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At least 1,009 records · Page 56

Hydrodynamic instabilities and mix studies on NIF: predictions, observations, and a path forward

The goals of the Mix Campaign are to determine how mix affects performance, locate the "mix cliff", locate the source of the mix, and develop mitigation methods that allow performance to be increased. We have used several different drive pulse shapes and capsule designs in the Mix Campaign, to understand sensitivity to drive peak power, level of coast, rise time to peak power, adiabat, and dopant level in the capsule. Ablator material mixing into the hot spot has been shown conclusively with x-ray spectroscopy. The observed neutron yield drops steeply when the hot spot mix mass becomes too large. The mix appears to be driven by ablation- front Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities. A high foot, higher adiabat drive has a more stable ablation front and has allowed the mix mass in the hot spot to be reduced significantly. We found two recent high foot shots achieved neutron yields > 10 15 and measured neutron yield over clean 1D simulation (YOC) > 50%, which was one of the central goals of the Mix Campaign.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Coupling hydrodynamics to a rigid-body motion solver for fluid-structure interaction [Slides]

Quinoa is a massively parallel computational fluid dynamics with multi-material and programmed burn capabilities developed from Programmatic and LDRD funds. Overset is a well-established method of using an “inset” mesh that communicates with a background mesh. Solutions transfer freely from one to another and operate as boundary conditions on the opposite mesh. Either mesh can move at specified velocity! This project couples the existing Mesh-to-mesh transfer with Quinoa and demonstrates use of resulting Overset solver in computational simulation of blast effects on a re-entry body for survivability assessments.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Hydro-instability growth of perturbation seeds from alternate capsule-support strategies in indirect-drive implosions on National Ignition Facility

Hydrodynamic instability growth of the capsule support membranes (or “tents”) and fill tubes has been studied in spherical, glow discharge polymer plastic capsule implosions at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). In NIF implosions, the capsules are supported by tents because the nominal 10-μm thick fill tubes are not strong enough to support capsules by themselves. After it was recognized that the tents had a significant impact of implosion stability, new support methods were investigated, including thicker, 30-μm diameter fill tubes and cantilevered fill tubes, as described in this article. A new “sub-scale” version of the existing x-ray radiography platform was developed for measuring growing capsule perturbations in the acceleration phase of implosions. It was calibrated using hydrodynamic growth measurements of pre-imposed capsule modulations with Legendre modes of 60, 90, 110, and 140 at convergence ratios up to ~2.4. Subsequent experiments with 3-D perturbations have studied instability growth of 10-μm and 30-μm thick fill tubes to compare them with 30-nm thick tent perturbations at convergence ratios up to ~3. In other experiments, the perturbations from cantilevered fill tubes were measured and compared to the tent perturbations. The cantilevered fill tubes were supported by 12-μm thick SiC rods, offset by 100 μm, 200 μm, and 300 μm from the capsule surfaces. Based on these experiments, 30-μm thick fill tubes and 300-μm offset cantilevered fill tubes were recommended for further tests using layered deuterium-tritium implosions. In conclusion, the effects of x-ray shadowing during the drive and oxygen-induced perturbations during target assembly produced additional seeds for instabilities and were also measured in these experiments.

42 ENGINEERING↗

A novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes

We propose a novel partitioning method for block-structured adaptive meshes utilizing the meshless Lagrangian particle concept. With the observation that an optimum partitioning has high analogy to the relaxation of a multi-phase fluid to steady state, physically motivated model equations are developed to characterize the background mesh topology and are solved by multi-phase smoothed-particle hydrodynamics. In contrast to well established partitioning approaches, all optimization objectives are implicitly incorporated and achieved during the particle relaxation to stationary state. Distinct partitioning sub-domains are represented by colored particles and separated by a sharp interface with a surface tension model. In order to obtain the particle relaxation, special viscous and skin friction models, coupled with a tailored time integration algorithm are proposed. Numerical experiments show that the present method has several important properties: generation of approximately equal-sized partitions without dependence on the mesh-element type, optimized interface communication between distinct partitioning sub-domains, continuous domain decomposition which is physically localized and implicitly incremental. Therefore it is particularly suitable for load-balancing of high-performance CFD simulations.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

