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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 973 records · Page 54

A Study of Neutron Leakage in Finite Objects

A computationally efficient 3DHZETRN code capable of simulating High charge (Z) and Energy (HZE) and light ions (including neutrons) under space-like boundary conditions with enhanced neutron and light ion propagation was recently developed for simple shielded objects. Monte Carlo (MC) benchmarks were used to verify the 3DHZETRN methodology in slab and spherical geometry, and it was shown that 3DHZETRN agrees with MC codes to the degree that various MC codes agree among themselves. One limitation in the verification process is that all of the codes (3DHZETRN and three MC codes) utilize different nuclear models/databases. In the present report, the new algorithm, with well-defined convergence criteria, is used to quantify the neutron leakage from simple geometries to provide means of verifying 3D effects and to provide guidance for further code development.

Wilson, John W.↗

Teledyne H1RG, H2RG, and H4RG Noise Generator

This paper describes the near-infrared detector system noise generator (NG) that we wrote for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec). NG simulates many important noise components including; (1) white "read noise", (2) residual bias drifts, (3) pink 1/f noise, (4) alternating column noise, and (5) picture frame noise. By adjusting the input parameters, NG can simulate noise for Teledyne's H1RG, H2RG, and H4RG detectors with and without Teledyne's SIDECAR ASIC IR array controller. NG can be used as a starting point for simulating astronomical scenes by adding dark current, scattered light, and astronomical sources into the results from NG. NG is written in Python-3.4.

H2RG↗

A 3D-printed Broadband Millimeter Wave Absorber

We present the design, manufacturing technique, and characterization of a 3D-printed broadband graded index millimeter wave absorber. The absorber is additively manufactured using a fused filament fabrication (FFF) 3D printer out of a carbon-loaded high impact polystyrene (HIPS) filament and is designed using a space-filling curve to optimize manufacturability using said process. The absorber's reflectivity is measured from 63 GHz to 115 GHz and from 150 GHz to 215 GHz and is compared to electromagnetic simulations. The intended application is for terminating stray light in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) telescopes, and the absorber has been shown to survive cryogenic thermal cycling.

Matthew Petroff↗

The volumetric rate of normal type Ia supernovae in the local Universe discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory

We present the volumetric rate of normal type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) discovered by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF). Using strict data-quality cuts, and considering only periods when the PTF maintained a regular cadence, PTF discovered 90 SNe Ia at z ≤ 0.09 in a well-controlled sample over three years of operation (2010–2012). We use this to calculate the volumetric rate of SN Ia events by comparing this sample to simulations of hundreds of millions of SN Ia light curves produced in statistically representative realizations of the PTF survey. This quantifies the recovery efficiency of each PTF SN Ia event, and thus the relative weighting of each event. From this, the volumetric SN Ia rate was found to be r(v) = 2.43 ± 0.29 (stat)(+0.33,−0.19)(sys) × 10^(−5) SNe per yr Mpc^(-3) h(3,70). This represents the most precise local measurement of the SNIa rate. We fit a simple SNIa delay-time distribution model, ∝ t^(−β) , to our PTF rate measurement combined with a literature sample of rate measurements from surveys at higher redshifts. We find β ∼ 1, consistent with a progenitor channel governed by the gravitational inspiral of binary white dwarfs.

C. Frohmaier↗

Legume Crop Testing for Space

Long-duration missions beyond low-Earth orbit will encounter challenges in maintaining adequate nutrition and crew acceptability in the food system. In situ production of fresh produce can supplement nutrient deficiencies in the prepackaged diet. Currently, there are a relatively small number of crops that can be reliably grown for space crop production efforts. Recent challenges with Veggie plant growth technical demonstrations, such as interveinal chlorosis and necrosis of Tokyo Bekana Chinese cabbage when grown under elevated CO 2 (~3000 ppm) and narrow-band LED lighting, have highlighted the necessity to conduct rigorous ISS-relevant crop screening on the ground. Additionally, crops should be selected to address specific nutritional deficits, as identified by NASA’s Human Research Program, with an emphasis on having a diversity of crops to meet nutritional requirements and crew acceptability. To achieve this, the concept of Crop Readiness Level (CRL) has been developed to gauge readiness of crops for spaceflight applications. CRL determination includes assessing environmental compatibility, food safety considerations, relevant nutritional analysis, and sensory analysis. Recent testing at Kennedy Space Center has focused on advancing the CRL of a variety of legumes. Twenty-four varieties of peas ( Pisum sativum ) and beans ( Phaseolus vulgaris ) were grown under 300 μmol m -2 s -1 PPFD from LED lights, 3000 ppm CO2, and 23 °C to simulate an ISS environment. Crops were harvested and size and yield were assessed. Then, baseline nutritional analysis (Vitamins B1, C, K; elemental analysis; proximate analysis) and sensory evaluation were performed on eight down-selected varieties. These baseline tests will help in selecting candidate crops for future missions and assessing crop production hardware and changes in environmental conditions on future crop performance and nutritional quality.

