressibility, low strength, fluid plastic state, and poor engineering properties. It is still one of the key problems that engineering needs to solve. In order to study the influence of deep foundation pit excavation in the saturated soft loess area on the deformation of foundation pits, the deformation laws of ground settlement, enclosure structure, and supporting axial force were clarified based on the field tests on the deformation characteristics of deep foundation pits in areas with the high-water level in saturated soft loess, combined with geological conditions and on-site construction procedures. The results indicate the following: water supply and construction process were found to be the main factor in changing the surface settlement curve of deep foundation pits in saturated soft loess; increasing the construction speed of the pit bottom floor, inverted braces, floor frame beams, and sidewall frame beams to close the structure, which is conducive to restraining the deformation of the continuous underground wall and foundation pits in similar areas. In the initial stage of support layout, the axial force of steel support tends to increase too fast or even exceed the standard control value. Therefore, a reasonable preadding axial force is an effective means to control the deformation of the continuous underground wall and the axial force of the steel support. The current research results may provide a reference for constructing deep foundation pits in similar areas.

Wang, Xueyan↗

A High Power Density and High Efficiency Traction Drive Based on a Segmented Inverter and an Axial and Radial Flux Hybrid Machine

Eaton Corporation and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) collaborated to develop a high performance traction drive system aimed at increasing power density and overall efficiency. The system integrates Eaton’s hybrid flux motor—combining radial and axial flux paths to convert end-winding and structural elements into torque-producing components—with ORNL’s high-power-density segmented inverter. This motor design achieves higher torque density within the same footprint as traditional radial flux machines by effectively utilizing end turns. ORNL’s segmented inverter reduces the DC bus capacitor requirement by over 50% compared to standard voltage source inverters (VSIs), achieving power densities exceeding 100 kVA/L. The dual-module architecture also enables six-phase operation, aligning with Eaton’s motor design. Together, the motor and inverter offer a compact, efficient traction drive system with the potential for significant reductions in system weight and improvements in powertrain efficiency.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Rock Valley Accelerated Weight Drop Seismic Data Processing and Picking of P-wave and S-wave Arrival Times

Rock Valley, in the southern end of the Nevada National Security Site, hosts a fault system that was responsible for a shallow (< 3 km below surface ) magnitude 3.7 earthquake in May 1993. In order to better understand this system, seismic properties of the shallow subsurface need to be better constrained. In April and May of 2021, accelerated weight drop (AWD) active-source seismic data were recorded in order to measure P- and S-wave travel-times for the area. This report describes the processing and phase picking of the recorded seismic waveforms. In total, we picked 7,982 P-wave arrivals at offsets up to ~2500 m, and 4,369 S-wave arrivals at offsets up to ~2200 m. These travel-time picks can be inverted for shallow P-wave and S-wave velocity structure in future studies.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Control Design of Passive Grid-Forming Inverters in Port-Hamiltonian Framework

This article presents a modified dispatchable virtual oscillator control approach for achieving the passivity of gridforming inverters (GFMs), without assuming constant voltage and constant frequency. The proposed control framework utilizes the Port-Hamiltonian (PH) based structure that mimics the behaviors of coupled harmonic oscillators, along with an energy ‘pumpingor-damping’ block and the Control by Interconnection (CbI) technique, to render the inverter passive. Once passivity is achieved, transient stability of the system will be guaranteed. The proposed control framework is composed of three loops: an outer power dispatching loop that generates the voltage and frequency references, a virtual oscillator loop that emulates the spontaneous synchronization of oscillators, and an inductor current loop that maintains lossless interconnection in PH systems. In conclusion, the study shows that the proposed control approach ensures the passivity of GFMs, facilitating the transient stability design of multi-inverter systems, as interconnections of passive systems remain passive and stable.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Exploring the impact of Cr-doping on the crystallographic and magnetic structure of Mn 5 Si 3 antiferromagnetic alloy

