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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 991 records · Page 55
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2014

Properties, characterization, and decay of sticky rice–lime mortars from the Wugang Ming dynasty city wall (China)

Urgent restoration of the Wugang Ming dynasty city wall brings about the need for a study of the formulation and properties of mortars. In the present paper, mortar samples from the Wugang Ming dynasty city wall were characterized in a combination of sheet polarized light optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with X-ray energy dispersive spectrometer, thermogravimetric/differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy. Results show that mortars are mainly built up from inorganic calcium carbonate based organic–inorganic hybrid material with a small amount of sticky rice, which plays a crucial role in forming dense and compact microstructure of mortars and effectively hindering penetration of water and air into mortars. Analysis of decayed products shows that the detrimental soluble salts originates from ambient environment. - Highlights: • Mortars used in the Wugang city wall are a calcium carbonate-sticky rice hybrid bonding material. • Carbonation processing is extremely slow due to dense and compact microstructure of mortars. • Decying of mortars results from the appearance of soluble salt from ambient environment.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

Effect of thermally stable Cu- and Mg-rich aluminides on the high temperature strength of an AlSi12CuMgNi alloy

The internal architecture of an AlSi12CuMgNi piston alloy, revealed by synchrotron tomography, consists of three dimensional interconnected hybrid networks of Cu-rich aluminides, Mg-rich aluminides and eutectic/primary Si embedded in an α-Al matrix. The strength at room temperature and at 300°C is studied as a function of solution treatment time at 490°C and compared with results previously reported for an AlSi12Ni alloy. The addition of 1 wt% Cu and 1 wt% Mg to AlSi12CuMgNi increases the room temperature strength by precipitation hardening while the strength at 300°C is similar for both alloys in as-cast condition. The strength of AlSi12CuMgNi decreases with solution treatment time and stabilizes at 4 h solution treatment. The effect of solution treatment time on the strength of the AlSi12CuMgNi alloy is less pronounced than for the AlSi12Ni alloy both at room temperature and at 300°C. - Highlights: • The 3D microstructure of AlSi12CuMgNi is revealed by synchrotron tomography. • An imaging analysis procedure to segment phases with similar contrasts is presented. • 1 wt% Cu and Mg results in the formation of 3D networks of rigid phases. • AlSi12CuMgNi is stronger than AlSi12Ni owing to the stability of the 3D networks.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Screening candidate supplementary cementitious materials under standard and accelerated curing through time-series surface resistivity measurements and change-point detection

Time-series surface resistivity (SR) measurements are evaluated as an indicator of pozzolanicity in concretes containing 13 materials of both known and unknown pozzolanicity, under standard and accelerated curing conditions, and the results were validated against portlandite consumption obtained through thermogravimetric analysis. Change-point detection (CPD) analysis is applied to the data to provide a rigorous indicator of hydration age of the onset and rate of the pozzolanic reaction, if occurring. The SR measurements were able to capture the onset of the pozzolanic reactions in concretes curing at elevated temperature regimes, which allows determination of pozzolanicity weeks earlier than at standard curing temperatures. Using CPD along with slope analysis allows a comprehensive analysis of a material's reactivity and determination of pozzolanicity in as quickly as two days. Time-series SR measurements at elevated curing conditions, along with limits on material composition, are recommended for determination of pozzolanic reactivity in novel or variable materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2015

Nano-modification to improve the ductility of cementitious composites

Effect of nano-sized mineral additions on ductility of engineered cementitious composites (ECC) containing high volumes of fly ash was investigated at different hydration degrees. Various properties of ECC mixtures with different mineral additions were compared in terms of microstructural properties of matrix, fiber-matrix interface, and fiber surface to assess improvements in ductility. Microstructural characterization was made by measuring pore size distributions through mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP). Hydration characteristics were assessed using thermogravimetric analysis/differential thermal analysis (TGA/DTA), and fiber-matrix interface and fiber surface characteristics were assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) through a period of 90 days. Moreover, compressive and flexural strength developments were monitored for the same period. Test results confirmed that mineral additions could significantly improve both flexural strength and ductility of ECC, especially at early ages. Cheaper Nano-CaCO{sub 3} was more effective compared to nano-silica. However, the crystal structure of CaCO{sub 3} played a very important role in the range of expected improvements.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Roll-to-roll production of catalyst coated membranes for low-temperature electrolyzers