The Test and Evaluation of a Non-Chromate Finishing Agent

This research is focused on the design, development and implementation of an industry, military and commercial standard testing cell for surface coatings, which focuses on advanced non-chromate materials technology and their commercialization. Currently, within both private and commercial sectors, chromates are used in the corrosion prevention. processes. However, there is a great demand for chromate-free systems that are able to provide equal protection. At the end of this effort, it is intended that a patented alternative to chromate conversion coatings would be tested and processed for commercialization. Thus far, research studies have been concerned primarily with current corrosion knowledge and testing methods. Corrosion can be classified into five categories: The first type is uniform corrosion which is dominated by a uniform thinning due to an even and regular loss of metal. The second type is called localized corrosion in which most of the loss occurs in discrete areas. The third type, metallurgically influenced corrosion is a form of attack where metallurgy plays a significant role. The fourth type, titled mechanically assisted degradation is a form of attack where velocity, abrasion, and hydrodynamics control the corrosion process. The last type of corrosion is defined as environmentally induced cracking which occurs when cracks are produced under specific, premeditated stress. Oddly enough, with these varying classifications, there are not as many standardized corrosion testing sites. Two of the most common testing methods for corrosion are salt spray testing and filiform. Although neither has proven to be absolute, in terms of the resulting observations, our research aims to help provide data that may be used to support the standardization for corrosion testing. We would acquire and use a Singleton Cyclic Corrosion Testing Chamber. Singleton test chambers perform a wide range of commonly used catalytic corrosion tests. They are used throughout the industry, some of which are - automotive, aerospace, electronic and many more. In addition to this, Singleton test chambers are fully expandable to accommodate cyclic corrosion testing needs. Singleton chambers are also designed for complete compliance and conformity with ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials), military and commercial standards.

Gulley, H.↗

Verification of coronal loop diagnostics using realistic three-dimensional hydrodynamic models

Many different techniques have been used to characterize the plasma in the solar corona: density-sensitive spectral line ratios are used to infer the density, the evolution of coronal structures in different passbands is used to infer the temperature evolution, and the simultaneous intensities measured in multiple passbands are used to determine the emission measure distributions. All these analysis techniques assume that the intensity of the structures can be isolated through background subtraction. In this paper, we use simulated observations from a three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulation of a coronal active region to verify these diagnostics. The density and temperature from the simulation are used to generate images in several passbands and spectral lines. We identify loop structures in the simulated images and calculate the background. We then determine the density, temperature, and emission measure distribution as a function of time from the observations and compare these with the true temperature and density of the loop. We find that the overall characteristics of the temperature, density, and emission measure are recovered by the analysis methods, but the details are not. For instance, the emission measure curves calculated from the simulated observations are much broader than the true emission measure distribution, though the average temperature evolution is similar. These differences are due, in part, to a limitation of the analysis methods, but also to inadequate background subtraction.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Measurement of Richtmyer–Meshkov mode coupling under steady shock conditions and at high energy density

Here, we present experiments observing Richtmyer–Meshkov mode coupling and bubble competition in a system arising from well-characterized initial conditions and driven by a strong (Mach ~ 8) shock. These measurements and the analysis method developed to interpret them provide an important step toward the possibility of observing self-similarity under such conditions, as well as a general platform for performing and analyzing hydrodynamic instability experiments. A key feature of these experiments is that the shock is sustained sufficiently long that this nonlinear behavior occurs without decay of the shock velocity or other hydrodynamic properties of the system, which facilitates analysis and allows the results to be used in the study of analytic models.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

Future Response of Coastal Wetlands to Environmental Stresses: Algorithm Comparison of Numerical Models

Coastal wetlands are a critical component of the earth system that strongly influence the global water and biogeochemical cycles. They are also likely important sentinel of climate change. Because eco-geomorphological processes have long been recognized to be important for coastal wetland survival under accelerated sea-level rise (SLR), many eco-geomorphology models have been developed to assess the impact of climate change on coastal wetlands. Although these models differ substantially in complexity and numerical methods, few studies have investigated the algorithm-level uncertainties in these models. In this study, we developed a multiple-algorithm model framework of coastal wetlands that represents coastal hydrodynamics (such as water level, significant wave height and bottom shear stress) and four eco-geomorphological processes: mineral accretion, organic matter accretion, storm surge erosion and landward migration. We validated the model at three representative coastal wetland sites (Venice Lagoon, Plum Island Estuary and Hunter Estuary) for hydrodynamics, mineral accretion and organic matter accretion. Through model-data comparison, we showed that the model can well capture the dynamics of hydrodynamical and eco-geomorphological conditions in the study sites. Importantly, analysis of the multiple-algorithm simulations suggests that differences in the process representation of mineral and organic matter accretion may contribute to the recent contradicting predictions of coastal wetland evolution under accelerated SLR.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