LaShelle E Spencer↗

Kinematic Evidence for an Embedded Planet in the IM Lupi Disk

Abstract We test the hypothesis that an embedded giant planet in the IM Lupi protostellar disk can produce velocity kinks seen in CO line observations as well as the spiral arms seen in scattered light and continuum emission. We inject planets into 3D hydrodynamics simulations of IM Lupi, generating synthetic observations using Monte Carlo radiative transfer. We find that an embedded planet of 2–3 M Jup can reproduce non-Keplerian velocity perturbations, or “kinks”, in the 12 CO J = 2–1 channel maps. Such a planet can also explain the spiral arms seen in 1.25 mm dust continuum emission and 1.6 μ m scattered-light images. We show that the wake of the planet can be traced in the observed peak velocity map, which appears to closely follow the morphology expected from our simulations and from analytic models of planet–disk interaction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Tunable graphene-based infrared reflectance filter having patterned nanoantenna layer and unpatterned graphene layer

An actively tunable optical filter can control the amplitude of reflected infrared light. The filter exploits the dependence of the excitation energy of plasmons in a continuous and unpatterned sheet of graphene, on the Fermi-level, which can be controlled by conventional electrostatic gating. An exemplary filter enables simultaneous modification of two distinct spectral bands whose positions are dictated by the device geometry and graphene plasmon dispersion. Within these bands, the reflected amplitude can be varied by over 15% and resonance positions can be shifted by over 90 cm−1. Electromagnetic simulations verify that tuning arises through coupling of incident light to graphene plasmons by a nanoantenna grating structure. Importantly, the tunable range is determined by a combination of graphene properties, device structure, and the surrounding dielectrics, which dictate the plasmon dispersion. Thus, the underlying design is applicable across a broad range of infrared frequencies.

Beechem, III, Thomas Edwin↗

Convection-Permitting Simulations With the E3SM Global Atmosphere Model

This paper describes the first implementation of the Δx = 3.25 km version of the Energy Exascale Earth System Model (E3SM) global atmosphere model and its behavior in a 40-day prescribed-sea-surface-temperature simulation (January 20 through February 28, 2020). This simulation was performed as part of the DYnamics of the Atmospheric general circulation Modeled On Non-hydrostatic Domains (DYAMOND) Phase 2 model intercomparison. Effective resolution is found to be ~ 6x the horizontal dynamics grid resolution despite using a coarser grid for physical parameterizations. Despite this new model being in an immature and untuned state, moving to 3.25 km grid spacing solves several long-standing problems with the E3SM model. In particular, Amazon precipitation is much more realistic, the frequency of light and heavy precipitation is improved, agreement between the simulated and observed diurnal cycle of tropical precipitation is excellent, and the vertical structure of tropical convection and coastal stratocumulus look good. In addition, the new model is able to capture the frequency and structure of important weather events (e.g., tropical cyclones, extratropical cyclones including atmospheric rivers, and cold air outbreaks). Interestingly, this model does not get rid of the erroneous southern branch of the intertropical convergence zone nor the tendency for strongest convection to occur over the Maritime Continent rather than the West Pacific, both of which are classic climate model biases. Several other problems with the simulation are identified, underscoring the fact that this model is a work in progress.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Physiological and genetic characterization of plant growth and gravitropism in LED light sources

Among the many problems of growing plants in completely controlled environments, such as those anticipated for the space station and the CELSS program, is the need to provide light that is both adequate for photosynthesis and of proper quality for normal growth and development. NASA scientists and engineers have recently become interested in the possibility of utilizing densely packed, solid state, light emitting diodes (LED's) as a source for this light. Unlike more conventional incandescent or electrical discharge lamps, these sources are highly monochromatic and lack energy in spectral regions thought to be important for normal plant development. In addition, a recent observation by NASA scientist has suggested that infra-red LED's, that are routinely used as photographic safelights for plants grown in darkness, may interact with the ability of plants to detect gravity. In order to establish how plants respond to light from these LED light sources we carried out a series of experiments with known pigment mutants of the model mustard plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, growing in either a gravity field or on a clinostat to simulate a micro-gravity environment. Results indicate that only red light from the 665 nm LED's disrupts the ability of normal wildtype seedlings to detect a gravity stimulus. There was no consistent effect found for the far-red (735 nm) LED's or either of the infrared (880 nm or 935 nm) LED sources but both showed some effect in one or more of the genotypes tested. Of these five members of the phytochrome multigene family in Arabidopsis, only the phytochrome B pigment mutant (hy3) lacked the ability to detect gravity under all conditions. There was no effect of either micro-gravity (clinostat) or the infra-red LED's on the light induced inhibition of hypocotyl elongation. Measurements of the pigment phytochrome in oats also showed no photoconversion by 15 min irradiations with the infra-red LED's. We conclude that phytochrome B is required for the perception of gravity and that only red light is able to disrupt this perception. The infra-red LED's also do not appear to interact with gravity perception in Arabidopsis, but caution should be exercised if infra-red LED's are to be used as photographic safelights for these types of experiments.