Here we demonstrate a roll-to-roll (R2R) process for direct coating of anode catalyst layers on a polymer electrolyte membrane for low-temperature water electrolysis. To develop this process, we studied catalyst ink formulation, ink-membrane interactions, and coating quality. The catalyst inks were a mixture of iridium oxide (IrO2) and Nafion in a water and alcohol dispersion medium. The type of alcohol (methanol, ethanol, propanols) and water-to-alcohol ratio were varied to determine their influence on membrane swelling, dispersion quality, and coatability. Interactions of the ink dispersion medium with the membrane were characterized using sessile-drop contact-angle measurements. These measurements show that the ratio of water to alcohol has a strong influence on how rapidly the dispersion media is absorbed by the membrane. Rheology of the catalyst inks was measured to understand the microstructure of the catalyst particles in the ink. This analysis found that 1-propanol leads to better dispersion of the IrO2 particles than ethanol. Small-scale coating samples were prepared to understand coating uniformity and formation of irregularities. Subsequently, two water/1-propanol ratios (90:10 and 75:25) were down-selected for large-scale R2R slot die coating. The R2R catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) coating process increased catalyst layer production throughput by over 500x compared to our standard lab-scale spray coating. The CCMs obtained from this process were tested as single-cell membrane electrode assemblies. They exhibited a cell voltage of 1.91 V at a current density of 2 A/cm2, which is comparable to spray-coated CCMs. In conclusion, the work presented here demonstrates a continuous, scalable manufacturing process that eliminates the need for the decal transfer step typically used in CCM production.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

Thermal cycling-driven microstructural changes of eutectic Al–Si phase change materials in SS304 containers revealed by multi-modal imaging

Aluminum-based Al–Si alloys are widely used as phase change materials (PCMs) in thermal energy storage (TES) systems owing to their high volumetric latent heat and superior thermal conductivity. However, their long-term reliability is limited by degradation processes that remain insufficiently understood. In this work, we employ a multimodal, correlative characterization framework to systematically resolve the degradation behavior of eutectic Al–Si PCMs in contact with SS304 containers under repeated thermal cycling. By integrating high-resolution electron microscopy, three-dimensional X-ray fluorescence (3D XRF) imaging, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), we directly link spatially resolved compositional and microstructural evolution to changes in thermophysical properties. The correlative analysis reveals that elemental leaching of Fe, Cr, and Ni from the stainless-steel container into the PCM drives the formation of intermetallic compounds (IMCs) both at the interface and within the bulk PCM, leading to pronounced compositional heterogeneity. These interfacial reactions and diffusion-induced transformations progressively destabilize the Al–Si eutectic, reducing the effective phase-transforming fraction. Consistent with these observations, DSC measurements show a decrease in melting temperature and latent heat of fusion with thermal cycling. These results underscore the critical influence of interfacial reactions and material compatibility on the stability, durability, and overall performance of Al–Si-based TES systems.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Microstructure homogenization of concrete used in nuclear power plants

Almost all nuclear power plants in the United States are operating past their intended lifetimes or are requesting lifetime extensions. Therefore, understanding changes to the concrete containment structure over time is crucial to evaluate the structure’s continued viability. Concrete materials are heterogeneous particulate composites that exhibit viscoelastic material properties, which can lead to slow deformation over time, causing stress redistribution and the potential for creep cracking. A code to generate random, three dimensional (3D) concrete microstructures has been developed and paired with finite element analysis to predict the long-term viscoelastic properties of concrete. Data from these simulations are used to develop constitutive equations for the viscoelastic behavior of the homogenized concrete. The codes in this work are used to virtualize laboratory experiments, to obtain long-term creep data in a faster, cheaper manner. To validate this work, the simulated creep behavior of concrete is compared to 800 d of experimental data that has been extended to 27 y of data using the Time-Temperature superposition (TTS) principal. Excellent agreement between the simulation results and experimental data is seen.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2021