TOPEX/POSEIDON tides estimated using a global inverse model

Altimetric data from the TOPEX/POSEIDON mission will be used for studies of global ocean circulation and marine geophysics. However, it is first necessary to remove the ocean tides, which are aliased in the raw data. The tides are constrained by the two distinct types of information: the hydrodynamic equations which the tidal fields of elevations and velocities must satisfy, and direct observational data from tide gauges and satellite altimetry. Here we develop and apply a generalized inverse method, which allows us to combine rationally all of this information into global tidal fields best fitting both the data and the dynamics, in a least squares sense. The resulting inverse solution is a sum of the direct solution to the astronomically forced Laplace tidal equations and a linear combination of the representers for the data functionals. The representer functions (one for each datum) are determined by the dynamical equations, and by our prior estimates of the statistics or errors in these equations. Our major task is a direct numerical calculation of these representers. This task is computationally intensive, but well suited to massively parallel processing. By calculating the representers we reduce the full (infinite dimensional) problem to a relatively low-dimensional problem at the outset, allowing full control over the conditioning and hence the stability of the inverse solution. With the representers calculated we can easily update our model as additional TOPEX/POSEIDON data become available. As an initial illustration we invert harmonic constants from a set of 80 open-ocean tide gauges. We then present a practical scheme for direct inversion of TOPEX/POSEIDON crossover data. We apply this method to 38 cycles of geophysical data records (GDR) data, computing preliminary global estimates of the four principal tidal constituents, M(sub 2), S(sub 2), K(sub 1) and O(sub 1). The inverse solution yields tidal fields which are simultaneously smoother, and in better agreement with altimetric and ground truth data, than previously proposed tidal models. Relative to the 'default' tidal corrections provided with the TOPEX/POSEIDON GDR, the inverse solution reduces crossover difference variances significantly (approximately 20-30%), even though only a small number of free parameters (approximately equal to 1000) are actually fit to the crossover data.

Egbert, Gary D.↗

A SEMI-DYNAMICAL APPROACH TO THE SHOCK REVIVAL IN CORE-COLLAPSE SUPERNOVAE

We develop a new semi-dynamical method to study shock revival by neutrino heating in core-collapse supernovae. Our new approach is an extension of the previous studies that employ spherically symmetric, steady, shocked accretion flows together with the light-bulb approximation. The latter has been widely used in the supernova community for the phenomenological investigation of the criteria for successful supernova explosions. In the present approach, we get rid of the steady-state condition and take into account shock wave motions instead. We have in mind a scenario in which it is not the critical luminosity but the critical fluctuation generated by hydrodynamical instabilities such as standing accretion shock instability and neutrino-driven convection in the post-shock region that determines the onset of shock revival. After confirming that the new approach indeed captures the dynamics of revived shock wave qualitatively, we then apply the method to various initial conditions and find that there is a critical fluctuation for shock revival, which can be well fit by the following formula: f{sub crit} {approx} 0.8 Multiplication-Sign (M{sub in}/1.4 M{sub Sun }) Multiplication-Sign {l_brace}1 - (r{sub sh}/10{sup 8} cm){r_brace}, where f{sub crit} denotes the critical pressure fluctuation normalized by the unperturbed post-shock value. M{sub in} and r{sub sh} stand for the mass of the central compact object and the shock radius, respectively. The critical fluctuation decreases with the shock radius, whereas it increases with the mass of the central object. We discuss the possible implications of our results for three-dimensional effects on shock revival, which is currently controversial in the supernova community.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

A microscopic derivation of nuclear collective rotation-vibration model and its application to nuclei