Here, the role of Cr-doping on the structural and magnetic ground states of Mn 5 Si 3 alloy has been investigated through temperature-dependent neutron powder diffraction (NPD) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) techniques. All the Cr-doped alloys of nominal composition Mn 5-x Cr x Si 3 (for x = 0.05, 0.1, and 0.2) undergo two first-order magneto-structural phase transitions from hexagonal (space group: P6 3 /mcm) paramagnetic → orthorhombic (space group: Ccmm) collinear antiferromagnetic → orthorhombic (space group: Cc2m) non-collinear antiferromagnetic phase on cooling from room temperature. NPD studies at different constant temperatures indicate that both anti ferromagnetic phases are commensurate in nature and can be represented by q = (0,1,0) magnetic propagation vector for all the Cr-doped alloys. Such doping at the Mn-site results in a significant modification of the non-collinear antiferromagnetic structure (both moment size and orientation) and hence affects the unusual magnetic properties, like inverted hysteresis loop, thermomagnetic irreversibility, etc. The XAFS measurements were performed to interpret the local environment of doped Cr atoms in detail, which is critical for a microscopic understanding of the unusual properties of this class of Cr-doped Mn 5 Si 3 alloys. The analysis confirms the elemental state of Cr in the doped alloys and indicates a high degree of preservation of local crystallographic structure with varying Cr concentration and sample temperature. Doping induces intriguing changes in XAFS patterns, elucidated through different types of scattering mechanisms associated with the central absorbing Cr atom.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

The Architectural Dynamics of the Bacterial Flagellar Motor Switch

The rotary bacterial flagellar motor is remarkable in biochemistry for its highly synchronized operation and amplification during switching of rotation sense. The motor is part of the flagellar basal body, a complex multi-protein assembly. Sensory and energy transduction depends on a core of six proteins that are adapted in different species to adjust torque and produce diverse switches. Motor response to chemotactic and environmental stimuli is driven by interactions of the core with small signal proteins. The initial protein interactions are propagated across a multi-subunit cytoplasmic ring to switch torque. Torque reversal triggers structural transitions in the flagellar filament to change motile behavior. Subtle variations in the core components invert or block switch operation. The mechanics of the flagellar switch have been studied with multiple approaches, from protein dynamics to single molecule and cell biophysics. The architecture, driven by recent advances in electron cryo-microscopy, is available for several species. Computational methods have correlated structure with genetic and biochemical databases. The design principles underlying the basis of switch ultra-sensitivity and its dependence on motor torque remain elusive, but tantalizing clues have emerged. This review aims to consolidate recent knowledge into a unified platform that can inspire new research strategies.

59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES↗

Crustal and uppermost mantle structure of Cape Verde from ambient noise tomography

SUMMARY We present a seismic ambient noise tomography of the Cape Verde archipelago, located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 600 km west of Senegal. We used 38 seismic broad-band stations that continuously recorded for 10 months, in order to construct the first 3-D model of Sv-wave velocities for the crust and uppermost mantle beneath the Cape Verde region. We started by computing phase cross-correlations for vertical component recordings using all possible inter-island station pairs. Next, a time–frequency phase-weighted stack was applied to obtain robust Rayleigh-wave group-velocity dispersion curves in the period band between 10 and 24 s. Group-velocity maps at different periods are obtained by inverting the dispersion curves. We then inverted the group-velocity maps to obtain the 3-D shear wave velocity structure of the crust and uppermost mantle beneath Cape Verde. The final 3-D model extends from 8 km down to 23 km and has a lateral resolution of about 50 km. The crust in the southwestern sector, encompassing Fogo, presents lower S-wave velocities that may be caused by the presence of melt pockets and/or hydrothermal fluids circulation. The uppermost mantle beneath the northwestern sector is characterized by higher S-wave velocities in agreement with previous results obtained from Ps and Sp receiver functions. Those high-velocity anomalies can reflect non-altered crust or remnants of magma chambers or solidified basaltic intrusions, which fed the volcanism in these islands. Our maps revealed the presence of crustal underplating across the entire archipelago, yet stronger beneath the groups Santo Antão—São Vicente—São Nicolau and Fogo—Santiago—Maio.