Fingerprinting shock-induced deformations via diffraction

Abstract During the various stages of shock loading, many transient modes of deformation can activate and deactivate to affect the final state of a material. In order to fundamentally understand and optimize a shock response, researchers seek the ability to probe these modes in real-time and measure the microstructural evolutions with nanoscale resolution. Neither post-mortem analysis on recovered samples nor continuum-based methods during shock testing meet both requirements. High-speed diffraction offers a solution, but the interpretation of diffractograms suffers numerous debates and uncertainties. By atomistically simulating the shock, X-ray diffraction, and electron diffraction of three representative BCC and FCC metallic systems, we systematically isolated the characteristic fingerprints of salient deformation modes, such as dislocation slip (stacking faults), deformation twinning, and phase transformation as observed in experimental diffractograms. This study demonstrates how to use simulated diffractograms to connect the contributions from concurrent deformation modes to the evolutions of both 1D line profiles and 2D patterns for diffractograms from single crystals. Harnessing these fingerprints alongside information on local pressures and plasticity contributions facilitate the interpretation of shock experiments with cutting-edge resolution in both space and time.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

4D structural changes and pore network model of biomass during pyrolysis

Biochar is an engineered carbon-rich substance used for soil improvement, environmental management, and other diverse applications. To date, the understanding of how biomass affects biochar microstructure has been limited due to the complexity of analysis involved in tracing the changes in the physical structure of biomass as it undergoes thermochemical conversion. In this study, we used synchrotron x-ray micro-tomography to visualize changes in the internal structure of biochar from diverse feedstock (miscanthus straw pellets, wheat straw pellets, oilseed rape straw pellets, and rice husk) during pyrolysis by collecting a sequence of 3D scans at 50 °C intervals during progressive heating from 50 °C to 800 °C. The results show a strong dependence of biochar porosity on feedstock as well as pyrolysis temperature, with observed porosity in the range of 7.41–60.56%. Our results show that the porosity, total surface area, pore volume, and equivalent diameter of the largest pore increases with increasing pyrolysis temperature up to about 550 °C. The most dramatic development of pore structure occurred in the temperature range of 350–450 °C. This understanding is pivotal for optimizing biochar’s properties for specific applications in soil improvement, environmental management, and beyond. By elucidating the nuanced variations in biochar’s physical characteristics across different production temperatures and feedstocks, this research advances the practical application of biochar, offering significant benefits in agricultural, environmental, and engineering contexts.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2013

Manufacture of gradient micro-structures of magnesium alloys using two stage extrusion dies

This paper aims to manufacture magnesium alloy metals with gradient micro-structures using hot extrusion process. The extrusion die was designed to have a straight channel part combined with a conical part. Materials pushed through this specially-designed die generate a non-uniform velocity distribution at cross sections inside the die and result in different strain and strain rate distributions. Accordingly, a gradient microstructure product can be obtained. Using the finite element analysis, the forming temperature, effective strain, and effective strain rate distributions at the die exit were firstly discussed for various inclination angles in the conical die. Then, hot extrusion experiments with a two stage die were conducted to obtain magnesium alloy products with gradient micro-structures. The effects of the inclination angle on the grain size distribution at cross sections of the products were also discussed. Using a die of an inclination angle of 15°, gradient micro-structures of the grain size decreasing gradually from 17 μm at the center to 4 μm at the edge of product were achieved.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Moving image analysis to the cloud: A case study with a genome-scale tomographic study

Over the last decade, the time required to measure a terabyte of microscopic imaging data has gone from years to minutes. This shift has moved many of the challenges away from experimental design and measurement to scalable storage, organization, and analysis. As many scientists and scientific institutions lack training and competencies in these areas, major bottlenecks have arisen and led to substantial delays and gaps between measurement, understanding, and dissemination. We present in this paper a framework for analyzing large 3D datasets using cloud-based computational and storage resources. We demonstrate its applicability by showing the setup and costs associated with the analysis of a genome-scale study of bone microstructure. We then evaluate the relative advantages and disadvantages associated with local versus cloud infrastructures.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2016

Comparison of electron beam and laser beam powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process for high temperature turbine component materials