We derive a microscopic version of the successful phenomenological hydrodynamic model of Bohr-Davydov-Faessler-Greiner for collective rotation-vibration motion of an axially symmetric deformed nucleus. The derivation is not limited to small oscillation amplitude. The nuclear Schrodinger equation is canonically transformed to collective co-ordinates, which is then linearized using a constrained variational method. The associated constraints are imposed on the wavefunction rather than on the particle co-ordinates. The approach yields three self-consistent, time-reversal invariant, cranking-type Schrodinger equations for the rotation-vibration and intrinsic motions, and a self-consistency equation. For harmonic oscillator mean-field potentials, these equations are solved in closed forms for excitation energy, cut-off angular momentum, and other nuclear properties for the ground-state rotational band in some deformed nuclei. The results are compared with measured data.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Combining shallow-water and analytical wake models for tidal array micro-siting

For tidal-stream energy to become a competitive renewable energy source, clustering multiple turbines into arrays is paramount. Array optimisation is thus critical for achieving maximum power performance and reducing cost of energy. However, ascertaining an optimal array layout is a complex problem, subject to specific site hydrodynamics and multiple inter-disciplinary constraints. In this work, we present a novel optimisation approach that combines an analytical-based wake model, FLORIS, with an ocean model, Thetis. The approach is demonstrated through applications of increasing complexity. By utilising the method of analytical wake superposition, the addition or alteration of turbine position does not require re-calculation of the entire flow field, thus allowing the use of simple heuristic techniques to perform optimisation at a fraction of the computational cost of more sophisticated methods. Using a custom condition-based placement algorithm, this methodology is applied to the Pentland Firth for arrays with turbines of 3.05 m/s rated speed, demonstrating practical implications whilst considering the temporal variability of the tide. For a 24-turbine array case, micro-siting using this technique delivered an array 15.8% more productive on average than a staggered layout, despite flow speeds regularly exceeding the rated value. Performance was evaluated through assessment of the optimised layout within the ocean model that treats turbines through a discrete turbine representation. Used iteratively, this methodology could deliver improved array configurations in a manner that accounts for local hydrodynamic effects.

16 TIDAL AND WAVE POWER↗

Validation of Combined Analytical Methods to Predict Slip in Cylindrical Roller Bearings

This paper presents a combination of models that together calculate the cage and roller speeds of a cylindrical roller bearing. The models consider elastohydrodynamic lubrication and contact elasticity between the roller and raceway, roller centrifugal forces, hydrodynamic lubrication at the cage pocket, and frictional forces. Using these models, the predicted cage and roller speeds and the extent of slip are compared to measurements acquired on cylindrical roller bearings in a commercial gearbox in steady-state and transient operating conditions of a wind turbine. In steady-state conditions at low wind speeds and low lubricant temperatures, cage and roller slip up to 60% occur in the loaded zone of the bearing. In the unloaded zone, up to 80% roller slip occurs. Cage and roller slip then decrease as the lubricant temperature and wind speed increases. In general, the analytical model results match experimental measurements within 10% for lubricant temperatures above 40 degrees C and wind speeds over 10 meters per second. The analytical model is further evaluated during a transient start-up event and highly dynamic emergency stop event and also used to examine changes in the bearing design or lubricant properties. Furthermore, roller and cage slip in cylindrical bearings is a combined effect of the bearing design, applied load, shaft speed, and lubricant properties and temperature, and can be quickly evaluated with the combined analytical models.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

SELF-GRAVITATIONAL FORCE CALCULATION OF SECOND-ORDER ACCURACY FOR INFINITESIMALLY THIN GASEOUS DISKS IN POLAR COORDINATES

Investigating the evolution of disk galaxies and the dynamics of proto-stellar disks can involve the use of both a hydrodynamical and a Poisson solver. These systems are usually approximated as infinitesimally thin disks using two-dimensional Cartesian or polar coordinates. In Cartesian coordinates, the calculations of the hydrodynamics and self-gravitational forces are relatively straightforward for attaining second-order accuracy. However, in polar coordinates, a second-order calculation of self-gravitational forces is required for matching the second-order accuracy of hydrodynamical schemes. We present a direct algorithm for calculating self-gravitational forces with second-order accuracy without artificial boundary conditions. The Poisson integral in polar coordinates is expressed in a convolution form and the corresponding numerical complexity is nearly linear using a fast Fourier transform. Examples with analytic solutions are used to verify that the truncated error of this algorithm is of second order. The kernel integral around the singularity is applied to modify the particle method. The use of a softening length is avoided and the accuracy of the particle method is significantly improved.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