Carvalho, J. (ORCID:0000000310778994)↗

Inversion of dynamical Bragg intensities to complex structure factors by iterated projections. For Ultramic. 2020. ("Pico" Festschrift, May 2021)

We discuss a method for recovering complex structure factors from many simultaneously excited Bragg beam intensities is described. The method is applied to simulated transmission electron diffraction data over a wide range of crystal thickness and beam energies. The method is based on iterated projections between structure and scattering matrices, which are related by a matrix unitary transformation, exponential, which we invert. The algorithm removes multiple-scattering perturbations from diffraction data and might be extended to other fields, including X-ray and neutron diffraction and cryo-electron microscopy. Because coherent multiple scattering involves interference between Bragg beams, the method also solves the phase problem. Unlike dynamical inversion from electron microscope images or ptychography data, the method, which starts with Bragg beam intensities, provides complex structure factors unaffected by focusing errors or resolution limitations imposed by lenses. We provide inversions from simulated data with 441 simultaneously excited Bragg beams over a range of thickness and beam energy. We discuss the retrieval of chirality information from enantiomorphs, the efficient incorporation of symmetry information using the irreducible representation of the group of structure matrices, and the effect of HOLZ lines to provide three-dimensional information.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Performance Evaluation and Loss Modeling of WBG Devices based on a Novel Double-Pulse Test Method for Current Source Inverter

Careful measurements of the power device characteristics are necessary to accurately estimate a power converter's losses and efficiency. The conventional double-pulse test (DPT) circuit is a well-known method to implement this laboratory characterization of power devices and power modules. However, the switching characteristics of a power device depend on the power electronics circuit in which it is connected as well as the power circuit's physical layout, in addition to the device's internal structure. Hence, the conventional DPT circuit configuration, which is tailored for a standard voltage-source inverter (VSI), is not well-suited for a current-source inverter (CSI). This paper demonstrates a previously-proposed CSI-based DPT measurement technique that is appropriate for normal CSI operation. The characteristics of SiC MOSFETs and series-connected SiC Schottky diodes used in a CSI are measured using this improved technique while taking temperature effects into account to yield more accurate loss predictions. The CSI losses, including the switching and conduction losses of SiC MOSFETs and SiC Schottky diodes, have been modeled using this approach. The total CSI losses and efficiency have been estimated based on the CSI DPT results and loss models.

42 ENGINEERING↗

An invertible seven-dimensional Dirichlet cell characterization of lattices

Characterization of crystallographic lattices is an important tool in structure solution, crystallographic database searches and clustering of diffraction images in serial crystallography. Characterization of lattices by Niggli-reduced cells (based on the three shortest non-coplanar lattice vectors) or by Delaunay-reduced cells (based on four non-coplanar vectors summing to zero and all meeting at obtuse or right angles) is commonly performed. The Niggli cell derives from Minkowski reduction. The Delaunay cell derives from Selling reduction. All are related to the Wigner–Seitz (or Dirichlet, or Voronoi) cell of the lattice, which consists of the points at least as close to a chosen lattice point as they are to any other lattice point. The three non-coplanar lattice vectors chosen are here called the Niggli-reduced cell edges. Starting from a Niggli-reduced cell, the Dirichlet cell is characterized by the planes determined by 13 lattice half-edges: the midpoints of the three Niggli cell edges, the six Niggli cell face-diagonals and the four body-diagonals, but seven of the lengths are sufficient: three edge lengths, the three shorter of each pair of face-diagonal lengths, and the shortest body-diagonal length. These seven are sufficient to recover the Niggli-reduced cell.