The evolving 3D printer technology is now at the point where some turbine components could be additive manufactured (AM) for both development and production purposes. However, this will require a significant evaluation program to qualify the process and components to meet current design and quality standards. The goal of the project was to begin characterization of the microstructure and mechanical properties of Nickel Alloy X (Ni-22Cr-18Fe-9Mo) test bars fabricated by powder bed fusion (PBF) AM processes that use either an electron beam (EB) or laser beam (LB) power source. The AM materials produced with the EB and LB processes displayed significant differences in microstructure and resultant mechanical properties. Accordingly, during the design analysis of AM turbine components, the specific mechanical behavior of the material produced with the selected AM process should be considered. Comparison of the mechanical properties of both the EB and LB materials to those of conventionally processed Nickel Alloy X materials indicates the subject AM materials are viable alternatives for manufacture of some turbine components.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Mechanical Response of Porcine Liver Tissue under High Strain Rate Compression

In automobile accidents, abdominal injuries are often life-threatening yet not apparent at the time of initial injury. The liver is the most commonly injured abdominal organ from this type of trauma. In contrast to current safety tests involving crash dummies, a more detailed, efficient approach to predict the risk of human injuries is computational modelling and simulations. Further, the development of accurate computational human models requires knowledge of the mechanical properties of tissues in various stress states, especially in high-impact scenarios. In this study, a polymeric split-Hopkinson pressure bar (PSHPB) was utilized to apply various high strain rates to porcine liver tissue to investigate its material behavior during high strain rate compression. Liver tissues were subjected to high strain rate impacts at 350, 550, 1000, and 1550 s –1 . Tissue directional dependency was also explored by PSHPB testing along three orthogonal directions of liver at a strain rate of 350 s –1 . Histology of samples from each of the three directions was performed to examine the structural properties of porcine liver. Porcine liver tissue showed an inelastic and strain rate-sensitive response at high strain rates. The liver tissue was found lacking directional dependency, which could be explained by the isotropic microstructure observed after staining and imaging. Furthermore, finite element analysis (FEA) of the PSHPB tests revealed the stress profile inside liver tissue and served as a validation of PSHPB methodology. The present findings can assist in the development of more accurate computational models of liver tissue at high-rate impact conditions allowing for understanding of subfailure and failure mechanisms.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2021

POST-TEST EXAMINATIONS OF A LOCA SAMPLE FROM AN IRRADIATED HIGH-BURNUP PWR M5 FUEL ROD

A LOCA integral test with high burnup PWR M5 fuel rod was conducted in the Irradiated Fuel Examination Laboratory through the complete LOCA sequence: heating the LOCA sample to 300ºC and pressurizing the internal pressure to 8.27 MPa, heating at 5ºC/s from 300 to 1200ºC, holding in steam for 90s at 1200ºC, cooling at 3ºC/s to 800ºC, followed by water quench and rapid cooling to 100ºC. After LOCA testing, examinations, such as the fuel fragmentation analysis, burst and ballooning characterization, axial strain measurement, and microstructural examinations were performed. Metallographic examinations of an as-irradiated high burnup sample adjacent to the LOCA test sample revealed a bonding layer between the fuel and cladding. The posttest LOCA examinations indicates the corrosion layer formed during normal operations in the commercial reactor might provide a protection against the steam oxidation at high temperatures for test times performed in this work. The microstructure of the as-irradiated fuel is compared to the microstructure of the post-LOCA test fuel. Posttest LOCA examination on unirradiated post-tests Zr cladding samples was conducted, which served as baseline data for in cell testing with irradiated samples. The results obtained with irradiated PWR high burnup M5 fuel rad were compared to the LOCA test data obtained with irradiated BWR high burnup Zircaloy-2 fuel rod at Argonne national Laboratory.

Yan, Yong↗
DOE OSTI2021

Solidification dynamics in metal additive manufacturing: analysis of model assumptions

Solidification characteristics in the meltpool drive the process-microstructure relationship which helps dictate the material properties of as-built parts in additive manufacturing; therefore, being able to accurately and quickly simulate the size, shape, and solidification characteristics in the melt pool is of great interest to the field. In this study, we investigate various important physical phenomena (dynamic material properties, fluid-flow, radiation and vaporization) which can either be included or neglected in a continuum finite volume model (FVM) and their effect on the solidification conditions. Additionally, since the simplest form of such a model (conduction only) has an analytic solution which is much faster, its viability is also considered. Since the inclusion of some of these physical phenomena will inherently change the net energy input as well as the amount of energy needed to achieve melting of a control volume, each set of included phenomena had an effective absorption efficiency which was calibrated to closely match the dimensions of the melt pool to that of the ground truth data. The ground truth data for this study was defined to be the output of the FVM which included all the physical phenomena (OF). This study then goes on to compare the effects on solidification conditions each of these calibrated models has. It was found that most of the change in solidification conditions comes from the inclusion of latent heat. A posterior correlation factor (PCF) is then introduced to enable an analytic model to predict similar solidification conditions to OF model.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2019