TWO-DIMENSIONAL TOPOLOGY OF COSMOLOGICAL REIONIZATION

We study the two-dimensional topology of the 21-cm differential brightness temperature for two hydrodynamic radiative transfer simulations and two semi-numerical models. In each model, we calculate the two-dimensional genus curve for the early, middle, and late epochs of reionization. It is found that the genus curve depends strongly on the ionized fraction of hydrogen in each model. The genus curves are significantly different for different reionization scenarios even when the ionized faction is the same. We find that the two-dimensional topology analysis method is a useful tool to constrain the reionization models. Our method can be applied to the future observations such as those of the Square Kilometre Array.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

An efficient particle Fokker–Planck algorithm for rarefied gas flows

This paper is devoted to the algorithmic improvement and careful analysis of the Fokker–Planck kinetic model derived by Jenny et al. [1] and Gorji et al. [2]. The motivation behind the Fokker–Planck based particle methods is to gain efficiency in low Knudsen rarefied gas flow simulations, where conventional direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) becomes expensive. This can be achieved due to the fact that the resulting model equations are continuous stochastic differential equations in velocity space. Accordingly, the computational particles evolve along independent stochastic paths and thus no collision needs to be calculated. Therefore the computational cost of the solution algorithm becomes independent of the Knudsen number. In the present study, different computational improvements were persuaded in order to augment the method, including an accurate time integration scheme, local time stepping and noise reduction. For assessment of the performance, gas flow around a cylinder and lid driven cavity flow were studied. Convergence rates, accuracy and computational costs were compared with respect to DSMC for a range of Knudsen numbers (from hydrodynamic regime up to above one). In all the considered cases, the model together with the proposed scheme give rise to very efficient yet accurate solution algorithms.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Berberine and zinc oxide-based nanoparticles for the chemo-photothermal therapy of lung adenocarcinoma

Highlights: • Berberine (BER) and zinc oxide (ZnO)-based nanoparticles (NPs) were fabricated. • BER-ZnO NPs were prepared by simple blending method without pharmaceutical excipients. • BER-ZnO NPs exhibited improved chemo-photothermal therapeutic effects in A549 cells. Organic/inorganic hydrid nanoparticles (NPs) composed of berberine (BER) and zinc oxide (ZnO) were developed for the therapy of lung cancers. Without the use of pharmaceutical excipients, NPs were fabricated with only dual anticancer agents (BER and ZnO) by facile blending method. The mean weight ratio between BER and ZnO in BER-ZnO NPs was 39:61 in this study. BER-ZnO NPs dispersed in water exhibited 200–300 nm hydrodynamic size under 5 mg/mL concentration. The exposure of both BER and ZnO in the outer layers of BER-ZnO NPs was identified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. The amorphization of BER and the maintenance of ZnO structure were observed in the results of X-ray powder diffractometer analysis. Improved antiproliferation efficacy, based on the chemo-photothermal therapeutic efficacy, of BER-ZnO NPs in A549 (human lung adenocarcinoma) cells was presented. According to the blood tests in rats after intravenous administration, BER-ZnO NPs did not induce severe hepatotoxicity, renal toxicity, and hemotoxicity. Developed BER-ZnO NPs can be used efficiently and safely for the chemo-photothermal therapy of lung cancers.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

Stability of the fcc phase in shocked nickel up to 332 GPa

Despite making up 5-20 wt.% of Earth’s predominantly iron core, the melting properties of elemental nickel at core conditions remain poorly understood, due largely to a dearth of experimental data. We present here an in situ X-ray diffraction study performed on laser shock-compressed samples of bulk nickel, reaching pressures up to ~ 500 GPa. Hugoniot states of nickel were targeted using a flat-top laser drive, with in situ X-ray diffraction data collected using the Linac Coherent Light Source. Rietveld methods were used to determine the densities of the shocked states from the measured diffraction data, while peak pressures were determined using a combination of measured particle velocities, shock transit times, hydrodynamic simulations, and laser intensity calibrations. We observed solid compressed face-centered cubic (fcc) Ni up to at least 332 ± 30 GPa along the Hugoniot—significantly higher than expected from the majority of melt lines that have been proposed for nickel. We also bracket the partial melting onset to between 377 ± 38 GPa and 486 ± 35 GPa.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