Chemistry↗

Solvent-Mediated Formation of Quasi-2D Dion-Jacobson Phases on 3D Perovskites for Inverted Solar Cells Over 23% Efficiency

2D-on-3D (2D/3D) perovskite heterostructures present a promising strategy to realize efficient and stable photovoltaics. However, their applicability in inverted solar cells is limited due to the quantum confinement of the 2D-layer and solvent incompatibilities that disrupt the underlying 3D layer, hampering electron transport at the 2D/3D interface. Herein, solvent-dependent formation dynamics and structural evolution of 2D/3D heterostructures are investigated via in situ X-ray scattering. In this study, it is revealed that solvent interaction with the 3D surface determines the formation sequence and spatial distribution of quasi-2D phases with n = 2–4. Isopropanol (IPA) reconstructs the perovskite into a PbI 2 -rich surface, forming a strata with smaller n first, followed by a thinner substratum of larger n. In contrast, 2,2,2-Trifluoroethanol (TFE) preserves the 3D surface, promoting the formation of uniformly distributed larger n domains first, and smaller n last. Leveraging these insights, Dion–Jacobson perovskites are used with superior charge transport properties and structural robustness to fabricate 2D/3D heterostructures dominated by n ≥ 3 and engineer a favorable energy landscape for electron tunneling. Inverted solar cells based on 3-Aminomethylpyridine and TFE achieve a champion efficiency of 23.60%, with V oc and FF of 1.19 V and 84.5%, respectively, and superior stabilities with t 94 of 960 h under thermal stress.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗

Crust and Upper Mantle Structure Beneath the Eastern United States

Abstract The Eastern United States (EUS) has a complex geological history and hosts several seismic active regions. We investigate the subsurface structure beneath the broader EUS. To produce reliable images of the subsurface, we simultaneously invert smoothed P‐wave receiver functions, Rayleigh‐wave phase and group velocity measurements, and Bouguer gravity observations for the 3D shear‐wave speed. Using surface‐wave observations (3–250 s) and spatially smoothed receiver functions, our velocity models are robust, reliable, and rich in detail. The shear‐wave velocity models fit all three types of observations well. The resulting velocity model for the eastern U.S. shows thinner crust beneath New England, the east coast, and the Mississippi Embayment (ME). A relatively thicker crust was found beneath the stable North America craton. A relatively slower upper mantle was imaged beneath New England, the east coast, and western ME. A comparison of crust thickness derived from our model against four recent published models shows first‐order consistency. A relatively small upper mantle low‐speed region correlates with a published P‐wave analysis that has associated the anomaly with a 75 Ma kimberlite volcanic site in Kentucky. We also explored the relationship between the subsurface structure and seismicity in the eastern U.S. We found that earthquakes often locate near regions with seismic velocity variations, but not universally. Not all regions of significant subsurface wave speed changes are loci of seismicity. A weak correlation between upper mantle shear velocity and earthquake focal mechanism has been observed.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

LATTE: open-source, high-performance traveltime computation, tomography and source location in acoustic and elastic media

Traveltime-based tomography and source location are fundamental approaches for imaging subsurface structures and understanding the spatiotemporal distribution of seismicity from local to global scales. We present an open-source, high-performance framework integrating eikonal equation solvers and adjoint-state theory for traveltime computation, velocity tomography, source location and joint tomography-location in 2-D/3-D acoustic and elastic media. We introduce novel regularization schemes based on total generalized p-variation, structural similarity and multitask machine learning to enhance the fidelity and interpretability of inverted models and source locations. Key features of our implementation also include the ability to leverage both absolute-difference and double-difference traveltime misfits for high-fidelity velocity tomography and source parameter estimation; support for traveltime computation and inversion in diverse 2-D/3-D scenarios with arbitrary source and receiver distributions; and a perturbation-based optimal step-size estimation method to reduce computational costs. In addition, our implementation employs shared-memory and distributed-memory parallelization to provide an efficient solution for traveltime computation, tomography, and source location. In conclusion, we validate the efficacy and accuracy of our approach through multiple synthetic data examples.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Effects of Encapsulant Properties on the Thermo-Mechanical Reliability of Double-Side Cooled Power Modules for Traction Inverters