Deitzer, Gerald F.↗

Simulation scaling studies of reactor core two-phase flow using direct numerical simulation

Tremendous growth in supercomputing power in recent years has resulted in the emergence of high-resolution flow analysis methods as an advanced research tool to evaluate single and two-phase flow behavior. In particular, unstructured mesh-based methods have been applied to analyze flows in complex reactor core geometries, including those of light water reactors (LWR). The finite-element based code, PHASTA, is utilized to perform large-scale simulations of two-phase bubbly flows in LWR geometries. Given the large computational cost of direct numerical simulation (DNS) coupled with interface tracking methods (ITM), typical domains encompass a portion of a single subchannel. In the presented research, the state-of-the-art analysis of turbulent two-phase flows in complex LWR subchannel geometries are demonstrated at both prototypical reactor parameters as well as scaled low pressure conditions. Three different cases are studied, a high-pressure simulation in prototypical reactor subchannel geometry, a low-pressure case in prototypical geometry and a final low-pressure case in a geometry scaled up to conserve the ratio between the bubble size and the domain pitch. Utilizing advanced statistical processing tools, these simulation conditions are compared to shed light on the relevancy of two-phase flow characteristics given the significant differences between LWR and low-pressure conditions. These findings can lead to the generation of useful guiding principles when researchers need to scale the two-phase flow behavior captured at low pressure and temperature conditions to those at reactor operating conditions.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Low-order nonlinear dynamic model of IC engine-variable pitch propeller system for general aviation aircraft

This paper presents a dynamic model of an internal combustion engine coupled to a variable pitch propeller. The low-order, nonlinear time-dependent model is useful for simulating the propulsion system of general aviation single-engine light aircraft. This model is suitable for investigating engine diagnostics and monitoring and for control design and development. Furthermore, the model may be extended to provide a tool for the study of engine emissions, fuel economy, component effects, alternative fuels, alternative engine cycles, flight simulators, sensors, and actuators. Results show that the model provides a reasonable representation of the propulsion system dynamics from zero to 10 Hertz.

Richard, Jacques C.↗

Tunable exciton-polaritons emerging from WS 2 monolayer excitons in a photonic lattice at room temperature

Engineering non-linear hybrid light-matter states in tailored lattices is a central research strategy for the simulation of complex Hamiltonians. Excitons in atomically thin crystals are an ideal active medium for such purposes, since they couple strongly with light and bear the potential to harness giant non-linearities and interactions while presenting a simple sample-processing and room temperature operability. We demonstrate lattice polaritons, based on an open, high-quality optical cavity, with an imprinted photonic lattice strongly coupled to excitons in a WS 2 monolayer. We experimentally observe the emergence of the canonical band-structure of particles in a one-dimensional lattice at room temperature, and demonstrate frequency reconfigurability over a spectral window exceeding 85 meV, as well as the systematic variation of the nearest-neighbour coupling, reflected by a tunability in the bandwidth of the p-band polaritons by 7 meV. The technology presented in this work is a critical demonstration towards reconfigurable photonic emulators operated with non-linear photonic fluids, offering a simple experimental implementation and working at ambient conditions.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Assessing Bare-Ice Albedo Simulated By MAR Over the Greenland Ice Sheet (2000–2021) and Implications for Meltwater Production Estimates