Line profile analysis of dislocation densities of the δ-phase 239 Pu-2.0 at%Ga alloy using neutron diffraction

Time-of-flight neutron diffraction measurements were conducted at ambient conditions to study microstructures of the δ-phase 239 Pu-2at% Ga alloy. Based on the line profile analysis of diffraction data we derived dislocation densities using a correction routine to account for the anisotropic strain broadening. Our results show here that the average dislocation density in the as-received sample, previously treated at cryogenic temperatures, is five times higher than the dislocation density measured after annealing the sample, indicating that the neutron instrumentation used in this work has sufficient resolution to detect the dislocation density changes in different sample processing. These results are also in reasonably good agreement with the dislocation densities previously reported based on TEM observations and x-ray diffraction data, suggesting that the simple correction routines applied in this work have a fairly good fidelity for deriving important microstructural information such as dislocation density for elastically highly anisotropic δ-phase 239 Pu-Ga alloys.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Thermal aging of traditional and additively manufactured foams: analysis by time-temperature-superposition, constitutive, and finite-element models

Cellular solids or foams are a very important class of materials with diverse applications ranging from thermal insulation and shock absorbing support cushions, to light-weight structural and floatation components, and constitute crucial components in a large number of industries including automotive, aerospace, electronics, marine, biomedical, packaging, and defense. In many of these applications the foam material is subjected to long periods of continuous stress, which can, over time, lead to a permanent change in structure and a degradation in performance. In this report we summarize our modeling efforts to date on polysiloxane foam materials that form an important component in our systems. Aging of the materials was characterized by two measured quantities, i.e., compression set and load retention. Results of accelerated aging experiments were analyzed by an automated time-temperaturesuperposition (TTS) approach, which creates a master curve that can be used for long-term predictions (over decades) under ambient conditions. When comparing such master curves for traditional (stochastic) foams with those for recently 3D-printed (i.e., additively manufactured, or AM) foams, it became clear that AM foams have superior aging behavior. To gain deeper understanding, we imaged the microstructure of both foams using X-ray computed tomography, and performed finite-element analysis of the mechanical response within these microstructures. This indicates a wider stress variation in the stochastic foam with points of more extreme local stress as compared to the 3D printed material.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2014

A Composite Modeling Analysis of the Deformation Behavior of Medium Manganese Steels

The deformation behavior of medium manganese steels was evaluated with uniaxial tensile testing and the results were correlated with predictions of a composite model shown previously to provide design insight into the development of multi-phase steels with third-generation advanced high strength steel (3GAHSS) properties. An equilibrium thermodynamic-based methodology to design microstructures containing systematic amounts of metastable austenite with controlled stability against transformation is presented. The analysis is based on Mn enrichment of austenite during intercritical annealing of medium Mn (7 and 10 wt pct.) low carbon (0.1 and 0.15 wt pct) steels. The steels were produced as laboratory heats that were hot and cold rolled prior to annealing. After annealing the microstructures consisted primarily of either a matrix of fine grained ferrite with austenite contents between 32.6 and 45.2 wt pct (7Mn, 0.1C steels) or a matrix of martensite with various amounts of austenite in the higher Mn steel. The different intercritical annealing conditions produced steels with wide variations in austenite contents and austenite compositions (Mn and C contents) resulting in steels with significant variations in austenite stability. Predictions based on the composite analysis with different assumed flow behaviors for the individual constituents and stability functions for the meta-stable austenite are presented and shown to accurately predict strength-ductility combinations over a range of austenite volume fractions for the 7Mn steel. Applicability of the composite analysis is extended to consider the deformation behavior of the 10Mn steel and evaluate other possible microstructural combinations leading to 3GAHSS properties.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