Double-side cooled power modules are being developed for next-generation traction inverters due to their better heat extraction, lower profile, and lower parasitic inductances. However, due to their rigid structure, they cause reliability concerns arising from high thermo-mechanical stresses at the interconnection joints in the module. In this work, a materials-based approach using rigid encapsulants is presented for reducing thermo-mechanical fatigue. Finite-element thermo- mechanical simulations were performed to examine the effects of the elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion of epoxy- based encapsulants on the bond deformation inside a double-side cooled power module. It was found that a rigid encapsulant with a high modulus of 6.0 GPa or above and a coefficient of thermal expansion around 20 ppm/oC would improve the thermo- mechanical reliability of double-side cooled power modules by decreasing the permanent bond deformation inside the modules by 50-60%.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

Charged Hole‐Transporting Materials Based on Imidazolium for Defect Passivation in Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells

The hole‐transporting material (HTM) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) provides an ideal interface with the perovskite layer for hole collection while influencing the perovskite crystalline structure and morphology. This article presents SIM and DIM, two new dopant‐free imidazolium‐based HTMs with charged units accompanied by counter ions that show the potential to function as ionic HTMs and ionic liquid additives and help improve the efficiency and stability of inverted PSCs. DIM‐based PSCs demonstrates exceptional performance with a high‐power conversion efficiency of 19.15%, attributed to improved passivation of perovskite interface defects. Furthermore, these new imidazolium salt‐based HTMs can be manufactured economically, making them a viable option for mass production and PSC commercialization.

Tingare, Yogesh S.↗

Electronic structure and two-band superconductivity in unconventional high- T c cuprates Ba 2 CuO 3+δ

We report that the recently discovered cuprate superconductor Ba 2 CuO 3+δ exhibits a high T c ≃73 K at δ ≃ 0.2. The polycrystal grown under high pressure has a structure similar to La 2 CuO 4 but with dramatically different lattice parameters due to the CuO 6 octahedron compression. The crystal field in the compressed Ba 2 CuO 4 leads to an inverted Cu 3d e g complex with the d x 2 -y 2 orbital sitting below the d 3z 2 - r 2 and an electronic structure highly unusual compared to the conventional cuprates. We construct a two-orbital Hubbard model for the Cu d 9 state at hole doping x = 2δ and study the orbital-dependent strong correlation and superconductivity. For the undoped case at x = 0 , we found that strong correlation drives an orbital-polarized Mott-insulating state with the spin-1/2 moment of the localized d 3z 2 - r 2 orbital. In contrast to the single-band cuprates where superconductivity is suppressed in the overdoped regime, hole doping the two-orbital Mott insulator leads to orbital-dependent correlations and the robust spin and orbital exchange interactions produce a high-T c antiphase d-wave superconductor even in the heavily doped regime at x = 0.4 . We conjecture that Ba 2 CuO 3+δ realizes mixtures of such heavily hole-doped superconducting Ba 2 CuO 4 and disordered Ba 2 CuO 3 chains in a single-layer or predominately separated bilayer structure. Our findings suggest that unconventional cuprates with liberated orbitals as doped two-band Mott insulators can be a direction for realizing high-T c superconductivity with enhanced transition temperature T c .

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Rotated-Droop Control for Enhanced Stability and Power Decoupling in Microgrids With Complex Line Impedances

Classical droop control in microgrids predominantly assumes inductive line impedance, which simplifies implementation but causes power coupling and steady-state errors in systems with resistive and inductive lines. This paper proposes a rotated-droop control strategy for grid-forming inverters that reformulates the power equations by incorporating the magnitude and angle of the line impedance within a rotated reference frame. This method enhances the decoupling of active and reactive power dynamics without increasing complexity or requiring communication links. A small-signal state-space model was created to capture the dynamic behavior of the system under varying impedance parameters, preserving the original droop gains by rotating the power control structure. This allows eigenvalue-based stability analysis and enhances damping and transient performance. Simulation and experimental results validated the improved power-sharing performance, faster response, and robustness of the proposed method under different impedance conditions. This approach maintains the decentralized structure of the conventional droop control while enabling greater adaptability and scalability, making it suitable for modern inverter-based microgrids with dynamic topologies.

Campo-Ossa, Daniel Dario [Univ. of Puerto Rico, Ag↗