Surface mass loss from the Greenland ice sheet (GrIS) has accelerated over the past decades, mainly due to enhanced surface melting and liquid water runoff in response to atmospheric warming. A large portion of runoff from the GrIS originates from exposure of the darker bare ice in the ablation zone when the overlying snow melts, where surface albedo plays a critical role in modulating the energy available for melting. In this regard, it is imperative to understand the processes governing albedo variability to accurately project future mass loss from the GrIS. Bare-ice albedo is spatially and temporally variable and contingent on non-linear feedbacks and the presence of light-absorbing constituents. An assessment of models aiming at simulating albedo variability and associated impacts on meltwater production is crucial for improving our understanding of the processes governing these feedbacks and, in turn, surface mass loss from Greenland. Here, we report the results of a comparison of the bare-ice extent and albedo simulated by the regional climate model Modèle Atmosphérique Régional (MAR) with satellite imagery from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the GrIS below 70∘ N. Our findings suggest that MAR overestimates bare-ice albedo by 22.8 % on average in this area during the 2000–2021 period with respect to the estimates obtained from MODIS. Using an energy balance model to parameterize meltwater production, we find this bare-ice albedo bias can lead to an underestimation of total meltwater production from the bare-ice zone below 70∘ N of 42.8 % during the summers of 2000–2021.

albedo↗

A Bulk versus Nanoscale Hydrogen Storage Paradox Revealed by Material-System Co-Design

Metal hydrides are serious contenders for materials-based hydrogen storage to overcome constraints associated with compressed or liquefied H 2 . Their ultimate performance is usually evaluated using intrinsic material properties without considering a systems design perspective. An illustrative case with startling implications is (LiNH 2 +2LiH). Using models that simulate the storage system and associated fuel cell of a light-duty vehicle (LDV), the performance of the bulk hydrides is compared with a nanoscaled version in porous carbon (PC), (LiNH 2 +2LiH)@(6-nm PC). Using experimental material properties, the simulations show that (LiNH 2 +2LiH)@(6-nm PC) counterintuitively has higher usable gravimetric and volumetric capacities than the bulk counterpart on a system basis despite having lower capacities on a materials-only basis. Nanoscaling increases the thermal conductivity and lowers the desorption enthalpy, which consequently increases heat management efficiency. In a simulated drive cycle for fuel cell-powered LDV, the fuel cell is inoperable using bulk (LiNH 2 +2LiH) as the storage material but completes the drive cycle using the nanoscale material. Further, these results challenge the notion that nanoscaling incurs mass and volume penalties. Instead, the synergistic nanoporous host-hydride interaction can favorably modulate chemical and heat transfer properties. Moreover, a co-design approach considering application-specific tradeoffs is essential to accurately assess a material's potential for real-world hydrogen storage.

08 HYDROGEN↗

Impact gages for detecting meteoroid and other orbital debris impacts on space vehicles.

Impacts on space vehicles have been simulated using the McDonnell Douglas Aerophysics Laboratory (MDAL) Light-Gas Guns to launch particles at hypervelocity speeds into scaled space structures. Using impact gages and a triangulation technique, these impacts have been detected and accurately located. This paper describes in detail the various types of impact gages (piezoelectric PZT-5A, quartz, electret, and off-the-shelf plastics) used. This description includes gage design and experimental results for gages installed on single-walled scaled payload carriers, multiple-walled satellites and space stations, and single-walled full-scale Delta tank structures. A brief description of the triangulation technique, the impact simulation, and the data acquisition system are also included.

Mastandrea, J. R.↗

Light Output Fitting Software

Light output response of scintillators is crucial to the utilization of organic scintillators as effective tools in radiation detection and measurement. While the response is a continuous distribution, the light output corresponding to the maximum energy deposition is crucial in effectively understanding and simulating a detector. There are a variety of fits derived in literature that will vary for every detector material. The Light Output Response Fitter, or LORF Program is a python script designed to easily and quickly compute and plot fits for a variety of scintillator light output models. It includes a stopping power library constructed from SRIM including Organic Glass, EJ309, EJ301, Stilbene, EJ276, and their deuterated counterparts by default, with the ability for the user to add custom stopping power libraries. The user is also capable of importing the python package and utilizing its in-built functions as appropriate. Uses for this capability include plotting and computing a model with known parameters.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗

Conspicuity of target lights: The influence of flash rate and brightness

The stimulus characteristics of lights that might aid a pilot to see and avoid, by alerting him to a potential threat were studied. The relative conspicuity of foveally equated, point-source, steady and flashing lights of several brightnesses, seen against a star background was examined. From the subject's viewpoint, these target lights could appear anywhere within a large (40 deg horizontal by 35 deg vertical) field of view. The lights appeared at random time intervals while the subject was periodically distracted by a simulated cockpit task. The results indicate that correct target detection increases and reaction time decreases with increased target intensity. Steady lights are missed more frequently and acquired more slowly than flashing lights, but no significant differences are found among the wide range of flash rates employed. The intensity of the light has a greater effect on both detection and reaction time to steady lights than to flashing lights. These results are compared with results of other researchers who used targets which appeared at fixed locations. The longest reaction times were recorded to lights which appeared either at the extremes or at the very center of the visual field.

Connors, M. M.↗